The Pelican’s Perch

Let’s get some people riled up shall we? Of all my lists, this one should be taken with the biggest grain of salt. I’m sure some of these albums on this post are someone else’s favorite movie, so obviously this is simply a post highlighting albums that I thought would highlight the year, but for some reason ended up letting me down. And the finalists are…

after the jump!

Bloc Party
A Weekend in the City

I figured there would be general consensus with reviewers on this album after I heard it for the first time and thought, “What happened to Bloc Party?” I guess I was pretty much alone in my dislike for this album. Even Pitchfork gave it a 7.5/10, and they hate pretty much everything. But, I’ve given this album multiple listens, and while there are some songs I enjoy, it’s just such a bad departure from their wonderful debut album that I could never get over my initial thoughts. I figured, as much as I liked Silent Alarm, I would somehow convince myself to like it like I have with some other albums until it grew on me. Nope, not this time around I guess. Here’s a song from their previous EP Two More Years just for the heck of it.
Hero

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Matt Pond PA
Last Light

This one kills me to put on this list, but I just had to. I talked it up all year, watching the live youtube videos as they put them online in excitement, but once I got the album in my hands, I kind of just sat there listening to it the whole way through without ever feeling that vintage, “I love this song” feeling I usually have throughout Matt Pond PA albums. “Wild Girl” kind of peaked my interest, but overall, it’s a very bland feeling album for Matt Pond PA. While I’ve lost most that spark that made me like Bloc Party so much, I still love everything about Matt Pond PA and am not too deterred by this release. It just gets a big Oh Well from me.

Wild Girl

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Sondre Lerche
Phantom Punch

This one I don’t dislike exactly, I just think any Sondre Lerche album I don’t really enjoy ends up being somewhat of a disappointment. And so far this is the only album of his I’ve had to say that about. I love the guy’s music, and his turn towards more rockin’ songs turned me off the album. That’s really my only beef with this album, as songs like “Tragic Mirror” are still classic laid-back Lerche tunes, but I just couldn’t get into this album as much as his past ones. I’d still recommend it, and it probably should be on my honorable mentions list, but it ended up being surprisingly OK compared to his other stuff. Luckily, Lerche came back in full form on the Dan in Real Life soundtrack and made my slight disappointment in Phantom Punch much easier to take.

Phantom Punch

Tragic Mirror

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The rest of the not so good…

Voxtrot – Voxtrot

Many, many people loved this album, but I found out with this full-length that I prefer my Voxtrot in small EP doses. This full length seemed to blend into one similar sounding song after another. I’m sure you loved it, everyone did, but I’m fine being the wallflower at the Voxtrot dance party.

Air – Pocket Symphony

I love Air. I can’t figure this album out though. Moon Safari is a classic, and Walkie Talkie brought them back to gloriously down-tempo form, but this one I just couldn’t get into no matter what.

Archetecture in Helsinki – Places Like These

Sometimes an album is just too happy. And while I never really minded the sloppiness of their music, this time around it bugged me a lot more. Maybe I’m wrong, but it just felt like they jumped in the studio right after learning each song and gave it a go. Only, after doing that with every song they just released the album. Who knows? Maybe I’ve just lost whatever it was in me that made me like their last album so much.

Bjork – Volta

Too weird for me. Not as weird as her all vocal Medulla album, but Volta just lacked the Bjork charm and melody, instead going for the darker, minimalistic landscapes with songs like “Earth Intruders” and “Declare Independence”. I always preferred the prettier Bjork moments over her angry electro-beat driven songs. Unfortunately, this album is full of the latter.

Mae – Singularity

Too rock for me. Normally, I’d be all about Mae rocking out a bit more, but if I’m going to listen to some emo stuff, I’d prefer it to be piano and string driven like Mae’s older stuff. I’m sure most of you may be saying, “How are you disappointed? Mae sucks”, but we’ve all got our guilty pleasures, and no matter how much I secretely have liked everything Mae’s released, this one they simply tried too hard to rock out when all they needed to do was keep on rolling with their trademark sound.