The Red Circle

4. WHY? – Alopecia (2008)
Yoni Wolf has spent over a decade working with his Bay Area partners in the Anticon Collective, one of the most forward thinking labels in hip-hop. As such, it’s no surprise that this Cincinnati-born musician is a gifted wordsmith and technician but Alopecia’s strength lies in Wolf’s unique ability to apply indie rock’s musical and emotional sensibilities to hip-hop without allowing one or the other to dominate the album. This could be a perilous musical journey, but Wolf’s casual flow guides the listener effortlessly through a sea of chance encounters and subsequent self-discovery. Ruminations on the nature of friendship and inadvisable personal admissions might tempt some to lump Wolf in with some of his indie rap contemporaries, but the album is elevated by the strength and melodies of the songs.

3. Kanye West – Graduation (2007)
Kanye West’s mark is indelibly on the last decade of music. He started the decade as one of hip-hop’s most gifted new producers and ended it as arguably it’s biggest star. While much of that success might seem to exist out of sheer bravado on West’s part, it is West’s odd status as an equally talented rapper AND producer that always guarantees his music will be ahead of the curve. Nowhere is this more evident than on West’s third LP, Graduation. Its thirteen tracks in fifty-odd minutes comprise one of the most brilliant and restrained hip-hop albums of the last decade. Early cut “Champion” is West at his most playful, creating something entirely new out of a split-second of Steely Dan’s “Kid Charlemagne.” “Stronger” transforms Daft Punk’s childish chant into a defiant anthem. Though collaborations with Lil’ Wayne and Mos Def are generally disregarded as mid-album fluff, the former’s unconventional tempo becomes more intriguing with time and the latter’s sing-songy duet with Mos Def on a modified version of Can’s krautrock lullaby “Sing Swan Song” at the very least identifies the depth of West’s musical knowledge and record collection. The back half may not be as musically inventive but West’s skills on the mic shine instead. Graduation marked the point at which West not only grew out of Jay-Z’s shadow but truly began to cast a shadow of his own.

2. Frightened Rabbit – The Midnight Organ Fight (2008)
Frightened Rabbit’s 2008 album The Midnight Organ Fight is more than a rock record. It’s an indictment and examination of all the conflicting concepts and definitions that we’ve lumped into one word: Love. As cliche as that sounds, these four lads from Glasgow make it work through a combination of clever wordplay, sincere delivery and tasteful playing. Album opener “The Modern Leper” may never quite be matched in pure energy by anything that follows, but the album delivers on so many levels that the track seems like an enthusiastic greeting rather than a bait and switch. Whether it’s “Good Arms Vs. Bad Arms” gentle balladry revealing the desire to kill a former lover’s new beau, the transformative ten minutes between “The Twist” and “Keep Yourself Warm” that reveals the flaws of casual sex or the existential questions posed by the disc’s final three tracks, Scott Hutchison’s words may occasionally border on crying but they inevitably ring true.

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