Erase - Rewind

You know, it was only a couple years ago that I was barely able to come up with ten bands for my end-of-the-year review. This year, I took full advantage of my eMusic subscription and used up all forty downloads every month. Thus I introduced myself to an enormous amount of new music. By my estimate, I downloaded at least an album's worth of material from no less than THIRTY-FIVE different artists this year alone. That is an extraordinary amount of music. In fact, I don't think I ever bought that music in a year before—not even during my teenage and college years when I bought new and used CDs left and right. I can't imagine that I'll be able to top that amount next year, but who knows?

Of course, not everything that I downloaded clicked with me; a lot of downloads ended up in the recycle bin. But I liked most of it, and because I have such a long list this time, I've decided to narrow it down to only the top twelve artists/albums of the year. Once again, my list reflects my obsession with power pop and my near-obsession with post-rock.


Artist: Kristin Hersh
Song: “Winter”

Kristin Hersh's latest album, How To Sing Like a Star might have been my very first music purchase of the new year. All I know for sure is that I remember driving to and from work through the snowy and icy freeways of Missouri in January with Hersh's new album playing in my car. Kristin Hersh is one of the handful of artists whom I always make sure to support monetarily, even though she gives a lot of her music away for free. As long as she keeps recording music, I'll keep buying it.

Artist: Cinnamon
Song: “I Used to be Your Loneliness”

This band has been a bit of mystery to me. From what I've been able to gather, they released two full-length albums back in the late 90s and that was it. I also think they're Swedish. It's hard to know for sure because apparently “Cinnamon” is a popular name for bands. There have been at least three different bands, from different parts of the world, with this name in the last ten years, and none of them have had much success. (They're so obscure that I can't even find a mp3 preview track for my favorite song.) But whoever they are and wherever they're from, I really like their music a lot. They have kind of an early 70s Euro-pop sound—a sound that would spring up again and again in my music choices throughout the year.

Artist: Manda and the Marbles
Song: “Confidential”

And speaking of “retro”, Manda and the Marbles are straight out of the early 1980s. Their style of punk-pop sounds like they should be opening for the Buzzcocks or the Go-Go's. Their latest album was released a couple years ago, so I don't know if they still exist as a band, but I hope they do. This music is certainly a niche-market, but I like it and they do it very well. When I listen to their music I actually feel nostalgic for the 1980s which is crazy since this band is younger than I am.

Artist: The Minders
Song: “Jenny”

In the spring, I was all over the Elephant 6 Collective. I was already a fan of the Apples in Stereo, but last spring I started to listen to some of the other bands that make up the collective. In particular, I really enjoyed the Minders. They're a Beatles-influenced power pop trio that just makes strong, catchy pop songs. Once I discovered this band, some time in March, their music was about all I was listening to for about a month.

Artist: Arcade Fire
Song: “Intervention”

The Arcade Fire's second album, Neon Bible, is probably my pick for best album of the year. No sophomore slump for this band. Win Butler has been tagged the new Bruce Springsteen, and I have to say, that was the very first thing that I thought when I first listened to this album. It's interesting because I didn't get the Springsteen vibe at all on their first album (more Meatloaf than Springsteen, I thought), but here, on songs like “Intervention” or “The Well and the Lighthouse” the resemblance is just uncanny.

Artist: Low
Song: “Dragonfly”

Low's new album, Drums and Guns, was one of the new albums that I was really looking forward to this year. Their previous album, The Great Destroyer, was a little too commerical for my tastes. There are a million indie rock acts out there; Low doesn't need to imitate them. With their new album, Low took a step back towards their lo-fi roots, which is where they belong. They've always done their own thing, and while that hasn't led to great commercial success for them, it has led to great art for all of us.

Artist: El Perro Del Mar
Song: “God Knows”

Just about everything that I might say about this one-woman band (the singer sounds remarkably like Kate Bush; the music makes one think of Motown hits played at half speed; hooray for Swedish bands!) have all already been said by countless other reviewers. El Perro is just starting her career, and I expect great things from her in the future.

Artist: Badly Drawn Boy
Song: “Nothing's Gonna Change Your Mind”

I picked up the latest from Badly Drawn Boy, Born in the UK, not long after it was released, but interestingly, I didn't really listen to the album much at the time. I was busy with my move, I guess, and had a lot of other things going on. It wasn't until later in the fall when I really sat down and listened to the album. It received some mediocre reviews from critics, many of whom concentrated their criticism on the apparently mediocre and not-very-poetic lyrics, but I thought BDB made a solid album, at least as good as his previous work.

Artist: The Essex Green
Song: “The Late Great Cassiopa”

Summer might have been called my season of Sasha Bell, as far as I'm concerned. This summer, I followed her work through three different bands: The Essex Green, The Ladybug Transistor, and Finishing School. All three bands produce basically the same kinds of songs so if you like one, you'll like the others, but I thought The Essex Green was the best of the three. As she does on the other two bands, Sasha Bell lends her voice, and some of her instruments, to a few of the songs as an indie pop session musician.

Artist: The Heavy Blinkers
Song: “Chloe's Christmas”

I notice that quite a lot of the music that I listen to comes from bands that employ both male and female singers. Several of the bands on this list (and even some of the new bands that I listened to that didn't make this list) share this personnel format. The Heavy Blinkers are one of those bands that make great use of different singers. Their music has evolved into a very retro, early 70s-ish, soft rock (see Cinnamon, above). I really like it, and in 2008, I really should seek out this sound, and the bands that excel in it, a little more.

Artist: Panda Bear
Song: "Bros"

Like the Arcade Fire, Panda Bear's album, Person Pitch, has made a lot of end-of-the-year top 10 lists, so one might accuse of me of jumping on the bandwagon with this one, but that isn't the case here. I was late to download it, and even then, I didn't listen to it that much. But I find that I keep returning to it again and again. With its heavy Beach Boys influence, it goes to the core of what I like most about power pop, but it tweaks that formula just enough to sound strange and experimental.


Artist: New Pornographers
Song: “Mutiny, I Promise You”

The new New Pornographers album, Challengers, was one of the most anticipated releases of the year for me, but I was left feeling a little disappointed. It's not a bad album, but it's just a different direction from their first three. Challengers is a little slower, and little more reflective and somber. That would be fine if it were what I had come to expect from the New Pornographers, but when I listen to them, I want to hear manic power pop. It's an interesting phenomenon how bands that start out understanding how to craft perfect pop songs inevitably “lose their way”. I don't know if it's because the creative juices stop flowing, the songwriters “mature” and feel like pop songs are beneath them, or they just get lazy or what. But it always happens, and I guess it's happening to Carl Newman now.


Artist: Fancey
Song: “Whoa”

One of the interesting things about The New Pornographers is that most of the individual members of the band each have one or two other side projects, not all of which necessarily reflect the sound of The New Pornographers. Guitarist Todd Fancey's side project, Fancey, though is similar to the power pop sound of the NPs, but Fancey takes the pop side of power pop to its sugary extreme. With super-happy lyrics like, “Christian eagles of today / You're flying heaven's way / On a miracle crusade / Flying on the wings of faith,” you just know that the lyrics are tongue-in-cheek, but they're so damned earnest that they make you wonder sometimes. Fancey released a second album, Schmancey, this year, and it's even better than the first album.

I thought I'd also make a short list of songs that I really liked this year, but whose artists didn't make my list. These are just some great tracks that can't go unrecognized:
The Go! Team: “Fake ID”
Petra Haden: “Don't Stop Believin'”
Feist: “1 2 3 4”
The Epoxies: “Radiation”
The Polyphonic Spree: “Soldier Girl”
Gore Gore Girls: “I'm Gonna Get You Yet”
Minipop: “Precious”
Magnapop: “Stick To Me”
The Magnetic Fields: “Sweet-Lovin' Man”

My choice for my favorite artist of the year: Damn, this is a tough decision. Seriously, I could make an argument for each of the thirteen artists above, and if you had asked me to make this choice in March or July you would have received different responses, but I think I'm gonna have to go with The Heavy Blinkers. Even though they didn't release a new album this year (but I think they've got one on the way) their music just really clicked with me.

Science of You

I woke up this morning with teaching on my mind. In particular, I was thinking about science education.

In the past, I've often wondered if the state of science education in the US couldn't be improved by making science more accessible to ordinary, non-science types. When I think of science classes, I think of math because in many cases, solving math problems is all that one does. Thinking back to chemistry and physics classes that I took in high school, that was certainly the case. And it was certainly the case when I took an astronomy class in college.

Math obviously has its place in science, but the excessive math can also squash the layman's interest in science as well. A lot of people (I count myself among them) are interested in, and curious about, science, but we aren't necessarily interested in solving lists of math problems.

When I took astronomy class in college, the professor had a lecture-hall full of students eager to learn about the subject on the first day of the semester, but by the end of the course, we just wanted it to be over with, and the reason is because all we did was solve math problems. Nothing sucks the wonder and the grandeur out of the universe faster or more effectively than math.

What I would have liked to have seen in college--and perhaps some schools do this, but mine did not--is the science equivalent of a music appreciation class or a Shakespeare for non-English majors. Music appreciation is designed to expose students to great works of classical music and to teach them how to listen to such music and what to listen for, but without getting to far into the technical details of music composition. Shakespeare for non-English majors does the same thing: it introduces students to Shakespeare without going too in depth into literary criticism and analysis.

Why can't there be science classes for non-science majors? A physics for non-majors or biology for non-majors. In such classes, professors can introduce and teach the major concepts of these fields without dumping a lot of math into one's laps (solving math problems could be offered for extra credit). And if someone really likes the class and wants to go on to major or minor in, say, physics, then they can take the courses that are designed for majors and that have all of the math.

In America, science really suffers from negative public relations. A lot of people treat science, and scientists, with suspicion. Special courses that present science in an accessible way, designed for people who aren't going to be scientists but who may someday be in positions of authority regarding science (such as on school boards or in state legislatures) would go a long way to restoring science to a place of importance and respect in American society.