5 albums that came from nowhere

I've noticed that a lot of the cool kids are making mid-year music lists; just like year-end lists, but with only six months of material. Given how much brilliant music I've consumed, digested and burped up since January, that would be a sinch. However, I figured that to be a great blogger, you have to stand out from the crowd. So I present a series of Rob Gordon Top Fives of the first half of 2006 for your enjoyment.

#1 Marit Larsen - Under The Surface

This one takes the cake. One of the former members of a group who sang a cheesy pop song for the Pokemon movie soundtrack, of all things, comes out with an amazing blend of country hoedown, MGM musicals and 80s pop. Nowhere on the packet did it claim that this would work, but it does.

#2 Beirut - Gulag Orkestar

Sure, it's a minor blog sensation, but I don't think anyone talking about Beirut two months ago would have meant anything other than the Lebanese city. Taking a leaf and a few members out of Neutral Milk Hotel's book, Brooklynite Zach Condon channels the spirit of Balkan folk music and creates something that begs to be heard on a short-wave radio while your grizzled old uncle pours out shots of some foul-smelling potato spirit.

#3 Gregor Samsa - 55:12

This band has apparently been a staple of the Richmond, VA scene for some time, but to an Aussie they might as well have come from outer space. Borrowing from every chapter of the post-rock busker's handbook, Gregor Samsa manage to fashion something new and transcendent from the spoils of their magpie-like foraging.

#4 Casiotone for the Painfully Alone - Etiquette

For home recording afficionados, I'm sure Owen Ashworth's previous three albums have been minor treasures. This album, his first to gain wide release and this little blogger's attention, takes his lo-fi storytelling to a whole new audience. Etiquette is packed with bittersweet stories of twentysomething life, told over a blissful second-hand-store electropop backing. It's so unassuming you'd hesitate to call it a 'concept album', but in the best possible sense, that's exactly what it is.

#5 Phoenix - It's Never Been Like That

I've written before of my frustration at this band's failure to live up to the awesome potential of their singles, but this album was a pleasure from start to finish. It grabs the listener on the first spin and yet manages to reward repeat listens. Thomas Mars and his Gallic cronies loosen things up just enough to let some fun invade their robot AM pop.


Coming up tomorrow - 5 albums that we always going to be awesome

Categories: Indie
Tags: new-albums; top-five-lists