Archive for the ESSENTIAL RECORDINGS Category
Last year, I procrastinated heavily. I think there were a lot of good records that came out the last couple of years, but I started to think that for every record that came out, there was an equal number of these “best-of” lists being bandied about. At first I thought, “Wow, it’s finally happened. Everyone’s a music critic.” Then, with this pervasive thought entrenched in my gourd, I started reading these other lists before making my own.
I suddenly felt small.
So deadlines for the “best of 2007″ rolled around, and I was in a tailspin, dogged by the massive amount of music I had encountered. I kept reflecting on these words of Billy Corgan that I’d read years ago. Billy had once quipped to, I think, Rolling Stone, that, “Not every year can be a great, or even good, year in music.” This thought just stirred in my head and fed into some neurosis. The thought actually fucked with me; maybe 2007 wasn’t that great? Or was it? So I slacked until it was way too late to really do it with any fervor.
Newsflash: Shit aint happening like that this year. I’m past all that, and this year’s going to be different.
I don’t know if my opinion is necessarily better or worse than anyone else’s when it comes to music. I’m a long-time deep music fan who combs the trenches for something new and different, someone who’s been doing that for years. I have an opinion about music which is informed by all that, but I don’t pretend to know what is or isn’t “good” or “the best”. If you love hip-hop, you’re going to think a different album is the #1 album of the year than I am (even though I love hip-hop). If you love indie rock, same thing.
If I sat down and tried to pinpoint the one unifying factor in the music that I listen to and enjoy, it would have to be “music with a soul”. It doesn’t have to preach an ideology or start a movement, it doesn’t have to be anthemic or angelic. It simply has to get me to stop what I’m doing and go, “What in the hell is this?” When I become awestruck, the music will stay with me.
This list represents the songs released in 2008 (to the best of my knowledge) which caught me in my tracks, got me to stand up and take notice, gave me a reason to write and feel good at the end of the day that I was telling everyone a new secret or spreading the good news. I hope you’ll enjoy these as much as I have enjoyed hearing them.
1 - Voxpop - “The Boomerang Generation” (unsigned)
When this London four-piece popped this song into my inbox, I had no idea what I was getting. They sent a sweet and humble letter along with it asking me to please share with my readers. The song is dynamic in a string of ways: it’s a pop song, it’s a protest song, and it’s filled with the kind of energy I love to hear. Far and away, this is my favorite song of 2008. Let’s hope that 2009 will bring us a Voxpop album to hear & enjoy.
2 - Lil’ Wayne (produced by Bangladesh) - “A Milli”
The song is inescapable. You couldn’t get away from it most of this entire year & it took some folks a minute to get with the program. But love or hate Lil’ Wayne, this song was a cornerstone of 2008 stereos, parties, clubs, remixes, and just about everything else. Respect.
3 - MGMT - “Time to Pretend”
I am extremely proud of MGMT and happy for them — what started as an experiment in their dorm room at Wesleyan has blossomed into an anthemic world-wide phenomenon. This song was on the tips of every tongue that knew its words and could relate. This song is great because, plainly, it paints a portrait of a certain truth (to which you’re either hip or you’re not). The song’s intent, along the group themselves, seem to lack the pretension that the press wants to heap on them. I, for one, can’t wait to hear what their work with The Chemical Brothers is going to sound like.
4 - Santogold - “L.E.S. Artistes”
Santi White is an operator of the highest order: she’s the real deal, wearing every helmet she comes across with dignity and sheer style. Performer, songwriter, executive — she can do it all and do it all well. In the song “L.E.S. Artistes”, Santogold has both capitalized on and captured a portrait of a time in music and arts that has seemed fairly desperate. If ever an anthemic line was needed by those on their way to whatever success, “I can say I hope it will be worth what I give up” should be the mantra to which they adhere.
5 - Estelle (feat. kanYe West) - “American Boy”
It took me a long time to get into this record, but once it stuck with me I was sold. The maturity of Estelle’s progress as a performer and singer is impressive, her vocal prowess unmistakable. The marriage of her style with kanYe’s flows make the song as world-class as it purports to be.
6 - Lord T & Eloise (feat. 8 Ball) - “Back From the Business Trip”
If you’re from down in my neck of the woods, you know that Lord T & Eloise were everywhere this year, selling out (and overselling) venues everywhere. Word of mouth has been kind to them with good reason. Not just because I told you so (and I did tell you so), but because they gave 300% to every packed out venue they set foot in and ripped every microphone they touched. “The Industry” still haven’t figured out how to classify LT&E, but they need to stop thinking about it and just blast their jams. Aristocrunk is on the move.
7 - Aimee Mann - “Looking for Nothing”
As Aimee Mann carries on her journey as a songwriter and performer, she continues to craft elegant pop song structures around stories that evoke the wistfulness of a by-gone era with distinction. Fully modern in their presentation and execution, her 2008 release was a peerless collection of satisfying, soul-wrenching odes, perfecting a sound she has long been masterful in shaping and humbled by creating. “Looking for Nothing” represents her finest material, and one of the most perfectly-penned songs of the year.
From time to time, it seems to me that the least liked (or known) songs are often the most loved. Folk singer-songwriter Meg Hutchinson has, perhaps, suffered from a curse of virtual anonymity this year, but by no fault of her music. Some songs cannot be reviewed effectively; they can only take on meaning to the listener through time and circumstance. It is my great hope that others will come to find the deep-ceded affection that I have found for this song, an ode to appreciation for the things we all take for granted far too often.
9 - Erykah Badu - “Honey”
Erykah Badu….man man man. A soul diva and performer of the highest order, she just continues to release albums (and songs) that turn my knobs, nahh mean? Seems like on every record she releases, it’s the “bonus track” that really contains an actual bonus to it. New Amerykah Part One (4th World War) will likely be in my year’s best, and this song represents to the fullest what Ms. Badu is laying down.
10 - Portishead - “We Carry On”
I didn’t know what I was going to do when I heard a new Portishead album was on the way. With so much time gone between records, I couldn’t have imagined them being in bed with their old sound. I remember my shock as darker and moodier sounds came from my stereo; it was everything that I could have hoped for. This song was my #1 favorite from Third, an album I continue to love and be fascinated by.
The Rest Of The Best (Click Individual Songs in the Playlist to Play, or play for continuous stream in order)
11 Bon Iver - Skinny Love
12 TV on the Radio - Halfway Home
13 Raphael Saadiq - Love That Girl
14 Blitzen Trapper - Sleepytime In The Western World
15 Grace Jones - Williams Blood
16 Teenagers - Starlett Johannson
17 Al Green - You’ve Got The Love I Need (feat. Anthony Hamilton)
18 Adele - Chasing Pavements
19 Q-Tip - Manwomanboogie (feat. Amanda Diva)
20 Oasis - The Turning
21 Treasure Fingers - Cross The Dancefloor
22 Kutiman - Music Is Ruling My World
23 Smoking Popes - If You Don’t Care
24 Chad VanGaalen - Bare Feet on Wet Griptape
25 Benji Hughes - So Well
26 Friendly Fires - Paris
27 Brazilian Girls - Good Time
28 John Elliott - The Ballad of Wallace Green and his Dog
29 Bob Dylan - Dreamin’ of You
30 Department of Eagles - No One Does It Like You
31 Ssion - Street Jizz
32 The Roots - 75 Bars (Black’s Reconstruction)
33 Charles Hamilton - Brooklyn Girls
34 Sigur Ros - Gobbledygook
35 Jamie Lidell - Another Day
36 Gossip - Listen Up (Punks Jump Up Remix)
37 Of Montreal - Gallery Piece
38 Fujiya & Miyagi - Knickerbocker
39 Anthem In - Down
40 Blood Red Shoes - You Bring Me Down
41 Graham Weber - Italian Lullaby
42 Oh Snap!! - Bill Cosby Sweater (Hostage Remix)
43 Beck - Chemtrails
44 Thunderheist - Jerk It
45 T.I. - Swagga Like Us (feat. kanYe West, Jay-Z & Lil’ Wayne)
46 Coldplay - Death and all His Friends
47 Ivan Colon - Gabriel
48 Cut Copy - Far Away
49 Monsters are Waiting - Don’t Lie
50 Beach House - Gila
Once again, at long last, its time to re-evaluate the songs of The Smiths. Rhino Records is releasing a compilation entitled The Sound Of The Smiths: The Very Best o the Smiths(2 CD Deluxe Edition)
If you were born in the 1980’s, you may not remember the band known as Bomb The Bass, the sacred brain trust of revered British musician/producer/DJ Tim Simenon. Bomb The Bass has proven itself a root force in the current climate of music, one which helped usher in the modern era of DJ culture way back in 1987. Bomb The Bass’ seminal acid house track, “Beat Dis”, is an infectious blend of borrowed samples over original bass and drum creations. The success of the song was meteoric by any standard, one which sent young Tim to the top of the UK pop chart, tearing up dancefloors on both sides of the Atlantic as it lead the charge into a new phase of electronic music.
Over the years, Simenon has released only a handful of his own recordings, taking time to start a record label and produce recordings for others, never losing the carte blanche he has established for himself in the industry. With 2008’s Future Chaos, he emulates his own trusted collaborative formula by teaming up with Mark Lanegan, Fujiya & Miyagi, Richard Thair and Jakeone (of Toob) and Paul Conboy. The eminent departures and contrasting soundscapes on Future Chaos are future forward, barely resembling his previous outings, taking his music into stark new directions. These nine songs are both roundly precocious in their adventurousness and markedly mature in their texture. We’re so glad to know he’s still about.
Bomb The Bass - So Special (Radio Edit)
PURCHASE: Future Chaos via Amazon.Com
photo credit: dongraftI’ve been bragging about the new Oasis album Dig Out Your Soul
(Ed. Note: I’m reposting this with updated information, so if it looks like you’ve read this, you have — but now you can go buy the record)
I’m so sick and tired of all the bullshit, aren’t you?
I am so tired of being force-fed the idea that clowning on a style that you used to do is supposed to be clever and cool. Weezer’s completely over-hyped and under-delivering 2008 release, aka the Red Album, is getting one mention in this column and one only: every time you see another article hyping Weezer, remember that there’s a conspiracy out there of people trying to steal a piece of your soul. With all due deference to Weezer (a band whom I have loved and admired for many years), the new record just didn’t cut it, boys. I know that next great Weezer record will be here someday.
But today is not your day.
Meanwhile, only through some modern miracle did the byline of a reformed Smoking Popes happen my way this morning along with a copy of their new album, entitled Stay Down. Now, you know something? I have always liked Smoking Popes & I’ve always felt like they were treated like redheaded stepchildren to Rivers & Co., turning out a series of records and touring incessantly, putting on energetic live shows that were consistent. Smoking Popes have finally made the jump to legendary status, and you should sit up and take notice. More after the jump.
I don’t have a lot of time this morning to give it a proper overview, but I can honestly say this: if for many a year it has seemed to you (as it has to me) like Liam and Noel have been on about nothing when calling themselves “geniuses” or “brilliant”, their luck has turned (and thankfully, so has ours). Dig Out Your Soul is by far the finest new recording by Oasis in over a decade. I have enjoyed listening to it repeatedly over the last few days & plan to spend time telling you more about it when I get to a slow-down point.
All I can say is this: with a new recording this exceptional, I think Liam & Noel may have jumped the proverbial shark on disavowing the Radiohead model. This album would have sold millions in presales from fans who, upon hearing this, would immediately recognize the lost & found sounds. Don’t steal the album, you prat! Go purchase it when it comes available. I’ll tell you more when I know more. Also, forgive my hubris as a writer: I’m calling this a comeback.
Carry on.
I just haven’t been updating lately and I don’t know why. I am listless and bored with everything (not to mention being deep in the struggle), I found myself sleeping less and writing more. Just not here. It’s the mid-summer lull before the cool of autumn prevails. I’m an autumn baby, you see, so we suddenly bloom when the leaves are turning their cool oranges and muted browns and such.
Anyways, in my sullied state, I’ve found myself returning over and over to this song all week. Inspired by a request from I’m Waking Up To…” (asking what folks wake up to in the morning), I’ve decided to let the cat out of the bag about the one track that does it for me first thing in the morning. It feels empowering and essential, like the sun itself. Over time, I’ve tried the Rotary Connection’s original version, then that of the late Minnie Riperton. As lovely as each was, it did not hold the same power for me as this version, performed by Nuyorican Soul and deeply remixed by the unmistakable loving and powerful genius of London’s 4hero. At times, I find it so beautiful I’m brought to tears. The remix’s broken beat symphony is everything I need to start my day. Maybe you’ll think so, too.
Nuyorican Soul - I Am The Black Gold of the Sun (4hero Remix)
This track is available on 4hero’s very hard to find The Remix Album, Vol. 1 from Amazon.Com.
As we mentioned back in early April, Los Angeles-based Aimee Mann has a new record worth checking out. The opening haunts of bass and tambourine on “Freeway”, the opening track on Aimee Mann’s @#%&*! Smilers have a familiarity to it that quickly pave the way for a series of welcoming new songs. After taking adventurous offshoots with the concept album The Forgotten Arm and her Christmas album, Mann has turned back to the simple introspection borne of her signature tunes. The results are magnificent: soul-searching revelations in short form that are as instantly inviting as they are memorable.
The album hearkens ghosts of 70’s soft-rock genius, peppering the landscapes of each song with Fender Rhodes keyboards, tiny drums and layered, angelic harmonies. Mann’s lyrical prowess, while depth-laden, is never too calculating or too high-brow, always giving the listener a completely relate-able glimpse into the lovelorn meanderings and life machinations of the characters her songs present. @#%&*! Smilers is an exceptional disc from beginning to end with something to entice long-time fans and new.
You can purchase @#%&*! Smilers from from Amazon [mp3|cd] by clicking here.
Back before samples had to be wait eons to be cleared, back in a day when uptown hip hop crews and downtown punks were checking out each other’s shows trying to learn a thing or two, there lived Steven Stein and Doug DiFranco — two pioneers whose adventures would transform them into the hip-hop superheroes known as Steinski and Double Dee.
Rabid music fans and hip-hop enthusiasts with day jobs on the edges of the biz, they got their “big break” in 1983 by winning a Tommy Boy Records remix contest for Play That Beat, Mr. D.J. by G.L.O.B.E. and Whiz Kid. The remix has come to be known in the annals of hip-hop as “Lesson 1 - The Payoff Mix” — an incomprehensible sampladelic jam of breaks from funk and disco records that reads (just as the name suggests) like a time capsulized history lesson. It was from works like these that, much like the graffiti kids tagging stray subway trains with spray paint cans, a cult of “illegal art” in music was born. More music and full review after the jump.
