10. Billy Woods & Kenny Segal - Maps
9. Lana Del Rey - Did You Know That There's a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd
8. Nourished by Time - Erotic Probiotic 2
7. Fever Ray - Radical Romantics
6. Gorillaz - Cracker Island
5. George Clanton - Ooh Rap I Ya
4. Sufjan Stevens - Javelin
3. Caroline Polachek - Desire, I Want to Turn Into You
2. JPEGMafia & Danny Brown - Scaring the Hoes
1. Jessie Ware - That! Feels Good!
The music list always seems weakest when I do these, and I think it's because new albums are the first thing to fall off my frequent purchases when I'm low on cash. I just rarely go out and buy an album unless it's by an artist I already know. It's not that I don't think these are all really good albums, I just wish I had a lot more to pick between when putting this together. Because I do think these are all really good albums.
Best of 2010
5. Spoon - Transference
I enjoyed Transference about as much as Spoon's last release, though not quite for the same reasons. Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga had a lot of really tightly constructed, solid rock songs, while Transference is much looser and jammy. It was a slightly different approach to the same general sound that I liked a lot, and the whole album is just full of grooves that could easily last a lot longer than they already do. Maybe disappointing if you wanted more of the same, but I dug it.
4. Beach House - Teen Dream
I didn't review this because I got it after the new year, which means I won't since I don't do that anymore. But it's a really good album, making "dream pop" a lot more interesting than it sounds. It's really pleasant, well produced, surprisingly catchy music, and something a lot of different people could agree is nice to listen to. It kind of drags a bit by the end, but for the most part it's all really fun.
3. Gorillaz - Plastic Beach
Plastic Beach didn't quite live up to Demon Days for me, but I liked it more than the Gorillaz' first album, which was also really good on its own. Maybe there could have been a bit more variety to the guests, but they're well integrated, Damon Albarn does a good job pulling double duty on vocals and production, and a lot of the songs hit just as hard as anything else they've done.
2. The National - High Violet
I have a feeling The National could become one of my favorite bands very quickly. The singer has an awesome baritone voice, and the songwriting matches it perfectly. I'm having a hard time trying to describe it, but it's just really well done, appropriately moody rock for a slightly more mature audience. Not every track is terribly interesting, but most of them are listenable on a nearly endless level.
1. Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
The Suburbs seemed like a nice mix between the first two albums by these guys, a bit more consistently fun and interesting than last time but also focusing on slightly more mature topics as they all grow into real adulthood. It doesn't have a single song that really matches the absolute best stuff they've done before, but "Sprawl II" is pretty much there, and almost everything else is at least likable enough that you don't really feel like skipping around. A true album from start to finish.
It's been a while since the last Gorillaz album, but Damon Albarn hasn't lost the touch. He pretty much produced this one on his own, and the project didn't start out as a Gorillaz thing, but it still fits the "band"'s sound for the most part. It's not totally similar, but the general feel is close enough to maintain the feel of the world's best fake band. Instrumentally, there's a stronger focus on orchestral elements and trip-hop/electronic sounds instead of more diverse instrumentation, and Damon doesn't sing quite as much, with quite a few guests appearing, especially in the first half, from rappers like Snoop Dogg, Mos Def, and the members of De La Soul to older singers like Lou Reed and Bobby Womack. Not every guest makes a great contribution, but enough of them hit to keep the diversity welcome.
I'd say this disc is somewhere in between the first two Gorillaz albums, maybe not in sound but in consistency. Their debut had some outstanding moments and really good songs, although parts were less interesting and sort of dull. Demon Days on the other hand, might not have quite reached the same heights in a lot of places, but is more enjoyable throughout the entire running time. Plastic Beach has a couple of clunkers, but generally matches or comes near to matching the strengths of both albums. I might call it my favorite Gorillaz release, although that opinion could easily change again. It's a bit front-loaded with awesome songs like "Rhinestone Eyes", "Stylo", and "Empire Ants", though there's good stuff in the back half too, like "Broken" and "Cloud of Unknowing". I don't really know what the future holds for this project, but I hope it involves more music before the year 2015.
This is the last of it.
Finch - What It Is to Burn
Finch is one of the better hard punk bands I've heard. The vocalist can sing as well as he can shred his throat, and they can play softer stuff as well as hardcore. Just about everything they try on What It Is To Burn succeeds with flying colors.
"New Beginnings" and the single "Letters to You" are a good one-two punch to open the album. They both of moments of beauty and anger and show Finch's ability to write a very good tune. "Perfection Through Silence" is another great one and has one of my favorite vocal parts that gets you caught up if you allow it to. "Without You Here" is probably the best example of the band's hard/soft counterpoint. "Project Mayhem" is a very random song, but I kind of like its craziness. It's a portent of things to come from this band. At this point, the album has a bit of a shift in style.
Most of the previous songs were fairly briskly paced screamo stuff, but the last couple tracks before "What It Is To Burn" are much longer and delve into some weird alternative stuff, although it all stays enjoyable. The aforementioned title track is one of the best songs ever made for the genre, with impressive vocals and an extremely epic chorus. Although Finch appears to have changed their musical direction, this is one of the genre's best offerings.
Finch - Say Hello to Sunshine
This is kind of a tough one. If this was a new band instead of another album by Finch, I would probably rate it a bit higher. Most of the songs are pretty good, I don't have a major problem with any of them. The problem is, I really loved What It Is To Burn, and I can't say I really like the band's new sound on Say Hello to Sunshine. The music is fairly good, it's just disappointing to see a band change its style so completely. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. I can accept that this is what Finch is now, I'm just not that happy with it.
It's not so much the change in style that's bothersome, it's just it forces them to no longer play to their strengths, namely, the voice of the singer and their ability to write music that isn't generically tough-sounding. "Insomniatic Meat" is a pretty interesting beginning, and has one of the better choruses. "Brother Bleed Brother" is my favorite song, with a towering vocal part a little reminiscent of "What It Is To Burn". "Fireflies" has another of the better vocal parts. As you may have noticed, the music is all a little to same-y so I must look almost exclusively at vocals to determine the standout tracks. "Reduced to Teeth" has another good chorus and one of the softer verses. "Miro" is another good song with a very enjoyable bridge near the end, and the single "Bitemarks and Bloodstains" is also pretty good, and it's about vampires. Awesome.
All in all, Say Hello to Sunshine can accurately be described as "pretty good". All of it is listenable if you're into the genre, and there are some great moments. It's just that my perception of what the band is led me to expect something very different and probably better than this, so I can't shake the feeling of disappointment. Unfortunately, the band has broken up since releasing this record, so we may never know what could have been.
The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots is a strange record. The music is soft and pleasant while the lyrics are about evil robots coming to kill us all. There are bizarre instrumental tracks with electronic beats and the noises of women screaming in the background. The songs can sort of be described as electronic/pop/rock. There's no reason it should work besides the fact that the Flaming Lips are a talented group of guys and know how to keep it more entertaining than silly, and so it does work.
"Fight Test" is an energetic opening that sets the tone for the rest of the album. The first part of the title track is very pleasant, and is more strange goodness. "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Pt. 2" has a nice groove to it, accompanied by the slightly unnerving shrieking. "Are You A Hypnotist??" is a little more slower paced and is a nice song. "Do You Realize??" is my favorite song with its enjoyable musicianship and high rising vocals. "All We Have Is Now" is one of the more interesting songs lyrically, and the album is closed by another fun instrumental, "Approaching Pavonis Mons By Balloon (Utopia Planitia)".
I'm not in love with the Flaming Lips, but they've intrigued me enough to check out other albums by them. Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots is very enjoyably to listen to all the way through, it's just lacking that element that makes me really love it.
Godsmack - Godsmack
Godsmack's self-titled debut shows a bit of promise in terms of nu-metal rocking ability, but the result is less interesting than it could have been. It's not bad and actually starts off pretty strong, it just gets a little boring and drags more than is warranted as it goes on. The vocals sound consistently different from the way they do on Godsmack's next album Awake, they're a little higher on this and a little more obviously Alice in Chains-inspired. The singer's voice just sounds more natural on subsequent releases.
"Moon Baby" is a solid, hard opener, and one of the better songs. "Whatever" was an enjoyable single for its day, but it seems quaint and insipid now. The next three tracks are pretty consistent, solid hard rock. "Someone In London" is an interesting interlude that leads to another decent track. There's nothing horrible about the the next few songs, they just don't seem to have enough ideas to go on for as long as they do, and outstay their welcome. If you're gonna make long songs, make them long for a reason. The single "Voodoo" is a change of pace and sound, and is an enjoyable finale.
Godsmack is a decent album, and I don't hate any part of it. It's just with so many different things you can listen to these days, it doesn't do enough to make me want to play it over anything else in my collection. It's still a pretty good first try for anyone, though.
Godsmack - Awake
Godsmack does right on Awake what they did wrong on their self-titled release. The vocalist sings more naturally, in a deeper voice that sounds a lot better and less derivative of Alice in Chains. If you're gonna imitate, it's best to imitate a band like that, but not when you can sound like yourself and be better. The production values are a little higher and it allows the band to deviate a little more from the formula and come up with some pretty interesting stuff. It's more compact overall, and more enjoyable to listen to.
Although some of the riffs can get repetitive and sort of blend the songs together, the somewhat catchier (seems odd to use that term with a band in this genre) vocals pull it out of that rut, and they mix it up more later on. "Sick of Life" has a rocking intro before jumping into the song proper, with a growling, enjoyable chorus. You've heard "Awake" on Navy commercials and in Prince of Persia: The Warrior Within. They don't fit in there at all, but the song is pretty good. The single "Greed" has another good chorus backing up the chugging guitars. "Mistakes" has another good intro and has is one of the more musically interesting songs. "Vampires" is sort of weird, the only voice is excerpts from one of those television documentaries with celebrity narration, and the main guitar line sounds suspiciously similar to one from the band's previous release.
"The Journey" is a nice little musical interlude before the final song, "Spiral", which like "Voodoo" is atypical sounding for Godsmack, and pretty good. As previously stated, Awake is an improvement over the previous record by Godsmack, although I must admit my interest in the genre has waned somewhat and I probably won't be getting another album by the band. I can still listen to this and enjoy it for what it is, though.
Gorillaz - Demon Days
Some people have trouble listening to entire albums without skipping at least one track. I don't. Even if I don't love every song, if I felt enough like listening to the band to actually start it up, I can usually tolerate the weaker songs while I'm at it. I even tend to grow to like those songs on some level anyway. There are several albums I have where I do at least strongly like every song on them, though. The one thing that's pretty rare is for me to be able to specifically remember what all the songs sound like just by reading the titles. Demon Days is one of those are few.
The fact that Damon Albarn and company are able to mix such a range of genres and artists and keep all the songs unique while also creating a sense of cohesion, on top of making them all so catchy and enjoyable at the same time, is an astonishing achievement. There's rap, there's rock, there's electronica and dub and dance, there's spoken word and choir, and it's all extremely fun to listen to. My collection is almost exclusively rock, but I still find this to be one of my favorite albums to listen to. There's just something about the seamless blending of styles that makes you want to throw all your cares to the wind and just enjoy what you're listening to.
"Last Living Souls" has the most amazingly infectious electronic beat going through it the whole time. It's so good. "O Green World" has a very catchy vocal part and is another fun song. The single "Feel Good Inc" mixes a great base line and rap from De La Soul with the acoustic chorus very well. "Every Planet We Reach Is Dead" has a title that reflects the supposed darker tone of the album in relation to Gorillaz' self-titled debut, and the catchy melody reflects that in an odd way. "November Has Come" has probably the best rapping on the album. The song "All Alone" combines a driving synth part with some strange vocals that I really like. "DARE" is just a blast, with the two vocal parts coming together well to create a fun dance song. "Fire Coming Out Of A Monkey's Head" features the great Dennis Hopper reading a strange, slightly disturbing story, and leads into the last two tracks which blend together to form a very spiritual ending to a great album. Danger Mouse does a great job mixing it all together, and Albarn's vocals keep it connected and entertaining.
Hoobastank - Hoobastank
When I first saw the video for "Crawling in the Dark", the first single from Hoobastank's self-titled first album, I had a few thoughts. First, I enjoyed the song. But I also noticed some similarities to my then undisputed-favorite band, Incubus. The singer sounded a little similar and also tended to not wear a shirt. The music itself shared a few similarities, although it was quicker paced and catchier than the average Incubus song. Incubus has since gone in a completely different direction musically, but Hoobastank continues to do what they've been doing ever since that first song.
Hoobastank doesn't go out of its way to try new things, they just do what they know how to do. They make catchy rock songs that are easy to listen to and tend to be hated by real music fanatics. It doesn't bother me that a lot of people dislike it, it's not like I adore the band, I just like listening to their songs. The first three tracks on Hoobastank are all singles. "Remember Me" is another fast paced, enjoyable song like "Crawling in the Dark", "Running Away" is a bit different in style, with more natural sounding music and a different tone. "Pieces" is another good, fast song, and one of the harder ones on the album.
"Up and Gone" just might be my favorite song by the band. It's the most unique one on the CD, has moments of hardness and softness, and a good chorus. The last part of the album is generally a bit slower and less in your face than the beginning. The lyrics are also generally a little nicer in the back end. The final track goes back to the other style though, and is pretty hard, and a little dumb. Although they do interrupt it before it ends and there's a sound clip of the band making fun of it, and it's actually pretty funny. Hoobastank isn't the best or most innovative band in the world, but as long as you can accept that, they make a pretty darn good pop-rock song.
Hoobastank - The Reason
A lot of people hate the song "The Reason". I'm not sure exactly why, I can understand finding the piano part repetitive or the vocals a little annoying, but I don't think it's worth such universal ire. I'm not in love with the song, but I like it for what it is. It's almost pure pop, but the rest of the album is more rock-oriented, and like the band's previous release, might not be for everyone but is pretty enjoyable all the way through.
The first two tracks are both singles and fit very well into Hoobastank's pattern. Pleasant singing, a bit of shouting thrown in, crisp musicianship, catchy choruses. "What Happened To Us?" has a decent guitar part and is one of the band's more passionate songs. "Escape" is a pretty catchy song, like many of the band's. "Lucky" is another of the band's atypical songs with natural sounding guitar strumming. "From the Heart" is another solid song musically. It's hard to find songs by Hoobastank you can't say that about.
There's a bit of a shift in tone after The Reason's title track. "Unaffected" is one of the best songs, it's slower paced than normal for the band and is easy to get caught up in. "Disappear" is another single, and I'm not a huge fan of it, but it shows the band is trying other things. I'm not sure why many rock fans are so down on Hoobastank, it's a little poppier and more accessible to the mainstream than a lot of bands but they still put together a good rock song. In any case, The Reason is a solid follow-up to Hoobastank's first big release.
Incubus - S.C.I.E.N.C.E.
Incubus has evolved musically over time. Nowadays they sound like an alternative hard rock band with a pretty natural sound, but on their first few full length albums they sound much more like older Red Hot Chili Peppers with a turn table. There are elements of funk, rap and metal, and a much goofier and playful feeling than recent Incubus. I personally favor the older stuff, not so much because of the style, but because it's just more entertaining.
"Redefine" is the quintessential early Incubus song, and sets the tone for the rest of S.C.I.E.N.C.E.. It has the bizarre lyrics and unique delivery, and a strong rock chorus. The next four tracks follow in the same footsteps. They're all unique sounding but are still catchy as hell and fun to listen to. "Magic Medicine" is an instrumental that samples an odd sound clip from the reading of a children's book and shows off the DJ's skill at putting together some of the most interesting interludes I've ever heard, which the band has unfortunately steered away from doing these days.
The single "A Certain Shade of Green" and "Favorite Things" are two back to back strong rock songs with good guitar work that feel similar to what the band would go on to do on their next album. "Summer Romance (Anti-Gravity Love Song)" is another funky track that shows the band's range. "Nebula" is one of the more alternative, risky songs and succeeds well. "Calgone" is another great hard song that leads into a very long, odd hidden track filled with sound clips of both a humorous and sometimes creepy nature. It's one big ode to the chances the band liked to take back then, and wraps up the album in a very Incubus-like way.
2006 was a pretty good year for music, in my opinion. I managed to listen to a decent amount of new stuff and got into some good older stuff. The bad thing about music is that there's too much stuff from the past I need to hear, but they keeping coming out with new stuff too fast as well. Muse and Incubus both had pretty good new albums in Black Holes and Revelations and Light Grenades, and I got introduced to Sonic Youth with Rather Ripped, which definitely has me interesting in checking out their older stuff.
Best of 2006
6. Cursive - Happy Hollow
Happy Hollow doesn't come close to replicating the absolute brilliance of their previous release, The Ugly Organ, but it really isn't too fair to compare anything to one of my favorite albums ever. In between records, Cursive lost a cellist and added horns to their sound, and while they still sound distinctive, it just isn't as darkly interesting. They can still do good songs they're just missing an edge musically.
Not that that edge isn't as present as ever in the lyrics. The entire album is a brutal condemnation of the hypocrisies and evils of modern Christianity, and sometimes it sounds like Tim Kasher is being controversial for its own sake. He makes good points though, and this is overall pretty good indie rock.
5. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Stadium Arcadium
A bit of a letdown, to be honest. The Chili Peppers pumped out two great albums in a row with Californication and By the Way, and we've been anticipating something new for four years, and then we learn it's a double album, and it ends up being a good two hours of music, but it's lacking that something that makes it great. It's possible it's just a fault with the multi-album format, it's harder to maintain a high level of quality for something that lasts that long. There are plenty of great songs to be found, but because of the sheer number, a lot of them blend together into solid, but unremarkable funky-pop-rock-whatever. None of it's bad, it's just stretched a little thin. Flea can still play bass like no one's business, and John Frusciante continues to hone his craft as one of the best guitarists in the world, and Anthony Keidis can actually sing these days. What they need to do next is go back to focusing on a smaller, more focused project. Not that they have to, with the mountains of money they must be swimming in.
4. Gnarls Barkley - St. Elsewhere
Cee-lo, who I don't know much about, and Danger Mouse, who did the intriguing Grey Album, combine to form a band that isn't really hip-hop, but takes a lot of its best elements, adds in a distinctive, good voice and great, um... producing, and ends up making one of the best songs ever. No, really, "Crazy" is up there. It's just a good song. It's not the only one either, as every single track is at least catchy, and most are unique, well constructed, and truly interesting. I can see why it wouldn't be for everyone, but I enjoy the hell out of it.
I'll take the time now to explain how all the hip-hop-type stuff I listen too is weirdly related. Gnarls Barkley is comprised of Cee-Lo and Danger Mouse. Dangerdoom is comprised of Danger Mouse and MF Doom, and their album features Cee-Lo and Ghostface Killah. Demon Days by Gorillaz was produced by Danger Mouse and features MF Doom. I've been thinking about listening to some more rap lately and the first album to get that comes to find is the acclaimed Fishscale - by Ghostface Killah. Whatever.
3. ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead - So Divided
Trail of Dead fell out of the cushy position they had as a critical darling with Worlds Apart, which I thought was completely great (and introduced me to the band), and I couldn't really figure out why. I can see why someone would prefer Source Tags and Codes, but to say it's great and Worlds is bad... I just don't understand it. They're the same band. A little different, with less focus on songwriting and more on loudness and a bit of oddness, but still the same. So Divided was received a little better, though they still are far from where they were publically in 2002. I just hear a really good rock album, but I guess that's just me.
2. TV on the Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain
This and Gnarls Barkley show me that I'm becoming more and more of a sucker for bands that aren't what I usually actually listen to. I'm nowhere near knowledgeable enough to describe what this band is like and why it's good, all I can tell you is that I just love listening to it. The mix of vocals is unique and interesting, the style totally works, and they're not half bad at just playing some rock. I really should be able to explain it better, but you should just listen if you don't. Also, make you sure you check out "Dry Drunk Emperor", which you should be able to find online for free. Not only is it a good song, it's a great condemnation of the presidency of George W. Bush (he's horrible).
1. Brand New - The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me
Some feared their follow-up to Deja Entendu might be too accoustic. They were wrong.
The Devil and God is hard as hell. Except for a couple tracks, every song is a balance between soft and hard, light and dark, good and evil, as the title implies. The heavy parts are made more powerful by the contrast with the downplayed strumming before it. It's not as lyrically clever as they were previously, but it's stronger musically, in my opinion. It's definitely cemented itself in the pantheon of my favorite albums, like, ever. It helps that I first listened to it under optimal conditions, in a car with a like-minded friend as the sun went down in late Autumn. Set the tone perfectly.
I don't think it's fair that Brand New still gets lumped with other emo bands it used to be closer to musically, like Taking Back Sunday. They were like that once, but that was long ago, they started shifting a few years ago, and now they've gone even further. I'm interested in seeing how they continue to develop and seperate themselves from other bands.
Delayed Entries
Audioslave - Audioslave
I'm not a huge fan of the band, but I really do think this is a great album. It's just completely full of good, hard rock songs. People say good things about Superunknown but I'd say this is the best thing anybody in this band's done that I've heard. I guess they've broken up now, though.
Clinic - Walking With Thee
Weird band, very distinctive vocals and different kind of sound that still sounds like rock, even when their aren't guitars. I'm not always in the mood for something like this, but it's a good change of pace.
Dream Theater - Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
Their long-awaited double album, the first disk is pretty normal long, well-crafted prog metal, and the second is an epic, forty minute song (broken into several tracks) that sounds sometimes as much like the score to a musical as an album. Not really much metal there at all, but I really don't know what "normal" Dream Theater sounded like at that point, as Trains of Thought, which I got before this is supposed to be easily their hardest work. It doesn't really matter, it sounds good.
Dredg - El Cielo
I got into Dredg with 2005's Catch Without Arms, but I think I really fell in love with them with this. It has a lot of what made Catch great like the wonderful vocals and nice melodies combined with harder segments, but El Cielo is really more creative, different, and just better, I think. Just a fun listen at all times.
Gorillaz - Gorillaz
I didn't listen to Gorillaz much besides the singles until Demon Days, and that might have skewed me a bit, as a lot of people seem to prefer this, and I don't. It's still definitely very good though. It's a little less varied in sound and vocals than their follow-up, but has plenty of great hooks and sounds spread through the whole thing, and is just fun to listen to.
Longwave - There's a Fire
It's kind of hard to describe Longwave, since sometimes they're jamming in a totally dark, indie way, and sometimes it's pure pop rock. You should just listen to them and see what you think, since not many people do. They have elements of a lot of bands like U2, Interpol... I don't know, I don't really listen to bands like this a lot.
Opeth - Ghost Reveries
Between Opeth and Dream Theater, I should be able to get my fill of progressive metal for the rest of time. The guy's voice is seriously amazing, one minute he's giving you perfect death growls, and the next he's singing in a truly pleasant, normal tone. Hard, pounding metal combines with great musicianship and softer moments.
Porcupine Tree - Deadwing
They're only progressive, not metal, but since the guy produced Opeth at some point, I guess that's hardcore enough. It wasn't as well received as In Absentia, so I better check that out, since I think this is really good on its own. Some of the songs take a while but I'm never bored, it's very well crafted and plenty catchy in spots. Pretty damn good background music.
Radiohead - Kid A
I guess that since I liked this, I'll like pretty much anything Radiohead does. It's not rock music anymore, but it's still very interesting to listen to, and as electronic as it is, it still manages to seem to have a soul. I prefer their sound before the turn of the century, but it's still good now.
