I realize I am down to the last minute for posting year-end favorites, but I am glad I didn’t feel pressured to meet anyone else’s deadlines because I would have regretted not including several that made this part of the list. For one thing, I was only recently alerted to the fact that Rural Alberta Advantage and The Airborne Toxic Event had re-released their 2008 albums that I did not get into until very late last year and early this year. For another, a couple of very fine late finds leaped onto the list to replace some other albums that I felt only lukewarm about.
Due to issues with WordPress not handling large posts with lots of HTML code very well, I am splitting up the second half of my Top 20 albums into two posts. The next piece will publish tomorrow.
11. Rural Alberta Advantage - Hometowns
Rural Alberta Advantage’s debut album features minimalist folk-punk with whiny vocals that instantly and unexpectedly channel Neutral Milk Hotel. Last January I regretted missing this album on last year’s Favorites list. I can gladly make up for that now.
Rural Alberta Advantage - Rush Apart from Hometowns
MySpace | Buy | Hometowns Album Review
12. The Airborne Toxic Event - Airborne Toxic Event (Deluxe Edition)
I did not begin to seriously listen to Airborne Toxic Event until I knew we were going to see them at the Coachella last April. Mikel Jollett has a storyteller’s songwriting skills, and this band is one heck of an act to see live. The deluxe edition of ATE’s 2008 album adds acoustic versions of “Gasoline” and “Sometime Around Midnight,” two of their best songs.
The Airborne Toxic Event - Papillon from The Airborne Toxic Event
MySpace | Buy | Airborne Toxic Event at Coachella 2009
13. Sea Wolf - White Water, White Bloom
While I have read that Alex Brown Church’s songs on White Water, White Bloom were inspired by living in Montreal, when I listen to them I see the grand mountainscapes and rushing rivers of northern California. I have so rarely heard the beauty of nature described so clearly and without oversentimentalizing them. The title song is just one of many examples, although the bonus track “Stanislaus” and “O Maria” are also big favorites of mine.
“And coming through the mist into the calm and clear
In the emerald gleam I can feel you near
The dogwoods on the banks glowing in the gloom
On every naked branch, a beautiful white bloom”
Sea Wolf - White Water, White Bloom from White Water, White Bloom
14. Silversun Pickups - Swoon
It took three years and a lot of experiences to put Silversun Pickups’ follow-up to Carnavas, one of our top albums of 2006, on the table. Swoon relates the ups and downs of those years, including the possibility of infidelity in “Catch and Release”–always a road hazard. Songs like “Panic Switch” and “The Royal We” provide the familiar blister of the first album, but the lyrics are clearer and the production is nicely smoother.
“We can laugh about it now
We hope everything works out
Be careful how you lick your wounds
Believe that change is coming soon
How many times do you want to die?
Do you feel safe again?
Look over your shoulder
Very carefully look over your shoulder”
Silversun Pickups - The Royal We from Swoon
MySpace | Buy | Silversun Pickups Concert Review
15. Division Day - Visitation
On their second full-length, Division Day delve less into full-tilty-whirl rock bashes they hammered out on debut Beartrap Island (like “Ricky”), one of the exceptions being “Malachite,” which happens to be one of their older songs. The others are bit more pop-y, even airy and floating, like “Azalean,” nonetheless, Visitation is a satisfying follow-up, with tantalizing dark edges. Rohner Stegnitz has one of my favorite voices in rock; and he is just outstanding on the opener “Reservoir,” “Azalean,” “My Prisoner,” and my favorite “Carrier.” “Visitation” has the neck-prickling chill of a ghost story, and “Chalk Lines” is Division Day at their churning best.
Division Day - Reservoir from Visitation
MySpace | Buy
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