Four Great Albums of 2009
(Wiki) | (Last.FM) | (Myspace)
The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart / Two Suns
Why There Are Mountains / My Maudlin Career
[2009] | [Slumberland / Astralwerks / Self-Released / 4AD]
x—————————————————————
8+/10
So I’d like to take a moment and run over a few gems this year has hit us with that we weren’t
able to cover. Sorry about that; you see we’re just two kids, one running a full-time job (mark)
and the other - trying to drink as much as possible while earning a degree somewhere along the
line (eric). It’s a little time consuming, and lately the albums we’ve been choosing to cover
aren’t like SO AMAZING but pretty enjoyable nonetheless. We can be a little stuck
up, but if it’s above a 7, it’s highly recommended. So to our loyal readers (all 3 of you),
here’s some definite 8s and up if you’ve been getting sick of our 6.3333(repeating) ratings.
The Pains of Being Pure At Heart
————————————————-
Dark, catchy, and low-fi pop music at its best. Balancing shoegaze singing with great pop
instrumentation behind him, Kip Berman’s lyrics resonate teenage love mixed in with the
confusion of the Jungian shadow side of things. Boy loses virginity in library, girl reluctantly
giving in, brother-sister incest (“This Love is Fucking Right”), and heroin use: the music
backdrop is beautifully ironic. An overlooked theme about how very real teenage pain, confusion,
and love is - Pains of Being Pure At Heart means every word.
8.3/10
Two Suns
————————————————-
Besides sporting one of the top tracks of the year “Daniel”, Natasha Khan’s lyrics makes this
album undeniably heartfelt. The album’s production is rich and centers itself around Khan’s
voice; the instruments never dull but rather are sophisticated, pretty and subtle pillars that
shift, rise, and fall keeping Khan’s voice at the top. Listen to the way her voice remains a
calmly controlled force in “Daniel”, and the way that force booms in “Glass”. Her voice often
teases bulding up to an enormously rewarding pull as she lets it loose. With grim layers built
underneath a beautiful production, Two Suns rewards both the discerning and leisurely listener.
8.1/10
Why There Are Mountains
————————————————-
Alright, I’m just gonna admit it. I stopped trying to categorize Cymbals Eat Guitars for you
guys. They sport surfer-guitar, garage-rock, masterful pop hooks, and hell - I initially thought
noise when I first heard track one. So let’s just ignore trying to typecast WTAM, and get onto
what really hits: their musical waves. Cymbals blasts at you from the beginning that falls into
an addictive hook, and then back up again. This is the general pattern of WTAM. The guitar is
really the driving force, but D’Agostino’s singing flexibility and Baer’s keyboards (whose
strokes always seem to contrast the rest of the instruments) give it the substance it needs. NYC
represent; the seemingly structureless melodies combined with the continous falling and rising
makes WTAM one of the most interesting albums of the year and continues to prove why NYC is the
most dominant and progressive music scene of the 2000s.
8.4/10
My Maudlin Career
————————————————-
So yea, listen “James”, throughout “My Maudlin Career”, “You Told A Lie” and got “Away with
Murder”, but “Careless Love”: you’re still “The Sweetest Thing” - now I’m gonna run with the
“Swans” making “Honey in the Sun” for the “French Navy” in “Others Towns and Cities”! OK, so
maybe that last part doesn’t fit, but I think I just summed up Tracyanne’s feelings (using song
titles! who said I’m not a clever writer?). It’s a bittersweet album whose inherent pessimism is
contrasted with catchy pop ballads that make heartbreak seem, well… pretty fun! What’s great
about Camera Obscura is they have such a powerful force on the microphone, but by no means rely
on her voice singularly. Tracyanne will always take some sort of precedence (as just about any
non-shoegaze singer does), but this album owes a lot to its supporting cast. The pretty violin
and piano, rhythm holding drums, the vivacious horn bursts, and a minimilastic guitar all work great
together and all play into their corresponding parts. Catchy upbeat melodies rock with
depressing lyrics argue that even within heartbreak, there’s beauty.
8.6/10
-Mark
04 May 09
