Thirty Days of Music Day 08 - A Song That You Know All The Lyrics To

Ok so I admit I may have taken the easy route for this choice, considering Love Like A Sunset only has about ten lines of lyrics - but the song is completely worthy of being included in my 30 days of music. Sunset is a climactic, diverse, slow burning rollercoaster - one of the best songs from 2009 masterpiece Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix.

 Sunset is driven by dramatic bass and electronic doodling, and it progresses stage by stage becoming more and more tense. Phoenix have mastered perfectly the manipulation of volume for effect, changing effortlessly from loud synths and forboding bass to trickling, anticlimactic guitar. However, it turns out that the highlight of the song is when the lyrics kick in. You have to wait six minutes - is it really waiting, though, when the song is this good? - for the stunning Mars vocals to arrive, but when they do they’re breathtaking. The melody is unbelievably uplifting and the lyrics are simple but powerful, Mars singing out ‘Day comes/ A visible horizon/ Right where it starts and ends’.

 I saw Phoenix live at Reading Festival this year, and they were absolutely incredible. Love Like A Sunset is possibly the best live track I have ever seen, and they performed it to an even higher level than that of the album recording. Mars’ voice is brilliantly versatile, and Phoenix should definitely be on your list of bands to see live.

Top Albums of 2010

#10 - Teebs - Ardour

Singing birds and dropping coins are not sounds usually associated with electronica, however Teebs - otherwise known as California-based producer Metendere Mandowa - integrated them seemlessly into his hazy debut collection.  It seems somewhat ironic that music entirely electronic in form can so effortlessly embody the atmosphere of the natural world - Ardour's luscious collection of escapist electronica sends you back to summer; the scorching sun hanging high overhead; birds cavorting in the sky; long luscious grass surrounding you.  It's a perfect aural pick-me-up to counteract the depressing effects of the long, cold winter ahead.


#9 - Goldheart Assembly - Wolves and Thieves

Originally hailed as the UK's answer to a certain Seattle-based folk band, whose hallowed name I dare not mention, Goldheart Assembly, a sixpiece hailing from London, released their debut album in March this year.  Although it was highly unlikely for them to ever match up to their transatlantic counterparts, Wolves and Thieves proved to be an album of great class - Dale and Herbert's voices combine perfectly into hook-laden melody over their more upbeat, poppy take on 'traditional' indie-folk and they succeed in creating a great depth of sound both vocally and instrumentally.  Their live show is absolutely stunning and the band is incredibly tight - their sound can't be faulted and the on-stage banter is second to none.  See them if you can.


#8 - Big Boi - Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty

Big Boi faced a veritable obstacle course trying to get his debut album released this year.  The trailblazing rapper, who has often unfairly been palmed off as the other half of that band Outkast, was forced to move record label just to get Sir Lucious out here for us.  It's an unusual mix of funky, fast-paced keyboard-based tunes combining with Big Boi's smoothly intelligent rap.  He's found a great selection of collaborators, including Janelle Monae, Cutty and B.o.B.  Just think how good it could have been if Jive hadn't denied us three Andre 3000 collaborations.


#7 - LCD Soundsystem - This is Happening

This is Happening may well be the last album that LCD Soundsystem ever make - but if it is, at least they've gone out with a bang.  Murphy's upbeat mock-disco tomfoolery is still just as charming as it always has been, and you can't help but nod along to the unashamedly catchy melodies that dominate the album.   Happening is filled with uncompromising self-appraisal and social commentary, Murphy picking up on the subtlest nuances of social interaction without seeming pretentious or all knowing.  Considering LCD spent most of the album's composition totally wasted in LA it's impressive it still turned into another work of art to add to your collection.


#6 - Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

After the infamous Pitchfork 10.0 it seems to be the 'hip' thing to leave Kanye West off your Top Albums of 2010, but you just can't bring yourself to do it when he's gone and produced the best album of his career.  We all knew something good was on its way when we heard Monster and Power, but the strength of this album was an unexpected delight.  Like Big Boi, Kanye has roped in a selection of classy conspirators including Jay Z, Nicki Minaj (whose cameo on Monster seems to be hot news at the moment), John Legend and Rick Ross, but the collaboration of the album has surely got to be with Bon Iver.  Who could argue against the joint effort of two such talented artists?  Not me.


#5 - Laura Veirs - July Flame

Named after a peach that she saw at a farmers' market, the seventh studio album of American singer-songwriter Laura Veirs was released in January.  As you might expect from the title, the album draws upon the imagery of nature - but in the unusually dreamy Shakespearian way represented by the album cover - and also has the scope to explore themes of love, life and war.  Her echoing vocals are spellbinding, and the tracks find the perfect balance between sparse guitar and delicate piano.   This is probably Veirs' best album, and her beautiful vision is wholly epitomised in the swelling title track.  A few listens will send you rifling through her back-catalogue on the hunt for more gems.


#4 - Sufjan Stevens - The Age of Adz

The arrival of Age of Adz in November sparked some turbulence amongst hardcore Sufjan Stevens fans who felt he had over-deviated from his indie roots.  Adz saw Stevens introduce a more electronic aspect to his music, combining his old orchestral composition with new synths and beats.  You can't help but appreciate the audacity of the guy - leaving the style that had worked for him so well to experiment with new ideas - and you can't help but admit that Adz is a wonderfully creative, conceptually grand album. To be honest, it's worth the listen just to hear Stevens swear on a song for (what I think is) the first time.


#3 - Laura Marling - I Speak Because I Can

Laura Marling, pride of Hampshire, came into the spotlight when her debut Alas I Cannot Swim was released in early 2008.  Back then she was praised for her songwriting ability and witty yet romantic view of young love.  2010 saw her follow-up hit new heights, Laura showing a level of maturity far surpassing that expected of a 20-year-old.  I Speak Because I Can is a much darker, brooding album - Marling explores the responsibility of womanhood, her voice's natural punch is breathtaking and there is a decided urgency underlying her songs.  She has taken great steps in her honing of the indie-folk sound, and I Speak Because I Can makes a large number of older, more experienced bands look like amateurs.


#2 - Beach House - Teen Dream

American dream-pop duo Beach House have long been a critics' favourite, and with the release of third studio album Teen Dream they have only strengthened this position.  They have become masters of the ethereal sound, keyboard and guitar combining subtly under Legrand's haunting vocals, however, it's the poppy facets of the album that really make it stand out - Teen Dream is ridiculously catchy without descending into cheap, repetetive hooks.  If it's good enough to lure the likes of Beyonce and Jay Z to Beach House concerts, then it's good enough for us.

#1 - Foals - Total Life Forever

Total Life Forever, the second offering from Oxford indie favourites Foals, saw them depart from their barking, jerking math rock and progress into the unchartered territories of a more slick, more carefully composed sound.  Total Life is a large step up from their previous work - there is an unquestionable synergy of instruments, with guitar, drums, synths and bass working in perfect harmony with Yannis' new falsetto-filled, melodically driven vocals.  The album cover seems to represent their new sound perfectly - there is something tidal, almost aqueous, about the structure of the songs.  They are climactic and emotional; they transfer perfectly between gentle and restrained and loud and brash; the lyrics are abstract yet emotional and the hooks are perfectly considered.  Total Life Forever is a perfect example of how, through experimentation, a band can become so much more than they ever were.

Thirty Days of Music Day 07 - A Song That Reminds You of an Event

About 3 years ago I went to a fireworks show at one of my parents' friend's house.  He's an explosives expert and so the fireworks show was absolutely breathtaking, and my parents were kind enough to let me bring a friend along.  I took a friend called Joe, and at that time he was near obsessed with Fireflies, and so during the two hour journey to the fireworks show we sat in the back of the car listening to it over and over again.

This song is now linked so strongly to that event that it's all I think about when I hear it.  It seems fitting that a song about fireflies is linked to a night of incredible fireworks and, although I am not so in to that style of music any more, I still enjoy the song thanks to the memories that it brings to the surface. 

Fireflies is the sixth track from Finch's second album Say Hello To Sunshine.  Personally, I always preferred What It Is To Burn because I felt Finch left melody by the wayside with their second album.  There is no denying that both albums bring great intensity in their composition, but most of the tunes in What It Is are better composed - Fireflies is one of the only exceptions, matching up to classics such as Letters To You and Perfection Through Silence.  The chorus is simple but insanely catchy and the entire song is an intense, burning experience.  To a certain extent, it feels like it would be at home in Thrice's Alchemy Index Volume I: Fire.

Thirty Days of Music Day 06 - A Song That Reminds You of Somewhere

Sufjan Stevens' new album, The Age of Adz, was released in October during my first term at University.  The first single from the album, I Walked, is unlike most of his work previously, incorporating a more electronic, more synthesised side to his music.  When the album came out, I volunteered to review Adz for the Warwick newspaper, The Boar, and so I spent much of my spare time listening to the album and even did so whilst doing my work.

It's an experimental piece of epic composition that takes Stevens' work in a completely unprecedented direction.  Adz caused a stir amongst hardcore Suffy fans, but there is no question that he has kept up his famously high standards.  I Walked and the whole of the album remind me of Warwick campus - staying up late doing work, going to do the laundry, chilling in the tea shop.  It may seem like these are mundane activities, but it's small things that make the stay at University so much fun and this album is now inextricably linked to my life in Warwick.

If you wan't to see the full album review, click here.

Thirty Days of Music Day 05 - A Song That Reminds You of Someone

When the Cardigans released Long Gone Before Daylight in 2003, it wasn't long before a copy of it was on its way to my house.  My mum, who I have to thank for lots of my musical discoveries (including Fleet Foxes, Laura Veirs, Jackson Browne and Josh Rouse), introduced me to the album almost as soon as it arrived.  She's so into music that when a new album enters the house it tends to get played almost non-stop and I soon came to know almost the entire album off by heart.

Communication, a soft ballad of love and relationships, is probably the best track on the CD.  It starts with gentle guitar and Persson's beautiful vocals and progresses beautifully.  The song finishes with a beautiful blend of guitar solos and vocals that complement each other perfectly.  Persson sings out: 'But I don't know how to connect/ So I disconnect' and the song revolves almost solidly around her voice - of course, they knew their strengths when they made the song.  Persson's voice is so flawless throughout the entire album, and it is that which provides the driving force for most of the songs.

This song, and this album, remind of me of cold winters about six years ago when I would sit in the back room doing work and my mum would have this album on.  Most of all, though, it reminds me of my mum and her music taste and how similar hers is to mine. 

Other songs to check out from the album are You're the Storm, For What It's Worth and Please Sister.

Thirty Days of Music Day 04 - A Song That Makes You Sad

I really struggled to pick one song for this category because there are so many really incredible sad songs.  For a while I toyed with Konstantine by Something Corporate, but I feel its message isn't actually sorrowful even if the melody is.  I also thought about Winter by Joshua Radin and Hallelujah by Jeff Buckley, but these seemed a tad predictable.  In the end I was stuck between My Love Has Gone by Josh Rouse and Kingdom of Rust by Doves and I went for the latter.

The song itself is not classically, or stereotypically, sad - it's not slow, lilting and soppy, it's not quiet and gentle and it's not about doomed love.  Doves have created a song that is driven and progressive that also exudes earnest emotion and paints a bleak, beautiful picture of England.  Williams' vocals are simple in melody but they encourage contemplation.  He sings out 'My God/ It takes an ocean of trust/ It takes an effort it does' and it feels like the song could be applied to any part of our lives.

The video that so beautifully accompanies it is an almost perfectly appropriate interpretation of the song, and together they make one of the most moving pieces of art I've ever seen.  The shots of England are absolutely stunning and the conclusion of the video seems so genuine - it's as if the director has invested great personal and emotional experience into its creation.

Even though I have little other experience of Doves, this song alone gives me great respect for their songwriting ability and I would also recommend Caught by the River. 

Come back tomorrow for a song that reminds me of someone.

Thirty Days of Music Day 03 - A Song That Makes You Happy

Sufjan Stevens' Chicago has the power to warm just about anyone's heart - it provides you with six minutes of unadulterated happiness and has some intagnible quality to it that just inflates the euphoria within your chest.

When Illinois was released in 2005 it stunned critics with its orchestral grandeur, ambitious scope and evocative lyrics.  It was ranked highly on multiple Albums of the Decade lists, including a #1 from Paste magazine, and has been both critically and popularly acclaimed.  The whole album itself is so emotionally balaced - treading the fine line between sorrow and euphoria - and Chicago sits in the soul of the album, epitomising everything that it has come to represent.  It's filled with joyous trumpeting, swooning violins and uplifting lyrics.  The song seems to carry forward in a rush of released energy, and the lyrical content is uplifting without being cliched.  Sufjan sings out 'I made a lot of mistakes' without regret or anger but with a reminiscent fondness - the song revolving around the idea of rebirth from past experiences ('to recreate us/ all things grow, all things grow').  It works so well, just like the album as a whole, because the song seems to take happiness from sorrow - for every trough in emotion, there is a larger peak of joy that seems to heal the wounds.

The video above is a great live version - Sufjan puts on such an incredible show and the whole band are insanely talented.  His new album, which I've reviewed on here, was released a few weeks back and hopefully he'll be coming to Europe sometime next year.  I can't wait for it.