The third installment of our presentation of the 40 records that impressed us the most in the first half of the year continues with the following ten fine albums by Protomartyr, Quilt, Real Estate, September Girls, Sharon Van Etten, Sleaford Mods, St. Vincent, Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks, Sun Kil Moon and Swans. Have a listen below:
The A-Z of the first half of 2014 (pt.3):
PROTOMARTYR - Under Color Of Official Right
QUILT - Held In Splendor
REAL ESTATE - Atlas
SEPTEMBER GIRLS - Cursing The Sea
SHARON VAN ETTEN - Are We There
SLEAFORD MODS - Divide And Exit
ST. VINCENT - St. Vincent
STEPHEN MALKMUS & THE JICKS - Wig Out At Jagbags
SUN KIL MOON - Benji
SWANS - To Be Kind
Previously on The A-Z of the first half of 2014: Part 1 Part 2
Hope you all had a great time during the Easter and Record Store Day weekend. After a brief spring break, we’re back to the business of celebrating our favorite music by bringing you the lists of the albums and songs we’ve enjoyed the most during March and April 2014 in the latest installment of Listening Habits.
The top of our album list belongs to St. Vincent’s excellent self-titled LP, her fourth and best effort so far. Annie Clark continues to evolve and shape her individual sound, inventing a unique voice that transcends her influences. Her economic guitar playing never tries to steal the show, yet never seizes to offer subtle surprises and throw curve balls that catch you off-guard. The melodies are as strong as ever throughout the record while anxious synth-funk lines keep erupting here and there, keeping you on your toes. "St. Vincent" takes Annie Clark’s music to another level, one that very few will reach this year!
Of course Annie Clark was also in the news this month when she performed "Lithium" with the surviving members of Nirvana at the band’s induction ceremony to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It was certainly a great idea to pay tribute to Kurt Cobain and what Nirvana stood for by having female singers to perform with them and I’m certainly jealous of the handful of people who got to see the band performing afterwards at a small club with some fine guests. Maybe they should do this again, but next time for more people, perhaps at a festival? Just a thought…
One of the bands that follow in the footsteps of Nirvana and all the other great '80s and '90s indie rockers is Cloud Nothings. Dylan Baldi’s group keeps the guitar rock fires burning with "Here and Nowhere Else", two years on after the amazing "Attack on Memory". Their furious sound doesn’t draw outside the lines of indie-rock’s past, but their passion and conviction is certainly impressive and their songs can hold their own next to those of their heroes.
The same can be said for Protomartyr who with their sophomore album "Under Color Of Official Right" do not reinvent the post-punk genre but offer plenty of evidence that this sound remains just as vital in the second decade of the 21st century as it was about 35 years ago.
Real Estate also know the value of the underground musical treasures of the '80s but keep digging deeper, going all the way back to the '60s to find melodic inspiration. "Atlas" is another sure-fire hit for those who crave gentle indie-rock with a dreamer’s heart.
The Top 5 of our Spring 2014 album collection is completed with the highly anticipated return of EMA, a.k.a Erika M. Anderson, with her second solo album "The Future's Void". Not as raw sounding as her 2011 astonishing debut "Past Life Martyred Saints", but still an intense listening experience that draws inspiration from cyber-punk. The opening "Satellites" is an overpowering digital assault to the senses, without a doubt one of the finest tracks of the year, a song that opens up intriguing possibilities that EMA needs to explore further in the future.
Here are our 20 favorite albums and tracks for March - April 2014:
Top 20 Albums
1. St. Vincent - ST. VINCENT
2. Here And Nowhere Else - CLOUD NOTHINGS
3. Under Color Of Official Right - PROTOMARTYR
4. Atlas - REAL ESTATE
5. The Future's Void - EMA
6. Burn Your Fire For No Witness - ANGEL OLSEN
7. Grassed Inn - BLANK REALM
8. Tomorrow's Hits - THE MEN
9. Motivational Jumpsuit - GUIDED BY VOICES
10. July - MARISSA NADLER
11. Big Inner: Outer Face Edition - MATTHEW E. WHITE
12. After The Disco - BROKEN BELLS
13. Old - DANNY BROWN
14. Corsicana Lemonade - WHITE DENIM
15. Drenge - DRENGE
16. Marginalia - BABY GURU
17. Once Part Of A Whole Ship - EGG HELL
18. March - FÜR IMMER
19. Zebratronic - POSTCODE
20. Punk 45. Kill The Hippies! Kill Yourself! The American Nation Destroys Its Young. Underground Punk In The United States Of America, Vol.1 1973-1980 - VARIOUS ARTISTS Top 20 Tracks
Just before we start unveiling our year-end lists for 2011 (debuts, singles and albums), let’s take a closer look at some of the best records we’ve listened to in the last couple of months.
Regular Cool Music Central visitors will not be surprised to find The Fall’s latest LP (their 29th to be exact) at the top of our album pile. Consistency and the uncompromising rock'n'roll vision of Mark E. Smith is what sets this band in its many incarnations over the years, apart and above all competition.
"Ersatz GB" is, in a way, The Fall's heavy metal album, proving that there is still room for surprises in the unique Fall sound blueprint. "Greenway" (adopted by a recording of Greek joke-metal band Anorimoi) starts with a behemoth of a guitar riff and introduces Mark’s death metal voice, while the slow and heavy "Monocard" steals a page or two from Black Sabbath’s book of doom. The unusual folk of "Happi Song", written and sang by Elena Poulou, throws another curveball by not sounding like a Fall song at all. Elsewhere, it is business as usual for Mark and his troops (David Spurr, Pete Greenway and Keiron Melling complete the rest of the lineup which amazingly remains stable for a third LP), with propulsive tracks like "Cosmos 7", "Nate Will Not Return" or "Age Of Chang" delivering the rough edged, raw and aggressive sound that the Fall faithful have come to expect from the band and the reason we’re keep coming back for more for as long as Smith sees fit to stubbornly keep going at it.
Veronica Falls and Soft Metals offer two new additions to our "Best Debuts of the Year" list (more on this subject in the coming week) with their eponymous albums. Veronica Falls put their own, particularly enjoyable spin to the whole girl group-garage rock-'80s indiepop combo we've enjoyed lately with a record filled with catchy, energetic, straight-to-the-point songs, while Soft Metals (as we've already pointed out here) draw inspiration from all sorts of electronic sounds from the '70s and '80s with a twist of new wave's resplendent darkness added for good measure.
"Original Colors", High Places'excellent third long-player, is the L.A.-based duo's most dance-floor friendly release so far, with fluid rhythms and chilled out synth melodies accompanying Mary Pearson’s majestic vocals. The highly addictive nature of their enchanting sound looks certain to bring High Places for a second consecutive year among the highest places of our year-end album list.
More enchanting sounds and harmonies, in this case guitar-based, are to be found in Real Estate's sophomore work "Days". The New Jersey band follows the example of its recently reenergized neighbors The Feelies, creating the sort of majestic guitar soundscapes which could become the perfect companion for a road trip. And in case your road trip needs something a bit more psychedelic, try following "Days" with Wooden Shjips’ latest effort, "West", for your maximum trippy enjoyment. As for The Black Keys' just-released seventh effort, all I can say right now is that with every new spin of their "El Camino" this week, the album keeps climbing up in our year-end list, reaching higher and higher. Tune in around Christmas to see where exactly it will end up.
Top 18 Albums
1. Ersatz GB - THE FALL
2. Veronica Falls - VERONICA FALLS
3. Original Colors - HIGH PLACES
4. Soft Metals - SOFT METALS
5. Days - REAL ESTATE
6. El Camino - THE BLACK KEYS
7. West - WOODEN SHJIPS
8. Creatures Of An Hour - STILL CORNERS
9. D - WHITE DENIM
10. David Comes To Life - FUCKED UP
11. The Whole Love - WILCO
12. The Rip Tide - BEIRUT
13. Portamento - THE DRUMS
14. Endless Now - MALE BONDING
15. Lenses Alien - CYMBALS EAT GUITARS
16. Circuital - MY MORNING JACKET
17. Bon Iver - BON IVER
18. Our Own Dream EP - KEEP SHELLY IN ATHENS
Top 20 Tracks
1. I’m His Girl - FRIENDS
2. Two Different Ways - FACTORY FLOOR
3. Nate Will Not Return - THE FALL
4. Lonely Boy - THE BLACK KEYS
5. Bad Feeling - VERONICA FALLS
6. It's Real - REAL ESTATE
7. Banksia - HIGH PLACES
8. Psychic Driving - SOFT METALS
9. Lazy Noon - KEEP SHELLY IN ATHENS
10. Into the Trees - STILL CORNERS
11. Black Smoke Rise - WOODEN SHJIPS
12. I Might - WILCO
13. Santa Fe - BEIRUT
14. Holdin’ On To Black Metal - MY MORNING JACKET
15. Bess St. - WHITE DENIM
16. How It Ended - THE DRUMS
17. Bones - MALE BONDING
18. Definite Darkness - CYMBALS EAT GUITARS
19. Total Decay - THE SOFT MOON
20. Dark Eyes - CRYSTAL STILTS
