I have already explained my love for Spotify here - I wish I had been an even earlier adopter of the streaming world. They do a really cool presentation that will show you the music you have listened to for the year. In light of my top ten list of 2014, I was glad to see that I listened to the things I loved quite a bit.
Almost 50,000 minutes listening to Spotify?! Damn! And I pause the music whenever I leave my desk, as I don't want to miss out on the tunes (and I fear someone important walking in to my office just as something terrifically offensive comes on). That is 809 hours of music! Cool.
Beyond those top 5 songs, my next five were A$AP Ferg's Shabba ("Masta BRUCE!"), Beck's Blue Moon, The Head and the Heart's Shake, Real Estate's Talking Backwards, and Beck's Blackbird Chain. Sounds about right.
Seasonal Favorites? Winter = Beck; Spring = First Aid Kit; Summer = Pearl Jam; Fall = Hozier. That also sounds about right.
Top five albums listened to? Beck's Morning Phase, Spanish Gold's South of Nowhere, Real Estate's Atlas, Lake Street Dive's Lake Street Dive, and Weezer's Everything Will Be Alright in the End.
Cool tool - if you haven't checked it out yet, do that here and then let me know about your 2014.
1. The War on Drugs - Lost in the Dream. Again with this same album. Officially the album of the year to love if you want indie street cred. I agree it was good, although after about 10 listens now, I think this may be more David Gray than Ryan Adams. Either way, it is a really nice album.
2. Against Me! - Transgender Dysphoria Blues. I gave this one a few shots but just don't remember feeling it. Hyden calls it primal, but I don't recall that feeling. I think these dudes got loads of attention because their lead singer changed gender this year or last year, and while I don't dislike this music, I'm not that interested. Saw them at SXSW this last year and felt the same way - good but not great. Here is the video for "Black Me Out."
3. Strand of Oaks - Heal. Never heard of this band in my life. Hyden calls it "full-on, heart-on-sleeve vision-quest rock in the style of Showalter’s beloved Smashing Pumpkins." Uh, as mentioned recently, I love the Pumpkins, and I don't think this sounds much like them at all. Maybe the new stuff after Mellon Collie, but I don't think so. This album is interesting, but top 3 of the year? To each his own, right? 4. Sturgill Simpson - Metamodern Sounds in Country Music. I agree, this album is awesome.
5. YG - My Krazy Life. Hyden calls it the "most cohesive album I heard in any genre this year." Wow. It is good, and has some great high moments, but I doubt anyone will remember it much by next year. The big hit "My Hitta" (the radio name) is a good head-bobber, but its not going to change the world of hip hop by any means. 6. Cymbals Eat Guitars - LOSE. "the year’s most gloriously grandiose indie-rock record" You know what? Good call, buddy. The first few songs on this album rock. Kick ass rock verging on the edge of punk. Then it slows down and has some weird-out slow jams that are less appealing. But cool album anyway. 7. D'Angelo and the Vanguard - Black Messiah. Funky and weird like an old Prince jam complete with guitar solo freakouts and little Prince-esque squeaks of ecstasy. I fully expected to be underwhelmed by this, but instead, I just found myself bobbing my head and bouncing along with the groove. Fun stuff right here. 8. Lykke Li - I Never Learn "When Swedish pop singers cry, even the tears come out looking perfectly crafted." Yeah, this is a really pretty album - she's got a great voice. But I doubt I would ever listen to it again after the three chances I just gave it. 9. Restorations - LP3. Where did this one come from? These guys are awesome. In the Gaslight Anthem vein of music - driving, heavy heartland rock. I like this album a lot. 10. Tinariwen - Emmaar. "sounds like the desert: vast, indefatigable, serene, and quietly lethal." I am no world music scholar, and thus had never heard of this one either. Not sure what the language is, but the guitar licks are tight and the arrangements are interesting.
I always forget to read Five Thirty Eight, but when I do, I am consistently pleased with their data-driven nerd articles about stuff. I just read this article about Christmas Music and loved it. Data nerds unite! Growing up, the only Christmas music I really remember listening to was the John Denver and the Muppets Christmas album (A Christmas Together), which is still awesome. We would fire that sucker up every year as we decorated the tree. RIP Johnny D. Did I love singing the Animal part of We Wish You a Merry Christmas? Absolutely. Still do. WON'T GO! WON'T GO! WON'T GO! Rolf and Mr. Denver singing Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas? Damn right. Oh what?!? - there is video of this thing! Terrible audio, but you can Spotify the album to hear it in pristine condition.
Anyway, I never gave much thought to the fact that Christmas music on radio stations is a major moneymaker, but it makes total sense. Soft rock radio is death, but everyone loves hearing Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree 500 times a day! Magic 95 here in Austin switched over before Thanksgiving, but I managed to keep the family away until after Turkey Day. More than the radio, we have been jamming a great Pandora station through the Sonos at home that is based on Bing Crosby's White Christmas. Classic and awesome. The most surprising thing in that article to me is how Wham! is still cranking out listens of Last Christmas. This garbage song isn't even really about Christmas - he just happens to say that their love happened on Christmas, and then they crank some jingle bells for a bit of the chorus. And now George Michael and the other guy from Wham! likely kill it on royalties in December.
Loogit that hair! Hell yes! I think every band in the world ought to be required to write an original Christmas song for a battle of the bands-style face-off where the world picks the best one and then we can use those songs for years of listening pleasure. And erase the memory of Last Christmas.
Rolling Stone's list, while not entirely in line with what I think, was still pretty close to music that I liked this year. In high school, I took both Rolling Stone and SPIN magazines every month, and loved the different perspective of SPIN versus the more establishment RS. They keep that up with this list, making sure that no massively successful records make their list so they can maintain street cred with their buddies from Pitchfork.
1. The War on Drugs - Lost in the Dream. Bold choice, or at least I say that because I had never listened to it. A sign from God that I need to go give it a whirl. After one listen, it is really good - sounds like a Ryan Adams album with some Springsteen sax and Cure synth. Wow, no, seriously, after listening again, I'm 90% sure this is a Ryan Adams album. A really good one, but still. Spin's money quote: "What he emerged with is a masterwork — a thrilling but stately rock record, a new entry in the indie canon." Here is the video for "Red Eyes"
2. Parquet Courts - Sunbathing Animal. I tried this one repeatedly, and just didn't lock on. Although, I'll have to admit that I never locked on to the Strokes either, and these dudes have a very similar sound. Loose, jangly, garage rock with semi-shouted lyrics. Spin quote: "Now more than ever, their band could be your life."
3. Run the Jewels - Run the Jewels 2. Agreed that this one is good. "They're the type to greet the preacher with a grin and a gun — 2014's Public Enemies."
4. Jenny Lewis - The Voyager. No killer one liners on this one from Spin, but I do feel like I ought to go give this album a few more listens. I don't even recall what it sounds like, which is a bad sign. Oh yeah, this is the new Jewel - now I remember her. "Just One of the Guys" is a fun track for sure, and overall this is a pretty good album.
5. Caribou - Our Love. Never heard this one before now, but the top song on Spotify has over 4 million spins, so other people are jamming this. "Can't Do Without You" is that track, and it is a pretty simple electro track looping the title phrase. The rest is more of the same, electro-chill with soft lyrics. Not my thing. Spin says: "Lush and moody, the slow-burning album works like a Choose Your Own Adventure of synthesized proportions"
6. Sun Kil Moon - Benji. I liked this one when I listened to it a few months ago. Not in my top ten, but really good story-telling and packed lyrics. Simple music, but definitely rewards multiple listens. "A deeply personal and largely empathetic work, Benji longs to share its most intimate secrets and insights as it details the life of a man "feeling somewhere between happy and sad.""
7. Future Islands - Singles. I thought this was going to be Lonely Islands at first, which would have been a hilarious pick for a top ten album of the year. Instead, this is synth pop that kind of reminds me of Elton John for some reason. Spin says "calling Singles just "an album" is too simple — it's more of a Your-Day-Will-Come-Too opus for unjustly underrated acts everywhere."
8. Tinashe - Aquarius. Spin says: "The year's best R&B album being made by a 22-year-old Two and a Half Men alumna." I say it has some good rap-ish moments, with Schoolboy Q and A$AP Rocky making appearances, but in general she sounds like a good hook from a rap song, but for the whole song. Not my thing, but she has a nice voice and the beats are pretty solid.
9. tUnE-yArDs - Nikki Nack. I can't distance myself from the terrible experience of seeing her/them live at ACL, and so I can't handle this in a top ten. Felt like someone was playing a joke on you to see if you will agree that the music is good, while a group of cool kids are laughing at you around the corner. Water Fountain is a catchy ass song, and overall it is kind of a cool album, but just aggressively odd - like Arcade Fire remade Graceland with only a synthesizer and Dave Sitek in the booth. But seriously, they were awful in concert. Spin's confusing money quote: "It's based on a one-woman puppet show from before her mUsIc cArEeR, wherein the hero escaped via weaponized farts. Now that's real."
10. The New Pornographers - Brill Bruisers. Excellent album - almost made my top ten and I like it alot. "Any of the criticism leveled against their last few albums — too reserved, too leisurely, too complacent — won't fly here."
Soundgarden - Echo of Miles. New Soundgarden? Hell yes. New Soundgarden. Well, only sort of. This is a three-disc compilation of old music from Soundgarden that was either unreleased, found on random soundtracks/compilations, or has been remixed by someone else. The first disc is originals, and had three songs that poked out at me as pretty awesome, old-school, grunge-y Soundgarden. No big surprise, but all three, Cold Bitch, Blind Dogs, and Black Rain, were recorded in 1994/1995 for the Badmotorfinger or Superunknown albums. Here is Black Rain:
The second disc goes for covers, including a sweet cover of Sly & the Family Stone's Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin), some Beatles and Stones, Sabbath, and even Devo. Oh, and the real deal Spinal Tap's Big Bottom. "Talk about mud flaps, my girls got 'em!" The last disc, called Oddities, is just that. But the first two discs hold enough fun stuff to play with for a while. Smashing Pumpkins - Monuments to an Elegy. That's right, folks. It's mid-90's nostalgia day here at dulljack! The Pumpkins are up there as one of my favorite handful of bands of all time, so I'm a sucker for their new music, despite what I have thought of their last two or three albums. "Tiberius" is kick ass, righteous Billy Corgan with power chords and lyrics about nonsensical love. Not as good as Gish or Siamese Dream, but this would be right at home on Mellon Collie. Meanwhile, "Run to Me" sounds like a Tiffany B-Side from a fictional world when she tried to go rock and roll. So the disc is a little uneven, but has some good moments. Wu Tang Clan - A Better Tomorrow. Honestly, the more I listen to Wu Tang the more I know I like some of the individuals in the Clan more than the whole. Bits of this album sound really cool, but it just isn't cohesive. The verses aren't tied together by a theme for the track, they are just each guy taking turns to do their own thing. "Preacher's Daughter" is cool because it samples Dusty Springfield. "Ruckus in B Minor" is probably the best track, but it literally goes like this: Inspectah Deck (I'm super awesome and cool like the Dos Equis guy), U-God (we are the best), Method Man (you are too young and can't be as cool as us), Another dude who I couldn't ID (I shoot jealous people and you are not a man), Ghostface (I have lots of chains and you wish you were me), GZA (mystical weird stuff about the earth), RZA (I'm going to name some guys who just rapped and mention how cool they are), Method Man (apparently that part about young people not being as cool as us was a chorus), Raekwon (I am cooler than cocaine), Another dude who I couldn't ID (I am super hard core and awesome). Meanwhile, recent discs from Ghostface and Raekwon are solid, grimy story-telling rap over old school samples. It is odd that Ghost would change his style when alone versus with the crew, but maybe it is all about who has creative control. Anyway, this one is not going to make my top albums ever list. Rick Ross - Hood Billionaire. Ugh (and no, not the rUUUHH sound Rick Ross makes 30 times in every song. This guy has a super cool sound - I want to crank it up and drive down the street with the windows down to prove to everyone just how dope I am. And say rUUUhhHH! Real loud over and over. However, his lyrics are flat as hell. I'd love to say the Snoop or Jay-Z cameos help carry the load, but they just spit the same old tired crap about how cool they are and how much dope they sling and ladies they bag. Blah blah my paint wet and my feet chrome. Check out my designer label stuff. Yawn. Ghostface Killah - 36 Seasons. Word. This is why I still love rap. Well-crafted samples based on old soul songs. A cohesive storyline about a guy who gets sent off to jail(?) for 9 years and then comes back to the old hood to find everything has changed. "It's a Thin Line Between Love and Hate" isn't even a rap, but a classic soul song cover about what your lady can do if you cross her. And it fits perfectly in the midst of these tracks, going from Ghost (as Tony Starks, as usual) realizing his hood is changed and his woman has a new man (guess what happens when you don't call for 9 years?), to trying to reclaim his place in the neighborhood but getting shot, and then recovering and winning his lady friend back. SO MUCH BETTER than stupid Rick Ross and his vapid brag-fest. Here is the video for "Love Don't Live Here Anymore."
Even without the video, you can see what is going on by the lyrics (although I think Omar's character doesn't actually get stabbed in the song. Details. Whatevs). Just great storytelling.
I have already made my love for Kodaline obvious, but their song All I Want was used in The Fault in Our Stars, and it made me sad and hopeful and *almost* teary once again. Such a good song.
Stalley - Ohio. I recall listening to this dude a few years ago, can't recall why but think that I had read about this huge dude rapping with Rick Ross about his love for Ohio. He's still real excited about Ohio. Jackin' Chevys bites the Boyz in da 'Hood, but the video shows him going out to Compton and hanging out with lots of people with Eazy E memorabilia in their house, so maybe this was a respect thing?
Stalley uses excellent beats. Little of the flavor-of-the-month stuff, just classic trunk rattlers. I don't find a YouTube video for it, but go listen to "Free," which is a soul-tastic, Ohio Players-sampling banger. "Problems" is solid with some good story-telling action. "One More Shot" is money - his current top song on Spotify (likely because of the Rick Ross cameo). And who out there still have the bad ass balls to include De La Soul in their raps? This guy. Solid album.
Wildcat Apollo - Wildcat Apollo. Indie rock in the vein of softer Cults and Liz Phair. I wanted to say Sleater-Kinney, but that isn't true because this band is much gentler and less screamy. They are apparently from Austin according to the radio people who told me about the band, but could really be from anywhere. Maybe even mid-90's Britain influence as well. The drummer makes me think of Blur and Teenage Bandwagon. Some trippy stuff on here as well. I could only find a live version of The Colorado, but I dig this song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yz4khdqyozs (sorry, YouTube is being annoying with links again).
Fuzzed out and awesome.
OK Go - Hungry Ghosts. These guys are definitely more famous for their excellent music videos than for their actual music. You can spend multiple hours dropping down the rabbit hole of their videos on YouTube. Here is the most popular one I found, with over 45 million views, for This Too Shall Pass:
The new album is similar stuff, well crafted harmonies and pop/rock music. Their initial album (OK Go) with its single Get Over It was damn fine pop rock as well. Of the songs on this album, I think Writings on the Wall is my favorite one.
Ben Howard - I Forget Where We Were. I literally have had two different people walk in to my office today and say it is chilled day in here. This music is super chilled and relaxing. Howard's voice is smooth and makes for a really great sound on these tracks. Nice album, even if nothing very exciting for me on here.
She & Him - Classics. Speaking of super chilled, this is an awesome album of throw-back action. Ever since Zooey Deschanel sang in the shower in "Elf," I've thought she has a magical voice. This disc treads no new ground but is a beautiful little nugget of harmony and lush arrangements that I never hear unless listening to the old school Christmas station on Pandora. Good stuff.
Year end lists are a fun rite of passage for the Internet age. I swear there are millions of them out there by now, and after seeing Rolling Stone put its top 40 out in the magazine, I thought I'd take a swing at a top ten as well. While Wikipedia's information is going to be suspect (for example, Miranda Lambert's album is missing from the list of 2014 albums), it is what I have available to easily see what was released in 2014. Of note:
Who out there knew that the Presidents of the United States of America were still releasing albums? Not me! They put out two this year.
There is a band called I Killed the Prom Queen. Of course there is.
Sebastian Bach, Winger, and Tesla all put out new albums this year. WTF?!? Who buys that crap? And someone said Rock and Roll was dead!
2014 has been a good year. I have listened to a freaking TON of music this year. I actually think it has made me more discerning, but it also has made it significantly harder to recall what I listened to and what I thought. When I was in high school and could only afford 1 or 2 CDs a month, I really knew those CDs. But now that I can hear a million different things at any given time, I just don't get that same deep level of digging in to music, unless it is so good that I keep going back to it again and again. These ten albums listed here seem like albums I will keep around. Anyway, my top ten. I ran through Wikipedia's list of albums released this year and listed out the ones that I had heard. From those, I started comparing them to each other to see which one I would rather hear forever. Kind of the like way Flickchart does their movie rankings - compare one to the other and see which one wins. I'm still not entirely satisfied that the order of these is right, but I feel pretty good that these ten belong in my top ten in some order.
Interesting that I ended up being pretty chilled up there in my top two, and that no rap made my list at all. Stay Gold is such a beautiful thing. Feels classic while new. Longing and gentle and effective to change my mood, which is an amazing thing in music. I don't think Morning Phase was as good as Beck's Sea Change, but its still an excellent album. I think I've talked enough about the rest of those, but this was a good year for music.
The albums that just missed the cut are TV on the Radio’s Seeds, Real Estate’s Atlas, Run the Jewels’ Run the Jewels 2, Sturgill Simpson’s Metamodern Sounds in Country Music, and Coldplay’s Ghost Stories.
Honorable mentions: Temples’ Sun Structures, Jack White’s Lazaretto, YG's My Krazy Life, Benjamin Booker’s Benjamin Booker, Death from Above 1979’s The Physical World, New Pornographers' Brill Bruisers, Old 97’s Most Messed Up, Schoolboy Q’s Oxymoron, Maroon 5’s V (I know, weird, but that Levine guy knows how to make serious pop hooks), and I’d like to say Black Key’s Turn Blue, but since I haven’t heard the whole album, I can’t include it above.
I hope that 2015 will be just as strong, and that I can keep up with talking about this stuff over the year. Happy New Year!
I spent a little too much time with my friend Evan Williams last night and was a little foggy in the car this morning, until some Rick Ross came on. As such, I hereby decree the day of bass to rattle my head loose and get some work done 'round here. For your listening enjoyment:
One of my favorite singles of the year, Future's Move that Dope. This beat should make you want to crush the day and sell load of cocaine and wear the Arby's hat.
Run the Jewels - Close Your Eyes (and Count to F):
And finally, to chill out a little bit after your hard day of work (but apparently keep selling cocaine), the new track from O.T. Genasis:
Rolling Stone has released their list of the 50 best albums of 2014. Click through that image to see their thoughts.
First, my thoughts on their top ten. Then I will work up another post about my own top ten albums of the year.
U2 - Songs of Innocence. Excellent. Not sure it is the greatest album of the year - I think RS is pushing back on all the people who pushed back on the free release/forced download thing. I also think that this album is much more powerful with commentary - I would not have known that Iris was Bono's mom or that Cedarwood Road was where he grew up. If you find out how confessional and real the lyrics are, I do think it makes these songs more interesting and emotionally appealing. And several of these songs - Every Breaking Wave for one - have classic old U2/Joshua Tree era sound. I dig it.
Bruce Springsteen - High Hopes. Blah. I gave this one a good number of listens when it first came out, and it just sounds like B-sides and Tom Morello guitar schtick. I thought Magic and Wrecking Ball were significantly better albums.
Black Keys - Turn Blue. Sadly, they only have two of these songs on Spotify. I love the Black Keys in general, but never got around to buying this whole album, thinking it would show up to stream. Not so much. "Fever" is more of the blues rock greatness they are known for, with a touch more old-school, 50's pop/surf-rock sound. Great tune. "Gotta Get Away" is on heavy rotation on the radio right now and is another good song - a quick rock nugget that lets you sing San Berdoo and Kalamazoo in the chorus. This album is probably worthy of top three status.
Miranda Lambert - Platinum. You know what? I don't hate this album. I expected to hate this album and was bummed to waste time listening to it, but it has some fun moments and pretty good songs. "Priscilla" made me smile (about Elvis's wifey) and "Automatic" is a legit burner about love going stale. Reminds me of the best stuff the Dixie Chicks did back in the day. "All That's Left" is a fine Bob Wills homage, Smokin' and Drinkin' is a good fun song as well. Huh. I am truly surprised that this wasn't Florida Georgia Line-style garbage rock-country. This is good. Not the 5th best album of the year, but this is good.
Charli XCX - Sucker. In a sad indictment of the potential future of Spotify, this album is also not available on there. Three songs are available (Breaking Up, Gold Coins, and London Queen), and I find it interesting that this would be a top ten album for the year. "Breaking Up" is a nyah nyah, cheerleader-y pop nugget, but doesn't sound like much. Could have been a b-side of Hey Mickey (and is all of 2:18 long). "Gold Coins" has a pretty good beat, but the lyrics are boring brag-rap. Maybe she is trying to do the "Royals" sarcasm thing here, but if so she misses the mark. "London Queen" is another 80's-esque pop throw-away about how crazy it is she was from London and now lives in L.A. With some London-punk "Oy!"s thrown in to make it clear she is legit. Nope. Assuming "Boom Clap" will also be on this album, then it has at least one great song on it, but those three are lame-o. Not top 6 in any way.
Lana Del Rey - Ultraviolence. I have considered Del Rey in the past. After giving this album another listen, I still can't get on board. I tried to eliminate my past notions of her and just judge this as though it was from a new artist I had never heard of before. It is still annoying as crap. The title song appears to be all about her getting her ass kicked by a dude but sticking with him because of love and stuff. Er, bad plan, lady. And then the rest of the album is just her cooing and whispering about her baby living in shades of cool and how she's too young to love you. I am terrified that my daughters will love this kind of garbage and sit around in their rooms pining away for a cool guy who will beat her ass and then sing Lou Reed to her while wearing old school Wayfarers. Ugh, daughters.
Run the Jewels - Run the Jewels 2. Bad ass stuff. I just noticed the other day that the Wu Tang say "run the jewels" at one point in their debut album, and looking it up shows that it might mean to "give me your expensive belongings right now." Killer Mike is good in his own right - his album RAP Music was solid a few years ago - but he sounds bad ass here. I don't know any of El-P's music, but probably ought to go check it out because these beats are interesting and excellent. The crushing beat on "Oh My Darling Don't Cry" is a bass sledgehammer, and "Close Your Eyes" (feat. Zach De La Rocha!!!) is right there with it.
Mac DeMarco - Salad Days. I looked at this album in the run-up to ACL as well. Super chilled tuneage with oddball lyrics. Not bad, but not top ten either. This feels like the kind of album I am supposed to like if I am a cool music blogger guy. But not so much.
Taylor Swift - 1989. Such a bummer that she pulled her music from Spotify. I know that I am in the demographic who is supposed to hate her music, but I don't. The last album (Red) had a lot of really great songs on it, well written lyrics and good tunes to boot. Likely not a popular sentiment, but totally true. I wonder if nerd music bloggers back in the mid-80's hated on pop queens like Madonna or Janet Jackson while those ladies crushed the competition and did their thing? Anyway, "Shake it Off" is kind of annoying because that phrase is repeated so damn much, and the rap interlude is lame, but its definitely a catchy beat and I like the sentiment of doing your thing no matter what unpleasant people say. The other big single is "Blank Space," and it is great. It starts as a straight up high hat/bass beat like a minimal rap song, and she raps/sings until the chorus when she kicks in like Kary Perry or old school Britney. Maybe I need to go hit up the used bin at Waterloo and see if Turn Blue and 1989 have filtered their way down there yet.
I need to look at a list of all the albums that make the cut for release in this year, and I'll be back with my top ten list sometime soon.
Foxes in Fiction - Ontario Gothic. Atmospheric indie harmonies. Pretty, moody music that worked well for me today as a cold front rolled in over downtown. Really nice, but I doubt I'll listen to this one again.
I have already talked about how awesome First Aid Kit is, but check out this video a friend sent around today. Such a perfect cover for them to tackle.
Lecrae - Anomaly. Christian rap. Which sounds horrible, but is actually well done. The beats and tone make it sound like any other rap album currently out. For that matter, if you listen to the lyrics, for the most part it sounds like any other rapper as well. I just heard him say "y'all must be high on that medical," so he's not above rapping about the weeds. But this is more of an empowerment anthem about how the rappers should stop bragging and leading kids down the wrong road and be something more. Not bad.
However, not bad isn't good enough to climb into my Keepers playlist.
John Mellencamp - Plain Spoken. Sister Susan first introduced me to the Cougar, way back in the day. Scarecrow was and is awesome. But this is not nearly so interesting and exciting. Tried it twice and have no recollection of anything.
Porter Robinson - Worlds. Indie electronics. Interesting tunes. Some with no lyrics, mainly just beats and samples, but others with simplistic choruses. Kind of like Passion Pit.
TV on the Radio - Seeds. I really like this album. I tried TVOTR a few albums ago (Dear Science) and recall being underwhelmed. Critics talk about these guys like they cured cancer, but parts of this album finally live up to some of that hype. It is complex music that rewards multiple listens, although Happy Idiot is a jam from the very first get-go.
"I'm gonna bang my head through the wall, until I feel like nothing at all." And Pee Wee Herman as the main character in a weird video. Cool all around. Snappy jams that belie the fact that this is kind of a sad song. Careful You is another great semi-love song about being unsure in love, with cool stereo effects that make the snares sound like they bounce between the speakers. The title track is also a cool one - love the chorus mantra: "rain comes down, like it always does, this time I've got seeds on ground." Cool album that you should check out.
My friend Joseph baited me on Monday to get me all riled up with an article arguing that Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters are fake and terrible. I hesitate to provide the link, because I think the whole thing was conceived as click-bait and I don't want to give it the benefit of the 4 clicks it might receive from here. Here is the old Foos video he mentions:
I couldn't help myself and I spent the next 20 minutes writing Joseph an e-mail back about how this article was full of crap and therefore he was also full of the brown. And then I spent my whole commute home stewing about it and coming up with even better arguments in my head. While I will not burden you with the entirety of that in-mind discussion, I thought it was interesting enough to add to the blog.
Summerlin's general argument is that he can't stand Dave Grohl because he makes rock and roll for the wrong reasons and is a fake rocker. The money quote:
"Music is pure and honest and reliable and otherworldly, and it’s jeopardized when people create it for all the wrong reasons. And what’s worse is if it’s shaped for an audience. Or a dollar. The musicians don’t create it because they are driven mad by the fire inside them that throws them towards the craft." He goes on to say "The Foo Fighters taste fake. They taste processed and soulless and repurposed. They try desperately to be something they’re not – real and raw and rock ‘n’ roll."
I have no problem with the portion of his article saying that he just doesn't like their music. Thankfully, we don't all like the same kind of music and that leads to a great buffet of music where everyone can select a choice they enjoy. I can dislike Lana Del Rey and Calvin Harris, but I get to go see the Avett Brothers and Pearl Jam instead. I have no issue with someone's taste being different and deciding the Foos musical style is not their bag. However, Summerlin argues that music is wrong (and "jeopardized!") if it is created for an audience or the performer will make money. That is super dumb. Every artist, even really aggressive noise art weirdos (looking at you, Tune-Yards) make their music “for an audience.” The
whole point is to make something that people will enjoy, or if not to enjoy, that will affect them in some way. You make music for it to be heard. Yes, people also
do it to make money, but to say that a band is "fake" because they try to make something people will enjoy is BS.
I totally get that Grohl can be annoyingly omnipresent, especially right now, with more than just this new Sonic Highways documentary and a movie a few years ago. This makes him fail the non-sell-out test championed by those who think they control the gates to rock and roll, but I don’t think you can
equate that to his music not being genuine. Bono is the biggest camera
hound around, and the lyrics to some of his recent songs (Put on your boots! Your sexy boots!) could easily be
laughed at if you wrote them out and made fun of them like this guy does, but I
don’t think that makes U2's music any less authentic or bad to enjoy. U2 rules.
There is a funny "sports" writer on Deadspin named Drew Magary who rips on ESPN's Gregg Easterbrook each week for writing obnoxious, pretentious crap about sports. One of the things that Magary most rips on is Easterbrook's concept of "Authentic Wins" and the great value of small conference athletes and undrafted players who end up being great at football and therefore more valuable than someone taken in the first round who ends up being an expensive bust. That is this Summerlin guy. He craps on Grohl for
being a big star and decides he is not authentic because he is making rock and roll that people will like instead of toiling away in his basement with a guitar made of a deck of cards and a jump rope, using the cries of an injured goat instead of boring human lyrics. I will absolutely agree that Grohl and the Foos got a career boost because of Nirvana. But I think that boost only lasts for a little while and then the music needs to stand on its own. Novoselic has done music since Nirvana and no one but his mom has any clue that it exists. Slash and Axl tried to make music after Guns n' Roses which got press because of who they were, but no one has been clamoring for more from those dudes now. Meanwhile, Jack White has gone on to kick ass after the White Stripes ended and Sting has 7 platinum albums stringing out over the years since the Police folded. Those guys are good. Likewise, the Foo Fighters have collected 15 Grammy Awards and have five platinum records and three gold records to their name. Some of that is the Nirvana boost, but I can't believe that they get twenty years of platinum-level goodwill from millions of "fake" fans just because of residual Nirvana love.
I used to rock this album before finals to get psyched up for crushing the Rule Against Perpetuities, and that one (Alone+Easy Target) was one of my favorites. Foo Fighters rant over. But this whole discussion with Joseph brought me to another realization. In trying to defend the fact that the Foo Fighters is authentic rock and roll, I determined that the world doesn't know what rock and roll is anymore.
rock and roll
noun
a type of popular dance music originating in the 1950s, characterized by a heavy beat and simple melodies. Rock and roll was an amalgam of black rhythm and blues and white country music, usually based on a twelve-bar structure and an instrumentation of guitar, bass, and drums.
Where to figure out how rock and roll is defined? How about Billboard, the national self-appointed arbiter of popularity in music?
The Billboard Rock chart top ten albums for 2013 was:
Mumford & Sons
Imagine Dragons
the Lumineers
Phillip Phillips
fun.
Kid Rock
The Great Gatsby soundtrack
Ed Sheeran
Of Monsters and
Men, and (wait for it...)
Lana Del Rey.
I would call two of those true rock and roll (Imagine Dragons and Kid Rock), with maybe .fun, Monsters and Men, and Lumineers coming in as well. But Lana Del Rey? Mumford? Those are not rock and roll. And those two who are "rock and roll," currently suck. Not a fan of Imagine Dragons.
How about rock station airplay instead of album sales? Billboard's top rock airplay songs for 2013 were:
Muse’s Madness
Imagine
Dragons’ Radioactive (for six freaking months)
Lorde’s Royals
Fitz & the
Tantrums' Out of My League (for one week, the underdog!)
Bastille’s Pompeii, and
Cage the Elephant’s Come a Little Closer.
Lorde and Bastille are absolutely not
rock and roll. Billboard's “Hot Rock Songs” from 2013 is only Lumineers’ Ho Hey,
Imagine Dragons’ Radioactive, and Lorde’s Royals. Royals is not a rock
and roll song. I can't succinctly quantify what makes a song "rock," but if an alien landed on earth right now and asked what was
rock and roll, no one would ever play Royals. Or probably Ho Hey, which
is a lovely little song, but is not very rockin’ at all. I'd play that alien Eruption/You've Really Got Me and BLOW THEIR MIND!
So maybe last year was an outlier and I should see what is currently listed as the top rock songs by Billboard. I listened to this week's top ten "Rock" songs according to Billboard, and, seriously, WTF.
Hozier - Take Me to Church. Yes. Solid blues rock.
Fall Out Boy - Centuries. Aren't these guys gone yet? So clever and heart on their sleeve. While this song does have a steady drum beat and I think I heard a guitar in there, it also has trap beats. Also bites Suzanne Vega's Tom's Diner. I think FOB does rock, but am not entirely sure this is it.
Vance Joy - Riptide. I don't think so. More folk pop than rock. Same vein as Lumineers and Head and the Heart.
Milky Chance - Stolen Dance. No. Drum machines do not rock and roll maketh. Not a bad song, but more like an electronic Jack Johnson pop nugget for Hawaiian stoners.
Coldplay - A Sky Full of Stars. Absolutely NOT rock and roll. This is EDM. All synths and tambourine with a build up and drop to bass bass bass? I enjoy Coldplay and I like this song, but zero rock and roll here.
KONGOS - Come With me Now. Yeah, I'll call this rock. The accordion is a weird addition, but sounds right to me.
Imagine Dragons - I Bet My Life. Maybe. I guess so, but this has more of a Mumford vibe than this band's other music. More like a hand-clapping hootenanny than rock. I don't know what I have against these guys, but I just don't like them at all.
Walk the Moon - Shut up and Dance. I actually dig this song, but have a hard time categorizing this as rock and roll. Has way more in common with dance pop from the 80's than a guitar and drums rock. Reminds me of old Fall Out Boy, which I guess was considered rock (emo), but I can't go there. The big solo is on a keyboard. Come on, man.
Paramore - Ain't It Fun. I'll go with R&R for this. The drums go a little disco during the chorus, but otherwise the guitar and drums take center stage.
Lorde - Yellow Flicker Beat. Dude. Lorde is not rock and roll. What is wrong with you, Billboard?
(as an aside, the 13th top rock song is by a band called MisterWives, and it is straight disco. If you like disco, you should go listen to that song.)
I think we can all agree that Billboard has no clue. How
about the genius group-think at Wikipedia? Theirlist of rock albums(purportedly critically acclaimed rock albums from at least two
"sources") starts with AC/DC's Back in Black, which makes great
sense. But then it includes Johnny Cash, Miles Davis, Aretha Franklin,
Lauren Hill, Tina Turner, and The Wailer's Catch a Fire. What is wrong
with you people? Lauren Hill is not rock and roll. Her album kicks
ass and is really fantastic, but there is zero rock and roll going on there.
The collective crowd mind is an idiot. What about the Rock and
Roll Hall of Fame? They ought to know what rock and roll is all about. Let's check in with them. This year's class of
potential inductees includes Stevie Ray Vaughan and Joan Jett. Rock and
freaking roll, baby. Oh, but wait, it also includes N.W.A. and Chic.
Ummm, not at all rock and roll. I mean, you can argue that Sting's
solo music is rock, albeit soft rock long on caresses and tantric sex methods, but there
is no conceivable way that you could call N.W.A. rock. Is Mozart in the
Hall? No? Weird. What about Miles Davis? Oh, yeah, he's
in there, recognized as the "key figures in the history of jazz." Michael
Jackson, the King of Pop? Yep. Johnny Cash? Yessir.
Madonna is in. Public Enemy, Run D.M.C., Beastie Boys, and
Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five. Jimmy Cliff's reggae is in.
What the hell? Don't get me wrong, all of those acts had a great
effect onmusic and
should be in a music hall of fame, but it makes zero sense for
Madonna to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Where does that put us? I think we end up going back to the laughable
wisdom of the Supreme Court when talking about pornography. You know it
when you see it. Or hear it in this case. I think Foo Fighters, Black Keys, Pearl Jam, Kings of
Leon, Springsteen, U2, and a few others are the huge rock
and roll acts that are still out there carrying the torch. I'm sure
Summerlin thinks they are all phonies who tarnish the esteemed name of rock and
roll by making good music that people actually enjoy.
If you drop down below those mega-star bands, rock is also alive and well in the lower-level bands out there making new music
right now. I'm sure these guys rate highly on the Summerlin Authentic Rock scale because they toil away in anonymity. Two of my favorites from this year's ACL line-up - Spanish
Gold and Benjamin Booker - are making awesome, new rock and roll that (God
forbid!) sounds great and is popular with an audience. Same with
Gaslight Anthem and the Hold Steady and Weezer and Queens of the Stone Age and a hundred other bands that
I've never even heard of. But somewhere, someone is a fan and it makes them want to rock out. Or, as Joseph said, a rock song you love should always make you "feel like you've got to go nuts." Right on.
The New Pornographers - Brill Bruisers. I like this album. Fun pop mixed with interesting alternative and indie bits makes for a less obscure/more accessible Arcade Fire kind of sound. I saw the New Pornographers years ago at Fun Fun Fun Fest in Waterloo Park and thought they were pretty cool. Since then, I have come to love Neko Case and she definitely shines on this album. Her voice is really a great thing.
This tune, Champions of Red Wine, is the most listened to song on the album, and it is just odd enough (those skipping choral sounds and skittering waterfall synth) to escape a straightforward pop/rock chug and be something better. Interpol - El Pintor. I tried these guys a few times during the run up to ACL, but they just don't click for me. Reminds me of The National, where several people I know (who have good musical taste) dig them, but they just sound mopey and uninteresting to me. Johnny Winter - Essential Johnny Winter. This dude just died, and Rolling Stone wrote him up as a top-notch, greatest-guitarist-of-all-time conversation type talent. As an aside, Winter was also apparently an albino, which is a weird but awesome fact for some like me who is pigmentally challenged. And from Beaumont, which has so rarely produced anything of value. This music reminds me of the Allman Brothers, with a little ZZ Top, and a little old roadhouse blues. Winter is definitely skilled on the guitar, and can haul ass with major intensity. The start of this one sounds just like some Stevie Ray Vaughan (and his bassist looks like Stephen King in need of a beard):
Knowing that he was doing this stuff in the 60's makes it even more impressive to me, because hearing this for the first time makes it sound derivative of the blues guitarists who have so obviously cribbed his style over the decades. Cool look back into rock and roll history here. Sharon Van Etten - Are We There. The torchy feel of the Lana Del Rey songs. Timid voice over slinky tunes and lyrics about love. Not my cup of tea, but pretty. Body Count - Body Count. I remember buying this album when in came out back in high school and thinking I was a HUGE rebel. Cop Killer! Yeah! And then I listened to it a few times and took it back to Waterloo (do they still offer full money back on returns within 10 days? I would bet not in this day of mp3s, but that was awesome back then). It popped back into my head the other day and I listened again - kind of funny (well, darkly funny, the way Django Unchained might be funny) but really not all that good as far as the music goes. AND Cop Killer isn't actually on the album available on Spotify. I wonder if they just erased the memory of that song ever since Ice T became a TV cop? Nope, it is still out there:
Still makes me feel like a rebel. Duck Sauce - Quack. Electronic disco dance. And silly. Loads of dumb duck and quacking references, little boing sounds, and random snippets of talk on here in between the tail-feather-wagging beats. Fun music, but just not really something I want to hear while chilling at my desk. Here is the one "hit" I know of for them, Barbara Streisand:
Like I said, fun music, silly music, but not something I am going to seek out to jam all the time.
I love me some Foos. I still love Nirvana, but the Foo Fighters are, in their own right, a really great rock and roll band. Their first three albums are all really great, and when I saw them play ACL a few years ago the show was extremely fun (except for a 20 minute drum solo in the middle that made me want to punch someone). Anyway, they have put out their eighth album, Sonic Highways, that goes along with an HBO documentary about travelling the country to get regional flavoring into their songs. Each song was to be recorded in a different music-loving city (Chicago, D.C., Nashville, Austin, L.A., New Orleans, Seattle, and NY), and the Foos were highly excited that they would get a cool influence for each song that flavored the tune with a regional musical taste.
I call B.S. That song in the background of that trailer is the "Chicago" song. Huh? And the preview makes it sound like there was a hip hop influence on the album. Not to my ears. On the one hand, I like these songs - the disc is good. But, it sounds like any other Foo Fighters album I have ever heard. The "Austin" song, What Did I Do?/God as my Witness, purportedly guest starring Gary Clark Jr., sounds like the Foo Fighters without Gary Clark Jr. Maybe the barroom piano is the Austin touch? You definitely don't hear a non-Foo-style guitar on the track. You can maybe hear the Preservation Hall Jazz Band on the "New Orleans" song, but they just play backing horns to the normal guitar sounds that the Foo Fighters use on every album.
Maybe this is just some big META commentary about the homogenization of America - that you can just find the exact same stuff in any part of the country. The Foo Fighters are universal, man. They could have done something much more extreme, truly reflecting the sound of each city, and it would have been awesome. Do a song in the zydeco style of New Orleans. Go full county for Nashville. Make a Laurel Canyon harmony in L.A. Get bluesy in Chicago. Go hip hop in New York. Let Gary Clark Jr. or Willie Nelson be heard and make a cool mashup of the Foos with real Austin. But as the album stands right now, you would never know that I Am a River is based on New York. Or at least I wouldn't - maybe you are a connoisseur of regional New York sounds. Good album, but a missed chance to really do what they claimed they were going to do. I also have to beef with the cover art. I think the concept is super cool - the cover is separated into nine squares, with eight of them depicting iconic portions of the eight cities represented on the album. Austin's portion (lower left) has the Frost Bank tower, the Pennybacker bridge, and some grass (?) separated by low concrete walls (?): Did Frost Bank bankroll this album or something? How is a ten year old building that looks like a nose clipper the most iconic thing they could come up with in Austin? I honestly have little problem with that building by now - it actually is pretty cool - but the best thing to exemplify Austin? How about the pink granite capitol building? Zilker Park? (which may be what they are trying to do with the green spaces?) Memorial Stadium? The UT Tower? Hell, why not Sixth Street with some inaccurate signage to include Stubb's, Continental Club, Threadgill's, Antone's, etc? A huge BBQ pit? I feel like someone should answer for this.
I got started on a post adding this to another Quick Hits entry, and realized that it is just too damn good to be tucked away with my thoughts on some boring rapper or Primus weirdout.
Go listen to this album right now. I know the title of the album is weird. I know that some of you may not love old school country. But you have to appreciate the pinpoint perfect homage this guy pays to the Waylon Jennings and friends who came before him. Turtles All the Way Down:
But if you listen to the lyrics, he has updated the old stories to modern times. Would Waylon have name checked Seattle? Would Willie have sung about reptile aliens cutting you open? Well, maybe he would have. Drugs do scary things to the brain. And during the breakdown later in this song, Simpson adds a little psychedelic reverb in there to see if you are still paying attention. But the sounds in this tune easily could have been a classic country nugget from 1968.
And then, there's this:
The first time I listened through the album, I thought this one sounded vaguely familiar. The second time I listened through, I sat there staring out my office window, trying to recall where I knew that song from. OH YEAH, flashback to When in Rome and 1988 and the pop charts of my childhood. And yet this reinterpretation of the song is so bad ass. Take a 80's pop dance classic confessional and set it over a country slow burn - genius.
Spend some time running through this one today and you'll thank me later.
I'm going to need to come up with a snappier name for these, I think, since they have evolved into a constant stream of writing. I shall consult the great Band Name Generator oracle and see what is handed down from on high.
The Hold Steady - Teeth Dreams. This is another band that was included in the American Championship Belt article that I needed to go check out. It is a very American rock sound, kind of a gentler Gaslight Anthem with some Ryan Adams, Husker Du/Bob Mould, and Replacements influences. I smell some Phish in here sometimes as well. Yes! I just went and checked the Wikipedia page, and the lead singer (Craig Finn) explains that Husker Du and Bob Mould were influences! My ears work! The first song on this album (I Hope this Whole Thing Didn't Frighten You) really sounds like Bob Mould. Here is the second song from the album:
My first run through the album was unimpressive, but I just fired it up again and it is growing on me. I think this is music meant to be played louder - the tunes are good, but the lyrics are full and ought to be heard and dissected. Springsteen-esque imagery of people in here.
Gary Clark Jr. - Gary Clark Jr. Live. Holy crap, this is hot fire. I dug his EP and album, but he cranks it up and just plain makes kick as music right here. Blues guitar attack mode, with some Stevie Ray and some BB and a little bit of funky funk thrown in for good measure. He came to ACL last year and my buddy wanted to go watch some lame band so we split up and I went to get close to GCJr., and it was freaking so great. I was super bummed that Jason hadn't gotten to witness it with me. But the cover art for this album looks like it was taken that morning.
If you squint your eyes and have a good imagination, you can see me right there next to that other guy, just to the right of that guy with the thing.
King Tuff - Black Moon Spell. Psych guitar rock. I dig it. Serious seventies sound - makes me think of the music on the Juno soundtrack where weird homemade tunes were mixed in with classic 70's sounds. Kind of punky, old David Bowie, freakout rock with loads of distortion.
Ryan Adams - Ryan Adams. How in the world can this guy not already have an album named after himself? he's put out like 85 albums in the past ten years, so it seems amazing that he only just now thought to do an eponymous one. Whatever. This one is another good one. I like Ryan Adams (Gold was excellent, and Easy Tiger was pretty good too) but I feel Ryan Adams fatigue whenever I think about his music. There is just too much of it out there to deal with. But if you just take this one on its own, it is good.
Jeezy - Seen it All: The Autobiography. What is it with rappers and their extended album titles? Jeezy (used to be Young Jeezy, but I guess he grew up) has five solo albums since he became popular, and three of those five album titles involve a colon. I also have to note that He apparently skipped the second course in his "Thug Motivation" coursework, seeing as he released "Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101" in 2005, then "TM: 103 Hustlerz Ambition" in 2011, with no mention of how he got the course credits to just skip right over the 102 level class.
Maybe the lack of that class in Thug Motivation theory is why I am unimpressed with this new album, but pretty uninteresting stuff. Seen It All is the single, which likely gains significant popularity by having Jay Z on the track, but Jay Z isn't going to save this song from being boring. More likely, the opposite. Try it out for yourself:
Yawn. You two are super rich and you used to sell drugs and still know more than anyone else who has ever sold drugs. Good work.
