our top two albums.
2. Noble Beast, Andrew Bird
Andrew Bird is the master of the pop song. Ok, he may not exactly be the image conjured when I say "pop artist," but he is, nonetheless, an expert at crafting catchy, memorable, and clever melodies, songs that get lodged in your head for days. But the depth of his work is far beyond casual pop fare. His lyrics test the comprehensiveness of your vocabulary and your dictionary. He expects you to think about what he creates, and his work benefits from the effort. In Noble Beast, Bird built one of the most ornate and beautiful albums of the year, swooning violin and ethereal whistling and all. The brief, but oh so majestic interlude "Unfolding Fans" sits between the masterful one-two punch of "Not a Robot, But a Ghost" and "Anonanimal." Bird's talent is such that even the bonus disc, "Useless Creatures," has several gems of its own.
1. Veckatimest, Grizzly Bear
Grizzly Bear's second album, "Yellow House," was an intoxicating blend of folk and experimental rock, its complex layered vocals and dreamy instrumentation make for wondrous travels through dark aural woods and fields. When Grizzly Bear released Veckatimest, anticipation was running high; fans expected great things, and great things are exactly what Grizzly Bear delivered. The album’s opener is an absolutely epic, rolling folk anthem, and the rest of the album just follows from there. Every song is eerie and beautiful, dark and foreboding. By the time the listener reaches “Foreground,” the transcendent conclusion to the lush album, they are overcome by the masterwork that is Veckatimest, and it is a masterwork, through and through.
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