So there you have it, it took us a few months but we finally have revealed what we consider to be the best thirty albums of the decade. There was some arguing and bickering as well as consensus and agreement. The list is completely dominated from Western Europe, North American artists. These are, of course, the artists we are most familiar with. We have left out some gems, but thirty is thirty. However, the albums that prevailed were the ones that were most eloquently defended, but most importantly, the albums that were most reflective of Ali, Sam and I’s shared tastes. The brilliance of music is that people are never going to be in full agreement. Indeed, to paraphrase Andre Maurois' very pretentious sentiments on literature, “in music, as in love, we are astonished at what is chosen by others.” There are also some great albums by artists featured in the list that are not mentioned. Our strict policy of one album per band allowed us to be concise and eclectic at the same time; we reached out to all our taste buds.

24 Feb 2010

So here we are, welcome to our best album of the decade, the incredible Feels by Animal Collective. We could have quite easily had Boredom’s, person Pitch or Kid A in this spot, but we have chosen Feels on the basis that we feel it represents the most innovative of the AC projects. In particular, and like Person Pitch, we all believe that Feels transcends the Beach Boy’s stare. Person Pitch is a wonderful record, but we all agreed as an entity Feels is the better record. Feels was undoubtedly a defining moment for Animal Collective as a band. The hazy, deconstructed, freak-folk of Sung Tongs and the more emotionally driven Here Comes the Indian and the playful Campfire Songs suggested had suggested that what was to come next would certainly not be a more poppy affair. Hence for some fans the eschewing of the more freak-folk/ droning style tracks in favour of more rigid song structures and vocal harmonies represented an unwelcome change in direction. Despite this most critics called it a ‘maturing’, and yet I don’t think this quite hits the nail on the head either. For me Feels was not an unwelcome change of direction, or a maturing, or a culmination for that matter, it was a homecoming. Perhaps aided slightly by the benefit of hindsight, I have always felt that Animal Collective were at heart much more pop-orientated than most would suggest. Of course with the advent of Merriweather few would argue with this distinction, yet before its release many would have hesitated to list Animal Collective as unashamed pop music. Moreover, I have a much stronger claim to make here. I not only think that Animal Collective effectively pick up long American line of great American pop music with its origins firmly rooted in Pet Sounds, but I tend to think that Animal Collective could become the most influential pop group since the Beach Boys.

23 Feb 2010

When was the last time you heard a record that just made you think, ‘Fuck’, this is like nothing I have ever heard before. Before the record in question, my last experience of this was when I was first introduced into kraut-rock in the form of Can’s Tago Mago, other than that such experiences are now few and far between in the modern world. Of course music that is different is not always good, but this is not the feeling I am describing. What I am alluding to is when you hear a record that just totally blows your mind and grabs you immediately. This is exactly what happened the first time I listened to Vision Creation Newsun. Relentless tribal drumming undergirds hypnotic guitar work, transcendental vocals and shimmering electronics; i t is quite simply a record which is like nothing I have ever heard before. Indeed, three of the five boredoms members play drums and percussion and it is this element that is crucial to their sound on VCN. The drum sounds are a mix of world styles which fuse together to create something that sounds truly new. In terms of wider musical touchstones, VCN may be crudely described as ‘world’ I guess, Sun Ra, Fela Kuti, Can, and the Faust tapes more uplifting moments are all points of comparison I guess, and yet VCN goes well beyond a more traditional conception of ‘world music’. This is music which is so mysterious and energetic that at times it almost sounds otherworldly.

23 Feb 2010

In many respects Person Pitch elucidates much about Animal Collective as an entity. The sweet, sugary pop influences are evidently much more apparent in Lennox’s contribution, where as the more freak-folk style present in AC’s work seemingly comes more from Avery Tare. As for Geologist, well we have had numerous arguments in the pub as to what he actually does, but we’ll settle for the summary that he wears an awesome headlamp and holds the whole thing together with his beats machine. Anyway, more to the point, My Uncle, the owner of one of the most extensive collection of pop music I have ever seen, has always been quick to remind me that AC have never really fully escaped the constant gaze of the Beach Boys, and yet while I generally agree with this point re- much of AC’s discography, I think that Person Pitch’s quality lies in the fact that it is one of two AC project which truly transcends this influence. Indeed Lennox’s shimmering vocals and the melodic meanders are clearly reflective of much of the Beach Boy’s work, and yet at the same time there are some obvious qualitative differences. Panda Bear’s tracks are a meticulous blend of loop-based samples, a plethora of layer, an adept sense of the use of repetition, and scrupulous electronic sequencing, which is all held together by an unashamed summery-pop wrapper. Moreover, how many Beach Boys tracks last over 12 and a half minutes?

22 Feb 2010

Having covered Gas a little earlier in our top 10 it may come of little surprise that we now arrive at an artists who is a mainstay on the Kompakt label which Voight formed along with Juurgen Paape and Michael Mayer. Indeed Kompakt may well be partly the brainchild of Voight himself, and yet the ‘Cologne Sound’ for which it is famous for is now becoming increasingly more identified with artists such as the Field and Gui Boratto. The Cologne sound is described by Resident Advisor as ‘a mix of minimalism, melody, and melancholy, often with an underlying pop sensibility’. In many respects the Field is archetypal of this sound, and From Here We Go To Sublime is undoubtedly the strongest record that has emerged in the last few years from the Cologne scene. Certainly its influence should not be overstated. Before Sublime rarely had techno records featured on alternative websites, the indie blogosphere, indeed I shall go as far as saying the enlightened musical community by itself. Sublime thus represents, in my opinion, a complete shift in the modern musical landscape.

22 Feb 2010