LCD Soundsystem - This is Happening (2010)

It's too much for me. Today I listened to this and Joanna Newsom's Ys. It was music to my ears, for sure.

I wonder if I got a different listening experience from This is Happening compared to most. Happening stands as LCD Soundsystem's farewell album, but as someone who hasn't really given them much of a listen, Happening didn't have that bitter-sweetness attached to it.

But I could tell that Happening was emotionally charged. It's a dance album first, and a goodbye second. Lyrically, James Murphy and co. aren't very complex, but they say a lot with simple words. I love the opening to "I Can Change" for example.

Tell me a line make it easy for me/
Open your arms/
Dance with me until I feel all right/

Juxtapose this desperation with the active, pulsating beats, and you've got great music. This is Happening works as something to dance to, but there's also a thoughtful, mature side. Not many artists can get away with seven, eight minute long tracks, but LCD Soundsystem pulls it off in stride. Surprisingly, This is Happening never gets repetitive. With every passing minute, it only gets better.

9.5/10

Joanna Newsom - Ys (2006)

On Friday, indie Joanna Newsom will release her fourth album, titled Divers. She's certainly in my good books due to her collaborations with filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson, but after listening to Ys, how high does she rank in those books now?

Very, very high. Ys is incredible. Clocking in at a little under an hour, the album only has five songs, the longest one near sixteen minutes. Yet all five songs are marvels of storytelling. No artist I've heard sounds quite like Newsom. Somehow, her shrill voice is refreshing. Her harp never sounds like anything less than magnificent too... even with bare instrumentation, Ys sounds massive and masterful. I think what might make Ys so great is the songwriting, which is simply transporting.

Say "yes" to Ys. It's certainly too soon for me to say for sure that it's perfect, but it's a masterpiece.

9.5/10