Top-Five Albums of 2012: #4 Porcelain Raft's "Strange Weekend"

Apparently this is the year for film inspirations...

I first heard Porcelain Raft in the trailer for Celeste and Jesse Forever, with their album opener, "Drifting in and Out." The dreamlike rhythm that did, indeed, drift in and out, carried me along, and I'm pretty sure I watched the trailer for that film more than once just for the song. Then, of course, I remembered that these were the internets, and not only could I find out WHAT song it was, but I could also buy the damn thing--which I promptly did.

The band reminded me quite a bit of Beach House, who also put out a pretty solid album this year, but something about "Strange Weekend" simply lulled me back time and time again, as this album ended up with some pretty heavy rotation. And I'm fairly sure that the few folks I made a mix for this year have, at least, one track from this album.

The one thing that I will give the naysayers is that the lyrics are, often, less than stellar. Most of the time, the songs tend to repeat their short chorus/verses, but it's one of those instances where the singer and his melodies grow into the songs themselves, the rhythm and beats and vocals all blending into one mesh of earhole goodness. Basically, I'm saying the lyrics don't really matter with music like this. Yes, it would be a plus if there was something profound in each song--though I do quite like the lyrics for "Backwords" and "Unless You Speak From Your Heart"--but the whole is much greater here than when you break it into the individual pieces.

What really made this album work for me is the fact that almost every track has become one that I've played, then replayed, then replayed again before moving on. Tracks like "Put Me to Sleep," "Is It Too Deep For You?" and "Shapeless & Gone" leave you hanging, wanting more, and the only way to get that is to press that double-arrowed button on your iPod to hear that song again.

And even though the album works as a cohesive dreamspace, each unit has its own feel and distinct emotion. The aforementioned "Unless You Speak From Your Heart" has an alternating circus/celestial feel. Bizarre as that sounds, it creates a melancholy that fits the lyrics perfectly. Same for "Backwords," as right from the humming intro to the slow building beat, it sucks you into this calm space that grows and grows until it makes you feel as if you'll explode with emotion and the only way to quell it, is to re-listen to the track.

While the whole album is worthwhile, any of the specifically mentioned tracks are more than worth your time--especially if your a fan of Beach House, possibly Radiohead, Washed Out, or any other dream-ballad from the 80s.

I think this is definitely an example of how much my music tastes have "chilled out," but if artists keep making music like this, I'm more than okay with finally growing into another sound.

BONUS BAND: Bombay Bicycle Club
I happened upon this band through an Amazon recommendation, and it was a mighty fine recommendation at that, too. After devouring their 2011 album, "A Different Kind of Fix," listening to the final track, "Still," more times than I'm willing to admit, I picked up their earlier albums and all three have been chosen frequently since I acquired them. Excellent stuff if you're into Radiohead, Sunny Day Real Estate, or Death Cab for Cutie.

Top-Five Albums of 2012: Honorable Mentions and Singles

For the music portion of this year, I’ve honed it down to five albums—even though there are many more I’d like to mention. Seems like it was a fairly good year for music—at least for me. Ultimately though, I decided which albums I listened to the most/became the most obsessed with after hearing them.

And as a bonus, I’m also going to include another band that was new to me this year, even though they didn’t come out with an album this year. Those will be in no particular order.

First up, though, are the honorable mentions, the albums that I quite liked but were just not listened to quite as much and/or they’ve received more than enough praise elsewhere already.

Honorable Mentions (in no particular order):

• Sigur Ros’ “Valtari” – I’ve been a fan of them since I first heard “The Nothing Song” on Vanilla Sky. Each and every album has been a good one in my eyes, and I’ve listened to all of them much more than is probably healthy. This one, in particular though, has even more of an ethereal quality to it. So many have said their music is “transcendent,” but I never thought it applied until this album. It’s simply “holy,” and there’s no other word for it.
• Santigold’s “Master of My Make-Believe” – What’s there to say? Really. This is simply a fun and great pop/hip-hop mashup. Personally, she reminds me of a bit more “radio friendly” version of M.I.A. But she definitely has enough of her own sound and design to stay wholly unique. Honestly, this album is worth it just for “Disparate Youth,” “GO!,” and “Freak Like Me.”
• Sea Wolf’s “Old World Romance” – This was a late find, but it’s already had some heavy rotation. He reminds me of a Beck/Aqualung/Band of Horses mash-up, and “Whirlpool” is an amazing track.
• Deftones’ “Koi No Yokan” – This is a great blend of the older and newer stylings of Deftones, and even though I’ve only had a few listens on it, it’s a solid album. Not many bands can shift, change, and grow for as many years as this band has and continue to be both new and retain their original sound like Deftones have. If you’re a past fan, there’s no reason you shouldn’t have bought this album.
• How to Destroy Angels’ “An Omen” – Much as I wanted a full-length release, this is still another excellent entry to Trent Reznor’s new band. While it’s more of “background” music than anything you’ll really sing or hum or rock out to throughout the day, it’s a handful of good tracks nonetheless.

Singles:

Either they weren’t on a full release album, or the album as a whole didn’t quite make it, these are a few tracks that I listened to way more than I should have.

• Dragonette’s “Lay Low” and “My Legs” – I know. It’s ridiculous. This is music for college sorority girls as they’re headed out to some big party, but Glob help me, these songs are way TOO catchy and—in my eyes—perfect examples of how fun bubble-gum pop music can be.
• M.I.A.’s “Bad Girls” – The beat for this… holy crap… just holy crap… When it hits the “0:40” mark, the groove just cuts straight to the core. Love it.
• Bad Veins' “Dancing on TV” – This track is too fun. Reminds of the best of Weezer and has some wonderful lyrics to go along with it.
• Owl City’s “Dreams and Disasters” – While the album as a whole is fairly decent, this track rises above and beyond the others in a BIG way. Love the beat. Love the lyrics. It’s another example of pop done right.
• The XX’s “Angels” – Dreamlike and beautiful, from the music to the lyrics. Nothing more needs to be said.
• Placebo’s “B3” – I’ll write more on this band at another point in time, but not only was I surprised that they were still putting out tunes, but that this was also a mighty fine little ditty from their EP of the same name.

Songs That Made Me Like the Band: "It's Saturday" by Marcy Playground

Some bands just don't do it for me the first time around. I'll hear their first single, or their first album, and think much like Despicable Me's Gru: "This... This is garbage."

But then there are those few bands that randomly produce a song that--as Terry Pratchett might say--makes my heartstrings go twang. I've always thought it odd how that happens, like once that string is plucked, then all of the band's other songs sound wonderful--except, usually, for that first single. The first song/single/album still seems to remain one that I don't like.

And, really, I seem to have a number of these, enough that this will probably become a series. Anyway...

One of the first bands that I can remember this happening with is Marcy Playground. I don't know about you, but I thought "Sex and Candy" was one of the lamest/most boring songs that I'd ever heard. I didn't understand why in the world the radio kept playing it over and over and over again, and there were so many people that were obsessed with that song and constantly talked about how good a band MP is. I didn't buy it--the album or the enthusiasm. Perhaps it was the first hinting of my "hipster curse" in that I tend to have a stigma towards super-popular things.

But then, in my junior year of high school, "It's Saturday" hit the airwaves. I couldn't believe this was the same band that produced that earlier garbage, as this song is just so ridiculous and fun. Compared to everything else on the radio at the time, I remember this being one of the more original tracks at the time, and I instantly fell love, counting down the days until the album's release. And what solidified my love for the song was how many fans of "Sex and Candy" couldn't stand this track.

After I bought this album--which not only remains my favorite of theirs, but it also is probably in my top 10 favorite albums, if I actually took the time to sit down and figure it all out--I devoured the thing, listening to it in its entirety far too many times. Anyone that can sandwich "love" songs like "Love Bug" and "All the Lights Went Out" with other tracks like "Secret Squirrel" and "Pigeon Farm," and they can make it work towards a complete album. Well, that's pretty fucking brilliant if you ask me.

Despite their decline in popularity, I've stayed a fan of their music and grabbed up their three additional albums. (They are the one concert that I've been to here in Vegas, too. They played a--get this--FREE show, and there were, maybe, 100 people in the audience. It was all sorts of amazing.) I even purchased their first album, finally, which other than "Sex and Candy" (a song I actually don't mind too much anymore), I liked the rest of the album.

This is why I've always tried to keep an open mind when it comes to music, as it will lead me to new and better bands, and it lets me re-evaluate a band with each new release. They may produce garbage for years, but it only takes the one song to rope me in.