Michael Jackson died today. Say what you want his eccentricities (perhaps best said by Roger Ebert here), Michael was a great performer. He was called the King of Pop for a reason - he was the greatest pop singer of a musical era. What frustrates me is that it sounds that this time Michael was gearing up for a real comeback, complete with FIFTY performances in the London area. It would have been great to see what the King of Pop still had at age fifty.
Farrah Fawcett died today. Known forever as "the angel" in Charlie's Angels she inspired beautiful blonde bombshells the world over to try their luck in Hollywood. Its too bad that her storybook romance with Ryan O'Neil will not get the end they intended (O'Neil had said they were finally going to marry).
Showing posts with label Music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Music. Show all posts
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Music Quick Hits 1
Here are some quick thoughts on some of the new albums I listened to yesterday.
Dan Deacon's Spiderman of the Rings - this was a massive disappointment because I expected something akin to Girl Talk's Feed the Animals. What I got instead was some boring electonica-ish mash-ups that did not hold my attention.
Hello Saferide's More Modern Short Stories from Hello Saferide - I had been obsessed with this album's "Anna" for several weeks and I liked some of the other songs so I quickly began to lust after this album. Its good but not great, I like some of the other songs like "Overall."
The Kills' Midnight Boom - I got this because I was reading up on Jack White's new band, The Dead Weather which features The Kills' Allison Mossheart. Reading up on The Kills I read that they were "The British White Stripes." While this album was "ok" it was short and left a lot to be desired - far short of The White Stripes' major label release White Blood Cells.
Eminem's Relapse - It feels good to listen to Eminem. The last time I REALLY listened to Eminem was when The Eminem Show came out. While I'm not sure Relapse will be as good as The Eminem Show, it has Em's fire and spirit that makes it fun to listen to. But it's a hell of a comeback for sure - and the addictive chorus of "We Made You" will always be somewhat entertaining.
Dan Deacon's Spiderman of the Rings - this was a massive disappointment because I expected something akin to Girl Talk's Feed the Animals. What I got instead was some boring electonica-ish mash-ups that did not hold my attention.
Hello Saferide's More Modern Short Stories from Hello Saferide - I had been obsessed with this album's "Anna" for several weeks and I liked some of the other songs so I quickly began to lust after this album. Its good but not great, I like some of the other songs like "Overall."
The Kills' Midnight Boom - I got this because I was reading up on Jack White's new band, The Dead Weather which features The Kills' Allison Mossheart. Reading up on The Kills I read that they were "The British White Stripes." While this album was "ok" it was short and left a lot to be desired - far short of The White Stripes' major label release White Blood Cells.
Eminem's Relapse - It feels good to listen to Eminem. The last time I REALLY listened to Eminem was when The Eminem Show came out. While I'm not sure Relapse will be as good as The Eminem Show, it has Em's fire and spirit that makes it fun to listen to. But it's a hell of a comeback for sure - and the addictive chorus of "We Made You" will always be somewhat entertaining.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Random funness
Back in the day when writing my column, The Buzz, was my favorite thing to do for my old e-zine, SaltyStix, I stockpiled a lot of interesting articles about movies for my "around the internet" section, or whatever I called it. I might even have written about a few of these, but that was so long ago, so, cleaning out the bookmarks.
* 25 Most Influential Directors of all Time - This was interesting albeit pretty predictable. But it's great if your Netflix queue is empty and you've forgotten about the classics for awhile.
* Best and Worst Musicians in Movies - This is kind of amusing in a pretty way but once again, is pretty predictable.
* New York Times Romantic Comedy Analysis - Surprising that the New York Times found page space to talk about rom-coms but this was going to be the locus for an article about rom-coms, breaking down their formulaic structure, etc.
* Top 20 Rom-Coms - This is another page I found doing some research for that article - the other links turned out to suck.
* 25 Most Watched Movies - This list is pretty close to mine which is why I liked it so much. Obviously it's heavy on recent movies.
* Worst Movie Remakes of All Time - This is worth some good laughs and might also help you fill your Netflix queue if you want to compare some of the originals vs their remakes.
* Criticizing the AFI - I've never been a fan of the AFI (I think Citizen Kane is overrated) and anytime someone has a laugh at their expense I laugh with them.
* Linsey Lohan's Marilyn Phase- Before Lindsay was into Samantha she was into Marilyn and these pictures aren't half bad.
* Comics Old School/New School - This came out amid the summer comic onslaught and provides a great fanboys perspective that gets lost amid the Hollywood.
* 20 Tips for Starting Your Own Movie Blog - Maybe if I would have followed this SaltyStix would be alive and kicking, but instead, here I am.
* Forbes Writes about the best Movie Blogs - This is pretty unfulfilling but there are brief snippets on Forbes' take on other themed blogs (beyond just movies).
* Become Indy! - I was Indiana Jones for last Halloween, and a damn good one. But if you want to take your costume to the next level, this site is a must.
* Best Graphic Novels of all Time - There are some interesting choices on here - especially ones that stray to the non-superhero variety. I still want to get my hands on Ghost World.
* Read Twilight for Free - This craze left people without books or with empty pocketbooks. This website provided a solution to both.
* Top 20 Rappers of All Time - I started listening to a lot of rap and this page provided a brief overview that helped me get my bearings.
* 25 Movies about Foreign Affairs/Diplomacy - This is a fun article if you think you are educated on foreign affairs and diplomacy and also like movies (like me of course).
* 25 Most Influential Directors of all Time - This was interesting albeit pretty predictable. But it's great if your Netflix queue is empty and you've forgotten about the classics for awhile.
* Best and Worst Musicians in Movies - This is kind of amusing in a pretty way but once again, is pretty predictable.
* New York Times Romantic Comedy Analysis - Surprising that the New York Times found page space to talk about rom-coms but this was going to be the locus for an article about rom-coms, breaking down their formulaic structure, etc.
* Top 20 Rom-Coms - This is another page I found doing some research for that article - the other links turned out to suck.
* 25 Most Watched Movies - This list is pretty close to mine which is why I liked it so much. Obviously it's heavy on recent movies.
* Worst Movie Remakes of All Time - This is worth some good laughs and might also help you fill your Netflix queue if you want to compare some of the originals vs their remakes.
* Criticizing the AFI - I've never been a fan of the AFI (I think Citizen Kane is overrated) and anytime someone has a laugh at their expense I laugh with them.
* Linsey Lohan's Marilyn Phase- Before Lindsay was into Samantha she was into Marilyn and these pictures aren't half bad.
* Comics Old School/New School - This came out amid the summer comic onslaught and provides a great fanboys perspective that gets lost amid the Hollywood.
* 20 Tips for Starting Your Own Movie Blog - Maybe if I would have followed this SaltyStix would be alive and kicking, but instead, here I am.
* Forbes Writes about the best Movie Blogs - This is pretty unfulfilling but there are brief snippets on Forbes' take on other themed blogs (beyond just movies).
* Become Indy! - I was Indiana Jones for last Halloween, and a damn good one. But if you want to take your costume to the next level, this site is a must.
* Best Graphic Novels of all Time - There are some interesting choices on here - especially ones that stray to the non-superhero variety. I still want to get my hands on Ghost World.
* Read Twilight for Free - This craze left people without books or with empty pocketbooks. This website provided a solution to both.
* Top 20 Rappers of All Time - I started listening to a lot of rap and this page provided a brief overview that helped me get my bearings.
* 25 Movies about Foreign Affairs/Diplomacy - This is a fun article if you think you are educated on foreign affairs and diplomacy and also like movies (like me of course).
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Wheezing
I've liked Weezer for a long time and I've enjoyed their transitions from the Blue Album, to the Green Album, and now to the Red Album, their latest. They seem to be able to seemless integrate new sounds and influences into a distinctly unique sound that is still Weezer. This album is more different than most of their other album maturations but it is still a decided Weezer album. When I get back to my apartment and buy a bunch of CD's this has got to go to the top. Almost as much for curiosity's sake as much as it is that I want to listen to the album. If that makes much sense.
The first single, Pork and Beans is pretty good - containing an even greater than usual amount of pop culture references among Rivers' lyrics and unexpected Weezer rifts (that are now paradoxically expected). It has a great sound but more importantly it has a really cool music video that seems to touch on a lot of the major viral experiences of the last few years. The video is fun and seems to lend even more heart to a song that already has the normal endearing feel of Weezer's usual songs.
Another song I really liked is "Heart Songs" which is already receiving a bunch of fan buzz. For a Weezer ballad it seems to stand out to me for a reason that I can't quite put my finger on yet. But it is worth checking out for sure. Clicking that link will take you to a youtube link with just the audio really which is also a place where you can listen to the whole album essentially. Before you buy the album of course.
The first single, Pork and Beans is pretty good - containing an even greater than usual amount of pop culture references among Rivers' lyrics and unexpected Weezer rifts (that are now paradoxically expected). It has a great sound but more importantly it has a really cool music video that seems to touch on a lot of the major viral experiences of the last few years. The video is fun and seems to lend even more heart to a song that already has the normal endearing feel of Weezer's usual songs.
Another song I really liked is "Heart Songs" which is already receiving a bunch of fan buzz. For a Weezer ballad it seems to stand out to me for a reason that I can't quite put my finger on yet. But it is worth checking out for sure. Clicking that link will take you to a youtube link with just the audio really which is also a place where you can listen to the whole album essentially. Before you buy the album of course.
Friday, December 28, 2007
2007 Favorites: Songs
While a bunch of these songs are just my picks from my favorite albums installment below, there are a few songs from albums that didn't quite get the cut or were too "old." Basically, this is what I like to think of as the soundtrack of my 2007, but it's really just some slim pickings. So this is my 2007 playlist - the songs aren't "ranked" - it's pretty hard to do that considering they are all so different!
I posted links to the music videos because I lack the ability to post streaming clips. But there are some pretty cool music videos and live clips. Baby's Gonna Die Tonight gets pretty interesting in the end, Men's Needs is pretty funny, and Music is My Hot Hot sex is pretty cool throughout.
"Baby's Gonna Die Tonight" by Adam Green
This is a recent discovery but I love it! The song is addictive, and the cool stuff he does with the drawings at the end is cool.
"Men's Needs" by The Cribs
This was the first video I watched of them - and I was read the top comment on the youtube board and it talked about some naked girl. So I was ready for the girl that danced/stumbled across the screen while the band was playing, but the black boxes covering her were a surprise - and pretty clever.
"Girls Who Play Guitars" by Maximo Park
This is just the song with some random-ass pictures. Sorry. But the song is pretty good.
"Chillout Tent" by The Hold Steady
One of my favorite songs of late. I think I'm a sucker for pop duets with a female voice and a male voice.
"Who's Gonna Sing" by The Prototypes
The dude in the video is pretty funny. And the vibrant colors are pretty crazy.
"Music is My Hot Hot Sex" by Cansei De Ser Sexy
It took some wikipedia reading for me to realize that all the girls were not the same, but the 5/6 girls in the group! The bass line is ridiculous, and the part that goes beyond the iPod commercial is awesome.
"Jerk it Out (Ahlund)" by The Caesars
I know I know, three iPod commercial-songs in a row, but I do have this whole album. The energy of this song has a certain air of fun that the other songs on this list don't.
"Liquefy" by The Servant
I'm probably the only one in the world who loves this guy's voice - but it sounds kinda like how I would sing if I had those skillz. Perhaps that's not a ringing endorsement.
"Your Honor" by Regina Spektor
I LOVE the drastic contrast between the hard/soft screaming/sweet singing. And I'll admit I like the soft part better - that chorus is amazing. Live recording from Bonnaroo was the best I could do.
"Loose Lips" by Kimya Dawson
Not surprising that Kimya doesn't make music videos, but this is a live recording. I love this song for so many reasons - the chorus is great, the fast talking intro is awesome, and the lyrics throughout are only rivaled by "Underground."
"Famous" by The Magnetic Fields
This song is such a great beginning to such a good album.
"In the Aeroplane Over the Sea" by Neutral Milk Hotel
I love the strumming beginning and when he first begins to sing...so good.
"Our Swords" by Band of Horses
I couldn't get enough of this song for the longest time, playing it over and over.
"Take Me to The Riot" by Stars
Deeply emotional, I've already waxed poetic about this song on my 2007 albums send-up, just enjoy the song.
"Pick Up the Phone" by The Notwist
I loved this song mostly because of the video's funny rabbits. But it's also kinda awesomely-haunting.
"2nd Period: Shoot Down the Stars" by Gym Class Heroes
My favorite video of theirs is probably for Cupid's Chokehold, but this is my favorite song of theirs for the tempo and the delivery.
"Don't Forget 'Em" by Consequence
Probably the most boring video on this list, but I played it back to back to back to back so often and put the page in the background. It just has a great hook.
"Everything I Am" by Kanye West
Again this song was discussed in detail in the 2007 albums send-up, but it's another addicting song that is great.
Other 2007 Favorites:
2007 Favorites: Albums
I posted links to the music videos because I lack the ability to post streaming clips. But there are some pretty cool music videos and live clips. Baby's Gonna Die Tonight gets pretty interesting in the end, Men's Needs is pretty funny, and Music is My Hot Hot sex is pretty cool throughout.
"Baby's Gonna Die Tonight" by Adam Green
This is a recent discovery but I love it! The song is addictive, and the cool stuff he does with the drawings at the end is cool.
"Men's Needs" by The Cribs
This was the first video I watched of them - and I was read the top comment on the youtube board and it talked about some naked girl. So I was ready for the girl that danced/stumbled across the screen while the band was playing, but the black boxes covering her were a surprise - and pretty clever.
"Girls Who Play Guitars" by Maximo Park
This is just the song with some random-ass pictures. Sorry. But the song is pretty good.
"Chillout Tent" by The Hold Steady
One of my favorite songs of late. I think I'm a sucker for pop duets with a female voice and a male voice.
"Who's Gonna Sing" by The Prototypes
The dude in the video is pretty funny. And the vibrant colors are pretty crazy.
"Music is My Hot Hot Sex" by Cansei De Ser Sexy
It took some wikipedia reading for me to realize that all the girls were not the same, but the 5/6 girls in the group! The bass line is ridiculous, and the part that goes beyond the iPod commercial is awesome.
"Jerk it Out (Ahlund)" by The Caesars
I know I know, three iPod commercial-songs in a row, but I do have this whole album. The energy of this song has a certain air of fun that the other songs on this list don't.
"Liquefy" by The Servant
I'm probably the only one in the world who loves this guy's voice - but it sounds kinda like how I would sing if I had those skillz. Perhaps that's not a ringing endorsement.
"Your Honor" by Regina Spektor
I LOVE the drastic contrast between the hard/soft screaming/sweet singing. And I'll admit I like the soft part better - that chorus is amazing. Live recording from Bonnaroo was the best I could do.
"Loose Lips" by Kimya Dawson
Not surprising that Kimya doesn't make music videos, but this is a live recording. I love this song for so many reasons - the chorus is great, the fast talking intro is awesome, and the lyrics throughout are only rivaled by "Underground."
"Famous" by The Magnetic Fields
This song is such a great beginning to such a good album.
"In the Aeroplane Over the Sea" by Neutral Milk Hotel
I love the strumming beginning and when he first begins to sing...so good.
"Our Swords" by Band of Horses
I couldn't get enough of this song for the longest time, playing it over and over.
"Take Me to The Riot" by Stars
Deeply emotional, I've already waxed poetic about this song on my 2007 albums send-up, just enjoy the song.
"Pick Up the Phone" by The Notwist
I loved this song mostly because of the video's funny rabbits. But it's also kinda awesomely-haunting.
"2nd Period: Shoot Down the Stars" by Gym Class Heroes
My favorite video of theirs is probably for Cupid's Chokehold, but this is my favorite song of theirs for the tempo and the delivery.
"Don't Forget 'Em" by Consequence
Probably the most boring video on this list, but I played it back to back to back to back so often and put the page in the background. It just has a great hook.
"Everything I Am" by Kanye West
Again this song was discussed in detail in the 2007 albums send-up, but it's another addicting song that is great.
Other 2007 Favorites:
2007 Favorites: Albums
2007 Favorites: Albums
So I’m stuck at the airport and I finally had the motivation (and time) to finish off this article that it seems like I started ages ago. So I guess, out of the bad, comes some good, much like everything else. Also, for some of the song stuff I attached the link to the youtube video for their music video because I don't know how to stream songs. I know, no point in having a music blog without that vital skill, but I'm trying here people. And besides, some of what drew me to these bands are these music videos I'm linking up here.
One of my friends who have their own music blog asked me what my favorite group was. After answering “The Red Hot Chili Peppers” I was informed that my music sucked and I had to start listening to “good” music. What followed was the beginning of a humongous amount of new music that I listened to regularly in the last six months. I also started using youtube more as my own private radio station – something I strongly suggest. Unable to get a hold of most of these albums, I bought a bunch of them on Amazon, used, for a few dollars, and Amazon, being the trusty sales-person they are, recommended some more music. Checked those out on youtube, and bought some more.
I started listening to a few instrumental acts (Explosions in the Sky and Ratatat) after I discovered explosions on NBC’s Friday Night Lights. I also started listening to a bunch of lo-fi/indie-pop/anti-folk acts (Stars, Neutral Milk Hotel, Regina Spektor, Kimya Dawson) suggested by my friend. When Kanye’s new CD, Graduation was about to come out, I bought a bunch of CD’s from “harder” rappers (Nas, Jaylib, Madlib, Madvillain, Danger Doom, MF Doom) and checked out Gym Class Heroes after I saw them on the MTV Video Music Awards. My last discovery came when I was tinkering around on youtube and stumbled into foreign (mostly European) pop music (The Cribs, The Servant, The Prototypes, CSS, Maximo Park).
So that was a pretty big span of four drastically different genres. And bear with me here, since I didn’t do this last year, and my friend did, there were a bunch of great 2006 albums, so this year I included 2006 albums in my top ten, while notably including some of my favorite older albums I started listening to this year: In the Aeroplane Over the Sea (1998) by Neutral Milk Hotel; Soviet Kitsch (2004) by Regina Spektor; Holiday (1994) & Get Lost (1995) by The Magnetic Fields; Neon Golden (2002) by The Nowtist. Also, since I didn’t really have time to do album reviews this year, this article is really my only chance to blog about them, and so if the entries get a little long for you, I apologize.
First, the close but no cigar discs: Prototypes (2006) by the Prototypes which had a lot of energy and flair, but not quite the, how do you say, English lyrics to realty compete here. I mean, I loved two of your French singles, but asking me to find a spot in my heart for those French “filler” songs that I can’t understand, is a lot. Our Earthly Pleasures (2007) by Maximo Park was an album that I liked, that I thought was similar to The Cribs’ Men’s Needs, Women’s Needs, Whatever, but I was wrong. While it has (maybe) a better single in “Girl’s Who Play Guitars,” it just doesn’t have the consistency or the quality of Men’s Needs. Boys and Girls in America (2007) by The Hold Steady was the closest, and the hardest one I had to cut. It might be better than some of the albums on this list, and I listened to it about ten times in the last week or so, but I couldn’t take one of the albums below, off that list. Although I have to say that “Chillout Tent” is probably one of my favorite songs of the year. Now, Here are my ten favorites:
10. Don't Quit Your Day Job! (2007) – Consequence
Favorite Song: Don’t Forget ‘Em
Favorite Lyric: “Man I promise, when I get old enough/I'ma buy you a limo, and we gon' go to Red Lobster"
I foolishly missed Consequence despite loving Kanye’s The College Dropout, where Consequence guest starred on two tracks. However, my dad sent me an article from the Cinci Enquirer about him early in the year when he heard I had started listening to some rap music. I tried to get a listen on iTunes, but those samples don’t tell you much, and I soon quit. When I started using youtube again, I remembered and I checked him out. The first music video I watched, “Don’t Forget ‘Em” was boring and not very flashy, but the song was downright addictive. Of all the songs I have watched on youtube, I struggle to think of a song I listened to more. It didn’t take me that long to get my act together and buy the album on Amazon for $2. ‘Quence uses a few pretty funny skits (which is saying a lot because I normally get annoyed by most rappers’ skits) to tie together a strongly thematic album about the desire to make it big, and also the fears of making it too big. The singles on this album are very strong: Don’t Forget ‘Em, Callin’ Me, Grammy Family, The Good, the Bad, the Ugly. The filler around them is just okay, and for a while I thought the album wasn’t going to make it. But it sneaked in, right here at #10.
9. How to Destroy a Relationship (2007) – The Servant
Favorite Song: Hey Lou Reed
Favorite Lyric: “I don't want to be no one/I dream my dreams/Suck in my screams/I don't want to be no one”
These boys should not to be confused with the Christian rock band of the 70’s. I stumbled onto these boys when I was bored in my room one day and it suddenly came to me that I wanted to listen to that crazy song from the Sin City preview. I finally found them and on the iTunes comments page, someone had posted their website where they have their entire discography posted for you to listen to in streaming. This was AWESOME – I got to listen to both of their full-length albums and their half-length albums and really got into them. They were really the first Euro-pop group I started listening to before I started looking for more. How to Destroy a Relationship is a pretty good album, but it isn’t nearly as good as their self titled, The Servant (2004). That was the album I really fell in love with at first – it had more and stronger singles, and the filler didn’t seem like filler. But that album was too old for this list, and I started listening to How to Destroy a Relationship more. It’s still pretty damn good, and the single, Hey Lou Reed along with a bunch of the other songs have more humor than the group’s more serious debut. And I think that humor pays off and makes some of the non-singles sound better and more fun to listen to.
8. Cansei De Ser Sexy (2006) – Cansei De Ser Sexy
Favorite Song: Music is My Hot Hot Sex
Favorite Lyric: “Why is that we stand so still?/People gonna start thinking we're statues”
I will be the first to admit that I found these girls (and one guy) when I went looking for, “that song from the iTunes iPod touch ad”. And I found them, in a big way, and after some wikipedia reading, I found a bunch of their songs and music videos on youtube. This time, I wasted ZERO time in buying their album on Amazon. This also helped me rediscover The Prototypes, who I had listened to earlier in the year (also because of their American single being used in an iPod ad – what can I say, they pick good music). CSS’ music video for Music is My Hot Hot Sex is really cool – they do some cool things with light and texture that make the video a lot of fun, and all the girls have a good stage presence that this video accentuates. When I first got the album and listened to it on my way home one weekend, I thought that one good single couldn’t push them into this top ten list. After a few more listens I realized that I loved a bunch of the other songs: Patins, Alala, Art Bitch and Alcohol (plus the obvious singles). I loved their attitude, I loved the flavor they brought to their music, and the bass beat they lay is damn good. The strongest personality though, front woman Lovefoxx has a great voice that fits perfectly for the group. I’m looking forward to their follow up to their first internationally released album.
7. Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever (2007) – The Cribs
Favorite Song: Men’s Needs
Favorite Lyric: They were all equally intriguing...(okay, I'll be honest, I plain couldn't choose - it's not about the lyrics with them)
I found this group all on my lonesome and mostly by accident. During my obsession with Quence’s “Don’t Forget ‘em” I would occasionally branch out to listen to his other songs when I grew tired of listening to “Don’t Forget ‘Em” four or five times in a row. So one time, after typing ‘Consequence’ into youtube, I clicked on the song “Consequence” by The Notwist. And then I somehow found The Cribs. Hmm…that story doesn’t make a lot of sense to me now, but it did when I started writing it. More substantively, this album was probably my favorite Euro pop-rock album that I started listening to, and the album has this great energy that makes it easy to listen to and easy to get into. The funny music video for the single, Men’s Needs sure helped too – it’s pretty funny, and shows off everything the band is about. This album earned it’s spot here though because the whole album is consistently good, without any major disappointments, as each and every track is just as strong as the next, with a few standout favorites of course (Our Bovine Republic, Moving Pictures, Men’s Needs).
6. Everything All The Time (2006) – Band of Horses
Favorite Song: Our Swords
Favorite Lyric: “Out on the wall sounds of banging is constant coming from your head/And desperate the calls came and ringing from those wanna wring your neck”
The best part about being given this album was how good it was. The worst part was buying their follow up album, 2007’s Cease to Begin and being completely disappointed. But this album is great. It has a sort of soft intensity that is hard to explain. Maybe that’s a poor word choice, but that’s what comes to mind. The words and lyrics fit perfectly with everything else they have going on, and contrary to most of the other groups I used to listen to, and characteristic of my favorites now, you can really enjoy the lyrics. I got this CD toward the end of July right before I did a lot of driving in my car and I basically alternated between this album and two others. I probably listened to it over ten times in about five days. The album doesn’t get old, and only gets better. I became addicted to “Our Swords,” often listening to that song alone even if I just had to run a short errand. After that I developed other favorites: the aptly titled “The First Song,” “The Great Salt Lake,” and “St. Augustine.” It seems to me that the songs on this CD have perfect beginnings and endings. And the middle parts are damn good too.
5. As Cruel As School Children (2006) – Gym Class Heroes
Favorite Song: Shoot Down the Stars
Favorite Lyric: “This isn’t how it was supposed to be/Reminiscing don’t stand so close to me”
This is another album where I can almost pat myself on the back for finding it on my own, but it was really my search for the destruction of my soul (the weird desire to watch the MTV Video Music Awards to blog about them). I decided to check out the music for the big single from the artist of the year award (or whatever it’s called) that led me to the great video for “Cupid’s Chokehold.” The song was pretty good, but the video was hysterical, and I loved it so much because it actually fit the song (one of my pet peeves are abstract music videos). On a whim I decided to buy the album for a couple bucks when I bought Quence’s album – never thinking that this poppy-er, more accessible album would be the one I liked more. Again, this was another album where I really loved every song – and the flow and the mix were perfect. Just as people jumped on the (unfortunate) Limp Bizkit bandwagon over rap-rock, I would love it if Gym Class Heroes led a rap-pop wave. The only (mild) annoyance was the three skits on the album that were mediocre at best and made me want to skip over them when I listened to the album frequently in one car-sitting.
4. Begin to Hope (2006) – Regina Spektor
Favorite Song: On the Radio
Favorite Lyric: “But I wake up in fear/You will never be my/You will never be my fool”
This was the first album I got this summer that really took me. I thought that if I was actually disciplined enough to make a top ten list, this would surely get the top spot. Why didn’t it? Not for lack of trying. I love every song through and through, and the first four, Fidelity, Better, Samson, and On the Radio, are downright addictive. To illustrate how much I liked this album: I listened to it over twenty times in the last four months, on my laptop alone. That doesn’t count my iPod or in the car. That’s a hell of a lot. Three things contributed to this album slipping to fourth place. First, I loved Soviet Kitsch a hell of a lot too (listened to it about just as much as BtH) and it was tough to separate the two, and when I did I realized I didn’t get “Your Honor,” which might be my favorite two-minute song ever (I guess Band of Horses "Our Swords" is pretty close too). Second, the albums below really stood out, and it should be a testament to them when I say how much I loved this album. Third, in particular, the album below took a little bit of the wind out of Regina’s sails – not that they are that similar, but I viewed them as similar, and in the last month or so, Kimya leapfrogged Regina.
3. Remember That I Love You (2006) – Kimya Dawson
Favorite Song: Loose Lips
Favorite Lyric (this is the only place where I indulged myself and refused to make a choice): “Call me up before your dead, we can make some plans instead/Send me an IM, I'll be your friend”; “So I tattoo instructions on my ass/That say "don't ever put this body is a casket/Burn it and put the ashes in a basket/And throw them in the Puget Sound”
I think I’m done beating the “before Juno” drum and I can get into the comments. This album knocked my socks off. It took me two or three times through before I realized that some of Kimya’s songs were REALLY sad. Maybe that means I’m a shitty listener, but the WAY she sings to me seems to be so happy and light that I couldn’t believe the songs were that sad. By the fourth or fifth times (and I lot more times after that) I began to really get to the depth of the emotion in these songs. Instead of making me sad, I just developed a deep respect for the album and turned it on a lot. Regina’s lyrics were great, and pretty clever too, but Kimya’s here are leaps and bounds above. Of all the albums here (and first place makes this close, but Kimya still wins), this album has the best lyrics. I downright love almost every word she says (the one bump on an otherwise perfect stream is her “FUCK BUSH” rant on Loose Lips that seems out of place to me). What she says just rings so true, and obviously I don’t have to deal with things like a child growing inside me, but I like to think I can relate to some of the other stuff. And the stuff that I haven’t had to deal with now, I feel like I will relate to those events based on these songs, especially “My Mom.” If Juno didn’t make you run out and buy her latest, hopefully I convinced you. Maybe? A little? Come on…
2. Graduation (2007) – Kanye West
Favorite Song: Everything I Am
Favorite Lyric: “Everything I’m not/makes me everything I am”
I started this list a while ago. And up until about five minutes ago, this album was in the top spot. It felt so right for me to put it #1. It represented a lot of what I wanted to say I did in 2007. To me this album shows a confidence, maturity, and skill that were missing from Kanye’s first two albums and mix tapes. I feel like I could talk about each of those three factors in relation to every song on Graduation, which, apart from Barry Bonds and Drunk and Hot Girls, is the closest to perfect of any rap album I’ve listened to (I’ll admit that’s pretty limited). Instead, I will focus on my favorite, Everything I Am, which crystallizes all three factors. A huge part of confidence is identity, knowing who you are (and who you aren’t) goes a long way to shaping your conception of self, which seems to be the cornerstone of confidence. Everything I Am’s premise, is obviously a song about identity, and Kanye’s confidence in the lyrics go beyond his boyish arrogance to reach true confidence “I never be picture-perfect-Beyonce/Be light as Albi or black as Chauncey/Remember him from Blackstreet/He was as black as the street was/I'll never be laid back as his beat was.” He calls out a bunch of people and identifies some stereotypic paths he could have pursued, but he didn’t. The next line is a piece of wisdom beyond Kanye’s years – “I never could see why people'll reach a/Fake-ass facad they couldn't keep up.” I think this speaks to his maturity, as a person, and as a performer. He clearly understands the faces people put on to make it big in the business and he didn’t mince words here, or leave this open ended. Additionally, a subtler sign of maturity is the efficient, waste-free album free of skits and jokes – some miss those skits, but I sure as hell don’t. Also adding to the polished, less-rap feel of the album is the intro, Kanye’s best (Good Morning) that mixes the benefit of the classic rap intro with, well, a song. Now the chorus, or the repeated verse, “Everything I’m not/makes me everything I am” is ridiculously addictive (yet simple) and represents a new stage in Kanye’s skills. Before, I was drawn into Kanye’s songs by his hooks and his beats, that were different than other rap acts – they were poppy-er, and more musical (to me). What made me love his songs, like Never Let You Down, was the beat. You sang along with the song Kanye sampled, and that was what stayed with you. On this album, you better believe you’re singing along with, and loving the lyrics themselves – the beats are still great (much better than on Late Registration) but the words are even better. Those three things meant a lot to me for a while, confidence, maturity, skill. I thought I’d come a long way in all three. Then I realized that my confidence boost was artificial, I still felt like a teenage kid, and “skill improvement” was just out of reach. But still “Everything I’m not/makes me everything I am” stuck with me, and almost pulled off the top spot. I don’t think I have a clue who I am, or who I’m going to be, but I did know who I wasn’t, and that was a big part of who I was – who I am. If you can’t look past “Stronger,” you need to; Champion, I Wonder, Good Life, Flashing Lights, and Everything I Am are too (ridiculously) good for you to not listen to.
1. In Our Bedroom After the War (2007) – Stars
Favorite Song: Take Me to the Riot
Favorite Lyric: "You despise me and I love you/ It's not much but it's just enough to keep...”
Bedroom was another one of those three CD’s, along with Everything all the Time and In the Aeroplane Over the Sea that I burned at the end of the summer and kept in my car for a while. It must be obvious now that the album that received significantly more play that Everything, was this album. I was much more likely to listen to this song back-to-back-to-back than probably any other album I listened to this summer (and maybe ever). The album benefited from the fact that it was so different than everything else I was listening to at the time. It’s tough for me to really say that this album is “better” than Set Yourself on Fire, which I just bought recently, but I know for sure that this album will always mean more to me. And one of the reasons this song squeaked into the top spot was that this album, and Stars, brought a substantial wave of new music down upon me. Much more than Kanye did. Or at the very least, the music that I started listening to because of Stars was a lot better than the post-Kanye/Graduation music. Perhaps this disc got an unfair advantage because I listened to it an hour before I completed this list (and made the switch), but I would like to think it was much more than that. I mean I could talk about how great the music was – I loved the synergy and flow between the first three songs, and while I think every other person who has blogged about this song has hated the second track, The Night Starts Here, I loved it as a great lead in to my favorite song, Take Me to the Riot. After that the album continues it’s greatness and takes me to synth-pop-bliss. Maybe that’s not what I should call it, but I just did anyways. I do like to think that the greater reason this album is my 2007 favorite is that it really captures my most powerful memories from the course of the year. Well, for the most part, my life is pretty simple, but that simple life changed a hell of a lot between May and July and I think I will forever remember some of them with In Our Bedroom After the War as their soundtrack, or maybe their anthem. Again, I could probably go through all of the songs – because the whole album, really does speak to those experiences, but I will focus on my favorite, Take Me to the Riot. Now I’m not the only one to pick this one as their favorite song, and those music purists probably know more about why the song is so “good,” but I’m talking about why it’s my favorite. I won’t pretend to know the meaning of the song (can you ever know for sure?) but I will talk about what the song means to me. I’ll start with my favorite lyric of the year, “You despise me and I love you/
It's not much but it's just enough to keep...” It is a phrase that I find incredibly powerful and exceptionally heart breaking. Not sure what else to say about that, I shouldn’t really have to. The two verses a verse or two before make it even more powerful, “What now kid?, which way love?/Will we ever make up and be friends?” Another somber question that is (perhaps) answered by the sad “answer” above. The synth charged ending, the repeated “let me stay” wraps it all together…begging to stay and falling on deaf ears. Cut away all that emo crap I just mumbled out and you still have an amazing album.
One of my friends who have their own music blog asked me what my favorite group was. After answering “The Red Hot Chili Peppers” I was informed that my music sucked and I had to start listening to “good” music. What followed was the beginning of a humongous amount of new music that I listened to regularly in the last six months. I also started using youtube more as my own private radio station – something I strongly suggest. Unable to get a hold of most of these albums, I bought a bunch of them on Amazon, used, for a few dollars, and Amazon, being the trusty sales-person they are, recommended some more music. Checked those out on youtube, and bought some more.
I started listening to a few instrumental acts (Explosions in the Sky and Ratatat) after I discovered explosions on NBC’s Friday Night Lights. I also started listening to a bunch of lo-fi/indie-pop/anti-folk acts (Stars, Neutral Milk Hotel, Regina Spektor, Kimya Dawson) suggested by my friend. When Kanye’s new CD, Graduation was about to come out, I bought a bunch of CD’s from “harder” rappers (Nas, Jaylib, Madlib, Madvillain, Danger Doom, MF Doom) and checked out Gym Class Heroes after I saw them on the MTV Video Music Awards. My last discovery came when I was tinkering around on youtube and stumbled into foreign (mostly European) pop music (The Cribs, The Servant, The Prototypes, CSS, Maximo Park).
So that was a pretty big span of four drastically different genres. And bear with me here, since I didn’t do this last year, and my friend did, there were a bunch of great 2006 albums, so this year I included 2006 albums in my top ten, while notably including some of my favorite older albums I started listening to this year: In the Aeroplane Over the Sea (1998) by Neutral Milk Hotel; Soviet Kitsch (2004) by Regina Spektor; Holiday (1994) & Get Lost (1995) by The Magnetic Fields; Neon Golden (2002) by The Nowtist. Also, since I didn’t really have time to do album reviews this year, this article is really my only chance to blog about them, and so if the entries get a little long for you, I apologize.
First, the close but no cigar discs: Prototypes (2006) by the Prototypes which had a lot of energy and flair, but not quite the, how do you say, English lyrics to realty compete here. I mean, I loved two of your French singles, but asking me to find a spot in my heart for those French “filler” songs that I can’t understand, is a lot. Our Earthly Pleasures (2007) by Maximo Park was an album that I liked, that I thought was similar to The Cribs’ Men’s Needs, Women’s Needs, Whatever, but I was wrong. While it has (maybe) a better single in “Girl’s Who Play Guitars,” it just doesn’t have the consistency or the quality of Men’s Needs. Boys and Girls in America (2007) by The Hold Steady was the closest, and the hardest one I had to cut. It might be better than some of the albums on this list, and I listened to it about ten times in the last week or so, but I couldn’t take one of the albums below, off that list. Although I have to say that “Chillout Tent” is probably one of my favorite songs of the year. Now, Here are my ten favorites:
10. Don't Quit Your Day Job! (2007) – Consequence
Favorite Song: Don’t Forget ‘Em
Favorite Lyric: “Man I promise, when I get old enough/I'ma buy you a limo, and we gon' go to Red Lobster"
I foolishly missed Consequence despite loving Kanye’s The College Dropout, where Consequence guest starred on two tracks. However, my dad sent me an article from the Cinci Enquirer about him early in the year when he heard I had started listening to some rap music. I tried to get a listen on iTunes, but those samples don’t tell you much, and I soon quit. When I started using youtube again, I remembered and I checked him out. The first music video I watched, “Don’t Forget ‘Em” was boring and not very flashy, but the song was downright addictive. Of all the songs I have watched on youtube, I struggle to think of a song I listened to more. It didn’t take me that long to get my act together and buy the album on Amazon for $2. ‘Quence uses a few pretty funny skits (which is saying a lot because I normally get annoyed by most rappers’ skits) to tie together a strongly thematic album about the desire to make it big, and also the fears of making it too big. The singles on this album are very strong: Don’t Forget ‘Em, Callin’ Me, Grammy Family, The Good, the Bad, the Ugly. The filler around them is just okay, and for a while I thought the album wasn’t going to make it. But it sneaked in, right here at #10.
9. How to Destroy a Relationship (2007) – The Servant
Favorite Song: Hey Lou Reed
Favorite Lyric: “I don't want to be no one/I dream my dreams/Suck in my screams/I don't want to be no one”
These boys should not to be confused with the Christian rock band of the 70’s. I stumbled onto these boys when I was bored in my room one day and it suddenly came to me that I wanted to listen to that crazy song from the Sin City preview. I finally found them and on the iTunes comments page, someone had posted their website where they have their entire discography posted for you to listen to in streaming. This was AWESOME – I got to listen to both of their full-length albums and their half-length albums and really got into them. They were really the first Euro-pop group I started listening to before I started looking for more. How to Destroy a Relationship is a pretty good album, but it isn’t nearly as good as their self titled, The Servant (2004). That was the album I really fell in love with at first – it had more and stronger singles, and the filler didn’t seem like filler. But that album was too old for this list, and I started listening to How to Destroy a Relationship more. It’s still pretty damn good, and the single, Hey Lou Reed along with a bunch of the other songs have more humor than the group’s more serious debut. And I think that humor pays off and makes some of the non-singles sound better and more fun to listen to.
8. Cansei De Ser Sexy (2006) – Cansei De Ser Sexy
Favorite Song: Music is My Hot Hot Sex
Favorite Lyric: “Why is that we stand so still?/People gonna start thinking we're statues”
I will be the first to admit that I found these girls (and one guy) when I went looking for, “that song from the iTunes iPod touch ad”. And I found them, in a big way, and after some wikipedia reading, I found a bunch of their songs and music videos on youtube. This time, I wasted ZERO time in buying their album on Amazon. This also helped me rediscover The Prototypes, who I had listened to earlier in the year (also because of their American single being used in an iPod ad – what can I say, they pick good music). CSS’ music video for Music is My Hot Hot Sex is really cool – they do some cool things with light and texture that make the video a lot of fun, and all the girls have a good stage presence that this video accentuates. When I first got the album and listened to it on my way home one weekend, I thought that one good single couldn’t push them into this top ten list. After a few more listens I realized that I loved a bunch of the other songs: Patins, Alala, Art Bitch and Alcohol (plus the obvious singles). I loved their attitude, I loved the flavor they brought to their music, and the bass beat they lay is damn good. The strongest personality though, front woman Lovefoxx has a great voice that fits perfectly for the group. I’m looking forward to their follow up to their first internationally released album.
7. Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever (2007) – The Cribs
Favorite Song: Men’s Needs
Favorite Lyric: They were all equally intriguing...(okay, I'll be honest, I plain couldn't choose - it's not about the lyrics with them)
I found this group all on my lonesome and mostly by accident. During my obsession with Quence’s “Don’t Forget ‘em” I would occasionally branch out to listen to his other songs when I grew tired of listening to “Don’t Forget ‘Em” four or five times in a row. So one time, after typing ‘Consequence’ into youtube, I clicked on the song “Consequence” by The Notwist. And then I somehow found The Cribs. Hmm…that story doesn’t make a lot of sense to me now, but it did when I started writing it. More substantively, this album was probably my favorite Euro pop-rock album that I started listening to, and the album has this great energy that makes it easy to listen to and easy to get into. The funny music video for the single, Men’s Needs sure helped too – it’s pretty funny, and shows off everything the band is about. This album earned it’s spot here though because the whole album is consistently good, without any major disappointments, as each and every track is just as strong as the next, with a few standout favorites of course (Our Bovine Republic, Moving Pictures, Men’s Needs).
6. Everything All The Time (2006) – Band of Horses
Favorite Song: Our Swords
Favorite Lyric: “Out on the wall sounds of banging is constant coming from your head/And desperate the calls came and ringing from those wanna wring your neck”
The best part about being given this album was how good it was. The worst part was buying their follow up album, 2007’s Cease to Begin and being completely disappointed. But this album is great. It has a sort of soft intensity that is hard to explain. Maybe that’s a poor word choice, but that’s what comes to mind. The words and lyrics fit perfectly with everything else they have going on, and contrary to most of the other groups I used to listen to, and characteristic of my favorites now, you can really enjoy the lyrics. I got this CD toward the end of July right before I did a lot of driving in my car and I basically alternated between this album and two others. I probably listened to it over ten times in about five days. The album doesn’t get old, and only gets better. I became addicted to “Our Swords,” often listening to that song alone even if I just had to run a short errand. After that I developed other favorites: the aptly titled “The First Song,” “The Great Salt Lake,” and “St. Augustine.” It seems to me that the songs on this CD have perfect beginnings and endings. And the middle parts are damn good too.
5. As Cruel As School Children (2006) – Gym Class Heroes
Favorite Song: Shoot Down the Stars
Favorite Lyric: “This isn’t how it was supposed to be/Reminiscing don’t stand so close to me”
This is another album where I can almost pat myself on the back for finding it on my own, but it was really my search for the destruction of my soul (the weird desire to watch the MTV Video Music Awards to blog about them). I decided to check out the music for the big single from the artist of the year award (or whatever it’s called) that led me to the great video for “Cupid’s Chokehold.” The song was pretty good, but the video was hysterical, and I loved it so much because it actually fit the song (one of my pet peeves are abstract music videos). On a whim I decided to buy the album for a couple bucks when I bought Quence’s album – never thinking that this poppy-er, more accessible album would be the one I liked more. Again, this was another album where I really loved every song – and the flow and the mix were perfect. Just as people jumped on the (unfortunate) Limp Bizkit bandwagon over rap-rock, I would love it if Gym Class Heroes led a rap-pop wave. The only (mild) annoyance was the three skits on the album that were mediocre at best and made me want to skip over them when I listened to the album frequently in one car-sitting.
4. Begin to Hope (2006) – Regina Spektor
Favorite Song: On the Radio
Favorite Lyric: “But I wake up in fear/You will never be my/You will never be my fool”
This was the first album I got this summer that really took me. I thought that if I was actually disciplined enough to make a top ten list, this would surely get the top spot. Why didn’t it? Not for lack of trying. I love every song through and through, and the first four, Fidelity, Better, Samson, and On the Radio, are downright addictive. To illustrate how much I liked this album: I listened to it over twenty times in the last four months, on my laptop alone. That doesn’t count my iPod or in the car. That’s a hell of a lot. Three things contributed to this album slipping to fourth place. First, I loved Soviet Kitsch a hell of a lot too (listened to it about just as much as BtH) and it was tough to separate the two, and when I did I realized I didn’t get “Your Honor,” which might be my favorite two-minute song ever (I guess Band of Horses "Our Swords" is pretty close too). Second, the albums below really stood out, and it should be a testament to them when I say how much I loved this album. Third, in particular, the album below took a little bit of the wind out of Regina’s sails – not that they are that similar, but I viewed them as similar, and in the last month or so, Kimya leapfrogged Regina.
3. Remember That I Love You (2006) – Kimya Dawson
Favorite Song: Loose Lips
Favorite Lyric (this is the only place where I indulged myself and refused to make a choice): “Call me up before your dead, we can make some plans instead/Send me an IM, I'll be your friend”; “So I tattoo instructions on my ass/That say "don't ever put this body is a casket/Burn it and put the ashes in a basket/And throw them in the Puget Sound”
I think I’m done beating the “before Juno” drum and I can get into the comments. This album knocked my socks off. It took me two or three times through before I realized that some of Kimya’s songs were REALLY sad. Maybe that means I’m a shitty listener, but the WAY she sings to me seems to be so happy and light that I couldn’t believe the songs were that sad. By the fourth or fifth times (and I lot more times after that) I began to really get to the depth of the emotion in these songs. Instead of making me sad, I just developed a deep respect for the album and turned it on a lot. Regina’s lyrics were great, and pretty clever too, but Kimya’s here are leaps and bounds above. Of all the albums here (and first place makes this close, but Kimya still wins), this album has the best lyrics. I downright love almost every word she says (the one bump on an otherwise perfect stream is her “FUCK BUSH” rant on Loose Lips that seems out of place to me). What she says just rings so true, and obviously I don’t have to deal with things like a child growing inside me, but I like to think I can relate to some of the other stuff. And the stuff that I haven’t had to deal with now, I feel like I will relate to those events based on these songs, especially “My Mom.” If Juno didn’t make you run out and buy her latest, hopefully I convinced you. Maybe? A little? Come on…
2. Graduation (2007) – Kanye West
Favorite Song: Everything I Am
Favorite Lyric: “Everything I’m not/makes me everything I am”
I started this list a while ago. And up until about five minutes ago, this album was in the top spot. It felt so right for me to put it #1. It represented a lot of what I wanted to say I did in 2007. To me this album shows a confidence, maturity, and skill that were missing from Kanye’s first two albums and mix tapes. I feel like I could talk about each of those three factors in relation to every song on Graduation, which, apart from Barry Bonds and Drunk and Hot Girls, is the closest to perfect of any rap album I’ve listened to (I’ll admit that’s pretty limited). Instead, I will focus on my favorite, Everything I Am, which crystallizes all three factors. A huge part of confidence is identity, knowing who you are (and who you aren’t) goes a long way to shaping your conception of self, which seems to be the cornerstone of confidence. Everything I Am’s premise, is obviously a song about identity, and Kanye’s confidence in the lyrics go beyond his boyish arrogance to reach true confidence “I never be picture-perfect-Beyonce/Be light as Albi or black as Chauncey/Remember him from Blackstreet/He was as black as the street was/I'll never be laid back as his beat was.” He calls out a bunch of people and identifies some stereotypic paths he could have pursued, but he didn’t. The next line is a piece of wisdom beyond Kanye’s years – “I never could see why people'll reach a/Fake-ass facad they couldn't keep up.” I think this speaks to his maturity, as a person, and as a performer. He clearly understands the faces people put on to make it big in the business and he didn’t mince words here, or leave this open ended. Additionally, a subtler sign of maturity is the efficient, waste-free album free of skits and jokes – some miss those skits, but I sure as hell don’t. Also adding to the polished, less-rap feel of the album is the intro, Kanye’s best (Good Morning) that mixes the benefit of the classic rap intro with, well, a song. Now the chorus, or the repeated verse, “Everything I’m not/makes me everything I am” is ridiculously addictive (yet simple) and represents a new stage in Kanye’s skills. Before, I was drawn into Kanye’s songs by his hooks and his beats, that were different than other rap acts – they were poppy-er, and more musical (to me). What made me love his songs, like Never Let You Down, was the beat. You sang along with the song Kanye sampled, and that was what stayed with you. On this album, you better believe you’re singing along with, and loving the lyrics themselves – the beats are still great (much better than on Late Registration) but the words are even better. Those three things meant a lot to me for a while, confidence, maturity, skill. I thought I’d come a long way in all three. Then I realized that my confidence boost was artificial, I still felt like a teenage kid, and “skill improvement” was just out of reach. But still “Everything I’m not/makes me everything I am” stuck with me, and almost pulled off the top spot. I don’t think I have a clue who I am, or who I’m going to be, but I did know who I wasn’t, and that was a big part of who I was – who I am. If you can’t look past “Stronger,” you need to; Champion, I Wonder, Good Life, Flashing Lights, and Everything I Am are too (ridiculously) good for you to not listen to.1. In Our Bedroom After the War (2007) – Stars
Favorite Song: Take Me to the Riot
Favorite Lyric: "You despise me and I love you/ It's not much but it's just enough to keep...”
Bedroom was another one of those three CD’s, along with Everything all the Time and In the Aeroplane Over the Sea that I burned at the end of the summer and kept in my car for a while. It must be obvious now that the album that received significantly more play that Everything, was this album. I was much more likely to listen to this song back-to-back-to-back than probably any other album I listened to this summer (and maybe ever). The album benefited from the fact that it was so different than everything else I was listening to at the time. It’s tough for me to really say that this album is “better” than Set Yourself on Fire, which I just bought recently, but I know for sure that this album will always mean more to me. And one of the reasons this song squeaked into the top spot was that this album, and Stars, brought a substantial wave of new music down upon me. Much more than Kanye did. Or at the very least, the music that I started listening to because of Stars was a lot better than the post-Kanye/Graduation music. Perhaps this disc got an unfair advantage because I listened to it an hour before I completed this list (and made the switch), but I would like to think it was much more than that. I mean I could talk about how great the music was – I loved the synergy and flow between the first three songs, and while I think every other person who has blogged about this song has hated the second track, The Night Starts Here, I loved it as a great lead in to my favorite song, Take Me to the Riot. After that the album continues it’s greatness and takes me to synth-pop-bliss. Maybe that’s not what I should call it, but I just did anyways. I do like to think that the greater reason this album is my 2007 favorite is that it really captures my most powerful memories from the course of the year. Well, for the most part, my life is pretty simple, but that simple life changed a hell of a lot between May and July and I think I will forever remember some of them with In Our Bedroom After the War as their soundtrack, or maybe their anthem. Again, I could probably go through all of the songs – because the whole album, really does speak to those experiences, but I will focus on my favorite, Take Me to the Riot. Now I’m not the only one to pick this one as their favorite song, and those music purists probably know more about why the song is so “good,” but I’m talking about why it’s my favorite. I won’t pretend to know the meaning of the song (can you ever know for sure?) but I will talk about what the song means to me. I’ll start with my favorite lyric of the year, “You despise me and I love you/
It's not much but it's just enough to keep...” It is a phrase that I find incredibly powerful and exceptionally heart breaking. Not sure what else to say about that, I shouldn’t really have to. The two verses a verse or two before make it even more powerful, “What now kid?, which way love?/Will we ever make up and be friends?” Another somber question that is (perhaps) answered by the sad “answer” above. The synth charged ending, the repeated “let me stay” wraps it all together…begging to stay and falling on deaf ears. Cut away all that emo crap I just mumbled out and you still have an amazing album.
Sunday, December 23, 2007
I think I'm in Love
Over this summer one of my new friends introduced me into some great new music - and I listened to a lot of that biz and didn't really realize what I was getting myself into - indie pop. I kind of let that simmer for awhile - wearing out those copied CD's, listening to them over and over and then I started reading up on those bands, checking out some of their other stuff on the new internet radio (youtube - duh!) as well as taking full advantage of the 30 second Amazon clip feature and this led to me buying a bunch more CD's - mostly European pop acts that weren't quite the same as those original indie pop CD's that had quickly become near and dear to my heart.
Then I saw Juno. First, I have got to say that I was way early on the Kimya Dawson train before the flick (my summer friend turned me onto her about three months ago, so not THAT early I guess). And I just had to find out more about her. She seems totally chill - found out she's friends with one of my favorite acts from junior high (Third Eye Blind - singing on some of their songs and appearing in some of their music videos - btw - where have they gone?). I also found out she was in The Moldy Peaches. Calm down if you're the one person who visits the site and if being that one person, you're also into indie pop and you knew that - of course, you say. So I listened to them some on youtube and then started listening to Adam Green's stuff - which is a lot more radio friendly and accessible than Kimya's stuff and also checked out some of the other groups on the Juno soundtrack (so it did influence me a little) and did some we browsing and found plan-it-x records.
Anyway. What I'm trying to say is that I really love that stuff, and it's kinda changed me. Well. Definitely the music I listen to.
Then I saw Juno. First, I have got to say that I was way early on the Kimya Dawson train before the flick (my summer friend turned me onto her about three months ago, so not THAT early I guess). And I just had to find out more about her. She seems totally chill - found out she's friends with one of my favorite acts from junior high (Third Eye Blind - singing on some of their songs and appearing in some of their music videos - btw - where have they gone?). I also found out she was in The Moldy Peaches. Calm down if you're the one person who visits the site and if being that one person, you're also into indie pop and you knew that - of course, you say. So I listened to them some on youtube and then started listening to Adam Green's stuff - which is a lot more radio friendly and accessible than Kimya's stuff and also checked out some of the other groups on the Juno soundtrack (so it did influence me a little) and did some we browsing and found plan-it-x records.
Anyway. What I'm trying to say is that I really love that stuff, and it's kinda changed me. Well. Definitely the music I listen to.
Saturday, June 9, 2007
REVIEW: American Idiot
American Idiot - Green Day - Reprise - 2004 - 8/10
I never thought I'd say this, but Green Dayreally showed their maturity in this album. Previously their longest song, ironically called “Longview,” was about 3:40, now most of their songs on this album are at least 4 minutes. I hesitate to compare this to both the album, and the group's growth, but this album is mildly similar to The Who's "Tommy." This album, like "Tommy" could easily be called a rock opera, although I would probably call it a "pop opera" or a "popera" if you will. By the way, I coperated "popera" so don't even try to use that again without expecting to send me a quarter. I saw Green Day when they were almost done, touring behind a greatest hits album, playing second fiddle to Blink 182. Luckily, they pulled themselves together, put out their best album and began (hopefully) a shift back to the concept album as we know it.
Sure, some critics said it was much of the same, and they're right but they're also wrong. It does sound the same, but at the same time, on each and every song you can see the growth, you can see where that song would have been before, and what it is now. (1) “American Idiot,” the title track has the vocal progression and same rhythm part as “Maria” with the vocal delivery of “Basket Case.” The song pushes anti-conservatism observations about the media and homophobia with little behind the buzz words. (2) “Jesus of Suburbia*,” has the tempo of “Waiting,” the feeling of “Macy’s Day Parade,” and the guitar chords and progressions of “Redundant.” The song is a multi part “opera” seemingly all parts introspective about Billy Joe’s upbringing. (3) “Holiday,” has the vocal progression of “Poprocks and Coke,” the guitar chorus of “Longview,” with the greater guitar parts of “Walking Contradiction.” “Holiday” is essentially a harsher “American Idiot” that uses stronger language and more allusions to sarcastically light into American conservatism. (4) “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” the humongous video single about being lonely has similar stop go lyrics and guitar parts as “Brain Stew” combined with the guitar buildup of “Walking Contradiction.” (5) “Are We the Waiting,” is a throwback to the old Green Day Standard “Waiting” except that was a non emo version that shares the intonation of this newer track accompanied by the guitar rifts of “Redundant” and the tempo of “She.” The song is pretty deep, probably beyond a random guess but it seems to be about the urbanization of dreams, and the side effects of the wheels of progress. (6) “St. Jimmy,” about a funny character who gets his own song here while being name checked throughout the album, has the guitar parts and vocal delivery to match “Maria” and the drums of “Jaded” with the fast delivery of “Stuck With Me.” (7) “Give Me Novocain,” which has amusing lyrics metaphorically about pain and loss, is played at a tempo between “She” and “Redundant” but with the vocal delivery of “Macy’s Day Parade” and lyrics like “Longview.” (8) “She’s a Rebel” is a simple tune with the vocal delivery of “Welcome to Paradise” and the cool intro of “Jaded” that seems to literally be a new take on “She.” (9) Continuing the trend of revisiting “She,” “Extraordinary Girl” is the song from her point of view and has the long instrumental intro of “Longview” but the tempo and feeling of “Stuck With Me” and the guitar parts in “J.A.R.” (10) “Letterbomb,” a possibly metaphorical song about ignoring obligations, uses the little girl sound effect and powerful guitar intro we know from “Maria” with the lyrics “Stuck With Me.” (11) “Wake Me Up When September Ends” is begun with a guitar intro like in “Warning” and recaptures the feeling of “Macy’s Day Parade” to comment on how quickly time passes. (12) “Homecoming*” has the static guitar lead in just as “Welcome to Paradise” did with the vocal inflection of “Basket Case” and the guitar of “She.” The song, like “Are We the Waiting” has no obvious explanation and could perhaps be praising returning from war. (13) “Whatsername” is a new take on the progression of “She” that goes from the introduction to the main meat of the song using similar voice inflection to finally end the story of “She.”
What annoys me the most is that whenever I want to talk about this album with some of Green Day's fans, they say stuff like, "I liked them before they were political." Honestly, come on. The album is NOT political. There are TWO songs that are MAYBE politica. Sure, some of the others have tenuous allusions to mildly political concepts, but this album is not really that big of an outcry about the war. If you don't believe me, you could read all of the lyrics. What would have made this crystal, is if the album had been named something more logical, like St. Jimmy, a character who is mentioned throughout, but that probably wouldn't have been marketed as well as "American Idiot." Or another thing they complain about is that Billy Joe sold out and went "goth." Does it matter? The music has gone to another level. Yes its poppier, yes its a little more emo, but its still Green Day. I hope my song-by-song break down above can prove that to you, but if it doesn't it doesn't.
When it comes down to it, most of these songs are catchy as hell, and this is a really really good pop album. Accept it for what it is, a pop album, and then you have to admit, its a pretty damn good pop album.
I never thought I'd say this, but Green Dayreally showed their maturity in this album. Previously their longest song, ironically called “Longview,” was about 3:40, now most of their songs on this album are at least 4 minutes. I hesitate to compare this to both the album, and the group's growth, but this album is mildly similar to The Who's "Tommy." This album, like "Tommy" could easily be called a rock opera, although I would probably call it a "pop opera" or a "popera" if you will. By the way, I coperated "popera" so don't even try to use that again without expecting to send me a quarter. I saw Green Day when they were almost done, touring behind a greatest hits album, playing second fiddle to Blink 182. Luckily, they pulled themselves together, put out their best album and began (hopefully) a shift back to the concept album as we know it.
Sure, some critics said it was much of the same, and they're right but they're also wrong. It does sound the same, but at the same time, on each and every song you can see the growth, you can see where that song would have been before, and what it is now. (1) “American Idiot,” the title track has the vocal progression and same rhythm part as “Maria” with the vocal delivery of “Basket Case.” The song pushes anti-conservatism observations about the media and homophobia with little behind the buzz words. (2) “Jesus of Suburbia*,” has the tempo of “Waiting,” the feeling of “Macy’s Day Parade,” and the guitar chords and progressions of “Redundant.” The song is a multi part “opera” seemingly all parts introspective about Billy Joe’s upbringing. (3) “Holiday,” has the vocal progression of “Poprocks and Coke,” the guitar chorus of “Longview,” with the greater guitar parts of “Walking Contradiction.” “Holiday” is essentially a harsher “American Idiot” that uses stronger language and more allusions to sarcastically light into American conservatism. (4) “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” the humongous video single about being lonely has similar stop go lyrics and guitar parts as “Brain Stew” combined with the guitar buildup of “Walking Contradiction.” (5) “Are We the Waiting,” is a throwback to the old Green Day Standard “Waiting” except that was a non emo version that shares the intonation of this newer track accompanied by the guitar rifts of “Redundant” and the tempo of “She.” The song is pretty deep, probably beyond a random guess but it seems to be about the urbanization of dreams, and the side effects of the wheels of progress. (6) “St. Jimmy,” about a funny character who gets his own song here while being name checked throughout the album, has the guitar parts and vocal delivery to match “Maria” and the drums of “Jaded” with the fast delivery of “Stuck With Me.” (7) “Give Me Novocain,” which has amusing lyrics metaphorically about pain and loss, is played at a tempo between “She” and “Redundant” but with the vocal delivery of “Macy’s Day Parade” and lyrics like “Longview.” (8) “She’s a Rebel” is a simple tune with the vocal delivery of “Welcome to Paradise” and the cool intro of “Jaded” that seems to literally be a new take on “She.” (9) Continuing the trend of revisiting “She,” “Extraordinary Girl” is the song from her point of view and has the long instrumental intro of “Longview” but the tempo and feeling of “Stuck With Me” and the guitar parts in “J.A.R.” (10) “Letterbomb,” a possibly metaphorical song about ignoring obligations, uses the little girl sound effect and powerful guitar intro we know from “Maria” with the lyrics “Stuck With Me.” (11) “Wake Me Up When September Ends” is begun with a guitar intro like in “Warning” and recaptures the feeling of “Macy’s Day Parade” to comment on how quickly time passes. (12) “Homecoming*” has the static guitar lead in just as “Welcome to Paradise” did with the vocal inflection of “Basket Case” and the guitar of “She.” The song, like “Are We the Waiting” has no obvious explanation and could perhaps be praising returning from war. (13) “Whatsername” is a new take on the progression of “She” that goes from the introduction to the main meat of the song using similar voice inflection to finally end the story of “She.”
What annoys me the most is that whenever I want to talk about this album with some of Green Day's fans, they say stuff like, "I liked them before they were political." Honestly, come on. The album is NOT political. There are TWO songs that are MAYBE politica. Sure, some of the others have tenuous allusions to mildly political concepts, but this album is not really that big of an outcry about the war. If you don't believe me, you could read all of the lyrics. What would have made this crystal, is if the album had been named something more logical, like St. Jimmy, a character who is mentioned throughout, but that probably wouldn't have been marketed as well as "American Idiot." Or another thing they complain about is that Billy Joe sold out and went "goth." Does it matter? The music has gone to another level. Yes its poppier, yes its a little more emo, but its still Green Day. I hope my song-by-song break down above can prove that to you, but if it doesn't it doesn't.
When it comes down to it, most of these songs are catchy as hell, and this is a really really good pop album. Accept it for what it is, a pop album, and then you have to admit, its a pretty damn good pop album.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Back in Black
Over the weekend I saw a DVD of some of AC/DC's live shows. Man, they were good. Real good. Not just musically - they all can really do their shit - but also the show they put on. And they are fun to watch - Angus is going crazy in his school uniform and Brian Johnson is strutting around in his beret and the music is Rocking.
So I thought to myself. WHERE IS AC/DC? A band that was known for its incessant touring...why aren't they cashing in on the vibe they generated in the last two or three years as their playback on Classic Rock stations earned them a new generation of fans. They BELONG in front of modern audiences.
Groups like Jet are really just broke-ass versions of AC/DC - selling reccords off of basically recycled AC/DC rifts. AC/DC deserves a little love.
And then when it comes down to it, I think I deserve a little AC/DC love. I'm tired of paying sixty bucks to see these modern radio sensations try to play their drivel through shoddy speakers and the group knows little or nothing about sound - and the result is that you paid sixty bucks to watch some young punks stand there and pump out noise you can barily hear. And they don't have any songs that are even close to AC/DC's hits - or AC/DC's filler, and even if you don't like the AC/DC song, the show they put on is going to be a hell of a lot better.
So AC/DC, please come back.
So I thought to myself. WHERE IS AC/DC? A band that was known for its incessant touring...why aren't they cashing in on the vibe they generated in the last two or three years as their playback on Classic Rock stations earned them a new generation of fans. They BELONG in front of modern audiences.
Groups like Jet are really just broke-ass versions of AC/DC - selling reccords off of basically recycled AC/DC rifts. AC/DC deserves a little love.
And then when it comes down to it, I think I deserve a little AC/DC love. I'm tired of paying sixty bucks to see these modern radio sensations try to play their drivel through shoddy speakers and the group knows little or nothing about sound - and the result is that you paid sixty bucks to watch some young punks stand there and pump out noise you can barily hear. And they don't have any songs that are even close to AC/DC's hits - or AC/DC's filler, and even if you don't like the AC/DC song, the show they put on is going to be a hell of a lot better.
So AC/DC, please come back.
REVIEW: Stadium Arcadium
Stadium Arcadium: Jupiter - The Red Hot Chili Peppers - Rick Rubin - 2006 - 10/10
Stadium Arcadium: Mars - The Red Hot Chili Peppers - Rick Rubin - 2006 - 10/10
RHCP continues moving to where they were headed after 2002's "By the Way," except a difference is clearly evident. "By the Way" marked the beginning of a trend towards a more mature RHCP - from their music to their performances and Stadium Arcadium continues that trend, finishing as a well polished, modern rock album. While the Peppers are at the top of their game, some credit has to go to Rubin who has the Peppers turning in a sharply clean, clear sound. From the first single, "Dani California," the album hits the ground running, and it runs for a long time, as the double album features fourteen tracks on each disk, with each song averaging over four minutes. The confidence the Peppers are playing at seaps through their music and its easy to tell that they have a new level of comfort with their band mates as Frusciante plays with them for a third album with the Peppers. The songwriting moves in a new direction too, sure there are some classic Peppers lines of somewhat lewd descriptions of foreplay, but for the most part, each band member contributes some of their lives to these tracks as Anthony Kiedis sings about marriage, love, loss, family, and more, but generally more mature themes. Makes some sense too, as the Peppers, and a good deal of their audience, are getting older. Have no fear die hard fans, you have at least one song in the vein of true Peppers classics on each disc - "Hump De Bump" on Jupiter and "Readymade" on Mars. But any changes or growth in the Peppers shouldn't frieghten fans - they simply are playing better, their rifts are sharper, more catchy, and the lyrics and production follow to produce one of their best albums. They still name check more states and places than any other band, throw in their odd bit of churlish humor we all love and rub their own style into it all.
I'll admit, when I first heard that they were going to put out a double album, shortly after they had released a Greatest Hits album, I thought for sure they were done, or at least on their last legs. I could not have been more wrong. Both of these discs are simply AMAZING. When I first got this album I listened to both discs AT LEAST once a day, sometimes more. That's how good it is. Personally, my favorite tracks are "Snow (Hey Oh)" on Jupiter and "Hard to Concentrate" on Mars. "Snow" features a powerful guittar intro in the vein of "Californication," except lighter, and poppier with a catchy chorus and interesting lyrics to think about that uses a similar tempo and pace as "By the Way's" "I Could Die For You" except a little faster. "Hard to Concentrate" has the power and lyrics of "Californication," including the sort of laid back guittar chorus, but the pace and tempo of "By the Way's" "The Zephyr Song." Those are just my absolute favorites, if I had to choose with a gun to my head, but really, it's hard to pick just one. I was lucky enough to see some of these songs live - as they played "Snow," "Dani California," "Hump De Bump," "Readymade" and "Tell Me Baby" at 2006's Lollapalooza. They were great there too - as the Peppers kept up their energy and heart all the way through, playing those five new songs, five songs from "By the Way" and five of their older songs - thought not "Under the Bridge."
When it comes down to it, this shouldnt even be a question of buying this album or not, it should be whether you're going to listen to it two or three times a day.
Stadium Arcadium: Mars - The Red Hot Chili Peppers - Rick Rubin - 2006 - 10/10
RHCP continues moving to where they were headed after 2002's "By the Way," except a difference is clearly evident. "By the Way" marked the beginning of a trend towards a more mature RHCP - from their music to their performances and Stadium Arcadium continues that trend, finishing as a well polished, modern rock album. While the Peppers are at the top of their game, some credit has to go to Rubin who has the Peppers turning in a sharply clean, clear sound. From the first single, "Dani California," the album hits the ground running, and it runs for a long time, as the double album features fourteen tracks on each disk, with each song averaging over four minutes. The confidence the Peppers are playing at seaps through their music and its easy to tell that they have a new level of comfort with their band mates as Frusciante plays with them for a third album with the Peppers. The songwriting moves in a new direction too, sure there are some classic Peppers lines of somewhat lewd descriptions of foreplay, but for the most part, each band member contributes some of their lives to these tracks as Anthony Kiedis sings about marriage, love, loss, family, and more, but generally more mature themes. Makes some sense too, as the Peppers, and a good deal of their audience, are getting older. Have no fear die hard fans, you have at least one song in the vein of true Peppers classics on each disc - "Hump De Bump" on Jupiter and "Readymade" on Mars. But any changes or growth in the Peppers shouldn't frieghten fans - they simply are playing better, their rifts are sharper, more catchy, and the lyrics and production follow to produce one of their best albums. They still name check more states and places than any other band, throw in their odd bit of churlish humor we all love and rub their own style into it all.
I'll admit, when I first heard that they were going to put out a double album, shortly after they had released a Greatest Hits album, I thought for sure they were done, or at least on their last legs. I could not have been more wrong. Both of these discs are simply AMAZING. When I first got this album I listened to both discs AT LEAST once a day, sometimes more. That's how good it is. Personally, my favorite tracks are "Snow (Hey Oh)" on Jupiter and "Hard to Concentrate" on Mars. "Snow" features a powerful guittar intro in the vein of "Californication," except lighter, and poppier with a catchy chorus and interesting lyrics to think about that uses a similar tempo and pace as "By the Way's" "I Could Die For You" except a little faster. "Hard to Concentrate" has the power and lyrics of "Californication," including the sort of laid back guittar chorus, but the pace and tempo of "By the Way's" "The Zephyr Song." Those are just my absolute favorites, if I had to choose with a gun to my head, but really, it's hard to pick just one. I was lucky enough to see some of these songs live - as they played "Snow," "Dani California," "Hump De Bump," "Readymade" and "Tell Me Baby" at 2006's Lollapalooza. They were great there too - as the Peppers kept up their energy and heart all the way through, playing those five new songs, five songs from "By the Way" and five of their older songs - thought not "Under the Bridge."
When it comes down to it, this shouldnt even be a question of buying this album or not, it should be whether you're going to listen to it two or three times a day.
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