Black Crowes: Before the Frost/Until the Freeze

Artist: Black Crowes
Album: Before the Frost/Until the Freeze
Date Released: September 1, 2009
Genre: American trad rock, blues-rock, rock & roll, hard rock, blues
Rating: 8.2

Few people have noticed, but the Black Crowes are awesome again. It all started last year when the veteran band got back together to put out the outstanding War Paint album; the momentum has been carrying them forward ever since.

Witness this year's effort: An ambitious double album of new material recorded in front of a live audience at Levon Helm's barn in upstate New York. The tracks are vintage Black Crowes with distinctive hints of The Band, The Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan (Chris Robinson sounds downright Dylanesque on "Appaloosa"). And the production values are exquisite; rarely does a live album sound so damn good. Add some incredible performances and strong tracks and you have an absolutely stellar album.

Given their surprising resurgence and reinstated relevancy, the Black Crowes are making a strong case for being one of the best blues-rock bands of all-time.

Them Crooked Vultures: Them Crooked Vultures

Artist: Them Crooked Vultures
Album: Them Crooked Vultures
Date Released: November 17, 2009
Genre: rock, hard rock
Rating: 7.7

There's been a lot of hype surrounding the release of Them Crooked Vultures -- and for good reason: the band is a supergroup consisting of John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin), Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters) and Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age) [I can't help sing to myself at this point, "These are a few of my favorite things..."].

The band is clearly dominated by its guiding force, that being Homme, who performs all vocal and rhythm/lead guitar duties; the album often feels like it could easily double as a QOTSA effort, but that's not to diminish the contributions of the other two band members. John Paul Jones's rhythmic structures and bass progressions bring late-era Zeppelin to mind, while Grohl continues to show why he's one of the most talented and coveted drummers in the business.

Them Crooked Vultures is raw, nasty and heavy -- exactly what you'd want and expect from these particular guys. Track highlights include "No One Loves Me & Neither Do I", "Elephants", "Scumbag Blues" and "Interlude with Ludes."

Bear in Heaven: Beast Rest Forth Mouth

Artist: Bear in Heaven
Album: Beast Rest Forth Mouth
Date Released: October 13, 2009
Genre: indie rock, neo-psychedelia, progressive rock, alternative rock
Rating: 7.9

Beast Rest Forth Mouth is the sophomore release from Brooklyn's Bear in Heaven, a band that incorporates influences from prog, psychedelia, electronica and krautrock. Thanks to bands like Mew and Muse, prog-rock is no longer a dirty word -- but as far as Bear in Heaven goes they're much more like the former than the latter. Where Muse wears its pretension like a badge, Mew and Bear in Heaven take a more subdued and ethereal approach to their music.

Beast Rest Forth Mouth is a prime example. It's an album of steady and hypnotic beats, synthy and spacey rhythmic sequences and dreamy vocals. The tracks are paced and have a shoegaze element to them at times, while frequently coloured with power-chords and some very heavy synth pulses.

Sonically, the album is gorgeous from start to finish; but stronger tracks and a clearer commitment to melody would have propelled this album from good to great. Track highlights include "Beast in Peace," "You Do You," and "Lovesick Teenagers."

The Flaming Lips: Embryonic

Artist: The Flaming Lips
Album: Embryonic
Date Released: October 13, 2009
Genre: indie rock, alternative rock
Rating: 8.2

Embryonic is a surprising and welcome return to form for these beloved freak-rockers. And by return to form I'm not talking Yoshimi -- Wayne Coyne and company have taken inspiration from earlier periods in their storied history.

The Flaming Lips have put aside the glitter and sparkle for this one, replacing it with some lo-fi atmosphere, tons of reverb and many shades of grey. That's not to say the album is gloomy -- quite the contrary. The track "I Can Be a Frog" (which features Karen O of The Yeah Yeah Yeahs) should put a smile on anybody's face.

Sound design and acoustics have replaced melody and sheen; On Embryonic, The Flaming Lips are wild and rowdy -- and at times even a bit jazzy. Embryonic is complex, noisy and experimental, making repeated listens a rewarding experience.

Arctic Monkeys: Humbug

Artist: Arctic Monkeys
Album: Humbug
Date Released: August 25, 2009
Genre: rock, indie rock
Rating: 7.8

The Arctic Monkeys, victims of their intense popularity, have faced some fairly high expectations since announcing work had begun on their third full-length album. It’s fair to say that Humbug is an important album for the band; the effort will reveal whether or not the Arctic Monkeys have the resolve to make it past the two-album mark while still being able to progress their sound.

Queens Of The Stone Age front man Josh Homme produced all but three of the tracks and his influence can definitely be heard at points. This is as heavy as the band has ever sounded and it's fair to say that they've definitely taken on a new direction -- and one for the better.

Of the ten tracks on the album, the first that pricks the ears is third track "Dangerous Animals", which starts with the ominous words “pinned down by the dark", before launching into a hammering riff. Simple but hooky, the song exudes a menacing persona while beaming the familiar characteristics of an Arctic Monkeys song. Following on from the third track is the more subdued "Secret Door", which draws comparison with "The Only Ones Who Know", a track off their previous album from 2007, Favourite Worst Nightmare.

Front man Alex Turner’s lyrics have become more intriguingly themed in places, especially on the final track of the record, "Jeweller’s Hand", where he sings “But you know what it’s like to hold the jeweller’s hand, that procession of pioneers all drowned”, which hints at a potential change in lyrical theme for future work.

The third offering from the Sheffield based-band more than meets the high expectations placed on it. Humbug has a darker thickness to it than their previous albums, elevating it to their most established and conscious record to date.

Reviewed by Asa Masters.

Mew: No More Stories Are Told Today Sorry...

Artist: Mew
Album: No More Stories Are Told Today Sorry...
Date Released: August 25, 2009
Genre: prog-rock, space-rock, dream pop, space rock, indie rock
Rating: 8.4

Review: Who says prog has to be pretentious? The fifth studio album from Denmark's Mew is a meticulously crafted and challenging album that reveals itself only after repeated listens. Fans of Muse will enjoy this release.

Japandroids: Post-Nothing

Artist: Japandroids
Album: Post-Nothing
Date Released: August 4, 2009
Genre: indie-rock, noise-rock
Rating: 9.0

Review: Post-Nothing, the debut from Vancouver duo Japandroids, is one of those albums that could be easily overlooked and passed over as another effort in the suddenly over-crowded noise-rock scene. But closer inspection reveals catchy riffs, shockingly good performances and no shortage of excellent melodies and grooves. And with lyrics like, "We used to dream, now we worry about dying," along with song titles like "I Quit Girls," it's a no-brainer: Post-Nothing is truly one of the best albums of 2009.

Sonic Youth: The Eternal

Artist: Sonic Youth
Album: The Eternal
Date Released: June 9, 2009
Genre: indie rock, alternative rock, experimental rock
Rating: 8.2

Review: Veteran alt-rockers Sonic Youth return with The Eternal -- an album that features many of their hallmarks (including Kim Gordon's acerbic delivery, de-tuned guitars, and flirtations with dissonance), but also a characteristic new direction established by Thurston Moore on his recent solo album, Trees From Outside the Academy (e.g. "Antenna"). One of my favorite lyrics of the year comes in "Sacred Trickster": "What's it like to be a girl in a band?/I don't quite understand/That's so quaint to hear/I feel so faint my dear."

The Phantom Band: Checkmate Savage

Artist: The Phantom Band
Album: Checkmate Savage
Date Released: February 3, 2009
Genre: indie-rock, alternative rock
Rating: 7.8

Review: Hailing from Scotland, The Phantom Band's first studio release, Checkmate Savage, displays some very capable song-writing, but the arrangements could use some work. Musical influences on this album include Pavement and Stereolab. Track highlights include the extremely hooky "The Howling" and "Folksong Oblivion". Checkmate Savage sounds like an album that was produced by a veteran act -- definitely a band to keep an eye on.

Andrew Bird: Noble Beast

Artist: Andrew Bird
Album: Noble Beast
Date Released: January 12, 2009
Genre: adult alternative, pop, rock
Rating: 7.9

Review: Now very deep into his career, Andrew Bird's fifth studio albums features all his vintage trademarks: stellar song writing and lyrics, virtuoso whistling, and plenty of violin; Noble Beast features some of his best violin playing and arranging to date. But it's the influences that Andrew Bird brings to Noble Beast that make it such an interesting and listenable album.

Take the second track, "Masterswarm" as an example. The intro is pure Nick Drake, but it quickly shifts to a groove that sounds like a cross between Calexico and Enrico Morricone. Add to that Bird's violin and you get a track that sounds like something put together by Spanish Gypsies.

On "Nomenclature" Bird channels Thom Yorke -- a strange choice given the country-folk feel of the track. But not surprisingly, it works. And as usual, the fantastic melodies shine through.

Bird's lyrics remain some of the best in the business; a prime example can be found on "Effigy":

If you come to find me affable
And build a replica for me
Would the idea to you be laughable
Of a pale facsimile

So will you come to burn an effigy
It should keep the flies away
And when you long to burn this effigy
It should be of the hours that slip away
Slip away

Despite the obvious influences, Noble Beast is still an Andrew Bird album through and through. Fans will not be disappointed.

Track highlights: "Oh No," "Not a Robot But a Ghost," "Tenuousness."

Antony and the Johnsons: The Crying Light

Artist: Antony and the Johnsons
Album: The Crying Light
Date Released: January 29, 2009
Genre: pop, rock
Rating: 8.3

Review: Among my most anticipated releases of the year, The Crying Light marks the third release from New York's Antony and the Johnsons. The Crying Light features the unmistakable vocal talents of Antony Hegarty, who last year appeared with the frenetically upbeat Hercules and Love Affair.

Going into the album I was expecting more vocal greatness -- and Antony delivers. But what I didn't expect was the gorgeous production, tastefully minimalistic arrangements and stellar song writing. Indeed, while I was eager to hear where Hegarty was going to take his singing abilities, I did not expect the song writing to be so good. Tracks like "Epilepsy is Dancing," "The Crying Light" and "One Dove" shine above their previous efforts as carefully constructed and mature pieces. The end result is their strongest album to date -- and with Hegarty emerging as a very capable composer.

The Crying Light is gentle, tender and delicate. It's colored by emotions that are telegraphed through Hegarty's inimitable vocal talents and through thoughtful lyrics. Themes that run through the album include loss, change and self-reflection. "Another World" in particular is a track that can be read as a lamentation for the current environmental crisis, or as the thoughts of a person facing their own death:

Still have to many dreams
Never seen the light
I need another world
A place where I can go
I'm gonna miss the sea
I'm gonna miss the snow
I'm gonna miss the bees
I miss the things that grow
I'm gonna miss the trees
I'm gonna miss the sun
I miss the animals
I'm gonna miss you all

A beautiful and engaging album, The Crying Light marks the highpoint of Antony and the Johnsons' musical career.

Animal Collective: Merriweather Post Pavilion

Artist: Animal Collective
Album: Merriweather Post Pavilion
Date Released: January 12, 2009
Genre: experimental, rock, indie rock
Rating: 9.2

Review: In what is arguably their best release to date, Animal Collective has issued the most user-friendly album of their brilliant 7 year career. Previous releases, like Here Comes the Indian (2003) and Strawberry Jam (2007) have been gorgeous and intricate, but the experimental nature of their work has often made for challenging (if not difficult) listening -- they've never really appealed to mainstream sensibilities, nor have they really tried. But with Merriweather Post Pavilion, Animal Collective has released their first "pop album" and are now poised to take their career to a different level.

Merriweather Post Pavilion is a showcase for the band and their talents. The album features all the Animal Collective trademarks: sophisticated sound design, modal minimalism, sweeping expanses, fantastic melodies and provocative lyrics. Animal Collective, the duo of Avey Tare (aka David Porter) and Panda Bear (aka Noah Lennox), has produced tracks that are laden with electronic pulses and swells, all while dressed with Brian Willsonesque harmonies and a deep acoustic space. And lest their fans fear that they've gone commercial, their song arrangements are still highly unconventional and groundbreaking.

What makes Merriweather Post Pavilion particularly remarkable is how inherently listenable it is and how it reinvents itself with each listen.

The album also features remarkable cover art in which the green leaf-like objects appear to sway and flow. Indeed, like the album cover, Animal Collective remain one of the most unique and talented bands in the world.

Track highlights: "My Girls," "Bluish," and "Brother Sport."