I’ve listened to Daft Punk. It was a problem before, and the added emphasis on vocals only makes it even more of a problem now. We can’t justify it just because it’s Daft Punk.

Like Human After All, most of these songs sound half-assed – and that’s before even approaching the lyrics. It’ll be interesting to see whether they can mesh these tracks into their live act as well as they have with past missteps. Fairly disappointing.

Highlights: Get Lucky, Giorgio by Moroder, Motherboard, Contact

Cringe-worthy: Within, Touch

A Ghost is Born came out in 2004, so I was including it.

I think that with this album, The National have quietly proven themselves worthy of the title “America’s best band.”

I’d say the only problem with the busy tracks is their sequencing. Placing “Finger Back” next to “Worship You” seems like a bit much. Sticking a relatively straightforward track like “Don’t Lie” in between the two would offer a welcome reprieve from the madness. As it is, I feel like “Don’t Lie” gets completely overshadowed by “Diane Young” and “Hannah Hunt”‘s greatness.

Admittedly, this is nitpicky as hell. The album is fantastic.

I really think that Vampire Weekend are just too smart to release anything less than fantastic, and the more eccentric they get, the better. The first album will always be a personal favorite of mine, but this is definitely their most impressive collection of songs to date.

I agree.

I don’t feel so good.

Sure it’s more than a bit cheesy, but disco/funk throwbacks fit Daft Punk like a glove, and this a goddamn JOY.

Still very excited for RAM.

There’s really no way that this could be the actual LP. My guess is that by releasing this, Jai Paul (or XL) is just building more hype, or testing the waters for the real debut. The audio quality definitely isn’t clean enough to be a final product, and it sounds like many (if not all) of the tracks are still demos – the included version of “Jasmine” makes this, in my opinion, pretty evident.

That being said, if some of these ideas are fleshed out and polished up a bit more, I feel like the end result could be incredible.

I had the exact same reaction as you. Then I tried to make my own top ten.

…This list is impossible.

This is – in my opinion – the best way to make this list:

1-2. Transatlanticism/We have the Facts and We’re Voting Yes
3. Something About Airplanes
4-7. Draw from a hat

Note: Positions 1-3 may be filled by a different album if (and only if ) the list maker acknowledges that their chosen replacement’s positioning was determined by a high school nostalgia trip.