So What Was This 2018 In Music Anyway?

2018 was a new world for me in many ways.

I am now a father and my life is so very different in 2018. My priorities, the joy I feel, my newfound affinity for "dad rock..."

In 2018 I also finished that crazy aEfaE project, so my music listening returned to focusing on the present.

I decided to try out a streaming service at this point because aEfaE showed me that I have spent too much money on my music library and it is too big. I went with Apple Music because it would incorporate with my existing music library, except when it didn't. There are random songs missing from my library in Apple Music when I own them via legit, artist-supporting ways. Which means I have to add them if I want to listen to them on my phone, and then my itunes shows two versions of a track. So I think I might try Spotify and keep my library as a separate entity. For reference and for things that are not available on said 'fy.

But yeah, everything relating to how I consume music was different in 2018. I'm trying to figure out this new world. If I already tried to consume too much by buying too much, having access to almost everything compounds that issue. In any given week, there are at least 3-4 new albums worth checking out if I don't have to pay for them. And looking at the list below, the majority of my favorite stuff is not the obvious stuff I knew I'd like before I gave it a shot.

And I mostly only listen to music in the car on the way to/from work and daycare. Sometimes when rocking the baby to sleep. And when I was putting forth effort into working out, music was sometimes involved. But that's not enough time spent listening when there is so much music.

So in 2018, there was too much music for me to digest. If anyone has any suggestions on how to handle this in 2019, please let me know. Or I can just become one of those 35+ year-olds who doesn't bother with all this new music. Maybe I should go back to only listening to one or two genres. Or let my FOMO go and not try to hear all of the things that people like. Because this too much music thing makes it very hard to appreciate music on a deeper level, on a level that rewards repeated, devoted listening. And that's my sweet spot.

Sidenote: How come the Blogger YouTube search function sucks and doesn't come up with most of the things I'm looking for? Then I can go to YouTube and find it and use the embed HTML code to put it here? Annoying, but at least it works. I should've tried that during AEFAE.

Anyway, here is what stuck out to me.

Honorable Mentions

Or: Things I Want to Talk About But Mostly Just A Little Bit
Or: Things That Were Interesting But Not Good Enough
Or: Things That Were Probably Good Enough But I Wouldn't Know Because There Are Only So Many Hours In The Day

This section is rather large. I kind of turned it into an Ear for an Era type post, feeling the need to cover a lot of ground. But that also reflects how much darn music I consumed! There's a lot more that I did not honorably mention, mostly because I didn't have enough time to devote but is promising and maybe someday I'll hear it (yeah right).

Right away I just want to write about that compilation Dr. Demento Covered In Punk. It came out in January or so. I heard about it because "Weird Al" covered The Ramones on it. That cover was pretty well publicized, of course. But there is so much more going on here. This is a compilation of my junior high self and my high school self (as in my major development of musical taste). All the stuff from before I "liked music" and the stuff from once I "fell face first into my obsession with music." Because as I have written about in this blog, music used to be just a source of amusement for me. "Weird Al" Yankovic was the first artist I obsessively bought everything by. And it was because it was so very funny to me. Because his humor is Very Much My Humor (TM). And when I wanted a stereo with a CD player because it was a cool thing to want, and my parents were like "but you don't listen to music," my only argument was that I listened to "Weird Al" tapes. Then I got the CD player and started getting "Weird Al" CDs. But I didn't really like other music (some Presidents of the United States of America maybe, but they were also pretty novelty-heavy). Then I got some Cartoon Planet CDs when I discovered that amazing show. Which was more Very Much My Humor (TM). My first Christmas album was Dr. Demento Presents The Greatest Christmas Novelty CD of All Time. Novelty music was the music for me. And then along came ska and with it, punk. And it was a whole different thing. And I became obsessed with music forever and now I feel the need to write a blog to keep up with it all in some way. So a compilation that combines novelty music and punk is a very personal thing to me. And it is Very Much My Humor (TM). And the punk is very much legit punk. In 1998 this compilation would have totally blown my mind. In 2018, this compilation totally blows my mind. I only like around half the songs (hence it only being an Honorable Mention), but I don't care. The fact that this exists is insanity to me. Talking too deeply about it seems like it ruins it though. It's best to listen to it blind, not knowing what's coming up, and taking it in. But I will just say that Brak's cover of "Institutionalized" by Suicidal Tendencies is maybe the most perfect culmination of what this CD aims to be, and it really seems like the song was written specifically for Brak.

Brak "Institutionalized"

And that is more than I will talk about anything else in this blog post.

Some other bands/artists from my past put out some fun music as well. The Smoking Popes' original lineup had their first album in 20ish years. It includes some very Popesy gems as well as some cheesy songs. Cursive put out their first album with a cello (though not with that cellist) in 15ish years and it's probably their best album in that period (though it's been something of a rocky period). I certainly enjoyed it more than their last several albums. Hot Snakes had a big reunion and continued to be as awesome as ever. I went to the show for that one.

Titus Andronicus and of Montreal each put out full length albums consisting of a few long tracks. In Titus Andronicus' case, it was enjoyable and loose, though some of those songs went on too long. As for of Montreal, it was their best album in a while.

Oddly enough, I quite enjoyed the new one by The Good, The Bad, and The Queen. I say "oddly" because I had begun to reach Damon Albarn Fatigue with those last couple Gorillaz albums and I wasn't particularly into the first TGTBaTQ album. But I'll be damned.

Zeal & Ardor - Stranger Fruit. That was an interesting concept and a couple of the songs were truly awesome. I'm excited to see where this project goes! Next year they're touring with Deafheaven; they are pretty reliably awesome and this year was no exception. I also was really into that Sumac album.

There is a weird lineage of awesome rock that goes from Sleater-Kinney (obviously awesome) to Wild Flag (not too surprisingly awesome) to Ex Hex (starting to get the idea here, awesome) to Bat Fangs (who I just stumbled upon not having known of their existence, but it was exactly what I was expecting). Their self titled album (are any of these bands going to put out a second album? or does it matter because we are still consistently getting awesome music under different variations of similar concepts?) is obviously great. I just can't wait for whatever random band offshoots from Bat Fangs!

I was a bit surprised at how much I enjoyed Big Red Machine. I almost didn't even bother adding it to my library because members of The National have so many side projects going that it's not really worth trying to keep up. And Justin Vernon has a few projects of his own. But damn, did all involved create something unique and beautiful.

I never really got into the music of John Spencer. I remember when "Weird Al" directed a John Spencer Blues Explosion music video and that piqued my interest but it didn't go anywhere because I mostly just wanted punk rock at the time. And years later, the song in Baby Driver was rad. Then late this year, he put out an album called Spencer Sings the Hits. Since Spencer is my son's name, I thought it would be amusing on some level to check it out. Plus I saw a review of this album that made it sound awesome. And it turns out it is awesome. Just trashy dirty awesome rock and roll that I crave.

What a year it was for hip hop, eh? In addition to some of the stuff in the real list, there was just so much and I'm still not very good at writing about it. But Knife Knights' 1 Time Mirage was something special. Kind of a side project for Ishmael Butler of Shabazz Palaces, it had the jams and headiness I like from them. What else? Well, Dr. Octagon's actual return was overlooked by pretty much everybody. Not like it was an especially great album but there was a track with Deltron 3030 so that was awesome. I think Kool Keith has been pretty reliably great the last couple years. Of course, Black Thought put out his first solo material and both of those EPs are just bars and bars from the best. And Earl Sweatshirt seems to really be elevating the game on Some Rap Songs. Noname came out with Room 25 and the description was exactly what I'd been searching for and really delivered on that promise. I still haven't seen the movie Sorry to Bother You but the soundtrack album (EP?) by The Coup was fantastic, with Tune-Yards' fingerprints all over it. Just so much energy. I didn't fall as heavily for Vince Staples' new one but no matter, it's one of his "in between" years when he puts out something minor. To me it just sounded like a good rap album as opposed to some genre defying masterpiece.

Jean Grae and Quelle Chris put out an album together called Everything's Fine. It was a lot of fun and had comedians doing guest spots and such, but I just wished there had been more Jean Grae on it!

I came back to that Kilo Kish EP quite a bit this year as well. I'm assuming she's going to put out something amazing in the near future.

Oh, and all-time favorite Elvis Costello. I think Look Now is at least his best since The Delivery Man. That was his first official album with The Imposters. This one really catches the sound of The Imposters as their own entity. The groove of the bass. And the songs and the words. He's always got some lyrical gems and they are plentiful here, especially in those ballads.

I was destined to have a soft spot for the new one from Phosphorescent, C'est La Vie. I had a soft spot for his previous album, and this time he's singing about fatherhood. And it seems very dorky when he sings about "thinking about another beer." And I am on board with that. Thinking about another beer and maybe an order of jalapeno poppers for me and my friends, you know? I can't think of anything about Phosphorescent that should make the music stand out to me. But I love it. And this was an album I listened to on multiple occasions with my own beautiful baby boy, trying to get him to fall asleep. He seemed to like it ok too.

As I write this, I'm hearing Lucy Dacus' Historian for the first time. There was too much to check out and some things had to slip! So I first heard her when there was all that hype around boygenius. That EP is wonderful, though it didn't quite grab me like it seemed to grab everyone else. But it is just the type of thing I could find myself loving after spending enough time with it. Now the Dacus album is starting to pick up. I really like this. If I'd spent proper time with it I could see it being on the "real" list below. Oh, and now the song "The Shell" is hitting me a little too close to home. Damn.

I have to call out another very special record called Childqueen by Kadhja Bonet. One of those things I just found by restlessly browsing through said streaming service for something unique and awesome. Following layers of "you might also like." This record is like a beautiful score musically and evokes this bizarre feeling of being in an old cartoon or something, in a meadow with a smiling sun. You know, that type of music.

One really cool album that impresses me every time I listen to it is Ultraviolet by Kelly Moran. This is usually the type of thing that I like more in theory than in practice. Heavily improvised, experimental music created by modifying a piano. I can't tell you how many experimental/improvisational albums I've purchased because it sounds like it's something I should like (not that I don't like these, I just usually listen to them once or twice and then am never in the mood to pull them back out). This is really cool though. It's accessible. Kind of like Battles, in that it's experimental music that is just catchy to me and I can listen to it whenever. It should be the soundtrack to a horror movie (particularly the track "Helix") except that would be doing a disservice to the music, which stands so strong on its own that I wouldn't want some cheesy visuals trying to keep up.

Kelly Moran "Helix (Edit)"

And the Top 7 Albums of 2018 In My Ears Are:

Or: Why we're here
Or: The word of the year is Relatable.

Why 7? In honor of my beautiful baby, who is my parents' seventh grandchild and whose three names each have seven letters. And also because it is the cutoff for truly killer material that I was able to absorb enough to know was killer.

7. Open Mike Eagle - What Happens When I Try to Relax (buy it!)
It's an EP. But it feels like a new era for Open Mike Eagle (partially because this is the first release of his new record label). The production just seems more...dynamic. But the lyrical cleverness is still there. And a word that shall be used to describe all of the albums on this list is the song that kicks it all off.

Open Mike Eagle "Relatable (Peak OME)"

6. Robyn - Honey
It's delicate. It's a grower. Robyn has grown beyond the sass that has defined much of her sound. But the sincerity is still there, making it particularly relatable. Maybe even moreso than last time around. Robyn is a treasure. Didn't we all miss Robyn? That first track "Missing U" starts off and immediately puts you in the mood for some Robyn jams. Then it quiets down a bit and gets very personal. This might be my favorite track:

Robyn "Because It's In The Music"

5. Troye Sivan - Bloom (buy it!)
Is it weird that I'm ranking this kid above Robyn? I feel a little weird doing it. But Bloom is a very beautiful album that does a lot of the stuff I love about Robyn's music. It's the earnestness in the pop. It makes me feel the way Body Talk made me feel. But make no mistake, this is pure, no-qualifiers-pop. Do I finally "like" pop music? Did I just take the longest journey to come around this way? Maybe I should've given that Ariana Grande album a chance while I was at it! Oh yeah, and it's relatable.

Troye Sivan "Animal"

4. Mitski - Be the Cowboy (buy it!)
Another artist that critics have always loved and I didn't quite spend enough time with. But this time I did! Be the Cowboy is great! All the shifting tones and moods and everything, all the catchiness beyond that, and it's hella relatable. Even as she went less personal than previous albums, it is so universal and it feels like she's singing about herself because it feels like she's singing about all of us.

Mitski "Nobody"

3. Janelle Monae - Dirty Computer
I just deleted a fairly large paragraph I'd written about this. I just listened to the album again and had some things I wanted to say. Monae has always been one of my absolute favorites and anticipation for this album was very high. So it was bound to be a little bit disappointing when there was no jam that hit the highs of some of her older songs such as "Dance Apocalyptic" and "Tightrope." But really, not sure if anyone has hit those highs ever. My initial disappointment was also in its being more accessible than previous efforts. But ironically, it still grew on me. Just in a different way. Easy to love, and a breezier listen than the older albums (not as many ballads, just jam after jam after jam). But the main thing I'm getting to after writing another paragraph worth of nonsense is that this album sounds like freedom. It's got so many great messages of acceptance and love and exercising freedom. And while a couple of the songs have a couple cheesy lines and I still think the closing track is extra cheesy and sounds too happy, it's also perfect for that same reason. It's accessible. And when I saw her perform live this summer (one of the few shows I made it out to this year), it made me a believer in that. It's a message that needs to get out to everyone so it needs to be accessible and relatable to all. No elitism. (And "Django Jane" gets really close to those aforementioned highs)

Janelle Monae "I Like That"

2. U.S. Girls - In A Poem Unlimited
I first heard of U.S. Girls when they did a remix of PRIESTS, a definite standout in 2017. Not that I cared much for the remix. And once I came to streamland, I checked out this album and did not immediately particularly care for it. But then I kept trying. I gave it a bunch of chances. I think I knew there was something there that I had to keep trying. And I put a bunch of the songs on my workout mix. And eventually it paid off. Every song on this album is such a jam, I don't know how I found it so unapproachable before. Something something relatable.

U.S. Girls "M.A.H."

1. serpentwithfeet - soil (buy it!)
When I first asked a friend if he'd heard this album, he said "isn't it kind of weird?" But of course. It is very weird. And maybe it makes up for the rest of my list being dominated by actual pop music. I'm still into weird stuff! It's mostly a capella but has as full of a sound as anything else. The passion that comes through every second of this album was enough to draw me in, first out of curiosity for all the sounds and what they were doing, and then keep me coming back. The intense emotion plays out in a way that anyone who has loved deeply and lost deeply can't help but find it relatable. If you've ever struggled to breathe due to that grief, the sound of all those voices really sounds and feels like a breath of fresh air, and such a release at the same time.

serpentwithfeet "mourning song"

There. Don't I have some great taste in music?!

An Ear For An Era: 2010

Okay, let's get on with it.

I finished listening to 2010 a while ago but I have just been listening to all of the new music I can get my hands on because 2016 ain't half bad either!

But 2010 gives 2007 a run for its money. A ridiculously great year for music. So I'll probably just focus on the great, putting the merely "very good" in the bottom section.

The most significant thing in my personal life in 2010 is probably my trip to New Orleans. It is where I proposed to my wife and fell in love with the city. We went to Preservation Hall and saw the band there. Earlier in the year I had purchased An Album to Benefit Preservation Hall with such guests as Andrew Bird, Tom Waits, Jason Isbell, and many more. This was the first New Orleans jazz album officially in my collection and it will always be near to my heart for these reasons. Similarly, Kermit Ruffins put out Happy Talk, which will probably always be my favorite Ruffins album.

I remember Broken Bells were taken off my top whatever list at the last minute because I decided it was a little boring on my final listen-through. I'm bringing them back here because it is just so darn pleasant to listen to!  I think I like this more than anything The Shins have done, although I was never a huge Shins fan. Danger Mouse's bleeps and bloops compliment James Mercer's words and voice quite well.

Remember when we all first heard Sleigh Bells? I'm pretty sure "Crown on the Ground" just had me immediately thank the person who shared them on Facebook or whatever. Such an awesome unique combination of sounds, from the pop vocals to the hip hop beats to the metal guitars, it was one of the most exciting sounds I'd heard and I was immediately hooked. When Treats finally came out, it sure was a collection of Treats, am I right? But seriously, that song and "Rill Rill" are what it's all about.

Spoon was always and will continue to be super reliably great. Transference saw them returning "to form," whatever that means for them. Just dig that beat, dig that build, and dig those forays into otherness.

The Suburbs by Arcade Fire was exactly what I wanted from them. I've always enjoyed them, but on this album they somehow sounded less self-important than everything else they've done. I'm not sure how that is. I think there's just this playful element that keeps it breezy. It just floats by in a wonderful way. Not that they don't sing about some heavy subjects, but the delivery makes it that much more enjoyable.

OFF! had four great EPs combined into one release called First Four EPs. That's a total of 16 songs for a grand total of 18 minutes of music. These little bolts of hardcore punk lightning are just a shot of lightning into the lightning tree. Am I right?

That's curtains for the Man in Black. American VI: Ain't No Grave was officially the final release of new music by Johnny Cash. With how depressing American V was, VI was a nice batch of hopeful, uplifting tunes, perfect for bidding adieu to one of the greatest artists to walk this earth.

The tip top:

There were a few albums that could easily top the list at the end of whatever year, but since it was 2010 there could be only one (at the time; I'm not ranking anymore). So these are the exceptionally great ones. Just because.

I had gotten previous Hot Chip albums, but One Life Stand stuck with me hard. It's like I finally figured out what they were doing. I'd had it in my head that they were supposed to be some dancy thing to take to the parties, but then I gave them more attention here and heard something much closer to the heart. Very soulful and optimistic. The title track ended up obviously being a very appropriate song for my pending nuptials, but this song was the one I wanted played at my wedding, for my side of the wedding party.

Hot Chip, "Brothers"

I'm pretty sure I picked up The Monitor by Titus Andronicus based off hype alone. People were talking them up and without even really knowing what it would sound like I went for it. This is something I have done before and since, but probably the most successful I've ever been with it. This is an epic punk rock tale. This is a story of the civil war and it's a story of self and all the ugliness and beauty that goes along with that. This is pure passion, unrestricted. Throw it all out, burn it up, and breathe in the fire.

Titus Andronicus, "Richard II"

She seemed to be ignored in 2010 by the mainstream here in the states, but in the years that followed, it looks like Robyn started getting her due, as songs like "Dancing On My Own" made their way to TV shows and such. But we can call 2010 her Body Talk era, when she put out three EPs over the course of the year to culminate in the full album version toward the end. At the time I remember thinking of how criminal it was that she wasn't the queen of the pop world, but the pop world just wasn't ready for her. Innovative beats, heartfelt lyrics, and just something extra that I can't quite pinpoint combine for the pop album of the year or more. Perfection. Love. Adore.

Robyn, "Hang With Me"

LCD Soundsystem. As of now, their latest album is still This Is Happening (that will probably change any day now!). At the time, it was the perfect culmination of their short career. Starting with the best drop I've ever heard on "Dance Yrself Clean," it just proceeds to rock every bone in your body including your skull and ribcage (as in being thoughtful and heartfelt), knock you down, and pick you back up, swearing "I Can Change." Because of this music project I hadn't heard this album in a few years before seeing them live at Red Rocks this summer, and coming back to the songs off this album in that mindset was pretty mind blowing.

LCD Soundsystem, "All I Want"

I think I mentioned a couple of these ago that my introduction to the great Janelle Monae was that Outkast song she was amazing on. But that and even the EP that followed were nothing to prepare me for the dizzying The ArchAndroid. I declared this my #1 album of the year at the time and I have no regrets about that (I'm not going to rank these here though, just so you know. Too much greatness for any of them to fall outside the top 5!). She can PERFORM and she can SING and she can CONCEPTUALIZE and she can ENTERTAIN and she can MAKE YOU SMILE and she can MAKE YOU THINK AND QUESTION EVERYTHING. She is the future. So it's only fitting that she introduced herself to the world with a multi-part concept suite-of-albums about the future.

Janelle Monae, "Tightrope" (I used this version because the official video isn't on YouTube but she was amazing on Letterman! But track down the video for the Big Boi part!)

That guy from that song up there, Big Boi, finally put out a proper solo album Sir Lucious Left Foot...The Son of Chico Dusty. Previously I had remarked that Speakerboxxx was criminally Underrated, but this album just builds on that for the new decade to sound super fresh even now, six years later. It sounds like someone who has been holding it all in and has had so much to say. The energy of the beats here and his awesome delivery, I still haven't gotten any better at writing about hip hop have I?

Big Boi, "Daddy Fat Sax" or "Back Up Plan" - apparently he is not on YouTube! Listen to this stuff though using legitimate/legal methods!

Kanye West. Oh, Kanye West. Whatever problems your ego causes, whatever the hell 808s and Heartbreak was, it is all worth it if it leads to something like My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. You certainly have something you are good at, and that is constructing something of beauty from the ground up. My favorite moments from his early albums are the moments when he shows a little bit of vulnerability and he finds just the right times to do that here (while still showing the duality of his ego all over the thing). It's like a hip hop of Montreal. Showing one thing by demonstrating the opposite.

Kanye West featuring Pusha T, Tony Williams & The-Dream, "Runaway" - also can't emebed from YouTube! Get Tidal or whatever!

Is The Age Of Adz by Sufjan Stevens all that different of an album than that Kanye album? Maximalism to hide-which-also-reveals the underlying pain? Although it seems like he's taking a different approach to his maximalism. He's always had his heart on his sleeve, even if the sleeve is adorned in sequins and neon colors. It just draws you in with its unusual sounds so you're close enough to feel the gut punch which you saw coming from a mile away. There is this pain, this very personal pain, but it shows the spectrum of human emotion with its spectrum of even more neon colors. The joy and the fear, the sorrow and the hope, all culminating in my favorite 25 minute song. It is tempting to post that song, but I don't know if people have time for that, so I'll post this one instead.

Sufjan Stevens, "I Walked"

Other things that were very (very very very) good:

• I enjoyed Miles Kurosky's solo album, although maybe not as much as Beulah proper.
• Free Energy was an interesting product of my tendency these days to check out a lot of stuff that got good reviews. My wife ended up a bigger fan than me, but they are a good band to work out to.
• Love is All put out the wonderful Two Thousand And Ten Injuries, featuring mixtape staple "Less Than Thrilled,"  one of the best breakup songs of this century. Great energy. They still haven't followed up on that album 6 years later, but I'm excited to hear it whenever (if ever) they do.
• I'm New Here by Gil Scott-Heron is a really great collection of poetry and deep introspection.
• Sisterworld is yet another fantastic record by Liars.
• She & Him Volume 2 isn't all that different from Volume 1 but why change? They evolve a bit on subsequent releases and it does suit them but these early ones are just so charming.
• Oh yeah, Beach House! Teen Dream was my intro to this band and still my favorite of theirs.
• Black Francis continued his prolific hot streak with Nonstoperotik, a very good collection of vaguely and not-that-vaguely sexual innuendo with some heart.
• The Like went from 70s throwback to 60s throwback on Release Me. I enjoyed this shift in their sound immensely, particularly in the song "He's Not a Boy."
• The Magnetic Fields are always enjoyable and there's always a few standout tracks. On Realism, those standouts were "The Dada Polka," a signature clever song, and "Seduced and Abandoned," a signature sad song, from the master.
• Ol' reliable Ted Leo & The Pharmacists put out The Brutalist Bricks, a shot of adrenaline early in the year. 
• Sadly the most memorable thing to me about Devil's Music by Teddybears was the overly snarky article about it by Pitchfork when it was announced. But the song with Robyn is obviously awesome, and a few of the others are quite good as well.
• Surfer Blood!
• Phantogram!
• I remember impressing a hip hop friend by getting The Stimulus Package by Freeway & Jake One. He then introduced me to other Jake One stuff. I just got it because of curiosity and the fact that I bought a LOT of music in 2010. And it had guests like Raekwon and Bun B. Those Jake One beats are great for running though!
• Plastic Beach by Gorillaz cemented the fact that Damon Albarn didn't need some big name producer to produce great songs for this project. 
• Night Work had Scissor Sisters returning "to form" for an amazing celebration of excess.
• Assume Crash Position by Konono No 1 was quite revelatory. Such awesome sounds, it was like african post rock or something.
• CocoRosie continued to be underrated with Grey Oceans.
• The more beat-oriented Caribou found on Swim is a sound I like a lot.
• The New Pornographers always deliver and Together was no exception. "My Shepherd" has become possibly my favorite Neko Case fronted NP song.
• Is Outlaster the last Nina Nastasia album we've been treated to? Shame.
• How I Got Over showed The Roots settling into their TV gig and expanding their reach to things like Dirty Projectors and Monsters of Folk, both of which were featured (along with Joanna Newsom!). So indie! Of course, my favorite songs are the ones with Dice Raw, including the FIRE title track (and "The Fire" featuring John Legend). Lots of passion on this album.
• I Learned The Hard Way could potentially be my favorite Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings album, but that might just be because that's when I really started getting in to them.
• Medications were a band I discovered that appeals to both me and my wife, with their odd combination of post rock experimentation and pop vocals.
• I never quite spend enough time listening to Without Why by Rose Elinor Dougall, formerly my favorite member of The Pipettes. It is good and sassy even if it's not quite on the level of her old project's peak moments.
• Damn you, Twilight: Eclipse for having an exclusive Battles song "The Line" on your soundtrack (possibly the last Battles song to feature Tyondai Braxton)! Hopefully they found some new fans because it's a nice deceptive number that starts out easy and goes full Battles about halfway through. 
• High Violet by The National is another of their very good albums. This is actually the point where I decided I liked them. Or was that 2009?
• Grinderman 2 is everything it needs to be. And has the best album cover.
• Maximum Balloon had some of the best non-TVOTR TV On The Radio songs ever recorded. The party version of TVOTR.
• I guess I should put All Delighted People, the Sufjan Stevens EP, down here just because I didn't want to take away from my Age of Adz write-up. It does happen to include one of my favorite Sufjan Stevens songs of all time though, "Enchanting Ghost." For a surprise release that he just threw out there before blowing all our minds with his "real" album, it is an amazing accomplishment that is doomed to be a footnote like this.
• Lisbon includes one of my favorite Walkmen songs, "While I Shovel the Snow." Just so perfectly captures that winter feeling.
• M.I.A. put out the purposely polarizing MAYA (/\/\/\Y/\) that is just finally getting the respect it deserves. It still sounds a little slight compared to some of her other accomplishments, but it's just such a bold move that I appreciate it for that.
• of Montreal got Solange on a track for False Priest. And Janelle Monae on a couple. I always like of Montreal albums and then they kind of blur around this time. Still a nasty little fun time.
• !!! was in the midst of their great period that they haven't left yet. Strange Weather, Isn't It? is just a big party.
• Les Savy Fav was also partying on Root For Ruin. Not sure if it will end up being their final album, but it is a great one to go out on.
• That Girl Talk mash-up mix thing All Day became of my favorite things to run to, just like that  last one!
• National Ransom has all the ingredients to be a favorite Elvis Costello album for me. I just haven't been listening to him as much as I used to. But whenever I give it another shot, I remember that yes, I do quite enjoy this one.
• Neon Indian is pretty good, huh?
• Write About Love is a very enjoyable Belle & Sebastian album featuring the likes of Norah Jones and Carey Mulligan. 

I did a two-album set for my mix of 2010.

'Twas 2010a:

1. LCD Soundsystem - Dance Yrself Clean

2. Robyn - Dancing On My Own

3. Gorillaz featuring Mick Jones and Paul Simonon - Plastic Beach

4. Flying Lotus featuring Thundercat - Mmmhmm

5. The Roots featuring Dice Raw - How I Got Over

6. Kanye West featuring Dwele - Power

7. Big Boi featuring Andre 3000 - Lookin 4 Ya (Jedi Remix)

8. Janelle Monae - Cold War

9. Sleigh Bells - Rill Rill

10. Broken Bells - The High Road

11. Arcade Fire - Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)

12. Hot Chip - One Life Stand

13. Sufjan Stevens - Vesuvius

14. The National - Lemonworld

15. Titus Andronicus - The Battle of Hampton Roads

'Twas 2010b:

1. Love Is All - Less Than Thrilled

2. Maximum Balloon featuring Aku - Tiger

3. Reflection Eternal featuring Bun B - Strangers (Paranoid)

4. Charlotte Gainsbourg - Dandelion

5. Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings - When I Come Home

6. Grinderman - Evil!

7. Snake Rattle Rattle Snake - Ornament

8. Liars - Scissor

9. Gil Scott-Heron - Me And The Devil

10. Beach House - Zebra

11. The Magnetic Fields - Seduced and Abandoned

12. Nina Nastasia - Cry, Cry Baby

13. Tussle - Soft Crush

14. Caribou - Leave House

15. Free Energy - Young Hearts

16. The Like - He's Not a Boy

17. The New Pornographers - My Shepherd

18. Ted Leo & The Pharmacists - Bottled Up In Cork

19. Les Savy Fav - Excess Energies

20. Spoon - Written In Reverse

21. Battles - The Line

22. Black Francis - Nonstoperotik

2011:

Antlers, Battles, Beastie Boys, Bon Iver, Deerhoof, Fleet Foxes, Jay Z & Kanye, M83, Shabazz Palaces, St Vincent, Thao & Mirah, Tom Waits, TV On The Radio's triumphant return, Wild Flag, and another classic album by Mr. "Weird Al" Yankovic.

An Ear For An Era: 2006

Hello there! Long time!

These are going to be spread out quite a bit now. Because we are entering the world of me acquiring all of the music. Full on.

2006 was a rough year. I lost a good friend and my great grandmother.
2006 is also the last time I've been to Chicago (other than driving through). I went to the Touch & Go Records anniversary show and saw tons of bands I never thought I'd see like Shellac, The Ex, Scratch Acid, and lots more. That was awesome.
I also had plantar fasciitis. That sucked for going to a big music festival.
That's mostly it. There is too much music to talk about so I'm kind of pushing that off here. But okay, let's go.

I made a change here for 2006 because it's the first full year that I had this computer I'm using right now, so I was able to divide it up by when I added stuff to my library. So I shuffled everything I added in the first quarter of the year, then second, etc. And then all the stuff I added after the year had ended. Which was a ton in this case. It kind of made it weird because I knocked out all the stuff that dominated my year at the beginning. Because in 2006 I listened obsessively to that early 2006 stuff all year. And then the stuff I added afterward I barely listened to.

Anyway. This order may be random.

Early on in the year I felt like women were putting out a lot of great music. In fact, when I made my end of the year mix I dedicated a full CD to female fronted jams. In retrospect, that was kind of silly because they don't need to be segregated out. That seems a little insulting now. So I apologize! But I will still segregate them here to point out how many great female artists put out great music in 2006. And/or I discovered a lot of great women as my mind was quickly expanding in the music world at this time.

It started with Cat Power. The Greatest. I hadn't heard of her before this but such a strong album of melancholy. And then Beth Orton. Comfort of Strangers had me obsessed with her singing voice. I can't quite put my finger on it but it just sounds so amazing to me. It also helped that we saw her do a sound check at the Gothic Theater, which has amazing sound, and it just filled the place. I also quite enjoyed Katharine Whalen's solo album Dirty Little Secret. She was from Squirrel Nut Zippers. She's got a great voice and this album employs it in various interesting ways. El Perro Del Mar was interesting, a sad sad version of girl pop.  Jess Klein has an incredible voice reminiscent of Emmylou Harris. I already was a fan of Nina Nastasia but On Leaving might be my favorite album of hers. Just short, sweet, a bunch of slices of life. My favorite song is "Our Day Trip," which kind of says it all. It's not about moving away or changing your life, it's about a day trip. Just taking a day off.

Disclaimer: Several of these British artists' albums didn't come out in the states until 2007. I set the release date as 2006 anyway, even though my experience of this stuff was just various singles that came in out 2006 and then the full album in 2007. One such example: The Pipettes may have had their music written by a man, but I just loved them for their personalities and pizazz and singing as much as the music. Before it became kind of an overdone thing, they had that 60s throwback stuff DOWN. I saw them live and it was magical. Rosay was my favorite. Did you have a favorite?

The Pipettes "Pull Shapes"

Similarly, Lily Allen's debut Alright, Still didn't come out here until 2007 even though we were clamoring for it on the strength of her MySpace popularity! But I quite like "LDN." And "Smile" is nice now that it's been so long since it was overplayed. And her sassy songs about stupid boys are a lot of fun too.

Same with Amy Winehouse! Oh man, was she special. Back to Black is so much more than "Rehab." Do yourself a favor if you only know "Rehab," listen to this album.

I'm going to use Outkast as a segue here because the highlight of Idlewild was my introduction to one of my favorite female artists, Janelle Monae. On "Call The Law," there's a little bit of Big Boi on there but it's really just a showcase of Janelle Monae's vocal prowess. She completely steals the show. I didn't even know the half of it, of course. Her concept albums that would follow are so much more than a powerhouse voice. But this was my first exposure to her and just knocked me out.

Outkast featuring Janelle Monae "Call The Law"

Food and Liquor by Lupe Fiasco was a great intro to a great talent who kind of fell off. Or maybe I'm the one that fell off. Because as much as I love "Daydreamin'," some of it seems a little too on-the-nose (I am aware I used that same expression below for Neil Young). But I guess I've felt the same way about The Coup and when you want to get your message out to the masses you kind of have to.

J Dilla's last album from his lifetime was the amazing Donuts. Such a great collection of beats that I now recognize on stuff that came out later by great MCs. It was nice to run to. And then The Shining, his first posthumous album with great artists such as Pharoahe Monch (I love that song "Love") and Black Thought. It is no wonder he is so desperately missed in the music world. A rare talent.

My first non-alternative-or-whatever hip hop album was Fishscale by Ghostface Killah. I just wanted something different and this one got good reviews or whatever. So I dove right in. And I loved it for the most part! Especially the more soul songs, but especially "The Champ," which became my favorite song to pump be up for kickball.

Remember how inescapable Gnarls Barkley was? I revisited this inescapability by having tons of versions of "Crazy" on my computer so it came up lots of times. Besides that, St. Elsewhere was a fantastic crossover album that everybody loved.

Teddybears' Soft Machine is a classic party record as far as I'm concerned. Great Swedish dance music featuring the likes of Neneh Cherry and others, the definitive version of "Cobrastyle," and of course Iggy Pop on "Punkrocker," which is maybe my favorite song to run to.

The Lawrence Arms, one of my favorite bands of all time that I'm sure I've written about many times here, put out Oh! Calcutta! and it was just strange to me. It was their most straightforward punk rock album at a time when I was getting out of the business of punk rock (not that I ever did or will completely get out of that business!). It's a favorite of the band based on how much of the stuff they play in concert since it came out, but I didn't get into it nearly as much as everything else they put out. They even put out an album recently and I love it and immediately was drawn to it more than this one. But I really think I need to just give it some more spins. The same goes for Lawrence Arms side project The Falcon. Unicornography continues in that direction and I'm just not as much into it.

I had a similar reaction to Happy Hollow by Cursive. They'd put out these amazing personal albums where Tim Kasher would just stare into his own soul and bare it for all of us and poke and prod it with hot things, and this one was just an attack on the bible belt. Which isn't unwarranted, it just felt like a cheap and easy subject. But it's not like he can keep making albums about himself. In retrospect, it's still a very good album. It just will never hit that place in my heart reserved for Domestica and The Ugly Organ.


Calexico's first album since I officially became a fan was probably the least Calexico-sounding album they put out. Garden Ruin was closer to indie rock than the others, but they did it so effectively and with quite a big of grace that it turned out really strong. Particularly the closing track, which is a perfect fusion of the two genres for a truly epic, building track.

Calexico "All Systems Red"

Also great at epic songs was Yo La Tengo. And great at album titles: I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass is one of the best album titles ever. This was when I really personally started getting into YLT and the way they have 10+ minute songs that you want to go for hours, along with nice shorter pop songs. But the best for me was this sad song. As discussed, I had some tough times this year and the best song for feeling sad was "Black Flowers."

Yo La Tengo "Black Flowers"

The Gothic Archies' Tragic Treasury was a great collection of Stephin Merritt songs based on the Lemony Snicket books. Those dudes are friends! And similarly fantastic with linguistics! Daniel Handler actually came into work and performed one of these songs ("Scream and Run Away") on air, and it was really really awesome.

The Crane Wife may be The Decemberists' crowning achievement. Or maybe that's just because it's the first one I got. But it is a very special album with epic folk songs and catchy angry songs and lovely other songs. Protest music of the 21st century!

I finally got into The Mountain Goats (I am now a devotee and get everything!) with Get Lonely, a lovely album. The only reason I really even got into them though was because they had a music video directed by Rian Johnson, who I admired for Brick. But the song the video was for turned out to be a great slice of life, and just a great way to get into a great band (and a great director who would go on to direct an upcoming Star Wars movie!).

The Mountain Goats "Woke Up New"

My number one album officially at the time was The Life Pursuit by Belle and Sebastian. I still love this one quite a bit. It dominated my year. Kind of more rock than they'd previously done, maybe a little more pop and a little less precious.

However, my real number one in retrospect is one that topped everyone else's lists that year. TV On The Radio just blew up with Return to Cookie Mountain and they were one of my favorite bands at the time. The only reason I put them at #2 at the time was because it came out later in the year and I'd spent all year getting obsessed with the pop sounds of Belle & Sebastian. Plus its positivity helped me through tough times. But Return to Cookie Mountain is a monolith of a record, it has so much happening, and is what got me started on all my hyperbolic talk about TV On The Radio being the most important band of the decade or whatever and all that. I particularly love the four song stretch of Wolf Like Me - A Method - Let The Devil In - Dirtywhirl. The way they build on each other and ebb and flow is just perfect. And particularly particularly "Let The Devil In" with its primal cleansing expression of pure emotion is still one of my favorite songs ever made.

TV On The Radio "Let The Devil In"

Observations. Lots of stuff will go here.

• Arctic Monkeys! They actually were the first I listened to here. I thought they were kind of overrated at the time but it was a blast to revisit them.
• Other British/European bands had a similar sound. I kind of got sick of that sound in 2006 but I enjoyed all of them quite a bit this time around. Dirty Pretty Things, Brakes, The Fratellis, Mando Diao, etc.
• Ray Davies solo! fun!
• They just announced a reissue of the first Jenny Lewis solo album. She has a lovely voice but I was a little underwhelmed by the lyrical content. Still enjoyable.
• Loose Fur. Jim O'Rourke and Jeff Tweedy! Having a lot of fun.
• Kris Kristofferson put out another album and it was solid. I saw him with my dad on the tour for this album!
• Sonic Youth was rather excellent on Rather Ripped.
• Remember Neil Young and his Living With War album about impeaching George W Bush? I dug it at the time but now it feels a little too on-the-nose.
• I kind of dug Peaches' dirty response to hating on W though. Impeach My Bush indeed.
• Raconteurs were pretty good I guess!
• Elvis Costello put out an album with Allen Toussaint about Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. It was quite lovely.
• Supersystem were awesome.
• Game Theory saw The Roots pissed off, and it made for some very compelling music. I really like this stage in their career. It was also around the time I finally got into them so...
• The Return of Dr. Octagon was a scam! Kind of! I guess it is officially legit but I remember getting so mad at that album. I got it because it was The Return of Dr. Octagon, but then found out it was more of a remix album of a few demos or something. I don't remember the whole story. But it's weak as far as Kool Keith albums go, doesn't even include that much of him, and is more electro than anything else. It's weird.
• ...Nogatco Rd. was much better. A more legitimate Kool Keith sci-fi release. And look at that title in reverse if you didn't figure it out. The REAL return of kind-of Dr. Octagon.
• Weird Al. Straight Outta Lynwood. Yet another classic! Particularly for "Trapped In The Drive Thru," which my wife couldn't stand but I think is brilliant.
• I'm going to put this here. I just realized that one of the bonus tracks on Return to Cookie Mountain was an El-P remix of "Hours." Was that the first time they worked together? Because TVOTR backed Run The Jewels on Colbert and it was so awesome and they need to work together more.
• I wasn't super into Pieces of the People We Love by The Rapture at the time, because I wanted it more rock like the amazing previous album...but upon revisit, I'm pretty impressed with it. It's quite fun.
• American V: A Hundred Highways by Johnny Cash was just heartbreaking. "Rose of My Heart" was amazing. Rest in peace.
• Ludacris being serious can be pretty damn good. Release Therapy has "Tell It Like It Is" which is a great raw expression from him.
• Modern Times by Bob Dylan was pretty good!
• Remember Lady Sovereign? I quite enjoyed her at the time but now I know more about hip hop and find her a bit bland and trying-too-hard.
• I only have one Cunninlynguists album, A Piece of Strange, but I like it a lot and need to get more. And I need to listen to this one more.
• Rhymefest. Blue Collar is a catchy record. He is a very enjoyable rapper. I remember we got mad at him for homophobia a couple years later. And I stand by that. But why do we hold some rappers to different standards than others? We just have high hopes for some I guess.
• ...I did like that P.O.S. album and he had a good statement about that on his.
• Rock Plaza Central is great too! A concept album about robot horses deserves more than just a bullet point but damn there is a lot of music to cover. If you are reading this, listen to "Anthem for the Already Defeated," one of my favorites!
• Islands! 
• Cut Chemist!
• Tom Waits put out that three disc compilation Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers, and Bastards. Too much to even begin to write about it. It has an awesome Daniel Johnston cover though. Among many other things.
• I thought revisiting Yellow House by Grizzly Bear would make me love it but I still didn't think it was all that special. I don't know why, I think I'm supposed to like it but it sounds too fussed over for me. I think I like their next album more though.
• I didn't get Ta-Dah by Scissor Sisters until later in life even though I was a fan of their first album and got subsequent albums. Just the idea of them not doing dance music didn't seem appealing to me. But of course it is a great album. Like good Queen songs kind of?
• Hank III's best album is probably Straight to Hell. That hidden 42 minute track is something that just has to be heard.
• Hot Chip! So good!
• More amazing women! Bat For Lashes! Joanna Newsom! Neko Case! Gossip! Nicole Atkins (just an EP but a great EP)!
• Peter Bjorn & John! Come for the "Young Folks," stay for the rest! Stay forever!
• How about The Knife!
• Model/Actress was a project from a dude from Brainiac. It sounded great. All we got was an EP.
• I wanted to run to LCD Soundsystem's 45:33 Nike track thing but it didn't work out. Awesome set of music though.

2006 Mix From 2006:
It Was 2006
1. Gnarls Barkley "Go-Go Gadget Gospel"
2. Polysics "Toisu!"
3. Model/Actress "Wait, What?"
4. The Streets "Memento Mori"
5. Thom Yorke "The Clock"
6. Elvis Costello & Allen Toussaint "Who's Gonna Help Brother Get Further?"
7. Belle and Sebastian "Dress Up in You"
8. Yo La Tengo "Black Flowers"
9. Mr. Nogatco "Bionic Fuse"
10. Ludacris "Tell It Like It Is"
11. The Raconteurs "Intimate Secretary"
12. Loose Fur "The Ruling Class"
13. Kris Kristofferson "In The News"
14. Neil  Young "Let's Impeach the President"
15. The Gothic Archies "Shipwrecked"
16. Built to Spill "Liar"
17. TV On The Radio "Let The Devil In"
18. Sonic Youth "Incinerate"
19. The Lawrence Arms "Jumping the Shark"
20. Calexico "All Systems Red"
21. Johnny Cash "Rose of My Heart"

It Was 2006: The Women (I really do apologize for doing it this way!)
1. Cat Power "Empty Shell"
2. The Dresden Dolls "Sex Changes"
3. Peaches "Two Guys (For Every Girl)"
4. CSS "Let's Make Love and Listen to Death From Above"
5. Yeah Yeah Yeahs "Gold Lion"
6. Lady Sovereign "Public Warning"
7. The Pipettes "We Are The Pipettes"
8. Neko Case "John Saw That Number"
9. Nina Nastasia "Our Day Trip"
10. Lily Allen "LDN"
11. Katharine Whalen "Want You Back"
12. Outkast featuring Janelle Monae "Call The Law"
13. Beth Orton "Shopping Trolley"
14. Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins "Rabbit Fur Coat"
15. El Perro Del Mar "Dog"
16. Joanna Newsom "Monkey & Bear"
17. Cat Power & Karen Elson "I Love You (Me Either)"

Next Time:
2007 has long been declared my favorite year of music. Was it just because I was at such a level of consumption that I discovered a lot of great albums then, or was it actually that good? Without even looking ahead...of Montreal, Battles, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Jesca Hoop, Shellac, LCD Soundsystem, Animal Collective, Talib Kweli, M.I.A., Okkervil River...

2013 in Music: An Outsider's Opinion

Is that title ok? Is it pretentious? I'd like to think not. I'm not saying I was above it all, I was just outside of it all. Doing this thing I've been doing on this blog I was much less invested in the music of this year than I have in years past. It will be funny when I finally reach 2013 in that other project, because the memory will be that I was focusing on older music at the time.

Not that I can consider myself a huge outsider. While I was less invested than usual, I still got a lot of music and tried to listen to it when it made sense to. In between years and whatnot. There was a lot of music I was looking forward to this year, and I couldn't just leave it alone. I just only have a few listens through of each of the albums I took seriously. And have less than the last few.

But yeah, anticipation. That has to be the theme of this year. Highly anticipated releases in some ways or others. Strange that many favorites were surprises.

I'm going to take a cue from last year and not try to rank anything. I'm just going to write about whatever I feel like sharing an opinion about. And the top top releases, I'll put stars in front of them showing my enthusiasm. But there were some overrated things I also want to write about. And other things I'm sure. Enjoy!

In Alphabetical Order Because I Am Serious About Not Ranking Things:

• ***Arcade Fire starts with an A! Early hype was "Arcade Fire is recording with James Murphy!!" Then there was the whole shrouded in mystery thing. And then a TV blitz. And it was just too much. Funny thing about this record. I love it in spite of all of that. I need to hear it more but I quite enjoy it. And I've complained in the past about them showing too much ambition, trying to make big statements and such (particularly on Neon Bible) when they were so young, and I so appreciated The Suburbs because they were taking a step back in that department. But here, they shot for the stars. And the results are fantastic. It takes a couple listens (honestly I didn't really like any of the songs the first time I heard any of them on their various TV appearances), but now songs like "Joan of Arc" and "Here Comes The Night Time" have pulled me in, and I discover more joy in this each time I put it on.
• ***Crooks On Tape just snuck up on me with their debut album Fingerprint. I've been a John Schmersal fan for a while now. After I discovered Brainiac in my early college years I was obsessed with his very own blend of delightful weirdness and undeniable catchiness. Enon became one of my "top 3" bands for the longest time past that, and they kind of mysteriously stopped doing things, and I tried to watch for any new Schmersal projects but didn't hear about anything. Until a week before this album dropped. It is almost everything I love about Enon! A wide variety, a respectable amount of experimentation and weirdness, and the catchiness. Oh, the catchiness. I have a new band to try to get my friends to love as much as I do!
• **David Bowie managed to make a giant comeback without much hype about it. I need to give it even more time than I did, but I do quite like all of the material from the original album, bonus tracks, and bonus EP. That James Murphy remix for "Love is Lost" on the bonus EP is epic and I don't take that word lightly. But it's everything you would want from a combination of Bowie and Murphy.
• *Deltron 3030 put out Event 2. Now there's a release with a buildup. The first album came out in 2000 and I first started hearing about the sequel being worked on in 2006. That means the time it was hyped for for me personally (I know the artists didn't spend all this time building it up, I just got very excited when I heard about it and kept trying to find more information) was longer than the time between the original release and the start of the hype. As the release date approached and I didn't hear much from Koala or Automator and I got less and less interested in Del's solo material, I started dreading this. I worried it would suck, my expectations dropped considerably, but I still knew I had to get it. And I was just relieved that it was good! I guess the critics didn't care enough about it when it came time to make year end lists, but damnit if Automator didn't create some more catchy beats here! And the David Cross/Amber Tamblyn skits are mildly entertaining even after quite a few listens. And all the guests bring it and Del brings it and nothing will ever meet that original Deltron album but this is a very worthy successor.
• *Elvis Costello working with The Roots? Do You Want More??! Get Happy! This one was an odd one, this Wise Up Ghost. Again, highly anticipated for me, as Elvis Costello is my #1 all time #1. And The Roots are The Roots! And for as restless as the chameleon Mr Costello is musically, it felt like he was treading water on the last couple albums. So ?uestlove was just the one to shake things up. Things never live up to expectations but still, this is a good shake up of some old Costello lyrics and new context and yet another dynamite ballad from the master, "Tripwire."
• ***Janelle Monae is The Electric Lady. She got considerably more popular this year, didn't she? That "alternative reality pop music" I spoke of a couple years ago may be coming to fruition. I don't know if this album quite measures up to The Archandroid in consistency, but its bangers are as hot as the bangers of its predecessor. It's just so damned front loaded. Hook 'em with the hook, hold 'em with the heartbreak and love ballads. She makes it work but I just preferred the ballads of old a little more. Might be the lack of commitment on my part though.
• Ok, everybody putting Yeezus on the top of their list makes me feel like this year was subpar or something. I was so excited for this after seeing him on Saturday Night Live, because it was (one of?) the biggest stars in pop music doing something abrasive and angry and anti-commercial and using his talent for good. But then I got the album and it just fell short for me. And the more I listened to it the more I wanted to just listen to Saul Willams' Trent Reznor produced album from a few years ago. Something with an actual message and not just bitching. Something with anger instead of hate. Something with the passion I thought I heard when I first heard those first couple songs.
• ****My Bloody Valentine killed it with their first album in forever (making it highly anticipated) and its surprise release (undercutting any building anticipation that would have formed). This cuts to my soul, man! Like Radiohead. And it beats "chillwave" at its own game by bringing a rock-oriented version of that atmosphere (that mbv had been integral in creating in the first place all those years ago). I don't know how to write about this but this might be #1 if I were keeping track.
• ***Not only do The National grow on me when I listen to an album over and over, but they grow on me with every album they release. The odd time signatures on this one, the chorus about being the television version of someone with a broken heart, I keep liking every album of theirs a bit more than its predecessor. Not sure if that's just me...
• ***And Okkervil River continues to be underrated forever as they just up and put out another masterpiece this year and nobody seems to remember it come year-end time. I mean, it's fine, I appreciate that I can see them at places like The Marquis instead of having to pay for The Fillmore.
• Another highly anticipated one was Talib Kweli's Prisoner of Conscious. When I first heard about it it seemed like it was going to be a very personal album for him, a grand statement that would push him to a new level. There were even a couple albums that came out before that, so I figured he was saving something for PoC. But then it just came out without fanfare and something about it just isn't what I hoped for.
• **Weird, this Yo La Tengo album doesn't have any songs over 10 minutes! Not even over 7 minutes! What we get is the usual YLT catchiness and diversity and they even sneak some of that feel-goodness that only they ever really accomplish for me, usually over the course of an epic long track. In this case it's over some short pop songs, but it still works.

I have less to say about these but still something:

• !!! THR!!!ER They have some good beats here, and this album served as the soundtrack to many runs this year very effectively. Highly energetic, singing about sweating, other catchiness. Pitchfork complained about the lack of huge builds and drops a la "Intensified" from their first album, and sure, those would have pushed this over the top, but this album shows a maturity and songwriting craft that was very conspicuously absent from their older material.
• Aceyalone's Leanin' On Slick was kind of a sequel to The Lonely Ones, one of my favorite random hip hop experiments. But this one felt like it should have come before The Lonely Ones, because it was less of a stretch from his "normal" material.
• Bilal. I wanted to love A Love Surreal but instead I merely like it. There's plenty to like on this record and he continues to be quite underrated.
• I like the idea of the Daft Punk album and it took me longer than it should have to get over "Get Lucky."
• Danny Brown...yeah I got it because it was cheap and I think I like it but I didn't have time to listen to it enough to form a strong opinion of it. Maybe it will be spoken of highly when the ol' EfaE catches up to 2013...
• Death Grips put out another free album in case people forgot about a true bombastic/abrasive/angry hip hop artist in the wake of Yeezus...
• The Ex & Brass Unbound. Enormous Door. What else can The Ex do these days? Bring in a brass band! It's a killer combination.
• How about that Justin Timberlake? Fun guy.
• Man or Astro-Man made a triumphant return as well this year! Defcon 5...4...3...2...1 is that same old band that's been consistently awesome with every release.
• Hey everyone! Neko Case is still amazing! Bonus points for the cover of the "other" Nico!
• of Montreal in a song format must leave less of an impression on me than their wild and crazy concepts, but I still like that they did what they did with this one.
• I dug that Phosphorescent one, it reminded me of what I like about Fleet Foxes.
• The Pixies have to have their name on something from this century, and something without Kim. I kind of dig that "Indie Cindy" song but for the most part this new EP sounds just like a Frank Black solo album. But what else are they supposed to sound like at this point? 
• Run The Jewels. El-P and Killer Mike just having a good time. Yes please.
• I feel like She & Him have reached a new level of confidence and swagger with Volume 3. I like it.

I admit I missed the boat on...

• Savages. That was on my list all year and I never did get it. I know, it was the best.
• Vampire Weekend. I'm ok with Pitchfork calling it album of the year if only because I'm sick of seeing Kanye top every list. I used to have something against them but I think I'd actually like their new material now.
• Where CHVRCHES as great as people have been saying?
• Disclosure?
• Who are all these young whippersnappers?

I'll be back in a bit with something older than me.