Former Polyphonic Spree guitarist Annie Clark, a.k.a. St. Vincent, is starting to turn up on year-end lists on the strength of her album Actor. That's no surprise--it impressed us too--but it is certainly refreshing to see a Dallas musician getting such high praise, even if she calls Brooklyn home now.
She came in at No. 16 on the AV Club's Top 25 list, posted yesterday. Writes Keith Phipps, "On her second album, she winds laments and fearful pleas in lush, catchy, winningly odd songs. Actor suggests a future in which other artists will someday earn St. Vincent comparisons."
The album even squeaked into the top 10 of NPR's All Songs Considered listener poll, landing at No. 10 on Monday.
And Actor landed at No. 23 in Spin's 40 Best Albums list, also posted Monday. Writes Abigail Everdell, "Over gleaming orchestration and blasts of distorted guitar, Clark
describes a world where infatuation cripples, lovers are small-time
liars, and gun-wielding children ambush monsters."
Something tells me she'll pop up on a few more of these before the season of lists is through.