Weekly Top 10: Brooklyn Bands

This week, we're looking to profile some of our favorite Brooklyn-based bands. As the current hub of indie music, Brooklyn has become a vibrant and ambition collection of artists. Many perform together, listen to each other's music and take cues from innovations they may develop. It's a true music scene, and it's just getting bigger and better each day. You're no doubt aware of all of these bands, but we think this list still serves a purpose. Check it out below.

[Previously on Animal Noises: Weekly Top 10: Mixtape Rap Songs]

Coachella Announces 2010 Line-Up

Just as we did last year, we're happy to report the lineup for 2010's Coachella Festival. It's probably better than last year, depending on your vantage point. Among the most notable acts (according to this blog, not the festival) per day:

Friday, April 16-- Jay-Z, LCD Soundsystem, Passion Pit, Vampire Weekend, Grizzly Bear, She & Him, Yeasayer, Ra Ra Riot, Wale

Saturday, April 17-- Muse, MGMT, Dirty Projectors, Major Lazer, Mew, Portugal. The Man, Girls

Sunday, April 18-- Gorillaz, Thom Yorke, Phoenix, Spoon, De La Soul, Sly and the Family Stone, Julian Casablancas, Sunny Day Real Estate, Yo La Tengo, Deerhunter, Local Natives

So there it is. An epic collection of artists this year, really. I'm excited, as I'm sure you are too. To Indio, California we go.

Best Albums of 2009: #1, Grizzly Bear's Veckatimest

Rank: #1

Album: Veckatimest

Artist: Grizzly Bear

Label: Warp

And then there was one. Grizzly Bear's Veckatimest was an accomplishment unlike any other in 2009. Bright, haunting and stunningly beautiful at every turn, the album took a band mostly known for experimental folk and put them on the map for good. Even after leaking a full two months prior to its official release, Veckatimest still charted at #8 on Billboard's U.S. charts for the week of May 26th. After that, the accolades just kept on coming for a record that people expected to be good, yet never saw as the masterpiece it would end up being considered as.

What sets Veckatimest apart from the rest of Grizzly Bear's career is its easily-accessible, yet extremely complex musical approach. Taking on chamber pop in a way no one has since its 1960s origins, the band blended folk, indie and psychedelia to form its profound collection of catchy, albeit reserved tunes. Standouts like "Two Weeks" and "White You Wait for the Others" grab listeners without them even knowing it, using Daniel Rossen and Ed Droste's voices and its pseudo-pop delivery to hook you immediately. Each track contains an overwhelming amount of sound, most of which is crammed into a space no larger than five minutes. Still, even with so much activity, it's easy to simply lose yourself in the cerebral sonic landscape Grizzly Bear has created-- a one-of-a-kind experience to be remembered for years.

Best Track: "Two Weeks"

[Previously on Animal Noises: Best Albums of 2009: #2, Animal Collective's Merriweather Post Pavilion]

Best Albums of 2009: A Recap

Below is the full list of albums we covered this December as our best of the year. If you missed any of these, feel free to just follow the links over, for a full review.

Animal Noises' Best Albums of 2009

1. Veckatimest -- Grizzly Bear

2. Merriweather Post Pavilion -- Animal Collective

3. Farm -- Dinosaur Jr.

4. Hometowns -- The Rural Alberta Advantage

5. Noble Beast -- Andrew Bird

6. Bitte Orca -- Dirty Projectors

7. Man on the Moon: The End of Day -- Kid Cudi

8. Manners -- Passion Pit

9. Aim and Ignite -- fun.

10. Album -- Girls

11. Hold Time -- M. Ward

12. Person to Person -- Foreign Born

13. People Are Soft -- The Swimmers

14. Wilco (The Album) -- Wilco

15. Wavvves -- Wavves

16. No More Stories... -- Mew

17. Bromst -- Dan Deacon

18. Now I Am Champion -- Sister Suvi

19. Hombre Lobo -- Eels

20. Welcome Joy -- The Cave Singers

21. Beast Rest Forth Mouth -- Bear In Heaven

22. Here We Go Magic -- Here We Go Magic

23. Get Color -- HEALTH

24. Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix -- Phoenix

25. Dark Night of the Soul -- Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse

26. God Help the Girl -- God Help the Girl

27. Tentacles -- Crystal Antlers

28. The Blueprint 3 -- Jay-Z

29. Eskimo Snow -- Why?

30. Junior -- Röyksopp

Best of 2009: Movie Soundtracks

For the remainder of the year (save holidays and weekends, of course), we'll be sharing some additional lists of our favorites in music from 2009. Today, that lists is our top 10 movie soundtracks from films that came out this year. All of the songs don't have to be unique to the film however, so it's open for quite a few endeavors. This is also the only time you'll ever see Twilight mentioned in this space besides for being the awful, cultish collection of poor storytelling it's usually regarded as, and is.

10. Where the Wild Things Are

(Top Track: Karen O and the Kids' "All Is Love")

9. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

(Top Track: Nicholas Hooper's "Opening")

8. Inglourious Basterds

(Top Track: David Bowie's "Cat People (Putting Out the Fire)")

7. Taking Woodstock

(Top Track: Grateful Dead's "China Cat Sunflower")

6. Funny People

(Top Track: Coconut Records's "Wires")

5. Up In the Air

(Top Track: Elliott Smith's "Angel in the Snow")

4. The Twilight Saga: New Moon

(Top Track: Grizzly Bear's "Slow Life")

3. Pirate Radio

(Top Track: The Who's "I Can See For Miles")

2. Fantastic Mr. Fox

(Top Track: The Beach Boys' "Heroes and Villains")

1. (500) Days of Summer

(Top Track: Doves' "There Goes the Fear")

[Previously on Animal Noises: Best of 2009: Debut Albums]

Most Prolific Artists of the Decade: #31-40

Our latest list-- the Most Prolific Artists of the Decade-- looks to chronicle the most important (for better or for worse) artists of the decade. For one reason or another, be it their positive (or negative) cultural significance, landmark moments for music, staying power or otherwise, these artists mattered a great deal this decade.

In no way is this a list of our favorites of the decade. On the contrary, many of our favorites are not present, while others whom we're actually not fans of, have made the list. So without further ado, check out our the second part of our Most Prolific Artists list below. Next to each artist's name, you'll see a basic numeric list of all primary recordings this decade. For many of these, their impact should probably be self-explanatory. Enjoy, and if you haven't yet read our list of the Best Songs of 2009, or Best Albums of the Decade, read up on those too.

40. Miley Cyrus -- 2 LPs (Most recent: 2008's Breakout)/2 EPs

39. Grizzly Bear -- 3 LPs (Most recent: 2009's Veckatimest)/2 EPs

38. Ludacris -- 6 LPs (Most recent: 2008's Theater of the Mind)

37. Alicia Keys -- 4 LPs (Most recent: 2009's The Element of Freedom)

36. Sufjan Stevens --8 LPs (Most recent: 2009's The BQE)

35. Beck -- 4 LPs (Most recent: 2008's Modern Guilt)

34. Spoon -- 4 LPs (Most recent: 2007's Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga)/4 EPs

33. Leslie Feist -- 2 LPs (Most recent: 2007's The Reminder), Broken Social Scene -- 4 LPs (Most recent: 2005's Broken Social Scene)

32. Kelly Clarkson -- 4 LPs (Most recent: 2009's All I Ever Wanted)

31. Daft Punk -- 2 LPs (Most recent: 2005's Human After All)

[Previously on Animal Noises: Most Prolific Artists of the Decade: #41-50]

Best Albums of the Decade: #1-10

Welcome to the final installment of our countdown to the best albums of the decade. There's probably a consensus on the top few, but beyond that, hopefully there's some surprises. As would be expected, a few artists made multiple appearances on the overall list, some maybe shockingly so. Still, these are our picks for the best albums of the decade. Enjoy below-- album streams are courtesy of Lala.com.

10. Censored Colors, Portugal. The Man (2008)

9. Merriweather Post Pavillion, Animal Collective (2009)

8. The Black Album, Jay-Z (2003)

7. The Moon & Antarctica, Modest Mouse (2000)

6. Dog Problems, The Format (2006)

5. Illinois, Sufjan Stevens (2005)

4. Veckatimest, Grizzly Bear (2009)

3. Funeral, Arcade Fire (2004)

2. I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning, Bright Eyes (2005)

1. Kid A, Radiohead (2000)

[Previously on Animal Noises: Best Albums of the Decade: #11-20]

#21-30

#31-40

#41-50

Best Songs of 2009: #12, Grizzly Bear's "While You Wait for the Others"

Song: While You Wait for the Others

Artist: Grizzly Bear

Album: Veckatimest

Year: 2009

Grizzly Bear's brand of ominous, dreamy, chamber pop was taken to a new level this year with the release of their third full-length, Veckatimest. It showed them in a new place musically, with songs that spoke louder than any they had released previously. One of the songs that did the most talking was "While You Wait for the Others".

Its stuttering, build and break formula makes it an intriguing listen; swaying back and forth between quiet palm muted guitars, and a swirl of vocals, organs, and distortion. Like many of the songs from this release, it sees music returning to a masterful, gimmick free art-form, performed by passionate individuals with great vision. And that's why this one makes our list. Check it out below.

[Previously on Animal Noises: Best Songs of 2009: #27, Julian Casablancas' "Left & Right in the Dark"]