Album ReviewJanuary 1st, 2011 by Shopping Bag Bag these 11 from 2010
Everyone needs to rush out and get Ghostface Killah’s “Apollo Kids”, without a doubt the best hip-hop release of 2010 (maybe the past 3 years.) Ghost has one of the best flows in the game (“In the Biz” and “How You Like Me Baby?”), soulful loops (“2getha Baby” and “Purified Thoughts”), fresh breaks (“Superstar” & “Starkology”) and a venerable cornucopia of guest appearances (“Troublemakers” and “Street Bullies.”) Arcade Fire’s “The Suburbs” shares the top spot for album of the year. While I’m not a huge Arcade Fire fan, and their concert in LA this past fall didn’t blow me away, something keeps bringing me back to this album. They’ve taken their multi-instrumentalism to new levels with this release and turned the “rock-n-roll” dial up to 11 on songs like the instantly catchy “Ready to Start” (perhaps my song of the year), “Modern Man,” “Month of May,” and “Half Life II (No Celebration),” while still doing a bang up job on the slower, dramatic numbers like “Half Light I,” “Suburban War,” and “Wasted Hours.” Tied for album of the year is the cinematic masterpiece TRON: Legacy. Daft Punk layer warm, analog syths (“End of Line,” “End Titles,” & “Derezzed”) into Hans Zimmer-influenced compositions that remind me of the scores from Dark Knight (“Rectifier” & “Disc Wars”) and Gladiator (“Fall,” “Arena,” “The Son of Flynn,” & the tribal sounding “”Rinzler”). Which makes sense, as the Daft boys turned to Mr. Zimmer for input and direction when tackling this score. Trent Reznor re-released his seminal debut album “Pretty Hate Machine” with some remastering help from Tom Baker. These are tracks I’ve listened to a million times: the remastering, while not making them sound different, has allowed me to hear things that the previous mix (and perhaps my old, worn out NIN cassette) did not allow. Trent produced a website to coincide with the re-release that features vintage videos and performances that you have to see. Sharing the same home state and a similar sound to one of my all-time faves Avail, The Riot Before plays punk rock in the vein of Hot Water Music that never falls short on their album “Rebellion.” The Riot Before relies on gritty vocals and advanced songwriting (see “What I’ve Missed” and “Uncharted Lands” and “A Good Sense of Style.”) This is probably the best sounding and most refreshing punk album to come out since Against Me!’s 2003 album “As The Eternal Cowboy.” Michael Cassette’s “Temporarity” is an analog synth, techno pop masterpiece. He manages to capture the tones and sounds of nearly every classic house record that I bought between 1992-1994. More than just a 4/4 beat, this record has some serious melodies (try “My Name Is Michael Cassette” and “Crockett’s Theme”), awesome trance-like builds (try “Magenta Sunset” and “Kilimanjaro”) and even some great vocals (try “Through the Windows.”) The debut album “Forget” from Twin Shadow is something you won’t soon forget. This album runs the gamut from soft, synthy tracks (see “Tyrant Destroyed” and “Castles In The Snow” and the title track “Forget”) to bouncy 80s pop (see “I Can’t Wait” and “Shooting Holes At The Moon” and “For Now.”) The dude looks like a 60s troubador, has soul like a 70s blaxploitation film, and is backed by beautiful organic synth music like the 80s. The all instrumental trip-hop album “Familiar Voices” by Incise is the perfect album for listening to while working. The organic beats, layered synth and jazz samples create a laid back, mellow vibe that’ll have you slowly nodding your head while you vacuum. Standouts are “A New Beginning,” “Time,” and “Kick It Back.” This is for people who love hip-hop beats (like I do) but also appreciate smooth, Dave Koz-like jazz (like Phantasmo does.) The Swedish duo A Swarm of the Sun composes atmospheric, moody post-rock songs with influences ranging from movie scores to metal music to electronic music. Their full-length album “Zenith” is Sigur Ros with the amps turned up to 11: swirling, ethereal, and heavy. This is metal music played at half-speed through molasses in a giant echoing cavern. Standouts include “This One Has No Heart,” “Refuge,” “Lifeline,” and the 10-minute title track “Zenith.” Listen to this album during your video game marathons with all of the lights turned off. Sarah Jaffe “Suburban Nature” reminds me of a folksy, female version of Pete Yorn: her voice cracks with weariness but never wanders from the melody. She’ll carry you on her chorus (as in the single “Clementine”) and steal your heart with her ballads (“Better Than Nothing”). The album brims with beautiful instrumentation that sounds familiar and modern (see “Summer Begs”), haunting and delicate (see “Stay With Me” and “Wreaking Havoc”), with phrasing that resonates with the heart and the head (see “Watch Me Fall Apart.”) January 1st, 2011 by Foxopoly Top !! Of 2010The 00’s were a decade with no real music movements or breakthroughs, yet many great albums came of 2010. The following are my favorite releases of the bunch:
Deftones – ‘Diamond Eyes’ Big surprise I know. Not my favorite of theirs ever, but pretty damn close. Sexy metal FTW. PS: I still want the unreleased album recorded just previous, ‘Eros’. Strand-out tracks: “Beauty School”, “Diamond Eyes” Raunchy – ‘A Dischord Electric’ Of all the great metal albums this year this one was my favorite edging out ‘Diamond Eyes’ for my Album Of the Year. SO tracks: “Dim the Lights and Run”, “Rumors Of Worship”, I love them all. Open Hand – ‘Honey’ Matthew Talbott of Hum/Centaur fame joins up to produce and play on the most diverse rock record of the year. Each song couldn’t be more different than the last. SO tracks: “Herrons”, “Cool”, “Honey” 36 Crazyfists – ‘Collisions and Castaways’ Less melodic and more heavy. These forefather’s of Alaska metal are consistently great and always evolving. SO tracks: “The Deserter”, “Reviver” Killing Joke – ‘Absolute Dissent’ This dark horse snuck in right at the end. Extremely catchy album from these crusty old geezers. SO tracks: “The Great Cull”, “In Excelsis” Filter – ‘The Trouble With Angels’ Richard Patrick is sober and back to form.. Elements of all Filters great albums are here. This album was kind of the soundtrack to my job this summer. SO tracks: “Catch a Falling Knife”, “Drug Boy” Warpaint – ‘The Fool’ Down-tempo rock that sounds like if Chan Marshall, Hope Sandoval, and Melissa Auf Der Maur made some kind of lesbionic offspring. Lovely. SO tracks: “Warpaint”, “Baby” The National – ‘High Violet’ Always amazing immensely more cool than another popular band of brothers I can think of. SO tracks: “Afraid Of Everyone”, “Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks” Melissa Auf der Maur – ‘Out Of Our Minds’ Melissa gets it right on her second solo joint. SO tracks: “Father’s Grave” (feat. Danzig!), “Meet Me On the Darkside” Dax Riggs – ‘Say Goodnight To the World’ If you don’t know Dax, you should. SO tracks: “Gravedirt On My Blue Suede Shoes”, “Sleeping With the Witch” Amusement Parks On Fire – ‘Road Eyes’ Shoegaze for life! SO tracks: “Water From the Sun”, “Wave Of the Future” January 1st, 2011 by Goblins Top Eleven of 2010
Four Year Strong ‘Enemy of the World’ – My guilty pleasure of the pack, and my number one played. They mix Blink 182 and NJ melodic Hardcore on this record in a very catchy way. I would not be surprised if you found their posters at Hot Topic. The Soft Pack ‘S/T’ – They hit the San Diego scene with the name ‘The Muslims,’ which made me ignore them thinking they were a joke. When I finally heard their bursting garage rock sound, I was hooked. Unkle ‘Where did the Night Fall?’ - A solid comeback for James Lavelle filled with consistent collaborations bringing a dark, psychedelic theme that mixed well with his traditional trip-hop background. Frightened Rabbit ‘The Winter of Mixed Drinks’ - A shimmering indie-pop masterpiece from these extremely consistent Scots. Massive Attack ‘Heligoland’ – The first proper LP in 7 years from these trip-hop godfathers. The collaborations are strong, featuring the favorites like Horace Andy, Martina Topley-Bird(best known for the early Tricky albums) and Hope Sandoval of Mazzy Star. Working for a Nuclear Free City ‘Jojo Burger Tempest’ – The prolific Manchester band returns with another double-album. This one is an evolution of their sound that brings more Beta Band and Helio Sequence influence to their heavy Massive Attack and Unkle sound. Tame Impala ‘Innerspeaker’ – Young Australian psychedelic band that mixes the Beatles, 70’s prog rock and modern shoegaze to great success. Local Natives ‘Gorilla Manor’ – In a year of many bands sounding like Grizzly Bear, this band from Los Angeles evolved from a sound-alike to its own original sound, and followed up the insanely catchy single ‘Airplanes’ with a solid album and a great live show. Broken Bells ‘S/T’ - James Mercer (from the Shins) and Dangermouse came together for a very strong album that fuses the Shins sound with Dangermouse’s early Gorillaz production(not the crap sound of their latest LP). Tobacco ‘Maniac Meat’ – This solo project from the frontman of Black Moth Super Rainbow brings a rougher edge to the psychedelic abstract hip-hop group that once described themselves as “Air with Balls.” Yellow Ostrich ‘The Mistress’ - A beautiful mix of layered vocal harmonies complement synths and guitars in a batch of cleverly-crafted and extremely catchy songs that have elements of Radiohead, Sufjan Stevens and Grizzly Bear. Bonus– Most anticipated LPs of 2011: The Avalanches and Boards of Canada. December 31st, 2010 by Phantasmo Top 11 of 2010
Deftones ‘Diamond Eyes’ - Hands down, the best release of 2010 and could quite possibly have replaced ‘White Pony’ as the definitive Deftones album. Absolutely un-fucking-believable. Amusement Parks On Fire ‘Road Eyes’ – Often compared to Silversun Pickups, this is a beautiful, modern-day shoegazer masterpiece. Desertshore ‘Drifting Your Majesty’ – Phil Carney (of Red House Painters/Sun Kil Moon fame) offers his first solo instrumental album, full of delicate acoustic work mixed with feedback/effect-drenched atmospheres. Can’t wait to hear more. Manic Street Preachers ‘Postcards From a Young Man’ – Yet another fantastic album from one of my favorite bands. I would love to see them play live someday. Underworld ‘Barking’ – While I wasn’t a huge fan of their last two albums, I was hooked on this album from the first time I heard ‘Birds 1′. A welcomed return to fine form. The Mess ‘Red Skies Ahead’ – I’m not even sure how I even found out about this band… This is their second digital-only release and, while there’s nothing incredibly ground-breaking or new here, it’s just a great electronic pop/rock album from start to finish, and I really dig the vocal style. The Qemists ‘Spirit in the System’ – A dirty, angry, electro-punk album that just kicks ass. This didn’t leave my car for a few months. My Chemical Romance ‘Danger Days’ – Hot Topic darlings MCR come back with an album that may be even better than ‘The Black Parade’, which I thought was brilliant. This is a great, fun, and daring album full of huge guitars and catchy hooks. Danzig ‘Deth Red Sabaoth’ – FINALLY! Glenn Danzig returns after multiple albums of half-assed, lazy crap. ‘Deth Red Sabaoth’ is as heavy as the first Danzig album and just as bluesy as ‘Lucifuge’ (check out Ju Ju Bone and On a Wicked Night). And the limited edition (only 666 made!) porcelain gravestone case that I ordered looks super evil with my other box sets! Greg Laswell ‘Take a Bow’ – One of my favorite singer/songwriter returns with his best album yet. Follow him on twitter – he’s fucking hilarious. Fyfe Dangerfield ‘Fly Yellow Moon’ Guillemots lead singer Fyfe Dangerfield dropped a fantastic solo album earlier this year. While I’m really anticipating the next Guillemots record, Fyfe’s solo joint is a nice departure full of excellent songs. July 27th, 2010 by Foxopoly Collisions and CastawaysThis comes out TODAY so go out and purchase. It’s really good, really heavy and you’d be supporting the home team. Win Win.
June 6th, 2010 by Shopping Bag Screaming Lights is your new favorite bandThe album “Like Angels” took two years to complete, but it was worth the wait. The sound is 100% classic dark Brit rock (these boys hail from Liverpool) in the vein of Idlewild and White Lies and Editors, with obvious influences from the originators of British gloom indie rock Joy Division and the Comsat Angels. Their debut album “Like Angels” features organs, dirty guitars, solid tempos and a singer whose voice carries beautiful melodies and the scratchy weariness of person who has been through the ringer a few times. Listening to the lyrics for “Hello Tomorrow” gives listeners a glimpse of the cynicism and anger that pervades their music in what is a choleric condemnation of the notion that every new day brings new opportunities: “You’re a butt face lie, a monster in disguise! I shook your hand, the purple veins, you’ve got shit for brains.” Check them out on MySpace.com or Facebook. |
