Teen Dream [CD + DVD]

Best record of the year... so far? (2010-08-23) : 5/5
This record goes down the hatch with a nice taste. Is it the best record of 2010? It might very well be. Even writting this is making my cat's limbs twich with excitment.
Album of my Dreams (2010-07-14) : 5/5
I've been intimidated to even begin to analyze Teen Dream, let alone disect and injest it in a way I can put into words. In a sense, Teen Dream is a perfect album. This is not a delusional statement. This is a statment based upon months exposure, not knee-jerk reactions, honeymoon period statements, drunken elitism, and the like. The album is a modern masterpiece, not unlike Radiohead's Kid A or Joanna Newsom's Ys. And much like the aforementioned albums, it is a pleasent aural trip for headphone fanatics. It is, in the words of OutKast, an "eargasm". br /br /The album's title is perfectly selected; its themes range from love, loss, betrayal and joy, all wrapped up in a dream-like landscape of the jangle-pop kind: a bittersweet adolescence, so to speak. Beach House has truly found themselves by fattening up their sound, while hanging onto those simple, lovable lead guitar and processed beats. br /br /The band manages to hold onto the intimacy of their self-titled while building up a towering mountain of sound that'd make Mr. Spector dribble in his pants. Whether it's running rampant with striped animal or singing about Scandinavian countries, Victoria Legrand is haunting, albeit absolutely stunning in her vocal performances; her words flow like sweet honey and stick to you just the same.
velvet and steel (2010-07-09) : 5/5
Year's only half over; I don't care. This is the album of the year, hands or anything else down. Great minimalist dreampop, songwriting with just enough of the right kinds of hooks, pretty good lyrics all the way through, and--that fantastic voice. Victoria Legrand's voice has warmth and spine at the same time, a classic velvet-gloved steel weapon. She's got a bit of that heavy French female contralto thing working, quite in contrast to the wispy, thin voices of girls who usually sing dreampop. This is the secret of Beach House, the dialectic that really drives this band: dreamy songs (and instrumentation), but with a physically (and emotionally) rugged singer. The choice of producer Chris Coady seems inspired; he took the band's sound from its first two albums (already very good)and refined it somewhat, giving it just a bit more edge here. Indiepop--whatever that is exactly--has a new classic
My Perfect Dream (2010-06-02) : 5/5
These songs have managed to stay with me since my very first listen. I could listen to this record for hours and hours. This is my favorite album of the summer so far and I can't wait to see them live. br /br /br /
Dreamy perfection (2010-05-22) : 5/5
Full disclosure, I was never a big Beach House fan before listening to Teen Dream. That's changed. This is easily going to be one of the best albums of 2010 for me, if not the decade to come. Every single song is good and gets better with repeat listens (I'm at 50 and counting). This is a sleepy stunner that I would recommend to fans of almost any type of rock or pop music. The 3-song arc of "Better Times," "10 Mile Stereo," and "Real Love" is as strong as any in my music collection.