The time has almost come for me to make my yearly albums list - the rundown of the best new additions to my musical library the past year. This year, I've decided to supplement the albums list with a list of specific songs, which in one way or the other have been instrumental in the year in music that has just passed. Both to highlight specific tracks off some of the stronger albums, but also to give mention to some of the strong tracks off weaker album, that won't make the albums list. These 15 songs are all songs I didn't or barely knew a year ago, and I've restricted myself to only one song per artist, thus having to omit tunes such as Bon Iver's 'Skinny Love', Foals' 'After Glow' and The xx' 'Crystalised'. Finally, the 15 songs are sorted not by prominence, but alphabetically by artist!
So, here goes!
Animal Collective - 'MY GIRLS' (Merriweather Post Pavilion, 2009)
On an album that haven't thoroughly caught my attention (yet, it might still do), 'My Girls' stands out as by far the strongest track, and even that only really came to me after I saw almighty Pitchfork rate this as the track of the year of 2009. An epic and honest homage to something as corny as family values, 'My Girls' is a song with extraordinary dynamics and a starry feel, despite the fact that it develops very little throughout.
Arctic Monkeys - 'CORNERSTONE' (Humbug, 2009)
Humbug is a marvelous album, containing a quite a few extraordinary tunes, that have developed very differently for me, as I have listened to the album again and again, but the backbone has ultimately always been 'Cornerstone', a quite atypically balladic Arctic Monkeys tune, with lyrics teeming with loss, lust and a desperate hunt for the enchanted.
Bon Iver - 'FLUME' (For Emma, Forever Ago, 2008)
Arguing just which track on Bon Iver's magic debut is the centerpiece is essentially futile, as this is very much an album that appears as a whole - in its sound and thematics. 'Flume', however, as well as being the often instrumental opening track, represents a lot of the traits that makes For Emma, Forever Ago brilliant. The understated yearning and the almost chilling intimacy.
Broken Bells - 'THE HIGH ROAD' (Broken Bells, 2010)
Danger Mouse and James Mercer's collaborative project, Broken Bells, is one of the very interesting names that have emerged during the first six months of the new decade. While the album itself is perhaps not quite strong enough to make my personal yearly list, it will almost certainly feature prominently on the consensus end-of-year rankings. 'The High Road' is the strongest track on this album - an awesomely melodic tune.
Cut Off Your Hands - 'OH GIRL' (You & I, 2008)
In the less solemn department, we find Kiwi outfit Cut Off Your Hands. The album itself isn't much to speak of, but a few of the songs are really likable, such as 'Oh Girl', which is just that kind of simple, well-crafted indie-pop tune with easily relatable lyrics, that everyone needs every once in a while!
Delphic - 'ACOLYTE' (Acolyte, 2010)
'Acolyte' is a somewhat atypical title track, as well as is it an atypical backbone of a record, which is nonetheless exactly what it is - a backbone; an anchorage of sound. Surrounded on both sides by potent electro-indie tunes of more conventional length and build, 'Acolyte' is clearly where the Manchester three really let loose, and immerse themselves passionately into mind-blowingly beautiful escapades of synth tricks and twirls.
Foals - 'SPANISH SAHARA' (Total Life Forever, 2010)
Total Life Forever is growing on me these days like few albums have ever done before, but even though magnificence emerges from quite a few tracks on Foals' sophomore effort, 'Spanish Sahara' is still the point where the shit hits the fan. Like an eye of the storm, resting firmly in the middle of this exciting and challenging album, 'Spanish Sahara' is a beautiful piece of songwriting eminence.
Gorillaz - 'ON MELANCHOLY HILL' (Plastic Beach, 2010)
Gorillaz' very critically acclaimed third record is admittedly nowhere near my albums list, as it is very much a periphery of my musical tastes. 'On Melancholy Hill' has however lately emerged as the sweetest, simplest little tune, that sounds just like a sunny daydream.
Jónsi - 'GO DO' (Go, 2010)
All right, some people might find this song nauseatingly over-the-top. I find it beautiful however, notwithstanding its corniness - it encompasses the scope and aura of some of Sigur Rós' tunes, but delivered in a more ecstatic and accessible fashion. It is a song about exactly what the title suggests: Go do something, anything! An awesome tune for mornings!
Junior Boys - 'FM' (So This Is Goodbye, 2006)
One of the few songs on the list, that hasn't actually been released within the last year, 'FM' is somewhat of a late addition. There are however very few ways to finish off an album in more beautiful and heart-breaking fashion than this. As I have suggested earlier on this blog, this song means a lot to me, as to some extent it describes the period of life I am going through right now.
Tbe National - 'SLOW SHOW' (Boxer, 2007)
On an album as critically acclaimed as Boxer, being the consensus best track takes something. That is however, what 'Slow Show' is generally regarded as being. This is an enchanting tune, especially when it changes key in the final part - the honest and ultimate exclamation of a long lost love found. I don't know what it is in this song that moves me so much, maybe the honest and sincere admission of flaws and mistakes. If there was to be a #1 on this list, this might very well be it.
Oh No Ono - 'EVE' (Eggs, 2009)
It's hard to etch out a single track off this impressive album, but if it had to be one, it might well be the underestimated 'Eve', which showcases just how far this band has come since their very superficial debut. It still amazes me, how a band, that has produced such frivolous tunes as 'Keeping Warm In Cold Country' and 'The Tea Party' can turn 180 degrees and cook up such a moving piece of grief and abandon as 'Eve' is - the dynamics of masterfulness.
The Temper Trap - 'SCIENCE OF FEAR' (Conditions, 2009)
I remember when I first head 'Science of Fear' on P3. Le Gammeltoft announced this as the new shiznit in indie, but honestly I was a bit disappointed, as I had expected something groundbreaking. I tried to find it in the drum pattern, I tried to find it elsewhere, but this was just good old guitar-oriented indie. Which is exactly what I have since come to realize that The Temper Trap delivers in such imperious fashion on their entire debut album - and 'Science of Fear' is the crown jewel.
Yeasayer - 'O.N.E.' (Odd Blood, 2010)
Back when 'O.N.E.' roamed the airwaves some months ago, I didn't really regard it as much, but after having been able to hear it in different situations than driving my parents' car around, I've come to cherish it as an extraordinary pop track, dealing with schizophrenic feelings of missing and longing for someone whom you try to convince yourself you don't need to hold on to anymore.
The xx - 'HEART SKIPPED A BEAT' (xx, 2010)
Off another of the most interesting releases of the past six months, 'Heart Skipped A Beat' has eventually emerged as the strongest track of xx in my opinion. This is where the intimately captivating duets of this band's two singers align themselves most clearly with a touching, moving lyrical theme.
The albums list will be due in a month's time!
