If the end of the world is eminent I'm sorry for having wasted your time. If it is December 22nd or beyond (meaning, congratulations! you survived), I'm only slightly less sorry for having wasted your time. But either way, decent tunes do make the day go by so much better. So whether you're dodging asteroids, hopping over newly-opened bottomless chasms, surfing the lava flows, or getting yanked out of your clothes by a good ol'-fashioned rapture, I hope you've enjoyed your past-year's soundtrack as much as I enjoyed mine.
I count two Canadian bands in this five. Northern saturation is nearing completion. Perhaps the end IS near.
35) Project 86 - Wait For The Siren
Man, I like this one. I initially gave Siren a courtesy listen just to see what Project 86 was up to. I hadn't bothered with them in I-don't-know-how-many years, so this was like getting back in touch with an old friend. Dude, my old friend is still awesome! This album jumps with energy and big anthemic choruses. And checking the credits, the personnel here is excellent. There's frontman Andrew Schwab of course, but check out Rocky Gray on drums! How did he get here? And the second track features devastating guest vocals from Bruce Fitzhugh. That alone is worth the price of admission.
34) Deerhoof - Breakup Song
YEP, DEERHOOF IS STILL WEIRD AND QUIRKY. And if you know what to expect when you're expecting Deerhoof, then you'll find Breakup Song is full of those songs that you've been expecting. And they're as glitch-tastic as ever. When comparing this album to previous ones I can't say Deerhoof brings too many new things to the table, but since they're in their own bizarre world anyway everything still stands out as bizarre genius. Amidst the bloops and the bleeps are these fantastic moments of musical clarity. And Satomi Matsuzaki's perfectly imperfect vocal delivery is... perfect. There are so many endearing things about Deerhoof that when they release just another album it's still something special.
33) Metric - Synthetica
Over the years Metric has developed their own specific and easily identifiable musical formula and, wisely, they've stuck to it for Synthetica. Like that upbeat catchy synthish rock-'n'-roll that was absolutely made to be accompanied by Emily Haines' no-frills vocals? Good, here's more! Synthetica is a good starter album for anybody trying out Metric for the first time. At this point in the band's career they've got their sound down to a science. All of the songs here are instantly accessible, even that track near the end that features Lou Reed.
32) ... And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead - Lost Songs
Trail of Dead is still making music and I bet you didn't even know. I like Lost Songs. It's rawer and angrier and more direct than their past few albums, and a band like Trail of Dead really thrives on aggression. Lyrically, according to Wikipedia, this album is a response to the indie scene ignoring important world events like wars and social injustices and all that other stuff that rightfully should evoke responses from a creative community. Anybody craving a political Trail of Dead album, well, here you are. But lyrics are pointless if the tracks don't jam, and Lost Songs will rock you right out.
31) The Luyas - Animator
Animator is a cool little mellowful thing. Haunting, but not in a creepy sort of way. Lush, but not in a pretentious sort of way. Call it astral twee. And because I'm a sucker for airy lady vocals this is right up my bowling alley. Despite the light and fluffy nature of the music, upon repeat listens I'm struck at how solid these songs are. There is nothing passive or cute or shy going on here. It's just good celestial indie-pop dripping its chill all over you.
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