Happy New Year!  It is the year 2010 and alien technology has taken over the world.  Humans are slaves to machines that replace all the simple things in life with a series of ones and zeros.  I have harnessed the power of this secret formula and cranked out a list of 50 best releases of the year (in alphabetical order).  Here it goes…

Animal Collective-Fall Be Kind (EP)

Many listeners are a bit reluctant to allow themselves to enjoy Animal Collective’s weirdness.  Fall Be Kind is an excellent place to start.  The EP is a big blurry trip through the lands of Björk and The Beach Boys all at the same time.  Those who enjoy more structure will be soothed by the string bass that gently carves chord progression into electronic sound clouds.  Unexplainable transitions will keep you on your toes while recurring vocal themes, synths, and samples bridge the gap between them.  Fall Be Kind is definitely one of the best releases I’ve come across this year. (From Micro Beards: 15 Dec 2009 by Corey Murphy)

Animal Collective-Merriweather Post Pavillion

The Antlers-Hospice

Hospice seamlessly blends haunting sound clouds into effected guitar ambience all based on a careful musical foundation.  Lead singer, Peter Silberman whispers a soft and lonesome melody over all this, “I wish I had known in/that first moment we met/ the unpayable debt/ that I owed you”.  The album, which is based on the death of a loved one is fittingly unsettling.  The Antlers present in Hospice, a mix of crunching instrumentals and liquid flowing vocals set perfectly to a crashing basement drum kit.  Hospice is incredibly artful and powerfully progressive.

Akron/Family-Set ‘Em Wild Set ‘Em Free

While everything on the album is recognizably Akron/Family, the album spans genres inexplicably.  Starting in a bit of a dirty blues-rock feel and moving through electronic tracks and folk concoctions, the band even hits on some borderline scream punk just to say they did it.  Often, transitions between acoustic and more electronically derived tracks are rough and uncomfortable but this Frankenstein of an album dances gracefully the entire time.  The band, from New York City, remains relatively undiscovered but they ought to be.  Akron/Family has a lot to add to the musical scene and effectively captures the style that many bands strive for. (From LIST 2000 to 2009 [Corey's Staff Picks] by Corey Murphy)

Atlas Sound-Logos

Black Moth Super Rainbow-Eating Us

Blind Pilot-3 Rounds and a Sound

Bon Iver-Blood Bank

Surprisingly, when Bon Iver’s new EP dropped on January 20th, things were kosher.  For an album so critically acclaimed as his debut LP For Emma, Forever Ago, it seemed as though future works would be doomed to fall short in the eyes of purists. But the release did well from the beginning, entering the Billboard 200 at number sixteen.  Blood Bank, which is comprised of three new tracks plus one track left off For Emma, proves that Bon Iver is no one hit wonder. (From REVIEW: Bon Iver-Blood Bank by John Kruse)

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The Builders and the Butchers-Salvation Is A Deep Dark Well

Califone-All My Friends Are Funeral Singers

Camera Obscura-My Maudlin Career

Clem Snide-Hungry Bird

Dan Auerbach-Keep It Hid

Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse (Feat. Various Artists)-Dark Night of the Soul

Based on a book of photography shot by David Lynch, acclaimed american filmmaker best known for Mulholland Drive (2001), Blue Velvet (1986) and the television series, Twin Peaks, Dark Night of the Soul is an accompanying soundtrack written by Brian Burton (Danger Mouse) and Mark Linkous (Sparklehorse).  Each track seems perfectly suited for its featured vocalist which include (if that wasn’t enough name dropping) The Flaming Lips, James Mercer of The Shins, Vic Chesnutt, Suzanne Vega, Julian Casablancas of The Strokes, Iggy Pop, Scott Spillane of Neutral Milk Hotel, Jason Lytle of Grandaddy, and Frank Black…just to name a few.  Due to a legal dispute with EMI, the music is very difficult to find without the help of the wonderful world of the internet and the book is sold with a blank recordable CDR.

The Dead Weather-Horehound

The Decemberists-Hazards of Love

With the bands fifth release, The Decemberists delve even deeper into the story-telling style that they are known for.  On this album every track flows seamlessly to the other and themes come and go throughout the duration of the album representing the stories that are interwoven inside it.  The band draws on its resources for The Hazards of Love as Shara Worden of My Brightest Diamond,Becky Starke of Lavender Diamond, and Jim James of My Morning Jacket are all brought in to play various characters in the stories and provide vocals for the album.  The Hazards of Love is a seamless blend of music steeped in an ancient troubadour tradition and converted by modern themes and musical styles into what can best be described as a musical. (From LIST 2000 to 2009 [Corey's Staff Picks] by Corey Murphy)

Derek Webb-Stockholm Syndrome

The Dirty Projectors-Bitte Orca

In english, Bitte Orca is “please, killer whale”.  The album’s title is as unexplainable as the music.  Perhaps the reason that Bitte Orca is so effective is that it is so damn unexplainable.  We’ve been drowned in the same old rock progressions for so many years that Bitte Orca catches us completely off guard.  While tracks like “Stillness is the Move” come off as catchy pop hooks on the surface, it is the fact that they are this way that makes them so progressive.  In the midst of so much indie music that tries to be experimental, The Dirty Projectors have created a sound that is a very effective experiment in the mainstream.

DM Stith-Heavy Ghost

This is an extremely daring debut album from graphic artist David Stith. Stith contributed the album artwork to My Brightest Diamond’s album also featured in the list [Zach's Staff Picks], with contributions made to Heavy Ghost by both Shara Wordan (of My Brightest Diamond) and Sufjan Stevens (who, according to the liner notes, on the song “Pity Dance” clacked a stapler, and a pair of scissors, and played a Lakewood 18 inch 3-speed high velocity fan with a Vermont state quarter). This experimental pop jem is just the beginning of things to come from Stith. (LIST 2000 to 2009: [Zach's Staff Picks] by Zach Harris)

The Dodos-Time To Die

Fever Ray-Fever Ray

Flaming Lips-Embryonic

Soon after “Do You Realize” was named “Oklahoma’s state rock song” The Flaming Lips must have grew tired of pleasing the masses.  On the latest album, this psychedelic pop has degenerated into a crunchy nonsensical pile of sound.  I mean that in the best way.  Embryonic is an ingenious layering of textures through which lead singer, Wayne Coyne, leads us on a sort of psychedelic journey.  While the lyrics and compositional aspects of the music are by no means spectacular, it is their presentation that is spot on.  The thought that most frequently crosses my mind when I listen to Embryonic I bet the studio is a mess…I mean absolutely trashed.  By the sound of this music, it seems like Coyne is just walking around smashing on objects lying around the room and pushing buttons on synthesizers with no particular method to the madness.  But then you realize, in the midst of all this noise, a very careful bass line is emerging.  And then if you can sift through all the crunching and crashing you will realize that these sounds have quickly evolved into drumbeats.  Still drenched in overdrive, distortion and the like, the first track “Convinced of the Hex” rises from the sound. (From REVIEW: The Flaming Lips-Embryonic by Corey Murphy)

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Fruit Bats-Ruminant Band

Known also for his work with The Shins, frontman Eric Johnson is famous for creating simple and accessible indie rock.  Ruminant Band is no different.  The album is a collection of recognizable guitar riffs paired with uplifting and energetic melodies.  Ruminant Band is everything you want to hear in a song done in a tasteful and interesting way.

fun.-Aim and Ignite

Grizzly Bear-Veckatimist

Veckatimist is, in my opinion, the single greatest recording on this list.  It is the third release for the band and the second since Daniel Rossen of Department of Eagles was added to the mix.  Rossen’s collaboration with frontman Ed Droste, has proved to be very rewarding for the group as the result is a perfect blend between Rosen’s progressive folk style with Droste’s kitschy hooks and operatic vocals.  All four members bring a lot to the table on Veckatimist, as Christopher Bear’s unique reverb drenched drum sound and Chris Taylor’s thick and rich bass are absolutely essential on the release (not to mention their participation in the frequent multi-part harmonies).  Grizzly Bear has certainly set the bar high for musicians across the board as Veckatimist is nearly perfect in every regard.

Ida Maria-Fortress ‘Round My Heart

Japandroids-Post-Nothing

Japandroids debut album, Post-Nothing, is mindless fun and pure genius. The album is an infinite reincarnation of the loudest and most exciting basement shows and captures the intensity in its overwhelmingly distorted guitar sound and painfully shouted vocals. The equation is as simple as the music itself, guitar riff plus crashing drums plus two sentences that are fun to yell through the course of a three minute track equals Post-Nothing. (From REVIEW: Japandroids-Post-Nothing by Corey Murphy)

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MF Doom-Born Like This

Everything MF Doom touches to gold.  It makes me wonder why the man has to resort to “supervillainy” to obtain his wealth.  Doom casts his flow of conscious lyrics as if they were carefully contemplated tongue twisters.  “Villain here, have em shrillin’ in fear/won’t stop top illin’ til he a gazillionaire” Doom spits effortlessly on the first track, ”Gazillion Ear”.  Its hard to imagine Doom breathing at all during this record as it is a constant flow of though from front to end.  Born Like This is easily the best hip-hop release this year.

Miike Snow-Miike Snow

Modest Mouse-No One’s First and You’re Next (EP)

Monsters of Folk-Monsters of Folk

Mos Def-The Ecstatic

Mount Eerie-Wind’s Poem

Neon Indian-Phsycic Chasms

Passion Pit-Manners

Phoenix-Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix is an intelligent brush with radio pop music.  Phoenix, who is based in Paris, will make girls blush with cute mispronunciations of their english lyrics on tracks like “Lisztomania” but Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix has something for everyone as the band will show of its technical side in the nearly instrumental “Love Like a Sunset” epic.

Ramona Falls-Intuit

Real Estate-Real Estate

Sea Wolf-White Water, White Bloom

This scope of this album is unbelievably vast for its indie-folk claim.  The first track, “Wicked Blood” flashes hints of Neon Bible-era Arcade Fire, but the tracks that follow can be described so much differently.  Acoustic guitar and violin lie at the core of every track but the electric instruments and drums that surround them work to pull each song in an entirely different direction. (From Micro Beards: 15 Dec 2009 by Corey Murphy)

Sing Fang Bous-Clangour

St. Vincent-Actor

St. Vincent’s lyrics are often subtle but the music that surrounds them is energetic and complex.  Take the track “Marrow” for example,  “H-E-L-P/help me, help me” sings Annie Clark as a line of woodwinds come in crashing around her.  The effect in this particular track is extremely energizing but this power is not unique to just “Marrow”, every song on Actor has such a vivid life to it that it is impossible not to get lost in the album.

Stadeath and White Dwarfs-The Birth

Sufjan Stevens-The BQE (Motion Picture Soundtrack)

The BQE offers a more diverse palette of sounds and textures than any other previous work by Stevens. Equal parts the familiar soft-spoken piano, choral voices, and layered counter-rhythms, as things borrowed from John Williams fanfare, 70s cop show themes, Gershwin-esque jazz breaks, and electro-club explosions. (From REVIEW: Sufjan Stevens-The BQE by Zach Harris)

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Sunset Rubdown-Dragonslayer

Various Artists-Dark Was the Night (Compilation)

Volcano Choir-Unmap

White Rabbits-It’s Frightening

Why?-Eskimo Snow

Wolfmother-Cosmic Egg

The xx-XX

The xx is amazingly simple but still a sound that’s very rarely made.  The London quartet functions with two vocalists in what seems like a dialogue relationship.  Overall, nearly every song has a calm intensity to it that satisfies repeatedly.  xx is greatly successful for the group’s first release so releases in the future will surely be under radar. (LIST 2000 to 2009 [Corey's Staff Picks] by Corey Murphy)

Y.A.C.H.T.-See Mystery Lights

Yo La Tengo-Popular Songs

With so much new music released every year, it’s hard to keep up.  With Micro Beards, we’re here for your weekly dose of bite-sized reviews both new and old.

This week on Micro Beards:

• Stereogum Presents… Enjoyed: A Tribute To Björk’s Post
• Royal Bangs – Let It Beep
• Sea Wolf – White Water, White Bloom
• Animal Collective – Fall Be Kind

Enjoyed: A Tribute to Björk’s Post (November 2009, Stereogum)

It’s been 15 years since Björk released Post. The album was met with high critical acclaim and Bjork has since become driving influence in international music.  To pay homage, Stereogum has teamed up with a stellar cast of current indie rock artists including The Dirty Projectors, Xiu Xiu, No Age, Final Fantasy, and Ed Droste to recreate the album in its entirety.  Enjoyed, amazingly, stretches listeners far beyond the weirdness that was the original work.  Drum samples are chopped and hurled through the air and vocals are sputtered and effected in an operatic anthem-like tone characteristic of Björk herself.  

Enjoyed is available at Stereogum as a free download.

(3 out of 5 beards)

Notable Tracks:

01. Army of Me (by Liars)

04. It’s Oh So Quiet (by Bell)

08. Possibly Maybe (by Final Fantasy & Ed Droste)

Royal Bangs – Let It Beep (September 2009, Audio Eagle Records)

Tenessee’s Royal Bangs reminds us what dance-rock is like before the radio destroys it.  This band follows a very accessible format that will allow hipsters to finally replace Passion Pit on of their wop party playlists.

(3.5 out of 5 beards)

Notable Tracks:

01. War Bells

03. My Car is Haunted

Sea Wolf – White Water, White Bloom (Sept 2009, Dangerbird)

This scope of this album is unbelievably vast for its indie-folk claim.  The first track, “Wicked Blood” flashes hints of Neon Bible-era Arcade Fire, but the tracks that follow can be described so much differently.  Acoustic guitar and violin lie at the core of every track but the electric instruments and drums that surround them work to pull each song in an entirely different direction.

(4 out of 5 beards)

Notable Tracks:

02. Dew in the Grass

05. O Maria!

Animal Collective – Fall Be Kind (November 2009, Domino Recording Co.)

Many listeners are a bit reluctant to allow themselves to enjoy Animal Collective’s weirdness.  Fall Be Kind is an excellent place to start.  The EP is a big blurry trip through the lands of Björk and The Beach Boys all at the same time.  Those who enjoy more structure will be soothed by the string bass that gently carves chord progression into electronic sound clouds.  Unexplainable transitions will keep you on your toes while recurring vocal themes, synths, and samples bridge the gap between them.  Fall Be Kind is definitely one of the best releases I’ve come across this year.

(5 out of 5 beautifully unshaven manes)

Notable Tracks:

01. Graze

05. I Think I Can

The following is a list of the ten albums that I feel, are the best releases in the last 10 years.  None of the decisions were made based on critical acclaim but merely on what I think are the most progressive and meaningful albums from 2000 to the present.  Every band is trying to do something different with their music and the following are examples of success in that goal.  Every one of these has a quality or style that is purely unique and influential.

10: TV On The Radio – Return to Cookie Mountain (2006, 4AD / Interscope)

While Return to Cookie Mountain is not the most recent release by the band it is certainly the most notable.  On this album billows of drum and guitar sound accompany a very vocal-based album that is melodic and sing-able at times and merely a wall of sound at others.  The band, which operates out of Brooklyn, has created a name for itself in its unique genre-less compositions similar only to that of Radiohead and top 40 radio in Mars.

Notable tracks:

03. Province (this track features David Bowie on backing vocals)

06. A Method

9: Akron/Family – Set ‘Em Wild, Set ‘Em Free (2009, Dead Oceans)

While everything on the album is recognizably Akron/Family, the album spans genres inexplicably.  Starting in a bit of a dirty blues-rock feel and moving through electronic tracks and folk concoctions, the band even hits on some borderline scream punk just to say they did it.  Often, transitions between acoustic and more electronically derived tracks are rough and uncomfortable but this Frankenstein of an album dances gracefully the entire time.  The band, from New York City, remains relatively undiscovered but they ought to be.  Akron/Family has a lot to add to the musical scene and effectively captures the style that many bands strive for.

Notable tracks:

01. Everyone Is Guilty

03. Creatures

07. Many Ghosts

8: The xx – xx (2009, Young Turks)

The xx is amazingly simple but still a sound that’s very rarely made.  The London quartet functions with two vocalists in what seems like a dialogue relationship.  Overall, nearly every song has a calm intensity to it that satisfies repeatedly.  xx is greatly successful for the group’s first release so releases in the future will surely be under radar.

Notable Tracks:

03. Crystalized

07. Shelter

7: The Arcade Fire – Funeral (2004, Merge)

I don’t know what to call The Arcade Fire’s but after I saw a concert on the Neon Bible Tour I was convinced that they were the house band from Eli Sunday’s church in There Will Be Blood. Apparently, living in Haiti leaves you pretty oblivious to American culture and the way music is being made over here because The Arcade Fire has created in Funeral an experience that is completely different than anything…ever.  There is a very eerie vibe surrounding the album and a deep emotion that lies within it.

Notable Tracks:

04. Neighborhood 3 (Power Out)

06. Crown of Love

07. Wake Up

6: Why? – Alopecia (2008, Anticon)

Lead singer Yoni Wolf’s music is disturbingly honest but for some strange reason that is what keeps you coming back for more. Alopecia says everything you’ve wanted to say but haven’t had the guts.  It’s Jewish hip-hop that in all the ways Matisyahu is not.  Whereas most hip-hop is about the ego, Alopecia is about life.  These are stories of bad decisions, failures, and missed opportunities and they are all presented in very honest and effective ways.

Notable Tracks:

02. Good Friday

08. The Fall of Mr. Fifths

10. A Sky for Shoeing Horses Under

5: The Decemberists – The Hazards of Love (2009, Capitol)

With the bands fifth release, The Decemberists delve even deeper into the story-telling style that they are known for.  On this album every track flows seamlessly to the other and themes come and go throughout the duration of the album representing the stories that are interwoven inside it.  The band draws on its resources for The Hazards of Love as Shara Worden of My Brightest Diamond, Becky Starke of Lavender Diamond, and Jim James of My Morning Jacket are all brought in to play various characters in the stories and provide vocals for the album.  The Hazards of Love is a seamless blend of music steeped in an ancient troubadour tradition and converted by modern themes and musical styles into what can best be described as a musical.

Notable Tracks:

03. A Bower Scene

08. The Wanting Comes In Waves/Repaid

10. The Rake’s Song

4: Architecture in Helsinki – Places Like This (2007, Polyvinyl)

This album is beautifully fucking crazy.  Enough said.

Notable Tracks:

02. Heart It Races

03. Hold Music

08. Lazy (Lazy)

3: Bright Eyes – I’m Wide Awake Its Morning (2005, Saddle Creek)

When Conor Oberst double released Digital Ash In A Digital Urn and I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning in 2005 he had officially divided his music in two.  Previous albums, which had mixed darker and more electronically-derived tracks like “Lover I Don’t Have to Love” with folk tunes like “Bowl of Oranges” had given birth to both a pair of very different-looking twins.  While Digital Ash was ill-recieved, I’m Wide Awake its Morning broke into an entirely different well of musical possibilities.  Not only did this album influence every Bright Eyes release since, it also spawned tons of followers in what is now “indie-folk”. Conor Oberst is the Bob Dylan of his time.

Notable Tracks:

04. Lua

06. First Day of My Life

10. Road To Joy

2: Radiohead – Kid A (2000, Parlophone / Capitol)

Kid A marks the transformation of Radiohead from a band to a soulless fucking robot.  Fortunately it is the soulless fucking robot that people prefer.  Its amazing that an album as experimental as this one achieved as much success as it did but even though Kid A debuted without a single or music video, it was able to draw itself enough attention to go platinum in a week.  You know the rest.

Notable Tracks:

01. Everything In Its Right Place

03. The National Anthem

08. Idiotheque

1: Department of Eagles – In Ear Park (2008, 4AD)

You may not have expected this one but I have a strong faith that, although very undiscovered In Ear Park is the greatest album that has been released all decade.  There is a huge difference between bands that record songs and bands that record art.  In Ear Park is not about chords and progressions but about what the music does when it gets inside your head.  While Department of Eagles consists of just Daniel Rossen (also known for work in the band Grizzly Bear) and Fred Nicolaus, this particular album was scored on a huge scale.  Starting out from the very beginning with a pretty simple guitar melody the album soon erupts into a very symphonic experience that will make your hairs stand on end.

Notable Tracks:

01. In Ear Park

03. Phantom Other

07. Classical Records

PROS: effectively experimental | change in pace

CONS: Karen O can be a frog

Soon after “Do You Realize” was named “Oklahoma’s state rock song” The Flaming Lips must have grew tired of pleasing the masses.  On the latest album, this psychedelic pop has degenerated into a crunchy nonsensical pile of sound.  I mean that in the best way.  Embryonic is an ingenious layering of textures through which lead singer, Wayne Coyne, leads us on a sort of psychedelic journey.  While the lyrics and compositional aspects of the music are by no means spectacular, it is their presentation that is spot on.  The thought that most frequently crosses my mind when I listen to Embryonic I bet the studio is a mess…I mean absolutely trashed.  By the sound of this music, it seems like Coyne is just walking around smashing on objects lying around the room and pushing buttons on synthesizers with no particular method to the madness.  But then you realize, in the midst of all this noise, a very careful bass line is emerging.  And then if you can sift through all the crunching and crashing you will realize that these sounds have quickly evolved into drumbeats.  Still drenched in overdrive, distortion and the like, the first track “Convinced of the Hex” rises from the sound.

If you’ve ever been to a Flaming Lips concert before, you’ll know that it is essentially an acid trip minus the paranoia.  Surrounding themselves with people dressed up either in Santa suits or giant golden sun costumes, The Flaming Lips have been known to walk across the outstretched hands of audience members in space bubbles.  A very colorful set of drums, amps and instruments ranging from synthesizers to theremins are often scattered across the stage at one of these shows.  How will Embryonic affect the live show?  It can only get weirder.  This album lends itself perfectly to the craziness that goes on during a Lips show and may very well have been inspired by it.

Overall, the album is great.  Some standout tracks include “Convinced of the Hex” and “See the Leaves”.  These two tracks feature some rather singable vocals set to a very blippy, beepy backdrop full of rugged drums and a slew of unexplainable sounds.  “Aquarius Sabotoge” is a crunchy instrumental track that feels like space-age panic and MGMT joins the group on the track “Worm Mountain”, a five-minute anthem of even more chaos.  Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs also makes an appearance on two tracks, though; one has her merely making animal sounds.  Embryonic is spread over two disks but the tracks flow steadily from one to the other to create a singular Embryonic experience.

The album is a great change in pace for the band after its previous two releases, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots and At War With the Mysitcs and effectively plays on their older styles and focuses.  While the album is very experimental, it has feel similar to that of Clouds Taste Metallic that will satisfy older Lips fans while keeping the newer ones on their toes.

Embryonic is out now on WEA/Reprise Records.

(4.5 out of 5 beards)

Track Listing

01. Convinced of the Hex
02. The Sparrow Looks Up at the Machine
03. Evil
04. Aquarius Sabotage
05. See the Leaves
06. If
07. Gemini Syringes
08. Your Bats
09. Powerless
10. The Ego’s Last Stand
11. I Can Be A Frog
12. Sagittarius Silver Announcement
13. Worm Mountain
14. Scorpio Sword
15. The Impulse
16. Silver Trembling Hands
17. Virgo Self-Esteem Broadcast
18. Watching the Planets

Thunderstorms and heatstroke could never stop the Midwest’s largest music festival as hundreds of thousands filled Grant Park for the fifth annual Lollapalooza festival in Chicago. The festival, which showcased over one hundred and thirty bands, went on for three days. Read on for a recap of five standout performances (as well as related videos).

5. Dan Deaon and Ensemble

Deacon, who generally performs his electronic circus act alone, was accompanied by a 12-piece band that could barely even fit on the stage. In an hour of what seemed like Terry Riley on acid, Deacon had the audience encircling and bowing to a giant phallic balloon in the crowd and even dancing through man made tunnels all across the festival grounds. In the last few songs, an entire marching band joined the Dan Deacon Ensemble to which Deacon said, “we’ve only done this once and that was a few months ago”. The sound that followed was huge.  This was easily one of the most original acts at Lollapalooza and quite possibly the loudest as well.

4. Portugal. The Man

After the sound guys woke up nearly 15 minutes into the set and the overwhelming bass sound was turned down, a very tight band shined through the rough.  Portugal opened with the track “Church Mouth” but half way through, the song dove into Three Dog Night’s “One is the Loneliest Number”.  This sporadic unexpectedness continued through the performance as the group played Frankenstein creations composed of fragments of songs as well as extended jam sessions stemming from them.  The performance was astoundingly technical and took the audience on trips through rapidly changing meters.

3. Band of Horses

When Jane’s Addiction started their set promptly at 8:30 right across the field, Band of Horses was not nearly ready to be done.  Lead singer Ben Birdwell simply pointed at their stage and yelled “we’ve gotta blast that shit out!” The band not only played one more song but three more going over their allotted time by a half hour. After the stage crew took Birdwell’s guitar away during a trip into the audience to sing “Ode To The LRC” he simply grabbed a tambourine from the drummer and continued playing. The show was amazing but unfortunately declaring sonic warfare on Perry Farrell’s band at his own festival is a sure fire way to ruin your chances of returning.

2. The Decemberists

Colin Meloy’s 5-piece performed their album Hazards of Love from front to back. Just as the songs appear on the album, there was no break in their set and due to some very well planned transitions the music flowed seamlessly for the entire hour. Having featured Shara Worden of My Brightest Diamond and Becky Stark of Lavender Diamond on the album, both made guest appearances in the performance.

1. Delta Spirit

This one took even Delta Spirit by surprise. When frontman Matt Vasquez walked on stage he was welcomed by a mob of fans that stretched beyond visibility. The band has only recorded one album, 2008’s Ode To Sunshine and did not have a huge fan base in comparison to many of the other acts at the festival but after an amazing and energetic performance on Saturday this will surely change. Few bands perform their songs as purely and accurately as the recorded versions but during the show, Delta Spirit had recreated Ode To Sunshine with such precision and perfection that it was almost better than the album itself.

PROS: raucous | energetic | organic feel

CONS: raucous | too much effect at times

Japandroids debut album, Post-Nothing, is mindless fun and pure genius. The album is an infinite reincarnation of the loudest and most exciting basement shows and captures the intensity in its overwhelmingly distorted guitar sound and painfully shouted vocals. The equation is as simple as the music itself, guitar riff plus crashing drums plus two sentences that are fun to yell through the course of a three minute track equals Post-Nothing.

Do not strain yourself to find any deep meanings here. The value is all on the surface. Anything poetic or complex would be wholly inappropriate for a track like “Young Hearts Spark Fire” during which guitarist Brain King and drummer David Prowse collectively opt for “I don’t want to worry about dying/ I just want to worry about the sunshine girls.”

The album maintains angst from the beginning of “The Boys Are Leaving Town” all the way to the end of the lonesome ballad, “I Quit Girls.” Unfortunately, the persistent energy detracts from the contrast and eventually it just seems like too much angst. There are not a whole lot of quiet tracks on the album. A guitar that is constantly torn into bits by effects pedals and spit out at crushingly loud volume levels does not have much in its vocabulary besides “ARRRRGH!” While this is characteristic of the style, the feel and the era that Japandroids attempts to channel, it would be nice if they could go a bit more “post-nothing” with it and try something a bit different.

For being made up of just two instruments, though, they really do push the envelope. A lot of this has to do with the production. The guitar comes out with a dark, full sound and its effects are very clear and present. The drums and vocals also fit perfectly into this mix. Through any computer speakers or cell phone headset, the music is nearly indistinguishable but with a nice pair of headphones or stereo speakers, the difference is huge. While this is true with any recording, the point is that good speakers are required to get all that you can out of this album. The lyrics and structure are not so much the focus of the music so the raw guitar sound is all the more important.

Overall, the album is quite impressive. It is time to throw your old Californication disc out of your car window and annex Post-Nothing as your driving down the street on a warm summer day jam. Not that Japandroids are anything like the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the album just posses a similar unexplainable need to be played loud in the car. While Post-Nothing may not be a thought provoking journey into anyone’s life or anything, it is a brain-blasting sonic experience that is best paired with sweaty, hyperactive white boys and head banging.

(4 out of 5 beards)

Track Listing

01. The Boys Are Leaving Town
02. Young Hearts Spark Fire
03. Wet Hair
04. Rockers East Vancouver
05. Heart Sweats
06. Crazy/Forever
07. Sovereignty
08. I Quit Girls

PROS: accessible | classic feel

CONS: lyrics lack depth | not as progressive as past releases | “Work All Day”

Portugal. The Man’s latest album, The Satanic Satanist, opens up with a guitar riff straight out of a Lynyrd Skynyrd song and maintains a consistent down-home feel for the duration of the album. This southern influence seems strange for a band from Alaska, but this album seems to be, at times, derived from southern rock bands such as Skynyrd and presents a strong mix of gospel-like vocals and hippie love-rock anthems in its own alternative packaging.

The Satanic Satanist appears to be the next step for Portugal. The Man since their 2008 release Censored Colors. Having adapted their own progressive, dirty blues style through their career, the band takes it back to roots on this album. Overall, the album is interesting and well crafted considering the band’s commitment to releasing albums on a yearly basis, but perhaps some more time would have done this one some good.

The individual songs, although refreshingly different from each other, are relatively generic and thin in content. The message and its presentation often seem like lead vocalist John Gourley thinks he is your grade school music teacher, but this sometimes works to the band’s advantage. “Pick it up and pack it up/ And put it in a bag/ Stack it up like cinnamon/ We’ll get it real fast/ Until there’s nothing left for you,” Gourley chants in “Work All Day.” It is almost impossible not to want to sing along to almost every song on the album. The lyrics are catchy and rhythmic and are repeated to the point just before they become annoying.

This release is not bad, just a bit disappointing. The Satanic Satanist does not live up to early albums by the band such as 2007’s Church Mouth (2007) or Waiter: “You Vultures!” (2006), but it has a few of its own gems.

“People Say” is a soaring antiwar protest that makes you feel like you are singing along at Woodstock. It is pretty uplifting for a song about war and is surprisingly cheerful for the opening track of an album by the name of The Satanic Satanist. For this reason, the track has a sort of unexpected feel that will make longtime Portugal. The Man fans smile.

The album comes to a close with “Mornings.” This is sort of the grand finale of the whole thing. Starting out with two very reverb-drenched guitars, this one soon erupts into a highly orchestrated ballad full of violins and the like. “Mornings” is a suitable end to the album and gives it a great epic conclusion.

As a whole, The Satanic Satanist is a much more experienced and mature Portugal. The Man. It shows a band that has grown up from its more punk-influenced works like Waiter: “You Vultures” and, as a result, is much slower overall and a lot smoother musically.

(3 out of 5 beards)

Track Listing

01. People Say
02. Work All Day
03. Lovers In Love
04. The Sun
05. The Home
06. The Woods
07. Guns & Dogs
08. Do You
09. Everyone Is Golden
10. Let You Down
11. Mornings