#4. Yeasayer - Odd Blood (Secretly Canadian)
A year ago at this time, I was convinced that nothing could dethrone Yeasayer's latest as my favorite album of 2010. From the moment I heard "Ambling Alp" I knew we were in store for something even more exciting than 2007's excellent All Hour Cymbals, and Odd Blood absolutely didn't disappoint. From that first springboard of a single to "Madder Red" with its Veronica Mars-eriffic video, from the crazy rhythmic chaos of "Mondegreen" to the passionate "woah-ohs" of "I Remember," there was nothing I listened to more in the first few months of 2010 - a few months that were bumpier than the bass line of "O.N.E."
But it was when I had the opportunity to hear the songs live last year - not just once, but twice, both in Atlanta and then here for Next Big Nashville - that the album fell a few notches on my list. The passion I heard on the record wasn't matched in person (Atlanta came close but the Nashville show fell disappointingly short), which was a huge shock after having my mind essentially blown by Yeasayer a few years ago at SXSW. Odd Blood is still obviously enough of a favorite to score a spot in the top five, but it lost its grip on the #1 spot not only because of stiff competition, but because the songs that seemed destined to reach atmospheric levels of amazingness live just didn't live up to my expectations.
Recent Comments