32 - Longing and Songing

I've found turning 32 far harder than turning 30 ever was. Turning 30 was fun. Really I didn't feel as though I was entering another phase of my life. No, that was 32. I've never really let aging get to me until this year. And I think it has a lot to do with what kind of year it's been. A little over a year ago I was living in Salt Lake and I had recently been diagnosed with celiac disease. Since that time I've left my home behind, most of my family, life long friends. I moved from Salt Lake to Fort Worth and to Chicago. Started a job with a company doing the kind of work I have been looking for for a long time. I fell in love with a girl only to come to the heart breaking realization that it wasn't going to work out. In short, it's been a long/quick important year in my life.

Yoo-hoo or boo-hoo. (You can say it.) Anyone who's read my blog before (Hi Laura!) knows that I've never used it as a journal nor a medium for anything of importance. That paragraph I wrote was the most personal thing I've ever written on here. No, this blog is about...nothing really, but music mostly. Music has, since I was in jr. high, been a source of comfort and a tool for understanding myself and my self. Music is about communication and good music knows how to help the listener communicate with themselves. Lyrics are, I think for most of us, self-reflective. We hear in them what we want. Some songs may distinctly spell out a message but what that message means to us personally is still up to personal interpretation. And that's a beautiful thing. So, as this has been an important year in my life, music has played a pivotal roll in my life. I've come across a few new artists that have connected with me and a few albums I've been very grateful to have found. (And on an aside, I've also written a good measure (for me) of music this year and it's been the fulfillment of a goal of mine in many ways, but that's for another post.)

Anyways (underwears). Simply I  just wanted to share those albums that have meant a lot to me in the past year. They'll stay with me for awhile and most likely they'll always harken me back to a time of change. Nostalgia is a comfort. And smells like Old Spice. Here you are, and yes, I don't know why, but it's been The Year of Women. So, ladies first.

Shriek: Wye Oak

This is probably my favorite album of the year. Headphones are a must and must be cranked. The music is moving and the melodies are beautiful. 
Selections: Before, The Tower, Logic of Color

Actor: St. Vincent
(And really just all 5 of her albums have been on heavy rotation for me this year but especially Actor.)

St. Vincent has quickly became one of my favorite artists. Ever. All 5 of her albums are amazingly composed. She's a creative song writer, a fantastic guitar player, and knows melody.
Selections: Save Me From What I Want, Black Rainbow, Just the Same But Brand New


Tookah: Emiliana Torrini

 

Iceland, you've done it again, you're a genius. Torrini's soft voice guides you through acoustics and electronic beats alike.
Selections: Tookah, Caterpillar, Speed of Dark

A Thousand Shark's Teeth: My Brightest Diamond

I first got into My Brightest Diamond (Shara Worden) after hearing her sing on The Decemberists' The Hazards of Love. Her voice enthralls. It can enchant or chill you. This is chamber rock at its best. This album takes time. You've got to let it sit with you for awhile and melt but when it does I promise it's so colorful.
Selections: Ice and the Storm, From the Top of the World, To Pluto's Moon

Sylvan Esso: Sylvan Esso

Electropop. It grooves. It moves. But it doesn't suffer from a lack of soul. Aces.
Selections: Hey Mami, H.S.K.T., Coffee

Aventine: Agnes Obel

A beautifully acoustic album. It's soft and chalk full of mood and empty space.
Selections: Dorian, Run Cried the Crawling, The Curse


Shields: Grizzly Bear

It's like if psychedelia actually learned how to write songs. Heavy on the textures with vocals that hold it all together.
Selections: Sleeping Ute, Yet Again, gun-shy

They Want My Soul: Spoon

Another solid album by the boys from Austin. I was so excited for this and it delivered. Catchy, inviting, and organic as always. Seriously they are as consistent as any rock band can be and this is my favorite of theirs since Gimme Fiction.
Selections: Inside Out, Do You, Let Me Be Mine

Seldom Seen Kid: Elbow

Elbow, like St. Vincent, is another artist/group that I discovered later in their discography and have become completely invested in. Up to this point this album is probably my favorite and I have been knee-deep in it all year. If you haven't listened to them yet do so. Start here.
Selections: Starling, The Bones of You, Friends of Ours

Modern Vampires of the City: Vampire Weekend

Indi-pop from some breezy fellas. The hooks are real. The instrumentation is colorful. This album is far more thoughtful and constructed than their previous works. They seemed to change up their recipe for songs-writing and instrumentation but none of this is to say that it's not as good as their other albums.
Selections: Step, Everlasting Arms, Hey Ya

Honorable Mentions

Ghost Stories: Coldplay - Don't hate. It's great.

If Not Now, When: Incubus - A softer album by Incubus, because of which I think it was unfairly overlooked.

Himalayan: Band of Skulls - This gave their first album a run for it's money and I think their first album is one of the best of the last 10 years.

Let Go: Nada Surf - Judging Nada Surf solely off of Popular is like judging Radiohead solely off of Creep. They're infinitely more deep than that song and album. Not a particularly artistic band but good song writing lasts and this album is thick with it.