Yeah I'm sure not many people would really agree with me there. I know they're not really similar, but I think they're both a similar kind of band, one with big crossover appeal. They appeal to the late 20s/early 30s crowd. But I find The National's popularity somewhat mystifying while The Walkmen - to me - seem like a much better band all around.

Hmmmm, I really like Fang Island, so I may be checking out Daughters. I know, I know, they're different.

From AllMusic: Some bands love having very ironic names. When a band is called Daughters, listeners might expect: (1) a female-dominated or female-fronted lineup, and (2) an introspective folk-rock or adult alternative approach along the lines of the Indigo Girls, the October Project, or 10,000 Maniacs. But those who have been following Daughters since their official formation in 2001 (or before that when they were As the Sun Sets) know that they aren't a female act and that they don't sound anything like the Indigo Girls, the October Project, or 10,000 Maniacs. Daughters are guys, and they're guys who provide a jagged, dense, highly abrasive dose of noise rock on this self-titled 2010 release. Daughters have been described as everything from mathcore or math metal to alternative metal to grindcore (although this album doesn't sound like Cannibal Corpse or Carcass), but noise rock is the term that best captures Daughters in 2010 -- and make no mistake: this is an extremely noisy album. Daughters thrive on being as noisy as possible, and they love to be as frantic and as nervous as possible. A lot of that nervousness comes from a healthy appreciation of punk; they clearly appreciate punk's high-speed aggression as much as they appreciate metal's heaviness. Combine that frantic, nervous, punk-minded tension with a lot of metallic heaviness, and you have an album that leaves a trail of destruction in its wake. But for all its corrosive heaviness, this 55-minute CD has a strong sense of groove; in their own crushing way, Daughters' grooves are infectious. This self-titled effort tends to be predictable -- there isn't a lot of variety here -- but despite its limitations, the disc is an exhilarating, worthwhile listen if one has a taste for brutal sensory assault.

Sounds fun, thanks for the tip!

Imagine David Yow singing for Fang Island, and take out all of Fang Island's Journey moments.

You came around on Girls, huh? I personally don't see why everyone is getting so worked up about that ep.

I don't know who's worked up about it (or in what way, good or bad), but I really like the last song "Carolina" a lot. The rest is decent, a reasonable improvement over the stuff on Album.

I listened to Album again the other day (or yesterday?) for the first time in a while, and I still don't really like it. Whatever subtle improvements they made on the EP are working. For me anyway.

Yeah, I just don't get why you'd have such an extremely negative reaction to her, especially given how much our tastes intersect. And especially with this album. The Milk-Eyed Mender, maybe. Ys, definitely. But not this one.

That, & dressing up like a fop, swigging cognac, & making Hillary Clinton bitch jokes.

I don't know who Chris Cillizza is, but The Tallest Man on Earth isn't particularly mellow.

That's my take too.... for acoustic folk-inspired music this is angry and intense. It took me awhile to get used to the "uncool" intensity.

i found it humorous and inaccurate, but 2eachisown. for what it's worth, that was my favorite walkmen album so far.

I feel the same way about the album as Harry but I'm sure people are not going to be into my #1 either.

i'm not much into her voice either but i tried about 1 album's-worth (of the 3), liked a couple tracks, but mostly was put off by her voice and a little by the arrangements. i really like bjork, but this must be what my wife feels about bjork..

i'd never really think to compare her to bjork.

it's funny how this is her most accessible music, but she makes it so dense that it's nearly impermeable to some. it's one of my favourite things about it, but also added a bit of tongue-in-cheek attitude to an otherwise precious sounding record, even with the subtle humour of the album title. i feel like she became a bit more outspoken as an individual with this more confident and comfortable release. i'll be interested to see, like you say, whether she'll actually try to be accessible with the next album.

Maybe its the spirit of christmas breaking through my negativity, but I find myself interested in checking out 5 of these (Walkmen, Sun Kil Moon, Tallest Man..., Women, & Ariel Pink) based at least part on your thread. I may lose some of my interest again before I have time to actually do anything about it but I am interested.

Glad to see Build An Ark moving up again (at least I think I had saw it down in the 40's on one of your lists in Opa's ongoing best of the year thread).

i've seen it on a lot of year end lists (so, good) but i listened to it when it came out and it just seemed like it rehashed songs from album but with different instrumentation (horns, etc). i think i liked carolina too but just didn't see what the big deal about the album was.

I keep forgetting about that Sun Kil Moon album

one of my fav electronic releases in the past 5 years or so. here's a Boomkat review. if it sounds interesting, i'll up it...

The hugely talented John Roberts arrives at his debut album in style, following a string of celebrated releases on Dial Records. Those releases showcased an individual, beautifully composed sound, combining feathery piano keys and deeply padded, classically-informed House music with elegance and a refined subtlety. His remix services have recently been requested by Darkstar and Creep feat. Romy from the XX, but right now 'Glass Eights' is bound to attract him a lot of attention. He gracefully sweeps and sashays through ten variations on the Piano House theme, from supple Berlin grooves such as 'Navy Blue' to Chicago devotionals like 'Dedicated' and the considerate balance of electronic tenderness and dancefloor heft in 'August', surely giving his label mate Pantha Du Prince a run for his cravat. When he drops the beats, like with 'Went' we can still hear that he's a House head at heart, remaining true to its metronomic structures and strictures, but still manages to find a common ground between modern classical and House music which few others have achieved so succinctly.

Yeah, that sounds interesting.

The Daughters record sounds like something I need to check out.

Glad to see Women on someone else's list. Public Strain would probably make my Top 5.

Me too, and I'm sure it'll hit me in late January how much I like it.

haven't heard nearly enough records to do something like this this year, but just wanted to thank you Drinky for giving some love to that Women album. Didn't think it was quite as strong as the first one, but thought it was pretty damn excellent nonetheless.

(knowing your taste though, I would have been pretty surprised if it wasnt somewhere on your list