On July 3rd, Mike Patton and the Brussels-based Ictus Ensemble will pay tribute to Italian composer Luciano Berio with their own version of Laborintus II. Written in 1965 to mark the 700th anniversary of Dante’s birth, Laborintus II is based on the “Laborintus” poem by Edoardo Sanguineti and “highlights the timelessness of love and mourning and is told in three voices,” according to a press release. In 1973, Berio performed the piece at the Holland Festival alongside a blow-up doll and old car tires. In 2010, Patton and the Ictus Ensemble recreated the performance at the same festival, which is eatured on this forthcoming release.

“I can listen to Berio and Nono as easily as I can to Morricone but like all modern music of Italy, it is unfortunately marginalized,” Patton explained recently to Dutch newspaper, NRC Handelsblad. “Maybe because of the language barrier, maybe because it’s not easily understood.  Berio, who was teaching in California when he wrote this piece, was listening to jazz, pop and folk music and incorporated all of it in his works without prejudice.”

Patton’s Laborintus II is out July 3rd via Ipecac Recordings. For a preview, check out a clip of Patton’s Holland performance below.

Eccentric multi-instrumentalist Mike Patton has found his next project, and once again, it’s a film. Writer and director Derek Cianfrance (Blue Valentine) has tapped the former Faith No More frontman to score his latest film, The Place Beyond the Pines. Set for release later this year, the film stars Ryan Gosling as a motorcycle stunt rider, who considers turning to crime in order to provide for his family. Bradley Cooper and Eva Mendes also star.

If you’re familiar with Patton, you’ll know he’s well versed in scoring. His past work includes the recent Italian drama A Solitude of Prime Numbers and the Jason Statham action vehicle Crank 2: High Voltage. According to a press release, Patton is also at work on a new Tomahawk album, due for late summer.

The album opens up with “2- Twin Primes”, which operates as the overall theme of the album. Its distinctively lush strings and Patton’s child-like “la la la” voice work appears several times in the album (such as “17- Isolated Primes”), tying everything in. It works as a great introduction track to the lonely and innocent atmosphere to follow.

Like most soundtracks or classical music albums, a lot of the tracks flow into each other without the listener being aware. On Prime Numbers, it’s all about building the mood, and Patton is adept at that. But while many of the compositions put the listener into a nondescript, dreamlike state, there are more than a few that stand out. “2-Identity Matrix” is a bassy, upbeat jaunt while “19 – Radius of Convergence”, is a slowly building symphony of pure drama and emotion, rattled out into a tinkling crystal-like end. Then there are the eerie, sharp Bernard Hermann-esque strings in “41 – Quadratix”  and “43 – Calculus of Finite Differences” that sound ripped from the dark heart of a Hitchcock film, punctuated by high-pitched keys and an uncomfortable sense of foreboding.

Just as the novel and film deal with the loneliness and solitude that reside in its characters, Patton’s The Solitude of Prime Numbers makes a compelling argument for the subject matter. It is at once as haunting and dreamy as it is harsh and calculating. It’s a beautiful album to put on, sit back, and let wash over you… preferably in solitude.

Essential Tracks: ”2-Twin Primes”, “41-Quadratix”, and “19-Radius of Convergence”.

Despite the fact that Zorn himself can be notoriously odd and difficult, A Dreamers Christmas leans closer to jazz standard than it does to the spasmodic bebop/hardcore of Naked City. On “Winter Wonderland”, a smooth intro lurches into a twanging swing, Marc Ribot’s twinkling guitar, Trevor Dunn’s chorded bass work, and Joey Baron’s skipping kit work sidle along, and Kenny Wollesen’s agile vibraphone solo brings everything to a nodding bliss. The atmospheric take on “Christmas Time Is Here” rides largely on Jamie Saft’s beautifully trilling piano and Cyro Baptista’s skillfully minimalist chimes and other alt. percussion flourishes.

The album is composed of seven traditional holiday tracks and two Zorn originals. “Snowfall” is the first of the originals, a track that probably perfectly captures the feeling of being inside an “Island Christmas” snow globe, equal parts surfy goodness (Ribot’s sea-swept chords and Baptista’s bongos) and wintry goodness (Saft and Wollesen’s fluttering interplay). On the traditional end, “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” twangs and kicks with some off-kilter keyboards and clanging guitar melody, while “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” gets the jazziest treatment, sped up under Dunn’s upright plucking and rapid piano themes.

The inimitable Mike Patton contributes vocals to a take on “The Christmas Song” (perhaps better known as “Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire”), and it’s not as creepy or weird as that might suggest. Instead of yelping and barking, the one-time Faith No More and Mr. Bungle vocalist produces a sonorous, lush, husky take on the classic, one that is (like the whole album) interesting, captivating, and pleasing for every member of the family at your holiday party.

Essential Tracks: “The Christmas Song”, “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town”, and “Snowfall”

Ever the eclectic rock ‘n’ roll everyman, Mike Patton is slated to release his next bombshell of a mindfuck: Music From The Film and Inspired By the Book The Solitude of Prime Numbers (La Solitudine Dei Numeri Primi). As per its title, the album was derived from a score Patton wrote for a film inspired by Paolo Giordano’s best-selling book. The release finds itself on a prime date (ahem, 11.1.11, yes it is a Tuesday), and that’s no coincidence. Described by Patton as a “sonic departure” from his mixed bag of tricks, the new LP takes Patton’s obsessive-compulsive spirit to that exclusionary realm of numerology. Meaning the idea of prime numbers is central, in case you fried your brainbucket in the Faith No More days). Patton’s sticking to the theme, too. Everything from the track listing to the release date will only be divided by itself. And 1. And every long-winded rock critic.

Confused yet? The highly eccentric (if not esoteric) effort will be issued on Patton’s own banner of the avant-garde, Ipecac Recordings. And, no, we didn’t screw up the tracklist below – they’re all ordered by consecutive prime numbers.

Music From The Film and Inspired By the Book The Solitude of Prime Numbers (La Solitudine Dei Numeri Primi) Tracklist:
02. Twin Primes
03. Identity Matrix
05. Method of Infinite Descent
07. Contrapositive
11. Cicatrix
13. Abscissa
17. Isolated Primes
19. Radius of Convergence
23. Separatrix
29.The Snow Angel
31. Apnoea
37. Supersingular Primes
41. Quadratix
43. Calculus of Finite Differences
47. Zeroth
53. Weight of Consequences

It’s never a safe bet to count out Mike Patton and the rest of Faith No More. Just when we thought they were out, the rabid and always-loving Chilean fans bring them back in. On November 12th, the funky alt-metal pioneers will be returning to Santiago, Chile at the Maquinaria Festival for a very special set. On the first day of festivities, the band will be performing their seminal 1995 release, King for a Day… Fool for a Lifetime, in its entirety complete with former member Trey Spruance. Way back when, the Mr. Bungle guitarist had been featured during the sessions for the album but was replaced before the supporting tour.

The band will be accompanied by fellow co-headliners Alice in Chains, Chris Cornell, and Megadeath at the festival. Tickets can be found here. Two days later on November 14^th, they will be featured yet again in a headlining spot at the SWU Music and Arts Festival in Brazil.

Faith No More recently reunited in 2009 for The Second Coming Tour, their first in over a decade. Over the course of 18 months, the American rockers played shows all over the world before coming to a close with, dare I say, an epic two-night farewell in Santiagio, Chile on December 4th and 5th.

While you impatiently book your flight to South America for the upcoming shows, be sure to watch the band rip through the fourth track from King for a Day…, “the Gentle Art of Making Enemies”. The 2009 video from Chile is below.

Last night in Los Angeles, Beck, Grizzly Bear’s Ed Droste, Mike Patton, Beach House’s Victoria Legrand, Zola Jesus, Sean Lennon and more marked the 20-year passing of French songwriter and filmmaker Serge Gainsbourg with a tribute concert at the Hollwood Bowl. Here are the video highlights:

Beck

Sir Hansen played three songs written by Gainsbourg, including his anti-LSD song “Teenie Weenie Boppie” and the sexually provocative “Les Sucettes”.

Sean Lennon and Charlotte Kemp Muhl

John’s son teams up with the Atlanta-born model and actress for “Ford Mustang”.

Zola Jesus

 Nika Roza Danilova takes on “Harley Davidson”.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Hey, it’s Joseph Gordon-Levitt… again…

We’ll add more clips as soon as they hit the web.

As the “By Air” installment in the trilogy, Garden of Fainting Stars is inspired by the infinitely vast celestial world that sits above the clouds, otherwise known as space. The band provides a rather profound explanation of the album in their recent press release:  ”…A vast and empty universe stretching far beyond infinity, capable of containing the countless imaginary creatures, civilizations and otherwise terrestrial impossibilities that inhabit our dreams, dies in the fluorescent lighting of the laundry soap aisle at Walmart. Once again, we cast a wormless, rusty hook into the lifeless seas of the music industry, expecting to reap only sorrow.” The Book of Knots previously tackled the sea and the land with albums inspired by growing up in a small fishing community and a depressed steel town, 2004′s Book of Knots and 2007′s Traineater, respectively.

In addition to the rather heavy musical concept, Garden of Fainting Stars is also stacked with quite the diverse guest musician roster. Making appearances on the LP are founding Einsturzende Neubauten member Blixa Bargeld, Mike Watt, Mr. Bungle/Secret Chiefs 3 guitarist Trey Spruance, and Ipecac Recordings’ co-owner Mike Patton (whose own musical resume is too lengthy to even list here).

As previously mentioned, Garden of Fainting Stars hits stores on June 14th via Ipecac Recordings. Pre-orders are already available through Amazon, so head on over to reserve a copy. Peep the album’s full tracklist below.

Garden of Fainting Stars Tracklist:
01. Microgravity
02. Drosophilia Melanogaster (feat. Blixa Bargeld)
03. Moondust Must (feat. Nils Frykdahl and Dawn McCarthy)
04. Lissajous Orbit (feat Aaron Lazar)
05. Garden of Fainting Stars (feat. Elyas Khan)
06. All This Nothing
07. Yeager’s Approach (feat. Mike Watt)
08. Planemo (feat. Mike Patton)
09. Nebula Rasa
10. Obituary For The Future (feat. Trey Spruance)

An earthquake and tsunami benefit concert for Japan will be held on March 27th at the Miller Theatre at Columbia University in New York City. Hosted by John Zorn, the avant-garde purveyor of jazz, the concert features a slew of notable musicians such as Sonic Youth, Mike Patton, Yoko Ono, Sean Lennon, Cibo Matto with Mephista, Marc Ribot, Uri Caine, and Zorn’s own Aleph Trio.

In exchange for a night of music, 100% of the proceeds will go directly to Japan. Tickets are going for $100, $50 & $25 student tix and are available by calling the Miller Theatre Box Office at 212/854-7799, M–F, 12–6PM. Tickets can also be purchased online at http://www.millertheatre.com/.

“It feels really good to be the bad guy, and The Darkness is as bad as it gets,” said Patton. “I’ve read through the script and Jackie is going to be a brutally tortured soul. I’m looking forward to making his life a living hell.”

Patton is no stranger to doing voice-over work. Aside from The Darkness, he has also added his distinctive vocals to two Left 4 Dead games, Nathan Spencer in Bionic Commando, and the “creature” noises in I Am Legend.

The original The Darkness featured the song “Captain Midnight” from Tomahawk’s Mit Gas, an emotional, dreamlike tune that fit in perfectly with the game’s haunting soundtrack. With Tomahawk in talks to release a new album in the future, it remains to be seen if they’ll be featured in the sequel.

Umlaut has been called “a rock band without the rock”, and that moniker isn’t completely unwarranted. The band does rock, especially when the swampy guitars beat down the retro, jazz-backed doors that slink throughout the entire album. But the real “rock” comes not from an ubiquitous air of heavy metal but from the noisy assault of twisted horn sections, pounding drums, and eerie samples. It’s an otherworldly tweak on something comforting and beautiful – a lot of the album is purely instrumental in vein of most classical compositions. There’s just a healthy dose of insanity.

The first song on the album, “Kitty Puppy”, jumps right into this theme with a fuzzy guitar intro that swaggers in like a drunk debutante before being inundated by unsettling organ music and nursery-rhyme xylophones. Any baby animal cuteness is eradicated by the heavy metal assaults in the latter half of the song.

The cartoon-ish, banjo-strumming “Atlas Face” features a haunting falsetto that’s sure to ring true in any experimental music fan’s heart. It belongs to none other than Mike Patton whose unmistakable vocals guest on this song. The combination of three different singing styles is a testament to Patton’s ability. It’s hard to say if this is what Mr. Bungle would sound like these days had the band not broken up (there are a few other key members missing), but Umlaut manages to make it original.

The dreamy falsetto howls continue (sans Patton) with “The Mistaken Power” – warbling, moody and atmospheric, it evokes a creaking old ship, or the spinning rope of a tightly-wound noose (“Dead Goon” anyone?).

“Dirty Dishes” is decidedly more upbeat with rolicking drums, unison chants, and McKinnon’s silky saxophone. Driving metal riffs off into a sunshiney chorus. “Living the Dream” leads in with tinkling piano keys and flute pipings. Marching band drums round it out but the listener doesn’t escape without some hint of weird, this time in the form of carnival-flavored sounds.

“Bigfoot is Real” is a mix of mythic proportions. There are dark, heavy, greasy guitar riffs. Bubbling, oversaturated bass lines. Samples of a restaurant with pleasant serenading music, minor background babble and clinking silverware. Surreal? Of course. After all, as the title suggests:”Bigfoot is Real”. It works.

“Work Truck” is a catchy tune propelled along a rolling bassline and gritty guitar work. The spacey, almost new-agey “The Horrible Things We Say” is a  jaunt through classical overtures while “Chill Pill” mimics a jazz album being tossed in a thrashing blender, with a sprinkling of soft vocals on top.

The innocuously-named “Buttons” is one of the best tracks on the album. It’s beautiful in its sparseness and dangerous in its rhythm. It lets you be seduced by the dramatic, classical composition before being jolted by a electronic beats, dark melodies and a guitar that screams. The soaring synth ending stirs the nerves inside your chest – this could be a theme song to David Lynch movie.

“Dain Bramage” may cause brain damage with its creepy twist on delicate instrumentals. It sounds like a fairy-tale being raped. Actually, that statement kind of sums up the entire sound of Umlaut; a soft innocence broken by hard-edged absurdity.

If you’re a supporter of avant garde and experimental music, this album begs to be in your music collection. And if you’re not so adventurously inclined but have an open mind, Umlaut is a good place to start if you’re looking to broaden your musical horizons. There’s enough structure and strong song-writing prowess to lull your mind into a false sense of security and by the time the unbalanced noises and tripped-out melodies sneak in there, it’s too late. You’re hooked and all the better for it.

For their latest album, Praxis assembled the likes of Iggy Pop, System of a Down’s Serj Tankian, Mike Patton, Bernie Worrell, Doctor Israel, DJ Disk, Wu-Tang protégé Killah Priest, the Jamaica-born toaster Hawk, and performance artist RAMM:?LL:Z??. The LP, titled Profanation: Preparation for a Coming Darkness, has been available internationally since 2008, but after the band’s U.S. label, Sanctuary Records, went bankrupt, the record remained unreleased until now. M.O.D. Technologies will give Profanation its U.S. release on January 25th and as a bonus for patient stateside fans, the new edition will come with two live bonus tracks not included in the Japanese import.

The first single, “Furies”, features Iggy Pop on vocals and can be heard below.

Profanation: Preparation for a Coming Darkness Tracklist:
01. Caution
02. Worship
03. Ancient World
04. Furies
05. Galaxies
06. Sulfur and Cheese
07. Larynx
08. Revelations Part 2
09. Ruined
10. Garbage God’s
11. Babylon Blackout
12. Endtime

We could sit here and reminisce on everything of prominence over the past 365 days, and all of you gracious readers that strapped us into the #1 Music Blog position on About.com could bask in nostalgia’s glorious sun shower. In the essence of practicality, while revisiting landmark albums like Exile On Main St. and Pretty Hate Machine, dismantling Consequence of Kanye at the culmination of his Dark Twisted Fantasy, and doling out five stars to Arcade Fire, we had the chance to compile this lovely Top 100 list for your critiquing and commenting pleasure.

This is the cream of the crop from all walks of genre, sub-genre, and fused genres alike. This is the definitive mark, two-thousand-ten’s best album releases, summarily graphed — and generously bled for — by your favorite Web site’s dedicated writers and contributors. So much has happened in such a minute expanse of time, we could not feasibly compress it all into a single article, but nonetheless, here lies the certifiable superlative one-off for 12 months’ worth of music.

[cue the confetti strands and silly string]

Significant moments leave a deep impact during December; we start wondering if things were given due justice. Questions arise as to why certain obligations might have been neglected (did you listen to even half of the albums on our list yet?). Perhaps many will silently renew devotions for the sake of a new year. Personally, I try not to guilt myself too harshly; After all, humans are imperfect creatures. Forget about making some last-minute proclamation of weight-loss goals and nicotine withdrawals. Why not focus on enjoying that year-end martini? If you want to lose pounds or finish your novel, do it for your own reasons, not because it’s the standard.

Make 2011 a time of positive build, not redundant letdown. Other usual goal selections are still worthy causes, but nothing is ironclad. If another passing birthday has taught me anything, it is that life is too short to bitch and moan. Think of the positives instead of the negatives, and you will find that the music sounds much sweeter than it did. The rose tint is absent, the naggers are quieted — What remains is the soothing remedy of a happy medium, the way it makes sense for you.

Welcome to the end of 2010 — May your resolutions be fruitful, may your Armageddon be swift, and may your record collection exponentially grow in value. May Chinese Democracy be your how-to guide for overhype. May the last lone Walkman live long and prosper. And may your iTunes gift card see plenty of use.

In bowing out, we implore you… pop the Scroll Lock from your keyboard — it’s obsolete now.

-David Buchanan
Senior Staff Writer

100. Black Label Society – Order of the Black

Ozzy Osbourne and Zakk Wylde have both released albums this year: the former’s Scream, the latter’s latest Black Label Society disc, Order of the Black. While Scream seems to have fallen from grace (despite being entertaining enough), Black Label Society have risen from the grave. With old school rising to the nth degree, Order of the Black is definitely one of the best heavy metal albums all year. Is it favoritism if Wylde shares a birthday with my daughter? -David Buchanan

99. Avi Buffalo – Avi Buffalo

High school must have been a trip for this fresh-out-the-suburbs band that only recently graduated. Following in the ’60s-recalling footsteps of fellow indie poppers MGMT, Avi Buffalo’s self-titled debut gives us innocence on mushrooms, and plays like their own personal summer of love. “Truth Sets In” and “Five Little Shits” show the craftsmanship behind the music is top-notch. Noodly guitars form flower-child pop rock with forays into folk and country as on “One Last”. The lyrics may be a little high school, but Avi Buffalo write music like pros. The guitar work alone sounds 20 years older, as they work through one sunny jam after another. Avi Buffalo couldn’t have come at a better time, what with so many throwback rock bands making their mark in the past year. While timing is everything, so is having a solid record where every track stands out. With an album like this, it sounds like the next generation will be all right. -E.N. May

98. The Gaslight Anthem – American Slang

Nowadays, rock and roll music is married to a lot of different genres, be it rap, pop, various forms of world music, etc. Rare is the truly good album that is just plain rock and roll. However, The Gaslight Anthem proved rock can still just be rock, with the down-on-their-luck punk rock of American Slang. Pain and frustration roar through the speakers, all on the backs of big, booming guitar and tight-as-it-comes drumming. The album showed that while rock music is drifting further away from its glory days, there’s still tons of room for the good, old-fashioned stuff. -Chris Coplan

97. Caribou — Swim

When an artist makes a turn towards pop, one wonders whether the artist has actually improved or simply tricked the listener into accepting the music. I wondered this after hearing Merriweather Post Pavilion and The Suburbs, but 48 listens later each, I’m pretty sure those are both still good albums. Like, 90 percent sure, but I didn’t need to be converted. Caribou sparked these same questions for me with Swim, and going with my instinct was the right choice. It’s hard to put this down, as they used to say when albums were physical objects. Even if you’re not on drugs, Swim will make you feel like you are. It’s not just for dance music junkies though — Caribou has much more to offer than a beat and some synth fiddling. -Harry Painter

96. Tokyo Police Club – Champ

After a somewhat disappointing debut LP in Elephant Shell, which failed to capture the spark of their A Lesson in Crime EP, Tokyo Police Club returned in 2010 with Champ. Like its name would suggest, the album feels triumphant in that it reintegrates that catchy vibe and also sees the band expand their lyrical concepts by adding a dash of worldly cynicism and diversifying their sonic output with lots of effects and improved instrumentation. Consider this the band’s musical equivalent of Rocky making it to the top of the stairs. -Chris Coplan

95. Mike Patton – Mondo Cane

Mondo Cane in one sentence: Mr. Bungle meets ’50s Italian pop with a backing orchestra. Seriously, it’s Mike Patton! Weird is not his calling card — it’s his genetic makeup, and I look forward to more operatic productions in the future. At the very least, a Mr. Bungle reunion? Pretty please? -David Buchanan

94. Cotton Jones – Tall Hours in the Glowstream

Not many records do an artist’s influences perfect justice, creating something strangely fresh without sounding like imitation. But Tall Hours in the Glowstream, Michael Nau’s dreamed out, smoky, hazy exploration of country’s golden age, is exhilarating in both its authenticity and dreamy beauty. -Drew Litowitz

93. Laurie Anderson - Homeland

Homeland is a sprawling and desolate quasi-sequel to Laurie Anderson’s first breakthrough 1984 performance piece, United States Live. This revisiting of America rides on the back of economic desperation, global unrest, and the new electronic reality. It’s a fascinating and haunting perspective on our day and age, from America’s greatest performance artist. -Cap Blackard

92. Weezer – Hurley

On Weezer’s eighth full-length album, Hurley, the band did what they do best; they made a Weezer album. And as always, Rivers Cuomo kept it close to the heart. He and the guys rehashed the glory days “back when Audioslave was Rage” on the Jackass sing-along “Memories”. Rivers kept the power pop Weezer alive too, with “Ruling Me” and “Hang On”, but also wrote some personal and emotional songs like “Trainwrecks” and “Time Flies”. No matter how many releases they have, Weezer showed us that all they will do is rock. At least as long as they have the limbs to do it. -Ted Maider

91. The Besnard Lakes – The Besnard Lakes Are the Roaring Night

Shoegaze and ’70s AOR make for a strange combination, but together they make The Besnard Lakes‘ sophomore LP, The Besnard Lakes Are the Roaring Night, which sees the band continue to sharpen their sound with lush, slow-burning jams. Jace Lacek’s classic guitar work and resonant voice fit perfectly with Olga Goreas’ acidy soprano. Turn it up, bang your head, and vibe out. -Jeremy Larson

90. Antony and the Johnsons – Swanlights

More a step sideways than a step backwards, the new album by Antony and the Johnsons doesn’t quite reach as many high points as his previous two albums, but it doesn’t have many low points either. It’s another very solid effort from one of the most unique voices in modern music. Adding more guitar-based songs gives this album a wider palate than before, but the highlights are still Antony and his piano. His voice, like always, is the main attraction, and his lyrics are just as affecting as ever. The centerpiece of the album is the title track, a mysteriously sprawling song that is simultaneously one of the strangest songs Antony has ever produced and also one of his best. If his self-titled effort was an introduction, I Am a Bird Now was his breakthrough masterpiece, and The Crying Light was the solid followup to a near perfect album, then Swanlights proves that Antony is here to stay. -Carson O’Shoney

89. Los Campesinos! – Romance is Boring

Singer Gareth Campesinos! wants to talk to you about sex. And death. And fighting. And football. And everything in between. Seems like a lot of material to shove into one album, right? Yet, not only does Romance is Boring cover all of this and more, it does so in a dramatic, sarcastic, and anthemic fashion. The sprawling, 15-song effort is full of tasty moments to digest over multiple listens. The band covers sparse arrangements, noise rock, and even what the casual observer may call a hit song. Numbers like the title track, “There Are Listed Buildings”, and “Straight in at 101” are certainly highlights, but this is a record you should hear from beginning to end. Romance may be boring, but Los Campesinos! is anything but dull. -Joe Marvilli

88. El Guincho – Pop Negro

The man who has been hailed the “Panda Bear of Spain” followed up his immensely successful sophomore album, Alegranza!, with yet another album of his curiously eccentric brand of pop music. Although this release did not receive the same acclaim as its predecessor, it was, without a doubt, one of the most enjoyable pop albums of the year. Opening track “Bombay” proved not only to be perhaps the sunniest, most memorable track on the album, but also provided one of the coolest videos of the year. El Guincho stayed true to form on Pop Negro, losing absolutely no integrity, having instead created yet another enjoyable work from his zany imagination. Spanish speaker or not, everyone will be able to understand the obvious musical prowess showcased on this album. -Winston Robbins

87. The Thermals – Personal Life

It ain’t easy squeezing a respectable catalog out of three chords. Few bands do it well, but The Thermals have thankfully stepped up to join the ranks of artists like The Bouncing Souls and Bad Religion as the modern day torch carriers of power punk. Unlike their earlier work, Personal Life displays more new wave tendencies, with lovelorn, bass-heavy tracks like “Only for You” and “Never Listen to Me” owing more to The Cars than The Germs. But mellowed out or not, 10 perfect songs in under 35 minutes is an equation that can’t be beat, even by their younger, rabble-rousing selves. -Dan Caffrey

86. Interpol - Interpol

Even though Carlos D was in the studio for Interpol‘s fourth go-round, the self-titled LP will always be associated with the visible bassist’s departure soon after its release. This is not completely unfair; If it weren’t for Paul Banks’ distinctive monotone, it would be hard to recognize this as an Interpol album. True, it’s not the Interpol we remember and expect, and it’s no Turn on the Bright Lights. But, my, did this LP not deserve to be ignored the way it was. This is more an album of scattered standout moments than one of constant pop perfection, but given repeat listens, those standout moments are worth the time. It’s hard to give Interpol the benefit of the doubt at this point, but here’s hoping the future improves for the New Yorkers. -Harry Painter

85. Four Tet – There Is Love in You

It turns out that 2010 was an amazing year for emotional, powerful electronic music, but none is more emotionally strong than Four Tet‘s There Is Love in You. It’s a powerful album where a baby’s heartbeat is turned into an actual beat. The vocals, the beats, the atmosphere — it’s all beautiful. -Evan Minsker

84. Delorean – Subiza

Spanish quartet Delorean know what they’re doing. Subiza offers layer upon layer of samples, synths, and catchy melodies that result in an uplifting, atmospheric album sure to have your toes tapping. Repeated, airy vocals entrance the listener and add even more depth to the already complex and varied soundscape. The album plays like a DJ set, songs flowing in and out of one another, keeping true to the band’s Balearic roots. Animal Collective references aside, Delorean has forged a home in today’s overpopulated realm of electronic pop music. Whether it’s the ,majestic single “Stay Close” or “Warmer Places”, with its anthemic repetition of “Never settle, never settle, never settle”, Subiza does no wrong. -Caitlin Meyer

83. Pete Yorn - Pete Yorn

Before the drowsy acoustics of 2009′s Back and Fourth and a bubbly collaboration with Scarlett Johansson, Pete Yorn was roughing it up in the garage with producer Frank Blank. At the Pixies frontman’s behest, Yorn swiftly recorded his eventual sixth album in 2008, giving his usual classic rock stylings a newfound sawtooth urgency. Pete Yorn‘s first half is pared down to nothing but crunchy distortion, with power pop nuggets like “Velcro Shoes” and “Badman” recalling a scrappier T. Rex, while the more jangled second half pays tribute to R.E.M. and Big Star. “Come on wheels, take this boy away,” he croons in the twangy closing track. As long as it’s back to where he started, we’ll all be in good shape. -Dan Caffrey

82. Charlotte Gainsbourg – IRM

Inspired by Charlotte Gainsbourg’s brush with death and subsequent time spent in an MRI scanner, IRM reveals Gainsbourg’s continued evolution and maturation as a singer. Through producer and co-writer Beck’s diverse instrumentation which ran the gamut between lush and minimalist, Gainsbourg’s distant, barely there whisper offers the occasional peek behind her mystique. The collaboration between Gainsbourg and Beck is a match made in heaven, with both artists bringing the best out of each other. Who else but Beck could replicate the pulsating rhythm and sense of claustrophobia produced by the machine, and turn it into such captivating music? IRM is two artists nearing 40 exploring and reflecting upon death, and the result is the best Beck album since Sea Change. -Frank Mojica

81. Belle & Sebastian – Write About Love

A new Belle & Sebastian album is a welcome outcome in itself; Such is the band’s track record. This latest offering doesn’t disappoint, but requires repeat plays to really sink in. Once there, it’s hard to escape the conclusion that B&S have delivered yet another first-class pop album — bright, breezy and accomplished, both vocally and in the tight, rich ensemble instrumentation. -Tony Hardy

80. Damien Jurado – Saint Bartlett

On his ninth LP, the grossly undervalued alt-folk lion continues his decades-long odyssey into the broken heart of America, working with friend and producer Richard Swift to deliver a collection steeped in vintage sounds and ideas. Damien Jurado‘s work on Saint Bartlett is timeless and penetrating, at once a sonic nod to mid-century production techniques and a reminder of the importance of storytelling in an age that increasingly has little appetite for nuance and reflection. Indeed, his thoughtful, literary tales and troubled, but familiar characters have never seemed so vital. -Ryan Burleson

79. Wild Nothing – Gemini

Upon listening to “Summer Holiday”, the first single from Wild Nothing’s debut full-length Gemini, it would be too easy to lump the band and its principal actor Jack Tatum in with other bands currently feeding on ’80s nostalgia pop, like the Pains of Being Pure at Heart. In fact, tracks like “O, Lilac” do sound as if they came out of the Pains’ playbook. However, the album as a whole is a bit more diverse. Not simply relying on fuzzy tones or shrilly synths as a crutch, Wild Nothing also owe something to early ’90s indie pop for its sound. The more I listened to Gemini, the more I also heard elements of the Drop Nineteens and the Swirlies (or other bands from the early SpinArt roster), especially in the way Tatum plays his guitar. Everything is utilized loosely to help highlight the wistful haze surrounding Wild Nothing’s particular approach to dream pop. The carefree jangle theand gorgeous vocal harmony on “Our Composition Book” is like Galaxy 500 on caffeine. “Bored Games” has an underlying dance beat that is akin to some of the sounds found with IDM artists on Ghostly International, and “Chinatown” is simply a strong pop song oozing with dreaminess. -Len Comaratta

78. Fang Island – Fang Island

Give credit to these punks. They’re punks in the true sense because their style and sound is something at odds with the status quo. The frugality that 2010 favors in its music is laughed at by Fang Island’s three part guitar harmonies and the band’s exuberant vocal power. Their sound is that of a band incubating until they someday find themselves in a stadium or an arena. You’d be hard-pressed not to have people tell you it’s prog, but underneath there’s a rich cushion of the history of rock, metal, and strong arena melodies. In other words, they make what they do sound authentic — the highest form of currency in 21st century music listening. -Jeremy Larson

77. The Drums – The Drums

If there was a perfect pop album from cover to cover this year, a strong argument could be made for the Drums‘ self-titled full-length. Coming off the success of 2009’s Summertime EP, the Drums returned with a strong, vibrant album that captured elements of ’60s pop melodies and blended them with the jaded post-punk/new wave attitude of many U.K. bands from the late ’70s. The full-length featured a few repeats from the 2009 EP, including a re-recording of “Let’s Go Surfing”, the hot single that started it all; But newer tracks like “Forever and Ever Amen” and “Best Friend” demonstrate that the band has for-real potential. Their look and sound is vintage U.K. new wave and if they were to be subjected to a time machine accident dumping them out on the streets of post-Punk Revolution London or Glasgow, nobody would bat an eye. With that in mind, the Drums are in no way derivative and they do for the pop sounds of the era what bands like Bloc Party and Franz Ferdinand did for the post-punk/dance punk sounds of bands like Gang of Four and Wire. -Len Comaratta

76. of Montreal – False Priest

Coming off their proggiest album, 2008′s Skeletal Lamping, of Montreal could have gone any direction with this release. Fans and critics alike criticized Skeletal for being too nonsensical and tough to grasp, which are spot on analyses. Fortunately, of Montreal stuck to their guns for False Priest, expertly cranking out infectious psych-pop. But, of course, in true of Montreal fashion, the sound of the music did not remain static. This album incorporated the usual Prince/David Bowie influences, but also a largely unexplored territory for the psych-rockers: R&B. Citing Stevie Wonder as a major influence for the record, front man Kevin Barnes deliberately included appearances from longtime friend and psych R&B darling Janelle Monáe, as well as Solange Knowles, the younger sister of pop enigma Beyoncé. In the end, the record wasn’t their strongest, but it was a return to the youthful, lovable of Montreal we’ve all become so enamored with. -Winston Robbins

75. My Chemical Romance – Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys

My Chemical Romance made its name on vampire songs and screamy music for sad kids. This will only take you so far in terms of earning critical respect, though. They followed up 2006′s heavy-handed concept album The Black Parade with 2010′s Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys. This is another concept album, to be sure, but it’s one that rings true and doesn’t overwhelm the music. The album takes us through a radio show piloted by pirate DJ Dr. Death through a post-apocalyptic wasteland controlled by a mysterious corporate behemoth. Luckily, alter-egos the Killjoys are on the loose, providing us with death-defying escapades, corporate defiance, and, of course, some of MCR’s best music to date. It’s still guided by Gerard Way’s snarly, self-indulgent punk vocals, but this time, they’re layered over the top of some solid rock music. Danger Days takes the best of MCR’s skill set and combines it with incredibly listenable, textured rock tunes that will lend MCR some much-needed cultural relevance for many years to come. -Megan Ritt

74. School of Seven Bells – Disconnect from Desire

For School of Seven Bells, creating atmosphere is what it’s all about. On their second album, they do more than succeed at that lofty goal. Each track transports you to a new location, one that’s different, yet still familiar. It turns from the high-pitched, rhythmic vocals of “Windstorm” to the rave-inducing “Dust Devil” and back to shoegaze without any jarring transitions. The duel vocals of twin sisters Alejandra and Claudia Deheza move between angelic and haunting within the same song. Meanwhile, guitarist Benjamin Curtis brings up a whole array of effects that he masterfully uses to his advantage. My recommendation? Lie back, close your eyes, and lose yourself in this album. You won’t regret it. -Joe Marvilli

73. Goldfrapp – Head First

These days, there are a ton of bands who readily make use of the musical cash cow that is the 1980s. However, none do it as skillfully as Goldfrapp on their fifth LP, Head First. Full of shiny synths, melodies like sweet ear candy, and coming off like ABBA meeting Olivia Newton-John on some glorious dancefloor in paradise, the album is everything most people loved about the ’80s with an update, thanks to some kicking house and dance music. Plus, you don’t have to wear shoulder pads or neon to enjoy it. -Chris Coplan

72. Miniature Tigers – F O R T R E S S

It was going to be hard to top Tell It to the Volcano, but Miniature Tigers did just that on the followup to their 2008 debut LP. F O R T R E S S was greatly overshadowed by the hype surrounding Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs (which was released a week later), but music fans who overlooked this album missed one of 2010’s brightest nuggets of precision-crafted pop and a timeless collection of songs that our own E.N. May called “so close to perfect, it hurts.” -Ray Roa

71. GAYNGS – Relayted

GAYNGS’ debut LP led to The Purple One attending (and almost playing at) their first show ever, but what Relayted really accomplished was giving us something to chill to without having to call it “chillwave.” Filled with bowel-shaking low end and airy vocals, the 11-track effort from this super collective – which features members of Bon Iver, Megafun, and Solid-Gold – was surely the soundtrack to many a joint-smoking session. -Ray Roa

70. PS I Love You – Meet Me at the Muster Station

PS I Love You‘s album was a pleasant surprise this year — a rock ‘n’ roll record without pretensions or frills from a band who broke through with one single. Paul Saulnier churns out some instant hits here: “Facelove”, “Breadends”, and the title track all come to mind. Killer rock, no gimmicks. -Evan Minsker

69. Revere – Hey Selim!

Revere is an eight-piece London outfit that skilfully blends rock and orchestral instrumentation to create a lush and majestic sound. This fusion, attached to some great songs and an expressive lead vocal, is an explosive mix. This debut album provides a glimpse of the intensity of the band’s live performances through epic songs like “The Escape Artist”. The group is still relatively unknown outside the U.K., but the impact of this album has already led to an invitation to SXSW in 2011. -Tony Hardy

68. Rufus Wainwright – All Days Are Night: Songs for Lulu

All Days are Nights: Songs for Lulu finds Rufus Wainwright in an intense place, both musically and personally, as the album was written as his beloved mother succumbed to cancer. This album, full of love songs to the dark muse, represents a major evolution for the songwriter. He’s dark without being morose (“Zebulon”, “What Would I Ever Do with a Rose”), he’s heartbreakingly earnest (“Martha”), and respectably well-read (“A Woman’s Face”, “Shame”, and “When Most I Wink”, all adaptations of Shakespearean sonnets). The resulting album — performed on tour in a grand, uninterrupted song cycle — is a moving collection of 12 tracks that represents some of Wainwright’s most well-composed and executed work to date, music to be remembered by. -Megan Ritt

67. Liars – Sisterworld

This dank, echoing gem of an album accomplishes something I didn’t think possible: It comes close to the glory that was Drum’s Not Dead. And Liars achieve greatness on Sisterworld with string arrangements as they did on Drum’s with feedback. Angus Andrew, Aaron Hemphill, and Julian Gross masterfully produce dark, powerful rock without delving into the overt theatrics of metal or the macabre-for-the-sake-of-it aesthetics of goth material. The disc plays out like the soundtrack to an expressionist horror film yet to come. Not the slasher “he’s right behind you!” type, but the eerie, “what’s going on here” type. -Adam Kivel

66. Torche - Songs for Singles EP

If Mastodon has its passion for epic themes, and ISIS was Tool with a twist, Torche is most likely a candidate for the second coming of Kyuss and Beaver. Strapped with a wall of stoner metal fuzz, ethereal vocals, and a drummer on speed, 2010′s Songs for Singles EP keeps up the tradition of ’08′s Meanderthal — short bursts of Torche awesomeness that leave ringing in your ears. -David Buchanan

65. Everybody Was In The French Resistance… Now! - Fixin’ the Charts, Volume 1

Known for his work with Art Brut, Eddie Argos combined forces with his girlfriend, Blood Arm member Dyan Valdes, and came up with a unique concept for an album: make responses to famous pop songs. Whether it’s telling Bob Dylan that ex-girlfriends should think twice or playing the part of Billy Jean’s bastard son, Argos and Valdes crafted a concept album that isn’t weighed down by its concept, instead being free to be smart and funny and appealing without being overly cerebral. Pop music ain’t perfect, but they’re the best maintenance team we could ask for. -Chris Coplan

64. These New Puritans – Hidden

Tighter around the frame than its predecessor, mixing elements from trip-hop, theatrical music, jaunty keyboard, and avant-garde, Hidden is what future critics will undoubtedly label as These New Puritans‘ 2010 magnum opus. Regardless of who is right or wrong, this Immediate Music meets Interpol for the Dead Man’s Bones fans (the handful left) will stay stuck to your brain, sobriety be damned. -David Buchanan

63. Cee-Lo Green – The Lady Killer

Known for being a member of Atlanta-based rap group Goodie Mob, Cee-Lo Green returned with his third solo album like he was the blaxploitation version of James Bond. The Lady Killer was drenched in the sounds of soul, R&B, and top-40 radio from the ’70s, every song about being done wrong by a she-devil. With a voice to match, Green demolished a lot of preconceived notions and forged himself an album of the best vintage sounds he could cull, and that’s as one-of-a-kind as the introverted and bombastic singer himself. In a phrase, he killed it. -Chris Coplan

62. The Chemical Brothers – Further

The Chemical Brothers‘ seventh studio album holds a special place in the electronic genre. With the romantic swirl of “Snow” and “Escape Velocity” giving way to the soaring highs of “K+D+B” and “Wonders of the Deep”, the Brothers Chemical showed on Further that electronic music can be cool, slick, technical, danceable — and most importantly — emotional, moving, even almost religious. The results are an endlessly listenable album that transports the audience to a higher place. -Megan Ritt

61. The Walkmen – Lisbon

Lisbon plays out like the music a civil war-era punk band might conjure up, if time, technology, and knowledge permitted. With click-clacking trashcan drums, minimally vintage electric guitar, occasional strings, lush brass, and, of course, Hamilton Leithauser’s reedy howl, Lisbon takes The Walkmen sound deeper into the past. By imitating the sounds of yesteryear with contemporary instrumentation, Lisbon sounds like something entirely new. -Drew Litowitz

60. Ryan Adams – Cardinals III/IV

In a year where Ryan Adams released a bunch of crappy demos and a metal album, the realization of the long-awaited Cardinals III/IV was a sight for sore ears. While Adams’ journey into the mythology of metal was a fun distraction, this two-disc album demonstrates what Adams does best: He makes rocking, folksy music with a down-home appeal and lots of deviation and experimentation, songs that, at their core, are universal and eat their way into your bloodstream. It’s good to have you back, Mr. Adams. -Chris Coplan

59. Avey Tare – Down There

In 2010, Camp Animal Collective has been the fodder for the TMZ of indie rock, with every critic and fan pouring over relationship updates (Is Deakin back in the band?),and impatiently waiting for a sequel to the surefire decade list-topper Merriweather Post Pavilion. Meanwhile, Avey Tare (Dave Portner) quietly released this slightly minimal album of electronic textures, full of repetitive journeys through the aural equivalent of a hellish swamp. The dark vibes on Down There were inspired by dark times (his sister’s cancer scare, family deaths), but there’s also a joyful release to the mournful music, like a tripped-out New Orleans funeral march. We’re still impatiently waiting, but this is one hell of a holdover. -Ryan Reed

58. Peter Gabriel – Scratch My Back

Cover albums are often forgettable or regrettable, but when a massively influential artist like Peter Gabriel steps up to the task of reimagining some of his favorite songs, the result is nothing short of amazing. The music is simple, somber, and stripped of any bells and whistles, leaving only raw intentions, pure lyrics, and Gabriel’s passionate voice. This collection of tracks, culled from everyone from Paul Simon to Radiohead, are laid bare, exposing just what makes the originals beautiful and brilliant while lifting them up to an emotional catharsis they may have never intended to go to. What’s more, Scratch My Back is part of a double-album concept in which the artists Gabriel covers return the favor by covering him. If the moons align, the reciprocal follow-up compilation, I’ll Scratch Yours will be out next year. -Cap Blackard

57. The Radio Dept. – Clinging to a Scheme

Hailing from Sweden, relative unknowns (except to a very small, devout following) The Radio Dept. have kept a low profile for the majority of their career, which began back in 1998. And that’s where they’d like to stay, I believe. Does that mean they have to make bad music to stay out of the eye of the masses? Absolutely not. They have released dozens and dozens of tracks that are as solid as any indie pop out there, only they haven’t marketed the music to those selfsame masses. Due to very minimal touring and virtually no deliberate public accolades, The Radio Dept. has remained relatively low key. Clinging to a Scheme is their third official studio album, but was the first heard for many individuals. The album is a testament to a band who has honed in on their craft and made it everything it can/should be. Don’t be surprised if The Radio Dept. continues to release good music, but also don’t be surprised if Scheme becomes their magnum opus. The perfectly placed vocal samples, the wonderfully ethereal musicianship, and the pop mastery are hard not to like, and make for The Radio Dept.’s most polished work. -Winston Robbins

56. The Soft Pack – The Soft Pack

The Soft Pack‘s opening track “C’mon” coaxes listeners to sing along and dance — and with the band’s straightforward, high energy, ridiculously catchy brand of punk rock, they don’t have to try too hard. The simplicity of The Soft Pack‘s sharp lo-fi is what makes their music so charming; You know all of the lyrics to the choruses halfway through the songs, and can’t help but sing along. The album is reminiscent of a night of drunken debauchery with its rapid tempo, atonal vocals and, honestly, endless fun. There’s no profundity in the lyrics, no pretension in the instrumentation. The Soft Pack isn’t out there to hide meaning in their songs, they’re there to make you dance. This honesty and straightforward approach is refreshing, and the result is a downright addictive 30 minutes of punk bliss. -Caitlin Meyer

55. Menomena – Mines

On their fourth release, Menomena take everything that worked so well on Friend or Foe standouts like “Muscle and Flow” and spread it all over the place. The Portland, OR trio’s homebrewed approach to music-making can be heard in the playfully layered loops of spontaneous riffs and bangs on tracks like “Tithe” and “Oh Pretty Boy, You’re Such a Big Boy”. Mines gets haunting on “Dirty Cartoons” and “Killemall”, while bringing elaborate rock on “TAOS.” One of their best to date, Brent Knopf and crew have created an accessible record that stays unabashedly unconventional. -Ben Kaye

54. B.o.B – The Adventures of Bobby Ray

B.o.B had some serious all-star power behind his highly anticipated and fulfilling debut. Hayley Williams, Eminem, Bruno Mars, Rivers Cuomo, and more helped make B.o.B’s dreams come true with one of the best albums of the year. It was a big year for hip-hop, and this album stands as one of the best. The hit single “Airplanes” was everywhere this summer, and “Nothin’ on You” featuring Bruno Mars netted a Grammy nomination. B.o.B shows all of his talents on this album and his vocals are just as good as his raps. The Adventures of Bobby Ray is as entertaining as it is impressive and proved that it was highly worth the wait. -Kevin Barber

53. Superchunk - Majesty Shredding

Waiting nine years between albums is a potentially lethal move. But for indie royalty Superchunk, their unique blend of boyish ache and super sweet chops proved that time means nothing when you’ve still got something to say. Despite being in their 40′s, the guys and gal of Superchunk prove on Majesty Shredding that their nervous, awkward ways can still translate into relatable, rocking songs that transcend any generational gap. The album’s so good, we’d consider waiting another decade for the next one if necessary. -Chris Coplan

52. Phosphorescent – Here’s to Taking It Easy

Phosphorescent‘s last album was a full-length of Willie Nelson covers, so it was relieving to discover Matt Houck and company still had the goods on Here’s to Taking it Easy. His fifth album may be so refreshing because his company is more stable this time around. As Philip Cosores pointed out, it’s Houck’s first time recording an album with a traditional band, and this is reflected in the sound. It feels like we’re experiencing an assault of alt country and folk rock, but Phosphorescent has been under the radar for too long and this record would shine in any era. -Harry Painter

51. Local Natives – Gorilla Manor

This record is a paradigm of artistic collaboration, with the band members sharing creative duties on nearly every aspect of its formation. The resulting indie smorgasbord is alive with ethereal tones and charging rhythms that expose impressive craft for a young debut. Simply masterful harmonies reflect on lost family members and European excursions from an almost Keatsian perspective. Gorilla Manor reveals a group so talented and thoughtful, you’ll wish you’d spent time in the house of the title, waxing poetic about past loves and future possibilities. -Ben Kaye

50. Hans Zimmer & Johnny Marr – Inception: Original Motion Picture Score

Equal parts Bernard Hermann and Elliot Goldenthal, Hans Zimmer and Johnny Marr‘s encapsulating score to this summer’s strongest film, Inception, echoes of sleek, silver-lined decadence. From the strictly lucid start (“Half Remembered Dream”) to the heart-thudding finale (“Time”), it’s easy to understand why the film lingers in people’s minds, even five months later. In a recent episode of South Park which parodied Christopher Nolan’s film, one of the characters starts mimicking the score in the corner of a room. It’s an incredibly coarse imitation, but the score’s become so iconic and memorable that it’s impossible to be lost on the joke. That says something. It also means South Park‘s reaching pretty far these days. Sheesh. -Michael Roffman

49. Mavis Staples – You Are Not Alone

Mavis Staples‘ album You Are Not Alone, recorded with Jeff Tweedy, is everything it should be — an amazing showcase of both talents. The title track is a gorgeous ballad written by Tweedy and expertly sung by the soul legend. The disc also includes a series of amazing gospel tunes. This is the roots album cure for “too much T-Bone Burnett”-itis, and it’s a pure delight to listen to from front to back. -Evan Minsker

48. Jukebox The Ghost – Everything Under the Sun

Prog rock is a wasteland of complicated musical creations built for boys. However, thanks to the infusion of happy, piano-powered rock and lyrical sentiments about life as a 20-something on Everything Under the Sun, Jukebox the Ghost found an oasis in the grandiose sound for anyone to come and drink of the sweet water of frenetic, overjoyed pop rock. And, oh, how sweet it tasted. -Chris Coplan

47. Frog Eyes – Paul’s Tomb: A Triumph

Paul’s Tomb is the definition of the word epic. Carey Mercer’s already acrobatic, wild voice has an added growl to it, another trick to add to his repertoire. The fuzzed out, clanging guitar that opens the album on “Flower in a Glove” is the standard-bearer of the pomp and destruction within. Drummer Melanie Campbell’s maniacal thumping and guitarist Ryan Beattie’s lightning-bolt stabs lend tracks like the concussive “The Sensitive Girls” and the expansive title track a conquering air. Mercer’s songwriting just keeps getting stronger, tighter, more insular, and more powerful. -Adam Kivel

46. Foals – Total Life Forever

Foals‘ 2008 release, Antidotes, revealed a debut full of rapid percussion, rhythmic guitars, melancholy, and, interestingly enough, an undeniable urge to dance. Two years later, Foals have returned with Total Life Forever, grown and matured. Vocals receive more of a focus in this second outing, and as opposed to competing with entrancing rhythms and guitar, they work together superbly. Furthermore, instead of giving us the beat up front, “Spanish Sahara” and “Blue Blood” make us earn it — and we love every second of it. Sporadic touches of funk bring to life tracks such as “Miami”, the juxtaposition of styles truly allowing both to shine. Each song is markedly different, yet Total Life Forever fits together seamlessly to create a thoroughly engaging, enjoyable record; hopefully this is indicative of future releases from this young band. -Caitlin Meyer

45. Linkin Park – A Thousand Suns

Before its release, Mike Shinoda described A Thousand Suns as genre-busting. It doesn’t quite reach that level, but it does blow away any restraints on what Linkin Park could be. This is not the same band that showed up 10 years ago as part of the nu-metal movement. Instead, A Thousand Suns features a more mature, experimental Linkin Park, one that took the best parts of their first three albums and threw them into a blender with Pro Tools. After two and a half albums of screaming lyrics about his own life, singer Chester Bennington has joined Shinoda in looking outwards. The band really stepped up their game for this one, making a statement loud and clear — they’re going to make the music they want and they’re here to stay. -Joe Marvilli

44. Warpaint – The Fool

Warpaint was subject to some sudden focus this year thanks to the band’s live performances of tracks from its still unreleased debut full-length album, The Fool, so its October release elicited unfounded worries of sucktitude. Needless to say, it did not suck; In fact, it’s safe to say this was the best debut album by an all-female indie rock quartet this year. Heh, kidding. But while Emily Kokal’s voice borders on whiny at times, The Fool is every bit the brooding art rock gem that tourmates The xx’s debut was in 2009, and Warpaint will likely have similar overbearing pressure to follow it up. -Harry Painter

43. Laura Marling - I Speak Because I Can

I Speak Because I Can is a record that impacts immediately, yet has such depth that you grow fonder of it over time. It marks a true coming of age as Laura Marling goes beyond cataloging the trials of young love and speaks maturely as she explores the roles and responsibilities of full womanhood. The quality of the songwriting is astonishing, as traditional folk sensibilities are seamlessly worked into a modern thesis. Musically, the songs are subtly embellished, yet space is left for Marling’s exceptional vocals to rule. -Tony Hardy

42. Wolf Parade – Expo 86

Recently, Wolf Parade concluded a Toronto performance with the announcement of the group’s indefinite hiatus. With the sheer energy and masterful avant-pop of Expo 86, I doubt many people saw it coming. On their latest — and potentially last — outing, Krug, Boeckner, and the rest of the pack have created yet another collection of songs bursting at the seams with the coked out, danceable gloss of glam, the intricate song structures of prog, the quickfire licking of math, and the catchy synths of electro. If they are indeed signing off, they bow out with the utmost grace. -Drew Litowitz

41. Kylesa – Spiral Shadow

To consider an intersection between mathcore, punk, and metal is to define the very essence of “heavy.” Kylesa is a pulsating breed of sophisticated, a haunting juggernaut on the verge of scaring you senseless, and 2010′s Spiral Shadow fleshes them out completely. Think you’ve heard everything? Give standouts like “Drop Out” and the title track a try, and whisper, “There’s no place like home.” -David Buchanan

40. Grinderman – Grinderman 2

Nick Cave has always been a badass. For years now, he has been pumping out dark and terrifying rock, and his new outfit, Grinderman, has continued the assault with reckless abandon. Their sophomore album, Grinderman 2, took a bit of a more psychedelic turn, but still was able to creep you out and make you want to thrash all over the damn place. With strong lead singles “Heathen Child” and “Mickey Mouse and The Good-bye Man”, Grinderman 2 punched you in the throat, picked you up, did it again, and then you still came back and asked for more. As elder statesmen, Cave and his bandmates continue to push forward and keep consistent, where bands half their age falter and stumble under the pressure. -Nick Freed

39. Dr. Dog – Shame, Shame

Dr. Dog is part of the modern cache of bands that have spent quite some time perfecting its craft. What once was a band of dual personalities finally came together on Shame, Shame. Combining the styles of Scott McMicken and Toby Leaman, the album gives the band one sound meshing McMicken’s Beatles style pop rock with Leaman’s bluesy growl. The harmonies are flawless, and the song writing certainly has its moments of genius. This isn’t anything new for Dr. Dog however, this is just how they’ve always make records. -E.N. May

38. Broken Social Scene – Forgiveness Rock Record

Nary a moment of bloat during its 63 minutes, Broken Social Scene’s fourth album is a joyfully poignant, slow-burning collection of indie pop and post-rock anthems. More cohesive and less chaotic than in the past, the Canadian supergroup continues to epitomize the indie rock collective ideal with the special guest-laden Forgiveness Rock Record. It may have been five long years since their last album, but Forgiveness Rock Record was worth the wait. -Frank Mojica

37. No Age – Everything in Between

The duo that is No Age made one of the most sonically interesting records of the year with their third album, Everything in Between. The drumming builds and builds throughout every song, while the guitar work sounds totally unique. The opener, “Life Prowler”, is a fine example, with guitar loops building upon and crushing one another, all as the drums set the mood. There’s also plenty of punk shredding, with tracks like “Fever Dreaming”, “Shred and Transcend” (which comes complete with whaling feedback), and the despair of “Valley Hump Crash”. But at the same time, there is plenty of artistic instrumental work with tracks like the longing “Positive Amputation”, the choppy “Dusted”, and the constant aural change of “Chem Trails”, a finale that will keep this album on your stereo for weeks to come. -Ted Maider

36. Eminem – Recovery

After a couple of confusing and aggravating releases, Eminem returned this year to release Recovery, and the title could not be more fitting. He kicked his drug addictions, ditched the annoying voice impersonations, and put his focus back on creating witty, quick, and hilarious rhymes, all while producing his best album since 2002’s The Eminem Show. The inspiring single “Not Afraid” and the Rihanna featuring “Love the Way You Lie” both spent multiple weeks at number one. Not only did this release bring Marshall Mathers back into the spotlight, it also revitalized a gifted artist who had lost his ways for years. It’s safe to say, Eminem has truly recovered. -Kevin Barber

35. Free Energy - Stuck on Nothing

In the opening moments of Stuck On Nothing, lead singer Paul Sprangers optimistically affirms “we’re gonna start a new life, see how it goes.” It’s a fitting allusion to a new musical beginning for a band that formed out of the ashes of Minneapolis rockers Hockey Night. But if Free Energy is an attempt at rock and roll redemption, it appears, then, that this Philadelphia-based quintet has grabbed their second chance by the horns. Stuck on Nothing offers ten throwback songs of freewheeling 70’s-influenced rock seemingly posed to force its way into the ranks of today’s great bar-rock bands. -Max Blau

34. Owen Pallett – Heartland

Trading the Final Fantasy moniker for his birth name, Owen Pallett has fully come into his own with Heartland. Incredibly intricate string arrangements, dynamic and compelling in their own right, nicely complement Pallett’s vocals, syncopated rhythms and synths bouncing between headphones. All of these result in a beautifully complete, complex album, perhaps Pallett’s most accessible work to date. The album is a story, but also a study in song construction and pop perfection. The masterful “Lewis Takes Off His Shirt” epitomizes the strengths of Heartland, with upbeat percussion, full orchestral crescendoing, and a triumphant repetition of “I’m never gonna give it to you”, which, like the rest of the album, keeps toes tapping and humming going for hours after listening. -Caitlin Meyer

33. Jason Boesel – Hustler’s Son

As the drummer for indie rock darling Rilo Kiley, Jason Boesel has spent his time making albums that flirted with a kind of country, folk-y feel. For his debut solo effort, though, Boesel dives head first into the heartache like a modern day Kris Kristofferson or Don Henley, living life in the desert and recounting every painful scar on his acoustic guitar. Jenny Lewis had Johnny, but Boesel’s debut shows there’s life outside RK. -Chris Coplan

32. Ted Leo & The Pharmacists – The Brutalist Bricks

It’s easy to forget that Ted Leo was once a mainstay of hardcore music. The energy on The Brutalist Bricks reminds us of Leo’s punk past while maintaining the diverse style that’s made him legendary. On the opening track, “The Mighty Sparrow”, Leo declares that he’s “coming to” and, although this track is classic Leo, that is how the remainder of the album feels, like a reawakening. Lately, the vocalist has expressed his frustration with the music industry and, more specifically, his own career. Perhaps that’s where the sense of urgency heard in this album comes from. Regardless of its source, it is certainly welcome. -Michael Cromwell

31. Sufjan Stevens - The Age of Adz

Fuck the 50 States. The Age of Adz, while not as consistent or unanimously life-altering as 2005′s obvious opus Illinois, is an even more important album for Sufjan Stevens. Side-stepping a musical identity crisis (in which he questioned the entire point of releasing another album), Stevens does the long player another service, indulging up to his eyeballs in auto-tune, analog synths, and a boatload of brass and woodwinds. “Fucking around” never sounded so good. -Ryan Reed

30. OK Go – Of The Blue Colour Of The Sky

With Of the Blue Colour of the Sky, OK Go have become something so much more than Internet video darlings. True, they’re still pulling out all the stops with their visual accompaniment, but musically, they’ve evolved into so much more. Of the Blue Colour of the Sky is pure art rock – fun, soulful, funky, with just enough cynicism to keep things raw. Their matured sound is built on the backs of greats like The Pixies, Talking Heads, and Prince, but ultimately the sound is their own, and OK Go have now joined their ranks. Between the album, the videos, forming their own label, and endless hi-jinks both on the road and at cutting-edge arts festivals, 2010 has proven that OK Go are true musical artists. -Cap Blackard

29. Deerhunter – Halcyon Digest

Halcyon Digest isn’t the album Deerhunter will be remembered for—that award goes to 2008′s Microcastle, which immediately usurped its widespread acclaim with bold, surprisingly direct soundscapes and a handful of hooky anthems, downplaying the raw experimentation of their previous work. Halcyon Digest is ultimately more of the same: focused instrumental textures, headphone engulfing production, and occasionally accessible melodies. So while it doesn’t arrive with such a resounding jolt as Microcastle, the quality of the songs proves it to be well more than a step sideways. Working with producer Ben Allen (who helped introduce Animal Collective to this pesky thing called “bass” on Merriweather Post Pavilion), Deerhunter creates a slightly more reserved album, casually revealing its gently crafted charms over time. From the crawling, minimalist psychedelia of opener “Earthquake” to the collage of borderline tribal rhythms in the euphoric closer “He Would Have Laughed” (a dedication to recently deceased comrade Jay Reatard), Halcyon Digest is built for the long haul, their most consistently compelling collection yet. -Ryan Reed

28. The Black Keys – Brothers

Thanks to Brothers, it’s obvious now how much working with Danger Mouse has had an effect on The Black Keys‘ songwriting. Their debut record, The Big Come Up, rose straight from the wax of Junior Kimbrough, weathered and distorted as Dan Auerbach piped his delta blues revival through a beat up bass amp. It’s been a long time since the blues sounded that heavy. That was 2002, and over the past eight years the duo that is The Black Keys have evolved from a two man blues band into a pop rock band with soul. Brothers is the culmination of that evolution, taking what they started with on Attack and Release and finishing it. Now they are as far removed from the garage rock scene as it gets, yet The Black Keys remain exactly who they were from the beginning: a couple of guys obsessed with the blues. From the start, “Everlasting Light” is full of that dug up soul sound, doo-wop back up singers and all. The crunchy guitar and heavy blues riffs remain constant. Added instruments on “The Only One” and “Never Gunna Give You Up” turn The Keys into an R&B band. This move to broaden their sound was exactly what the band needed, and Brothers makes it sound effortless. That’s what made this record great, and it’s what will keep The Black Keys that way into the future. -E.N. May

27. Best Coast – Crazy for You

I saw posters for this album long before I ever heard it, and the artwork made me assume it to be silly. But it’s not silly; It’s sort of joyful in that little kid way that makes you want to color outside the lines. Best Coast combined Kim Deal’s voice and the Beach Boys’ musical chops to create Crazy for You, one of the best half-hours/catchiest indie records of the year. Tracks like “Boyfriend”, “Goodbye”, “Happy”, and “When the Sun Don’t Shine” stick in your brain on repeat with their catchy chords and simple lyrics. It’s fun when it’s easy to sing along. Meanwhile, there are more mood altering numbers, like the longing “Summer Mood”, the grungy snarl of “Bratty B”, and the despair of “Honey”, the longest track on the album, which barely cracks three minutes. If you’re lucky, you got the bonus track, “When I’m With You”, a catchy 50s style tune that will play in your stereo for days. Basically, this album was an enjoyable and simplistic breeze; It lasted a second, but left a positive impression. -Ted Maider

26. Les Savy Fav – Root For Ruin

With labels like post-hardcore and art rock attached, you’d expect something loud and stuffy from the likes of Les Savy Fav. However, for the band’s fifth studio album, and the first since 2007′s Let’s Stay Friends, the NYC-based indie rock outfit takes itself less than serious, crafting an album full of sarcasm and a sense of humor. Doing away with a lot of their previous effort’s aims to expand musically, the group have opted instead to make a straight-forward rock album. The record’s comfortable feel stems from the act finally reaching a happy place regarding their sound, free of the demands of innovation and able to truly take advantage of that frenetic, sweaty vibe that hangs over a lot of its live shows. The ragged sensibilities that the band had held on to for much of its existence also seemingly soften, without coming off as the band giving up or losing their edge. And that ain’t no joke. -Chris Coplan

25. Neil Young – Le Noise

In the past 20 years, Neil Young has done work that’s been less than thrilling. There were some total jams on Fork In The Road, but come on, an entire album about an electric car? That’s why Le Noise, Neil’s atmospheric opus helmed by Daniel Lanois, was such a delight. “Walk With Me” and “Hitchhiker” anchor the album with boisterous, barking autobiography. “Angry World” gets into that whole political thing, but this time, it’s not as preachy as it was on Living With War, or in his documentary CSNY: Deja Vu. And to top it all off, Lanois adds this sonic atmosphere that’s absolutely entrancing. It’s one of Young’s best in recent memory and it competes with some of his best from his heyday. -Evan Minsker

24. Joanna Newsom - Have One On Me

A good portion of listeners who have given Have One on Me a spin have surely given up mid-rotation. A member of this group might be a guy who normally listens to, you know, all the stuff other hip dudes listen to these days — The National, Arcade Fire, LCD Soundsystem, Kanyizzle. So, as our imaginary hip listener browses the tubes for music news throughout the year, he undoubtedly comes across Joanna Newsom enough times to pique his curiosity — Who the hell is she and what’s so good about her? And what the fuck has she done to deserve a tribute album? Our friend hits up Grooveshark, finds Newsom’s new album, assuming he’ll love it, and after three or four songs, is confused, angry, bored out of his mind, or all three.

It’s not easy music, and there are no easy answers to our hero’s questions. We’re talking about a dolphin-voiced harpist from an inconsequential town in Northern California who has put out three albums of sleepy, almost nauseatingly pretty harp tunes, and this time around she’s given us two hours and 18 tracks that often clock in around 10 minutes (and this is supposed to be her accessible album!). Not exactly a recipe for popular approval, but we’re largely not talking about a work of pop music; We’re talking about a work of anti-pop that makes Björk sound like Britney. This is no criticism of Björk, of course; It’s simply to say that in a still rock-dominated world, Newsom has made it (sort of) big ignoring everything that goes into the conventional rock formula. The result is not something to bob your head to as much as gape in awe at. If Have One on Me is the peak of her creativity, she should not feel shame. -Harry Painter

23. Wavves – King of the Beach

While Astro Coast may have the upperhand thanks to less gimmickry, there’s no denying the fact that the super baked music of Wavves belongs toward the top of the list thanks to one simple fact: it isn’t Wavvves. Unlike the previous LP, and thanks to the inclusion of the former backing band of Jay Reatard, the project of Nathan Williams became more than just a stoner in his basement making the most unrefined, nihilistic fuzz rock; It became a real band. The album saw the addition of more complicated musical constructions, songs with more subtlety, chord progressions, melody, varied speeds, and a range of influences from ska to punk to doo wop, all without losing Wavves’ sense of dread and stripped-to-the-core sound. As a lyricist, in front of new band members Stephen Pope and Billy Hayes, Williams grew by leaps and bounds, leaving behind some of the trademark anti-social tendencies to talk about love and growing up, once again without losing the minimalism the band was known for. No other follow-up album from a band was so vastly different and yet so unbelievably familiar than Wavves’ third offering. Not bad for a guy who was probably stoned out of his gourd 90% of the time. -Chris Coplan

22. Deftones – Diamond Eyes

In 2008, the Deftones had been in the middle of writing Eros, their highly-anticipated follow-up to the underrated experimental album Saturday Night Wrist, when bassist Chi Cheng was involved in a tragic car accident. Eros was halted indefinitely while the band had the difficult decision of what to do next – disband in honor of the critically injured Cheng, or continue doing what they do best: making music. The Deftones ended up soldiering on and recorded Diamond Eyes, and we’re glad they did. The result is one of the best rock albums of the year. From the crunchy, melodic waves of the opening title track and the angry, demanding ride of “Cmnd/Ctrl”, to the intense urgency of “Rocket Skates” and the beautifully written push and pull of “Risk”, there isn’t a weak track to be found. The haunting notes and Chino Moreno’s stirring vocals on the last track “This Place is Death” is the perfect closer to an emotional ride. This album is what the Deftones are all about. It may not be too brave in the sense of musical deviation, but the fact that the Deftones were able to put out such an undeniably solid album in the wake of tragedy shows the band’s braveness in a different way. Cheng would be proud. -Karina Halle

21. Janelle Monáe – The ArchAndroid

Following up on her initial plans to create a comprehensive piece of work based on her alter ego in a science fiction universe, Janelle Monáe celebrate 2010 with one of the year’s quirkiest and most listen-able albums. Utilizing the friendships she’d made over the past few years (namely Big Boi, Diddy, and of Montreal), Monáe dropped her much anticipated debut, The ArchAndroid, to universal critical praise. Her album sits at the number three position for the year on critical aggregating website metacritic, behind only Bruce Springsteen and Kanye West. Not bad for a debut. But all things considered, it makes absolute sense. Her off-the-wall themes, impressive lyricism, tight musicianship, and even more impressive vocal capability all exceed the mark on this release. What’s more, to do it all on an R&B concept album (very few of those, historically) that can be performed live is more than noteworthy. Her live show (which opened for of Montreal this summer/fall) may be the only thing that exceeds the glory of the studio recording itself. Monáe has always sworn by the free-thinking mentality, and given her successes thus far, the only way up for Miss Monáe is up. It’s a career that we’ll all have our eyes on closely, and we advise you do the same. -Winston Robbins

20. Hot Chip – One Life Stand

Live energy is a powerful ally, but when you can harness that into studio form, it speaks volumes. Hot Chip remains wildly present here on One Life Stand, a record that feels louder, cleaner, and sharper than anything I’ve heard from the band previously. Whether it’s on the discotheque-inspired “We Have Love”, “I Feel Better” meets evangelical “Brothers”, the tongue-in-cheek malaise of “Thieves In The Night”, or the classy jangle of “Hand Me Down Your Love”,  One Life Stand‘s final product feels ready to take on every nightclub in the 50 states, and then some (not to mention the band’s creative lead in music videos to rival OK Go).

Having a lead singer who looks like Wayne Coyne on a techno beat with the classiest lounge/electro band at his side doesn’t hurt, either. -David Buchanan

19. Robyn - Body Talk

It’s easy to give pop music nowadays a bad rap. A lot of it is watered down and derivative, produced as if it were processed by a mainstream Hits Factory. That doesn’t mean, however, that pop music has to be ignored, and we’re not talking about poppy indie music. Yes, uber saccharine, top 40 music can be just as important and vital as any Arcade Fire LP. That is, of course, if and only if it comes from Swedish songbird Robyn. With two releases toward the beginning of the year, the aptly-titled Body Talk Pt. 1 and Body Talk Pt. 2 combined to make Body Talk toward the end of the year, Robyn has made pop music light and airy, full of nymphomaniacal sex appeal, loneliness, and devastation, all with a beat that demands to be moved to. Unlike other pop vixens, the transition from heart-wrenching ballads crying out for a lost love to hyper-sexualized gimmicks involving ripped pantyhose don’t feel quite as artificial. Robyn has mastered the art of being seemingly invulnerable, a disco valkyrie, still damaged and open, picking and choosing moments of depth as she pleases, readily tossing them aside for frivolity at a moment’s notice. There’s a lot, emotionally, throughout the course of the collected songs, but one thing’s for sure: it’s all fucking real. -Chris Coplan

18. Big Boi – Sir Lucious Leftfoot

A lot of things could have happened with Sir Lucious Left Foot:The Son of Chico Dusty. Big Boi could have fallen into the trap of unnecessary, lackluster collaborations with every name in the game. He could have ended up with the auto-tuned, kick drummed, drug-ridden monotony that plagues today’s generic rap. He could have eulogized the Outkast days. None of these scenarios knows Big Boi.

Instead, we’re given “one half of the Outkast return like ghost of Christmas past”, 80′s synths, stellar guest appearances, and an album that is, seriously, so fresh and so clean. His clever verses paired alongside excellent production make you want to put it on repeat for hours at a time. Each song offers something different, keeping Sir Lucious a constantly engaging listening experience. Dancing to “Shutterbugg”, driving to “General Patton” with full bass, going out to “Tangerine” — there’s a little bit of everything and it’s all executed masterfully. Even the questionable components of the album, such as Vonnegutt’s chorus on “Follow Me” or Yelawolf’s appearance on “You Ain’t No DJ” are quickly countered, respectively, by layered, irresistible synths and Big Boi’s refrain and killer beat. For a man who has been in the game for so long, with Sir Lucious Left Foot, Big Boi has once again seduced us with something new and potent. -Caitlin Meyer

17. LCD Soundsystem - This is Happening

While it will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, for James Murphy to top “All My Friends” on any given individual track, he doesn’t have to on This Is Happening. If cohesive albums are the measure, then the third time’s a charm for LCD Soundsystem. The group has demonstrated their versatility throughout their career, ranging from disco-punk to sprawling anthems and everything in between. But This Is Happening brings it all together into one fluid masterpiece. “Dance Yrself Clean” blows the doors open with a dynamic nine-minute entrance, while “Drunk Girls” brashly maintains their sardonic perspective. “I Can Change” showcases LCD Soundsystem at the most sentimental, and “Home” closes shop with Murphy’s nod to The Talking Heads’ “This Must Be The Place (Naïve Melody)”. LCD Soundsystem has visited all these places at one point or another, but This Is Happening brings it together like never before. -Max Blau

16. Yeasayer – Odd Blood

2010 was a big year for a lot of bands. It was the year to put up or shut up, and for Yeasayer, well, it was us that shut up. Odd Blood is a new beginning for the band, one that scrapped any notion of who they were and shifted the focus to who they could be. It was exciting and very fresh; Peter Gabriel should be proud. They switched from a loser jammy bohemian sound to tightly constructed electro-jams, ditching most of the traditional instruments for computer programs and other electronics. It worked so well, but only because they kept their original essence found on their debut All Hour Cymbals that got them noticed in the first place: a free form feel that, no matter how carefully constructed the song actually may be, the ideas still feel natural and freaky. Chris Keating and Anand Wilder sound amazing on the bohemian disco track “O.N.E”, with Keating, at four and a half minutes in, providing the band’s first big dance hook. The Prince style funk of “Mondegreen” is an energized, sexualized romp with its horn section and sleazy guitar solo. All the tracks are exercises in vocal gymnastics as well, and as we hear on “Madder Red”, they nail every move. It was one of the first hyped records, and now at year’s end, it has more than proven itself worthy of a year’s worth of spins with many more to come. -E.N. May

15. The Dead Weather – Sea of Cowards

The Dead Weather‘s followup to their 2009 debut, Horehound, took Jack White and Allison Mosshart’s “Evil Twin” relationship and ramped it up a few notches. If they were a playful duo before, in Sea of Cowards they’re skirting the edges of madness together, egging each other on in a slinky showdown that’s dramatized by the album’s schizophrenic mix of blues, soul, and psychedelic rock. The album kicks off with the throbbing grooves and twang of “Blue Blood Blues”, while White sings “shake your hips like battleships”. The album moves on to the dark and vibrating single “The Difference Between Us” and the disorienting thump of the psychotically-tinged “I’m Mad”, where Mosshart gets to show off her convincing cackle. The dizzying showdown culminates with the quickly rattled fuzz of “Jawbreaker” and the haunting “Old Mary”, a track that closes the album with a sense of unease and claustrophobia. At times during Cowards you can’t even tell which one of the two is singing (or yelping or snarling), which makes you wonder if they are indeed mirrors of each other or perhaps two people in one, battling to rise above the fury. If anyone walks away a winner though, it’s the listener, for having heard one of the most interesting and defiant rock albums of 2010. -Karina Halle

14. The Tallest Man on Earth – The Wild Hunt

Inherently, achieving notable differentiation within folk music is pretty difficult. The idea is that this music is for the folk by the folk, so, virtually anybody can play it. Thus, while a lot of the genre’s sounds are beautiful, passionate, and authentic, innovation–especially aesthetic in nature–tends to contradict the genre’s very basis. That’s where wailing Swede Kristian Matsson, better known as The Tallest Man on Earth, comes in. His innovation shines through his stunning songcraft, a style that feels at once familiarly folked-up and almost entirely novel. Over frenetically masterful acoustic fingerpick/strum combinations, Matsson’s hair-raising vocals borrow from Dylan as much as they do contemporary pop, R&B, and pretty much everything else. On The Wild Hunt, his voice soars even higher and cuts even further into his impeccable fingerwork. The record comes off like a collection of brilliant, but undiscovered pop songs, found and reworked by an incredibly gifted folk singer so that they suit the genre. As the record progresses, Matsson’s gravelly voice gallops through vivid metaphorical imagery, expressing some of the most complex of human emotions beautifully, passionately, and, of course, authentically. -Drew Litowitz

13. Surfer Blood – Astro Coast

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: 2010 is the year of surf rock. No other sub-genre had as much impact and appeal within the indie rock community than the uber sweet lyrics and jangly guitar sound of surf rock. Countless acts took the lo-fi blast of sonic destruction that was so big in 2009 and infused within it the feel-good vibes of youthful abandonment and heartache. But while Wavves was busy blowing people’s minds with noise and melodies, and Best Coast was making us sullen with her Sixteen Candles-esque feelings of girly forlorn, Surfer Blood was one of the first acts of the year to show the power of the genreitself. Done without quite as many gimmicks and substantially less sunshine, Astro Coast is the angry, witty brainchild of a group of lads reared on the Pixies, pop culture, and a love of the very basic framework of surf rock, adorned with the trappings of worldly influences, lyrical maturity without losing the heartache, and a dash of much-needed oomph. With the band recently signed to Warner Bros., it’s clear that their kind of music was the big kahuna in an ocean of seemingly-identical competitors. -Chris Coplan

12. Devo – Something for Everybody

It’s hard to believe that Devo had not released an album since 1990’s Smooth Noodle Maps, a mediocre album at best that left a bleh taste in the mouths of Devo fans around the world, leaving us longing for another Freedom of Choice. When word came down that the boys had recorded a new album, needless to say, I was not thrilled. I half expected some regurgitated retro mess of new wave synthesizer sounds buzzing chaotically, or, at best, a once great band trying to re-capture some element of its previous grandeur. I was wrong. Completely and totally wrong. The album begins with a hard driving synth-drum combo and, immediately Devo takes off as if 1986-2009 never happened (or hadn’t happened yet). The opener, “Fresh”, and the following number “What We Do” are somewhat autobiographical with lines like “So fresh, it’s giving me a second life” and “What we do, is what we do, it’s all the same, there’s nothing new.” As the album plays out, it becomes pretty obvious that Devo are being Devo. They haven’t changed anything of what they do, other than perhaps using a more contemporary means of production and recording. Devo looked at what worked for them, went back and created an album that could fit perfectly within the frames of Freedom of Choice and New Traditionalists, all while maintaining a relevance to today’s audience. In a decade marked by a resurgence of sounds from the 80s and the new wave movement in particular, I find it most appropriate that the decade ends with a release from a band that was in part responsible for the stereotypical sounds of the era. -Len Comaratta

11. Sleigh Bells – Treats

A lot of bands broke new ground 2010, but Treats was the golden shovel. How can this album sound like everything you’ve ever heard and alternately like nothing you’ve ever heard? It’s a noisy, hooky, abrasive 35-minute ride fit for everything from impressing your metal friends to en bloc blackout nights at the club. So many bands make their two-person rock duo sound broken and cheap, but Sleigh Bells carve their sound from the richest and purest of elements, creating perfect gems. Opener “Tell ‘Em” is their ubiquitous standard-bearer, “Rill Rill” shows they can craft a pop hook fit for tween television, and “Infinity Guitars” may contain the most rocking moment of the year in its final verse. Alexis Krauss and Derick Miller find success with their vulgar production and copious use of lyrical repetition, blurring the line between dance and metal. Krauss’ vocals are just as unpredictable as Miller’s guitar work. Will she be cooing, rapping, or letting out a banshee scream? Will he be shredding, synth-ing, or letting out a banshee scream? And did I mention all of the hooks? -Jeremy Larson

10. The Roots - How I Got Over

In a year of gigantic hip-hop releases from the likes of newcomers Drake and Nicki Minaj and heavyweights Big Boi and Eminem, The Roots‘ ninth LP is easily the one that came in under the radar of many fans and industry insiders. Despite the lack of comparative buzz, the album easily out-punches its competitors. Full of technical skill thanks to ?uestlove and the band, the rhymes of Black Thought and guest MCs like Dice Raw get a high-energy, live feel that adds a bright sheen to the dreary rhymes about everything from religious experiences to life in the street and on the grind. With heavy, heavy influences of soul (especially with the addition of John Legend), blues, and even funk, the album hits the standard benchmarks of black music while experimenting with indie elements, thanks to cameos by Jim James and Joanna Newsom. No other hip-hop release had as much sonic diversity, production value, innovation, lyrical depth, or catchiness as How I Got Over. Plus, it wasn’t even the band’s only release of the year. Apparently, hard work is the answer for getting over. -Chris Coplan

09. Jónsi – Go

What’s gotten into Jónsi over the past few years? As frontman for critically lauded Icelandic art-rock giants Sigur Rós, he’s layered his angelic falsetto into some of the most majestic, transportive tunes of the decade. But for all the weeping audiences and descriptions like “god weeping tears of gold in heaven,” Jónsi and company have never exactly been known for their good humor. That is, until 2008′s Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust, their most accessible, upbeat release to date, with a handful of legitimate pop songs (and even one minor toe-dip into English lyrics).

Go marks Jónsi’s first adventure into solo material, and it’s an actual adventure. The last Sigur Rós record was just a preview of the sonic carpe diem explosion that weaves its wondrous way throughout these nine tracks. Working with arranger extraordinaire Nico Muhly, boyfriend/multi-instrumentalist Alex Somers, and Swedish percussionist Samuli Kosminen (aka unexpected God of Drums), Jónsi creates a musical landscape of truly unlimited possibilities. In the sort-of title track “Go Do”, he sounds positively enthralled in the sounds and feelings, his childlike plea surging over a flurry of woodwinds and tidal wave percussion: “We should always know that we can do anything!” On his excellent debut, he pretty much does. -Ryan Reed

08. Flying Lotus – Cosmogramma

According to Steve Ellison, or Flying Lotus, cosmogramma is the relationship between the universe and the hereafter– heaven and hell. It’s a cosmic drama. It’s something he learned from his great aunt, Alice Coltrane, and his relationship with the space-jazz queen comes across on Cosmogramma, which, as he says, sounds like a cosmic drama. It’s a mostly-instrumental album with a pointed soundscape, but with a lot of different sounds– glitches, clicks, drums, weird voice samples, scat, horns, and beats, to name a few. Cosmogramma sounds like an adventure, a love story, a drama– an epic. Sure, it could be called “trippy,” but it’s so much more than that. It’s an album that creates its own universe without needing to bother telling a story.

The supporting cast of the album only adds to the drama: the jazz tinges of Ravi Coltrane’s horns, Thundercat’s bass, Laura Darlington’s smokey vocals, and Thom Yorke’s album-stealing guest shot on “…And The World Laughs With You”. But the star here is obviously Ellison, whose work hearkens back to those “Space Is the Place” jazz days of the ’70s (there are songs on here called “Arkestry”, “Satelllliiiiiteee”, and “Galaxy in Janaki”) while maintaining its own post-Dilla vibe. This isn’t an album to be used as incidental music at a gallery or in the kitchen– this is an album to really get lost in. -Evan Minsker

07. Beach House – Teen Dream

Look at how far Beach House has come between over the past two years. Devotion was bleak, lonely and mysteriously beautiful, hazily drifting from song to song. Melancholic? No question. Beautiful? Definitely. But it lacked purpose. On their third record, Teen Dream, lead singer Victoria Legrand and guitarist Alex Scally found the resolve that was lacking throughout Devotion on both a lyrical and musical level. This time around, Beach House finally peaked outside the constraining doors of their bedroom dream-pop, awakening from the demons haunting them throughout their earlier work. In doing this, Teen Dream makes a subtle, yet pivotal progression.

Legrand’s serene voice has always remained the focal point of Beach House. That’s still the case on Teen Dream, but the pieces have come together around her to round everything out. Scally’s layered guitars no longer exist as background accompaniments, instead providing prominent staples of their wearily drifting warmth. The slide guitar acts as an equal counterpart to Legrand’s heartrending croon on “Silver Soul”, while Scally also places his musical fingerprints all over “Norway”. More importantly, acoustic percussion has largely replaced the lo-fi drum machines of Beach House’s past, a change evident from the first moments of the album opener “Zebra, a track laced with shimmering, crashing cymbals and timely syncopation. All the pieces come together gloriously on “10 Mile Stereo”, as Beach House awakens from its customary dreaminess, ascending into an astounding climax that stands as their finest work to date. For a band previously known for their minimal, lo-fi dream pop, Teen Dream represents one gigantic step forward. -Max Blau

06. The National – High Violet

Perfection is a dangerous word to use when it comes to something as subjective as music. When you say an album or song is perfect, you’re just asking for a fight. Well, you know what? Bring it on. To me, High Violet is a perfect album from beginning to end. The National have been building towards this moment for a long time, ever since they broke through with Alligator. While both that record and Boxer are incredible, their latest effort distills the band’s formula into its most essential state. The 11 tracks within use every trick the group has shown us before, plus some new ones thrown in for good measure. For one thing, it gains so much power in its restraint. There’s nothing as aggressive as “Abel” or as straight-forward as the chorus of “Fake Empire”. Instead, all the emotion is barely kept hidden behind the curtain, until those moments when the band does cut loose, when it floors you.

Most people have probably heard the big songs like “Terrible Love” and “Bloodbuzz Ohio”, but the deeper cuts are what hold the album together. Listen to the grinding guitar in “Little Faith”. Hear how Matt Berninger gradually loses control as he coughs out the ending of “Afraid of Everyone”. The piano from “England” takes you down the Thames on a gentle, rainy day. As for “Conversation 16”, hell, just take in everything that the track has to offer. You’ll be hard-pressed to find many other albums that are as strong from front to back as High Violet. It’s beautifully fragile, lyrically haunting, and musically ambitious throughout every second. There’s only one word that comes to mind for an album like this. Perfect. -Joe Marvilli

05. Titus Andronicus – The Monitor

An important thing: this album isn’t about The American Civil War. I mean, no more than Julius Caesar is about The Liberators civil war in 42 B.C. Rome. Shakespeare wrote Julius Caesar in anticipation of the growing Protestant/Catholic tensions arising from Queen Elizabeth’s frequent capping of Protestants. Titus Andronicus and their poet laureate Patrick Stickles aren’t interested in telling you the tale of the famous ship the album gets its title after. There are more important matters at hand, both micro and macro. There are binary relationships and post-modern nihilist philosophy, Bret Easton Ellis and Bruce Springsteen, whiskey and cigarettes, punk and rock & roll, and the pursuit of the American dream in a place so absurd as America.

What The Monitor is is a kind of punk manifesto. At its most extroverted, there are rallies around the flag, cries of unity against “them,” and two warnings as to the ubiquity of the enemy. Conversely, the album revels in public solitude, as Stickles continually airs his personal grievances. But even at its most introverted, the album reaches out to the listener by ripping pages out of music’s greatest books. A chapter from The Boss, a little Pogues, and some Minor Threat all build the pretense that The Monitor is just one shout chorus after another, but underneath it’s a meticulous and existential look at our/his bleak and irrational world, perfectly couched in punk anthems. Stickles leads by example, putting his heart, mind, and country into the abyss of self-analysis. And while it ain’t always a pretty site, it’s what our forefathers fought for, and it’s what we should continue to fight for in 2010 and beyond. -Jeremy Larson

04. Gorillaz – Plastic Beach

It took five years for the Gorillaz to return to our stereos, the charts, and concert venues with a new album, but it was obviously worth the wait, as Plastic Beach went on to be one of the finest pop/rock records of the year. Damon Albarn’s songs were some of the sharpest his animated side project has ever been accounted for, showing that his craftsmanship is only improving with time. And Jamie Hewlett provided a new Gorillaz aesthetic to their videos, their album art, and their live show display. But it was the tunes on Plastic Beach that made this disc so memorable.

Snoop Dogg joined the brigade for the first time, a match made in heaven, for the track “Welcome to the World of Plastic Beach”. The Gorillaz stocked their band up with a little celebrity status by adding members of the Clash on the title track, and on their tour. Lou Reed even made a vocal appearance on the acclaimed track “Some Kind of Nature”. Albarn composed a few gems with his memorable vocal style, including the ever-catchy “Rhinestone Eyes”, and the serene “On Melancholy Hill”. The Gorillaz kept the dance and hip-hop elements at an all-time high with bizarre numbers with De La Soul (“Superfast Jellyfish”), Michael Jackson-esque grooves and high pitched vocals (“Empire Ants”) and, of course, a super poppy, rap gem that everyone could bump in their stereos. This obviously refers to the Mos Def and Bobby Womack featured song, “Stylo”.

“All we are is dust,” the cartoon band sang on one of this year’s finest records. We all may be dust, but this record is solid musical gold. Cheers. -Ted Maider

03. Arcade Fire – The Suburbs

Every so often, an album comes along that speaks from the collective consciousness of a generation. The Suburbs was made specifically for this moment in time, for the twenty-somethings of 2010. The world as we know it is changing. The Suburbs isn’t just a portrait of restless former suburbanites and the listless teenagers they used to be, but of the world that this generation was the last to know, and what’s already been left behind. The digital age has come. Everything is instantaneous, no one is truly lost anymore, and it’s easy to feel lost in memories for a pre-Internet existence that seems like a lifetime ago.

The Suburbs marks the efforts of Arcade Fire’s previous albums combined – the darkness and rich musical layering of Neon Bible, and Funeral’s dream-like hopefulness in spite of the world. It doesn’t place suburban sprawl and teen angst on a pedestal, nor does it condemn them. As a concept album, it embraces the full scope of angles and emotions, keeping the songs from choking on their own sentimentality. What makes The Suburbs stand out amidst other teenage snap-shots is that it’s not just a simple photo, it’s a panorama. And it belongs to us. -Cap Blackard

02. Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

At this point, all there is to be said about Kanye West‘s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy has been said, and then some. We’ve seen praise and hate, album reviews that all but declare him as the second coming of Christ, and college essays explaining how he is actually the real-life incarnation of the devil. Some, like our Mike Denslow, declare West’s fifth LP “hands-down the most ambitious mainstream rap album ever made.” Others say you can’t review it without taking into context West’s well-publicized meltdowns and, for that, can we truly bestow him with such praise?

At the end of the day, however, I think the most insightful thing I read regarding My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy came during a late night troll on a message board dedicated to the rapper, as I awaited one of those G.O.O.D. Friday tracks to drop. Someone wrote that the album is great because it’s a culmination of West’s previous four studio albums, taking each of their strengths — the soul of College Dropout, the pop of Late Registration, the electronics of Graduation, and the art of 808s & Heartbreak — and making a greatest hits album of sorts, only the content is entirely new. While The College Dropout may forever be known as West’s best album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is the one which will likely best reflect his self and his ideals when it’s all said and done. It’s innovative, it’s risk-taking, it’s charming, it’s frustrating (people still complain about the mix), and, most of all, it’s plentiful, which I think might be the word that best describes Kanye West. Just as Kanye never stops, this album never stops. Even on the 15th or 25th listen, there’s something new to discover between the time Nicki Minaj’s fake British accent introduces us to “Dark Fantasy” and Gil Scott-Heron’s spoken-word “Who Will Survive in America” leaves us as confused as Kanye is.

No, Kanye is not the greatest ever and, yes, he still needs to work on his manners, but if My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy proves anything, it’s that one can be innovative while still being accessible. “Runaway” and “All of the Lights” are two of West’s most ambitious feats to date, but they’re also two of the album’s biggest hits. “Power” is as exposing as it is appropriate for Monday Night Football, and “Blame Game” is smart beyond its years, while still leaving us with room to laugh. Regardless of your perception of him, if you think he’s only an average lyricist or that the album is overhyped, there’s no denying how beautifully put together this album is, how much work went into it, and how at the end of the day it will likely influence generations to come. The only question now is what he’ll do next. -Alex Young

Buy: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

01. Vampire Weekend – Contra

Leave it to Vampire Weekend to release the year’s best album. Wait! What? Believe us, we were surprised, too. When we first sat down to hammer out this list, most of us came to the table with arguments supporting the latest from Kanye West or Arcade Fire or even the Gorillaz. But, then we started to think. You see, once you start playing the Devil’s advocate, it’s hard to return to your original argument. It’s sort of like that episode of Seinfeld, where Costanza buys a cashmere sweater for Elaine, and it looks beautiful and quite a bargain…until someone points out the glaring, red dot to him. Throughout the episode, naturally, the running gag is that every time Costanza attempts to pass the sweater off as a gift, someone notices the dot. And once it’s seen, the whole thing’s fucked. ANYWAY, after four hours of debating, none of us felt comfortable with our choices. That is, until someone muttered two words:

Vampire. Weekend.

People respect redemption tales. They cherish epics. But, above all, they love success stories. Now, it’d be ridiculous to assume that Vampire Weekend is indie rock’s Rocky Balboa, or Coach Gordon Bombay (depending on your preference of fictional sports characters with remarkable comebacks), but turn the clock back a year and you’ll find the band in a very unfavorable position. They weren’t underdogs per se – after all, they were roping in thousands of fans per festival gig – but they were sailing on some rough wake of hype. What would happen with their sophomore record? Just about every indie blog from here to Australia pegged ‘em for disappointment. In certain respects, everyone waiting for the sophomore slump preceded the actual music that would end up on Contra.

But all that went away. Instead of a jarring, forgettable, or even taxing listen, Contra added up to be, well, one of the better sophomore albums in recent memory (The Strokes’ Room on Fire comes to mind). What started with their self-titled debut sure enough continued here. The sunny Afro-pop still intact, frontman Ezra Koenig vacationed within his perspicacious lyrics, digressing on subjects that, at the time, felt typical of his background. Only now, some 12 months later, they come off just downright smart…fitting even.

Music is all about escape. It should take you places. With Contra, Koenig plays the part of a “friend with access” more than the chic aristocrat that so many make him out to be (myself included). He makes sure there’s room in the backseat, so you can hear about “how the other private schools had no Hapa Club” or realize “there’s nowhere else to go.” Some might argue most of his stories are irrelevant, one-sided, or even pretentious. But, at face value, this band makes no secret about either its identity or its influences. You don’t walk in expecting to relate to these guys, you walk in surprised at how much you do relate to them. Also, who doesn’t love a pop song with references to Futura font?

By far the most appealing aspect to Vampire Weekend, and something that’s evolved greatly since the band’s debut, is how cognizant and well versed they are in terms of instrumentation. This isn’t the sound of your typical “indie band.” It’s the result of a real band, who has fully realized its potential and continues to expand. Anyone still tossing out the Paul Simon comparisons aren’t truly listening. This goes far beyond Graceland. A song like the genre-spanning “Diplomat’s Son” sounds nothing like the driving indie rock of “Giving Up the Gun”, yet they blend seamlessly into one another. And, as if to throw the finger at those that felt they only had “A-Punk”, they did one better and issued even stronger singles with “Cousins” and “Holiday”, two songs that perfectly capture how witty and musically sincere this band can be.

In their review of Contra, NME called Vampire Weekend “one of the most unique bands on the planet.” We don’t necessarily agree with them all the time, but they’re absolutely on the money there. In a year that’s seen the market flooded with buzz band after buzz band, it’s important to acknowledge the New York scholars. They removed themselves from the muck (an agreeable and enjoyable muck at times, sure, but, nevertheless, still a muck). Instead, they braved the storm, nullified all odds, surged ahead, and issued not only a stellar sophomore album, but this year’s most solid release. If we’re to assume there’s a holy brethren of releases this year, then for us, we can’t think of any other leader than Contra. -Michael Roffman

Epic is also the word I keep coming back to when thinking about Faith No More’s two recent shows at Hollywood’s Palladium Theatre on November 30th and December 1st. An overused word, for sure, but it could not be more fitting in this case. After all, these two shows were the last US shows of their reunion tour, and – aside from their finale in Santiago, Chile on December 5th – the last shows Faith No More will most likely ever play. The band is at the top of their game and yet their future is unknown. Hundreds of fans flew in from as far away as Australia and Europe to experience this event, which automatically made it larger-than-life before it even started. You really can’t get anymore “epic” than that.

Both shows exceeded all those high expectations too, even if it seemed uneasy at times. There was a strange buzz flitting around the streets of Hollywood in the days before the show. It seemed that the show on December 1st wasn’t sold out and Live Nation announced that they would be selling tickets for $20 – a lot less than the $70 people were forking over before.

Photo by Karina Halle

Fans were annoyed. Not only because they paid a lot more, but because it was almost insulting to have tickets going for cheap, like the venue was begging people to show up. How could it not sell out? Why didn’t people get it, get what a great act this was and what it meant? It looked like the problem that Faith No More faced throughout their long career – the fact that US audiences just don’t know what to do with the band – was going to follow them all the way to the very end.

It certainly looked like it was starting off that way. The crowd on the sold out night on November 30th was actually fairly lackluster despite the celebs in the audience (Danny DeVito, Jerry Cantrell, Kirk Hammett) and the tight, changed-up setlist, which had songs that hadn’t been heard for over a decade, such as the soaring ode-to-recession “Everything’s Ruined”. After the show, even the band lamented on the lack of energy. It made people wonder what the next night was going to be like, now that it was obvious the venue desperately wanted to fill the place.

Well, whatever the strategy was, it worked. $20 tickets ended up not only bringing in a huge crowd, but the energy as well. Sometimes the energy led to violence and general douchebaggery as demonstrated by someone in the crowd who was punched in the face by a rabid Patton fan, but for the most part the audience got it. They felt the moment, they knew this might never happen again, and they committed themselves fully to the show. Whether they were collagen-lipped models, aging rock fans, dedicated fans, or people who had only knew “Epic”, there was a vibe of “Fuck it, this is it.”

Photo by Karina Halle

And the band felt it too. They were in their finest form, working as a team to give the best show that they could. Patton’s voice was perfect and his Tourette’s Syndrome stage presence was borderline obscene, Roddy Bottum rocked the keyboard like no one else can, Bill Gould plowed that bass like a man possessed, the unassuming Jon Hudson kept the fine balance between shredding and strumming, and Mike Bordin held it all together on the drums (when he wasn’t skipping out mid-show to use the toilet, though at least that gave a drummer from the audience to show off his skills).

Of course, being Faith No More and having a tendency for kitschy opening acts, the start of the shows were a bit iffy. The 30th show had the garage-sounding Creepy Creeps who were a bit underwhelming, followed by silence (Monotonix had to cancel their appearance last minute due to fire code regulations and that probably had a lot to do with the lull in energy that night). The first show had the immensely entertaining mariachi band Mariachi Los Toros , and Red Kross whose nostalgic appeal and driving set kept everyone pumped. Both nights were MCed by Selena Luna and magician Robert Zabrecky – as if there wasn’t enough magic in the air to begin with.

Aside from the solidness of Faith No More’s performance, it was the varietal setlist that kept people on their toes and made this show stand out from so many others on the reunion tour. The 30th show brought in the aforementioned “Everything’s Ruined” and the underrated and equally underplayed “Helpless”, a bulldozer of a song that builds slowly with Patton’s rich vocals (and whistle solo) and soars higher and higher into a driving force of emotion and depth. When Patton sang “I never felt better now”, you believed him.

Photo by Karina Halle

The Chuck Mosley-era song “Spirit” took on a brilliant new feel and powerhouse turn with Patton at the helm. The moving encore of “This Guy’s In Love With You” did its usual job of making the audience fall in love with them. And people fell – hard.

But as emotional as parts of the first night were, nothing compared to the raw responsiveness of December 1st. Feeding off of that increase in vitality made the songs that must more effective. The set opened with “Pills for Breakfast” off of their debut album We Care A Lot. This grinding, humping instrumental song was a rarity to hear and set the tone for everything else to follow.

Album of the Year’s “Got That Feeling” was another rarely played track and one that I had been wanting to hear live for quite some time. Abrasive, gritty, hectic – whatever feeling you “got”, you got it tenfold.

Speaking of feelings, a surprising cover of the Manhattan’s “Kiss and Say Goodbye” absolutely destroyed the audience. People were crying left, right and center from the sheer intensity that had enraptured everyone. How many metal/rock bands have the power to do that? Watching Patton sing that song, how otherworldly his voice was, how well he commanded that crowd with his inherent magnetism, I couldn’t help but think if people don’t get it now, there’s something wrong with them.

Photo by Karina Halle

There were more wonders left in the encores. Dean Menta, their guitarist on King For a Day, came onstage, joined by the group Sparks and the result was their flawless duet of “This Town’s Not Big Enough for the Both of Us” with Patton’s gruff howl in a fight to the death against Russell Mael’s falsetto. Menta stayed on stage for the next song, “Digging the Grave”, his endearing stage presence and drive winning over fans who never had the opportunity to catch him during their King For a Day tour.

But all good things have to come to an end and no one finds a better way to make a point than Mike Patton, who decided to cap off the farewell by getting up close and personal with his fans and stage diving during the last song “Pristina”. It’s a slow burner of a song to begin with but live it reaches straight into your heart and grabs you. No wonder then that when Patton was crowd-surfing, the audience literally would not let him go, no matter how hard he was screaming and kicking. They were like a crowd of starving zombies, wanting more than he could give ever them. I didn’t blame them – no one here wanted to say goodbye. Maybe we could just keep him for one more night.

But eventually we had to let go. Patton returned to the stage, the band said their goodbyes, the lights came on and it was over. Thousands of fans were left sweaty, breathless, and a bit heart-broken. Maybe epic isn’t a strong enough word after all.

Setlist November 30th:
Reunited
From Out of Nowhere
Everything’s Ruined
Caffeine
Evidence
Surprise! You’re Dead!
Poker Face/Chinese Arithmetic
Last Cup of Sorrow
Cuckoo for Caca
Easy
Midlife Crisis
The Gentle Art of Making Enemies
I Started A Joke
Epic
Ashes to Ashes
Just a Man

Helpless
Chariots of Fire/Stripsearch
Spirit

We Care a Lot
This Guy’s in Love with You

December 1st setlist :
Pills for Breakfast
Be Aggressive
Land of Sunshine
Everything’s Ruined
Evidence
Got that Feeling
Last Cup of Sorrow
Helpless
Cuckoo for Caca
Ben
Ashes to Ashes
Midlife Crisis
Spirit
King for a Day
Epic
Kiss and Say Goodbye

This Town Ain’t Big Enough For the Both of Us
Digging the Grave

We Care a Lot
Pristina
——

Gallery by Karina Halle

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One thing that became apparent very quickly is that most of Duane Denison’s guitar work doesn’t follow a chordal structure but instead croons, drones and screeches through bitter, heavy punk rock. This all helps to create a brooding, multi-layered atmosphere that is fantastically unique.

Denison is Jesus Lizard’s ex-guitar player, which explains quite a lot about the unbelievable work here. Mike Patton’s vocals and screams fit the very individualistic wanderings almost to a tee. The only bands that can compare to the same atmospheric tones are Tool and Led Zeppelin, specifically Jimmy Page’s darker endeavors.

The album opens to feedback and chirps of birds in the background. A slide guitar kicks in and beloved Pink Floyd songs “Mother” and “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” come to mind. “Birdsong” fully opens up at about a minute in with a strong constant drum beat and a groovy bass line. Once the heavily distorted guitar falls into place, the true reason for the atmospheric ideas is found. Denison’s guitar parts are structurally important in supporting Patton’s constantly changing, schizophrenic vocals… and the guitar’s psychotic for a reason. The lead singer is completely out of his mind here, but in the best way possible.

The band’s unique atmosphere becomes fully realized once Patton’s keyboards kick in. Songs such as “Harelip”, “Harlem Clowns”, and “Aktion 13F14″ feature some of the creepiest and loneliest sound samples to come out of the Patton camp, sound samples that would only be found in the darkest regions of the imagination. Frankly, this album sounds like dark, kinky sex that ends with reverberating guitar notes and strange Patton hums.

“Desastre Natural” is the only song that seems to stand out like a sore thumb. The whole albums flows quite well until it hits this road block. The music is a bit more accessible and Patton sings in Spanish… I know, it’s weird, but maybe that’s what the group was going for. I mean, it is called “Desastre Natural,” so maybe they were looking for a natural disaster, one that complimented the album in a strange way. Whatever the case, I think Tomahawk achieved what they set out to accomplish.

Mit Gas is a true auditory oddity. Mike Patton brought together the best players in the metal and punk worlds to create a true home for his visionary vocals. While Faith No More will always be his real playground, Tomahawk is an amazing project that deserves more of his attention. I don’t know why I never took the time to listen to it before. Oh, but thank god I did.

Scary movies can even be found infiltrating your favorite music. For a perfect example, all you need to do is turn the lights off and play Fantômas’ Director’s Cut on your iPod. Unlike other Fantômas albums, Director’s Cut has the Buzz Osborne, Mike Patton, Trevor Dunn, and Dave Lombardo supergroup eschewing the noise and doing eerie covers of classic films and B-movies, many of which you probably end up watching each Halloween anyway. The haunting chants of The Omen, the creepy cries of Rosemary’s Baby, and the sexual grind of Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me are just a few of the cinematic tracks on this album.

Out of all the atmospheric songs, though, “Spider Baby” is the one that has Halloween written all over it. Like the rest of the album, “Spider Baby” is taken from a film, this time the 1968 cult favorite of the same name. Directed by Jack Hill, known for his exploitation and blaxploitation films, and starring Lon Chaney Jr. (of The Wolfman fame), this horror film deals with the peculiar Merrye family, a family that suffers from an affliction that causes them to mentally, socially, and physically regress backwards. Think Benjamin Button but with murder, insanity, and good wallop of B-movie effects.

One of the children, Virginia, is known as “Spider Baby” because of her obsession with spiders and her penchant for “stinging” people with butcher knives. She also likes to eat bugs. Her siblings like to eat cats. They have a dead skeleton of their father in their closet, which they kiss every night. There are cannibals in the basement. The Addams Family this ain’t.

But as gruesome and warped as this film is, there is a darkly comical thread that runs throughout it. The “Monster Mash” type theme song is a pretty good example of that, all bouncy tone and silly vocals amongst a cheesy credit sequence.

In the hands of Fantômas, though, it becomes something else. With Patton’s ghoulish laugh opening up the track, you embark on a musical journey into the magic of all that is good and creepy. Yes, the childish “ghost story” lyrics are still there:

Screams and moans and bats and bones
Teenage monsters in haunted homes
The ghosts on the stair
The vampires bite
Better beware, there’s a full moon tonight”

But the campiness is expertly balanced with the gritty, driving riffs of Osborne’s guitar, the pounding rolls of Dunn’s bass, and the engulfing boom of Lombardo’s epic drums. Mix in Patton’s chameleon voice that growls along to Vincent Price levels, then soars to sky-high falsettos during the chorus, and you’ve got the perfect Halloween track to get you in the mood every season.

There wasn’t an official video for this song; however, this YouTube scary movie homage works especially well this time of year. Happy Halloween!

The same can be said for Gould. Since starting the band in the 1980’s (then called Faith No Man), he’s seen it through various lineup changes with singers (Mike Morris was replaced briefly with Courtney Love, who was replaced with Chuck Mosley, who was replaced with Mike Patton) and guitarists (Jim Martin started a revolving door that ended with Jon Hudson picking up the reins), and he’s taken the band’s constantly evolving sound from its choppy, funk-based beginnings with We Care a Lot all the way through to the underrated variety show of Album of the Year. Though the band broke up in 1998 after AOTY, it didn’t stop Gould from flexing his musical muscles. He went on to form Koolarrow Records, taking on bands that otherwise would have had no chance of being released in the States, and occasionally played live shows with the likes of Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine and the German band Harmful.

Then, in 2009, the news that all Faith No More fans had been waiting all those years to hear hit the airwaves. Faith No More decided to reunite and do a low-key reunion tour, with little publicity to help them out. It was a gamble that managed to pay off, and the tour (which caps off in Chile this December) was a complete success.

Photo by Sanne Vinter

Sitting here drinking a few beers with Gould, I see a friendly-to-a-fault, accessible, and passionate artist – nothing at all like a rock diva or even the mastermind behind one of the world’s most perplexing bands. But perhaps that has a lot to do with the fact that it wasn’t always this easy for Faith No More. Back in their heyday after the extremely successful The Real Thing (which spawned that hit, “Epic”), the band slowly lost respect in the media, almost to the point where they were blacklisted.

“I tried to figure out why [we were blacklisted],” Gould says. “And it’s almost like we are willfully ignored. Those people have been around, and they know who we are.”

It didn’t help that their next album after The Real Thing was unlike anything the band had done before.

“I think Angel Dust is why they hated us here and we never recovered,” he says about their experimental album. “Somebody, somehow, decided we were this kind of band with The Real Thing. We told them that we weren’t what they were saying we were, and I think that they thought we weren’t reliable or they were personally offended, like we bit the hand that fed us. They never forgave us for that. But that’s the record that has lasted the longest. That was our Dark Side of the Moon. It still sells, it was a good record, and it stood up over time, but what we had to deal with, the abuse that we got, was pretty fucked up.”

If the media backlash sounds complex, there’s a good reason for that. The album is widely considered to be their best by their fans, and the band’s sales went platinum and gold in various places around the world…everywhere except in the States. It’s not that the USA doesn’t have a lot of rabid Faith No More fans, but their aesthetic appeal is far more apparent in countries like Chile where they become bodyguard-escorted rock gods.

“I don’t know,” he laughs. “I don’t get it. I’m just really happy that people still care. I don’t care about this other stuff. If the American media likes us or not, who gives a shit?”

Not that the band ever made it particularly easy for the media to fully embrace them. Temperamental singer Mike Patton was known to push journalists’ buttons, whether it was extending live TV appearances by screaming his head off or generally fucking with interviewers’ heads. That’s what you get when you have a group that refused to conform.

But even the art of compromise wasn’t totally lost on the band. Their ex-guitarist Jim Martin was fired from the band after Angel Dust, when the complexity of growth and compromise started to hold the band back. Some purist fans pinpoint Martin’s departure for the reason why the band sold less records in the years to follow, but Gould considers everything after Angel Dust to be their best work and the most enjoyable to play.

The relationship between Martin and Faith No More seems a bit volatile to this day, but Gould holds no grudges against the eccentric guitarist, known for his reverse Mohawk and geeky glasses.

“Jim was a really interesting guy. Smart guy, but different. I don’t think he accepted our kind of lifestyle, if that’s the right word. His was more traditional…like a back to nature, rock and roll, truck driving, Ted Nugent-listening kind of guy. We were kind of a weird band anyway, but putting him in my band was kind of an experiment to see ‘what if we had this and we mixed that?’ and it worked. But the maintenance gets hard. After a couple of years, everyone wants to do something for themselves, and what he wanted to do for himself was more guitar, more guitar solos and things like that. There was nothing wrong with what he wanted to do, but it wasn’t what we wanted to do, and we couldn’t explain that to him. It also has to do a lot with us growing up. I mean, we were in our 20s…you get to a certain point where you have to communicate with other people. You either do or you don’t. Bands go through that. Everyone does, for whatever reason.”

Tensions in the band didn’t end with Martin, though. There were always rumors swirling about problems between Gould, Patton, drummer Mike “Puffy” Bordin, and keyboardist Roddy Bottum until the band announced its breakup in 1998. Because the band was breaking up while on tour for Album of The Year, I ask if the end of this tour (Faith No More recently announced their Chilean show would be their last) is any different from that.

“It’s a lot different,” he says. “I can only speak for myself, but what pisses me off about the last time was that I kind of had my reality thrust upon me. I didn’t get to take part in the decision making. Now, we are cool. I think it makes all the difference in the world. It might be the same conclusion but it’s different.”

He goes on to say that the reunion tour has only gotten better and better. With each festival or venue they hit, whether it’s in South America or Europe, their live act gets tighter, and the response from fans only intensifies. It helps that their shows remain one of the most unpredictable out there, with a manic Patton doing everything from rampant stage diving, to eating a shoelace on stage and regurgitating it back up, to doing a flip onto the drum kit and taking Puffy out.

“Even we don’t know what’s going to happen,” Gould says with a smile. “And that’s how we like it. I mean, Patton, he’s not young you know. He hurts himself…that kind of adrenaline, it’s really important to have that. You don’t feel it. That’s part of the fun. It’s a tribal thing, an animal thing. People need that. It can’t be all business, like oh go check out a band because they are ‘up and coming’, as if it’s like buying a stock.”

Not surprisingly, Gould thinks the whole conservativeness and control over live shows, such as lip-synching (ahem, Muse), is part of the problem with the music industry today.

“I feel sorry for this generation of kids because they don’t go out to shows and make them events where things can happen. The unpredictability and liability is really the thing, the spark… you know people wanted to see Jerry Lee Lewis, it was a bit of a wild thing, and it’s become very, very controlled now.”

He notes that one of the main issues with the state of music today is the absence of appreciation for where most music comes from and the lack of authenticity with these factory-produced bands and Auto-Tune instant pop stars that seem to sprout up every season.

“When I was a kid, we knew a lot about the older bands. And now there’s not so much of a historical continuum. It’s very focused on the present. There isn’t much of a tie-in with the past. I mean, I have a personal problem with that because culture is not politics, it’s the thing that make things better in life, and if you lose the thread of that, it’s kind of schizophrenic, and it reflects in a lot of other things in life. There is a certain thing now, this formula, that’s a turn-off.”

A formula is the last thing that Gould would follow. When Faith No More decided to commit to a reunion tour, they shunned the usual publicity machine and marketing mouthpiece and handled the reunion on their own terms. According to Gould, it was the smartest thing they could have done. Without the media latching onto interviews and finding ways to exploit their weaknesses, they were able to remain in control and be responsible for everything themselves. There was a total underground vibe, which was illustrated by having Chuck Mosley appear on stage with them during the last of their shows at San Francisco’s Warfield Theatre back in April. Instead of milking the historic appearance for publicity, Mosley became a novel surprise among the fans there that night.

“(Having Chuck there) was weird,” he laughs. “Funny. Great. Soundcheck was great, we were laughing, he was just so out there. I grew up with him, way before FNM. He was like an older brother to me, and he saved me from listening to a lot of bad music. And when we got rid of Chuck, we were probably at the most opposite ends of the spectrum. So it was really great to come back as friends. And the music is a lot different with him in it, I really like it. It’s more simple, a little darker, a bit goth in a way. We were trying to get Jim to do it too but he didn’t want to do it. He thought about it for a couple of days and came back with a real big ‘No!’ Jim was all business, and sometimes the business isn’t the point.”

Luckily, the focus on integrity meant the band members were able to rebuild their relationships after being apart for over a decade. “I mean, that energy. We hadn’t really seen each other much in 13 years, we had enough things to work out amongst ourselves. So to be able to do that in a safe kind of area was really…” He trails off, his eyes searching the gray street outside before he breaks into a grin. “I personally can’t see us not doing anymore shows again, I just don’t see it. There’s no point in not to do it. Why quit now? I think it’s just this tour…we did this tour and that’s what we decided to do. And we did it. We accomplished this goal, it worked out for all of us, and then we look at each other and say, ‘hey what do you want to do now?’ And I think that’s how it’s got to be.”

“Well, nothing has to be the end,” I point out. “It can be a hiatus or an evolution. It makes sense to have a ‘reunion’ tour when that’s what it is.”

He nods carefully, “When that’s what it was… exactly. Exactly. And everything goes in steps. I hate 99% of reunion bands, I hate it. I didn’t want to be part of it. I was probably the guy who dragged his feet the most in doing this, and I’ve got to say it exceeded my expectations 100%. It was much better than my best case scenario, and my worst case didn’t even come into play.”

Regardless of whether this reunion tour is the end of the band or not, there is no doubt that there are a lot of preparations to make for their remaining two shows in LA and the finale in Santiago. Though Gould notes that in the end they will just try and do their best for those shows, he does hope to do many new things, including adding some new songs to the setlist. Up for contention are Angel Dust favorites “Crack Hitler” and “A Small Victory”, with the latter being one of the more elusive songs to play live.

“‘A Small Victory’ can be very difficult. Just to get the pace right to where it feels natural. It’s an odd tempo… it’s a real burden and becomes a rock to carry. But when it’s right at the right time, it’s good. We work on it at rehearsals a lot even though we don’t play it live. When it feels like the right time, we’ll go ahead and do it, boom, spontaneously.”

As for songs by other bands, currently Gould is influenced by a wide range of music.

“I look for things that give me a little authenticity. I’m a little less judgmental now. It used to be this kind of music had to be heavy, it had to have this, it had to have its compartments. I’m actually going for more popular things if I feel like it is authentic. I’m a little more open as far as what I am willing to accept, but it’s a little harder to find what I am looking for, if that makes any sense.”

In the last couple of years, Gould says he’s been listening almost exclusively to Balkan music. The odd rhythms and energies from Serbian, Macedonian, and Bosnian bands has musically been a “whole new way of thinking” for him. It makes sense then that his record label, Koolarrow, more or less specializes in producing a variety of eclectic and exotic acts from all around the world.

“What I really want to try and emphasize is these bands and where they are coming from and the context – it’s not going to be one kind of music,” he says. “It’s easier to sell music when it all fits together musically, but this isn’t that at all, it’s kind of all over the place. But where these guys are coming from and their context is totally for real. And the deeper you want to dig, the more interesting it is. So here is a starting point, and it’s a good story. All these bands, no matter how different they are, they all end up liking each other because they are all doing the same thing. So, I see it is as a kind of community that I like to be part of, and now that I am starting to do music, I can fit into that as well. I’m starting to see how interesting it is, because there is a lot of cross-pollination potential. I am totally stoked to be putting them out.”

Among the bands he is releasing are an aggressive, Dillinger Escape Plan-esque band from the Philippines called Flattbush, Le Plebe, a San Francisco punk band with horns, and an exciting Bosnian band called Dubioza Kolectiv. The former has been a real firecracker in its home country, pairing political lyrics with a vibrant mix of dub, reggae, and rock. Gould is also contributing to the industry rock band Fear and the Nervous system, comprised of members from Korn and Bad Religion, and has a few solo projects of his own.

Dubioza Kolectiv photo by Irfan Redzovik

“I’ve actually worked on an abstract record, a more noise-ish record, that I’m going to put out in February or March. I think it’s going to be called The Talking Book…I worked on another instrumental record with a guy, an Englishman called Charles Hayward who was with a band called This Heat, a seminal post-punk band in the late 70’s, and this guy who is in Dälek [a band on Patton's Ipecac label]. We did it at his studio.”

As stoked as he is to be doing his job, running a record label is one challenging task.

“[When I first started] I was pretty naïve about it and what a record label did, because I was used to being on the other end. I also thought it would be kind of good to learn about that. It’s really fucking hard work (laughs). I mean, just thinking as a retail person, you survive on sales. It’s sales. There is a lot of paperwork, there is a lot of marketing crap, a lot of accounting…exactly the stuff that I hate to do. Total business and not a musical business. I’m helping other people’s music but it’s not mine.”

“It’s a lot of stuff for one guy to do, I tell you. I need to get some helpers. I’m a control freak and like doing everything myself. It’s like growing vegetables in your garden and cooking it in your own restaurant. I like it, I like doing it that way. It’s more rewarding, but I’m at a certain point where it’s too much. This is definitely my child, though. But I’m also at the point where I want to play more music and write more music. Really, I’m a songwriter. That’s what I’ve always done, and that’s why I am here talking to you. It has nothing to do with labels and all this shit. I’m really happy to put more time into that.”

I ask him what has been influencing his songwriting style these days. I’m curious to see what direction his music has taken after some years away from the scene.

“I always kind of get into things that I’m missing,” he says. “It’s kind of like a Vitamin D deficiency in your diet. You know, you take the things that your body needs and the same goes for music…what am I not getting now in music? And it changes a lot. I had a good thing for horns a few years ago, using horns, swing and horns and making it heavy. I think it would really work. Because guitar and horns work really well together in the frequency range, and when a cymbal, and the guitar, and a horn blast together, it’s a real impact. So I want to do stuff like that. Now I’m really getting into songwriting stuff, really well-written songs with a statement. I’m missing statements.”

As our lunch wraps up (and I know Gould has a million projects to get to), I still have to ask about one last thing. I have to ask about the potential for Faith No More to release another album. It’s the question on everyone’s lips, and I can tell Gould is a bit hesitant about saying anything about it. The last thing that this band needs is unwarranted pressure screwing up the flow and harmony of their reunion.

“Hasn’t been discussed,” he says, so honestly that I’m inclined to believe him. “It’s the elephant in the room. It’s in everybody’s mind but everyone is afraid to talk about it. That’s the reality. All I can do is offer my own opinion, and I’m just 20% of the band. But my thing is, it’s like having a really great plate of food and throwing it on the ground.”

He grins at that thought, and it’s apparent that even though he is just 20% of the band, it’s still an idea that excites him. “Everything is great for doing it and if we did it, it’s going to be great. It’s going to be because this is the best energy ever. And people have done a lot of other things since then that could bring a lot more to it than before. But that’s my take on it. I’ve got to let it go with that because if it’s meant to be, it’s meant to happen.”

And with that, I let my interview go. Whatever the future holds for Mr. Gould and his bands, all we do know is that he has a legion of fans supporting him and a music industry that’s about to get a swift kick in the ass.

Built in the 1870′s out of the undeveloped sand dunes called “outside lands” (hence the name of the Outside Lands Music Festival held here every August), the park was meant to rival New York City’s Central Park. And rival it, it did. Golden Gate Park ended up becoming a wonderful staging point for the various movements that the City by the Bay became known for over the last decade, such as the Human Be-In hippie movement with Jefferson Airplane, or The Greatful Dead and The Summer of Love progressive social phenomenon which brought 100,000 people to the park and the Upper Haight neighborhood. Today, the message of love, freedom, and unity in the park still lives with the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival (or HSB).

The thing that makes the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival special is the fact that it is free, and not free in the sense that it was shilled out by a massive corporate sponsor. In this case we have philanthropic multi-billionaire Warren Hellman who, since 2001, has funded the festival every year out of his love for music and his appreciation for San Francisco. It started out as a pure bluegrass exhibition, but as it grew more popular with the masses, the genres were stretched (hence the “Hardly”) with more and more eclectic acts being added to the three-day event.

A free ticket price does make for some difficulties. Because it’s free, it seems like everyone in Northern California attends and this year there was an estimated 600,000 people attending the event (350,000 on Sunday alone). The stages are step up along a narrow stretch of road within the park, creating a huge bottleneck during peak hours of the festivals, in addition to hellish line-ups for portable toilets and food vendors. There was a sporadic shuttle that you could take into the festival for $2, other than that you had to find parking outside of the park and prepare for a long hike in. There was also some kerfuffle with the lack of enough bike racks to handle the crowds – seemed like every tree in the park had a bike tethered to it.

That said, there wasn’t really too much you could complain about, especially since you didn’t pay anything for it. Though drinking in the park was allowed and everyone seemed to have a can of beer or jug of wine in hand, I never saw anyone get too inebriated or dangerous. Keeping with the true peaceful spirit of the park, everyone just seemed to have a safe, good time. (However, it wouldn’t have killed some people to wear deodorant.) But hey, it wasn’t all just dreadlocked hippies and Mission District hipsters. There were lots of families with children, elderly couples camped out with lawn chairs and coolers, roaming packs of smiling teenagers, carefree couples, and what seemed like all the wagging pooches in the Bay Area. There was an overall social atmosphere that felt like you were there to hang out and talk to people just as much as you were there for the music. It was very casual, very chill, and very Californian.

Friday, October 1st

MC Hammer
Star Stage, 11:30 a.m.

Unfortunately, due to logistical issues, I was only able to catch one act on Friday and I ended up going to the one that really makes the term “Hardly” hit home. It was none other than MC Hammer of Hammertime and Hammer pants fame. Why was Hammer there? I’m still not sure, other than it had something to do with an educational aspect for children. That would explain why the entire front section of the stage turned into a corral for about 500 dancing schoolkids.

Either way, he drew quite a crowd that morning as people gathered around the fence to watch MC Hammer perform hits such as “Pray”, “2 Legit 2 Quit”, and “Can’t Touch This”. I’m actually laughing as I type those songs out and that was pretty much the same reaction during the set. Not that it was bad by any means, it was just hilarious to watch a crowd of people dance like idiots and yell “Stop! Hammer time!” between fits of giggles. There were a few older women in front of us really get into it, chugging back on their beers, telling us joyfully “Our kids are at school!” Either that or they were with the other schoolkids who were getting just as in to it as the adults.

Regardless, Hammer sounded great; the sound was bumping and his dancers were actually pretty amazing. All in all, it was a really odd yet infectiously fun way for Hardly Strictly Bluegrass to kick off.

Saturday, October 2nd

Exene
Porch Stage, 1:05 p.m.

Singer/writer/artist Exene Cervenka has had an interesting and progressive past. She co-fronted the revered LA punk band X in the late 1970′s with her then-boyfriend John Doe, which released seven albums including the prolific Wild Gift, she’s written several books, and had a one-person exhibition of her journals at the Santa Monica Museum of Art. Nowadays, she fronts a band called The Knitters and does her own solo work just as Exene, which I got to see at HSB.

Exene and her band charmed the growing crowd at the Porch stage with her soft music and warm stage presence. It was not at all like anything she did with X – the punk had now been replaced with soft acoustics, haunting violin, and simple songwriting. It wasn’t anything spectacular but she did have the audience hanging onto her every word, with a few streaks of her rock and roll past coming through at opportune moments.

Songwriter Circle with Steve Earle, Robert Earl Keen, John Doe & David Olney
Rooster Stage, 2:30 p.m.

Next up was the Songwriter Circle, consisting of such music legends as the aforementioned John Doe, Steve Earle, Robert Earl Keen, and David Olney. The act was pretty much as the name suggested, except of being in a circle, they all took turns performing in a line, one after the other. It was actually a really neat way of doing things, allowing each artist to sing their songs and give an ebb and flow of variety to the surprisingly long set. Given the range of voices and backgrounds, they drew a massive crowd too with people flanking the stage from all sides, even all the way up into the wooded crests.

I didn’t know too much about David Olney (even though his songs have been covered by Johnny Cash), but he sang a wonderful, gruff song called “Titanic”, the only one about that fateful accident “sung from the iceberg’s point of view.” The suited John Doe was the more rousing singer of the bunch and the only one who stood up to perform, a dapper contrast to the rustic environment. Like Olney, Keen, and Earle, he stuck to a lot of his hits such as “The Golden State” (which naturally had everyone singing along) and the deep “Burning House of Love” but he also sang a few songs off of his new album as well.

It was a wonderfully fitting show for the time and place. A sea of people all seated quietly, intensely immersed in the swooning acoustics, soulful singing, and whispering fog that rushed past the stage and into the trees.

Sunday, October 3rd

Martin Sexton
Star Stage, 11:40 a.m.

Sunday was one of the most packed, artist-filled days in Hardly Strictly Bluegrass’s history, with Indigo Girls, Patti Smith, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, Emmylou Harris, and Rosanna Cash just to name a few. But because the day was so loaded, it made it impossible for me to see everything I wanted to. So I stuck to the Star Stage, which ended up being a great idea in the end. Tons of talented artists in a row from one comfy spot – what more could you want?

Opening up that stage was singer/songwriter Martin Sexton, whose wide-ranging vocals and beatboxing skills gave his folk music surprising depth and edge that is lacking in a lot of acoustic-driven music. Despite the fact that it was still early in the day, he had the sprawling area around the stage packed with fans eager to hear his famous mix of gospel, rock, blues, country and soul carried by his crystal-clear voice and amazing falsetto.

Umphrey’s McGee
Star Stage, 1:15 p.m.

I knew Umphrey’s McGee was going to be a wild ride compared to Martin Sexton, because as soon as the Sexton crowd cleared out, we had our blanket trampled by a bunch of hippies running to the stage. Turns out Umphrey’s McGee is just a step up from The Grateful Dead or Phish – a young, fun jam band based around “progressive improvisation” and, well, jamming. No wonder they brought a crowd that a friend of mine remarked she hadn’t seen in Golden Gate Park since the 1970′s.

Everyone was really into it too. It was probably a combination of the pot smoke, copious amounts of alcohol, and the sun finally making its appearance for the first time. Or it could have had something to with the music. Even though the songs seemed like they were about 10 minutes long each, the bongos, rolling bass, and guitarist Brendan Bayliss’ soothing voice kept the crowd moving and bopping for the entire set. This was the first moment I really felt like I was experiencing San Francisco’s notorious counterculture scene first-hand. The communal experience of listening to a jamband in the California sunshine will do that to you.

Randy Newman
Towers of Gold Stage, 2:05 p.m.

Backing on to the Star Stage is the Towers of Gold Stage, which meant during the break between sets you could hear the Gold Stage perfectly and as such we were all treated to a pleasing set by Randy Newman. Know for his countless awards, this Disney legend (and Family Guy punching bag) brought his droll, affable persona and scores of hits to the festival. Everything from “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” and “Short People” to “A Fool in Love” was covered with his the famous Newman charm and enthusiasm.

Elvis Costello and The Sugarcanes
Star Stage, 3:05 p.m.

This was the act that most of Sunday’s unending crowd found to be a “must-see” and Mr. Costello and his troupe of Nashville session musicians did not disappoint. With the notable Jim Lauderdale on guitar and various dobro, fiddle, upright bass, mandolin and accordion players, the Sugarcanes blended beautifully in the late afternoon air and gave Costello’s engaging demeanor a good heft of twang.

It was a very exciting and tight set. There were a few songs played off of his latest album National Ransom, but for the most part he covered a range of hits that spanned his career and all with a decidedly country slant. “Mystery Range”, “Friend of the Devil”, “Brilliant Mistake”, and “Allison” were all received very well, but it was the cover of “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away” which really brought the crowd together. People of all ages were singing along to the classic, and despite its cynical lyrics, really made us feel the spirit of the weekend.

Mondo Cane
Star Stage, 5:20 p.m.

Last but not least, the most interesting act to ever play the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass has to go to Mike Patton’s Mondo Cane, his orchestral covers of Italian pop songs from the 50′s and 60′s. Having seen Mondo Cane in Poland this July, I knew exactly what I was getting into but HSB marked the first US appearance of this unique and genre-pushing outfit. Though most of the crowd filtered out after Costello ended his set, this gave Patton fans and other curious music buffs to come up close to the stage and witness this rare event.

Patton’s band was a little different than it was during his European tour but Italians Leonardo di Anguilla on drums and composer Daniele Luppi helped reel in the authenticity. The string section was made up of the fresh-faced Magik Magik Orchestra, who seriously looked like they rolled in straight from high school, and the special surprise goes to the appearance of Ex-Mr.Bungle member Trey Spruance on guitar, who was hidden by the string section for most of the night.

But enough about the technicalities – let’s get onto the music. I think Patton said it best by announcing they were going to “put the ass back in bluegrass” and did they fucking ever. The entire set with tight and rolling with a cacophony of classical music and rock riffs. Whether he was hitting all the soaring notes in the iconic and soulful “Ore D’Amore” or crooning to the joyous and retro-tinged “Deep Down”, Patton was making sure the auditory blend of styles was hitting you like a sledgehammer. Done live, the songs are a lot edgier than they are on the Mondo Cane album and Patton relished his chance to combine the various aspects of his schizophrenic musical persona – the suave serenader and the outrageous rock star. The most crowd-pleasing songs of the night were the two songs that work as a showcase for those two personalities “Urlo Negro” and “Storia D’Amore.” With those numbers, the crooner and the screamer blend with such rollicking enthusiasm that it became impossible for anyone to not “get” what Patton is trying to do with Mondo Cane: push the genre (whatever it may be) and have fun while doing it.

And fun is exactly what Patton was having on stage. He was smiling and laughing, both between songs and during songs, expressing the pure joy he has in his music. He was engaging with the crowd and supportive of his talented band. And you have to give props to them for taking on a show that’s a bit askew. The strings section especially handled the challenging set very well. There were times that you could see they were a bit unsure of how the crowd was going to handle the music, even laughing about it, but they soon found out that the audience wouldn’t have expected anything less from Patton. It was a lot of fun to watch Luppi conduct them too, having to get out of his seat and really throw himself into the motions of getting those strings to fly.

By the time the set was over, the sun had gone down and there were more than a few teary-eyed people milling around, soaking up the atmosphere of the magical performance they had just witnessed. Though Mondo Cane had an underground vibe at the festival and flew below most people’s radar, I hope the ones who were lucky enough to catch the show will help spread the word of how amazing it was. This stuff is too good for only one show.
——

Gallery by Karina Halle

[nggallery id=124]

]]> MC Hammer Star Stage, 11:30 a.m. Unfortunately, due to logistical issues, I was only able to catch one act on Friday and I ended up going to the one that really makes the term "Hardly" hit home. It was none other than MC Hammer of Hammertime and Hammer pants fame. Why was Hammer there? I'm still not sure, other than it had something to do with an educational aspect for children. That would explain why the entire front section of the stage turned into a corral for about 500 dancing schoolkids. Either way, he drew quite a crowd that morning as people gathered around the fence to watch MC Hammer perform hits such as "Pray", "2 Legit 2 Quit", and "Can't Touch This". I'm actually laughing as I type those songs out and that was pretty much the same reaction during the set. Not that it was bad by any means, it was just hilarious to watch a crowd of people dance like idiots and yell "Stop! Hammer time!" between fits of giggles. There were a few older women in front of us really get into it, chugging back on their beers, telling us joyfully "Our kids are at school!" Either that or they were with the other schoolkids who were getting just as in to it as the adults. Regardless, Hammer sounded great; the sound was bumping and his dancers were actually pretty amazing. All in all, it was a really odd yet infectiously fun way for Hardly Strictly Bluegrass to kick off. Saturday, October 2nd Exene Porch Stage, 1:05 p.m. Singer/writer/artist Exene Cervenka has had an interesting and progressive past. She co-fronted the revered LA punk band X in the late 1970's with her then-boyfriend John Doe, which released seven albums including the prolific Wild Gift, she's written several books, and had a one-person exhibition of her journals at the Santa Monica Museum of Art. Nowadays, she fronts a band called The Knitters and does her own solo work just as Exene, which I got to see at HSB. Exene and her band charmed the growing crowd at the Porch stage with her soft music and warm stage presence. It was not at all like anything she did with X - the punk had now been replaced with soft acoustics, haunting violin, and simple songwriting. It wasn't anything spectacular but she did have the audience hanging onto her every word, with a few streaks of her rock and roll past coming through at opportune moments. Songwriter Circle with Steve Earle, Robert Earl Keen, John Doe & David Olney Rooster Stage, 2:30 p.m. Next up was the Songwriter Circle, consisting of such music legends as the aforementioned John Doe, Steve Earle, Robert Earl Keen, and David Olney. The act was pretty much as the name suggested, except of being in a circle, they all took turns performing in a line, one after the other. It was actually a really neat way of doing things, allowing each artist to sing their songs and give an ebb and flow of variety to the surprisingly long set. Given the range of voices and backgrounds, they drew a massive crowd too with people flanking the stage from all sides, even all the way up into the wooded crests. I didn't know too much about David Olney (even though his songs have been covered by Johnny Cash), but he sang a wonderful, gruff song called "Titanic", the only one about that fateful accident "sung from the iceberg's point of view." The suited John Doe was the more rousing singer of the bunch and the only one who stood up to perform, a dapper contrast to the rustic environment. Like Olney, Keen, and Earle, he stuck to a lot of his hits such as "The Golden State" (which naturally had everyone singing along) and the deep "Burning House of Love" but he also sang a few songs off of his new album as well. It was a wonderfully fitting show for the time and place. A sea of people all seated quietly, intensely immersed in the swooning acoustics, soulful singing, and whispering fog that rushed past the stage and into the trees. Sunday, October 3rd Martin Sexton Star Stage, 11:40 a.m. Sunday was one of the most packed, artist-filled days in Hardly Strictly Bluegrass's history, with Indigo Girls, Patti Smith, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, Emmylou Harris, and Rosanna Cash just to name a few. But because the day was so loaded, it made it impossible for me to see everything I wanted to. So I stuck to the Star Stage, which ended up being a great idea in the end. Tons of talented artists in a row from one comfy spot - what more could you want? Opening up that stage was singer/songwriter Martin Sexton, whose wide-ranging vocals and beatboxing skills gave his folk music surprising depth and edge that is lacking in a lot of acoustic-driven music. Despite the fact that it was still early in the day, he had the sprawling area around the stage packed with fans eager to hear his famous mix of gospel, rock, blues, country and soul carried by his crystal-clear voice and amazing falsetto. Umphrey's McGee Star Stage, 1:15 p.m. I knew Umphrey's McGee was going to be a wild ride compared to Martin Sexton, because as soon as the Sexton crowd cleared out, we had our blanket trampled by a bunch of hippies running to the stage. Turns out Umphrey's McGee is just a step up from The Grateful Dead or Phish - a young, fun jam band based around "progressive improvisation" and, well, jamming. No wonder they brought a crowd that a friend of mine remarked she hadn't seen in Golden Gate Park since the 1970's. Everyone was really into it too. It was probably a combination of the pot smoke, copious amounts of alcohol, and the sun finally making its appearance for the first time. Or it could have had something to with the music. Even though the songs seemed like they were about 10 minutes long each, the bongos, rolling bass, and guitarist Brendan Bayliss' soothing voice kept the crowd moving and bopping for the entire set. This was the first moment I really felt like I was experiencing San Francisco's notorious counterculture scene first-hand. The communal experience of listening to a jamband in the California sunshine will do that to you. Randy Newman Towers of Gold Stage, 2:05 p.m. Backing on to the Star Stage is the Towers of Gold Stage, which meant during the break between sets you could hear the Gold Stage perfectly and as such we were all treated to a pleasing set by Randy Newman. Know for his countless awards, this Disney legend (and Family Guy punching bag) brought his droll, affable persona and scores of hits to the festival. Everything from "You've Got a Friend in Me" and "Short People" to "A Fool in Love" was covered with his the famous Newman charm and enthusiasm. Elvis Costello and The Sugarcanes Star Stage, 3:05 p.m. This was the act that most of Sunday's unending crowd found to be a "must-see" and Mr. Costello and his troupe of Nashville session musicians did not disappoint. With the notable Jim Lauderdale on guitar and various dobro, fiddle, upright bass, mandolin and accordion players, the Sugarcanes blended beautifully in the late afternoon air and gave Costello's engaging demeanor a good heft of twang. It was a very exciting and tight set. There were a few songs played off of his latest album National Ransom, but for the most part he covered a range of hits that spanned his career and all with a decidedly country slant. "Mystery Range", "Friend of the Devil", "Brilliant Mistake", and "Allison" were all received very well, but it was the cover of "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" which really brought the crowd together. People of all ages were singing along to the classic, and despite its cynical lyrics, really made us feel the spirit of the weekend. Mondo Cane Star Stage, 5:20 p.m. Last but not least, the most interesting act to ever play the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass has to go to Mike Patton's Mondo Cane, his orchestral covers of Italian pop songs from the 50's and 60's. Having seen Mondo Cane in Poland this July, I knew exactly what I was getting into but HSB marked the first US appearance of this unique and genre-pushing outfit. Though most of the crowd filtered out after Costello ended his set, this gave Patton fans and other curious music buffs to come up close to the stage and witness this rare event. Patton's band was a little different than it was during his European tour but Italians Leonardo di Anguilla on drums and composer Daniele Luppi helped reel in the authenticity. The string section was made up of the fresh-faced Magik Magik Orchestra, who seriously looked like they rolled in straight from high school, and the special surprise goes to the appearance of Ex-Mr.Bungle member Trey Spruance on guitar, who was hidden by the string section for most of the night. But enough about the technicalities - let's get onto the music. I think Patton said it best by announcing they were going to "put the ass back in bluegrass" and did they fucking ever. The entire set with tight and rolling with a cacophony of classical music and rock riffs. Whether he was hitting all the soaring notes in the iconic and soulful "Ore D'Amore" or crooning to the joyous and retro-tinged "Deep Down", Patton was making sure the auditory blend of styles was hitting you like a sledgehammer. Done live, the songs are a lot edgier than they are on the Mondo Cane album and Patton relished his chance to combine the various aspects of his schizophrenic musical persona - the suave serenader and the outrageous rock star. The most crowd-pleasing songs of the night were the two songs that work as a showcase for those two personalities "Urlo Negro" and "Storia D'Amore." With those numbers, the crooner and the screamer blend with such rollicking enthusiasm that it became impossible for anyone to not "get" what Patton is trying to do with Mondo Cane: push the genre (whatever it may be) and have fun while doing it. And fun is exactly what Patton was having on stage. He was smiling and laughing, both between songs and during songs, expressing the pure joy he has in his music. He was engaging with the crowd and supportive of his talented band. And you have to give props to them for taking on a show that's a bit askew. The strings section especially handled the challenging set very well. There were times that you could see they were a bit unsure of how the crowd was going to handle the music, even laughing about it, but they soon found out that the audience wouldn't have expected anything less from Patton. It was a lot of fun to watch Luppi conduct them too, having to get out of his seat and really throw himself into the motions of getting those strings to fly. By the time the set was over, the sun had gone down and there were more than a few teary-eyed people milling around, soaking up the atmosphere of the magical performance they had just witnessed. Though Mondo Cane had an underground vibe at the festival and flew below most people's radar, I hope the ones who were lucky enough to catch the show will help spread the word of how amazing it was. This stuff is too good for only one show. ------ Gallery by Karina Halle [nggallery id=124] ]]> http://consequenceofsound.net/2010/10/free-love-free-music-cos-at-hardly-strictly-bluegrass-%e2%80%9810/feed/ 3 http://consequenceofsound.net/2010/09/faith-no-more-announces-final-reunion-show/ http://consequenceofsound.net/2010/09/faith-no-more-announces-final-reunion-show/#comments http://c438342.r42.cf2.rackcdn.com//wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Seattle-001.jpg Sun, 12 Sep 2010 00:09:43 +0000 Karina Halle http://consequenceofsound.net/?p=68429 The rumors have been swirling for months around recently reunited rock band Faith No More and the possibility of a final reunion show. Though the band had said their appearance at Finland’s Ilosaarirock Festival back in July was “the end,” it has now been confirmed that the final reunion show will take place in Santiago, Chile, on December 5th, with Primus as their opening band. The news broke yesterday, first via Chilean radio station Sonar FM, then through bassist Billy Gould and keyboardist Roddy Bottum’s Twitter accounts:

@MRGOULD: TOURDATE NEWS! Santiago, Chile. DEC 5…. Our Final Show of FNM Reunited 2.0….

@MRGOULD: Santiago will be the big party, but there might be a show or two before that…so stay tuned…..

@RODDYBOTTUM: it’s true, we’re giving Santiago what they’ve asked for. we’re wrapping up the FNM reunited tour in Santiago, Chile on December 5!!!!

The band has been using Twitter as its mouthpiece during this reunion tour, declining most media interviews and PR strategies. They prefer to connect directly with their fans, as evidenced by an upcoming fanbased interview with websites Faith No More 2.0 and Stubbadub and the FNM French Community group, in which the fans were able to submit their questions directly to the band.

Faith No More originally broke up in 1998 after several lineup switches (swapping singer Chuck Mosley for Mike Patton) and over a decade of albums including the highly influential Angel Dust. Though Patton became entangled with one billion side projects throughout the years and denied that Faith No More would ever reunite, the band did end up reuniting in early 2009. Their successful reunion tour took them all over the world headlining at major festivals, though they failed to get the same support in their home country with only seven US shows, including sub-headlining at the 2010 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.

So, while Faith No More has always been overlooked in the USA and has gotten more acceptance in places like Australia and Brazil, no country can compete with Chile. In Chile, Faith No More is ironically akin to a religion, and the band’s obsessively loyal fanbase practically petitioned them to return. And thus, a huge send-off in Santiago is a fitting way for Faith No More to say thanks to their biggest fans. As for where the “show or two before that” will be, one can only guess. Let the rumor-mongering begin!

Update #1: FNM just added an LA show at the Hollywood Palladium for November 30th. (via @MRGOULD)

Update #2: Tickets for the general public will be on sale this Friday, September 17th at 10AM through Livenation. Twitter fans get an exclusive pre-sale before that.

Did the rumor-mongering help? Who knows – but what we do know is that there are a lot of fans here in the USA that would love to see them play one last time and are now getting their chance. The odds of another show being added in LA or San Francisco a few days before the November 30th set are pretty good too.

The names that stand out are frankly shocking gets for a free and ticketless festival: Joan Baez, Elvis Costello and the Sugarcanes, and the Godmother of Punk herself, Patti Smith. Other old guys include Richard Thompson, Robert Earl Keen, Steve Earle and the Dukes, and some Grammy-winning singer-songwriters in The Dukes of September Rhythm Revue (Donald Fagen, Michael McDonald, and Boz Scaggs). Oh, and right off the heels of Toy Story 3, Randy frigging Newman. Yeah.

There’s stuff for the cool kids too: Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band, The Avett Brothers, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, Umphrey’s McGee, Jenny & Johnny (Jenny Lewis and Jonathan Rice), Lucero, The Felice Brothers, Carolina Chocolate Drops, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, Gillian Welch, and…drumroll…SF hero Mike Patton as Mondo Cane.

Other notable acts include Emmylou Harris, Hot Tuna Electric, The Del McCoury Band, T-Bone Burnett and Friends, Indigo Girls, Moonalice, Fountains of Wayne, Patty Griffin, Buddy Miller, Doc Watson and David Holt, The David Grisman Quintet, Bonnie “Prince” Billy & the Cairo Gang, The Flatlanders, and Railroad Earth.

There are plenty more acts, and you can see the full list here. The website promises additions, so begin rumor-mongering. This thing goes down the weekend of October 1-3; check back here for updates.

This was the first concert of Mondo Cane’s European tour, and the first performance since their highly-acclaimed album was released in May. Patton may be best known for being the enigmatic frontman of Faith No More, Tomahawk, Fantômas, and Mr. Bungle, to name but a few; however, Mondo Cane is without a doubt the largest departure for an artist who specializes in the “art of weird.”

Mondo Cane has no new material. The entire concept rests behind the re-imagining of classic 50’s and 60’s Italian pop songs, sung by Patton and performed by an orchestra. The strings section of this concert was performed by 12 Polish musicians of the Wroclaw Film Harmony Orchestra, and this same section changes artists in each new concert location, providing constant challenges with regards to rehearsal.

None of those challenges were present on that Thursday night, however. Sure, the seating arrangements for the show were a bit awkward – the section directly in front of the makeshift stage were reserved seats which sold out fairly quickly and the standing only section skirted around the sides, not offering the best view for the majority of the concert-goers. On the other hand, the entire city got to hear the music because of its open-air setup.

And what beautiful music it was. Patton, with his dark hair slicked back, dressed in a sharp white suit and black shirt looked like the perfect 50’s Italian Lothario. He commanded the stage even just standing there, a look from him expressive eyes bringing cheers from the enthusiastic crowd. His voice was in perfect form, effortlessly allowing him to sing the insanely high parts of songs such as “Deep Deep Down” and the gruff, gravely growl of “20 KM Al Giorno.”

The set list pretty much followed the order of the album, with about 10 additional Italian songs thrown in. Some of the lesser known songs like “Dio Como Ti Amo” were a bit more experimental, with a plethora of atmospheric sounds and noises such as dolphin clicks and rainmakers. There were plenty of crowd favorite’s such as “L’Uomo Che Non Sapeva Amare”, “Che Notte” and “Senza Fine,” the former which brought a tear to my eye as its haunting notes traveled high up into the starry, cricket-filled sky. Looking around at the crowd behind me, I could see I wasn’t the only one who was having a truly emotional experience.

Of course, it wouldn’t be Mike Patton without the appearance of his infamous megaphone and trademark screaming. The show’s harder tracks such as “Urlo Negro” really got the place moving around, perhaps to the surprise of some elderly people in the audience. Patton was in manic mode, screaming into the microphone and squatting around the stage. No surprise, these songs brought out the most applause from the Faith No More fans.

Throughout the show the connection of the orchestra was tight, their transitions seamless and their mood was glowing. The Wroclaw violinists were all smiles, egged on by some hammy eye contact from Patton and there was a lot of playful camaraderie between the band.

The crowd was pretty much what I expected it to be. Well-dressed locals who came to listen to moving classical pieces and a Sinatra-esque crooner, as well as hard-core Patton fans decked out in Faith No More and Fantômas t-shirts. What I didn’t expect though was how well the audience received the performance. There were cheers, yelps, and claps after every song; you could feel their energy seeping into the players on stage.

When the last song was played there was a standing ovation that lasted more than a few minutes. Even 10 minutes later when it was obvious it was all over, there were hundreds of people lined up outside the gate to the backstage area, all of them hoping for one last glimpse of the man who made this evening so memorable and so magical.

Setlist:
Il Cielo in una Stanza
Che Notte
Ore d’amore
20 Km al Giorno
Quello Che Conta
Urlo Negro
Legata ad un Granello di Sabbia
Deep Down
Pine, Fucile ed Occhiali
Scalinatella
L’uomo Che Non Sapeva Amare
Ma L’amore no
Canzone
Ti Offro da Bere
Dio Come ti Amo
Storia d’amore
Lontano, Lontano
O Venezia
Yeeeeeeh !
Senza Fine
ENCORE
Sigaretta
Sole Malato

His wife, who is of Italian heritage, must have really struck a chord though, because Patton has not only been living in Italy, but taken on quite a fancy for Italian pop music — and we’re not talking ’90s French europop stuff. We mean classic Italian tunes from the ’40s and ’50s, including the contemporary era of Gino Paoli, The Blackmen, and the late Luigi Tenco. Donning a pencil-thin mustache and white suit, Mike Patton has launched himself soul-first into his newest solo outing, entitled Mondo Cane (pronounced KON-ay).

The truest beauty of Mondo Cane is proven by the same dynamic appeal as bands like Rammstein and Aterciopelados: you do not have to be fluent in traditional Italian speech or opera to fully experience this music. Mondo Cane is a time machine, guided by Mike Patton, a backing band, and a 40-piece orchestra into contemporary Italian pop music, with the usual avant garde flare that makes Patton what he has been and always will be. There are songs that feel purely romanticized in nature (“Il Cielo In Una Stanza”, “Scalinatella”), those that invoke the feeling of a silent film comedy of errors (“Che Notte!”), and those of a mobster swagger circa 1950 (“Ore D’Amore”). There is never a shortage of entertaining moments throughout, and while it may not cater to a vast fan base, this album is one done out of sheer love for the source material — a tribute in its highest quality to classic Italian pop that could warm anyone’s record player in a millisecond.

This is not a rehash of Mr. Bungle and the days of extravagant metal-esque alt rock, but a look into the more eloquent and surreal mind of Patton and his respect for other cultures. When he is not somewhat overpowered by the atmospherics and intros, Patton’s vocals shine brighter than anything a Lionel Richie cover could aspire to. Tracks like the very popular “Deep Down”, with its lounge and dance hall groove, allow Patton room to really echo across the senses with every held note, emitting veritable passion between the chorus and the whispers alike.

The Luigi Tenco piece “Quello Che Conta”, with its Ennio Morricone vibe, could best be placed in a spaghetti western death scene, and its sadness is so tangible and thick you could strip it with a knife. Patton sings gracefully and quietly, the voice of a true artist at work, making love to the music. Even on a more surf rock golden oldies-style song like The Blackmen’s “Urlo Negro”, Patton overturns a wild and energetic track and glazes on his loud, wailing scream to the vocals, making the song itself pierce your very mood. This is probably the one instance where Patton can appeal to both new age alternative fans and their grandmothers simultaneously.

From the opening wide of “Il Cielo In Una Stanza”, to the waltzing bombast of “L’Uomo Che Non Sapeva Amare”, to the raspy smoke room vibe of Gino Paoli’s “Senza Fine” for a close (complete with applause and epic violins and brass), nothing could possibly define this record beyond brilliant and so originally laid down. If one were so inclined, they could easily mistake Patton’s work here to be strictly his own, as Patton has added his own unusual flavor to the vocal performance (would we expect anything less from an Icon of Rock?). The orchestra swoons to the melody perfectly, never trying to overdo itself more than need be, but not shying away from opportunities to shine as wonderfully as the performer; the warmth and colorful textures of the music could only be better served on a nice, crisp vinyl, and there could be no rival to that presentation…period.

By far, the most cut-and-dry perfection to display Mondo Cane‘s transcendent presence is in “Scalinatella”. I know little about the origin of this song, but upon hearing it here, I was floored by the gentle string acoustics and Patton’s ability to transform himself from the typical experimentalist to what can only be described as an authentic representation of old Italian music from a lost 45. Everything from Mondo Cane would fit suitably into a spaghetti western film reel or perhaps a phantasmagoria setting, crafting a scene of smoke and limelight so exhilarating, you are taken aback by its existence alone. ’50s Italian pop, as interpreted by the Californian Faith No More front man…who says it has all been done?

Faith No More was formed in 1981 with Chuck Mosley handling vocals. When Mosley was ousted in 1989, the band replaced him with Eureka, CA born Michael Allan Patton, best known for his experimental rock outfit Mr. Bungle. Appropriate town to birth this virtuoso, no? For nine years, Patton and company became a driving force in metal and alt rock–no one had ever seen a singer like this. He was full of raw energy and his vocals at times felt very alien. While in the early stages, there was heavy focus on the falsetto and nasal-sounding delivery (“Epic”, “From Out Of Nowhere”), Patton’s experimental nature got the best of him and he proceeded to hit his low notes with equal form (“Evidence”, “Last Cup Of Sorrow”) while throwing in the occasional love song (“Ashes To Ashes”). FNM became the tip of a giant iceberg, as Patton had continued working with Mr. Bungle on two Warner Bros. releases during this time (California came out in 1999, just after FNM disbanded in ’98). While Faith No More catered to a wider audience, its exposure allotted Patton a stage for Mr. Bungle’s much needed avant garde attention.

If you were to browse Wikipedia for Mike Patton, you will note that toward the end of Faith No More he dipped his hands in everything experimental: vocal effects (Hemophiliac, Naked City, Painkiller, Fantômas), hip-hop (Rahzel, General Patton Vs. The X-Ecutioners), pop (Peeping Tom, Lovage), industrial (Tomahawk), and advanced improvisational work, including jazz and musique concrete. One fine example of this balancing act comes from a live performance of Tomahawk’s “God Hates A Coward”, where Patton sang his verses through a gas mask while the band was dressed in mock police uniforms (representative of LAPD, most likely).  Some critics argue that Mike Patton has one of the most versatile voices in rock music, able to jump from scat (Fantômas’ Suspended Animation) to opera, to metal screams (Tomahawk), to soulful balladry and lounge (Faith No More’s cover of Lionel Richie’s “Easy”). That may sound like “word vomit”, but Patton’s Ipecac record label (founded in 1991) sarcastically holds on to the idea.

To showcase the supposed versatility of Patton, we turn to the apocalyptic science fiction thriller I Am Legend, starring Will Smith. For those who have seen it, you may remember that the monstrous “mutations”  had no actual dialogue, but instead a series of wavering tones marked by shrieks and screams. You can credit Patton for that voice acting: he performed them all au naturale, without effects pedals or the like. This sort of range could easily give Jonathan Davis of KoRn a run for his money, yet the audience for the Patton acts other than Mr. Bungle and FNM are not nearly that size. So, why is Patton an Icon of Rock? Two main reasons: he is indeed a phenomenal vocalist, but he is also the epitome of the anti-rock star. According to Faith No More band mate Roddy Bottum, Patton’s “only drug is caffeine”. He loathes the overzealous and greedy lifestyles of more famous rock “icons”: Take, for instance, the lyrics he wrote for the Peeping Tom song “Mojo”, the music video of which stars Patton associate, actor, and longtime fan Danny DeVito.

I was introduced to Faith No More properly a couple of years after the break-up. I had heard “Epic” and seen the video multiple times, but I had never put much thought into it. I was still riding the Limp Bizkit and Eminem wave at the time(sue me). The album that hooked me was Angel Dust, a much more chaotic and darker release than the regularly rotated The Real Thing. For a long time, I took this band seriously but never really explored anything beyond it, chalking FNM up to an obscure rock act that never regained its footing in the States post-”Epic”. During a stint at Sam Goody (I am so lame), I ran across Peeping Tom in the used CD aisle. The packaging was stunning, and it was only selling for $5.99; I bought it alongside some old David Gilmour solo work and a Tim Curry vinyl the same day, but Peeping Tom was played ad nausea for a good couple of months. Why? Because I just cannot get enough of this loner vocalist from California.  You don’t need to be a fanatic to get what his impact does to people. You don’t need to own every archaeological release by Patton to appreciate his influence on rock music.

Let me be blunt: “Alternative” is a dying art. Despite a select few acts, alternative rock is becoming the new modern rock at a quick pace; Independent artists are getting more exposure than most ever thought possible. While the creativity still exists, there is now a niche to be filled and a demand to be met. The music industry is constantly trying to combat file sharing, while their business models have been constantly called out for falling apart or needing an upgrade. Mike Patton has circumnavigated this structure by becoming the very definition of what true alternative stands for: traveling beyond the scope of the everyday norm.  Patton is a force that revolutionizes vocal tracks everywhere he goes, and this same motivation allowed for the discovery of bands like The The.

Just think for a second where Patton would have wound up had Mr. Bungle taken off before Faith No More got a hold of him… he might have stayed tucked away in the abyss of long-since-exiled garage bands or the meandering echoes of performance art in California. That nine year run with FNM brought us a man with boundless opportunities at his fingertips. It gave him notability, put him on a pedestal. Alternative might be cliche now, but Mike Patton just strolls along in his own little world, not giving a fuck and doing his thing. On the other hand, Mr. Bungle might have become bigger than Faith No More had it lasted well into this new file sharing age. The “new alternative” crowding the market has placed Patton on the back-burners of entertainment for the majority of listeners, meaning the nostalgia of Faith No More comes up more than Tomahawk or Fantômas.

Do yourself a favor: Find Peeping Tom, Lovage, Tomahawk, and Fantômas.  Hunt for Peeping Tom, Mit Gas, Music To Make Love To Your Old Lady By, and Suspended Animation. Give those albums a good listen, and only then will you know the true icon of alternative that is Mike Patton. I wrote this article having gotten in late in the game, someone who needed a jolt to the system, so you can find that same jolt (any hipsters convinced that everyone knows these names already can bite me).

“We like headlining our own tour because we get to play longer sets. [Mayhem Festival] is fun though, because it opens us up to a bigger audience who [sic] might’ve came to see another band and said, ‘These guys rock too!’.”

“…we’ve pretty much played all over here [in North America], but I’d love to play in Alaska or Hawaii. Whenever we play places like that, people are always happy we came.”

Though nothing is currently set in stone, we are certain that Trivium will pop up in Europe after Mayhem ends. Quite possibly afterward, the band may arrive back in the states before putting writing into the studio late next year.

Shortly thereafter liaison Amanda Moore escorted us to meet with Slayer’s Dave Lombardo, the drummer since its inception (save two albums); he has also been the go-to drummer for side projects like Mike Patton outfit Fantomas.

The “king of double bass” had spoken to press recently regarding changes to his drum kit, so CoS was curious about the trading of toms for cymbals translating to live performance. Lombardo had much to say on the matter:

“It’s actually all fallen into place really easily, ’cause I always had kind of this ability to go from one drum set size to another but I kept the Slayer drums in it’s own…like, ‘This is a Slayer kit.’  [For example] on Fantomas… I’d remove the higher toms and add bongos, and you know add shakers, bells, whistles, whatnot right?  So… this [Slayer] drum kit…I  removed two other drums which for me was a big thing because I’d never done that before, and I think it kind of opened me up to a different approach to my drumming like coming up with different kinds of drum rolls.  I think it’s exciting, I think it turned out really good I’m enjoying it.”

Elaborating on the cymbal changes in the new Slayer record, World Painted Blood, Lombardo was concerned about tone and “adding more dimension”:

“…I’ll go to another, and it’ll go lower [imitates cymbal ride noise] because I was noticing on the demo tapes we were doing at rehearsal before we went into the studio…I was like, “Man, I was just on the ride the entire time’ and there’s just no variety, no changes.  There was changes in music like the guitar playing, but I wasn’t changing [tones].

We asked of future plans with Patton, and though the two have kept in touch, Lombardo claims he would like to work with the latter by late 2010, that is, if plans with Faith No More subside. So, keep your eyes peeled and your fingers crossed for the new Fantomas. On touring with Slayer, there are plans to visit Australia, Japan and Europe post-Mayhem. In lieu of Slayer’s future musical experimentations, Lombardo dispensed his words of wisdom:

“There are parameters, certain parameters…to keep the purity of the band. You can’t venture too far out, because then you know… the creature will deform, and eventually die. We’re here to write, perform, create and entertain… who enjoy listening to music, ’cause see I’m a listener. I listen to music, I listen to what bands are doing and I get into what they do.”

To those budding musicians out there, advice from a master as well:

“Even if it’s just you, playing with a couple friends and jamming, that’s the fun of it you know?  There are some people of course that have made a business out of it… some kids get discouraged when they reach a certain age, guys [when] they don’t make it to the top.  You know what, it doesn’t matter, just play whether it’s in the garage with your friends, at a bar, at your friend’s party, whatever — it’s all about just having fun.”

Between supporting the new record and co-headlining alongside Manson for Mayhem Festival 2009, Lombardo has practically been going non-stop all summer this year — yet he remains on point and energetic as ever before, refusing to “take a breather”:

“I don’t know, vacation really isn’t on my mind. I’m filling in [any remaining] gaps and time with other projects, right now I have a video, a drum solo for a drum song I need to write for [skateboarder] Jeff Rowley. it’s going to be for Volcom Clothing. I’m really excited about that.  Hopefully, a soundtrack with producer Dave Sardy.”

From soundtracks to skateboards, the man does not stop, but that’s admirable. If this year’s Mayhem Festival is any indication, Slayer remains both relevant and in-demand, which means Lombardo has his work cut out for him already. With talent like this, it only makes us hungrier for what’s to come in future days at Mayhem.

Thanks to Corey Beaulieu and Dave Lombardo for taking time out to speak with CoS, and a special thanks to Amanda Moore and Slayer tour manager Jim Caroccio for arranging interviews.

On August 18th, Rich Machin and Ian Glover will release their third full-length effort with Broken. And as been the case throughout Soulsaver’s existence, the duo have tapped to some pretty big names to help out. Mark Lanegan (Queens of the Stone Age, Screaming Trees), who returns after fronting eight tracks on the collective’s sophomore release, It’s Not How Far You Fall, It’s How Hard You Land, will front 10 tracks, including duets with Spiritualized’s Jason Pierce, Faith No More’s Mike Patton, Gibby Haynes of the Butthole Surfers. Also appearing on the album are Richard Hawley, Australian newcomer Red Ghost, and tudio bassist Martyn LeNoble (Porno for Pyros, Jane’s Addiction).

There’s nothing better than bringing in great people who inspire, to keep you on top of your game, and to keep things fresh and never boring,” says Machin. “That’s the nature of what we’ve set up here.”

The release will be headed by the release of “Sunrise” with b-side “You Will Miss Me When I Burn”. The former is Will Oldham’s take on the Lanegan-penned track, while the latter features Lanegan covering Oldham.

Deserts aside, Patton is currently in Europe with Faith No More, so, even if this were true, don’t expect anything anytime soon…

With the lineup announcement for this year’s Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival imminent, the rumor mill is starting to go haywire. However, as we learned today, two of the biggest acts floating around as possible headlining candidates won’t be appearing in Indio, California, at least not between April 17 and 19, 2009.

According to Billboard, despite rumors to the contrary, Faith No More will not reunite at Coachella, quashing hopes for the band’s first live performance in more than 10 years. That’s not to say there won’t be any presence of the legendary California outfit; former frontman Mike Patton will reportedly grace the Coachella stage for a set with beat boxer Rahzel.

Of course, the biggest rumor that hit the web over the weekend was that of David Bowie and what was rumored to be a headlining performance of the musician’s classic 1972 album, Ziggy Stardust. The possibility was first raised on Friday by Australia’s Undercover.com and gained steam on earlier this morning when The Daily Star reported a similar story, but as we learned today, courtesy of NME of all places, the 62-year-old legend will not be resurrecting Ziggy anytime soon. A spokesman told the U.K. based music outlet that “the singer has no plans to play.”

So who is in fact playing this year’s Coachella? Well, there’s still much unknown and until the official announcement is made, which could come any hour now, we won’t know for sure. But if you head on over to our Coachella outlook page, you’ll notice that 28 acts are currently “independently” confirmed either through MySpace, an interview, or other third party outlets. Among the latest names to join the list include N.A.S.A., Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Knux, Christopher Lawrence, and Sir Paul McCartney.

Yes, according to the source who also tipped us off about The Killers and Franz Ferdinand, both of which are shoe-ins to appear, the former Beatle will perform a headlining set at this year’s Coachella. Of course, we would like to stress that nothing is officially confirmed until Coachella says so. Hopefully, that will be sooner rather than later.

For those that don’t know Zorn, he’s a MacArthur Fellowship Genius Grant recipient, an avant-garde saxophonist, a composer of everything from punk-jazz to klezmer. He operates the label Tzadik, which brings together Zorn’s talented friends and music from around the world. In 2006, Zorn put together vocalist Mike Patton, bassist Trevor Dunn and drummer Joey Baron. Leading the three in their music, they managed to put together Zorn’s love of hardcore and his keen knowledge of jazz. 2007′s Moonchild release Six Litanies for Heliogabalus was one of, if not the, best album of the year, and The Crucible follows directly in its footsteps.

The howl on opening track “Almadel” is piercingly difficult to figure out at first. Is that Patton’s scream or Zorn’s alto? But, after some review, it’s definitely both, fused together alchemically. Some might find Patton’s voice familiar and for good reason. He’s handled lead vox for Faith No More, Tomahawk, Dillinger Escape Plan, and others. But his most notable role may have been as leader of the ridiculous experimental metal group Mr. Bungle. Patton’s kind of a male Bjork, flip-flopping his voice like some feral creature, bracing between inhuman growls and absurd whoops. After the howling subsides, Dunn and Baron lock into an airtight, gravelly groove. Dunn, also a Mr. Bungle ex-pat and oft-collaborator with the Melvins, crunches along while Baron (a noted avant-garde drummer who has played with Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie and others) pops at the snare.

“Shapeshifting” has Patton sort of singing a melody in sort of words that remain indiscernible after repeat listens. However the effect is the same. This sort of mystery is exactly what Zorn had in mind when composing and working with Moonchild. His noted interest in magic and alchemy has been reappearing more and more on recent albums.

On Tzadik’s site, Zorn writes that “9×9″ is a “Led Zeppelin influenced track” and it certainly does not fail to live up to that. While the musicianship remains tight (especially with the guest guitar-playing by the astounding Marc Ribot), the tune just doesn’t fit in with the rest of the album. It’s too clean, too…understandable to be a Moonchild track.

Luckily, “Hobgoblin” follows, with Zorn’s sax and Patton’s scream again doing their call-and-response thing, each trying to mimic each other. Suddenly, though, Baron drops into a quick Latin rhythm and Patton starts beatboxing. Much like Mr. Bungle, Moonchild revels trading rhythms and genres at the drop of a hat. This is perhaps most successful as “Witchfinder” kicks into gear, the Masada-influenced, klezmer-esque drumming of Baron underscoring an almost math-rock bass line.

Closing track “The Initiate” seems to hit the closest to Zorn’s home. At once, it sounds like it could be the back line for a jazz jam (put through a couple of distortion pedals), or a Naked City piece. Naked City was one of Zorn’s first composed movements into metal and grindcore, a group that also featured Baron’s drumming. No matter how far Zorn experiments out into the ether, he always keeps grounded in the same place. And that place is always breathtaking, full of weird wonderment, amazing power and lithe musicianship.

Check Out:
“Hobgoblin”
“Witchfinder”