Alike and by Oh No Ono, the direction of north and unbought albums.

To unfavorably compare young (or old) bands to Oh No Ono seems to have become quite a norm in Danish music media as of late. Strange, as this is one of Denmark's most talented bands, but perhaps some find there's only room for one real outfit like that in our country. One of the bands that is most often equated with Oh No Ono are young risers Treefight For Sunlight. To some extent, the comparisons and alikeness might be true, but I find it does grow a bit wearisome. Nevertheless, it doesn't seem to slow this young band's impressive tour-de-force of an entry onto the scene - their first single, the lush and feel-goody 'Facing The Sun', was just voted Summer Hit of the Year by listeners of the radio channel P3, and their upcoming debut album is inarguably one of the most interesting releases domestically this fall. Yet another track has hit the airwaves now, with 'Riddles in Rhymes' being tested on acclaimed chart Det Elektriske Barometer just now. To mosey a bit more along the comparison-track, the intro of this sounds a bit like something Jens Lekman could have done. It's the kind of track that seems just an inch over the corniness-limit at first listen, but it is extraordinarily catchy nonetheless. Exciting!


Meanwhile, to stop by the kings of Danish psych-pop for just a sec, Oh No Ono themselves did an amazing cover of Radiohead's 'Weird Fishes (Arpeggi)' at Roskilde '09. I've often tried to sniff out a live recording of this, but have been unsuccessful, until now, but here it is, bloody hell!! It's from a concert in Paris in February, and it sounds like the exact same cover - and the recording is good quality to boot! Go go go go check it out immediately!


Other than that, through the past few weeks I've come to embrace a few albums I got a hold of this spring, but both of which failed to make an instant good impression. Namely they are The Radio Dept.'s Clinging To A Scheme and Gorillaz' Plastic Beach. Especially the former is an extraordinarily pleasant album. Try to check out 'Never Follow Suit' and 'Heaven's On Fire'. On the latter, I am now especially caught by the couple of 'Empire Ants' and 'Glitter Freeze', both really strong and interesting tracks.


I did finally hear Arcade Fire's new album, The Suburbs. I'm gonna give it a few more spins though, before trying to sound clever about it, but they are one talented bunch of musicians... I did not yet get a hold of Klaxons' new album, Surfing The Void, released this Monday. I'm waiting for the release of Junip's debut album, so I can order both and a few more at the same time. I also didn't yet get Trentemøller's Into The Great Wide Yonder, which honestly didn't impress me the once I've heard it through. One track deserves mention though, and that's 'Silver Surfer, Ghost Rider Go!!!'

Three new bands, two new albums, a parakeet and a guy called Troels.

I've literally got like loads of new stuff I want to thrust at y'all, but I'm gonna save a bit for later on. I got two new albums yesterday, Kele's The Boxer and Arcade Fire's very acclaimed third album The Suburbs, which I haven't heard yet - it's an hour-long monster, so that'll have to wait 'till I get back from Portugal in a week and a half. I hate to listen to new albums unconcentratedly. I spun through Kele's album yesterday, and it wasn't better nor worse than I had expected. More on that when I get a bit more into the bits of it.


I ran into quite a few interesting new names that I wanna share. One is Canadian outfit PS I Love You (yeah, that name is emo). Check out '2012', which is a kinda nice little piece of noisy indie rock.


Junip is the name of José González' new project, and their album is gonna me one of the most interesting releases this fall. Check out their myspace for a few tunes!


The third new name I want to share with you is Maximum Balloon, who are contenders on Soundvenue's High 5 list this week with 'Tiger'. They too have an album coming up this fall, which could contain some nice party tracks.


In the video department, iconic electro-minimalists and kings of portamento Ratatat, who released their fourth album, LP4, in late spring, and they made this awesome video for the groovy track 'Party With Children' - make sure to check it out!


Finally, Danish electro-wiz Troels Abrahamsen has dropped a few outtakes from his spring album BLCK, as kind of an apology for canceling his tour this fall. The good thing is, he's canceling his tour because he's busy working on VETO's third album - doesn't that sound intriguing? I sure do think so, and I'm very excited to see, in which direction they're going. In the mean time, check out the new stuff on Troels' blog - I especially dig 'I Don't Have To'!


So long fellers! I'm off to a week and a bit in the sun, and I'm happy to escape my tasteless flattie that's at the moment blaring U2 into the entire apartment. Who's Bono anyway?

The year in albums, august 2010 - 4/4.

#4
THE NATIONAL
Boxer
The National is a really slow moving band, and it took them four years to carefully carve out their masterpiece, Boxer from 2007. The National being The National, honestly there isn't much to say, many superlatives to attribute to this album, other than it being straightforward astonishing. The rich and moving arrangements, anchored by Bryan Devendorf's unsurpassed drumming, are the perfect backdrop to Matt Berninger's charismatic and very powerful baritone. The beginning of the album is pretty straight on, with the philosophic 'Fake Empire' and the annoyed 'Mistaken For Strangers', but what really truly makes Boxer shine is the impressive array of beautiful ballads. There's the magnificent couple of 'Green Gloves' and the poignantly anxious and almost incomprehensibly fragile 'Slow Show', the album's key track and an absolute masterpiece. But look a little farther down the track list and you'll find 'Ada', which is a true gem - a song that combines the band's folk roots with their knish for adding delicate sprinkles of horns and brass. More than anything, Boxer is just an incredibly pleasant album by one of the most talented bands in indie.

#3
OH NO ONO
Eggs
This, now, is a real coming of age. Whereas this Danish outfit's first album was sort of bland and uninterestingly poppy, from the first second, Eggs clearly marks out new territory for this silly-turned-psychedelic motley assembly of amazing musicians. Opener 'Eleanor Speaks' is a pompous, oriental-inspired track, which sort of readies the listener for the journey that Eggs really is. From here on, one ingenious, masterful track gives way to another and yet another. Oh No Ono utilize a remarkable amount of instruments and timbres, and nowhere has the band compromised anything. I am a big fan of thorough mixes and lush, vivid productions, and listening to Eggs in my phones is really a treat for the ears. There's the baroque and beautifully lurching 'Swim', the dramatic 'Icicles', the kraut-influenced 'The Wave Ballet' and 'Beelitz', the uplifting 'The Tea Party', but also lesser escapadic and experimental, but nevertheless absolutely well-crafted, pop-tunes such as 'Internet Warrior' and 'Helplessly Young'. But the highlight of them all might very well be the painful 'Eve'; a real flip-off to the ones who hoped Eggs would be another over fresh indie-pop effort. I am very impressed by how, on this track, this young band throws off every harness in which they've ever been, every template of radio-friendly pop they've ever followed, even every instrument they've ever played (as the track is completely electronic), to really utter their inner torments, beautifully expressed by Aske Zidore's marvelous voice and a ballad seldom paralleled in anguish and sincereness.

#2
ARCTIC MONKEYS
Humbug
Speaking of comings-of-age, here's yet another one. A lot of (now perhaps former) die-hard fans of this Sheffield foursome were disappointed when Humbug came, almost exactly a year ago. I, however, found it a refreshing new start for the still young band. Granted their debut Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not is still an unbeatable album in many ways, Humbug really showcases the Monkeys' talent for songwriting, rather than just their attitude. In many ways, the ballads of the band's two previous albums have been among those albums' most longevous tunes, and on Humbug, Alex Turner and co. turn down the tempo a notch, and turn the murkiness up. The album is refreshingly oblique, but, especially owing to Alex Turner's voice, you're not at any time in doubt about the band in question. 'Potion Approaching' rocks, 'Fire and the Thud' creeps passionately, 'Cornerstone' is cornily touching and 'Pretty Visitors' wallows in malicious energy. There's no 'I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor' here, but there's a sincereness and maturity that suits the Sheffielders very well, and could well brace them for a longer and more immersive career than their debut album's straightforwardness indicated.

#1
BON IVER
For Emma, Forever Ago
In many was, I have dreaded the day I eventually would have to apply words to this extraordinary masterpiece of an album, and I've pondered for a long time, what exactly makes these 37 minutes unlike anything else. Ultimately, I think it's got a lot to do with both the intimacy and the urgency that envelops Bon Iver's tragic tale of love lost. I mean, this is so raw. The random surrounding noises that recur throughout the album make you almost feel like you're there with Justin Vernon in his cabin in the heart of Wisconsin winter. You're the one brewing him coffee, and tossing a new log on the crackling fireplace, while he, immersed like a madman on a killing spree, squeezes out his innermost feelings on this iconic album. It is so intense, and so vitally imperative. For Emma, Forever Ago is essentially the breakup album of breakup albums, but the astonishing thing is, you get into the album's painful mood regardless of anything that surrounds you. There's a continuousness to this - Vernon's feelings assemble and dismantle themselves in this his excavation, as explained on the closer 're: Stacks'. The album is coercingly undivisible. 'Flume' and 'Lump Sum' build up to the emotional climax that is 'Skinny Love', followed by 'The Wolves', which is Vernon at his emotional low. Nothing in the world gets more grieving and bereft than this. Enter the albums second half, where, through 'Blindsided' and 'Creature Fear', Vernon manages to reassemble himself, and, although still in much pain and anguish, tries hard to move forward in some, in any, way, enabling him to reach some sort of conclusion on 'For Emma' and 're: Stacks'. Vernon's lyrics are often pretty indecipherable, but nevertheless his chillingly agitated melodies and arrangements tell the whole story. It is not yet a happy man that exclaims that "your love will be safe with me", lets his guitar ring out, turns off his equipment and leaves. It is not a man at peace, but it is a man who has tried his hardest to weep, cry, holler, sing and fight his way out of pain. The message and the agony of For Emma, Forever Ago is universal. We've all had our Emma, or even two or three of them. We've all had the woman, the girl, the man, the boy who has painfully and slowly exited our heart. Whoever Bon Iver's Emma was, it is perhaps thanks to her that the world has been enriched by this unequaled and utterly brilliant magnum opus.

The year in albums, august 2010 - 3/4.

#8
THE XX
xx
The list is littered with debut albums this year, but none of them are perhaps more of a statement than xx. It's only barely a year since the already iconic cover hit the shelves, but already new bands, or even old bands' new albums, are being spoken of to be in lieu of xx, to reminisce it. That's pretty impressive, considering the band's main philosophy seems to be the good old 'less is more'. Here is no plethora of guitars, sea of synth blips and blops or armories of percussion. The magic opener 'Intro' is basically nothing but a beautifully reverbed guitar, a bit of sample drums here and there and the bands' two intimate vocalists, their yin-and-yang'ish vocal work being a recurring pleasure on the album, eggingly ooing and humming, all on a bed of mellow synth strings. 'Intro' delivers the message perfectly: There's no fucking around. Xx is a remarkably secure and profoundly original debut, rightfully shortlisted for this year's Mercury Prize, and the first near-half of the record, all the way up to and including the touching 'Heart Skipped A Beat', is absolutely impeccably masterful. What eventually sends xx all the way down to the eighth spot is the continuation of the aforementioned sentence: The album does seem to wane considerably in quality, and although 'Basic Space' and 'Night Time' are decent tracks, the back-end 6 tracks just don't hit the nail on the head the same way the five first do.

#7
DELPHIC
Acolyte
Delphic's debut album Acolyte is, I think, best described as a 51-minute long roller coaster ride with numerous spins, loops, twists and turns. Not that the sound of the album twists and turns all that much - through the entire length of the album, we are treated with aggressive, potent, indie-electro that can be both straight-to-the-bone rocking like on 'Clarion Call', slow and persuasive like on 'Counterpoint' and 'Remain', hit list potential like on 'Doubt', or just plain epic like on the behemoth 'Acolyte', the title track itself, around which the album seems to revolve. To continue the roller coaster reference, 'Acolyte' is the wildest of the bunch. This is the Kingda Ka. The way the track transmorphs at 5:35 to an even more eclectic climax than the one just passed, that's just pure excellence and gut. I have always been fond of bands that understand to employ synth arpeggiators, think homegrown bands such as Marvel Hill and Spleen United, and Delphic is definitely band music, and as such, could be construed as 'rock'. It is however, almost as electronic as rock will ever become, and it appears clear, that the Manchester foursome is at their most comfortable when they're nudging their potmetres. As such, Delphic present a refreshingly new take on the perennial merging of indie and the dancefloor, although Acolyte seems to have ended up as more of a listener's album than a party album. There are very few sub par tracks on this album, which deserves to be mentioned among this year's best debuts, if the indie-folk and lo-fi geezers dare.

#6
THE TEMPER TRAP
Conditions
Watching indie develop has been one of the most exciting things in music through the past decade. We've seen indie-pop like Phoenix and Vampire Weekend, indie-electro like Hot Chip, indietronica like a plethora of bands, indie-folk like Bon Iver, Fleet Foxes and so on and so forth, indie-psychedelica like MGMT. We've had dance-punk, we've had new-rave, we've had shoegaze. But how about indie rock? Well, that has become sort of a weak term, since many of the acts considered indie aren't considered rock, and many of the acts considered rock aren't considered indie. Rock has been left to giants of post-punk revival (such as Interpol), garage-revival (such as The Strokes and Arctic Monkeys) and new school rock'n'roll (such as Kings of Leon). Indie rock has been left to very few bastions, including Bloc Party, who themselves turned considerably electro on their last album. Enter The Temper Trap - a young, talented foursome from beat city, Melbourne, VIC. These guys fill just exactly the void I've drawn up above: They're decidedly indie, and they're most definitely rock. And fortunately, they do their thing in brilliant style on their debut album Conditions, a refreshingly simple album of... Yeah, indie rock music. Standout tracks such as 'Rest', 'Sweet Disposition', 'Fader' and the orgasmically intense 'Science of Fear' should leave no doubt about the amazing dynamics of this band - this is Kings of Leon without all the American rock'n'roll wank that makes them dull. A superb album!

#5
FOALS
Total Life Forever
So, atop these three young, debuting bands hovers the sophomore. However a Mercury Prize-shortlisted sophomore, a very deserved honor for Foals' Total Life Forever, a real slow-burner, on which all reviewers seemingly agreed to emphasize the need of hearing the album a dozen times before it sinks in. The Oxford-fivepiece showcased a lot of their talent and potential on debut album Antidotes, and has followed that up by expanding musically in almost every direction possible. It's their newfound groove and swagger on 'Miami', 'Total Life Forever' and 'This Orient'. It's their subtle yet delightful employment of electronic wooti-wooti on 'Alabaster' and '2 Trees'. It's how front man Yannis Philippakis has turned from whinesome yelper to actual singer. And it's their powerfulness on 'What Remains', 'After Glow' and the majestic 'Spanish Sahara'. The album starts out promising, but with this iconic and extra terrestrially impressive track, it really takes off, and rockets Foals into the upper echelons of art rock. From here, Total Life Forever doesn't look back, and the bottom two-thirds of the album is an overabundance of well-written, characterful and catchy songs. It contains a lot of the parts that make an album a truly great one - the tracks' ability to stand out for themselves, and to reveal themselves to you in vastly different paces, and the constant alternation between intensity and sensitivity, between gumption and pensiveness.

The year in albums, august 2010 - 2/4.

#12
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.

#11
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.

#10
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.

#9
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.

The year in albums, august 2010 - 1/4.

Sorry, I know I might be spamming you lot a lot lately, but I've got quite a lot of stuff to get done before I fly out of the country again. This time of year, around August 1st, I sum up the past year for me musically. This year, there are 15 albums I've found worthy of a listing (17 last year). To be honest, that's not because this year has been bad for me musically - actually, the case is quite the contrary. There are a lot of albums that would have ended up on the list last year, whereas this year they're far away. It's been an awesomely rich year of new musical acquaintances for me, honestly. So, here's the "four" first!

#16
So, I mentioned there were 15 albums. What's #16 for then? Well, the truth is, that there are a lot of albums that could have occupied the sixteenth spot, but all of them fall slightly short. Thus, I've decided to quickly mention them here. First of all, it's the three albums by Kings of Convenience, all of which are good, but none of which stick out in any sort of way that would justify a spot on the list. Then there are the newest albums by mastodons such as Muse (The Resistance) and Kashmir (Trespassers). Although I've listened a lot to especially the latter, I must admit that after a year and a half of year of these albums' existence respectively, both of them do disappoint me. Next, there are albums that I have just not listened to nearly enough to justify their being on the list. That goes for Yeasayer's Odd Blood, Delorean's Subiza and The National's High Violet. Then there's Ten Makes A Face by When Saints Go Machine, which just doesn't have the general quality to warrant sufficient consideration, and finally there's The Knife and their oddball Tomorrow, In A Year, which is difficult to place in any kind of list or definition.

Let's move on to the real deal now!

#15
BROKEN BELLS
Broken Bells
It's quite a feat, to be honest, that James Mercer and Danger Mouse, together known as Broken Bells, have ended up on this list. I haven't heard the album all that much, but there's just a certain air of fineness, a superior oeuvre to this. The first time I sat down and listened to the album end to another, it just seemed to slide right in, and it sounded like something I had heard a million times before. Not the bad way, the way an album wanes after the first 50-60 listens (and that's not a bad album if it takes that many!), but the comfortable way - the way it sounds neatly recognizable. Highlights are of course 'The High Road' and 'The Ghost Inside', but Broken Bells is more about the album as a whole, than the tracks on their own.

#14
BALSTYRKO
Jagten Paa Noget
Okay, so, this might be a bit of a surprise for some. But this album has through the last year, half year even, become one of my favorites to chug on late at night, when I grow tired of listening to beats or guitars. The combination of Ane Trolle's dusty voice, which sounds like something from the fifties, and Blæs Bukki's bright and neat basso and inspiring lyrical wit, works very well with the curious mix of vintage jazz, reggae, psychedelia and noise. Some of the tracks, like 'Kaffe Mdma', sound like walking through very empty streets on a weekday night, while 'Karusellen' sounds like a sarcastic take on a loathsome society, and 'De Forkerte Sten' draws comparisons to contemporary Danish folk. Jagten Paa Noget is a masterful album, which unites listeners across a wide variety of genres.

#13
THE KOOKS
Inside In/Inside Out
The Kooks play good old, buttons-down garage-revival, riding the wave that The Strokes picked up earlier in the past decade. These Brighton kids do it in a less pretentious way though (Christ, whenever did The Strokes become pretentious!?), and their debut album Inside In/Inside Out from 2006 rocks merrily along a theme of delightful girls, joyful love, frustrating girls and ill-fated love. It's very apparent that the band was only in their very early 20s when Inside In/Inside Out came out, and that's the exact kind of sound the album encompasses, in the same way Arctic Monkeys came blurting to fame at the same time. The Kooks are a bit more happy-go-lucky though, as songs like 'She Moves In Her Own Way' and 'See The World' indicate, but they also become intimater, as with 'Naïve' and the beautiful, acoustic 'Seaside', the albums definite highlight.

Catchy '60s twee and early '00s retro.

I remember ten years ago when my parents bought a satellite dish, I guess it's more or less ten years ago. With it came MTV, and my first real heavy exposure to modern music. Even considering this was the time, when MTV did play actual music for the majority of their broadcasting time, a lot of it was still shit. It was MTV that introduced me to the likes of Jamiroquai, Röyksopp and Daft Punk though, and there are quite a few standalone tracks that I still attribute to my MTV years. One of them I had nearly forgotten, but I came to remember it last week, mainly because of its outstanding music video. It's Roger Sanchez' 'Another Chance'. The music is quite so-so, I admit that, but the vid is just spot on, and so full of metaphors if you analyze it.

One of my best mates has for quite a long time been frenetically devoted to everything '60s. The minute I heard this track, I forwarded it to him, not only because it's corny, but because it's quite catchy too. It's young Memphis outfit Magic Kids with 'Superball'. It's a bit in the direction of The Spinto Band, but the sixties sound is more genuine here.

Painted Face is a new artist from somewhere as un-indie as D.C. Try having a listen to 'Sum of Me'.

Also, it's probably overdue that I mention the band that is on everybody's lips right now; Arcade Fire. I honestly have listened very little to them the past few years, but hearing 'Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)' from the Canadian ensemble's newly released third album The Suburbs, convinced me to order it yesterday. I am very excited to hear the band's apparent take on suburbanism, a very interesting phenomenon. 'Sprawl II' itself seems to be sort of an escapists beautiful cry of desperation from the urban sprawls of Europe and North America. It seems musically much more accessible and, dare I say, open, than the often very heavily layered songs on the band's two previous albums. This might finally be the album that makes me a convinced Arcade Fire-aficionado.

First part of the yearly albums-list will probably be up tonight.

Skipping back in time... And forward ho!

Oi oi oi! I'm back from three weeks on Europe's railways, awesomeness! I'm gonna just quickly up you all on what's going on musically, and what the next week-and-half has in store on The Idioteque.

The signature album of the last few weeks has to be Foals' Total Life Forever, an album that is moving ever upwards on my yearly list (more on that below). Other than that, I've been skipping back in time on a few of my favorite artists. I have always had the tendency do listen to the newest album by a given band. Lets take Spleen United, whose second album Neanderthal was an instant favorite. The past few months, I've however dug much more into the debut LP, Godspeed Into The Mainstream. This album is much more  obscure and vagrant than the preppy, electro-poppish newer one - it even resembles some of early French electro pioneer Jean-Michel Jarre's work. A highlight is of course the epically grinding lead single 'Heroine Unltd.', but as of late, I have fallen for a few of the albums more spacious moments, such as 'Streetfighter' and 'Into The Future'. I'm looking very much forward to their forthcoming third album, due this fall! Just in case you haven't heard it (= bummer), check out the lead single, 'Sunset To Sunset'.

Another band, through whose discography I'm moving backwards, has been The National lately. It's hard to escape the reins of brilliant Boxer, and the latest album High Violet has seen quite a few spins as well. Recently though, I've turned my attention to Alligator, which could somewhat be construed as the band's real breakthrough. There is a different kind of energy to this one, perhaps more youthful, more aggressive. I am especially fond of 'Abel' and 'Mr. November'.

Quite a few good remixes have hit the radar while I've been gone. Check out Teen Daze's refit of Yeasayer's brilliant 'O.N.E.', John Talabot doing The xx's Shelter over, and this new version of Delorean's 'Real Love'.

I'm jumping down to Portugal in a week and a half, for a few days of sun. Until then, The Idioteque is gonna focus on my yearly albums-list, which is slightly overdue. Stay tuned for that!

A quick word.

This is traditionally a quiet time for record releases, however a few interesting bands are gearing up for fall releases. These include Arcade Fire, Radiohead and Klaxons. The latter have released their first single proper off Surfing The Void, 'Echoes' and it sounds recognizable, and blissfully more melodic than 'Flashover', the teaser release from a few months ago.

Other than that, a few of June's albums have grown a lot on me this past week. Mostly so is the case of Foals' Total Life Forever, which grows like very few other albums. There are so many awesome tracks on this album. Of course, the nucleus is built around the astonishing 'Spanish Sahara', the uplifting 'Total Life Forever' and the magnificent 'After Glow', but also the last three tracks, led by 'Alabaster' are very beautiful. Definitely a strong sophomore album.

Also High Violet, The National's very well-acclaimed fifth album has been growing on me. It's been an uphill battle, as Boxer is often my weapon of choice when I'm in the mood for The National, but HV is a decent album in it's own right. You all know the single 'Bloodbuzz Ohio', which is one of the best tracks on the record, but also 'Conversation 16' is very strong, as is 'Terrible Love' and 'England'.

Lastly, I've taken a late liking to Gorillaz' 'On Melancholy Hill', which is just a sweet little pop tune.

The Idioteque will take a summer break the next few weeks, as I am hitting the railways of Europe for a bit. Stay cool!

15 songs I've learnt to love this year.

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!