The CD Critic’s Top 5 Albums of 2015

5: Strangers To Ourselves – Modest Mouse

‘Strangers To Ourselves’ was certainly an album many believed to be in a limbo, always being recorded but never being released. The announcement of Modest Mouse’s sixth studio album ‘Strangers To Ourselves’ certainly brought with it equal amounts of anticipation and skepticism, though this reviewer believes that the album delivered perfectly, with the album featuring some of the best and most memorable songs from the band thus far. The album itself might feel a little muddled at times, and offer a few tracks that don’t really work all that well, but when Modest Mouse push out tracks like ‘Lampshades On Fire’, ‘Ansel’ and ‘The Ground Walks With Time In A Box’, we hear once again what it is that makes Modest Mouse so amazing to listen to.

4: Ones And Sixes – Low

Low’s previous album effort of ‘The Invisible Way’ may have polarised some people, but there was something wonderfully gentle and gorgeous about the whole album effort. The band’s latest album effort of ‘Ones And Sixes’ didn’t continue this gentle expression of music, but did see the band offering something of equal intelligence and creativity. ‘Ones And Sixes’ hearkens back to the early days of Low’s career, whilst still sounding modern and up-to-date in some respects. The album itself is a mostly dark and macabre affair for the most part, whilst still sporting some rather upbeat and fun tracks. At the core of everything though is the perfect partnership of husband and wife team Alan Sparkhawk and Mimi Parker, whose talents of song-writing suggest that they can truly do anything.

3: Universal Themes – Sun Kil Moon

Mark Kozelek’s previous album effort of ‘Benji’ received near unanimous acclaim from many critics, though this one feels it’s his latest effort of ‘Universal Themes’ that stands out. The latest album released under the Sun Kil Moon moniker saw Kozelek offering up one of his most challenging album experiences to date, where beautiful acoustic passages find themselves intertwined amongst hurried vocals and spoken passages, before giving way to rough sounding garage rock. It’s wonderfully immersive, with each song sucking the eager listener right into Kozelek’s head, showing them his own fractured viewpoint of the world around him. It’s not the easiest album to listen too, but it’s one of Kozelek’s most brilliant and amazing ones thus far.

2: Nervous – Siskiyou

Siskiyou’s third studio album saw a band whose arguably relatively unknown truly immerse themselves in the creation of an album, working absolutely everything to the best of their abilities until something they could truly be proud of was produced. ‘Nervous’ saw Siskiyou push out a truly wonderful album, one that was a little challenging in places, but ultimately sincere and full of creativity. ‘Nervous’ was released early in 2015, but somehow tracks like ‘Deserter’, ‘Bank Accounts & Dollar Bills’ and ‘Violent Motion Pictures’ stuck around in memory throughout the entire year. The amount of effort and creativity pushed into this album is incredibly evident, with everything resulting in one of the band’s (and one of Canada’s) best albums of the year.

1: Benoît Pioulard – Sonnet

Benoît Pioulard’s ‘Sonnet’, released on Kranky, seemed to go by relatively unnoticed this year, but for some reason or other it completely ingrained itself into my head and refused to let go. Benoît Pioulard (Thomas Meluch)’s previous albums have all featured an ambient edge, though ultimately dominated by an experimental folk ideology. ‘Sonnet’ saw Meluch completely immersing himself into an experimental ambient album, where walls of noise and static turned into some of the most beautiful music released this year. ‘Sonnet’ earns The CD Critic Album of the Year spot purely for it’s wonderful experimental notions, its sheer amount of creativity, and the under-stated beauty of its music. Perhaps a little out there at times to earn this position, but the amount of joy this album has given me this year is too hard to ignore.

The CD Critic’s Top 5 Albums of 2014

5: Unravelling – We Were Promised Jetpacks

Scottish rockers We Were Promised Jetpacks have been making incredible progress since the release of their debut album effort of ‘These Four Walls’, showcasing a great rock style fused together with a few somewhat experimental notions that give a little bit more edge to the music. The bands’ third studio album ‘Unravelling’ sees the band really pushing forward their own capabilities and strengths, producing what is arguably one of their most cohesive and impressive album efforts thus far. There’s incredible range and scope from the band, who manage to showcase tracks much more delicately crafted than some of their previous efforts suggested, without losing the great levels of energy that made the first few records so great to listen to. It seems the band are slowly becoming much more mature than what their debut effort suggested, though the level of quality being demonstrated by the band on ‘Unravelling’ hardly suggests this as a band thing, but if anything elevates them to the same level as other Scottish rock bands like Frightened Rabbit and The Twilight Sad.

4: More Than Any Other Day – Ought

Canada’s youthful rocker’s Ought’s debut album of ‘More Than Any Other Day’ is to simply put it, a stunning debut album effort. Incredible confidence and natural charisma exudes from each song, demanding attention and retaining it through interesting musical motifs, vocal styles and lyrics. There’s arguably an amateurish element running throughout this debut effort, though this adds much to the album’s experience, and much to how easily enjoyable the whole effort is. There’s clear evidence of a great band, hidden underneath layers of slightly odd yet incredibly satisfying musical layers. ‘More Than Any Other Day’ offers up an incredible amount by a band who are ready to showcase everything they have to offer. It’s easy to see what works here, with the main appealing elements being the incredibly charged energy from the band, which at times descends into musical madness with clear methodical methods being it all. Ought are clearly a band who are destined for great things, and one can only hope they achieve the levels of greatness that their music so clearly suggests.

3: Rave Tapes – Mogwai

‘Rave Tapes’ saw Mogwai pushing out what they simply do best, music of exceptional quality. On their latest album the band opted to push forward a few more experimental ideas, playfully hinted at on some previous efforts. The result is one of Mogwai’s more interesting and perhaps more experimental album experiences. There’s a fair amount happening on the album, and whilst there’s a lot that’s different, there’s also a lot that remains in the music that makes it all feel a little bit familiar and somewhat comforting. Electronic instruments dominate many of the tracks, adding to the experimental nature of how the band are approaching their own methods of composition. At times it’s exciting, at times it’s unsettling. Many of the tracks showcase a range of ideas and themes, showing Mogwai’s incredible range of expressing emotion through music. ‘Rave Tapes’ is perhaps arguably not one of the bands’ most strongest releases out of their whole discography, but this is perhaps due to the standard the band has maintained for many years, as ‘Rave Tapes’ is a very enjoyable record from them nonetheless.

2: Last Ex – Last Ex

Simon Trottier and Olivier Fairfield (of Timber Timbre) joined forces for the release of their side-project Last Ex, a set of recordings born from the abandonment of a film soundtrack the band members were composing. With some extra tinkering here and there, Trottier and Fairfield managed to push forward one of the most interesting released of this year, a post-rock album experience that echoes the early days of Do Make Say Think and Tortoise. There’s a lot happening, a lot of emotion and energy and a lot of scope being offered by the band who push forward idea after idea. For the most part, the album itself is rather unsettling, featuring musical motifs that could easily send chills down the spines of listeners. There’s much more at play here rather than the album being the recycled material of the band members, but instead an album experience that has been clearly envisioned, without coming across as so. It’s incredibly creative and enjoyable to those who enjoy the more classical (or what could be deemed as classical) side of post-rock music. It’s effects are rather subtle, but there’s a lot of evidence of greatness being demonstrated.

1: Syro – Aphex Twin

Richard D James’ albums have always had a highly experimental and slightly inaccessible element to them, though there’s always been clear evidence of extraordinary talent. Following up some incredibly impressive albums after many years on hiatus is no easy feat, though Richard D James’ latest album effort under the Aphex Twin moniker ‘Syro’ does exactly that, coming across as one of the musician’s most enjoyable album efforts to date. There’s a wonderful mixture of new methods and ideas, many of which have been combined with some of James’ old and more classic methods of composition. ‘Syro’ can at times bombard and confound, though there’s an incredible amount being offered up, which certainly makes up for the many long years of inactivity. ‘Syro’ comes across as its own entity deserving of its own attention and praise, with the wonderful grooves and motifs of the music coming through in fantastic style. Definitely a pleasing record with many memorable and outstanding tracks that hopefully signal the beginning of much, much more to come.

The CD Critic’s Top 5 Albums of 2013

5: The Invisible Way – Low

Low’s 10th studio-album released was a delightful treat titled ‘The Invisible Way’. The album showcased in equal measure the band’s own style of slow-alternative rock music, as well as new ideas that hadn’t been attempted by the band before. The result was an album that was quintessentially their own, whilst also sounding new and exciting. Once again, we were offered gorgeous layers of harmonic vocals accompanied by the most delicate of instrumentals. The album offered a wonderful balance of old and new Low, bringing with it a style that was nearly impossible not to fall in love with. Each album by Low offers something that is a little unusual or inaccessible, and ‘The Invisible Way’ is no stranger to such formalities. What makes the album work well is how each track offers brilliantly towards the overall album, giving it the wonderful character that is titled ‘The Invisible Way’. Low even combat their previous criticisms on some of their earlier records, by producing an album that contains in equal measure both uplifting tracks and downbeat tracks, giving the whole overall effort a nice range in styles and presentation. It’s an album that easily allows for repeated listening, making it one of Low’s best albums thus far in their very rewarding discography.

4: Reflektor – Arcade Fire

The hype surrounding Arcade Fire’s fourth studio album effort nearly caused the album to have expectations that the band would have been unable to achieve. Lucky for them, Arcade Fire knew exactly what they were doing, and ended up releasing the incredibly exciting and pumped-up ‘Reflektor’. The album saw Arcade Fire progressing their style once again, adding in new techniques and ideas that helped elevate their already existing strengths. Though the album itself might be classified as being a little too long, it is one that keep offering and offering as it progresses along the two discs of material. Everything seems to work on ‘Relfketor’, including the guest appearances by the likes of David Bowie and such, who don’t retract from Arcade Fire themselves, but instead help add more to the music. Everything Arcade Fire do well, from their song-writing to their lyrics, seem to have been pushed forward and forward until it sounds even better than before. Considering the strength of each individual song, the instrumentals put in place for the tracks and the lyrics that present the well-chosen themes and ideas of the album itself, it seems both the album’s length and hype are all completely justified.

3: Dalmak – Esmerine

On Esmerine’s fourth studio album, (and second album released by Constellation Records), the band offer up one of their most interesting and insightful records titled ‘Dalmak’. The album sees Esmerine combining their own style of music established in Montreal with styles of music originating from Istanbul, creating a record that blurs together genres, styles and techniques to create a very beautiful album experience. Everything Esmerine attempt comes together in fine style to create a gorgeous album experience that is arguably one of the best releases to have come out of Canada this current year (along side other brilliant albums of course). What makes the album work is how Esmerine have attempted to expand what makes their style work, and incorpoate other techniques and ideas to create something new and exciting. It could so easily have gone wrong for Esmerine, but the band manage to make everything work in such a way that it creates a wonderful album experience, where every song flows through brilliantly. There’s an inaccessible element to the album no doubt, though those who enjoy music that is that little bit different and is highly creative will find a lot to enjoy from Esmerine on ‘Dalmak’.

2: The Next Day – David Bowie

The announcement of David Bowie’s first album in over 10 years of inactivity was a huge surprise to everyone earlier this year. The release of ‘The Next Day’ saw Bowie back on top of the music industry, with the album being a phenomenal return to music. There was nothing on ‘The Next Day’ that was out of place, or ill-fitting in any way whatsoever. ‘The Next Day’ was simply another knock-out album by one of music’s most revered song-writers. It helped show that Bowie still has it in him, to produce an album that can easily be enjoyed, and that he can still write great music even in his old age (or older age). ‘The Next Day’ was a punchy and fast pop-rock album that featured brilliant instrumentals that helped support Bowie’s phenomenal lyrics and vocal style. It’s arguable that the album itself isn’t nearly as good as some of Bowie’s most beloved albums in his career (such as 1972’s ‘The Rise And Fall of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders Fro Mars’ and 1977’s ‘Heroes’). What matters though is how Bowie wasn’t trying to make an album to out-do his previous efforts,but instead jut make another album full of strong material. Bowie easily pulled this off, and now ‘The Next Day’ goes down as one of 2013’s best albums.

1: Push The Sky Away – Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds’ fifteenth studio album ‘Push The Sky Away’ is easily the band’s most subtle masterpiece. The album saw Nick Cave & his bad seeds take a few steps back, and take a more reserved approach to the presentation of the music on ‘Push The Sky Away’, resulting in a highly beautiful and moving album full of haunting instrumentals and incredibly literary lyrics. The album featured a different style of music than what was on previous Nick Cave albums, with the only similarities possible being the band’s 1997 release of ‘The Boatman’s Call’. ‘Push The Sky Away’ featured the most delicate of pianos and violins that helped push the music at a very slow pace. The album works on many levels, with it being one of Nick Cave’s most creative releases thus far, as well as his (arguably) most interesting. Although the tone of the album is downbeat to the point of being inaccessible to an extent, it is still an album that easily warrants repeated listening, to those who are able to cope with such sustained melancholy. Each track contributes brilliantly to the overall scope of the album, being both great stand-alone songs, and great songs as part of a complete album package. For a Nick Cave album, ‘Push The Sky Away’ is a little unexpected, but highly rewarding.