And Now For Something Completely Different
If you know me, you know that I’m a bit of a music snob/nut/junkie/what have you. If you don’t, then welcome to the party!
P.S. Sorry about going 3 months without an entry... I need to step it up!
P.S. Sorry about going 3 months without an entry... I need to step it up!
Seriously. Sorry! I don’t really do New Years resolutions, but posting here more often is something I need to work on.
Anywho, 2010 is behind us, and a year of great music is already upon us. What may very well be the album of the year just came out this past week. I had to remind myself that it’s only January, but it’s that good. Buy it if you haven’t already. You’ll be doing yourself a favor.
I’ve got a bit of a tradition of putting together a list of my top 10 albums at the end of every year, so now that I have a proper blog, why not just put it up here?
Enjoy, agree, disagree, and discuss!
10. Anais Mitchell - Hadestown
Having a penchant for rock operas and folk rock, I was intrigued by the possibilities of mixing the two. Granted, this is actually the soundtrack to a musical created by Anais Mitchell, but it’s probably the closest thing to a folk rock opera outside of The Decemberists’ The Hazards of Love. Hadestown is a retelling of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice with a brilliant cast, including Justin Vernon as Orpheus and Ben Knox Miller as Hermes. Mitchell takes on the role of Eurydice. Those lucky enough to catch Hadestown when it was touring were treated to seeing the recorded folk rock super-cast in all of their glory. The rest of us will just have to settle for listening to the record and daydreaming.
9. Minus The Bear - Omni
While sex has been a hot topic in songwriting since the dawn of rock and roll, the the same can’t really be said of the math rock subgenre. Enter Minus the Bear, a band who enjoy two things: sex and silly song titles. With Omni, they ditched the latter and doubled up on the former. These guys either really need to get laid, or they can’t keep women away and are pretty blunt about it. Whatever is the case, the now-bearded Jake Snider (Ok, I think they need to get laid) still has no problem telling you all about his sex life and fantasies, and the songs are so catchy that you’ll want to hear about it multiple times.
8. Mavis Staples - You Are Not Alone
If this is what you get when you put two Chicago legends in a room together and say, “Go play,” then this needs to happen more often. Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy produced this gem for Staples, and it’s clear that there was ample chemistry between the two. If you don’t believe it, just ask the several thousand who gathered to see her perform at Lollapalooza this past summer (Also, she’s 71 years old. How impressive is that?!). There’s a healthy number of covers on the album, but gospel or otherwise, Staples makes them all her own.
7.The Dead Weather - Sea of Cowards
The recent break-up of The White Stripes must mean Jack White made an inevitable discovery that he set himself up for when forming The Dead Weather: He is a far better drummer than Meg. His second super group’s sophomore release (How’s that for alliteration?) makes the sexual tension from their first album seem more like a couple of kindergarteners admitting their crushes to one another. Dean Fertita and Jack Lawrence rock harder, and Alison Mossheart has really come into her own and stepped out of White’s shadow. The resulting Pushmi-pullyu fuzz bomb is now a pleasant reminder that we’re better off without Meg.
6. Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band - The Promise
To say, “it’s only a collection of songs that were leftover from the Darkness On the Edge Of Town sessions,” really isn’t fair. These songs live up to the album name and make you wonder what else Bruce recorded that he deemed “not quite right” for his albums, because this double disc collection stands on its own. That’s no small feat for any collection of forgotten recordings/b-sides/rarities. Did I mention that The Promise is home to the original version of this?
5. Gayngs - Relayted
“Justin Vernon can do no wrong” may as well be my new mantra. DeYarmond Edison, Bon Iver, Volcano Choir, Hadestown (Also on this list), and now this? Apparently, when he’s not proving to the world that there should be an international law prohibiting vocoder use for everybody except himself (okay, maybe T-Pain, too), he’s taking part in various indie supergroups. Gayngs is kind of like Broken Social Scene in that they really put the “super” in “supergroup.” The band has 23 members, which you won’t suspect until you’re hit by a very pleasant wall of sound that comes out on a few tracks. They do anything but stir up a racket, though. While the album in its entirety isn’t as soft as a Bon Iver record thanks to a bit of jazz/avant-garde moments, it’s still dreamy.
4. The Black Keys - Brothers
I don’t understand what exactly Dan Auerbach and Pat Carney are doing to be the coolest two-piece band ever, but I’m certainly not going to complain. I got excited for this album when I was introduced to Frank. His wit, dance moves, and way with the ladies convinced me that Brothers was going to be a big deal well before it was released (but what Black Keys album isn’t a big deal?). I was surprised on first listen that it moved further away from their signature raw tone than 2008’s Attack and Release, but I quickly fell in love after settling into the change. Recording at Muscle Shoals is definitely a factor in the Motown vibe, but it’s clear after the first track that Auerbach and Carney had complete control over the record’s production. They set themselves up for something big with the brilliant artwork and marketing campaign that was behind this album, and it did more than pay off.
3. Devo - Something For Everybody
You might have heard rumblings that Devo was back when they, in true Devo fashion, crowd-sourced the track listing for this album, putting 16 songs up on their website and making an album out of the 12 most popular. After listening to Something For Everybody, you’ll forget that they fell off the radar for 20 years. They don’t sound older, and after seeing them at Lollapalooza this past summer, I’ll vouch for them not acting like they’re older. The tracks on this record are as silly, sardonic, and infectious as ever, if not taking the cake for all three. You will dance to this album, and by the time it’s over you’ll be asking yourself and those around you, “Are we not men?”
2. The Gaslight Anthem - American Slang
First things first: enough with the Springsteen comparisons. Brian Fallon and company have a deep appreciation for The Boss, but after that, their Jersey heritage, and the curious accent that Brian and Bruce share, any similarities end. Sure, Fallon writes meaningful lyrics about working class Americans, the loss of innocence, and other subjects that Bruce has tackled, but their music is in no way alike. American Slang is the most “arena friendly” album that these guys have released, but their punk rock roots are still on display with simple progressions and arrangements, power chords, and palm-mutes. The dancey leads will hook you before the first verse of the title-sharing opening track, and you’ll be on the somber final track, “We Did It When We Were Young,” before you know it, trying to pick your jaw up off the floor. The Gaslight Anthem isn’t trying to be The Boss, but they’re definitely edging towards the top of New Jersey’s talent pool.
1. Foxy Shazam - Foxy Shazam
There are some crazy things going on in Cincinnati right now between Chad Ochocinco and Foxy Shazam. While these guys haven't raced a horse and won, frontman Eric Sean Nally often introduces the band by saying, "If Foxy Shazam were an animal at the Zoo, we would be the ones most likely to bite your head off without even thinking about it!" That’s exactly what this album does, and it comes back for seconds. While you only have one head and might be slightly perplexed by that, you’ll like it. With influences ranging from Queen to gospel (Nally says he was one of two white kids in his high school), Foxy Shazam sees the band evolving from their post-hardcore roots to a glam-rock powerhouse with a live show as crazy as their albums. The self-proclaimed “Michael Jordan of rock and roll” wants to be the biggest band in the world, and they’re on the right track.
Notable Film Scores & Soundtracks:
Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross - The Social Network
Unexpected perfect pair.
Daft Punk - Tron: Legacy
Beating-you-over-the-head-obvious perfect pair... Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
Various Artists - Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World
Yet another perfect pair... Getting Beck behind the Sex Bob-Omb songs was a great idea, and it worked out surprisingly well to have the actors sing and play on a lot of the soundtrack.
Honorable Mentions:
Street Sweeper Social Club - The Ghetto Blaster E.P.
Tom Morello can make an M.I.A. song sound good. Enough said.
Dr. Dog - Shame, Shame
Lacking the overall charm of Fate, but I guess it helps a little bit to make us forget that bad things like Eagles fans come from Philly, too...
OK Go - Of the Blue Color Of the Sky
A successful partnership with longtime Flaming Lips producer Dave Friddman resulted in the Chicago quartet getting little more experimental, which was nice and kind of unexpected after all of the attention that they got for Here It Goes Again (now more commonly known as “the treadmill dance song”).
Most Misunderstood Indie Rock Album of the Year:
Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
By “misunderstood,” I mean that I don’t understand what all the fuss was about. I didn’t think that it was anything special. I like it. I wanted to love it, but I just can’t for some reason...
Dissapointment of the Year:
Coheed & Cambria - Year of the Black Rainbow
This prog rock prequel ended up being the musical equivalent to The Phantom Menace.
WTF of the Year:
Weezer - Hurley
Seriously, guys. Just give up and go home.
Anywho, 2010 is behind us, and a year of great music is already upon us. What may very well be the album of the year just came out this past week. I had to remind myself that it’s only January, but it’s that good. Buy it if you haven’t already. You’ll be doing yourself a favor.
I’ve got a bit of a tradition of putting together a list of my top 10 albums at the end of every year, so now that I have a proper blog, why not just put it up here?
Enjoy, agree, disagree, and discuss!
10. Anais Mitchell - Hadestown
Having a penchant for rock operas and folk rock, I was intrigued by the possibilities of mixing the two. Granted, this is actually the soundtrack to a musical created by Anais Mitchell, but it’s probably the closest thing to a folk rock opera outside of The Decemberists’ The Hazards of Love. Hadestown is a retelling of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice with a brilliant cast, including Justin Vernon as Orpheus and Ben Knox Miller as Hermes. Mitchell takes on the role of Eurydice. Those lucky enough to catch Hadestown when it was touring were treated to seeing the recorded folk rock super-cast in all of their glory. The rest of us will just have to settle for listening to the record and daydreaming.
9. Minus The Bear - Omni
While sex has been a hot topic in songwriting since the dawn of rock and roll, the the same can’t really be said of the math rock subgenre. Enter Minus the Bear, a band who enjoy two things: sex and silly song titles. With Omni, they ditched the latter and doubled up on the former. These guys either really need to get laid, or they can’t keep women away and are pretty blunt about it. Whatever is the case, the now-bearded Jake Snider (Ok, I think they need to get laid) still has no problem telling you all about his sex life and fantasies, and the songs are so catchy that you’ll want to hear about it multiple times.
8. Mavis Staples - You Are Not Alone
If this is what you get when you put two Chicago legends in a room together and say, “Go play,” then this needs to happen more often. Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy produced this gem for Staples, and it’s clear that there was ample chemistry between the two. If you don’t believe it, just ask the several thousand who gathered to see her perform at Lollapalooza this past summer (Also, she’s 71 years old. How impressive is that?!). There’s a healthy number of covers on the album, but gospel or otherwise, Staples makes them all her own.
7.The Dead Weather - Sea of Cowards
The recent break-up of The White Stripes must mean Jack White made an inevitable discovery that he set himself up for when forming The Dead Weather: He is a far better drummer than Meg. His second super group’s sophomore release (How’s that for alliteration?) makes the sexual tension from their first album seem more like a couple of kindergarteners admitting their crushes to one another. Dean Fertita and Jack Lawrence rock harder, and Alison Mossheart has really come into her own and stepped out of White’s shadow. The resulting Pushmi-pullyu fuzz bomb is now a pleasant reminder that we’re better off without Meg.
6. Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band - The Promise
To say, “it’s only a collection of songs that were leftover from the Darkness On the Edge Of Town sessions,” really isn’t fair. These songs live up to the album name and make you wonder what else Bruce recorded that he deemed “not quite right” for his albums, because this double disc collection stands on its own. That’s no small feat for any collection of forgotten recordings/b-sides/rarities. Did I mention that The Promise is home to the original version of this?
5. Gayngs - Relayted
“Justin Vernon can do no wrong” may as well be my new mantra. DeYarmond Edison, Bon Iver, Volcano Choir, Hadestown (Also on this list), and now this? Apparently, when he’s not proving to the world that there should be an international law prohibiting vocoder use for everybody except himself (okay, maybe T-Pain, too), he’s taking part in various indie supergroups. Gayngs is kind of like Broken Social Scene in that they really put the “super” in “supergroup.” The band has 23 members, which you won’t suspect until you’re hit by a very pleasant wall of sound that comes out on a few tracks. They do anything but stir up a racket, though. While the album in its entirety isn’t as soft as a Bon Iver record thanks to a bit of jazz/avant-garde moments, it’s still dreamy.
4. The Black Keys - Brothers
I don’t understand what exactly Dan Auerbach and Pat Carney are doing to be the coolest two-piece band ever, but I’m certainly not going to complain. I got excited for this album when I was introduced to Frank. His wit, dance moves, and way with the ladies convinced me that Brothers was going to be a big deal well before it was released (but what Black Keys album isn’t a big deal?). I was surprised on first listen that it moved further away from their signature raw tone than 2008’s Attack and Release, but I quickly fell in love after settling into the change. Recording at Muscle Shoals is definitely a factor in the Motown vibe, but it’s clear after the first track that Auerbach and Carney had complete control over the record’s production. They set themselves up for something big with the brilliant artwork and marketing campaign that was behind this album, and it did more than pay off.
3. Devo - Something For Everybody
You might have heard rumblings that Devo was back when they, in true Devo fashion, crowd-sourced the track listing for this album, putting 16 songs up on their website and making an album out of the 12 most popular. After listening to Something For Everybody, you’ll forget that they fell off the radar for 20 years. They don’t sound older, and after seeing them at Lollapalooza this past summer, I’ll vouch for them not acting like they’re older. The tracks on this record are as silly, sardonic, and infectious as ever, if not taking the cake for all three. You will dance to this album, and by the time it’s over you’ll be asking yourself and those around you, “Are we not men?”
2. The Gaslight Anthem - American Slang
First things first: enough with the Springsteen comparisons. Brian Fallon and company have a deep appreciation for The Boss, but after that, their Jersey heritage, and the curious accent that Brian and Bruce share, any similarities end. Sure, Fallon writes meaningful lyrics about working class Americans, the loss of innocence, and other subjects that Bruce has tackled, but their music is in no way alike. American Slang is the most “arena friendly” album that these guys have released, but their punk rock roots are still on display with simple progressions and arrangements, power chords, and palm-mutes. The dancey leads will hook you before the first verse of the title-sharing opening track, and you’ll be on the somber final track, “We Did It When We Were Young,” before you know it, trying to pick your jaw up off the floor. The Gaslight Anthem isn’t trying to be The Boss, but they’re definitely edging towards the top of New Jersey’s talent pool.
1. Foxy Shazam - Foxy Shazam
There are some crazy things going on in Cincinnati right now between Chad Ochocinco and Foxy Shazam. While these guys haven't raced a horse and won, frontman Eric Sean Nally often introduces the band by saying, "If Foxy Shazam were an animal at the Zoo, we would be the ones most likely to bite your head off without even thinking about it!" That’s exactly what this album does, and it comes back for seconds. While you only have one head and might be slightly perplexed by that, you’ll like it. With influences ranging from Queen to gospel (Nally says he was one of two white kids in his high school), Foxy Shazam sees the band evolving from their post-hardcore roots to a glam-rock powerhouse with a live show as crazy as their albums. The self-proclaimed “Michael Jordan of rock and roll” wants to be the biggest band in the world, and they’re on the right track.
Notable Film Scores & Soundtracks:
Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross - The Social Network
Unexpected perfect pair.
Daft Punk - Tron: Legacy
Beating-you-over-the-head-obvious perfect pair... Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
Various Artists - Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World
Yet another perfect pair... Getting Beck behind the Sex Bob-Omb songs was a great idea, and it worked out surprisingly well to have the actors sing and play on a lot of the soundtrack.
Honorable Mentions:
Street Sweeper Social Club - The Ghetto Blaster E.P.
Tom Morello can make an M.I.A. song sound good. Enough said.
Dr. Dog - Shame, Shame
Lacking the overall charm of Fate, but I guess it helps a little bit to make us forget that bad things like Eagles fans come from Philly, too...
OK Go - Of the Blue Color Of the Sky
A successful partnership with longtime Flaming Lips producer Dave Friddman resulted in the Chicago quartet getting little more experimental, which was nice and kind of unexpected after all of the attention that they got for Here It Goes Again (now more commonly known as “the treadmill dance song”).
Most Misunderstood Indie Rock Album of the Year:
Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
By “misunderstood,” I mean that I don’t understand what all the fuss was about. I didn’t think that it was anything special. I like it. I wanted to love it, but I just can’t for some reason...
Dissapointment of the Year:
Coheed & Cambria - Year of the Black Rainbow
This prog rock prequel ended up being the musical equivalent to The Phantom Menace.
WTF of the Year:
Weezer - Hurley
Seriously, guys. Just give up and go home.
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