Jackablade on 15/12/2009 at 07:42

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I was once unimpressed with Southern Point like you (and Stitch in an old thread) but, man, now it's almost the only song I want to listen to off Veckatimest.

In fact, I'm not sure what to say about Veckatimest. I love Yellow House and would strongly consider it for a best of the decade list but I'm not as in love with Veckatimest. The problem is that it never consistently puts me in a state of musical nirvana. It comes close with every song and sometimes it goes all the way but rarely. I feel bad because I like Grizzly Bear's aesthetic. I think I need more of the ambient wash that Yellow House had.

fett on 15/12/2009 at 20:36

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My tastes run counter to nearly every ttlger, so bear with me:

1) Alice In Chains: Black Gives Way To Blue

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o291/WildeSilas/aliceinchains-artwork.jpg

I've waited years for the other shoe to drop. The band that dragged me kicking and screaming out of my thrash-metal ways in the early 90's finally comments on the demise of Layne Staley. Heart-wrenching, beautifully bare and harsh in both riffs and lyrics. Without question the most abusive and nuanced performance of drummer Sean Kinney's career. I don't think any other band has replaced a dead member with such grace, good taste, and honesty, and it's obvious above all that this wasn't just about cashing in on the name, but about moving forward while honoring the memory.

2) Dream Theater: Black Clouds & Silver Linings

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o291/WildeSilas/M2.gif

A shocking Billboard entry at #9 on the week of its release, there's not another band in memory who's sales and relevancy have increased as they get longer in the tooth. They are the prog band for my generation, the standard by which all others are measured. They stumble several times on this one, but continue to be both complex and melodic, esoteric and commercial. The also finally managed to move away from the dueling guitar/keyboard instrumentals that have plagued the last three albums.

3) Michael Franti and Spearhead: All Rebel Rockers

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o291/WildeSilas/all_rebel_rockers_404.jpg

I could list all of his albums here because I just discovered him a few months ago. I like his stuff because I'm a white guy who only likes reggae insomuch as it slipped into the early Police albums, and I only like hip-hop insomuch as Public Enemy and NWA fucking rule. He's a nice blend of both, and I can play it in the car with the kids. Plus, the lyrics give me warm fuzzies. (But who the hell greenlit that album cover? Bob Seger?)

4) Kip Winger: From The Moon To The Sun

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o291/WildeSilas/B0016M1EMO.jpg

First of all, fuck you for rolling your eyes because you're all hung up on some video of this twat from 20 years ago. In what should be his final redemption from the 80's metal bullshit, this guy makes Gabriel's entire career totally irrelevant here. A bona-fide World Music album that is a feast for the ears from first to last track. As a bonus to impress you, he plays pretty much every instrument on the thing from the piano to the flamenco guitars, wrote the string scores, and produced it himself. Just forget the artist name and you've got a keeper for years to come. If you're too close-minded to do that, it's your loss.

5) Extreme: Saudes De Rock

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o291/WildeSilas/saudesderock.jpg

In keeping with the 80's metal theme, you realize these guys were never really a hair band, right? They were a funk band on the edge of prog-metal, and this is the first thing they've done together in years. Except where in the past they would throw in a Sinatra inspired crooner thing, or a folk ballad just for shits and giggles, this time they do Radiohead, Muse, and Flogging Molly, but better, and more Extreme. Nuno's time goofing off with Perry Ferrel pays off here as well, and don't blame me if you can't comprehend just how much of a fucking guitar god he is.

6) King's X: IV

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o291/WildeSilas/king_s_x_-_xv.jpg

While every band that cites them as a major influence has crumbled away, they're still plugging away (btw, that list includes the Smashing Pumpkins, NIN, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, Living Color, the Chili Peppers, Creed, and yes, KISS). This isn't by far the best album they've ever done, but it proves they can still do it better than anyone who's come after them, gotten famous off stealing their groove, and wilted away while they still play clubs and festivals. Debuted on Billboard somewhere in the 30's, so they're still growing too, just painfully slow. The bass player will be dead before they ever have a hit, but when you're credited as the primary inspiration for an entire genre, do you really need a hit?

7) Thornley: Tiny Pictures

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o291/WildeSilas/tinypictures.jpg

I'm not sure what's happening with this guy, but I love it. Former vocalist/guitarist/songwriter for Big Wreck. It's a total pop-fest targeted to radio and the asshat from Nickelback made a mess of the drum track, but fuck me the songwriting is phenomenal. Why it was only released in Canada is a mystery to me, but I've played the hell out of it because his voice blows me away. I predict he'll be working at a Wal-Mart in another year.

Scots Taffer on 16/12/2009 at 02:21

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Hard year for me to jump in with an opinion on as many bands that I like didn't release anything and I'm having to venture into uncharted musical waters. So I'm going through growing pains in terms of my musical appreciation, so I won't comment too much on that stuff.

Favourite albums

The Resistance, Muse
I dismissed this album very quickly after having a very immediate and visceral reaction to the middle section of the album which seemed to spoof Queen to an extent that I couldn't stomach. I've returned to it time and time again and find the opening trio of songs and the closing section of the album to be amongst the strongest space-age love and paranoia rock-opera stuff that Muse has produced. I still don't like "United States of Eurasia" or "Guiding Light" though, and fuck me, the clarinet solo and french singing in "I Belong To You".

Wolfgang Amadeus, Pheonix
I've liked singles from these guys before like "Everything is Everything" and "Too Young" but I found their albums very samey and uninspired, but Wolfgang is toe-tappingly addictive (mostly) from start to finish. Personal favourite is "1901".

Honourable mentions

Hospice, The Antlers
Strained vocals portray haunting imagery and evoke pain on themes of loss and sickness and all manners of things going to hell. A very intense and powerful album to listen from start to finish, but it sort of demands that you do too.

Incredibad, Lonely Island
Ridiculous comedy pop with half the album being full of solid hits (On a Boat, Jizz in my Pants, I'm The Boss, Lazy Sunday, Dick in a Box, Boombox) that became viral internet sensations to the point where we all got sick of them, but half full of misses too of course (Punch You in the Jeans, Space Olympics, Santana DVX, Sax Man).

Black Gives Way To Blue, Alice in Chains
Sorry, fett, grunge is dead and culturally insignificant. While there are a few solid tracks on this album that capture the essence of Alice's early work ("All Secrets Known", for example), it feels like a tired and thrashier outing, and Layne just had such a great voice for grunge that it feels limp without it.

Albums I'm Working On

My issue here is that I heard a single song that served as an entry point to the album, but I've found it hard to appreciate the album as a whole:

- "My Girls" by Animal Collective from Merriweather Post Pavillion
This warm swirling electro hit was like crack to me. I couldn't stop listening to it for about three weeks. I'm still trying to dig through the sounds of this disc to determine how I feel about it.

- "Two Weeks" by Grizzly Bear from Vekatimest
Probably one of the most beautiful songs I've heard in some time. These guys aren't afraid to harmonise and create a sound that's almost anachronistic. I hope to appreciate more of these guys, I'm also working my way through Yellow House.

- "Die Slow" by HEALTH from Get Color
Just on the right side of indie noise for me to appreciate, structured yet totally anarchic, I don't think the rest of their album will necessarily be suitable for me but I'll give it a crack.

Scots Taffer on 16/12/2009 at 02:37

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My "grunge is dead and culturally insignificant" was meant to be a tongue in cheek jab at your #1 choice. :o

I don't even know what "culturally significant" music would sound like. :(

Rug Burn Junky on 16/12/2009 at 03:21

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As soon as I finished writing this list, I was surprised at its coherence - all sorts of downbeat, dub and reggae, but all with a decidedly dance vibe. Outside of Living Colour, you could pretty much take any of these albums and describe it as a combo of two other albums on the list. Not sure what that says, but it's certainly something for me to think about. Part of it was a conscious decision to forgo the same three albums that everyone else on TTLG are going to write about anyway (safely avoiding the question of why I'm not blown away by Grizzly Bear - oh shi) I don't think it's my tastes narrowing, but I'll be innoculating myself with some outlandish shit just to make sure I don't ossify like this next year.

8/9 Junior Boys - Begone Dull Care/Gui Boratto - Take My Breath Away: I'm putting these two together just because I almost always listen to them in tandem. Junior boys have more of that disco-soul feel, and Boratto throws more of a downbeat techno vibe, but still, they're both just great mellow electro comedown albums.

7. The Prodigy - Invaders Must Die: I had an aborted discussion with Stitch about this this summer, and I stand by my conviction that this is the perfect Prodigy album for 2009, considering that this is the first real Prodigy album since Fat of the Land (Always Outnumbered doesn't count, since it's just Liam). It's just evocative enough of their mid '90's heyday to remind you of why you loved (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-am-hdVIL8) Poison the first time around, but it's not utterly nostalgic and definitely updated for 2009. The cheezy synth riff in (http://www.last.fm/music/The+Prodigy/_/Take+Me+To+The+Hospital) Take Me to the Hospital is a pisstake on their legacy, and still works today. (http://www.last.fm/music/The+Prodigy/_/Thunder) Thunder could be one of my top five Prodigy songs of all time, and to top it off they kick ass live - their live dubstep reworking of Breathe would be my favorite musical moment of 2009 if it weren't for being in the mosh pit 5 feet away from Trent when NIN played Last this summer.

6.MSTRKRFT - Fist of God: I struggle with this one. I'm not sure if it should be at the top of my list, or ditched altogether. I mean, the more I listen to it, the more I get the sense that it's just a bad frat-boy take on Daft Punk. But that doesn't stop me from throwing it on again. Is that so wrong?

5. Röyksopp - Junior: I could probably match this up with Junior Boys/Boratto as part of a trifecta, and if it were a rehash of Melody A.M., I certainly would, but somehow this veers off. I'm not sure if it's a 2000's Kylie Minogue filtered through New Order, or 80's era Bananarama filtered through Daft Punk, but it's compelling either way, even if like me you'd rather forget most of the 80's musically. It's got dance energy without being too trancy, melody without being too poppy, atmosphere without being too lethargic. For anyone who was addicted to (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qczr6Z2qtpE) Eple back in the day, (http://www.last.fm/music/R%C3%B6yksopp/_/Happy+Up+Here) Happy Up Here is the perfect follow up, and Robyn (who I still love for her perfect pop version of (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YxGW7VVcqg) Cobrastyle a few years ago) does a great number on (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIWRYwCGEF4) The Girl and The Robot.

4. Dub Pistols - Rum & Coke: A decade ago, (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lY46ZhgQEIQ) Cyclone was one of my favorite songs, hands down. It's the perfect Big Beat song, and I still throw it on playlists for driving and skiing. Thankfully, they've grown up a ton since then. They still have that dub/reggae/dance vibe, but learned to reign it in and not hit you over the head with every little flourish, and no longer sound like an opening act for Fatboy Slim. They're still all over the map, just have better aim. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0xNKsT7W2w) Everyday Stranger could be a Gnarls Barkley or OutKast single, Song for Summer is a great modern soul song, (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SwUJFE0Iyg) Keep the Fire Burning would be the best second wave ska song not recorded by the Specials or Madness if it came out 30 years ago. Standout track is (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuFg0MWDmYw) Ganja - all calypso steel drum backing with a dancehall toast, capped off by the fantastic sample of "We ODed on Marijuana, and I think we're dead" as an intro.

3. Claude Vonstroke - Bird Brain: The most amazing funky, progressive house music since, well, his debut album (Beware of the Bird - featuring (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdIAN6lMXSU) Who's Afraid of Detroit) a few years ago. And it has Bootsy Collins on a song called "(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2aUy1kRxVQ) The Greasy Beat" Do I really need to even say any more?

2. Living Colour - The Chair in The Doorway: I was really leery of this one. Bands that fade out with a whimper usually do so for good reason, and reuniting years later often serves nothing but nostalgia. But, at the risk of turning into fett with the 80's metal love, this is like they never left. Hell, (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYp2-_JWpiI) Behind the Sun blew me away the first time I heard it - I looped it about 15 times. It's them at their peak - Vernon Reid going from his trippy, deedling guitar overlays, and Corey Glover absolutely nailing it on the vocals - it seriously wrecks me. That song alone makes it, and the rest of the album stands up right alongside it.

1. Buju Banton - Rasta Got Soul: OK, so, maybe he does hate the gays and fancy himself as a Tony Montana-esque coke dealer, but this album pretty much cements Buju as the best reggae artist not named Bob Marley. He pretty much already covered dancehall from top to bottom, from the early slack/ragga singles right through last year's Too Bad, no-one really toasts like Gargamel. But this is a roots reggae classic.

He already has 'Til Shiloh under his belt, which is an absolute reggae masterpiece (a top 5 desert island disc in my book). He's been all over the map since then, following it up with a couple of good-but-not-great reggae albums, and a few stabs at a return to dancehall. He recorded Rasta Got Soul almost five years ago, but its release got delayed by his last prison stint. Once he came out, he dropped Too Bad, and shelved Rasta... indefinitely, which gave it near mythical status as a lost classic. By the time it came out, it had a ton of hype to live up to, and could have crumbled. But as built up as it was, it hit every mark. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atkayZTitCU) Rastafari may be his best song since (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wD4SXQRaZr0) Champion, and every track (except for the slightly cringe inducing crooner "Mary") is just a celebration of the form. First album I've heard in a while that I can definitively say will still be on my playlist in a decade.

Best Single:
Kid Cudi - (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSWrepLjTKc) Day n Nite: for about three months this spring, I couldn't go out without hearing this, and it's just hypnotic, especially the Kid Cudi v. Crookers version. It's a perfect follow-up to his turns on 808's and Heartbreak last year, and the mellow stoner club rap is an earworm you can't get rid of. Not sure how I feel about the album as a whole (Man on the Moon: The End of The Day) - definitely not what I expected, so it was offputting at first, but also not a disappointment. For lack of anything else compelling, it'd probably slide in as #10 just by default. But I have a feeling that it'll keep growing on me as I listen to it and validate that selection.

Best Semiserious Comedy Album that's actually a great album:
LMFAO - Party Rock. With all due respect to the boys in Lonely Island (and Dethklok), nothing on Incredibad can match "(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64sGfoWEN-8) I'm in Miami Bitch" The utterly ridiculous Lil Jon workout "(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vC--NX8252c) Shots" is embarrassingly cheezy, yet somehow perfect when you're dancing in the VIP area at a club on South Beach at 3 a.m. and need justification for that one last drink. It's Digital Underground meets Kanye, and it somehow just works.

Best 2008 album that I'm slipping under the wire because I discovered it too late:
The Bug - London Zoo
The perfect dubstep album. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aW7NFSGklM) Poison Dart's been one of my favorite songs for two years now, since it came out as a single in 2007. I don't know how I missed the album release last fall, but it was worth the wait when I finally nabbed it. All sorts of sinister bass, with fantastic vocal turns by Tippa Irie, Flowdan, and especially Warrior Queen.

Biggest Disappointment:
Sean Paul - Imperial Blaze: Dutty Rock was a monster, and the first half of The Trinity was the flawless. I can't count how many speeding tickets I've narrowly missed when my iPod shuffle hit (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERIv7mNJUu8) Eye Deh a Mi Knee. Even the first single - (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PQgYpnhDIw) So Fine - had me optimistic. So I was pretty bummed when I listened to it the first time. I'm cool with his delivery, which, let's face it, is the same on every single song, but like the Ramones, or AC/DC that works for him. What I wasn't prepared for was just how limp the songs were. Nothing compelling whatsoever. Buju can leave the dancehall behind and do reggae. Sean Paul simply can't. He needs to keep to his strengths and his attempts at softening his sound just fall utterly flat.

Most anticipated 2010 Album:
Beenie Man - The Legend Returns: May as well stick to the dancehall theme. It was supposed to come out this fall, but I haven't seen hide nor hair of it yet. Not that I'm surprised since he's been on a roll for his past two albums, but between (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwTCLMx6W1I) Gimmi Gimmi Gimmi and (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmrp75_7sjM) Jiggle Up, the first two songs released/leaked, it sounds like it's going to be a winner.