Best and Worst of 2010 - Part II

Another typically dead week in terms of new releases so we are continuing the Best and Worst theme I began last week with a discussion of albums and songs from 2010.  This time videos have been added for your viewing and listening pleasure.

Have a great New Years and may 2011 bring us world peace, less Jersey Shore cast appearances and lots of good new music!

Best Indie/Pop/Rock Album Reviewed on this Blog - Ra Ra Riot's The Orchard

This is not the album I gave the highest score to during the year (although it did manage a very good 8/10) but rather a retrospective look at what I've been listening to and enjoying on my own this year.  This year's Ra Ra Riot album is one of the most delightful and gratifying discs to be released.  It manages to balance a fun indiepop sound with the depth in lyrics you would expect from a top indie act.  Listen to one of the songs I recommended sampling, "Boy," below to get an example of the band's sound from The Orchard.

Best Electronic Album Reviewed on this Blog - Mackintosh Braun's Where We Are

Okay, okay--this is more of an electropop album than a pure electronic album but that's how good it is!  It manages to beat out albums from bands like Daft Punk and Underworld to take my top electronic album of the year.  Their electropop sound is very similar to the styles of OMD and Pet Shop Boys yet manages to never be a derivative of either of those or any other band's style.  The ability to maintain a sound that is very contemporary while leaning on the styles of past bands is one of the reasons this album is so impressive.  It's the album that I've listened to the most this year.  A pure joy.  Listen to one of the songs I recommended sampling, "Made For Us," below.

Best Hip-Hop/Rap Album Reviewed on the Blog - Kanye West's My Dark Twisted Fantasy

No surprise here really as Kanye's album is getting a lot of attention as the best album of the year from media sites like Pitchfork and Spin.  Kanye and his collaborators create a solid and intelligent album from beginning to end with some damn catchy, even haunting, songs.  (Luckily for Kanye, I don't factor cover art into my final tally...)  However, while there is no doubt this is a spectacular album (I originally gave it a 9/10), it probably would have lost out in this category to the album mentioned below if I had reviewed that album. Watch the video for one of the songs I recommended sampling, "Runaway," below:




Best Album Not Reviewed on this Blog - Cee Lo Green's The Lady Killer [explicit version]
If you've read Part I of my Best and Worst of 2010 then you know I already awarded Mr. Green the best studio cover song of the year for "No One's Gonna Love You."  However that song and the Grammy nominated "Fuck You" are just two of the beautiful and hard jamming R&B/Soul songs that come to us from this album.  The entire album is chock full of music that will get you to either be seriously introspective about your love life (in a good way) or be ready to boogie until your shoes fall off on the dance floor.  It's nearly impossible to listen to this album and not come away loving it.  If you haven't seen the incredibly funny and amusing video for "Fuck You" then ready yourself for a treat below:

Worst Album Reviewed on this Blog - Young Man's Boy

I have already named the best album I reviewed this year so now it is time for me to reveal the most horrific album reviewed on this blog.  First of all this "master YouTube cover artist" released an album with absolutely no cover songs on it!  Yeah, that makes sense.  I guess it would have been okay if the music he did give us was enjoyable or fun to listen to but, unfortunately, Young Man swings and misses on all three counts leaving us one very pitiful and the absolutely most horrible album reviewed on this blog this year.  Congrats Young Man!  You can hear for yourself why this got worst album of the year below (keeping in mind this track is the creme de la creme of the album). 

Most Disappointing Single of the Year - We Are The World 25 for Haiti

Our final category of Bests and Worsts of 2010 is the most disappointing song of the year.  That honor goes to the 25th anniversary revival of We Are The World.  While the original was an off-beat collection of various singing stars from the 80's that Quincey Jones somehow turned into a catchy tune by wisely playing to the strengths of his soloists like Cyndi Lauper, Stevie Wonder, Steve Perry, and Willie Nelson by letting them be themselves.  For the 25th anniversary edition, however, Quincey proves that going bigger does not mean the song is getting better.  First there's waaaay too many artists contributing meaning that each contribution is lessened so you don't give the individual artists enough time to let their personalities blend with one another to create something greater than the sum of its parts.  Instead the entire song seems piecemeal and by the time you do get to something that does sound good you are already turned off by the horrible bits like Justin Bieber's overproduced opening and Miley Cyrus' grating, autotuned two line solo.  And don't even get me started on the bit with a superimposed Michael Jackson.  Enjoy the horribleness of it all below. 

New Music the Week of 8/24/2010

Ra Ra Riot's The Orchard -  This New York band's sophomore release follows it critically praised first album The Rhumb Line. Their music, falling somewhere between Alt Pop and Chamber Pop, is reminiscent of bands like The Shins, New Pornographers and Snow Patrol.  I saw the band live last year when they were touring with Death Cab for Cutie and they put on a decent if unspectacular show.

Their new album starts with the very gentle and somber sound of violin strings as the intro to the albums first song, "The Orchard."  Fans of the first album will instantly recognize the feel and tone of the band from that first song.  After the good but melancholy opening song, you start to get a new feel for Ra Ra Riot with the more uptempo "Boy."  This new feeling continues on the catchy rant "Too Dramatic," which, along with the first song, is one of my favorites from this album because of its catchy pop hooks.

Overall, I would say its a very good album and the type I would play as background music when working or reading.  The album is catchy enough where it never loses your attention but there aren't any mind-blowing songs on it either.

Score: 8/10
Song(s) to Sample:  "The Orchard" and "Boy" are two great, polar examples of what to expect from this album. 

The Eels' Tomorrow Morning -  I should point out that I've been a huge fan of the Mark Everett band since I was in college in the 90's.  Beautiful Freak and Electro-Shock Blues were two of the CDs that got regular play on my trek to-and-fro campus (yes kids, there was a time before iPods where we had to carry around actual CD players if we wanted to listen to music while on the go).  Even if you're not familiar with the Eels' more famous songs like "Novocaine for the Soul" or "Your Lucky Day in Hell," you might be unknowingly familiar with the band due to their extensive work in film soundtracks like American Beauty, Knocked Up, Hot Fuzz, and the first three Shrek movies, among others.  This is the final album of a planned "concept album trilogy" that began with Hombre Lobo. 

I'm glad to report that this is the best of the three albums that compose their concept album trilogy.   Although the album starts on a very mellow note, by the time you get to the heart of the album you get into some vintage Mark Everett song writing.  "Spectacular Girl" is your prototypical Eels song that, sadly, I hadn't heard on an Eels album in a while.  "After the Earthquake" is a heartbreaking song light on lyrics but heavy on moody piano playing that reminds me of some of their best work from albums released over a decade ago.  "Looking Up" has a very catchy blues-y feel to it that may seem out of place but works really well with the band's style and fits well in the album as a whole. 

Overall, it saddens me to report that while this is their best album in years, it still ranks below their all-time best.  That's not to say this is a bad album by any means and long-time fans like myself are sure to get a lot of enjoyment out of it.  One thing I do appreciate about the new albums is that there is a ton more depth to their slow songs (as evidenced by "That's Not Her Way"). 

Score: 7/10
Song(s) to Sample: "Spectacular Girl"

 Young Man's Boy - I knew nothing of this musician prior to listening to the album but according to Spinner Magazine, Young Man is a "master YouTube cover artist."  (Whatever you do, don't try a Google search for "Young Man" and "Boy" because, unless you're a member of NAMBLA, you're not going to like the results...)  Being a ginormous fan of cover songs, I thought I'd give the album a try. 

Much to my chagrin, this album had absolutely no cover songs.  WTF is up with that?!?  If you are a "master YouTube cover artist" throw a friggin' cover song or two on your album!  The music has a very alt-folksy Rock vibe to it with very Jack Johnson inspired bongo drumming at times and subdued bass and guitar playing. "Just a Growin'" has the catchiest melody and was my favorite song from the album.

Overall, this album was a huge disappointment.  Besides having no cover songs, the entire album sounded under-produced with overly simplistic melodies.  The vocal levels I thought were especially bad, with his voice sounding tinny and distant throughout the entire album.  I went in hoping for a something like Rasputina's excellent Lost & Found album but instead what I got sounded like a very, very, very early Simon & Garfunkel album but without the musical sensibilities of Paul Simon.  For example, a song called "Playtime" should be upbeat and full of energy.  Instead, the intro to that song nearly put me to sleep.

Score: 2/10
Song(s) to Sample: "Just a Growin'"


More still to come this week.  I'm hoping to listen to the new Usher album.  Sorry, no plans on listening to the new Katy Perry.