Everyone else is making decade-end lists, so I might as well jump on the bandwagon. Well, actually, I have been thinking about this list for a long time, and am excited to finally write it up. As always, this is a list of my favourite albums, not necessarily the albums that I think were the best of the decade. Naturally, it contains genre bias and idiosyncrasies, but to be honest, so does every other list. Enjoy.
10. Bon Iver: For Emma, Forever Ago
For me, this album was a what is known is the business as a grower. Although I had a song from it early on, I didn’t even pick up a copy of this album for over a year, and then, I didn’t give it the attention I now know it deserves. In fact, although For Emma, Forever Ago was released in 2007, it wasn’t until this year and my newfound love of folk did I realize what a gem this record is. Of all the albums on my decade list, this one is the most sparse - most songs simply consist of Justin Vernen and his guitar. In this sense it is timeless – these songs could have realistically been written in the early twentieth century. But this is not saying that there is anything missing: in fact, Bon Iver makes a very good case against the increasing electronicification of modern music.
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09. The Rural Alberta Advantage: Hometowns
My inclusion of the RAA is made possible by this post’s title. If I were making a list of the “best” albums of the decade (whatever that means), I don’t know if I would have included Hometowns. But this list is not of the “best” albums of the last 10 years, it is of my favourite albums, and with that being the case, the RAA certainly deserves to be on it. The songs on this album are passionate, they are driven, they are catchy, they are honest, and they are about my home province. There are some things that I don’t like about Alberta, and I don’t see myself living there in the future, but there are some pretty wonderful things about the wild rose country and this album really highlights them in a profound way. The album is like a love note to a person from you past that you no longer want to be with, but still miss terribly. And that is how I feel about Alberta.
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08. Animal Collective: Merriweather Post Pavilion
You might be thinking it odd that on my 2009 list, I ranked Merriweather Post Pavilion lower than an album that did not make the decade list. The reason that I choose MPP over Bruce Peninsula here is because Animal Collective also put out a couple of other amazing albums and, as a whole, the band deserves to be on this list. Another reason is that MPP seems like it is an incredibly important album. Listening to it, I cannot help but think that this is what music is going be like in the next number of year. The way that AC manage to create such inviting melodies with cold electronic instruments makes me question my somewhat Luddite musical tastes. It can also be credited for changing my music listening habits: a few years ago, I used to lie in front of my stereo listening to OK Computer, but whenever I put this record on, there is no standing still – I’ve just got to get up and dance until I can hardly breath. (Maybe this could be the answer to America’s obesity epidemic.)
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07. Modest Mouse: The Moon and Antartica
This selection was academic. Most of these albums are on this list, at least partially, because I have an emotional connection to the music. But not in this case. I do have memories associated with Modest Mouse: listening to their subsequent album, Good News For People Who Love Bad News, instantly transports me through memory into Theresa’s old apartment in Garneau towers, blowing bubbles out of her 20th story window. Consequently, I was fully prepared to include that album on this list. However, in the end I didn’t include Good News because I couldn’t get over the fact that The Moon and Antarctica is just so much of a better album. Its music is just that much more frantic, and Issac Brocke’s yelp is just that much more… um… yelpy? Anyways, there was a time when I favored chaotic, almost cacophonous music, and there is no better example of this style that Modest Mouse (well, maybe Frog Eyes would be a better example, but lets leave things the way it is).
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06. Stars: Set Yourself on Fire
Speaking of music with emotional connections, I present to you Stars. Stars music is inherently emotional, to the point of melodrama. This, of course, is attributable in a large way to Torque Campbell, the male lead. Torque is the biggest diva in indie rock today, and Stars’ songs are some of the most heart-on-your-sleeve sappy. But my emotional connection with this album is more than just because of its sentimental themes: in my mind, Set Yourself on Fire is intimately married to my courtship with Theresa, which is actually pretty ironic, considering this album is much more about falling out of love than falling into it. But, as the case may be, I bought this album at about the same time as Theresa and I started dating, and we went to a Stars concert less than a week before I proposed. So Set Yourself on Fire is certainly a favourite of mine, but I don’t want you to think that the only reason it is on this list is because of some random connection with my life – the music is really good. The song, Your Ex-Lover is Dead is exquisite.
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05. Radiohead: Kid A
If Bon Iver makes a case against electronic music, then Kid A is the strongest possible counterargument. After their masterful OK Computer, Radiohead pulled the classic rock and roll bait and switch by abandoning everything they had done before to make themselves the greatest rock and roll band of our time with a record that sounds nothing like rock and roll at all. The irony, of course, is that Kid A, if anything, simply solidified that very title. To a degree greater than any other album I can think of, Kid A sucks in and completely envelops the listener: from the opening bars of Everything in its Right Place, you are not just listening to the music, you are inside the music. There is no doubt that Kid A is one of, if not the, greatest rock (?) albums of our time. So then, why the number five finish? Well, this record can be a little heavy for my tastes. This list is of my favourite albums of the last 10 years, and when it really gets down to it, there are certain other albums that I more often turn to.
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04. Wolf Parade: Apologies to the Queen Mary
This album is fun. It is upbeat, it is cool, and it features maybe my favourite song ever: I’ll Believe in Anything. Although I once read an author who though this song is depressing, I think that it is in fact a hopeful and poignant love song. I can relate to the idea of going “where nobody knows us and nobody gives a damn.” On of the other wonderful things about Wolf Parade is a trait that it many other bands is a liability: the presence of two dueling frontmen who couldn’t be more musically opposite to each other. I personally am a bigger fan of Spencer Krug, the Proggy, D&D playing weirdo, but the ability of Dan Boeckener to rein in Krug’s more fantastic impulses really make this the amazing album that it is. It is amazing how well Wolf Parade is able to turn Krug’s nerdy prog rock tunes into driving area-worthy anthems. And Boeckener’s songs are nothing to scoff at either – I still remember staying up late in our apartment watching the video for Shine a Light on the Wedge.
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03. Radiohead: In Rainbows
It is no secret that I love Radiohead. I consider them the greatest band of my generation. But, as I mentioned earlier, some of their work can be a little to depressing for my usually sunny personality. It’s a good thing, then that In Rainbows is what it is: lighthearted, fun, and even a little bit romantic. I love that there exists Radiohead music that I can dance to, and more basically, that doesn’t make me feel like the world is a horrible place. I think that this time around, Radiohead slackened in their quest for constant innovation, which may at first seem like a bad thing, but really is not. From the sounds of In Rainbows, the band was more relaxed then on their previous albums, and consequently made some really lose, enjoyable music. Oh yeah, and there was that whole “revolutionize the music industry” payment scheme. If you want to know, I paid one pound for my download. But then I later went out and bought the vinyl, which just goes to show, if the music is good, I have no problem paying for it. It’s just that there is so much music that isn’t very good.
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02. Arcade Fire: Funeral
It seems funny that right after I wrote a piece about how I don’t like my music to be too depressing, I choose an album called Funeral. But despite its bleak themes, this album doesn’t seem depressing to me. Instead it seems passionate and moving. One of its main themes, coming of age, is often portrayed through art as a horrible experience, but for me, it is just the opposite. Sure, entering adulthood is frightening, and sometimes sad, but if you carry with you a positive attitude and hold onto a youthful spirit, becoming an adult can be a wonderful time. And that is what I take away from this record: worry, yes, but also possibility. My feelings towards my teenage years are similar to my feelings about Alberta, and this album really brings those emotions out. And it doesn’t hurt that the music is just so amazing. A lot of my favourite music is very emotional and sincere, and it is hard to believe now that before Funeral, there wasn’t a lot of music like this.
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01. Broken Social Scene: You Forgot it in People
Reviewing what I have written so far, it has occurred to me that this list says at least as much about me than it does about music. It seems fitting, then, that my number one pick is a favourite of mine both for its music, and for the place it inhabits in my psyche.
First lets talk about me. After I returned from my mission in 2001, I experienced a musical crisis. I grew out of the alternative rock that scored my teenage years, and I was left without any music that really excited me. I tried classic rock for a while, to limited success, before I started testing the indie rock waters. One of the first indie bands that I remember listening to was Broken Social Scene, which I downloaded from Kazaa onto my minidisc player (remember those? I didn’t think so). Well, the sounds that I heard streaming out of my headphones were unlike anything I had heard before: I was enchanted. The songs on You Forgot it in People reignited my love for music. The years 2003-2005 were like my musical renascence, and a number of albums from that period are on this list (Arcade Fire, Wolf Parade, Stars, Modest Mouse).
Another reason why I love BSS so much is what the band represents. BSS basically broke the Canadian Indie scene. And anyone who knows my musical tastes know that I love Canadian Indie Rock. I also love the idea of a band as a loose collective. I don’t know why people have the idea that the same group of 4 or 5 people have to always make music together. I love that BSS is home to dozens of musicians, who all bring something unique to the table: this is how I think all music should be made.
But after all of this ranting about my own personal musical journey and the idea of Broken Social Scene, I cannot forget the music. Independent of all that I have already written, the songs on You Forgot it in People are all wonderful. I think at one point of time or another, each of the songs on that album has been my favorite track. I guess maybe this shouldn’t be too much of a surprize, since every song is unique in a way that wouldn’t be possible for any other band. Really, You Forgot it in People contains something for everybody. Just listen to it.
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10. japandriods: post nothing
09. various artists: dark was the night
08. dan mangan: nice nice very nice
07. natalia lafourcade: hu hu hu
06. phoenix: wolfgang amadeus phoenix
05. dirty projectors: bitte orca 
04. rock plaza central: …at the moment of our most needing, or if only they could turn around, they would know they weren’t alone
03. grizzly bear: veckatimest
02. animal collective: merriweather post pavilion
01. bruce peninsula: a mountain is a mouth
Canada Day is upon us again! Which means its time for Theresa and Randal’s annual Canada Day Quiz (Now 33% easier). After review, we think that our quiz last year was a little too difficult, which might make some of you Americans think that us Canadians derive some sort of pleasure from showing you how little you know about your northern neighbours. But really, this isn’t our intention at all. Basically, our quiz is meant to be fun, and to help us learn a little more about Canada (and Americans, don’t feel bad if you don’t know much about Canada – before we moved, I honestly didn’t even know where Virginia was). So, this year we have endeavored to make the quiz a little more manageable, without being too easy on you, of course. So enjoy. And Happy Canada Day!
On virtually every music blog (including, now, this one), Grizzly Bear’s new album is mentioned in conjunction to Animal Colective’s Merriwhether Post Pavilion. But the two albums are nothing alike. The reason, then, that these albums are mentioned together is that there has arisen a feud between different factions within indie-rock community; the defining difference separating these two factions being their preference of Grizzly Bear over Animal Collective or vice versa. You see, both these records were anticipated to an almost ridiculous degree and have enjoyed remarkable critical acclaim, which means thatat this point it appears like virtually all upcoming “best of 2009″ lists will boil down to a two-way contest between these two amazing albums. Accordingly, the comment sections of many music blogs are filled with fans penning inspiring comparisons, such as “Grizzly Bear > MPP” or “AC >> GB”. In fact, although these albums are about as different as you can get within the sphere of indie rock, disputes over the comparative qualities of them has inundated the Internet’s indie music forums to an almost unbearable degree, and has even made its way into the Miller household (Theresa prefers Grizzly Bear, and I – at least at this point – am an Animal Collective man).
