Best Albums of 2010: #10-1 (John's Picks)

In the site's more recent, less updated form, we've failed to really cover music the way we have in the past. While that will not be changing for the time being, we still felt compelled to put together some lists to coincide with the end of 2010. Also, just because we haven't been blogging mean we haven't been listening to this year's slate of new releases. On the contrary, writing less about what's new has allowed us to better enjoy it. And now, we'd like to invite you to enjoy our much scaled-down 2010 end-of-year coverage.

John's Top Albums of 2010: #10-1

10. How I Got Over -- The Roots

Top Track: "How I Got Over" (Feat. Dice Raw)

9. Wild Smile -- Suckers

Top Track: "It Gets Your Body Movin'"

8. King Of The Beach -- Wavves

Top Track: "Post Acid"

7. The Suburbs -- Arcade Fire

Top Track: "The Suburbs"

6. Contra -- Vampire Weekend

Top Track: "Cousins"

5. Halcyon Digest -- Deerhunter

Top Track: "Revival"

4. Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty -- Big Boi

Top Track: "Shutterbugg" (Feat. Cutty)

3. High Violet -- The National

Top Track: "Bloodbuzz Ohio"

2. Teen Dream -- Beach House

Top Track: "Zebra"

1. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy -- Kanye West

Top Track: "Runaway" (Feat. Pusha T)

Best Albums of 2009: #15, Wavves' Wavvves

Rank: #15

Album: Wavvves

Artist: Wavves

Label: Fat Possum Records

Lost amidst the drama of Nathan Williams' public breakdown in Barcelona this summer was the fact that his band, Wavves put out one of the better releases of the year. The youthful, obnoxious Wavvves was just like its main creator, Williams-- a symbolic portrait, if you will. Brash, bold and a bit odd, the album is a ball of energy, the likes of which were rarely seen in 2009. Combining noise, surf rock and lo-fi will probably do that.

Seemingly bouncing off the walls, Wavvves careens into everything it sees, an echoing and distant attack on itself that is fascinating to listen to as it unfolds in front of you. Its lo-fi elements simply work to cloud the obvious-- that Williams is shredding through his life-- something that ended up being a fair representation of his life at the time of the album's release. Wavvves never appears dangerous, so much as it just makes you a bit nervous every once in awhile. It continually teeters on edge, plays games with its own emotions and sparks its own fits of rage. Yet, throughout all of that, you are still compelled to listen for those bright moments of clarity, which in fact, do happen from time-to-time as well. As much as Wavvves can appear to be an out-of-control carnival ride at many junctures, its final result is one of simple, short victory, even if it is wrapped in enough fuzz to drown some listeners.

Best Track: "Beach Demon"

[Previously on Animal Noises: Best Albums of 2009: #16, Mew's No More Stories...]

Best Songs of 2009: #1-10

And we've finally reached the end. Chances are some of these were predictable, but there were probably a few that caught readers by surprise. Regardless, to us, these are the top 10 songs of 2009. Enjoy them all below, and be sure to check out all of the top tracks, albums and other end-of-year coverage we're putting up all month.

10. "1901" -- Phoenix (via Pitchfork)

9. "Lust For Life" -- Girls

8. "Beach Demon" -- Wavves

7. "I Want You To Know" -- Dinosaur Jr. (via Pitchfork)

6. "Empire State of Mind (Feat. Alicia Keys)" -- Jay-Z

5. "Little Secrets" -- Passion Pit

4. "My Girls" -- Animal Collective

3. "Day 'n' Nite" -- Kid Cudi

2. "Two Weeks" -- Grizzly Bear

1. "Best I Ever Had" -- Drake

[Previously on Animal Noises: Best Songs of 2009: #11-20]

#21-30

#31-40

#41-50

Wavves on Daytrotter

Everyone's self-imploding California boy, Nate Williams-- aka Wavves-- stopped over at Daytrotter yesterday with some new material. I only make mention to this summer's incident out of irony, since honestly, I'm over it, and most readers should be too. Everyone is allowed to have some fleeting moments of stupidity/misguided narcissism, so let's consider that his. Plus, he makes really good music, so there's that. So go check out "To the Dregs" (off of his first album, Wavves), as well as unreleased tracks "Horse Shoes" and "Hula-Hoop" over at the session.

Weekly Top 10: Best Songs Named for Geographic Locations

For this week's list, we decided, for no apparent reason, that it would be fun to pick out songs named for either a city/town, state or country. We tried to avoid the obvious cliche tracks, except one, and unfortunately, two of the songs we originally wanted were not available. So, just so everyone's aware, The Beatles' "Back in the U.S.S.R." and Neutral Milk Hotel's "Holland, 1945" should have been here. Still, I think it's a pretty worthwhile list, as we tried to create variation in locations where possible. Enjoy.

Top 10 Songs Named After Countries/Cities

Album Review: Wavves

Album: Wavvves

Artist: Wavves

Label: Fat Possum Records

Out: February 3rd

I told you I'd get caught up on all of the reviews I didn't have time to get to, eventually. Just didn't think it would take this long. Still, here we are. I'm on vacation this week, so we'll be existing in an abridged format from Monday to Friday. You'll still see our regular features, as well as a minimum of one review per day (!) The only thing missing will be daily news coverage, which we'll forego this week. The only exception, of course, will be if anything happens with this supposed Radiohead Wall of Ice EP. Anyway, onto Wavves--

As most know, Nate Williams, aka Wavves, came out with his second full-length album back in February, entitled Wavvves. Mixing surf rock, lo-fi sensibilities and a hell of a lot of electronic noise, it's sort of caused quite a stir on the indie/alternative music scene. Some hate it, some love it, but chances are, people have at least heard Wavves in order to form a proper opinion. If they hadn't, they surely did so after Williams' now-infamous breakdown earlier this summer. Seems a bit like the fame and success has/had gotten to him a bit. But alas, that's behind him, and us, now, so I won't rehash. The fact of the matter is that Williams has managed to create a fairly unique sound in the ever-so-crowded lo-fi scene, blending blatant surf rock/pop with some seriously dirgy (is that a word?) guitar noise. The result sounds like Sonic Youth covering The Beach Boys. And it works.

As you may have guessed by the "surf" label, Wavvves is filled with a lot of high-energy pop numbers. That being said, for every shredding, speedy number, there's a counter-track which looks to grind everything to a complete halt, drowning any pop hooks you can decipher into a cavern of murky, dark noise (in a good way). Wavves' greatest asset is its fuzz, and the literal sludge it seems to entrench itself in, so to fail to embrace that is to reject it right off the bat. As much as tracks like "So Bored" contain some cutting energy, and a lot bright background vocals, it would be nothing with the ghostly effects, and overt static attempting to shove it into the background. It's flashy, yet dirty-- Smooth, yet jagged. It's an album of opposites, playing itself up as either one end of the spectrum or the other, depending on who's listening and when. Tune in at any one point in the album, and you can fully expect to hear anything ranging from solos, to ambient electronic noise to literally impossible walls of sound. That dynamic and variation is what, to me, sets it apart, and makes it an interesting listen.

As complete of an album Wavvves is, there are, of course, the standouts which cannot be ignored, and scream louder than the others. "Beach Demon" and "Gun In the Sun" probably stick out most on the first half of the record, while the second half, it's a bit harder to choose. Every time I listen, the second portion seems written in the same chaotic, yet breathtaking state of mind. From the raucous "No Hope Kids," all the way through to "Surf Goth," Williams is on the type of roll which usually comprises the stuff of legend. Not to compare him to any of the greats in any genre-- believe me, he's still got a way to go-- but the closing notes he puts on Wavvves speak volumes about where this could possibly be headed in the future. I like to refer to the last six or seven tracks as The Goths. This is mostly due in part to the word goth appearing in the majority of them, but I think it also helps exemplify their similarities and coherence in the greater sense of the album. Each is an explosion of sound unexplored to that point, including spiraling solos and some of the moodiest, darkest environments painted on the record. This deep and introverted foray into Williams' song writing process probably goes a long way to explain what happened earlier this summer, but also gives the collection the exclamation point it was looking for.

Overall, I'd consider myself of the mindset that Wavves is at times, astounding, and a force to be reckoned with in the future. From the first notes, I was enamored by the vicious and ruthless nature of it all, while still being able to pick apart the technicalities in between. Regardless of your opinions as to Williams himself, Wavves is a lot of things, but unoriginal is not one of them. Yes, taking things that have been done before and sort of mixing them together isn't the most organic endeavor for you to undertake, but what hasn't been done before? I'm pretty sure we've exhausted all completely original possibilities, so for this to succeed on this level is something I can appreciate. You've probably all heard it already, but in the off-chance you haven't, you 'll want to check it out. Similarities include No Age, Crystal Antlers and Woods.

Rating: 8.0/10

Best Track: "Gun In the Sun" (courtesy of Stereogum)

John's Track of the Week: "California Goths"

Song: California Goths

Artist: Wavves

Album: Wavvves

Year: 2009

It's always tough to pick the best track off of a very complete album, so how does one approach Wavves' Wavvves? You skirt around the issue and just pick a track that you enjoy that hasn't been talked about ad nauseam. And that's how we've arrived at "California Goths". Though the internet has been aflutter about Wavves all year, I just felt like this was the best option of the moment, and was a bit less talked about (though not necessarily avoided) than some others. This many months after the albums' release, I'm still seemingly mesmerized by how this album (and this song) kicks so much ass.

On Wavvves, it's hard to escape the lo-fi buzz and static that Nathan Williams creates to counter his surf rock landscape. The crackling, effects and basic muzzle he adds to his voice are something to be embraced, amidst the sometimes-ghostly texture of each track. Out of all of the songs though, I think that "California Goths" is the noisiest, and most powerful. From the beginning, you're inundated with grinding, pulsing bass and enough fuzz to send you spiraling out of control. It's a chaotic and ferocious mess, and that's what makes it so notable. For the few who may not already have, check it out below.

Weekly Top 10: Summer Songs

In keeping with the feature we relaunched last week, we'll be posting up 10-track playlists on Thursdays every week from now on. These playlists are themed in some way, and this time we chose summer. So enjoy. Oh, and my apologies for not having the actual Beatles version of "Here Comes the Sun". Imeem doesn't have most of the band's catalog, so hopefully George Harrison and Paul Simon will suffice.