VAMPIRE WEEEKEND
Contra
Vampire Weekend has been one of the biggest new names for me this past year, culminating in their amiable performance at Roskilde Festival. Contra, the band's second album, hasn't caught on to me quite as much as the eponymous debut one. That being said, Contra is still a lovely little album, that takes the Brooklyn quartet's afro-pop inspired indie in a lot of new directions. 'Horchata' and the effervescent 'California English' are curious and very artsy pieces, while 'Run', 'Cousins' and 'Holiday' are all well-crafted pop tunes. The fact that Contra went straight to #1 on the Billboard 200 - a feat accomplished by very few indie-releases - speaks loads about the band's impressive talent, and while the campus bards have grown older on Contra, it is still the same wink and wit that drives them forward.
LCD SOUNDSYSTEM
This Is Happening
I have mixed feelings about LCD Soundsystem. At the same time as his long productions tend to become enervating and drawn out on some of his records, it's just that - the long, meandering, crescendoing songs - that's Murphy & Co.'s biggest trump on stage. James Murphy is a wizard in amalgamating numerous amounts of inputs from here, there and everywhere, he's like a master chef pouring bits and pieces into a stirring pot of grinding rhythms and jittery percussion. I am not entirely as fond of This Is Happening as I am of the preceding record, Sound of Silver, which seemed to have a much more varied and textured sound picture. I miss the more funky-groovy bits. Still, This Is Happening is a great record, with songs like 'Drunk Girls' (took me a long time to become convinced on that one though!), 'I Can Change' and 'Pow Pow' as definite highlights.
JUNIOR BOYS
So This Is Goodbye
Electronic music has somewhat faded into the background this year, behind the abundance of indie and lo-fi, and thus it might be only fitting that the one electronic album on this list is Junior Boys' second release, So This Is Goodbye, from 2006. It took me some time to crank this album open, but once you're into it, it's an extremely chillaxing collection of songs. The Canadians apply pretty vocals and laid-back beats in their mellow yet ambitious indietronica. This is an album extremely fit for a lot of occasions, such as commuting to work, writing or doing stuff, going out or coming back home. Highlights include opener 'Double Shadow', the intrepid 'In The Morning' and the reverent and beautiful closer 'FM', which is a great example of how simple often works best.
VAMPIRE WEEKEND
Vampire Weekend
Vampire Weekend has to be one of the most impressive debuts in a long time. Not only did it catapult the Brooklyners to fame, it showcased their curious, eclectic and never-heard-before mix of chamber strings, afro-beat and genuine indie traits. They're like a triangle slave trade of music, a potpourri of influences from worlds old, new and third. On three consecutive tracks, 'A-Punk', 'Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa' and 'M79', these three styles vie for each other, but at the same time the album segues beautifully and very harmoniously from track to track, whether the godfather being the Berliner Philharmonics or Youssou N'Dour. 5 of the tracks are less than three minutes long, and none exceed four and a half, making Vampire Weekend a very easy listen, as Ezra Koenig's pleasant voice reveals peculiar, often academically-themed lyrics.
