My Belated "Best Music of the 2010s" Post

And what about this decade?

It's tough enough finding time to listen to at least 60 new releases a year --rock, hip-hop, jazz or otherwise-- and whittle it down to my favorite 20. The task is harder when you find an album you enjoyed from a particular year, but you discover it after the fact. Sometimes said album doesn't quite hold up as the brilliant piece of art that you thought it once was.

Forgive the forced wordplay, but 2020 is the so-called "year of hindsight," and for my first blog of the calendar year I'm looking back (and wincing) at my past music blogs. Initially, the only rule is set for myself is that there is a minimum of one album from each of the last ten years on this list. (Some albums have aged better than others, KANYE.) Call it wonky, call out some omissions, but I think these 10 albums will stand the test of time.

(NOTE: parenthesized numbers are for the year of release, and original rank)

1. My Dark Twisted Fantasy, Kanye West (2010, #1)
2. To Pimp a Butterfly, Kendrick Lamar (2015, #1)
3. The Suburbs, Arcade Fire (2010, #2)
4. Lemonade, Beyonce (2016, #2)
5. DAMN., Kendrick Lamar (2017, #1)
6. Agent Orange, Frank Ocean (2012, #1)
7. Lazarus, David Bowie (2016, #1)
8. St. Vincent, St. Vincent (2014, #1)
9. Titanic Rising, Weyes Blood (2019, #1)
10. A Seat at the Table, Solange (2016, NR)

Honorable Mentions: Civilian, Wye Oak (2011, NR), Random Access Memories, Daft Punk (2013, #2), 7, Beach House (2018, #1).

I meant to post this right after New Year's, but better late than never. Onto the next post.

(639)

That Wonderful Year in Music... 2004 (again)

Boy, it feels like it's been forever since I posted a "year in music" blog. It's been over a year yet it feels like longer. At the same time, I ran out of years to cover and my primary focus as been to make my 2014 list as comprehensive as possible. The project was finished business... or so I thought.

I'll admit-- I kind of screwed up my 2004 and 2005 lists. They were among the first music blog entries I ever posted, and I didn't approach them with the care and research of my later posts. At the same time I didn't want to constantly second-guess all of the lists I posted, tempting as it may be, which is why I'm limiting myself to these two years. This week's entry will cover 2004, and I'll post a 2005 sometime early next year. (You can find my original list here.)

In hindsight, 2004 was not the strongest year for music, but it was watershed in some ways. With the iPod introduced a year earlier, '04 was the last year retail music outlets like Sam Goody, Tower Records, and Coconuts turned a profit. As I pointed out the first time around, it was a good year for comebacks; some of the most noteworthy recordings were released by established, albeit long-dormant artists. One such legend, the incomparable Ray Charles, passed away just before his life's work could be appreciated for a new generation. And yet, arguably the best new release of 2004 was a debut full-length by one of the most important bands of the past decade. Rock as a genre was irreversibly splintering, but underneath all the scenester turmoil were quite a few solid releases.

NOTE: Parentheses note previous ranking.

BEST ALBUMS:
1. Funeral, Arcade Fire. The most glaring misfire on my previous list was right on top. I originally picked American Idiot as #1, but Billie Joe Armstrong's rock opera aspirations don't totally hold up a decade on. In picking Funeral I'm correcting a gross oversight; this album is far more daring, direct, and (perhaps) dangerous than the vast majority of the indie scene ten-odd years ago. The "Neighborhood" suite that dominates the first half of the album is an exploration of the soul by way of Joseph Conrad, but tracks like "Crown of Love" and "Haiti" balance the self-relection with whimsy.
2. A Ghost is Born, Wilco. A warmer and more organic companion piece to their 2002 masterpiece Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Wilco's fifth album retains most of its predecessor's ghostly song structures even if the best tracks don't stand out immediately. In some ways, it's Foxtrot's sequel played at the wrong speed; the 15-minute dirge "Less Than You Think" gives way to the charming, witty "The Late Greats," one of the best songs in their discography.
3. The Grey Album, Danger Mouse. (2) Largely because of music licensing entanglement, the phenomenon of mash-up songs --or in this case, mash-up albums-- was relatively short-lived. This remix release, arguably what vaulted DM from moderately respected producer to hipster demi-god, set the bar high for its concept and purpose. In splicing Jay-Z's vocals with the instrument tracks from The Beatles' otherwise untouchable The White Album, DM does the impossible and makes this curious pet project into a must-listen. Case in point: the frustrated "What More Can I Say" simmering over the piano and acoustic guitar of "While My Guitar Gently Weaps."
4. Louden Up Now, !!! (3)
5. American Idiot, Green Day (1)
6. Good News for People Who Love Bad News, Modest Mouse (4)
7. Hot Fuss, The Killers
8. The College Dropout Kanye West (5)
9. Bows and Arrows, The Walkmen (6)
10. Franz Ferdinand, Franz Ferdinand (8). Four Scottish boys with a yen for Paul Weller make a lot of noise with their first full-length, the beginning of a string of good-but-not-great releases in the decade to come. The leadoff single "Take Me Out" is guarded optimism that veers into sheer drama; is it one song that morphs into another kind of song, or a false intro that exposes its true nature when the veneer self-destructs?

Honorable Mentions: ONoffON, Mission of Burma (9); Get Away From Me, Nellie McKay (7); Our Shadows Will Remain, Joseph Arthur (11); You're a Woman, I'm a Machine, Death From Above 1979; Madvillainy, Madvillain.

Best Jazz Album: Song for the New Man, David "Fathead" Newman. The career resurgences were not limited to pop or rock, as this late-period effort by the former Rayette proves. A venerable tenor sax player of the Gene Ammons variety, Fathead could also play a mean flute, as his Herbie Mann homage "Passing Through" proves. This well-rounded, straight-ahead set also features pianist John Hicks, trombonist Curtis Fuller, and another understated legend, drummer Jimmy Cobb.

BEST SINGLES:
"Vertigo," U2
"Walk Idiot Walk," The Hives
"C'mon C'mon," The Von Bondies
"Take Your Mama," Scissor Sisters
"Now Here is Nowhere," The Secret Machines
"She Wants to Move," N.E.R.D.
"Banquet," Bloc Party
"Portions for Foxes," Rilo Kiley
"Torture," King Khan & The Shrines
"Pressure Point," The Zutons

BEST VIDEOS:
1. "Float On," Modest Mouse. Sometimes a band tries desperately to escape whatever turned them into a left-field commercial success. This is one such example; a catchy song with a pop-up book-inspired video, "Float On" went from charming indie rock lark to top ten hit to Applebee's background music in quick procession in Spring 2004. In a new light, this song (and video) is not as annoying as you thought.
2. "Jesus Walks" (version 1), Kanye West. Yeezy was another 2004 breakout, and though the self-deprecating survival story "Through the Wire" was a fine debut single, "Jesus" was what made Kanye... well, Kanye. The desert-set second version merited MTV airplay, but the church-happy first version of the video is the most striking. In the wake of the latest round of violence in Ferguson, Missouri the blunt truth of Kanye's rhymes couldn't be more timely.
3. "Walkie Talkie Man," Steriogram. (1) Felt and clay and yarn, oh my!
4. "Pony Ride," Bumblebeez 81. (3) Sometimes good hype just isn't enough to make a lasting impact. This weird little nugget is true ear candy, a hip-hop/garage rock lark performed by a brother-and-sister act that won an Australian reality show. Bumblebeez is long gone (I assume) but their cartoon bobbleheads remain.
5. "99 Problems," Jay-Z. (2) When was the last time a video was banned (or almost banned) from MTV? Probably this one, which aired in the wee hours of the night with a violence disclaimer. It's a powerful clip, even if Hova's retirement turned out to be just hot air.

Honorable Mentions: "Ocean Breathes Salty," Modest Mouse; "Mr. Brightside," The Killers; "Reptilia," The Strokes.

Your thoughts?

That Wonderful Year in Music... 2013

 What lessons did we learn from the music scene in 2013? That was this a year for tantalization, courtesy of Miley Cyrus? Or controversy, by way of the always unpredictable Kanye West? Perhaps it was the element of surprise (thank you, Beyonce), or the need to expand your boundaries (tip of the hat, Arcade Fire), or the year of the comeback (Daft Punk, we missed you so). Whatever it was, you couldn't say 2013 was a boring year, or a complacent one.

Normally I listen to at least new 25 albums a year and whittle it down, usually based upon recommendations and reviews. This year, however I raised that number; there was always one noteworthy album that I completely overlooked or made aware of, and I wanted to avoid as many glaring omissions as possible. There was only one album of critical merit (Miley's Bangerz) that I just couldn't bring myself to listen to; the clash of positive and negative press was just too much to bear.

BEST ALBUMS
1. Yeezus, Kanye West. This album should have been a train wreck. The hype and secrecy behind Yeezy's sixth album, not to mention the insurmountable task of succeeding My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, should have proved once for all that West was fallible. Instead West produces Yeezus, his most challenging, non-commercial effort yet. This "new" Kanye is more political than extroverted; he is clearly not concerned with what constitutes good or bad taste. Someday, West will collapse on the weight of his massive ego, but it didn't happen this year.
2. Random Access Memories, Daft Punk. If Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines" dominated radio in July and August 2013, Daft Punk's "Get Lucky" owned May and June. Strangely, Daft Punk's return from a lengthy hiatus (unless you count the "Tron: Legacy" soundtrack, no new studio offerings since 2005) sounds hardly anything like the infectious leadoff single. It's a personal work, with the French EDM duo collaborating with the artists who inspired them (Giorgio Moroder, Nile Rodgers) while composing songs for a wishlist of left-field guest stars (Paul Williams, Julian Casablancas). Memories, indeed.
3. Modern Vampires of the City, Vampire Weekend. Downplaying the showiness and smartass rich-kid rhetoric of their first two albums, Modern Vampires is the final third of a trilogy (so says frontman Ezra Koenig) and a statement of maturity. The hit single "Diane Young" sounds like the been-there, done-that cousin of "Cousins," and "Obvious Bicycle" might remind one of The Kinks circa Muswell Hillbillies. The over-educated brat is still there, but his tastes are diversifying.
4. Reflektor, Arcade Fire
5. We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic, Foxygen
6. Trouble Will Find Me, The National
7. Sunbather, Deafheaven
8. m b v, My Bloody Valentine
9. The Electric Lady, Janelle Monae
10. Once I Was an Eagle, Laura Marling. Speaking of maturity, it's amazing how much this singer-songwriter has grown and blossomed in six short years. "Precocious" does not apply anymore; Marling's Joni Mitchell-meets-Regina Spektor sound is fully honed, and her fourth solo album is her most virtuosic effort yet. Her 2010 effort I Speak Because I Can may have had stronger songwriting, but Eagle has the edge on songcraft.

11. Days Are Gone, HAIM
12. Amok, Atoms for Peace
13. ...Like Clockwork, Queens of the Stone Age
14. Silence Yourself, Savages
15. The Next Day, David Bowie. I'm not sure what amazes me more: that Bowie could record such a strong album in the late stages of his legendary career, or that he never repeats himself. Sure, his first batch of original songs since 2003 alude to his '70s and early '80s output, but the Thin White Duke is not here to navelgaze or wax nostalgic. In fact, he refracts his portrait of Dorian Gray. Physically Bowie is a bit older, but his croon has barely aged.
16. Long.Live.A$AP, A$AP Rocky
17. Overgrown, James Blake
18. Doris, Earl Sweatshirt
19. The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight..., Neko Case
20. The Chronicles of Marnia, Marnie Stern. One of the most distinctly dexterious guitarists working today, Stern presents herself like Colbie Caillat but plays like Robert Fripp. Where her earlier work comprised mostly of unpredictable, prog-rock shredding, Marnia is looser and more expansive. To dismiss this as pedestrian and easygoing is an injustice. Stern is giving herself time to breathe, putting the melody ahead of the technical prowess, and it still sounds as effortless as ever.


BEST SINGLES
"Royals," Lorde
"Super Soaker," Kings of Leon
"Default," Django Django
"Inhaler," Foals
"I'm In, I'm Out, and I'm Gone," Ben Harper and Charlie Musselwhite
"A New Life," Jim James
"Harper Lee," Little Green Cars
"Right Action," Franz Ferdinand
"Sun Blows Up Today," The Flaming Lips
"Yellow Purple Red and Blue," Portugal, The Man
"Pompeii," Bastille
"Oh My God," Kate Nash


BEST VIDEOS
1. "Q.U.E.E.N." Janelle Monae feat. Erykah Badu. Everything you need to know about Monae, her music, and her cult of personality, summed up in six fabulously funky minutes. If getting your clip on MTV meant anything anymore, this might our generation's "Billie Jean."
2. "Wishes," Beach House. Character actor Ray Wise is incredible in everything he does, mostly because of his remarkably expressive face. This hypnotic video, playing some type of cult leader leading a pastel-colored pep rally, is sold on Wise's face and what it conveys amid the madness. And it sells marvelously. That Eric Wareheim of Adult Swim fame directed this is almost ancillary to this clip's beautiful madness.
3. "Bagboy," The Pixies. Another one of the pleasant surprises of 2013 was the first new Pixies single in over 20 years, and the accompanying video is a both an anarchist romp and a mesmorizing glance into juvenile delinquency. The ending will make your jaw drop.
4. "Sacrilege," The Yeah Yeah Yeahs. If Paul Verhoeven and Lars Von Trier joined forces on an indie movie, than shot it backwards, the end result would probably be this.
5. "Reflektor" (version 2), Arcade Fire. Anton Corbijn takes a few cues from Fellini, than assembles a gloomy yet lighthearted clip for a notoriously gloomy yet lighthearted band. Taking note of the Butler brother's newfound playfulness, this surreal, papier-mâché happy video plays well with the funky leadoff single of Fire's fourth album. Just watch out for the mirrored suit guy.
6. "Shot at the Night," The Killers. If you're looking for a relatively wholesome, enchantingly romantic video, look no further than this Vegas-set Cinderella story. The glorious cheese of the Strip is further accented by Brandon Flowers' attempt at the best song not released in 1986.
7. "Open," Rhye. Another love story, but this one plays out like a short story in the New Yorker. It almost makes you want to run off with your lover to a faraway retreat. Almost.
8. "White Noise," Disclosure feat. AlunaGeorge. At the complete opposite of the spectrum from "Shot at the Night" is this Detroit-set charmer, featuring perhaps the strongest love story of them all. Sometimes you'll find diamonds in the roughest conditions.
9. "Wild for the Night," A$AP Rocky feat. Skrillex. The cliche-heavy "rapper living the good life" video gets tweaked again. I don't know what's more impressive: that Rocky speaks fluent Spanish, or he's seen City of God.
10. "Hopeless Wanderer," Mumford & Sons. In the recent deluge of celebrity cameo videos, no one did it better than these angsty British folkies. Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, Ed Helms, and Will Forte goof around with banjos and pianos, and that's all you need to know.

Honorable Mention: Diane Martel's boob-arific clip for Thicke's "Blurred Lines."

Your thoughts?

That Wonderful Year in Music... 2010

To be honest, I was blindsided by what a strong year this was for music. The number of new albums I listened to this year didn't vary much, but there was more to enjoy than I did in 2008 or 2009. I typically check out new sounds concurrently with whatever year I'm analyzing for my monthly music blog, and it got to a point about three or four months ago that I putting more energy in my year-end list than whatever else I listening to. There's a running theme to this year's list: established artists releasing career-defining albums, familiar faces with seemingly nothing left to prove but plenty of ways to prove that assumption wrong, newer acts challenging themselves in unexpected ways, a weird sense of fearlessness and a general lack of inhibition. Of course, you never would've heard any of this brilliance on CHR radio, but that's a discussion for another time.

On that note, I defeated myself somewhat and expanded this list to 20 albums. Like I said before, there was too much in 2010 that I enjoyed that had to merit some type of mention. I tried to make this list as complete as possible, though there are a few discs I still need to check out (sorry, Janelle Monae).

ALBUMS

1. The Suburbs, Arcade Fire. I'm probably one of the few people on the planet that thought the Fire's 2007 album Neon Bible was better than their 2004 debut Funeral. It wasn't a mere extension of ideas, I argued, but the next logical step. Their third effort, The Suburbs, raises the bar even higher. Inspired mostly by the Butler brothers' Houston upbringing, this is a concept album about a world of nostalgia that may not really exist. The Suburbs is whimsical without being too quirky, cynical but not too apathetic, and the right amount of sentimental.

2. Brothers, The Black Keys. What if the White Stripes had a more pure blues-rock sound, and was a real band rather than a vehicle for Jack White's guitar noodling? Enter The Black Keys, a visceral, Ohio-based guitar-drums duo with a yen for '60s soul and psychedlic-period Howlin' Wolf. Their third proper album is 15 tracks of scruffy, growling blues-punk whose appeal never wears out. This is by far the best music produced in Muscle Shoals, AL in decades.

3. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, Kanye West. Kanye might very well be the most enigmatic superstar in the world. When he doesn't keep his ego in check, he's an annoying, attention-hungry jerk. When he shuts his mouth and gets to business, he's an indisputable genius. His fifth album is paid as advertised; no album in any genre has been so sonically sparwling yet so singular in its madness anywhere in recent memory. It's as if Kanye set a Thomas Pynchon novel to music...

4. Congratulations, MGMT

5. This is Happening, LCD Soundsystem

6. Contra, Vampire Weekend

7. Treats, Sleigh Bells

8. King of the Beach, Wavves

9. High Violet, The National

10. Together, The New Pornographers. After four albums of fascinating power-pop/indie-rock workshopping by a confederacy of similar-minded musicians, Neko Case, AC Newman, et al. finally begin to sound like a real band on the fittingly named Together. A supergroup in concept only, the Pornographers' sound is now less of a buffet and more of a potluck dinner, a scrappy feast of catchy songs and whimsical songcraft.

11. Broken Bells, Broken Bells

12. Odd Blood, Yeasayer

13. Beat the Devil's Tattoo, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

14. Teen Dream, Beach House

15. The Monitor, Titus Andronicus. The unofficial award for most improved band goes to this New Jersey-based quartet, whose nondescript garage-rock debut in 2008 bears precious little resemblance to their stunning second effort. An entire album of songs about the Civil War, played by what sounds like the best Pogues cover band on the planet, should've been too weird to work yet it demolishes what low expectations such a far-fetched idea might garner. I guess all you need is a little ambition.

16. Plastic Beach, Gorillaz

17. One Life Stand, Hot Chip

18. Infinite Arms, Band of Horses

19. The Orchard, Ra Ra Riot

20. /\/\/\Y/\ (a/k/a Maya), M.I.A. One of the most undeservedly maligned albums of the past year, the Sri Lankan alt-dance star reinforces her knack for lyrical tongue-twisters, and that motherhood and marriage hasn't quashed her desire for a challenge. The percussion work on this disc is raw and often relentless, perhaps too sonically brutal for certain tastes. Beneath all the chaos, however are some instantly satisfying yet intentionally imperfect tracks.

Coolest Gimmick: The compact disc of The Black Keys' "Brothers" changes colors while the disc is playing.

Worst Album of 2010: Rebirth, Lil' Wayne. There is little denying Weezy's gifts as a rapper, but when it comes to dabbles in other genres --especially this somewhat anticipated, mostly embarassing foray into rap-rock-- even a genius should stick to what he knows best. Worse yet, amidst piles of insipid guitar solos and gaudy overproduction, the wit and wacky wordplay of his previous work is nowhere to be found on Rebirth. Young Tune declares himself a "funky monkey" on the track "Da Da Da," and had that track found a greater audience, that alone probably would've set rock, hip-hop, and race relations back 50 years.

SINGLES

"Symphonies," Dan Black feat. Kid Cudi
"Fuck You," Cee-Lo

"One Way Road," The John Butler Trio

"When My Time Comes," Dawes

"You And Your Heart," Jack Johnson

"In The Sun," She & Him

"Swim Until You Can't See Land," Frightened Rabbit

"Bushwick Blues," Delta Spirit

"Early Morning Wake-Up Call," The Hives

"National Ransom," Elvis Costello

Worst Song of 2010: "Hey Soul Sister," Train. If I have to hear this song one more time, so help me God...

VIDEOS

After a weak 2009, music videos enjoyed a minor renaissance in 2010. Though second-hand VHS downloads of old MTV videos have been a staple on YouTube et al. since the site's inception, it wasn't until the last year or so that video directors really took advantage of the medium. Better late than never, I guess.

1. "This Too Shall Pass," OK Go. When I was in eighth grade, I was assigned a Rube Goldberg-type project in science class. My final assignment was a complete mess, and I earned one of the few F's of my academic career. It was not until after I saw this video that I finally got over that humiliation.

2. "Tightrope," Janelle Monae feat. Big Boi. '60s soul meets 21st-century hip-hop in this well-choreographed clip.

3. "Love The Way You Lie," Eminem feat. Rihanna. A big part of Marshall Mathers' renaissance in 2010 was this VH1/Fuse staple, starring Megan Fox and the guy who played Charlie on "Lost" as lovers that shouldn't be together yet can't stay apart.

4. "Drunk Girls," LCD Soundsystem. Word to the wise: this is what happens when you piss off a bunch of guys in panda costumes.

5. "Madder Red," Yeasayer. A shot-for-shot remake of "Old Yeller," except its four minutes long, shot in modern-day Los Angeles, and stars Kristen Bell and a one-eyed alien blob.

6. "Dog Days Are Over" (Version 2), Florence + The Machine. The British singer-songwriter jumps around in Kabuki garb in this strange yet alluring clip.

7. "Tighten Up" (Version 1), The Black Keys. Rawr! Funky puppet dinosaurs!

8. "Giving Up The Gun," Vampire Weekend. Tennis, anyone?

9. "White Knuckles," OK Go. It's not uncommon for an artist to have multiple clips in one year, but two outright great clips in less than 12 months is quite a feat.

10. "Laughing With a Mouth of Blood," St. Vincent. An early preview of the upcoming IFC comedy series "Portlandia" finds Fred Armisen and Sleater-Kinney frontwoman Carrie Brownstein as prickly lesbian bookstore owners and the singer-songwriter as their unwitting foil.

Next Week: the year in TV, and my final thoughts on 2010.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!