Top 10 #10: Top 10 Albums of 2009 That I Kind Of Thought About Buying But Then Didn't (Part Two)

. . . Continued!

5. The xx — xx

Yeah, so apparently they make a big deal about the "xx" being lowercase. I'll try not to hold that against them.

This band has been making waves lately; they don't look cool, and not looking cool is an excellent way to be cool, but that's not why people are paying attention to them. What makes the xx unique is their sound, which is incredibly stripped back: as other bloggers have noted, they make four musicians sound like two. That kind of sonic restraint is incredibly rare in modern pop. Even better, they have the skills to use this restraint in service of some really spectacular tension-&-release songwriting. It's quite unlike anything else out there right now, and it's great.

But not great enough for me to spend money on it just yet, apparently.

4. Red Riders — Drown In Colour

Their debut album, Replica Replica, should have been a much bigger success – the damn thing was absolutely crammed with excellent, hard-edged guitar pop. But Red Riders don't seem to have the right image for success, or something; they're just too tuneful for the hardcore, too artsy for the popsters, too Sydney for the Melbourne. And apparently one of their (multiple) singer-songwriters has left them since the first album, which is a huge shame; they could have been so much more, if they'd all stuck together . . .

But that's people, I guess. In the meantime: if the second RR album has half as many kickarse songs as the debut, then it will be worth buying. Either way I'll be buying it eventually, I'm sure.

3. Lily Allen — It's Not You, It's Me

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Aw, look – she's just so damn pleasant! I don't know what it is, but there's something about Lily Allen that I just find massively, ineffably appealing. I feel like I probably shouldn't like her music, but I do. It's neat, sweet pop; the lyrics are usually way more clever than they should be; and even when it's bitter and sardonic, which is most of the time, it's also damn nice. At her worst, she's not quite right, but at her best she's excellent.

2. Sarah Blasko — As Day Follows Night

I've written about Sarah Blasko before, but I guess I like to repeat myself.

Sarah Blasko is excellent. Her latest album appears to be even better than her previous albums, which were also very good. Enough said?

1. Florence And The Machine — Lungs

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Florence is epic. I'm not exactly sure how she ended up at #1 on this list, though; her legs may have carried her over the line, I guess. That and her voice, which is astounding. I'm not usually the kind of person to be too impressed by a conventionally tuneful singing voice, but her voice is simply huge; the album title is apt. I've no idea if the rest of her album lives up to the interesting potential of the few singles I've heard so far, but I'm sure it's worth a shot. That, and I worry that she'll beat me up if I don't give her money.

And there you have it – Top 10 #10! And I'll be posting Top 10 #9 will before New Year, turkey permitting.

Merry Xmas!

--the Musical Thoapsl

Rage Roundup @ 22 May '09

I saw some music videos on Rage, and here are some words about the three most of them.

Q. Three most what?

A. Shut up

okay let's go

Too Fake — Hockey

The embedded clip is a live performance – you'll have to follow the headline link to get to the actual video clip, because EMI policy is conceived by drooling moronic dustcakes. (I mean come on, people! Music videos are advertisements, so why disable embedding? Is uncontrolled free publicity honestly worse than the possibility of being embedded in an unfavourable context, or whatever? Dustcakes.)

Anyhow, the video is pretty dull & unremarkable, so who cares.

As for the music: I can't tell if it's a ripoff of Rapture / !!! / etc-style dance-rock circa 2003-2008, or if... no, actually I can tell, the music is definitely a ripoff of that style. But the lyrics are weirdly ironic and enough to make me think twice. Singing "I'm just too fake for the world" in a tone which could be both bitter intensity or a completely breezy joke – it's a very unusual posture to listen to. I honestly can't tell if it's a clever statement or something completely empty, so I guess that's probably the point.

And I wouldn't have paid any attention at all if it wasn't a catchy chorus, too, so there's definitely something here. But then again – am I giving these guys too much credit? It's a catchy tune, but also too repetitive. Let's see what else they can do before we make rash decisions. Okay then.

All I Want — Sarah Blasko

"All I Want" is a terribly generic song title. That's about the most severe criticism I can come up with for this one.

It's a gorgeous video – beautiful dark light, and a weird sort of mystic-Victoria-Western visual vibe that's a great match to the music's Morricone-ish strings & whistles & drums. And then at the end (SPOILER) she destroys ghost gunfighters using magic smoke from her hands! Awesome.

Seriously, it's a beautiful piece of music. I wasn't thinking about Blasko's new album before, but I'm really looking forward to it now.

Dust Devil — Madness

So a band from the '80s are reformed, and releasing a new album? The lead single isn't crap? Hm.

It's very unusual for a band that's been around so long to release music that sounds exactly like you remember them, but also feasibly new. On the other hand, Madness weren't much of a typical sound in the first place. Even so – it's unusual, right? There's an interesting & original melody here, it's a pleasant piece of music all over, this is nice stuff. But its existence is definitely unusual.

So why is it (usually) difficult for pop musicians to be productively creative past their first decade, then? Is it just a lifestyle thing, the difficulties of living music while also living life & family? Is it an industry thing, unwilling to finance old troupers when the new ones are prettier (and cheaper too)? Bob Dylan released another album the other day. AC/DC's* recent album was surprisingly good. And yet.

Aw, let's assume it doesn't even matter. There's enough room & time to listen to everyone. Yes?

*what's the html tag for 'lightning bolt'?

Okay, folks, I've got a big week ahead so I'll have to leave it here for now.

But in the meantime, if you like: for a Bonus (!) let's check out Eagle And Talon. Yes Yes '90s revival is GO, my friends, let's enjoy it where we can. I am an abominable snowman! Right on.

--the Musical Thoapsl