My Year In Lists

So, lets finish up our music roundup for 2008.

You can find my top albums of 2008 here. In this post, we're going to look at my top eps, best compilations, top songs, and some other shit. So let's go.

The top 4 eps of 2008:
4)Little Boots-Arecibo
3)Animal Collective-Water Curses
2)Be Your Own Pet-Get Damaged
1)Fleet Foxes-Sun Giant
I really didn't listen to that many eps this year, so this list is a tad bit incomplete. Fleet Foxes Sun Giant ep would probably still be the number one choice though.


The Top 7 Compilations/Mixtapes:
7)The Long Blondes-Singles
6)Diplo & Santogold-Top Ranking Mixtape
5)Various Artists- Nigeria 70: Lagos Jump: Original Heavyweight Afrobeat Highlife & Afro-Funk
4)Esau Mwamwaya + Radioclit-"The Very Best" Mixtape
3)Arthur Russell-Love Is Overtaking Me
2)Jay Reatard- Singles 06-07 & Jay Reatard-Matador Singles 08
1)Wale- The Mixtape About Nothing
D.C. rapper Wale put together a mixtape that is devoted to 90s sitcom Seinfeld. Yes, you read that right...Seinfeld has entered rap culture. It is fantastic. The highlight of the mixtape is "The Kramer", on which Wale samples Michael Richards infamous rant at L.A. comedy club The Laugh Factory to make a thought-provoking thesis on the use of the N-word. Also, there is a confusing/out of place/pathetic cameo by Seinfeld star Julia Louis-Dreyfuss that should derail the mixtape completely, but luckily doesn't last long enough to do much harm.


The Most Disappointing Album Of The Year:
For something to be disappointing there had to have been a build up of hope prior to it's release that made the albums disappointment all the more painful. So out the door goes Weezer's Red Album because I don't think anyone thought that would be good. Out goes The Raveonettes Lust, Lust, Lust because I gave up all hope for them after I heard "Aly, Walk With Me". This really comes down to three choices: Kanye West's 808s & Heartbreak, Scarlett Johansson's Anywhere I Lay My Head or Philip Jeck's Sand. Jeck's album was completely built up for me as being this masterpiece, yet when I heard it, I couldn't make heads or tails of what I was listening to. Kanye's 4th album was coming off of his highly enjoyable Graduation, so, yeah, it had a lot to live up to...but this was almost like Kanye wasn't even trying. The first time I heard "Love Lockdown" I couldn't believe it was Kanye...not because he was singing, but because it sounded so...fake. To it's credit though, 808s & Heartbreak does contain the awesome "Robocop", so it can't be a huge disappointment with that.

No, the most disappointing album of the year is Scarlett Johansson's Tom Waits cover record Anywhere I Lay My Head. Note, it's not the worst album of the year, just the most disappointing. I love Scarlett...and Tom Waits is my favorite artist of all time...but the two of them together just doesn't work...even with a David Bowie appearance hidden on "Falling Down". The album isn't unlistenable...it's just unremarkable...and that's something that a Tom Waits inspired album should never be. Anywhere I Lay My Head should have been a thought-provoking journey to a world where pin-up models could sing the blues and femme fatales fall victim to the same desperation as the drunk on the street. Instead I felt absolutely nothing from this album. That's why it's a disappointment.

The Worst Album Of The Year (that I heard):
This would easily be Weezer's third self-titled album, Weezer (also known as The Red Album). Here's an excerpt from a review I wrote for the album earlier in 2008:

I can see it now: I'd compare Weezer's Red Album to the regurgitated food the cow re-chews on it's way from it's 1st stomach to it's 2nd stomach. If you think it's as good as the first time, then I'm sorry my friend, but you enjoyed cow vomit. Calling it "Pork and Beans" doesn't fool anyone.

And I was going easy on the album there. Red Album is an attempt to revisit the magic that Weezer had on their first self-titled album (The Blue Album), but they don't even come close, falling far below even the level of quality on their second self-titled album (The Green Album). The songs range from "could be decent if it wasn't by Weezer" ("The Greatest Man That Ever Lived") to "oh my God that is horrible make it stop make it stop" ("Heart Songs"). Also, in the case of "Heart Songs", I think I'd vote that in as easily the worst song of the year. It's only fitting that Weezer gets wrong a song that is all about nostalgia, on an album that is attempting to rely on our nostalgia for anyone to give two shits. Weezer...it's time to retire. Go away, and stop ruining my good memories of you.



Most Overrated Album Of 2008:
TV On The Radio-Dear Science.
It wasn't bad at all, but I didn't think it was anywhere near as good as Return To Cookie Mountain. Some people get all obsessive about these guys, and yeah, they are good, but this was not album of the year. Sorry.


Most Underrated Album Of 2008:
Nico Muhly-Mothertongue
This album is so underrated, that I didn't even include it on my top albums of the year list! Nico Muhly's Mothertongue starts off with an avant-garde classical piece that evokes the work of Philip Glass. Over the rest of the work, Muhly echos Bjork, Steve Reich...and folk music. It's quite an experience, and perfect for fans of minimalist classical music.

Best Album I Discovered Because Of Taylor Long:
My former editor, and the mind behind the T-Sides music blog, Taylor Long has a tendency to suggest albums to me that I never would have heard elsewhere. Last year she brought Patrick Cleandenim's excellent Baby Come Home to my attention. This year it was Dengue Fever's Venus On Earth. Dengue Fever combine Cambodian pop music with American indie rock, to create an album that almost seems like a piece of alternative history. Most of the album is sung in Khmer, the main language of Cambodia (with a few songs in English), but don't let that scare you away. The album is terrific.

Best Album I Discovered Because Of Nick Psillas:
Like Taylor, Nick Psillas, of the band The Broosevelts also has passed my way many music suggestions. The best album he told me about this year was Little Joy's self titled debut, Little Joy. Little Joy is a side project of Fabrizio Moretti of The Strokes and Rodrigo Amarante of Los Hermanos. As a fan of both those bands, this album represents almost a dream pairing, but I was still skeptical. The last Strokes album left me pondering the need for a band like the Strokes anymore, and the last time Los Hermanos did anything new was 2005. Could this just be another disaster? Well, obviously it isn't. This is what the 3rd Strokes album should have sounded like. This is the return to form we wanted. Now let's see how these rumors of a new Strokes album in 2009 turn out.

The Top 60 Songs of 2008:
60)"Time To Pretend"-MGMT
59)"The Vowels Pt. 2"-Why?
58)"Dance, Dance, Dance"-Lykke Li
57)"Run To Your Grave"-The Mae Shi
56)"In The New Year"-The Walkmen
55)"House Jam"-Gang Gang Dance
54)"Robocop"-Kanye West
53)"Saved By Old Times"-Deerhunter
52)"The Next Messiah"-Jenny Lewis
51)"Kids"-MGMT

50)"Walcott"-Vampire Weekend
49)"Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)"-Beyonce
48)"Don’t Stop The Music"-Rihanna
47)"The Rip"-Portishead
46)"Paperback Suicide"-Evangelicals
45)"Sentimental Heart"-She & Him
44)"The Modern Leper"-Frightened Rabbit
43)"Too Drunk To Dream"-Magnetic Fields
42)"L.E.S. Artists"-Santogold
41)"Kiss With A Fist"-Florence and the Machine

40)"Lately"-The Helio Sequence
39)"A&E"-Goldfrapp
38)"The Next Time Around"-Little Joy
37)"Which Song?"-Max Tundra
36)"Oh My God"-Ida Maria
35)"Fatalist Palmistry"-Why?
34)"Shut Up And Let Me Go"-The Ting Tings
33)"The Kramer"-Wale
32)"Black Albino Bones"-Fucked Up
31)"Bete Noir"-The Gutter Twins


30)"Trolley Friend"-Pattern Is Movement
29)"Soul On Fire"-Spiritualized
28)"All I Wanna Do"-Jaimie Lidell
27)"Where Do You Run To?"-Vivian Girls
26)"Teenagers"-Department of Eagles
25)"Strange Overtones"-David Byrne & Brian Eno
24)"Take My Love With You"-Eli “Paperboy” Reed & The True Loves
23)"Shake That Devil"-Antony & The Johnsons
22)"My Year In Lists"-Los Campesinos!
21)"Eraser"-No Age


20)"I Know Ur Girlfriend Hates Me"-Annie
19)"Easy Does It"-Bonnie “Prince” Billy
18)"Gobbledigook"-Sigor Ros
17)"Winter"-The Dodos
16)"Skinny Love"-Bon Iver
15)"Blue Ridge Mountains"-Fleet Foxes
14)"Lights Out"-Santogold
13)"Mykonos"-Fleet Foxes
12)"Lover’s Day"-TV On The Radio
11)"You! Me! Dancing!"-Los Campesinos!


10)"Becky"-Be Your Own Pet
9)"Nous Tombons Dans Elle"-Dominique Leone
8)"I’m Not Going To Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You"-The Black Kids
7)"Constructive Summer"-The Hold Steady
6)"Sweet Darlin’"-She & Him
5)"American Boy"-Estelle (Featuring Kanye West)
4)"Put On"-Young Jeezy and Kanye West
3)"The Nun’s Litany"-Magnetic Fields
2)"Oxford Comma"-Vampire Weekend
1)"Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!"-Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

Ok, that's it for the music of 2008! I'd like to do a movie list, but I'm not sure when I'll get that up. Hopefully soon. Thanks for reading!

Top Albums Of 2008

For the first time in a long time, I actually struggled with picking my top ten albums of the year.

That's a good thing, I guess. When so many great albums are released in a year, it's the listeners and music fans who win. My job should be this hard all the time.

Of course, by limiting this list to ten, I've left off many deserving albums. It was originally a list of 30 that I had to par down. Sadly, this left no room for some releases that everyone else on the internet has been hailing as the "best albums of the year". Whatever. I think these albums are better.


I now present:

DANTE'S INFERNAL RACKET'S
TOP ALBUMS OF 2008

10)The Hold Steady- Stay Positive (Vagrant)

Many bands wear their influences on their sleeves. The Hold Steady just won't stop talking about them.

The first line in album opener "Constructive Summer" bellows: "Me and my friends are like/the drums on 'Lust For Life'". The band then goes on to reference The Dillinger Four, The Clash, and Husker Du, all before getting out of the first song.

Of course this makes perfect sense considering what else The Hold Steady sing about. On Stay Positive they sing stories about people who are stuck in adolescence, people who are confused spiritually, and people who aren't sure about where life is taking them. They sing songs about people who are "stuck at the mill until [they] die" and people who smoke in the woods with "townies". They sing songs about the youth in red states, the sing songs about the youth in the suburbs. All they know of the cities is what they've been taught by Led Zeppelin and Bruce Springsteen. All they can do (to quote Pulp) is "dance and drink and screw/cause there's nothing else to do."

But unlike on their past albums, The Hold Steady take this a step further. Stay Positive is their most grown up album, not in a sense of being more mature, but rather in being old enough to look back and see what's happened. No, the band is still as confused and discouraged as they always are, but now they see what they went through happening to the next generation, and they want to help them through it. The next generation needs to stay optimistic, to think positive. Stick to your goals, and remember your influences and you'll get out of the rut of being a Hold Steady character. After all, The Hold Steady did. Raise a toast to Saint Joe Strummer indeed.

Best Songs: "Constructive Summer", "Stay Positive", "Magazines"

9)Portishead-Third (Mercury/Island)

It seems like forever since Portishead released an album. 11 years in fact, and it feels like they haven't been gone at all.

There is something about Portishead that makes them seem so haunting and bleak, and yet at the same time, so...upper class. When listening to Third, I get the feeling like I'm sitting at a British aristocracy dinner banquet. The music just fits with the ambiance in the background as we eat and discuss the latest business in front of the House of Lords. I assume British aristocratic gatherings aren't anything fitting of a Portishead album, but it just gives me that feel. Maybe I've seen King Ralph too many times.

Beth Gibbons voice calls back the likes of Jackie DeShannon and Nico. On top of that, Portishead approach Third with a very 60's pop feel, while still maintaining their identifiable sound; like if Burt Bacharach wrote songs for Iron Butterfly. Third isn't a retread of Dummy, and for that we're all relieved. After an eleven year wait for a new album, it's reassuring to know that Portishead aren't ready for the 'classic 90's bargain bin' yet, and I hope their fourth album takes a little quicker to make than their third.

Best Songs: "The Rip", "Machine Gun", "Hunter"

8)The Magnetic Fields- Distortion (Nonesuch)

It's 90's week here at Dante's Infernal Racket! First Portishead and now Stephin Merritt's catchy-pop outlet The Magnetic Fields! All we need now is the new Weezer album! (on second thought...no).

For some reason, Distortion didn't seem to be too well received by many critics this year. I'm not quite sure why. Distortion mixes Magnetic Fields style catchy pop with Jesus and Mary Chain distorted rock. Yeah, it isn't like 69 Love Songs...but is that what everyone wants? A remake of 69 Love songs?

The songs on Distortion feel almost...more solid than on previous Magnetic Fields albums. Maybe it's the electric guitars of this album compared to the acoustics of 69 Love Songs, or maybe it's the more playful feeling the album gives off...I don't know, but it just feels like I'm getting more out of these 13 songs than I did on all three discs of 69 Love Songs.

The album starts off very nice with the Breeder's sound-a-like "Three-Way". The ranting "California Girls" flows nicely from the opener's surf guitars, setting up the records upbeat sound quite well. The sing-a-long opening of "Too Drunk To Dream" is probably the most fun I've ever had with a Stephin Merritt song and along with "Please Stop Dancing" and "Drive on, Driver" form the most enjoyable section of the album. The album's highlight though is the clever "The Nun's Litany" which I'm pretty sure I've played more times this year than I have most other songs from better albums. I keep on coming back to Distortion whenever I need a burst of pop and fun. To me, that makes it one of the best albums of the year.

Best Songs: "The Nun's Litany", "Too Drunk To Dream", "Drive On, Driver"

7)Why?-Alopecia (Anticon)

Is Why? a hip-hop group or are they an indie rock band? If you Googled the un-Google-able band, that's what you'd find...lots of discussions about what genre Why? could possibly be. Why? is the perfect candidate for my most hated genre selection on iTunes: 'Unclassifiable'...and that's only because the idea of a bunch of indie-rock white boys raping about how much they like Whole Foods confuses people who think genre is a rule and not a suggestion. These are the same people who write in their 'favorite music' box on facebook "Everything but country!!!" and think that actually defines anything.

If you want to use a comparison to describe them, they're Faith No More for the 2000s or maybe Alice in Chains for the health food nut.

The stand out song on the album is "Fatalist Palmistry" a bright, happy-sounding pop number stuck right in the middle of the album. The song revolves around the idea of palm reading and numerous times mentions loving life, yet it's surrounded on both sides by songs about death, sex and darkness. I guess it's only fitting then that the song starts and ends with references to dying: "I sleep on my back cause it's good for the spine/and coffin rehearsal" and "I'll be embalmed with it long before you'll see". This seems to be Why?'s topic of choice. All their songs act as stream of consciousness diatribes on the uncertain and inevitable, or rather, sex and death. On the album opener "The Vowels, Pt.2": "I'm not a ladies man/I'm a landmine/filming my own fake death." On "Simeon's Dilemma" "But I still hear your name in wedding bells/Will I look better or will I look the same rotting in hell." Most of the songs on Alopecia discuss one of these two topics in sometimes awkward and hopefully tongue-in-cheek ways. On "Good Friday" rapper Yoni Wolf mentions there are lots of things he wouldn't even say to his psychiatrist. He seems perfectly content with relaying it all to us though. If I didn't like it so much, I'd demand my own prescription pad.

Best Songs: "Fatalist Palmistry", "The Vowels Pt.2", "Song Of The Sad Assassin"

6)Marnie Stern-This is it and I am it and You are it and So is that and He is it and She is it and It is it and That is that (Kill Rock Stars)

I can't think of a way to describe Marnie Stern's second album. It's not really metal, even though her guitar work is on the level of Eddie Van Halen. It's not really pop, as this could never be played on mainstream radio. It's sort of like she created her own genre...a type of Progressive Pop.

Marnie Stern's work needs to be heard to be understood. The album is weird and choppy. It's not candy to the ears. It's angular, it's awkward. It's like the last few seconds of the Beatles "A Day In The Life" when the orchestra just says the hell with it and creates nightmares.

And even that's not really a good description. Stern's songs play with pop structure. They are pop songs, just...not in the right order. Remember in Pulp Fiction how the story structure was all mixed up...how you'd get half of the story, and then we'd cut away to Bruce Willis, and he kills John Travolta, but then we got back to the middle of the first story and Travolta's still alive?

Ah fuck it. That description sucks too. Really, I have no fucking clue how to even approach this album for a review. It's uncomfortable progressive pop metal. It's "Karn Evil #9" meets "Fuck and Run". It's a cyclone and a siren put together. Take album highlight "Ruler". It starts almost like hoe-down music and then turns into a Sleater-Kinney song. How else can this be described? It shouldn't work, but it does perfectly. Not only am entranced by it, but I can't stop listening to it. Just give it a listen yourself.

Best Songs: "Ruler", "Roads? Where We're Going We Don't Need Roads", "Prime"

5)The Dutchess & The Duke-She's The Dutchess, He's The Duke (Hardly Art)

This one is simple. The Dutchess & The Duke sound like acoustic Aftermath era Rolling Stones with a little dash of Richard and Linda Thompson. They play 60's blues and folk songs. That's either a selling point to you or not.

Best Songs: "Out Of Time", "Mary", "Strangers"

4)Hot Chip-Made in the Dark (EMI)

Hot Chip is probably the epitome of the slur "Pitchfork Artist". Pitchfork promotes the hell out of these musicians, and because of that, there is normally a sort of resentment towards them around the internet (See also: Deerhunter). Including Hot Chip's Made in the Dark on this list is certainly not earning me any brownie points from the music blog community, but to not include it would be to ignore a very enjoyable album simply because some guy in an office in Chicago compared them to Giorgio Moroder.

Made in the Dark is electronica, but it is poppy electronica. The music bares a closer resemblance to Interpol than it does Prodigy. Almost like The Rapture's "Echoes" by way of Daft Punk's "Digital Love". Their music is extremely catchy and easily danceable. Plus they reference Todd Rundgren's Something/Anything?. And I LOVE Something/Anything?.

Best Songs: "Wrestlers", "Ready For The Floor", "Shake a Fist"

3)Bon Iver-For Emma, Forever Ago (Jagjaguwar)

Bon Iver's For Emma, Forever Ago was originally self-released in 2007, but since it's official release was 2008, and since I had no clue it existed until this past year, I'm going to consider it officially a 2008 album.

2008 was a good year for the 'Americana' sound. Bonnie "Prince" Billy released a pretty damn good album with Lie Down In The Light, The Fleet Foxes had a fantastic EP and LP and Bon Iver came out with For Emma, Forever Ago. Bon Iver is really just Justin Vernon, formerly of folk band DeYarmond Edison. He recorded most of For Emma, Forever Ago Walden style...isolated in a cabin in Wisconsin for four months. The album reflects Vernon's experience. It's a haunting debut, filled with the psyche of a man isolated in nature.

Vernon's voice alternates between a Will Oldham style growl to a TV on the Radio-esk falsetto (though it mostly stays in the falsetto). More than anything the album sounds like the latest release from Iron & Wine, or maybe even Ray LaMontagne, but neither of those two have made an album this coherent before. For Emma, Forever Ago is a quite fantastic piece of folk music.

Best Songs: "Skinny Love", "Flume", "Re: Stacks"

2)Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds-Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!! (Mute)

Nick Cave is 51. You'd never know it from the way Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!! sounds though. These days, when a rocker gets old, he usually resorts to recording crap like muddled vanilla versions of old standards. But not Cave. When he gets old, he rocks harder.

Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!! opens with the title song, a spiraling epic about what happened to "Poor Larry" after he was risen from the grave. Cave uses the resurrection of Lazarus to return to one of his favorite topics: God. "Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!" chronicles a modern Lazarus's journey through despair and obscenity as he digs himself deeper and deeper into the ground, blaming it all on the fact that "he never asked to be risen up from the tomb/...no one ever actually asked him to forsake his dreams".

"Poor Larry"'s journey brings forward the notion that God's work might not be understood by us, but everything is happening according to some plan: "I can hear chants and incantations and some guy is mentioning me in his prayers./ Well, I don't know what it is but there's definitely something going on upstairs." This point carries Cave throughout the album, as he touches upon other cases of humans not understanding a greater thought, and in the end, rejecting it. On "We Call Upon The Author" Cave sings: "Rosary clutched in his hand, he died with tubes up his nose/And a cabal of angels with finger cymbals chanted his name in code/We shook our fists at the punishing rain/And we call upon the author to explain." Throughout the song, the effects of tragedy are questioned by those closest, asking God, their supposed author, why they must occur. The repeated chant of "Prolix, Prolix/Nothing a pair of scissors can't fix" obviously shows the questioners reaction to God's response...the result being a mutilated version of what they once believed.

In "Albert Goes West" Cave sings "I said the world is full of endless abstractions/And I won't be held responsible for my actions." Here, another challenge to a higher authority is made, this time the refusal of the protagonist to recognize any type of higher law (whether God's or the state's)due to their generality. The inclusion of the American West (another one of Cave's favorite topics) brings forward the imagery of a lawless society, one where no one has to worry about anyone judging them. The album's closer "More News From Nowhere" takes everything to it's logical extreme, with a world of moral anarchy, supplemented by the continued delivery of "more news from nowhere". A Dionysian orgy in a world where God is dead to the people, all because they don't understand his plan and instead have chosen to reject him. It all happens to "Poor Larry" in the opening song, and the only place it lead him was straight back to the grave. You think Cave is trying to tell us something?

Best Songs: "Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!", "We Call Upon The Author", "More News From Nowhere"

1)Fleet Foxes-Fleet Foxes (Sub Pop)

And to think, just a year ago, I was badmouthing Panda Bear for trying to sound too much like the Beach Boys, while meanwhile, on the opening to "Blue Ridge Mountains" The Fleet Foxes do a pitch perfect impression of the Wilson Brother's harmonies, and I'm praising them. My, how times have changed.

The Fleet Foxes' self-titled debut album is a perfect piece of chirpy 60's folk. Somehow though, possibly by use of time tunnel or warp zone, this 60's folk album came out in 2008. The Fleet Foxes hit every note they need to hit, from emulating The Byrds and the International Submarine Band to the aforementioned Beach Boys. They combine their folk with sunshine pop to create what is undeniably a west coast sound.

Every song on Fleet Foxes hits, from the crooning (and Beirut sounding) "Tiger Mountain Peasant Song", to the sing-a-long "White Winter Hymnal", to the possibly lost Gram Parsons recording "Meadowlarks". The album is as close to perfect as any album came this year, and for that it takes the number one slot on my list.

Best Songs:"White Winter Hymnal", "Blue Ridge Mountains", "Ragged Wood"

And since, I know someone is going to ask, here are, without comment, 11-20:
11)Dengue Fever-Venus On Earth (M80)
12)Santogold-Santogold (Downtown)
13)Vampire Weekend-Vampire Weekend (XL)
14)Times New Viking-Rip It Off (Matador)
15)Department of Eagles-In Ear Park (4AD)
16)Jenny Lewis-Acid Tongue (Warner Brothers)
17)Lil Wayne-Tha Carter III (Cash Money)
18)Be Your Own Pet-Get Awkward (Ecstatic Peace)
19)Bonnie "Prince" Billy-Lie Down In The Light (Spunk)
20)Juana Molina-Un Dia (Domino)

Thanks for reading! I'm going to have a music summary of 2008 post up soon (I promise) and hopefully soon after that, a list of my favorite songs of the year. After that, I'll probably tackle movies.

Also, there will definitely be unrelated posts separating these.

So, what do you think guys?

The Heart Of...Sunday Morning

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO TOM WAITS!

America's hobo troubadour turns 59 today.



Here he is performing "The Piano Has Been Drinking (Not Me)" On Fernwood 2 Night in 1977.

I'm going to celebrate my favorite musician's birthday by listening to Swordfishtrombones and Small Change while driving to Pennsylvania today in the snow. It will be quite an adventure.


Also, since I apparently missed it, November 22nd was Little Steven Van Zandt's birthday. Little Steven, other than being Bruce Springsteen's guitarist in the E Street Band, and the actor who played Silvio on The Sopranos, is also the DJ and founder of the greatest radio program of all time: Little Steven's Underground Garage.



Here is a clip from Little Steven's Underground Garage Festival back in (I think) 2004. The clip features Bruce Springsteen introducing the fantastic Chesterfield Kings.

You know, it's really sad, that I was at the Underground Garage Festival and I don't remember what year it was...it was August, I remember that...and there was a hurricane warning, and Julian Casablancas from The Strokes yelled at one point: "They told us to hurry up our set because there's a hurricane coming...WELL I DON'T SEE NO FUCKING HURRICANE!"

Yes kids, at one time The Strokes' were cool.

Songs Of The Day

So over on Twitter I've been amusing myself (and hopefully others) by posting a link to a cool song each day.

Originally I was trying to out-indie Sam Rubenfeld (whom I stole this idea from), but lately I've been grouping my selections more into themes.

I've decided to post the first few weeks of it here on my blog. So enjoy:

Nov 21, 2008

The Chi-Lites- "Stoned Out Of My Mind"

Nov 22

A Brokeheart Pro-"You Don't Know"

Nov 23
Holly Golightly-"A Length Of Pipe" (from Last.Fm)

Nov 24
The Forty Fives-"Junk Food Heaven" (Crappy MP3 from their website)

Nov 25

Gogol Bordello-"Start Wearing Purple"

Nov 26

The Creaky Boards-"The Songs I Didn't Write"

Nov 27
SPECIAL THANKSGIVING SONG OF THE DAY IN TWO PARTS:


Arlo Guthrie-"Alice's Restaurant Massacre"

Nov 28
BLACK FRIDAY SONG OF THE DAY:
Johnny Boy-"You Are The Generation That Bought More Shoes And You Got What You Deserve"

Nov 29

The Stolen Minks-"Consecutives"

SOLO VENTURES THEME WEEK! These songs are all the result of band members going solo.
Nov 30

Joe Strummer-"Coma Girl"

Dec 1

Paul Westerberg-"Dyslexic Heart"

Dec 2

Kevin Drew-"Backed Out On The..."

Dec 3

Jenny Lewis and The Watson Twins-"Big Guns"

Dec 4
Feist-"Mushaboom"

Dec 5

Lou Reed-"Good Evening Mr. Waldheim"

Dec 6

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds-"From Her To Eternity"

Why I Still Read Pitchfork

I remember a time when I used to read Pitchforkmedia every day. I looked through all the news, and enjoyed reading the album reviews. That year was 2003.

I had just started working for the Hofstra Chronicle, writing album reviews for their entertainment section. My first reviews were very bland, and if they were by anyone else, I probably would never have even read them. I needed a better writing style, something that would attract attention. Enter Brent DiCrescenzo.

Brent DiCrescenzo broke every rule when it came to writing album reviews. He referred to himself throughout his reviews; he went on huge tangents that only paid off at the end; he told stories and made up characters in hopes of getting his audience to relate to his point-of-view better. He worshiped at the altar of Hunter S. Thompson just as often as he did Robert Christgau. He was very interesting to read, even if you didn't agree with what he was saying. Dare I claim that what he was writing for Pitchfork was in fact beyond criticism, but rather, art.

It wasn't just DiCrescenzo. Many of Pitchfork's stable of writers at the time were tryng new things with their reviews. I was a fan of Dominique Leone, Amanda Petrusich, Nick Sylvester, Mark Richardson, Douglas Wolk and of course Ryan Schreiber.

So, of course, I completely aped their styles, and as my former editor Taylor Long can tell you: people started reading my reviews. I know this, because I have the hate mail.

So, back to the point. That was 2003. Since then, Pitchfork has gone down in quality a great deal. DiCrescenzo left to pursue to another writing gig, Leone just released his first (excellent) full length LP, Petrusich just wrote a book I'm dying to read, and for the most part, the current crop of writers aren't nearly as experimental as the old ones (Scott Plagenhoef's continuous attempts aside). The biggest criticism Pitchfork gets these days (actually, I guess they've always gotten this criticism) is that they are pretentious and elitists. Their reviews reek of the arrogance that mars the line between being a taste-maker and just being Holier-than-thou.

And honestly, it's completely true. It's sad to see one of my influences that was so strong once, completely make themselves irrelevant.

So why do I still read it then? Well, I'm always on the look out for new music that I have yet to hear. I'm always trying to find stuff that I don't know yet. If the website provides me with these criteria, then I see no reason to abandon them. If I get something out of my reading, why is that bad? Today was a perfect example of why I still read Pitchfork.

Before today, I had never heard of Alton Ellis. Sadly, Ellis died recently, and Pitchfork ran their obituary and also a few song suggestions.

And my God, he is fantastic.

I've never really explored the genre of rocksteady that deep, but now, now I think I must because this song is terrific:


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That's all I ask from Pitchfork, recommend something to me that I might like, and I'll still glance over your site every day. Is that such a bad reason to still read the site? Am I wrong? Tell me.



And R.I.P Alton Ellis.

Everytime you listen to 'Slippery When Wet', a Kitten Dies

I am very disturbed by this article in USA Today about this years Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductions.

According to the writer, the band that has the best shot of being inducted into the Hall this year is...Bon Jovi:



So, let's think about this for a second. If he's right:

Bon Jovi--Rock and Roll Hall of Famers.
The Stooges--Not Rock and Roll Hall of Famers.

This has been a horrible week for music.

This Is Just Too Easy

Front page of Myspace.com:



If this is true, then I have severely misjudged the current music scene.

"And I Won't Get Any Older, Now the Angels Wanna Wear My Red Shoes"

Happy birthday Elvis Costello!!!

The man out of time turns 54 today.



This video is from Saturday Night Live's 25th anniversary show, re-enacting Costello's "sabotage" of his own set back in the 70s.

Shiny Happy Monsters

Feist, everyone's favorite Canadian countress finally performed "1234" on Sesame Street:



It's pretty cool, but..."Chickens just back from the shore"??

I don't even know where to start with that one...


I'm a little disappointed though...when I heard of this, I was promised Count Von Count. There is no Count Von Count in this clip. Way to go Sesame Street, great job dropping the ball on that one.

The Coolest Thing I've Seen All Week

This comes directly from Taylor over at T-Sides. It is apparently Neko Case performing Chuck Berry's "Brown Eyed Handsome Man" on a Chicago-based kids dance program. While that is cool within itself, the fact that they all start dancing to KC and the Sunshine Band afterwards just makes it even more amazing.



Taylor didn't know what show this is, so I did a little research, and found out that it is a public access show called Chic-a-go-go, and it is AWESOME.

According to their website, they've not only had Neko Case on their show, but also, The Standells The 5,6,7,8's, The Pretty Things, The Specials, and Dante's Infernal Racket favorite ? and The Mysterians! Holy Shit! I'm moving to Chicago!

Myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/chicagogoshow

Hey, I'm living in a magazine/ Page to page in my teenage dream

Happy Birthday Debbie Harry!

The Queen of New York Punk turns 63 today.

For your enjoyment, Debbie explaining punk rock to a bunch of little kids. It might be the greatest thing I've ever seen.

Prince To Have Hip Replacement Operation?

http://imdb.com/news/wenn/2008-02-28/#10

Alleged reports that pop star Prince has outgrown his own hipness seen to have been true, as this morning the Purple Rain singer checked into a British hospital to undergo "Hipness Replacement Surgery."

"It's a very complicated procedure," said Dr. Phinius Fogg of London's Secret Celebrity Hospital (SCH/St. George's), "but it's effects can benefit the "Under The Cherry Moon" star till long after his hopefully meaningful death."

Prince first hit the music scene in the late 70s with a fresh pop/soul sound. The star had a string of hits and a movie career in the 80s, but by the mid-90s had settled into an adult contemporary rut. "We knew it was critical when 'I Wanna Be Your Lover' was being played on WPLJ. I mean, that song's about sex!" said Suzanna Hoffs, long-time lead singer of The Bangles, and friend of the Prince family. "You should have seen Prince's face! It was like all {at this point Hoffs started making many odd facial expressions, most of which cannot be shown here because we were conducting a phone interview}."

Prince attempted a recovery of his hipness in the 2000's with three mediocre albums, most of which didn't get above a 6.0 on Pitchfork. As more and more time passed, it was obvious the once could-do-no-wrong Prince would need some kind of boost to regain what he once had hipness-wise.

Dr. Fogg wouldn't give any other information on the "Graffiti Bridge" star's current state after the operation, but did say that he hopes to get Prince "out and hip again" before Stereogum's next best of the year list.

Good Time Music for 2007

I've been a baaaaaaaad boy.

I haven't updated in quite some time.

And the worst part...I have content. I really do. Here's something now:


Finally. Dante's Infernal Racket is proud to present:



Like the saying goes, better late than your mama's a whore.


10) Panda Bear-Person Pitch (Paw Tracks)



After holding up this list just to make sure that I got the full potential out of this album, I decided that it wasn’t good enough to make the cut. I enjoyed it, there was no question on that. I just didn’t think it had anything that I hadn’t heard before on one of Animal Collectives more accessible albums. For a day straight I listened to the album, trying to pull something out of it that I hadn’t heard the first time around. I kept playing through my head what everyone else was saying about it. Beach Boys. Beach Boys. Yeah, I hear where they’re getting Beach Boys from. Noah Lennox’s voice is a dead on Brian Wilson impression. The back up harmonies have that late-sixties sunshine pop feel. But that wasn’t a selling point to me anymore. Since before SMiLE came out, every other band is trying to sound like the Beach Boys. As a huge Wilson brothers fan, it pains me to say…stop it! Don’t try to emulate one of the best bands to ever make music. Be original. Be creative. Don’t try to be Brian Wilson.

I was fine with it when The Thrills first appeared because they were the first to wholesale rip the Boys off…but even they got tired of their sound and changed. Other sometimes-sunshine-poppy bands like Belle and Sebastian and Supergrass have so much else going for them, and so many other sounds, that their echoing didn’t annoy me much either. But now Panda Bear, which can best be described as a combination of the Beach Boys and Animal Collective…they’re just trying to remake Pet Sounds. Yes, it’s interesting, and yes, “Comfy in Nautica” and “Bros” were almost spot on. But can’t I get the same enjoyment (and possibly even better) from actually listening to The Beach Boys? Can’t I get the same (if not better) experimentation from putting Animal Collective’s Sung Tongs into my CD Player?

At first I said yes. Things changed. On Saturday I was having an AIM conversation with my former editor and the mind behind the T-Sides blog, Taylor Long. After being scolded for taking so long on this list, the topic of overrated albums came up…and I mentioned this one. “Billy! You, a huge Beach Boys fan don’t realize the greatness of this album!” “I’m sorry Taylor, I just thought it was overrated and not as amazing as everyone said it was.” “It’s more accessible than everything Animal Collective has ever done! Who cares if everyone else is doing the same thing! They’re doing it better! Listen to it again you mugwump!” *

So, I went back to my CD player and put the album in again. But this time I switched things up. I played the songs out of order. I paused the CD in between tracks. I made sure that the residue from the previous track was not still in my mind when I heard the next one. The result: success. (aside from a few snarky comments in my mind about the song titles “I get it, Carrots=Vegi-tables! Bros? The Wilson Brothers!”). Ok Taylor, I concede. It works as an album…when I’m not thinking about how much I hate the current crop of Beach Boy rip offs.

*Note, Taylor was not actually this excited/mean, nor did she use the word ‘mugwump’.

9) TIE: Nellie McKay- Obligatory Villagers, Patrick Cleandenim-Baby Come Home (Hungry Mouse, Broken Horse)




At certain points I feel like I’m the only fan Nellie McKay’s got. From her first album Get Away From Me, I fell in love with her song writing, her humor and her jazzy leanings. As one reviewer put it, “She’s like Frank Sinatra mixed with Eminem. A punk Norah Jones.” She was new, different, yet embodied in an older sound. If Debbie Harry came of age now, she’d be Nellie McKay. Her second album, Pretty Little Head, was a step in a different direction, but still an amazing piece of work, and maybe her best album. Now, her third full length album, Obligatory Villagers, is another reinvention of her sound…and though not as strong as Pretty Little Head, it is her most interesting album.

The password is ‘Broadway’. The album is full of showtune influence, and yet, the same energy and punky attitude that her former works had. “Identity Theft” sounds like it could have been the show-stopper in Wicked, and at the same time reminds me of Patti Smith (and even references Johnny Cash). “Galleon” would fit in fine with RENT, yet after the first minute would be mistaken for a Donna’s song. “Testify” is meant to portray a 1930’s prohibition revival meeting sound, another element of the old New York that McKay seems to be so fascinated with. It’s clear with this album, McKay is a New Yorker. She loves New York, and she wishes her life was just like the Great White Way.

Ironically, my favorite song on the album is not a Broadway style piece at all. It’s the opener, “Mother of Pearl”, a jokey Randy Newman-like ditty about feminists.

Now, Patrick Cleandenim. I had to put these two albums on the same number because of their similarities. Also because of how I got to find out of Mr Cleandenim’s work. It goes back to that same AIM conversation I was having with Ms. Taylor Long about Panda Bear (see above). At one point, I was trying to give her some Nellie McKay selections, and she mentioned that if I liked Nellie McKay that much, I should take a look at Patrick Cleandenim’s album. I also noticed that on her own top ten albums list, Baby Come Home made her number one rank. That’s pretty good for an album that I had never heard of before.

So I tracked down a copy of it (thank you iTunes!) and gave it a listen. Wow. Cleandenim is just as infatuated with early 20th century American music as McKay (and myself) are. I haven’t given it enough listens to write a full comprehensive review of the album, but I can promote this album as being one of the forgotten bests of the previous year. If you like Nellie McKay, or even the more poppyer work of Nick Cave and Tom Waits, give this a listen.


8)Rilo Kiley- Under The Blacklight (Warner Brothers)



Rabbit Fur Coat, Jenny Lewis’ 2006 solo effort, was one of my favorite albums of that year. The country sound that Lewis adapted for her solo release was far enough away from her work with Rilo Kiley, that it gave it the feeling of almost another band entirely. With the first Rilo Kiley album since Lewis’ solo experiment, Under the Blacklight, it seems that the rest of the band has adapted those same country influences (to an extent).

My only probably with the album is that the opening track “Silver Lining” has a guitar riff that at first seems like a George Harrison rip off (which is funny because the song in question, “My Sweet Lord” was deemed to be a rip off of the Chiffons' hit “He’s So Fine”.) Once you get past that, you realize how amazing the song actually is, but it seems a little odd to be that outright of a rip.

Almost all the songs on Blacklight seem to revolve around sex. Might it be to easy to jump to conclusions that some of these songs were inspired by the former relationships of the songwriters? If it weren’t for the fact that Jenny Lewis and her bandmate/ex-lover Blake Sennett had broken up some time ago, I’d say we must be hearing their breakup unfold, and would be drawing comparisons to Fleetwood Mac’s Rumors. Hell, those comparison’s are still somewhat valid, since some of the songs seem to be about Lewis’s relationship with Sennett. The only problem with this is that unlike Lindsey Buckingham, Sennett doesn’t get a chance to respond. His only song written without Lewis at all, “Dreamworld”, cartainly seems to take a few shots at a female figure, but it’s no “Go Your Own Way.”

7)The White Stripes-Icky Thump (Warner Brothers)



I’m not sure what I could say about Icky Thump that hasn’t already been said by everyone else. The mix of styles is excellently done, the Patti Page cover (“Conquest”) is a highlight of the album, and the title track is full on Stripes goodness. I guess I could mention that there is a slight Velvet Underground influence in “St. Andrew’s (The Battle Is In The Air)”…think “The Black Angel’s Death Song”. And I guess I’ll say that all the problems of Get Behind Me Satan are gone with this album. It’s just great. Give it a listen.


6)Spoon-Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (Merge)



Contrary to the song’s name, Spoon was not “The Underdog” in indie circles this year. Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga was one of the most looked forward to albums of 2007, and ended up being one of the best reviewed as well. The bouncy pop of the aforementioned “The Underdog”, or the undeniable catchiness of “You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb”, the introspectiveness in the lyrics of “Black Like Me”…everything here was a winner.

But, in the mainstream, Spoon are still nowhere. Even though the music is more catchy and more poppy than anything Avril Lavigne or even Gwen Stefani put out this year, the mainstream are still hesitant to latch onto Britt Daniel and crew. I guess that’s a good thing, but it’s also truly a shame that more people aren’t getting into this band. Do they sound too 70s to be accepted? Are they too minimalist? Will no one understand the spooky excellence of “My Little Japanese Cigarette Case”?

Well, it sucks for them, cause they’re the ones missing out.

5)Beirut- The Flying Club Cup (Ba Da Bing!)



The amazingness of Beirut's French jazz meets yeh-yeh pop hit me the first time I heard them. I guess I have a weakness for well done world music. Beirut is basically everything that you don’t hear in the mainstream, yet somehow still sounding familiar enough that the melodies are instantly recognizable, and the song sounds like a piece of imaginary nostalgia.

Zach Condon’s got a hell of a voice. It’s deep like Morrissey, and expressive like Billie Holiday and Jeff Buckley. His crooning alone could convey the whole emotion of the song. His music creates images of smokey French cafes where people like Jean-Paul Sartre sit and discuss existentialism or why Charles De Gaulle is a douche bag.


4)Jens Lekman- Night Falls Over Kortadala (Secretly Canadian)



Jens Lekman sounds like a happier Morrissey.

"When Shirin cuts my hair/It's like a love affair" Out of getting a haircut, Jens Lekman finds love. In "Your Arms Around Me", a song about accidentally cutting off the tip of your index finger, Jens Lekman sings about love. In "A Postcard To Nina", where our hero pretends to be his friend's boyfriend so that her parents won't know she's a lesbian, you guessed it, Jens Lekman says he'll do anything for love. Boy, Jens Lekman loves to sing about love, doesn't he?

The music can’t be seen as anything but happy, even when his lyrics are telling a tale of sadness. His chamber pop orchestration never slows down enough for the sugar high of the album to wear out. Like many perfect albums, it’s hard to write about, since there are no faults to point out. Just give it a listen yourself...Unless you hate being happy.


3)Radiohead- In Rainbows (self-released)



Radiohead’s come to a point where you either like them already or you don’t. They’re not going to be gaining any new fans they don’t have already, so my promotion of them isn’t going to mean squat. Let’s talk about how this album was given to the Radiohead friendly masses though.

As I’m sure you’ve heard already, Radiohead offered In Rainbows as a “choose your own price” type of deal. You went to the In Rainbows website, and typed in how much you were willing to pay for the album, and it was instantly downloaded to your computer. It’s quite a marketing concept, and as we all know it worked out in their favor.

Even if you’re not a fan of Radiohead’s music, you gotta appreciate what they did for the music business and the internet.

2)Kayne West- Graduation (Roc-A-Fella)



With the exception of the #1 album on this list, I don’t think I’ve ever played an album more times in a row than I have Kayne West’s Graduation. It was non-stop in my car for around two months. I couldn’t get enough of it. Every song was fantastic. The opening seconds of “Good Morning”, the Steely Dan sample in “Champion”, the use of Daft Punk in “Stronger”, the personal introspection in “Homecoming” and “Big Brother”. Every song. Perfect.

Except “Drunk And Hot Girls”. I could have done without that one.

1)Feist- The Reminder (Cherry Tree)



When Leslie Feist’s cover of the Bee Gee’s “Inside And Out” came out a few years ago, I remember thinking to myself that I wanted to hear more of that singer.

If I had to compare, I’d say that Feist sounds very similar to Joni Mitchell and Carly Simon, with the songwriting sensibility of Cat Stevens. She’s able to master every style, from pop to blues to soul. Her music is poppy and poignant at the same time. This lady’s got a future.

No matter what mood you start in, The Reminder leaves you in a happy mood. There’s just no escaping the contagiousness of this album.


Well. Now that that's done I can get to work on the top singles of 2007 list. Yeah, I'm going there. Let's hope I get that out before 2008 is over.

I also have a bunch more posts planned on a wide variety of topics, so fear not...there will be content!

Bringing a gun to a music fight

In honor of Thanksgiving last week I wanted to do a post on the biggest turkey of all, Hillary Clinton, and analysis some of her campaign videos. But alas, my speakers were a little messed up (they're feeling much better now) and the post had to wait. I'll probably do it tomorrow or later today if I have time.

Instead, look at this:

Spinner has made a list of the top 20 songs about killing. Hey, pretty cool idea, sounds a little familiar though...hey, what the-- oh right, I did it already.

Ok, I'm being a little egotistical. I highly highly doubt Spinner looked at my list from a college newspaper 3 years ago. And I highly doubt I'm the first person to think of doing it (though I will say I had more balls than them because mine came out right around the anniversary of Columbine!). But just for shits and giggles, let's compare the lists.

Well, Spinner did 20 and I did 10. I had a hard time coming up with 10 songs that could fit the bill, so for 20...wow! And to boot, we only have 4 songs in common. (Stagger Lee, I Shot the Sheriff, Folsom Prison Blues, and Janie's Got a Gun). Spinner left some important ones off (see my list) and added a few that I either left off intentionally, (Stan, Maxwell's Silver Hammer) or completely forgot about and am hitting myself because of (Used to Love her, Nebraska)

And for God's sake why didn't I think of "Killing An Arab!" That song would have been perfect for my list...at the very least it would have been a better entry than "Janie's Got a Gun."

Well, no use crying about it now...at least I didn't forget the Boomtown Rats.




I still have bigger balls than them though

Ten Songs Fuse Thinks You Should Know

When you're sick, you do weird things. When it's your fifth day being sick, and no sign of any of the conditions letting up, you do even weirder things. Today, I spent Monday morning watching Fuse. For all those that don't know, Fuse is the music channel that used to be called MuchMusic, but was taken over by some other Canadian music like network and turned into Fuse. They pride themselves on being a different music channel than the likes of MTV or VH1, and claim that they actually show good music videos. I guess they mean in between reruns of "Pants-Off Dance-Off." Anyway, since graduating and leaving the Chronicle, I've kind of lost track of a lot of the new music scene, so I figured I'd tune in a see what the mainstream is ingesting these days. Here are my findings, ten songs Fuse thinks you should know:



Avril Lavigne- "Girlfriend":

Well, her lyrics haven't gotten any better since the last time I actually bothered to listen to them. She's still doing easy rhymes that remind me of a pre-school sing-a-long, or even worse like "Life's Been Good."

Anyway, I can't deny that this song is full of energy. Since she's finally embraced her bubblegum pop status, instead of the "Punk Rocker" image that she was given initially by her record label, she seems to be having a lot more fun doing the music. In the video, she's jumping around, strutting about, and basically, acting like a teenage girl going wild. And even though I'm pretty sure she's 22 and not a teenager anymore, that teenage girl energy is exactly what her music needed. It helps this song greatly.

And I might regret saying this, but the song's hook of "Hey (hey) You (you) I don't like your girlfriend" is decently catchy. I can't honestly recommend the song for people who want good pop music, but if she keeps this energy up, maybe in the future Avril will doing something that I won't be able to find fault in.


Mims- "This Is Why I'm Hot":



Now this is just complete trash. It's every rap cliché from the 90s thrown into one song, and it sounds like what happens when Pharrell falls asleep on his synthesizer. The pointless sample of "Jesus Walks" just made me hate this song even more, because how I interpret it, it implies that he's calling himself the savior of New York hip-hop. Either that, or he's trying to ride Kanye's coat tails. That's all this song does really: ride every past New York rapper's coat tails. ( I know Kanye's from Georgia). This song is what happens when someone thinks they understand a genre, and tries to imitate it by just grabbing the surface images, and forgets what was truly behind them.



Christina Aguilera- "Candyman":

Maybe I held her to too high a standard after the aural pleasure of "Ain't No Other Man", cause as much as I wanna like "Candyman", I just don't think it's that great. Yes, she does the Andrews Sisters vocal jazz style perfectly, but when I hear it, I can't help but think it's just filler. I mean, it's not bad, not by any means, and her "Back To Basics" albums (at least what I've heard from it) I've enjoyed more than I can say I've ever enjoyed anything she's done previously. I don't know, maybe I'm just being too hard on her. I should be giving her credit for holding out that note at the end of the song and NOT bouncing it annoyingly like she always does. I should also give her credit for the video. It's just a perfect counterpiece to the song, style, imagery and everything. I think she may have her eras mixed up though…that scene where she's in that pink dress dancing the jitterbug with those G.I.s and looking the happiest she is in the whole video? That's more fifties than forties, but minor error.


Diddy featuring Keyshia Cole- "Last Night":

No real surprise here. Nothing that amazing by any means…in all honesty, it was just a boring piece of music. Diddy's vocals in the chorus are kinda interesting, but past that, the song lags for too long just reiterating the same boring structure. It's like he dragged the length of the song out just so he could finish the plot in the video. Not recommended.


Pink- "U + UR Hand":



I've never liked Pink, but I've been waiting for her to make a musical resurgence, open to see if her songs have gone up in quality. Unfortunately, this is exactly the same Pink of old, and just like exactly the same Pink of old, the song is completely harmless, but also completely forgettable. There's nothing memorable about anything in this song at all. It's Pink by-the-numbers. Even right after the song ended, I had already forgotten how the melody went or what the song was even about. Not recommended.



Gym Class Heroes- "Cupid's Chokehold":




The use of Supertramp's "Breakfast In America" gave me the impression that I wasn't going to like the song initially. Thankfully, I was wrong there. The sample is used well, the tune (a variation of "Breakfast") is also done well. Add to that some pretty good lyrics, and a really funny video. My favorite lyric here: "If I had to choose between her or the sun, I'd be one nocturnal son-of-a-gun." The a capella stuck in the middle of the song for about three seconds (I don't mean the free style), was a nice little addition that pushed this song onto my favorite songs of the year so far list. Definitely recommended.


Beyonce- "Irreplaceable":




This is a case where the video adds another layer to the song. No, not in plot, the lyrics match up with the plot of the video quite fine, it's more like the meaning. In the first half of the video, Beyonce acts all smug, and holier-than-thou, kicking her boyfriend out of the house, straddling the car she just told him was hers and evilly seducing him again, all just to get the shirt off his back. If you just watch the first half of the video, you can't help but think "Beyonce is a huge bitch!" The diva dress-up scenes that follow it immediately don't help that image, as they just complete the theory that her old boyfriend is probably better off without having to deal with someone that diabolical. He's gone for 10 minutes and already she's getting all pretty for his replacement. Now this is all fine and good, it's a simple "you did something wrong, I'm kicking you out, you're not irreplaceable" meaning…but then Beyonce takes it a step in a different direction.

The second half of the video forms around what might at first seem like a big lesbian jam, but turns into instead a powerful statement about feminism. Beyonce is seen smiling, bouncing around, dancing and of course singing with her all female back-up band. The diva dress-up we just saw wasn't to go meet another guy, it was to look good for her all-girls jam session. In other words, women don't need guys to be happy, all they need is a bunch of other women playing instruments.

Of course the final scene in the video, which shows Beyonce opening her door to a new man, negates all this but I guess it can't all be perfect. Highly recommended.


Akon- "Don't Matter":



This is a nice smooth reggae song, that, yes maybe a little indebted to the past maste—hey! Wait a minute! That verse…I've heard that melody before. It sounds so familiar….Oh My God, it's R. Kelly! It's "Ignition (Remix)." Instead of the "nobody wanna see us together/nobody thought we'd last forever" at the 1:13 mark sing "It's the remix to Ignition/Hot and Fresh Out the Kitchen…" It's the same song!

Well, that took me out of the song, but I guess I can look past it. What made me enjoy the song though was the complete breakdown into the driving drumbeat around 3:12 and the instrumentation that followed it. I'll recommend the song, but beware of it's sampling.


Justin Timberlake- "What Goes Around…Comes Around":




Very nice song. Not the best Justin Timberlake's ever done, but a nice song still. The video is epic, at 9 minutes in length it tells a story of love, and deceit and jealously and insanity. Plus, Scarlett Johansson gives a much better performance here than she did in "The Island".


Daughtry- "It's Not Over":



I had heard this song before, and I thought it was Nickelback. The fact that it sounds this bad and isn't Nickelback, but instead one of their neo-grunge copycat cohorts makes it even worse. We didn't need another radio-rock Xeroxed band again, and we especially didn't need another "Psuedo-Political/Social Commentary" video where there's a happy ending amidst all the problems, showing that through the bad times the good always pulls through. This is why I hate watching channels like this.




Alright, so I guess that was a mixed group. True, a bunch of these songs I had heard previous to this (I have the Beyonce and Timberlake songs on my itunes), but watching the video with them gives in a completely difference feel. Maybe I'll do this again soon. It feels good to analyze music again. Hope you enjoyed this.

Let's Analyze Bad Lyrics--Keep On Loving You

Hello and welcome to a new edition of "Let's Analyze Bad Lyrics" Today's bad lyric criminal is REO Speedwagon, and their "love" (?) song "Keep On Loving You".

I was listening to an oldies station today when I heard "Keep On Loving You" (sandwiched between Joan Jett's "I Love Rock n Roll" and Bryan Hyland's "Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini"). Prior to this, I had heard the song numorous times before, but never did I really listen to the lyrics. Let's have a look, shall we? (My comments are in parentheses).


You should’ve seen by the look in my eyes, baby
There was something missing
You should’ve known by the tone of my voice, maybe
But you didn’t listen

(Uh oh, this looks like trouble! And by the fact that the main protagonist in this work, probably a male, is giving his female "baby" counterpart numerous warnings that she should have known better, I get the feeling that he is very angry at her, and worse things, like beatings, are soon to come. Also, by the use of "maybe" it appears that he's not even sure if "baby" should have known by the "tone of [his] voice". Well, let's see what happens next.)

You played dead
But you never bled
Instead you lay still in the grass
All coiled up and hissin

(OH MY GOD HE DID BEAT HER!!! He hit her, because she didn't understand what he was saying when he yelled at her...or looked in his eyes. She proceeded to pretend to be dead, but that didn't fool the main protagonist, he knew better because there was no blood. (There should always be blood). Also he compares her to a snake. I'm intrigued enough to go on and read why he's mad at her.)

And though I know all about those men
Still I don’t remember

(Ok, he knows that she cheated, but yet, doesn't remember? I get it now, he hit her because he's mentally unstable!)

Cause it was us baby, way before then
And we're still together

(I'd guess not for much longer.)

And I meant, every word I said
When I said that I love you I meant
That I love you forever

(He even tried to say it with his fist! How can you not believe that?)

And I’m gonna keep on lovin you
Cause its the only thing I wanna do
I don’t wanna sleep
I just wanna keep on lovin you

(Now he's raping her! Over and over again, even though his "baby" is begging him to go to sleep and get away from her. This isn't a love song, it's a song about an abusive relationship.)

And I meant every word I said
When I said that I love you I meant
That I love you forever

(So, to clarify, when he said he loved you forever, he meant he was going to rape you forever...and I'd presume that playing dead won't make any difference to him. It hurts? Well, you should have thought of that before cheating bitch...you should have seen the warnings when you looked in his eyes.)

And I’m gonna keep on lovin you
Cause its the only thing I wanna do
I don’t wanna sleep
I just wanna keep on lovin you




So as we see, "Keep On Loving You" is not a love song at all, but actually a song about a psychotic main protagonist that caught his female counterpart ("baby") cheating with MANY other men (note, he doesn't say just one, but ALL those men. She was a damn whore), and then beating and raping her as punishment. It's a song about revenge, not love.

What I find funny is that this song was played at my cousin's wedding a few years back. I guess no one looked at the lyrics before picking it out.

Ah, the joys of actually reading things...