(10) Bay of Pigs EP - Destroyer (Merge)
After last year's decent but disappointing Trouble in Dreams, Daniel Bejar comes around again with two incredibly long songs that sound nothing like anything he's ever done before. "Bay of Pigs" is a 13+ minute epic that is subtle, spacious, dancey at moments, and simply gorgeous. It is awesome the whole way through, and is easily the best thing he's done since Destroyer's Rubies. "Ravers" is almost eight minutes of soothing ambiance, and isn't too far off from any of the slow instrumentals from David Bowie's Low.
Top jam: "Bay of Pigs"
(9) Reality EP - Real Estate (Mexican Summer)
Real Estate do the lo-fi thing right. While the Reality EP doesn't even come close to touching their self-titled full length that was released earlier this fall, this baby's still got some sweetness to it. An EP full of slow and moody, yet summery guitar pop. No real standouts, but all the tracks flow and meander nicely. Perhaps a little too nicely.
Top jams: "Basement," "Younger Than Yesterday," "Dumb Luck"
(8) Desktop EP - Desktop (Suburban Sprawl)
Not surprisingly, my buddy (and singer/keyboardist for Detroit's The Pop Project) Zach Curd's voice works perfectly in the context of bangin' electro-pop. Desktop is a collaboration between Curd and fellow Detroit musician Keith Thompson, of The Electric Six and Johnny Headband. Their debut, self-titled EP consists of three dance tracks that fit somewhere between Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, New Order and Junior Boys. Needless to say, it is really fun.
Top jams: "Fired Up," "Too Much"
(7) The Succulent Leftovers EP - The Recital (Suburban Sprawl)
The Recital also hail from Detroit, and The Succulent Leftovers EP compiles their final recordings before their breakup, which occurred earlier this month. I have only followed them since their last release, 2005's Colour Up. While that album is pretty good, I never came around to loving them until now. The Succulent Leftovers EP doesn't sound as good as Colour Up, but I like the songs better. Their brand of quirky, somewhat complex, guitar-oriented indie pop comes across as less awkward and a lot more confident. I wish this had been a full length.
Top jams: "Kid, You're Wrong," "Colony of Windmills," "Drop Those Legs"
(6) High Times EP - Washed Out (Mirror Universe)
If Ernest Greene, the young lad that is Washed Out, can expand his horizons just a little without the quality and integrity of the project suffering, he should be huge. This cassette release features some of the coolest electronic pop I've heard that isn't Daft Punk or Junior Boys. Now, he doesn't sound anything like those two duos, but their are a few similar elements, I guess. Some people may be turned off by the lo-fi spin on his songs (his recordings sound like warped vinyl or tape rips) or the stupid new sub-genre tags of "glo-fi" or "chillwave" or whatever. However, this dude knows his way around smooth, moody, mid-tempo summer pop.
Top jams: "Belong," "Good Luck," "Phone Call," "Olivia"
(5) Leaves in the Gutter EP - Superchunk (Merge)
You probably know who Superchunk is, so I won't go into all the, "90s indie rock flag-bearing, Merge Records owning, long time of not releasing anything new" details. Well, they finally came out with another EP, and it showcases their typical, punk-infused power pop sound. This isn't a bad thing at all. These boys still have it, and I'm glad to hear it. Now when can I expect a new full length?
Top jams: "Learned to Surf," "Screw It Up," "Knock Knock Knock"
(4) Losing Feeling EP - No Age (Sub Pop)
I'm not sure I'll ever fully get No Age. I never listened to Weirdo Rippers, and Nouns had some great moments, and I think I'll like it more when I decide to revisit it. But, this EP is really good and I like the direction they're headed in. They traded in a bit of their punk edge to create more atmosphere, which makes for a really nice, evolved final product. I hope they pick up the tempos just a tiny bit on the next full length, and if that really does happen, No Age could become one of my favorites.
Top jams: "Losing Feeling," "Genie"
(3) Rainwater Cassette Exchange EP - Deerhunter (Kranky/4AD)
Bradford Cox and co. seem to be caring less and less about atmosphere and more about kicking our asses with noisy, distorted pop tunes. On the Rainwater Cassette Exchange EP, there isn't really any fooling around. Three out of the five songs skate by in under three minutes. Most of them stick to a faster, driving beat and are laced with choppy, distorted, only slightly shoegaze-y guitars. Microcastle is still Deerhunter at their best, and with an entire album of this, everything might start to sound the same. Still, this is totally sweet.
Top jams: "Rainwater Cassette Exchange," "Disappearing Ink," "Circulation"
(2) Life of Leisure EP - Washed Out (Mexican Summer)
Washed Out was discovered thanks to the brilliance of his Life of Leisure EP. There are only a few differences, such as here there are less songs, and these songs are longer. But, the one crucial difference is that this is by far the better release from him this year. The songs are less scatterbrained, and even smoother and sexier. There are more standout tracks, as well. "Get Up" and "New Theory" are sweet mid-tempo electronic pop masterpieces, and you can't get much sexier than the fantastic slow jam "Feel It All Around." What a year for this dude.
Top jams: "Get Up," "New Theory," "Feel It All Around," "Lately"
(1) Fall be Kind EP - Animal Collective (Domino)
Oh man, Animal Collective has had quite the year, haven't they? Not only did they release one of the best albums of the decade, they followed it up just under a year later with another fantastic EP. And, somehow, it still sounds like nothing I've ever heard before. Sure, there are some similarities between this and Merriweather Post Pavilion, like plenty of synths and programming and samples and the likes. But, thankfully, they brought back some real, live drumming! Fall be Kind is also darker and even more mysterious. I'm having a hard time trying to explain why exactly so different, though, so you'll just have to trust me. God, I love this band.
Top jams: "Graze," "What Would I Want? Sky," "I Think I Can"
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