Bloom

Each year, there are one or two records that stand apart from everything else released during the past twelve months. These records possess a sense of otherness, almost as if they exist in an entirely different universe than every other piece of music released during that year. In 2011, Fucked Up’s David Comes to Life and Destroyer’s Kaputt towered above their competition. In 2010, Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs followed likewise. This year was lacking such a record until May 15, when Beach House’s masterful fourth album, Bloom, was released.

Beach House’s previous LP, Teen Dream, was deemed by many their breakout, introducing their hazy dream-pop sound to a much wider audience. While it doesn’t quite reach the dizzying heights of Teen Dream, Bloom proves it was certainly not a fluke, establishing Beach House as one of the finest bands working today.

In an interview with Pitchfork, lead singer Victoria Legrand recounted some of the concerns she and guitarist Alex Scally had when recording Bloom, “How do you describe a feeling without saying ‘this is the feeling’? How do you take something completely natural, that will eventually transfer to the listener, but not just settle for that instant feeling of ‘you hurt me,’ and go to an imaginary landscape instead?”

This type of transcendence is enormously difficult to achieve in any medium of art, yet Beach House manage to pull it off completely. Bloom has a wonderfully ethereal quality that makes the listener feel as if he is being transported to another world, an “imaginary landscape,” if you will. This is due largely to the incredible synergy between Legrand and Scally, which has progressed to such an extent that it is almost impossible to imagine they cannot communicate telepathically. Scally’s lush slide-guitar riffs complement Legrand’s smoky vocals in a manner that can only be described as otherworldly. The effect is hypnotic, making the album’s fifty-minute runtime feel much shorter. By the time it ends, you don’t want to leave their rich, breathtaking world. The only remedy is to play it again, and again, and again.

While not as accessible as Teen Dream, Bloom has an air of mystery about it. The hooks are not as obvious, the song structures a bit less conventional. But every time I listen to it, I get the feeling that I’m that much closer to solving the puzzle. That if I listen just one more time, I’ll have it figured out. But I never do, and probably never will. Yet it’s that tantalizing possibility, the feeling that I’m this close. Like Charlie Brown’s futile efforts to finally kick that football. Both he and I know Lucy will always, always pull it away at the last second. But we both know that won’t keep him from trying, because he’s too close. And that’s the beauty of Bloom, it keeps you in its orbit, but just far enough that you’ll never figure it out. It’s a puzzle wrapped in a riddle, nestled in an enigma, and an enchanting one at that. A siren, making you forget everything except that impossibly beautiful, utterly captivating sound.

Top 5 Albums of 2011

1. David Comes to Life– Fucked Up

It’s July 18, 2009, and I’m at the Pitchfork Music Festival watching an obese, shirtless, incredibly hairy man bite into a beach ball while screaming into a microphone incoherently. After about five minutes of this, I decide that I’ve had enough, and move on to another stage. If you had told me then that this band would produce my favorite album of 2011, I would have laughed before completely dismissing and likely forgetting your insane prediction. Yet here I am two years later, proclaiming Fucked Up’s latest, David Comes to Life, the best album released over the past twelve months.

After garnering critical acclaim for their first two LPs (Hidden World and The Chemistry of Common Life) Toronto hardcore-punk outfit Fucked Up upped the ante with David Comes to Life, a 78-minute rock opera that towered above everything else released this year.

The first thing that draws my attention when I listen to David Comes to Life is lead “singer” Damian Abraham’s vocals. I put singer in quotations because what he does cannot in any way be described as singing. Rather, he emits a primal growl that simply demands attention. While it took me a while to adjust to it, I cannot imagine any of Fucked Up’s songs without it.

Yet the record’s main draw is the the blistering guitars. The interplay between the group’s three guitarists prevents the songs from becoming tiring or monotonous, while keeping the energy at frenzy-inducing levels. While the mixing is a bit sloppy, the guitarists play with such enthusiasm that I can overlook the flawed production. Jonah Falco’s drumming only adds to the blissful cacophony, providing a frenetic backbeat to the chaos caused by Abraham and company.

And while Fucked Up are surprisingly proficient from a technical standpoint, their technique is not what sets them apart. Rather, it’s their insatiable ambition. Not content to merely be an enormously entertaining punk band, Fucked Up continue to push themselves to their limits. At eighteen songs, one would expect at least a handful of subpar tracks on David Comes to Life. Yet remarkably, there is no filler on the album. Every song is an absolutely necessary component of what is one of the most audacious records in recent years.

When artists in any medium swing for the fences, the results are usually either classics or colossal failures. For every Stankonia, there’s a Lulu fading into ignominy and irrelevance. David Comes to Life falls squarely with the former, a towering testament to the benefits of fearless ambition. While there were other great albums released in 2011, David Comes to Life was bigger, bolder, and rocked harder than anything else.

 

2. Kaputt– Destroyer

This album should be terrible. With songs containing hints of Kenny G and Michael Bolton, one would expect a migraine-inducingly awful record of no discernible benefit whatsoever. But Destoyer mastermind Dan Bejar is not like most musicians. Instead of injecting Kaputt with a heavy dose of irony, he fully commits to the 80s soft rock aesthetic, creating an album that is mysterious and seductive rather than cheesy and insincere. By taking an often-ridiculed genre seriously, Bejar gives himself the room to explore its full potential.

And what results is quite unlike anything else released this year. Bejar’s mellow, wispy vocals, paired with abstract, often nonsensical lyrics create an aura of mystery that perfectly complements the spacey instrumentation. Featuring a heavy use of saxophones and drums that feel like they’re lifted directly from a Peter Gabriel record, the instrumentation on Kaputt is distinctive, to say the least.

Yet no verbal description can do justice to this album. It must be experienced to be understood. There’s something that keeps drawing me back to it that I can’t quite explain but is so uniquely its own. Then again, that’s what makes Kaputt such a great listen, you might not understand why you like it so much, but you do, and in the end, that’s all that matters.

 

3. Bon Iver– Bon Iver

Despite having released his debut album a mere four years ago, the mythology of Justin Vernon is well-documented. After breaking up with his band and girlfriend, and suffering a bout of mononucleosis, Vernon retreated to his father’s cabin in Wisconsin, during which time he recorded his debut, For Emma, Forever Ago. Released to near-universal acclaim, For Emma established Vernon as an incredibly promising new talent and drew the attention of other musicians. Over the next three years, he would collaborate with St. Vincent and Kanye West, among others, raising his profile substantially.

When it came time for his follow-up, many thought they had Vernon pegged. The stripped-down ballads consisting of little more than an acoustic guitar, drums, and Vernon’s distinctive falsetto had come to define the Bon Iver sound, but when lead-off single “Calgary” was released last May, it was Vernon who had the last laugh. Nowhere was Vernon’s trademark acoustic guitar to be found. Rather, “Calgary” was an airy array of synths and electric guitars, with the one constant being Vernon’s singular voice.

The rest of the album is similarly surprising. While For Emma proved Vernon an adept songwriter, his sophomore effort shows marked improvement in his compositional skills. Where For Emma was intimate, Bon Iver is expansive, the work of a musician willing to challenge himself. An impressive selection of instruments are used on the record, with everything from the aforementioned electric guitars and synths to trumpets and French horns featured at some point. In using such an expansive palette, Vernon makes the album about textures and moods rather than words. A daring move for such a young musician, but one that pays off completely.

Bon Iver’s one glaring flaw is the divisive final track, “Beth/Rest”. Unlike Dan Bejar, Vernon is too blunt with his 80s influences, ending an otherwise excellent album with a bit of a thud. Otherwise, Bon Iver is a standout record that appears to be just the beginning for a musician destined for greatness.

 

4. Helplessness Blues– Fleet Foxes

Fleet Foxes burst onto the scene in 2008 with their well-regarded self-titled debut. Critics and fans alike were impressed by their impeccable harmonies and warm, 60s-folk inspired sound. Three years later, they returned with their highly anticipated follow-up, Helplessness Blues.

The years between these records were not wasted, as Helplessness Blues is the work of a more worldly and confident band. Lead singer and songwriter Robin Pecknold in particular personifies the band’s maturity. His lyrics, once concerned with idyllic stories of escaping the industrialized world for the natural world, turned inwards, as he struggled to make sense of the world around him and his place in it. The first song on the album, “Montezuma”, begins with a recognition of the fact that Pecknold is now older than his parents were when they had their children, and he proceeds to ask if he can finally, “wash my hands of just looking out for me.” It is this reflectiveness that makes Helplessness Blues incredibly relatable. We all ponder the purpose of our lives at some point, yet rarely with the gracefulness and brutal honesty of Pecknold.

The songwriting also shows improvement, if less so than the lyrics. While their debut showed impressive song craft, the tracks on Helplessness Blues are, with a few exceptions, a bit leaner and more purposeful without sacrificing the sublime harmonies that have become Fleet Foxes’ calling card. Yet the longer cuts (“The Plains/Bitter Dancer” and “The Shrine/An Argument”) speak to a greater ambition that may be a hint of things to come. Robin Pecknold may not know his place in the world, but Helplessness Blues places Fleet Foxes firmly among the indie elite.

 

5. The King of Limbs– Radiohead

Well-received at the time of its February release, Radiohead’s eighth studio album, The King of Limbs, garnered little attention on critic year-end lists. Perhaps it was the unreasonable expectations that arise when a band has a reputation as daunting as Radiohead’s, or maybe it didn’t fare well on repeated listens, but for whatever reason, The King of Limbs has been unfairly overlooked.

Radiohead has amassed a body of work like no other in the past two decades, largely due to the fact that they are continually willing to test their limits and refine their sound. The King of Limbs is no different, with a heavy dubstep influence that is unlike anything Radiohead has attempted before. Yet what remains constant is Radiohead’s impeccable craftsmanship. Their incredible chemistry is apparent from beginning to end, as they never sound even the slightest bit uncertain. When they really hit the mark, the effect is almost otherworldly, as if each member of the band is completely in tune with both each other and the listener. While they don’t reach those highs here as often as they have in the past, Radiohead still manage to produce a record that holds its own within their impressive discography.