This is definitely the best Smashing Pumpkins album since Siamese Dream.
Key tracks: "Lazy Eye," "Little Lover So Polite," "Well Thought Out Twinkles"
I've had a fair amount of fun at Karen O's expense, basically making her the scapegoat when I complain that the YYYs no longer rock all that much. And, let's face it, they don't. Luckily, the lack of yelping, screaming energy has been counterbalanced by complex textures, solid, subdued riffs from Nick Zinner, and Brian Chase's increasing virtuosity on drums. Sacrilegious as it may be, I'm beginning to suspect that Karen O is the trio's weak link.
Key Tracks: "Cheated Hearts," "Gold Lion," "Turn Into"
Yeah. So this album is about bigfoot and blood and curses and destruction. Also, it makes me want to break stuff. And drive really, really fast. Other reviews have extolled their formidable musicianship and use of shifting time signatures and tempos. That stuff is cool, too. However, I would like to point out that this album's true contribution to the metal genre is its ability to rule your tiny world with the immensity of its rocking. Try to imagine the sound of Thor's hammer destroying your local Guitar Center while your family is burned at the stake my marauding frost giants. Awesome, right?
Key Tracks: "Crystal Skull," Circle of Cysquatch"
One of the guys in this band wears a pink hoodie sweatshirt with a picture of a hot dog on it.
Key Tracks: "No Fit State," "I Was a Boy from School," "Over and Over"
"Cocaine rap" is its own subgenre. It's this year's sizzurp, I suppose. Anyway, Clipse stands heads and shoulders above the rest for two reasons: 1) The percussion effects and beats in each track eschew tired old breakbeats and soul samples in favor of something far more sinister... it just sounds new. 2) They're simultaneously funny and scary as hell without resorting to a bunch of ridiculous "cap in yo ass" bullshit.
Key Tracks: "Mr. Me Too," Hello New World," "Dirty Money"
How does a band so clearly indebted to The Doors and The Velvet Underground sound so morose? Oh. Right. Long live fuzzboxes and electric sitar!
Key Tracks: "Bloodhounds on My Trail," "Black Grease," "Young Men Dead"
Hey Morrissey! You're not the best lyricist in England anymore, you old queen! Just kiddin, Mozzy... I still love you best. But Jarvis definitely won the head-to-head with Moz's Ringleader of the Tormentors. And no wonder... you'd have to be pretty brash with song titles like "Cunts Are Still Running the World" and "From Auschwitz to Ipswich," and Jarvis is more than up to the task. This is one of those albums that make you want to write the lyrics on your Trapper Keeper so the girls in theater will think you're profound. The state of the world, relationships, getting mugged... no subject is too grand or too mundane for Jarvis Cocker to take the piss. "The cream will always/rise up to the top/well I say/'shit floats'" Too fucking right. (A disclaimer: Had I known "Still Running the World" had already been released as a single in England, it would have been in my top five singles of the year.)
Key Tracks: "Cunts Are Still Running the World," "Don't Let Him Waste Your Time," "From Auschwitz to Ipswich"
I had hoped to avoid placing this album so high on the list. In fact, I feel compelled to mention that I did not care for their last album. It's just important that everyone understand that this isn't one of those "YLT released an album so all the music geeks are required to piss themselves over what geniuses they are again" scenarios. Believe me, I was shocked that this album was any good. But the bottom line is, this is their best work since I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One. It's got big, crazy instrumentals, funny little songs, humor, feedback. It's just... fucking good.
Key Tracks: "Pass The Hatchet, I Think I'm Goodkind," "The Race Is On Again," "I Should Have Known Better"
Heh. See above. It was a great year for the indie rock dinosaurs.
Key Tracks: "Jams Run Free," "Turquoise Boy," "Reena"
I'm not entirely sure why no one is taking this album seriously. Really, indie rockers, just admit it... you're afraid to get behind fun music, aren't you? I mean, in a world where bloggers practically shit themselves over Animal Collective, the Raconteurs are just too, y'know, solid. There's all kinds of melody and riffs and solos. Ooooh. Well I'm a big dumb rock 'n' roll fan, and this album is a goddamn gem.
Key Tracks: "Store Bought Bones," "Steady As She Goes," "Together"
When The Unicorns broke up, goofy, quirky pop music took a serious step backward. For like two months. Then half the band formed Islands, and all was well with the world. Now, with half the quirk and double the melody, Return to the Sea delivers some of the most fractured lullabies of the year. This my "I wish I smoked pot" album of the year.
Key Tracks: "Swans (Life after Death)," "Don't Call Me Whitney, Bobby," "Rough Gem"
Proving that (for rock music at least) originality is an overrated quality, Love Is All came out of nowhere with a mindbending pastiche of X-Ray Spex, Au Pairs, Bow Wow Wow, Delta 5, and any other legendary, female-fronted British postpunk act you can think of. I was so distracted by the album's precursors, it took me 10 listens to realize what great music this is. A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing.
Key Tracks: "Talk Talk Talk Talk," "Turn the Radio Off," "Make Out Fall Out Make Up"
Hype? What hype? Band gets a lot of publicity for being good. Everyone decides bands getting publicity makes bands bad. Everyone hates on band. Riddle me this, Batman: Did anyone bother to keep listening to the album? Or listen to it the first time? These guys are like twelve years old and they made the most exciting British album of the year.
Key Tracks: "A Certain Romance," "Fake Tales of San Francisco," "Dancing Shoes"
Best storyteller in hip-hop today. Period. Why? Because he doesn't just tell the story... he surrounds it with all the pop-culture detritus and meaningless details that surround us all. Ghostface doesn't just tell you about a drug deal gone bad. He tells you what was on the TV and what color the wallpaper was. He tells you what the thugs were talking about before the cops kicked the door in. And even the samples mean something. You could spend a week peeling the layers from each record. Complexity without pretention, hilarious stream of consciousness, impeccable flow, and slick fucking beats... isn't that the very essence of hip-hop?
Key Tracks: "Kilo," "Shakey Dog," "Whip You with a Strap"
Ah reverb. So much delicious reverb. My proclivity for big, soaring guitar sounds is well documented. Well, here we go again. Huge, soaring, beautiful songs, all fed through delays and reverbs. So instead of your favorite album, it's like listening to your favorite album twice at the same time. Put another way, whoever engineered this album made the songs completely envelop the listener. And did you ever listen to an album so constantly that you become convinced you were going to get sick of it... and it just kept sounding fresh? The melodies, the solos... everything just seems as familiar as your face, but never gets tired. And then there's Ben Bridwell's voice. Imagine all the good things about My Morning Jacket's Jim James and The Shins' James Russell Mercer, only smoother on the high notes and with better octive range. And it has the most unexpectedly arresting opening track since Interpol's Turn On the Bright Lights. Anyway, gush gush ooh ahh. Just buy the fucker.
Key Tracks: "Funeral," "The First Song," "The Great Salt Lake," "Wicked Gil"
