10 Favourite Albums of 2009

well since there's one more day left before the new year, more like less than 6 hours to go. I'm gonna cobble up a list of my favourite albums this year. 10 albums. Here goes. Alright, enjoy your new year folks!


Kings of Convenience - Declaration of Dependence



The xx - xx



The Black Atlantic - Reverence for Fallen Trees



Miike Snow - Miike Snow



Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix



Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillion



The Antlers - Hospice


Atlas Sound - Logos



Fever Ray - Fever Ray


Florence + the Machine - Lungs

50 Favourite Songs of 2009: Part II

Phoenix - Lisztomania
The term "Lisztomania" was coined by the German romantic literary figure Heinrich Heine to describe the massive public response to Franz Liszt's virtuosic piano performances. There were allegedly screaming women at these performances, and the audience was sometimes limited to standing room only. In this case, the same could be said of Phoenix - the legions of fans they're gained from the release of "Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix", and subsequently the release of Lisztomania as a single. The catchy pop tunes reverberate as with the effervescent killer hooks this French outfit are making theirs. The ebbs and flows characterise this feel good indie pop number that makes us wanna dance on air.

official, myspace, last.fm


Delorean - Seasun
Tight, beach side dance song, groovy have been used to describe this track from Delorean, hailing from Barcelona. Not as frenzied as one would like to call it, nor as frenetic, it's more apt to call this house(?) track exuberant. The deep bass beats coupled with the synths, builds this song up, as it bides it's time to bloom into full glory. It doesn't throw you headlong into the vortex and let you stand on your own - it nurtures and ensures that once the awesomeness that this song is engulfs you, you would be standing and dancing to and basking in this gorgeous thing called Seasun.

myspace, last.fm


Bibio - Lover's Carvings
Pretty obscure track for the year which I feel deserved more. The lovely instrumental intro could stand on it's own. However, the song abruptly ends one third of it's way through. For a split second, one couldn't be faulted for thinking something's wrong. But as abruptly as it stops, it suddenly breaks into a upbeat musing of love and carvings on the wall. The folks-y feel blends seamlessly with the electronica employed by Stephen Wilkinson. Go ahead and feel totally at ease listening to Lover's Carvings for I too, am doing so.

maybe they're telling us
that the end
never was
never will

myspace, last.fm


Bon Iver - Blood Bank
This is what Jagjaguwar has said the following about the content of the EP: "As much as Emma is about the cold, the Blood Bank collection(or if you'd like to think, just the track) is about the warmth that gets you through it. You can feel the air move. Like a fire you've been stoking for hours and finally got to sustain itself, the heat blisters your face while your back is frozen solid." Sentimental and deeply intimate, it's almost as if Justin Vernon is baring his soul. Gentle and melodic, it's like wine. Tasted and drunk slowly, so that you can savour every bit, the nuances and the subtlety. Enjoy.

official, myspace, last.fm


Fever Ray - When I Grow Up
When I Grow Up evokes a certain rawness, coupled with measured insanity, "i put my soul in what i do/last night i drew a funny man/with dark eyes and a hanging tongue" You would give your all say, in your favourite sport, or maybe in rigorous academia, or even drawing. Yet all her soul was put into what she did, drawing a funny man with dark eyes and a hanging tongue. In the video, the tribal feel to her songs are nearly reproduced in most songs from her debut album "Fever Ray", and is clearly evidenced by her in the video. The almost manic, demented and catatonic air to the song is supplemented by an eerie soundscape which in my opinion is excellent experimentation.

official, myspace, last.fm


The xx - VCR
The xx have managed to squeezed something so delightful and wondrous into under 3 minutes. The intro piques your interest as it's almost as if the cutesy beats skim the surface of the water, begging you to catch them. They break into minimalist lo-fi instrumentation that has been the main stay of quite a number of bands, only that they exemplify this. Melancholic Romy Madley Croft has her turn, before the laidback droll of Oliver Sim takes over, and they merge together with all that samples going "I think we're superstars, you say you think we are the best thing". True to that, they're (one of) the best thing(s).

official, myspace, last.fm


The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Young Adult Friction
The lyrical content of the song starkly contrasts with their band name. Young Adult Friction muses in catchy pop hooks and frantic beats of a romp in the library "among the dust and the microfiche", but one realises it's only a girl using the guy as she probably is trying to get over an ex in "you're taking toffee with your vicodin/something sweet to forget about him". Lastly, she realises it's not working and they "go your own way i will go my own way". While Kip's vocals almost borders on twee, their fetching, whimsical pop that never fails to delight the listener seem so effortless on their part and I love it, other than their ridiculously long band name which is a hassle to type.

official, myspace, last.fm


Röyksopp - Happy Up Here
The bleeps and bloops dot this funky upbeat soundscape by Norwegian duo Röyksopp. Short of being cutesy, Happy Up Here is like an opus on how to have fun. (As you can see, I'm getting tired and lazy. Gee. )

official, myspace, last.fm


The Antlers - Kettering
A brilliant song about a guy who's hired to look after this patient in a hospital, it is littered with vivid descriptions - which evokes desolation right to the very bone. The video is just a collation of photos. But that's where I'm wrong. It is not JUST a collation of photos, but a very elegant and masterful one. A lot of thought must have been put into choosing the photos (the person who uploaded the video is not the person who took the photos). That said, most of the credit must be given to the photographer for the beautiful photos. The song and video doesn't just tug at your heart strings, it resonates deep within your soul, making you wonder how and what could have sparked such loneliness, devoid of hope as the songs tails off with "and i didn't believe them when they told me that there was no saving you."

official, myspace, last.fm


Aeroplane Pageant - Stars Still Pretty
Aeroplane Pageant have come up with a lovely track in Stars Still Pretty which goes on about what exactly I'm not sure. Amid all the cheeky playfulness as they seem to have fun, Brian Kelly's vocals stand out as unique along with that nice bass.

Things and people, things with wings
Things that scream, things that won’t

official, myspace, last.fm

The Saturday Mix #16

Faunts - Feel.Love.Thinking.Of (Mexican with Guns Remix)
I love both versions of the song, the original being slower and makes you want to sink into the song, with the remix being trippier and slow-groove.

The Raveonettes - Last Dance
oh sweet boy. if their new album is anything like Suicide and Last Dance, I'm so gonna love it. There's a bit of that electronic, groovy beats and mainstream-ish lyrics. Awesome.

Burns - Teknique

deadmau5 & Kaskade - I Remember (Caspa Remix)

Fever Ray - If I Had A Heart (Familjen Remix)
Yet another remix from the plethora of Fever Ray remixes out there, and I must say it's pretty well done. Gives the song a bit of buzz.

Gossip - Love Long Distance

Gossip - Love Long Distance (Fake Blood Remix)

The Saturday Mix #13 - just like the saddle in the foggy mist

Delorean - Seasun
Fresh and dancey EP they have, Ayrton Senna. Check the post with another song of their Song, Deli.

Sally Shapiro - Love In July

Shiny Toy Guns - Start With One (Classixx Remix)

Fever Ray - Seven (RealDaniel Remix)

Miike Snow - Animal (Fake Blood Remix)

Passion Pit - The Reeling

Passion Pit - The Reeling (Miike Snow Remix)

saturday night fevaaaaaaaaaa. not exactly saturday though.

Well, what's reaching fever pitch here in Singapore is the upcoming F1 race held from 25 to 27 September 2009. It's the first night race in the whole world, and this is the 2nd year that Singapore is hosting this prestigious and supposed glamour that comes along with it (think Monaco). It's all up to the Singapore organisers to put out all stops to make this year's event even better than last year's, which set the bar pretty high, in the eyes of most industry insiders. That said, something else is reaching fever pitch, and that's FEVER RAY.

Some may have heard of The Knife, and in fact along with Fever Ray, I've featured them before. The Knife is siblings Karin Dreijer Andersson and Olof Dreijer, who run Rabid Records, which also released Fever Ray's eponymous album. So now, The Knife is taking a supposed 3 year hiatus, and Olof has gone back to working on his solo DJ project while Karin... obviously did something. Something that could be so huge and reach fever pitch in the genre of electronic music - releasing her first full length solo album.



While I won't profess to know much about electronic music, I think anybody with a discerning ear can tell that Fever Ray is something different (whether good or bad is another question altogether but I'll leave that for later). So electronic music sounds electronic (it's really retarded but for the lack of a better word, I'm really bad with words), there's a different spin to her electronic, which I'll put it as tribal sounding? I feel as if I'm being tied to a totem pole, with these face painted tribal people dancing around me. Ok I digress. But there's this manic, demented and catatonic feel to her songs. The lyrics, the melody, the accompanying electronic beats. Does "i learned to not eat the snow/my fur is hot, my tongue is cold" sound vaguely sane? Seems like she wants to become an animal or sorts to me. This unhinged feeling resonates throughout most of the album, accompanied by a alluring sort of warbling and elusive feel. It's like the lyrics are floating towards me, and try as I might to grab it, everything just slips through my fingers. Again, the discerning ear is able to tell that there are all sorts of different sounds, produced by a plethora of instruments I would suppose, proof of her experimentation in this genre.



When I Grow Up evokes a certain rawness, coupled with measured insanity, "i put my soul in what i do/last night i drew a funny man/with dark eyes and a hanging tongue" You would give your all say, in your favourite sport, or maybe in rigorous academia, or even drawing. Yet all her soul was put into what she did, drawing a funny man with dark eyes and a hanging tongue. Seven is a stark contrast, singing about how she talks to a friend she knew since she was seven, about banal things such as the dishwasher tablets, intimate stuff like love, and dreaming together about heaven. But one might be inclined to wonder if that friend actually exists. What is said at her site, is that you can figure out for yourself whether a song such as If I Had A Heart, which sings of “Dangling feet from window frame/ Will they ever reach the floor/ More give me more give me more”, is inspired by observing her young children. Or if Concrete Walls, despite its ghostly demeanour (that seemingly masculine vocal is, as always, Karin working the voice transformer) and sense of entrapment, is actually about new motherhood, as revealed in “I live between concrete walls/ In my arms she was so warm/ Eyes are open and mouth cries/ Haven’t slept since summer.” Or whether the regular references to snow reflect anything more profound than the national climate. (Note: I took this from her site because I wanted to present a different side to what her album is like, and it's hard to say what was said without differing much from it, so I figured showing everything as it was. So note that the portion after the 'her site' link, was not written by me.)

This is a Swedish gem (more and more good stuff coming from this Nordic country it seems), and I hope more can actually uncover it's brilliance. That said, Karin/Fever Ray's different is something sublime, and it enthralls you for all it's feverish mania. Personally, I can't find anything to fault in this album, and it could mean more to come for both Karin herself, and The Knife as a duo. To sum this album and Fever Ray up succinctly, one would only need to look at If I Had A Heart's "more, give me more, give me more". More indeed.


Fever Ray - If I Had A Heart

Fever Ray - Concrete Walls

Fever Ray - When I Grow Up (D Lissvik Remix)

Fever Ray - Triangle Walks (Rex the Dog Remix)




Bonus:
The Knife - Heartbeats (Rex the Dog Remix)

most window-gazers never know what they witness

Kaskade & deadmau5 - Move For Me

Fever Ray - Seven

Reverie Sound Revue - Walking Around Waiting Downtown
Love. This. Song.

THIS MONTH: BANDS TO PUT ON YOUR AURAL RADAR

1. Reverie Sound Revue



They are considered an indie pop group, hailing from Canada. Comprising Lisa Lobsinger(vocalist), John Marcel de Waal(rhythm section), Bryce Gracey(rhythm section), Marc De Pape(guitar) and Patrick Walls(guitar), they only recently released their first self-titled full length album.

Reverie Sound Revue - One Marathon

official, myspace, last.fm


2. Fever Ray



Fever Ray is actually Karin Dreijer Andersson, so while she's not a band, she's one half of The Knife. Her brother, Olof Dreijer, makes up the other.

This is said of her on the official website, "Constantly inventive, restlessly emotive, Fever Ray swaggers, broods, intrigues and dazzles without ever making concessions to the soap opera demands of modern media." And it's hard not to agree, that even in this electronic genre, she serves to make herself stand out with a unique sound that is both compelling and surreal, it draws you right into the heart of it, and I dare say no one does it better than her.

Fever Ray - Keep the Streets Empty For Me

official, myspace, last.fm


3. Moscow Olympics



This will essentially be a re-post of what I've said before, which is nothing much. I can't dig up much information about them, other than the fact that they are a dreampop, 4 piece band from Phillippines. Talk about unknown. Nevertheless, it doesn't stop them from being awesome and I hope they continuing producing more good stuff.

Moscow Olympics - Still

myspace, last.fm

good out of evil. LONG WEEKEND YALL!

This has been a pretty awful week for me, and what better way to celebrate the start of the weekend and the end of a lousy week but a playlist. Here's a massive playlist, by my standards so far. Got a little lazy at the end, adding remixes only, but I realised the mixes were pretty dope too. So here's the massive 15 songs. Yowza.

Peaches - Mommy Complex

Doves - Kingdom of Rust

Kings of Leon - Closer

CSS - Music is My Hot, Hot Sex

Crystal Castles - Vanished

Pictureplane - Goth Star

Friendly Fires - Jump In The Pool

Friendly Fires - Jump In The Pool (Thin White Duke Remix)

Röyksopp - What Else Is There?

Röyksopp - What Else Is There? (Thin White Duke Remix)

Röyksopp - What Else Is There? (Trentemoller Remix)

Great Northern - Houses

Magic Wands - Black Magic

Fever Ray - When I Grow Up

Anberlin - Miserable Visu (Ex Malo Bonum)

The Saturday Mix #5 - It's TIMEEEE

Sally Shapiro - Miracle

The Most Serene Republic - Heavens to Purgatory

Fever Ray - Triangle Walks

The Decemberists - The Wanting Comes In Waves

Animal Collective - My Girls
reminds me of the Home Video - I Can Make You Feel It video.

Dan Deacon - Snookered

The Knife - Neverland

i think Snookered is a fantastic song, and I think he's one to look out for. Incredibly talented and worth checking out. May feature him soon, look out for it.