Following on from Willie Nelson tribute To Willie, Matthew Houck kept the country theme for his most straight-ahead album to date. With a full band in the studio for the first time, this was a country-rockin' record full of ragged riffs, horns, touring blues and, of course, good beery times. While sometimes veering towards convention, these songs really came alive on stage as Phosphorescent morphed from a one-man project into the fully-formed band that ripped up Glasgow twice in 2010.
The best is yet to come from Matthew Houck.
30. Efterklang - Magic Chairs.
Moving on from the pocket symphonies of Parades, and the actual symphonies produced from working with the Danish National Chamber Orchestra, Denmark's Efterklang returned with what could be described as their 'pop' album. There's still orchestras and choirs to be found here, but they're fitted around more structured songs. It's a rare band that's able to adapt strings and woodwind to fit a pop song -and thankfully these Danes avoid making it sound like Elbow or The Verve.
This is a band that realise the importance of harmony and experimentation, and are willing to move away from the traditional instrumentation of an "indie" band. 'Modern Drift' was also probably the best opening to an album all year.
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