A little bit of sound advice: Gregory Adams

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      Gregory Adams

      Between quitting my day job, travelling overseas for the first time, and turning 30, my life saw some significant changes this year. Not so much on the music front, though. Let’s just chalk that up to 2010 being a banner year for a number of music vets.

      The Walkmen
      Lisbon
      Whether backed by sorrowful Spanish horns (“Stranded”), rollicking Ventures-style surf rock (“Woe Is Me”), or train-hopping hobo country (“Blue as Your Blood”), Hamilton Leithauser sings of failure in many ways on the Walkmen’s latest. But even though Lisbon marks his moments of crumbling romantic relationships, early-30s malaise, and heartbreaking acceptance of it all with the saddest of smiles, the singer still reminds us that life goes on.


      Listen to "Blue As Your Blood" by the Walkmen.

      Twin Sister
      Color Your Life
      If not for the Long Island outfit’s awesome take on polyrhythmic art disco and Cocteau Twins–style dream pop, then for the fact that I put intoxicating indie slow jam “Lady Daydream”, anchored by Andrea Estella’s coquettish cooing, on every playlist I’ve made since the spring.


      Listen to "Lady Daydream" by Twin Sister.

      Best Coast
      Crazy for You
      There’s a lot of neediness on Bethany Cosentino’s bipolar beach-pop debut. But whether she’s waiting by the phone for a beau to call on “Boyfriend” or lazing woefully in an empty bed on “Our Deal”, she masks her insecurity with some of the sweetest and sunniest vocals of the year. Being clingy never sounded so good.


      Listen to "Our Deal" by Best Coast.

      Arcade Fire
      The Suburbs
      That Arcade Fire managed to craft an album so huge in scope and depth yet come across as extremely humble is a feat in itself. The outfit’s third long-player cranks out some excellent arena anthems (“Ready to Go”, “Month of May”), but it’s the autumnal grace of its tender canyon-country title track that keeps me coming back for more.


      Listen to "The Suburbs" by Arcade Fire.

      Deerhunter
      Halcyon Digest
      Bradford Cox keeps up his winning streak with yet another effortlessly amazing collection of lo-fi, psychedelic garage numbers. That said, electronic experiments like the molasses-drip snap beat on “Earthquake” further blur the differences between Deerhunter and his Atlas Sound project.


      Listen to "Don't Cry" by Deerhunter.

      Atlas Sound
      Bedroom Databank Vol 1-4
      Still on the subject of Cox, this sprawling 49-song digital box set from his side gig explores the singer’s every whim and fancy, from slacker pop to back-porch Americana to acid-trip electro-noise to shoe-gazing soul music. Both enormous and essential.

      Spoon
      Transference
      Transference’s bizarre cut-and-paste production style may have spruced up the Spoon formula for 2010, but thankfully, Britt Daniel’s penchant for penning timeless indie rock infused with blue-eyed soul (“Mystery Zone”) remains unabated.


      Listen to "The Mystery Zone" by Spoon.

      Ceremony
      Rohnert Park
      While veteran Bay Area hardcore act Ceremony tones down its thrash attack on Rohnert Park with mid-tempo postpunk in the vein of the Fall, singer Ross Farrar’s glass-gargling wail keeps the band as uncomfortably aggressive as ever.


      Listen to "Terminal Addiction" by Ceremony.

      The National
      High Violet
      It took me a while to warm up to the National, but High Violet’s epic yet elegant odes to the awkwardness of adulthood had me about as dizzy on the band as I would be if I were guzzling down glass after glass of sorrow-tinged bubbly.


      Listen to "Lemonworld" by the National.

      Beach House
      Teen Dream
      Though it’s not entirely different than 2008’s Devotion, somehow Beach House’s hitherto heartbreaking organ-and-guitar jams shine with a new self-confidence and joie de vivre on Teen Dream. Happiness is actually quite becoming on the group.


      Listen to "Norway" by Beach House.

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