20-16

20) I’m From Barcelona – Let Me Introduce My Friends
Damn, oversleeping again. I love music that creates its own world, existing within its own ambit (new favorite word). I’m From Barcelona is not this music. The subject matter of this album is quite real. True, it’s happy and yes, if pressed I might call it “twee” but real life, as I know it, seeps in. A melancholy underbelly subsists throughout the album: the distant, harmonizing vocals on “I Have Built a Treehouse” or the grocery list of diseases on “Chicken Pox.” For someone who faces the guilt of oversleeping almost every morning this album brings refreshing truth.

19) Joanna Newsome – Ys
Confession: I never liked Joanna Newsome’s first album, but I pretended to. Every person whose musical taste I respected liked it so I played along. Eventually one song sounded bearable—but no I did not like it. When this new album came out I didn't even consider it, especially since reviews said the album needed time. I’d given her enough time. On a slow night, however, I downloaded it. It took no time. The strings, the harp even her voice, yes that voice that had previously grated on my ears sounded transcendent. I listened and listened and continue to do so.

18) Junior Boys – So This Is Goodbye
I fell asleep to the Junior Boys’ first album. I don’t mean that as an insult, I just mean I’d switch it on in my final moments of wakefulness and sleep peacefully. I don’t, I can’t, fall asleep to this album. The subtle harmonies on “The Equalizer,” the near frenetic opening of “In the Morning,” the insistent drumbeat on “So This Is Goodbye?”—such moments demand not dreams but attention. I consciously, not passively, create to this Junior Boys album.

17) Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Show Your Bones
I don’t really know what Karen O sings about. I’ve never broken down the lyrics on this album, perhaps they plumb the profound depths of society and being, I don’t care. For me the words simply fill the spaces between Karen’s Thracian huntress yelps. Yes, my attraction to this album can basically be boiled down to sex. And yes, it helps that the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are disciples of distortion (in fact I think they nail that sometimes elusive beast), but I’m in it for simple, base impulses. Apologies if anyone finds this offensive.

16) Clipse – Hell Hath No Fury
Where did this album come from? For that matter where did Clipse come from? One moment they’re telling us how a few words turned into sex with Timberlake, then they’re explaining the gangster lean right before diving into the underground and dropping pirated bombs. Now they’re back in full effect. “Here’s the secret about me and the Clipse/ Even in my absence I’m still the shit.” Verdad. Every time I listen the album climbs higher, given time who knows?