Atone

9. Glorytellers – “Atone”

Atone has seen me through at least two essays since I came across its mellowness, the skilful guitar noodling and shuffling drums giving me a gentle push toward the light at the end of the seventeen-hundred word tunnels. Frontman Geoff Farina’s voice is a soothing, almost conversational cherry atop this self-proclaimed “Western swing” folk album that doesn’t stray from its genre’s comfort zone, but isn’t any less enjoyable for it. (Favourite Tracks: “The Lost Half Mile” and “Just What I Was Thinking”) MySpace, website

8. Ola Podrida – “Belly of the Lion”

Unfortunately, this album was just released a few weeks ago, so I haven’t really had the chance to wrap myself up in it yet, but the band’s previous release is one of my favourite albums, so I know Belly would’ve been higher up on the list if I’d had more time with it. Lead singer David Wingo has again brought in his signature soft, cinematic film scoring touch, but this time around the music is a bit more polished with a higher production quality that’s full of reverb guitars and small, understated slice-of-life moments. On the surface, Belly of the Lion doesn’t have as many explosive or awe-inducing moments as the previous release—nothing as arresting as “Cindy” or “Photo Booth”—but I have a feeling it’ll be an album I’ll keep coming back to when I’m looking for something quiet and beautiful. (Favourite tracks: “The Closest We Will Ever Be” and “Sink or Swim”) MySpace, website

7. Letting Up Despite Great Faults – “S/T”

Every song on this self-titled release follows the same electro-tinged pattern of fuzzy, mumbled vocals and fuzzy, mumbled instrumentals alongside comparatively clear machine drumbeats and clicks. But it’s the shy sound of these youthful shoegazers that elevates the album to a rather heart-warming level without venturing into twee territory. (Favourite Tracks: “Release” and “The Colours Aren’t You or Me”) MySpace, website

6. Pomplamoose – “VideoSongs”

Pomplamoose is the collaborative effort of musical virtuoso Jack Conte and jazzy-voiced, angel-faced Nataly Dawn—a Youtube-ular dream team. Between Dawn’s smoky vocals and Conte’s constant instrumental explorations, this collection of originals and covers (including a sultry take on the Sound of Music smash hit, “Favourite Things”) stands up to many a repeated listen. (Favourite Tracks: “Twice as Nice” and “Expiration Date”) MySpace, YouTube

Creaturesque

5. Throw Me the Statue – “Creaturesque”

TMTS’ latest effort is an infectious and hook-laden affair, radio-ready would anyone give it a shot. It travels in lo-fi / pop-electro-rock circles and has a damn good time doing it. (Favourite Tracks: “Snowshoes” and “Ancestors”) MySpace, website

4. Patients – “Patients”

The force behind Patients is none other than Ben Cooper, a staggeringly creative man who is either part of or is the sole member of five other musical projects including Radical Face and Electric President. Patients, as Cooper explains on his website, is not a coherent and deliberate album, but is instead a compilation of “songs that don’t have a place.” That being said, it’s an obvious labour of love which bears Cooper’s signature style: found percussion, stirring epics that are somehow still restrained, electronic flourishes, multiple tracks within a single song laid with artistic precision, haunting vocals, and, of course, frequent mentions of ghosts. And as if Cooper’s music didn’t speak volumes in and of itself, the whole concept behind the album’s distribution is worth mentioning. Cooper completely funded its production and conceived an almost archaic method of distribution for it. Patients couldn’t be purchased in record stores or even online. In fact, it couldn’t really be purchased in any modern sense of the word; instead, Cooper opened a P.O. box specifically for the project and set up a time-consuming trade system whereupon one hundred fans sent him something in the snail-mail in exchange for the album, as long as the “something” wasn’t money. Take that, internet age. (Favourite Tracks: “Tall Tale No. 5″ and “If You Come Back to Haunt Me”) MySpace, website P.S. Keep checking back in the Features section of the Singing Lamb for my article about a lengthy phone interview I did with Ben back in August.

3. Fanfarlo – “Reservoir”

I was introduced to this album a couple months back, and it’s been sitting extremely well with me ever since then. Reservoir is an exercise in optimism, frequently soaring with perfectly executed percussion and crescendos of the orchestral pop variety. Trumpets, xylophones, violins and bright, open voices come together for celebrations of the everyday turned profound. Yet it never feels overblown, each of the album’s components working with and not against each other for a final product that is humble but still incredibly moving. (Favourite Tracks: “Ghosts” and “Drowning Men”) MySpace, website

2. Phantogram – “Eyelid Movies”

This is a recent find, but given the ridiculous number of hours I’ve since spent with this album living in my ears and head, I’m confident that Eyelid Movies will be a go-to album for years to come. It’s a Spike Jonze wet dream with its thick, cinematic, metropolitan club atmosphere. Sarah Barthel’s ethereal voice is complemented by Josh Carter’s blunt vocal delivery, making for some absolutely delicious melodic moments. Each track feels fresh, offering everything from plentiful electro beats, mellow M83-esque shoegaze pop, hints of rock and dashes of hip hop. But throughout all of its experiments across genre and mood, these songs remain individually and collectively impressive. There is no filler here, only consistently high-calibre tracks. Add to this a) the band’s recent move to Barsuk Records (home of David Bazan, Death Cab for Cutie, Say Hi, Rilo Kiley, John Vanderslice… need I go on? This label’s legit), and b) their current stint of opening dates for Zero 7, and it’s clear that Phantogram are poised to start impressing e’erbody. Just you wait. (Favourite Tracks: “Mouthful of Diamonds” and “As Far As I Can See”) MySpace, website

Years (By One Thousand Fingertips)

1. Attack in Black – “Years (By One Thousand Fingertips”

I had never really taken much interest in the Attackers prior to May 15th of this year when I was leaving a show and a bouncer at the venue below was letting people in for free to the last half-hour of an Attack in Black show. So in I went, not expecting much. But I fell in love. I fell in instant, sonic love as soon as I heard the title track from their latest album, and specifically the line “Would I still get shivers from your silence?” There was an earnest sweetness to the music that I’d never heard from the band before, and I was left dumbfounded and silently swaying for thirty minutes of seemingly fated musical bliss.

If you, for some inexcusable reason, didn’t get on board with the new Attack in Black album sometime before or during the months of June through August, I feel bad for the state of your summer. Years is a soundtrack for the warmer months if I’ve ever heard one. The band down-shifted several gears from previous releases in order to achieve this warm, gauzy sound that brings to mind lengthy, ambling road trips and endless fields that are begging to be traipsed through. You’ll find yourself feeling waves of nostalgia for Birmingham (even if you’ve never been there) and wondering about whatever happened to that girl with the brown curls (even if you never actually met her in the first place). Years weaves its way through folk, rock, and quiet bedroom pop in a way that you can’t help following behind as you search out your own moments of pure summer contentment. It shall henceforth be an integral part of my summers to come. (Favourite Tracks: “Years (By One Thousand Fingertips)”, “Leaving Your Death in a Flowerbed”, “Beasts” and “I’m a Rock”) MySpace, website

- Alie