2011: It's Over!

Yes, another year draws to a close. Not the most active or exciting on my iPod, I must say, but plenty of great records came out. In lieu of a long-winded year in review thing no one would really care about, I've decided to just list my favorite albums, roughly in order, and I made a Spotify playlist featuring as many of them as the service provided. Sadly, that meant a lot of great mixtapes and some surprising commercial releases couldn't be represented (You gotta get No Kings by Doomtree. It's not on the playlist, but trust me, it should be), but I worked with what I had. Anyway, here's the list:

Royal Bangs, Flux Outside

Thao & Mirah, Thao & Mirah

St. Vincent, Strange Mercy

TV on the Radio, Nine Types of Light

Mastodon, The Hunter

Doomtree, No Kings

Wild Flag, Wild Flag

Talib Kweli, Gutter Rainbows

Hail Mary Mallon, Are You Gonna Eat That?

Electric Six, Heartbeats And Brainwaves

Pharoahe Monch, WAR

The Kills, Blood Pressures

Opeth, Heritage

Das Racist, Relax

Sims, Bad Time Zoo

TesseracT, One

Raekwon, Shaolin Vs. Wu-Tang

Surfer Blood, Tarot Classics

Protest the Hero, Scurrilous

East of the Wall, The Apologist

Jean Grae, Cookies Or Comas mixtape

Booker T., The Road From Memphis
Okkervil River, I Am Very Far 

Mike Doughty, Yes And Also Yes

Tom Waits, Bad As Me

Betty Wright & The Roots, Betty Wright: The Movie

Dessa, Castor, The Twin

Zola Jesus, Conatus

The Roots, Undun

The Cool Kids, When Fish Ride Bicycles

Atmosphere, The Family Sign

Des Ark, Don't Rock The Boat, Sink the Fucker!

Those Darlins, Screws Get Loose

G. Love, Fixin' To Die

Slaughterhouse, Slaughterhouse EP

In Flames, Sounds of A Playground Fading

9th Wonder, The Wonder Years

Glassjaw, Our Color Green: The Singles

Lushlife, No More Golden Days mixtape

††† (Crosses), EP†

Beastie Boys, Hot Sauce Committee, Part 2

Laws & Paul McCartney, Yesterday's Future mixtape

Joell Ortiz, Free Agent

Kassa Overall, The Stargate Mixtape

Kittie, I've Failed You

Money Making Jam Boys, The Prestige mixtape

GAYNGS, AFFILYATED

Warm Brew, Warm Brew EP

Party Animal, You Can't Win EP

Amon Amarth, Surtur Rising

Idle Warship, Habits of the Heart
Los Campesinos!, Hello, Sadness

Of Montreal, The Controllersphere  EP
dredg, Chuckles & Mr. Squeezy
The Lonely Island, Turtleneck & Chain 

Lakutis, I'm In The Forest EP

TECLA, Thank$giving

Amanda Diva, Madame Monochrome 

Tapes N' Tapes, Outside

PJ Harvey, Let England Shake  

...And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead, Tao of the Dead

J. Period, John Legend & The Roots, Wake Up Radio! mixtape
Pucifer, Conditions of My Parole
Andrew WK, Party All Goddamn Night EP
Sir Michael Rocks, The Rocks Report mixtape

Wugazi, 13 Chambers mixtape

Trophy Scars, Never Born, Never Dead
Kool AD, Hyphy Ballads EP

Sims & Laserbeak, Wild Life EP

Tori Amos, Night of Hunters

Tegan & Sara, Get Along

Chip Tha Ripper & Chuck Inglish, Gift Raps mixtape
Smoking Popes, This Is Only A Test
King, The Story EP

Skyzoo, The Great Debater mixtape

Rapsody, Thank H.E.R. mixtape

Truck North, Quicktape 

Actual Proof, The Talented Tenth mixtape

Sha Stimuli, The Break Up 2: The Proposal mixtape

Big Baby Ghandi, Big Fucking Baby mixtape

And here's the playlist:

2011: It Happened

Good-Bye, 2011. Happy 2012, everybody! Hope you have a good year.

Yup.
--D

12/12 - 12/16:

Andrew WK, I Get Wet 


When Andrew WK first hit the scene, at the tail end of the last era of music where some one as weird as him had the slightest chance of getting on radio & TV, I don’t think most people knew what to make of him. I sure didn’t. I went from thinking he was dead serious and hating him to thinking he was dead serious and thinking he was hilarious to not really knowing how serious he was and loving him. As he’s refined her persona as some kind of party messiah, trying to bring his message of happiness, personal fulfillment and, above all, partying to every person on the planet, as truly insane conspiracy theories about him have cropped up, as his music has strayed further and further from the sort of “party metal” on this album, as he’s become a successful club owner and children’s TV personality, I’ve been fascinated. But there’s still a certain charm and appeal to the extremely simple, blunt, no frills party attack on I Get Wet. A fast paced, bludgeoning wall of sound somehow turned into fun time music, some of the most bizarre lyrics I’ve ever heard, and the party theme make for an unlikely mixture, but it’s still pretty fun to listen to. 


Andrew WK, “She Is Beautiful” 


 Glassjaw, Our Color Green: The Singles 


 Glassjaw hasn’t released an album since 2004. In that time, the band was on “hiatus,” the few times they gathered, a lot of members were missing or shuffled. Daryl concentrated on Head Automatica and many other projects, Beck focused on his music merch store and other projects, and everyone else seemed to quietly go do something else. But then, in 2010, they randomly reappeared, toured, and released a handful of extremely limited singles, collected here. The material, which is said to be several years old, is significantly heavier than 2004’s Worship & Tribute. Maybe heavier than anything they ever did. But it still sounds like Glassjaw, their own unique spin on emotionally charged heavy music. I didn’t realize just how much I missed Glassjaw until I got some new songs to listen to. I hope it’s not too long before they release something new. 


Glassjaw, “All Good Junkies Go To Heaven” 


Lakutis, I'm In The Forest EP 


Lakutis, Das Racist’s associate who had a few scene-stealing verses in songs like “Amazing” and “Swate,” makes his solo debut with this free EP. The production, much of it by other DR associate Big Baby Gandhi, is frenetic and paranoid, and perfectly suited to Lakutis’ manic delivery. With rap catchphrases like “I’m a death shark,” “Oops,” and “I’m dead,” Lakutis is pretty out of the ordinary, but who else is going to clue you into the Seven Spiders of Hip Hop? Face it: you need Lakutis in your life. Get the EP here. 


Lakutis, “Death Shark” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-WU4l3XqaE 


TECLA, Thank$giving 


Speaking of Das Racist affiliates, TECLA also recently put out a free project, and its definitely worth your time. She shares the tracks with Kassa Overall, Das Racist, Lakutis and others, ping ponging back and forth between serious songs about her life, sexual identity and family and bizarre material like a song in which Kassa Overall and Iron Solomon get in an insult contest and a song based on “Rhythm is a Dancer.” Production and samples vary dramatically, keeping you on your toes. I think my favorite was “Al Green Type Love,” constructed from pieces of several Green classics and featuring TECLA singing part of Biz Markie’s “Just A Friend.” It’s a really unpredictable, enjoyable listen, and it’s free! I couldn’t find a video for this. 


 Soul Coughing, Ruby Vhroom 


 Soul Coughing is conflicting these days. I love Soul Coughing. Have since the first time I heard them. When they broke up, I dutifully followed Mike Doughty into an ever-evolving solo career (See reviews of some of his solo records elsewhere on this blog). His solo material is pretty different, but I feel great affection for both. So it was with some shock and confusion that I read about what a miserable nightmare being in Soul Coughing was for Doughty, in an interview in the back of an issue of Casanova, of all places (An excellent, excellent comic book by Matt Fraction, Gabriel Ba & Fabio Moon!). As a big fan and supporter of Doughty’s, now I have trouble listening to the old Soul Coughing material without feeling kind of bad... but... I still really like it. Ruby Vhroom was the group’s first album, and a great debut. It had a quirky atmosphere, a lot of variety, and a pretty unique sound. I still get a lot of out it. But... now with a tinge of discomfort. Awkward. 


Soul Coughing, “Screenwriter’s Blues” 


The Roots, Undun 


 Ah, The Roots. Never made a bad album. Have been on an unbelievable winning streak since 2006, making four of their finest albums in a row, in addition to great albums supporting John Legend and Betty White. Undun is a powerful concept album about a young man’s entrance into and violent exit from a life of crime. It’s a new level of lush production for the band, and it holds together beautifully even though the story is told out of sequence. It’s vague enough to let some listeners just put it on, but deep enough to let others really examine it. Appearances by such guests as Phonte, Bilal, Truck North, Porn and indispensable unofficial Root Dice Raw are put to great use, enhancing the feel of the record rather than playing characters or anything like that. It’s another masterpiece in an increasingly surprising string of masterpieces. No one is this good this consistently. But yo. I have to be honest. The Roots are really starting to bum me out. When I got into the game, taking my late pass with my copy of Things Fall Apart, they were a very different group. I went back and bought the whole back catalog (Even Organix), and found that they did a great job of mixing serious and fun music into their albums. But, while their dedication to and mastery of the craft has only improved since then, they’ve made only a handful of fun songs in the last five years. Specifically, “Here I Come” from Game Theory, “75 Bars” and “Rising Up” from Rising Down, “How I Got Over,” “Web 20/20” and “Hustla” from How I Got Over, and, I guess, “Kool On” from Undun. When Game Theory came out, with its intentionally oppressive atmosphere and political and social commentary, I was blown away by it. I have continued to find each album to be a masterful collection of songs. But the light has almost gone out of them. Roots albums tend to be really heavy affairs these days, and I must confess, I kinda miss the old days of “Rock You,” “Dynamite!” or even “Datskat!!!” Cheer up, Roots. Please? 


The Roots, “Make My”  


 Yup.
--D

11/28 – 12/02:

Betty Wright & The Roots, Betty Wright: The Movie 


 You really have to hand it to the Roots. Between their group work and Questlove’s pursuits outside the group, it feels like they’ve had a huge impact on music in the last decade especially, from Questlove’s involvement with Chappelle’s Show to their appearance as Jay-Z’s Mtv Unplugged band, to Questlove’s production of other artists to their album with John Legend to their key contributions to a long and diverse list of events, they seem to be everywhere. But even so, this album is pretty surprising. Betty Wright hasn’t released an album in 10 years, for one thing. But she did put out a single last year, and she lost a Grammy to The Roots & John Legend. And, oddly enough, their meeting that night lead to some performances and that lead to this record. Wright hasn’t lost a step, either. Betty Wright: The Movie is a worthy successor to her legendary, often-sampled ‘70s material, with the Roots creating a sound for her that is timeless and timely all at once. Other admirers like Snoop Dogg, Lil’ Wayne and Wright protege Joss Stone make solid contributions, as well. But the focus is squarely on Wright. Her still-powerful voice, the variety of subjects she takes on in her songs, and her conviction in singing them. Whether upbeat or somber, a perfect love song or a warning about domestic violence (A live version of the above-mentioned 2010 single “Go” on that touchy subject is included on some versions of this album), Betty Wright sounds as great as ever. I had no idea this was even coming out, but bought it without even listening to it when I saw it. I was not disappointed. 


 Betty Wright & The Roots, “In the Middle of the Game” 


 Childish Gambino, Camp 


 I was never wowed by Donald Glover’s hip hop music, and it bummed me out. I’ve been a fan since some one showed me the Derrick Comedy sketch “Girls Are Not To Be Trusted” several years ago, and have been excited to watch him go on to more and more success. I enjoy his work as an actor, writer and comedian, but when it came to music, it wasn’t working for me. Even in a genre almost defined by bragging, his lyrics seemed entirely too proud of themselves. Like even he couldn’t believe how clever his rhymes were. And those rhymes were, generally, either about buying sweaters, how everyone wishes they were him, or how his life sucks and he wants to die. There was no consistency, no authorial voice, and no topics I particularly cared to hear about. And to top it all off, he rapped in this high-pitched nasal whine that sounded like a petulant toddler. I tried to like him, but I couldn’t. 


 So when the homie Chris Coleman told me to give Camp a try, I did it to be nice. And I was stunned by it. The last thing I gave a shot was the Culdesac album. Maybe the change on Camp is less jarring if you’ve been keeping up with his subsequent releases, but wow. His voice is almost completely different. The “look-how-clever-I-am” smugness is gone, even when he’s doing typical rap bragging. And some of the songs get pretty deep, dealing with issues of racial identity and social isolation, but with nothing of the weird “I hate myself and I want to die” hysterics that turned up on Culdesac. These things are approached thoughtfully and honestly, and make for damn good listening. I mean, there’s songs about ho’s and gettin’ money and stuff, too, but more often than not, the lyrics are very engaging. And the production, which Glover is also heavily invovled in, is top-notch, fresh and engaging. This is a completely different artist from the last time I heard Childish Gambino, and I’m glad to hear it. 


Donald Glover got the name “Childish Gambino” from one of those Wu-Tang Name Generators that were floating around the internet a decade ago. I got “Bastard Bastard Harbour Master.” Even when it comes to random Wu-Tang names, Donald Glover is doing better than me. 


 Childish Gambino, “Bonfire” 


Los Campesinos!, Hello Sadness 


 Los Campesinos! are back, and more grown up than ever. On their 4th full-length (Although, for some reason, they don’t count We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed, so they say 3rd), a lot has changed. 3 members of the 7-person group have left and been replaced, including semi-co-lead-vocalist/keyboardist Aleks, replaced by other lead vocalist Gareth’s sister, Kim (Kinda awkward for some of their material, I’d assume). But personnel changes aren’t all. Gareth’s singing suddenly sounds a lot more confident and practiced. Whereas previous material was delivered with a snotty snarl connecting them to a long history of British punk music, Gareth sounds like he’s grown up some, vocally. And for the most part, so does every other aspect of the band. The lyrics are less likely to be snarky one-liners and seem more raw and honest, and the music follows suit. The youthful bombast, the speed, the chanted backing vocals seem to have all quietly bowed out of the band’s sound. It is overall a much more somber affair, even on songs that aren’t sad. Which, I guess, is right in the title, but still a pretty jarring set of changes from all previous material. But, it still works. Even at their loudest and most sarcastic, the band always had a heart-on-their-sleeve openness that endeared them to the listener, and with a somewhat more mature approach, that connection becomes stronger. It leaves me wondering where they’re headed in the future. But I think it’s safe to say Los Campesinos! may not be a band that requires an exclamation point anymore. 


 Los Campesinos!, “By Your Hand”


Soundgarden, Badmotorfinger 


 There was a time, a time called middle school, where this album was entirely beyond me. I’d heard “Blackhole Sun” 4000000 times like everyone else, and enjoyed Superunknown, and in typical me fashion, went looking for more albums. And I had no idea what to do with this. I hadn’t really cultivated a taste for anything too heavy metal, and this was so far removed from the standard grunge fare of Superunknown that it totally broadsided me. In retorspect, what a strange transformation that must have been for existing fans. And in the present, with a much, much (much!) broader musical palate, I think this is my favorite Soundgarden album. But it took awhile to get there.


Soundgarden, “Rusty Cage” 


 Art Brut, Bang Bang Rock & Roll 


I will confess I’ve had diminishing returns on each subsequent Art Brut album. Some bands’ initial appeal is their wildness. The music is brash, raw, sloppy, and all the better for it. And no matter what, there’s no way they could realistically keep that up. Deftones and Yeah Yeah Yeahs are probably some of the best examples in my library, but Art Brut is definitely up there.I’ve enjoyed further releases and all, but the unpredictable, crazed, hilarious sound on Bang Bang Rock & Roll is exactly the kind of music that can’t stay the same. In terms of maturity, skill, production preferences, and just the artistic need to grow, no band is going to stay in a place where they can make songs like “Formed A Band,” “My Little Brother,” “Good Weekend” and “Modern Art” for long. But that special place early on where a band can just go for broke produces some of my favorite music. 


Art Brut, “Modern Art” 


Bob Dylan, Blonde On Blonde 


 The monolith. The one most people will say is his masterpiece. The epic double album that once and for all severed his ties with his past, the peak of a truly stunning 5-year artistic progression, some of the weirdest, densest popular music ever recorded at the time, and even putting all that aside, just a great collection of songs. 


I have come to realize over the years that, if I think something that isn’t necessarily meant to be funny is, indeed, funny when I’m first exposed to it, I will eventually come to genuinely love it. Dylan might be the earliest example I can think of, but there’s also Andrew WK, most genres of metal, a mid-life re-evaluation of Billy Ocean, and several other examples in my musical development. When I was but a lad, no later than 7th grade, my friend’s Dad got randomly hooked on the song “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door.” Even then, I had developed a reputation as  music-obsessed, so I was asked where he could find a good version of that song, but I was like 13, what did I know about “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door?” He eventually purchased the 1989 live album Dylan & The Dead. This... was a mistake. Such a mistake that he didn’t know what to make of it. But they played the album for me, and I cackled like a madman. This was Dylan at his most-parodied. The impression people do of Bob Dylan is generally how he sounded in the 80s. Especially nasal, nearly incomprehensible shouting, and nowhere in his 50 year career did he sound more like some one doing a bad impression of himself than this live album. I couldn’t for the life of me tell you what he was saying in basically any of these performances of some of his most famous pieces, but I thought it was hysterical. I dubbed a copy of the CD, even (OMG piracy!). Bob Dylan = funny. Filed that away, went on with my life. 


I was a freshman in college before I thought of Bob again. I was making the long drive to my comic shop and Blonde On Blonde’s “Stuck Inside of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again” came on the radio. I thought of Dylan & The Dead, and I laughed, and I kind of heard it as the parody Dylan voice instead of actually listening to it. But it’s a really long song, and as it kept going, and I stopped laughing at my memories and started really listening to it, I became more and more intrigued. Generally speaking, when we get to this part of a story, I’m about to become obsessed. By the end of the night, I’d researched his entire discography on the still fledgling late-90s internet and decided I should start with Blonde On Blonde. Within a few months, I’d own the vast majority of his recorded work, and be a true believin’ convert. In the coming years, I’d eagerly snap up each new record, see him in concert in 2002 (Shouts to Maile for front-row tickets!), buy his book, buy books about him, watch the Scorsese documentary etc, etc, etc. I became a dyed in the wool Dylan fanatic. But none of that probably would’ve happened if I didn’t spend a few hours laughing uncontrollably at Dylan & The Dead as a kid. It’s a funny ol’ world. 


 Bob Dylan, “Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again” 


Yup. 


--D

11/21 – 11/25:

Das Racist, Shut Up, Dude

 The first DR mixtape still has some of my favorite songs on it, but over all, it’s truly impressive to me how quickly they evolved and improved. The strength of this body of work was a pleasant surprise after the goofiness of “Combination Pizza Hut And Taco Bell,” but like most mixtapes, it ran a little long, and the stuff they’ve done since has only gotten stronger. Still, though, “Who’s That Brown?” “Chicken & Meat,” “Rainbow in the Dark,” their take on the beat to the Ghostface classic “Nutmeg,” there’s great stuff on here.

 Das Racist, “Rainbow In The Dark”

 Royal Bangs, Flux Outside

 Royal Bangs offer up a 3rd helping of electrifying, hard-to-categorize music on Flux Outside, their 3rd record. The band has really found their sound by now, and while I have trouble describing exactly what that is, I can't get enough of it. One of my favorite albums of 2011, no question.

 Royal Bangs, “Back Then It Was Different”

 Fiona Apple, When The Pawn...

Still my favorite of her albums. This is another one that seemed to constantly be on in some one’s apartment or car for months. More coherent than her first (and, sadly, 3rd) album, moody but not too moody, it makes a good soundtrack for a surprising number of situations.

 Fiona Apple, “Fast As You Can”

 Thao & Mirah, Thao & Mirah

 From the first listen, this was in contention for my album of the year. Folk singers Thao & Mirah bring their very different approaches to a true collaboration, each bringing 5 songs to the table and working with the other to push them in directions they wouldn’t choose on their own. They are aided and abetted by Merril Garbus of the frustratingly-named tUnE-yArDs (Welcome to the internet circa 1999) as producer, who wrote album opener “Eleven” to finish the recording session. This is deeply infectuous music, bringing the skittery, energetic sound of Thao and the dreamy, intimate music of Mirah together together in an unlikely but engrossing set of songs (Garbus’ influence on the sound and in the percussion is so prevalent, powerful and welcome that the record should probably have been called Thao & Mirah & Merril.) Every track is a winner. Can’t recommend this album enough.

 Thao & Mirah, “Teeth”

 Hail Mary Mallon, Are You Gonna Eat That?

 Hail Mary Mallon is Aesop Rock, Rob Sonic and DJ Big Wiz. This is quite a record. Aes and Rob trade typically complex, engaging verses over some unique and inventive production. The three seem to inspire each other to keep upping the ante, and the album crackles with energy throughout.

 Hail Mary Mallon, “Breakdance Beach”

 TV on the Radio, Nine Type Of Light

Nine Types of Light continues TVOTR’s fascinating, rewarding evolution. After revealing a new level of complexity and emotional resonance their (quite good) previous material didn’t even hint at on Return To Cookie Mountain, they made about as close to a straight up rock record as their sound will allow with Dear Science, and now Nine Types of Light sort of synthesizes all of those experiences. By turns fragile, haunting, defiant and energetic, Nine Types of Light is a broader album, seemingly less focused on a cohesive atmosphere or mission statement and more on just recording great songs. The sequencing makes the album something of an emotional rollercoaster, giving you pensive, introspective music before hitting you with a banger or two and then receding into the ether again. It’s another homerun from one of the most reliable bands of the 21st century.

 TV On the Radio, “No Future Shock”

Yup.
--D