Honorable Mentions
The Roots - How I Got OverArcade Fire - The Suburbs
I almost feel bad for labeling these albums just "Honorable Mentions"--they are both good, solid albums ("Sprawl II" is one my favorite songs from this year). I just feel that End-Of-Year Music Lists should be populated by things that weren't necessarily on my radar until they drilled their way into my brain, or something like that. I guess these guys pay the price for working hard and having more longevity than other bands of the 20-aughts. I mean, seriously, don't they get it? The Twenty-Ten is all about laziness and flashiness in the pan.
I Don't Get It But I Tried To
Best Coast - Crazy For YouI don't mean to be disrespectful, but this is the kind of music I imagine lovestruck 12 year olds who are into nursery rhymes would make. The lyrics are just too obvious and telegraphed--with the monosyllabic rhyming of words like 'miss' and 'kiss', 'friend' and 'end', etc. I like simplicity, but this is just too simple. And all of the weed sessions with Freddie Gibbs won't save you now, girlfriend.
Robyn - Body Talk
I'm trying real hard to like this, but ehhhhhhhh... I just don't get it. Point out the genius and I'll try to focus on it.
Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
I like it when music stands on its own and doesn't rely on outside influences and public personas to be fully realized. I can totally stand behind the subversion of music award shows, holding shitty U.S. presidents close to the flame, and making off-the-wall comments in interviews, but would people be praising this album so highly if Kanye hadn't turned his life into a 24-7 piece of performance art? I kinda doubt it. I guess Kanye is exactly the kind of rapper that a Twitter and Facebook obsessed culture deserves--constant, but poorly conceived, stimuli. Plus, there's the issue of the rampant, two-faced misogyny. This dude is constantly saying how much he respects his deceased mother, but has no qualms about lines like "I slapped my girl, she called the feds" on the same track ("All of the Lights") that Rihanna sings on? Not to mention the constant equating of 'bitch' and 'ho' with 'female', which is sadly still de rigeur for most rap music. Oh, but I'm totally digging the Aphex Twin sample of "Avril 14th" in "Blame Game". Yet another countless example of a black musician stealing from the white man {sigh}.
Best Of (in random order)
...um, that's it, that's the list. Happy New Year!
No comments:
Post a Comment