The aughts were the first complete decade of the post-Napster era. While file-sharing, iPods, digital files, and musical piracy had an undeniable impact on the music industry and its products, all was far from lost. As these twenty-five tracks demonstrate, the decade had a wide breadth and depth of musical achievement. Without further ado, let's get to this list.
Two ground rules:
1) Live albums and greatest hits are ineligible. Sorry, Kicking Television, How the West Was Won, and Nirvana: Live at Reading.
2) No album was allowed to have more than one track on the list. This wouldn't have happened in more than a few instances anyway, but I figure the more variety the better. Plus, two artists still managed to make the list multiple times.
25. M.I.A. - "Paper Planes" - (video) - Okay, okay, I'll be frank: I dismissed this song (and the album as a whole) when I reviewed Kala on its initial release. Two years later, I have no idea how that could have happened. "Paper Planes" pistol-whips the listener the second that Clash sample kicks in. M.I.A.'s sing-song vocals on the refrain play in perfect contradiction to the violent acts described therein. The musical marriage of Diplo and M.I.A. hasn't always proved fruitful, but this is the perfect synthesis of their talents. So, uh, no funny business.
24. My Morning Jacket - "Dondante" - (video) - When Z arrived in 2006, OK Computer comparisons were plentiful and inevitable. They were only lent more credence by each album having an epic, earth-shattering finale, with "Dondante" serving that role for My Morning Jacket. Jim James' vocals carry the load for much of the song, as the guitar flourishes hint at the maelstrom to come. When James finally lets go and the band lets loose, it's the sound of beautiful chaos.
23. Peter Bjorn and John - "Young Folks" - (video) - The runaway winner for "Mistake of the Decade," the famous whistling of "Young Folks" was originally put into the mix until the band could figure out an instrumental. Instead it became the most instantaneously catchy, yet simplistic, hook of the decade. As the music fleshes out around the aforementioned hook, the band has seized lightning in a bottle. That it became a left-field hit and career-defining moment for the band was inevitable.
22. Soulja Boy Tell 'em - "Turn My Swag On" - (video) - Yeah, I know, what the fuck, right? This isn't some joke or post-ironic hipster posturing. "Turn My Swag On" is amazing. It's the sound of an artist simultaneously winking toward and flipping off his critics, taking the best beat he's ever worked with and singing (admittedly terribly) about fucking waking up and getting ready in the morning. He's not only in on the joke, he is the joke, yet he transcends the joke and delivers this: part hip-hop, part pop, somehow neither, somehow both. His unabashed joy and confidence are endearing, and after this song finally sinks in, it's simply the fucking jam. For some, its appeal will never reveal itself. Advice to them: look in the mirror and say "what's up?"
21. Interpol - "NYC" - (WTF video) - Many a morning-after drive have been soundtracked by the third track on Interpol's immaculate debut. A bittersweet letter to his hometown, Paul Banks doesn't shy away from the city's ugly underbelly ("the subway she is a porno, and the pavements they are a mess") as he reflects apathetically about what the city (and by extension, life) mean anymore. "I know you've supported me for a long time, but somehow I'm not impressed," he reveals. Meanwhile, the song's ceaseless waves of guitar crest over, washing everything away. The city might not be perfect, but it's not going anywhere and it'll always be bigger than you. Same goes for life, but at least those moments of realization can bring about fantastic and touching music like this.
20. Broken Social Scene - "Lover's Spit" - (video) - Those encompassing opening chords. The sensual mood the songs sets. The tossed-off romantic vocals of Kevin Drew (who really has cornered the market on that). Modern lyrics touching on the classic theme of wanting to grow older and escape the angst of young adulthood. There are so many things to appreciate in this song, it's easy to forget the best one: this whole flawless composition is about fucking blowjobs.
19. Shearwater - "The Snow Leopard" - (video) - Johnathon Meiburg, sometimes contributor to Okkervil River, truly comes into his own as a singer-songwriter with "The Snow Leopard," the easy highlight from his band's best LP, Rook. Beginning with sonic hints toward Radiohead's "The Pyramid Song," the track sets itself apart as soon as Meiburg's vocals kick in. In the best alternative vocal performance of the year, the band follows his lead as he takes the song to soaring heights. By the time the horns kick in at the end, it's game over; Shearwater's won.
18. Immortal Technique - "Dance With the Devil" - (video) - In a genre where violence, misogyny, and drugs are embraced, "Dance With the Devil" is the answer. Telling the pitch-dark story of a wannabe drug dealer, the rapper guides us through a cautionary tale with such vivid detail and imagery that some listeners were left wondering if it were a true story. In its bloody and impacting conclusion, with a twist that would make M. Night double-take, Immortal Technique grabs the audience by the throat before concluding with a fatalistic lesson. Whether it's true or not isn't the point, it's a bleak parable that will stick with you either way.
17. Wilco - "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart" - (live video) - The opening track on Wilco's magnum opus, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, it immediately establishes that this is an entirely new Wilco experience. Over rough-hewn, AOR-style production, Jeff Tweedy sing-speaks about a relationship, bouncing between past and present tense, and occasionally drifting into free-association. The song carries an undeniable force, with enough sinister subtext to give Tweedy's understated vocals extra gravitas. It's rare for a band to completely surprise with a sonic shift this late into their career, and even rarer that the shift results in the group's paramount effort. One can see why a major record label would doubt this song, just like one can see why major record labels are struggling.
16. The Streets - "Dry Your Eyes" - (video) - The emotional centerpiece of Mike Skinner's musical soap opera, A Grand Don't Come for Free, "Dry Your Eyes" chronicles the beloved protagonist attempting to cope with losing his love. The song's power and emotional tug comes not only from circumstances, because the song is able to carry those traits outside of the context, but from those heart-wrenching strings and the song's perspective. In the moment of realization that his "life is crashing before [his] eyes," she closes her eyes "for what seems like an eternity." Love isn't logical, emotions don't always make sense, yet here The Streets have managed to construct heartbreak in meticulous detail.
15. Band of Horses - "The Funeral" - (video) - Band of Horses stormed out of the gate in 2006 with lead single "The Funeral." Three years later, and the song hasn't let-up in the least. Ben Bridwell's vocals are given a tremendous task: to carry the emotional burden of the song's lyrics while competing to match the intensity of the band. Mission accomplished. Note to other hype bands: this is how you earn it.
14. Incubus - "Aqueous Transmission" - (video) - So, wait, the premiere ambient pop song of the decade came from... fucking Incubus? I can just imagine Brandon Boyd and company chilling in their tour van, patting themselves on the back, when by some deus ex machina they become aware of the existence of the Chinese instrument known as the pipa. But I have to give credit where its due, and while Incubus certainly take full advantage of the pipa, they also manage to craft a brilliant and perfectly cohesive framework around it. As he sings of floating down a river, the music flows with it in synchronization. I'm left jaw-dropped, double-checking that this indeed Incubus I'm listening to. Then, as if to fuck with me, the band puts a pointless one-minute outro of nothing more than frogs croaking. Yes, this is Incubus alright, but fuck if it isn't also brilliant.
13. Primal Scream - "Pills" - (video?) - As the name implies, this is a drug trip put to music, and not a good one. The heaviest song on this list, Primal Scream's "Pills" is the soundtrack to a horrifying, bleak acid trip through the night clubs of Hell. As the backing vocals reiterate themes of isolation and paranoia, the lead vocals warn you're fading away, presumably into oblivion. The song also manages to make the repeated use of the word "fuck" go from merely a shock tactic to a crushing realization expressed in a single word. Forget D.A.R.E., this shit will keep kids off drugs, while still being one of the most compelling listens of the year.
12. Missy Elliott - "Get Ur Freak On" - (video) - The second Timbaland hits those keyboard notes, this song's place among the decade's best tracks was sealed. More club-ready than previous Elliott singles like "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)," with more edge than later work such as "Lose Control," "Get Ur Freak On" is the ultimate product of Elliott and Timbaland's partnership. It's immortal enough that each could have rested on their laurels after its release. Thankfully, they've only used it as a compass pointing toward further innovation.
11. Radiohead - "Everything in Its Right Place" - (video) - "Everything in Its Right Place" is a more cerebral track than anything the world's greatest band has released before or since. The keyboards sound like something imported from another planet, Yorke's vocals float among the many sounds co-existing in the track's strange brew, another strong instrument in the mix. The disparate elements form a cohesive whole, decimating expectations in the band's post-OK Computer era. From this song on, Radiohead were capable of anything, and limited by nothing.
10. Cannibal Ox - "The F-Word" - (song-only video) - That the song manages to be the standout on an album as loaded as The Cold Vein automatically warrants a spot in the top ten. El-P's beat is breathtaking, dense and layered. There's a reason this album's instrumentals were released as a separate album. Yet, more than any other song on the album, "The F-Word" lets rappers Vast Aire and Vordul Mega take the forefront. Reversing the traditional role of gender in hip-hop, "The F-Word" finds the duo frustrated and denied by women, stuck in the friendship role despite desires toward love and lust. Stylus claimed the lyrical virtuosity conveyed "the potential for hip hop lyrics to work on as many levels as the finest English poetry." Allow me to nominate Vast Aire for Poet Laureate.
9. Bright Eyes - "No Lies, Just Love" - (mood-killing video) - I have friends both who love and loathe Conner Oberst, and both camps raise valid points, depending on perspective. Whereas his emotional nudity can be perceived as grating or overly melodramatic, on "No Lies, Just Love," the best song he's ever written, it's nothing less than gripping. Dealing with suicide, apathy, family, and disappointment, Oberst covers a wide breadth of areas with the master's touch that earned him Dylan comparisons in the first place. The arrangement is just as strong; when the music amplifies after the "if you go, then soon I will follow," it has never failed to give me goosebumps. As he cries out in the coda, there are shades of Lennon's "Mother": an artist facing his dispassion, disbelief, and disillusion, and contradictorily reaffirming life's importance to the listener.
8. Boards of Canada - "Dayvan Cowboy" - (video) - Leave it to the masterminds of the 90's best electronica album, Music Has the Right to Children, to come up with the 00's most impressive electronica composition. "Dayvan Cowboy" immediately and repeatedly finds one perfect groove after another, slowly bleeding one into another, a cognitive exploration of the mind using analog synthesizers and drum machines. This is music for when the drugs no longer work. It doesn't hurt that it has the decade's best music video to accompany it either.
7. Justin Timberlake - "My Love" - (video; actual song starts at 1:40) - Like Missy Elliott before him, Justin Timberlake's artistic future was forever altered for the better when he began working with Timbaland. "My Love" is the primary example. Timbaland throws out all his usual pop tricks. There's no element here we haven't seen before, but the combination is pop perfection, the musical equivalent of the first time Reese mixed peanut butter and chocolate. Timbaland lays the groundwork, Timberlake does everything he's asked to, and then there's T.I.'s verse, the second-best of his career (behind "Swagga Like Us") and a stone-cold confirmation of his talents. Consider this the aughts' equivalent of "Billie Jean."
6. Eminem - "Stan" - (video) - Eminem was, without argument, the most divisive figure in popular music this decade. Even Eminem was divided into two artistic "characters": Marshall and Shady. "Stan" tackles the criticism Eminem has faced as an immoral "role model" to fans, as well as establishes the distinct difference between Eminem the persona and Marshall the person. The sonic details (the scribbling of the pen, the background noise during Stan's final correspondence, etc.) make the song all the more enveloping and engrossing. "Stan" was (and, let's be honest, will remain) Eminem's career-defining track, one which took much more risk than obvious-subversive bullshit like "Fack" or "We Made You."
(sidenote: If I'd given out a "Worst Song of the Decade," it would have been the aforementioned "Fack.")
5. Wolf Parade - "I'll Believe in Anything" - (video) - I have a theory regarding the energy crisis our nation faces: there has to be some way to harness the pure energy Dan Boeckner and Spencer Krug produce on Apologies to the Queen Mary's stand-out jaw-dropper. The sound builds and builds as Krug pleads to take his love away from the pains of the real world, to somewhere where "nobody knows [her] and nobody gives a damn." The energy pulses through the song, managing to maintain a crescendo for its entire second-half. The band demonstrates the ability to transport anyone with nothing more than drums, keyboard, guitar, and cries of howling longing. By the time it's over, the listener truly does believe in anything. After a performance as honest as this, how couldn't they?
4. Sigur Rós - "Svefn-G-Englar" - (video) - I read a brilliant author's take on this song, which was much more accomplished than anything I could produce. Take his word for it.
3. The Wrens - "She Sends Kisses" - (WTF video) - Full disclosure: I have a jaded affection for this song. About the same time I got into The Wrens, I broke up with my first love. After that point, listening to "She Sends Kisses" was a painful but essential experience. The song so perfectly captures the post-heartbreak fallout from a male perspective that each listen was a confirmation I wasn't alone in my suffering. Seeing your first love in the next girl ("I put your face on her all year"), the flooding of emotion from simply reading of text from your once-beloved, wondering how her next man could ever do the things you could; all of it was there, all of it rang true. Three years later, and while the feelings for that ex are gone, the feelings for "She Sends Kisses" are as strong as ever.
2. Radiohead - "Backdrifts" - ("Hard Candy" video) - Hail to the Thief may not have been Radiohead's premiere album of the decade, but as is to be expected from a band of their caliber, it provided moments of unparalleled excellence. "Backdrifts" is the track on which Radiohead return to rock from the ambient/electronica detours of their previous two albums, while perfectly incorporating lessons they had learned along the way. The lyrics of paranoia are fairly standard fare for the band's post-The Bends output, yet within the analog mind-fuck of the song's sonic strucutre, their power is amplified. Radiohead have continued to break ground with each new album this decade, which makes it all the more impressive that "Backdrifts" stands as their finest track during that span.
1. My Morning Jacket - "Steam Engine" - (song-only video) - It's a shame what's happened to mainstream radio. The days of triumphant rock and roll gaining widespread radio play are seemingly vanished, replaced by lazy, misogynistic hip-hop and faceless pop music. In 1977, "Steam Engine" would have been all over the air-waves, playing next to "Hotel California" and "Tuesday's Gone." The song is no relic though; rather, it is timeless. Jim James' voice remains one of America's under-appreciated national treasures (American Dad plugs aside), capable of hitting seemingly any note with ease. The guitar and drums do exactly what they're supposed to do: breaking through at the precise moments they need to; letting James carry the load when needed. The song is a heart-on-sleeve epic, the kind of beautiful craftsmanship and songwriting that wouldn't stand a chance on Top 40 radio. It's better that way. You can't play "Steam Engine" and follow it with "Poker Face."
And now you can tell me how wrong I am for leaving off Lil Wayne, Kanye West, Daft Punk, and/or your favorite band.
Showing posts with label Lists. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lists. Show all posts
Friday, December 18, 2009
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
The 2008 Generic Awards Part Two: Albums of the Year
With apologies to Black Milk, here are the top ten albums of 2008:
10. Sigur Rós - "Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust" - The last thing I thought I wanted from Sigur Rós was change. The slowly-paced, post-rock artworks which had become their trademark had shown signs of diminishing since "Ágætis Byrjun," sure, but the formula certainly wasn't broken. However, after just the first two songs from the Icelandic group's latest album, I saw (or rather heard) the error of my thinking. "Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust" is an album full of life, one which provides new direction for the band while leaving enough of their signature sound intact to keep old fans while welcoming the new. It may not be their best album, but it feels like their most immediate.
9. Torche - "Meanderthal" - In a year in which a lot of hard rock albums drew praise ("Fortress," "The Chemistry of Common Life," "Life... The Best Game in Town," etc.), the best of all was an album masquerading as hard rock. Torche explore genres and annihilate each and every one of them. "Speed of the Nail" does up death metal while adding a hint of pop levity, "Grenades" takes the power anthem and soars it to new heights. Torche exemplifies genres while rebuking them, joke too straight-faced to possibly be kidding, and just happen to make kick ass rock music the whole time.
8. Fleet Foxes - "Fleet Foxes" - Observed from a distance, this album doesn't suggest it should be receiving its exemplary level of praise from critics both mainstream and independent. Which makes sense, since "Fleet Foxes" is such an inviting record that to hear it is to fall in love with it, thus never needing to observe it from afar. The album never seeks to blow the listener away or leave them in awe, but rather to provide a sense of welcome and familiarity. When all those hype albums fall by the wayside six months after being proclaimed 'the next BIG thing,' "Fleet Foxes" will be waiting, every bit as great as it has always been.
7. The Dodos - "Visiter" - That am album crafted by two guys on a minuscule label manages to sound this bombastic is incredible. That it can transition almost immediately, yet flawlessly, into soft acoustic rock is even more impressive. With the success of this album, both critically and commercially, I wonder what the future will bring from The Dodos. If they can make an album this inspired out of nowhere and with a lo-fi budget, with the resources it has created for them, the follow-up already promises greatness.
6. R.E.M. - "Accelerate" - Maybe I put it on here because R.E.M. is such a historic band, with a back catalogue which can match almost any band working today. Maybe I put it on here because "Reveal" and "Around the Sun" were so underachieving. Maybe I put it on here because the first time I heard "Until the Day is Done" I had to check that it was indeed a new R.E.M. song. Maybe I put it on here because its political statements were fitting without rendering the album ephemeral to its time. Then again, maybe I just put it on here because it's brilliant, regardless of history, return to form, or any other non-musical factors. Yeah, I think that was why.
5. Jacaszek - "Treny" - Post-rock is dying. Mogwai will never make another "Young Team." Sigur Rós will never make another "Ágætis Byrjun." Tortoise are no longer relevant. Jacaszek offers the solution in this eulogy to the genre. On the surface, "Treny" appears simple but encased within its songs are labyrinthine structures of sound, a plethora of tiny parts each contributing to a massive whole, then muffled to create the illusion of ambiance, a façade of peace created by constant war. Maybe it's all a metaphor, maybe I'm over-thinking it, maybe that's why I never wrote a review. Whichever way, it's certainly one of the year's finest albums.
4. Bon Iver - "For Emma, Forever Ago" - 2008 was the best possible year for this album to arrive. Auto-tuners had taken over, with Kanye, Lil Wayne, T-Pain, and Akon (among others) dominating the charts and the airplay. The raw humanity of Justin Vernon's voice is an instrument in itself. Flawed in the classical sense, yet so ideal for this album that to imagine these songs being performed by anyone else is nearly impossible. That the vocals are accompanied by compositions which fit the mold of folk music while transcending the genre through experimentation and creativity makes "For Emma, Forever Ago" that rare album which achieves importance effortlessly.
3. TV on the Radio - "Dear Science," - Time will tell what Barack Obama's ultimate legacy is and, by extension, what the legacy of this album is. At this point, it may well be a "Golden Age," and it seems beautiful and cause for hope. It may turn out to be a representation of when the United States made a turn toward progress. It may turn out to be a time capsule of a nation's naiveté if things don't end up really changing at all. Either way, it remains a profound document of our nation's collective emotions moving beyond one of our least popular presidents toward one of our most inspiring, a chronicle of finding hope in dark times. It's an important, engaging album to match an important, engaging regime.
2. Bonnie "Prince" Billy - "Lie Down in the Light" - My affinity for Will Oldham has been made blatant and obvious on this website. Albums like "Lie Down in the Light" make it easy for me to confirm why I love his work so much. In many ways, "Lie Down in the Light" is his most approachable album to the uninitiated since Palace Music's "Viva Last Blues," perhaps ever. In many ways, it sounds like an amalgamation between Oldham's alt-country and the Golden Era country music of Loretta Lynn, Conway Twitty, and others. It is a love letter to his influences, while also drawing the love of his fans.
1. Chad VanGaalen - "Soft Airplane" - The transition and artistic leap made from VanGaalen's first two albums to "Soft Airplane" is staggering. A singer-songwriter suddenly emerging with an album which covers every genre from dance to folk to noise rock. Just look at the list of artists I listed as influences in the context of my original review: Devendra Banhart, Talking Heads, Grandaddy, LCD Soundsystem, Beck, Destroyer, Smog, The Microphones. Try finding another album which can connect those dots! That he manages to not only explore genres, but master them in the process is simply ridiculous. Creativity, artistic leaps, variety, and masterful execution? Sounds like the album of the year to me.
And, lest we forget, the worst album of the year: "Vanilla Ice is Back!" - If I have to explain to you why an album which features Vanilla Ice covering "Buffalo Solider" and "Fight the Power" (shudder) is the worst album of the year, I wouldn't know how to make it any more obvious.
10. Sigur Rós - "Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust" - The last thing I thought I wanted from Sigur Rós was change. The slowly-paced, post-rock artworks which had become their trademark had shown signs of diminishing since "Ágætis Byrjun," sure, but the formula certainly wasn't broken. However, after just the first two songs from the Icelandic group's latest album, I saw (or rather heard) the error of my thinking. "Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust" is an album full of life, one which provides new direction for the band while leaving enough of their signature sound intact to keep old fans while welcoming the new. It may not be their best album, but it feels like their most immediate.
9. Torche - "Meanderthal" - In a year in which a lot of hard rock albums drew praise ("Fortress," "The Chemistry of Common Life," "Life... The Best Game in Town," etc.), the best of all was an album masquerading as hard rock. Torche explore genres and annihilate each and every one of them. "Speed of the Nail" does up death metal while adding a hint of pop levity, "Grenades" takes the power anthem and soars it to new heights. Torche exemplifies genres while rebuking them, joke too straight-faced to possibly be kidding, and just happen to make kick ass rock music the whole time.
8. Fleet Foxes - "Fleet Foxes" - Observed from a distance, this album doesn't suggest it should be receiving its exemplary level of praise from critics both mainstream and independent. Which makes sense, since "Fleet Foxes" is such an inviting record that to hear it is to fall in love with it, thus never needing to observe it from afar. The album never seeks to blow the listener away or leave them in awe, but rather to provide a sense of welcome and familiarity. When all those hype albums fall by the wayside six months after being proclaimed 'the next BIG thing,' "Fleet Foxes" will be waiting, every bit as great as it has always been.
7. The Dodos - "Visiter" - That am album crafted by two guys on a minuscule label manages to sound this bombastic is incredible. That it can transition almost immediately, yet flawlessly, into soft acoustic rock is even more impressive. With the success of this album, both critically and commercially, I wonder what the future will bring from The Dodos. If they can make an album this inspired out of nowhere and with a lo-fi budget, with the resources it has created for them, the follow-up already promises greatness.
6. R.E.M. - "Accelerate" - Maybe I put it on here because R.E.M. is such a historic band, with a back catalogue which can match almost any band working today. Maybe I put it on here because "Reveal" and "Around the Sun" were so underachieving. Maybe I put it on here because the first time I heard "Until the Day is Done" I had to check that it was indeed a new R.E.M. song. Maybe I put it on here because its political statements were fitting without rendering the album ephemeral to its time. Then again, maybe I just put it on here because it's brilliant, regardless of history, return to form, or any other non-musical factors. Yeah, I think that was why.
5. Jacaszek - "Treny" - Post-rock is dying. Mogwai will never make another "Young Team." Sigur Rós will never make another "Ágætis Byrjun." Tortoise are no longer relevant. Jacaszek offers the solution in this eulogy to the genre. On the surface, "Treny" appears simple but encased within its songs are labyrinthine structures of sound, a plethora of tiny parts each contributing to a massive whole, then muffled to create the illusion of ambiance, a façade of peace created by constant war. Maybe it's all a metaphor, maybe I'm over-thinking it, maybe that's why I never wrote a review. Whichever way, it's certainly one of the year's finest albums.
4. Bon Iver - "For Emma, Forever Ago" - 2008 was the best possible year for this album to arrive. Auto-tuners had taken over, with Kanye, Lil Wayne, T-Pain, and Akon (among others) dominating the charts and the airplay. The raw humanity of Justin Vernon's voice is an instrument in itself. Flawed in the classical sense, yet so ideal for this album that to imagine these songs being performed by anyone else is nearly impossible. That the vocals are accompanied by compositions which fit the mold of folk music while transcending the genre through experimentation and creativity makes "For Emma, Forever Ago" that rare album which achieves importance effortlessly.
3. TV on the Radio - "Dear Science," - Time will tell what Barack Obama's ultimate legacy is and, by extension, what the legacy of this album is. At this point, it may well be a "Golden Age," and it seems beautiful and cause for hope. It may turn out to be a representation of when the United States made a turn toward progress. It may turn out to be a time capsule of a nation's naiveté if things don't end up really changing at all. Either way, it remains a profound document of our nation's collective emotions moving beyond one of our least popular presidents toward one of our most inspiring, a chronicle of finding hope in dark times. It's an important, engaging album to match an important, engaging regime.
2. Bonnie "Prince" Billy - "Lie Down in the Light" - My affinity for Will Oldham has been made blatant and obvious on this website. Albums like "Lie Down in the Light" make it easy for me to confirm why I love his work so much. In many ways, "Lie Down in the Light" is his most approachable album to the uninitiated since Palace Music's "Viva Last Blues," perhaps ever. In many ways, it sounds like an amalgamation between Oldham's alt-country and the Golden Era country music of Loretta Lynn, Conway Twitty, and others. It is a love letter to his influences, while also drawing the love of his fans.
1. Chad VanGaalen - "Soft Airplane" - The transition and artistic leap made from VanGaalen's first two albums to "Soft Airplane" is staggering. A singer-songwriter suddenly emerging with an album which covers every genre from dance to folk to noise rock. Just look at the list of artists I listed as influences in the context of my original review: Devendra Banhart, Talking Heads, Grandaddy, LCD Soundsystem, Beck, Destroyer, Smog, The Microphones. Try finding another album which can connect those dots! That he manages to not only explore genres, but master them in the process is simply ridiculous. Creativity, artistic leaps, variety, and masterful execution? Sounds like the album of the year to me.
And, lest we forget, the worst album of the year: "Vanilla Ice is Back!" - If I have to explain to you why an album which features Vanilla Ice covering "Buffalo Solider" and "Fight the Power" (shudder) is the worst album of the year, I wouldn't know how to make it any more obvious.
Friday, December 26, 2008
The 2008 Generic Awards Part One: Songs of the Year
With apologies to Sigur Rós, here are the best songs from 2008...
10. Fleet Foxes - "White Winter Hymnal" - Music need not be bombastic to be impressive. Using fairly basic (and at times no) instrumentation, Fleet Foxes let their uncanny ear for vocal harmonies and their pitch-perfect blending more than make up for what the song lacks in sonic experimentation or creativity. What results is a song which sounds as though it could be at home in any era, one which defines what is meant by "timeless."
9. Animal Collective - "Water Curses" - For all their wild experimentation, Animal Collective have been a pop band since their fifth and best album "Sung Tongs" came out in 2004. "Water Curses" is the most concrete proof of this that the Collective has ever offered. With a straightforward tropical percussion, easy vocals, and little signs of experimentation, it almost seems too safe at first to suit the band. However, it nonetheless remains immediately enjoyable, while still impressing more and more with each subsequent lesson.
8. Vampire Weekend - "A-Punk" - On "A-Punk" Vampire Weekend make pop music look way too easy. One listen and I was sold. Ezra Koenig's vocals are inviting, the woodwind flourishes add variety, and the drums pace everything wonderfully. The song is a great representation of the band: immediate, enjoyable, perhaps forgettable, but always welcome.
7. Bon Iver - "Skinny Love" - Justin Vernon's "Skinny Love" exemplifies all of the characteristics which made his debut under the Bon Iver moniker such a beautiful and treasured find among the vast landscape of indie albums. The lyrics are heartfelt and affecting, delivered in a fashion which conveys all of the emotions touched on by the lyrics. The composition is minimal, allowing Vernon's voice to become the focus. The bare compositions leave Vernon's exposed, forced to reveal itself and to wear its emotions on its sleeve. There is a level of power which comes from the quiet, and Vernon has found the most productive means of channeling it.
6. Lil Wayne - "A Milli" - I know. What is "A Milli" doing on this list, right? It's just a series of unrelated punchlines and non sequiturs. The beat isn't all that impressive. There's just something about it though that keeps me coming back. Lil Wayne is at full swagger, and he doesn't give a shit if things don't add up. He's here, he spits his rhymes, and then he leaves. I stand and witness, my mind left two-thirds blown and one-third confused. After enough lisens I just give in. Lil Wayne is a venereal disease like a menstrual bleed. He's the shit, and I've got loose bowels. I don't see him, but I hear him.
5. TV on the Radio - "DLZ" - As "Dear Science," slowly but surely became the go-to album for chronicalling America's transition from Bush to Obama, each of the album's songs took on additional meaning. The dark and ominous sound of "DLZ" combined with its Bush-bashing lyrics represent a fear of the direction the nation was heading in. Tunde Adebimpe's "la la la" chorus conveys a hope and light through it all. You might not agree with their message, but it's hard to knock TV on the Radio's means of delivering it.
4. Big Boi, featuring Andre 3000 and Raekwon - "Royal Flush" - With the failed "Idlewild" experiment and the overrated "Speakerboxxx / The Love Below" most recently on the minds of their fans, it's understandable to forget how great OutKast really is. Leave it to Big Boi to remind everyone how he and Andre 3000 are still ahead of any other hip-hop artists working today (although Clipse are closing the gap quickly). He and Raekwon drop some nice verses over an Isley Brothers' sample of "Welcome to Atlantis," but really they're just setting up the audience for Andre 3000 to provide further evidence that he is the most intelligent and creative and, well, essential MC working today. When he says "hey I'm talking young man / as if chalk in my hand / I will take yo' little ass to school," he's not kidding.
3. Fuck Buttons - "Sweet Love for Planet Earth" - Noise rock tends itself to fans of the avant-garde, a genre designed to be appealing only to those who crave the unappealing. Fortunate, no one relayed that message to Fuck Buttons. Combining ambience and noise, chaos and sleep, the group wound up with one of the most original and compelling compositions of the year.
2. T.I., featuring Kanye West, Jay-Z, and Lil Wayne - "Swagga Like Us" - Just as "Paper Planes" and M.I.A. hype were dying down, Kanye West resurrected them as well as his hip-hop credibility on the stand-out single from T.I.'s otherwise-disappointing "Paper Trail." Bringing together arguably the four biggest names in hip-hop, each contributes at or above expectations. Kanye makes incredible use of the M.I.A. sample while turning his best verse since "The College Dropout." Jay-Z, who typically phones-in his guest spots, brings a verse up to par with anything on "American Gangster." Lil Wayne is business as usual, which means he's exceptional. Then there's T.I., who has the verse of the year. Every rhyme is worth quoting, so to save space just listen to the track and stand back in awe. Indeed, no one on any corner has swagger like these four guys.
1. Shearwater - "The Snow Leopard" - Okkervil River is a very good band. However, they've never released anything this good. "the Snow Leopard" is nothing short of a monumental achievement in music. The piano sets the tone, Johnathon Meiburg's vocals howl and coo beautifully in an almost operatic fashion, and the guitar seals the package. In a year with many exceptional songs, "The Snow Leopard" was the only one which I would unequivocally qualify as perfect.
10. Fleet Foxes - "White Winter Hymnal" - Music need not be bombastic to be impressive. Using fairly basic (and at times no) instrumentation, Fleet Foxes let their uncanny ear for vocal harmonies and their pitch-perfect blending more than make up for what the song lacks in sonic experimentation or creativity. What results is a song which sounds as though it could be at home in any era, one which defines what is meant by "timeless."
9. Animal Collective - "Water Curses" - For all their wild experimentation, Animal Collective have been a pop band since their fifth and best album "Sung Tongs" came out in 2004. "Water Curses" is the most concrete proof of this that the Collective has ever offered. With a straightforward tropical percussion, easy vocals, and little signs of experimentation, it almost seems too safe at first to suit the band. However, it nonetheless remains immediately enjoyable, while still impressing more and more with each subsequent lesson.
8. Vampire Weekend - "A-Punk" - On "A-Punk" Vampire Weekend make pop music look way too easy. One listen and I was sold. Ezra Koenig's vocals are inviting, the woodwind flourishes add variety, and the drums pace everything wonderfully. The song is a great representation of the band: immediate, enjoyable, perhaps forgettable, but always welcome.
7. Bon Iver - "Skinny Love" - Justin Vernon's "Skinny Love" exemplifies all of the characteristics which made his debut under the Bon Iver moniker such a beautiful and treasured find among the vast landscape of indie albums. The lyrics are heartfelt and affecting, delivered in a fashion which conveys all of the emotions touched on by the lyrics. The composition is minimal, allowing Vernon's voice to become the focus. The bare compositions leave Vernon's exposed, forced to reveal itself and to wear its emotions on its sleeve. There is a level of power which comes from the quiet, and Vernon has found the most productive means of channeling it.
6. Lil Wayne - "A Milli" - I know. What is "A Milli" doing on this list, right? It's just a series of unrelated punchlines and non sequiturs. The beat isn't all that impressive. There's just something about it though that keeps me coming back. Lil Wayne is at full swagger, and he doesn't give a shit if things don't add up. He's here, he spits his rhymes, and then he leaves. I stand and witness, my mind left two-thirds blown and one-third confused. After enough lisens I just give in. Lil Wayne is a venereal disease like a menstrual bleed. He's the shit, and I've got loose bowels. I don't see him, but I hear him.
5. TV on the Radio - "DLZ" - As "Dear Science," slowly but surely became the go-to album for chronicalling America's transition from Bush to Obama, each of the album's songs took on additional meaning. The dark and ominous sound of "DLZ" combined with its Bush-bashing lyrics represent a fear of the direction the nation was heading in. Tunde Adebimpe's "la la la" chorus conveys a hope and light through it all. You might not agree with their message, but it's hard to knock TV on the Radio's means of delivering it.
4. Big Boi, featuring Andre 3000 and Raekwon - "Royal Flush" - With the failed "Idlewild" experiment and the overrated "Speakerboxxx / The Love Below" most recently on the minds of their fans, it's understandable to forget how great OutKast really is. Leave it to Big Boi to remind everyone how he and Andre 3000 are still ahead of any other hip-hop artists working today (although Clipse are closing the gap quickly). He and Raekwon drop some nice verses over an Isley Brothers' sample of "Welcome to Atlantis," but really they're just setting up the audience for Andre 3000 to provide further evidence that he is the most intelligent and creative and, well, essential MC working today. When he says "hey I'm talking young man / as if chalk in my hand / I will take yo' little ass to school," he's not kidding.
3. Fuck Buttons - "Sweet Love for Planet Earth" - Noise rock tends itself to fans of the avant-garde, a genre designed to be appealing only to those who crave the unappealing. Fortunate, no one relayed that message to Fuck Buttons. Combining ambience and noise, chaos and sleep, the group wound up with one of the most original and compelling compositions of the year.
2. T.I., featuring Kanye West, Jay-Z, and Lil Wayne - "Swagga Like Us" - Just as "Paper Planes" and M.I.A. hype were dying down, Kanye West resurrected them as well as his hip-hop credibility on the stand-out single from T.I.'s otherwise-disappointing "Paper Trail." Bringing together arguably the four biggest names in hip-hop, each contributes at or above expectations. Kanye makes incredible use of the M.I.A. sample while turning his best verse since "The College Dropout." Jay-Z, who typically phones-in his guest spots, brings a verse up to par with anything on "American Gangster." Lil Wayne is business as usual, which means he's exceptional. Then there's T.I., who has the verse of the year. Every rhyme is worth quoting, so to save space just listen to the track and stand back in awe. Indeed, no one on any corner has swagger like these four guys.
1. Shearwater - "The Snow Leopard" - Okkervil River is a very good band. However, they've never released anything this good. "the Snow Leopard" is nothing short of a monumental achievement in music. The piano sets the tone, Johnathon Meiburg's vocals howl and coo beautifully in an almost operatic fashion, and the guitar seals the package. In a year with many exceptional songs, "The Snow Leopard" was the only one which I would unequivocally qualify as perfect.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Top Ten Albums I Didn't Review
Seeing as this is a blog, not a job, I simply don't always find time to review all the albums I'd like to. However, with it being the end of the year, and since not all of these albums can make my final top ten list, here's a chance for these albums to get some love and for me to briefly explain what made them great. If you're wondering about how they score, the range is 7.8 to 8.6.
10. Man Man - "Rabbit Habits" - Man Man's third effort is arguably their best yet, with a bigger sound, crisper production, and an even more original reworking of their Tom Waits + pop + vaudeville formula. As with the group's other albums, it's not for everyone. Man Man invite you down the rabbit-hole into a bizarre alternate world of theatrics, and for those willing to make the journey it is a memorable experience.
(video is "Easy Eats or Dirty Doctor Galapagos")
9. Pale Young Gentlemen - "Black Forest (Tra La La)" - Last year, after rewarding Pale Young Gentlemen's debut with a ridiculously high 9.1 rating, they earned spots on both my album and song of the year lists. They also earned a record deal with Science of Sound, which released their second album less than 18 months after their debut. The use of a label is reflected in the crisper production and deeper sonics, but lost in the transition is the spontaneity and, well, fun of the debut. It was still good enough to make this list and avoid a "sophomore slump," but better albums are ahead for this band.
(video is "The Crook of My Good Arm")
8. Flying Lotus - "Los Angeles" - This is how Warp interprets hip-hop. "Los Angeles" sounds like nothing else released this year, yet is accessible to fans of a wide variety of genres. Electronica, hip-hop, IDM; the lines between all three were blurred and erased in under an hour. Not bad, Steven Ellison. I can't even begin to fathom what he's got planned for album number three.
(video is "Riot")
7. Hold Steady - "Stay Positive" - Craig Finn and company are certainly consistent. One knows what to expect from them each time out. Sing-along refrains surrounded by Finn's storytelling sung-spoke vocals and plenty of guitar. Four albums in, and the formula is showing very little (if any) diminishing returns. "Stay Positive" is another solid Hold Steady album, with the usual stand-outs ("Constructive Summer" and "Lord, I'm Discouraged") and hardly a weak track on the album. Sure, the Hold Steady don't change much, but why should they?
(video is "Constructive Summer")
6. Cut Copy - "In Ghost Colours" - Just give in. There's no use resisting. Click play.
(video is "Feel the Love")
5. Deerhunter - "Microcastle" - Bradford Cox has reached the point when he can do anything and critics will adore it. "Microcastle" marks the first time on a full-length that he's deserved the praise. Removing himself from the jam-out tendencies of the band's previous two LPs to find an increased level of structure, and finding originality through variety rather than spontaneity, Cox showcased abilities in composition and songwriting which converted me. I believe in Bradford Cox... except for Atlas Sound.
(video is "Agoraphobia")
4. Black Milk - "Tronic" - In a year in which many big name hip-hop artists released albums, none were able to match what Detroit beat connoisseur and MC Black Milk was able to accomplish with his latest album (unless you thought "Tha Carter III" was a masterstroke). It's fourteen tracks of hip-hop, no filler, ranging from good to jaw-dropping. The frequent comparisons of Black Milk to J. Dilla are easily drawn here, although on tracks like "Hell Yeah" Black Milk out-Dilla's the late Jay Dee himself. With "Tronic," Black Milk rises from the ashes of J. Dilla to become an even more powerful version of the late producer extraordinaire.
(video is "The Matrix")
3. Torche - "Meanderthal" - In a year in which a lot of hard rock albums drew praise ("Fortress," "The Chemistry of Common Life," "Life... The Best Game in Town," etc.), the best of all was an album masquerading as hard rock. Torche explore genres and annihilate each and every one of them. "Speed of the Nail" does up death metal while adding a hint of pop levity, "Grenades" takes the power anthem and soars it to new heights. Torche exemplifies genres while rebuking them, joke too straight-faced to possibly be kidding, and just happen to make kick ass rock music the whole time.
(video is "Grenades")
2. Fleet Foxes - "Fleet Foxes" - The "Sun Giant EP" was good, but Fleet Foxes' debut convinced me the hype surrounding the band was warranted. Robin Pecknold's vocals are an instrument in themselves, with a level of reverb previously reserved only for My Morning Jacket's Jim James. Consistent, gorgeous, and impeccably arranged, "Fleet Foxes" may have gained recognition through hype and buzz, but will be able to sustain it through the shear quality and craftsmanship of its songs.
(video is "Ragged Wood")
1. Jacaszek - "Treny" - Post-rock is dying. Mogwai will never make another "Young Team." Sigur Rós will never make another "Ágætis Byrjun." Tortoise are no longer relevant. Jacaszek offers the solution in this eulogy to the genre. On the surface, "Treny" appears simple but encased within its songs are labyrinthine structures of sound, a plethora of tiny parts each contributing to a massive whole, then muffled to create the illusion of ambience, a façade of peace created by constant war. Maybe it's all a metaphor, maybe I'm over-thinking it, maybe that's why I never wrote a review. Whichever way, it's certainly one of the year's finest albums.
(video is "Lament")
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Year in Reviews
On July 28th, The Erik Review reached the one year mark. To celebrate, here are a bunch of random statistics...
Number of new reviews: 44
Average score of new reviews: 6.9
Highest scoring new review: Bonnie "Prince" Billy - "Lie Down in the Light" (9.5)
Lowest scoring new review: Weezer - "Weezer" (The Red Album) (1.5)
% of new reviews under 5.0: 20.4%
% of new reviews over 8.5: 20.4%
And here are some more random notes...
My three favorite reviews:
1. Sigur Rós - "Ágætis Byrjun"
2. Weezer - "Weezer" (The Red Album)
3. Sigur Rós - "Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust"
My three least favorite reviews (not counting quick reviews):
1. Dethklok - "The Dethalbum" (just an awful review)
2. Dengue Fever - "Venus on Earth"
3. Interpol - "Our Love to Admire"
If you have any compliments, comments, criticisms, or condemnations of my site in its first year, let me know.
Number of new reviews: 44
Average score of new reviews: 6.9
Highest scoring new review: Bonnie "Prince" Billy - "Lie Down in the Light" (9.5)
Lowest scoring new review: Weezer - "Weezer" (The Red Album) (1.5)
% of new reviews under 5.0: 20.4%
% of new reviews over 8.5: 20.4%
And here are some more random notes...
My three favorite reviews:
1. Sigur Rós - "Ágætis Byrjun"
2. Weezer - "Weezer" (The Red Album)
3. Sigur Rós - "Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust"
My three least favorite reviews (not counting quick reviews):
1. Dethklok - "The Dethalbum" (just an awful review)
2. Dengue Fever - "Venus on Earth"
3. Interpol - "Our Love to Admire"
If you have any compliments, comments, criticisms, or condemnations of my site in its first year, let me know.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
The 2007 Generic Awards Part Two: Albums of the Year
These are the albums that marked 2007. Many are the year's finest releases. However, due to a surprising amount of records that let me down, I also added a list of the most disappointing albums of the year. Again, I'll offer up one video per album where possible. With apologies to LCD Soundsystem, here's part two of the Generic Awards...
MOST DISAPPOINTING ALBUMS
5) Wilco / "Sky Blue Sky" - The latest release from Jeff Tweedy was by no means a bad album. Its problem was that unlike the group's previous five releases dating back to "Being There", it wasn't attempting to do anything new. They accomplished the goal of making a great Eagles record (something even the Eagles couldn't do in 2007), but what was the point of it all?
*Video is "Impossible Germany" (from the accompanying DVD)
4) R.E.M. / "R.E.M. Live" - I really got into R.E.M. this year, and was excited for their first ever live album. I should've looked at the tracklist first. Six songs from "Around the Sun" while only two from "Murmur", "Reckoning", and "Document" combined? Even if the execution wasn't mediocre (which it is), this album would've been.
3) Eagles / "Long Road Out of Eden" - 28 years without releasing any new albums, and this was the best they could come up with?
*Video is the title track
2) Devendra Banhart / "Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon" - Most years this would be #1. Banhart somehow thought it would be a good idea to attempt every genre within the musical cannon, whether he could pull it off or not. It's not until tracks 15 and 16 ("I Remember" and "My Dearest Friend") that we get anything equivalent to his earlier work.
*Video is "Seahorse"
1) Clap Your Hands Say Yeah / "Some Loud Thunder" - Not since the Stone Roses has there been a sophomore slump like this. Not everything on it is horrible, but after such a self-assured and masterful debut it sure seems like it. Alternative Press put it best: "'Some Loud Thunder' isn't without its successes--but it is defined by its failures."
*Video is "Satan Said Dance"
BEST ALBUMS
10) The National / "Boxer" - After two very good albums, Matt Berninger and his bandmates have finally released their masterpiece. The lyrics are much more direct than the stream-of-conscious verses on "Alligator", while maintaining a level of mystique. Sonically, it's tighter and more accomplished. I don't know if they can top this album, but if they prove me wrong they'll have released one of the decade's finest albums.
* Video is "Mistaken for Strangers"
9) Josh Ritter / "The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter" - Josh Ritter is one talented singer/songwriter. He jumps through various genres, puts his own spin on them, and never falters. Whether it's the Spoon-esque "Mind's Eye", the country stomp of "The Next to the Last Romantic", or the simple acoustic elegance of "Still Beating", everything he touches turns to gold.
*Video is a live version of "Mind's Eye"
8) Dizzee Rascal / "Maths and English" - What it lacks in consistency, it makes up for with its high points. For every lousy track like "Suk My Dick", he throws down three tracks like "Sirens", "Where's Da G's", and "Hardback (Industry)". His beats are still the most original in all of hip-hop, and even Kanye could learn from his use of sampling on "Pussy'ole (Old Skool)". It might not be up to the level of "Boy in Da Corner", but to expect an album of that caliber would be ridiculous and unfair.
*Video is "Sirens"
7) Pale Young Gentlemen / "Pale Young Gentlemen" - Pale Young Gentlemen didn't set out to be this year's ultra-indie buzz band. One listen to their self-titled debut reveals a band just out to make music that's enjoyable to listen to and play to their strengths. They balance out fun tracks like "Saturday Night" and "Clap Your Hands" with slower ballads such as "My Light, Maria" to prevent the album from becoming homogenous. Their music is still raw enough, however, that I believe their best is yet to come. They're the band to watch in the coming years.
6) Arcade Fire / "Neon Bible" - Rather than retread the sound they mastered on 2004's "Funeral", the Arcade Fire adopted a more straightforward sound for their latest album. The numerous Bruce Springsteen comparisons seems especially accurate on songs like "Keep the Car Running". Even with the more rock-oriented sound, they weren't afraid to slow things down and build up to a climax on tracks like "My Body is a Cage". "Neon Bible" was the best kind of sophomore album. It successfully tried new things, while keeping the band's signature sound and strengths intact.
*Video is "My Body is a Cage"
5) Panda Bear / "Person Pitch" - A warm blend of Beach Boys inspired psychedelia, sounds of nature, and Animal Collective's originality. It not only painted a picture of summer, it created an environment of the season so convincing it could be inhabited. Unlike his Animal Collective partner Avey Tare's fans-only document "Pullhair Rubeye", "Person Pitch" was an album that could be enjoyed by those unfamiliar with the Collective, casual fans (I'd fall in this category), and die-hards alike.
*Video is "Comfy in Nautica"
4) Menomena / "Friend and Foe" - In 2007, Menomena moved from the unknown Muuuhahaha! label which had released their debut album to the much more relevant Barsuk label (which released most of Death Cab's albums, and is home to artists such as They Might Be Giants and Nada Surf). It was a perfect fit. The new equipment and studio technology available to them allowed them to make an album similar to their wonderful debut ("I Am the Fun Blame Monster!"), only bigger and better in every aspect. Every track is overflowing with instruments, vocals, and ideas, building to an exhilirating crescendo. Menomena took an already high bar and raised it right through the ceiling.
*Video is "Evil Bee"
3) Radiohead / "In Rainbows" - It's a new Radiohead album. It's already made nearly every top ten list. What else can possibly be written about it? In short, they exceeded fan expectations by finally meeting them.
*Video is "Reckoner"
2) Spoon / "Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga" - I seriously underestimated this album initially. It just didn't sound as impressive as "Gimme Fiction". I don't blame myself either. On the first few listens, Britt Daniels and company sound so effortless. It sounds nice and all, but it doesn't make you stand back in awe like "The Beast and Dragon, Adored". However, after subsequent listens you realize just how outstanding it is. You realize how flawlessly executed it is. You realize how impeccably produced it is. You realize it not only might be the band's best album, it is the band's best album.
*Video is "The Underdog"
1) Battles / "Mirrored" - The vocals are too weird. It doesn't have any emotional shifts, or really any emotions tied to it period. The songs are either too short or too long. It doesn't make any great cultural statements. There are a lot of reasons to believe Battles' debut is not the album of the year. I just don't buy into any of them. It was the first time an album had left me completely floored since Sigur Rós' initial American release, "Agaetis Byrjun". It sounded like nothing I had heard before or since. Hate it or love it, "Mirrored" was the most original album of the year. In your humble reviewer's opinion, it was also easily the best.
*Video is "Tonto"
MOST DISAPPOINTING ALBUMS
5) Wilco / "Sky Blue Sky" - The latest release from Jeff Tweedy was by no means a bad album. Its problem was that unlike the group's previous five releases dating back to "Being There", it wasn't attempting to do anything new. They accomplished the goal of making a great Eagles record (something even the Eagles couldn't do in 2007), but what was the point of it all?
*Video is "Impossible Germany" (from the accompanying DVD)
4) R.E.M. / "R.E.M. Live" - I really got into R.E.M. this year, and was excited for their first ever live album. I should've looked at the tracklist first. Six songs from "Around the Sun" while only two from "Murmur", "Reckoning", and "Document" combined? Even if the execution wasn't mediocre (which it is), this album would've been.
3) Eagles / "Long Road Out of Eden" - 28 years without releasing any new albums, and this was the best they could come up with?
*Video is the title track
2) Devendra Banhart / "Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon" - Most years this would be #1. Banhart somehow thought it would be a good idea to attempt every genre within the musical cannon, whether he could pull it off or not. It's not until tracks 15 and 16 ("I Remember" and "My Dearest Friend") that we get anything equivalent to his earlier work.
*Video is "Seahorse"
1) Clap Your Hands Say Yeah / "Some Loud Thunder" - Not since the Stone Roses has there been a sophomore slump like this. Not everything on it is horrible, but after such a self-assured and masterful debut it sure seems like it. Alternative Press put it best: "'Some Loud Thunder' isn't without its successes--but it is defined by its failures."
*Video is "Satan Said Dance"
BEST ALBUMS
10) The National / "Boxer" - After two very good albums, Matt Berninger and his bandmates have finally released their masterpiece. The lyrics are much more direct than the stream-of-conscious verses on "Alligator", while maintaining a level of mystique. Sonically, it's tighter and more accomplished. I don't know if they can top this album, but if they prove me wrong they'll have released one of the decade's finest albums.
* Video is "Mistaken for Strangers"
9) Josh Ritter / "The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter" - Josh Ritter is one talented singer/songwriter. He jumps through various genres, puts his own spin on them, and never falters. Whether it's the Spoon-esque "Mind's Eye", the country stomp of "The Next to the Last Romantic", or the simple acoustic elegance of "Still Beating", everything he touches turns to gold.
*Video is a live version of "Mind's Eye"
8) Dizzee Rascal / "Maths and English" - What it lacks in consistency, it makes up for with its high points. For every lousy track like "Suk My Dick", he throws down three tracks like "Sirens", "Where's Da G's", and "Hardback (Industry)". His beats are still the most original in all of hip-hop, and even Kanye could learn from his use of sampling on "Pussy'ole (Old Skool)". It might not be up to the level of "Boy in Da Corner", but to expect an album of that caliber would be ridiculous and unfair.
*Video is "Sirens"
7) Pale Young Gentlemen / "Pale Young Gentlemen" - Pale Young Gentlemen didn't set out to be this year's ultra-indie buzz band. One listen to their self-titled debut reveals a band just out to make music that's enjoyable to listen to and play to their strengths. They balance out fun tracks like "Saturday Night" and "Clap Your Hands" with slower ballads such as "My Light, Maria" to prevent the album from becoming homogenous. Their music is still raw enough, however, that I believe their best is yet to come. They're the band to watch in the coming years.
6) Arcade Fire / "Neon Bible" - Rather than retread the sound they mastered on 2004's "Funeral", the Arcade Fire adopted a more straightforward sound for their latest album. The numerous Bruce Springsteen comparisons seems especially accurate on songs like "Keep the Car Running". Even with the more rock-oriented sound, they weren't afraid to slow things down and build up to a climax on tracks like "My Body is a Cage". "Neon Bible" was the best kind of sophomore album. It successfully tried new things, while keeping the band's signature sound and strengths intact.
*Video is "My Body is a Cage"
5) Panda Bear / "Person Pitch" - A warm blend of Beach Boys inspired psychedelia, sounds of nature, and Animal Collective's originality. It not only painted a picture of summer, it created an environment of the season so convincing it could be inhabited. Unlike his Animal Collective partner Avey Tare's fans-only document "Pullhair Rubeye", "Person Pitch" was an album that could be enjoyed by those unfamiliar with the Collective, casual fans (I'd fall in this category), and die-hards alike.
*Video is "Comfy in Nautica"
4) Menomena / "Friend and Foe" - In 2007, Menomena moved from the unknown Muuuhahaha! label which had released their debut album to the much more relevant Barsuk label (which released most of Death Cab's albums, and is home to artists such as They Might Be Giants and Nada Surf). It was a perfect fit. The new equipment and studio technology available to them allowed them to make an album similar to their wonderful debut ("I Am the Fun Blame Monster!"), only bigger and better in every aspect. Every track is overflowing with instruments, vocals, and ideas, building to an exhilirating crescendo. Menomena took an already high bar and raised it right through the ceiling.
*Video is "Evil Bee"
3) Radiohead / "In Rainbows" - It's a new Radiohead album. It's already made nearly every top ten list. What else can possibly be written about it? In short, they exceeded fan expectations by finally meeting them.
*Video is "Reckoner"
2) Spoon / "Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga" - I seriously underestimated this album initially. It just didn't sound as impressive as "Gimme Fiction". I don't blame myself either. On the first few listens, Britt Daniels and company sound so effortless. It sounds nice and all, but it doesn't make you stand back in awe like "The Beast and Dragon, Adored". However, after subsequent listens you realize just how outstanding it is. You realize how flawlessly executed it is. You realize how impeccably produced it is. You realize it not only might be the band's best album, it is the band's best album.
*Video is "The Underdog"
1) Battles / "Mirrored" - The vocals are too weird. It doesn't have any emotional shifts, or really any emotions tied to it period. The songs are either too short or too long. It doesn't make any great cultural statements. There are a lot of reasons to believe Battles' debut is not the album of the year. I just don't buy into any of them. It was the first time an album had left me completely floored since Sigur Rós' initial American release, "Agaetis Byrjun". It sounded like nothing I had heard before or since. Hate it or love it, "Mirrored" was the most original album of the year. In your humble reviewer's opinion, it was also easily the best.
*Video is "Tonto"
Saturday, December 15, 2007
The 2007 Generic Awards Part One: Songs of the Year
All apologies for nearly three weeks of hiatus. I listened to the new Ghostface Killah album ("The Big Doe Rehab") and had begun a review, but due to a hectic schedule it will be pushed back (along with Lupe Fiasco's "The Cool" and poll-winner Kid Rock's "Rock and Roll Jesus") to January.
2007 was a strong year for music, particularly in the indie community. Indie standouts Feist, The Shins, The Arcade Fire, and Okkervil River saw chart success for the first time. Hyped artists either came through on their promise (Menomena, Battles) or else faced a sophomore slump (Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Bloc Party). UGK miraculously returned this year to top the album charts, only to have one of their two rappers (Pimp C.) die tragically later in the year. All and all, it was the typical year of surprises, both pleasant and disappointing. Here are the songs that made highlighted the year, with videos where feasible.
BEST SONGS
10) Blonde Redhead / "SW" - "23" demonstrated a band in full control of their sound. It saw the band more polished and executing better than ever before. Nowhere was that demonstrated better than on "SW". It explodes out of the gate with full force as guitarist Amadeo Pace takes his first turn on vocals, declaring "it's not what you give, but what you kept." The band kept nothing back, and the move pays off as the highlight of one of the year's stronger albums.
*From the album "23"
9) Jape / "Floating" - It's so simple that it's genius. Take a simple acoustic guitar line, insert brief and clever couplets, and hint it with an electronic background pulsing throughout the entire song. "I said 'fuck dancing all night', but that's just what we did" sings lead singer Richie Eagan. Not only is it one of the best, most straight-forward lines of the year, it's also a pretty good idea of what will happen if you throw this track on repeat.
*From the album "The Monkeys in the Zoo Have More Fun than Me"
8) Pale Young Gentlemen / "Saturday Night" - The rollicking piano, the strings, the enthusiastic vocals, and the relentless energy. It hits all the right pleasure centers. When Mike Reisenauer cries out "Oh Saturday night, take me in your arms!" it brings back memories of weekends spent with friends, having fun. "I'm happy where I am" he later remarks, before the song hits its final crescendo and you can't help but smile even bigger.
*From the album "Pale Young Gentlemen"
7) Menomena / "Rotten Hell" - It starts out simple enough, just a single guy singing over a piano backing. Then it adds another singer, another instrument, another instrument, and another and another until it becomes a many-layered thing of beauty. They know when to restrain though, as they do during the bridge when they "beat through this mess together" before building up to arugably the most rewarding pay-off on a track all year. When they declare "it's high time we step outside, drop the gloves, and settle this thing like a man!" it rings through like a battle cry.
*From the album "Friend and Foe"
6) Battles / "Atlas" - Flawless execution. Innovation so frequent it becomes routine. A sound unlike any other. These phrases only begin to describe math-rock outfit Battles. Their music sounds as though it has been broadcast to Earth from another planet, from a future time. It is a thing of strange beauty. Never is it demonstrated better than on "Atlas", the second track of their masterpiece "Mirrored." I'm still surprised, and even suspicious, that man could compose sounds like these. (Note: the song in the music video is over two minutes shorter than the album version.)
*From the album "Mirrored"
5) Josh Ritter / "The Temptation of Adam" - Love finds us in many different places and situations, even in missile silos during the Cold War. That's (obviously) the setting for "The Temptation of Adam", the most romantic song of the year. Ritter writes of the speaker wondering if the world will end, and if he'd even mind, since he isn't sure if he could be with the one he loves outside of their unusual love nest. When he sings of wishing he could "pretend this giant missile is an old oak tree instead, and carve our name in hearts into the warhead" it comes across as poignant, rather than comical. As the song concludes, he sees the button that would launch the missle and destroy the lovers (and more importantly, his choice whether to live with his love in the silo or move on and try and find someone with easier circumstances) and he states he is "tempted", leaving us to wonder what ever did become of the two.
*From the album "The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter"
4) Explosions in the Sky / "The Birth and Death of the Day" - With a title like that, it has to either be mind-blowing or else it's over-selling itself. As this ranking suggests, it's certainly the former. As the guitars build and swell, it is awe-inspiring. No use in trying to describe this song, just watch the video.
*From the album "All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone"
3) UGK / "International Players Anthem" - Reasons to be genuinely excited about this song: 1) Andre 3000 actually raps again! I can't overstate how big this is! 2) The beat is the best by far in hip-hop this year. 3) It's, sadly, the last time we'll here Pimp C. and Bun B. together unless they happen to have a Tupac Shakur size catalogue of unrecorded tracks and verses. The best hip-hop song of the year, and it's not even close.
*From the album "Underground Kingz"
2) Spoon / "Don't You Evah" - Spoon makes pop music look way too easy. Britt Daniel's effortless voice, a simple guitar riff and drum line, and some handclaps and they've got a song that sounds like a hit. Throw in the over-dubbing harmony and guitar solo, and you've got something even a tiny yellow robot can dance to.
*From the album "Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga"
1) Feist / "My Moon My Man" - It's perfect, honestly. The beat is seemingly (deceitfully) simple, but full of flourishes of genius experimenting. The guitar comes in at the perfect times, and makes the song that much stronger. Then there's Leslie Feist's voice. My God, not since early Madonna has anyone sounded this sexy on a record. "The Reminder" may have had its set-backs, but this song has none. It's better than anything released this year or last year, and my money is that it will be better than anything released in the upcoming year. It's that good, folks.
*From the album "The Reminder"
On the opposite end of the spectrum, there's one other award to give out...
THE WORST SONG OF THE YEAR
1) Soulja Boy Tell Em / "Crank That" - This was the most inescapable song of the year, while simultaneously being the one I most wanted to escape. It was basically a really shitty dance move expanded into a full-length "hip-hop" song by adding a shitty faux-island beat, a bunch of shitty lyrics, and a bunch of "ohhhhhs!" I give up. I thought "The Macarena" was the last time I'd see a one-hit wonder (because if there really is a God, there's no way Mr. Tell Em has another hit) based off a shitty dance and little else become a nationwide smash. I can only pray that this time really is the last time.
*From some shitty album
Albums of the Year coming on Wednesday (12/19)
2007 was a strong year for music, particularly in the indie community. Indie standouts Feist, The Shins, The Arcade Fire, and Okkervil River saw chart success for the first time. Hyped artists either came through on their promise (Menomena, Battles) or else faced a sophomore slump (Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Bloc Party). UGK miraculously returned this year to top the album charts, only to have one of their two rappers (Pimp C.) die tragically later in the year. All and all, it was the typical year of surprises, both pleasant and disappointing. Here are the songs that made highlighted the year, with videos where feasible.
BEST SONGS
10) Blonde Redhead / "SW" - "23" demonstrated a band in full control of their sound. It saw the band more polished and executing better than ever before. Nowhere was that demonstrated better than on "SW". It explodes out of the gate with full force as guitarist Amadeo Pace takes his first turn on vocals, declaring "it's not what you give, but what you kept." The band kept nothing back, and the move pays off as the highlight of one of the year's stronger albums.
*From the album "23"
9) Jape / "Floating" - It's so simple that it's genius. Take a simple acoustic guitar line, insert brief and clever couplets, and hint it with an electronic background pulsing throughout the entire song. "I said 'fuck dancing all night', but that's just what we did" sings lead singer Richie Eagan. Not only is it one of the best, most straight-forward lines of the year, it's also a pretty good idea of what will happen if you throw this track on repeat.
*From the album "The Monkeys in the Zoo Have More Fun than Me"
8) Pale Young Gentlemen / "Saturday Night" - The rollicking piano, the strings, the enthusiastic vocals, and the relentless energy. It hits all the right pleasure centers. When Mike Reisenauer cries out "Oh Saturday night, take me in your arms!" it brings back memories of weekends spent with friends, having fun. "I'm happy where I am" he later remarks, before the song hits its final crescendo and you can't help but smile even bigger.
*From the album "Pale Young Gentlemen"
7) Menomena / "Rotten Hell" - It starts out simple enough, just a single guy singing over a piano backing. Then it adds another singer, another instrument, another instrument, and another and another until it becomes a many-layered thing of beauty. They know when to restrain though, as they do during the bridge when they "beat through this mess together" before building up to arugably the most rewarding pay-off on a track all year. When they declare "it's high time we step outside, drop the gloves, and settle this thing like a man!" it rings through like a battle cry.
*From the album "Friend and Foe"
6) Battles / "Atlas" - Flawless execution. Innovation so frequent it becomes routine. A sound unlike any other. These phrases only begin to describe math-rock outfit Battles. Their music sounds as though it has been broadcast to Earth from another planet, from a future time. It is a thing of strange beauty. Never is it demonstrated better than on "Atlas", the second track of their masterpiece "Mirrored." I'm still surprised, and even suspicious, that man could compose sounds like these. (Note: the song in the music video is over two minutes shorter than the album version.)
*From the album "Mirrored"
5) Josh Ritter / "The Temptation of Adam" - Love finds us in many different places and situations, even in missile silos during the Cold War. That's (obviously) the setting for "The Temptation of Adam", the most romantic song of the year. Ritter writes of the speaker wondering if the world will end, and if he'd even mind, since he isn't sure if he could be with the one he loves outside of their unusual love nest. When he sings of wishing he could "pretend this giant missile is an old oak tree instead, and carve our name in hearts into the warhead" it comes across as poignant, rather than comical. As the song concludes, he sees the button that would launch the missle and destroy the lovers (and more importantly, his choice whether to live with his love in the silo or move on and try and find someone with easier circumstances) and he states he is "tempted", leaving us to wonder what ever did become of the two.
*From the album "The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter"
4) Explosions in the Sky / "The Birth and Death of the Day" - With a title like that, it has to either be mind-blowing or else it's over-selling itself. As this ranking suggests, it's certainly the former. As the guitars build and swell, it is awe-inspiring. No use in trying to describe this song, just watch the video.
*From the album "All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone"
3) UGK / "International Players Anthem" - Reasons to be genuinely excited about this song: 1) Andre 3000 actually raps again! I can't overstate how big this is! 2) The beat is the best by far in hip-hop this year. 3) It's, sadly, the last time we'll here Pimp C. and Bun B. together unless they happen to have a Tupac Shakur size catalogue of unrecorded tracks and verses. The best hip-hop song of the year, and it's not even close.
*From the album "Underground Kingz"
2) Spoon / "Don't You Evah" - Spoon makes pop music look way too easy. Britt Daniel's effortless voice, a simple guitar riff and drum line, and some handclaps and they've got a song that sounds like a hit. Throw in the over-dubbing harmony and guitar solo, and you've got something even a tiny yellow robot can dance to.
*From the album "Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga"
1) Feist / "My Moon My Man" - It's perfect, honestly. The beat is seemingly (deceitfully) simple, but full of flourishes of genius experimenting. The guitar comes in at the perfect times, and makes the song that much stronger. Then there's Leslie Feist's voice. My God, not since early Madonna has anyone sounded this sexy on a record. "The Reminder" may have had its set-backs, but this song has none. It's better than anything released this year or last year, and my money is that it will be better than anything released in the upcoming year. It's that good, folks.
*From the album "The Reminder"
On the opposite end of the spectrum, there's one other award to give out...
THE WORST SONG OF THE YEAR
1) Soulja Boy Tell Em / "Crank That" - This was the most inescapable song of the year, while simultaneously being the one I most wanted to escape. It was basically a really shitty dance move expanded into a full-length "hip-hop" song by adding a shitty faux-island beat, a bunch of shitty lyrics, and a bunch of "ohhhhhs!" I give up. I thought "The Macarena" was the last time I'd see a one-hit wonder (because if there really is a God, there's no way Mr. Tell Em has another hit) based off a shitty dance and little else become a nationwide smash. I can only pray that this time really is the last time.
*From some shitty album
Albums of the Year coming on Wednesday (12/19)
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
The Erik Review
Rather than write/post random shit which has become the bulk of IHOB posts, I would prefer to simply write my musings on albums. The majority of these posts will be recently released material, but I will throw in tributes to some of my favorite albums from time to time. Enjoy!
To kick-start the blog, here is my ultra-prestigious list of my favorite albums thus far in 2007:
10) White Stripes / "Icky Thump" (rating 8.2/10)
9) LCD Soundsystem / "Sounds of Silver" (rating 8.3/10)
8) The National / "Boxer" (rating 8.4/10)
7) Blonde Redhead / "23" (rating 8.4/10)
6) Peter Bjorn and John / "Writer's Block" (UK release 2006; US release 2007) (rating 8.5/10)
5) Spoon / "Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga" (rating 8.6/10)
4) Arcade Fire / "Neon Bible" (rating 8.8/10)
3) Panda Bear / "Person Pitch" (rating 8.9/10)
2) Menomena / "Friend and Foe" (rating 9.2/10)
1) Battles / "Mirrored" (rating 10/10)
However, there are many releases I either haven't gotten around to hearing in their entirety or else have not yet come out. Some of the highlights:
* Frog Eyes / "Tears of the Valedictorian"
* Dizzee Rascal / "Maths and English"
* Kevin Drew / "Spirit If..."
* Interpol / "Our Love to Admire"
* Common / "Finding Forever"
* Okkervil River / "The Stage Names"
* Caribou / "Andorra"
* New Pornographers / "Challengers"
* Kanye West / "Graduation"
* Super Furry Animals / "Hey Venus!"
2007 has been a fairly strong year in music and it looks to continue! Hopefully these artists can avoid dropping disappointing duds (Wilco, NIN, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Bloc Party). I'll have my fingers crossed...
To kick-start the blog, here is my ultra-prestigious list of my favorite albums thus far in 2007:
10) White Stripes / "Icky Thump" (rating 8.2/10)
9) LCD Soundsystem / "Sounds of Silver" (rating 8.3/10)
8) The National / "Boxer" (rating 8.4/10)
7) Blonde Redhead / "23" (rating 8.4/10)
6) Peter Bjorn and John / "Writer's Block" (UK release 2006; US release 2007) (rating 8.5/10)
5) Spoon / "Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga" (rating 8.6/10)
4) Arcade Fire / "Neon Bible" (rating 8.8/10)
3) Panda Bear / "Person Pitch" (rating 8.9/10)
2) Menomena / "Friend and Foe" (rating 9.2/10)
1) Battles / "Mirrored" (rating 10/10)
However, there are many releases I either haven't gotten around to hearing in their entirety or else have not yet come out. Some of the highlights:
* Frog Eyes / "Tears of the Valedictorian"
* Dizzee Rascal / "Maths and English"
* Kevin Drew / "Spirit If..."
* Interpol / "Our Love to Admire"
* Common / "Finding Forever"
* Okkervil River / "The Stage Names"
* Caribou / "Andorra"
* New Pornographers / "Challengers"
* Kanye West / "Graduation"
* Super Furry Animals / "Hey Venus!"
2007 has been a fairly strong year in music and it looks to continue! Hopefully these artists can avoid dropping disappointing duds (Wilco, NIN, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Bloc Party). I'll have my fingers crossed...
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