MarathonProxy: Hannah Jones fromThe New Sound of Numbers

One day after Christmas, and one final 2006 list perfect for post-holiday recovery. Hannah's list consists of eleven songs that have moved her in one way or another over the past year. As you'll quickly notice, none of them were released during 2006, but the list's scope---blues, soul, funk, folk, and even a crooner to boot---results in a collection equal parts woe and urgency, desolation and inspiration (and just listen to that Mel Torme song). Thanks to Hannah for her contribution---I wrote about a song of hers here (which also ended up on a year-end mix), and you can find a link to the band's site here.

Also, I posted all the mp3s I had at hand here--if you've got any that I don't, feel free to send them along.

11. "Sometimes I Have a Heartache" Big Mama Thornton
This song is the flipside of the two songs mentioned above. It embraces and exudes a sadness that sometimes needs to be felt before we can "carry on" or "git on up and do it". It’s the blues, for real. "Please help me/Somebody stop my heart aching from all over."

10. "Git on Up and Do It" Rufus Thomas
This song has a similar message to "You Can Make it if You Try" by Sly and the Family Stone. Its one of those songs that makes you want to stand up and do the impossible. Rufus Thomas also recorded a lot of silly and funky dance songs that I love—"The Funky Chicken," "The Funky Robot," "The Funky Penguin," and "The Itch and Scratch."

9. "Carry On" Jean Knight
A great song to help you carry on with what you need to carry on with.

8. "Sodade" Cesario Evora
This is another heartbreaker written in a language I don't know. Unfortunately, I couldn't figure out how to translate this one. It makes me feel an intense, but beautiful sadness. Though all the elements of the song obviously work together and depend on one another, my two favorite parts are the very soft sounding shakers present throughout the song, and (of course) Cesario Evora's voice. For some reason, this is a song I enjoy very much in summer.

7. "Ne Me Quitte Pas" Nina Simone (mp3) (this is a live version; buy the studio here)
This song sounded heartbreaking to me even before I translated it online from French to English. Then it became even more heartbreaking.

6. "Comin' Home Baby" Mel Torme (mp3) (buy)
This song was a nice surprise for me. I had rented a Mel Torme hits album from the local library to see what was on it. This song strangely has a sound very much influenced by soul. Who knew Mel Torme could sound like this? The recording quality is great, there are nice harmonies, and it is beautifully arranged.

5. "Ninety Day Cycle People" Charles Wright
This song is about an imaginary people who live only ninety days. Therefore they haven’t time to fight wars. "Everbody was really for real."

4. "War" Edwin Starr (no mp3 because it's famous)
Sadly this song always seems to be topical. "Life is much too short and precious to spend fighting wars these days. War can't give life, it can only take it away!...What is it good for? Absolutely nothing!"

3. "War Sucks" The Red Krayola With The Familiar Ugly (mp3) (buy)
"You know war sucks!" No need to say more.

2. "Seagull Woman" Tyrannosaurus Rex (mp3) (buy)
"One day she came like a seagull woman. One day we change from children into people." These lyrics are fairly typical of Tyrannosaurus Rex in their fanciful and lyrical nature. I don't know whether he thought it was a good thing to change from children into people. Based on his other songs which express a child-like imagination, my guess would be no. But who knows?

1. "If It Were Left Up to Me" Sly and the Family Stone (mp3) (Fresh is OOP, but buy the Greatest Hits)
This song has great lyrics and masterful pauses—the pauses make you think the song is ending (they are almost uncomfortably long but not quite), and when the song is not ending you are surprised and glad, and then you welcome the pauses each time you hear the song. Well, I don't know if you do, but I do at least. My favorite line: "Now that its left up to me and you, will you try, will you try?" Will you try?

MarathonProxys: Two More Top Tens

Okay, two more lists, from two people who posted here more than anyone else than me. First, itinerant marathonpackser Hannah (here, here, here, and elsewhere), and then Jason from Magnolia Electric Co. (of the tour diary on the sidebar). Thanks so much to both of them. Quickly though, I'd like to point my digital wand of illumination toward some other year-end summations that are worth checking out:

Sean at Said the Gramophone lists his 55 favorite songs, with mp3s and typically engaging conversation to boot.

Skatterbrain's year-end albums list vacillates between Hawaii (twee indie pop) and Maine (post-rock). Or is it Smarties (indie twee pop) and an undergraduate physics lecture (post-rock)? I forget. But he's got The Knife and Belle & Sebastian in his top 5.

Motel de Moka welcomes its December guests with a refreshingly unique list. Mp3s aplenty, but you have to pay for the mini-bar.

And some more pals of mine have posted their annotated lists: you'll have to read around the formatting on 9 Godless Brats, but it's worth the stretch; on Michael Reid's, you'll have to either read backwards, or scroll down quickly with your eyes closed to maintain the tension; and the well-titled Nerd Report's follows the same scrolling rules, but with equal reward. Um, sorry for the work.

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Hannah:

10. Kamikaze Hearts Oneida Road (Collar City)
The Hearts are tough to place on any list of my Favorite Anythings. I’ve known them for a few years now and from the first time I heard them have been one of my all-time dearest bands, ever. They’re also inextricably tied to my life in college, to my progression as a music listener and, now, to my working in music. The result is I care so much for them that I can’t listen with anything that remotely resembles an objective ear. I can say that I hold them to an impossibly high standard, and by that measure Oneida Road is as eloquent, comforting, (yes, comforting) and true-to-form as I could possibly have hoped. With any luck they’ll soon be famous billionaires, and I will sit back smiling, thinking “toldjaso.”
9. Spank Rock Yoyoyoyoyoyo (Big Dada)
Damn. I mean, you know? Like, DAMN.

8. TV On The Radio Return to Cookie Mountain (Interscope)

7. Murs Murray’s Revenge (Record Collection)

6. Psapp The Only Thing I Ever Wanted (Domino)
You can see the pattern developing by now, I’m sure. The records I love most tend to be those that combine electronic and organic, taking the best of both approaches and abandon the self-indulgence of the singer-songwriter and/or needlessly abrasive electro-noodling and/or post-ironic rocknroll swagger, etc. Instead, they bring the best emotive hints to the forefront, and in these cases do it so well that it seems easy without ever seeming simple. Bands and artists sounding nothing alike---Psapp and Talkdemonic and TV on the Radio and Beirut---are unified by, a) their ability to make something genuinely new, and b) in doing so, changing the way emotion gets through a song. That sounds bold, I know, but it’s true. Anyway, Psapp do this in so many different ways it’s startling. You think you have a blip-pop band, then you see them live and there are world music elements, glitchy bits, a seemingly Mary-Poppins-esque bag of tricks all laid out in front of you. Amazing.

5. Beirut Gulag Orkestar (Badabing!)
The only album I bought straight off the listening booth.

4. Horse Feathers Words are Dead (Lucky Madison)

3. The Gossip Standing in the Way of Control (KRS)
85% of people who keep this off their top 10 will eventually see it make their top 100 of this decade, I promise you. They simply haven’t heard it yet, silly fools.

2. Talkdemonic Beat Romantic (Arena Rock)
A close call for my #1 spot, and probably the record (and band) I listened to most this year. The structure of this band is deceptively simple – live drums, live viola, and a laptop. But like the Books or the Mountain Goats, the simplicity belies something incredibly complex, gorgeous, genuinely emotive without spelling every damn thing out for you, and without any cleverness or irony weighing it down.

1. J Dilla Donuts (Stones Throw)
I can admit that before we started promoting this record, (and before Dilla’s death that same week,) I had only the vaguest knowledge of his music, mostly through his work with Slum Village. That said, I’ve been listening to this album consistently since February. I know I tend to think a lot about the where-and-when of music, but when I read the fan memoir from Ghostly International owner Sam Valenti, I found words for how completely I was (and am) loving J Dilla and Donuts: “Genius moves stealthily…like Dilla himself, the music’s laid-back genius is that it does not command respect, it quietly takes it…” All of what he says is true. That is, that there is an understated brilliance to Donuts, that it takes hold of your attention before you realize quite when or how, and that it is a through-and-through dope record, the one that set the since-unmatched bar for everything else I heard this year.

Other Fine Distinctions:

Close but No Cigar: Built To Spill, Juana Molina, Jason Molina, Justin Timberlake, Crystal Skulls, Girl Talk (biggest impact on first listen, but shortest shelf-life, no?), Ghostface, Chad VanGaalen

Still Haven’t Heard (but why?!): Joanna Newsom, Tom Waits

EP of the year:

TIE: Tacks, The Boy Disaster Oh, Beatrice (Howard Records)
Stands among my top 5 releases of the whole year, but as an EP I felt like I had to separate it. This is incredibly silly, as Tacks… are probably the best new band this year, but there you have it. If anyone reading takes anything from having read my list, go find this band and buy this record. Imagine Soft Bulletin, Oh Inverted World, and Air in a blender and you’re basically on the right track.)

Talkdemonic KPSU instudio
Not really an EP anyone else owns or got released, per se, more like a half hour of music I listened to incessantly for the last six months.

Best of 2007: Menomena Friend and Foe (Barsuk)
(Just you wait. SRSLY.)

[Once again, for full disclosure, I promoted about half these records. But my top 10 is what it is. It’s not a promotional tool or some conflict of interest bonanza, just the ten records this music lover loved most (and most often!) this year.]

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Jason:

Note: I hate to admit it but, as obsessed as I am with music, I have been derelict in actually purchasing and absorbing new music for the last couple of years. This is offset by the amount of touring I do and the massive amount of live music I ingest every year, but it makes me a little sad. I read the publications, I am able to guess when I hear something new on the radio what it might be based on what I've read, and I talk endlessly about the new records I want to buy, but I usually end up buying old vinyl and seeing these new bands live. So, in place of my Top 10 Albums of 2006, I would like to present my 10 Or So Favorite Things That Happened in 2006 That Have Something to do with Music or Are Albums

1. (Album) Neko Case Fox Confessor Brings the Flood.
I predicted in this blog earlier this year that this would be my favorite album of 2006, and, to be fair, it doesn't have that much competition, but it also pushed away competition by keeping me listening to it, constantly, all year. My favorite thing about this record? How noisy it is. Listen to it, loudly, in headphones, and you can hear the engineer un-muting Neko's vocals and then re-muting them when she finishes a phrase. The heroic use of reverb doesn't just add distance, it adds another band member, and it creates in me the same feeling that a classic wall-of-noise record like Loveless has created for years. Her record makes me feel like a kid hearing that kind of music for the first time again, but is framed in strange song-segments that resemble country and odd instrumentation that is actually quite classic. I love it.

2. (Album) Destroyer Destroyer's Rubies.
I had the incredible fortune to tour with this band right after this album came out. I didn't actually hear the record itself until about ten or eleven days into the tour, and at that point I felt like I had skipped class for half of a semester only to find out that the professor brought in beer every day and gave you extra credit for showing up. The guys in Destroyer were all such sweethearts, but it doesn't make the record any less mysterious to me. And the clincher? The Soft Parade reference. Look for it.

3. (Karaoke Moment) Howie Day Sings His Own Song at the Bluebird on a Monday night at 1:30am For Maybe 30 People and No One Likes It
This really happened, I really hosted it, and I can still feel the unbearable humiliation in the air when people started leaving during it.

4. (Van Cleaning Episode) I Find a Fish in the Chassis that was Put There by Shearwater
Shearwater is a great band that I had the good fortune to tour with this year, too. After a series of prank war events (van-vegetable fight, glitter, washable paint on the van, etc.) they got us in a big way by hiding a fish in the front axle of the van before we got to 110 degree heat in Arizona. I wish I had a picture of the guys at the oil change place who found it, or of the guy at the car wash place who almost vomitted when he opened the hood.

5. (Album) Sonic Youth Rather Ripped
What can I say? This has been a nostalgic year for me, because a lot of my musical heroes have done themselves well with new rock records. My wife and I listened to this three or four times in a row driving to Lawrence, KS at night, and it's the first time I've done that in a long time.

6. (Show) Robert Pollard at the Bluebird
Pollard put out two pretty good records on Merge this past year, and seeing him with 100 other people at the Bluebird made me feel as if I were seeing Guided By Voices for the first time again. I don't like all of the new songs, and there's nothing as majestic as Alien Lanes happening from him, but the shit is solid and his band is amazing. Seeing "No Sky" live made my adrenaline almost shoot out of my ears.

7. (Reissue) Os Mutantes Divina Comedia Ou Ando Meio Desligado (buy)
My long lost friend Jim Tesmer dropped by my house in 1999 to let me borrow this record. Then he disappeared and I had it for a long time, but didn't fully appreciate it until he called me a year later to tell me he wanted it and his other Os Mutantes records back. He got them and I haven't heard from him since. I remember playing some of this for Paul Mahern and all he said was "A lot of Pet Sounds damage on this," and I think he meant it in a good way. Amazing, amazing album that I haven't been able to get enough of.

8. Neil Young and Crazy Horse Live at the Fillmore East
It's too short, Billy Talbot is out of tune on most of "Cowgirl in the Sand," and there were a lot more songs performed over however many nights this retrospective comes from, but it's still great and a fine reminder of why we all love Neil so much.

9. Drakkar Sauna Jabraham Lincoln (Marriage Records)
These guys are, by far, my favorite underappreciated band in the world. I can go further and say they're my favorite band in the world. I feel weird including this record, a little, because I play on it, but not enough (I think) to legally disqualify me from talking about it. (ed: you're safe) Besides, the two songs I play on existed long before they had the notion of getting me to drive to Kansas to play on them. What's to say other than every record they've made -- Rover, Drakkansasauna, and now this one contain moments of utter bliss for me, hair-raising bliss. Who else could make the lines "I can't digest certain types of drugs/but I won't give up" or "the stones are full of entrails/bravo, bravo" sound so goddamned beautiful?

10. (Record Store) The Opening of Landlocked Music in Bloomington, IN
Not only are these guys my friends, but they've unleashed a beast of a store with great prices and a nice play to see a gig. They've provided me with other fantastic musical moments, too -- the Big Star Third reissue, the Chris Bell I am the Cosmos reissue, and the excitement that good things still happen in the town I live in and love.

MarathonProxys: Year-End Top 10s

After last Friday, I'm about spent with this list-making thing. But some bloggish pals (and two schoolchums) of mine aren't, and they were generous enough to calibrate their tastes for our edification. Most aren't ranked, one isn't albums, a few aren't ten, and a couple inclusions aren't 2006. Irascible! On the tomorrow tip, and for those looking for music to squish into those early-present iPods, I'm planning on absolutely slaying my bandwidth with my 4 year-end mixes Tuesday morning.

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Ben Daniels, A Sunny Day in Glasgow
(singles, and not necessarily limited to this calendar year, mind you)

10. Animal Collective "Grass"
9. The Pipettes "I Love You"
8. Xiu Xiu "Boy Soprano"
7. The Blow "Parentheses"
6. Mahogany "Neo-Plastic Boogie-Woogie"
5. Bad News Bats "WTM"
4. Camera Obscura "Lloyd, I'm Ready to be Heartbroken"
3. Lilys "With Candy"
2. Cocteau Twins "Love's Easy Tears" (reissue)
1. Celine "Un Reve"

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Chris Swanson check signer, Secretly Canadian Records

10. The Dudes Brain, Heart, Guitar (Load Music)
9. The Blow Paper Television (K Records)
8. Fujiya & Miyagi Transparent Things (Tirk)
7. The Donkeys s/t (Antenna Farm)
6. Brightblack Morning Light s/t (Matador)
5. Man Man Six Demon Bag (Ace Fu)
4. The Evangelicals So Gone (Misra)
3. Circle Forest (No Quarter)
2. Dr. Dog Takers & Leavers EP (National Parking)
1. Ox American Lo-Fi (Weewerk)

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Phil Waldorf chief of staff, Misra Records (in alphabetical order)

1. The Black Angels Passover (Light in the Attic)
2. Califone Roots and Crowns (Thrill Jockey)
3. Final Fantasy He Poos Clouds (Tomlab)
4. Destroyer Destroyer's Rubies (Merge)
5. Envelopes Demon (Brille)
6. Joanna Newsom Ys (Drag City)
7. Man Man Six Demon Bag (Ace Fu)
8. OOIOO Taiga (Thrill Jockey)
9. Page France Hello, Dear Wind (Suicide Squeeze)
10. Shogun Kunitoki Tasankokaiku (Fonal)
11. Sunset Rubdown Shut Up I Am Dreaming (Absolutely Kosher)
12. Xiu Xiu The Air Force (5rc)

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Michael Tapscott musician-type, Odawas

10. Sinoia Caves The Enchanter Persuaded (Brah)
Like an “Autobahn” for the southern Indiana backwoods.

9. Califone Roots and Crowns (Thrill Jockey)
Understated beauty and presence, it sounds like a nature documentary sometimes, but that’s ok.

8. Max Richter Songs from Before (Fat Cat)
I feel that maybe somebody could do the contemporary classical thing Max Richter does better, or more interestingly, and they probably do, somewhere out there, but this is what is getting to me, and it really gets to me.

7. El Perro Del Mar s/t (Memphis Industries)
Just well-written songs, sung well, produced well, played well.

6. Metallic Falcons Desert Doughnuts (Voodoo)
I like things about the desert.

5. Peter and the Wolf Lightness (Worker’s Institute)
The voice gets a little too nasally, and sometimes the songs sound a little bit too close to the Magnetic Fields, but the good moments are really, really good.

4. Liars Drums Not Dead (Mute)
I really don’t even remember why I liked this so much, but it was enough for me to remember it this fondly.

3. Flying Canyon s/t (Soft Abuse)
I like the press release that calls this "the Eagles on Robitussin," but it sounds more like Jackson Browne quietly hiding out in a cave after the fall.

2. Joanna Newsom Ys (Drag City)
To me this came out of nowhere, which I guess is because I never heard the first record, or rather, I consciously ignored it. Van Dyke Parks’ string arrangements brought me here, but they seem to be muted in the mix, still great, but not overbearing or overtly present. I don’t know, I didn’t expect to love this.

1. Elephant Micah Hindu Windmills (Time-Lag)
Joe O’Connell’s the best songwriter I can think of. This record was one that’s been waited on, it sounds kind of like Leonard Cohen doing Woody Guthrie, or vice versa. Totally strange and absurdly grounded in the rudimentary facets of the past. The thing is, unlike M. Ward who takes good music and a great voice into narcissistic territories, EM takes an enormous voice to places where it will is constantly confused, made smaller and plays with listener expectations.

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Dan Workman music guy, Ten Kens

10. Malajube Trompe-L'oeil (Dare to Care)
9. CSS Cansei De Ser Sexy (Sub Pop)
8. Tom Waits Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards (Anti)
7. Clinic Visitations (Domino)
6. Sonic Youth Rather Ripped (Geffen)
5. Yo La Tengo I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass (Matador)
4. Grizzly Bear Yellow House (Warp)
3. TV On The Radio Return To Cookie Mountain (Interscope)
2. Man Man Six Demon Bag
1. Liars Drums Not Dead

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Steve Savoca captain of industry, Domino Records (in no particular order whatsoever)

1. M. Ward Post-War (Merge)
2. Vetiver To Find Me Gone (Dicristina)
3. Grizzly Bear Yellow House
4. Califone Roots & Crowns
5. Clipse Hell Hath No Fury (Jive/Zomba)
6. Beirut Gulag Orkestar (Ba Da Bing)
7. Band of Horses Everything All The Time (Sub Pop)
8. Al Green The Belle Album (Hi/Capitol)
9. Tom Waits Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards
10. Neko Case Fox Confessor Brings The Flood (Anti)

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Michael Lahey pal, Indiana University (in alphabetical order)

1. AFX Chosen Lords (Rephlex)
These aren't the best tracks in the Analord Vinyl series to me and I am sure that anyone who has heard them has their own favorites. Yet, songs like "Crying in Your Face" and "XMD 5a" are still better and simpler than anything anyone else is putting out these days.

2. Aki Tsuyuko Hokane (Thrill Jockey)
This album and picture book do a better job of constructing the sound and vision of childlike wonderment without sounding childish or pathetic than most. Perfect to go to sleep to. Perfect to just listen to. Not perfect to be a lame-ass to.

3. Ellen Allien & Apparat Orchestra of Bubbles (Bpitch Control)
I really like Ellen Allien. This is as perfect for the dance floor as it for your head. Never stops moving from beginning to end, never sounds forced.

4. Broadcast The Future Crayon (Warp)
This collection of B-sides that spans a good portion of their career is a tad weirder than their regular albums. Plenty of instrumental tracks that break out of the rigid pop structure that often seems a necessity with vocals. Unlike most collections, it still sounds like a proper album.

5. El Perro del Mar s/t (Memphis Industries)
Can't think of another album that I would rather have usher me through a shitty break up. Solid from end to end. Sad, wistful, but never overbearing.

6. LCD Soundsystem 45:33 (iTunes)
This single song made for Nike and released on iTunes is simply better that anything to ever come out under this moniker past, present, or (near) future. Sounds like a compendium of electronic sounds for the past 10 or so years. Really nice.

7. Stereolab Fab Four Suture (Too Pure)
Every time a new Stereolab album comes out, critics invariably suggest that it sounds too much like their old ones. Well, I am a fan, I can distinguish the sounds, and those arguments don't bother me much. This album got stuck in my iPod for a while and got better with every listen---like Stereolab, which keeps getting better and better with age.

8. Susanna and the Magical Orchestra Melody Mountain (Rune Grammofon)
This album of covers (AC/DC, Depeche Mode, etc) is a collection of wonderful female vocals set against a slow and sparse soundscape. Perfect tempo changes from molasses to kinda faster molasses. Could listen to it over and over again.

9. To Rococo Rot Taken From Vinyl (Staubgold)
This is a reissue of pre-Amateur View vinyl releases and its much better than anything they have done in long time (although Robert Lippok still puts out really interesting stuff). Kinda dubby, excellent rhythm.

10. Xela The Dead Sea (Type Records)
I first heard of Xela when a friend gave me Tangled Wool. That album was pretty sparse---a mix of guitar, electronics and spaciness. This album, on the other hand, is downright macabre. Sinister, still sparse, equal parts malevolent and inviting.

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Travis Vogan pal, Indiana University (in alphabetical order)

1. The Bird and the Bee Again and Again and Again and Again EP (Blue Note)
Electro-pop with whispy female lyrics by Inara George. Sounds like a department store’s promotional ad for a seafoam green set of appliances in 1959 with hints of early 90s dance and sprinkled with some shoegaze. Hopefully the LP (which is coming out in January) will live up to the EP’s promise.

2. Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy The Letting Go (Drag City)
If I had to pick a #1 album, this would be it. Backing vocals by Dawn McCarthy add texture to Oldham’s smoky musings that set this album apart from Master and Everyone and even I See a Darkness. It’s the usual mix of resignation, silliness, and folk-wisdom—only cooked in a crock pot the get that flavor. Highlights: “Strange Form of Life” and “The Seedling.”

3. Cat Power The Greatest (Matador)
This album contains shades of Adult Contemporary imbued with Marshall’s balancing act between the haunting and sentimental. The sap is grounded in just enough soul to satisfy those of us who feel a bit uneasy about her recent diamond ads and the Chanel thing.

4. Early Day Miners Offshore (Secretly Canadian)
More driving and nuanced than their earlier records. A great “background” record and equally satisfying on headphoned walks. One of the more optimistic sounding post-rock groups. This is a good thing.

5. Jeff Hanson s/t (Kill Rock Stars)
A great follow up to and more cohesive effort than Son. Although comparisons to Elliott Smith are often drawn, Hanson’s similarly breathy delivery and often resigned lyrics take on new meaning when filtered through his falsetto moan (the most common question: Is that really a dude?). The nearly 8-minute “Something About” may be the most affecting track of the year.

6. Joanna Newsom Ys
She totally lived up to the elephantine expectations that followed The Milk-Eyed Mender. The funny thing is that Newsom is now more widely recognized than any of her guru collaborators (save, perhaps, Parks). Now people apparently respect her as well as think she is “just so cute.”

7. The Long Winters Putting the Days to Bed (Barsuk)
Great pop hooks and wry lyrics from John Roderick and Co. This album has much better pacing than The Worst You Can Do Is Harm or When I Pretend to Fall. While I enjoy the version of “Ultimatum” recorded for their 2005 EP better than this album’s driving, electric rendition, the 2006 version is more consistent with the record. This album ought to help them transform their role as Death Cab’s slightly less palpable younger Barsuk brother. On the other hand, the album’s slightly off-kilter catchiness could be in danger of being appropriated by “Grey’s Anatomy.”

8. Loose Fur Born Again in the USA (Drag City)
Follow up to 2004’s self-titled release from the Chicago supergroup (how many groups is Jim O’Rourke in right now?). While “Hey Chicken” gained some attention as the album’s single, and “The Ruling Class” was featured in Jeff Tweedy’s live shows and DVD, “Wanted,” the album’s last track, is the one that sticks: “She does whatever she wants, and I swear she wanted me.”

9. Metallic Falcons Desert Doughnuts
“Are you my desert friend?” What if Pixar did a remake of David Lynch’s Dune? What if Crispin Glover starred in Mad Max? This album juggles the eerie, pretty, fucked-up, and silly. Though there are a few moments that stick out in this album (namely “Snakes and Tea” and “Misty Song”), it stands well as a single composition. Sierra Cassady (CocoRosie) and Matteah Baim recruit Antony Hegarty and Devendra Banhart (among others) to add some additional jagged edges. While this has some of the dissonance and screechiness characteristic of CocoRosie, its melodic cohesiveness and subtelty has the potential to attract an audience who is typically annoyed by the “freak folk” scene’s sometimes borderline obnoxious characteristics (e.g. Devendra jumping around in his underwear and Joanna Newsom’s Renaissance Fair garb…or the cover of Ys…I sometimes wish I didn’t love that album). Despite the fact that one of Metallic Falcons’ calling cards is concealing their identities (ok, this is obnoxious), this album seems more organic than either of CocoRosie’s albums.

10. Pajo 1968 (Drag City)
Gothic folk and even a couple catchy pop ditties from one of our most prolific, diverse, and consistently brilliant songwriters. This may have the greatest range of any folkish record this year, with the stark, neo-blues tune “Who’s that Knockin” alongside subdued power pop riffs like “We Get Along, Mostly.”