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Mac's Top 40 - Part 2

Posted at 1:45 PM on December 16, 2009 by Mac Wilson (3 Comments)

Back in action for Part 2. (You can read part 1 here if you missed it)

25. The Avett Brothers, I & Love & You
I felt caught in someone else's holy war with the Avett Brothers this year. A cult band works with a renowned producer (Rick Rubin), whose slicker sound turns off the hardcore fans, yet wins over leagues of acolytes. At the core, of course, the album is their best yet. It's a moral dilemma for longtime fans, a paradox that drew me in (as one of the newcomers), fascinated with how folks were responding to the mix of quality, sleekness, and "sell-out-ness". Anyway, I'll probably write a book about all that someday. I & Love & You is helped by its atypical sequencing, which frontloads the record with ballads and gradually increases the tempo to the end. In other words, the exact opposite of what you'd expect. I thought the sequencing was the touch that put it over the top.

24. Franz Ferdinand, Tonight: Franz Ferdinand
I actually wound up liking this quite a bit. I certainly trust Franz Ferdinand to be competent in any genre they choose, so I wasn't worried when they decided to make a dancier, "disco" album. One of the things that sets Franz above the crowd is that for a band that's gained mass success through their singles, they care very much about making consistent albums with no weak tracks. Find me a truly bad/half-assed song on any of their three albums. You can't. My favorite is "Lucid Dreams," the album's centerpiece and one of their most ambitious (and best) songs. Franz have earned my trust: they make an 8-minute pretentious acid freakout and I love it.

23. Sonic Youth, The Eternal
Even Sonic Youth by the numbers is pretty awesome.

22. The Rural Alberta Advantage, Hometowns
One of the most aptly-named bands makes an aptly-named album that also happens to be one of the year's most promising debuts. Just don't compare them to Neutral Milk Hotel. Wait....

21. U2, No Line on the Horizon
People heard what they wanted to hear from this album. If you expected to hate it, you hated it (Pitchfork), if you expected to love it, you loved it (Rolling Stone), and everyone else was left more conflicted about a U2 record than any in years. In time, I found it to be a step into the past (recalling The Unforgettable Fire) and forward (beyond their last two records, which in hindsight were overtly commercial). No Line on the Horizon is certainly U2's best since Pop, probably their best since Zooropa, and possibly since Achtung Baby.

20. Grizzly Bear, Veckatimest
Of the "Big Three," this was by far my favorite. It may be the winner of the You & Me Sum-of-Its-Parts>Whole Award -- while it sags in places, I can't pick out any individual track that doesn't work. I think some excellent stuff got lost in the wake of the "Two Weeks"/"While You Wait for the Others" twin peaks, such as "Ready, Able" (which is arguably just as epic) and the exquisite closer "Foreground". Maybe my headphones just aren't good enough.

19. Art Brut, Art Brut vs. Satan
I have no real criticisms of this record. It's hard to ask for more than witty songs, each with their own moral, delivered by a band that cares about quality sounds from each instrument. These guys do everything the Hold Steady does, just three times better. You heard me.

18. Neko Case, Middle Cyclone
Has anyone listened to "Marais la Nuit" in its entirety? It's basically "Apple Jam" for the 21st century.

17. Brendan Benson, My Old, Familiar Friend
I ultimately decided that it was a very good thing that after 2 or 3 listens, I could remember the hooks for all 11 songs. Benson is the kind of musician I would have really enjoyed during my sophomore year of college, when I became fascinated with '70s and '80s power pop. I hear bits of Todd Rundgren, the Flamin' Groovies, and the Cars; Benson went for a distinctively radio-friendly sheen, giving it the sound of something that would have dominated AM radio once upon a time. Any song could be a single, which leads us back to my original point of immediate hooks. (P.S. My wife loves this guy)

16. Passion Pit, Manners
A summer dance jam record that actually had some pretty lofty lyrical sentiments. As a shameless plug for my own company, try listening to Michael Angelakos' in-studio session at the Current. Stripped down to a voice & keyboard, the songs still stand up. He has genuine talent that, if harnessed, could make him a blockbuster.

15. John Vanderslice, Romanian Names
After the apocalypse, Vanderslice is cut off from the rest of humanity. From Oregon to Florida to the Serbian coast, the songs are packed with minutiae, yet with just enough left unsaid to haunt you afterwards. You can travel to all corners of the earth, but there are some memories you can't shake.

14. Metric, Fantasies
Ten songs, ten winners. Take your pick. In my top 10 songs for the Current, I alluded to "Gimme Sympathy" as a much-needed dose of positivity. We needed that indomitable spirit and drive, which comes in spades from "Help I'm Alive" to "Stadium Love," which is one of the most relentless and shattering album closers of the decade. It is not possible to be disappointed by this album; what it may lack in originality, it matches in power and enjoyability.

13. Lily Allen, It's Not Me, It's You
An excellent display of pop songwriting and pop production. Producer Greg Kurstin keeps the hooks coming from all corners while still keeping each song unique -- it's tougher than you might think, making a cutesy (ostensibly) synthpop record that never grates or repeats itself. As for Allen, she runs the gamut from extranged family to estranged sexuality to estranged relationships with authority figures (Dad, God, George W. Bush). There's also an honest-to-god sincerity in the love song "Who'd Have Known". A top 40 hit that's solid from top to bottom.

12. Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, Up from Below
On Musicheads, I likened them to Fleet Foxes: this is music to be absorbed slowly, rather than by immediate gratification. It turns out the melodies were here after all. There is something about this band that is connecting with an awful lot of people. I think that moment comes in the Jade/Alexander spoken-word breakdown in "Home": a ridiculous shaggy-dog story that wraps up when Alexander confesses his love for Jade, and she seems to give a little laugh before the band launches back into the chorus. Something about it feels momentous.

11. Glasvegas, Glasvegas
The parent-child songs kill me even more than they did in January.

Tomorrow I count down my top 10 records of the year.

Comments (3)

18. Yes, by accident. I kept looking around my apartment wondering what that weird noise was. Amazing album.
19. Am I the only person who is thoroughly irritated by this band?
16 and 14 were in constant rotation this summer. Totally addicting.
12. Every week I listen to the Chart Show and think, "Oh, not that Home song at #1 AGAIN" and then I sing along to the whole thing. Whole album is pretty darn good.

Posted by Heidi | December 17, 2009 2:00 PM

Re: 19 - You're definitely not the only one. Art Brut are probably one of the Current's most love-or-hate bands. I think there's profoundness to be found in the Jonathan Richman school of shouted lyrics, but I definitely see the other side of the coin, too. They're a hard band to be in the 'right mood' for.

Of course, I feel the same way about the Hold Steady...

Posted by Mac Wilson | December 17, 2009 2:59 PM

I agree with quite a few so far, especially #11...I have a soft spot in my heart for Scottish Rock, and they have a great sound.

Posted by Chelsea | December 24, 2009 2:55 PM

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