The best of the year part 2

Sun Kil Moon - Admiral Fell Promises
My heart broke a little this year when I read Mark Kozelek's long term muse, Katy (from Katy Song) had passed away. Having being a big Red House Painters fan, this seemed particularly sad as it had coincided with my falling in love with his music again. There was no denying Carry Me Ohio was an instant classic, it's taken me a long time to really catch onto Sun Kil Moon. Admiral Fell Promises is slightly different as it is largely Kozelek playing Spanish guitar by himself, singing these immaculate lullabies. At times, the guitar lines get a little Spanish-cheesy but everything is anchored by that voice - unmistakable and always haunting - which elevates even the simplest song to a place of beauty.



Spoon - Transference
Spoon is another band that never made much sense to me until I heard Got Nuffin. Then it all clicked into place and the skeletal beats, meandering bass lines and hipster cool suddenly made sense. Go, you hipsters, go!


Sleigh Bells - Treats
Uh-oh, another hipster band. Heavy beats, scorching guitar lines, girly vocals - what's not to love? A bit repetitive but sounds good really, really loud.



The New Pornographers - Together
Last year was officially the year of Neko Case for me so it shouldn't come as a surprise that I'd start exploring the New Pornographers. While I'm yet to be fully converted, I'm totally infatuated with this album because it's Neko doing indie pop with this weird bombastic cello sound which reminds me of ELO (and I don't see this as a bad thing). I keep getting busted whistling along to Crash Years when it's on my ipod - I can't control myself once the whistling begins.

Final four to come later...

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