So obviously, anyone who still follows this blog knows it’s been a while since I’ve been doing regular updates. It’s unlikely I’ll pick them back up after this year, short of a major change in the amount of freelance and full-time work I do combined with a sudden spark of interest in today’s music scene. I’ve felt for years that I’ve been slowly losing touch with what seems to land on both critic lists and indie radio charts, to say nothing of what’s actually popular (not that I ever seemed to care very much about the latter). I’ve not heard the Fleet Foxes album, though everyone and their uncle seems to love it, because I don’t really care about the current obsession with countri-folk-timey indie pop. Meanwhile, my own tastes seem to have narrowed; my favourite albums this year followed roughly similar musical agendas. That’s fine if I want to keep enjoying music, as there’s still stuff for me to listen to. In terms of actually telling people about it? Maybe not so much.

And then there’s the list of albums that I’ve not really given much of a shot, just because of disinterest or lack of time or both. Some of them seem deserving of recognition even if I couldn’t be arsed to listen to them as much as I should have, so here’s a short list before we get into the yearly review proper:

“Fall in Awe” by Willow Willow, from Willow Willow
An gentle duo of almost-sisters singing sweetly enchanting folk that seems to come from a different tradition than the countrified folk-pop I can’t get into so much. Maybe not far enough away, as I never really latched onto this album either, but several songs stick in their own quiet ways.

“You’re Not All That” by the Herbaliser, from Same As It Never Was
The Herbaliser returned in 2008 with a singer and a new groove, busting out a set of more straightforward funk tracks and scaling back on the cinematic hip-hop that used to be the band’s calling card. Jessica Darling is a great addition and the tracks she sings on sound great—it’s just not as memorable or interesting as some of their older stuff, mainly because it’s less distinctively Herbaliser. Still, not a disappointment, and there’s still plenty of the old Herbaliser sound kicking around.

“The Conversation” by the Lodger, off Life is Sweet
If Aussie indie-pop legends the Lucksmiths took some uppers and stuck to electric guitars, I imagine they’d sound something like the Lodger, whose debut album is chock full of bright, winning numbers suitable for anyone who likes their indiepop just barely this side of twee. The problem, then, is not the music, but the sense I get when listening to the album that I’m just reliving a fondness for old sounds rather than discovering new ones. But don’t hold that against the Lodger.

“Starlight” by YMCK, off Family Genesis
A superb set of Japanese chiptunes that aspires to be something more than just retro Nintendo-soundtrack homage, and usually succeeds. You just have to be really into chiptunes to fully appreciate the album, I think.

“Spoiler Alert” by Laura Barrett, off Victory Garden
The Exclaim! review of Victory Garden put it best: where Barrett’s debut EP was charming but seemed to already stretch the limits of her sound, Victory Garden builds upon that foundation by unchaining her from the kalimba and indulging in a wider variety of arrangements. I only got this album recently and as with Earth Sciences, you have to be in a particular mood to put on Laura Barrett, so I haven’t very often. But I look forward to digging into the album a bit more over the coming months.

“Calliope” by White Hinterland, off Phylactery Factory
I really wanted to like this album, I did. Though honestly only based on two songs, my impression of Casey Dienel was that she had a knack for putting together off-kilter piano pop that should be soundtracking an off-off-Broadway play. “Dreaming of the Plum Trees” best epitomizes the carefree Charlie Brown aspects I loved about her music. The reason I haven’t posted that song again, though, is because it’s not really representative of the album as a whole. Most of Phylactery Factory is spent in a more introspective mood, and combined with some odd production choices (”A Beast Washed Ashore” just seems awfully quiet, to be honest), it just feels like Dienel’s best qualities aren’t really on display here.

“You’re Only Lonely” by Republic of Safety, from Succession
This is the last hurrah from Republic of Safety, a Toronto band whose reputation always seemed larger than its actual recorded output—Succession brings the number of released tracks to twelve, just enough for one pretty darn good album. From the various articles written about the band’s life between Vacation and the end, it didn’t sound like the band ever had much hope of sticking together long enough to make a real go of things, but they certainly knew how to write a good song.