I entered the the year 2009 jet lagged, sober and sexless ('case you were wondering) in Bangkok, Thailand drowning in a torrent of familiarity. This was my first New Year's in a city, and it was theoretically a foreign city, 12 hour time difference making it literally on the other end of the earth. But I found myself in a mall (one hell of a mall, might I add, holding the nicest movie theater I've ever been in on its top floor and in, its subterranean catacombs the largest aquarium in Southeast Asia) listening to hip hop, watching a DJ spin from afar by a great glowing Christmas tree, the Thais having assimilated Christmas and New Years as a single epic occidental annual bonanza (this despite having their own new year in April).
2008 was another significant step toward making the world a smaller place, without diversity or identity in an uncomfortably uniform cultural landscape. The world community is a great thing, I believe, but I do not want this. Let a culture be its own.
It has occurred to me my awareness is limited to the developed world. The fact that I am oblivious to this submerged authenticity that I seek is a comforting thought, really, having been lamenting that the world is continually being stripped of its secrets and feeling that what is yet to be found and brought to light is especially precious. And though what I want personally is of the art/rock/weird/futuristic school, I'm sure I would be amazed by the wealth of diversity that this world MUST hold. The problem, on a larger scale, is that this is no longer how we define ourselves.
What follows is what I listened to that was released this past annum, and it is a globetrotting hodgepodge, music at its best when it is of its own place.
Frightened Rabbit - Midnight Organ Fight
I love Scottish rock singers unconditionally. When I find one that is a woman I will marry her.
Frightened Rabbit are dudes, unfortunately, but Midnight Organ Fight a great album that makes such predicaments as heartache, leprosy, decapitation, possessed arms and whatever an organ fight is into rousing, triumphant obstacles to be overcome with gusto and bravado. I'm sure I will return to it when my relationship with Lorna, lead singer of Haggis Meat, turns sour.
Portishead - Third
Nobody know what genre this is. Portishead, flagship trip-hop stalwarts of the last century, have returned with something that is famously a departure. There are drums, there are guitars, there are beats and melodies, but they are assembled into something that can't (yet) be categorized, and for this it is remarkable. Is this a new genre? Is it something that will be emulated and mediated? Even more remarkable is that this is an odd, personal and challenging work that will make that very difficult.
Spook of the Thirteenth Lock - Spook of the Thirteenth Lock
One of few albums on this list that arrived to too little fanfare (Pitchfork missed it) and that is influenced more so by traditional influences than contemporary ones. This is an Irish band that sounds like Irish music, but with delay pedals and an anthemic rock edge. Ambitious compositions, versatile musicianship, brooding lyrical passages and dense vocal harmonies make this a compelling listen, one that was just a review away from putting this band on the world stage. I'm sure they'll get it next time.
Juana Molina
Once the premier TV comedienne of her native Argentina, she made a dramatic departure into the world of music, first in the territory between electronic and folk, then straying more toward folk, and now something that can be tied to no place or label. This is a world of her making, filled by her voice and her sounds set layer upon layer. It is strange warm, and welcoming.
Fennesz - Black Sea
For a long time, when asked what music I listened to, I would say that I didn't. Aside from what my parents played and a few scattered movie soundtracks, nothing appealed to me; I heard nothing with which I resonated, and there was no music with which I defined myself. At some point I began to realize that there was a sound in my head that I wanted to hear, and I began to look for it. This is the closest thing on this list to that sound, and the closest to what I cultivate as a musician. For that it is very special, and on its own terms it is a thing of incredible beauty.
Bleeding Heart Narrative - All that was Missing We Never had in the World
Deserves special mention as the oddest thing I heard this year. The long winded title is a clue that it is enigmatic and pretentious, moving from industrial loops and delay pedal drones to strikingly beautiful piano, string and vocal passages. At times it is sublime, reminding me of the smell of old books, the texture of wood floors. It's pretense is often an obstacle, however, particularly when it come to the lyrics. Closer Lillian Gish is well worth the investment, but the repeated line "You are not what you think you carry, you are not what you think you carry yet," completely fails to be meaningful or evocative.
Los Campesinos - Hold on Now, Youngster
These Welsh rascals are probably a little older than me, but I have never felt this young. I can only catch glimpses of this mythical energy vicariously through pop music, and while ENERGETIC music is not hard to come by, Los Campesinos are a raucous natural formation, the energy of cats playing. It's the density, the obsession, the narrative passage that remind of Withnail and I, the burning desires and passions brought vividly, effortlessly, vibrantly to life. The labyrinthine melodies of Sweet Dreams, Sweet Cheeks are too much to take in, as if each of the seven members wrote their own song and the only way to fit them on the album was to mash them all together and it works spectacularly. My love for ...And We Exhale... grows exponentially with each listen, and it may have inspired me to get my first tattoo: "I am incredibly sincere" wrapped around my forearm. These kids are bursting at the seams with pure pop magic (they released their second album six months later, for the love of God!) and if they are to burn out sooner for shining so brightly then we will pay the price. Fortunately their mark has already been made, a great loving gash across the face of the earth at the speed of light, all thanks to the shrinking of the world in these remarkable times.
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