Top 5 - Chris Hill
1) Autour de Lucie, Immobile (Nettwerk). Maybe I'll dust off my French dictionary someday, and translate Valerie Leulliot's lyrics, but I doubt it. The few words I do recognize catch my attention like cinnamon/pumpkin perfume, before they fade back into an encompassing, foreign mystery that makes every listen an enchanting experience. Recommended as a soundtrack when you want that "Cary Grant/Grace Kelly, speeding along the French Riviera, balmy summer day" pop music feeling.
2) Tragically Hip, Phantom Power (Sire). Viewing a Dali painting, prolonged attention reveals hidden details. Gordon Downie's lyrics are no different. He blends multiple images and metaphors into songs that reveal themselves one layer a listen, backed by music that, seven studio albums on, still evolves and surprises. The sweet afterglow of "Bobcaygeon" is the sound of love set to music. The other eleven songs are just icing on the cake.
3) Hooverphonic, Blue Wonder Power Milk (Epic). Music for admirers of Frank Lloyd Wright or Ayn Rand's Howard Roark: towering lines, crisp corners, clean presentation. The waifish, delicate voice of Geike Arnaert delivers surrealist lines like "micro liquid feelings will never solve/pacific problems/exotic fish will never be able to walk/as long as we live" with runway poise. The strings only add to the splendor - in "Battersea", there's a Gorecki quality that strokes my cheek with love. That love is returned.
4) Afghan Whigs, 1965 (Columbia). Should albums earn your respect over time? Should albums that set their hooks with one song be spurned as too easy? 1965 is a tramp AND a lady - the first half jumps into bed without conversation, the second wants commitment - and I love 'em both shamelessly. A brilliant fusion of funky soul, lusty guitars, soaring background vocals, and trouser snake lyrics.
5) Notwist, Shrink (Zero Hour). Jazz collides into electronica to form a roly-poly, sugary-sweet Stay Puft man with enough menace behind the marshmallowy goodness to nudge the rating to PG. Markus Acher's German accent tinges his vocals with vulnerability, while the music sounds simultaneously modern and retro, for an atmosphere of pure beat poet cool, filtered through caffeinated synthesizers and gin-soaked strings. Lullabies and theme songs for the modern age.
