In most years, there’s a clear favorite for my Album of The Year. Maybe not in the first six or seven months of the year, but as we near the end of the summer, I’m confident I have a solid choice between 1 or 2 records that speak to me in a profound way. Last year, there was a hero’s bounty of choices, between the excellent and Grammy-winning albums by The War on Drugs and The National and the dramatic post-hiatus records by Canadian supergroups Broken Social Scene and Wolf Parade.
This year, I have a number of records that I absolutely love, but none that stood out as perfect, as an absolute contender for the Best of the Best. Below, I’d like to briefly highlight a few of them and why I think they’re special and if you haven’t heard them, why I think you should take the time.
In no particular order:
Arctic Monkeys – Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino
This was my most anticipated album of the year. I adored their previous record, 2013’s AM, a pure unadulterated blast of school rock and roll cementing themselves as the British rock band of the generation. So, when Tranquility dropped, I was completely taken aback. Such a swerve in musical direction. From hooks and screeching guitars, to a word salad lounge vibe with a science fiction tint, and that was the just first song! Throughout all the songs on this loose concept record about a Hotel on the moon, this is not the sound of the band that became famous for singing “I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor” and other boozy barrages of sounds. This was Alex Turner, lead singer, spinning yarns behind daytime sunglasses and a Baby Grand piano.
And I loved it! It takes cojones to change your sound so much after a five year absence. Some bands thrive on that (see: Radiohead) but the Arctic Monkeys have been tweaking their sound for years, never straying too far from those first records.
While the vibe is totally different on this record, the sound of a cohesive and 20+ year professional band is on full display here. Listen to the rhythm section on the title track, that ripping guitar solo at the end of “American Sports,” and the confident beat on the album standout, “Four out of Five.”
Dirty Projectors – Lamp Lit Prose
I’ve been a fan of Dave Longstreth’s ramshackle crew known as the Dirty Projectors since their breakout record, 2009’s Bitte Ocra, but I’ll admit that I didn’t give much attention to their previous release. But after hearing the lead single to Lamp Lit Prose, I knew they were back in a big way.
The creativity on display in any Dirty Projectors record is always something to behold. It’s usually varied, with Dave in the lead spot on most songs, but one of his backing singers taking the reins for a couple per record. Not here. Which is a bit striking, but also adds to the cohesive of this album. There’s a unique (and consistent) voice that sets Lamp Lit Prose apart from the long discography that proceeds it.
But is it any less impressive? No way. Dave really stretches his lyrical and musical muscle here with that signature Dirty Projectors kookiness on full display early in the record in the one-two punch of “That’s A Lifestyle” and “I Feel Energy.” There’s an earnest energy here, as if they recorded these songs in a fever pitch of creativity. A late album highlight is the slow burn “What Is The Time.”
Lead single and awesome Parrot-themed video, “Break-Thru”
Big Red Machine – Big Red Machine
The collaboration between Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon and The National’s Aaron Dressner started many years ago. They put out a song called Big Red Machine in the seminal 2009 “Dark Was The Night” charity compilation. That was the beginning of a fruitful friendship and the culmination is this sublime and varied record. There are songs that are subtle and beautiful like “Deep Green” and the similarly titled “Forest Green”, there are loud dramatic statements like “Air Stryp,” arresting beat-driven pop “Lyla”, reflective ballads “Hymnostic” and “I Won’t Run From It” and the epic, woozy, “OMDB.”
Listening to the whole of this record, it feels like reading a short story collection. There’s a consistency of voice in Justin Vernon’s signature tones (less modulated than the most recent Bon Iver record) and there’s thematic threads in feelings of loneliness and disconnection, distinctly modern themes that end in the dramatic explosion of emotion in the final track, “Melt” with the chorus “Well you are who you are!”
Interpol – Marauder
Honestly, I was ready to write off Interpol. They had probably the best debut record I’ve ever heard and put out a number of quality followups over the past two decades, but I wondered if they really had anything left to say. Any room to maneuver in that thick, reverb laden world of sound they create.
I’m glad to say I was wrong. While Marauder may not change your life, it’s worth a listen. It’s confident song writing and impressive musicianship. I remember seeing reddit comments about this record when it came out decrying the production, saying it sounded “cheap” and “not mixed correctly.” Obviously, Interpol is one of indie rock’s mainstays at this point and to think that anything on this record doesn’t sound exactly the way they wanted to do is idiotic. They worked with one of my favorite producers (of many other artists but notably The Flaming Lips) Dave Fridmann and somehow created one of the most compelling records of the year for me.
Lead single, “The Rover” is a harkening back to their glory days and may one of their best singles ever, which is saying a lot. While first listens might make it sound like a lot of the middle songs on this record blend together in a samey soup, there’s some real highlights here, the restrained vocal and guitar interplay in “Stay in Touch” and the surprising sweetness of “Mountain Child” and the caffeinated blast of energy in “Number 10.” Closing track, the mournful “It Probably Matters” is full of blissed out regret.
The opener of the album “If You Really Love Nothing” is a hypnotic Hello to a wild adventure and its video (“a film” starring Kristen Stewart) is a thing to behold in itself.
Elad Haber 