The Pelican’s Perch

15.
Damien Rice – 9
There’s no denying the man can write some heartbreaking love songs.  I often get crap from people for liking his music so much, but at this point there’s no denying his songs are just plain good.  Check youtube and you’ll find everyone and their mom trying to cover his songs, and 9 proves to be no different.  It’s not quite as good as O, but songs like “Elephant” and “Rootless Tree” show his incredible range in emotion from high to low in just a single song as a full orchestra explodes behind him.
mp3: Elephant (link under telechargez section)
 

14.
The Mountain Goats – Get Lonely
Darnielle has crafted possibly the best break up album of not only the year, but in a really long time.  I can guarantee if I have a big break up anytime soon, this will be on repeat.  The Sunset Tree was mainly autobiographical, but Get Lonely finds Darnielle storytelling yet again story after story of people losing each other.  Sad, but brilliant stuff from one of the best lyricists out there. “On the morning I woke up without you for the first time/I felt free and I felt lonely and I felt scared/I began talking to myself almost immediately/Not being used to being the only person there”
mp3: Woke Up New (#15 on that list)

13.
Andrew Bird – Fingerlings 3
Bird’s Fingerlings series has always been live albums from his tour, that most time he only sold on tour.  Hence the reason it was so dang hard to find the newest one until Fat Possum finally started selling it online in October.  Even though it’s mostly a live album, there are also a few instrumental tracks Bird recorded in his house with are amazing, and two of the live songs are ones that’ll be on his upcoming album.  There couldn’t have been anything more perfect to hold me over until his new one comes out this Spring.  Is there anyone’s music I love more than his?  Probably not.
mp3:  Dark Matter / Scythian Empire


 

12.
The Decemberists - The Crane Wife
Most times Colin Meloy’s lyrics go way over my head and I simply enjoy the great music.  I’ve read that this album’s based on a Japanese folk tale, which is summarized here.  But reading that brief summary about how Meloy said, “Hey, that’s a neat idea for an album”, and then hearing the album that resulted is ridiculous.  The man and his band are talented beyond belief, and while a few songs drag this album down, the fact that they signed to a major label and still have two 10+ minute epics shows they’re nowhere near reaching their musical peak.
mp3: The Crane Wife 1 & 2 (#1 song on that list)
 

11.
Grizzly Bear – Yellow House
I enjoyed this album when I first heard it, but it was really La Blogetheque’s live videos of The Knife and Shift that won me over.  Their tongue in cheek a cappella performance of The Knife is funny and impressive, plus seeing how uncomfortable the lead singer looks singing while walking down the street shows you how genuine these guys are.  Their music doesn’t try to impress anyone, and people appreciate it that much more because of it.  It’s a perfect calm summer’s day album and one I’ll listen to for quite some time.
mp3: On a Neck, On a Spit (#9 song)

10.
Michael Zapruder’s Rain of Frogs – New Ways of Letting Go
Before Andrew Bird released Fingerlings 3, I was trying to find something that would take his place until 2007 arrived.  Michael Zapruder was the answer.  Inventive storytelling, multi-instrumental, and just plain good music make up this excellent album.  The Rain of Frogs include Nate Query of the Decemberists, Johnathan Segal from Camper van Beethoven, Scott Pinkmountain from Pink Mountain, and 17 others.  Do yourself a favor and drop a measley $9.25 here for one of the year’s best hidden gems.
mp3: The Alchemist / Haymaker Market / Shepherd’s Purse



 

9.
Cursive – Happy Hollow
Cursive’s back, this time with a concept album which finds a town falling apart one person at a time.  The stories are mostly depressing, but the way Cursive weaves these stories in and out of each other is impressive.  The music itself is a nice balance between The Ugly Organ’s calmer feel and their harder style from earlier albums.  I was sad to see their cellist left the group, but cello was replaced by horns, and lots of them.  Most people are big fans of Cursive or don’t like them at all.  I’m the former and this album is a worthy addition to their collection.
mp3: Dorothy at Forty / Bad Sects


 

8.
Thom Yorke – The Eraser
The first time I heard there would be something Radiohead related released this year, I couldn’t contain my excitement.  When I heard it was a solo album by Thom Yorke, I was scared it’d just be a stripped down Radiohead album.  It is less energetic than most Radiohead stuff, but only further proves how much Thom Yorke contributes to Radiohead.  I was always under the impression that Johnny Greenwood did most the weird effects, but there’s plenty of it here.  For something to listen to while we wait for the next Radiohead album to come out, you couldn’t really ask for anything better.
mp3: Harrowdown Hill (#8 album)

7.
Electric President – S/T
This may have been my most successful album as far as people enjoying it after I showed it to them.  The fact that the two guys in this band recorded the album over eight months in their bedroom is impressive enough.  The fact that it’s this good just seals the deal.  It’s got that Postal Service feel, and while I hate comparing them to the Postal Service, Electric President have that electronic rock style down.  This was just one of many music projects the two members were a part of, and luckily this was the one that they decided to focus on.  Great stuff indeed.
mp3: Insomnia / Ten Thousand Lines / Good Morning Hypocrite



 

6.
Joanna Newsom – Y’s
Where does one even begin with this album.  Epic doesn’t really do it justice.  There’s really never been anything with this elaborate of orchestra arrangements that I can remember.  And the fact that it’s just four songs at 7+ minutes each is crazy.  This album answered all our questions as to what Newsom would sound like playing harp in a grand music hall with a full size orchestra behind her.  If my top five albums weren’t so good, I’d have no problem putting this at #1.  This is hands down the most ambitious and truely epic album I’ve heard in quite a while.
mp3: Emily / Cosmia (album #23)

5.
Albert Hammond Jr. – Yours to Keep
This is probably my most controversial selection on the whole list.  He’s the curly haired guitarist from the Strokes, and while most of you might ask how the heck he made the top five, I couldn’t really come up with an answer.  I simply love this album.  Every song was worthy of being selected as the mp3 below, and Hammond proves exactly why the Strokes started going downhill when they stopped listening to his song suggestions.  It’s much more than just a Strokes side project, and one of the only albums on this list that I never feel liking pressing the skip button.  It’s unfortunate the next Strokes album could probably never live up to this effort.  Very good job Albert and hopefully we’ll see more of his songs on upcoming Strokes album.
mp3: In Transit / Bright Young Thing


 

4.
Brand New – The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me
I hate that feeling I have when I talk about this album that I need to defend myself.  When it comes to rock albums released this year, nothing was as good lyrically, emotionally, and musically than The Devil and God.  Most people never get past the MTV image, since Deja Entendu was big with the teenage crowd.  With this new album, we see Brand New more mature and simply more consumed by the music they’re creating.  Jesse Lacey reminds me somewhat of Kurt Cobain with his ability to go from 0-60 emotionally in a few seconds while singing some songs.  The stories behind some of the songs on this album are pretty powerful, and the fact they made such great songs in response is admirable.  Take the song “Limousine”, which is about a tragic drunk driving accident after a wedding when the young flower girl was killed as a drunk driver driving in the wrong lane hit their limousine head on.  A better summary is found at the mp3 link below.  Anymore the term “emo rock” has been driven to mean nothing, but you begin to know what it truely means after hearing the songs on this album and listening to the lyrics.  Even if you’ve never been a Brand New fan, I still highly recommend this album to anyone, even if it’s just a single listen-through.
mp3: Degrausser (bottom of post) / Jesus / Limousine

3.
Anathallo – Floating World
There’s so much about this band I’ll probably never understand.  Their name, their slight obsession with Japanese folklore, how many members are actually in the band.  Regardless, this wins for best use of Japanese poetry in a song hands down.  These college kids sound more like college marching bandmates gone indie than I’ve ever heard before.  Only, instead of doing the usual marching band music, they’ve created some of the best post rock sounding music that’s nowhere near as depressing as Godspeed, has a lot more “everybody singing” choruses a la Sufjan, and song arrangements that give even Sufjan a run for his money.  I described Anathallo as a college version of Sufjan for the longest time, but that perception slowly faded as I listened over the year until I rarely heard Sufjan besides the fact that they both used horns and multiple singers.  Other than that, Floating World is a sound that is uniquely Anathallo’s.  If you’ve yet to hear of this band, check out the songs below.  The album is more of a concept album based on the Japanese folklore I mentioned before, so if you really want to get to know their music, I suggest listening to this album the whole way through, as songs blend into one another the whole way through.  Not quite as upbeat as Sufjan, but a worthy replacement in his abscence, much like Michael Zapruder was to Andrew Bird.
mp3: Hanasakajijii Four: A Great Wind More Ash /  Hoodwink / By Number

2.
Final Fantasy – He Poos Clouds
Owen Pallette’s skill with a loop pedal is only matched by Andrew Bird and Dosh.  I’d sit sometimes for a good half hour on youtube and watch video after video of Pallette playing live, like this one, building his songs from unrecognizable beginning plucks on his violin to full orchestra sound by the time he was done.  While it’s ten times more impressive to see in person, he still uses this method to record his songs, and He Poos Clouds turned me from a decent fan mainly because of his live stuff, to a genuine fan of the great music he creates.  I’m biased because of my orchestra playing background, but there’s no denying how great some of these songs are, whether you enjoy strings or not.  I’m a huge fan of strings in songs, as most of you know by now, and give me a whole album of nothing but, and you better believe it’s going to be high on my list.  But with this new album, Pallette simply blew my expectations out of the water.  Songs like “Song Song Song” and “This Lamb Sells Condos” stand atop the year’s best songs.  In the end, I think what keeps this from taking the top spot is that, as a whole, the album has a few too many slow parts.  Some are just downright strange.  But overall Pallette has created the finest modern classical fused with rock album since Andrew Bird’s Mysterious Production of Eggs.  That’s no small feat and hopefully that rumor comes true about his next project being working with Beirut.  That’s the only thing I think that could make Pallette better than he currently is.  One of the best albums of the year, and easily the most unique album you’ll have in your collection should you end up picking it up.  It’s a shame I couldn’t just put two number one’s.
mp3: Song Song Song / This Lamb Sells Condos

1.
Annuals – Be He Me
I should’ve been done with this list 20 minutes ago, but I just sat here for a while debating over and over which album should be number one.  I came to the conclusion that while He Poos Clouds won for pure originality and had two of the best songs of the year, it was Annuals’ Be He Me that I enjoyed listening to the most.  Their strange blend of  Animal Collective type singing, Arcade Fire intensity, and Broken Social Scene style of music left me wondering how in the world music this good could be made by a kid only 19 years of age.  It shouldn’t be possible, but Adam Baker and the rest of his band prove me oh so wrong.  Easily the song of the year, “Brother” opens the album softly with acoustic guitar over the sounds of nighttime only to be interrupted by one of the most intense chorus entrances of the year.  I’m not going to go as far as to say “Brother” is the sole reason this album is number one, because the first seven songs are all equally great, but it’s definately a big factor.  Although I struggled to choose my number one, the more I write about Annuals, the more I realize there really shouldn’t be any other band on top of this list than them.  This is my top 50 albums that meant something to me, and this album dominated the second half of my year and has yet to lose it’s charm even four months after it’s official release (I’d been listening to it a good month before that).  This album may not end up being as great to all of you as it was for me once you listen to the whole thing, but my decision was made a long time ago from the first time I heard “Brother” and the rest of this album.  It’s a worthy #1, and the fact that they’re so young almost scares me to think what kind of albums they’ll be pumping out in the future.  It’s something I’ll be waiting for eagerly in the years to come.
mp3: Brother / Complete or Completing / Bleary Eyed