Best of 2K10

Well, it's that time of year. Tis the season for sorting, organizing and ranking the best music of the year. And it's certainly been an interesting year. Big releases by big artists. Smaller artists getting much bigger. Bigger artists getting much smaller. Electro-operas. Witch House (yes, I too rankle at the imprecision of this descriptor). The return of shoe-gaze. And thank goodness, a whole lot less chillwave.

Tonight on my radio show (6:00 - 9:00 p.m. EST), I will be counting down my favorite fifty-ish songs of the year. Three hours of the finest music 2010 has to offer. Artists include (in no particular order): Jens Lekman, Elite Gymnastics, Fever Ray, The Knife, Beach Fossils, The Drums, Karl x Johan, The Radio Dept., Robyn, ceo, Vampire Weekend, Real Estate, Deerhunter, Arcade Fire, The Morning Benders, Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti, Glasser, Yeasayer, Houses, How to Dress Well, Active Child, Summer Camp, Oneohtrix Point Never, Games, Memoryhouse, jj, Tamaryn, Joel Alme, Tanlines, Sleigh Bells, Zola Jesus, Toro y Moi, Local Natives, Girls, Crystal Castles, Kisses, Balam Acab, Owen Pallett, Beach House, Panda Bear, Das Racist and Korallreven.

For those of you who will be in and/or around the greater Lexington, Virginia metropolitan area this evening, tune in to the broadcast on 91.5 WLUR FM. And, of course, for those of you further afield but near the internet, you can stream the show here.

If you have followed this blog for any length of time, you know of my great affinity for all things Swedish. In the spirit of this sentiment, behold: My fourteen favorite songs by Swedish artists released this year. One for every island in Stockholm. Is it possible to miss an entire country? I suppose so. Sweden I love you, and it's bringing me down.

Unlike last year, 2010 was not the strongest year for the Swedes. While they released some truly beautiful records (see: Tallest Man on Earth, The Radio Dept., ceo, and, of course, Robyn's seemingly endless Body Talk series), this year's singles pale somewhat when compared to past efforts. But then again, what I am really complaining about? So many great songs from a nation of nine million people? Perhaps a little perspective is in order.

14) The Knife - Colouring of Pigeons

13) Korallreven - Truest Faith

12) The Knife - Annie's Box (Alternate Vocal)

11) Joel Alme - You Remember the Good Times, But the Good Times Don't Remember You

10) jj - Let Go

9) Jens Lekman - The End of the World (Is Bigger Than Love)

8) The Tallest Man on Earth - Like the Wheel

7) Fever Ray - Mercy Street

6) Robyn - Hang with Me

5) ceo - Come with Me

4) Karl x Johan - Flames

3) Pallers - The Kiss

2) Korallreven - Honey Mine (ft. Victoria Bergsman)

1) Radio Dept. - Heaven's on Fire

And one to grow on. The Knife's live version of "Heartbeats." While the original is an absolute classic, this twinkling, spare reading of their 2005 breakthrough "hit" reflects, for me the true power of this group. Like all great bands, they trade in seemingly mutually exclusive extremes. Synthetic yet human. Cold yet affecting. Icy yet emotional. Their 2010 electro-opera Tomorrow, In a Year, is, in my opinion, one of the truly misunderstood releases of the year. But more on that later.

Every Day is Halloween OR The Rise of Witch House

And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, slouches towards so many iTunes playlists?

In the polymorphous world of indie rock, the past few years have witnessed the emergence of a number of artists widely feted for their wanton extolment of the myriad joys of, well, surfing. Channeling the spirit of early sixties era American pop, these groups have charted a jangly, upbeat soundtrack for a decidedly downbeat time. Given the bleak nature of nearly every recent prognostication, the disconnect between such songs and reality has become a bit alarming. Where do these people live? With Ina Garten? Well, strangely enough, New Jersey and California, but, nevertheless, the observant listener would not be surprised if, in some distant studio, a backlash was beginning to form.

In response to the proliferation of so many sun-soaked songs, a very loose collection of black-clad, somewhat philosophically-aligned artists has begun to amass on the distant musical horizon. These are scary times, and, one might argue, they warrant a scarier soundtrack. Well, have no fear. By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes.

Labeled alternately as “witch house” or “drag,” this sub-sub-sub-genre’s artists (SALEM, Balam Acab, White Ring and oOoOO, to name a few) are anything but a cohesive cohort. They do not sound alike, and they often draw inspiration from disparate and altogether unlikely sources. For example, when is the last time you heard an electronic artist reference Houston’s cough syrup-fueled, chopped-and-screwed hip-hop scene? However, in an independent music world increasingly noted for the utter meaningless of its endlessly fractal nomenclature, these artists’ categorical assignment is hardly as important as what their albeit minor rise might signify for independent music as a whole.

Of course, these artists provide a much needed counterpoint to the recent spate of largely suburban, irrepressibly sunny jams. However, they also represent a novel fusion of minor-key, synth-driven compositions and rap sonics. Much has been made recently of the internet’s impact on the dissolution of hard-won commercial musical boundaries, and in the songs of SALEM or oOoOO, you can hear a certain by-product of this deconstructive trend.

Furthermore, in their recontextualization of certain heretofore distinct musical signifiers, these songs further evince the radial and wide-ranging nature of the modern American playlist. Shawn Fanning: Behold your progeny. To even see a potential connection between rap and electronic music, one need be conversant in both forms. While rap/rock fusions are nothing new, SALEM et al are decidedly different from their boundary-defying antecedents. Rather than imposing rock structures and upon a rap song or simply layering rap vocals over snippets of a sampled rock soundtrack, they have rather divined a mystical middle ground between two seemingly diametrically opposed musical forms. Specifically, these artists represent the un-ironic appropriation and dissemination of the sounds and structures of a largely underground, regional rap scene for mass consumption by an American hipster public all too willing to embrace such polyglot auteurs.

Consider their handiwork: a great many of these songs employ the very same bone-rattling bass and 808 drum machine beats characteristic so many southern rap tracks, but feature, as you might surmise, little to no rapping (SALEM’s songs do feature the occasional narcotized rap verse). In its place one finds modulated vocals, dense synthesizers and a ghostly, nocturnal musical landscape reminiscent of The Knife’s genius 2006 release, Silent Shout or more recently, Karin Dreijer-Andersson’s solo debut, Fever Ray.

Sure, this music will never be popular, and it certainly won’t change the world, but it’s at least not totally unmoored from our modern condition. In its spectral, primordial rumblings, one almost feels the unease and discomfiture of the times. Furthermore, while these songs might appeal disproportionately to my inner-goth, their craft and construction also represent something of promise in an independent music world regularly mining a circular set of all too familiar influences and increasingly content to traffic in a style and sound that pair a little too well with a non-fat latte. What now, Howard Schultz? It just might be the season of the witch.

I've Moved...

to Wordpress. Sorry Blogspot! Check out my new blog:

http://onemaninasmallroom.wordpress.com/

Stream Taken By Trees' new album at NPR

And then there are those rare moments of synchronicity when everything falls into place. As previously mentioned, it's Taken By Trees week here at One Man in a Small Room, and over the next six days (approximately) I will be breathlessly counting down the hours, minutes and seconds until the release of Victoria Bergsman's much-anticipated (at least around these parts) sophomore solo effort, East of Eden (9/8 via Beggar's Group/Rough Trade). Get excited (if only I knew how to say this in Pakistani). Last Friday, I profiled her pleasant but perfunctory, Animal Collective cover (the gender balanced "My Boys"), and yesterday I discussed why I find the tale of this album's making so captivating. Today, NPR has the full album available for your streaming enjoyment.

The past few years have likely been a rather strange and surreal time for Ms. Bergsman. Her voice is known the world over (she was the reverbed female intoning her disregard for people of all ages on Peter Bjorn and John's ubiquitous 2006 single "Young Folks"), and yet she remains obscure. East of Eden is the kind of record that could very well change this.

This album seems completely without precedent. It's arguable that Eden represents something wholly new and different in an ever-expanding and increasingly inclusive independent music genre. If anything, it's a fitting testament to the adventurousness of a musical category ("indie") that has long been more commercial designation than sonic signifier. What would Pavement think?

Eden's charm lies in its "realness" (for lack of a better word - In this post- MTV reality age, is there any more hackneyed adjective?). Technology is so in right now. The interwebs are awash with laptop-fueled electro-pop. Pop music has once again embraced pillowy synths. In this modern age of comping, overdubs and perfect plasticene sounds, to hear a record that sounds so stripped, so bare, so live, so immediate, so human seems a rare thing indeed.

However, this impression is not without its irony. To a great extent, Eden is an album facilitated and even empowered by technology. For example, without modern recording software and the laptop, it's conceivable this record (in light of the unique, specific vision of its principals) could not have been made. However, while Eden was clearly enabled by technological advancements, unlike a great deal of pop music in this trend/"next big thing"-obsessed age, it is hardly defined by them. This album is another powerful example of an artist following her muse and, in the process, stumbling upon a sound, an aesthetic or, at the very least, an ethos delineating a possible, alternate direction in independent music.

As technology tightens its stranglehold upon the collective imagination of the American listening public, it seems entirely possible that stripped sonics and a certain regressiveness (or more specifically an "anti-technological" orientation) will once again become fashionable. Eden's distinct sound seems to suggest such a way forward; a way out of (or back from) this brave, new, glossy world. There will inevitably come a time when all this empowering technology will feel utterly limiting, and old will once again be new, and new will be so yesterday. "And what rough beast, its hour come round at last/Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?"

It's somewhat similar to the rise of garage bands in the wake of the full collapse boy band mania or the post-O Brother Where Art Thou ascendance of bluegrass in a time of nu-metal hegemony. Do you remember the White Stripes recording Elephant on acetate? Crazy, right? Don't they know we have computers for this sort of thing? Perhaps even the sepia-toned compositions, baroque harmonies and technical proficiency of a band like Grizzly Bear are further indications of the resurrection of an almost antiquarian, antediluvian sense of craft (and craftsmanship); a sensibility nearly drowned in the flood of self-expression unloosed in 1977.

For better or worse, this largely artificial, dynamic tension between "real" and "un-real" will always be a part of the popular musical conversation. It's nice to know that simply because this decade is almost over, there are still axiomatic realities upon which one can safely rely.

Stream Taken By Trees' East of Eden here (via NPR).

The Knife - You Take My Breath Away

Consider this your moment of zen. 2003 must have been a very confusing year in Sweden. How else to explain this thoroughly bizarre video? Powerful psychotropic drugs? Perhaps. I love the Knife, but this is easily one of the top ten worst videos of all time. It's got it all: Bad lighting. Terrible graphics. Jazzercise. Vinyl clothing. A mysterious, masked man (most likely Knife principal, Olof Dreijer) dancing badly (or, at the very least, European-ly) in very low light. A satin jacket. It's almost hard to determine if this is some sort of joke or an unflinching and frighteningly accurate depiction of Swedish hipster culture circa the early Aughts (if this is in fact the case, it seems oddly similar to the imminently regrettable British "chav" scene)?

Over the past few years, the Knife have become one of the world's most mysterious bands, and, these days, it's exceedingly rare to see them unmasked. What must it be like to interview the Dreijer siblings? The press photos for their 2007 breakthrough Silent Shout featured pictures of the band in Venetian masks (see above). When they toured the world in support of this album (the first time they'd ever played live), they wore masks and dark bodysuits, and, if the accompanying DVD is to be believed, performed a great many songs in near darkness or very dim light.

I guess the amazing thing about the video for "You Take My Breath Away" is that Karin Dreijer-Andersson (the other half of The Knife and the young woman dancing on the left) is so obvious. To actually see the band in such a recognizable way, in light of their recent and considerable efforts at obfuscation, is jarring. It's almost hard to believe it's the same band. It's a bit like viewing those early clips of Daft Punk before they donned their robot helmets. The Knife were a very different band in 2003, and perhaps the palpable tension between these two wholly distinct identities/incarnations is tellingly reflective of what the Knife were and what they've become. Or maybe it's just further evidence of what they've always been. At the very least, it's another great example of what makes the Knife so compelling. You just never know what they might do next.

I have been listening to the Knife a lot as of late. This nascent interest is likely the result of my recent fascination with all things Fever Ray, all this talk about the Aughties and my sincere love of "Heartbeats" (my #3 track of the decade, P4K's #15 - ahead of even R. Kel's "Ignition (Remix)" - Amazing). After listening to both Deep Cuts and Silent Shout many times in the past week, I have become convinced of two things:

1) Silent Shout (P4K's #1 album of 2006) is in no way as terrifying as I initially thought. I couldn't even listen to this thing when I first bought it. It was just too scary. I blame Pitchfork, their "Haunted House" tag and the power of suggestion. While it's entirely possible I've become hardened in the years since I last listened to this album, it's also arguable that Silent Shout is less "out there" than it seemed upon initial release. It has been three years, and the past few years have been a pretty good time for countless, once fringe-worthy forms of electronic music. Two words: fidget-house. I rest my case.

Nevertheless, this album is unsettling. There's a strange tension in most of The Knife's songs, and this, in addition to their shapeshifting and creativity, is likely why critics find them so fascinating. They make a music that engenders simultaneous, seemingly diametrically-opposed reactions (terms like "icy warmth" or "human automaton" come to mind) Perhaps it's all the vocal tricks. Or their cold, windswept sound. Or maybe it's Ms. Dreijer-Andersson's witchy, metallic vocal tone. Or the relentless precision of their nocturnal soundtrack. Perhaps it's simply the creepiness of the lyrics. Nevertheless, this is music from a very dark, deep and forgotten well, and, while it appears the Dreijers sincerely enjoy frightening the listening public (at least for now - Fever Ray's (Ms. Dreijer-Andersson's solo project) recent album and companion videos are nothing if not terrifying), it's safe to say their next release (they are currently working on an opera about Charles Darwin - you know, no big whoop) will sound nothing like this.

2) I love The Knife's "You Take My Breath Away". Forget the video. This song is great. To be perfectly honest, I first heard this tune two weeks ago. I bought it on a lark and at the behest of some anonymous reviewer on iTunes. As with "Heartbeats" and their Robyn collaboration "Who's That Girl", the strength of this song lies in the empathetic, almost hip-hop-ish interplay between the vocals and the synthesizer. Dated as it may sound and incomprehensible as its lyrical allusions may be ("We raise our heads for the color red"?), "You Take My Breath Away" is smart, meticulous, so retro it must be futuristic, pop music. While it is totally different than Silent Shout, this song (and the best moments Deep Cuts for that matter) offers a brief and early glimpse of the incomparable genius of a band that would go on compose the definitive electronic album of the past ten years. Ghoulish and impish as they may now be, the Knife is one of the most compelling pop groups of the past decade.

Taken By Trees - How to Record an Album in Pakistan

It's Taken By Trees week here at One Man in a Small Room productions. Get excited. Today, Victoria Bergsman's National Geographic feature, tomorrow the world. Or maybe just a Dan Lissvik profile.

Editor's note: Admittedly, this video has already been posted on a number of other blogs, and, yes, I realize that this is hardly groundbreaking stuff. However, it's not intended to be. This is simply my way of counting down the days (seven and a half, to be exact) until the release of East of Eden, a release I believe will be counted among the year's best. Between this album, The Very Best's excellent Warm Heart of Africa and Fool's Gold's self-titled debut, it's shaping up to be a very global fall. Who knew?

Admittedly, as a blogger in this post-9/11/Operation Enduring Freedom age, you feel a certain hesitancy when typing the word "Pakistan". Perhaps it's all the Fareed Zakaria GPS I've been watching as of late. Or perhaps it's simply the apparent incongruity of mentioning this country on a blog about independent music (perhaps Pakistan has a big "noise" scene of which I am unaware). Nevertheless, as I've previously noted, for this new Taken By Trees album (East of Eden out 9/8) and, really any Swedish artist, I will endure any amount of heightened government scrutiny. Bring it (please note, gentle government observer, that I don't really mean this - I am merely posturing for my loyal readers who likely assume me to be far more insouciant about these kinds of things than I really am).

Admittedly, I would have been interested in this project even if it had not taken form/flight in "the world's most dangerous nation." As I've previously noted, I am a huge Dan Lissvik fan and have pretty much enjoyed everything he's ever done (from Studio, to his excellent remix work, to his eponymous solo project, to The Crepes (his recent band with The Embassy's Fredrik Linson)). However, there is something I find so endlessly fascinating about the notion of recording an "indie" (whatever that means) album in a place as wild and seemingly hinterlandish as Pakistan. Who does this sort of stuff? Apparently two Swedes with a love of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and nary an interest in recording in a cold, clinical studio space.

The whole story of the making of this album is so completely transfixing, so singularly exceptional, but not in that typical rock 'n roll, Behind the Music, "we were so smacked out (insert drug-specific dazedly confused-related derivative here), we had no idea what we'd recorded" sort of way. This record seems to be as much about place as its principals (perhaps the inspiration for the title), or perhaps, more specifically, the effect of place upon its principals. These days, given the rise and proliferation of increasingly convenient, portable recording technologies, it's rare to hear an artist make a big deal about where an album was recorded. Perhaps this is what I find so fascinating about East of Eden. In a world full of records that could have been recorded literally anywhere, it's refreshing to hear an album that truly sounds like it was recorded somewhere (and somewhere very specific, at that).

From the sound of everything I've heard, East of Eden is a gigantic step forward from Victoria Bergsman's (ex-Concretes/"Young Folks") spare, monochromatic and, frankly, pretty dull debut, Open Field. Seriously. When's the last time National Geographic interviewed anyone, let alone a largely unknown artist, about the recording of her forthcoming album? I suppose this is what happens when you stop being polite and choose to record in Pakistan. Behold. Music without borders:

Taken By Trees - My Boys

Guess what? More Swedes. I suppose it's a mostly Swedish Friday here at One Man in a Small Room productions. Behold: Taken By Trees/Victoria Bergsman (ex-Concretes/"Young Folks") cover of P4K's #9 song of the Aughts, Animal Collective's "My Girls" (the gender-balanced "My Boys"). There's been a lot of chatter about this version on the interwebs for some time now, and, admittedly, covering a song that is so obviously an instant classic is a tall order.

Ms. Bergsman's reading is a little more jaunty (good call Stereogum) and compact than the original, and, while it's certainly pleasant, it hardly improves upon Noah Lennox's all but definitive reading. In fact, it seems to further the notion that Animal Collective are nothing if not un-coverable. Upon hearing Ms. Bergsman's treatment I couldn't help but think "Why?". Some things just can't be improved, bettered, bested. More than likely, it's intended to be something of an encomium, but, even so, of the songs I've heard from her forthcoming Dan Lissvik-produced album, East of Eden (out 9/8 via Beggars Group/Rough Trade), "My Boys" is my least favorite. Interesting side note: Noah Lennox actually appears on Eden track "Anna".

If nothing else, you've got to admire Ms. Bergsman's courage, and this cover hardly dims my already chronicled anticipation for this album's release. In fact, I'll go out on a very short limb and say that 1) East of Eden will be my favorite album ever recorded in Pakistan and 2) In two weeks everyone will be talking about this record. Download "Watch the Waves" here.