Nonetheless

This remains the greatest album cover of all time.

It Says Right Here I'm Always Right! Part 3.

Why is this page short than the last two? That seems silly. I could ponder this, but that would be Further Ado:


3. Ramona Falls - Intuit: Apparently Ramona Falls is the side project of some guy from Menomena. Of course, I have no idea what Menomena is, but I do know I love side projects. This album is some incredibly beautiful, moderately exciting dream pop. We're talking... Really good. Like, with the instruments, and the playing, and the musics. It's all good. The more ears you have, the more you should use them to hear this album. I loved it instantly. It surprised the heck out of me, and naturally it won't be as surprising for you, as you trust my opinions wholeheartedly.


2. Andrew Bird - Noble Beast: Oh yeah! Another great Andrew Bird album. Maybe a little more eclectic than the previous few, a little more Doshy, but... But... Man, I find it really hard to talk about Andrew Bird, because he is A GOD AMONG MEN. Given this, I also find it hard to work out why I'm putting it at number 2. I suspect it may have something to do with it being released at the beginning of the year, and, so, being extremely familiar by now. But really, every song on this album is great. Ouo and Unfolding Fans not being songs, of course. Some are even greater than great, like, oh, say, ANONANIMAL! I like that song. It makes me EXCITED. I have programmed my computer to make it AUTOMATICALLY RANDOMLY ACTIVATE MY CAPSLOCK whenever it is played. Look, let's just say it being at #2 is completely arbitrary, because this album is EXACTLY AS GOOD AS:


1. Sunset Rubdown - Dragonslayer!: Yeah, Dragonslayer. Obviously it was going to be these two at the top. Dragonslayer is pretty much exactly the album I've been waiting for since I heard Random Spirit Lover. It's like a perfect realisation of what Sunset Rubdown can and should be. Which is... Epic. Like, Epic lyrics, Epic songs, Epic themes, Epic volume. Epic album art, if you're into maniquins posing next to crystal balls while perched on some kind of bird sculpture thing covered in Christmas lights. And who isn't?!? Listen guys, that album art is amazing, but the album is Even Better Than That. Yes, yes, I know it's hard to believe, but it is. Actually, Dragonslayer was a bit of a slow-burner for me. Perhaps because I had already heard other, different versions of some of the tracks. Perhaps also because I didn't have the volume high enough the first time I heard it. Also, because it's less varied than their previous album. But it's more consistent. It seems to have a kind of thematic coherence which is very attractive. The theme in question being EPICNESS. Look, it's just rad.

Listadaisy Spats! Part 2.

Without further ado ado:

6. fun. - Aim And Ignite: I was slightly annoyed when The Format broke up a few months after cancelling their Australian concerts. Well, now one of the two primary members of The Format, Nate Ruess, has a new band, called fun. And they have released this album, Aim And Ignite. Frankly, it sounds a lot like The Format, only 12 times more over the top. Which is really rather over the top. This album is good for much the same reason that Dog Problems was amazing: It presents a kind of excitable pop music that owes a lot to classic pop bands, but still advances on them, doing something new and interesting. By which I mean, it has a timeless appeal, without sounding unoriginal or dated. Which is a fairly rare thing to do these days, methinks.

Sadly, Aim And Ignite isn't quite as awesome as Dog Problems. It's just a little less coherent, and also a little less varied. The lyrics are a little less clever, and a little more obscured by the music. The songs are a little less catchy, and... quite a lot less affecting. Plus there are two really quite annoying songs. Still, it's definitely worth listening to, certainly enjoyable, and reassures me that Nate Ruess will continue to produce great music. And I would totally be dancing around the room to it, if only I had some decent speakers.


Okay, we're getting to the part of this list where we're talking about really, very excellent albums, which I would unreservedly recommend.

5. Mumford & Song - Sigh No More: I heard about this album from Lydia, and immediately sought it out. I am almost embarrassed to like it as much as I do. It is like a laundry list of all the things that I tend to love in music: folky melodies, gratuitous vocal harmonies, slightly-out-of-place brass, jangly instrumentation, song structures that tend to start out soft, mellow, and calm, before slowly ramping up in intensity, then finally going completely batshit nuts with walls of noise and emotive, screaming lyrics. And... And is that a banjo? I think it is, yes, Mumford & Sons just won the prize.

Still... I have reservations. I almost need to force myself to have reservations in the face of such raw, compelling excellences, which play so directly to my aesthetic biases. Firstly, the songs can be just a bit samey. I mean, they really ALL have basically those same above-mentioned features. Still, despite the sameiness, the album does not overstay its welcome for me. It's just a lot of similar songs, that are sufficiently enjoyable that I don't get sick of them. Maybe I will if I listen to it more. Another issue: the album really isn't that original. Like, it's not breaking huge ground or anything. I sometimes think originality might be a bit overrated, and that there's a lot to be said for an excellent instantiation or combination of old concepts. But still, you know, it's always nice. Another reservation would be that... Okay, I maybe haven't listened to it carefully enough to make this judgement, but I worry the album might be a whole lot of sound and fury, signifying nothing. As in, I'm not sure I get the point of it all. Like, Fleet Foxes produced an in-some-ways-similar album last year, but that album created a consistent image for me, a consistent message vaguely along the lines of "Hey, let's all go be neo-hippies and live in a freakin' forest or something." All I really get from Sigh No More is something like... "HEY LOOK! WE'RE REALLY EXCITED AND/OR ANGRY ABOUT STUFF! THINGS ARE SO IMPORTANT, IN WAYS!" Anyway, I suspect I'm only not putting this at #1 because I don't want to be a total slave to my passions... But then, in my more charitable moments, I maybe suspect I will just eventually get sick of Sigh No More, in a way that I won't with:


4. Dan Deacon - Bromst: BROMST! It's by Dan Deacon. Dan Deacon is pretty cool. I was excited for this album before, during, and after seeing him play live, which is an amazing... Thing... To do. Bromst is kinda like Dan Deacon trying to be more serious than he was on Spiderman Of The Rings. And it kinda works! At least, there is less chipmunk voice.

Honestly, at first I don't think it really impressed me that much. I would let the album play, while doing something else, and then realise after an hour that I'd been hearing a whole lot of noise and excitement, and now it was over. It's hard to really have a strong opinion about that kind of experience. But only relatively recently did I really listen to the album closely... And that really pays off. For reasons I can't fathom. I realised the album is excellent, energetic, engaging, ecentric, ecstatic... Pretty danged good. It has less immediate impact than Spiderman Of The Rings, and it is kinda disappointing that you can't find yourself singing along to it, as the vocals are less common, and completely indecipherable. But nonetheless, it may actually be a better album. Hard to tell. They're a bit different. Anyway, as with that former album, it's one that you have to be in the mood for. Surprisingly, turns out that when you're reading Hilary Putnam is a good time to listen to Bromst, if you don't mind dance-reading.

In sad news, I left my Bromst Tent in Sydney. What was I thinking!?! FIND OUT ON FRIDAY!