Merry Christmas, everybody! Coming in at #7 is Australian band Big Scary, whose album Not Art, their second, actually came out last year but didn’t make it stateside until earlier this year. This album is hard for me to define; each song sounds derivative of another band.

The above video, for the song “Luck Now,” reminds me of Jeff Buckley, the way Iansek uses his falsetto to great effect. The song “Twin Rivers” (as seen here) has a dissonant-chord chorus and pervasive piano that reminds me of Grizzly Bear. And “Invest,” which can be seen here, has a drum break that makes me think of U.N.K.L.E. (back when DJ Shadow was with the band).

In addition to the above, you can hear Radiohead, Velvet Underground, and many many other references throughout the album, which, on the surface might appear to be a damning quality for the album to evoke. But it’s not, at all. This album is an absolute joy to listen to. It’s solid, through and through.

The band is a duo, Tom Iansek and Joanna Syme, and they started performing as Big Scary back in 2006. In addition to their two albums, they’ve released a number of EPs. Not Art is the first album of theirs to hit my radar, and I’m so glad it did. I found myself continually drawn back to it over the length of the year. You should give it a listen, too. It will stick with you.

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8. The Cautionary Tales of Mark Oliver Everett by Eels
9. Owl John by Owl John
10. LP1 by FKA Twigs
11. Black Hours by Hamilton Leithauser
12. Give the People What They Want by Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings
13. Lost in the Dream by The War On Drugs
14. Warpaint by Warpaint
15. Heal by Strand of Oaks
16. Stay Gold by First Aid Kit
17. This is All Yours by ∆
18. Brill Bruisers by The New Pornographers
19. Only Run by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
20. Augustines by Augustines
21. El Pintor by Interpol
22. I Never Learn by Lykke Li
23. Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes by Thom Yorke
24. The Voyager by Jenny Lewis
25. Voices by Phantogram
26. Morning Phase by Beck
27. Hungry Ghosts by OK Go
28. Run the Jewels 2 by Run the Jewels
29. Cosmos by Yellow Ostrich
30. Teeth Dreams by The Hold Steady
31. With Light & With Love by Woods

2009-2013 Top 31s

We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic by Foxygen

Rolling Stones, the Velvet Underground, the Kinks — these names evoke a varied number of musical memories, and each of these band’s own respective histories are so diverse that those memories and nearly-forgotten emotions must be different for each person. Which makes stating these artists as clear influences on the album at #16 all the more strange. How does a band combine the sounds of them all in a solid, cohesive, perfectly rock & roll album? Foxygen and their 2013 album We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peach & Magic are here to show you.

Foxygen has been around in one form or another since 2005. They languished in the California indie rock scene for many years before catching the ear of producer Richard Swift (who just happens to have produced one of my favorites from 2012: Damien Jurado’s Maraqopa, which came in at #5 on The Calendar last year.

I’m not familiar with Foxygen’s pre-Swift recordings, so I can’t speak to how much of an influence he’s had on the band. But what I do know is there’s now two stellar Richard Swift-produced albums, and I’m anxious to hear what he does next. But before we get to that, you should give Foxygen a listen. In addition to the influences I mentioned above, you can hear other influences as well (like Belle & Sebastian in the above video for “San Francisco”). The album definitely harkens back to an earlier time, and depending on which passage you’re listening to currently, that time could vary by about 50 years. Something tells me the album will last for a similar length of time.

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17. Lanters by Son Lux
18. Howlin’ by Jagwar Ma
19. Impersonator by Majical Cloudz
20. Dream Cave by Cloud Control
21. Mole City by Quasi
22. Phantogram by Phantogram
23. Julia With Blue Jeans On by Moonface
24. Uncanney Valley by The Dismemberment Plan
25. Event II by Deltron 3030
26. Wise Up Ghost by Elvis Costello and The Roots
27. Us Alone by Hayden
28. Pure Heroine by Lorde
29. Shaking the Habitual by The Knife
30. False Idols by Tricky
31. Let’s Be Still by The Head and the Heart

2012 Musical Bacon Calendar
2011 Musical Bacon Calendar
2010 Musical Bacon Calendar
2009 Musical Bacon Calendar

#7 on the 2014 Bacon Top 31

#16 on the 2013 Musical Bacon Calendar