Day 10, September 30, 2014 (a few hours early, but I am traveling tomorrow): The Best Albums of the Last Five Years (In terms of initial impact, and how long they have stayed in heavy rotation on my various Apple listening devices) 6. Titus Andronicus, The Monitor. Take Springsteen, but move him forward 30 years, sprinkle in a bit of the Ramones, maybe some Green Day, and you have this band and this album. They do not pull off the act on other releases, but this one is outstanding, and begins with reference to the Lincoln-Douglas debates, while still being quite punk. Amazing record. 5. Bon Iver, For Emma, Forever Ago (2007). OK, so this is outside of the five year cut off, but we did listen to it a ton a few winters ago. Absolutely perfect for driving on a cold winter night as the sun is going down. 4. Thee Oh Sees, Carrion Crawler/The Dream (2011) and Floating Coffin (2013). I thought that I would not like this San Francisco based outfit based on the campy, almost Cramps-esque, album covers they employ, but the music is, simply, hypnotic, even if a bit noisy and a bit channeling Sonic Youth (but who doesn’t?). 3. Unknown Mortal Orchestra, II (2013) and self titled (2011), it is probably, again, cheating to but both of these in one slot, but I think of the 2 as basically inseparable. Rather quite music, but really, really draws you in once you start to listen, the lyrics can be silly, but I think they are meant to be largely irrelevant. 2. Vampire Weekend, Modern Vampires of the City, 2013. I was skeptical about these guys as they seemed to try a bit too hard, and I know that real music snobs turned their noses up at their upbeat fusion sort of sound. But, on this album they are hitting on all cylinders, the singing is lush, the lyrics poignant, and it is just a beautiful album from start to finish. 1. Alt-J, An Awesome Wave, 2012. Easily the album we have listened to the most over the last 4-5 years. The soundtrack for driving home after late afternoon/early evening skiing. The boys got the lyrics down, and often quietly, or loudly, sing along. Haunting, and uplifting. If you have not listened to this, you should, now. https://youtube/playlist?list=PLKTkF8EEI95SGXzyIYLyHaSJjdeAfNlD0
Posted on: Mon, 29 Sep 2014 20:59:06 +0000