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More depression music! But it's all fantastic so it doesn't matter!
Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell (2015)
The saddest album from one of the most consistently sad artists of the past two decades. Stevens' attempt to come to terms with his mother's passing didn't help him do so. If that's the case, then this is the most heartbreaking and gorgeous exercise in futility ever conceived. From a somber conversation with his mother on her deathbed ("Fourth of July") to memories of childhood in Oregon ("Eugene") to romantic feelings and Jesus ("John My Beloved") to contemplating suicide ("The Only Thing"), Carrie & Lowell provides something that will make anyone cry.
Sufjan Stevens - The Age of Adz (2010)
The weird one, the odd one out, the black sheep. All of these phrases have been used to describe The Age of Adz before. Indie folk and chamber pop are traded in for crunchy synths and wails of desperation and loneliness. As emotional as the rest of Sufjan's discography is, there is no experience like "Impossible Soul," a five-part twenty five minute opus of desperation and cruel hope. The other 50 minutes of the album are just as worth it, but "Soul" epitomizes and summarizes the record perfectly.
A Silver Mt. Zion - He Has Left Us Alone But Shafts of Light Sometimes Grace the Corners of Our Rooms (2000)
It wouldn't be early-2000s post rock without a ridiculously long album title, now would it? Given that the band's lineup consists of Godspeed You! Black Emperor members, this comes as no surprise. What is a surprise is the band's sound. Yes, the songs run around 6-10 minutes. Yes, it's extremely conceptual. But the album finds the quietness in the chaos of strings and keys. You can really feel that the album is only performed by a trio (for the most part). Each note is simultaneously improvised and methodically placed. The music truly is the titular shaft of light.
Julien Baker - Turn Out the Lights (2017)
In many ways, Turn Out the Lights is 2017's Carrie & Lowell. Almost every song is a heart-wrenching ballad. Instrumentation is limited, vocals tend to be hushed. Depression and lost love are primary lyrics topics. The obvious difference is the inspiration: the loss of a mother vs. living through each day, depressed and alone yet still searching for hope. Another key difference is that Julien Baker can really belt. The way her lungs practically burst as she screams the chorus to the title track is astounding. After listening to her debut, you can tell that this vocal ability was her secret power. For me, the most powerful musical moment of the past year was when Baker shreds her voice at the end of "Appointments," yelling "Maybe it's all gonna turn out all right, and I know that it's not but I have to believe that it is." That line is all true to anyone who has struggled with depression and serves as the record's thesis statement.
BØRNS - Blue Madonna (2018)
Yeah, it's pretty generic. It's almost a shame, because Garrett Borns clearly has the ambition and the vocal talent to do much more. Even Lana Del Rey can't salvage some forgettable songwriting and bland instrumentals. As much as I hope it isn't true, it doesn't seem like he'll ever top "Electric Love."
Andy Hull & Robert McDowell - Swiss Army Man OST (2016)
The hallmark of a great soundtrack is whether it can exist outside of the film it was created for. Howard Shore's Lord of the Rings score always come to mind. The Swiss Army Man soundtrack easily earns its spot on the list. The work of Manchester Orchestra's Andy Hull and Robert McDowell, featuring the film's stars, Paul Dano and Daniel Radcliffe, is a miracle of vocals and melody and integration. The mostly lyric-less songs serve perfectly as a backdrop for all of the emotions of the film - friendship, the power of love, our inevitable deaths and what happens next.
Porches - The House (2018)
I was a little late onto the Porches hype-train. I wasn't really crazy about 2016's Pool, but finally "Be Apart" grew on me. Then came The House's lead single, "Country." This strange and ethereal ballad completely blew my mind. Even if the rest of the album is somewhat forgettable (and it is), "Country" is one of the best songs of the year. The simple lyrics, dealing with human connection at its most basic, convey so much through so little. Unfortunately, this one song skyrockets above all the rest. "Find Me" is a good continuation of Pool's aesthetics, but that's about it. Otherwise, the album alternates between unnecessary interludes and half-baked songs.
Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures (1979)
It's the t-shirt album! The fact that the artwork has become so closely associated with ignorant hipsters is unfortunate, but the album is just so good that it overcomes it. It's a cliche of reviewing any post-punk album to describe it as "angular," but Unknown Pleasures did it first. From the first notes of "Disorder" onward, everything is sharp. The rhythm section, the midnight guitars, Curtis' depressed poetry. This album has the spirit, and it keeps the feeling.
Fall Out Boy - M A N I A (2018)
I don't know what I expected. "Young and Menace" is atrocious, still. "Expensive Mistakes (Wilson)" is still okay. The rest of the album is cringey and bad. It'll make you crave the days of "Dance Dance." At least you remember that song after hearing it. In M A N I A's case, forgetting is a blessing.
M83 - Before the Dawn Heals Us (2005)
This Will Destroy You - S/T (2007)
If you have ever met anyone who thinks that instruments can't convey emotion without accompanying words, show them this record. This Will Destroy You follows the typical loud-soft dynamic of most post-rock bands, but with the greatest returns since early Explosions in the Sky. It is honestly unfair that the band sequenced "The Mighty Rio Grande" (one of my all-time favorite songs) and "They Move On Tracks of Never-Ending Light" next to each other. This is the one-two punch the band has building up to for the previous half of the album. It epitomizes the power of this kind of music and will rip your heart out.
Shame - Songs of Praise (2018)
It's funny that I also listened to Unknown Pleasures, the great British post-punk album, this week. Shame is a young London band following in Joy Division's footsteps. Deadpan vocals, biting lyrics, and some of the best guitar work of the year make Songs of Praise an exciting debut for the talented band.
M83 - Saturdays=Youth (2008)
M83's first two records exist in their own vacuum in many ways. The primary trifecta of albums would be the run from Before the Dawn... to Hurry Up, We're Dreaming. Each album is a necessary step towards the culmination of aesthetic and style that the latter album is. Saturdays=Youth codified the scream-at-the-sky-while-sobbing emotions and teenage uncertainty that Anthony Gonzalez has been mining to great effect for the last ten years. The fact that a thirty year old French dude is portraying kids' feelings better than any of the kids themselves is hilarious. I'm so happy that that's the case, though, since this album is fantastic.
Panda Bear - Tomboy (2011)
As I mentioned last week, almost no one that listened to Young Prayer would anticipate the psychedelic samples of Person Pitch. However, Tomboy is a clear evolution. The gorgeous harmonies and summer-focused vibes are still here, though they are more subdued. If Person Pitch was lying on a boat in the middle of the ocean at noon, then Tomboy is standing on the dock as the moon comes rises through the muggy air.
David Bowie - The Man Who Sold The World (1970)
Bowie Week #3! This is the record that made people take Bowie seriously. His continued collaboration with Tony Visconti and former Beatles' engineer Ken Scott, plus the addition of now-legendary guitarist Mick Ronson, truly took his sound through the roof. The unexpected redirection to hard rock and glam established Bowie as a pioneer and an icon of musical style. Plus, the first thing he does in the album is basically have sex with Satan in Hell. Just three years prior, he had been writing songs about gnomes.
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