I planned to ride to work on Monday and listen to the Panda Bear album, but my roommate’s car battery died and I had to give him a ride. We decided to listen to the Drake album because he still listens to Kid Rock and putting on Panda Bear would not have been well received, so I had to wait until after work to continue my pitchfork listening adventure. I eventually put it on later that night while I played Mortal Kombat Trilogy. I liked it more than I thought, but I couldn’t get passed endurance mode on novice level, even with Noob Saibot, so that ruined my vibe a little. I’ll probably keep a couple tracks off this one though.
Tuesday I listened to the first nine tracks off Fucked Up’s album on the way to work. Spin named this as their album of the year, but I guess my limitations as a punk rock critic made it difficult for me enjoy it let alone see how it was a major music magazine’s AOTY. (I’d also like to take a moment to point out Spin has a separate list for rap albums of the year… didn't white people agree to stop doing this kind of thing like 50 years ago?) I’m assuming Spin rated it as such because it's an abrasive punk record that provides catharsis for an angsty generation of youth that has been marginalized and overlooked, but I’m gonna have to go ahead and call bullshit on that. Our generation has adopted chillwave/dream beat/bliss pop/whatever as its sound because we just don’t really give a fuck about things and we’d rather listen to the sonic manifestation of not giving a fuck., Fucked Up might be the rallying cry for the minority who prefer catching beat downs from the Oakland PD, but that’s not the reality for most young people… I mean we have iPhones that can talk to us and Snooki lost like 25 pounds, how are we supposed to muster the collective motivation to recycle punk rock angst as the emotion du jour... But I guess if Beavis and Butthead can make a comeback why not punk rock angst? And full disclosure, this is all coming from a dude who thought Culinary Art School 2 was one of the more underrated albums of the year, so the opinions expressed above may not represent the majority view
I finished the rest of Fucked Up on a run after work and moved on to Sandro Perri. As was the case with most of the list to this point, I had no real expectations going in, so it was a pleasant surprise to a hear a more straight forward guitar player/singer songwriter sound. It dragged on a little and there was a ten minute track where he’s singing about a wolfman or something, at which point I began to question the quality of an end-of-the-year album list that contains an album with a ten minute song about a wolfman. The album was pretty weird, but not terrible. I moved onto Iceage during my drive home and it was Kate Bush-level off putting, just in goth/punk rock form. Pitchfork’s capsule calls it "near perfect" while at the same time only dedicating one sentence to its description of the music itself… thanks for keeping me in the loop on the latest teen goth rock buzz band, but this shit was broke as a joke. Deleted.
Now, it could be that my plebian mind just can’t wrap itself around the nuanced genius of some of these albums, but with twenty down, minus the ones I’d already listened to this year (Cults, Toro y Moi, Araabmuzik, and Lykke Li) it’s starting to look like I wasn’t missing out on much during my indie rock hibernation, but I press on...
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Pitchfork Top 50 and My Weekend
This week of the year has usually been pretty important to me because it was the weel Pitchfork release its top 50 albums and top 100 songs of the year. Historically it had given me the chance to compare my personal favorites with the albums on the list and if they were similar then it meant I was good at listening to music or something. This year, I've spent the vast majority of my diminished musical appetite downloading mixtapes off datpiff with varying, but pretty enjoyable results.
So anyway, the list came out this week and I didn't recognize like half of things on there, and hadn't heard one song off the number one album. This meant my indie rock listening legitimacy was on the line. So last night began the massive wave of often dense, unapproachable, sometimes boring as fuck, but more often pretty damn good music. By the time my first set of downloads was done, it was around 9 on Saturday night, plenty of time to bang out three or four before I went to bed. So I cooled out to some Youth Lagoon while I ate bean and rice burritos. I was relaxed post-burritos, so the eerie but mostly chill album was a winner. I put on Wild Flag next, mainly because they had the coolest name. It was punk which I thought was pretty cool, but it sounded like a live album and I re-read Pitchfork's review and listened to one of the sample songs and none of them were live recordings, so I thought "What the fuck this is lame, but it's not worth the effort to mess around the intewebs all night looking for a better copy, I'm already 4 songs in and I don't even like punk rock that much" so I rode it out. It actually sounded like it would've been way better on a studio album, but the live version was decent enough. I think I turned on the TV or started texting this tease chick, but I was still in the mood to chill on the couch by my fake Christmas tree, so I put on SBTRKT. I listened to the sample and liked it, plus I always tell myself "I want to get into dubstep more" but never do, so I was pretty hyped to listen to this one. It was fucking awesome and "Trials of Past" is one of new favorite songs. I was pretty amped after I heard that song, and I started craving chocolate, so I transferred my iPod to my headphones and hit the street for 7-11. The rest of SBTRKT bumped accordingly.
I put on the Kendrick Lamar album and walked south on Western. I decided to go the 7-11 that's farther away because I felt like walking outside and I was in a good mood from listening to new music. Kendrick Lamar was pretty tight and I'm mad I slept on this guy. He's definitely an indie rapper because he's more socially aware and doesn't rhyme about stunting and Scarface, so that's definitely why I didn't hear about him via datpiff, and in that a valuable life lesson provided by the pitchfork top 50. I got peanut butter M&Ms and and mountain dew, and at the M&Ms on the way home, but not the Mt Dew. The walk home felt shorter and and I was about 3/4 of the way through the album. I just left my headphones on and drank a Coors Light because that was all we had in the fridge besides the homebrew we made, but we were waiting until the next day (today) to debut them. After the rest of Kendrick Lamar, which lost a little steam towards the end, I put on Liturgy. I haven't listened to a metal record since I bought Rob Zombie and Korn when I was in 6th grade, and I don't even think that counted as metal. Anyway, I listened to Liturgy and watch a show about airplanes and Sportscenter back and forth. The metal was cool and got caught up in some of the visceral rage and started throwing the football across the room onto the futon next to the christmas tree, but that got old, as did listening to metal with nobody else around watching some boring ass airplane show on mute because it was the only interesting thing to watch without sound. So I made it about 8 songs through Liturgy, but I'm gonna keep it on my iTunes in case I start going on coke binges or having cage fights in my house, or both.
I woke up this morning with my mind on this mission and put on the Colin Stetson album. It was a pretty brutal listen, kind of like stuff my band teacher probably hopes I'm appreciating right now, and most likely what the kids who really really were into band in high school are listening to, and I respect that, but I wasn't feeling it at all. I put the Frank Ocean mixtape on next and listened to it on my iPod in the car on the way to the gym, which I know is illegal, but I see people doing it all the time, and you don't really need to hear when you drive anyway. It lasted about half way through my workout and there was really nothing too exceptional about it, but I liked "American Wedding." Still though... two songs on Watch the Throne for this guy? I'm missing something.
I put on Katy B for no reason other than that being the first new one I found in my iTunes scroll. Great album, I'm keeping it for sure. It ended when I was driving home so I put on Kate Bush using the same system mentioned above. I had some optimism since I like "Suspended in Gaffa" but "Suspended in Gaffa" this album was not... I could go for a long time about how I feel about this album, but instead I'll direct you to the track called "50 words for snow." It totally killed my post-workout buzz and sapped me of all will to bargain shop through Aldi, so I just got the basic necessities and bounced, although my bill of $19.86 was both under $20 and my birth year, both things I believed were signs of good luck in the upcoming business year.... then I realized I was leaking brain fuel because of the Kate Bush album, so I turned off my iPod, put away my groceries and took a nap. I woke up and put on Sepaculture which took me three tries to download. It lost me after three tracks so I took a shower and listened to the rest of it as I read newspaper articles and Twitter. I thought I was pitchforktop50'd out for the day, but I took a three hour break and put on the "War on Drugs album while I wrote this. It's my second favorite of the day after Katy B. Has a neo-Petty/Springsteen feel... borderline keeper
So anyway, the list came out this week and I didn't recognize like half of things on there, and hadn't heard one song off the number one album. This meant my indie rock listening legitimacy was on the line. So last night began the massive wave of often dense, unapproachable, sometimes boring as fuck, but more often pretty damn good music. By the time my first set of downloads was done, it was around 9 on Saturday night, plenty of time to bang out three or four before I went to bed. So I cooled out to some Youth Lagoon while I ate bean and rice burritos. I was relaxed post-burritos, so the eerie but mostly chill album was a winner. I put on Wild Flag next, mainly because they had the coolest name. It was punk which I thought was pretty cool, but it sounded like a live album and I re-read Pitchfork's review and listened to one of the sample songs and none of them were live recordings, so I thought "What the fuck this is lame, but it's not worth the effort to mess around the intewebs all night looking for a better copy, I'm already 4 songs in and I don't even like punk rock that much" so I rode it out. It actually sounded like it would've been way better on a studio album, but the live version was decent enough. I think I turned on the TV or started texting this tease chick, but I was still in the mood to chill on the couch by my fake Christmas tree, so I put on SBTRKT. I listened to the sample and liked it, plus I always tell myself "I want to get into dubstep more" but never do, so I was pretty hyped to listen to this one. It was fucking awesome and "Trials of Past" is one of new favorite songs. I was pretty amped after I heard that song, and I started craving chocolate, so I transferred my iPod to my headphones and hit the street for 7-11. The rest of SBTRKT bumped accordingly.
I put on the Kendrick Lamar album and walked south on Western. I decided to go the 7-11 that's farther away because I felt like walking outside and I was in a good mood from listening to new music. Kendrick Lamar was pretty tight and I'm mad I slept on this guy. He's definitely an indie rapper because he's more socially aware and doesn't rhyme about stunting and Scarface, so that's definitely why I didn't hear about him via datpiff, and in that a valuable life lesson provided by the pitchfork top 50. I got peanut butter M&Ms and and mountain dew, and at the M&Ms on the way home, but not the Mt Dew. The walk home felt shorter and and I was about 3/4 of the way through the album. I just left my headphones on and drank a Coors Light because that was all we had in the fridge besides the homebrew we made, but we were waiting until the next day (today) to debut them. After the rest of Kendrick Lamar, which lost a little steam towards the end, I put on Liturgy. I haven't listened to a metal record since I bought Rob Zombie and Korn when I was in 6th grade, and I don't even think that counted as metal. Anyway, I listened to Liturgy and watch a show about airplanes and Sportscenter back and forth. The metal was cool and got caught up in some of the visceral rage and started throwing the football across the room onto the futon next to the christmas tree, but that got old, as did listening to metal with nobody else around watching some boring ass airplane show on mute because it was the only interesting thing to watch without sound. So I made it about 8 songs through Liturgy, but I'm gonna keep it on my iTunes in case I start going on coke binges or having cage fights in my house, or both.
I woke up this morning with my mind on this mission and put on the Colin Stetson album. It was a pretty brutal listen, kind of like stuff my band teacher probably hopes I'm appreciating right now, and most likely what the kids who really really were into band in high school are listening to, and I respect that, but I wasn't feeling it at all. I put the Frank Ocean mixtape on next and listened to it on my iPod in the car on the way to the gym, which I know is illegal, but I see people doing it all the time, and you don't really need to hear when you drive anyway. It lasted about half way through my workout and there was really nothing too exceptional about it, but I liked "American Wedding." Still though... two songs on Watch the Throne for this guy? I'm missing something.
I put on Katy B for no reason other than that being the first new one I found in my iTunes scroll. Great album, I'm keeping it for sure. It ended when I was driving home so I put on Kate Bush using the same system mentioned above. I had some optimism since I like "Suspended in Gaffa" but "Suspended in Gaffa" this album was not... I could go for a long time about how I feel about this album, but instead I'll direct you to the track called "50 words for snow." It totally killed my post-workout buzz and sapped me of all will to bargain shop through Aldi, so I just got the basic necessities and bounced, although my bill of $19.86 was both under $20 and my birth year, both things I believed were signs of good luck in the upcoming business year.... then I realized I was leaking brain fuel because of the Kate Bush album, so I turned off my iPod, put away my groceries and took a nap. I woke up and put on Sepaculture which took me three tries to download. It lost me after three tracks so I took a shower and listened to the rest of it as I read newspaper articles and Twitter. I thought I was pitchforktop50'd out for the day, but I took a three hour break and put on the "War on Drugs album while I wrote this. It's my second favorite of the day after Katy B. Has a neo-Petty/Springsteen feel... borderline keeper
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Myke G learns a rapper named Mike G exists, is impressed, slightly saddened that one of his potential rapper names is now off the table
It's been a little while since I put my music thoughts into writing, so I have a good amount of opinions to espouse. I've been listening to predominantly hip hop this year, and I'm happy with the direction the genre is currently moving, so the next couple weeks I'll go over my thoughts on what I've listened to this year.
Earlier today, I stumbled across Award Tour EP, a six song tape by a rapper called Mike G. Mike G is a dude with a tight name and one of a massive amount of dudes in Odd Future. I'm not that into OF, mainly because I haven't caught up with all their output yet, not for any specific dislike of their sound.
Anyway, mainly because this dude's name is Mike G, and he was a dude in OF who I had never even heard of before today, I gave the tape a spin. I downloaded it here, and the file came with a bunch of race car image files corresponding with the six songs on the EP, which ends up being kind of ironic -- and I'm like 99% in an unintentional way - as most of its tracks are roomy synth beats that belie a sound that would best be acommanied by 2009 Toyota Yarises, or at least some old school pimped out Caddies since it's a hip hip EP and putting pics of Yarises would not be G at all.
Much like a Yaris, Mike G mantains a steady, fuel efficient talk-rap flow against Neptunes-inspired synth and drum machine beats. His flow plays well off the beats, but his rhymes are average. He plays with some of the ultra violence Tyler the Creator deals in heavily, but he doesn't stick to it, so when rhymes randomly pop up about Jeffery Dommer and burning down his family's house, it's more bizarre and out-of-place than anything else, at least to one who isn't familiar with Odd Future.
The EP is co-hosted, Ghostface Killa on Only Built 4 Cuban Linx style, by some dude named Vince Staples, who spits with a nasally, uptempo style. He's mostly forgettable but stays out of the way of the beats enough to tolerate. The only other guest spot is by something called SPEAK, who, other than dropping a Hacksaw Jim Duggan reference, is pretty weak.
The beats are all solid, the dude has the same name as I, and it's good background music at minimum, so it'll be in my iTunes for a while.
Rating: Better than Kreayshawn
Earlier today, I stumbled across Award Tour EP, a six song tape by a rapper called Mike G. Mike G is a dude with a tight name and one of a massive amount of dudes in Odd Future. I'm not that into OF, mainly because I haven't caught up with all their output yet, not for any specific dislike of their sound.
Anyway, mainly because this dude's name is Mike G, and he was a dude in OF who I had never even heard of before today, I gave the tape a spin. I downloaded it here, and the file came with a bunch of race car image files corresponding with the six songs on the EP, which ends up being kind of ironic -- and I'm like 99% in an unintentional way - as most of its tracks are roomy synth beats that belie a sound that would best be acommanied by 2009 Toyota Yarises, or at least some old school pimped out Caddies since it's a hip hip EP and putting pics of Yarises would not be G at all.
Much like a Yaris, Mike G mantains a steady, fuel efficient talk-rap flow against Neptunes-inspired synth and drum machine beats. His flow plays well off the beats, but his rhymes are average. He plays with some of the ultra violence Tyler the Creator deals in heavily, but he doesn't stick to it, so when rhymes randomly pop up about Jeffery Dommer and burning down his family's house, it's more bizarre and out-of-place than anything else, at least to one who isn't familiar with Odd Future.
The EP is co-hosted, Ghostface Killa on Only Built 4 Cuban Linx style, by some dude named Vince Staples, who spits with a nasally, uptempo style. He's mostly forgettable but stays out of the way of the beats enough to tolerate. The only other guest spot is by something called SPEAK, who, other than dropping a Hacksaw Jim Duggan reference, is pretty weak.
The beats are all solid, the dude has the same name as I, and it's good background music at minimum, so it'll be in my iTunes for a while.
Rating: Better than Kreayshawn
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Top 50 Tracks of 2010: 10-1
10. Ariel Pink - "Round and Round"
Summarizing Pink's back story here wouldn't do it justice, but his obsession with 70's pop and his understanding of what makes/made it likable produced one of the most creative albums of the year. The highlight of "Round and round" comes two minutes in with a vintage "Hold on, I'm calling..." chorus that erupts as a perfectly retro-cool 70's pop rock imitation.
9. Keepaway - "100"
A lush synthy, track driven by popping bongo underneath shrill, androgynous vocals about being able to "break you off 100 times in a single day." Awesome in a weird way.
8. Sleigh Bells - "Rill Rill"
This song was the exception to the rule on Sleigh Bell's face melting album Treats. The instantly recognizable fuzzy, check-your-speakers-to-make-sure-they're-not-broken vocals are here, but the ear drum ruining noise-pop takes a back seat to the warm saloon piano sample from Funkadelic's "Can You Get to That."
7. Twin Shadow - "Slow"
It's almost too lame... "Don't put me out, just let me in / How many times did you let me win? / Give me one more, my ticket's in" The cheesy retro crooning is pushed to the limit and pulled off perfectly.
6. Local Natives - "Airplanes"
A warm, piano driven song about a dude who wishes he could have known his grandfather better. Lyrically, the story is delivered honestly and with with the concrete "I keep those chopsticks you had from when you taught abroad in Japan" that earns the repeated call "I want you back, back back..." delivered in the song's terrific conclusion.
5. The National - "Bloodbuzz Ohio"
This track reminds me of one of my all time favorite songs The Walkmen's "The Rat." Both tracks are snare driven gut checks, looks back at life from ruined men, on edge and taking inventory of their wasted lives. But while the Walkmen's track is more rampaging catharsis, "Bloodbuzz Ohio" remains unsettling and hopeless, ending pretty much where it starts. In the hauntingly good video, front man Matt Beringer's lifeless stare could not be any more perfect.
4. Deerhunter - "Helicopter"
Inspired by a truly disturbing story, Deerhunter creates a loneliness in Helicopter's empty space that very few bands are capable of, and no one since Radiohead has done as gracefully. The song's underlying darkness and vague sense of tragedy culminate in the song's repeated final lines "Now they are through with me."
3. Gorillaz - "Rhinestone Eyes"
Their album Plastic Beach is essentially a concept album about an envisioned post-apocalyptic (or post-something) world. Images of beuaty and squalor are juxtaposed throughout the album and in the music itself, and on no other track is it done as well as "Rhinestone Eyes." In a muffled, monotone against what is essentially an electro-pop backdrop, Damon Albarn sings lyrics like "With the paralytic dreams that we all seem to keep, Drive on engines til they weep we're, Future pixels in factories far away." proving that even in a dystopic world, there will still be good music.
2. LCD Soundsystem - "I Can Change"
Alright... James Murphy is a genius. Nobody else produces songs like this, and there are few who can match his lyrical wit. Everybody loves him, everybody respects him, and it's easy to join the massive chorus singing the praises of LCDS's front man and leader. Refer to this track as justification for all of this.
1. Beach House - "Walk in the Park"
What makes their album Teenage Dream so incredible is not only the diversity between songs, but the ability for Beach House to pull the listener into a unique world in each song: consistently beautiful, intricate, and hypnotic. As I mentioned in an earlier comment Victoria LeGrand's voice is Beach House's obvious draw... it's an oddity, a powerful and unmistakable rasp, and while she's worth the price of admission alone, the songs on Teenage Dream are not hollow step asides solely designed to spotlight LeGrande. "Walk in the Park" is the most complete of these songs, and will probably go down as one of my favorite tracks of all time. The components are simple: a repeated keyboard waltz, a drum machine, and guitar, comprising the basis of the first four minutes as LeGrande weaves a vague story about a faded relationship. After four and half minutes the song blossoms as an orchestral layer accompanies Legrand's repeated "More, you want more, you tell me / More, only time can run me" to form the most gorgeous musical moment of 2010.
Summarizing Pink's back story here wouldn't do it justice, but his obsession with 70's pop and his understanding of what makes/made it likable produced one of the most creative albums of the year. The highlight of "Round and round" comes two minutes in with a vintage "Hold on, I'm calling..." chorus that erupts as a perfectly retro-cool 70's pop rock imitation.
9. Keepaway - "100"
A lush synthy, track driven by popping bongo underneath shrill, androgynous vocals about being able to "break you off 100 times in a single day." Awesome in a weird way.
8. Sleigh Bells - "Rill Rill"
This song was the exception to the rule on Sleigh Bell's face melting album Treats. The instantly recognizable fuzzy, check-your-speakers-to-make-sure-they're-not-broken vocals are here, but the ear drum ruining noise-pop takes a back seat to the warm saloon piano sample from Funkadelic's "Can You Get to That."
7. Twin Shadow - "Slow"
It's almost too lame... "Don't put me out, just let me in / How many times did you let me win? / Give me one more, my ticket's in" The cheesy retro crooning is pushed to the limit and pulled off perfectly.
6. Local Natives - "Airplanes"
A warm, piano driven song about a dude who wishes he could have known his grandfather better. Lyrically, the story is delivered honestly and with with the concrete "I keep those chopsticks you had from when you taught abroad in Japan" that earns the repeated call "I want you back, back back..." delivered in the song's terrific conclusion.
5. The National - "Bloodbuzz Ohio"
This track reminds me of one of my all time favorite songs The Walkmen's "The Rat." Both tracks are snare driven gut checks, looks back at life from ruined men, on edge and taking inventory of their wasted lives. But while the Walkmen's track is more rampaging catharsis, "Bloodbuzz Ohio" remains unsettling and hopeless, ending pretty much where it starts. In the hauntingly good video, front man Matt Beringer's lifeless stare could not be any more perfect.
4. Deerhunter - "Helicopter"
Inspired by a truly disturbing story, Deerhunter creates a loneliness in Helicopter's empty space that very few bands are capable of, and no one since Radiohead has done as gracefully. The song's underlying darkness and vague sense of tragedy culminate in the song's repeated final lines "Now they are through with me."
3. Gorillaz - "Rhinestone Eyes"
Their album Plastic Beach is essentially a concept album about an envisioned post-apocalyptic (or post-something) world. Images of beuaty and squalor are juxtaposed throughout the album and in the music itself, and on no other track is it done as well as "Rhinestone Eyes." In a muffled, monotone against what is essentially an electro-pop backdrop, Damon Albarn sings lyrics like "With the paralytic dreams that we all seem to keep, Drive on engines til they weep we're, Future pixels in factories far away." proving that even in a dystopic world, there will still be good music.
2. LCD Soundsystem - "I Can Change"
Alright... James Murphy is a genius. Nobody else produces songs like this, and there are few who can match his lyrical wit. Everybody loves him, everybody respects him, and it's easy to join the massive chorus singing the praises of LCDS's front man and leader. Refer to this track as justification for all of this.
1. Beach House - "Walk in the Park"
What makes their album Teenage Dream so incredible is not only the diversity between songs, but the ability for Beach House to pull the listener into a unique world in each song: consistently beautiful, intricate, and hypnotic. As I mentioned in an earlier comment Victoria LeGrand's voice is Beach House's obvious draw... it's an oddity, a powerful and unmistakable rasp, and while she's worth the price of admission alone, the songs on Teenage Dream are not hollow step asides solely designed to spotlight LeGrande. "Walk in the Park" is the most complete of these songs, and will probably go down as one of my favorite tracks of all time. The components are simple: a repeated keyboard waltz, a drum machine, and guitar, comprising the basis of the first four minutes as LeGrande weaves a vague story about a faded relationship. After four and half minutes the song blossoms as an orchestral layer accompanies Legrand's repeated "More, you want more, you tell me / More, only time can run me" to form the most gorgeous musical moment of 2010.
Friday, December 31, 2010
Top 50 Tracks of 2010: 30-11
30. LCD Soundsystem - "All I Want"
A song that sounds timeless. James Murphy's soft, drowned out croon is the icing, not the cake.
29. The Walkmen - "Stranded"
The Walkmen have made getting old sound pretty shitty. In 2000, a much younger band sang "Sometimes I'm just happy I'm older... Somehow it got easy to laugh out loud." On 2004's "The Rat" it was "When I used to go out I would know everyone that I saw, now I go out alone if I go out at all." Now frontman Hamilton Leithauser laments alone, backed by a staggering, slurring Spanish horn section he sings "What's the story, with my old friends? Drunk and lonely, to the man."
28. Sun Airway - "Put The Days Away"
This song begins with what sounds like a warped railroad crossing bell. A passing train, the somewhat cliched metaphor for life passing us by, is the driving force behind this song. In the song's poignant chorus, John Barthmus sings "We can bury our heads, in our rooms and our beds until we see those days again"
27. Cee-Lo - "Fuck You"
It's not often a song makes me laugh out loud, and it's even rarer for a song that still does that after fifteen listens. One of the most hilarious break up songs of all time, and it sounds equally as good.
26. Phantogram - "Mouthful of Diamonds"
Phantogram blends elements of hip hop with more straight-forward indie rock, in a package that's darker and more serious than the sum of its parts. Their debut album Eyelid Moves was pretty solid throughout, but this track was its highlight, a somber track highlighted by the second half of its chorus "...the patterns they control your mind; those patterns take away my time; hello, goodbye"
25. French Films - "Golden Sea"
A driving and instantly addictive Brit-rock track from a band that hasn't even released an album yet.
24. Crystal Castles - "Baptism"
Alice Glass' vocals are usually pretty hard to stomach for anybody who doesn't really like CC, but the screeching works amongst the wall of synths once the throbbing 8-bit drops out. My favorite CC track to date.
23. Dunes - "Handle"
Another obscure Forkast gem. Dunes are a California band with only a scarcely available EP to their credit. This track sounds like nothing else that came out this year, driven by a dark Joy Division sounding guitar tab that erupts on the song's chorus, but the ominous vocals are the track's highlight.
22. HEALTH - "USA Boys"
Frantic, swelling synths, intermittently broken by an electric cathedral pipe organ, and faded vocals make up one of this year's best electro tracks.
21. Sun Airway - "Five Years"
Sun Airway's impressive compositional skills are on full display on "Five Years". A blustery track that slowly builds over 6 minutes. By the time the track has fully built, a reprisal of the album's snowy first track can be heard beneath all the synths and electric percussion.
20. Kanye West featuring Rick Ross, Jay-Z, Nicki Minaj & Bon Iver - "Monster"
One part A-list hip hop posse cut and one part horror movie. The beat is ridiculous, Kanye's hook is awesome, and I still don't know what happened on that Nicki Minaj verse.
19. Dum Dum Girls - Jail La La
Not since Elvis has somebody made such a great song about being in jail.
18. Beach House - Lover of Mine
See Track #1.
17. Kanye West - "Power"
The definitive track from the definitive pop music figure of 2010.
16. Summer Camp - "Ghost Train"
A band that captures the nostalgia-pop sound as well as anybody. "Ghost Train" is basically about a short-lived relationship, but as Summer Camp is so skilled at doing, the track drips with a certain sweetness and innocence without sounding bubble gummy.
15. Arcade Fire - "Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)"
A song that captures the sense of escape in Arcade Fire's album The Suburbs better than any other. One of the most sweet and crisp female vocalists in indie rock, Régine Chassagne sings "Sometimes I wonder if the world's too small, that we can never get away from the sprawl" While Arcade Fire's omnipresent strings can be heard intermittently during the track, a marching synth/keyboard backing drives the track.
14. Lil' Wayne featuring Cory Gunz - "6'7"
Post-prison, Wayne absolutely annihilates "A Milli"producer Bangladesh's beat. With classic lines delivered rapid fire like "Life is a bitch and death is her sister, Sleep is the cousin, what a fuckin' family picture " and "Married to the money, fuck the world, that’s adultery," It was just good to hear Lil' Wayne rhyme after getting out of jail, but to hear something like this was mind blowing, and hopefully signals a return to form for the best rapper alive.
13. Titus Andronicus - "A More Perfect Union"
A driving seven minute epic of a song, The song moves from driving anthemic guitar, lyrically channeling Bruce Springsteen ("Tramps like us, Baby we were born to die") to an almost drunken call to "Rally around the flag" in the song's final minute and a half. I can't think of another song that weds American history with throttling rock.
12. Best Coast - "When I'm With You"
Recorded in late 2009, the song marks the step between the sunny Best Coast on album Crazy For You, and the fuzzed out glo-fi of 2009's "Sun Was High (So was I)" [listed in my top 40 of last year]. The first 30 seconds are Courney Love drunken fuzz as the track builds to its anaphoric chorus about a minute in and by the second verse Bethany Cosentino is delivering the sugary line "Ever since I was a little girl, My mama told me there be boys like you" as it ends up being a sweet stoner chick love song... and Ronald McDonald is in the music video.
11. Das Racist - "hahahaha, jk?"
DR's most instantly likable song off their Sit Down, Man mix tape. The startlingly aware, pop culture-lambasting weed heads quip "These little brown weirdos is wilin' but they can really rap" Yup.
A song that sounds timeless. James Murphy's soft, drowned out croon is the icing, not the cake.
29. The Walkmen - "Stranded"
The Walkmen have made getting old sound pretty shitty. In 2000, a much younger band sang "Sometimes I'm just happy I'm older... Somehow it got easy to laugh out loud." On 2004's "The Rat" it was "When I used to go out I would know everyone that I saw, now I go out alone if I go out at all." Now frontman Hamilton Leithauser laments alone, backed by a staggering, slurring Spanish horn section he sings "What's the story, with my old friends? Drunk and lonely, to the man."
28. Sun Airway - "Put The Days Away"
This song begins with what sounds like a warped railroad crossing bell. A passing train, the somewhat cliched metaphor for life passing us by, is the driving force behind this song. In the song's poignant chorus, John Barthmus sings "We can bury our heads, in our rooms and our beds until we see those days again"
27. Cee-Lo - "Fuck You"
It's not often a song makes me laugh out loud, and it's even rarer for a song that still does that after fifteen listens. One of the most hilarious break up songs of all time, and it sounds equally as good.
26. Phantogram - "Mouthful of Diamonds"
Phantogram blends elements of hip hop with more straight-forward indie rock, in a package that's darker and more serious than the sum of its parts. Their debut album Eyelid Moves was pretty solid throughout, but this track was its highlight, a somber track highlighted by the second half of its chorus "...the patterns they control your mind; those patterns take away my time; hello, goodbye"
25. French Films - "Golden Sea"
A driving and instantly addictive Brit-rock track from a band that hasn't even released an album yet.
24. Crystal Castles - "Baptism"
Alice Glass' vocals are usually pretty hard to stomach for anybody who doesn't really like CC, but the screeching works amongst the wall of synths once the throbbing 8-bit drops out. My favorite CC track to date.
23. Dunes - "Handle"
Another obscure Forkast gem. Dunes are a California band with only a scarcely available EP to their credit. This track sounds like nothing else that came out this year, driven by a dark Joy Division sounding guitar tab that erupts on the song's chorus, but the ominous vocals are the track's highlight.
22. HEALTH - "USA Boys"
Frantic, swelling synths, intermittently broken by an electric cathedral pipe organ, and faded vocals make up one of this year's best electro tracks.
21. Sun Airway - "Five Years"
Sun Airway's impressive compositional skills are on full display on "Five Years". A blustery track that slowly builds over 6 minutes. By the time the track has fully built, a reprisal of the album's snowy first track can be heard beneath all the synths and electric percussion.
20. Kanye West featuring Rick Ross, Jay-Z, Nicki Minaj & Bon Iver - "Monster"
One part A-list hip hop posse cut and one part horror movie. The beat is ridiculous, Kanye's hook is awesome, and I still don't know what happened on that Nicki Minaj verse.
19. Dum Dum Girls - Jail La La
Not since Elvis has somebody made such a great song about being in jail.
18. Beach House - Lover of Mine
See Track #1.
17. Kanye West - "Power"
The definitive track from the definitive pop music figure of 2010.
16. Summer Camp - "Ghost Train"
A band that captures the nostalgia-pop sound as well as anybody. "Ghost Train" is basically about a short-lived relationship, but as Summer Camp is so skilled at doing, the track drips with a certain sweetness and innocence without sounding bubble gummy.
15. Arcade Fire - "Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)"
A song that captures the sense of escape in Arcade Fire's album The Suburbs better than any other. One of the most sweet and crisp female vocalists in indie rock, Régine Chassagne sings "Sometimes I wonder if the world's too small, that we can never get away from the sprawl" While Arcade Fire's omnipresent strings can be heard intermittently during the track, a marching synth/keyboard backing drives the track.
14. Lil' Wayne featuring Cory Gunz - "6'7"
Post-prison, Wayne absolutely annihilates "A Milli"producer Bangladesh's beat. With classic lines delivered rapid fire like "Life is a bitch and death is her sister, Sleep is the cousin, what a fuckin
13. Titus Andronicus - "A More Perfect Union"
A driving seven minute epic of a song, The song moves from driving anthemic guitar, lyrically channeling Bruce Springsteen ("Tramps like us, Baby we were born to die") to an almost drunken call to "Rally around the flag" in the song's final minute and a half. I can't think of another song that weds American history with throttling rock.
12. Best Coast - "When I'm With You"
Recorded in late 2009, the song marks the step between the sunny Best Coast on album Crazy For You, and the fuzzed out glo-fi of 2009's "Sun Was High (So was I)" [listed in my top 40 of last year]. The first 30 seconds are Courney Love drunken fuzz as the track builds to its anaphoric chorus about a minute in and by the second verse Bethany Cosentino is delivering the sugary line "Ever since I was a little girl, My mama told me there be boys like you" as it ends up being a sweet stoner chick love song... and Ronald McDonald is in the music video.
11. Das Racist - "hahahaha, jk?"
DR's most instantly likable song off their Sit Down, Man mix tape. The startlingly aware, pop culture-lambasting weed heads quip "These little brown weirdos is wilin' but they can really rap" Yup.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Top 50 Tracks of 2010: 50-31
50. Minks - Funeral Song
A goth rock track that earns its intentionally sloppy verses with the unexpected break in the clouds that is its chorus "So long summertime, I'm not coming back"
49. Gucci Mane - Georgia's Most Wanted
Picking up right where he left off after getting out of jail for a parole violation, this track is the type of banger Gucci has become known for. The rapid Gucci-isms are less prevelant compared to Burrprint 3D-era Gucci, in favor of more hood chest thumping, but they're still there "I'm laughing at these rappers' swag they look like a carcass, You a thirsty starving artist, I'm not an artist I'm a arsonist."
48. Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Method Man - Dangerous
Given the three MCs on the album (Wu Massacre), it's disappointing this was the only decent track to come off of it; especially after Raekwon's classic album last year that some hoped would be the start of a Wu Tang renaissance, oh well. The rhymes here are over a Dr. Dre-esque G-funked soul beat. Ghost and Rae bring B-game to this, but Method Man demolishes it.
47. Darwin Deez - Constellations
For the sake of getting it out of the way... yes, it sounds kind of like a Strokes song. Lyrically though, it's mostly stuff like "If freckles don't mean anything, does anything mean anything?" Kind of a weird platform to ponder such metaphysical issues, but whatever... It sounds good.
46. Young Jeezy - I Got This (El-P Remix)
The highlight off ATL RMX, a free mixtape released by Cartoon Network earlier this year. On the mixtape, noteworthy electronic musicians remixed tracks from various noteworthy Atlanta-based rappers. This is easily the best makeover off said mixtape, with El-P throwing in buzzing synths, slapping percussion hits, and some cool vocal effects to overhaul what was otherwise a dud of a track.
45. My Dry Wet Mess - Etcetera
One of the many random songs I came across on Pitchfork's Forkast, a little electro pop piece of candy.
44. Neon Indian - Children of the Revolution
The idea of Neon Indian covering T Rex just sounds like it would be fucking awesome. This track is confirmation of that. The signature Neon Indian 8-bit sound effects, and faded Alan Polomo vocals are here, but this is probably the darkest sounding Neon Indian track to date. He's already said that this track is basically him covering a song he liked, with no intention to release on any upcoming album, but for what it's worth, he killed it.
43. Best Coast - Our Deal
Now that I've gotten over my crush on Bethany Cosentino, I can honestly say some of Best Coast's music is over-the-top bubble gummy at best, and lyrically terrible at worst. They're at their best when the focus is a little tighter. While pretty much every song on Crazy For You is about boys and weed, "Our Deal" actually comes across as a sincere song about a break up. Maybe "When you leave me... / you take all my weed" undercuts that seriousness a little, but still...
42. Destroyer - Chinatown
A smokey track about not being able to leave somebody. Lyrically it's simple, but the distant trumpet warble and faded sax give it a beautiful, timeless sound.
41. Frends - Toronto
A song by a face-in-the-crowd indie band with a vocalist doing his best Ra Ra Riot croon about wanting to get away. Musically and lyrically it captures the hopeless urgency of wanting to be anywhere but here.
40. Drake featuring Lil' Wayne - Miss Me
Honestly there are two or three other Drake songs that could've be in this spot, and it borders on formulaic top 40 shmaltz, but it's ok to like top 40 shmaltz when it's good. Drake has proven to be adept at rapping about how good he is at being awesome, and it works best on this type of hi hat, cymbal crash, keyboard horns beat. The track features a decent verse by a pre-prison Lil' Wayne and a weird marriage proposal to Nicki Minaj.
39. How to Dress Well - You Won't Need Me Where I'm Going
How to Dress Well makes fuzzed out homages to 90's R&B. Somehow, he manages to channel Tracy Chapman in 2010 to produce an indie hit. That takes skill.
38. frYars - Our Father
Definitely the most obscure track on this list, as of right now, it can only found by digging through the mountainous and extremely mixed bag of indie music at BIRP (and Youtube as of a couple days ago -- and it only has 4 views right now). I can't help but be reminded of that one Human League song that everybody pretends to hate, but secretly listens to when they're home alone. I guess there's just something about British accents and baritone vocals over low production value electro beats and drum machines.
37. Beach House - Norway
A track that worked perfectly as the first single off Beach House's late winter release of Teenage Dream (the best album of the year as those of you who regularly read this blog, or know how to scroll down already know). Victoria LeGrand's vocals are the obvious show stopper, but the de-tuning synth and dream scene guitar create a cold soundscape that made this one of the biggest indie rock tracks in the early part of the year.
36. Tokyo Police Club - Breakneck Speed
I've been a TPC fan for a couple years now, and while this year's album Champ didn't reinvent the wheel, it did mark a satisfactory step in the development of a young band that has already released two albums and an EP. "Breakneck Speed" is the standout track, a song about growing up. With lines like "I remember when our voices used to sound the same, Now we just translate" Dave Monks demonstrates his development as a lyricist, and it will be interesting to see where these guys develop from here.
35. Mystery Jets - Dreaming of Another World
A nice catchy little rock song from Britain; easily accessible and wears well.
34. Rihanna - Rude Boy
Rihanna has proven to be one of a small number of legitimately talented female pop vocal acts in recent memory. and this is her best song to date.
33. Girl Unit - Wut
Consider this my nod to dub step for 2010.
32. Rick Ross - B.M.F. (Blowin' Money Fast) and M.C. Hammer
Rick Ross is really good at yelling into the mic about how he's somebody else over gigantic, speaker breaking beats. On B.M.F he's two real life crime bosses"I think I'm Big Meech, Larry Hoover" and then on the next track... "Bitch I''m MC Hammer." So despite the fact that these are two different songs on his album, there's very little differene between the two, each equally audacious.
31. The Radio Dept - Heaven's On Fire
This track could be listed just for the awesome anti-industry diatribe in the first 20 seconds, but it actually turns into a really bright, happy pop track... or not. On the surface it does sound like a sunny pop track, but it's actually a pretty dark song, not completely divorced from the diatribe that precedes it.
A goth rock track that earns its intentionally sloppy verses with the unexpected break in the clouds that is its chorus "So long summertime, I'm not coming back"
49. Gucci Mane - Georgia's Most Wanted
Picking up right where he left off after getting out of jail for a parole violation, this track is the type of banger Gucci has become known for. The rapid Gucci-isms are less prevelant compared to Burrprint 3D-era Gucci, in favor of more hood chest thumping, but they're still there "I'm laughing at these rappers' swag they look like a carcass, You a thirsty starving artist, I'm not an artist I'm a arsonist."
48. Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Method Man - Dangerous
Given the three MCs on the album (Wu Massacre), it's disappointing this was the only decent track to come off of it; especially after Raekwon's classic album last year that some hoped would be the start of a Wu Tang renaissance, oh well. The rhymes here are over a Dr. Dre-esque G-funked soul beat. Ghost and Rae bring B-game to this, but Method Man demolishes it.
47. Darwin Deez - Constellations
For the sake of getting it out of the way... yes, it sounds kind of like a Strokes song. Lyrically though, it's mostly stuff like "If freckles don't mean anything, does anything mean anything?" Kind of a weird platform to ponder such metaphysical issues, but whatever... It sounds good.
46. Young Jeezy - I Got This (El-P Remix)
The highlight off ATL RMX, a free mixtape released by Cartoon Network earlier this year. On the mixtape, noteworthy electronic musicians remixed tracks from various noteworthy Atlanta-based rappers. This is easily the best makeover off said mixtape, with El-P throwing in buzzing synths, slapping percussion hits, and some cool vocal effects to overhaul what was otherwise a dud of a track.
45. My Dry Wet Mess - Etcetera
One of the many random songs I came across on Pitchfork's Forkast, a little electro pop piece of candy.
44. Neon Indian - Children of the Revolution
The idea of Neon Indian covering T Rex just sounds like it would be fucking awesome. This track is confirmation of that. The signature Neon Indian 8-bit sound effects, and faded Alan Polomo vocals are here, but this is probably the darkest sounding Neon Indian track to date. He's already said that this track is basically him covering a song he liked, with no intention to release on any upcoming album, but for what it's worth, he killed it.
43. Best Coast - Our Deal
Now that I've gotten over my crush on Bethany Cosentino, I can honestly say some of Best Coast's music is over-the-top bubble gummy at best, and lyrically terrible at worst. They're at their best when the focus is a little tighter. While pretty much every song on Crazy For You is about boys and weed, "Our Deal" actually comes across as a sincere song about a break up. Maybe "When you leave me... / you take all my weed" undercuts that seriousness a little, but still...
42. Destroyer - Chinatown
A smokey track about not being able to leave somebody. Lyrically it's simple, but the distant trumpet warble and faded sax give it a beautiful, timeless sound.
41. Frends - Toronto
A song by a face-in-the-crowd indie band with a vocalist doing his best Ra Ra Riot croon about wanting to get away. Musically and lyrically it captures the hopeless urgency of wanting to be anywhere but here.
40. Drake featuring Lil' Wayne - Miss Me
Honestly there are two or three other Drake songs that could've be in this spot, and it borders on formulaic top 40 shmaltz, but it's ok to like top 40 shmaltz when it's good. Drake has proven to be adept at rapping about how good he is at being awesome, and it works best on this type of hi hat, cymbal crash, keyboard horns beat. The track features a decent verse by a pre-prison Lil' Wayne and a weird marriage proposal to Nicki Minaj.
39. How to Dress Well - You Won't Need Me Where I'm Going
How to Dress Well makes fuzzed out homages to 90's R&B. Somehow, he manages to channel Tracy Chapman in 2010 to produce an indie hit. That takes skill.
38. frYars - Our Father
Definitely the most obscure track on this list, as of right now, it can only found by digging through the mountainous and extremely mixed bag of indie music at BIRP (and Youtube as of a couple days ago -- and it only has 4 views right now). I can't help but be reminded of that one Human League song that everybody pretends to hate, but secretly listens to when they're home alone. I guess there's just something about British accents and baritone vocals over low production value electro beats and drum machines.
37. Beach House - Norway
A track that worked perfectly as the first single off Beach House's late winter release of Teenage Dream (the best album of the year as those of you who regularly read this blog, or know how to scroll down already know). Victoria LeGrand's vocals are the obvious show stopper, but the de-tuning synth and dream scene guitar create a cold soundscape that made this one of the biggest indie rock tracks in the early part of the year.
36. Tokyo Police Club - Breakneck Speed
I've been a TPC fan for a couple years now, and while this year's album Champ didn't reinvent the wheel, it did mark a satisfactory step in the development of a young band that has already released two albums and an EP. "Breakneck Speed" is the standout track, a song about growing up. With lines like "I remember when our voices used to sound the same, Now we just translate" Dave Monks demonstrates his development as a lyricist, and it will be interesting to see where these guys develop from here.
35. Mystery Jets - Dreaming of Another World
A nice catchy little rock song from Britain; easily accessible and wears well.
34. Rihanna - Rude Boy
Rihanna has proven to be one of a small number of legitimately talented female pop vocal acts in recent memory. and this is her best song to date.
33. Girl Unit - Wut
Consider this my nod to dub step for 2010.
32. Rick Ross - B.M.F. (Blowin' Money Fast) and M.C. Hammer
Rick Ross is really good at yelling into the mic about how he's somebody else over gigantic, speaker breaking beats. On B.M.F he's two real life crime bosses"I think I'm Big Meech, Larry Hoover" and then on the next track... "Bitch I''m MC Hammer." So despite the fact that these are two different songs on his album, there's very little differene between the two, each equally audacious.
31. The Radio Dept - Heaven's On Fire
This track could be listed just for the awesome anti-industry diatribe in the first 20 seconds, but it actually turns into a really bright, happy pop track... or not. On the surface it does sound like a sunny pop track, but it's actually a pretty dark song, not completely divorced from the diatribe that precedes it.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Top Albums of 2010
A little later than I promised, but enjoy.
10. Summer Camp - Young EP
"Round The Moon"
9. Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest
"Helicopter"
8. Best Coast - Crazy For You
"Boyfriend"
7. Sleigh Bells - Treats
"A/B Machines"
6. Sun Airway - Nocturne of Exploded Crystal Chandalier
"American West"
5. Gorillaz - Plastic Beach
"Stylo"
4. LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening
"Drunk Girls"
3. Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
"Gorgeous"
2. Das Racist - Sit Down, Man
"All Tan Everything"
1. Beach House - Teenage Dream
"Better Times"
10. Summer Camp - Young EP
"Round The Moon"
9. Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest
"Helicopter"
8. Best Coast - Crazy For You
"Boyfriend"
7. Sleigh Bells - Treats
"A/B Machines"
6. Sun Airway - Nocturne of Exploded Crystal Chandalier
"American West"
5. Gorillaz - Plastic Beach
"Stylo"
4. LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening
"Drunk Girls"
3. Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
"Gorgeous"
2. Das Racist - Sit Down, Man
"All Tan Everything"
1. Beach House - Teenage Dream
"Better Times"
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
