Awards, click to see the best album of 2010!!! (not spam I swear, here’s proof: Battlestar Galactica, The Flaming Lips, ID4)

So as the year closes, a man must reflect on the joys, sorrows, laughs, and tears of the past year. In my case I gotta reflect on sweet music.

Just to give some history of this illustrious award, I’ll present some of the previous winners. It’ll help show the prestige of the award along with that much needed context. I would pretend I was alive in 1969 and had to choose between Abbey Road and Led Zeppelin’s self titled debut, but naw, that would be too hard to do for each year since 1960. (Abbey Road for the record)

But I can tell you the most recent winner, as declared in a facebook status around this time last year. I declared The Hazards of Love by The Decemberists the winner. It won by a fair margin despite being up against some albums from my old favorites such as Wilco (the album), and Embryonic (Flaming Lips). I loved how it was a modern rock Opera, complete with epic swells and luls, and common themes interweaved into several songs. Also, despite using non traditional (for rock) instruments such as the accordion, they rocked hard!

So as anyone who has watched a lame overdrawn out awards show, you know I have to drag this out a little bit. So without further dragging, here’s a list of the runner ups:

Is There Nothing We Can Do: by Badly Drawn Boy. Ok ok, so this came out at the end of last year, don’t worry its just a runner up anyways. I’ve loved this group for ages. This album got me through the CPA tests successfully the first time! So I had to give it a place on this list. Those who know the group already know of their excellence in doing soundtracks. About a Boy like this album, and heck like The Hazards of Love has recurring themes and great dreamy atmosphere throughout. Check it out, you’ll only regret it if your kinda lame. (also side note, unfortunately the new album from BDB wasn’t quite up to the standards of this and older classics, still good, but not awesome)

It pains me not to give the award to this next group. They’ve been on my radar for a while, but I never had the opportunity to really appreciate them. Luckily all the albums were like $3 right before I came to California. The Arcade Fire has since become one of my favorite bands. The Suburbs is said to have “early 30’s angst”. I agree (and almost can relate :), it is an achievement in its own right and is fairly unique. As a previous facebook status stated, I actually had a dream where 2 songs from this record were performed flawlessly in the background. It definitely got in my head and was a staple in getting me to work in the morning. Also, check out the drum beat in Modern Man, its fun to try.

The final runner up is an anomaly in my collection. I really don’t have too much music that’s related to it (if there is any music closely related to it). Its pretty much techno indie rock. It was a lucky find off of serious satellite radio. I guess they have been big and I’ve enjoyed going to their older stuff. I’m talking of LCD Soundsystem of course. They totally are Daft Punk for todays kids. The lead man is very much amusing, with a voice reminiscent of the guy from Cake. Lyrically, they make me laugh with their observations and “talk singing”. Highlights include Dance yrself clean and You Wanted a Hit.

Honorable mention goes to Ben Folds’ Lonely Avenue and to Weezer’s Death to False Metal and Hurley.

And so we reach the end of our show, where we recycle jokes. There can only be one winner so without further mumbo jumbo… Spoon: Transference. I’ve loved the band since like 10^th grade (when I discovered some great stuff like this, Wilco, and the flaming lips and the shins…) Spoon has been consistently interesting. Each album has an intensity about it that is different from their other albums. For instance, they had the garage band sound going on back in A Series of Sneaks, a melancholy love going on in Girls can Tell, a dark plea for rock in Gimme Fiction, and now with Transferance, Spoon has stripped down its sound to a more intimate sound, opening with a great example of this. Is Love Forever has an interesting progression in lyrics(weirdest fan video ever). The Mystery Zone explores what happens to acquaintances who move on in life and disappear into obscurity. Written in Reverse is the bombastic “pop” track. My personal favorite from the album is “out go the lights” Its gentle, showcases his amazing voice, and drifts into a beautiful ending. Its pretty well perfect.

Of course this show was rigged, I saw Spoon live in SLC with Emily. They blew me away. Masters at their craft, how could I not give them #1. Concerts are funny because you want them to play their old hits but they usually play new stuff. In this case however, I was entranced with both the old and the new and again, went home sans breath.

Also I’ve been listening to an NPR concert from Spoon in Austin while I’ve been writing. So good,

Anyways, goodnight folks, its been a good year eh?

Music Volume 1: The Essentials: Selections from my collection: 60's/tangents

Now its music time! Hopefully I can expand my readership/ blog followers, by delving into a more universal topic than Video Games. I’ll do a few more video game posts to round’ off the subject but for now I’ll be going through my music collection and memories.

So where do I start, the beginning of course. By the beginning I mean The Renaissance. So here’s the short version of Music 201 and 202. Classical music is lame, it gets better and better as they break down the rules… peaking at the romantic period (late 1800’s) with Debussy and Rochmoninov. Then it gets weird (which I like), and then you reach current classical which is mainly movie scores.

OK so now where do I REALLY start J Don’t get me wrong, I actually love “classical” music, but talking about it wouldn’t be as entertaining. Perhaps I can dive a lil deeper into that later. For now, it be time to rock.

Thinking of my itunes list, there are a plethora of options on how to organize music. Anything from by song, by album, by artist, by genre, by date etc… I think by time and then by genre will suit our needs, what say you?

I’ve written a paper on The Beatles, which unfortunately I don’t have access to, since I could post that and save myself a lot of work (I write for your benefit, you know this). But alas, I start from scratch. Now technically I should start a rock conversation with its origin in the Blues, transition with Elvis (whom I recently found out my dad saw in concert) and the other folks from the late 50’s ala the Everly Brothers or the ingenious Buddy Holly. That would be proper, but hey, that’s not what rock’s about so imma start with what I want because I wanna.

Ok ok, I won’t start with the flaming lips, Wilco or Fountains of Wayne, since that would wouldn’t be based on any kind of logic. But as I hinted, my history of rock goes back to the Beatles. In fact the rise and fall of the Fab 4 mirrors the synopsys I gave of classical music: started of with rules (Help), broke them (Rubber Soul) got weird (White Album), and returned to a more classic sound that learned from all their experiences(Let it Be), like Movie soundtracks did with classical composing. That’s one of the biggest strengths of those guys, they evolved and didn’t keep producing what everyone thought they wanted. Granted, I do like the early Beatles tracks, but if they continued with more Please Please Me kind of stuff into the late 60’s they would just be another pop band. It was dangerous, exciting, and they pulled off new sounds throughout their career. Even now, many moons later, that is evident in their music and keeps things exciting.

Now don’t get me wrong, experimenting and changing one’s sound doesn’t always yield the best results, but I’d be danged if I didn’t mention a modern(ish) success story parallel. Weezer will be forever known and defined by their excellent debut (the Blue Album). Many a folk wanted them to go into the studio and pump out another feel good nerd surfer pop album. If you’re a reader of my blog (which if you read that, you are) you likely know what happened next. Pinkerton flopped. It was so bold, so brash and so fox. However, mr. Cuomo crafted one of the greatest albums of all time says this astute young observer. With lyrics that were honest, though tragic and hilarious, it perfectly captured Teen angst in a unique and heartfelt way that the Blue Album only hinted at. While Rivers & co. went back pop and climbed the charts again, I still prefer the rough and almost free form rock so prevalent in Pinkerton.

Anyways, back to the 60s…

Although I love indie rock, (ala spoon), I do love me some well written “pop” (ala Fountains of Wayne). Going back to the 60’s, one can see this battle raging. Luckily I don’t have to choose between say The Doors and The Beach Boys. Both were game changing in my mind. Jim Morrison’s dark vocals is in stark contrast to Brian Wilson’s aw shucks American boy’s, but no one can deny they weren’t both prolific singers and songwriters. My family’s band has been known to play many a song from both groups( i wish i had some links to our concerts, i'll have to get on that). In fact I had a ton of fun screamin out “Break on Through” at the last gig. Roadhouse Blues has been fun all these years too. Anyways, they are fun to listen to as well (also, try out When the Music is Over for a great Jam session and rock scream at the beginning ) But our band also played Beach Boys a lot… songs like Help Me Rhonda always got folks happy. One of my favs is Don’t worry Baby . I’ve been listening to it a lot lately and have found it to be a perfect pop song. Such fantastic harmonies. Its been echoed by my man Rivers and my girl Manson Anyways, point is since good music can be made in different ways, one can be a fan of seemingly opposite sides of the rock spectrum. Which is not to say all music is good…

But I’m gonna avoid mentioning any bad music in this blog, only bringing it out in links for comedic value. Also, I’m limiting these posts to those songs I have or at least someone in my fam does. Anyways, I’m excited to branch into different topics such as punk, new wave, soul, and many more. Happy listening!