32.

Liars
They Were Wrong So We Drowned
(Mute, 2003)

I don’t know why the most critically reviled album that Liars have put out is my favourite (well, to a certain extent I do), but I guess I also don’t understand why people hate it so bad. The album embodies all of the horror and grit and ugliness that Liars have to offer and that is what makes it so awesome. No one goes to a Liars show expecting to see well groomed dance punk revivalists anymore right? No, these guys are dirty and it only fits that their music is just as dirty. Besides, They Were Wrong has plenty of booty shaking moments, they’ve just added a lot of noise to the formula which is rarely a bad move when you are making primal, gluttonous rock. Oh, and you’ve got to love the lyrics: “We are the army you see through the red haze of blood.” Yes Liars, you are.

-Thistle

19.

The Knife
Silent Shout
(Rabid/Mute, 2006)

I came to Silent Shout way after the fact and, on my first listen, I didn’t get what all the fuss was about. However, on my second listen I tripped and fell deep into the bizarre electronic rabbit hole excavated by this genius brother/sister duo. Sassigrass and I almost solely listened to this album on a cross-country road trip from SLC to D.C. and back. I don’t know what type of Scandinavian bewitching powder these two used on Silent Shout, but it has kept me entranced and increasingly ensnared after every listen. One of the creepiest, kitschiest…you know what? I really don’t know. It simply it is what it is. There is nothing quite like it. In other breaking news, and in an effort to continue my ill-fated habit of pre-emptively announcing an albums placement on a best of list before hearing anything else: after having heard “Colouring of Pigeons,” the new track off of Tomorrow, In A Year, I think Sassigrass and I both are prepared to announce the album as the best of next decade. Seriously, If you haven’t heard it yet, you best get your priorities straight. Check it here: http://www.theknife.net/

-Thistle

Liars - Liars

Liars
Liars
(08.2007, Mute)
7.0/10

Liars have created a quick follow up with this their 4th, but first self-titled release. Coming off the return to critical acclaim that Drums Not Dead provided (just as a note They Were Wrong So We Drowned is my favourite Liars album to date and it got wasted critically; goes to show what critics know…wait, uh, well FG are fake critics anyway :)) Liars seem to have taken some additional confidence in their abilities. The band continues on the chameleon path they have been driving over the years. Definitely the most accessible release since their debut, Liars has bridged the gap from Drums Not Dead to a poppier use of their precious drums and a further advancement into their meshing of experimentation and rock sensibilities. Unfortunately, while the album does find some points of enjoyment the majority is dry and lifeless. The Liars have always been known to challenge their fans and for me this is a blatantly challenging album in that it seems to lack any of the heart or fun of their previous releases. It is definitely new ground for the band (I can't argue creative stagnancy), it's just that I would never guess that making something so much easier to swallow would make it additionally more inaccessible. Leave it to the Liars to destroy all concepts of logic.

-Mr. Thistle

Liars - "Cycle Time"

The Knife - Silent Shout

The Knife
Silent Shout
(2006, Mute)
9.5/10

I am always skeptical but never fail to be blown away by the superb recommendations of the mighty indie music juggernaut Pitchforkmedia. It was only a short time ago that I half heartedly accepted listening to The Knife over a half year after Pitchfork announced Silent Shout as their number one album of 2006. Initial listens confirmed my apathy, splaying taboo euro-techno drums and synths with awkward, processed vocals. I don’t know quite what compelled me to make repeated listens really, but those subsequent listens have absolutely floored me. I have literally had the album on repeat amongst scores of incredible, enticing new music that I could be listening to. It is the first album to do that to me since Joanna Newsom’s Ys. I feel like I can’t keep listening to Silent Shout or else my 2006 gem (and Forest Gospel’s #1 of ’06), Joanna Newsom’s Ys, may be in danger of a retrospective rank toppling. That type of talk may just be from shock but it still isn’t verifiably impossible. The Knife’s Silent Shout is an absolutely unequivocal modern masterpiece. The difficulty is becoming familiar with and used to instrumentation that seemed to played out even in its hayday of the 1980’s. As previously experienced, you will likely play the first tracks and be wondering to yourself how anyone got suckered into buying into this Swedish hype. Patience though is the key here. The album must be consumed as a whole – only then will the kitschiness dissipate and the pure satisfaction of the album bleeds through. Slowly, one by one, every element from the seemingly inadequate drum machine to the apparently juvenile vocals will find their place and suddenly there is no turning back- you have already listened to the album 5 times in a row.

-Mr. Thistle