- Christopher Bahn
- Andy Battaglia
- Aaron Burgess
- Andrew Earles
- Scott Gordon
- Marc Hawthorne
- Jason Heller
- Steven Hyden
- Trevor Kelley
- Genevieve Koski
- Gregg Lagambina
- Michaelangelo Matos
- Chris Mincher
- Josh Modell
- Noel Murray
- Sean O'Neal
- Keith Phipps
- Nathan Rabin
- Kyle Ryan
GREGG LAGAMBINA
1. Arcade Fire, Neon Bible (9)
2. Band Of Horses, Cease To Begin (9)
3. Radiohead, In Rainbows (9)
4. PJ Harvey, White Chalk (7)
5. Bat For Lashes, Fur & Gold (7)
6. Bright Eyes, Cassadaga (7)
7. Sloan, Never Hear The End Of It (7)
In recent years, collectives like Broken Social Scene and its endless offshoots have made a fellow Canadian band like Sloan seem like elder statesmen. And after a pair of just-decent releases at the front of this decade, Sloan did seem like they might finally be running out of relentlessly catchy tunes. Then they unleashed their eighth album, Never Hear The End Of It. It's a fairly astonishing feat: 30 songs, tightly packed onto one album that plays like anyone else's greatest hits, except these are all new and by a band almost 15 years old.
8. St. Vincent, Marry Me (7)
"Now. Now." by St. Vincent
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Annie Clark, a.k.a. St. Vincent, sounds like an artist hitting her stride, even though Marry Me is the singer/multi-instrumentalist's debut. She cut her teeth as a supporting member in both The Polyphonic Spree and Sufjan Stevens' band, but it's difficult to imagine her sharing the spotlight with anyone else after this. Her live shows vary lineups and song arrangements and her guitar playing is somehow studied and jazz-like without being overwrought. Her voice is as engaging as her emotive, doe eyes. Her songs are both tragic and full of wry humor. In short, Annie Clark did not make a perfect album, but at some point, it seems like she will.
9. Interpol, Our Love To Admire (6)
10. Elvis Perkins, Ash Wednesday (6)
"While You Were Sleeping" by Elvis Perkins
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When Elvis Perkins surfaced this year with Ash Wednesday, his own back-story almost took the spotlight away from the music. Journalists clamored to speak with him about his famous father (Anthony Perkins) and the tragedy of his mother's death aboard one of the planes that flew into the Twin Towers on 9/11 (photographer Berry Berenson). That story is told. From here on, Perkins should be taken on his own merits as a songwriter, one who has been compared to Bob Dylan, but probably has as more in common with the surrealist carnival atmosphere of Neutral Milk Hotel.
11. Queens Of The Stone Age, Era Vulgaris (6)
f12. Augie March, Moo, You Bloody Choir (5)
"The Cold Acre" by Augie March
Australian quintet Augie March is a vehicle for singer-guitarist Glenn Richards, whose boozy revelations and melancholic sing-a-long pop has yet to make him the underground hero in the States that he should be. Moo, You Bloody Choir was originally released in 2005, but not until this year in America. On it, Augie March continues to patiently chip away like a slow sip from a poured pint, awaiting their cult to grow into an actual following.
13. The Besnard Lakes, The Besnard Lakes Are The Dark Horse (5)
Somewhere in the gulf that exists between The Beach Boys and Slowdive resides The Besnard Lakes. Husband and wife Olga Goreas and Jace Lasek form the band's core, Lasek having made a name for himself as a studio-owner and producer of note in Montreal. Are The Dark Horse has all the earmarks of a seasoned engineer recording his own material, as the seeming simplicity of these songs reveal secret layers on repeated listens. The couples' voices work effectively together in fragile harmonies, on the verge of bending out of tune along with the swirling melodies. It's pure, orchestrated atmosphere, but of the headphone variety, not the dinner-party kind.
14. Richard Hawley, Lady's Bridge (5)
15. The Veils, Nux Vomica (5)
***
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