Since I won’t be around for a few months, I decided to post my 2 cents on some of this young decade’s first few fine albums.
Vampire Weekend – Contra (01/12)
If you don’t already hate this band on principle, do give this a spin. Better yet if you liked their debut: Contra is at least as good, managing to maintain the fun vibe they became famous for and add (slightly) more variety to their music. The result, it appears, is another catchy record by these spoiled brats. No Lil Wayne appearances yet, though they do use auto-tune in one song and sample M.I.A. on another one.
Highlights: “Giving Up The Gun”, “White Sky”, “Cousins”
Spoon – Transference (01/19)
Is it their best album? Probably not. Is it awesome like their last several albums? Definitely. Transference is a beautifully sequenced record, equal parts studio and songwriting experimentation and superb pop sensibility – often within the same song. Transference is perhaps their least accessible album since A Series of Sneaks (though it sounds nothing like it), and another step forward for, err, minimalistic rock n’ roll.
Highlights: “Mystery Zone”, “I Saw The Light”, “Got Nuffin”
Beach House – Teen Dream (01/26)
Some message-boarder described this as “a supernova of an album”. Indeed, 2010 will have to be a really good music year for this to not make my end-of-the-year Top 10 list. Mellow-paced but intense, Teen Dream sticks to one mood and absolutely nails it. The arrangements are mostly quite simple, and the female vocals are deep and powerful. I really don’t know what else to say about this album other than that it deserves repeated listens.
I’ll go ahead and refuse to pick any highlights; if curious, inquire within Myspace.
Yeasayer – Odd Blood (02/09)
This is an awesome record, albeit a bit top-heavy. Some of the latter songs can be a little too much, but its best tracks more than make up for it. Yeasayer conjured a number of solid influences, from Radiohead to Oingo Boingo to Animal Collective (I know Jack would like to add Of Montreal to this list, though he’s not too happy about it) and put together one of first buzz-albums of the new decade.
Highlights: “Ambling Alp”, “Madder Red”, ONE”
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