Last couple spots

As I'm running out of time to finalize my top album list for this year, I figured I'd cover two albums in this post. First up is Dan Deacon's "America." I gained a lot of appreciation for Deacon when I saw him instruct a group of sweaty Lollapalooza attendees a few years ago to toss piles of garbage into the air in a synchronized act of music celebration. It was unlike anything I'd seen before and probably since. Now maybe that moment was more stage presence than quality of music, but it gained him a place in my music heart.

"America" is not a drastic shift from his previous album, "Bromst." Lots of intricate bells and whistles, interesting song structures. On the surface, his music seems chaotic, but if you listen closely there's a lot going on that is clearly not haphazard. The first few songs of this album are awesome, and the final half of "America" is a string of continuous USA-inspired titles (USA parts I-IV). I applaud what Dan Deacon is trying to do, but I wonder if things become too long and drawn-out. Part IV, for me, definitely produces some head bobbing, but it might take too long to get there. I still like this album as a whole quite a bit -- it'll be battling for a spot in my top 5 for sure.

The second album is Grizzly Bear's much-hyped "Shields." Faithful Claptrapped readers will recall I'm a big Grizzly Bear fan, and for the most part this album doesn't disappoint. "Shields" is bookmarked by two outstanding songs: Opener "Sleeping Ute" starts things off with a bang and might be my favorite song among the group. Closer "Sun in Your Eyes" builds to a heart-felt crescendo that sums up Grizzly Bear perfectly. It's going to be hard to keep this album out of my top 5 from this year.

So I've covered three albums in the past week or so, and I'll say I only have two openings in my top 5 -- so at least one will be excluded. Watch for the Claptrapped list in the near future to see which one I left out.

Divine Fits: "A Thing Called Divine Fits"

I remember being really psyched when I heard a band was forming consisting of members from both Spoon and Wolf Parade. My record is pretty strong on this blog in terms of my support for Wolf Parade -- I'm a huge fan, despite being pretty disappointed in how things ended for them. In the end, the members of Wolf Parade may end up being better separate than together.

So add in another band I enjoy -- Spoon -- and you have a recipe for can't-miss greatness, right? For me, I'd lean toward "yes," but the jury is still out. I like "A Thing Called Divine Fits," the new-formed group's first album, which was released earlier this summer. But I feel like I should like it more than I do.

The first thing that strikes me is that Wolf Parade's Dan Boeckner and Spoon's Britt Daniel sound pretty similar. I can't really complain about this, but I kind of miss the sharp contrasts presented by Spencer Krug in Wolf Parade.

From what I've read, it doesn't sound like this will be a one-and-done-type project. It'll be interesting to see how the creation of Divine Fits affects Spoon. I know I'm all for this "supergroup" continuing to make music. I figure if they could come together so quickly and put out such a solid first effort, things could only get better from here.

I won't say this album will 100 percent make my top 5, but I'd say it's a pretty good chance.

Back in business

Hey! Remember Claptrapped? Yeah, well it's back. I guess.

While trying to come up with my list of top 5 albums for 2012, I figured I'd think through some of my decisions on here. I have a good idea of 3 of my top 5 (sorry, but you'll have to wait on those until the full list is revealed later this month; devastating, I know), but I feel like I have an overwhelming amount of options for those final two spots.

A ton of good music was released in 2012, and I admittedly didn't do a good job of keeping up with it. So over the next couple weeks, I'm going to cover 5 or so albums that I think I will like a lot, but haven't checked out yet.

First up is going to be Divine Fits' first album: "A Thing Called Divine Fits." The band is made up of members of Spoon and Wolf Parade -- both of which I like a lot -- so I figure this is a pretty safe place to start.

Look for my review in the next few days, as well as Claptrapped's top album list of 2012 sometime near the end of the month.

CLAPTRAPPED TOP 5 ALBUMS OF 2011

1. Portugal. The Man - In the Mountain In the Cloud (20pts, 5 votes)

2. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues (12pts, 3 votes)

3. (TIE) M83 - Hurry Up We're Dreaming (6pts, 2 votes)

3. (TIE) The Antlers - Burst Apart (6pts, 2 votes)

5. The War on Drugs - Slave Ambient (5pts, 2 votes)

Claptrappers Lists: 

Jeff Totsch

1. Portugal. The Man. - In the Mountain in the Cloud 

2. M83 -Hurry Up We’re Dreaming

3. Girls - Father, Son, Holy Ghost

4. Cut Copy - Zonoscope

5. The War on Drugs – Slave Ambient

John O’Connell

1. The Antlers - Burst Apart

2. Elbow - Build a Rocket Boys!

3. Portugal. The Man - In the Mountain in the Cloud

4. Radiohead - King Of Limbs 

5. Wye Oak – Civilian

Mickey Waszkowski

1. Simple Math - Manchester Orchestra

2. Portugal. The Man - In the Mountain in the Cloud

3. The Black Keys - El Camino

4. Battles - Gloss Drop

5. MMJ - Circuital

Adam Kosecki

1. Paper Angels

2. The Roots – Undun

Bryan O’Donnell

1. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues

2. TuneYards - Whokill

3. Portugal the Man - In the Mountain in the Cloud

4. M83 - Hurry Up We're Dreaming

5. The Antlers - Burst Apart

Chris Berg

1. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues

2. The Decemberists - The King is Dead

3. The Strokes - Angles

4. Mastodon - The Hunter

5. Cake - Showroom of Compassion

Daniel Haas

1. Portugal. The Man – In the Mountain in the Cloud

2. The War on Drugs – Slave Ambient

3. Smith Westerns – Dye It Blonde

4. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues

5. The Black Keys – El Camino

Album of the Week: Handsome Furs -- Sound Kapital

For those who missed the quiet news, the band Wolf Parade decided to call it quits -- at least for the time being -- last year. I can't say I was surprised by the news (the most surprising part was that I heard about it months after it was announced). Their latest album, Expo 86, wasn't very impressive and almost gave the impression that the band was distracted, didn't give it their all. Given the number of Wolf Parade side projects, it's very possible this was the case.

Luckily for me, I enjoy some of these Wolf Parade side bands -- and they should be able to get me my fix during the group's (hopefully not permanent) hiatus.

Handsome Furs consists of Dan Boeckner (Wolf Parade guitar player/singer) and his wife, Alexei Perry. Sound Kapital is the first album of theirs that I've listened to, and I like it a lot. At least on this album, Handsome Furs sounds closer to Wolf Parade than Spencer Krug's band, Sunset Rubdown, and I would consider that a positive thing. Sound Kapital has some electronic pop elements, but still has all the great hooks of a good Boeckner tune.

So if you enjoy Wolf Parade, give this album a listen. I could also see it being enjoyable for the anti-Wolf Parade people, so don't write it off on principle. Check out closing song, "No Feelings."

Album of the Week: Tune-Yards -- W H O K I L L

When I first heard Tune-Yards, I imagined them as an elaborate tribal-type band. But in fact, Tune-Yards is made up of Merill Garbus -- a white hispterish looking woman -- along with a few contributors. Mostly, Tune-Yards is all Garbus laying down vocal loops and African drum beats.

Tune-Yards' latest album, W H O K I L L, is catchy and different. Some people may not be on board with Garbus' vocals -- they're kind of high-pitched and take some getting used to -- but I advise anyone who enjoys building, complex loops to give this album a chance. It's one of my favorites so far this year.

Check out these clips from Sound Opinions on how the group constructs their songs. Watching her build the loop for "Bizness" is really a treat.

Album of the Week: The Antlers -- Burst Apart

My appreciation of The Antlers' 2008 album, Hospice, is pretty well-documented on this site (third favorite album from that year). It was a chilling album that I found myself listening to over and over.

I wouldn't say the group's latest effort, released in May, drew me in as quickly as Hospice did, but I have found it creeping into my music rotation more and more often lately. It has some electronic elements that I really dig, as well as the familiar haunting vocals and background noises.

Highlight tracks for me come back to back. "No Windows" and "Rolled Together" are really cool tunes. This band reminds me of Radiohead at times, and I think these songs are pretty good examples of why (especially the latter).

Give Burst Apart a few listens. I think it gets better the more you hear it. I'll be interested to see if it will measure up to Hospice for me in the long run -- but I wouldn't be surprised if The Antlers make an appearance on my Best Album of the Year list once again.

Album of the Week: Titus Andronicus -- The Monitor

This album was released in 2010, and while I've liked it for a while, I rediscovered it lately. Titus Andronicus gets its name from the Shakespeare tragedy, but don't think this band is a mellow bunch of bookworms. In fact, they're a punk band with a ton of energy.

This album isn't your typical punk rock album, however. I grew up listening to a small sample of punk -- NOFX, Bad Religion, Operation Ivy, etc. I wouldn't call myself a punk rock aficionado by any means, but I know that most punk songs are straight to the point. Usually no more than three minutes long, with a scarce amount of guitar solos. While "The Monitor" has all the attitude of a traditional punk record, it's much more epic. Songs build, there are guitar solos, some of the songs reach 8 minutes long.

And perhaps my favorite aspect of the album is the way the songs flow into each other. This is truly an album, as opposed to a collection of songs. It may not be for everyone. If you don't like punk music, you may not like this album. But give it a chance and maybe it will surprise you.

Album of the Week: Dawes -- Nothing Is Wrong

I downloaded Spotify last week and I've pretty much been hooked ever since. I figured with all this access to free new music, on a weekly basis, I'd highlight an album I've been digging lately. It might be something I recently discovered or an old favorite, but I'll try to put them up on Mondays from now on.

My first pick is Dawes' second album, Nothing Is Wrong. I didn't listen to this band's first record, North Hills, much when it was released a couple years ago, but I remember thinking it was fairly decent. I think I like Nothing Is Wrong more than the band's debut -- it's good to see the group avoid the dreaded "sophomore slump." This album is a solid folk record, with nice harmonies and subtle --but distinctive -- piano accents.

I've had this album on repeat for the past couple days. Pretty great summer album -- check it out.

A first

This year will mark the first year since the inception of this website that no Claptrappers will be attending Lollapalooza. It seems strange, because Lolla has been such a focal point for this site, and has always been the highlight of the summer of music for us.

But Perry Ferrell and Co. really dropped the ball this year with the lineup. I often find myself complaining about the headliners at Lolla (aside from the year we were treated to Radiohead and Rage Against the Machine), and this year was no different. I had been dreading a Coldplay announcement for a while. I have no interest in Eminem. Muse wasn't a headliner a few years ago, and they still aren't a headliner.

But headliners aside, it was the mid-level acts that really fell short this year for me. Usually these mid-tier bands are what make the festival fun. Last year saw such bands as Blitzen Trapper, The New Pornographers, and Spoon hit the stage in early timeslots. This year has a spatter of bands that intrigue me slightly but not enough to make me want to fork over the $200 for a ticket.

However, some people must be OK with the lineup. All three-day passes -- as well as single-day passes -- are sold out. I just think it was a disappointing lineup to feature for the festival's 20th anniversary. Have to wait for next year, I guess.