Rug Burn Junky on 16/12/2009 at 18:43
I'm not going to say it's a "Great Album," but there are a few winners and that's enough to at least get it an Honorable Mention nod in my book in spite of its shortcomings. It's been so ubiquitous it's hard to ignore, (and I was snarking at that fact, not you Piglick)
Quote Posted by fett
After watching that video, I'm thinking I like Wimbish better than Skillings too. He seems to fit better and it's pretty cool that Grandmaster Flash's bass player is jamming with a metal band now. :cool:
Agreed. I mean, christ, White Lines may be the greatest bassline of all time. It was never a question for me, I was on board from the beginning, but since I'm one of the 5 people that actually owns a (
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:g9fpxq85ldse) Tackhead CD(Wimbish with the production team for Pretty Hate Machine) you could put me down as a charter member of the Wimbish fan club. Go back and listen to Nothingness for confirmation. His bass carries that song, and it's one of my faves.
Quote Posted by PigLick
RBJ your first list is definitely the kind of thing I was looking for, I mean indie hipster-rock is all well and good, but sometimes you just want to party.
I tend to agree with Stitch on this one that it's hard to find classic hip-hop/RnB albums, except instead of navel gazing indie rock, I go for navel gazing electronica for my deep listening.
That said, I find it ironic that dancehall artists are actually coming up with better albums lately and going in the opposite direction of their hip-hop brethren. Dancehall has always been a predominantly singles culture, and that hasn't changed, but they're going about it in a different way.
Instead of coming out with an album that's got 2-3 singles and a bunch of filler (which is maybe 40% high quality), and then releasing the singles, they do it the other way around. They often pump out singles for a year or two, which get wide release on mixtapes and in clubs, as each artist takes a crack at different riddims. The artist will then collect them up, and add a few new tracks and package it into a coherent album. The "new" tracks may still follow the same 40% quality ratio, but there's enough established quality among the prereleased singles that the album as a whole is usually quite strong. (
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:jxfixq8dld6e)
Undisputed by Beenie Man is pretty much a prime example of this.
Stitch on 16/12/2009 at 20:00
Just added my #6, a fine entry by the dudes :cool:
henke on 16/12/2009 at 20:49
2009 was the year that brought me
Spotify. The streaming music service that renders any (most) album just a few mouseclicks away. Thanks to this I have listened to more new albums this year than any other year. However, this it also meant that I've spread myself a bit too thin. With so much music at my disposal I have constanly sought out new things to listen to and haven't re-listened to a whole lot of albums. Anyway, I did relisten to a whole bunch of songs, and
a few albums this year. This is what I thought of them.
The Best Tracks:Neo Tokyo - Laser Laserlast.fm tells me that this is my most played track over the past half year. last.fm also tells me that this track only had 17 total listens last week. This track deserves better. (
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iklvbWP4amk) LASER LASER
Bat For Lashes - DanielI have a friend named Daniel. I played him this track but he didn't like it. Shame. It's one of the best songs of the year.
Kid Cudi - Day N NiteWhat RBJ said.
The Very Best - Warm Heart of AfricaI guess it's world music with some kinda hip-hop production. (
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4HnYLeypZ4&feature=related) Good song, anyway.
Todd Snider - Greencastle Blues(
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4flHw1UJhk) Watch this, and don't skip the intro. Snider's ramblings are as entertaining as his songs are. :)
Why? - Into the shadows of my embraceNobody can make randomsounding stream-of-conciousness lyrics as (
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmspaX1Nyig) singalongable as Why?.
Ken Ring - Ber en bönSwedish rapper Ken Ring with (
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZ-MYrSDObI) a song about when his sister got cancer. Heartwrenching stuff.
Zu - OstiaThe albumart is a black and white picture of a cold, hard, barren mountain. This song sounds exactly like that picture looks. (
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hun8GlxGYus) Unforgiving.
Eels - Fresh Blood(
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARZ2-X1lNK4&feature=fvst) A really cool song.
DOOM - CellzWins the trophy for
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5T2F7YkRKN4) Best Use of a Bukowski Poem in a Rap-Song.
The Best Albums:Bike For Three! - More Heart Than BrainsWhoever wrote the Pitchfork review said it best:
"It's like listening in on a phonecall between two distant lovers. There's something kinda voyeuristic about it." (not exact wording)
Madness - The Liberty of Norton FolgateQuote Posted by henke
These guys have hardly changed their sound at all in the past 30 years, which, oddly enough, actually makes them sound pretty fresh. They sound like nothing else in music these days. They've gone over the edge and come up on the other side. A few really nice songs with sing-along friendly choruses on the new album, pretty good overall.
Quote Posted by henke
I don't have the words, or the musical knowledge, to describe exactly what this sounds like but... uh... it's very nice! Yeah. :cool:
I like a lot of Lips' songs but the only album of theirs I've managed to get through as a whole is Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, which still relied heavily on a few standout tracks making up for the lesser songs. Which makes Embryonic an odd one. There's not really any standout tracks here. I'd say Watching The Planets is the catchiest song on here and that one is oddly located at the very end of the album. Rather, Embryonic works very well as an album.
Does have a few nice tracks but most of it is pretty lacklustre. Not the return of Doom I was hoping for. And the omittance of samples from old movies and cartoons on a Doom album is just criminal. There
are vocalclips inbetween the tracks but you can tell they've been recorded especially for this album. It's just not the same.
Todd Snider - The Excitement PlanHas a few nice tracks but most of the songs doesn't have the same easygoing and funny storytelling that made his last two albums such a joy to listen to.
I don't know:NOFX - CoasterTheir last album, "Wolves in Wolves Clothing" I thought was rather weak at first, but it eventually became my favourite NOFX album. This one I thought was rather weak at first, but the more I listen to it the more I like it. When you hear these songs the first time they sound quite straightforward, no frills. They don't sound like the kind of songs that have unseen depths, or will improve with time, but, somehow, they do.
Honorable Mentions:Iggy Pop - Preliminaries
P.O.S. - Never Better
Blakroc - Blakroc
Holly Williams - Here with me
Soulsavers - Broken
SubJeff on 16/12/2009 at 21:15
Quote Posted by henke
Neo Tokyo - Laser Laserlol
Laser Laser more like DVNO redux. No wonder you like it.
242 on 16/12/2009 at 21:59
Isn't it just meaningless to heap together the top tens of HMR fans and those who like classical music the most. I mean such thread would have a sense only for a certain style of music.
fett on 16/12/2009 at 23:40
I also forgot to list my pick for most shitty album of the year:
Whatever Nick Cave Released
I'd post a picture of a giant turd but I can't be arsed at the moment.
frozenman on 17/12/2009 at 00:09
I am going to quickly chime in here again with my thoughts on Merriweather Post Pavilion- I think the near-reverie this album puts me into is largely the result of it exactly quenching my musical palate- the production style of swirling electronic square waves, like Scots said, a hit of crack. And the songs seem to feature hallucinatory structures- but maybe I just listen to this album high all the time- the 'ah'ee'oooo' section in Guy's Eyes, and the hypnotic pixelated sun-rave in the middle of Brother Sport. On top of this is the fact that I've listened to the band for years and to see them take such a huge step after so long is really encouraging.
PigLick on 17/12/2009 at 00:42
Quote Posted by Stitch
I actually agree completely, but I've given up on the album format as far as hiphop goes. Rappers and R&B singers are almost entirely absent from my top 10 (lol spoilers), and yet their singles occupied at least half my listening this past year. Indie rock faggotry for careful listening, hiphop party jams for bumpin':(
I think I have given up on albums altogether, which is why hiphop/electro dance stuff is good because they have great singles, and you dont have to invest much into listening if you dont want to. Take Hospice for example, I can see why you guys rave about it, and 'Bear' is a regular on my playlist, but frankly I just cant be arsed with the effort involved in assimilating the whole album. So yeh, I'm a lazy listener.
Scots Taffer on 17/12/2009 at 00:50
Same, piggy. Very lazy. I'm trying though.
