This has been the kind of year I really hate, musically speaking that is. If you get nothing but crap music, it’s an easy enough year to deal with. Lock the door with the chain up and listen to old Dire Straits albums all year and you’ll survive. At the bare minimum it provides you with bitching matereals for the next year.
This has been a pretty good year for music, but there hasn’t been a lot to get really excited about. Wilco and Ween both released new albums that were pretty damn good. It’s been a year of UK hits in the U.S. with every other song on the radio touting british accents. And, of course, the Flaming Lips toured to massive crowds without even having to release a new album. And, of course, I’ve had the good fortune of reviewing some really fantastic albums here.
But, if I’m going to be perfectly honest, there haven’t been a lot of new albums that dominated my music listening habits. Most of my new records were listened to a few times through and then spent the rest of the year gathering dust while I listened to last years releases.
So, before I get into the top five, let’s review some of the honerable mentions.
They Might Be Giants released The Else. Produced by the Dust Brothers, it really was a good album, but it didn’t have the same strange poetry that I’ve come to love them for. It did come with a bonus disk of songs from the TMBG podcast, but even that was a bit sad since it marked the end of their Dial-A-Song service, everyone’s favorite answering machine service (always free in the New York City area).
The Shins new album, Wincing the Night Away, hit hard when it first came out, but the excitement quickly died down. It was a good album, but had it been released by any other band, it probably would have been a flop. That’s not to say it was a bad album, just that it was a little less than ground-breaking. While it’s definitely not just an extension of their previous albums, there is starting to be a distinct “Shins” sound. After listening to this for about a week straight, I found myself passing it up for the sake of listening to their previous two albums. If anything, Wincing made me realize just how fantastic their album Oh, Inverted World was.
Of Montreal came out with Hissing Fauna, Are you the Destroyer? This album would probably top my list if it weren’t for the fact that it snuck out into bootlegs some time in September or October of the previous year. Great album, probably their best to date. Plus, they’ve always been big on vinyl releases, and I can’t help but get a little rush of excitement when one of my favorite artists releases their album with vinyl-only tracks. But, by the time it came out, it was already old news for most of their fans. I must admit that even I was overcome by curiosity, stifling my guilt at giving it an early listen by promising myself I’d buy the record the day it came out. Most of the tracks were memorized by then.
One last honorable mention I’d like to make is the Cribs with Man’s Needs, Woman’s Needs, Whatever. Catchy beats, got some decent air play, but I don’t think it really got quite the exposure it deserved. Sure, it’s not the best album to come out of the UK recently, but it certainly trumps a lot of artists who received a much bigger reception here in the states.
Now! On to the top 5
Coming in at number 5, The Ponys with Turn the Lights Out. This album is everything I’ve come to expect from the Ponys. Somewhere between the Cure and AC/DC, it’s seductive, powerful, and animal while never being inhuman. I guess I love these guys because they offer up a slice of the human condition with as much love as aggression.
Number 4 is Radiohead with In Rainbows. No, it’s not their best album, but it is a good album. It mixes light and dark perfectly and sounds like pure emotion caught on tape. I’d probably be filing this away with the other honorable mentions if not for it’s creative release. This album is so important in the grand scheme of things. It was a grand experiment when first released. Give it to the customers and let the customer pay what they think the album is worth, even if that’s nothing. OK, they’re not the first band to do that, I know that, but they’re the first really big band. And they made a pretty penny off of it too.
Number 3, Modest Mouse with We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank. This album proves that there are still artists who aren’t just putting out collections of songs that seem to be on the same disk more or less just because they were all written and they needed to fill some space. The songs spill into each other, and it isn’t until you play the whole album front to back that you really appreciate it. If you don’t have this album yet, get it and listen to it all the way through.
I told you Coconut Records would make my top 5. The more I listen to it the more I like it. It’s just, to me, a perfect album. It speaks to me. For every song I can think of a different experience in my life. It just matches those universal experiences of love, loss, pain, joy. It’s the burden and the benefit of living and this album makes me feel like all of it, even the most painful losses have not just colored my life but were worth living through because they make me a part of something bigger.
And my number one album of the year.
Drum roll please…
The Apples in Stereo with New Magnetic Wonder. This is, by far, my favorite Apples in Stereo album. I was a little worried when it came out. It seemed like it could be the end. The band has had limited success and a relatively small following. Their last album came out in 2002 and they had three new members for this album, one of whom (John Dufilho) replacing one of the original members (Hilarie Sidney) who also just happened to be Robert Schneider’s ex wife, Robert being the front-man of the group. It’s a combination that could have killed almost any band. And amidst all that to release a double album! That’s tough. It’s so easy for a double album to drag on.
New Magnetic Wonder balances energetic upbeat songs with calm, mellow musical cool-downs. It’s familiar and experimental all at once. You can pick out individual hit tracks or listen to the album as a whole. It just doesn’t ever seem to get old.
And so, my friends, I’ll close the musical year. It’s been a good year, if a bit forgettable. But there are a few albums that won’t get old. I hope you’ve all picked up a few disks that’ll stay with you forever. Now, one last time before the year ends, lock the door, drop the needle, and crank that knob to 11. I’ll see you next year.
Toby Cryns played at our (The CVS Trio) second annual Halloween Themed party last night and as expected did not disappoint. Every act in the evening wore a costume which was no exception for the joggers that appeared on stage along side Toby. He roared through an emotional set. Unfortunately I can’t remember song titles off hand but the tunes themselves were unforgettable, unforgiving and unbiased.
Toby’s voice is always the first thing to jump out at you. I would describe it as a mix of Placebo and the Flaming lips. Wavering in tone but certain in message. He knows what he’s singing about. So many artists spend their time writing metaphor after metaphor about subjects that don’t interlock with the rest of the song. Toby writes about quitting the shittiest job he’s ever had with such blunt words you begin to think of your own job, kids bringing guns to school with humor and girls not really understanding him. Toby is the real deal and it comes out in his advanced guitar skills. The bass and drums were perfectly mixed throughout the night and brought out the beat, but Toby was the one that brought the balls. I look forward to the new CD coming out next spring and putting Cryns #3 on more show bills just so I can see them more. Cheers!
The Julie Puppets forthcoming release, Codes & Signals, is, to put it simply, amazing. Building on the solid foundation that was their debut EP, Codes is mature and edgy with a bend towards the aesthetic qualities that fill out the fringes of their signature sound.
Each listen of the album brings out different feelings and thoughts, a sign of good songwriting and producing. Russ Staiger’s vocals are soothing throughout and build up until they reach the point of brilliance on the album’s best track, “Competitor Unique” - a song that captures the raw emotion of Radiohead and mixes it with the pop sensibilities of The Verve.
Come out to the cd-release show on December 15 at Bar-Fly in downtown Minneapolis. 18+
A few weeks ago, I was browsing around online, when I stumbled upon Coconut Records. For those who don’t know, it’s Jason Schwartzman’s latest musical endeavor. Now, I’ve come to not expect much from actors that record albums. Yeah, his previous band (Phantom Planet) had some decent songs, but when I hear about movie stars making records, the first name that comes to mind is William Shatner. It could be worth listening to, but it’s always going to be more of a novelty than anything else.
Now I gotta re-think that.
Nighttiming is amazing. It’s wonderfully pop, with catchy lyrics and great hooks. Sometimes it seems like just simple fun, but then you start listening harder and the words hit their mark perfectly, with lines so sharp they can cut right into you. Take, for instance, the song West Coast, a wonderful story of a lost lover;
And if you shake your heart enough she will appear Tonight I think I’ll be staying here And you never did like this town I talk out loud like you’re still around
I don’t remember the last time a singer’s feelings seemed quite so familiar.
You get a lot of bang for your buck on this one, too. Order online and you get a special bonus gift. Originally it was Polaroids taken by Jason himself, but due to the overwhelming response they’re a little less personal now. Plus, there is an alternate version of every track after the album proper. Not to mention that, if you put the disk into your computer, you’ll get to see the music video for West Coast.
I think if I have any complaint at all, it’s that the extra tracks are a bit much. I mean, it is really cool at first to hear different mixes of all the songs, but it’s every single track. So if you want to just sit back and listen to the album, I suggest burning the listed tracks onto a disk. The bonus tracks don’t quite fit together as a cohesive album. Not too big a deal, but I kind of wish the extra tracks had been put on a second disk or were part of a bonus digital download. It’s a minor detail, and I’m not going to turn down the extras.
In the end, this is definitely going in my top 5 albums this year. Get yourself a copy of this album, you’ll be listening to it for years to come. I really hope there’s another Coconut Records album in the works.
Late. Late is a good word for a review that was supposed to be up over a week ago. And everybody’s got excuses. Mine involves debilitating physical pain and a whole lot of mind-altering prescription drugs.
The less said about that the better I think.
So! Mother Banjo.
You know, Minnesota’s music scene seems to be blessed. I’ve been to shows from coast to coast and I’ve never found a city with a music scene like ours (though I have to say, people, we really have to start dancing more). It’s just accepted here, even taken for granted.
Which is exactly what I want to talk about with Mother Banjo’s new EP, Swing Low. Mother Banjo (aka Ellen Stanley for those who read the liner notes), as the name would suggest, plays the banjo. Now, before you put the CD back on the rack and walk out the store, that doesn’t mean you’re getting the soundtrack to Deliverance. There is a melancholic simplicity to Mother Banjo’s plucking and strumming. You hear the instrument as much as you hear the music. In our digital, distortion-happy, overproduced, over-saturated musical world, it’s a nice rest for the weary ear.
The vocals bring memories of Sandy Denny and Fairport Convention in me. It’s a sweet, strong but mortal voice. Very conversational. It puts you at ease and makes you feel like you could talk to this person.
Of course, it is Mother Banjo’s first recording, and still just an EP. No it’s not perfect, but it’s not pretentious either. It’s straight forward and to the point. It is what it is, and that’s nice.
Jim Walsh’s book on the replacements is a lot of good story and a good history. But it’s presentation may not be entirely fair. The Replacements were one of the most important bands ever to call Minneapolis their home. They were wonderful and terrible, sometimes at the same time, and this book certainly says as much. And if it were just an informative book, I’d love it.
The trouble is that Jim, for all his talent as a writer, just doesn’t give an unbiased tone. It seems to express a desire for acknowledgments that is unbecoming in a book written by one Minneapolis legend about a group of others. I would imagine that if some day I were to write a book about the Charlie Van Stee Trio, it would be a great deal like this.
There really isn’t a lot more to say, to be honest. It’s an OK book, and the Replacements were a great band and it’s nice to learn more about them, but it’s not the best biography I’ve ever read. Perhaps if I hadn’t gone in with such high expectations, I would have liked it much more.
