And the ball keeps moving on Second Drawer Up's Top Eleven Albums of 2010! Let's jump right in, shall we? Numbers 8 and 7 were chosen through Facebook when I asked some friends to give me two numbers. Simple shimple, easy schmeasy peasy!
8.
RöYKSOPP
SENIOR
When Torbjörn Brundtland and Svein Berge recorded their ebullient Junior in 2009, featuring a multitude of guest vocalists, soaring synths, partying beats, and, yes, a singular sensation of being young and carefree, they'd also put down on tape some more introspective and multi-layered instrumentals that really had no place on such a festive album. So they released in 2010 the followup to Junior: Senior. The Norwegian electro-artistes stated on their website:
"The two albums (’Junior’ and ‘Senior’) have a kinship, in that they represent Röyksopp’s two very different artistic expressions. ‘Junior’ – with emphasis on vocals, accessible melodies and harmonies, has the energy, the inquisitive temper and confident 'hey-ho, let’s go!'-attitude of youth, whereas ‘Senior’ is the introverted, dwelling and sometimes graceful counterpart – brimfull with dark secrets and distorted memories, insisting 'I’m old, I’ve got experince…'. Senior’ is furthermore an album about age, horses and being subdued – with devils breathing down your neck."
And here's what I wrote last year: "Flowing nearly seamlessly over nine tracks and 48 minutes, this entirely instrumental work shines with a languid and chill-out beauty. Hypnotic, meandering, and in no hurry, Senior would make a fantastic soundtrack to an imaginary sci-fi spaghetti Western film with lots of dramatic silences and speculative ennui."
Terrific album; very mellow, it plucks the heart's strings in just the right places, and -- even better -- it's a bit like brain food; Senior takes your mind to a fantastical place, like a spa, and massages your grey matter with tones and moods and feelings. It's just ... right.
Taken from the album, here's track 4, "Senior Living." My Gosh, it's a gorgeous song.
7.
SCISSOR SISTERS
NIGHT WORK
Featuring a cover depicting Robert Mapplethorpe's 1980 photograph of ballet dancer Peter Reed's well-toned ass, and literally chockfull of sharp and edgy disco-saturated shenanigans, Scissor Sisters' third full-length, Night Work, was a direct result of a wholesale scrapping of eighteen tracks, that the band just couldn't coalesce behind. Lead singer Jake Shears fled to Berlin for a few months to "readjust" and it was there, in the sex clubs, cabarets, discotheques, and the music scene in general that a fire was lit in his imagination. Voilá -- a brilliant album was born. Taking its cue from the halcyon days of gay sex and partying before the spectre of AIDS reared its ugly head, Night Work straddles (ha) the fine lines separating pleasure and pain, love and death, joyousness and sadness, and the trials and tribulations of hooking up with strangers after a sweaty night out. The disco sensibilities they explored on their self-titled debut are all here, but turned up to 11. Title track "Night Work" sets off the proceedings with style and flair, complete with buzzing guitars, throbbing rhythms, and Shears' and Matronic's vocals overlaid on the catchy-as-fuck chorus. "Running Out" is probably my favorite song off this record, and my nominee for the next single! I'm telling you - this song soars, man. It's an incredibly, impossibly catchy piece of pop confectionary that seemingly has it all: sharp indie guitars courtesy of Babydaddy and Del Marquis, a fantastic disco beat, and chirping, swooping synths that bring to mind some of the best stuff that late 70's/early 80's Krautrock had to offer. Then on the darker side of things, there's the spooky "Sex And Violence," told from the point of view of a serial killer who kills gay men, trailing his next victim and singing how he's going to do the deed. Chilling. Ana Matronic has a solo song, "Skin This Cat" as well. Featuring a deep, progressive throbbing bass-line throughout with a fantastically fun 8-bit keyboard flitting about like a stoned butterfly, it's something of a turn-on when she purrs, "Here, kitty kitty, let's skin this cat."
Night Work. Simply divine; it's a monumental work.
