Best Music of 2008

Most music critics called it a down year for music after the avalanche of extraordinary music that was 2007. 2008 had plenty to offer, though, including Moby and R.E.M.'s best albums in roughly a decade; the emergence of new bands like Frightened Rabbit, Noah and the Whale, Los Campesinos, Fleet Foxes, and Vampire Weekend; and another strong showing from the Pacific Northwest.

Maybe the best gift of the year was Belle and Sebastian's The BBC Sessions. Their live recordings aren't included in my Top 20 list because most of the songs were previously released, but I still obsessed over every word and every note as the live versions of some of favorite songs brought back memories -- and I cherished the four "new" songs. We were also lucky enough to get a live Colin Meloy album, with him singing and playing some of my favorite Decemberists tunes.

But we're mostly concerned with this year's new music, so here we go: The Top 20 Albums of 2008.

01. Frightened Rabbit - Midnight Organ Fight
One of the best rock albums of the decade, Midnight Organ Fight delivers song after song, always building to something and always delivering with a catchy underpinning to its brutally honest and desperate songs. Built around a devastating and recurring use of warmth as a metaphor for love, this album offers some of the best lines in recent memory -- and in a Scottish accent, no less.
.:. Best Song: Keep Yourself Warm

02. Noah and the Whale - Peaceful, the World Lays Me Down
Noah and the Whale were the band that I fell in love with this year. Their debut album is full of the boy-girl harmonies, strings, and catchy choruses that send a shiver up my back and put a smile on my face all year long. Each time I listened to Peaceful, I felt like giving it a hug -- because I loved it and because it felt like it was made just for me.
.:. Best Song: Five Years Time

03. TV on the Radio - Dear Science
Easily the most accomplished album of the year, Dear Science plays like a master class in modern American music and modern American life. Every song has a groove, a brain, and a heart. It's as great as everyone says, and then some -- the rare work of art that plays to the masses as well as the insiders.
.:. Best Song: Golden Age

04. Los Campesinos - Hold On Now, Youngster
Los Campesinos singing-yelling coed lyrics are both hyper-literate and just plain hyper. They throw in every instrument in the book, more energy than a kid full of sugar, and enough knowing winks to challenge anyone in indie pop to a cute and clever contest. The result is one of the most infectious debut albums in recent memory. And they've already successfully followed it up with We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed.
.:. Best Song: Death to Los Campesinos

05. Blitzen Trapper - Furr
I liked Wild Mountain Nation well enough and thought that they were okay in concert after that album, but I didn't expect an Americana masterwork like Furr from Blitzen Trapper. They come through with an unexpectedly great album, though. Full of tuneful strumming and classic sounds, Furr is a summary of a genre of music and an exciting new sound at the same time.
.:. Best Song: Furr

06. Death Cab For Cutie - Narrow Stairs
Narrow Stairs is my favorite grad school band returning to form, even with the big budget. Death Cab have figured out how to do the major label thing, try new directions, and still make heartfelt, melodic music. They even threw in a few songs like "Cath..." and "Grapevine Fires" for old-timers like me.
.:. Best Song: I Will Possess Your Heart

07. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes and Sun Giant EP
Dripping with beauty, Fleet Foxes are the new pride of Seattle. Their famously four-part (and famously bearded) harmonies started to click for me during a sunny brunch at a vegetarian restaurant. The warmth of the music wrapping around me like the sun through the big picture window.
.:. Best Song: Your Protector

08. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
I got Vampire Weekend all wrong. When everyone hyped them as the greatest thing ever, I thought that they were Paul Simon rip-offs. When the inevitable backlash came with their wild success, my affections for their super poppy Afro-beat songs grew. Then I saw them in concert and was fully convinced that they were the real thing.
.:. Best Song: A-Punk

09. Atmosphere - When Life Gives You Lemons...
That's right, a rap album in my top 10. Atmosphere's Lemons transcends the genre with its short-story lyrics, laid-back rythms, and timeless-modern urgency. It might be too slowly paced for most rap fans, but it was the perfect album for for relaxing (and feeling cooler than I really was) while I drove around town.
.:. Best Song: You

10. Moby - Last Night
Moby stopped being cool with critics a decade ago when he followed Play's with a series of so-so albums. But the critics shouldn't have given up on him because Last Night is the perfect rave night send-up for indie kids.
.:. Best Song: Ooh Yeah

11. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
Bon Iver is a ghost -- a voice that's almost not there, but unmissible and haunting. For Emma (which was released in 2007 and re-released in 2008) filled the background on many nights of reading in front of the fire, lodging its beautiful but lost urgency in my subconscious, forcing its way into the forefront of my mind in its amazing choruses.
.:. Best Song: Skinny Love

12. Okkervil River - The Stand Ins
Facing down the death of the album, Okkervil River released the best double album of the decade. Only they didn't. This follow-on to last year's transcendent The Stage Names was recorded at the same time and has the same big feel, but it was released on its own this year. It's not quite as great, but I'l never complain about more goodness.
.:. Best Song: Singer Songwriter

13. R.E.M. - Accelerate
Before releasing Accelerate, R.E.M. played SXSW, like a new band trying to make a name for themselves -- a smart move after falling into irrelevance over the last a decade. Also smart were the concise and catchy songs that filled the album with the urgency of a new band and the chops of the all-time great band that is R.E.M.
.:. Best Song: Houston

14. The Helio Sequence - Keep Your Eyes Ahead
The Helio Sequence are a late addition to my list, as I somehow overlooked them for most of the year. It was an unfortunate oversight because they've made a beautifully produced, intricately layered college rock album with more hooks than you'd expect from that description. Dreamy and propulsive.
.:. Best Song: Hallelujah

15. The Hold Steady - Stay Positive
The best live band in America keeps treating us with excellent albums. While Stay Positive doesn't reach the heights of Boys and Girls, it feels more like The Hold Steady's Hold Steady album -- like what their stories and music have been building toward all these years. Whether or not the get their unified scene, they've given us another a fine album.
.:. Best Song: Sequestered in Memphis

16. The Lucksmiths - First Frost
The poor Lucksmiths. They've released very good albums every couple of years for more than a decade, critics have sung their praises (politely but not effusively), and then they have largely been forgotten outside of their small but devoted fan base. Too bad because they've got a diverse catalog that ranges from clever and catchy pop to the more subtle and quiet sounds of First Frost, maybe their most mature album.
.:. Best Song: Lament of the Chiming Wedgebill

17. Conor Oberst - Conor Oberst
Taking a break from the Bright Eyes moniker and ostensibly a full-on album, Conor Oberst didn't take a break musically. These relaxed -- and even more countrified -- songs are up to the Bright Eyes standard, and refreshing for their informal feel.
.:. Best Song: Danny Callahan

18. The Mountain Goats - Heretic Pride
At this point John Darnielle is one of the most reliable song writers in America. And if you like his acquired-taste singing voice like I do, he's also one of the best performers. On Heretic Pride, he sketches a series of short stories filled with details and darkness. I hope that he never stops telling us stories.
.:. Best Song: Sax Rohmer #1

19. Wolf Parade - At Mount Zoomer
The two geniuses behind Wolf Parade combine their talents to create head-bobbing indie pop goodness. At Mount Zoomer, while not as immediate as Apologies to the Queen Mary, tells us that, as long as Spencer Krug and Dan Boeckner keep working together, we'll be getting good stuff from them for a long time -- and we'll start to hear their complementary sounds meld more completely together.
.:. Best Song: Soldier's Grin

20. The Magnetic Fields - Distortion
Stephin Merritt and company buried their pop genius in a gimmicky wall of distortion, but the songs were still as gooey and cynically ironic as ever under the fuzz. And after a few listens the distortion fades away to a classic sounding album.
.:. Best Song: California Girls

Best Songs Not In Top 20
A number of albums just missed the cut for me or had one or two really great songs. Here are my favorite songs of 2008 that aren't not covered by the top album list. In alphabetical order:

• Black Kids - "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance" and "Look at Me (When I Rock Wichoo)"
  
• David Byrne and Brian Eno - "Home"
  
• Dr. Dog - "The Rabbit, the Bat, and the Reindeer"
  
• Hot Chip - "Ready for the Floor"
  
• Mason Jennings - "Fighter Girl"
  
• M83 - "Kim & Jessie"
  
• MGMT - "Time to Pretend" and "Electric Feel"
• Nada Surf - "See These Bones"
  
• Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - "We Call Upon the Author"
  
• Of Montreal - "Id Engager"
  
• Or, the Whale - "Call and Response"
  
• Santogold - "Lights Out" and "L.E.S. Artistes"
  
• The Ting Tings - "Shut Up and Let Me Go" and "Great DJ"
  

Magnetic Fields at Town Hall

After almost a decade of waiting, I finally saw The Magnetic Fields when they came to Seattle last week to play Town Hall. I still wish that I'd seen them during their 69 Love Songs heyday, but this show was a good substitute. They played a full set of 25 songs, focusing on their most recent release Distortion, but including quite a few from their seminal triple album.

Town Hall was mostly a good venue for a Magnetic Fields show. A beautiful old building with pews sloping gently toward the stage, it's definitely a better fit than a noisy bar, but maybe a bit too old and sleepy for a indie pop concert. The whole audience and the whole band remained seated for the entire concert, almost like a symphony performance. I appreciated being able to relax and see easily, but the show lacked energy.

Stephin Merritt didn't do a whole lot to increase the energy, acting like a misanthropic bastard most of the night. Sometimes that meant cutting humor, but mostly it meant that he came off like a detached and angry bastard who knows he can act like a detached and angry bastard because he writes better songs than just about anyone alive. Claudia Gonson did her best to provide lighter stage banter between songs, but let's face it: people go to Magnetic Fields concerts to see and relate to the genius behind those amazing songs. Outside of singing and strumming his bouzouki, the closest that Merritt came to relating was when he went into the crowd to get someone to turn off their video camera.

But the songs. They didn't disappoint. The songs from Distortion sounded much better live, without all the distortion that hangs over the album. I felt like I was hearing some of them for the first time, and was glad that Shirley Simms joined the tour to sing on the new songs. I particularly liked "California Girls," "Drive on Driver," "The Nun's Litany," and "Too Drunk to Dream." I liked that people actually laughed out loud when they heard the lyrics. It made listening more communal and made me feel like the audience was actually relating with the band.

I also liked the clean and professional sound throughout the performance. I credit Sam Davol and John Woo, who sat quietly in the middle of the stage, holding the performance together with their attentive and precise cello and guitar and playing. I think that they made the more formal setting work because they seemed so serious and deliberate with their movements.

The highlights of the concert for me were the songs from 69 Love Songs. They are just flat out better than the songs on the current album, not matter how they play them. I wish that they would have played more songs from that album, but that time has passed. The best "oldies" for me were "Come Back From San Francisco, " "The Night You Can't Remember," and "Papa Was a Rodeo." The duet at the end of "Rodeo" always send a chill down my spine, even if it is a bit cheesy.

The songs from i also sounded surprisingly strong, especially "I Don't Believe You," "I Thought You Were My Boyfriend", and the closer, "It's Only Time."

Overall, it was a good concert. It confirmed my love of The Magnetic Fields many wonderful songs and helped me appreciate their new album. I wish that Stephin Merritt had been a bit more personable and energetic, but I guess his fussiness and crankiness were just about right for the mini-symphony staging and performance. The man is a genius after all.

Menomena, Blitzen Trapper, and BOAT at UW

The other weekend I was lucky enough to get a ticket for the Menomena, Blitzen Trapper, and BOAT show at UW. I wanted to see all three bands, particularly Menomena and BOAT, so I was thrilled that a ticket cost a mere $6 -- with no ticket charges!

The venue, however, was a disaster. The show was in the basement of the HUB on a makeshift stage that barely raised the performers above the crowd. Believe it or not, this setup was even worse than the HUB Ballroom staging for the Hold Steady and Art Brut show.

At least the performances were good.

BOAT, a local band, started the show. I've wanted to see them for some time, having read about them at Three Imaginary Girls and heard a couple of their songs. They play sing-along indie pop with a charmingly lo-fi aesthetic, and they seem like friendly, normal guys on stage. I liked their set quite a bit, and because the concert ticket was so cheap and I could buy directly from those nice guys, I bought both of their albums. They were extremely thankful and earnest, which was refreshing. I love supporting local bands.

Blitzen Trapper played second. Their sound fits somewhere between scruffy alt-country and Pavement-style indie rock. They barely fit on the stage, and their diminutive lead singer was barely visible behind the bobbing heads in front of me. Their set opened with more of a polished sound than I expected based on their album, but eventually turned into more noise than song. Their set was the least interesting of the night for me, but that's what I expected.

Menomena were the headliners, and for good reason. Friend and Foe was one of the best albums of 2007. I've heard that they're pretty amazing live, that people finally "get" Menomena after seeing them. A big part of getting the band is seeing how only three guys play such dense and interesting music on such a variety of instruments. Unfortunately, I could see only Justin Harris and Brent Knopf. I couldn't see Danny Seim's percussion work at all, and I couldn't see Knopf switching between his many instruments. That detracted significantly from the show.

What I could see was how much emotion Harris and Knopf had on their faces while playing. Menomena's songs rely on a series of cathartic moments, and those moments are much more focused and intense live than they are on the album. When Harris pulled out his baritone sax, I could see and feel the anticipation of his great sax lines. They played most of Friend and Foe and a few other songs, which was exactly the right set list. As they closed out with "Evil Bee," I was more than happy with their performance.

But I couldn't say the same thing about the venue. I'd like to see both BOAT and Menomena in a better venue.

Up Next: I saw The Magnetic Fields at Town Hall just the other night. Write-up coming soon.

Top Albums 2007

25. Watch the Fireworks - Emma Pollock
More than just a consolation prize after the break-up of the Delgados, Emma Pollock's solo debut is a confident step forward. Her voice has always been stunning, and while I loved the Delgado's interplay between male and female vocals, I'm glad to hear her singing showcased for a full album. "Paper and Glue" best summarizes her solo success, but the whole album is uniformly appealing.

24. We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank - Modest Mouse
If Modest Mouse made an album and I listened to it and liked it but couldn't remember the songs, would that album exist? That's a flip way to describe a really quite good album, but Ship was the first Modest Mouse album for me that didn't leave an indelible mark. Still, it has the distinctively jittery and thumping rhythm of a Modest Mouse album and the satisfyingly yelpy growl of Isaac Brock's singing voice. Those strengths ensured that it eventually grew on me. You could say that I "Missed the Boat" (my favorite song on the album) at first.

23. Under the Blacklight - Rilo Kiley
Under the Blacklight is the sound of a potentially great indie band dying, but it is also lots of fun. It is my guilty pleasure for the year. Yeah, they sold out and produced a bunch of songs that I swear I've heard before, but Jenny Lewis' sultry an d seductive voice makes up for it. My favorite tracks are "Silver Lining," "The Angels Hung Around," "15," and the complete sell-out "Breakin' Up."

22. Once - Original Soundtrack
Once is an amazing and beautiful movie that would be almost nothing without the amazing and beautiful music of its stars. Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova's voices soar together on songs like "Falling Slowly," "If You Want Me," and "When Your Mind's Made Up." Listening to the album brings their emotions and insecurities right into your ears and helps you re-live one of the best movies in years. Just like the movie scenes without the two stars together, though, the songs without both halves aren't quite as good as the ones with them together.

21. Sky Blue Sky - Wilco
It's mellow old-man Wilco, and I like it. Jeff Tweedy is off the drugs and getting older, so it makes sense that he's laid back. The obvious reaction from critics was to wonder why Wilco stopped experimenting and rocking. What isn't so obvious about this album is that it is full of classic guitar lines, welcoming piano and organ, and one of Tweedy's best singing performances in a while. It's time to grow up with one of my favorite bands, and this is a perfect album for a laid-back weekend afternoon at home.

20. Cassadaga - Bright Eyes
Cassadaga is uneven and moves a bit too close to country for my liking, but it still has some of the best songs in the Bright Eyes catalog -- and that's saying something. "Four Winds," "If the Brakeman Turns My Way," "Soul Singer in a Session Band," and "I Must Belong Somewhere" are all exceptional tracks. I searched the latter's lyrics for advice on where to live. Did I belong in California or Washington? Or back in Minnesota? It was a good enough song that I was willing to ask Conor for advice.

19. Wincing the Night Away - Shins
After a band changes your life, you don't want them to change. But that's exactly what the Shins did, following up the perfect Chutes Too Narrow with an imperfect but far more adventurous album -- the kind of album that promises more life-changing in the future. Sonic changes aside, Wincing is most certainly a Shins album. It just requires some adjustment, especially the second half. It starts out strong -- and without surprises -- with "Sleeping Lessons" and "Australia." But then "Pam Berry" interludes into the New Pornographers-inspired "Phantom Limb," and the Shins are off to the experimental races. The new sound grows on you; it just takes longer than you'd expect for a Shins album.

18. New Moon - Elliott Smith
Another beautiful posthumous release from the saddest man in indie rock. The quality of this double album, while not quite on par with Smith's best stuff, is a testament to his consistent brilliance. It is a particularly great gift for fans of either/or and his eponymous album, as most of the songs come from that era. Every time I listen to an Elliott Smith album, I thank my younger self to seeing him in concert while I still could. An amazing talent.

17. Reunion Tour - The Weakerthans
The Weakerthans treated me to the most surprisingly wonderful concert of the year, and they also released another first-rate album. Despite the recent infatuation with Canadian bands and quite possibly the best lyrics in rock and roll, the Weakerthans have flown a bit under the radar. Reunion Tour isn't quite the star-making album that Left and Leaving should have been, but boasts some of their best songs: "Tournament of Hearts" (the best curling song of all time), "Sun in an Empty Room," and "Civil Twilight."

16. Cease to Exist - Band of Horses
I never got to experience Band of Horses as a local band. They formed after I moved away from Seattle and took off for South Carolina before I could make it back. But I won't hold that against them as long as they keep making songs that prove that "the world is such a wonderful place." The first half of Cease to Exist does just that with its lush guitar and Ben Bridwell's distinctive voice. On some songs his singing makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. They've definitely found a distinctive and emotive sound that, which it evokes the southern classic rock of their new home, still sounds entirely fresh.

15. The Con - Tegan and Sara
Here's my Tegan and Sara equation:

Tegan's voice + Sara's voice + Strummy Guitars = Magic

The Con, which takes on an almost punk aesthetic with its short and energetic songs, often has only two-thirds of the equation. Fittingly, it has fewer highs than the full-equation So Jealous did for me, just because the sound isn't as immediate and personal. But it is a fuller and more complete album from start to finish. The Canadian sisters are increasingly solid songwriters, with an amazing sense of harmony. I particularly like "Relief Next to Me," "Like O, Like H," "Nineteen," "Back in Your Head," "Soil, Soil," the title track, and well, you get the idea.

14. Emerald City - John Vanderslice
John Vanderslice is almost as fixated on 9-11 as Rudy Guiliani, but with Vanderslice it isn't a manipulative political ploy; it is an honest reflection on the aftermath of that tragic day. Vanderslice's brooding yet comforting voice, the plunked-out minor-key piano, and the crunchy guitars all sound a warming and a lament for our nation. Flawlessly produced, Emerald City is the sound of a musician in his top form.

13. Shepherd's Dog - Iron and Wine
Fans usually lament their low-fi heroes' transitions from hushed and simple recordings to full-band hi-fi recordings. No one should shed tears for Shepard's Dog; it makes Sam Beam's considerable previous efforts sound like warmp-ups. This collection of songs is beautiful, fully-realized, and instantly classic. The songs feel so cinematic and so much of a place that I keep expecting an entire movie to feature Iron and Wine songs the way that Good Will Hunting featured Elliott Smith. It'd be a damn good movie.

12. Night Falls Over Kortedala - Jens Lekman
By all rights Jens Lekman should be a novelty act. He has such a throwback sound that it almost winks at you, and his lyrics can be so precious that you don't know whether to give him a hug or dismiss him. After Kortedala you definitely can't dismiss him -- Jens Lekman is a serious musician. "The Opposite of Hallelujah" is one of the best pure pop songs of the year, bouncing along with uncanny energy. "A Postcard to Nina" tells the story of being tricked into tricking someone else with such wit that it never gets old. I don't expect this album to ever get old, either.

11. Friend and Foe - Menomena
Portland, along with Brooklyn and Montreal, has become the center of indie rock world over the last few years. One of the best bands to emerge from the Rose City is Menomena. Friend and Foe, Menomena's second proper album, is by no means a collection of singles, or necessarily even songs; it is a sound collage filled with memorable bits and pieces that poke out as a full-bodied horn or a series of piano notes or a distant lyric ("Oh, to be a machine...") and stick in your head for months. Listening to how those pieces fit together -- and trying to understand how they constituted songs that sound like real rock songs from sounds on a computer -- makes each additional listen more and more rewarding. Hooray for Portland. Hooray for Barsuk records.

10. In Rainbows - Radiohead
Remember when a Radiohead release was a big deal without internet gimmicks? When every other band was the junior varsity team? I do. For me Radiohead will always be defined by The Bends and OK Computer, classic albums they released during my influential high school and college days. I can't quite get excited about a Radiohead album the way that I used to, but that's okay this time because the music stands up very well on its own. In Rainbows is one of their best releases, full of haunting pop songs and compelling soundscapes. The return to sound (just a bit different from return to form) is not just a rehash of old ideas, it is evidence of a vital band that figured out how to grow up. After the success of In Rainbows, the next release might just be a big event for me.

09. Neon Bible - Arcade Fire
For the first few months of the year, Neon Bible was by far my favorite album. As I listened more and more, I immersed myself in the album and the album rewarded me for repeated listens. Then I stopped listening. And I didn't really miss it. When I went back to the songs months later, most of them didn't work nearly as well for me. "Antichrist Television Blue" and "Keep the Car Running" were still great, some of the best songs of the year, but the others lost something when they weren't in the context of the entire album on repeat. Still, Neon Bible has an essence that can capture your imagination -- and, despite being a step down from Funeral, it is confirmation that The Arcade Fire will remain a force.

08. Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga - Spoon
Spoon are so consistently good that Britt and his mates are almost getting boring. Their songs, however, are anything but boring. "You Got Yr Cherry Bomb" and "The Underdog" add horns to great effect, the latter taking up the Van Morrison's pop mantle. "Rhthm and Soul" and "Black Like Me" shimmer and shake with a confidence that flows in your ears and right to your feet and fingertips. They all pull together to make yet another great album. That Spoon aren't all over the radio is one of the great mysteries of our time.

07. Sound of Silver - LCD Soundsystem
Play and Give Up. That's the shortlist of electronically-derived albums that have captured my attention as much as the non-stop hit parade that is Sound of Silver, a tour de force that redefines the genre -- and makes it a hell of a lot better. James Murphy's album oozes personality and has a better indie pop sensibility than most indie pop. The two long tracks in the middle, "Someone Great" and "All My Friends" carry an already great album to a higher level. "Someone Great" confirms the weight of losing someone without forcing that weight on the listener, in a way that rivals John Darnielle. And "All My Friends" turns a few deceptively simple piano notes into more than 7 minutes of raucous good times. Why can't there be more albums like this one?

06. Boxer - The National
Boxer can't quite touch Alligator song for memorable song, but it might just be a better album than the one that made Matt Beringer and band into indie favorites. Like its predecessor, Boxer requires plenty of late-night listening to sink in. But when it does, it will sink deep into your soul as a constant, comforting thrum. Among other things, Boxer is an album about realizing that you've grown up and coming to grips with what that means. Themes of uneasiness with aging, maturity, and modernity emerge, especially on highlight track "Mistaken for Strangers." It is empathetic because you can hear in the timbre of Beringer's voice and the restrained passion of the guitars that the National know exactly how it feels.

05. Scotland Yard Gospel Choir - Scotland Yard Gospel Choir
I fell in love with this band while listening to their short but not slight second album over and over again. Offering by far the best Belle and Sebastian impression of the year, this Chicago band with boy-girl lyrics and twee storytelling sounds more like Jeepster-era Stuart Murdoch than today's Belle and Sebastian. "Never Thought I'd Feel This Way for a Boy" is a hand-clapping, singalong about coming out to yourself. "Then and not a Moment Before" has a riotous horn solo. And "Everything You Paid For" has a transcendent, dreamy float while name-checking Salinger and Steinbeck. I can't wait to hear what they do next.

04. Every Scene Needs a Center - Tullycraft
The absolute opposite of a "grower," this Seattle-produced hookfest is instantly memorable and lovable. It exudes energy and playful wit while skewering punks, emo boys, and scenesters. Although the lyrics and the oldies feel of the music are great, the most important key to the happy-fun-time success of the album is the back-and-forth interaction between Sean Tollefson and Jenny Mears' singing voices. Just try not to sing along. I've got a new favorite local band, and some back-catalog albums to buy.

03. Challengers - The New Pornographers
Why critics ignored this album is an absolute mystery to me. All three primary contributor were coming off exceptional solo albums: Slow Wonder, Destroyer's Rubies, and Fox Confessor Brings the Flood, so we new something great was coming. The surprise was that they saved their best for this album. Bejar and Newman are absolutely at the top of their game as songwriters as they convincingly complete the New Pornos' transition from the kitchen-sink exuberance of their debut to repeatedly cathartic grown-up pop. Mass Romantic might retain the buzz as their best album for years to come, but this will be the one that we listen to, repeatedly and happily, for years and years.

02. Stage Names - Okkervil River
When I heard Black Sheep Boy, I thought that Okkervil River would make a great album some day. I didn't know that they'd make it so soon. I can't listen to Stage Names without feeling overcome by the raw emotion, the honesty of Will Sheff's voice and the excitement of the guitar and horns. "Unless It's Kicks" and "A Hand to Take Hold of the Scene" are the most devastating back-to-back tracks since The Hold Steady led off with "Stuck Between Stations" and "Chips Ahoy." Just try to listen without singing along (yelling, really) and dancing. The second half slows to a more subtle, tender pace, but remains just as affecting. And the lyrics for "Plus Ones" are just too damn clever. A career making album.

01. Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? - Of Montreal
A synthetic indie-pop carnival for the ages. Kevin Barnes bared the insecurities of his soul, wrote amazingly catchy and complex songs, and in the process, made Of Montreal into one of the most essential bands of the decade. Hissing Fauna is a completely original blueprint for the next decade of indie pop. I expect that many bands will try to copy the sound and the aesthetic, but that none will succeed so completely. Bonus points for the nearly as wonderful EP: Icons, Abstract Thee. Extra bonus points for the best running song of the year: "The Past is a Grotesque Animal" is two miles of an incredible beat. This album just blows me away over and over again.

Emma Pollock and the Hungry Pines

The Delgados were one of the best indie bands of the last decade, but I never got to see them live before they disbanded. They played the Crocodile after releasing their best album, Peloton, but I got sick and missed the show. I've always regretted missing it, and last Thursday's Emma Pollock show at the Crocodile was my best chance to remedy that.

Before Pollock took the stage, The Hungry Pines had their chance. They haven't released an album yet, but I thought they were exceptional. Their lead singer, the quite adorable Irene Barber, hid on the side of the stage and behind her bangs, but her confidence grew throughout the night. She has a surprising voice that allows the band to move from shoegaze to more indie pop sounds.

I found myself bobbing my head happily, getting into the songs in a way I rarely do for openers that I don't know. The rhythm section, center stage like the backbone of the band, was really solid -- and lead guitarist Chrysti Harrison added interest with some great licks. I think The Hungry Pines might become the hot new Seattle band over the next few months. Have a listen.

On to the headliner...

I had high expectations for Emma Pollock based on Watch the Fireworks, her stellar debut as a solo artist. She didn't quite live up to those expectations, but I think it had more to do with the crowd than her performance. The Crocodile is a small venue, but it felt empty as she took the stage. Noticeably empty, feel bad for the performer empty.

I might have started to feel bad for her, but she shook it off and came out rocking. The first couple songs were all glittery guitar goodness. Her voice was angelic -- It has always sounded great on record and it was a revelation live. Her band was solid. I thought I was about to be treated to one of those tiny shows that years later thousands of people claimed to have attended.

But then she slowed things down and the small crowd started to affect her. She did her best to deal with a couple rude drunks and the general lack of energy from the crowd, but I think she wasn't used to the small crowds after playing with the Delgados and then opening for New Pornographers. Despite some good onstage chatter about the Glasgow music scene and filming a video, she had lost her momentum.

I think Pollock's problem was that she didn't have enough songs to overcome the awkwardness of a small crowd. With just one album under her belt, she has only 5 really solid, rocking live songs that work in any situation: "Paper and Glue" (her best song live), "Acid Test", "If Silence Means That Much to You","Adrenaline," and "Hear Comes the Heartbreak." Those songs were great, but it might have been a more dynamic concert if she filled in the gaps with some Delgados songs -- they are partly hers after all. I know that would have helped me enjoy the show more and would have made up for my missing that Delgados show years ago.

It was a still a good show, and I'm still a fan of Watch the Fireworks. I guess my expectations just didn't match the audience.

Upcoming concerts:
Dec 4: Voxtrot, Tullycraft, and Math and Physics Club at Neumos
Dec 7: Scotland Yard Gospel Choir at the High Dive

Hold Steady and Art Brut at the HUB

Time to do some catching up...

A bit over a week ago I saw the Hold Steady and Art Brut at the HUB Ballroom on the UW campus. The HUB Ballroom is more like a high school cafeteria than a real concert venue -- never attend a concert there unless you must. The whole night would be a battle between the high quality of the bands and the terrible venue.

I showed up a song or two into Art Brut's set, apparently after Eddie Argos had a bit of a piss over the lack of booze and early start time at the HUB. He and his band were busy making it up to the still small but growing crowd. He'd ask, "Ready Art Brut?" and they'd bang their way through another song.

Argos's voice is an acquired taste, but he's in on it, which makes Art Brut all the more entertaining. After a couple songs he asked the sound guys to turn off his monitor, noting that he didn't actually sing, that he was fine with being off key, and that his bandmates really didn't want to hear him. The crowd did, though, and he got them going by jumping off stage and pogo-ing around the with crowd for a song.

As Art Brut ended their set, Argos apologized for his earlier negativity, but apologies were no longer necessary. He was already back in the crowd's good graces.

I expected Art Brut to be a good opening act, but with songs like "Emily Kane" and "Good Weekend" they made it more of a twin bill than I expected.

Next up was the headliner, The Hold Steady, one of my favorite, most literate bands. I'd seen the Hold Steady before, so I mostly knew what to expect, especially Craig Finn's hyperkinetic stage presence and twitchy white boy dancing.

I stood at the back of the room last time, so this time I got right up from -- close enough to see the Finn's spit fly, Franz Nicolay's tooth pick dance around his mouth, and Tad Kubler's fingers all over his guitar. Before forming the Hold Steady Kubler and Finn played together in Lifter Puller, and I noticed a camaraderie between them that I was surprised to have missed before.

They played a good mix of their albums, focusing less on Boys and Girls than they did on the last tour, and even trying out a couple new songs. They were particularly on for "Southtown Girls," which has become one of my favorites, in no small part because I grew up a few miles from Southtown Mall and because Nicollet, Lyndale, and Penn were the extent of my geography at a young age.

Unfortunately the sound was a mess for most of the night. "Massive Nights" sounded awful, the sing-along chorus turning into a muddled yell. And there were more stage problems, like the lights causing one of the monitors to start smoking.

The band dwelled on the lack of drinks at the HUB, which was understandable but almost sad as stage banter. The Hold Steady are a bar band, the kind of group you want to see with a drink in your hand, but they're also one of the best live bands around and have at least one of the best albums of the decade. If you can't enjoy them sober, drunk, or high, there's something wrong with you.

I guess that's a good way to summarize the night for me: Despite all the problems with the venue, it was still a good show by really good performers. I left with a T-shirt featuring the Hold Steady's take on the old Twins logo, firmly identifying with my fellow former Minneapolitans and quite content that I'd seen two bands in their prime.

Once at the Crest

One small reason that I'm happy to be back in Seattle is the Crest Cinema. The Crest is a second-run theater in North Seattle that charges my kind of prices ($3) and shows my kind of movies (it is run by Landmark Theatres). Last weekend Jana and I went to the Crest to see Once, an Irish film that I'd wanted to see for months.

Once is set in Dublin and stars Glen Hansard of the seminal Irish band The Frames. In the film he plays a much less famous musician (Guy) who plays guitar on Grafton Street between shifts at his dad's vacuum repair shop. After the opening credits he meets a beautiful pianist (Girl) and they start collaborating. The narrative follows the amazing music that they make together and the more amazing relationship that they develop.

Once has some superbly subtle scenes: When the old vacuum repair man pauses after hearing his son's music and then lets him know its "fuckin' brilliant." When Guy and Girl first play together in the music shop. When Girl walks down the street late at night listening to a demo and singing lyrics as she writes them in her head. The list of great scenes goes on, and most of the songs are equally great. The performances feel honest, especially Hansard's deeply likable Guy. While Once might feel like a small movie, it is a great small movie. Well worth the $3 price of admission.