SDU's Top 11 Albums of 2010! (#s 4 & 3)

So! Here we are -- well over halfway through our special little list of our favourite eleven albums of 2010. Today we have numbers four and three for you. So we recommend you fix yourself your favourite beverage, sit back in your comfortable (at least we hope it's comfortable) chair, and read today's entry! You'll be happy you did. Especially if that chair's a comfortable one. Going on ...

4.

DIE ANTWOORD

$O$

I still remember when Die Antwoord first entered my consciousness. I was browsing my preferred go-to site for all things cool and interesting, BoingBoing, and one of their South African correspondents had written a missive on this fascinating rap-rave crew from Cape Town whose sound was unlike anything he'd heard before. The accompanying video was unlike anything I'd seen before. An impossibly tall and skinny blonde man (NINJA) covered with primitive tattoos, a diminutive tomboy girl (¥O-LANDI VI$$ER) with a funky platinum fringe haircut, and a huge DJ (HI-TEK) with a massive talent for human beatboxing were holding court in the hot South African sun and talking about a concept called "ZEF". Frankly, I couldn't take my eyes or ears off them, and I thought to myself, These guys are fucking crazy. They're going to be HUGE.

So when the trio finally dropped their debut album $O$ in November, I snapped the fucker up. And I've got to tell you: this record has got to be the most original I've heard in many a moon, dude. It's startling. Racing breathlessly from genre to genre, $O$ never plays it safe -- it's loud, it's in your face, it's brooding, and it's gleefully profane. Now that I think about it, that's what "ZEF" is really all about. All I can say is this album is "fokken" brilliant. Check it. 

3.

ZOLA JESUS

STRIDULUM II

A concept album of sorts, based on a cheesy 1979 science fiction film called The Visitor, Stridulum II by Zola Jesus (the stage name of Phoenix, Arizona singer Nika Roza Danilova) is an attempt to discuss the powers of good and evil that rest on the weary shoulders of a young woman who is caught between the pulling forces of the two. Here's what I wrote: "This is quite literally a thrilling album, deep and mysterious and full of emotion. From the opening number 'Night' to closing time with 'Lightsick,' Danilova brings to mind the best vocal performances of Siouxsie Sioux and Kate Bush, splashing and dashing the flavour with sleek and dark synth brushstrokes and a mighty dollop of mezzo soprano classicism. Something dark and wounded in the night; a decision upon which balances the difference between success and failure; a heavy head, lost in the fog of confusion; and the blindness that careens from the deepest pits of despair -- this is not a happy record."

Here's the video for my favourite track, "Sea Talk." Like a funeral dirge backed by towering organs and a militaristic drumbeat, when Danilova sings, "Sick / I'm sick, honey / I don't, I don't got the money / Do you want a raincheck?" you can feel the raw emotion all the way down your backbone. Enjoy.

SDU's Top Eleven Albums of 2010! Numbers 11 & 10

SDU's Top Eleven Albums of 2010! Number 9

SDU's Top Eleven Albums of 2010! Numbers 8 & 7

SDU's Top Eleven Albums of 2010! Numbers 6 & 5

Album Review: Zola Jesus.

STRIDULUM II

ZOLA JESUS

©2010, Sacred Bones Records

Wow. I mean, just ... wow. I really don't think I have the arsenal of words needed to describe this record and do it justice but, I'll try. 

The story behind Zola Jesus' revelatory Stridulum EP and its fleshed-out followup LP Stridulum II begins with a chance viewing of a rather obscure film from 1979 called "The Visitor." Known also by its Italian title of "Stridulum," this whacked-out movie is essentially an LSD trip recorded on camera, centering around a young girl with telekinetic powers who possesses in her both the seeds for good, and the seeds for a powerful force of evil that may spell the end of civilization. Directed by Giulio Paradisi and with a cast featuring the likes of Mel Ferrer, Lance Henriksen, John Huston, Shelly Winters, and Sam Bloody Peckinpah, it's a weird cult film that was, shall we say, interesting.


This film, particularly a scene in which "Goodness," personified by John Huston, comes down from the sky in a cascade of doves and light and attempts to "wash away" the girl's bad side (and the accompanying soundtrack), did not go unnoticed by a young woman in Phoenix, Arizona named Nika Roza Danilova. Known by her stage name of Zola Jesus, and with ten years training of opera singing under her belt, she was inspired to record Stridulum and, as it turns out, one of the best albums of the year, hands down. 


This is quite literally a thrilling album, deep and mysterious and full of emotion. From the opening number "Night" to closing time with "Lightsick," Danilova brings to mind the best vocal performances of Siouxsie Sioux and Kate Bush, splashing and dashing the flavour with sleek and dark synth brushstrokes and a mighty dollop of mezzo soprano classicism. Something dark and wounded in the night; a decision upon which balances the difference between success and failure; a heavy head, lost in the fog of confusion; and the blindness that careens from the deepest pits of despair -- this is not a happy record. But the music! And her voice! It soars and falls, like tendrils of the blackest smoke you've never seen ... it's a revelation to listen to. At times hopeful, at times bleak, and never, ever less than fascinating, Zola Jesus has created something strange and special -- something that, once heard, can change the way one listens to music. It's that damn good. Pay special attention to "Sea Talk." Like a funeral dirge backed by towering organs and a militaristic drumbeat, when Danilova sings, "Sick / I'm sick, honey / I don't, I don't got the money / Do you want a raincheck?" you can feel the raw emotion all the way down your backbone.


This powerful and emotive record is now officially a contender for Second Drawer Up's Album of the Year. Check it out, by all means. You won't regret it at all.

zola jesus

"sea talk"

stridulum ii