Beach House - Teen Dream (2010)

Teen Dream is Beach House's prettiest and most upbeat album. Victoria Legrand's voice has never sounded so sweet and comfortable in its range. The layered background vocals and dense instrumentation still capture that woozy late night/early morning feeling, except this time the hangover isn't as severe.

I'm curious to see how longtime Beach House fans like this new album. I was never one of them. But with Teen Dream I immediately liked every song. It's catchy in a lazy casual way. I could see this ranking alongside Merriweather Post Pavilion and Bitte Orca – albums that capture a fringe band pushing themselves artistically and oddly creating their most accessible music.

Really all the songs are great, so you might as well start with the single, "Norway" (mp3).

QuickCrit Music Survey Results - Top 40 Albums (1-10)

1. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
“Another one on the top of various lists. I kept hearing it piecemeal and I kept liking what I was hearing. Too bad about their being French.” - WarMachine

“A month and a half plus of starting out my workday with this album spells out album of the year to me.” - ancient indian wizard

“Always had a soft spot for these guys. Really polished pop songwriting. So tuneful!” - Jeremy B.

“One of the best live shows i saw all year as well.” - Max D.

“The kind of music that can instantly change your mood... for the better.” - NightraiN

“This album just makes me happy every time I listen to it.” - ve1cro

“A band that's even better live, Phoenix makes danceable indie that leaves you feeling happy and relaxed. If you're looking for reasons to hate this band, good luck.” - Mona

“Thought they might be ridding on the coat tails of the MGMT scene and was skeptical at all the hype but this band won me over.” - Layne

“OMG, who knew the French made awesome music?!?! Seriously.” - The Crane Wife

2. Passion Pit - Manners
“Holy dancefest. I introduced this to a coworker who hated it at first and then blasted it on the regular. You kinda want to not like it but you totally love it. If it was a Facebook relationship it would be complicated.” - ancient indian wizard

“Manners has been the #1 release of '09 for months now. Nothing can top danceable indie like this that is creative, inventive, flawless and addictive as hell. In the movie of my life, "Moth's Wings" would hopefully play in the trailer.” - Mona

“It's almost come to the point where I have to be embarrassed by this, but when I'm honest with myself, I listened to this album more than any other this year.” - WarMachine

“For all the ‘Chunk of Change’ lovers who turned into haters: WAKE THE F*** UP!” - Lucas C.

“This is just an all around great album.” - The Crane Wife


3. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillion
“It's a hit!” - HotCatato

“A beautiful album by an aptly named band.” - Jeremiah H.

“Took me a while to actually get into this album but it's really unlike anything I’ve ever listened to (and liked). One of those albums that reveals itself more and more with each listen.” - Max D.

“Probably the most accessible Animal Collective album to date, but then again that's not really saying all that much.” - Mona

“5 years ago I hated Animal Collective. This fact illustrates the beauty & joy of music.” - Lucas C.

“What can I add? This will probably end up being tops on the survey, and rightfully so. I'm just glad they finally dumbed down their music enough so that I could get into it.” - WarMachine


4. Metric - Fantasies
“Put this on and watch me dance the pop spaztastic.” - awmercy

“Their songs pass the campfire test. I appreciate that.” - Jeremy B.

“When I first heard this, I asked myself, why would I listen to Metric when I could just pop in the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs? The answer, of course, is because the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs are awesome and this album has earned the comparison.” - WarMachine

“With lyrics like "higher than high, lower than deep" and "hard to be soft , tough to be tender" the female front woman proves she’s one hell of a song writer too. - Layne




5. Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca
“You can find me stuck in LA traffic singing this song at the top of my lungs.” - HotCatato

“An amazing melodic, at times discordant, audio soundscape. The three ladies singing backup show some mindblowingly innovative acapella chops. Stick with it....it grows on you.” - Tex

“Phew — took me some time to get the hang of this one. Can't say as though I love it, but it's a force, nonetheless, to be reckoned with.” - Jeremiah H.

“While I don't love this entire album as much as some, Stillness is the Move, Cannibal Resource and No Intention are amazing songs.” – WarMachine


6. Neko Case - Middle Cyclone
“Playing this album will get you laid. 60% of the time, it works every time.” - Rain

“She calls them ‘Killer Whales’ but I call them ‘Panda Whales.’” - ancient indian wizard

“Perhaps this is my sentimental best album of the year (certainly, the most heavily played, for me). Neko is a beautiful force to be recokened with.” - Jeremiah H.

"I love the way she says 'killer whales'.” - HotCatato

"’People Gotta A Lot Of Nerve’ is a perfect song. One of America’s great unsung heroes does it again. “ - Lucas C.



7. The Builders & The Butchers - Salvation Is A Deep Dark Well
“Urgent and macabre celebrations of our oncoming destruction.” - awmercy

“Kind of creepy, but kind of good.” - Jeremy

“They took a good thing and made it better. Dark, rollicking and unique. Tell your friends.” – NightraiN









8. Camera Obscura - My Maudlin Career
“I really feel they hit their stride with this album. French Navy is bonkers good! I want to get all kissy face like they do in the video for the song. You should too!” - ancient indian wizard

“Love this band, can they ever do any wrong? This album proves they can still inspire ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ when they sing ‘ooh’ and ‘aah.’” - Mona

“This album is great. It was in the CD player in my car for a long time until I almost burnt out on it and had to take a break. Now Fiest's first album is in the CD player. Although both are good, I like My Maudlin Career better.” - The Crane Wife

“Just popped this in recently and I still love it. Holds together so well as an album.” - WarMachine

“Great updated girl group sound.” - Brasilliant


9. Lucero - 1372 Overton Park
“It's the perfect mix of Memphis horns, country grit, and rock n' roll.” - awmercy

“An album with that rare combination of.. well... everything. Oh the horns!” - NightraiN

“Solid outing from one of my favorites -- the horns grew on me.” – Jeremy








10. Julian Casablancas - Phrazes For The Young
“Can't really explain why this album pulls at my heart strings, it just does.” - ve1cro

“It's amazing how great the Strokes solo efforts have been.” - Lucas C.

Tex's late-ass summer short list...

1. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz (specifically the first 2 tracks)

So far this year, my cups of coffee (which have been more numerous and stronger) have been accompanied by motivational doses of "Zero" and "Heads will Roll". Nothing makes me garden harder.

2. Dark Was The Night Comp

So much F'n relevent talent, it makes me feel bloated with rainbows. My favorites right now are the tracks by Yeasayer, Dave Sitek, Antony +Bryce Dressner, Riceboy Sleeps (who the fuck are THEY? awesome.) and Spoon (I didn't think I cared for them.).

3. Mos Def - The Ecstatic

Best non-ironic/semi ironic hip hop to come out in the last 3 years, at least. "Quiet Dog Bite Hard" is another great cold cup of coffee, splashed in the face.

4. Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca

Perhaps the best deserved hype in quite some time. I'd been reading about this album for about 3 months before NPR did their whole "Stream-it-for-the-week-before-it-comes-out" brilliant scheme they've been doing this year. The one and only review I've written for Quickcrit! I can ALMOST guarantee this will be #1 on my end of the year list.

5. Away We Go

Saw this movie last weekend. Enjoyable beyond anything I've seen in the last few years. Funny, touching, thought provoking. But what brings me to mention it here is the soundtrack, predominantly featuring (according to the wikis) "reclusive, scottish songwriter" Alexi Murdoch. His songs set the tone for the journey.....melencholy, hopeful, lonesome.

Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca (2009)

Besides the Yeah Yeah Yeah's It's Blitz, I've been having a hard time finding any new music this year that was blowing my mind. Lots of kind of floppy follow-ups and disappointing debuts from promising artists.

I'd never heard of the Dirty Projectors before maybe February...but all of a sudden I was hearing a lot about them. This is apparently their fifth album and they were featured on the tremendous "Dark Is the Night".

Listening to Bitte Orca is a bit like licking a 9v battery. It's anticipation and a mild, but palpable surprise. It's confusing at first, but intriguing. And then you start hitting that shit, like, a couple of times a day.

I can see why they were paired with David Byrne on Dark Was the Night and Bjork (doing whatever thing they were doing that I didn't bother to read about), there are easily recognizable influences abound. I'm also hearing some Antony, and maybe a hint of Sufjan.

Hey Dirty Projectors. You're kind of blowing my mind right now.