01/30 – 02/03:

Giant Drag, Hearts & Unicorns

I don’t know much about Giant Drag. I know they made a really fun record of the kind you know they’ll never duplicate. Some albums are very much a snapshot of a band at the time it was made. Furthermore, some are a snapshot of a young, sloppy, devil-may-care band making music for themselves, and the results of that can be magical... but you also know that they’ll mature, they’ll become better musicians, they’ll have bad times, and they will never make anything like that record again. Yeah Yeah Yeahs and The Deftones spring to mind as examples. It’s not that their ensuing work was bad, it’s just that there was a particular kind of energy and an excitement in the beginning that simply cannot be sustained. Hearts & Unicorns is that kind of album. Unapologetically wacky, but also serious. It’s a good time.

Giant Drag, “Kevin Is Gay”

Idle Warship, Habits of the Heart

Habits of the Heart is the first official album by Idle Warship. Talib Kweli and Res have been Idle Warship for many years, touring, releasing a song here and there online, but never managing to release an album. In 2009 they got a full mixtape out, and in 2011, finally, a proper album. A lot of hip hop team-ups these days just sound like the artists heard the music, wrote some lyrics, and some one put their vocals over the music. So true collaborations like this, where the players interact, riff off each other, play characters together in the songs, and basically justify their pairing is rare and rewarding. The production is varied and adventurous. A handful of friends stop by to contribute (Including the always delightful Jean Grae). And Talib & Res do what they do best, together. It’s a great listen.

Idle Warship, “Laser Beams”

Mos Def, The Ecstatic

The Mighty Mos Def lived up to that name on The Ecstatic, an energized, engaging collection of songs. After the spectacular Blackstar album with Talib Kweli and the very good solo debut Black On Both Sides, Mos seemed to lose interest in rap. His second album was the billionth experiment in rap-rock that didn’t really pay off in the early 2000s. His 3rd album was a complete mess that neither he nor his record label supported. And during all that, he got much more into acting. I more or less thought it was over. So then The Ecstatic comes around and bowls me over. Mos sounds really passionate again, the mumbling delivery he adopted on his recent work disappeared. He was clearly fired up and ready to work again. The spirit (and voice and music) of Fela Kuti is all over this album, especially the undeniable groove of “Quiet Dog.” But for me, the highlight is the stunning “Casa Bey,” wherein Mos lets fly with some extremely complex lyrical timing over long samples of Banda Black Rio’s lively “Casa Forte.” Mos apparently liked the song a lot, too, having since taken the new stage name Yasiin Bey. This record completely restored my faith in Yasiin, and I cannot wait to hear the new Black Star album.

Mos Def, “Casa Bey”

Sleater-Kinney, Sleater-Kinney

The first Sleater-Kinney album and the last one have very little in common. Most bands that started out in some version of the hardcore movement (For S-K, the “Riot Grrrrl” branch) and managed to stay together for more than a couple of years underwent a pretty dramatic change. A lot of them went metal (and even hair metal). Black Flag infamously started making music intentionally trying to upset their fans. Sleater-Kinney slowly transformed into a fine sort of power pop band. I think most people with a passing familiarity with them wouldn’t even associate them with the kind of jagged, raw aggression on their self-titled album. But yo, it’s pretty great if you’re into that sort of thing. I am a fan of all the phases of the band’s career, but the pure energy and sloppy can-do attitude of this album is right up my alley.

Sleater-Kinney, “The Day I Went Away”

Surfer Blood, Tarot Classics EP

This one caught me off guard. I liked Surfer Blood’s debut album well enough. In this weird lo fi, surf rock kind of thing going on, they were least likely to ruin it with a bunch of fake lo fi distortion and nonsense. But this? This little EP just bowled me over. Super catchy, perfect songs, great playing, everything clicks. Left me wishing it was longer. It’s not revolutionary or life changing or any such lofty thing, it’s just really enjoyable music. That’s more than enough for me.

Surfer Blood, “Miranda”

There you go.

--D

01/23 – 01/27:

Ava Luna, Services/3rd Avenue Island

In 2010, Ava Luna released a 4-track EP called Services that I fell in love with. In 2011, Services got combined with 8 new songs and released as this. It’s a frustrating experience. I expect a band to grow and change. I have no interest in seeing a group do the same song over and over like Nickelback. And Ava Luna did seem to be wearing their influences on their sleeve on Services, instantly bringing to mind thoughts of The Dirty Projectors and TV On the Radio, among others. But the material on 3rd Avenue Island is such a stark contrast to the older songs that putting them together seems like a disservice to both. The transition from the dreamy, romantic material of Services to the more harsh, avant garde-sounding 3rd Avenue Island is awkward, to say the least. The stylistic progression would still be jarring regardless, but to try to make the two very different bodies of work a single statement was a mistake.

The 3rd Avenue Island material is indeed a huge shift in tone. It’s more dissonant, more ambiguous. It begins with what could only be called an outburst of sound, really in “We Were Young,” and goes on to try out all sorts of new sounds that leave the simple, seductive Services in the past. The biggest problem with the new material is the number thing. Services ended with a playful little song called “Eight Nine (Won’t You Be Mine?).” The song sounded almost like a playground rhyme invented for jumprope. It was fun and cute. 3rd Avenue Island turns that into a motif, adding “Six Seven (I Want To Hide Away),” "Four Five (I Will Survive),” and “(Do Me No Wrong) While I Am Gone” (which doesn’t have 1-2-3 in the title, but features them prominently in the lyrics) in that order. And the concept, whatever it is, doesn’t seem to connect the songs in any way except repeating the numbers in question, and seems to become more labored with each track.The non-stop repetition of “four-five, four-five” in that track’s backing vocals makes it hands down the least enjoyable track on the record, in fact. But more than that, it’s not even a rhyme scheme in the other songs like it was in the original, and most of the new songs in the set are pretty discordant and dark they have nothing to do with the first one. This gimmick went a long way to hurting my enjoyment of the record on repeat listens. I hate to come down so hard on it. I do like the new songs in spots, even the number songs. Ava Luna has a new album coming soon, and its lead single is wonderful, and I hope it will be more satisfying.

Ava Luna, “Clips”

Kool AD, The Palm Wine Drinkard mixtape

Oh, man, two downer reviews in a row. I’m pretty good at picking albums I’ll like before I buy/download/whatever them, and I’m pretty good at just not listening to the few things I don’t end up liking. But this was on while I worked... It’s your boy, Kool AD from Das Racist, and he’s back with a mixtape of... weird... spare stuff, apparently. Victor seems the more gifted rapper in Das Racist, and has some truly great verses to prove it. But you wouldn’t know it from listening to The Palm Wine Drinkard, a random assortment of weird mash-ups, repeated mantras and intrumentals that borrows its name from an acclaimed Nigerian novel. There’s not an actual verse of new lyrics on the whole thing. It begins with the intrumental to Outkast’s “Spottiottidopalicious” with various movie clips played over it before moving into songs where he just repeats a catcphrase or two over and over, prototypical early versions of Das Racist songs “Booty In The Air” and “You Can Sell Anything” with all the verses (And Heems) missing, two random cuts from his previous project, Boy Crisis, and some instrumentals he made. Nonsense is a big part of Das Racist’s appeal. That they can be completely absurd and smart at the same time. The smart part doesn’t really show up on this, though. It’s not entirely without merit. The Boy Crisis songs are both good, and “Fun” and “Flyin Through The Air Inna Air Plane” are pretty funny, if still very slight. But when you consider all his great music over the last few years, and that less than a week after this came out, Vic released a completely insane, nearly 10-minute tour de force called “Dum Diary” on youtube... you really have to wonder what he was thinking with this. I'd provide you a link to download it, but it was on Megaupload, and the Feds hamfistedly brought them down last week, so I can't. Meanwhile, I’m just going to link “Dum Diary,” because it’s awesome.

Kool AD, “Dum Diary”

Raekwon, Unexpected Victory

Released on January 1 just like The Palm Wine Drinkard, Rae gets the new year started off right. Unexpected Victory kicks off with some huge, dramatic production, but it meanders through more traditional Wu-style darkness, some stripped down raw beats, and a variety of other approaches as Rae and a list of guest stars do what they do best. Rae seems to be using this tape as a vehicle to promote Toronto rapper JD Era, recently signed to Rae’s Ice H20 label, as Era gets plenty of time on 5 tracks. He also shines a spotlight on newcomer Altrina Renae, and shares songs with stalwarts like CL Smooth, Styles P, and Busta Rhymes, among others. Raekwon himself is in fine form, consistently delivering the gritty storytelling fans demand of him. Raekwon mixtapes can sometimes be much more casual affairs than his official albums, but this one’s epic feel goes against that trend.Grab it here and check it out!

Raekwon with JD Era, “Just A Toast”

Amon Amarth, Surtur Rising

The latest fine offering of Norse myth-infused metal from the Norwegian heavyweights. This album is a natural progression from previous record Twilight Of the Thunder God in both style and subject matter. To my ear, they've been becoming more accessible recently, or as accessible as you can be in the mythological death metal biz, anyway, but unlike some people, I wouldn't call that a bad thing.

Amon Amarth, “War Of The Gods”

There you go.

--D

01/16 – 01/20:

Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, Soul Time!

Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings with the 11th hour jolt to my 2011 playlist! It’s rare for a good album to come out in the last few weeks of the year. It is traditionally seen as a time when labels dump product they know no one will buy. So I have no idea why the amazing sort-of-4th album by Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings came out at the tail end of 2011, but it was a fine Christmas gift for us. Comprised of mostly unreleased songs from the group’s live Soul Revue, Soul Time! is a funky powerhouse from the dependable soul music traditionalists. While previous album I Learned the Hard Way pulled slightly away from their winning mix of funky influences and into a more traditional R&B direction (Which still sounded like nothing else in modern soul music), this release brings the heat back in a big way, as Jones and her band burn their way through twelve funk workouts that would make James Brown proud. You can’t lose with this one.

Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, “What If We All Stopped Paying Taxes?”

Tegan & Sara, The Con Demos

Another late entry into the 2011 music world, this album is just what it says. T&S had been offering this material at their live shows for some time, but for those of us unlucky enough to miss them on their last tour, it got an official wide release near the close of the year. It’s a fascinating collection. Some of the songs are fully formed even in their demo phase, sounding more or less as they did on the final album, while others are dramatically different in these early versions. It’s every song that made the album in the same sequence, so you can compare and contrast as much as you like. It’s a cool peak behind the curtain.

Tegan & Sara, “The Con (Demo)”

Clutch, Robot Hive/Exodus

The 2nd part of a mini-renaissance for Clutch, Robot Hive formalized the inclusion of a generous portion of blues into the band’s established heavy groove sound. Coming only a year after the spectacular Blast Tyrant, if anything, Robot Hive trumps it in so many ways. Both albums present a Clutch that seems more fired up and excited than they had in some time, but Robot Hive also finds them at their most adventurous, trying all sorts of stylistic experiments and succeeding every time. From the 70s rock influence in “The Incomparable Mr. Flannery” to the strange sideshow sound of “Circus Maximus” to the truly magnificent “Gravel Road,” which morphs from straight up blues song to raging Clutch perfection, they do it all here. I don’t think they have a more varied and surprising album in their catalog, and that makes it one of the most rewarding.

Clutch, “Gravel Road”

Jean Grae, This Week

Jean’s release of the new single “U+Me+Everyone We Know” prompted me to put this on. While she’s been making a lot of waves in the last couple of years with killer punchlines, battle raps and her singular personality, “U+Me” recalls the sometimes more introspective, serious Jean of This Week. There’s still plenty of braggadocio and humor on This Week, but as a loose concept album portraying a week in her life, the lyrics cover basically every emotional experience you can have in seven days. She has since found her way to much more exciting production to rap over, but its her lyricism and her honesty that make This Week work.

Jean Grae, “Supa Luv”

There you go.

--D

01/09 – 01/13:

El-P, I'll Sleep When You're Dead

El’s first solo outing, Fantastic Damage, was one of the densest productions you could find in hip hop. For his 2nd album, he smoothed it out a little bit. The paranoid, dark tone that is the backbone of his style remains in place, but the tracks have a little more room to breathe and simmer in the atmosphere. With a fantastic and varied guest list, consistent and memorable production and great songs, this album may not have been as frantic, but was at least as powerful.

El-P, “Smithereens”

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”

Prince, Sign O' The Times

Something very specific inspired me to listen to this, but that was a month ago, and I can’t remember what it was now. I think I heard a cover or sample from it or something. Ah, well, any excuse to listen to the sprawling masterpiece of Prince’s career is a good one. I find it curious that Sign O’ The Times doesn’t have “the hits.” Much like Stevie Wonder’s Music Of My Mind or The Rolling Stones Exile On Main Street, it’s a classic, well-regarded album, possibly the artist’s crowning achievement, but if you only know Prince from listening to the radio (presumably back when listening to the radio wasn’t such a bad idea), you might not know anything on it. I seem to recall “Hot Thing” being on the radio, maybe. Regardless, this is every Prince you ever liked. Sexy dance music Prince, subdued romantic ballad Prince, overdramatic Prince, and goofy, “what the hell is he doing?” Prince, all the aspects of his body of work are represented in fine form on Sign O’ The Times. One time he was on Muppets Tonight, that lesser known successor to The Muppet Show, as “The Artist...” and did “Starfish & Coffee” with Muppets. Hard to top that.

Prince, “The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker” (It’s nigh impossible to find a studio version of any Prince song on youtube. I just gave up)

Electric Six, Heartbeats & Brainwaves

The release of a new Electric Six album is cause for celebration. It is, in fact, the soundtrack to its own celebration. Heartbeats & Brainwaves is a more synth-driven album, taking the dance rock we’ve come to depend on and turning down the “rock” part a little. The result is more akin to 2nd album Senior Smoke than most of their catalog: glorious, bombastic, even catchier than usual. And lyrically, Dick Valentine really brought it this time, delivering some of the Six’s more absurd, delightful songs to date in songs like “Gridlock!,” “It Gets Hot,” and “Food Dog.” Electric Six songs that get really excited about mundane events tend to be homeruns, and “Free Samples” is no exception. It’s about getting free samples. Even moody opener “Psychic Visions” offers plenty of fun. The whole album is a great time from start to finish. The first three Electric Six albums are far and away the best, and a big part of that for me is they all sound different. The first is really rock oriented, the second more dance-based, and the third stretched out and tried some new genres. After that, until last year’s Zodiac, they’d mostly settled into a reliable, Fire-esque, dance rock sound. But Zodiac began and Heartbeats & Brainwaves continues a new era of experimentation, and I am all for it. Electric Six are on top of their game right now.

Electric Six, “Gridlock!”

Not a lot this week. Not a lot most weeks for awhile here, as I was in a mad rush to finish comics during December. But there you go.

--D

01/02 – 01/06:

Okkervil River, I Am Very Far

A game changer for the band, I Am Very Far is a breath of fresh air I didn’t even know I wanted. I loved the sound on their previous two records immensely, but Okkervil River’s willingness to try drastically different new sounds here, and their success in doing so, is electrifying. Like all of their albums, it’s a powerful, moving, multi-layered experience, but the music has a brand-new bombast and grand new production that are appealing in a whole new way. A welcome surprise.

Okkervil River, “The Valley”

Mike Patton, Mondo Cane

Mike Patton isn’t known for being predictable, but a full album of 50s & 60s Italian pop performed with a full orchestra and a choir in Italian is about as far from what you’d expect from the man as possible. Even more surprising is that it’s one of the very best albums he’s ever released, alone or with any of the thousands of bands he seems to be in. Patton’s amazingly adaptive voice is truly on display here, going from crooning ballads to crazy screaming and never disserving the material. It’s a great album.

Mondo Cane, “Ore D’Amore”

Django Reinhardt & Stephane Grappelli, Djangology

The final recordings by the famous duo who more or less invented “gypsy jazz,” Djangology is a tour de force of standards from their days in the Quintet du Hot Club de France and other compositions. Released as a double album several years after the fact, it was actually recorded in a series of sessions with Aurelio de Carolis on drums, Carlo Pecori on bass, and Gianni Safred on piano. Django was forced to invent his own style of guitar playing due to a childhood injury that resulted in the partial paralysis of two fingers, but that unique, inimitable style made him famous, and even played a part in saving his life when he lived in occupied France in WWII. Grapelli was no slouch, either, a gifted violinist who went on to play with everyone from Duke Ellington to Pink Floyd in his long career. But it was their work together with their Hot Club that made their names, and which birthed most of the songs on this collection. Django is one of my all-time favorite jazz performers, and this mammoth 23-track collection truly makes for a fine crash course in Djangology.

Django Reinhardt & Stephane Grappelli, “Minor Swing”

Spoon, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga

My favorite Spoon album. Honestly, probably the only Spoon album I genuinely love. They’ve tended to be more miss than hit for me over the years, but this one had a strangely more accessible quality to me. It felt more organic and honest, and really grabbed me like nothing they’d done and nothing they’ve done since.

Spoon, “The Underdog”

Yup
--D