Steinberg The Grand Piano 3 CrackerFor example, weve already heard some August and September releases that were certain will make the upper echelons of our final best albums of 2. December. To make this list an album had to be released for the first time no reissues somewhere between January 1, 2. Friday, July 7. That means there are some good albums out tomorrow such as Waxahatchee, Japanese Breakfast, and The Dears that may made this list had we extended the period that far. Fourteen of our writers and editors including myself and my co publisherwife Wendy Redfern each submitted a list of their 2. Their number one album was worth 2. All of that was calculated into the final list. By the way, this year weve interviewed 3. Top 5. 0 and reviewed almost all these albums, so continue reading Under the Radar, both in print and online, for further proof that in depth music journalism is far from dead. By Mark Redfern. Father John Misty. Pure ComedySub Pop. The apocalypse has never sounded so sweet. Josh Tillmans third record as Father John Misty could not have been delivered onto us at a more apt time or had a more appropriate title. Pure Comedy is 7. Tillman skewering everything from the technologically obsessed to the narcissistic singersongwriter who has vowed to save us all with their guitar. When the God of Love Returns Theyll Be Hell to Pay points a finger back at the divine and righteous and asks what the point of it all really is, while Two Wildly Different Perspectives describes how modern debate and division has created a nightmare for discourse. OhNOidXj9N0/hqdefault.jpg' alt='Steinberg The Grand Piano 3 Crackers' title='Steinberg The Grand Piano 3 Crackers' />Steinberg The Grand Piano 3 CrackedPure Comedy is a horror story for the vapid, and no record has better encapsulated the fear and bewilderment 2. This is Tillmans 1. Facebook generation that perhaps we arent as all knowing or desirable as the Internet says we might be. If this really is the end of days, then weve been graced with an incredible sonic sendoff. By Ryan Meaney. 2. Slowdive. SlowdiveDead Oceans. Perhaps its a bit surreal to think about the reality that one of 2. Pygmalion a Neil Halstead solo album released under Slowdives name. Cheryl Chalmers illustrations are featured in editorial,packaging,corporate and publishing venues. Her work has been recognized in the Communication Arts. The Hollywood Reporter is your source for breaking news about Hollywood and entertainment, including movies, TV, reviews and industry blogs. Easy cream of. carrot soup one last chance gop strains for obamacare repeal votes knights ko the tigers food page 17. However, once its taken into account that other groups from the same era such as Lush, Swervedriver, and Ride have also come back and released exciting new music, its not such an unlikely scenario. Regardless, Slowdive would be an triumph in any era and a must listen for anyone who likes ethereal, atmospheric shoegaze. By Matthew Berlyant. JRelaxerCanvasback Music. Over the short span of eight tracks on their latest album, Relaxer, alt J cover a vast array of genres. Deadcrush has a hip hop beat and a robotic chorus of repeated zeroes and ones. Opening track 3. WW, which featured the vocals of Ellie Rowsell of Wolf Alice, has lilting acoustic strums and folky lyrics about a wayward lad. Then theres closing track Pleader, which is haunting and Gregorian in tone, fitting enough considering it was literally recorded in a cathedral. If any album this year was to defy its title itd be the energetic, eclectic, frenzied Relaxer, and listeners are all the better for it. By Kyle Mullin. 4. Sufjan Stevens, Bryce Dessner, Nico Muhly, and James Mc. Alister. Planetarium4. AD. The stars ultimately aligned in the assembly of contemporary classical music composer Nico Muhly with friends Sufjan Stevens, Bryce Dessner, and the multidimensional James Mc. Alister for their collaborative project with a far reaching theme. With the cosmos as their muse, the unexpected quartet joined forces to design Planetarium, a concept album years in the making. Stevens is the quintessential celestial narrator and adapts to the scale of the musical medium through experiments modulating his already heaven sent voice, both with and without computerization. Where Planetarium is most brilliant is on the Vangelis like soundscape Black Energy, which could have fit seamlessly into the Chariots of Fire soundtrack. Then just when the dark vortex of Black Hole pulls inward to a point of no return, there are resilient leaps into drum machine laid electro dance patterns on Saturn and Earth, no doubt augmented by the hand of Mc. Alister. In the end and like a guiding light, the pure resonance of Stevens returns for the grand finale Mercury, giving way graciously to Dessners gravity defying, high scale guitar artistry that, true to form, simply and beautifully uplifts. In its entirety, the ambition and scope of the project is matched by the combined talent and imagination of four musical friends whose association seemed to just emerge from the ether. May there be more such fortuitous arrangements in the future. By Charles Steinberg. Foxygen. HangJagjaguwar. Foxygen doesnt need the inclusion in Amazon Homes corny dad trying to show his kids hes cool commercial to prove its hip cache, the seductive duo was born that way. At a quick half hour, its latest, and most well received album, Hang, shows that brevity is Foxygens friend. Even with its limited length, Hang manages to fit a 4. The Lemon Twigsin each of its eight songs. The awesomely self indulgent result is part musical theatre, part prog rock, part big band, and part druggy retro feelgood vibes. Hang owes as much to David Bowie Mrs. Adams and Van Morrison On Lankershim, as it does to ABBA Avalon and animated Disney musicals America. For all this, Hang is as pop as Foxygen getsalbeit from a number of decades agoand is the duos most realized musical vision yet. By Lily Moayeri. 6. Download Free Adobe Reader 9 Software. Big Thief. CapacitySaddle Creek. Brooklyn quartet Big Thiefs sophomore effort sees the indie folkers at their most tender and visceral. The music sinks and swells like waves as singersongwriter Adrianne Lenkers revealing lyrics read like the most private of journals. Capacity is a varied, emotional journey where each track digs further and further into the sometimes frightening, mostly lovely hole of reminiscence. By Ryan Meaney. 7. Rose Elinor Dougall. StellularVermillionStellular, the sophomore album by former Pipettes singer and Mark Ronson collaborator Rose Elinor Dougall, comes a full seven years after her solo debut, Without Why. What marks any Dougall release, of course, is that voice affective, adaptable and always shooting straight at the heart. Stellular opens with Colour of Water, a guitar and bass driven shimmering slice of dream rock, with lashings of atmospheric keyboards. Dougalls voice is on top form, shading emotions at the flick of a switch and veering this way and that with panache. Its all warm reds and cool blues and leads straight into the rippling, swirling, Strange Warnings, a start stop, quiet loud four minute wonder wrapped in a glittering bow. Dive, a duet with Boxed In, forlornly prowls the streets in search lost rainbows. The final third proves particularly strong.