Thursday, February 12, 2009

WDR Reviews 2008 in Music: Part 2

We covered Part 1 earlier in the week, and now it's time for part 2. I am one of the few people on this planet that still believe in the artificial construct of the album, so coming up with a top ten list is a big deal for me. That being said, I was able to come up with the 10 titles pretty easily--the ranking however took at least 27 seconds however.

Nic Ouzo's Top Ten Albums
10. Kings of Leon - “Only By The Night”. I’ve been a fairweather fan (I have all their albums, but it’s not like I get happy when they show up on iTunes), but over half of the tracks on this album are fantastic. In the end, I liked this album so much that I went back into my collection and listened to all their old stuff with renewed vigor.

9. Beck - “Modern Guilt”. Even though he put on an overall disappointing show when I saw him, Beck still puts out great new material (and the new stuff sounds great live). It’s an interesting mix of sadsack Beck and funky Beck, and I think I like it. Note: This won’t be the last time that a Danger Mouse album ends up on here.

8. Portishead - “Third”. The wait was just about worth it. Fantastic comeback, picking up where they left off, just like the reunited-Dinosaur Jr. did with “Beyond” last year. Some of the most dynamic and interesting songs made this year, and done by the wily veterans.

7. The Walkmen - “You & Me”. The Walkmen are finally getting some credit after being initially hyped and then pretty much ignored. The band is now four for four with awesome records (I'd also include their fun "Pussy Cats" cover album as well as a a success). How can a band that purposefully tries to sound kind of shitty sound really good?

6. Vampire Weekend - “Vampire Weekend”. I didn’t hear anything about the hype, so don't yell at me. I just saw the video for “A-Punk” on Subterranean, and I had to check out the rest. Though I doubt any followup will be any good, I’ll still be playing their debut years later.

5. Tokyo Police Club - “Elephant Shell”.
I was kind of disappointed with this release at first, because it didn’t have some of the diverse sounds that “A Lesson in Crime” did, but in the end it’s still a very good group of songs and I find myself listening to the album very regularly.

4. Sigur Rós - “Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust”
. Whenever these guys put out an album, it’s going to end up in my top ten--they haven't steered me wrong yet. These guys have mastered the art of repeating past successes while moving in new directions. It's a thrilling combination of the euphoric and the epic, and hey, they even sing in English on this one (for a song at least)!

3. British Sea Power - “Do You Like Rock Music?”. There are some fantastic songs on this album, and I thought it might help break these guys into the mainstream. Then I realized that if “Remember Me” couldn’t do it, I don’t know what would. It's everyone else's loss that they can't appreciate fantastic songs like "Waving Flags" and "Atom". Also, one of the best shows I saw last year.

2. The Black Keys - “Attack & Release”. Yes we know what to expect from The Black Keys, but the addition of Danger Mouse and other instruments helped expand their sound in fantastic ways. Very underrated effort, but that just seems to describe the group for the past few years. And yes, the rating might be inflated due to seeing two fabulous shows with these guys.

1. Gnarls Barkley - “The Odd Couple”. Brilliant front-to-back. None of the standouts like “St. Elsewhere” (nothing could live up to "Crazy"), but also not as uneven. It runs the gamut, mixing great high-energy tracks like "Going On" and "Run" with fantastic ballads like "Who's Gonna Save Your Soul?" and "Blind Mary". I’m just kind of bewildered that this isn’t getting the acclaim that it deserves. The lesson is: Joe Reefer is an idiot.

New Guys who caught my eye (but I need to listen more of):
Los Campesinos! - “Hold on Now Youngster” (and "We Are Beautiful. We Are Doomed.")
Ra Ra Riot - “The Rhumb Line”
No Age - “Nouns”
Dapunksportif - "Electro Tube Riot"
Fleet Foxes - "Fleet Foxes"

Special Mention:
One Day As A Lion - “One Day As A Lion” [EP]. With 5 songs, Zack de la Rocha showed more creativity than 3 Audioslave albums. And I say that as a guy who didn’t totally hate Audioslave.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Hump Day Helper -- Kick Ass Cover Edition

Because it's Wednesday, and we all need a pick-me-up to make it through the rest of the week in our respective hells, WDR is providing some fun.



These guys figure prominently in my Year in Review for music, and it's with good reason. The Odd Couple is a brilliant record, and you should own a copy of it. If you don't, consider yourself forkstabbed.

They had a brilliant video nominated for a Grammy (one of the few interesting categories year-to-year), but it's too much of a downer for the Helper. Save it for Saturday, you're going to need it.

Instead, I bring you a video I came across a few months ago but have been waiting for the right time to bust out. Well, considering the Radiohead post earlier this week and Gnarls's continued presence on my year-end lists, now seemed like the perfect opportunity to witness Gnarls performing an amazing cover.

Because we separate like ripples on a blank shore...

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

WDR Reviews 2008 in Music: Part 1

I mentioned in a Hump Day Helper way back when that 2008 was kind of a shit year in music, at least by the halfway mark. My stance has softened considerably since then; while not nearly as awesome as say last year or 2005, 2008 wasn't a total disappointment. It was a pretty solid year, with a lot of decent records--just not anything transcendent. Which is ok--sometimes you want to hit for average, not power.

That being said, I decided that it was time to roll out my 2008 ratings. Why in February, especially since I already wrote out the majority of this in December? I think this tag explains it, but I think the public answer we're going to give is that it's apparently sweeps week.

We're going to get into the top 10 albums and top live shows later on in the week, but today we're doing the left-over albums, and various cool songs from this past year.

Honorable Mention
Coldplay - “Viva La Vida”. Whatever, I like these guys, even though “X&Y” showed total creative bankruptcy. At least Eno apparently got them back making music that’s interesting at the very least. So I wasn't entirely disappointed that this got a lot of Grammy nominations.

TV on the Radio - “Dear Science”. Everybody else is throwing up praise for this one, but I hated it the first time I listened to it–-I hated the flow, and some of the songs just seemed plain awful. But I’ve listened to it a few more times, and it's grown on me. However, I still say “desperate youth, bloodthirsty babes” is their high point.

Eagles of Death Metal - “Heart On”. I love these guys, and the schtick hasn’t worn thin yet. I've only given it a few listens, but it's just such a good time that it has to be recognized.

Dr. Dog - “Fate”. While I'm not a big fan of the Beatles (as Joe would angrily attest), I love it when bands do lo-fi approximations. (See also: Olivia Tremor Control)

Atmosphere - "When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint that Shit Gold". This would have made the list on the title alone, but hell, the rapping is good as well.

Disappointments
My Morning Jacket - “Evil Urges”. Granted, it’s a fun album, and I’ll throw it on pretty regularly. But it just doesn’t measure up to their previous work and their recent trajectory. I thought this would be their big breakthrough, and would justify to the masses why I felt this band was so great, and it just wasn’t the case. Instead, I’ll have to continue converting people with my private screenings of “Okonokos”.

The other great disappointment? With all the mentions of Sarah Palin and her supposed sexy-librarian looks, nobody quoted the song “Librarian” from this album.

Wolf Parade - “At Mount Zoomer”. You can’t match the brilliance of “Apologies to the Queen Mary”, so it’s no fault to these guys. The songs are all very good, but they just lack the same spark that they had on their debut that would bring me an element of joy, no matter how depressing the lyrics were.

Bloc Party - “Intimacy”. It’s not bad at all, but the album definitely sounds rushed. If they spent a bit more time on this, it would be a better album. There's too much schizophrenia in determining what their sound was going to be--"Mercury" and "Ares" mark an interesting new direction, and "Halo" would sound at home on Silent Alarm, but in the end it just kind of runs together. That being said, the CD release added some good songs to the early-download-only title.

Nine Inch Nails - “Ghosts”. When I hear “Nine Inch Nails” and “instrumentals”, I think of the brilliance of “A Warm Place” and “Just Like You Imagined”, which truly stand alone as pieces by themselves. Instead, I got a soundtrack to a movie I don’t particularly want to see. “The Slip” was a good followup though.

The Verve - “Forth”. It’s good to see these guys back together, but it’s clear these guys lost something.

The Mars Volta - "The Bedlam In Goliath"
. I almost forgot this album came out this year. For the record, TMV should avoid taking cocaine before recording sessions--78 minutes of all-out spastic attacks is just too much. Though I am intrigued about a potential acoustic follow-up.

Secret Machines - “Secret Machines”
. B-o-r-i-n-g.

Top songs (in no order)
Kings of Leon - “Sex on Fire”
Flobots - “Handlebars”
Wolf Parade - “Kissing the Beehive”
TV on the Radio - “Family Tree”
Apples in Stereo - "Stephen Stephen"
Coldplay - "Viva La Vida"
Sigur Rós - “Festival”
Gnarls Barkley - “Going On”
Los Campesinos! - “Death to Los Campesinos!”
Ra Ra Riot - "Ghost Under Rocks"
One Day As A Lion - "One Day As A Lion"
Tokyo Police Club - “Your English is Good”
My Morning Jacket - “Touch Me I’m Going to Scream, pt. 2″
Beck - “Profanity Prayers”
The Last Shadow Puppets - "The Age of the Understatement"
Vampire Weekend - “The Kids Don’t Stand a Chance”
The Raconteurs - “Salute Your Solution”
British Sea Power - “Atom”
The Black Keys - “Things Ain’t Like They Used to Be”
The Walkmen - “In the New Year”

Monday, February 9, 2009

The Grammys and some other music nonsense

I must agree with Nic's previous post about the Grammys. I did not watch the show as such, but I was interested in the performances. In fact, I even went so far as to read a piece by Entertainment Weekly about the "Best and Worst" Grammy performances. The only problem was this: I wanted there to be some horrific performance that I could watch in addition to the greats. That's what I assumed when they had a "best and worst" list. But I was wrong. The lowest score given to a performance: B-. Highest: A+. You can't have a best-of list when almost all the performances are on the Grammy honor roll! Someone needs to get an F! How the hell did they curve this thing?! There is no "worst" when they're all rated as good. They should have called it "The most awesome Grammys ever because every performance kicked ass" list. I call bullshit.

Also, I wanted to make a little statement about the band Theory of a Deadman. Now, having just mentioned that you're probably saying to yourself, "That band has been around forever. Why talk about them now?" or "Who the fuck are those guys?" If you asked the latter, consider yourself one of the lucky ones. They have been around for a while. Too long, in my opinion. There's three things you need to know about this band:

1: They're terrible.

What makes them terrible? They sound like they're trying to be Nickelback and failing. For the record, this should be proof that failing to fail does not make you successful. This band is a pile of failure in a sadness bowl. Unfortunately for us, that is a special kind of emo-metal sadness that some dipshits are paying money to listen to. And then it gets on the radio. And I get angry. And then people die.

2: Their name makes no sense.

This happens to a lot of bands, but it's especially irritating when it's a band that sucks. What the hell is a theory of a dead man and why do we care? It's not like Better Than Ezra, a band who doesn't have a reason for their name, but they kick ass anyway. And, considering that they are Better Than Ezra, perhaps Ezra isn't too bad either. Someone should investigate this.

Also, why is the name a compound word?

3: They are terrible.

I know this was the first point and it shouldn't really count as a third, but I cannot stress this enough. These guys are a bunch of fucking wankers. Though they aren't quite as offensive to me as Plain White Ts or Fallout Boy. But they are pretty damn awful. Again, they tried to be Nickelback AND FAILED.

That's all for now.

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Radiohead Takes Their Name Perhaps Too Literally

Everyone knows the Grammys are a joke of an awards show, but sometimes there are performances that make the evening worthwhile. Not worthwhile enough for me to actually watch the show live, but worthwhile enough that I'll check out clips on the Youtubes. One such example is the live performance of Radiohead (well, at least Thom and Johnny) doing "15 Step" with the USC Marching Band. Granted, I hate all things USC (yes, including you, Mr. Reefer), but I have to say that it was a pretty sweet performance, even including Thom's strangely involved rock-star moves (has he moved beyond the "Idioteque" spaz-attack? Let's hope not).

However, what may have been cooler is that from watching that clip I got a link to another video, which is the semi-official version of the "15 Step" music video. I believe the other members of the WDR crew would approve.