22 December 2011 (Music Review)

Words: John Balfe

A bumper three album edition today, as we count down from number four to two. Tomorrow will be the day in which we reveal the Entertainment.ie album of the year! Can you feel the anticipation? 

 

 

 

 

#20 is Washed Out - Within and Without
#19 is Holy Ghost! - Holy Ghost!
#18 is Bon Iver - Bon Iver
#17 is Lisa Hannigan - Passenger
#16 is Cashier No. 9 - To The Death of Fun
#15 is Feist - Metals
#14 is Gillian Welch - The Harrow and the Harvest
#13 is Tieranniesaur - Tieranniesaur
#12 is Patrick Kelleher and his Cold Dead Hands - Golden Syrup
#11 is Laura Marling - A Creature I Don't Know
#10 is Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
#9 is   The Black Keys - El Camino
#8 is   Jape - Ocean of Frequency
#7 is   And So I Watch You From Afar - Gangs
#6 is   White Denim - D
#5 is   Le Galaxie - Laserdisc Nights 2
#4 is   St. Vincent - Strange Mercy

Annie Clark's first two albums, 2007's Marry Me and 2009's Actor, announced the Texan's arrival as a musician definitely worth keeping an eye on. As good as they were, particularly Actor, they both seemed to be lacking an unpredictable swerve - something that is there in abundance on Strange Mercy. There is so much going on musically on the album, testament to Clark's continually improving songwriting, at times invoking memories of Joni Mitchell or Carole King. Strange Mercy is the most complete album of Clark's career thus far and as interesting an album as we heard all year. 

#3 is   tUnE-yArDs - w h o k i l l 

Bird-Brains, the intriguingly beautiful low-fi debut of Merrill Garbus' tUnE-yArDs, served notice that something incredible may come along someday. Well, we didn't have long to wait. Garbus' second album w h o k i l l removes the lo-fi sensibilities of the first album, replacing them with a cacophonous amalgamation of saxonphones, bass, looped drums, taking in jazz, Rn'B, folk, hip-hop and more along the way. Garbus is an incredibly interesting musician and she let her creative sensibilities run wild throughout this album, creating a unique sound unlike anything else heard this year. 

#2 is   The Horrors - Skying

The Horrors have never been a band who have been unwilling to tamper with their musical output. Their third album sounds almost completely unlike the majority of tracks from their first two, gone are the dark punk-based songs, as are the shoegaze-styled songs that have also been employed at one time or another. Instead, in their place, is 80's sound, steeped in synth, no doubt owing something to a particular fondness to  Echo and the Bunnymen. The results are dramatic. There is a creative cohesion throughout Skying that was lacking from their first two and has smashed any self-imposed limitations that the first two albums constructed.

 

 

 The judging panel consisted of: John Balfe, Nay McArdle, Elaine Buckley, Edda Fransiska Kjarval, Ciaran Savage, Barry Bracken, Ian Maleney and Patrick Conboy.

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