Hot Chip- One Life Stand, EMI, 2010
Not unlike the ’80s acts that so obviously inspire them, Hot Chip ditches the tongue-in-cheek attitude of their earlier works in favor of a whole album of the consumer-friendly love dance ballads that bogged down Made in the Dark. As heard in teen prime-time soaps on the CW and car commercials throughout the year 2011.
Janelle Monáe- The ArchAndroid (Suites II and III), Wondaland Arts Society/Bad Boy, 2010
“Ambition” is the defining quality of the best music to come out of 2010, and to that end Monáe’s proper full-length ranks among the quintessential records of the year: thematic, larger-than-life, crammed to the gills with sound and ideas, and as good an argument as any for the longevity of the album format in the digital age. What separates Monáe from the other ultra ambitious projects of ‘10— Sufjan Stevens, Joanna Newsom, Titus Andronicus, The Arcade Fire, Kanye West— is that her ambition is matched equally by her skills as a pop performer. Meanwhile, what separates her from other skilled pop performers (another defining quality of music in 2010)— and here I struggle to think of performers other than Lady Gaga and maybe Gorillaz who hold a candle to Monáe in terms of talent and concept— is substance. Monáe is guided by an overarching vision and she has the talent to see that vision through to completion. Ultimately this album bends under its own weight, and bends too far toward the ‘soul’ and away from the ‘neo-’ qualifier, but I struggle to think of a more promising ‘new’ talent. Bieber doesn’t count.
Further Seems Forever- The Moon is Down, Tooth and Nail, 2001
Florida doesn’t actually have a winter but privileged white kids will always find a way to get seasonal affective disorder even if it means pulling the blinds shut to listen to Fugazi and read ‘Perks of Being a Wallflower’ for the 4th time.
Whatever, I still know all the words to ‘Pictures of Shorelines’ and I was wearing a FSF hoodie in the photo I submitted to makeoutclub.com
Sun O)))- Monoliths & Dimensions, Southern Lord, 2009
Not sludge, more like ‘primordial ooze.’ Yes, dark and a little disgusting and so thick it is impossible to fully wade through, but rather than suffocating it gives birth to something new.
Titus Andronicus- The Monitor, XL, 2010
Further proof that, if great art is tied to both specific place and real suffering, then New Jersey is hell on earth and thus America’s greatest cultural resource.
Ennio Morricone- Mondo Morricone, Royal Earforce, 1999
Chances are no matter what kind of life you lead, it would be better if Ennio Morricone scored the soundtrack for it.
The Modern Lovers- The Modern Lovers, Beserkley, 1976
Jonathan Richman surveys the landscape of 1970s art-rock—the wreckage that would eventually be wrecked even further into punk and new-wave and hardcore, and decides that the sloppy garage sound is perfect for getting out the message that kids should stay in school, don’t do drugs, and treat girls well. Somehow these radical ideas weren’t very commercially successful at the time, but now we’ve got a patron saint for the kids who like cool stuff but aren’t actually cool themselves—aka most of us.
Wale- The Mixtape About Nothing, Self-Released, 2008
Considering Wale’s greatest fear appears to be not taken seriously outside of the blog/backpack set, the central premise of this mixtape isn’t so different from the obnoxious novelty rap parodied on ‘The Skit’ where a generic A&R suit (do those still exist?) asks Wale to consider rapping a YouTube dance track or rhyme over some rave beats. Credit Wale for executing the premise well and not sticking so closely to it that the execution suffers for the idea, but ultimately the ‘about nothing’ aspect gets in the way of the songs that try to actually be ‘about something,’ and Wale is too noncommittal to actually be about either.
Banned Books- Mission Creep, Stumparumper Records, 2009
Crunching wailing screaming songs built on complicated ideas about how songs should sound and executed flawlessly. Obviously influenced by other ‘complicated ideas’ musicians like Frank Zappa, Animal Collective, and Can but with the self-awareness to know that once you’ve made your point move on to the next item. I have had friends in a lot of bands—mostly very shitty bands—but even if I didn’t have friends in this band I would still be interested.
They have a myspace page—did you know those still existed?
Lauryn Hill- The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, Ruffhouse/Columbia, 1998
If you want to have a long-lasting legacy, drop one very solid album executed to appeal to the sentimentality of the broadest cross-section of people imaginable, then drop off the face of the earth.
