Although five more days remain in this, the Two Thousand and Eighth Year of Our Lord, I’m jumping the gun and doing my Year End Best Of music list right now. And owing to my laziness our ongoing economic nosedive, this one won’t be 30 items long like last year’s. How about a Top 10?

In another break with Ghosts of Lists Past, this one is also unranked. I just couldn’t choose a final order, and there wasn’t one dominant album that I favored above all rivals. These are just the ten cd’s I found myself playing more than all other new releases in 2008.

You’re welcome.

The Black Keys - Attack & Release
After reaching the stylistic limitations of the guitar/drums garage rock duo, the guys must’ve sensed things were getting stale. So they brought in Danger Mouse to produce, and he threw the kitchen sink at it: keyboards, banjos, samples, bass (finally!) The band responded by bringing their best songs to date. The result is their magnum opus.

TV on the Radio - Dear Science
These guys have the hardest job of anyone on the list: following up a masterpiece. The awe-inspiring Return to Cookie Mountain might just be the best damn album of this entire decade. Dear Science doesn’t quite scale those rarefied heights, but it’s very good nonetheless. “Golden Age,” in particular, might be the single of the year.

Metallica - Death Magnetic
Yeah, I’m as shocked as you are. After releasing a series of classic albums (and one genre-defining masterpiece) in the 80’s, Metallica went on a 20 year losing streak: from The Black Album on, every release was worse than the one before it. They tried new styles, haircuts, albums with gobs of sperm on the cover, group therapy, and finally, nu metal. All were unmitigated disasters. I gave up on them for good…and then Rick Rubin dialed the clock back to 1986, and suddenly Metallica rock again.

Q-Tip - The Renaissance
We’ve been waiting almost ten years for this, the second solo album from the former Tribe Called Quest leader. It was totally worth the wait: relaxed, confident, catchy, and optimistic, with just enough sonic curveballs to keep it from getting boring or predictable. Hip hop for grownups! What a concept.

The Aliens - Luna
The late, lamented Beta Band may be long gone, but three quarters of its former lineup press on as The Aliens. While the Betas mixed their psychedelia with trip hop and electronic elements, their progeny ditch modernity and go straight for the Sgt. Pepper at the Gates of Dawn vibe. And truth be told, Beatlesque space rock sounds pretty fresh in 2008.

Eagles of Death Metal - Heart On
Here’s your party album of the year. Josh Homme’s side project to Queens of the Stone Age has gradually taken on a life of its own, now on its third album of sleazy, smarmy, tongue-in-cheek Stones-worshipping boogie. This time around, they’ve mixed bits of new wave, glam, and even funk in with their cock rock. This is the album that Chinese Democracy could and should have been, if only Axl Rose wasn’t such a flaming douchebag tortured artist.

Opeth - Watershed
What Metallica was to the 80’s, Opeth are to the 00’s: a band that towers over all others in their genre and remakes it in their own image. On this release, they’ve toned down the death metal portion of the folk rock/death metal hybrid they created and perfected. There’s quite a bit less growling than on previous efforts, but it’s still heavy as hell. Just don’t expect a quick listen: tracks average over nine minutes each.

The Roots - Rising Down
Here’s another group attempting to follow up their masterpiece. This one is quite a bit darker than 2006’s transcendent Game Theory. The raps are angrier, and the classic soul samples have largely disappeared. But it’s informed, articulate anger, the anger of people who want the world to be better — now.

Fucked Up - The Chemistry of Common Life
Once upon a time, punk rock was dangerous. Then, Green Day and Rancid and Sum 41 and their countless followers shat onto the scene, and punk instantly became safe and sucky. Fucked Up aims to make it dangerous and angry again. In the process, they’ve managed to invent their own genre. I don’t even know what to call it: “prog-punk?” This might be the first punk album ever to open with a flute solo, and it still rocks like eighty seven bastards.

Black Mountain - In the Future
Twenty-something Canadian kids mixing equal parts Pink Floyd and Pavement. What could be better?

The best of the rest:

Flogging Molly - Float
The Raconteurs - Consolers of the Lonely
The Melvins - Nude With Boots
Sigur Rós - Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust
Drive-By Truckers - Brighter Than Creation’s Dark

(another lazy, shameless cross-post)

Just call it “Progressive Music List Bloat:” my first Best Of list, covering the 1960’s, contained all of ten albums. The 70’s list was 20 items long. By the time the 80’s rolled around, I had expanded to 25 titles. Wellsir, for the 1990’s, we’ve blown it all the way out to thirty five.

It’s the curse of familiarity. After all, I wasn’t alive in the 60’s; I was a preteen in the 70’s; and I went to high school in the 80’s. By the dawn of the 90’s, I was Officially An Adult, a college student with a job and disposable income to spend…which I did, on music, music, and more music (a debilitating habit that continues to the present day.)

More music means more trouble narrowing down. Throw in the 90’s alt-rock explosion, which irrevocably split popular music into zillions of new genres, sub-genres, sub-sub-genres, and micro-genres, and winnowing the damn thing down becomes well nigh impossible.

Yadda, yadda, yadda. Here’s the list. As always, positioning is in no way indicative of rank.

Nirvana - In Utero
The Beastie Boys - Check Your Head
Radiohead - OK Computer
Kyuss - Welcome to Sky Valley
Dr. Dre - The Chronic
The Beta Band - The 3 EP’s
Soundgarden - Badmotorfinger
Uncle Tupelo - Anodyne
Fishbone - The Reality of My Surroundings
Slayer - Seasons in the Abyss
Neil Young and Crazy Horse - Ragged Glory
The Roots - Things Fall Apart
Sugar - Copper Blue
Alice In Chains - Dirt
The Black Crowes - The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion
Dr. Octagon - Dr. Octagonecologyst
Radiohead - The Bends
Sigur Rós - Ágætis Byrjun
PJ Harvey - Rid of Me
Pearl Jam - Vitalogy
A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory
Opeth - Still Life
Masters of Reality - Sunrise on the Sufferbus
Grant Lee Buffalo - Mighty Joe Moon
Johnny Cash - Unchained
Tool - Undertow
Faith No More - Angel Dust
The Melvins - Stoner Witch
Wilco - Being There
Beck - Mellow Gold
Portishead - Dummy
Rage Against The Machine - S/T
Sleater-Kinney - Dig Me Out
Ol’ Dirty Bastard - N***a Please
Lo-Fidelity Allstars - How to Operate With a Blown Mind

(crizz-oss pizz-ost)

Ok, so here’s where I expect things will get testy. I’m guessing that most of the readership of this blog hadn’t been born yet in the 60’s, so it was hard to get too worked up about that list. And while many (or most) of us may have been alive during the 70’s, we hadn’t yet reached that age when obsessive music listening grips one.

But most of us passed through our formative rock and roll years in the 80’s (or possibly 90’s.) Those choices stay with one longer and often shape the rest of one’s music-listening life. It’s harder to be neutral and objective about those years.

Take me, for instance. I hated most of the popular music during the 1980’s, the decade in which I spent my teens. With the notable exceptions of REM, The Police, and U2, none of the acts listed below were multi-platinum. (Several bands on the list did go on to huge sales during the following decade, but during the 80’s, they were cult favorites at best.)

You will also note the total absence of any music from Prince. Since absolutely everyone I know worships and adores Prince and thinks the sun shines out of his ass, I expect this will elicit some anger. Look, people, I get it: he’s a genius. He must be, because everybody says so, and everybody is never, ever wrong. His shit just never clicked for me, ok? It’s not a crime, you know.

There is, however, another Neil Young album, just like there were Neil Young albums in the 60’s and 70’s lists, and just like there will be at least one in the 90’s list. Why? Because Neil Young has been around for a very, very long time, and he’s fucking awesome. That’s why.

Anyhooo….

Jane’s Addiction - Nothing’s Shocking
Husker Du - Zen Arcade
Public Enemy - It Takes a Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back
Metallica - Master of Puppets
The Police - Synchronicity
Celtic Frost - Into the Pandemonium
U2 - War
Guns N’ Roses - Appetite For Destruction
REM - Document
The Pixies - Doolittle
Motorhead - Ace of Spades
The Pretenders - Learning to Crawl
Run-D.M.C. - Raising Hell
Slayer - Reign in Blood
The Replacements - Let it Be
Neil Young - Freedom
Faith No More - The Real Thing
Ministry - The Land of Rape and Honey
Living Colour - Vivid
The Beastie Boys - Paul’s Boutique
Camper Van Beethoven - Key Lime Pie
The Dead Milkmen - Beelzebubba
AC/DC - Back in Black
Ultramagnetic MC’s - Critical Beatdown
Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine

A couple of weeks ago, I posted my favorite albums of the 1960’s. The self-imposed limit of 10 albums, however, caused much wailing and gnashing of teeth, especially when I immediately thought of at least that many good or better albums approximately three seconds after I clicked “Publish.” Accordingly, for the 1970’s installment, I’ve expanded the list to 20. This way I feel free to include more than one release by an artist. Because let’s face facts, folks: Zep and Floyd were the most important white people of the 70’s, and Stevie and George were the most important black people. They all deserve to be represented more than once.

You’ll further notice that nary an appearance is made by such 70’s staples as Fleetwood Mac, Peter Frampton, Meatloaf, or anyone remotely connected to the Saturday Night Fever or Grease soundtracks. Fuck them. And as for the Eagles…well, why don’t we just let The Dude tackle that one.

So, yeah, here’s the list. As before, placement in no way indicates rank. Numbers are square, baby.

Led Zeppelin - IV
Iggy & The Stooges - Raw Power
Pink Floyd - The Dark Side of the Moon
Funkadelic - One Nation Under a Groove
The Clash - London Calling
Black Sabbath - Paranoid
Stevie Wonder - Talking Book
Bob Marley and the Wailers - Live!
John Lennon- Plastic Ono Band
David Bowie - The Rise & Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti
Curtis Mayfield - Superfly
The Who - Who’s Next
Funkadelic - Maggot Brain
The Sex Pistols - Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols
Pink Floyd - Animals
Janis Joplin - Pearl
Stevie Wonder - Innervisions
AC/DC - Highway To Hell
Neil Young and Crazy Horse - Rust Never Sleeps

(Yet another shameless crosspost)

Being an inveterate music list maker, I’d already started putting together my “Favorite Albums of the Oughts” list. I was all set to publish it, but decided that doing so would be premature, given that this decade obviously isn’t over yet. So instead, why not satisfy my jones by making lists for all the rock n’ roll decades which are over?

We’ll start with the 60’s. Yes, rock and roll technically started in the mid 50’s, but “albums” as we currently think of them didn’t exist in the 50’s (they were just collections of previously released singles.) Also, much like Chuck D, I don’t give two shits about Elvis.

So, the 60’s it is. Granted, I wasn’t alive during the decade, but why should that stop me? Feel free to tell me how wrong my picks are, and/or offer alternate titles. I probably won’t agree, but what are Teh Interwebs for, if not a good argument?

Here’s the Top 10. The order of the list should in no way be construed as conferring rank. In true hippie fashion, everybody’s equal. Now, let’s all join hands and sing “Kumbaya…”

The Rolling Stones - Let it Bleed
The Velvet Underground - White Light/White Heat
Jimi Hendrix - Electric Ladyland
Neil Young and Crazy Horse - Everybody Knows This is Nowhere
The Beatles - S/T (ie, “The White Album”)
Van Morrison - Astral Weeks
The Band - S/T
Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band - Trout Mask Replica
Led Zeppelin - S/T
Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited

Ooooh, nobody saw that one coming!

I’ve developed a ritual of sorts over the past few years, where I check Kables’, Aaron’s and Pitchfork’s best-of lists at the end of the year to find out what I’ve been missing out on, and to check out the following year. In 2007, a couple of things happened. I started keeping tabs on the music scene a bit more closely. While I didn’t get most albums when they came out, I was able to snag a lot of them eventually. Around June, I realized that I had collected a lot of new music, and for the first time I thought, Maybe I can make one of those lists that Kables and Co. always come up with at year’s end. Yes, I am a list-maker wannabe.

The second thing that happened was that, five years out of law school, I finally obtained a real live permanent job with benefits and everything. Which was healthier for my bottom line and, more importantly, gave me the ability to listen to music all day while I work. I probably wouldn’t have really been able to listen to all those albums closely if I hadn’t been able to do that.

This should be taken as something of a semi-informed list. I’m still wedded to 20th century technology, unfortunately, which means lugging around a cd case and a portable cd player. Besides the limitations of the technology, it also makes accessing new music unnecessarily time consuming. I’ve made a resolution of sorts to finally get into the digital age and buy an MP3 player at some point. (I’m thinking about getting this one, but will gladly accept recommendations from my more tech savvy friends about other players.) As a result, I never got around to listening to a lot of good music out there. So if you don’t see Matthew Dear, Aesop Rock, Les Savy Fav, Sunset Rubdown, Burial, Stars of the Lid, the Black Lips, or a few others, it may not be that I didn’t like it. I just haven’t heard their music yet.

For this and other reasons, I guess my list should be taken more as a snapshot of my tastes on December 29, 2007 than as a “laminated list”. A month from now, my list might look radically different, as I get a chance to listen to other albums a bit more closely. Anyway, here goes…

Honorable Mention:

Beirut - The Flying Club Cup
Deerhunter - Cryptograms
Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?
Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank

25. The White Stripes - Icky Thump. It was great seeing a return to form from Jack and Meg White. If they could have sustained the brilliance of the opening troika of “Icky Thump”, “You Don’t Know What Love Is (You Just Do As You’re Told)” and “300 MPH Torrential Outpour Blues” throughout, this would have been a shoe-in for the top ten. As it is, it’s just a great album.

24. St. Vincent - Marry Me. Um, OK. Seriously, whenever I showed Annie Clark’s MySpace page to people at work, the first reaction I got was, “Wow, she’s really pretty”. No shit. I can see why Kables had her on her laminated list a few years back. I was lucky enough to see her open up for The National at the Showbox in October. She put on a great show. I think what sealed the deal for me on this one were the jazzy vocals and arrangements on the last half of the album. I look forward to hearing more from her in the future.

23. New Pornographers - Challengers. This album got kind of a lukewarm critical reception when it came out. Maybe I just have a soft spot for these guys. I’ll admit, it’s a bit uneven, but when these guys are on - as on “My Rights vs. Yours”, “Challengers” and “Go Places” - I found my self hitting the replay button quite a few times.

22. The Field - From Here We Go Sublime. I have to admit, it took me awhile to get into this. Maybe I’m too much of a whore for those catchy, swelling crescendos on the big beat and trance albums I used to listen to in the ’90s. After awhile, though, the complex textures and the repetition on this album worked their way into my brain. I may have to listen to it a bit more to appreciate it, to tell you the truth.

21. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible. It took me awhile to get used to the Arcade Fire’s intensity. I think Funeral sat on my shelf for about a year before I really gave it a listen. This was a pretty impressive follow up, I thought. It was good for listening to on days when I needed to get inspired at work.

20. Marissa Nadler - Song III: Bird on the Water. This was sort of a perfect Fall/Winter album. Simple but melancholy. Nadler seems to have sort of a Mazzy Star thing going on. If you like folk music this is probably one you should check out. If you don’t, well, you could probably give it a pass. Needless to say, I liked it.

19. The Go! Team - Proof of Youth. Try describing the Go! Team to someone. I had to do it a few times. “Here,” I’d say as I handed over my headphones to a co-worker, “These guys sound sort of like a pep rally. Only cooler.” Now, I have to admit, when I first heard this album, I thought it was pretty much just Thunder! Lightning! Strike! Part 2. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, since I loved that album. A few more listens revealed that there was a little more instrumentation going on here. It’s impossible for me to listen to this album and be in a bad mood. I still don’t know what the fuck they’re saying, though…

18. The Shins - Wincing the Night Away. For some reason, when this album came out early in the year, the reaction seemed to be along the lines of “Well, it’s not as good as Chutes Too Narrow,” or some such nonsense. Maybe people thought the Shins had sold out since they were playing better venues and stuff. I dunno. Anyway, this was one of the better pure pop albums of the year, I thought.

17. Simian Mobile Disco - Attack Decay Sustain Release. This was pretty much just pure ear candy. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, obviously. Also, that video for “Hustler” was pretty hot, which always helps with the judges.

16. Justice - Cross. Insert obligatory Daft Punk reference here. Justice laid a healthy slab of funk over a disco beat. The results were delicious.

15. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga. Just a fun album. As an aside, did anyone notice how many albums this year clocked in at under 40 minutes? I can remember when, during the ’90s, it seemed obligatory for bands to release albums over an hour long. The trend today seems to be toward leaner and meaner records. I think that works really well for this album, actually.

14. Okkervil River - The Stage Names. I’m obliged to mention that Okkervil River write very “literate” music. All I know is, this is the second album in two years to make reference to John Berryman. I was an English major and I’d never heard of Berryman until about a year ago. I may have to check his poetry out. While I’m at it, I guess I should listen to Black Sheep Boy again to see what I’m missing.

13. Iron and Wine - The Shepherd’s Dog. I was a little worried when I heard that Sam Beam was fleshing out his sound on this album. I liked the spare, quiet sound Beam had used on Our Endless Numbered Days. I think this was actually his best set of songs, a more consistent outing than either of his previous albums, which is saying something. And Beam did it while incorporating West African and other influences into his music. I’m glad he didn’t listen to me.

12. LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver. For the longest time, I really didn’t get this album. I mean, I liked it. But I just sort of wondered why everyone was losing their shit over it. It got better with repeated listens, I have to admit. Then one night I put it on after drinking about three glasses of wine. Suddenly it was fantastic. So there you have it. Listen to LCD Soundsystem and drink alcohol, or whatever substance it is that you go for. It’ll make you dance around and feel happy.

11. Band of Horses - Cease to Begin. Kables gave me a copy of Everything All the Time a couple of years back. It took me awhile to actually, you know, listen to it. I know, I suck. Anyway, I loved it. I might actually like this album even more, and I feel kind of bad for saying that, I don’t know why.

10. Caribou - Andorra. Kables has also been raving about Manitoba/Caribou for a few years now. Until now, I hadn’t heard any of Dan Snaith’s stuff. I know, I still suck. From what I gather, Andorra isn’t necessarily representative of his previous output. Gorgeous ’60s-style harmonies overlay a trippy, modern sound. This was really beautiful, I thought.

9. M. I. A. - Kala. I’ve got a friend who teaches African History at Seattle University. One of the themes that he emphasizes in his work is the fact that here in the developed world, we often fail to recognize the subjectivity of non-western societies. It’s part of the way a hegemonic, imperialist discourse asserts itself, effectively marginalizing the voices of formerly colonized peoples. Sorry if that sounds sort of political, but it’s hard not to think about these things when you listen to M. I. A. This was probably the most eclectic and vibrant album I heard all year. It also made me think about chickens coming home to roost.

8. Battles - Mirrored. Somebody called this android rock. Works for me. Battles is relentless. They make me a little paranoid also, for some reason. Maybe the thought of indestructible rock and roll robots just sort of wigs me out. But they do make good music, I have to admit. When I’m enslaved and working in the salt mines on planet Endor, I’ll think about this music and realize that androids aren’t all bad.

7. Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam. I think I’m starting to realize why I never tried to be a music critic. I wind up trying to make clever bon mots because I feel like kind of a dork saying stuff like “This album is really cool.” Which this album is. It makes me think anarchist thoughts, and also made me realize that screaming can be beautiful.

6. The National - Boxer. I didn’t listen to this album in its entirety for a while because I found myself replaying “Fake Empire” over and over again. The National sort of remind me of early R. E. M. in the way that their lyrics are more impressionistic than prosaic. Between The National, Okkervil River, Band of Horses, Spoon and The White Stripes, this seemed like a banner year for “roots rock” or whatever you want to call it. I also noticed that they rock a lot harder live than they do on record, which was a pleasant surprise.

5. Radiohead - In Rainbows. See, here’s one of the reasons why making these year end lists is so difficult. At least for me. Thing is, I only just got this album about three weeks ago, due to my general techno-ludditeism. It’s brilliant, but I’m not sure if I’ve completely absorbed it yet. So it might be better than where I have it ranked. On the other hand, I wonder if I might be giving it a ranking based on reputation. Or maybe I’m just overthinking this whole business. Probably the latter. Oh, and listen to this. It’s not on the album, but I love it, probably because I remember when the original version came out…

4. Besnard Lakes - Are the Dark Horse. I’d never heard of Besnard Lakes before listening to this album. Canada seems to have a limitless supply of innovative bands these days. This album was kind of epic. I was never a huge fan of shoegazer music, but this album might make me revise that opinion.

3. The Clientele - God Save the Clientele. I was sitting at my desk about a month and a half ago or so, just doing my job. I had this album on and “These Days Nothing But Sunshine” came on. I looked over at some of my workmates and suddenly felt filled with a sense of love for everything in the world. So it’s kind of hard for me to talk about this album objectively. I’m just going to call it The Love Album from now on. Then again, if it’s only #3 on my list, maybe that says something about me. Anyway, listen to The Clientele and you’ll feel better. It may provoke feelings of wanting to call your mom to tell her you love her, or of wanting to get back in touch with that girl you knew in high school. Or maybe not.

2. Panda Bear - Person Pitch. This album could have made the top five on the strength of “Bros” alone. The rest of the album was almost as good. Between this album and Strawberry Jam, it was quite a year for Animal Collective.

1. Menomena - Friend and Foe. I was trying to figure out why I liked this album so much a while back. I mean, the songs are great obviously. A couple of weeks ago I was heading out to my mom’s place. I had to go catch a bus and it was cold and damp out. I popped this into the cd player while I was waiting for the bus. A few tracks in, I was noticing the way “Wet and Rusting” sort of eases into “Air Aid”. It was just so cool, for some reason. Friend and Foe, for me, sort of has that feel you get from a great album, where you find yourself anticipating the intro to the next song just as the last one fades out. It flows. I guess that’s sort of a subjective observation. All I know is I wore this cd out this year.

So, that’s it. As Kris said, feel free to rant about your favorite album that didn’t make the list.

Everything Kables said is true. Inveterate music list makers like us obsess over these damn things, tweaking the order, agonizing over inclusions and exclusions, scouring the Interwebs for reviews to link to and Youtube for grainy performance footage shot from handheld cameras at some concert in East Armpit, Oklahoma. After painstakingly arranging and rearranging titles and writing little capsule reviews of them, we proudly present our masterpieces to the world…only to discover that, in marked contrast to ourselves, everyone else has, you know, lives.

It’s a sickness, really.

Out of respect for Kables’ admirable decision to reclaim a modicum of sanity by trimming his list to ten items, I shall do the same. If you really want to see the full list, along with a lot more of my pointless, self-indulgent blather, it’s over at my site. (I’m a little short of cash this Christmas, so I figured that sparing y’all from having to read through a list of 30 albums would suffice to serve as your present. You’re welcome.)

Anyhoooo…

10) Dälek, Abandoned Language
This latest release from The Only Hip Hop Band That Still Matters sees them turning down the intensity a bit. Dälek pushed their “Hip Hop As Industrial Noise” theme as far as it would go on 2005’s brilliant Absence, and have wisely avoided repeating themselves on this release. Luckily, the lighter touch works. Who knew rap and shoegaze could be so seamlessly combined?

9) Kings of Leon, Because of the Times
KoL released one of 2003’s best debut albums, and then took a detour for Aha Shake Heartbreak, which sounded like a bizarre cross between Creedence Clearwater Revival and The Strokes. Thankfully, they’ve returned to a harder-rocking sound, but still throw in enough weird curveballs to keep it from sounding like a retreat.

8 ) Grinderman, Grinderman
Nick Cave has made himself a nice career out of releasing creepy, slightly disturbing, but exceedingly mannered albums with The Bad Seeds. However, somewhere deep inside, he obviously yearned to return to his punk roots. Accordingly, he and several of the Seeds grew huge, menacing beards and recorded this collection of dirty, leering, foulmouthed, Stooges-inspired mayhem, rocking harder than kids half their age in the process.

In a saner world, “No Pussy Blues” would be the top-selling single of the year, but it’s far from the only great song on Grinderman. Here’s hoping this isn’t a one-off, and that Cave will continue to explore this unhinged side of his musical personality in the future.

7) High On Fire, Death is This Communion
Finally, after two and a half long years of waiting, we get the followup to the magnificent Blessed Black Wings. I seriously doubted whether High On Fire would be able to match or top that opus, but they’ve come pretty damn close. The primal Motorhead-meets-Slayer roar remains as brutal as ever, and Matt Pike’s raspy bellow is even beginning to acquire some melody.

6) Queens of the Stone Age, Era Vulgaris
Maybe it’s because QOTSA’s last album, Lullabies to Paralyze, didn’t blow me away like previous releases, but I wasn’t breathlessly counting down the minutes until this one came out. I will admit to a nagging doubt or two that the band had peaked and was about to enter the downside of their career.

However, I am pleased to report that reports of their creative demise were greatly exaggerated. Era Vulgaris rocks both harder and weirder than its predecessor. The first single, “Sick Sick Sick,” is a notable improvement over “Little Sister,” Lullabies’ rather pedestrian lead single. Standout tracks like “3’s & 7’s,” “I’m Designer,” and “Misfit Love” revel in QOTSA’s trademark mix of pummeling guitars and Homme’s crooning vocals. And, as always, there’s the requisite oddball track: this time around it’s “Make It Wit Chu,” an almost bluesy ode to nookie that reminds me, for reasons I can’t quite place, of Prince.

5) Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, Raising Sand
I gushed at length about this cd a couple of weeks ago, and repeated listens have not caused me to change my mind. The pairing of middle-aged rock god with crystal-voiced bluegrass songbird may seem odd, but it works like crazy. Krauss is fantastic, Plant sounds more inspired than he has in a decade and a half, and T-Bone Burnett’s production incorporates elements from any number of traditional American musical genres without sounding exactly like any of them.

4) Radiohead, In Rainbows
I didn’t really warm to this album for the first few listens. It doesn’t rock like The Bends or Hail to the Thief, and it doesn’t have the epic, concept album scope of Ok Computer or the Kid A/Amnesiac duo. And after a four year wait, I was expecting something that would explode out of the gate, which In Rainbows most definitely does not. In fact, it’s easily the mellowest thing they’ve ever released.

But, sure enough, the more I played it, the more it grew on me. “Bodysnatchers,” “Jigsaw Falling Into Place,” “Nude,” and “Faust Arp” can hold their own against past classics from the Radiohead catalog, and in marked contrast to releases like aforementioned Kid A, there are no stinkers mixed in with the high points. It’s a solid, occasionally brilliant album all around.

3) Gogol Bordello, Super Taranta!
I’ll admit, I’m rather late to the Gogol Bordello bandwagon. You rotten hipsters have known about them for 2+ years, but us old farts only discovered them recently.

I’ve always loved bands that combine the rawness and energy of punk with older, more traditional genres. The Mekons (and their many followers) mixed it with country; the Pogues, Dropkick Murphys, and Flogging Molly mashed it up with Irish folk music. In retrospect, it’s surprising nobody thought of fusing punk to gypsy music until Gogol came along, because they’re a perfect match.

Super Taranta! rocks to wake the dead. Tracks like “Wanderlust King,” “Dub the Frequencies of Love,” “American Wedding,” and “Supertheory of Supereverything” are insanely catchy. Upon first listen, you will be possessed with an overwhelming desire to drink copious amounts of vodka, and to party very hard. This feeling will only increase with repeated listens. Don’t fight it.

I would go so far to say that if you don’t like this album, you might as well just start pulling the dirt down over yourself right now, because you obviously have no pulse.

2) Machine Head, The Blackening
Here’s your Metal Album of the Year, kids. It’s huge and epic, obviously deeply influenced by the intricate, progressive thrash of Metallica’s Master of Puppets, but far, far heavier. Songs average almost eight minutes in length, changing tempo and riff structure on a dime, cycling through movements almost like a classical symphony. Standouts include the 10+ minute antiwar anthem “Clenching the Fists of Dissent,” the brooding “Now I Lay Thee Down,” and the obscenely heavy “Aesthetics of Hate.” As if to underscore the Master of Puppets influence, the import version even includes a note-perfect cover of that album’s opening track, “Battery.”

The Blackening can hold its own against High On Fire’s Blessed Black Wings, Mastodon’s Blood Mountain, Isis’ Panopticon, and Opeth’s Ghost Reveries on the short list of classic metal albums from this decade. It’s a masterpiece.

1) The White Stripes, Icky Thump
Honestly, I don’t know how they do it. After ten years and six albums, you’d think that they’d be running out of gas. And quite frankly, after the staid, reserved, slightly disappointing tones of Get Behind Me Satan, I harbored suspicions of exactly that.

Well, worry no longer. Icky Thump might just be their best yet. It rocks like 79 bastards, and Jack White’s bag of catchy hooks and melodies is apparently as bottomless as ever. Most mortal bands are lucky to come up with more than a handful of memorable songs in their entire careers, but the Stripes release album after album stuffed with them, making it seem effortless in the process. This time around, “You Don’t Know What Love And Is,” “Rag and Bone,” the sick slide guitar workout “Catch Hell Blues,” and the title song all stand out. Hell, they even throw in a convincing Irish jig for good measure, proving there’s no genre White can’t tackle if he puts his mind to it.

Will Icky Thump end up being their Zeppelin IV, the indisputable opus that stands at the top of their catalog and becomes their defining album? Or are they capable of even more? I don’t know, but I’m through doubting them.

Now, if they would just add a bass player…

Well kids, I am happy to report that Saturday’s wedding went off without a hitch. The weather was perfect, the Special Lady Friend was gorgeous, I only fucked up one line during the ceremony (which wasn’t a crucial one, and made everyone laugh), the reception (a lighthouse cruise around Casco Bay) was awesome, we ordered so much extra food that I’ve been gorging myself on lobster rolls for three straight days, everybody made drunken idiots of themselves in the Old Port bars afterwards (of which much photographic evidence exists)…and a rookie pitcher for the Red Sox threw a no-hitter. The only thing that could’ve possibly made the evening better would be if the Yankees had also lost, but hey, nobody ever said the world was perfect.

“Bla bla bla, yadda yadda yadda,” you’re all saying. “Dude, what we really want to know is: how much metal did you sneak into the song mix for the reception?”

Alas, the answer to that question is “None.” As I put together the track list for the mix, I tried and tried to find some wedding-appropriate metal to stick in there, but nothing seemed to fit. So instead, I just stuck to a general theme of “Funk, With the Occasional Curveball.” Of course, the Special Lady Friend had to have her mellow folk-rock in there too, so she picked all the slow songs while I concentrated on the jams.

I used a couple of artists twice when I just couldn’t decide on one representative track, although frankly, Stevie Wonder could’ve been in the mix six or seven times and it still wouldn’t have been enough. My only regret is that I couldn’t justify more White Stripes tunes in the mix. Jack White may have catchy melodies and tasty riffs falling out of his ass, but their stuff just isn’t danceable. Ah, well.

Without further ado, the tracklist:

(more…)

Whoa! Suddenly I look up from my fancy new work laptop, and realize that half of 2007 has already flown by. In fact, we’re now closer to 2008 than to 2006, proving the Newtonian axiom that time does, indeed, march on. (Screw you, Einstein.)

And since we passed an arbitrary time marker, it’s time once again for a crush list. This arbitrary time period I bring to you in the Crush List: 2007.1 edition–great things that have happened during the first part of this year.

1. Newly attained freedom. To do what I want, any old time. Read: I’m no longer a slave to my own school-related guilt.
2. Seattle. Ok, forget January-April. But the last couple of weeks have been gorgeous, and weatherman Steve Poole says we have more warm sunny days to come. The one redeeming thing about my daily 520 commute is the arresting shot of Mt. Rainier over Lake Washington. The Emerald City sure is stunning . . .
3. The first half of 2007 in music. Many fine albums have been released. Some of my favorites (in no particular order):
   • The Field - From Here We Go to Sublime
   • LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
   • Panda Bear - Person Pitch
   • Battled - Mirrors
   • The National - Boxer
   • Copy - Hair Guitar
   • The Shins - Wincing the Night Away
   • Menomena - Friend and Foe
   • The Twilight Sad - Fourteen Autumns, Fifteen Winters
   • Dan Deacon - Spiderman of the Rings

   There are a lot of other fantastic albums that have come out in 2007, and the second half could be just as good, with new discs from Caribou, Spoon, John Vanderslice, and Okkervil River on the way. This is shaping up as an excellent year in music.

4. My new job. I’m closing in on the end of my third week, and though I haven’t had much to do yet, all signs point to “awesome!” The company I am working for is incredibly laid back and dot-commy. We have an XBOX 360 and Wii hooked up to a flatscreen tv; we have a foosball table; the organization is flat, with no middle management, and all financials are transparent; there’s no email or internet policy (nor any monitoring of traffic); I have a window view of downtown Bellevue; the people seem nice. It’s a good place to be.
5. My new phone. (No, I don’t have an iPhone. No, I probably won’t be getting one soon. I just want something that makes calls and sends texts.) The LG VX8700 is one sweet little dialer.
6. My new apartment. This might appear higher on the list, but there are some jackasses in the building that break things and litter. You’d think that given the price we’re paying for the place, they’d be a little more respectful. I guess that respect for one’s living area doesn’t happen until ownership . . .
7. Big Love. It started up again in the first half of 2007 and is, I dare to say, the best show on TV.
8. Ubuntu. I switched in the first half of 2007, and love it more and more everyday.
9. Pidgin. Multi-protocol IM client with tabbed interface. Pretty sweet.
10. Ratatouille. The food looks soooo good in this film.

(Cross-posted at my site)

So I’m sure all you young, hep kids have already heard of The Wayback Machine, the website that caches and archives web pages for posterity, so that future generations can see how bad your HTML skillz used to be. I have, on occasion, used it to find posts from my old site that would otherwise have been lost in the mists of time. Yesterday, however, I hit upon the idea of checking out the archives from a site started by our good friend Kables way back in the halcyon days of 2003. It was a grand, ultimately failed experiment, one that, if successful, would’ve established a bold new paradigm for the future of the internet and zzzzzzzzz……

Sorry, drifted off there. No, it was just a group of us crazy kids goofing off. The site was called Bloglists, and the name pretty much describes it: the ten or so regular contributors would make up and posts lists of stuff. The site enjoyed a relatively short run. Its useful lifespan was about two months, March and April 2003. Then, the original contributors ran out of ideas, and our lack of ability to recruit new blood doomed the site. But in those two, glorious months, we posted almost 100 lists. Said posts usually came in the form of a Top 5 or Top 10, after which the poster would describe the rationale for choosing each item. Then people would argue about it. Music was, not surprisingly, a very popular topic, and there were downright hilarious lists posted on the general topic of Religion. Other popular points of discussion and contention included Sports, Booze, and Sex.

But for my money, the best (and usually funniest) category was All-Star Basketball Teams. The premise was very simple: you would take five of any particular person, place, or thing, and assemble them into a basketball team, providing rationale for why one particular person/place/thing should be the Center, another should be the Point Guard, etc. Bonus points were awarded for picking a sixth and seventh thing and making them the Sixth Man and Coach, respectively. The arguments could get rather heated, such as when Kables and I squabbled over his leaving Mayo off the All-Star Condiments Team, or not including The Melvins in his All-Star Indie Rock Old-Timers Team. Of my own teams, my personal favorite was the All Star Pasta Team. My finely reasoned rationale for placing Lasagna at Center, Manicotti Shells stuffed with Ricotta at Power Forward, Tortellini at Small Forward, Fettucini Alfredo at Shooting Guard, and Linguini With Clam Sauce at the Point was truly a thing of beauty. (The All-Star “Animals My Dog Has Eaten” Team was a personal favorite as well.)

Sadly, as previously stated, the site very quickly ran out of steam. May 2003 saw only three measly posts of dubious quality, and then…nothing. The concept of blogging lists of stuff lives on in this here site, but they’re usually straightforward lists related to music or sports, without the zaniness of the classic Bloglists post, and without nearly as much arguing.

Perhaps we should revive the site and/or concept?