AWmusic

I was a HUGE fan of John Vanderslice`s Emerald City (check the review from awhile back – Sept 07) and my 9th favourite album from 2007. Is it really that long ago? Anyway Vanderslice’s record wasn’t really liked by Pitchfork let’s say and that probably stemmed some of my anger toward the popular publication but I digress.

On Fetal Horses, Vanderslice reminds me why I really like him. His new record is Romanian Names and I’ll be sure to pick it up. I really find it hard to explain why I like him a lot. He’s really just a simplistic folk artist with some great song writing. I guess an easy comparison would be Chad VanGaalen with a more masculine/rough voice. Otherwise if you already like Vanderslice like I do, you definitely shouldn’t mind this track:

Fetal Horses by John Vanderslice

I actually hated doing this list…not that it was subpar but I think I would’ve felt better doing a review today. Just no writing quality in putting out this list though it’s great for traffic bait.

25. She’s a Rejector by Of Montreal (link)
24. Patty Lee by Les Savy Fav (link)
23. Open Doors by Josh Ritter (link)
22. White Dove by John Vanderslice (link)
21. Handsome Furs Hate This City by The Handsome Furs
20. Weekend Without Makeup by The Long Blondes (link)
19. Meat Market by Everybody Else (link)
18. 1234 by Feist
17. Wolf and Crane by Siberian (link)
16. Walcott by Vampire Weekend
15. Fluorescent Adolescent by The Arctic Monkeys
14. Apartment Story by The National (link)
13. Red Rabbits by The Shins
12. Impossible by The Shout Out Louds
11. Right Moves by Josh Ritter (link)
10. Up On Your Leopard, Upon The End of Your Feral Days by Sunset Rubdown (link)
9. (Antichrist) Television Blues by The Arcade Fire (link)
8. Bunny Ain’t No Kind of Rider by Of Montreal (link)
7. Unless It Kicks by Okkervil River (link)
6. Back in Your Head by Tegan & Sara
5. The Mending of the Gown by Sunset Rubdown
4. Oxford Comma by Vampire Weekend
3. Once and Never Again by The Long Blondes (link)
2. Mistaken For Strangers by The National
1. Our Life Is Not a Movie or Maybe by Okkervil River (link)

I did hate uploading tracks though and the linking stuff (takes forever). I also had to re-upload some tracks after annoying my friend Jack with bandwidth usage. Look out for the rest tomorrow.

50. A Girl in Port by Okkervil River
49. Shirin by Jens Lekman (link)
48. I Know I’ll See You by A Place To Bury Strangers (link)
47. For Science Fiction by Maritime (link)
46. Freak Out by Liars (link)
45. Phantom by Justice (link)
44. Sleep Deprivation by Simian Mobile Disco
43. Take Me To the Ballroom by the Moonbabies
42. Tthhee Ppaarrttyy by Justice (link)
41. Myriad Harbour by The New Pornographers (link)
40. Objects of My Affection by Peter, Bjorn and John
39. Blue Headlights by The Shout Out Louds (link)
38. No I in Threesome by Interpol
37. My Moon, My Man by Feist
36. Kookaburra by John Vanderslice
35. Paper Birds by Siberian (link)
34. Make A Plan To Love Me by the Bright Eyes
33. Philadelphia Grand Jury by the Fiery Furnaces
32. I Believe by Simian Mobile Disco
31. You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb by Spoon
30. I’m Not Going to Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You by the Black Kids
29. You Can’t Hold the Hand of the Rock and Roll Man by Okkervil River
28. Airship by Siberian (link)
27. Turn On Me by The Shins (link)
26. White Winter Hymnal by the Fleet Foxes (link)

I am going to go on a blogging break due to exams so look out for the top 30 songs of the year when I come back. This blog has made some huge strides in the last two months and while it seems hard to keep on rolling with taking a huge break.. we’ll see what happens.

# 10 Tegan & Sara – The Con
Original Rating: 5 out of 5
I still love this album after posting a very generous review of The Con. Granted it’s probably not that cool to have this in my top 10 but I just can’t do that. From top to bottom this is the perfect pop record in my opinion. It arguably had me singing (not a sigh to see) along whenever I had the album playing on my computer. Sure stylistically this is NOT for everyone but it’s still very enjoyable with good lyrics and overall catchiness despite rather depressing lyrics. Overall this album produced some great tracks and while they may not bring anything new to the table, music isn’t always about that.
Back In Your Head by Tegan and Sara
The Con by Tegan and Sara
Burn Your Life Down by Tegan and Sara

#9 John Vanderslice – Emerald City
Original Rating: 5 out of 5
Other then Pitchfork hating on this record. This album was praised by most as being a great record and upon listening to it I agreed. It is just soothing all the way throughout and I call it the perfect album to fall asleep to (not due to boredom). The lyrics are rather complex and do I understand what it all means? No but do I have to? I’m not that good at interpretations anyway. Artistically just how it’s put together the contrast of singing “White Dove” about a seemingly depressing story of a kidnapped and raped 8-year really had me amazed and thus the high ranking.
White Dove by John Vanderslice
Kookaburra by John Vanderslice
Numbered Litograph by John Vanderslice

#8 Les Savy Fav – Let’s Stay Friends
Original Rating: 5 out of 5
Les Savy Fav simply just rocks and they are the type of band I’d love to see live. While this album may not be something original/unique I could care less. From song to song it feels like they switch up stylistically and nothing is quite the same back to back. This band had the best intros to each song and really backed it up with strong bridges and really didn’t disappointed despite a strong intro to each song. I really want to see them live the more I listen to this album.
Scotchguard the Credit Card

#7 The Long Blondes – Someone To Drive You Home
Original Rating: 5 out of 5.
This album DID come out in the UK in 2006 but it only caught my attention when it was released over here. Wanting to see them live but couldn’t due to not having turned 19 (I was pretty bummed out). This album is another of the pop-rock variety but hey I love this album from top to bottom and maybe they should be a guilty pleasure but it has that catchiness that reels you in and doesn’t let go. This album does have longevity with me unlike a lot of poppy albums. It is almost 6 months since I’ve reviewed it and I am still quite high on this album if that says a lot. This album has spawned my two favorite songs of this year “Weekend Without Makeup” and “Once and Never Again”. I may decide to use the line of “You’re only 19 for godsakes, You don’t need a boyfriend” on a few girls on my age .
Weekend Without Makeup by The Long Blondes
Once And Never Again by The Long Blondes

#6 The White Stripes – Icky Thump
Original Rating: 4 out of 5
4 out of 5 is the lowest original rating I gave on both lists. It just says that I severely undervalued this album. This album SHOULD’ve been a 5 out of 5. Not that it was the White Stripes best effort but they took some major risks and went all over the place when in terms of style and still managed to have the songs addictive though the songs were definitely were complex compared to their “minimalist” style. Revisiting this album now makes me regret my original review but hey I can say I was wrong. Anyway I believe this album has the strongest 2nd half of album, most bands place their best stuff at the start but I start really loving this album surprisingly after the song “Conquest”. Icky Thump is proof that The White Stripes are one of the best bands of this decade.
I’m Slowly Turning Into You by The White Stripes

#5 Of Montreal – Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?
Original Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Of Montreal IS my favorite band if I forced to only pick one. HFAYTD is arguably not one of my favorites by them. It is still good though. I had a tough time adjusting it and it was a lot more complex in my opinion (at the time I really shied away from it). Being an Of Montreal fan I gave it as much time as I could and I was able to take it for what it is. While it may not rank high with me compared to their previous work, in comparison to other albums released this year, it’s still top 5 material so it says a lot about my love for Of Montreal doesn’t it? I still enjoy the simpler stuff by Of Montreal but this album is great from top to bottom and catchy despite being quite depressing.
Gronlandic Edit by Of Montreal
She’s a Rejector by Of Montreal

#4 Siberian – With Me
Original Rating: 5 out of 5.
I did my review last month after reading an e-mail from frontman Finn Parnell. This album was just off the charts amazing. I’ll promote them like crazy because they were one of the first bands to e-mail me about checking out their work and nothing else has really compared – seriously. What makes this album great? Well from top to bottom this album is amazing, great lyrically and musically solid. Currently a relative unknown but look out for them. I STRONGLY recommend you check out my past review and the tracks below and you should be changed into a fan of them. After listening to this album I keep pushing it higher and higher.
Airship by Siberian
O Orien by Siberian

#3 Okkervil River – The Stage Names
Original Rating: 5 out of 5
Okkervil River’s The Stage Name simply just rocks and can get you out of your seat dancing but the lyrical depth they display is just amazing. Almost every song on this album could make it on my top 30 songs on the year list but the only thing stopping this from being #1 or #2 is the lack of more songs… only 9 songs to set our hearts on. It is quality over quantity in the end but when you can get quality in quantity you definitely take it. I really like the mix of softer acoustic songs (A Girl in Port) and harder songs (Unless It Kicks). I already uploaded Unless It Kicks so I’ll upload Our Life Is A Movie or Maybe.
Our Life Is A Movie or Maybe by Okkervil River

#2 The Arcade Fire – Neon Bible
Original Rating: 5 out of 5
Neon Bible isn’t as good as Funeral. I tend to go back and listen to Funeral over Neon Bible any day. However, I really believe this effort is as good as it gets when it comes to a follow-up. Instead of songs about love, death and growing up you have something more serious on Neon Bible. It’s the grown up version of Funeral where we ponder god, politics, the effect of television and overall it gives off a more serious vibe. A much different album then Funeral but I enjoyed it immensely.
(Antichrist Television Blues) by The Arcade fire

#1 Sunset Rubdown – Random Spirit Lover
Original Rating: 4.75 out of 5
After listening to this album over a period of time, with the artistry, how could I not put this #1? I asked myself this and I couldn’t give an answer. I didn’t rate it perfect because I felt this album wasn’t for everyone and was difficult to like. I think that put it over the top for me. It won’t be everyone’s cup of tea but after sitting through it a few times… it has left me speechless. I probably will never understand the randomness that is this album but it fulfills what I would call a piece of art. Both ambiguous yet adding carnivalesque elements that my brain thinks is crack. This album takes a LONG time to really start liking but if you give it a chance you probably will see why some have rated this album so highly. I don’t think this has the best songs but as a collective whole this album just blows everything else away. This album has gotten reviews from across the spectrum but I really believe this is one of the most amazing things I’ve heard in my life!
Setting vs. Rising by Sunset Rubdown

I knew nothing about John Vanderslice before I decided I would check out Emerald City. I did check out his wikipedia entry after listening to the album.

This album was very easy to listen to from start to end, with Vanderslice’s singing it just soothes into your ears. This album has been all I have been listen to the past few days due to both it’s ease and when you check out the lyrics it makes it even more amazing. The lyrics are deep throughout and this is an artist worthy of checking out.

I liken him to Andrew Bird but better for me with a voice and style that is more to my tastes. You should take the time to check out John Vanderslice. He is political with his lyrics though I barely can tell unless I decide to check out the lyrics. It’s a great album all around and I will be listening to this album for weeks to come.

This album gets a 5 out of 5 from me. It has gotten pretty good reviews on Metacritic. Picking which songs I wanted to upload too a very long time. My favorite song though is “Numbered Litograph” but the rest of the album follows closely behind.

Here are two songs from the album:

Kookaburra.mp3

Numbered Litograph.mp3