Justin Vernon of Bon Iver has come out of hibernation and is releasing music at a maniacal pace. Following the success of 2008's For Emma, Forever Ago and this year's Blood Bank EP, he has teamed up with instrumentalists from Collections of Colonies of Bees to form Volcano Choir. "Island, IS" features a simple, twinkling melody and is completely possessed by Vernon's vocals. He paces himself here, crooning and howling by turns, and cooks up a mid-tempo swooner.
Metric's big breakthrough comes by following in the footsteps of one of the biggest songs of the aughts. Its predecessor in girl-power rock balladry, Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone", illustrated how to take quavering verses into exultant highs in the chorus and make no apologies. Metric jumps on board and charts a course for Rock Island, navigating the highs and lows with aplomb and daring you not to sing along.
Passion Pit has wound up squarely in the love 'em or hate 'em category, due to one thing - falsetto. It's the trademark vocal style in play on every song, and "Sleepyhead" cashes in. After a musical Valentine to his lady got rave reviews from his buddies and turned into the Chunk of Change EP, the full-length Manners peaked when Michael Angelakos nailed the mix of Everest-high hooks, synth squiggle and gentle percussion.
Wolf Parade, since the wild success of Apologies to the Queen Mary, keeps on spinning off in every direction. Which side project you will like the best is kind of a stylistic toss-up between the dancier Frog Eyes, the fanciful songcraft of Sunset Rubdown, the belated proto-punk bluster of Handsome Furs, and the undeniably proggy Swan Lake. Handsome Furs, the only one of the above to feature Dan Boeckner instead of Spencer Krug, went fishing and reeled in a big one. Why go crate-digging when you can take a hit like New Order's 1982 single "Temptation" and redirect it? Eschewing the obvious moments, Handsome Furs take the verse structure and twist each line in their own way, building their own chorus out of momentum and an incongruous but well-chosen element of twang.
Miike Snow's story, which I've referenced before (a Swedish production duo whose previous claim to fame was engineering Britney's Toxic) would make you think their own project would most likely veer in the direction of NERD or a Timbaland solo joint. Here, they prove again and again that they're quite content to craft modest electro-indie pop songs without a name-heavy list of guest contributors. "Animal" may in fact be so catchy because it's practically a children's song. Simple, fun lyrics that almost mean something, bouncy, and always worming its way back into your head, this is bubblegum laced with heroin. So if you give it to your kids, please have an exit strategy.
The New Pornographers are a big deal. They record wonderful pop and they all have very successful side projects. Neko Case's reverb-soaked alt-country jaunts are great. Dan Bejar's Destroyer is always one album and a couple of refinements away from a Kid A-level masterpiece that will spearhead rock's next big jump forward. A.C. Newman, however, has a problem. He makes power-pop that isn't really that different, stylistically speaking, from the New Pornographers. The problem, then, is that he's better. He's just plain better at making gorgeous power-pop ballads than the full-on supergroup (The Slow Wonder sadly embarrassed the NP's excellent first three albums). His songs consistently have every feature they need and not a single one they don't - streamlined nuggets of awesome. "Prophets" is the high point of 2009 release Get Guilty because no matter what you think a great pop song needs, you will find it here.
Teen Dream, their newest album, doesn't drop until January 26. "Norway" snuck out early and couldn't be denied, showing growth in all the right places (no, that's not sexual - I only want to marry Victoria Legrand for her voice). I didn't think "Norway" had a big, rousing chorus until it got stuck in my head more any other single for the entire month of November. And most of December. "Nooor-wayyyy aaaayeeeyay eh-eh-eh-eh-eh." Yeah-eh-ah, you should cop this.
Moving farther away from traditional instrumentation somehow only emphasizes how easily Karen O can carry a song. Her backing for most of the song resembles nothing so much as a helicopter with appropriate melodic shifts. Which is pretty badass, so just get in and take a ride already.
Joker is hot right now. He's only 20 and has been putting out a steady string of singles this year that will blow your mind. Fresh out of Bristol, he's being called grime and dubstep's "Next Big Thing" all over the blogosphere. "Stuck in the System" and "Purple City" have a case to make this list as well, but "Psychedelic Runway" is a blue-collar epic scratched out of deep bass, Detroit synths and 808's by hand. Uphill both ways. In the snow. Without any words.
This late-year surprise new artist has a big voice with enough soul to cut past Amy Winehouse and directly channel the divas of the 70's. "You've Got The Love" is half soul, half rock'n'roll, three quarters brilliant and 100% a sign that this girl is here to stay.
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