Quite possibly the worst piece of the year so far (and considering the last week has seen the Lite Brite Bomb plot in Boston and the Super Bowl that's saying something) is from the New York Times:
www.nytimes.com/2007/02/07/arts/television/07watc.html?ref=arts
(sorry, I can't seem to get the link to work properly, so my loyal readers -- I think you're plural -- will have to cut and paste)
In it, the author goes on to talk about the current popularity of supernatural-themed shows and what they may mean to our culture (it could be bad!); the nature of science fiction fandom (they're all geeks!); and the current state of Lost, which returns to TV in about.. 23 minutes. The last -- which is supposed to be the focus of the article -- seems to only come up in passing, and -- as it has been noted by other posters -- is almost completely wrong.
Look, I can handle the lame slings and arrows (though I've never been compared to an anti-abortion protester before. Geeks don't gather to protest things they hate; they gather to celebrate things they like.), but good journalism always starts in the details. If they're wrong, anything else you may have to say is pretty much lost.
I've noticed this from the Times pop culture writers, who seem so desperate to be in-step with some impossible-to-achieve hip demographic that they end up sounding absolutely out of touch. That's how a weak come back by Jay-Z gets lauded to the hilt; how epic underachievers like the Arctic Monkeys can be tipped as the next big thing; and where you can get a headline like this: "Timberlake, Pop Juggernaut, Is Gaining Some Unusual Fans"
This kind of panderng is fine in Entertainment Weekly, where there are few pretentions about what the magazine means in the life of the readers. And it even works to an extent in USA Today, where a lot of the A&E coverage is pretty much "Gosh, isn't TV, film and music fun! (books and theater too, but only when there's a connection to one of the first three)."
But the Times is supposed to be Important. 'Cause it's the Times, I guess. So a piece about one of the most popular shows returning after a three-month hiatus, a time where fans wondered if the program had become rudderless, and where producers started to hint an end may be coming sooner than later, can't just be about the show, but has to encompass a ton of truly unrelated programs and a laughable excursion into the "meaning" of these show's popularity (the simplest -- that they're well made, have interesting characters and tell stories that draw people in week after week -- doesn't seem to bear a mention).
Simply put -- have something to say; say it well; and, for heaven's sake, get it right.
Anyway, I gotta go. Lost is about to start.
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
Saturday, January 27, 2007
How to keep visitors out of downtown
In our society's continued efforts to offer fewer services for the same (or more) money is the automatic parking lot.
If you are unfamiliar with the concept, it's just as it sounds. You go in, you park. You pay a machine that gives you a receipt. That receipt then gets you out of the lot. Simple in concept, abosuletly horrible in execution. Of the various times I have used these lots, never once has it gone smoothly. Someone always forgets to pay ahead of time; and more often than not, there's trouble with the machine at one end or the other, leading to long lines and frustraited patrons.
Tonight was my turn. I spent 10 minutes in the freezing cold trying to force the ticket (which I had dutifully paid for earlier) into a machine. I finally gave up and hit the talk button. That person may have been somewhere on the premises -- or halfway across the city for all I knew -- he just told me I was doing it wrong. I wasn't, but it took a few more minutes of tyring before a security guard type came over, looked at it, and realized the machine wasn't working. Now, could he pass me through the line, after standing in the freezing cold for all that time? Of course not. I had to cut into the other line to finally extract myself from the ramp.
It put me in a remarkably foul mood -- one that erased most of the good cheer I had from the show I had just seen at the Guthrie. And I imagine the other folks who've had this experience over the months had the same reaction. They weren't talking about the show they saw or the time at the museum or the great restaurant or just having a good time downtown. They were complaining about the damn parking. Considering this is in the district that Minneapolis has spent a lot of money to redevelop and is hanging its future on, that's not a good sign. People already are worried about safety downtown. They don't like the hassles they have to deal with while there; and they certainly don't want to cap it off by wasting time in the parking lot because the city doesn't want to hassle with any kind of human contact to deal with problems. In the end, people find other places to go -- some in more friendly neighborhoods in the city; many out to the suburbs where things are a lot easier.
And I know exactly where they are coming from. After tonight, if it wasn't for my job, I doubt I'd go back to the Guthrie again. I certainly don't plan to head downtown for any outside fun in the near future -- and it's at most five minutes from my house.
If you are unfamiliar with the concept, it's just as it sounds. You go in, you park. You pay a machine that gives you a receipt. That receipt then gets you out of the lot. Simple in concept, abosuletly horrible in execution. Of the various times I have used these lots, never once has it gone smoothly. Someone always forgets to pay ahead of time; and more often than not, there's trouble with the machine at one end or the other, leading to long lines and frustraited patrons.
Tonight was my turn. I spent 10 minutes in the freezing cold trying to force the ticket (which I had dutifully paid for earlier) into a machine. I finally gave up and hit the talk button. That person may have been somewhere on the premises -- or halfway across the city for all I knew -- he just told me I was doing it wrong. I wasn't, but it took a few more minutes of tyring before a security guard type came over, looked at it, and realized the machine wasn't working. Now, could he pass me through the line, after standing in the freezing cold for all that time? Of course not. I had to cut into the other line to finally extract myself from the ramp.
It put me in a remarkably foul mood -- one that erased most of the good cheer I had from the show I had just seen at the Guthrie. And I imagine the other folks who've had this experience over the months had the same reaction. They weren't talking about the show they saw or the time at the museum or the great restaurant or just having a good time downtown. They were complaining about the damn parking. Considering this is in the district that Minneapolis has spent a lot of money to redevelop and is hanging its future on, that's not a good sign. People already are worried about safety downtown. They don't like the hassles they have to deal with while there; and they certainly don't want to cap it off by wasting time in the parking lot because the city doesn't want to hassle with any kind of human contact to deal with problems. In the end, people find other places to go -- some in more friendly neighborhoods in the city; many out to the suburbs where things are a lot easier.
And I know exactly where they are coming from. After tonight, if it wasn't for my job, I doubt I'd go back to the Guthrie again. I certainly don't plan to head downtown for any outside fun in the near future -- and it's at most five minutes from my house.
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Punk as all fuck
Punk is, of course, dead. Has been for a long time. Most likely somewhere between Green Day topping the charts and Hot Topic introducing a full line of authentic Misfits T-shirts. But that doesn't stop new generations from getting angry, or understanding the purity of three chords and a cloud of dust.
I've been thinking about this a bit as of late, after making a series of trips to Extreme Noise, my friendly neighborhood collectivist record store. Mpls. has long had a solid punk rock scene, dating back the 70s really. The anarcho/hardcore/crust/whatever you want to call it has been strong for about 20 years (with ebbs and flows I would imagine) and Extreme Noise is a nice face on it all.
Anyway, I've come home with a collection of different stuff as of late, trying to move away from the underground metal I've been devouring in recent months and back to more a straight-forward punk sound. The best of the lot so far is Behind Enemy Lines, who have a lot of righteous anger (I'd be angry too if I was based in Pittsburgh) that blazes on their latest, One Nation Under the Iron Fist of God. It's basically been in my car stereo and on the iPod continously for the last week. Powerful stuff, especially a double-shot of post-Katrina tunes that put it all into focus (the 1984 references up top are pretty cool as well).
Some of the other stuff is taking a while, mainly because groups like Totalitar, Protestera and Krigshot don't sing in English. Still, no matter the language, the anger is there.
Right, dinner beckons. And then more political noise I think.
I've been thinking about this a bit as of late, after making a series of trips to Extreme Noise, my friendly neighborhood collectivist record store. Mpls. has long had a solid punk rock scene, dating back the 70s really. The anarcho/hardcore/crust/whatever you want to call it has been strong for about 20 years (with ebbs and flows I would imagine) and Extreme Noise is a nice face on it all.
Anyway, I've come home with a collection of different stuff as of late, trying to move away from the underground metal I've been devouring in recent months and back to more a straight-forward punk sound. The best of the lot so far is Behind Enemy Lines, who have a lot of righteous anger (I'd be angry too if I was based in Pittsburgh) that blazes on their latest, One Nation Under the Iron Fist of God. It's basically been in my car stereo and on the iPod continously for the last week. Powerful stuff, especially a double-shot of post-Katrina tunes that put it all into focus (the 1984 references up top are pretty cool as well).
Some of the other stuff is taking a while, mainly because groups like Totalitar, Protestera and Krigshot don't sing in English. Still, no matter the language, the anger is there.
Right, dinner beckons. And then more political noise I think.
Sunday, January 7, 2007
Owned by Yoshi
I spend an inordinate amount of time huddled with a controller in hand or huddled over the tiny screen on my Nintendo DS -- certainly more time than someone approaching 40 should do. Yet the thrill of controlling little avatars of myself hasn't changed over the past 25 years or so, back when a few pixels were enough to entertain me.
Which doesn't mean I love everything about gaming, and my ire this time is directed at a seemingly innocent title, "Yoshi's Island 2." I mean it sounds so cute and innocent -- and looks it as well, with a neat 1980s Nintendo vibe to the graphics and baby versions of Mario and the gang teaming up with dinosaur Yoshi for an old fashioned 2-D platformer (for those of you reading who don't know what that is -- Donkey Kong was the first popular platformer; this is more evolved, but the basic is the same, you jump and climb over obstacles; and try to defeat enemies to get to the end of the level, and then you do it another level, and so on).
OK, cute vibe, insane gameplay. I mean, dying 30 times in a row at the same place on an early level insane. I finally gave up midway through the second world (which is pretty early in the game) after spending 30 minutes trying to complete one task. It just wasn't worth the blood pressure spikes. And by looking at the saves from the other people who rented the game before me, it looks like they had given up in similar places.
Now difficulty is an important part of these games, but can anything be considered successful if most of the people abandon it long before the end? I don't mind working hard for any kind of success -- some of my favorite books and films made the audience work for the payoff -- but games are expensive (this one would have been 30 bucks; and that's a cheap one) and all too often seem to be crafted for some kind of (probably) mythical hardcore gamer that will gladly spend hours perfecting their skills. For the rest of the people who may want to play this for some kind of distraction from everyday stress, that isn't going to work. We'll just slam down the controller (or expensive hand held device, which did bounce once off the carpet on the toss, but seems OK), give up and grumble about the money wasted and vow to never come back to the series/designer/publisher/game platform. Not the best way to build an audience.
Which doesn't mean I love everything about gaming, and my ire this time is directed at a seemingly innocent title, "Yoshi's Island 2." I mean it sounds so cute and innocent -- and looks it as well, with a neat 1980s Nintendo vibe to the graphics and baby versions of Mario and the gang teaming up with dinosaur Yoshi for an old fashioned 2-D platformer (for those of you reading who don't know what that is -- Donkey Kong was the first popular platformer; this is more evolved, but the basic is the same, you jump and climb over obstacles; and try to defeat enemies to get to the end of the level, and then you do it another level, and so on).
OK, cute vibe, insane gameplay. I mean, dying 30 times in a row at the same place on an early level insane. I finally gave up midway through the second world (which is pretty early in the game) after spending 30 minutes trying to complete one task. It just wasn't worth the blood pressure spikes. And by looking at the saves from the other people who rented the game before me, it looks like they had given up in similar places.
Now difficulty is an important part of these games, but can anything be considered successful if most of the people abandon it long before the end? I don't mind working hard for any kind of success -- some of my favorite books and films made the audience work for the payoff -- but games are expensive (this one would have been 30 bucks; and that's a cheap one) and all too often seem to be crafted for some kind of (probably) mythical hardcore gamer that will gladly spend hours perfecting their skills. For the rest of the people who may want to play this for some kind of distraction from everyday stress, that isn't going to work. We'll just slam down the controller (or expensive hand held device, which did bounce once off the carpet on the toss, but seems OK), give up and grumble about the money wasted and vow to never come back to the series/designer/publisher/game platform. Not the best way to build an audience.
Friday, December 29, 2006
Best music of the year
This really isn't misanthropic at all, but my editor ran out of room and to had to trim considerably. In my defense, it was a really good year of music (and I've already heard a couple of things in the last few days that may have made the list had I heard them before my deadline).
What an interesting year of music. While the mainstream music industry continues to implode under the pressure of an ever-changing market; where heavily hyped albums came and went without making much of an impact on the listening audience; and where anyone with a bit of cash can make a professional sounding album and even get it into stores (if not into the homes of savvier-than-you-think consumers), excellent releases continued to come out.
Over the past 12 months I have heard somewhere between 400 and 500 new albums. A lot of it was the typical dreck that comes out every year, but a lot of it was of the highest quality. No matter the other pressures, artists continue to write, record and release phenomenal work. And the changing economics of the music industry are forcing more and more to either 1) try and make a living on a major label, even though most of the marketing budget has gone to the likes of Paris Hilton or 2) make it on their own outside of the mainstream industry. Either way, they are making music directly from the heart. And either way, consumers willing to dig a bit are the real winners here.
There are 40 releases listed below, and I could have easily included another 20 (or 40 really, it was a good year). There isn’t much separation on the list. Once you get past the top four (my absolute favorites of the year), the rest are packed in pretty close.
My favorites of 2006:
P.O.S. Audition
The pride of Hopkins, Minn. unleashed a stunning sophomore album, proving that hip-hop can still be a creative, powerful force. Rapping about politics, relationships and just living life, P.O.S. shows makes music that doesn’t reach for cheap thuggery, misogyny or homophobia to make its point.
The Hold Steady Boys and Girls in America
Tim Finn would never make it past the first round of American Idol, but his lyrics are among the best of this generation of songwriters, and the brilliant, classic-rock influenced music of the Hold Steady make up for deficiencies in Finn’s vocal skills.
The Decemberists The Crane Wife
Lost a bit because the band’s last album (“Picaresque”) was so brilliant, The Crane Wife is a more than able follow up. The band’s music is more mature, and the mixture of different folk music styles (focused on British instead of American) with pop influences of the last century make for an infectious, and often compelling collection of songs
The Sword Age of Winters
Metal was hip this year, and a lot of the bands trying to channel the spirit of 1971 were plain awful, but the Sword had a lot more than vintage analogue gear backing them up. These Texans can flat-out rock and not only don’t care what you think of their rocking, but want to share the power of their rock with the rest of the world.
Neko Case Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
An easy formula for a top album: Great voice + great music + great lyrics. Case brought the entire equation on her most mature and fully realized album.
Lady Sovereign Public Warning
A similar formula applies here, though this working-class U.K. rapper uses more of a great beats + great delivery + great lyrics on her terrific debut.
Converge No Heroes
Ever have a day where you hate not just your life, or what’s happening in the world, but the very fact that life exists on this world? The boys in Converge have those kinds of days all the time, and No Heroes brings that home over the course of a dozen blasts of pure rage.
The Flaming Lips At War with the Mystics
Another great album lost in the shuffle, in part because the previous album was absolutely brilliant. The Lips were a slow starting group (they’ve been around for more than 20 years) that took time to develop a signature style that matured along with the players.
Bob Dylan Modern Times
What tha? Dylan issued his third strong release in a row, and the easy-going, early rock and R&B vibe here works well with the increasing crust on his voice. It’s as if finally being old (instead of just sounding that way) has unlocked talent he hid away following the motorcycle accident all those years ago.
Mastodon Blood Mountain
Instead of trying to out-heavy 2004’s Moby-Dick-inspired Leviathan, these Virginia boys delved deep into the moody side of heavy rock, making an album that sounds like Pink Floyd, if Pink Floyd had been joined by Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath and Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple, while keeping a freaked-out Syd Barrett on to write songs.
Battle of Mice A Day of Nights
Break-ups make for great music. Break-ups involving creative members of a single group make for brilliant records (see Fleetwood Mac and Richard and Linda Thompson for a couple of prime examples). Add in players from two underground purveyors of experimental metal, and you have an often brilliant, often tough to listen to exploration of a relationship gone sour.
Belle and Sebastian The Life Pursuit
After spending their career producing twee music for a small if adoring fan base, these Scots expanded their sound with a bouncier, ‘60s pop and R&B-infused style. I can’t speak for other long-time fans, but I loved the change in direction, which brought some freshness to a formula that was growing increasingly stale.
Band of Horses Everything All the Time
Probably as close to generic “indie” as you’ll find on this list, except that the group (not to be confused with video-game-music inspired Horse the Band) is extremely good and the songs show none of the frustrating detachment that has plagued the underground in the last decade or so.
Celtic Frost Monotheist
I really didn’t expect this group – one of the most influential underground metal acts of the 1980s – to ever make a comeback. And I certainly didn’t expect it to be this good. Dark, moody and loaded with grooves that reach deep into the soul, Monotheist shows that old timers can’t just play rock n’ roll, they can own it.
TV on the Radio Return to Cookie Mountain
Perhaps the greatest complement you can pay a group if that the music is nearly impossible to describe. TV on the Radio defies all descriptions, except for the basics: New Yorkers, experimental, eternally in a groove; and quite, quite good.
Midlake The Trials of Van Occupanther
One advantage of doing this year-end list a bit later than others is that I can find music I may have missed. So, thank you Onion A.V. Club, I would have never found this wonderful mix of ‘70s-influenced country-rock without you.
Mogwai Mr. Beast
Long the darlings of the indie scene, Mogwai’s latest… isn’t going to drive them to the mainstream. Still, Mr. Beast mixes ambience, heaviness and a level of beauty not expected from a group of this ilk.
Raconteurs Broken Boy Soldier
Back to the A.V. Club for a second. In explaining why this didn’t make the cut for their best-of list, the writers mentioned it is only the “fourth-best” White Stripes album. Which is true, but that still puts it among terrific company. Jack White mixes well with a full band, providing a larger pallet for him to ply his signature interpretation of the blues.
Wolf Eyes Human Animal
If you’ve ever seen the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, there is a moment – after about half an hour of creepiness – when Leatherface jumps on screen and kills his first victim. From there on out, it’s a non-stop descent into hell. That’s this album.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs Show Your Bones
Another group fights the sophomore slump with an album that was fairly easy to dismiss as a disappointment at the beginning of the year, but stayed in circulation on my iPod through the months and ended up as one of my favorites of the year.
Heck, it was a great year, here’s 20 more quality releases:
Beck The Information
Elvis Costello and Allen Toussaint The River in Reverse
The Coup Pick a Bigger Weapon
Drive-By Truckers A Blessing and a Curse
Thea Gilmore Harpo’s Ghost
Gojira From Mars to Sirius
Isis In the Absence of Truth
Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins Rabbit Fur Coat
Jesu Silver
Lamb of God Sacrament
Peaches Impeach My Bush
Psalm One The Death of Frequent Flyer
Napalm Death Smear Campaign
Rasa Temple of Love
Sonic Youth Rather Ripped
Sunn 0))) and Boris Altar
Tennessee Boltsmokers Hydro Radio
Wailin’ Jennys Firecracker
HankWilliams III Straight to Hell
Tom Waits Orphans
Dude…They’re still alive?
Iron Maiden comes back with a pretty good album, A Matter of Life and Death.
Artist who would have been in the Top 10 if she hadn’t canceled a concert in Door County to attend an awards ceremony
Rosanne Cash
Best way to pretend to be a rock star
Guitar Hero and Guitar Hero II. Why play air guitar? These days, you can fire up a Playstation 2, hold the special guitar controller and rock out to “Smoke on the Water” and “Bark at the Moon.” Sometimes, the 21st century is really cool.
Best song from an otherwise mediocre album
“Crazy,” Gnarls Barkley, St. Elsewhere
Most Disappointing
Soul Asylum
Would be most disappointing if last year’s album hadn’t already lowered my expectations
Bruce Springsteen
Overrated
The Arctic Monkeys
An end-of-the-year passing.
James Brown left the earth on Christmas Day. Sad? Certainly. But the Godfather will live on – not just in his own music, but also in the heart of funk, R&B, rock, soul and hip-hop. Let’s have a moment of silence from all the turntables around the world.
What an interesting year of music. While the mainstream music industry continues to implode under the pressure of an ever-changing market; where heavily hyped albums came and went without making much of an impact on the listening audience; and where anyone with a bit of cash can make a professional sounding album and even get it into stores (if not into the homes of savvier-than-you-think consumers), excellent releases continued to come out.
Over the past 12 months I have heard somewhere between 400 and 500 new albums. A lot of it was the typical dreck that comes out every year, but a lot of it was of the highest quality. No matter the other pressures, artists continue to write, record and release phenomenal work. And the changing economics of the music industry are forcing more and more to either 1) try and make a living on a major label, even though most of the marketing budget has gone to the likes of Paris Hilton or 2) make it on their own outside of the mainstream industry. Either way, they are making music directly from the heart. And either way, consumers willing to dig a bit are the real winners here.
There are 40 releases listed below, and I could have easily included another 20 (or 40 really, it was a good year). There isn’t much separation on the list. Once you get past the top four (my absolute favorites of the year), the rest are packed in pretty close.
My favorites of 2006:
P.O.S. Audition
The pride of Hopkins, Minn. unleashed a stunning sophomore album, proving that hip-hop can still be a creative, powerful force. Rapping about politics, relationships and just living life, P.O.S. shows makes music that doesn’t reach for cheap thuggery, misogyny or homophobia to make its point.
The Hold Steady Boys and Girls in America
Tim Finn would never make it past the first round of American Idol, but his lyrics are among the best of this generation of songwriters, and the brilliant, classic-rock influenced music of the Hold Steady make up for deficiencies in Finn’s vocal skills.
The Decemberists The Crane Wife
Lost a bit because the band’s last album (“Picaresque”) was so brilliant, The Crane Wife is a more than able follow up. The band’s music is more mature, and the mixture of different folk music styles (focused on British instead of American) with pop influences of the last century make for an infectious, and often compelling collection of songs
The Sword Age of Winters
Metal was hip this year, and a lot of the bands trying to channel the spirit of 1971 were plain awful, but the Sword had a lot more than vintage analogue gear backing them up. These Texans can flat-out rock and not only don’t care what you think of their rocking, but want to share the power of their rock with the rest of the world.
Neko Case Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
An easy formula for a top album: Great voice + great music + great lyrics. Case brought the entire equation on her most mature and fully realized album.
Lady Sovereign Public Warning
A similar formula applies here, though this working-class U.K. rapper uses more of a great beats + great delivery + great lyrics on her terrific debut.
Converge No Heroes
Ever have a day where you hate not just your life, or what’s happening in the world, but the very fact that life exists on this world? The boys in Converge have those kinds of days all the time, and No Heroes brings that home over the course of a dozen blasts of pure rage.
The Flaming Lips At War with the Mystics
Another great album lost in the shuffle, in part because the previous album was absolutely brilliant. The Lips were a slow starting group (they’ve been around for more than 20 years) that took time to develop a signature style that matured along with the players.
Bob Dylan Modern Times
What tha? Dylan issued his third strong release in a row, and the easy-going, early rock and R&B vibe here works well with the increasing crust on his voice. It’s as if finally being old (instead of just sounding that way) has unlocked talent he hid away following the motorcycle accident all those years ago.
Mastodon Blood Mountain
Instead of trying to out-heavy 2004’s Moby-Dick-inspired Leviathan, these Virginia boys delved deep into the moody side of heavy rock, making an album that sounds like Pink Floyd, if Pink Floyd had been joined by Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath and Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple, while keeping a freaked-out Syd Barrett on to write songs.
Battle of Mice A Day of Nights
Break-ups make for great music. Break-ups involving creative members of a single group make for brilliant records (see Fleetwood Mac and Richard and Linda Thompson for a couple of prime examples). Add in players from two underground purveyors of experimental metal, and you have an often brilliant, often tough to listen to exploration of a relationship gone sour.
Belle and Sebastian The Life Pursuit
After spending their career producing twee music for a small if adoring fan base, these Scots expanded their sound with a bouncier, ‘60s pop and R&B-infused style. I can’t speak for other long-time fans, but I loved the change in direction, which brought some freshness to a formula that was growing increasingly stale.
Band of Horses Everything All the Time
Probably as close to generic “indie” as you’ll find on this list, except that the group (not to be confused with video-game-music inspired Horse the Band) is extremely good and the songs show none of the frustrating detachment that has plagued the underground in the last decade or so.
Celtic Frost Monotheist
I really didn’t expect this group – one of the most influential underground metal acts of the 1980s – to ever make a comeback. And I certainly didn’t expect it to be this good. Dark, moody and loaded with grooves that reach deep into the soul, Monotheist shows that old timers can’t just play rock n’ roll, they can own it.
TV on the Radio Return to Cookie Mountain
Perhaps the greatest complement you can pay a group if that the music is nearly impossible to describe. TV on the Radio defies all descriptions, except for the basics: New Yorkers, experimental, eternally in a groove; and quite, quite good.
Midlake The Trials of Van Occupanther
One advantage of doing this year-end list a bit later than others is that I can find music I may have missed. So, thank you Onion A.V. Club, I would have never found this wonderful mix of ‘70s-influenced country-rock without you.
Mogwai Mr. Beast
Long the darlings of the indie scene, Mogwai’s latest… isn’t going to drive them to the mainstream. Still, Mr. Beast mixes ambience, heaviness and a level of beauty not expected from a group of this ilk.
Raconteurs Broken Boy Soldier
Back to the A.V. Club for a second. In explaining why this didn’t make the cut for their best-of list, the writers mentioned it is only the “fourth-best” White Stripes album. Which is true, but that still puts it among terrific company. Jack White mixes well with a full band, providing a larger pallet for him to ply his signature interpretation of the blues.
Wolf Eyes Human Animal
If you’ve ever seen the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, there is a moment – after about half an hour of creepiness – when Leatherface jumps on screen and kills his first victim. From there on out, it’s a non-stop descent into hell. That’s this album.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs Show Your Bones
Another group fights the sophomore slump with an album that was fairly easy to dismiss as a disappointment at the beginning of the year, but stayed in circulation on my iPod through the months and ended up as one of my favorites of the year.
Heck, it was a great year, here’s 20 more quality releases:
Beck The Information
Elvis Costello and Allen Toussaint The River in Reverse
The Coup Pick a Bigger Weapon
Drive-By Truckers A Blessing and a Curse
Thea Gilmore Harpo’s Ghost
Gojira From Mars to Sirius
Isis In the Absence of Truth
Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins Rabbit Fur Coat
Jesu Silver
Lamb of God Sacrament
Peaches Impeach My Bush
Psalm One The Death of Frequent Flyer
Napalm Death Smear Campaign
Rasa Temple of Love
Sonic Youth Rather Ripped
Sunn 0))) and Boris Altar
Tennessee Boltsmokers Hydro Radio
Wailin’ Jennys Firecracker
HankWilliams III Straight to Hell
Tom Waits Orphans
Dude…They’re still alive?
Iron Maiden comes back with a pretty good album, A Matter of Life and Death.
Artist who would have been in the Top 10 if she hadn’t canceled a concert in Door County to attend an awards ceremony
Rosanne Cash
Best way to pretend to be a rock star
Guitar Hero and Guitar Hero II. Why play air guitar? These days, you can fire up a Playstation 2, hold the special guitar controller and rock out to “Smoke on the Water” and “Bark at the Moon.” Sometimes, the 21st century is really cool.
Best song from an otherwise mediocre album
“Crazy,” Gnarls Barkley, St. Elsewhere
Most Disappointing
Soul Asylum
Would be most disappointing if last year’s album hadn’t already lowered my expectations
Bruce Springsteen
Overrated
The Arctic Monkeys
An end-of-the-year passing.
James Brown left the earth on Christmas Day. Sad? Certainly. But the Godfather will live on – not just in his own music, but also in the heart of funk, R&B, rock, soul and hip-hop. Let’s have a moment of silence from all the turntables around the world.
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Welcome to the end of the year
This may be a day late and a dollar short, but here I am inside the blogsphere, ready to share my wisdom with the rest of the world. Or, at the very least, share the views of a geeky, gay, left-wing, 37-year-old arts and entertainment writer/freelance editor from a not-frigid-at-all Minneapolis. (Say what you want about global warming, but it is the end of December and there are tiny clumps of snow clinging to the grass -- some of which is still green! This would have never happened when I was a kid, when the snow fell like... well, snow.)
So what can I add to the muddle of the internet? God knows, but I'm here to find out. My interests are pretty diverse -- my job involves writing about music, theater and anything else I can sell off to my editors; while my free time is taken up with SF/fantasy books, off-the-wall film and TV and a variety of digital games and ones that require a bit of social interaction to complete. So expect the... I guess the unexpected (or at the very least, random thoughts on most anything under this, or any other, sun).
So what can I add to the muddle of the internet? God knows, but I'm here to find out. My interests are pretty diverse -- my job involves writing about music, theater and anything else I can sell off to my editors; while my free time is taken up with SF/fantasy books, off-the-wall film and TV and a variety of digital games and ones that require a bit of social interaction to complete. So expect the... I guess the unexpected (or at the very least, random thoughts on most anything under this, or any other, sun).
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)