Each week I will listen to and review/preview a handful of the more interesting music albums released that week. The genres I will mainly focus on are Rock, Pop, Indie, Hip-Hop, Rap, and Electronic.
Happy New Year! My apologies for the tardiness of this posting but this week we continue our countdown of the best and worst from the world of music from 2011. Next week we return with more new album reviews including the latest from Snow Patrol!
Best Hip-Hop, Rap or R&B Album
Honorable Mentions:
Kanye West & Jay-Z - Watch The Throne
The Roots - Undun
Winner:
Raphael Saadiq - Stone Rollin' - The former member of Tony! Toni! Tone!'s album of old school R&B jams is a blast to listen to. He borrows from past greats but he is able to create new gems that Motown wishes it could still create.
Best Electronica Album
Honorable Mentions:
Shine 2009 - Realism
Thievery Corporation - Culture of Fear
Winner:
Mocean Worker - Candygram For MoWo! - Mocean Worker eschews his reliable heavy drum and bass sound instead adding the Acid to more traditional jazz melodies that is highly danceable and extremely enjoyable. Think the catchiest songs of St. Germain mixed with the best of Zero 7 and you have the music given to us on this superb album.
Best Pop, Rock or Indie Album
Honorable Mentions:
Starfucker - Reptilians
Clive Tanaka Y Su Orquesta - Jet Set Siempre 1°
Oh Land - Oh Land
Radiohead - The King of Limbs
Foster the People - Torches
Winner:
Danger Mouse & Daniel Luppi - Rome - This absolutely stunning soundtrack to a non-existent Western movie is both moving and beautiful. The sound is only elevated by the sublime vocal work of Jack White and Norah Jones on the tracks featuring lyrics. I could listen to this album endlessly.
Worst Album of 2011
"Honorable" Mention:
Mitch Winehouse - Rush of Love
"Winner":
Kate Bush - 50 Words For Snow - Mitch Winehouse's album could definitely be sitting in this spot but I already picked it last week for Worst Cover Song of the year so I'm spreading the wealth with the very disappointing, puts-you-to-sleep-in-under-five-minutes release from Kate Bush. If you need a nap, watch and listen to the video below.
Radiohead The King of Limbs - Seminal alt rockers Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood and company release their eight full-length album and first since 2007's In Rainbows. Technically the album doesn't drop until March 29th but, similar to their last album, you can download electronic copies of the album early from Radiohead's website for various prices depending on the format you desire. Unlike the last album where the band asked you to pay what you thought the album was worth, the prices are fixed this time around.
"Bloom" opens the album with a very heavy acid jazz beat and feel with Yorke's strung-along vocals adding to the melancholy tone of the song. "Morning Mr. Magpie" picks up the pace with a quick guitar bass riff providing the main melody of the song and a more standard vocal style for Yorke before synthesizers are added to create greater ambiance. "Feral" opens with a quick Detroit drum & bass beat before layering on ethereal vocal samples plus synthesized sounds to create a moody electronica influenced track. The first single off the album, "Lotus Flower," begins with a more traditional drum backing and keyboard work and features Yorke's best vocal work on the album to create a subdued sense of whimsy in a very catchy, if somewhat somber, song. "Codex" is a slower, classic piano driven song that also showcases Yorke's high tenor singing style well. The album closes with "Separator" which, despite a relatively quick paced beat, straddles the line between optimistic and morose and is a fitting track to close out this disc.
The King of Limbs is another great album from Radiohead. Thematically, it's closer to the music presented to us in the Kid A and Amnesiac phases of their career than in their most recent album or in their earliest albums. In fact, I think it's makes a nice bookend for those albums with its similar but more mature and complex overall sound. Some might say it is a moodier album than those two (and it probably is), but I would also argue that it is a more developed sound they are offering up to us. I do concede that it does have a more mellow, downtempo feel than those other albums. While the band was never one to shy away from its gloomy side in the past, they seem to understand, embrace, and communicate it better on this album with heavily balanced layers on their well produced tracks. The one real complaint I do have about the album is its brevity--it lasts only eight tracks and the lengthiest track is 5:20. Still, it's the best thing I've heard so far in 2011 and it wouldn't surprise me if it's one of the best releases for the entire year. A perfect album to envelope yourself in on a rainy day.
Score: 10/10 Song(s) to Sample: "Lotus Flower" [sample it below] and "Separator"
Adele21 - Two time Grammy winner for her debut album 19, the sultry voiced youngster Adele releases her sophomore album. Adele will be touring both Europe and the U.S. this spring/summer in support of this album. Adele really needs a new naming scheme for her albums which are named for the age she recorded the album at. It was novel the first time around but now it just seems like bragging especially since she'll actually turn 23 this year. Okay, okay--you're young and you have a really nice singing voice--we get it! No need to rub our noses in it!
The first single from the album, "Rolling in the Deep," also leads off the disc and is one of the more lively songs on the album with a quicker tempo and its effective use of lead and backup vocals to add energy to the song. Next up is "Rumor Has It" which exhibits the country influences that, unlike her first album, manages to permeate many of the tracks on this album. "Turning Tables" feels like a very personal song with Adele's voice meshing well with the predominantly piano backing to create an extremely intimate ditty. To close out the album were two of my favorite tracks from this release. The second to last is a cover of The Cure hit "Lovesong" which is a slowed down, adult contemporary version that manages to tug at the heartstrings. "Someone Like You" majestically ends the disc with a simple piano melody that lets the emotion in Adele's singing voice create a very touching track. If only there were more tracks like it scattered throughout the album.
Overall, it's a more mature sounding album from Adele but one with fewer singles that will leave a lasting impact with listeners. There's certainly nothing as instantly catchy as "Chasing Pavements" was on her last album. Vocals on the album are still top-notch with Adele's raspy warbling being as distinctive and unique from other acts her age (save, maybe, Duffy) as ever. It's just that there's not a lot of life in the album. Instead of a journey over peaks and through valleys, it's more like the album is one long valley with not much change of scenery along the way. Some of the tracks are very beautiful to listen to but I was hoping for more variety in the music presented to us.
Score: 6/10 Song(s) to Sample: "Someone Like You" [sample it below] and "Lovesong"
Darwin Deez Darwin Deez - After reaching as high as number 3 on the UK indie charts, Darwin Deez's debut album finally gets released in the States. Darwin Deez in an indie pop band from New York whose music has found greater acclaim oversees than it has on U.S. shores. I've actually been awaiting this album for a while now since I first heard their single "Constellations" a year or two ago. Let's see if the entire 10-song LP is as good as the single I like.
The album begins on a good note with the aforementioned "Constellations" which is a jangly pop song with a really catchy guitar driven melody and airy vocals. "The City" has funkier guitar work but a more traditional 1/4 beat structure whose mixture create an eclectic track. "DNA" has a very jangly melody that doesn't really fit the somber lyrics (So i won't cry, I will just pretend/I'm still the one and that we are in love again) but the band manages to blend the two to create a highly enjoyable track. "Radar Detector" is quick tempo track with a summer pop song feel that has a fun feel.
Overall, Darwin Deez's self-titled album is a decent debut release. The band is able to create a sound that is unique to the band without having each track sound stale or too similar. For some reason the vocal work on the album reminds me of a more pitchy version of how Julian Casablancas sounded on the first The Strokes album. The music leans way more towards pop than anything you'd find on a The Strokes album though. Not every track is worth writing home about but there's enough good stuff on the album for me to recommend giving the album a spin.
Score: 7/10 Song(s) to Sample: "Constellations" [sample it below] and "DNA"
NOTE: The weeks around X-Mas and New Years are traditionally dead in terms of new releases so this week and next week we will be going over some of the best and worst releases to come out in 2010. Rather than choose boring categories like "Best Song," "Best Album," etc. I've decided to make my own categories like "Best Live Cover Song" and "Scariest Album Cover."
Have a great Holiday Season! Oh and, as my Christmas gift to you, I've gone through the trouble of finding versions of the mentioned songs (when possible) for your streaming pleasure!
Most Original Cover Album: Amanda Palmer - Amanda Palmer Performs The Popular Hits Of Radiohead On Her Magical Ukulele
This year's most original album of cover songs comes to us from Amanda Palmer (frontwoman of The Dresden Dolls). Palmer gives us an album of offbeat covers of seven of Radiohead's more famous songs--all performed on the ukulele! (Okay, okay "Exit Music (For A Film)" has a piano and violin accompaniment but I digress). Give a listen to the entire album of Amanda Palmer Performs The Popular Hits Of Radiohead On Her Magical Ukulele below:
Best Studio Cover Song: Cee Lo Green - "No One’s Gonna Love You" (Band of Horses)
Cee Lo Green has had a pretty good year with Grammy noms in the Song of the Year and Record of the Year categories for his so-catchy-it-should-be-illegal song, "Fuck You" (or "Forget You" if you're going for the clean version). So it isn't a huge surprise that his cover of a relatively unknown but one of my personal favorite songs from Band of Horses, "No One’s Gonna Love You," hasn't gotten a lot of attention. Well, it's only the best cover song of the year, people!!! Cee Lo turns a pretty somber and slow tempo song from Band of Horses into an orchestral journey with a funk-tinged twist and a unique syncopation choice on the beats. It's absolutely enchanting. Listen to it below or watch the video on YouTube.
Best Live Cover Song:Lissie - "Pursuit of Happiness" (Kid Cudi)
This was a tough category for me because there were a lot of good live covers this year. I was sorely tempted to choose Jimmy Fallon's (performing as Neil Young) cover of Willow Smith's "Whip My Hair" because it is by far the most unique live cover of the year. However the song that won out is Illinois singer/songwriter Lissie's cover of the Kid Cudi song "Pursuit of Happiness." She takes a pretty serious and hardcore sounding hip-hop song and turns into a catchy indie anthem for the ages. That and the fact that in the clip below Lissie takes a giant swig of tequila before singing the song makes this one the winner by a nose. Listen to it below or watch the video.
Scariest Album Cover: Kanye West My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
The cover to the left was eventually changed to one of these alternate versionsbut not because Kanye or any of the record execs came to their senses and realized that is one of the scariest and most horrific album cover in years. No, they changed the cover art because Wal-Mart refused to carry the album if they pressed it with the image to the left. My guess is the people at Wal-Mart didn't like the cover not because it was overly prurient but instead they just realized it is a butt-ugly picture. Both characters on the original cover look absolutely frightening and the phoenix character on the right looks like she has a face growing out of her armpit for heaven's sake! That is seriously one dark, twisted fantasy you have, Kanye.
Most (Potentially) Racist Cover Art: Massive Attack Heligoland
Okay, the cover to Massive Attack's album from the beginning of the year looks like you have a guy in black face that has just gotten in a bar fight. That and you have a bleeding black and white rainbow raining down on his head which can be viewed symbolically many ways but most of those interpretations will not be positive I'm guessing. Great band, horrible choice in album art.
Coolest Album Cover Art: Faithless The Dance
Okay, I admit I really don't know what's going on in the cover to the left but I love the imagery they use and how they leave it open to interpretation. I'm going to assume the big throng of people in the middle are dancing (hence the title of the album) but that's about as far as I am willing to guess without knowing more. But the color palette is absolutely gorgeous and the layout of the figures on the image is immaculate in terms of framing without being boring. It's a complex and well thought out piece of art that I find very mesmerizing.
