For some, the epitome of professional success is having a comic book sea creature villain version of yourself going after a hot, scantily clad girl used as the premise for the cover art to your new rock 'n' roll record. For others, it's attaining frequent flier elite status. This is why music rules.
So after health delays, writers block, holiday blues, a few stints in rehab, and general consternation of the concept of rankings, I am here to announce that your day has finally come. A great deal of the reason for the delay was because of the immense difficulty I was having in "ranking" my best albums of the year. I mean, it's important, the reason many of you get up each day, the reason I have a music blog that at least 3 people read--in other words, it's not something to be taken lightly. But recently, I had a revelation that I shall call the "Manos Paradigm Shift". The concept's origin can be traced to one of my best friends who initially bonded with me years ago over our love of music, our love of discussing music, trading music, and even occasionally singing modern American classics in unison like "Regulator" by Nate Dogg and Warren G. However in the last year through a combination of circumstances, this dynamic of our friendship changed drastically. Suddenly, she didn't want to talk about music, new albums, anything with me. One day I asked what had happened to "us" with ideas of Platonic couples therapy in my head. She told me that the way that I and many of my other friends now discussed music had made her sour on the whole thing. The idea of ranking albums, bashing certain bands in that oh so High Fidelity sort of way, and generally kicking each other in the nuts over music had really turned her off to all of it. Being confronted with all of these things and generally being forced to confront the ways in which I had taken some of the fun and greatness of music out of it by essentially trying to "quantify" my favorite art form was sobering.
Thus, the advent of the Manos Paradigm Shift. While I could not and would not want to ever completely eliminate my freedom to bash certain bands (I mean, Owl City exists for a reason, right?) or to metaphorically kick some friends in the nuts about their taste, I do think it's important that I cut back on certain activities that rob the joy of music from both myself and friends like Ms. Manos (I spoke of this philosophical shift before if you'll remember.). The most important change I've made is attempts to extensively "rank" my year end list. Instead, I've taken a slightly different approach. And it goes a little like this:
Honorable Mentioningz
My Favorite 10 Albums That Weren't My Favorite Album (in no particular order)
The Rob Album of the Year
All killer, no filler. Same number of albums you're accustomed to without all the headache of figuring out what the real difference is between number 6 and number 5. We understand each other? Good. Good. Let's go, punks.
Honorable Mentioningz
Speech Therapy by Speech Debelle (Big Dada)
The Quick Take: In a musical landscape where so much of rap and R&B has become a cliche and a joke that isn't funny anymore, British rapper Speech Debelle's debut kinda blew me away. With a tone similar to the brilliant Original Pirate Material by The Streets, Debelle tells hypnotic stories of finding paths through troublesome relationships, finding salvation in just "finishing this album", and accepting the inevitability of being let down by all those who aren't yourself. There's an anger and desperation tempered by a vulnerability that transforms the listener into someone rooting hard for Speech Debelle to overcome. A rap album that uses almost exclusively true instrumentation as opposed to excessive sampling, there's a gorgeous jazz foundation that makes it a compelling, stylish listen that easily distinguishes itself from the genre's status quo.
The Non-Rob Review: Here
Alice and Friends by The Box Elders (Goner)
The Quick Take: A truly fun, lo-fidelity/high quality, at times ridiculously lyrically clever album. The Nebraska 3-piece isn't re-inventing garage rock, but the harmonies, hooks, and humor in this album make it worth the listen and ultimately a purchase. And this album contains one of my favorite tracks of 2009, "Necro"--the greatest song about being in love with a dead girl you've ever heard--sweet, earnest, catchy, and funny as fuck.
The Non-Rob Review: Here
Noble Beast by Andrew Bird (Fat Possum)
The Quick Take: Listening to Andrew Bird, I'm sometimes convinced that he and The Decemberists' Colin Meloy are conducting some sort of SAT word/obscure historical reference staring contest when it comes to writing lyrics. Andrew Bird is a wordsmith in the class of a Nick Cave or Stephen Malkmus. He may also be simply the most talented musician working today. With a beautiful voice and an instrumental prowess to behold (the guy makes great pop records with a violin and the ability to whistle a la Axl Rose circa "Patience"). Noble Beast is a beautiful, sweeping album whose quality shines through in its poetry, its production, and Bird's challenging lyrics and melodies. If you're a great musician, Andrew Bird's probably greater--but he never makes you feel bad about it.
The Non-Rob Review: Here
My Favorite 10 Albums That Weren't My Favorite Album (in no particular order!)
Primary Colours by The Horrors (XL)
The Quick Take: In all the years I've listened to music, I'm not sure I can recall a band who shifted so dramatically from their first album to their second album in such a positive way. The Horrors first album, Strange House was a campy, zombie-themed album that seemed much more concerned about pandering to the sensationalistic British music press than it did about being good. But Primary Colours is a focused, dark, powerful, passionate album that evokes inevitable, yet somewhat accurate comparisons to the tone of Joy Division. Gone is the spastic joke of their first album and in its place is a serious, artful collection of songs. It is dark, to be sure. But it's epic and British and cloudy and cold and hard to turn away from and a reminder that bands can still surprise you when you least expect it.
The Non-Rob Review: Here
The Quick Take: Speaking of paradigm shifts...After the sonic sugar sheen of Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots and At War With the Mystics came a Flaming Lips I neither expected nor was sure I wanted in the form of Embryonic. After hearing "Convinced of the Hex" performed live on The Colbert Report, I feared that this would be album full of distortion and noise lazily labeled as brilliant art. But I could not have been more wrong. What Embryonic evolved into with a complete listen and repeated listens was the sonic sketch pad of a band that simply has no peers--there is no band that sounds, thinks, or creates like this band and this album was in many ways a view into their psyche in the same way that Kid A was for Radiohead. There may be "better" albums by this band, but this album may be the best representation of the unique musical arsenal that they and only they possess; they paint with colors unavailable at any store and that's just how it is.
The Non-Rob Review: Here
Winchester Mystery House by The Hex Dispensers (Douchemaster)
The Quick Take: Love is violent. And bloody. And messy. But that doesn't mean it ain't romantic! Austin/Denton, Texas' the Hex Dispensers get that. And have turned it into punk rock music theatre--the sound of the Ramones only with lyrics and titles so audacious you're already kind of impressed just reading the liner notes alone. "My love is a bat. And your heart is a hemophiliac. And I'm a glutton for your sugar, no I can't get enough," from "My Love is a Bat". "Doomsday Romantic". "I've Got My Doppelganger On". Yeah, just trust me. Get this album. Fun like Ramones. Written like a 19th century poet who will walk to hell and back and bleed for love Sorta.
The Non-Rob Review: Here
Years of Refusal by Morrissey (Lost Highway)
The Quick Take: "I was driving my car. I crashed and broke my spine. So yes there are things worse in life than never being someone's sweetie." Lines like that are why Morrissey is Morrissey and why he has the unique ability to take the dark, dour themes of life and somehow make them inspiring in a perspective-bending manner. Years of Refusal is a fine edition to his classic catalog and is characterized by quality from beginning to end. With heavier guitars that harken back to the days of Your Arsenal (Damn, he knows how to title an album!), this is a Morrissey album you can really, really rock out to. So if you need the thoughtful lyrics while still breaking shit in your apartment all by yourself because it just had to be broken because love ain't ever gonna find it's way to your doorstep and that's fine and people need to stop asking you about it because it's fine. Fine. Well here lies your soundtrack.
The Non-Rob Review: Here
Real Estate by Real Estate (Woodsist)
The Quick Take: Much like last year's Primary Colours by Eddy Current Suppression Ring was an album that was about primal guts, tone, and rock 'n' roll feeling, Real Estate's self-titled debut is the exact same. Except in a completely different way. The story here is the music, the instrumentation, the tone, more than the lyrics. Real Estate is a band that creates hazy, dreamy little songs that evoke sunny days at the beach and just a touch of the sadness that comes with the realization that they don't last forever. A little Shins-y, a little Walkmen-y in their janglier moments, there's just something about this album. It was the latest addition to this list, but I listen and have as much trouble describing why I am so drawn to it as I do turning it off. A small gem.
The Non-Rob Review: Here
Bitte Orca by Dirty Projectors (Domino)
The Quick Take: This album was my introduction to the unique grooves of Dirty Projectors and quite possibly my introduction to an entire sound. With variable and seemingly ill-fitting and variable time signatures, classical instruments mixed with sampling, male and female lead vocalists, and a mixture of styles that range from pop to R&B to an almost tribal aesthetic, Bitte Orca is a myriad, beautiful house of cards that feels like it could collapse at any moment under the weight of its ingredients but yet never does. Simply one of the most unique, melodic, brilliant albums I've heard in years. I'm not sure Dirty Projectors can ever do this again, but I look forward to them trying.
The Non-Rob Review: Here
Creaturesque by Throw Me the Statue (Secretly Canadian)
The Quick Take: In a crowded "indie-pop" field seemingly dominated by talk surrounding Animal Collective and Grizzly Bear, Throw Me the Statue's second full-length quietly shined for me. Where Merriweather Post Pavilion is high art and Veckatimest is beautiful with moments of genius (though painfully slow and boring in parts), Creaturesque is simpler, more direct, and as hooky as indie pop gets. Yet its layers of synth, drum machine beats, and the addictive vocals of front man Scott Reitherman never alienate the listener or fall flat. Creaturesque is one of the sleepers of the year and more and more rewarding with each listen.
The Non-Rob Review: Here
Invisible Girl by The King Khan & BBQ Show (In the Red)
The Quick Take: Everytime I see these two in a music video or hear them perform, I think of the greatness of The Lonely Island's "Just 2 Guyz" (We're just two guys who are having a good time, having a good time, having a good time). Full of inside jokes, perverse references, and a complete disregard for much that's serious, Invisible Girl feels like the long overdue reunion of two buddies who happen to also be gifted performers in their own right (King Khan and the Shrines and BBQ's--aka, Mark Sultan--emerging solo career). But past all the bits and the often sophomoric wordplay are two men who make highly entertaining rock 'n' roll music in a way that almost no one does anymore. Sultan's voice alone has always been straight out of a time capsule and is one of the best in all of music today. King Khan has a charm and mischievous style that often belies his passion for every note he sings or shreds on his wicked guitar. These men want to rock you, freak you, blow your mind to smithereens. But this is fun for them and is therefore fun for you. It's rock 'n' roll science.
The Non-Rob Review: Here
Watch Me Fall by Jay Reatard (Matador)
The Quick Take: All that I can say about the recent passing of Jay Reatard was said in this post. His final full-length from 2009 was a tremendous display of how far he'd come in terms of adding musical depth and how far he appeared to be going. All the super-channeled anger, anguish, and passion are still there. But the musical layers continue to grow and grow and you just get the feeling that Jay Reatard was on to something and figuring some other things out. As I've stated several times, he is not for everyone. But there's something there worth hearing and Jay Reatard would do anything to put it on tape. If there truly is "a light that never goes out", his is an inferno that may burn quickly--but will almost certainly leave noticeable damage behind. But probably in a good way.
The Non-Rob Review: Here
Goodbye Cruel World, Hello Crueler World by Spider Bags (Birdman)
The Quick Take: A lyrical sampling: "Anything that starts fucked up is bound to end up that way." Yeah, the title almost says it all and there's no way of getting around it and Spider Bags aren't suggesting you can or should try to. But as humans and consumers of music we've always found ourselves inexplicably drawn to downer records when we're sad. Why do we do it? Who knows? But this is the soundtrack of your world falling apart with a foundation of country distortion haze, angry acoustic guitars and equally drunken electric ones. Some songs are bar-friendly stompers, others are evening-only, lights out quiet little masterpieces of despair begging for hope. But beneath all this is a beauty that forces us to pay attention and ask the tough questions we only ask of ourselves when we're by ourselves. A cruel, gorgeous, raw, unclean mess of an album. And one I can't shake.
The Non-Rob Review: Here
The Rob Album of the Year
Tonight by Franz Ferdinand (Domino)
The Quick Take: Why Tonight? Why Franz Ferdinand? I would never have predicted an album by Franz Ferdinand could ever be my favorite for a year (though I've always really liked them), yet here we are, children. But this album represents everything I truly love and value about music. You can rock (rawk) to it, you can dance to it. You can laugh to it, you can cry to it. It is artistically stylish while accessible and fun at nearly every turn. It is recorded by talented musicians unafraid to experiment but not foolish enough to muddy the waters with unnecessary pretense. There are added sonic layers found in this work that suggest touches of New Order, but this is undoubtedly a Franz Ferdinand record. Based around the loose concept of the story of a single night out, it brilliantly captures the restlessness, the desperation, the hunger, the thirst of finding something in youth--anything that makes getting dressed and going out worth something already. Front man Alex Kapranos is tired of her shit but he has got to fuck her. He is stir crazy and needs to find the next drug, the next club, the next thing that can help him avoid having to think about whatever it is anymore. He's tired of being told he shouldn't be alone. He is at once fine alone, but can't help but crave those moments where love or some related magic is a possibility (note the gorgeous album closer, "Katherine Kiss Me"). The album is full of themes of regret, defiance, hedonism, anger, humor, sex, sex, and a little bit of hope that something can validate why we repeat the same practices centering around socializing at night.
The Non-Rob Review: Here
And so the lesson is concluded, Kids. As always, I encourage and crave feedback (mostly). And if you're interested in getting any of this music or have questions about any artists and the internet alone is not enough--well I'll be here. Loving you. Rooting for you. Open up those ear holes and keep fighting the good fight for good strong hard great music.
The Non-Rob Review: Here
The Quick Take: Love is violent. And bloody. And messy. But that doesn't mean it ain't romantic! Austin/Denton, Texas' the Hex Dispensers get that. And have turned it into punk rock music theatre--the sound of the Ramones only with lyrics and titles so audacious you're already kind of impressed just reading the liner notes alone. "My love is a bat. And your heart is a hemophiliac. And I'm a glutton for your sugar, no I can't get enough," from "My Love is a Bat". "Doomsday Romantic". "I've Got My Doppelganger On". Yeah, just trust me. Get this album. Fun like Ramones. Written like a 19th century poet who will walk to hell and back and bleed for love Sorta.
The Non-Rob Review: Here
The Quick Take: "I was driving my car. I crashed and broke my spine. So yes there are things worse in life than never being someone's sweetie." Lines like that are why Morrissey is Morrissey and why he has the unique ability to take the dark, dour themes of life and somehow make them inspiring in a perspective-bending manner. Years of Refusal is a fine edition to his classic catalog and is characterized by quality from beginning to end. With heavier guitars that harken back to the days of Your Arsenal (Damn, he knows how to title an album!), this is a Morrissey album you can really, really rock out to. So if you need the thoughtful lyrics while still breaking shit in your apartment all by yourself because it just had to be broken because love ain't ever gonna find it's way to your doorstep and that's fine and people need to stop asking you about it because it's fine. Fine. Well here lies your soundtrack.
The Non-Rob Review: Here
The Quick Take: Much like last year's Primary Colours by Eddy Current Suppression Ring was an album that was about primal guts, tone, and rock 'n' roll feeling, Real Estate's self-titled debut is the exact same. Except in a completely different way. The story here is the music, the instrumentation, the tone, more than the lyrics. Real Estate is a band that creates hazy, dreamy little songs that evoke sunny days at the beach and just a touch of the sadness that comes with the realization that they don't last forever. A little Shins-y, a little Walkmen-y in their janglier moments, there's just something about this album. It was the latest addition to this list, but I listen and have as much trouble describing why I am so drawn to it as I do turning it off. A small gem.
The Non-Rob Review: Here
The Quick Take: This album was my introduction to the unique grooves of Dirty Projectors and quite possibly my introduction to an entire sound. With variable and seemingly ill-fitting and variable time signatures, classical instruments mixed with sampling, male and female lead vocalists, and a mixture of styles that range from pop to R&B to an almost tribal aesthetic, Bitte Orca is a myriad, beautiful house of cards that feels like it could collapse at any moment under the weight of its ingredients but yet never does. Simply one of the most unique, melodic, brilliant albums I've heard in years. I'm not sure Dirty Projectors can ever do this again, but I look forward to them trying.
The Non-Rob Review: Here
The Quick Take: In a crowded "indie-pop" field seemingly dominated by talk surrounding Animal Collective and Grizzly Bear, Throw Me the Statue's second full-length quietly shined for me. Where Merriweather Post Pavilion is high art and Veckatimest is beautiful with moments of genius (though painfully slow and boring in parts), Creaturesque is simpler, more direct, and as hooky as indie pop gets. Yet its layers of synth, drum machine beats, and the addictive vocals of front man Scott Reitherman never alienate the listener or fall flat. Creaturesque is one of the sleepers of the year and more and more rewarding with each listen.
The Non-Rob Review: Here
The Quick Take: Everytime I see these two in a music video or hear them perform, I think of the greatness of The Lonely Island's "Just 2 Guyz" (We're just two guys who are having a good time, having a good time, having a good time). Full of inside jokes, perverse references, and a complete disregard for much that's serious, Invisible Girl feels like the long overdue reunion of two buddies who happen to also be gifted performers in their own right (King Khan and the Shrines and BBQ's--aka, Mark Sultan--emerging solo career). But past all the bits and the often sophomoric wordplay are two men who make highly entertaining rock 'n' roll music in a way that almost no one does anymore. Sultan's voice alone has always been straight out of a time capsule and is one of the best in all of music today. King Khan has a charm and mischievous style that often belies his passion for every note he sings or shreds on his wicked guitar. These men want to rock you, freak you, blow your mind to smithereens. But this is fun for them and is therefore fun for you. It's rock 'n' roll science.
The Non-Rob Review: Here
The Quick Take: All that I can say about the recent passing of Jay Reatard was said in this post. His final full-length from 2009 was a tremendous display of how far he'd come in terms of adding musical depth and how far he appeared to be going. All the super-channeled anger, anguish, and passion are still there. But the musical layers continue to grow and grow and you just get the feeling that Jay Reatard was on to something and figuring some other things out. As I've stated several times, he is not for everyone. But there's something there worth hearing and Jay Reatard would do anything to put it on tape. If there truly is "a light that never goes out", his is an inferno that may burn quickly--but will almost certainly leave noticeable damage behind. But probably in a good way.
The Non-Rob Review: Here
The Quick Take: A lyrical sampling: "Anything that starts fucked up is bound to end up that way." Yeah, the title almost says it all and there's no way of getting around it and Spider Bags aren't suggesting you can or should try to. But as humans and consumers of music we've always found ourselves inexplicably drawn to downer records when we're sad. Why do we do it? Who knows? But this is the soundtrack of your world falling apart with a foundation of country distortion haze, angry acoustic guitars and equally drunken electric ones. Some songs are bar-friendly stompers, others are evening-only, lights out quiet little masterpieces of despair begging for hope. But beneath all this is a beauty that forces us to pay attention and ask the tough questions we only ask of ourselves when we're by ourselves. A cruel, gorgeous, raw, unclean mess of an album. And one I can't shake.
The Non-Rob Review: Here
The Rob Album of the Year
The Quick Take: Why Tonight? Why Franz Ferdinand? I would never have predicted an album by Franz Ferdinand could ever be my favorite for a year (though I've always really liked them), yet here we are, children. But this album represents everything I truly love and value about music. You can rock (rawk) to it, you can dance to it. You can laugh to it, you can cry to it. It is artistically stylish while accessible and fun at nearly every turn. It is recorded by talented musicians unafraid to experiment but not foolish enough to muddy the waters with unnecessary pretense. There are added sonic layers found in this work that suggest touches of New Order, but this is undoubtedly a Franz Ferdinand record. Based around the loose concept of the story of a single night out, it brilliantly captures the restlessness, the desperation, the hunger, the thirst of finding something in youth--anything that makes getting dressed and going out worth something already. Front man Alex Kapranos is tired of her shit but he has got to fuck her. He is stir crazy and needs to find the next drug, the next club, the next thing that can help him avoid having to think about whatever it is anymore. He's tired of being told he shouldn't be alone. He is at once fine alone, but can't help but crave those moments where love or some related magic is a possibility (note the gorgeous album closer, "Katherine Kiss Me"). The album is full of themes of regret, defiance, hedonism, anger, humor, sex, sex, and a little bit of hope that something can validate why we repeat the same practices centering around socializing at night.
The Non-Rob Review: Here
And so the lesson is concluded, Kids. As always, I encourage and crave feedback (mostly). And if you're interested in getting any of this music or have questions about any artists and the internet alone is not enough--well I'll be here. Loving you. Rooting for you. Open up those ear holes and keep fighting the good fight for good strong hard great music.
Best blog yet,
ReplyDeletemon frere.
I'm sure the exclusion of Animal Collective was nothing more than a slight oversight. I am glad to see Real Estate on the list. I've said it many times but that album gets better with each listen. If I made my list today it would easily be top 10.
ReplyDeleteYou doing a decade list?
yay andrew bird! listening to armchairs now. i think it's my favorite from armchair apocrypha. as if i could pick and AB fave.
ReplyDelete