ain't that mister mister on the radio?
The Top 10 Albums of 2010
4. Train - Save Me, San Francisco (NP)
For most Brits, their exposure to American rock band Train will be limited to their 2001 number ten single Drops of Jupiter. Even then, it might take me to hum a little bit of that song before you actually recognise it, such is the band's anonymity in the UK.
After a three year hiatus in the mid-2000s, the band returned to the American charts in late 2009 with the song Hey, Soul Sister which was a sleeper hit and eventually reached number three in the Billboard charts almost six months after its release. It then crept into the UK charts (reaching number 18) as well as reaching the higher echelons of almost every other singles chart on the planet.
Even if you don't recognise the title, I can pretty much guarantee that you will have heard Hey, Soul Sister at some point. Despite being just a year old, it is already the most viewed guitar tab on the world's leading guitar site and it has swiftly become the 8th most downloaded song in music history.
Purely on the basis of Hey, Soul Sister (and as I liked the 2001 album Drops of Jupiter) I bought Save Me, San Francisco. And, I was richly rewarded as Save Me, San Francisco is a superb pop-rock album. From the second that the catchy chords of the title track kick-in, it is a melodic, engaging record which proves that Hey, Soul Sister was no flash in the pan. Songs like Words, Brick by Brick and Parachute are gigantic 21st century American power ballads whilst I Got You is arguably the catchiest song I have heard this year.
Considering that the UK version of Save Me, San Francisco includes a live version of Drops of Jupiter (presumably included to boost sales by reminding us who Train actually are) you get twelve brilliant songs for your investment. I absolutely adore this record - it is easy to like, catchy rock music of the very highest quality.
Listen to: Hey, Soul Sister, Parachute
4. Massive Attack - Heligoland (bedshaped)
After a break from releasing their own material, Massive Attack (or rather the two of them that's left) return with a dreamy, slow-burning album that quite probably won't set the musical world on fire, but should certainly make it sit up and take serious note. Oh, and they've brought along a few friends, too.
On first listen to this album, it's quite obviously Massive Attack. Their signature trip-hop style and ever morphing programming wizardry here sounds much wider than previous releases. I can only guess that on their hiatus, they've been listening to rather a lot of Radiohead; particularly Kid A and In Rainbows, whilst also checking out Morcheeba, Portishead, The Good The Bad and The Queen (No, honestly), Mattafix, Groove Armada and The Audio Bullys, amongst others. I like to think that venturing out of their hole and taking in some of the real world has done them wonders. It's definitely more apparent that this album was recorded and mixed with the door of the studio propped open, most likely with a hand written sign outside welcoming people inside. Amongst those who accepted the offer are Hope Sandavol from Mazzy Star, Trip-hop and Drum & Bass singer Martina Topley-Bird, Damon Albarn; he of Gorillaz, The Good The Bad and The Queen and some band called Blur, the amazingly talented Guy Garvey from the amazingly fabulous Elbow, and Tunde Adebimpe from the very under-rated TV On The Radio.
There's no Unfinished Sympathy or Teardrop here, but who cares? I certainly don't. There are tracks that touch on some of Massive Attack's finer moments; Angel in Girl, I Love You, and Karmacoma and Inertia Creeps merging into Rush Minute. But on the whole, this album is fresh sounding. It may not be a immediate masterpiece, indeed it may and probably has already passed too many people by, but in my opinion it's an album that's full of wonderfully eclectic songs that will, in time, resonate as the masterpiece that it is.
The album plays out with an almost cinematic feel. Wide screen production, with perfect knob twiddling and mixing adds some wonderfully intriguing 'twists in the plot' that weren't so obvious on previous efforts. Whereas previous songs have boomed enough to carry themselves through four minutes or so with ease; perfectly exampled on stonkers like Unfinished Sympathy, Safe From Harm and Teardrop, many of these new songs twist and turn at unexpected, but perfectly timed moments, slapping the ears of the listener to take note. Album closer Atlas Air, with it's fantastically infectious drum-beats and ravey keyboards demonstrates this impeccably. The very slight switch in tempo is clever. At just over five and a half minutes in, when you think the song is all done, you couldn't be any more wrong. Genius!
Album opener, Paradise Circus is a wise choice to open proceedings. A dreamy, low key piano and bass led slow burner with tumbling tom-toms, builds to gorgeous string soaked beauty. It's quite eerie, almost funeral procession sounding in parts, but I think sets the tone very well for what's to follow within the rest of the ten tracks. Damon Albarn's vocals are quite simply perfect on Saturday Come Slow, more The Good The Bad and The Queen than any of his other projects. Guy Garvey also shines with his wonderful gruff and typically grim vocals on Flat Of The Blade; a twitchy and jerky electronic pulsating bubbler that builds beautifully. But it's Hope Sandoval from Mazzy Star; who's gorgeous breathy and seductive vocals, in a style only she can deliver, totally steals the show. Paradise Circus just drips sexiness and oozes with erotic qualities that I haven't heard in a song for a long, long time. About a third of the way through, the song strips right back and a deep bassline begins to seduce you. A short while later, deep, deep piano chords rumble....then beautiful strings bring the song to an gentle, but very effective orgasmic close. Phew!
I guess my only grumble with Heligoland is the running order. Whilst I don't find anything particularly annoying, I just wish the album wasn't such a mish-mash in places, causing what I feel as friction between some of the songs due to their order. I personally can't find a dud track on this album, and whilst I appreciate it's all about musical tastes and people's differing opinions, I like to think that amongst the ten cuts on this album, most sensible people will be able to recognize that when Massive Attack are great, they really are fantastic!
How can I summarize this album? Well for me, listening to this album makes me feel like I've come home.
Listen to : Paradise Circus
4. Interpol - Interpol (Swisslet)
Not many bands do atmosphere like Interpol. Tense and edgy on their majestic debut, Turn on the Bright Lights, Interpol have matured with each successive album, polishing their icy, detached style with an air of definite menace to greater and greater commercial success. Bono’s back injury may have put any plans the band may have had for world domination on hold (Interpol were the support on U2’s cancelled tour), but I’m not sure that stadiums are Interpol’s natural habitat. They’re creatures of the night for sure, and they need to be heard in dingy, darkened clubs (and they were good again at Rock City last month too).
Interpol will always likely be judged by the impossibly high standards they set themselves with their debut record, and in that respect, their fourth record falls short again. There’s no shame in that, though, and this is still a fine record with much to recommend it: Memory Serves, Summer Well and Barricade are easily as good as almost anything the band have done, and the album as a whole has a sustained atmosphere of bleakness and depression. Right up my street. Not as good a record as Interpol have done, but still a very fine record indeed.
Listen to: Summer Well
4. Train - Save Me, San Francisco (NP)For most Brits, their exposure to American rock band Train will be limited to their 2001 number ten single Drops of Jupiter. Even then, it might take me to hum a little bit of that song before you actually recognise it, such is the band's anonymity in the UK.
After a three year hiatus in the mid-2000s, the band returned to the American charts in late 2009 with the song Hey, Soul Sister which was a sleeper hit and eventually reached number three in the Billboard charts almost six months after its release. It then crept into the UK charts (reaching number 18) as well as reaching the higher echelons of almost every other singles chart on the planet.
Even if you don't recognise the title, I can pretty much guarantee that you will have heard Hey, Soul Sister at some point. Despite being just a year old, it is already the most viewed guitar tab on the world's leading guitar site and it has swiftly become the 8th most downloaded song in music history.
Purely on the basis of Hey, Soul Sister (and as I liked the 2001 album Drops of Jupiter) I bought Save Me, San Francisco. And, I was richly rewarded as Save Me, San Francisco is a superb pop-rock album. From the second that the catchy chords of the title track kick-in, it is a melodic, engaging record which proves that Hey, Soul Sister was no flash in the pan. Songs like Words, Brick by Brick and Parachute are gigantic 21st century American power ballads whilst I Got You is arguably the catchiest song I have heard this year.
Considering that the UK version of Save Me, San Francisco includes a live version of Drops of Jupiter (presumably included to boost sales by reminding us who Train actually are) you get twelve brilliant songs for your investment. I absolutely adore this record - it is easy to like, catchy rock music of the very highest quality.
Listen to: Hey, Soul Sister, Parachute
4. Massive Attack - Heligoland (bedshaped)After a break from releasing their own material, Massive Attack (or rather the two of them that's left) return with a dreamy, slow-burning album that quite probably won't set the musical world on fire, but should certainly make it sit up and take serious note. Oh, and they've brought along a few friends, too.
On first listen to this album, it's quite obviously Massive Attack. Their signature trip-hop style and ever morphing programming wizardry here sounds much wider than previous releases. I can only guess that on their hiatus, they've been listening to rather a lot of Radiohead; particularly Kid A and In Rainbows, whilst also checking out Morcheeba, Portishead, The Good The Bad and The Queen (No, honestly), Mattafix, Groove Armada and The Audio Bullys, amongst others. I like to think that venturing out of their hole and taking in some of the real world has done them wonders. It's definitely more apparent that this album was recorded and mixed with the door of the studio propped open, most likely with a hand written sign outside welcoming people inside. Amongst those who accepted the offer are Hope Sandavol from Mazzy Star, Trip-hop and Drum & Bass singer Martina Topley-Bird, Damon Albarn; he of Gorillaz, The Good The Bad and The Queen and some band called Blur, the amazingly talented Guy Garvey from the amazingly fabulous Elbow, and Tunde Adebimpe from the very under-rated TV On The Radio.
There's no Unfinished Sympathy or Teardrop here, but who cares? I certainly don't. There are tracks that touch on some of Massive Attack's finer moments; Angel in Girl, I Love You, and Karmacoma and Inertia Creeps merging into Rush Minute. But on the whole, this album is fresh sounding. It may not be a immediate masterpiece, indeed it may and probably has already passed too many people by, but in my opinion it's an album that's full of wonderfully eclectic songs that will, in time, resonate as the masterpiece that it is.
The album plays out with an almost cinematic feel. Wide screen production, with perfect knob twiddling and mixing adds some wonderfully intriguing 'twists in the plot' that weren't so obvious on previous efforts. Whereas previous songs have boomed enough to carry themselves through four minutes or so with ease; perfectly exampled on stonkers like Unfinished Sympathy, Safe From Harm and Teardrop, many of these new songs twist and turn at unexpected, but perfectly timed moments, slapping the ears of the listener to take note. Album closer Atlas Air, with it's fantastically infectious drum-beats and ravey keyboards demonstrates this impeccably. The very slight switch in tempo is clever. At just over five and a half minutes in, when you think the song is all done, you couldn't be any more wrong. Genius!
Album opener, Paradise Circus is a wise choice to open proceedings. A dreamy, low key piano and bass led slow burner with tumbling tom-toms, builds to gorgeous string soaked beauty. It's quite eerie, almost funeral procession sounding in parts, but I think sets the tone very well for what's to follow within the rest of the ten tracks. Damon Albarn's vocals are quite simply perfect on Saturday Come Slow, more The Good The Bad and The Queen than any of his other projects. Guy Garvey also shines with his wonderful gruff and typically grim vocals on Flat Of The Blade; a twitchy and jerky electronic pulsating bubbler that builds beautifully. But it's Hope Sandoval from Mazzy Star; who's gorgeous breathy and seductive vocals, in a style only she can deliver, totally steals the show. Paradise Circus just drips sexiness and oozes with erotic qualities that I haven't heard in a song for a long, long time. About a third of the way through, the song strips right back and a deep bassline begins to seduce you. A short while later, deep, deep piano chords rumble....then beautiful strings bring the song to an gentle, but very effective orgasmic close. Phew!
I guess my only grumble with Heligoland is the running order. Whilst I don't find anything particularly annoying, I just wish the album wasn't such a mish-mash in places, causing what I feel as friction between some of the songs due to their order. I personally can't find a dud track on this album, and whilst I appreciate it's all about musical tastes and people's differing opinions, I like to think that amongst the ten cuts on this album, most sensible people will be able to recognize that when Massive Attack are great, they really are fantastic!
How can I summarize this album? Well for me, listening to this album makes me feel like I've come home.
Listen to : Paradise Circus
4. Interpol - Interpol (Swisslet)Not many bands do atmosphere like Interpol. Tense and edgy on their majestic debut, Turn on the Bright Lights, Interpol have matured with each successive album, polishing their icy, detached style with an air of definite menace to greater and greater commercial success. Bono’s back injury may have put any plans the band may have had for world domination on hold (Interpol were the support on U2’s cancelled tour), but I’m not sure that stadiums are Interpol’s natural habitat. They’re creatures of the night for sure, and they need to be heard in dingy, darkened clubs (and they were good again at Rock City last month too).
Interpol will always likely be judged by the impossibly high standards they set themselves with their debut record, and in that respect, their fourth record falls short again. There’s no shame in that, though, and this is still a fine record with much to recommend it: Memory Serves, Summer Well and Barricade are easily as good as almost anything the band have done, and the album as a whole has a sustained atmosphere of bleakness and depression. Right up my street. Not as good a record as Interpol have done, but still a very fine record indeed.
Listen to: Summer Well
delivered by LB at 9:02 AM
1 Discussions:
Interpol...Yay! Loving that album!
I must give the Train album another listen. Hey, Soul Sister is a great song. I don't think anybody could argue with that. On first listen, I found the album a little....samey. But, I'm willing to spin it again. Cheers!
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