Albums of the Year: Amber Arcades
„R.E.M. and Luna meet up in Saint Etienne, and work in the Stereolab to research new formulas for the perfect pop song. The result is pretty cool!” is what Cis from Crush has to say in our advent calendar about Amber Arcades debut album, the highly praised Fading Lines. And indeed, the first record by Annelotte de Graaf is a varied procession of bright and dreamlike indie-pop tunes, that’s not only able to save summers, but lets the sun rise in your heart all year long. A stellar piece of music!
1. Chris Cohen – As If Apart
My guitar player Alex put on this record in the van one time and I spent the next part of the ride utterly fascinated, trying to figure out what was going on in the music I was listening to. It’s not even that it’s that weird or atonal or anything. It’s just super subtle, it took me forever to figure out everything that was going on. Melodies coming back, intertwining, repeating. After 10 listens or so it all fell into place and was even more amazing. A lovely musical puzzle.
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2. Weyes Blood – Front Row Seats to Earth
This record was actually produced by Chris Cohen (see above). It turned out to be an epic, beautiful 70’ies ballads record with enough modern production and subtle synth sounds to make it relevant for now. It’s perfect for listening in wintertime I’d say, while taking a walk through some vast snowy landscape.
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3. Quilt – Plaza
I’m not really objective as these are my good friends, Shane and Keven from Quilt also played on my record. But still, this record is just amazing, their best yet I think. It goes all kinds of ways, from elegant Fleetwood Mac-like jams to honky tonk folk to epic violin noise soundscapes.
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4. Teleman – Brilliant Sanity
This album just always puts the biggest smile on my face. It’s super catchy and poppy, but not the kind of pop you will hear on the radio much. There’s something too weird and queer about it. That’s exactly why I love it though. Best remedy against winter blues.
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5. Ulrika Spacek – The Album Paranoia
My favourite „heavier“ release of this year. It’s kind of a marriage between Deerhunter and Sonic Youth, which is all good in my book. The songs tend to be long heavy, groovy jams that slowly build up and then transform into (noisy) pop songs you can actually sing along to. Great for long drives.
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