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 | Album: 1 of 50 Artist: Joanna Newsom Title: Have One on Me Released: 2010-02-23 Tracks: 18 Duration: 2:04:01 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Easy (06:03) 2 Have One on Me (11:02) 3 81 (03:51) 4 Good Intentions Paving Co. (07:02) 5 No Provenance (06:25) 6 Baby Birch (09:30) 1 On a Good Day (01:48) 2 You and Me, Bess (07:12) 3 In California (08:41) 4 Jackrabbits (04:23) 5 Go Long (08:02) 6 Occident (05:31) 1 Soft as Chalk (06:29) 2 Esme (07:56) 3 Autumn (08:01) 4 Ribbon Bows (06:10) 5 Kingfisher (09:11) 6 Does Not Suffice (06:44) |
| Have One on Me : Allmusic album Review : In case there was any doubt that Joanna Newsom was busy making music -- along with modeling and starring in MGMT videos -- in the four years between her brilliant second album Ys and its follow-up, Have One on Me’s three-disc, two-hour expanse is proof positive. The album’s massive size suggests that Newsom is bent on outdoing herself with each release, but the music is simpler than Ys’ symphonic majesty. Instead, she uses this oversize canvas to travel from Appalachian folk to big city pop, with stops at country, soul, and gospel along the way. It’s a dense journey, not just as a whole, but from song to song. Most of the album’s range is in the title track: Over 11 minutes, “Have One on Me” begins with jazzy harp stylings and some of Newsom’s most polished vocals, returns to Milk-Eyed Mender’s rural whimsy, passes through a marching band and lands in a British folk reverie. Similarly striking moments appear at the beginning and end of this triptych, but the first disc presents Newsom’s biggest departures. Have One on Me’s first third incorporates rock and pop, giving it a Laurel Canyon flair that underscores the ‘70s vibe of the whole endeavor. The lovely “Easy” plays like a Ys track rewritten for a rock opera; “Good Intentions Paving Company” flirts with winsome country-rock; “’81” is the closest the album comes to having a pop single; and the limpid, almost painfully quiet “Baby Birch” reaffirms that Newsom doesn’t have to be complex to be moving. The album’s third disc dives into her dramatic side, especially on “Kingfisher,” a chamber pop fantasia that plays like a condensed version of Ys. Have One on Me’s middle stretch unfurls songs that expand on Milk Eyed Mender’s serenity, including the dazzlingly beautiful “Go Long,” which ranks among Newsom’s finest songs, and the pretty but meandering “You and Me, Bess.” Therein lies the problem with Have One on Me: Newsom gives her listeners so much music that not all of it is equally memorable. The album’s cross between Milk-Eyed Mender and Ys isn’t always greater than the sum of its parts -- songs that sound like they come from a less-complex Ys or a less-innocent Milk-Eyed Mender are sometimes simply less. While Have One on Me might be more listenable if it was one or even two discs, it’s hard to say that it would be better. Its flow from disc to disc disproves thoughts that Newsom recorded three albums’ worth of material, couldn’t decide what to keep, and just released them all. At its best, these songs have the feel of an intimate live performance; at their worst, they’re lovely, but exhausting. Have One on Me is quite a technical achievement, but since Newsom has proven she can do just about anything, next time she shouldn’t try to do everything. | ||
 | Album: 2 of 50 Artist: Neil Young Title: Le Noise Released: 2010-09-24 Tracks: 9 Duration: 37:54 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Walk With Me (04:20) 2 Sign of Love (03:50) 3 Someone’s Gonna Rescue You (03:26) 4 Love and War (05:36) 5 Angry World (04:12) 6 Hitchhiker (05:07) 7 Peaceful Valley Boulevard (07:09) 8 Rumblin’ (03:36) 9 End Credits (00:35) |
| Le Noise : Allmusic album Review : The old conventional wisdom on Neil Young used to be that he alternated between acoustic folk and full-on guitar skronk with every other album, but 2010’s Le Noise -- the French affection in its title a tongue-in-cheek tip of the beret to his producer Daniel Lanois -- melds the two extremes. At its core, it’s a singer/songwriter album, a collection of reflections and ruminations about life and loss in the modern world, war imagery rubbing against battered memories and tattered autobiography, the songs leisurely following their own winding path, but it’s produced loudly, with Neil supporting himself with only his electric guitar for all but two tracks, where he switches the Les Paul for an acoustic. He’s not in Crazy Horse mode, spitting out chunky garage rock riffs, but strumming his overdriven electric, with Lanois tweaking the results, accentuating the ambience in post-production. To say the least, this results in a distinctive album, but it plays differently than it reads, sounding not too dissimilar from the Bush-era laments of Freedom. If Le Noise isn’t as galvanizing as Freedom, it’s because it’s created on a considerably smaller scale, its eight songs containing no masterpieces and Lanois’ moody noir production reining in Young’s messy signature. So, Le Noise winds up as something elusive and intriguing, a minor mood piece that seems to promise more than it actually delivers. | ||
 | Album: 3 of 50 Artist: Paul Weller Title: Wake Up the Nation Released: 2010-04-19 Tracks: 16 Duration: 40:03 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Moonshine (02:08) 2 Wake Up the Nation (02:18) 3 No Tears to Cry (02:24) 4 Fast Car/Slow Traffic (01:58) 5 Andromeda (01:53) 6 In Amsterdam (01:27) 7 She Speaks (02:14) 8 Find the Torch, Burn the Plans (03:08) 9 Aim High (03:07) 10 Trees (04:18) 11 Grasp and Still Connect (02:15) 12 Whatever Next (01:37) 13 7 & 3 Is the Strikers Name (03:23) 14 Up the Dosage (02:40) 15 Pieces of a Dream (02:25) 16 Two Fat Ladies (02:38) |
| Wake Up the Nation : Allmusic album Review : Prior to 2008’s 22 Dreams, Paul Weller was shorthand for stalwart rock & roll, never disappointing but rarely challenging, either. With 22 Dreams, he reconnected with his spirit of adventure -- the thing that drove him to split up the Jam at their peak to form the Style Council -- and created a rich pastoral double album that thrived on risk. Buzzing with guitars and gurgling effects, and built upon a succession songs that barely crest the two-minute mark, Wake Up the Nation doesn’t share much with 22 Dreams, apart from that sense of adventure with Weller cramming a suite’s worth of twists into a song. As packed as these tunes are, they’re drawn with crisp lines; for as busy as these are, nothing feels cluttered, they’re all teeming with life. Many of the left turns arrive via the arrangements -- witness how everything careens out of control after the chorus of “Grasp & Still Connect,” the elastic psychedelia of “Andromeda,” the updated New Orleans shuffle of “Trees’ -- or the unexpected collaborations, whether it’s the tightly wound reunion with the Jam’s Bruce Foxton on “Fast Car/Slow Traffic” or bringing in My Bloody Valentine’s Kevin Shields to craft the dense dangerous heartbeat of “7&3 Is the Strikers Name,” but this isn’t window-dressing: the entire effect is 22 Dreams in reverse, contracting where its predecessor expanded, substituting introspection for action, swapping contemplation for excitement. Wake Up the Nation pulsates with an energy considerably different than the stomping rock & roll of As Is Now. That was all musical muscle, but this is music of the mind that remains fiercely visceral, music that feels of a piece of Weller’s entire body of work, but is quite unique in its execution and impact. | ||
 | Album: 4 of 50 Artist: Arcade Fire Title: The Suburbs Released: 2010-07-03 Tracks: 18 Duration: 1:14:26 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 The Suburbs (05:15) 2 Ready to Start (04:16) 3 Modern Man (04:39) 4 Rococo (03:56) 5 Empty Room (02:51) 6 City With No Children (03:11) 7 Half Light I (04:13) 8 Half Light II (No Celebration) (04:27) 9 Suburban War (04:45) 10 Month of May (03:50) 11 Wasted Hours (A Life That We Can Live) (04:26) 12 Deep Blue (04:28) 13 We Used to Wait (05:01) 14 Sprawl I (Flatland) (02:54) 15 Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) (05:25) 16 The Suburbs (continued) (01:27) 17 Culture War (05:24) 18 Speaking in Tongues (03:52) |
| The Suburbs : Allmusic album Review : Montreals Arcade Fire successfully avoided the sophomore slump with 2007s apocalyptic Neon Bible. Heavier and more uncertain than their nearly perfect, darkly optimistic 2004 debut, the album aimed for the nosebleed section and left a red mess. Having already fled the cold comforts of suburbia on Funeral and suffered beneath the weight of the world on Neon Bible, it seems fitting that a band once so consumed with spiritual and social middle-class fury should find peace "under the overpass in the parking lot." If nostalgia is just pain recalled, repaired, and resold, then The Suburbs is its sales manual. Inspired by brothers Win and William Butlers suburban Houston, Texas upbringing, the 16-track record plays out like a long lost summer weekend, with the jaunty but melancholy Kinks/Bowie-esque title cut serving as its bookends. Meticulously paced and conservatively grand, fans looking for the instant gratification of past anthems like "Wake Up" and "Intervention" will find themselves reluctantly defending The Suburbs upon first listen, but anyone who remembers excitedly jumping into a friends car on a sleepy Friday night armed with heartache, hope, and no agenda knows that patience is key. Multiple spins reveal a work thats as triumphant and soul-slamming as it is sentimental and mature. At its most spirited, like on "Empty Room," "Rococo," "City with No Children," "Half Light II (No Celebration)," "We Used to Wait," and the glorious Régine Chassagne-led "Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)," the latter of which threatens to break into Blondies "Heart of Glass" at any moment, Arcade Fire make the suburbs feel positively electric. Quieter moments reveal a changing of the guard, as Win trades in the Springsteen-isms of Neon Bible for Neil Young on "Wasted Hours," and the ornate rage of Funeral for the simplicity of a line like "Lets go for a drive and see the town tonight/Theres nothing to do, but I dont mind when Im with you," from album highlight "Suburban War." The Suburbs feels like Richard Linklaters Dazed & Confused for the Y generation. Its serious without being preachy, cynical without dissolving into apathy, and whimsical enough to keep both sentiments in line, and of all of their records, it may be the one that ages the best. | ||
 | Album: 5 of 50 Artist: Robert Plant Title: Band of Joy Released: 2010-09-10 Tracks: 12 Duration: 48:02 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Angel Dance (03:52) 2 House of Cards (03:15) 3 Central Two-O-Nine (02:51) 4 Silver Rider (06:07) 5 You Can’t Buy My Love (03:12) 6 Falling in Love Again (03:39) 7 The Only Sound That Matters (03:46) 8 Monkey (04:59) 9 Cindy, I’ll Marry You Someday (03:38) 10 Harm’s Swift Way (04:20) 11 Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down (04:14) 12 Even This Shall Pass Away (04:02) |
| Band of Joy : Allmusic album Review : Band of Joy was the name of Robert Plant’s Black Country psychedelic folk group of the late ‘60s and his revival of its name and spirit in 2010 is of no small significance. Certainly, it’s an explicit suggestion that Plant is getting back to his roots, which is true to an extent: the original Band of Joy was unrecorded outside of a handful of demos, so there is no indication of whether this 2010 incarnation sounds anything at all like the ‘60s band but the communal vibe that pulsates throughout this album hearkens back to the age of hippies as much as it is an outgrowth of Raising Sand, Plant’s striking duet album with Alison Krauss. Such blurred borders are commonplace on Band of Joy, where American and English folk meld, where the secular and sacred walk hand in hand, where the past is not past and the present is not rootless. Assisted by co-producer Buddy Miller and a band of roots iconoclasts highlighted by harmonist Patty Griffin, Plant finds fiercely original music within other people’s songs, nabbing two songs from slow-core stalwarts Low, cherry-picking relative obscurities from Richard & Linda Thompson and Los Lobos, digging back to find forgotten songs from the heyday of honky tonk and traditional folk tunes not often sung. Some of these songs feel like they’ve been around forever and some feel fresh, but not in conventional ways: Low’s “Silver Rider” and “Monkey” feel like ancient, unearthed backwoods laments and the riotous “You Can’t Buy My Love” feels as if it was written yesterday. Much of the wonder of Band of Joy lies in these inventive interpretations but the magic lies in the performances themselves. Never as austere as the clean, tasteful impressionism of Raising Sand, Band of Joy is bold and messy, teeming with life to its very core. It’s as a joyous a record as you’ll ever hear, a testament that the power of music lies not in its writing but in its performance. | ||
 | Album: 6 of 50 Artist: Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti Title: Before Today Released: 2010-06-07 Tracks: 13 Duration: 47:02 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples AlbumCover | 1 Hot Body Rub (02:26) 2 Bright Lit Blue Skies (02:24) 3 L’estat (Acc. to the Widow’s Maid) (04:26) 4 Fright Night (Nevermore) (03:35) 5 Round and Round (05:08) 6 Beverly Kills (03:56) 7 Butt House Blondies (03:27) 8 Little Wig (05:46) 9 Can’t Hear My Eyes (03:19) 10 Reminiscences (02:33) 11 Menopause Man (04:00) 12 Revolution’s a Lie (03:40) 13 Shades Away (02:14) |
 | Album: 7 of 50 Artist: John Grant Title: Queen of Denmark Released: 2010-04-06 Tracks: 16 Duration: 1:09:55 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 TC and Honeybear (05:06) 2 Marz (03:58) 3 Where Dreams go to Die (06:04) 4 Sigourney Weaver (03:31) 5 Chicken Bones (03:38) 6 Silver Platter Club (04:10) 7 Its Easier (04:38) 8 Outer Space (03:15) 9 Jesus Hates Faggots (03:48) 10 Caramel (03:35) 11 Leopard & Lamb (04:41) 12 Queen of Denmark (04:45) 1 That’s the Good News (04:14) 2 Supernatural Defibrillator (02:53) 3 Fireflies (03:42) 4 What Time? (07:54) |
 | Album: 8 of 50 Artist: Ali Farka Touré & Toumani Diabaté Title: Ali and Toumani Released: 2010-02-22 Tracks: 13 Duration: 50:23 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Ruby (05:55) 2 Sabu Yerkoy (04:08) 3 Be Mankan (05:06) 4 Doudou (04:47) 5 Warbé (04:51) 6 Kenouna (?) 1 Samba Geladio (03:17) 2 Sina Mory (04:28) 3 56 (06:57) 4 Fantasy (02:18) 5 Machengoidi (05:05) 6 Kana Kassy (?) 7 Kala Djula (03:27) |
 | Album: 9 of 50 Artist: LCD Soundsystem Title: This Is Happening Released: 2010-05-12 Tracks: 9 Duration: 1:05:16 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Dance Yrself Clean (08:56) 2 Drunk Girls (03:42) 3 One Touch (07:45) 4 All I Want (06:41) 5 I Can Change (05:55) 6 You Wanted a Hit (09:06) 7 Pow Pow (08:23) 8 Somebody’s Calling Me (06:53) 9 Home (07:53) |
| This Is Happening : Allmusic album Review : Following up Sound of Silver was never going to be easy for LCD Soundsystem. There was so much positive reaction from music fans, the press, from everywhere, really, that almost any move James Murphy made was bound to be seen as inferior, or at the very least, flawed in some way. To his credit, he doesn’t try to do anything dramatically different on This Is Happening. There are no attempts to hit the top of the charts (a point made crystal clear in the song “You Wanted a Hit”); conversely, there are no attempts to dirty up the sound or make it more challenging. There are no radically new elements added to the LCD sound, nothing subtracted either. Murphy is definitely a savvy enough musician to know when things have gotten stale and need to be changed up; he at some point must have decided (correctly) that the time for a reboot hadn’t arrived yet for LCD. Another record of long, dancefloor friendly disco-fied jams mixed with punchy rockers and paced with a couple introspective midtempo ballads is still perfectly acceptable, especially when it’s as tightly arranged, energetically played, and thoughtfully constructed as Happening is. Murphy’s highly skilled production is all over the record, from the squelchy layers of synths, the dry punch of the drums, and the tricks and surprises that bring the songs to life, to the way he makes it sound like a live band when it’s just him (though there are the occasional people helping out, most notably Nancy Whang on backing vocals). And while there isn’t a song as staggeringly emotional as Silver’s “All My Friends,” or as simply and heartfelt as its N.Y.C. tribute “New York, I Love You But Youre Bringing Me Down,” Murphy continues to expand as a songwriter and lyricist. He’s still the master of deadly zingers ("Eat it Michael Musto/You’re no Bruce Vilanch") and hilarious streams of lyrical gems (all of “Drunk Girls”), but songs like the nakedly emotional "I Can Change" (which includes the sweetly romantic plea for someone to “bore me and hold me and cling to my arm”) and the insistently melancholy “Somebody’s Calling Me” show continued growth and impressive range. Of course, if you aren’t all that interested in lyrics, artistic growth, and feelings, you can just crank up songs like "One Touch," "Pow Wow," or "Home" real loud and dance. At heart, Murphy remains a dance music producer and these tracks reveal him at the top of his game. This Is Happening doesn’t quite reach the monumental heights of Sound of Silver, but it serves as an almost-there companion and further proof that LCD Soundsystem is one of the most exciting and interesting bands around in the 2000s. | ||
 | Album: 10 of 50 Artist: Grinderman Title: Grinderman Released: 2007-01 Tracks: 11 Duration: 40:03 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Get It On (03:07) 2 No Pussy Blues (04:20) 3 Electric Alice (03:15) 4 Grinderman (04:33) 5 Depth Charge Ethel (03:47) 6 Go Tell the Women (03:24) 7 (I Dont Need You to) Set Me Free (04:06) 8 Honey Bee (Lets Fly to Mars) (03:18) 9 Man in the Moon (02:10) 10 When My Love Comes Down (03:32) 11 Love Bomb (04:26) |
| Grinderman : Allmusic album Review : After the epic proportions of Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus double-disc in which Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds laid out two sides of the songwriters melodic and ambitious look at both rock & roll and balladry, Grinderman sounds like a wild, nasty, wooly rock & roll monolith who simply need to let it rip and then see what happens. Along with Warren Ellis, Martyn P. Casey and Jim Sclavunos (right, 3/7 of the Bad Seeds), Cave and company turn in a squalling, raucous, twist-and-turn garage band set that takes on all comers. Check out the opening line of the single "No Pussy Blues" for clues as to why the songwriting screenwriter (and seriously B-grade actor) may be doing this -- the sounds of a typewriter plunking only to be joined by a Sclavunos hi hat before Cave prattles in spoken word with real menace: "My face is finished, my bodys gone, and I cant help thinking but think standing up here with all this applause and gazing down at all the young and beautiful with looking up with their questioning eyes/That I must above all things love myself..." Joined by a snarling bass, he goes on to try to woo some young woman in the crowd with all his tricks, from sucking in his gut and getting all togged up to quoting her Yeats to doing her dishes and sending her doves, but he is rejected. The wail of age is fraught with both danger and delight as he continues his desperate and unsuccessful attempt at seduction, but all he ends up with is the "no pussy blues." It adds up to two things: black humor and a love for the kind of rock & roll younger musicians have to plot, plan, pose and dig deep into their record collections to try and emulate. When the band jumps in with all the racket unleashed, the track is as tragically funny as it is unhinged. The singers frustration is understood and empathized with to the point of sheer vitriol. And its a careening jolt of rock & roll that would send his listeners to the volume control for more. The opening track "Get It On" is similar but even wilder: it comes bursting out of the box like a rabid wolf. Even on the slower tunes such as "Electric Alice," a story-song, the grimy organ sounds and Ellis distorted bouzouki and violin meet the slippery mud shuffle of Sclavunos drums and Caseys plodding, droning bassline. All of this said, there are moments here, such as on "Depth Charge Ethel" and "Honey Bee (Lets Fly to Mars") where Grinderman are so freaking awesome they transcend the garage band thing altogether and sound like some flipped-out cross between Suicide, the Stooges, Bo Diddley and the Scientists. The songs come through and stand on their own amid the noise, so dont be surprised if some of these evil little nuggets get new treatments when the Bad Seeds reconvene. While the sound of pure snarl and glee is what melts the speaker cabinets the most, the overdriven menace of most these songs doesnt undermine their worth as songs. Cave is far too gifted for that and his bandmates are too empathetic to let him veer too far off course. The album closes with "Love Bomb," with Cave railing on electric guitar. Its a pumping anthem of pure male libidinal dis-ease that takes the sentiments of "No Pussy Blues" to the extreme, though Bob Dylan could have written the words. Its an anthem of male malaise, dysfunction, the rage at emasculation and desire. In fact, the protagonist in most of these songs is literally sick with it, and so is almost all of the music itself here. Grinderman, not the Bad Seeds, are the most logical -- though not necessarily similar-sounding or serious -- extension of the Birthday Party legacy Cave left behind 25 years ago. These are songs to chew on, get knocked down by, guffaw at, and take deep inside your own shadow side to celebrate. Grinderman is the impure rock & roll album to beat in 2007. | ||
 | Album: 11 of 50 Artist: Drive-By Truckers Title: The Big To-Do Released: 2010-03-15 Tracks: 14 Duration: 57:21 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Daddy Learned to Fly (04:43) 2 The Fourth Night of My Drinking (04:45) 3 Birthday Boy (03:35) 4 Drag the Lake Charlie (03:16) 5 The Wig He Made Her Wear (05:47) 6 You Got Another (05:17) 7 This Fucking Job (04:58) 8 Get Downtown (03:12) 9 After the Scene Dies (04:06) 10 (Its Gonna Be) I Told You So (02:03) 11 Santa Fe (03:26) 12 The Flying Wallendas (05:16) 13 Eyes Like Glue (03:15) 14 Stutter (bonus track) (03:36) |
| The Big To-Do : Allmusic album Review : In his liner notes to the Drive-By Truckers eighth studio album, The Big To-Do, bandleader Patterson Hood uses running away to join the circus as a metaphor for a variety of hopes, dreams, and ambitions, adding "I never really was all that into the circus as a kid, but I sure was into the Rock Show, which was sort of The Circus for kids of my generation." Theres plenty of truth to that line, but while running off to chase the Big Top usually means escaping the realities of adult responsibility, Hood and his bandmates have become all the more willing to deal with the home truths of just getting by as theyve become more successful, and The Big To-Do may be their most intense look yet into the messy realities of life in post-millennial America. In The Big To-Do, the Truckers sing about people trying to make sense of a world thats seemingly turned against them -- a young boy whose father has abandoned the family ("Daddy Learned to Fly"), a man who has lost a bad job and is struggling to support his family ("This Fucking Job"), a wife confronting her unfaithful husband ("You Got Another"), an alcoholic who can barely remember the wreckage hes left behind ("The Fourth Night of My Drinking"), and a father trying to figure out what lessons he can pass along to his children ("Eyes Like Glue"). The Big To-Do is a subtle but genuine step forward from 2008s Brighter Than Creations Dark, but while that album dug deep into the darker undercurrents of its songs, The Big To-Do resembles Bruce Springsteens The River in that its stories of folks under punishing circumstances are married to music that tries to find some sort of grace and honor in the struggle without dulling the lyrical impact. And the Drive-By Truckers are one band good enough to make this conceit work -- "The Fourth Night of My Drinking" is a ravaged tale, but the melody builds some compassion for its doomed protagonist, and the anthemic "This Fucking Job" brings out the bravery in characters pushed to the wall but determined to get through. And just as Hoods songs are as painfully honest as any hes written, the two tales of broken hearts contributed by Shonna Tucker add another, equally powerful perspective to the album, and Mike Cooley contributes three absolute winners, including the albums bittersweet closing number "Eyes Like Glue." The Drive-By Truckers have been the best and smartest hard rock band in America for a while now, but with The Big To-Do they also confirm theyre one of the bravest, and theyve created a triumphant album out of songs in which folks are forced to look failure square in the eye. | ||
 | Album: 12 of 50 Artist: These New Puritans Title: Hidden Released: 2010-01-18 Tracks: 11 Duration: 43:02 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Time Xone (02:07) 2 We Want War (07:23) 3 Three Thousand (02:49) 4 Hologram (02:22) 5 Attack Music (04:48) 6 Fire-Power (03:20) 7 Orion (04:31) 8 Canticle (01:12) 9 Drum Courts - Where Corals Lie (06:14) 10 White Chords (03:42) 11 5 (04:32) |
 | Album: 13 of 50 Artist: Vampire Weekend Title: Contra Released: 2010-01-08 Tracks: 12 Duration: 42:25 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Horchata (03:26) 2 White Sky (02:58) 3 Holiday (02:18) 4 California English (02:30) 5 Taxi Cab (03:55) 6 Run (03:52) 7 Cousins (02:25) 8 Giving Up the Gun (04:46) 9 Diplomat’s Son (06:01) 10 I Think Ur a Contra (04:26) 11 Giant (02:48) 12 California English, Pt. 2 (02:56) |
| Contra : Allmusic album Review : The scholarly Upper West Side Soweto of Vampire Weekend’s debut sounded self-assured, but on Contra, they step out of their ivory tower with just as much confidence. In all senses of the term, this is a sophomore album. The band still flaunts the collegiate sense of discovery that made Vampire Weekend charming -- and sometimes too precious -- but with more maturity and creativity. Another Discovery is just as much of a force on Contra as any of the band’s much-noted influences (Afro-pop, Paul Simon’s Graceland): Rostam Batmanglij’s electro-hip-hop-pop project with Ra Ra Riot’s Wes Miles, which released its album LP after the pair found acclaim with their day jobs. While Vampire Weekend aren’t as shiny and sugary as Discovery, some of that adventurousness rubbed off on Batmanglij’s Contra production, which plays to the band’s biggest strength: inspired juxtaposition. The album’s artwork, which pairs a blonde WASP princess in a popped-collar polo shirt with the term given to Nicaraguan rebels, hints at the flair with which Vampire Weekend play mix-and-match on Contra. They throw listeners into the deep end with “Horchata,” which features a four-on-the-floor beat, thumb piano, rubbery synth bass, and massed harmonies -- almost everything except the spry guitars that helped define their first album. “California English” goes farther, tweaking Ezra Koenig’s yelp with Auto-Tune, the bête noire of those who value “realness” in their music; for Vampire Weekend, it’s just another instrument for them to play with. On paper, Contra’s hybrids seem more contrived than they actually sound: “Giving Up the Gun” fuses baile funk, house and stadium rock into a sweet melody propelled by choppy rhythms. “Diplomat’s Son” is even more far-fetched and fantastic, adding samples of M.I.A. and Toots & the Maytals -- exactly the kind of things you’d expect to hear on a young globetrotter’s iPod -- to nostalgic chamber pop. The album bustles with so many sounds and ideas that it challenges listeners to decide where to put their ears first, particularly on the single “Cousins,” a blur of guitars and jump-cut drums that sounds like abstract punk. Despite this busyness, Vampire Weekend are looser and less cryptic than on their debut, allowing them to tell stories like “Holiday,” an Iraqi war protest set to skanking guitars (ever the font snob, Koenig can’t resist mentioning a headline in “96-point Futura”). Even the few quiet moments are complex: “I Think UR a Contra” closes the album by wanting, and hating, the kind of privilege that brings “good schools and friends with pools.” And though the band is committed to change, the same joy that soared through Vampire Weekend pops up on “White Sky,” which boasts a melody so irrepressible that Paul Simon just might want to borrow it. With Contra, Vampire Weekend make Auto-Tune and real live guitars, Mexican drinks, Jamaican riffs and Upper West Side strings belong together, and this exciting lack of boundaries offers more possibilities than anyone could have expected. | ||
 | Album: 14 of 50 Artist: The National Title: High Violet Released: 2010-05-10 Tracks: 11 Duration: 47:39 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Terrible Love (04:39) 2 Sorrow (03:25) 3 Anyone’s Ghost (02:54) 4 Little Faith (04:36) 5 Afraid of Everyone (04:19) 6 Bloodbuzz Ohio (04:35) 7 Lemonworld (03:23) 8 Runaway (05:33) 9 Conversation 16 (04:18) 10 England (05:40) 11 Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks (04:12) |
| High Violet : Allmusic album Review : The National have worn a lot of hats since their 2001 debut, but they’ve never been able to shake the rural, book-smart, quiet malevolence of the Midwest. The Brooklyn-groomed, Ohio-bred indie rock quintet’s fifth full-length album navigates that lonely dirt road where swagger meets desperation like a seasoned tour guide, and while it may take a few songs to get going, there are treasures to be found for patient passengers. The Nationals profile rose considerably after 2007’s critically acclaimed The Boxer, and they have used that capital to craft a flawed gem of a record that highlights their strengths and weaknesses with copious amounts of red ink. High Violet oozes atmosphere, but moves at a snail’s pace. The Cousteau-esque “Terrible Love” hardly bursts out of the gate, and the subsequent “Sorrow” and “Anyone’s Ghost” (despite Bryan Devendorf’s locomotive drumming) lack the hooks to reel anybody in on first listen. The album begins to take shape on “Afraid of Everyone,” a slow-build midtempo rocker that expertly utilizes the Clogs’ (guitarist Bryce Dessners other chamber pop band) prickly orchestrations, but it’s the punishing “Bloodbuzz Ohio” that serves as High Violets centerpiece. Built on a foundation that fuses together TV on the Radios “Halfway Home” and Arcade Fires “No Cars Go,” its refrain of “I still owe money to the money, to the money I owe” seems both relevant and nostalgic, resulting in a highway anthem that feels like the anti-“Born to Run.” Other standout cuts like “Conversation 16,” “England," and the darkly funny/oddly beautiful closer, “Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks,” trumpet Violet’s second-half supremacy, but even they tremble beneath the "Bloodbuzz" intoxication. Muscular, miserable, mighty, and meandering, High Violet aims for the seats, but only hits about half of them. | ||
 | Album: 15 of 50 Artist: Field Music Title: Field Music (Measure) Released: 2010-02-15 Tracks: 20 Duration: 1:11:58 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 In the Mirror (04:07) 2 Them That Do Nothing (03:08) 3 Each Time Is a New Time (03:23) 4 Measure (02:58) 5 Effortlessly (03:55) 6 Clear Water (03:16) 7 Lights Up (03:57) 8 All Youd Ever Need to Say (02:36) 9 Lets Write a Book (03:40) 10 You and I (03:15) 1 The Rest Is Noise (03:31) 2 Curves of the Needle (03:51) 3 Choosing Numbers (02:02) 4 The Wheels Are in Place (02:55) 5 First Come the Wish (02:28) 6 Precious Plans (02:50) 7 See You Later (02:34) 8 Something Familiar (03:45) 9 Share the Words (03:48) 10 Its About Time (09:49) |
 | Album: 16 of 50 Artist: Gil Scott‐Heron Title: I’m New Here Released: 2010-02-08 Tracks: 22 Duration: 50:19 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 On Coming From a Broken Home, Part 1 (02:20) 2 Me and the Devil (03:33) 3 I’m New Here (03:33) 4 Your Soul and Mine (02:02) 5 Parents (interlude) (00:18) 6 I’ll Take Care of You (02:58) 7 Being Blessed (interlude) (00:12) 8 Where Did the Night Go (01:14) 9 I Was Guided (interlude) (00:14) 10 New York Is Killing Me (04:29) 11 Certain Things (interlude) (00:08) 12 Running (02:00) 13 The Crutch (02:44) 14 I’ve Been Me (interlude) (00:16) 15 On Coming From a Broken Home, Part 2 (02:15) 1 Piano Player (intro) (00:24) 2 Home Is Where the Hatred Is (live studio version) (03:19) 3 Winter in America (live studio version) (05:32) 4 Jazz (interlude) (03:24) 5 Is That Jazz (04:34) 6 A Place to Go (interlude) (00:48) 7 My Cloud (03:54) |
| I’m New Here : Allmusic album Review : I’m New Here is a shock. It’s a wallop filled with big nasty beats, a wide range of sonic atmospheres, and more -- sometimes unintentional -- autobiographical intimacy than we’ve heard from Gil Scott-Heron than ever before. Produced by XL Recordings head Richard Russell, I’m New Here is his first record in 16 years. It is a scant 28 minutes and doesn’t need to be a second longer. Its unlike anything he’s previously recorded, though there is metaphoric precedence in his earliest, largely spoken word albums. Its production pushes forcefully at the margins, and Scott-Heron embraces it without a hint of nostalgia. It opens with “On Coming from a Broken Home,” the first of a two-part poem that bookends the album. Over a piano and a sampled string loop (from Kanye Wests “Flashing Lights”), he reflects on his upbringing filled with strong female figures and an unconventional structure, with a startling epiphany at the end. It segues immediately into a slamming read of Robert Johnsons “Me and the Devil,” with enormous hip-hop drums, sampled strings, and sonic effects that create a sense of brooding menace as Scott-Heron wails with bracing rawness to hair-raising effect. Just as quickly, the album shifts dramatically. A lone acoustic guitar introduces the Bill Callahan-penned title track. Scott-Heron recites the verse but sings its refrain: “No matter how far wrong gone/You can always turn around.” It feels like he’s speaking into a mirror with a dawning awareness of who -- and what -- hes become as he accepts it. He now owns this song. A Burial-like wall of effects over a cello loop introduces “Your Soul and Mine.” It’s Scott-Herons unflinching look at death, and the way it feeds, yet ends with a warrior’s words: "So if you see the vulture coming/Flying circles in your mind/Remember there is no escaping/For he will follow close behind/Only promise me a battle/For your soul, and mine." It’s not all darkness, however. A reading of Bobby "Blue" Blands “I’ll Take Care of You,” features Gils soulful piano with a small string section. He sings it tenderly, in a now-raspier but still deeply expressive voice; it stands out sonically, but belongs here because of its intimacy. “New York Is Killing Me,” based on a John Lee Hooker blues, has been reinvented with almost entirely new lyrics and arrangement. Singers from the Harlem Gospel Choir; handclaps, bass drums, cymbals, synths, and guitar are treated spatially by Russell; Scott-Herons lead vocal roars from the center. “The Crutch” is a burning atmospheric poem about a junkie’s life. Scott-Heron doesn’t distance himself from his subject; it isn’t mere observation, but an empathic elegy, and Russell’s suffocatingly close production brings it home. Forty years after his debut, I’m New Here contains the artful immediacy that distinguishes Scott-Heron’s best art. The modern production adds immeasurably to that quality, underscores his continued relevance in reflecting the times, and opens his work to a new generation of listeners while giving older ones a righteous jolt. [XL is also offering a limited editon of 300 copies with seven bonus tracks. These include unreleased material from the albums sessions, as well as new versions of "Winter In America" and "Home Is Where The Hatred Is."] | ||
 | Album: 17 of 50 Artist: The Fall Title: Your Future Our Clutter Released: 2010-04-26 Tracks: 9 Duration: 50:14 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 O.F.Y.C. Showcase (05:50) 2 Bury, Parts 1 & 3 (06:36) 3 Mexico Wax Solvent (06:13) 4 Cowboy George (05:42) 5 Hot Cake (03:17) 6 Y.F.O.C. / Slippy Floor (07:41) 7 Chino (05:20) 8 Funnel of Love (02:55) 9 Weather Report 2 (06:36) |
 | Album: 18 of 50 Artist: Gorillaz Title: Plastic Beach Released: 2010-03-03 Tracks: 17 Duration: 1:41:53 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Orchestral Intro (01:09) 2 Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach (03:35) 3 White Flag (03:43) 4 Rhinestone Eyes (03:20) 5 Stylo (04:30) 6 Superfast Jellyfish (02:54) 7 Empire Ants (04:43) 8 Glitter Freeze (04:03) 9 Some Kind of Nature (02:59) 10 On Melancholy Hill (03:53) 11 Broken (03:17) 12 Sweepstakes (05:20) 13 Plastic Beach (03:47) 14 To Binge (03:55) 15 Cloud of Unknowing (03:06) 16 Pirate Jet (02:32) 1 The Making of Plastic Beach Documentary (45:00) |
| Plastic Beach : Allmusic album Review : Gorillaz began as a lark but turned serious once it became Damon Albarn’s primary creative outlet following the slow dissolve of Blur. Delivered five years after the delicate whimsical melancholy of 2005’s Demon Days, Plastic Beach is an explicit sequel to its predecessor, its story line roughly picking up in the dystopian future where the last album left off, its music offering a grand, big-budget expansion of Demon Days, spinning off its cameo-crammed blueprint. Traces of Albarn’s Monkey opera can be heard, particularly in the hypnotic Mideastern pulse of “White Flag,” but Damon’s painstaking pancultural pop junk-mining no longer surprises -- when hip-hop juts up against Brit-pop, it’s expected -- yet it still has the capacity to delight no matter which direction the Gorillaz may swing. Lou Reed’s crotchety croak on “Some Kind of Nature” has the same kind of gravitational pull as Mos Def leading the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble through the intensely circling “Sweepstakes,” while the group reaches new heights of sparkling pop on “Superfast Jellyfish,” aided by the return of De La Soul -- the rappers who propelled “Feel Good Inc.” -- and an appearance from Gruff Rhys, the Super Furry Animals frontman who is an ideal fit for Gorillaz (possibly because SFA’s genre-bending pop and Pete Fowler artwork clearly paved the way for Albarn and Jamie Hewlett’s collaboration). A common thread among all these tracks is that they find Albarn ceding the spotlight to his fellow musicians, preferring to be the puppetmaster behind the curtain, and Plastic Beach works best when he’s the composer and producer, finding hidden strengths within his guests -- having Mick Jones and Paul Simonon for the elastic title track, coaxing some powerful performances out of Bobby Womack -- but often when Albarn takes center stage his laconic drawl lets the air out of the balloon. Curiously, much of this arrives toward the beginning of the album, the record gaining momentum as it unspools, working toward its climax, but the overall album accentuates moody texture over pop hooks. This emphasis means Plastic Beach is the first Gorillaz album to play like a soundtrack to a cartoon -- which isn’t entirely a bad thing, because as Albarn grows as a composer, he’s a master of subtly shifting moods and intricately threaded allusions, often creating richly detailed collages that are miniature marvels. Ironically, these individual pieces don’t add up to an overall masterpiece, possibly because the narrative is convoluted and strained, getting in the way of the pure musical flow, but also because it’s hard not to shake the feeling that this is a transitional effort, pointing toward a day when Damon Albarn will feel no need to front a band, not even in a cartoon guise. | ||
 | Album: 19 of 50 Artist: Manic Street Preachers Title: Postcards From a Young Man Released: 2010-09-20 Tracks: 14 Duration: 09:25 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 (It’s Not War) Just The End Of Love (03:28) 2 Postcards from a Young Man (?) 3 Some Kind of Nothingness (?) 4 The Descent (Pages 1 & 2) (?) 5 Hazelton Avenue (?) 6 Auto-Intoxication (?) 7 Golden Platitudes (?) 8 I Think I Found It (?) 9 A Billion Balconies Facing the Sun (?) 10 All We Make Is Entertainment (?) 11 The Future Has Been Here 4 Ever (?) 12 Dont Be Evil (?) 13 Red Rubber (02:57) 14 Evidence Against Myself (03:00) |
 | Album: 20 of 50 Artist: Oneohtrix Point Never Title: Returnal Released: 2010-06-28 Tracks: 8 Duration: 42:02 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples AlbumCover | 1 Nil Admirari (05:06) 2 Describing Bodies (04:18) 3 Stress Waves (05:42) 4 Returnal (04:42) 5 Pelham Island Road (07:35) 6 Where Does Time Go (06:24) 7 Ouroboros (02:02) 8 Preyouandi (06:10) |
 | Album: 21 of 50 Artist: Hans Chew Title: Tennessee & Other Stories... Released: 2010-09-07 Tracks: 10 Duration: 42:51 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Old Monteagle & Muscadine (Tennessee Part One) (02:59) 2 Carry Me, Bury Me (Tennessee Part Two) (01:40) 3 I Would There Was a Train (Tennessee Part Three) (06:34) 4 New Cypress Grove Boogie (04:05) 5 Long Time Man (06:07) 6 Forever Again (03:55) 7 Queen of the Damned Blues (03:54) 8 Magnet Moon (04:40) 9 Words & Music (04:01) 10 Only Son (04:56) |
 | Album: 22 of 50 Artist: Spoon Title: Transference Released: 2010-01-19 Tracks: 13 Duration: 1:00:20 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Before Destruction (03:17) 2 Is Love Forever? (02:07) 3 The Mystery Zone (04:59) 4 Who Makes Your Money (03:44) 5 Written in Reverse (04:18) 6 I Saw the Light (05:32) 7 Trouble Comes Running (03:05) 8 Goodnight Laura (02:28) 9 Out Go the Lights (04:36) 10 Got Nuffin (03:58) 11 Nobody Gets Me but You (14:56) 12 Tweakers (03:43) 13 Strokes Their Brains (03:31) |
| Transference : Allmusic album Review : Given Spoon’s reputation for consistency, it’s not a surprise that Transference is good. However, it manages to be good in surprising ways. This time, the band’s quest to get to the heart of their songs led them to take matters into their own hands and produce this album themselves -- a first, which seems somewhat remarkable, considering the band’s tight control over their sound. The single “Got Nuffin” preceded Transference by six months, and its stripped-down rock was the first hint that this album might not continue Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga’s meticulous production and pop songcraft. As marvelous as the precision of that album was, the rough edges here are refreshing. Transference’s title may refer to subconscious emotional shifts, but these are some of the most direct and uncompromising songs Spoon has written. They have all the gritty promise of demos (in fact, many of these songs are basically demos), with a roomy sound that just underlines their urgency. Compared to Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga and Gimme Fiction’s polish, the Who-esque “Trouble Comes Running” might as well have been recorded on a four-track, while “Goodnight Laura”’s intimacy and imperfections make it a braver and more vulnerable lullaby. Any veneers in Britt Daniels writing have been stripped away along with the sonic gloss, revealing songs that are more emotional, and filled with more emotions: “Written in Reverse” is the fieriest Spoon song in years, all bashed pianos and snarled vocals comparing the odd happy moments in a dying relationship to high school poppers. “I Saw the Light” is pure, in-the-moment discovery with an expansive instrumental coda that’s just as impassioned as Daniels vocals. While Spoon’s music is almost always economical, it’s rarely simple, and Transference throws their complex contrasts into high relief. They ask the big question “Is Love Forever?,” but the more the beat hammers down and the more Daniel repeats “are you quite certain, love?” the more elusive the answer seems. “Who Makes Your Money?,” on the other hand, cloaks another tough question in a sinuous groove and spacy keyboards. Spoon take a zigzag path with each album, and Transference often feels like an equal and opposite reaction to Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga’s immediacy. But just because the band’s pop side isn’t the focus here doesn’t mean that moments like “The Mystery Zone”’s insistent groove aren’t earworms in their own way. Even if these aren’t Spoon’s easiest songs, they still deliver the best things about the band -- smarts, wit, hooks -- without any difficulty. | ||
 | Album: 23 of 50 Artist: Teenage Fanclub Title: Shadows Released: 2010-05-31 Tracks: 12 Duration: 47:39 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Sometimes I Don’t Need to Believe in Anything (04:31) 2 Baby Lee (04:23) 3 The Fall (05:25) 4 Into the City (04:26) 5 Dark Clouds (02:40) 6 The Past (03:31) 7 Shock and Awe (03:41) 8 When I Still Have Thee (03:28) 9 Live With the Seasons (03:23) 10 Sweet Days Waiting (03:35) 11 The Back of My Mind (03:59) 12 Today Never Ends (04:30) |
 | Album: 24 of 50 Artist: Alasdair Roberts Title: Too Long in This Condition Released: 2010-08-16 Tracks: 11 Duration: 47:53 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 The Daemon Lover (04:43) 2 Young Emily (02:24) 3 Long Lankin (05:05) 4 The Two Sisters (05:35) 5 Little Sir Hugh (05:26) 6 Kilmahog Saturday Afternoon (01:28) 7 The Golden Vanity (04:03) 8 The Burning of Auchindoun (03:22) 9 The Lovers Ghost (04:29) 10 What Put the Blood on Your Right Shoulder, Son? (05:43) 11 Barbara Allen (05:29) |
 | Album: 25 of 50 Artist: Gayngs Title: Relayted Released: 2010-05-17 Tracks: 11 Duration: 54:59 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 The Gaudy Side of Town (07:07) 2 The Walker (04:50) 3 Cry (05:22) 4 No Sweat (06:05) 5 False Bottom (02:54) 6 The Beatdown (03:00) 7 Crystal Rope (03:24) 8 Spanish Platinum (04:22) 9 Faded High (07:28) 10 Ride (03:49) 11 The Last Prom on Earth (06:33) |
 | Album: 26 of 50 Artist: Los Lobos Title: Tin Can Trust Released: 2010-08-03 Tracks: 11 Duration: 47:24 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Burn It Down (05:11) 2 On Main Street (03:16) 3 Yo Canto (02:59) 4 Tin Can Trust (04:34) 5 Jupiter or the Moon (04:22) 6 Do the Murray (03:35) 7 All My Bridges Burning (04:51) 8 West LA Freeway (07:03) 9 The Lady and the Rose (04:10) 10 Mujer Ingrata (02:45) 11 27 Spanishes (04:37) |
 | Album: 27 of 50 Artist: Voice of the Seven Thunders Title: Voice of the Seven Thunders Released: 2010-02 Tracks: 10 Duration: 00:00 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Open Lighted Doorway (?) 2 Kommune (?) 3 Out of the Smoke (?) 4 Third Transition (?) 5 The Burning Mountain (?) 6 Dry Leaves (?) 7 Dalälven (?) 8 Cylinders (?) 9 Set Fire to the Forest (?) 10 Disappearances (?) |
 | Album: 28 of 50 Artist: The Black Keys Title: Brothers Released: 2010-05-14 Tracks: 15 Duration: 55:36 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Everlasting Light (03:24) 2 Next Girl (03:18) 3 Tighten Up (03:31) 4 Howlin’ for You (03:12) 5 She’s Long Gone (03:06) 6 Black Mud (02:09) 7 The Only One (05:00) 8 Too Afraid to Love You (03:25) 1 Ten Cent Pistol (04:29) 2 Sinister Kid (03:45) 3 The Go Getter (03:37) 4 I’m Not the One (03:49) 5 Unknown Brother (04:00) 6 Never Gonna Give You Up (03:39) 7 These Days (05:12) |
| Brothers : Allmusic album Review : Retreating from the hazy Danger Mouse-fueled pot dream of Attack & Release, the Black Keys headed down to the legendary Muscle Shoals, recording their third album on their own and dubbing it Brothers. The studio, not to mention the artwork patterned after such disregarded Chess psychedelic-era relics as This Is Howlin’ Wolf’s New Album, are good indications that the tough blues band of the Black Keys earliest records is back, but the group hasn’t forgotten what they’ve learned in their inwardly psychedelic mid-period. Brothers still can get mighty trippy -- the swirling chintzy organ that circles “The Only One,” the Baroque harpsichord flair of “Too Afraid to Love You” -- but the album is built with blood and dirt, so its wilder moments remain gritty without being earthbound. Sonically, that scuffed-up spaciness -- the open air created by the fuzz guitars and phasing, analog keyboards, and cavernous drums -- is considerably appealing, but the Black Keys ace in the hole remains the exceptional songwriting that Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney are so good at. They twist a Gary Glitter stomp into swamp fuzz blues, steal a title from Archie Bell & the Drells but never reference that classic Tighten Up groove, and approximate a slow ‘60s soul crawl on “Unknown Brother” before following it up with a version of Jerry Butler’s “Never Gonna Give You Up,” and it’s nearly impossible to tell which is the cover. And that’s the great thing about the Black Keys in general and Brothers in particular: the past and present intermingle so thoroughly that they blur, yet there’s no affect, just three hundred pounds of joy. | ||
 | Album: 29 of 50 Artist: AfroCubism Title: AfroCubism Released: 2010-10-02 Tracks: 14 Duration: 58:36 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Mali Cuba (05:38) 2 Al vaivén de mi carreta (04:57) 3 Karamo (06:55) 4 Djelimady rumba (03:10) 5 La culebra (03:33) 6 Jarabi (05:57) 7 Eliades tumbao 27 (01:16) 8 Dakan (02:14) 9 Nima Diyala (03:36) 10 A la luna yo me voy (03:57) 11 Mariama (04:00) 12 Para los pinares se va Montoro (04:13) 13 Benséma (04:57) 14 Guantanamera (04:05) |
 | Album: 30 of 50 Artist: Flying Lotus Title: Cosmogramma Released: 2010-04-21 Tracks: 17 Duration: 45:47 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Clock Catcher (01:13) 2 Pickled! (02:14) 3 Nose Art (01:58) 4 Intro//A Cosmic Drama (01:15) 5 Zodiac Shit (02:45) 6 Computer Face//Pure Being (02:33) 7 …and the World Laughs With You (02:55) 8 Arkestry (02:51) 9 MmmHmm (04:15) 1 Do the Astral Plane (03:58) 2 Satelllliiiiiiiteee (03:49) 3 German Haircut (01:57) 4 Recoiled (03:37) 5 Dance of the Pseudo Nymph (02:47) 6 Drips//Aunties Harp (02:10) 7 Table Tennis (03:02) 8 Galaxy in Janaki (02:28) |
 | Album: 31 of 50 Artist: Richard Thompson Title: Dream Attic Released: 2010-08-30 Tracks: 26 Duration: 2:10:31 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 The Money Shuffle (05:56) 2 Among the Gorse, Among the Grey (03:58) 3 Haul Me Up (04:51) 4 Burning Man (05:39) 5 Here Comes Geordie (03:28) 6 Demons in Her Dancing Shoes (05:38) 7 Crimescene (06:59) 8 Big Sun Falling in the River (05:27) 9 Stumble On (06:04) 10 Sidney Wells (07:34) 11 A Brother Slips Away (04:41) 12 Bad Again (05:26) 13 If Love Whispers Your Name (07:37) 1 The Money Shuffle (04:17) 2 Among the Gorse, Among the Grey (03:45) 3 Haul Me Up (03:24) 4 Burning Man (04:23) 5 Here Comes Geordie (03:12) 6 Demons in Her Dancing Shoes (04:30) 7 Crime Scene (06:02) 8 Big Sun Falling in the River (05:00) 9 Stumble On (05:54) 10 Sidney Wells (03:49) 11 A Brother Slips Away (04:42) 12 Bad Again (04:03) 13 If Love Whispers Your Name (04:05) |
 | Album: 32 of 50 Artist: The Duke & The King Title: Long Live The Duke & The King Released: 2010-09-27 Tracks: 10 Duration: 00:00 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Gloria (?) 2 Shine On You (?) 3 Shaky (?) 4 Right Now (?) 5 Hudson River (?) 6 No Easy Way Out (?) 7 You And I (?) 8 Children Of The Sun (?) 9 Have You Seen It? (?) 10 Dont Take That Plane Tonight (?) |
 | Album: 33 of 50 Artist: Edwyn Collins Title: Losing Sleep Released: 2010-09-20 Tracks: 12 Duration: 42:28 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Losing Sleep (03:20) 2 What Is My Role (04:21) 3 Do It Again (03:13) 4 Humble (03:22) 5 Come Tomorrow, Come Today (02:59) 6 Bored (04:25) 7 In Your Eyes (04:07) 8 I Still Believe in You (03:33) 9 Over the Hill (03:36) 10 It Dawns on Me (03:54) 11 All My Days (03:16) 12 Searching for the Truth (02:16) |
 | Album: 34 of 50 Artist: Dylan LeBlanc Title: Paupers Field Released: 2010-08-23 Tracks: 12 Duration: 47:08 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Low (03:57) 2 If Time Was for Wasting (04:44) 3 If the Creek Dont Rise (03:24) 4 Tuesday Night Rain (03:26) 5 Emma Hartley (03:20) 6 Aint Too Good at Losing (04:10) 7 Changing of the Seasons (04:06) 8 5th Avenue Bar (03:41) 9 On With the Night (03:34) 10 Coyote Creek (05:03) 11 Death of Outlaw Billy John (03:49) 12 No Kind of Forgiveness (03:48) |
 | Album: 35 of 50 Artist: Roky Erickson With Okkervil River Title: True Love Cast Out All Evil Released: 2010-04-20 Tracks: 12 Duration: 44:34 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Devotional Number One (02:17) 2 Ain’t Blues Too Sad (01:23) 3 Goodbye Sweet Dreams (04:25) 4 Be and Bring Me Home (05:35) 5 Bring Back the Past (02:02) 6 Please, Judge (04:25) 7 John Lawman (03:56) 8 True Love Cast Out All Evil (04:29) 9 Forever (03:57) 10 Think of as One (05:20) 11 Birds’d Crash (03:59) 12 God Is Everywhere (02:40) |
 | Album: 36 of 50 Artist: The Hold Steady Title: Heaven Is Whenever Released: 2010-05-03 Tracks: 11 Duration: 44:52 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 The Sweet Part of the City (04:23) 2 Soft in the Center (03:50) 3 The Weekenders (03:48) 4 The Smidge (03:22) 5 Rock Problems (03:32) 6 We Can Get Together (04:29) 7 Hurricane J (03:03) 8 Barely Breathing (03:37) 9 Our Whole Lives (04:00) 10 A Slight Discomfort (07:14) 11 Touchless (03:34) |
 | Album: 37 of 50 Artist: Corinne Bailey Rae Title: The Sea Released: 2010-01-20 Tracks: 11 Duration: 42:49 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Are You Here (04:13) 2 I’d Do It All Again (03:08) 3 Feels Like the First Time (03:13) 4 The Blackest Lily (03:38) 5 Closer (04:17) 6 Love’s on Its Way (03:55) 7 I Would Like to Call It Beauty (04:19) 8 Paris Nights/New York Mornings (03:51) 9 Paper Dolls (03:20) 10 Diving for Hearts (04:51) 11 The Sea (04:04) |
 | Album: 38 of 50 Artist: Wyatt / Atzmon / Stephen Title: For the Ghosts Within Released: 2010-10-11 Tracks: 11 Duration: 56:11 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Laura (04:42) 2 Lullaby for Irena (05:52) 3 The Ghosts Within (07:48) 4 Where They Are Now (03:11) 5 Maryan (05:20) 6 Round Midnight (05:46) 7 Lush Life (06:46) 8 Whats New? (03:06) 9 In a Sentimental Mood (05:47) 10 At Last I Am Free (02:57) 11 What a Wonderful World (04:51) |
 | Album: 39 of 50 Artist: Yeasayer Title: Odd Blood Released: 2010-02-08 Tracks: 10 Duration: 39:54 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 The Children (03:14) 2 Ambling Alp (03:57) 3 Madder Red (04:05) 4 I Remember (04:25) 5 O.N.E. (05:25) 6 Love Me Girl (05:02) 7 Rome (03:50) 8 Strange Reunions (02:37) 9 Mondegreen (04:39) 10 Grizelda (02:40) |
 | Album: 40 of 50 Artist: Trembling Bells Title: Abandoned Love Released: 2010-04-19 Tracks: 10 Duration: 35:55 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Adieu, England (03:50) 2 Man Is as a Garden Born (03:13) 3 Baby, Lay Your Burden Down (04:41) 4 Did You Sing Together? (03:35) 5 September Is the Month of Death (03:46) 6 Love Made an Outlaw of My Heart (03:50) 7 Ravenna (03:45) 8 All Good Men Come Last (03:36) 9 Darling (02:45) 10 You Are on the Bottom (And the Bottles on My Mind) (02:54) |
 | Album: 41 of 50 Artist: Steve Mason Title: Boys Outside Released: 2010-05-03 Tracks: 20 Duration: 1:24:09 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Understand My Heart (03:21) 2 Am I Just a Man (03:15) 3 The Letter (03:57) 4 Yesterday (03:18) 5 Lost & Found (05:48) 6 I Let Her In (02:44) 7 Stress Position (04:10) 8 All Come Down (04:36) 9 Boys Outside (04:33) 10 Hound on My Heel (05:15) 1 Lost and Dub (06:17) 2 Dub Position (04:12) 3 Letter Dub (03:57) 4 Yesterday Dub (03:17) 5 Dub Come Down (05:03) 6 Dub Outside (04:37) 7 Dub On My Heel (05:18) 8 Dub I Just a Man (04:18) 9 Understand My Dub (03:21) 10 Dub Her In (02:43) |
 | Album: 42 of 50 Artist: Blitzen Trapper Title: Destroyer of the Void Released: 2010-06-08 Tracks: 12 Duration: 45:51 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Destroyer of the Void (06:17) 2 Laughing Lover (03:08) 3 Below the Hurricane (05:26) 4 The Man Who Would Speak True (03:07) 5 Love and Hate (03:23) 6 Heaven and Earth (03:44) 7 Dragons Song (03:02) 8 The Tree (03:35) 9 Evening Star (03:42) 10 Lover Leave Me Drowning (03:26) 11 The Tailor (03:20) 12 Sadie (03:41) |
 | Album: 43 of 50 Artist: Janelle Monáe Title: The ArchAndroid Released: 2010-05-17 Tracks: 18 Duration: 1:08:37 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Suite II Overture (02:31) 2 Dance or Die (03:12) 3 Faster (03:19) 4 Locked Inside (04:16) 5 Sir Greendown (02:15) 6 Cold War (03:23) 7 Tightrope (04:22) 8 Neon Gumbo (01:37) 9 Oh, Maker (03:47) 10 Come Alive (The War of the Roses) (03:22) 11 Mushrooms & Roses (05:42) 12 Suite III Overture (01:41) 13 Neon Valley Street (04:11) 14 Make the Bus (03:19) 15 Wondaland (03:36) 16 57821 (03:16) 17 Say You’ll Go (06:01) 18 BabopbyeYa (08:47) |
| The ArchAndroid : Allmusic album Review : Any misgivings about Janelle Monáes Bad Boy deal are nullified by the briefest contact with this, an extravagant 70-minute album involving more imagination, conceptual detail, and stylistic turnabouts than most gatefold prog rock epics. Credit Bad Boys Diddy for allowing Monáe to fully explore the singularity on display through Metropolis, Suite I: The Chase, and work with her Wondaland crew on a bigger budget. The ArchAndroid not only picks up where The Chase let off, but contains both the second and third Metropolis suites in one shot with no discernible “let’s make some hits now” intervention. The packaging alone -- the elaborate crown, the inspiration listed beside each song, etc. -- provides much to process. Liner notes from the vice-chancellor of the arts asylum at the Palace of the Dogs, Monáe’s residence, outline the (possible) situation fleshed out in the songs. In short, Monáe was genoraped in the 28th century, sent back to the 21st century, and had her organic compounds cloned and re-purposed for the existence of ArchAndroid Cindi Mayweather, whose directive is to liberate Metropolis from a secret society of oppressors. Understanding all this stuff enhances the enjoyment of the album, but it is not required. A few tracks merely push the album along, and a gaudy Of Montreal collaboration is disruptive, but there are numerous highlights that are vastly dissimilar from one another. “Tightrope,” the biggest standout, is funky soul, all locomotive percussion and lyrical prancing to match: “I tip on alligators, and little rattlesnakers/But I’m another flavor, something like a Terminator.” Just beneath that is the burbling synth pop of “Wondaland,” as playful and rhythmically juicy as Tom Tom Club (“So inspired, you touch my wires”); the haunted space-folk of “57821” (titled after Monáe’s patient number); and the conjoined “Faster” and “Locked Inside,” packing bristling energy with a new-wave bounce that morphs into a churning type of desperation worthy of Michael Jackson. Monáe might not have much appeal beyond musical theater geeks, sci-fi nerds, and those who like their genres crossed-up, but no one can deny that very few are on her creative level. She can sing, sang, and scream like hell, too. | ||
 | Album: 44 of 50 Artist: Hot Chip Title: One Life Stand Released: 2010-01-29 Tracks: 10 Duration: 49:37 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Thieves in the Night (06:09) 2 Hand Me Down Your Love (04:33) 3 I Feel Better (04:41) 4 One Life Stand (05:23) 5 Brothers (04:21) 6 Slush (06:29) 7 Alley Cats (05:21) 8 We Have Love (04:28) 9 Keep Quiet (04:02) 10 Take It In (04:10) |
| One Life Stand : Allmusic album Review : When thinking of Hot Chip, wonky dancefloor movers like “Over and Over” and “Ready for the Floor” are what spring to mind first. However, they’ve always balanced those songs with vulnerable moments, and their sensitive side dominates One Life Stand -- they don’t sound ready for the floor, they sound ready to settle down. Even the most energetic songs feel tempered compared to the neon energy of Made in the Dark and The Warning’s hits, and the album’s more serious feel is immediately apparent on “Thieves in the Night.” Despite its four-on-the-floor pulse and careening synths, Alexis Taylor’s yearning is palpable when he sings “happiness is what we all want.” That sense of urgency drives most of these meditations on deep and lasting love, monogamy, and family, but it’s not the life-or-death variety; it’s more mature than that, accepting that you only have one life to live, so you should find someone you love and live it with them. At its best, One Life Stand is remarkably clear-eyed about that ideal: the title track’s dance between minor and major keys, between doubt and joy, is a brilliant expression of just how complicated happily-ever-after can be. While focusing on vulnerability and maturity is a brave choice for this often cerebrally playful band, it doesn’t always work. “I Feel Better” is a dramatic, Latin-tinged mix of synthetic strings and real emotions, but “Slush” drags, as does “Brothers,” Joe Goddard’s paean to playing Xbox with his family. Later in the album, though, he makes domesticity sound blissful with “Alley Cats”’ rippling guitars, while “We Have Love”’s undeniable groove and “Take It In”’s soft rock-meets-synth pop leanings show that Hot Chip can keep their clever sonics and bare their souls. Though this emotional nakedness is an unusual move after Made in the Dark pushed Hot Chip to a new level of attention and acclaim, it also shows they’re in it for the long haul. | ||
 | Album: 45 of 50 Artist: Toro y Moi Title: Causers of This Released: 2010-01-04 Tracks: 12 Duration: 37:30 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Blessa (02:43) 2 Minors (03:02) 3 Imprint After (03:04) 4 Lissoms (02:13) 5 Fax Shadow (02:51) 6 Thanks Vision (03:44) 7 Freak Love (02:52) 8 Talamak (02:27) 9 You Hid (03:24) 10 Low Shoulder (03:35) 11 Causers of This (03:02) 12 Eden (04:28) |
 | Album: 46 of 50 Artist: Sleigh Bells Title: Treats Released: 2010-05-11 Tracks: 11 Duration: 32:06 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Tell ’Em (02:56) 2 Kids (02:46) 3 Riot Rhythm (02:37) 4 Infinity Guitars (02:32) 5 Run the Heart (02:41) 6 Rachel (02:19) 7 Rill Rill (03:50) 8 Crown on the Ground (03:49) 9 Straight A’s (01:32) 10 A/B Machines (03:35) 11 Treats (03:29) |
| Treats : Allmusic album Review : One of 2010’s most attention-getting debuts, Sleigh Bells Treats comes on strong. Derek Miller and Alexis Krauss craft a sound that’s all climax, that sounds like cheap stereos turned up to 11 and boom cars that might actually explode. Nearly all the parts of all the songs on Treats are saturated with distortion that makes them feel even louder than they actually are (which is pretty loud to begin with). Yet their approach is far from lo-fi, and it’s worlds apart from the kind of noise pop that looks back to the halcyon days of four-track recording in the ‘90s. Instead, Sleigh Bells claim whatever sounds loud and shiny for their own: their beats can come from electro, rap, or a drumline; Millers guitars often sound like they were stolen from stadium rock; and cheaply sampled sounds that could have come from toy instruments pop up more often than not. On top of all these blaring and blurring sounds is Krauss unaffected, ultra-girly voice, which acts as the frosting on Treats, sweetening it and holding it all together. It’s an approach that’s as powerful as it is unlikely -- her voice could be too saccharine in another setting, and the music could be contrived and too abrasive without her presence. Sleigh Bells have got their formula down and they stick to it throughout Treats, to often stunning effect. Nearly every track here sounds like an event. “Riot Rhythm” is stark and driven by a drumline rhythm; “Crown on the Ground” sounds like a cheerleader chant backed by a sound system; and “A/B Machines,” with its surfy guitars and siren-like synth drills, could be a Chemical Brothers song covered by No Age and what nu-rave should have sounded like. The fondness and flair Sleigh Bells show for recontextualizing and reconfiguring on songs like this and “Straight A’s,” which throws some metal guitar into the mix, make it easy to hear why M.I.A. signed the band to her label (and “Rill Rill,” which samples Funkadelic’s “Can You Get to That,” echoes her own surprise hit “Paper Planes”). On quieter songs like “Rachel” and the soulful “Run the Heart,” Miller and Krauss switch up their approach a bit, allowing her vocals to be the focus of the songs rather than a decoration. Given that Sleigh Bells sound is so big -- and undeniably exciting -- songwriting falls lower on the band’s list of priorities than taking all the dramatic moments from everyone’s favorite songs and turning them into songs in their own right. That doesn’t stop Treats from having a boldness, immediacy, and sense of fun that’s missing from too much other music. | ||
 | Album: 47 of 50 Artist: Solar Bears Title: She Was Coloured In Released: 2010-09-27 Tracks: 15 Duration: 50:32 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Forest of Fountains (03:03) 2 Children of the Times (03:05) 3 Twin Stars (04:09) 4 She Was Coloured In (03:24) 5 Head Supernova (02:17) 6 Crystalline (Be Again) (04:18) 7 Cub (02:44) 8 Hidden Lake (03:19) 9 The Quiet Planet (03:40) 10 Solarization (02:21) 11 Division (01:29) 12 Primary Colours at the Back of My Mind (03:12) 13 Dolls (04:58) 14 Neon Colony (05:05) 15 Perpetual Meadow (03:20) |
 | Album: 48 of 50 Artist: Zola Jesus Title: Stridulum II Released: 2010-08-23 Tracks: 10 Duration: 38:34 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Night (03:37) 2 Trust Me (02:01) 3 I Cant Stand (04:10) 4 Stridulum (04:22) 5 Run Me Out (03:19) 6 Manifest Destiny (03:16) 7 Tower (03:58) 8 Sea Talk (05:03) 9 Lightsick (04:11) 10 Sea Talk (original) (04:36) |
 | Album: 49 of 50 Artist: Ólöf Arnalds Title: Innundir skinni Released: 2010-09-13 Tracks: 9 Duration: 32:30 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Vinur Minn (02:09) 2 Innundir Skinni (02:54) 3 Crazy Car (03:21) 4 Vinkonur (04:00) 5 Svif Birki (02:31) 6 Jonathan (03:52) 7 Madrid (04:52) 8 Surrender (05:23) 9 Altt í Gúddí (03:28) |
 | Album: 50 of 50 Artist: Kings of Leon Title: Come Around Sundown Released: 2010-10-15 Tracks: 13 Duration: 47:26 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 The End (04:24) 2 Radioactive (03:26) 3 Pyro (04:10) 4 Mary (03:25) 5 The Face (03:28) 6 The Immortals (03:28) 7 Back Down South (04:01) 8 Beach Side (02:50) 9 No Money (03:05) 10 Pony Up (03:04) 11 Birthday (03:15) 12 Mi amigo (04:06) 13 Pickup Truck (04:44) |
| Come Around Sundown : Allmusic album Review : Kings of Leon have always acted like rock & roll royalty, even before Only by the Night went platinum in 12 different countries. What started off as good-natured posturing turned into the real deal in 2008, though, when “Sex on Fire” and “Use Somebody” helped redefine the Followill boys as the new champions of arena rock. Gone were the songs about transvestites and coked-up supermodels; in their place were Top 40 anthems that swung for the fences, armed with U2-sized guitar riffs and giant, lighter-hoisting choruses. Releasing that sort of album -- the kind that soccer moms blast in the family minivan -- has its downside, too, and Kings of Leon found themselves struggling to prove that they hadn’t forgotten about their older fans. All of this makes Come Around Sundown the most important album of the band’s career, since it gives Kings of Leon a chance to choose which side of their audience they’d like to keep. The answer? Well, none of these songs are as blatantly commercial as “Use Somebody,” but none have the artsy, Appalachia-meets-London charm of Aha Shake Heartbreak, either. After touring in support of Only by the Night for two years, the guys are acutely aware that loud, booming anthems are the best way to fill a stadium, and Come Around Sundown is engineered to sound as immense as possible. Nowhere is this more evident than in Caleb Followill’s choruses, most of which seem to revolve around sustained high notes, and Matthew Followill’s guitar lines, which split their time between moody textures and cyclic, reverb-heavy riffs. The few diversions from that template are some of the album’s best moments -- “Mary” sweetens the band’s sound with a little doo wop, and “Beach Side” focuses on casting a mood rather than creating a spectacle -- but they’re too scattered to change the "go big or go home" mentality, and the twangy “Back Down South” (which soared during the band’s mid-summer 2010 tour) never quite leaves the ground in its recorded version. All detours aside, this is super-sized, guitar-driven, modern rock pomp, a sort of Only by the Night: The Sequel aimed at those who prefer their KOL songs big and bombastic. Kings of Leon haven’t gotten to the point where “Use Somebody” is their default setting, but it has become their benchmark, and Come Around Sundown attempts to replicate that song’s success while still giving the middle finger to Top 40 radio. Sometimes, it works. Other times, Kings of Leon sound like they’ve flatlined their sound while trying to streamline their appeal. | ||