Wild Beasts Eat Your Lunch And Sing Their Way Out Of Prison.

Hayden Thorpe and Tom Fleming of Wild Beasts share vocals and their delivery and annunciation is  simultaneously fresh and archaic. Hayden’s voice is that of an incredibly talented schizophrenic, switching effortlessly between refined falsetto and a low Mr. Hyde growl. Fleming’s low tenor as well as drummer Bert’s baritone are baroque in the sense that the notes sung are long and sustained, evoking an almost religious emotion, proper and depraved.

The English countryside upbringing shared by the band is beautifully written into their songs. In “All The King’s Men” Bert and Fleming sing a deep backup melody that reminded me of the enchanting and haunting style known as Gregorian Chant. Their singing is jolly, yet serious and rolls along with the drum creating a percussive chant that anchors the song. Benny’s harp-like strings allow Thorpe’s lead falsetto to accelerate and lace itself fluidly throughout the song.

Wild Beasts catalog contains tracks that are like thin rivers covered in sand and small rocks. The sounds they produce tumble and trickle alongside one another colorfully. Even Thrope’s vocals sound as if they are passing through his entire body, like a continuous stream, rather than merely forming at his mouth. Their finest songwriting comes through on “The Devil’s Crayon.” You literally hear Thrope’s voice breaking apart as the song is whipped tight and crashes into a bridge.

www.wild-beasts.co.uk

http://www.myspace.com/wildbeasts

My Ridiculously Belated Top Ten of 2009…with an excuse for being late

Hey all, ace cub reporter of RPM, Ben Foxx here…for those that care, I am amending/changing my Top 10 of 2009 due to a disease which I’ve developed which made the first list come out wrong…ya’ see, last year brought endless waves of Taylor Swift and Jonas Brothers into my life and the results were quite devastating. Every time I heard these cutie-pie, tweenatic, marketing ploy, “Pop Artists” I felt the need to shelter myself from any new incoming music.

By the way, Taylor Swift, I’m onto you…Singing a duet at the Grammys with one of the greatest Female Vocalists in Rock history, Stevie Nicks? – it was embarrasing, quite frankly. Never heard so many flat notes from an “Album of The Year” winner in all my years!
Sorry you had to go through that Stevie!

Getting back to the task at hand…My disease, Swiftian Jonasplexia, made me slack on really listening to all the albums my Ipod  had been feasting on last year (shameless plug for Apple…wanna throw some Ipads our way?)

Anyway, My original Top 10 was (No Order)

Gallows- Grey Britain, Avett brothers-I and Love and You, The Mountain Goats- The Life of the World to Come, Pearl Jam- Backspacer, Mastodon- Crack the Skye, Other Lives-Self Titled, AC Newman- Get Guilty, Slayer-World Painted Blood, Muse-The Resistance, The Veils- Sun Gangs
Late 2008 entry…Fucked Up- The Chemistry of Modern Life

After some serious listening,  I’m sorry  AC Newman, Mastodon, and Pearl Jam
(Pearl Jam, thanks for pulling your embed codes, may have sealed the deal)…you have all been dropped down to Honorable Mention. Your albums are all amazing but I neglected some other albums, who after great moral reflection I needed to add.

Oh and also I gained the balls to put them in order…

here they are:

1. Wild Beasts-Two Dancers

RPM’s intrepid founder, Bob Berman, got this one right.

Melancholy, beautiful, mysterious, complex, challenging….shit my Thesaurus just broke!
Wild Beasts, welcome to an official RPM blog video repeat!!!

2. Gallows- Grey Britain
absolutely ridiculous punk band from England…safe to say their pissed…

3. The Mountain Goats- The Life of the World to Come
Here’s a really interesting video of lead singer & master storyteller John Darnielle:

4. Other Lives- Self Titled
Most underated album of the year…acoustic version of the opener

5. Royksopp- Junior
Get out your bowling shoes and put your pleasure suit on!

6. Jay Reatard- Watch Me Fall
Yes, I forgot to put him on my original list…yes, I feel terrible about it.
It was the disease, I swear!
Great talent lost…R.I.P. Jay Reatard

7. The Veils- Sun Gangs
Brilliant Songwriting…the most important part of it all…and drums…and a bass rig and a van…

8. The Avett Brothers- I and Love and You
Yeah, I didn’t get it either…I and Love and…oh just watch the vid!

9. Muse- The Resistance
OK, I know they are beyond huge at this point but this new album has full-on symphonies (no for real…in 3 parts!)

10. Slayer- World Painted Black
Really don’t want lead singer, Tom Araya kickin my ass…
He just cancelled the tour for back surgery and I’m pretty sure there’s no vid for the album, so he doesn’t need a pissant like me leaving Slayer off the list.
RethinkPopMusic wishes Tom a speedy recovery…hope his Surgeon has horns and a tail!

OK, so as a reward for taking in my late in the game choice of preferences, I give you another belated video tribute…my Late 2008 entry:
Fucked Up- The Chemistry of Modern Life:
To be that fat and hairy and still take your shirt off at every show you have to be great!
Oh and Moby’s a fan…

The Aviation Orange Top 10 of 2009

RethinkPopMusic sat down with The Aviation Orange to find out what were their Top 10 Albums and Singles of 2009.

Albums:

Grizzly Bear – Vecktamist
Wild Bests – Two Dancers
The xx – The xx
Phoenix – Wolfgang Amedeus Pheonix
Passion Pit – Manners
The Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs – It’s Blitz
Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavillion
Built to Spill – There is No Enemy
Islands – Vapours
Bat For Lashes Two Suns

Singles:

Grizzly Bear – Two Weeks
Wild Beasts – All the Kings Men
Karen O & The Kids – All is love
Phoenix – 1901
Lady Gaga – Bad Romance
Miike Snow – Animal
Dirty Projectors – Stillness is the Move
The Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs – Heads will Roll or Soft Shock
Pains of Being Pure at Heart – Everything with You
Pitbull – Hotel Room Service

RethinkPopMusic Best of 2009

RethinkPopMusic’s Top 10 Singles, Albums and Videos of 2009… don’t mind our bias.

Top 10 Singles of 2009

1. Empire of the Sun – “Walking on a Dream”

2. Grizzly Bear – “Two Weeks”

3. Animal Collective – “My Girls”

4. Mumford and Sons – “Little Lion Man”

5. Florence and the Machine – “You’ve got the Love”

6. White Rabbits – “Percussion Gun”

7. Passion Pit – “The Reeling”

8. Manchester Orchestra – “I’ve Got Friends”

9. White Lies – “Farewell to the Fairground”

10. New Villager – “Rich Doors”

Top 10 Albums of 2009

1. Wild Beasts – Two Dancers

2. Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

3. Grizzly Bear – Veckatimist

4. Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion

5. Bat for Lashes – Two Suns

6. N.A.S.A. – Spirit of Apollo

7. Fever Ray – Fever Ray

8. The Antlers – Hospice

9. Paper Route – Absence

10. Miike Snow – Miike Snow

Top 10 Videos of 2009

1. Ambassadors – “Tropisms”

1.The Aviation Orange – “Radio”

1. The Vanguard – “Both Sides”

4. Charlotte Gainsbourg – “Heaven Can Wait”

Charlotte Gainsbourg – Heaven Can Wait from Charlotte Gainsbourg on Vimeo.

5. Yeasayer – “Ambling Alp”

6. Grizzly Bear – “Two Weeks”

7. Fever Ray – “Triangle Walks”

8. The Walkmen – “On the Water”

9. MGMT – “Kids”

10. Miike Snow – “Black and Blue”