10) Boards of Canada – The Campfire Headphase
Have you ever wondered what your dreams would sound like if they were processed through a computer by a British opium addict? The Campfire Headphase is exactly that—an album of lush digital swirling and spinning through a synthesized dreamscape, sucking you in with its catchy repetition that doesn’t release you from its haze until the end of its final ethereal note.
9) Spoon – Gimme Fiction
From the moment the needle touches vinyl—because even if you’re not listening to Gimme Fiction in LP form, its faux ‘70s cool demands that you pretend you are—on the first track, “The Beast and the Dragon, Adored,” you can feel the brooding in lead singer Britt Daniel’s voice. This is rock that you drink straight whiskey to in a darkened bar. This is rock that is played on well-worn, sturdy guitars. This is rock with soul.
8) Lightning Bolt – Hypermagic Mountain
Hypermagic Mountain is an album of contradictions. Beauty coexists with violence; chaos flirts with sweeping orchestration and brutal noise melds perfectly with the low-mixed vocals that thud like a head hitting pillow. Lightning Bolt’s two-piece bass/drums combo is the swift kick in the ass that will remind you why noise rock is awesome, a kick that will leave you throbbing for days.
7) Bloc Party – Silent Alarm
Silent Alarm burst onto the scene just at the right moment—the crucial tipping point before indie kids abandoned their we-dance-ironically pretensions for the neo-disco sounds and unabashed booty shaking of DFA records. Thankfully for us, Bloc Party was able to ride this wave of British dance-rock onto iPods all over the land and pipe their infectious take on a stale genre into the earbuds of the masses.
6) Stars – Set Yourself on Fire
Stars, a Montreal import who shares members with the eclectic Broken Social Scene, did something amazing with Set Yourself on Fire. They managed to turn a manic, depressing breakup album into the sonic equivalent of a fuzzy blanket still warm from the dryer on a cold winter’s day. Cheers to them.
5) The Decemberists – Picaresque
Colin Meloy’s erudite and literate songwriting style has been a staple of The Decemberists’ sound for several albums, but he has never been able to perfect it until now. Whether it’s a ditty about writing fictions, heartbreak on the soccer pitch, or an epic sea shanty that recalls Melville you’re looking for, The Decemberists have assembled them all here, in fantastic surround sound glory.
4) M.I.A. – Arular
So yeah, being a Sri-Lankan-by-way-of-London female rapper may have given M.I.A. a built in schtick, but it was her witty rhymes and hyper-danceable beats that helped her to win the hearts of hipsters and thugs alike the world over, not to mention a talented team of mega-producers that helped to make her debut album one of the year’s best.
3) Kanye West – Late Registration
Jon Brion’s skillful production. Kanye’s unexplicably-enjoyable but akward diction and lovably tactless public persona. Jamie Foxx doing Ray Charles. Borderline cheesy yet heartfelt tracks. All of these can only add up to one thing: a damn good sophomore effort.
2) Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Hype is a funny thing; it dares you not to like a band. With their oh-so-annoying name and lead singer Alec Ounsworth’s nasal rasp, the Brooklyn quintet Clap Your Hands Say Yeah certainly seemed to have the odds stacked against them. But from the moment the poppy throbbing of “Let the Cool Goddess Rust Away” kicks in, all doubt about CYHSY melts away and the listener’s free to enjoy the stunningly great aural ride.
1) Sufjan Stevens – Illinois
With Illinois, Sufjan Stevens took everything that made his previous two albums near perfect—the lush orchestral feel of Seven Swans and the storyteller’s wit of Michigan—and created his first truly great work. Listening to the album gives one the feel of strolling through Hyde Park while angels sing down like rays of sun from the clouds of heaven. Here’s to hoping that New York is the next stop on his ambitious trek across the 50 states.
