I Know What I Like; I Like Fritos
Welcome to my first post in two months. Dunno where I’ve been — prolly avoiding writing at all costs. It’s a funny thing, this blog — it’s a self-fueled thing - I have no deadlines, no editors bugging me for my work, and yet still I shirk from entries as if they were homework assignments. Writing is like pulling teeth.
Music, however, is not, and I’ve been listening to a ton of it lately. Not only that, I’m being more painstaking about my music-listening this year. I’m taking notes, I’m keeping statistics. I’m wringing every bit of nougaty-goodness out of my album listening. The downside is that it takes some of the soul out of being a fan. The upside is that it is not gonna take me the entire month of December (and okay, yeah, into January ‘07) to decide what my fave albums of the year were.
So, here — reap the fruits of my labor. Here are my top five albums for the first half of the year, with an mp3 for each:
(FIVE) Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Show Your Bones. I’ve never put YYY’s on a shelf with my other favorite bands, but this new album is catchy. I think frontwoman Karen O is channeling Missing Persons vocalist Dale Bozzio on some of these songs, but I can’t get anyone to back me up on this. This album is much less abrasive than their debut album, what will happen to their fanbase because of it? NPR was featuring this album, if it’s any indication. “Warrior” is my current under-the-radar fave off Bones.
(FOUR) Flaming Lips - At War With The Mystics. Once you get the “Yeah Yeah Yeah” song virus out of your head, you can actually focus on the rest of the album. I believe it is a more interesting listen than their previous one Yoshimi — more akin to The Soft Bulletin. “The W.A.N.D.” is the other big song virus on this disc.
(THREE) Regina Spektor - Begin To Hope. This album comes out tomorrow and I think it is gonna blow her into the mainstream. Regina enlisted producer David Kahne (whom I recognize as the hitmaker on Soul Coughing’s Irresistible Bliss) for her sophomore commercial release. The results are playful; Regina experiments with beats and synths, and even straps on a guitar for the jokey “That Time” (which would go great bumped up against Stew’s “Rehab Song” on a playlist). She won’t be called “The Russian Tori Amos” after this. I’m picking “Hotel Song” here because on an album of show-ers, this one is a grow-er.
(TWO) Cat Power - The Greatest. I’ve loved this disc since I bought it (it’s been out since January), but have a renewed appreciation for it since seeing Cat Power live with The Memphis Rhythm Band a few months ago. It is just so fun to see these songs dressed up in such soulful grooves. And it proves to me that she can enjoy herself and still make a record that I will buy. The track that I’m featuring (”Love And Communication”) probably doesn’t have those Memphis cats on it at all - a powerful closer on this otherwise pleasant cd.
Cat Power - Love And Communication
(ONE) Mates Of State - Bring It Back. I’m all alone in my love for the Mates. The only fan I’ve ever come across was my History Of Cinema professor. Maybe that will all change with this release, their first on Barsuk Records. The watchword for this album is “overdubbing” — lots of layers to be found, especially in the vocals. And there are some nice flourishes as well — some horns here and there. It is definitely a step in the right direction for them.
Okay, you’ll quickly find a theme here to all these releases, a thread that was definitely unintended. That is, all these favorites of mine find the artists dipping their foot into more commercial waters. Things are much more polished than on previous releases. Fans of all the above bands have been doing some complaining about each of these new releases. Believe me, I’m the first to cry sell out (even when it is not popular). But as Woody Allen once said, “the heart wants what it wants…there’s no logic to these things.” These are the albums that I’ve been coming back to again and again this year, indie cred be damned.
This entry was posted on Monday, June 12th, 2006 at 6:27 am and is filed under . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
