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Sea Of Cowards marks a change in the expected order of things from Jack White. In recent years, we've seen him alternate between his projects, but this time we got two albums in a row from The Dead Weather. That threw off my expectations, so I let the album sit for most of the year without giving it a fair chance. Luckily, I managed to right that wrong in the final few days of the year. I sat down with
Sea Of Cowards and let it play many times. The result? I learned that this album is
insane. Tracks like "Die By The Drop" are a bit unbalanced, but others like "I'm Mad" are just plain deranged. Alison Mosshart goes off the rails in ways you must hear for yourself to understand. Jack White himself is out of control, too. You might think he'd turn blasé and settle down as the years go by, but you would be wrong, my friend. You would be so wrong.
Glasser is Cameron Mesirow, a musician from California that got her start by firing up GarageBand and singing over a wild combination of the included beats and loops. That earned her a spot on an eMusic compilation nearly two years ago, and her star has been rising slowly but surely ever since. How do you describe Glasser? Well, her music is a little bit Bat for Lashes and a little bit Florence & The Machine, but there's something about it that feels looser, less packaged. There's a display of unfiltered individual creativity happening on
Ring that feels at once spooky, nostalgic, and artful. I first discovered her song "Mirrorage" thanks to its accompanying video, the visuals of which are a perfect match for the ambience of her music. Some other top tracks to check out include "Apply" and "Home", but really, while you're at it, just listen to the whole album.
Ring is something you need to take the time to experience for yourself.
I feel like the rest of the world has already told you everything you might ever need to know about LCD Soundsystem, so instead I'll just tell you about my personal experience. Nearly six years ago, "Daft Punk Is Playing At My House" introduced me to the project, and I was sold right away. Later firebrand tracks like "North American Scum" kept me on board. In recent years, I've started to appreciate the more sincere works like "All My Friends" even more so than I did originally.
This Is Happening brought more of the best of both worlds, epitomized by "Dance Yrself Clean", the nearly 9 minute long monster production. James Murphy says
This Is Happening is the last LCD Soundsystem album. I don't know if that's true, but one way or the other, no matter what he decides to call it, I hope Murphy sticks around to bend the limits of various genres and challenge our expectations in the variety of unique, memorable ways he has brilliantly pioneered.
Broken Bells is the pairing of James Mercer, the lead singer of The Shins, with Danger Mouse, the seemingly infallible producer behind Gnarls Barkley and a veritable cavalcade of modern rock albums in recent years. Knowing this, you might expect
Broken Bells to be one of the best albums of the year, and you'd be right! Hence, its placement on the list. Whether it's the psychedelic aura of "Citizen", the falsetto reaches of "The Ghost Inside", or the highly addictive quality of my own favorite track "October", you can't go wrong with
Broken Bells. With any luck, this self-titled effort from Broken Bells will be just the first of many albums we're lucky enough to get out of this project.
The newest album from French pop singer Charlotte Gainsbourg,
IRM was the first item labeled "2010" that mysteriously made its way into my personal music collection before the year even began. It was released in France near the end of 2009, and then it came to the UK and the U.S. in the first few weeks of 2010. With it being on the borderline like that, I decided to hold off until now to consider it for my top 40 albums. I'm glad I made that decision, as it gave me a full year to appreciate the album. The title
IRM is the French equivalent of the acronym "MRI", the medical imaging technology that helped save Charlotte's life after she suffered a brain hemorrhage in 2007 from a water skiing accident. She turned to Beck to write and produce the music for
IRM. The lead single "Heaven Can Wait" features him; its haunting music video was excellent beyond words.
IRM explores the themes of fear, mystery and anxiety in an enduring way that only Beck can imagine and Charlotte can realize. This is an album that means so much more once you understand how it came to be.
Great news! We've passed the half-way point, with 7 parts done, 5 remaining. Coming soon, albums #25 through #21!