Alien Observer

How 2 <3

Thesis

It's getting late. But when you start a blog post like this at 3 AM, maybe it's more so getting early. A blog post like this meaning a blog post that seems Important to me. Meaning a list! Yes, fam! It's a late-summer list like you've never seen!

MY TOP 10 FAVORITE ALBUMS

For whatever reason, I've been turning this particular list over in my head. I haven't published something as silly as this since those high school Facebook notes I'd like to forget. I'm noticing a surprising amount of overlap between the albums on this list and the ones from way back when. Some music just sticks with you, y'know.

Anyway, I love this list because each of these albums is the Best Album Of All-Time. They are ordered alphabetically by album name. I love lists.

Aquemini [1998]

by Outkast

It still sounds ahead of its time. From the unexpected opener "Hold On, Be Strong" to the twisted thump of closer "Chonkyfire," Aquemini redefines the parameters of hip-hop. As it turns the Dirty South on its head, the record remains both soulful and silly, bumpin and serious. 3k and Big Boi are at the top of their collective game here. Don't get me started on the instrumentals. It's a #RARE experience, an album busting at the seams with invention. Also notable for containing the only funny rap skits ever.

Daughters [2010]

by Daughters

I'm already retconning. Yes, this 2010 release was nowhere to be found in my Best Albums Of The Year list. But when I published that list I was still afraid of how Daughters made me feel. Which is dangerously volatile and amazed and enraged and emo/human. This is abrasive, alienating music (their first record blasts through 10 songs and countless riffs in just over 11 minutes). This one lasts twice as long and makes twice of an impression. Grindcore or math punk or whatever you want to call it, Daughters is a gut-wrenching listen where each song feels absolutely critical. Like every second counts.

Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill [2008]

by Grouper

Liz Harris is an artist on another level. Probably my favorite artist (certainly my most listened to). Her body of work is a gorgeous mess of tape-loop experiments and vocals distorted to hell, guitars made into static waves and piano strikes made alien. And yet: Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill. Pretty, singer-songwritery guitar ballads and relatively clear and angelic singing. This was my introduction to the black-and-white slow-motion dreamworld of Grouper, and it remains my favorite. My favorite because of the cozy-in-bed mood, my favorite because of the reverb, my favorite because of "Stuck." This is the same Liz that summoned "Second Wind / Zombie Skin," but it's also a rare Liz that seems to be recording after snoozing in a comfy chair with some hot chocolate.

Feels [2005]

by Animal Collective

Avey, Panda, Deeks, and Geo are my bros. They're the band I've spent more time loving than any other. I fondly remember every time I've seen them live, every time I've cuddled up in bed with them in my headphones, every time I've sat down and listened to them with friends. True love, fam. AnCo aren't that cool anymore, but one listen to the bubbling guitars of "Did You See The Words" or the sneaky violin of "Bees" reminds you how good they will always be. I've at one point or another declared each and every AnCo release to be their finest, but Feels is the loveydovey summer record of my teens, and for this I'll cherish it forever.

The Golden River [2003]

by Frog Eyes

Something about the way he sings and the way he plays guitar. Carey Mercer, y'all. His words, his crazed eyes, his off-kilter stomp, his spit. Can you hear the menace, the insanity lurking in the ridiculous 3 minutes of "Time Destroys Its Plan At The Reactionary Table"? I can. It's terrifying. It's glorious. There's some lucid lunacy in the spiraling keyboards and crashing cymbals and jagged guitars running all through this album. My favorite recurring nightmare.

In The Aeroplane Over The Sea [1998]

by Neutral Milk Hotel

What was a naive freshman in high school supposed to do with something as brutally honest as this masterwork? Drive down country roads and sing it loudly as possible, I guess. At this point, the album is including almost by default on Best Of lists. It's indie canon of the highest order. But for some reason its reputation did nothing to tarnish the immediate and personal connection I felt to this music. You know it's great, I know it's great. We've both cried to "Two Headed Boy Part 2" like a hundred times in our driveways. And we can all belt "Holland, 1945" like we wrote it ourselves. But despite its legacy and its legend, it still feels like I'm discovering it for the first time when I hear that dun-dun-dun da-da-da-da da-dun.

Live At Leeds [1970]

by The Who

I still remember this record as the one that blew a pre-teen me out of the water. I still remember the band as my idols, my first rock stars. Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend, John Entwistle, and Keith Moon. I would draw pictures of them, write their names like prayers in my notebooks. A weird, cliche sort of obsession justified by Live At Leeds, which is still to these aged and experienced ears the best live album ever. To borrow a word from my then-soulmate William Miller: incendiary. Also, I'm convinced The Who were the first noise band and the first metal band. Just listen to that 15-minute "My Generation." My my.

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy [2010]

by Kanye West

Exhaustion sets in as I try to think of different words to write about the album that has refused to leave this blog alone. Let's just say: it endures. "POWER" still feels like way too much. "Monster" still feels like a monster. "Runaway" still feels self-loathing and -empowering. "Lost In The World" still feels like my most-played song. Yeezy continues to teach me well.

On The Beach [1974]

by Neil Young

"What Would Neil Young Do?" The best poster ever, which proudly hung in my dorm room freshman year (and fell to its untimely and crumpled death before I moved out). When I talk about music, I say a lot about favorite this and that. But I also tend to say that Neil Young is the objective Best artist. You can't deny "Cowgirl In The Sand" or "Powderfinger" or "After The Gold Rush" or "Thrasher." If you do, you deny yourself the Best music. On The Beach in particular is that undeniable music. Emotional unrest brews beneath the choppy surface of this doomed and bluesy album. It breaches as harmonica wails.

Purple Rain [1984]

by Prince & The Revolution

So, the sort of album that has a Wikipedia page for each of its songs. The sort of album that makes it into magazine lists. It's fun. It's arty. It's decadent. It's pop. It's Important. It's a movie! "The Beautiful Ones" is The Prettiest Song. "I Would Die 4 U" is the Most Fun Song. "Purple Rain" is the Best Song Ever. It's an album that can only be spoken of in hyperbole! A fitting end to #METASWAG's Top 10, I say.

Conclusions

A list was a perfect way to end the day! Tomorrow night (tonight?) I'll be reunited with some long lost friends. We're gonna party like it's 1999. Anyway, all of this writing has really set the mood for some heavy sleep. Goodnight, y'all. Until next time:

The Year In Review | 2010 [Part 4: Albums (20-11)]

Thesis

I made it. The first semester is over, and I'm inching closer and closer to the halfway point of my undergrad career. Terrifying. Sort of like the Physics exam I took yesterday. We were ordered to strip and leave our belongings behind us upon entering the lecture hall, a sort of preliminary freakout to ensure maximum disorientation before taking the test itself. Anyway, it's over now, and all I have to look forward to (besides visiting my lovely girlfriend, hanging out with my best friends, and getting the most out of my only monthly bill - Netflix) is BLOGGING.

Bonus Awards

Here are some more music-related awards to get you through the cold winter:

Best Leak

> Kaputt - Destroyer

Runner-up: Public Strain - Women (leaked nearly four months early, fam)

Most Anticipated Album Of 2011

> The One... Cohesive - G-Side

Runner-up: Tomboy - Panda Bear

Best Single Featuring A Smith

> "Whip My Hair" - Willow Smith

Runner-up: "Never Say Never" - Justin Bieber (featuring Jaden Smith)

That's enough minor stuff. So, without further ado,

Top 25 Albums Of 2010 (20-11)

20| Tomorrow, In A Year - The Knife (In Collaboration With Mt. Sims And Planningtorock)

Let's be honest: this is an exhausting album.

But who said the growth of life itself was going to be an easy listen? This is an album that mourns "sad footprints" and makes the listener feel the passage of millennia. The "hook" on one song is sustained screeching. It's about Charles Darwin, y'all.

All of this from the band that brought us Silent Shout, the most universally embraced record of 2006. Unfortunately for The Knife, no one is embracing this record (except for me!). They're kinda putting one arm over its shoulder and giving a half smile, "Hey, how's your older brother doing? Good! Let me know if he's ever in town. See ya!" Doesn't anyone care about this poor, semi-biographical-experimental-noise-opera? There's ample reason to. For one, the ambient passages (really the entirety of the first disc - yeah, it's a double album) work so well to create a cohesive whole. It just requires patience to feel its importance. Every moment matters. I'm not going to call this opera daring because our generation is a cartoon of instant gratification. I'm going to call it daring because it shortchanges the listener all of the pounding and immediate joys of a Knife record, and instead crafts an entirely new sort of experience.

And that's what to love here. This is an album unlike any other this year, one of visually evocative soundscapes and huge ambition. The second disc is full of gut-wrenching poetry wrung from Darwin's diary and the beauty of nature itself. The title track's emotional climax is well-worth the more than 70-minute wait (and if that wait includes "Colouring Of Pigeons," who can complain?). Closer "The Height Of Summer" is both the satisfying conclusion to the record's emotional arc, and a reward in its delivery of a gripping, progressive pop song. The sweet result of an hour and twenty minutes' worth of dynamic musical evolution - it all makes sense. Naturally. This album earns its length, and is one of the most rewarding listens of the year if you're willing to experience it on its own terms.

19| Treats - Sleigh Bells

And now for something that completely different. Something that instantly gratifies (GIMME MORE). But this album is also exhausting. This album wears you out with its monster physicality and tasty overdrive.

Mmm, Treats. That's right, this stuff is tasty. Sugar-coated, bubblegum, saccharine, gimmicky, shallow - whatever, it's pop music. Pop music with machine guns! It's this year's Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, not only in the sense that it's being used to advertise cars, but also in its infectious and universal qualities. It embraces all of the drama and simple joys of high school - a sort of ode to youth - and it captures this whirlwind adolescence with a sweet, pleasurable, but hard-hitting kinetic energy. Because even in the sparkling, lovelorn slow jam of "Rill Rill," there's a bumping bass that reminds your body how to move like it's homecoming (I feel like an eighty-year old writing about the good old days).

It'd take a hater not to dance to this stuff. "Infinity Guitars" and "Crown On The Ground" are like, hella primal. I'm not going to get into the aesthetics of this album, how it's making noise attractive (because to me, nothing's as sexy as noise), and will instead say: Listen to how fun this is! There are huge guitars and handclaps all over the place. Bass that bangs like "A Milli." Hit the dance floor; youth is a treat.

18| Pigeons - Here We Go Magic

What a weird way to follow up their cool, 2008 debut. I don't think this album is very cool. Like, at all. It's very easy-going, has a sense of humor (right?), and incorporates some odd elements. Opener "Hibernation" feels like an over-the-top goofy fun house take on the first record's sound. It's bouncy, with twinkling keys and dumb synths buzzing around lyrics about aging and conformity.

This album might have been awful, but it seems to know exactly what it is. A blend of the carnivalesque and the totally mainstream. There are some totally satisfying gems to be found here - "Collector" is some of the smartest indie-pop-rock all year, with the same whispering rush of "Tunnelvision" and the joys of a competent and shiny full band. Singer-songwriter/founder Luke Temple still demonstrates a knack for crafting catchy and unique takes on the old singer-songwriter thing. "Land Of Feeling" is sweeping, cinematic pop-rock at its finest. No longer dressed in lo-fi ambiance, the songs here sound fully-realized and assured.

There's something conversational, approachable about the record. The missteps are enjoyable, and the successes are standout. The band isn't aiming for greatness, but created something great. It's this humanity in Pigeons that elevates it to the cream of the crop, even making it sound classic from time to time. And why not? All great records have inconsistencies, and the ones here are easy to overlook - because they still sound fun.

17| High Violet - The National

These guys are no fun. They've been doing this for a while, and they still sound brooding and sad (not Menomena sad, but like, grown-up sad), and they still sound really good. This is a "mature" record, I guess. Whatever, everyone said that about Boxer too. Being mature kinda comes with The National's territory. Take a walk in the dark with High Violet and you'll feel like the martyred protagonist of your very own indie drama. That sounds awful, actually.

The album doesn't. I promise. It's actually amazing - because for all the head-hanging seriousness of the album ("Little Faith," "Lemonworld," "Anyone's Ghost"), there's a lot of fist-pumping triumph too. That one-two punch of "Afraid Of Everyone" and "Bloodbuzz Ohio" is something special; the former a stuttering anthem for dissatisfaction and the latter a purely classic and clever ode to adult responsibilities. The hearts of these songs must weigh tons. "England," oh man, is Their Song.

Mature doesn't mean boring here. It means well-made and wise and balanced (sadness with humor, gloom with prettiness). So, even though the whole record is tinged with sadness, it's a beautiful sort of thing.

16| Thank Me Later - Drake

There's some special kind of honesty about Drake, that allows him to rap about his sadness and insecurities as a self-made millionaire. Stuff that audiences just don't care about unless you're on a Kanye-level. But why shouldn't he be allowed to rap about missing the simple life of a college student or the joys of being with a girl he can trust? Opener "Fireworks" is smart about all of this, introducing the main themes of the album, musical and lyrical, and showcases all of the strengths and flaws therein. It's gonna be whiny, but it's gonna sound real. There's a cold and consistent mood permeating the beats of the album, which range from banging to eerily hollow and metallic.

It must be said, homeboy has a great voice. That he's singing his own hooks on several of these songs makes this album that much more his own, and adds to its cohesiveness. One of Thank Me Later's greatest strengths is that cohesiveness. Much has been made of the album's sequencing, which is key. Talk about a mature album. Each track depends on the others for maximum effect, flowing from high to low, club-ready to secluded. The kind of balance that puts the bounding "Fancy" next to the eternal slowness of "Shut It Down" and makes it make sense. The other, equally important balance that Drake strikes is between his somewhat unconvincing bravado and his self-loathing. The personal truths Drake include here are despicable and human - calling some chick from the mall rather than calling his grandma, not trusting any females because of his fame, trying to come to terms with haters - it's subject matter that wouldn't draw sympathy if Drake didn't present it so earnestly.

Of course, rapping (and often singing) about this stuff has attracted many Drake haters. But self-described as both Drizzy and "young and unlucky," it's hard not to feel for the guy. Especially when his pathetic honesty fuels such great music.

15| Before Today - Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti

Say it with me: This album is so Hip! The rise of the cult outsider to the ranks of the mainstream! Like, a perfect pastiche of radio tropes and blissed-out genres! "Round And Round"! That's what I'm talking about.

Before Today successfully reassigns cheese as emotion. The spoken word, the over-the-top synths, the shamelessly retro melodies - they not only come off as genuine, but modern too. That in itself is an accomplishment. The entire album has elements that are familiar, a given when experimenting with all sorts of different eras and genres, but the familiarity isn't distracting. Ariel puts a hella intelligent twist on each of these experiments, making them all his own.

The songs tell weird stories, incorporate different cliches to counteract one another, and are always engaging. "L'estat (acc. to the widow's maid)" houses both the most goofy moment of the year and one of its most transcendent finales. These are the sorts of contradictions and delights all over the record. The hooks are undeniable. This album has an ear for the accessible. And it has a way of sticking around. This is a Classic.

14| Halcyon Digest - Deerhunter

This is a brilliant musician taking a step in the right direction. The album already sounds timeless, even reminds me a lot of Neil Young's (best work) On The Beach. It's sprawling, dark, and ready to deal with its despair through experimentation. It's a definite departure from the fuzz and mania of Microcastle, but no less successful. Witness the appropriation of Atlas Sound's plodding acoustics and electronics into Deerhunter: the creation of a New Sound.

It certainly feels like new sound, or at least a fully-developed sound. The logical continuation of Deerhunter's progression. The two soaring anthems from Lockett Pundt act as a great counterpoint to Bradford Cox's more dirge-like songs. There's heartbreak in this album, "Helicopter" cataloging one hella tragic story and "He Would Have Laughed" mourning the loss of Jay Reatard. All of this treated with respect and executed with admirable artistry. The guitar work on this album is patient and charged, capturing sadness and providing catharsis with equal measure. And the saxophone! Saxophones are never a bad thing.

And despite its greatness, Halcyon Digest isn't even close to the year's best portrayal of sorrow.

13| Mines - Menomena

Do you like being sad? Neither do Menomena. But boy, do they ever wear their sadness well.

Crafted from the usual Frankenstein (Deeler) software as their other records, Mines nonetheless feels like Menomena's most human release. And their most tragic. Apparently the band was on the verge of breakup throughout the recording of the album. Whether that is the sole reason for the tension manifest in the album or not, there's a real trouble stirring beneath all of these songs. In Menomena fashion, the album is self-deprecating and self-sucker-punching - but this is the first time that they seem hurt by their own mocking.

Biting, dead serious, hysterical, and depressing, Mines is their masterwork. It's full of homesickness and heartbreak, open wounds and all that drama. It can hit some soaring, Big Song cliche-levels of sad ("Dirty Cartoons"), intricate and shaking classic-levels of sad ("Queen Black Acid"), and dissolving, horror-levels of sad ("INTIL" - I think a pun on the word "until" and the song's recurring "I never thought I'd lie").

The escapes from sad on this record are few and far between, and usually lead to mad and tired. "BOTE" is aggressive and loud - hurtling itself at a violent climax of horns and searing guitars. The drums are downright ferocious. "Sleeping Beauty" is the most triumphant song on the album, but seems to be an attack on a lying ex. Jeez. For all the crashing cymbals, chugging basslines, and buzzing keyboards, this band sounds defeated. But at least on this album they sound in control of their defeat.

12| The ArchAndroid - Janelle Monae

If Ariel Pink has mastered the balance of genre-hopping, Janelle Monae simply Owns Every Genre (and even Kevin Barnes? Let's ignore that). This thing would be easy to write off as pretentious and bloated if it weren't so dang good. Imagine 70 minutes of lushly arranged and produced future-pop that doesn't stay still for a moment. This album just sounds ideal. Each song flows directly into the next one, each song contains its own heart-stopping Moment, each song is Great.

It's pointless to discuss specifics - which perfect pop song do you want to hear about? "Wondaland" momentarily exchanges its fun, bubbling beat for alleluias, "Oh, Maker" is gorgeous R&B balladry crossed with 60s acoustic love songs and writ huge in Monae's voice, "Cold War" is a self-empowering anthem made for dancing, "Say You'll Go" is the most majestic song you'll ever encounter, etc, etc. The ArchAndroid is every song and every artist, it is music for every human being. Almost overwhelming in its scope and appeal. Almost too much.

Almost.

11| Down There - Avey Tare

You want large-scale scope? You want appeal? This album has neither! This is small, intimate, alienating music made by a grieving genius. It's a challenging work. Dave Portner's debut full-length comes in the wake of three years of near-constant touring, the death of his grandmother, his sister's cancer, and his separation from Kria Brekkan. This thing is understandably dense, containing all the regret and acceptance of a few hard years. It's erringly personal, his take on the descent into a sort of swampy hell. He sings of "getting lost in the big sound" and his goodness being forgotten. It'd be a breakup record if it weren't also about breaking up with himself.

"Laughing Hieroglyphic" is all off-kilter rhythms and shaking vocals, including some of the most unhinged and passionate singing from Avey since Strawberry Jam. Follow that up with a charming ode to the friendship of the other three members of Animal Collective, a totally strange Michael Jacksonesque dance single, and an ambient boat ride - you got a stew cookin'! It's an album unafraid to explore different textures and approaches to essentially the same subject matter - the importance of losing and maintaining intense personal relationships. In doing this, the words stay vital and the music stays interesting.

Down There flows like an album's album, a self-contained journey, while striking memorable and honest emotional notes along the way. The vocals are often contorted and enveloped by noise, the murky atmosphere of the album beautifully constructed by fellow AnC0 br0 Deakin. Escaping from this hell of a sound is the hope in Avey's words and voice that sadness can be overcome. You get the feeling that this is Avey exorcising his demons, like he needed this album. In sharing it, he's created a relatable and arresting expression of healing.

In the year without Panda, Avey is king.

Conclusions

GOSH OMG OMG ITS ALL MOST THE TOP 10 (hold yr breath readers this is gonna be Big)

For more #METASWAG fun, check out the rest of The Year In Review:

Part 1: Live Music

Part 2: Songs

Part 3: Albums (Bonus & 25-21)

The Year In Review | 2010 [Part 3: Albums (Bonus & 25-21)]

Thesis

Don't even know why that header isn't bigger. It looks so feeble. Wutevs y'all - bigger fish to fry. Let's start up with the Top 25 Albums Of 2010! That's what I'm talking about. I'm rewarding myself for completing an entire page of my Physics practice exam. Listening to Sly's "Underdog," feeling great. I'm a winner! For now. I'm sure I'll get at least a B on tomorrow's exam. Unless this post takes longer than I'm anticipating. Uh oh. Love y'all!

Bonus Round

Here be some gems that didn't make the cut, but are still pretty darn great:

> Color Your Life - Twin Sister

> Daughters - Daughters

> Autumn, again - A Sunny Day In Glasgow

> Song Islands vol. 2 - Mount Eerie

> Living With Yourself - Mark McGuire

> King Night - Salem

> Expo 86 - Wolf Parade

> The Budos Band III - The Budos Band

> Pink Friday - Nicki Minaj (haters you can kill yrself)

> Go - Jónsi

Not a bad year, huh? By the way, I'm not even close to qualified to make this list. I've heard like 40 records this year. What do I know? Transparency, fam. Still, it's fun. Make lists!

Facts

Let's try an unbiased, technical examination of my listening habits this year. What have I really been listening to? For comparison's sake. I'm going to reveal all kinds of untruths in my ranking system here.

Nah, just made that list and checked it twice - it has its own flaws. It only reflects listens on iPods and iTunes, doesn't take into account the wide variance in songs per album, and it has way too many spoilers. I think I'll post that "raw data" after the whole list has been unleashed. Now you can go into this list blind and unchecked by objective statistics!

Let the fun, nonsensical ranking begin!

Top 25 Albums Of 2010 (25-21)

25| Belus - Burzum

Y'all, I don't even know what this record is doing here. It's black metal. I don't listen to black metal. And yet... This is definitely the most appealing of all the metal I've listened to - dark, cinematic, hungry, and noisy. That doesn't sound that appealing, but when you're in the mood, nothing else really satisfies. It wants blood! Or something. Apparently the mind behind this band is a convicted murderer. That's definitely problematic, but we'll overlook it for now.

Because this record slays, man! Like, it's really heavy and doom-ridden. Something about it has just wedged its way into my head, and as a result, I find myself listening to this way more than you or I'd expect. It's good stuff. 2010 - The Year Of Expanding Horizons. "Morgenrøde" in particular sounds electric, alive. It's a driving, breathtaking song - reminds me of the iconic lightning flash in the Coen's No Country For Old Men as Llewelyn is running into the dark. Belus is the flash and the dark, a beautiful and towering depiction of something awful.

24| K.R.I.T. Wuz Here - Big K.R.I.T.

This release had the potential to be nothing but "Country Shit." Which is somewhat expected, because that's what this record breaths and bathes in. Somewhat unexpected, this record showcases one of the sharpest up-and-coming voices in rap. This is the kind of album that gets you noticed. It's a front to back showcase of real talent.

It owes a lot to its place, a distinct product of the South. But it owes even more to K.R.I.T. himself. Besides a few guest spots from Curren$y, Devin The Dude, and Wiz Khalifa, this (long) record is carried on the back of Mississippian Justin Scott.

From meditations on existing as a rapper in an overcrowded market, to the burden of taking up David Banner's reins, this album is trapped in the mind of its creator. He clearly loves and loathes the fact that he's going to have to make it on his own. And he's making something special. Wuz Here has both anthems on a T.I. scale, and stuff that sounds personal and handcrafted, which it is. "Viktorious" is the comeback declaration of a lifetime. He's got the range to go cerebral and go hard - whatever the song calls for - and sounds totally convincing in each role. He makes these roles his own, as if he has to single-handedly earn respect for Southern rap. He's earned it at least for himself.

23| Love Remains - How To Dress Well

A lot of noise has been made about the noise of How To Dress Well. Hugely prolific before releasing this album, Tom Krell has crafted a definite and unique niche for himself. Noise R&B, y'all. This stuff sounds effortless (but not in the lazy way). It just makes sense. The Bon Iver comparisons are way too limiting. Justin Vernon has a killer falsetto and does some rhythm and bluesy singing of his own, but How To Dress Well has an ear for sound that is totally its own.

The dense atmosphere this album inhabits comes across as more than an aesthetic decision. In "Walking This Dumb (Live)," Krell addresses the feel of his music, using a throwaway comment by a concert-goer - "You got a lot of distortion" - to underscore that this record definitely got a lot more than that. He follows this aside up with one of the most driving and striking tracks on the album, "Date Of Birth." Creeping strings churn beneath a pounding bass drum and sweeping ghost cries, while the wailed lyrics collide with roaring guitars and huge panting sounds. Haunting stuff.

Also, it must be said, "Decisions" is one heartfelt jam. Shoulda been on the Top Songs list.

22| At Echo Lake - Woods

Yeah! This stuff is prime summertime listening. The sun rises when it hears this album. It's pretty straightforward compared to the "different" sort of thing going on with earlier Woods material. Straightforward and gorgeous. It sounds great! And it's short! Like, under half an hour. It doesn't have to stick around long to make an impression.

The vocals still have a spooky, ethereal quality to them, but whatever moodiness abounds is often supplanted by a gooey sun in the song's center. The album definitely has its complexities, but its simplicities are what make it such a strong effort. This is a collection of great songs - drifting melodies and a chugging guitar. Sure, there's some wild distortion and a delay pedal thrown in there every now and then, but it's the 21st Century, y'all. There's no better album to turn to for warm singing and earthy strumming.

This is folk at its finest. If it's folk at all, that is.

21| Cosmogramma - Flying Lotus

From afar, Cosmogramma's album cover looks alien and cold, an inhumanly perfect sphere from which dark matter is exploding. Once you take a closer look, the hand-sketched aesthetic it embraces becomes apparent. My first listens of this record were from afar, and all I could hear was an alienating (if well-made) collage of unnatural sounds. It was slick, for sure, but it had no heart. Well, shoot, I just had to take a closer look.

This record lives and breaths. There's a pulsing intelligence and fire behind every song, the clear touch of a human hand - Steven Ellison's hand. Homeboy has some absurdly cool confidence. The construction of this album is immaculate. For 45-minutes, this record abducts you away to some unfathomable sonic galaxy and probes your ears and mind with some deliriously fly sound. It's unobtrusive in its flyness, but is by no means forgettable. It's too dang suave and groovy to be forgotten.

The perfect companion for deep thought, I swear it seeps in and increases your processing power while you work. This is the kind of record Batman would rock. Once I finally opened my ears to this album, it put a workmanlike heart in my brain and a more discerning brain in my heart. It rearranged my parts, fam!

In a lesser year, this album would fare a lot better. But 2010, y'all, is stacked.

Conclusions

Well, that was fun. Next up are albums 20-11. We're getting closer to the big reveal - who gets #1?! Come back next week! Or maybe Saturday. I don't know what I'm doing this weekend. Probably this. Ummmm.

Back to studying! I sure hope I do well on tomorrow's final (The Physics Of Sound). I guess this is a way of studying. Sorta? Ah, gimme a break - I just wanna cuddle and go home! Study on!

Check out the first two parts of this Year In Review while you're at it:

Top Live Performances

Top Songs

Luv ya fam.

PS - Ros is back today! Hella wut!

Problematic, Part II (Males)

Thesis

It is fun to sexually and aesthetically objectify superstars, especially in list-format. Everyone's doing it. So I'll do it with style (again).

Top Five Male Actor Crushes

05| Paul Rudd

04| Daniel Day-Lewis

03| Leonardo DiCaprio

02| Viggo Mortenson

01| Brad Pitt

Bonus Round

Now that you've seen them tip-tops, here are five bonus crushes (I would make a list of ten, but that seems self-indulgent, and it might be harder to rank) [again]:

> Luke Wilson

> Daniel Craig

> James Franco

> Heath Ledger

> George Clooney

Conclusions

Trend - all of the above men look great with facial hair.

This is the second in a series of BEST OF lists that will comprise the majority of my December posts. Previously, ladies were assessed. All things reflective and qualitative, here at Metaswag! Peace out, y'all.

Problematic, Part I (Females)

Thesis

It is fun to sexually and aesthetically objectify superstars, especially in list-format. Everyone's doing it. So I'll do it with style.

Top Five Female Actor Crushes

05| Rosario Dawson

04| Penelope Cruz

03| Scarlett Johansson

02| Eva Green

01| Marion Cotillard

Bonus Round

Now that you've seen them tip-tops, here are five bonus crushes (I would make a list of ten, but that seems self-indulgent, and it might be harder to rank):

> Kate Winslet

> Naomi Watts

> Angelina Jolie

> Zoe Saldana

> Rachel Weisz

That's Not All Folks

Hope you enjoyed the sights. Be on the lookout for the upcoming post, "Problematic, Part II (Males)." I think you can figure out what that post's content will be.

Conclusions

Trend - all of the above women are well-endowed.

This is the first in a series of BEST OF lists that will comprise the majority of my December posts. All things reflective and qualitative, here at Metaswag! Peace out, y'all.