Hey! It's end of year round-up time!
There are nine albums released this year which I can unequivocally recommend. Here are five of them.
Outkast - Speakerboxxx / The Love Below
I'm not sure what more there is to be said about Outkast’s (latest) magnum opus – actually, that’s completely wrong - I bet there’s a lot. I bet we haven’t even scratched the surface… If there was ever an argument for the road of excess, a manifesto for maximalism, then these two discs are it. Andre and Big Boi bestrode 2003 like a twin-headed colossus... Okay, that's enough hyperbole – although there can never be enough hyperbole for the likes of ‘Bowtie’. Speakerboxxx is the slightly better album – the instant classic, the “omifreakinGod!” jaw-dropper; The Love Below is the grower, full of hidden treasures. Between them, the two records are a primer for almost everything that’s ever been great about music.
Tracks you must download: 'Unhappy', 'Bowtie', 'Flip Flop Rock', 'Happy Valentine's Day', ‘Dracula’s Wedding’
Twilight Singers - Blackberry Belle
Greg Dulli is back and firing on all cylinders. If some of the ingredients (both musical and lyrical) are familiar, then by now the former Afghan Whigs frontman is a master when it comes to serving them up mixed together in fresh and exciting ways. Ugh, a cooking analogy – still, at least it makes a change from the usual imagery I end up using to describe Dulli’s music, which is either a) alcohol (probably Jack Daniels), b) cigarettes (Lucky Strike), c) a dimly-lit subterranean bar where you can drink Jack Daniels, smoke Lucky Strike, listen to some Isaac Hayes and leer at the bar staff.
Download: 'Esta Noche', 'Teenage Wristband', 'Feathers'
Jay-Z - The Black Album
It's funny, people started saying that Jay-Z was the best rapper in the game a few years ago, when I really don't think it was true... But he's been improving steadily ever since (with the odd occasional wobble - even he's admitted that the double album was a bad idea), and on the strength of this record, it's hard to think of an MC who is wittier, more charismatic, or more surprising. Of course it helps that the production is 100% watertight (when was the last time you could say that about a hip-hop album, even a really good one?). "Flyer than a piece of paper bearing my name" = line of the year.
Download: 'Encore', 'Dirt Off Your Shoulder', 'Public Service Announcement (Interlude)'
The New Pornographers - Electric Version
First time I wrote about this album on this blog, I said it was almost impossible not to fall into clichés when praising it - so imagine how much harder it is to write a brief summary like this… Hell, I’d just be calling it what it is if I said “it’s a delightful confection of melodic hooks and power-pop goodness!” I could also point out that it’s one of the few albums I’ve ever heard that sounds like it was influenced by Sgt Pepper (a frankly rubbish album itself) and yet somehow manages to make that into a good thing. All hail The New Pornographers. They are the praise and worship band at the Church of Joycore. You are not worthy. Form a line to the throne.
Download: 'The Laws Have Changed', 'It's Only Divine Right', 'Miss Teen Wordpower'
Cat Power - You Are Free
Almost forgot this one when I came to make this list. I think that's because the best songs here are not ones that I would necessarily choose to listen to in anything other than the bleakest possible circumstances, and my year has been a very happy one... I mean, seriously, 'Good Woman' has to be one of the most emotionally devastating pieces of music I've ever heard, and possibly the most traumatic evocation of a certain kind of break-up ever: Chan knows that ending things is the right thing to do, but she's going to miss him so. Fucking. Much.
Download: 'I Don't Blame You', 'Good Woman', 'Maybe Not'
More to follow.
There are nine albums released this year which I can unequivocally recommend. Here are five of them.
Outkast - Speakerboxxx / The Love Below
I'm not sure what more there is to be said about Outkast’s (latest) magnum opus – actually, that’s completely wrong - I bet there’s a lot. I bet we haven’t even scratched the surface… If there was ever an argument for the road of excess, a manifesto for maximalism, then these two discs are it. Andre and Big Boi bestrode 2003 like a twin-headed colossus... Okay, that's enough hyperbole – although there can never be enough hyperbole for the likes of ‘Bowtie’. Speakerboxxx is the slightly better album – the instant classic, the “omifreakinGod!” jaw-dropper; The Love Below is the grower, full of hidden treasures. Between them, the two records are a primer for almost everything that’s ever been great about music.
Tracks you must download: 'Unhappy', 'Bowtie', 'Flip Flop Rock', 'Happy Valentine's Day', ‘Dracula’s Wedding’
Twilight Singers - Blackberry Belle
Greg Dulli is back and firing on all cylinders. If some of the ingredients (both musical and lyrical) are familiar, then by now the former Afghan Whigs frontman is a master when it comes to serving them up mixed together in fresh and exciting ways. Ugh, a cooking analogy – still, at least it makes a change from the usual imagery I end up using to describe Dulli’s music, which is either a) alcohol (probably Jack Daniels), b) cigarettes (Lucky Strike), c) a dimly-lit subterranean bar where you can drink Jack Daniels, smoke Lucky Strike, listen to some Isaac Hayes and leer at the bar staff.
Download: 'Esta Noche', 'Teenage Wristband', 'Feathers'
Jay-Z - The Black Album
It's funny, people started saying that Jay-Z was the best rapper in the game a few years ago, when I really don't think it was true... But he's been improving steadily ever since (with the odd occasional wobble - even he's admitted that the double album was a bad idea), and on the strength of this record, it's hard to think of an MC who is wittier, more charismatic, or more surprising. Of course it helps that the production is 100% watertight (when was the last time you could say that about a hip-hop album, even a really good one?). "Flyer than a piece of paper bearing my name" = line of the year.
Download: 'Encore', 'Dirt Off Your Shoulder', 'Public Service Announcement (Interlude)'
The New Pornographers - Electric Version
First time I wrote about this album on this blog, I said it was almost impossible not to fall into clichés when praising it - so imagine how much harder it is to write a brief summary like this… Hell, I’d just be calling it what it is if I said “it’s a delightful confection of melodic hooks and power-pop goodness!” I could also point out that it’s one of the few albums I’ve ever heard that sounds like it was influenced by Sgt Pepper (a frankly rubbish album itself) and yet somehow manages to make that into a good thing. All hail The New Pornographers. They are the praise and worship band at the Church of Joycore. You are not worthy. Form a line to the throne.
Download: 'The Laws Have Changed', 'It's Only Divine Right', 'Miss Teen Wordpower'
Cat Power - You Are Free
Almost forgot this one when I came to make this list. I think that's because the best songs here are not ones that I would necessarily choose to listen to in anything other than the bleakest possible circumstances, and my year has been a very happy one... I mean, seriously, 'Good Woman' has to be one of the most emotionally devastating pieces of music I've ever heard, and possibly the most traumatic evocation of a certain kind of break-up ever: Chan knows that ending things is the right thing to do, but she's going to miss him so. Fucking. Much.
Download: 'I Don't Blame You', 'Good Woman', 'Maybe Not'
More to follow.
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