Best of 2010: Albums

10. Chromeo – Business Casual

This album marks an embrace of the implicit 70s pop elements that had always been present in their sound. While previous albums were mostly 80s dance inspired, this one is a bit more Hall and Oates style, and it generally works really well. It's a bit less kitschy and ironic than previous albums, and the best songs here really showcase Chromeo's strength as song writers. It's not the production that's attention grabbing, it's the ultra smooth melodies and really fun lyrical conceits. The lush string arrangements and wonderful disco bass keep things moving.

9. The New Pornographers – Together

A couple of my longtime favorite bands (notably Belle and Sebastian) released albums this year that weren't notably different from their previous work in form or quality that just didn't hit me for whatever reason. This album is to some extent one of those. I absolutely love the first three New Pornographer albums, but to some extent, I feel like I've absorbed everything they can do. That said, this album stands well next to those first three, hitting power pop highs on “Crash Years,” and going more anthemic on “We End Up Together.” If not quite as classic as their first three albums, it's still a really satisfying set.

8. Mark Ronson and the Business Intl. - Record Collection

Ronson follows up the great 60s inspired covers set Version with the 80s inspired Record Collection. Full of really great synth pop songs, set off with some well chosen hip hop guest spots, this album sounds very fresh, while still paying respect to Duran Duran and other 80s bands. I love the attack of opening track “Bang Bang Bang.” The vocal contributions of ex-Pipette Rose Elinor Dougall are a highlight, particularly on the soaring chorus of “Hey Boy.”

7. Gorillaz – Plastic Beach

A bit more downbeat and low key than previous Gorillaz albums, this one took a while to grow on me, but after listening to it several times, it's clear there's a lot of real beauty in the album. Albarn's orchestration is lush and epic at times, and his combination of traditionally rock instrumentation and atmosphere with well chosen hip hop beats and cameos never worked better. It's not about the clash of styles, it's about their seamless integration. Highlights include the sugar high of “Superfast Jellyfish” and driving bass of “Stylo,” but the album's great moment is the entrance of an electronic hop hop beat on “Empire Ants,” and the layers of dreamy vocal layered on top. It's a very cohesive album, and a great progression for Albarn and the “band.”

6. Bryan Ferry – Olympia

I really got into Roxy Music this year after spending the past couple of years listening only to their first glam rock album. I was surprised to find that their later work was even better, particularly the enveloping atmosphere of Avalon. Olympia picks up the sound of late period Roxy Music and applies Bryan Ferry's unparalleled voice to a series of lush soundscapes you can get lost in. His epic transformation of “Song to the Siren” is the high point, but the driving, U2 in a steam room sound of “Heartache by Numbers” jumps out as well. Like a lot of the albums on the list, it's throwing back to an 80s sound, but doing so in a way that emphasizes the timelessness of the best of that music. Ferry was making it back then, and he's still making it now.

5. Goldfrapp – Head First

It really bothered me when Goldfrapp's previous album, “Seventh Tree” came out, and people wrote about how this one must be more confessional and real, since it was based around acoustic instrumentation, not synthesizers. To me, the synthesizer can be one of the most emotional instruments out there, and a lot of the songs that really hit me on a deep level are based around electronic soundscapes. Head First drew attention for its big 80s sounding pop hits like “Rocket” or “Alive,” and those songs are fantastic. There's nothing at all wrong with doing a big, fun pop song, but the songs that jump out to me on this album are the ones that use the same style of instrumentation with a slightly darker tone to make for an even more intense emotional experience. “Hunt” and “I Wanna Life” are the ones that jump out to me. “Hunt” uses a wonderful acapella bass line, taking full advantage of Alison's unique voice. “I Wanna Life” is a bit more triumphant, but it's an earned triumph, still a pop song, but one that goes the full gamut of emotion.

4. MGMT – Congratulations

A hugely ambitious, and at times frustrating album, Congratulations is a really bold statement for a band that seemed reluctant to claim its role at the forefront of a zeitgeist. To be honest, I wish they had indulged their poppy side a bit more, and not run away from anthemic songs like “Kids” and “Electric Feel.” But, I hugely respect the sonic experimentation and sheer amount of ideas on here. There's about twenty great songs on a ten song album, and that's both the blessing and curse of it. There are moments I wish went on longer, “Someone's Missing” in particular had epic potential, but seemed to end too soon. But, at its best, the sheer variety of sounds and approaches on here is a joy in and of itself. Not every track is great, but it's full of exhilarating moments from the surf rock crescendo that opens the album to the melodic close of “Congratulation.”

3. Scissor Sisters – Night Work

In most other years, this would be number one on this list. I already love the band's first two albums, but this takes it to a whole new level, consistently great from beginning to end, this is one of those albums where it feels like every song could be a breakout single. Fusing 70s disco rhythms with gnarly 80s bass and some harder rock influences, it's topped off by Jake Shears' amazing falsetto voice. The dancefloor workout “Any Which Way” is an early highlight, with a chorus bass line that tears things up, but you could just as easily point to the pounding bass of “Whole New Way,” disco ecstasy of Sex and Violence of the simultaneously sweet and still uptempo sentiments of “Skin Tight” or “Fire With Fire.” It's capped with a prog disco rock epic “Invisible Light” that takes their sound in a slightly satanic direction and manages to both encompass and go beyond everything that's come before.

2. Arcade Fire – The Suburbs

Probably the best band in the world today puts out an album that only reinforces how vital and exciting Arcade Fire is. This album is a suite, full of gorgeous songs, energy and yearning that just sound massive. “Empty Room” is a great example of the album's strengths, a song that's bursting with energy, like a firework about to explode. Regine Chassagne jumps out as the album's greatest strength, and her voice is the soaring counterpoint to the instrumental churn. This is another album that in almost any other year would be number one on this list.

1. Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

It's been pretty remarkable to watch this album come out and get to know an album that already feels like a timeless classic. It's unanimously been chosen as best album of the year, and there's really no way to argue. A lot of bands on here are doing work that's good, even great, but feels like somebody just doing their thing. With Kanye, as with a lot of really great artists, there's a drive to not just do good work, but a need to be the absolute best. It can lead to idiot moments, like the outburst at the VMAs, but it's that same burning desire that drives him to make an album that goes so far beyond what anyone else in hip hop is attempting that it makes it look like virtually every other artist out there isn't even trying. He's taking what worked in the past and pushing it further, as on “Devil in a New Dress,” and creating an entirely new kind of epic hip hop song in “Dark Fantasy” and “All of the Lights.”

The opening moments of “Dark Fantasy” announce this as not just a bunch of songs but an album length artistic statement, one that's starting off with the startling slow motion explosion of beats. This is an album that rocks harder than any rock album in recent memory, as on the guitar solos in “Devil in a New Dress” or the prog stomp of “Power.” This is how I imagine hip hop would have sounded if it had come out of Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd instead of Funkadelic and Sly and the Family Stone.

When you've got an album so good that even a Chris Rock comedy skit feels like a heartbreaking moment, you know this is something special. I love all the previous Kanye albums, but this is an artistic leap so massive, it's hard to think where he could go from here. Even if it's not a concept album per se, the songs all feel of a piece and flow together such that I would point more to great 'moments' on the album than I would spotlight specific songs. It's a real journey, and just as the opening is the perfect primer for the journey to come, “Lost in the World” is a perfect capper for everything that's come before, a delirious journey out of the darkness and into a kind of acceptance. It's an epic tribal celebration that incorporates elements of contemporary indie rock, gospel choir, tribal drums and a spoken word 60s piece to bring it all to a conclusion. This is a real work of art, and an album that I think will be topping best of the decade lists nine years from now.

Best of 2010: Songs

10. Rihanna – Only Girl in the World

A huge radio hit for a reason, this song features a colossal beat and fantastic production, just like most of Rihanna's songs. What separates it from her previous work is the strength of the vocal, which is a lot more raw and forceful than on something like “Umbrella.” There were a lot of big synth pop songs this year, but none was as huge as this one. Particularly notable is the techno influenced addition and removal of the bass line to make it even more impactful.



9. My Chemical Romance – Na Na Na

A lot of the track's initial appeal came from its stylish, Grant Morrison starring video, but the song itself more than holds up as a standalone entity. The anthemic chorus and massive riffs aim big, and give the track a very epic feel. The sheer amount of changeups, catchy pieces and two great guitar solos make it a world unto itself.



8. Goldfrapp – I Wanna Life

This track juxtpaosesAlison Goldfrapp's unique voice and great synth production in a way that makes it sound simultaneously 80s and utterly timeless. It's a haunting plea for excitement that doubles as a great dance track. The mid track keyboard solo is a particular highlight.



7. Chromeo – Don't Turn the Lights On

Chromeo's Hall and Oates meets French nightclub aesthetic finds a perfect balance here, with a track full of retro atmosphere, lush synths and a bubbling bass line. It's a great slow build that lets you just get lost in a moody disco world. The juxtaposition of the chorus with a subtle guitar line puts the song over the top, creating a great call and response feel. Throw a cheeseball talkbox sounding guitar solo in the mix and you've got a great song.



6. Bryan Ferry – Song to the Siren

“Song to the Siren” is already a modern classic, with an absolutely haunting version by This Mortal Coil. But, Bryan Ferry takes hold of the song with his dreamy, enveloping take. It's a song that feels absolutely transporting, a soundscape that draws you in and serenades you with his trademark silky smooth vocal, subtle strings and some great saxophone. I've been listening to a lot of Roxy Music this year, and this song recalls the absolute best of their output, from the Avalon era in particular. It has something of an 80s feel, but his vocal has the feel of a classic 40s crooner. To take a song that seemed to be definitively covered and just totally own it is quite a feat, but Bryan Ferry now owns this song.



5. Usher – Lil Freak

On the surface, this doesn't seem like a particularly notable song, and the first verse seems like fairly standard Usher stuff. Then, it goes to the chorus, backed by a huge orchestral sample, and this tale of trying to have a threesome becomes an epic saga. The Nikki Minaj verse is not “Monster” level, but still great, particularly the ending transition back to the chorus. Then, rather than a typical midsong slow down, everything gets dirtier with a clapping/bass breakdown and things close out with a string outro that I wish would go on and on.



4. Kanye West – All of the Lights

It's hard to pick one track as a high point of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy since it's such a cohesive work, and each piece gains a lot from its context in the album. But, I think the highlight for me is this epic song. It features perhaps the most ridiculous guest list of any single song in history, and everybody gets a nice moment to shine. But, what jumps out at me is the horn line and marching band drums, calling back the imagery of the “Runaway” short film. The best moment of the song is the breakdown with Elton John's piano work and the “Getting mine...” vocal a great contrast to the more triumphant opening of the song. Throughout, it's an epic with some of the biggest samples I've ever heard in a hip hop track, and is absolutely bursting with amazing moments. On the biggest hip hop album of all time, this track still jumps out as absolutely colossal.



3. Arcade Fire – Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)

Most of the Arcade Fire songs I really love are the huge, anthemic epics. This one's a bit more low key, fusing the traditional Arcade Fire aesthetic with an Abba influenced symphonic pop sound that shows off Regine Chassagne's gorgeous voice like no other song in their catalogue. The instrumental backing is lush and the repeating synth line propels the song forward through dreamlike motion and a fantastic instrumental breakdown. It's a great testament to the band that they can break out of their comfort zone and still produce a fantastic song that's uniquely Arcade Fire.



2. Scissor Sisters – Invisible Light

On an album filled with great songs, this one leaps beyond everything the band has done to date for a song that's simultaneously bringing the same danceable 70s influenced pop rock style as their best work and adding a veneer of mystery and intensity that turns it into something altogether different and strange. The video is a standout, but the song itself already had a mysterious, dark magic world on its own, aided by the fantastic Ian McKellen voiceover. It's amazing that the song can be creepy, intriguing and still be as exciting a pop song as anything they've ever done. A career high point for one of the best bands out there today.



1. Robyn – Dancing on My Own

I'm always partial to songs that combine huge dancefloor sounds with big emotional hooks, and this track is one of the best I've heard. The bass is massive, and contrasts with Robyn's high pitched, fragile vocal to create a song full of a tension between the emotions she's feeling and the surrender she wants. It's about the nightclub as emotional gauntlet, the desire to surrender to the music versus the pain she's feeling. All that emotion is conveyed not through the words, but through the music, and the end of the song feels triumphant, a pass through the night and emergence back into abandon.

Best Albums By Year

I did one of these a while back, but I figured it was time for an update.

2009: Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
2008: Cut Copy- In Ghost Colours
2007: Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
2006: Belle and Sebastian - The Life Pursuit
2005: Junior Senior - Hey Hey My My Yo Yo
2004: Phoenix - Alphabetical
2003: Belle and Sebastian - Dear Catastrophe Waitress
2002: The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
2001: Daft Punk - Discovery
2000: Phoenix - United
1999: Mr. Bungle - California
1998: Smashing Pumpkins - Adore
1997: Radiohead - OK Computer
1996: Belle and Sebastian - If You're Feeling Sinister
1995: Radiohead - The Bends
1994: Portishead - Dummy
1993: U2 - Zooropa
1992: Tori Amos - Little Earthquakes
1991: U2 - Achtung Baby
1990: Pet Shop Boys - Behaviour
1989: Madonna - Like a Prayer
1988: Morrissey - Viva Hate
1987: Michael Jackson - Bad
1986: The Smiths - The Queen is Dead
1985: The Smiths - Meat is Murder
1984: Prince - Purple Rain
1983: David Bowie - Lets Dance
1982: Roxy Music - Avalon
1981: Electric Light Orchestra - Time
1980: Bruce Springsteen - The River
1979: Pink Floyd - The Wall
1978: Bruce Springsteen - Darkness of the Edge of Town
1977: Pink Floyd - Animals
1976: Electric Light Orchestra - A New World Record
1975: Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run
1974: David Bowie - Diamond Dogs
1973: Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
1972: David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust
1971: Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IV
1970: The Beatles - Let It Be
1969: The Beatles - Abbey Road
1968: The Beatles - The Beatles
1967: The Beatles - Magical Mystery Tour
1966: The Beatles - Revolver
1965: The Beatles - Rubber Soul

Kanye West's 'Runaway' and Pop Avant Garde Music Videos

I've been a big Kanye fan for a while, his concert at the Nokia Theater is one of the best I've been to, and I've always enjoyed his blend of pop, accessible songs with more avant garde art and high culture influences. 808s and Heartbreaks is one of my favorite recent albums, but I still was not prepared for what he'd bring as director of the Runaway short film.

The thing about cinema is that so few people really understand how to fully make use of the medium. The greatest moments in most films are those elusive blends of visual, music and narrative context that become something transcendent. A lot of good movies never hit that kind of subconscious power, other than Enter the Void, I can't think of a recent film that made it there. But, Runaway features countless moments that are just dazzling. My favorite moment in the video is near the beginning a cut from the woods to a sudden burst of music and a silhouetted Kanye carrying the Phoenix away from a gigantic explosion. It's a really powerful image, made all the more powerful by its juxtaposition with the stillness beforehand.

I don't know that the film means that much, and you could argue that the dialogue is either intentionally stylized and unnatural, or just bad, but it's hard to deny the visual power of the film, and the wonderful dreamlike logic it uses to move from the fiery explosion in the woods to a giant head of Michael Jackson being carried forth in a parade. Other smaller moments, like the jam session with Kanye pounding out the 'Power' beat on a drum machine work equally well. I've watched the film twice now, and was dazzled both times. The production design is incredible, the cinematography is great and the music is top notch too. This was a really fantastic piece of work.

It also raises some interesting questions about the role of pop music as art object. So much of 'indie' music is about the departure from image based artists to ones known only for their music. There's certainly validity there, you can't listen to image, but the construction of a pop mythology, as Kanye does here, is an interesting artistic exercise in itself. It's frustrating that so many indie rock videos are either bland performance shorts, or ironic, jokey videos that often undercut the emotion of the song.

The most interesting videos, and some of the most interesting filmmaking I've seen all year, is coming from big videos from people like Kanye West and Lady Gaga. The sheer excess of Gaga's videos for 'Telephone' or 'Alejandro' gives the songs a gravitas they might otherwise lack. 'Telephone' the song doesn't seem that spectacular, but wedded to the grindhouse artsploitation video, it becomes a great pop object. In fact, it was the amazing video for 'Bad Romance' that helped lead a critical reevaluation of Gaga and earn her a lot more respect. 'Alejandro' is an equally successful video, fusing together a lot of Kenneth Anger and Warhol influenced avant garde pieces into an accessible pop fusion.

The video for 'Runaway' is similarly successful in pulling together various influences from art culture past and putting them into a more accessible mainstream package. Because it runs for so long, 'Runaway' is even more challenging than the Gaga videos, but I think it also makes it a more successful work. By sustaining that level of hypnotic imagery and dreamlike consciousness for thirty-five minutes, it makes the video an even more successful work. And, for a first time director, Kanye exhibits a remarkable strength of vision. I'd love to see him work on a full length feature and bring the same energy and innovation to it.

I should also mention a slightly less avant garde, but similarly exciting video coming out of the mainstream, My Chemical Romance's video for 'Na Na Na' The video initially drew my attention because of the Grant Morrison cameo, and he proves once again why he's such an iconic camera presence. But, beyond that, it's a great example of a pop act building an image for themselves to add to the impact of the music. The Black Parade album was a great example of using videos and ancillary promotional materials to create a very specific aesthetic that enhances the experience of listening to the music, and I love that this is a totally different approach.

I also like that the band switches so totally away from the previous image. Bands like The Beatles used to shift images and styles from album to album, but it seems like now bands usually stick with one approach and ride it to death. But, why just keep doing the same thing?

Unlike the Kanye video, which slowed things down to immerse you in the world, 'Na Na Na' is an overflow of information, cut almost like the trailer for a much larger story, and the low budget pop aesthetic works fantastically. It's superdense, and full of great images and moments, just like Grant's comics! It's also designed to lead into more videos chronicling the same struggle, which one day may cut together into something resembling the longer structure of Kanye's 'Runaway' short.

Ultimately, 'Na Na Na' just makes me smile. It's awesome to see Grant getting out there in something so mainstream, but it's also awesome to see something mainstream that feels so cult and specific and personal.

It's exciting to see videos like this getting out there and being successful, and being events, particularly in an era where it seems like every mainstream film is so dour and run down. I loved 'The Dark Knight,' but I don't want every big movie to be so heavy and nihilistic. It feels like mainstream film, particularly superhero stories, are in the late 80s grim and gritty stage of their development, and hopefully we'll see the avant garde and pop design influence come together to create cinematic works that jar the culture out of its love of faux serious stories and into a new day-glo age.

Music Artist Rankings

In the tradition of my recent film director rankings, here's a similar list, this time for bands! You'll notice it's tilted more towards older bands, that's because I only did bands with at least four or five albums in their catalogue. One day the best current bands will be part of a similar list, but not yet!

Abba
1.The Album
2.Abba
3.Super Trouper
4.The Visitors
5.Arrival
6.Voulez-Vous
7.Waterloo

Aimee Man
1.Lost in Space
2.Bachelor No. 2
3.The Forgotten Arm
4.Whatever
5.Fing Smilers

Air
1.10,000 Hz Legend
2.Talkie Walkie
3.Moon Safari
4.Love 2
5.Pocket Symphony

Belle and Sebastian
1. Dear Catastrophe Waitress
2. The Life Pursuit
3. If You're Feeling Sinister
4. Fold Your Hands Child...
5. The Boy with the Arab Strap
6. Tigermilk

Bruce Springsteen
1.Born to the Run
2.Darkness on the Edge of Town
3.Magic
4.The River
5.Tunnel of Love
6.The Rising
7.We Shall Overcome
8.Born in the USA
9.The Wild, The Innocent and the E Street Shuffle
10.Human Touch
11.Greetings from Asbury Park
12.Working on a Dream
13.Nebraska

Coldplay
1.A Rush of Blood to the Head
2.Viva La Vida
3.X&Y
4.Parachutes

David Bowie
1.Ziggy Stardust
2.Aladdin Sane
3.Heroes
4.Scary Monsters
5.Hours
6.Hunky Dory
7.Low
8.Young Americans
9.Diamond Dogs
10.Station to Station
11.Reality

Doves
1.The Last Broadcast
2.Lost Souls
3.Some Cities
4.Kingdom of Rust

Electric Light Orchestra
1.A New World Record
2.Out of the Blue
3.Discovery
4.Face the Music
5.Time
6.Xanadu
7.El Dorado
8.ELO
9.On the Third Day
10.ELO II

Elton John
1.Madman Across the Water
2.Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
3.Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy
4.Don't Shoot Me, I'm Only the Piano Player
5.Honky Chateau

Elysian Fields
1.Queen of the Meadow
2.Bum Raps and Love Taps
3.Bleed Your Cedar
4.Dreams that Breathe Your Name
5.Afterlife

Fleetwood Mac
1.Rumors
2.Tusk
3.Fleetwood Mac
4.Tango in the Night
5.Mirage
6.Heroes are Hard to Find
7.Behind the Mask

Goldfrapp
1.Head First
2.Supernature
3.Black Cherry
4.Seventh Tree
5.Felt Mountain

Jay-Z
1.The Blueprint
2.Black Album
3.American Gangster
4.The Blueprint 3
5.Reasonable Doubt

Kanye West
1.808s & Heartbreaks
2.Late Registration
3.The College Dropout
4.Graduation

Led Zeppelin
1.Houses of the Holy
2.Led Zeppelin IV
3.Led Zeppelin II
4.Physical Graffiti
5.Led Zeppelin
6.Led Zeppelin III
7.Presence
8.In Through the Out Door

Madonna
1.Like a Prayer
2.Confessions on a Dance Floor
3.Madonna
4.Ray of Light
5.Like a Virgin
6.American Life
7.Hard Candy
8.True Blue

Michael Jackson
1.Thriller
2.Bad
3.Off the Wall
4.Dangerous
5.HIStory

Moby
1.Hotel
2.Play
3.18
4.Wait for Me
5.Everything is Wrong
6.I Like to Score
7.Last Night
8.Ambient

Muse
1.Black Holes and Revelations
2.The Resistance
3.Absolution
4.Origin of Symmetry
5.Showbiz

New Order
1.Low Life
2.Republic
3.Power, Corruption and Lies
4.Technique
5.Waiting for the Siren's Call

New Pornographers
1.Twin Cinema
2.Electric Version
3.Mass Romantic
4.Challengers
5.Together

Nine Inch Nails
1.The Downward Spiral
2.Pretty Hate Machine
3.With Teeth
4.The Fragile
5.The Slip
6.Year Zero

Pet Shop Boys
1.Actually
2.Behavior
3.Very
4.Please
5.Yes
6.Bilingual
7.Introspective

Phoenix
1.Alphabetical
2.Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
3.United
4.It's Never Been Like That

Pink Floyd
1.Dark Side of the Moon
2.The Wall
3.Wish You Were Here
4.Animals
5.The Final Cut
6.Meddle
7.Atom Heart Mother
8.Piper at the Gates of Dawn
9.Saucerful of Secrets

Prince
1.Purple Rain
2.Prince
3.1999
4.Around the World in a Day
5.Sign O' The Times
6.Parade
7.LotusFlow3r
8.Controversy
9.Planet Earth

Radiohead
1.OK Computer
2.The Bends
3.Kid A
4.Hail to the Thief
5.In Rainbows
6.Amnesiac
7.Pablo Honey

Rilo Kiley
1.More Adventurous
2.Under the Blacklight
3.Take Offs and Landings
4.The Execution of All Things

Super Furry Animals
1.Phantom Power
2.Love Kraft
3.Hey Venus
4.Rings Around the World
5.Radiator
6.Guerilla

The Beatles
1.Magical Mystery Tour
2.Abbey Road
3.The Beatles (White Album)
4.Revolver
5.Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
6.Let It Be
7.Rubber Soul

The Flaming Lips
1.Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
2.At War With the Mystics
3.Embryonic
4.The Soft Bulletin
5.Clouds Taste Metallic
6.Transmissions from the Satellite Heart

The Smashing Pumpkins
1.Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
2.Adore
3.Machina: The Machines of God
4.Siamese Dream

The Smiths
1.The Queen is Dead
2.Meat is Murder
3.Strangeways, Here We Come
4.The Smiths

The Who
1.Who's Next
2.Tommy
3.Quadrophenia
4.Who Are You
5.The Who By Numbers

Tori Amos
1.Under the Pink
2.From the Choirgirl Hotel
3.Little Earthquakes
4.Boys for Pele
5.American Doll Posse
6.To Venus and Back
7.Scarlet's Walk
8.Abnormally Attracted to Sin
9.The Beekeper
U2
1.Achtung Baby
2.Zooropa
3.Pop
4.How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
5.The Joshua Tree
6.All That You Can't Leave Behind
7.War
8.No Line on the Horizon
9.Boy
10.The Unforgettable Fire
11.October

Best of 2009: Albums

10. U2 – No Line on the Horizon - U2 in the 90s is one of my all time favorite bands, crafting inventive, experimental rock songs that evolved the band’s sound while still maintaining a distinct U2-ness. Their output this decade has been more conservative, and this album is no exception. There’s some good songs on here, but nothing as insistently great as their best work. Still, I love the texture and sound of the band, so even on comparatively lesser songs, they’re still a joy to listen to. And, this album has grown on me a bit, so perhaps time will be even kinder.

9. Jay-Z – The Blueprint 3 - Blueprint 3 lacks the consistent aesthetic of the 70s inspired American Gangster, but in its jump between genres and styles, it offers something for everyone. “Empire State of Mind” was the breakout, a song that could very well be the next “New York, New York,” but other early singles like “Run this Town” and particularly “D.O.A” are great too. The album isn’t quite Jay’s best, but he’s not slacking either. He showed why he deserves to be ranked among the best rappers all time.

8. Air – Love 2 - After the too minimalist feel of Pocket Symphony, Love 2 is a nice return to form for Air. “Do the Joy” was a great lead single, with that uniquely dreamy Air aesthetic. With Air, I just like the sound of the band so much that it’s less about specific songs, and more about having a new world to get lost in.

7. Muse – The Resistance - Muse is the kind of band that’s easy to poke fun at, with their over the top themes and Queen meets Radiohead maximalist aesthetic, but it’s that blend of prog sounds with pop spectacle that make them an effective band. They’re a lot of fun to listen to, and this album, if a bit less instantly hooky than Black Holes and Revelations, has a very unified feel, it’s a consistent album, particularly during the final suite section. I like that they’re so over the top, and even if it’s not the most original music, it’s presented in an exciting, fresh way.

6. The Flaming Lips – Embryonic - This is an album I’ve listened to a bunch, but still haven’t totally gotten my head around. It’s an epic work, and has a lot going on in each song. The album sees the band getting a bit grittier and heavy than in the ethereal proggy At War with the Mystics, and it generally works. MGMT guests on one track, and this is definitely the Lips’ riff on the neo-tribal aesthetic MGMT works with, and it’s an evocative, trippy journey. Plus, it’s got cover art that’s either absolutely great or terribly awful, I still can’t decide.

5. Passion Pit – Manners - I refrained from listening to Passion Pit for a while, even though they seemed like a band I’d definitely enjoy. When I finally listened to the album, it lived up to the hype. They craft extremely fun power pop songs with great synth and dance rhythm and a joyful sound. I love the sound of their music, the high pitched synths and guitars, and the unique not quite falsetto vocals. A perfect example of pop music in 2009.

4. Bat For Lashes – Two Suns - “Daniel” was the blockbuster for me, the hook that got me into the album. Her first album featured an astonishing single, “What’s a Girl to Do,” but didn’t really do it for me beyond that. However, this one thankfully goes much deeper, mixing a tribal and 80s aesthetic to create something that feels eternal. I love the drum line on album opener “Glass” and the swelling soundscape of “Traveling Woman,” but throughout it’s Natasha’s voice that takes the spotlight. Her voice is huge, beyond her years and form, and here she has the songs to perfectly spotlight it.

3. Royksopp – Junior - I like both Royksopp’s previous albums, but neither of those comes close to what they do here. Fusing the ethereal soundscapes of their first album with the more Europop feel of their second, this becomes a near flawless journey through more esoteric instrumental songs and hooky pop songs. I spotlight “Girl and the Robot” earlier, but “Happy Up Here” and “This Must Be It” are also highlights.

2. Music Go Music – Expressions - Over the course of the year, I probably listened to more Fleetwood Mac than any other artist. I also delved into bands like Supertramp and Abba. I love the sound of 70s pop music, the lush guitars and slight prog tinge to a lot of the work. So, it’s appropriate that my favorite new band of the year is one that emulates a lot of the aesthetic of those bands, and crafts similarly catchy pop songs. Pretty much every track on here is great, but particular highlights include “Love, Violent Love” and “Goodbye Everybody.” The album also features a litany of fantastic instrumental breakdowns, making it clear that though prog had some excesses, there’s no reason that a killer guitar solo can’t find a home in an indie pop song.

1. Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix - I loved Phoenix’s first two albums, but was very iffy on their most recent, It’s Never Been Like That. Thankfully, WAP is a huge return to form, a litany of wonderfully catchy pop songs and a couple of more experimental ones as well that works great as a cohesive unit. There’s the two massive hits “1901” and “Listzomania,” but also slinky disco slowjam “Fences” and the instrumental dreamscape of “Love Like a Sunset.” It’s the deepest album of the year, and in a lot of ways, Phoenix’s most accomplished. I still have a soft spot for “United,” but WAP seems to the best synthesis of all the elements that make Phoenix special and unique.

Best of 2009: Songs

10. Tiga – Love Don’t Dance Here Anymore - A dance epic in the best tradition of disco 12 inch singles, an insistent bass riff anchors the song throughout its run time, as the vocals swell and ebb crossing from the opening sincere verses to the killer “Tables are turning” riff breakdown. When the cowbell comes in to bring it all home, it crosses over to another level. It’s a modern day Moroder classic.

9. The Flaming Lips – Watching the Planets - An electro stomp so heavy its very sound seems distorted, this track is a tribal freakout that fits perfectly into the aesthetic of 2009. It’s a great blend of dance, rock and tribal rhythms for a hypnotic journey into weirdness. It’s one of the band’s best songs to date.

8. Muse – Uprising - If there was ever a Doctor Who movie and they wanted a pop tie in single, it would be this song, which takes the timeless Who riff and turns it into a glam rock anthem of defiance that even the Vatican loves. I love the interplay of elements, the way that the vocal blends with the keyboard riff, and the underlying pulse of the handclaps and drums.

7. U.S.E – K.I.S.S.I.N.G - This song sounds like The Polyphonic Spree meets Van Halen’s “Jump,” blending effusive group vocals with an instantly hooky keyboard riff. I love this band, and wish that they would expand out a bit from their niche in the Northwest. I’d love to hear them live, their vocoder tinged joycore pop feels like it’s made just for me.

6. Passion Pit – Little Secrets - One of the year’s big breakout bands, Passion Pit have a very 2009 aesthetic, fusing synths and dance rhythms with indie rock structures. They’re not the most original band out there at this point, but with songs this good, it doesn’t matter. This song has a great hook, and a wonderful interplay between the lead vocal and the childrens’ choir sounding “Higher and higher” refrain. It’s extremely happy, and fun to listen to, the high point of a great album.

5. Royksopp – The Girl and the Robot - This song builds an entire universe just through its sounds. The churning bass line, the ethereal backing vocals and Robyn’s forceful lead vocal all work together to create Royksopp’s most emotional, and best, song to date. The band’s previous work is often pristine and emotionless but Robyn brings a desperation and edge that contrasts perfectly with the robotic chorus. It’s a killer beat, and the high point of a great album.

4. Music Go Music – Warm in the Shadows - Another 70s style epic, this song features a great dance bass line, and a soaring painful vocal on top of it. I love the variety of sounds that make up the beat during the chorus, and the fantastic guitar work throughout. But, it’s the vocal that really makes the song work. This is another band I’d love to see live, and this song would have to be on the setlist.

3. Lady Gaga – Bad Romance - The most ubiquitous song on the list, “Bad Romance” has become a huge radio smash, but that doesn’t mean it’s bad! There’s the great bass line underlying the verse, the huge stomp of the chorus, the glossalia breakdown midway through, the “I want your love” plea section, which brings it all back to an epic final chorus. It’s all good, and together it makes for a hyperpop song, one where every section could be the chorus. Special mention has to be paid to the song’s amazing video, a masterpiece of production and costume design, full of some of the most pop avant garde images of 2009 cinema.

2. Phoenix – 1901 - It’s been the soundtrack of a Cadillac commercial, and one of the two key anthems that broke the band out to become a legitimate pop force. “1901” features all the hallmarks of a great Phoenix song, a mechanically precise instrumental backing merged with a looser, more emotional vocal. I love the way the backing synths swell into the “Falling, falling falling…” section of the chorus. It’s a tight, danceable, emotional song, and the best of a fantastic album.

1. Bat For Lashes – Daniel - It’s rare that a song can be simultaneously haunting and danceable, but this track pulls it off. Opening with an eerie, distant synth, it gradually swells to an insistent drum line, all the while Natasha’s vocal sounds like it’s coming in from another planet. She’s got one of the most unique voices, the way she sings it’s like her heart is torn open and laid out before us. She’s begging for something better, and it’s absolutely heartbreaking to listen to. The song is distinctly now, distinctly 80s in many ways, but also timeless. Like M83, it transcends its 80s inspired roots and becomes something primal and subconscious. It’s a beautiful song on a sonic level, and extremely catchy too. The video’s great as well. Thanks Ralph Macchio and The Karate Kid for inspiring such a great piece of art!

Best of the Decade: Albums

There’s a bunch of catching up to do with best of lists. Look for the best film and TV of 2009 tomorrow, but for now, here’s the best albums of the decade…

10. Justice – Cross - I like a lot of things about Daft Punk’s Human After All, but Cross seems a lot more like the second best Daft Punk album of the decade. Of course, Justice do have their own slightly harder aesthetic, crafting some of the most intense dance songs of all time on tracks like “Phantom” and “Stress.” But, they could still kill it on the best hipster dance anthem of all time, “D.A.N.C.E.”

9. Scissor Sisters – Scissor Sisters - The album leads off with a succession of instant classic hits, ranging from the glam rock of “Laura” to the rock stomp of “Take Your Mama” to the Moroder inspired neo-disco of “Comfortably Numb.” Those three songs alone would make a classic album, but the rest of the album doesn’t let up. It’s one of the all time great debut albums.

8. The Raveonettes – Pretty in Black - The Raveonettes are a strange case for me, I like everything they’ve done, but I absolutely love this album. They bring the hidden darkness of 50s pop to the fore, crafting songs that seem to come from another world. Rockers like “Somewhere in Texas” or “Twilight” are great, but the best song for me is by far the ballad “Uncertain Times.”

7. The Polyphonic Spree – Together We’re Heavy - On their first and third albums, the Spree generally played tightly structured songs, only on this album did they sprawl out for epics befitting the massive size of the ensemble. One of my all time favorite concert moments was hearing them open their 2004 Irving Plaza set with “We Sound Amazed,” with a sound so huge it literally shook their floor. This album feels very much of a piece, moving seamlessly through longer and shorter songs and culminating in an epic callback to the sun, that brings it full circle with their first album.

6. Junior Senior – Hey Hey My My Yo Yo - One of the greatest pop albums of all time, every song on here is an ecstatic, instantly catchy piece of musical candy. “Take my Time” is a great 80s style dance track, but the high point is the soaring tribute to music “I Like Music” which soars to Michael Jackson heights of pop greatness.

5. Phoenix – Alphabetical - Phoenix broke out with their fantastic fourth album this year, but I still don’t think they’ve topped the smooth synth sound of their second album. Very emotional, but still danceable, the album features the most consistently catchy songs of their career. “Run Run Run” is haunting, layered and totally danceable, and is always the highlight of their live set. If you’ve only heard their most recent stuff, dig back and check this one out.

4. Belle and Sebastian – Dear Catastrophe Waitress - A controversial album for many of their fans, DCW saw Belle and Sebastian shift to a more poppy direction, a change that obviously worked very well for me. Virtually every song on here is a joyous anthem, from the cheeky opener “Step into My Office, Baby” to the 80s inspired closer “Stay Loose.” The album features killer guitar solos on “Loose” and “Roy Walker,” but the high point for me is the anthemic “If You Find Yourself Caught in Love,” a pure piece of sonic joy.

3. Arcade Fire – Neon Bible - I loved many of the 00s’ anthemic multi-instrumental bands, but none of them matched the work that Arcade Fire did on their second album. Diversifying their sound from their already great first album, they crafted one of the deepest, most moving albums I’ve ever heard, full of incredibly beautiful moments. From the climactic crescendo of “No Cars Go” to the majesty of “Intervention” to the cathartic release of energy in “Ocean of Noise,” it’s an album of moments that will last forever.

2. Lovage – Music to Make Love to Your Old Lady By - I’ve tried to find more albums like this after listening to it, but nothing else has matched. Dan the Automator’s production lays a soft bed of strings and mood that perfectly accompanies the vocal interplay between Mike Patton’s animal growls and Jennifer Charles’ sexy purr. It’s an album that builds its own world, alternating between skits that poke fun at the very idea of a sexy album like this, and songs that deliver on the title’s promise.

1. Daft Punk – Discovery - You could make a very convincing argument that every trend in 00s pop music began here. Autotune’s roots lie in the vocoder on “One More Time,” and were catapulted to prominence when Kanye sampled “Harder Better Faster Stronger.” The 70s cheese synth aesthetic started out as weird here, but has now become pop, thanks to bands like Phoenix and MGMT. And, most importantly, the album made it cool for music to be fun and pop and cheesy without worrying about “authenticity” or “selling out.” Discovery is as pop as it gets, and that’s its joy! It puts a smile on your face, starting with the greatest album opening run of all time, seamlessly transitioning from the disco pop perfection of “One More Time” to the hard rock dance blend of “Aerodynamic” into the 80s synth cheese perfection of “Digital Love” into “Harder Better Faster Stronger.” No album makes me as happy as this one, and no album has influenced the past decade of music more than Daft Punk did with this masterpiece.

Best of the Decade: Songs

10. Annie – Heartbeat - A perfect example of the way that pop music crossed over to the indie crowd, this song has the impeccable production of the best 80s synth pop, and a great vocal performance cooed by Annie. The song’s hook is infectious, but its greatest coup is using the ever more intense drum line to mimic the heartbeat of the title. An 00s pop classic!

9. Phoenix – Too Young - Another blog classic, Phoenix has still yet to top the pure pop joy of their first big hit. It instantly evokes the joy and tinge of melancholy of a great night out coming to an end. It’s powerfully emotional, and wrapped in a beautiful 70s style soft dance rock production.

8. The New Pornographers – The Bleeding Heart Show - As with many New Pornos song, this one is like three songs in one. It opens melancholy than crescendos to a slightly Spanish flavored swing, all the while building and building going through an unspoken bridge section, and another killer breakdown before finally exploding into the chorus: “Hey La Hey La Hey La Hey La Ooooohh!” harmonized before Neko Case cuts in over it all. A cathedral of sound, and a perfect power pop song with more hooks than a coat room!

7. Justin Timberlake – My Love - I love songs that are simultaneously danceable and emotional, and this is a perfect example of that. It blends a nearly avant garde Timbaland beat with a great vocal to create an enveloping sonic world. It also features one of the best guest verses of all time when T.I. comes in to tear up the mechanical precision of the rest of the song. Perfect for the club or for sitting alone in your room!

6. Arcade Fire – No Cars Go - The song begins in a swirl of horns and strings, as voices chant and instruments swell and drive us forward to a kind of utopia. It’s an anthem of defiance, that reaches an almost religious level of transcendence in the instrumental breakdowns, before swelling back for one more call to action. The song is a battle, and by its end, you come away exhausted and exhilarated.

5. Cut Copy – Hearts on Fire - Like a lot of the songs on here, “Hearts on Fire” is a micro-symphony, to the point that you could ask someone what’s your favorite part? Is it the bubbling synth line that underlies the first occurrence of the repeated chorus, or the Moroder like bass that follows it. Perhaps it’s the NES sounding synths in the instrumental section? For me, it’s the absolutely killer sax solo that starts as a ghostly background presence and builds to a growling climax, capping off a flawless pop song.

4. Justice – D.A.N.C.E - The greatest Michael Jackson song of the last twenty years? The anthem of Williamsburg for the past three years? One of the greatest pop songs of all time? “D.A.N.C.E” is all of these songs, an impossibly infectious song that goes from strength, a killer bass line, a great falsetto lead vocal, that weird cutting string line. The call and response finale. It’s all great! I loved this song the first time I heard it and I still love it, many listens later.

3. Arcade Fire – Wake Up - Perhaps the best film of 2009 was the two minute trailer for Where the Wild Things Are, which only reinforced the near religious power of “Wake Up.” A churning emotional buildup, “Wake Up” is a musical catharsis, that explodes in beauty and power. When the entire band comes in for the chorus, it’s chilling. And, the song even caps it all off with an exciting dance-y outro. A beautiful cathedral of music.

2. Daft Punk – Harder Faster Better Stronger - It started as a humble song, then grew to be sampled by Kanye West for the massive hit “Stronger,” and was mixed with “Around the World” in Daft Punk’s live set producing spontaneous ecstasy wherever it was played. But, the original is still the best. Masterfully using vocoder to warp the vocals into a bass line, a guitar solo and more. It features one of the most perfect bass lines of all time, and a constant sense of technological ecstasy. It’s arguably the greatest dance song of all time, and contains the raw material for many future hits.

1. Daft Punk – Digital Love - A strange, joyous expression of love filtered through 80s videogame guitar sounds and vocoder vocals, “Digital Love” is sonic ecstasy through and through. The opening guitar riff draws you into the song, before it segues into a catchy dance groove. But, things start to get crazy when everything cuts out and we hop to the b section for the “Why don’t you play the game” breakdown. Here, they juxtapose the vocal and a fantastic guitar riff, before merging the two for an incredibly joyous 80s sounding guitar solo, then cutting it all off for another breakdown backed by the most over the top guitar solo of all time, then finally bringing it all together for a smooth conclusion. It’s the happiest song I can think of, just pure joy in sounds, it’s the song every synth pop band has been trying to make for the past four years, but Daft Punk did it first and best. An undisputed masterpiece to cap off a decade of fantastic music!

The Story of the 2000s: Music

To wrap up the decade, I’m going to do the standard top ten lists, but I also want to go a bit more in depth into the trends and changes that have happened in all the major art forms over the past ten years. Perhaps more than any ten year period in recent history prior, the 2000s were a time of major shifts in the way we consume and experience virtually every major art form. I’m going to start things off with a discussion of music, both from a consumption point of view and an artistic one.

The biggest obvious shift in music in the past ten years has been the change from a CD sales based model to one based almost entirely around downloading, both legal and illegal. I still remember running Napster for the first time on my 56K connection and being amazed at my ability to access all kinds of different music. Getting DSL in 2001 changed things radically, and from there out, I downloaded a huge variety of different music, crossing Napster, Kazaa, Audiogalaxy, Bit Torrent and others.

I’m not proud of illegal downloading, but it’s something that was just sort of there, and I think most people now see music not as something to be paid for, but something that you have a right to have. Considering the cost of producing an album, I don’t agree it should be that way, but as artists like Nine Inch Nails and Radiohead have acknowledged, that’s the way it is and you can’t really fight it.

But, that’s all on the business side, what about the music itself? I think the biggest story of the 00s is the breakdown of the walls between genres and subcultures, and the embrace of a wider variety of songs and artists across the typical cultural rifts. To me, the 90s were the worst decade for music in the modern era, largely because the popular rock, grunge and alternative, was just so heavy and oppressive, with no sense of fun, while the pop music was generally soulless boy band stuff. Hip hop had some moments, and you can obviously point to great albums, but on the whole, the ‘sound’ of the decade was no good.

Luckily the 00s were a vast improvement, as the ‘death’ of rock in the late 90s/early 00s opened the door for an infusion of dance energy into rock music that led to a much more fun and poppy sound than had been heard in a long time. A band like Phoenix that sounded out of place at the beginning of the decade hit the zeitgeist perfectly this year, as every major rock band seems to incorporate dance and electronic elements that were present in virtually none of the successful bands of the 90s. Notably the only 90s juggernaut still going strong is Nine Inch Nails, who always had a pop sensibility shining through the heaviness.

This occurred in conjunction with the embrace of pop artists by the cultural establishment. Britney Spears’ “Toxic” is a key song in the decade’s narrative, it started out as a guilty pleasure favorite and eventually just became a critically respected favorite. Justin Timberlake is probably the best example of this, a guy who at this point has both artistic respect and popular acclaim, and backed it up with fantastic songs. The stigma of liking pop music generally disappeared, as indie rock bands started to sound more and more like the pop charts.

I’d argue a big piece of this is the increasing prominence of the producer within the pop world. Three people had more of an impact on music in the 00s than anyone else out there, and shaped the sound of the decade, those three people being Timbaland and Chad Hugo and Pharrell as The Neptunes. The auteur producer provided an easy way to justify liking pop songs by ‘lesser’ artists. When you listen to “Cry Me a River,” it’s not about Justin, it’s about Timbaland’s production.

But, eventually it becomes clear that the songs themselves are good, regardless of who’s behind them. And, I love the sound that these guys created. I love the fact that a song as strange and compelling as “My Love” can be a massive hit, and I think in the future, people will look back on Timbaland’s work with Justin in the same way that they view Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson.

So, the fact that it was acceptable culturally to like pop music, either through the lens of irony or simply straight up, made it easier for alternative and indie bands to bring more dance and pop elements into their songs and still maintain artistic credibility.

That’s not to say it was all dance stuff. There was obviously a lot of different music made, but I think this was the primary narrative of the decade, the elevation of dance and pop sensibilities over traditional rock stuff, reflected in the increasing denigration of ‘rockist’ critics and their old canon.

Of course, it’s ironic to speak of a pop sensibility when the very definition of a crossover song was changing. With the decline of the radio as hit making force, what are the songs that everyone knows? There are some songs that crossed borders, but will any songs from the 00s connect us all in the way that something like “Don’t Stop Believing” does today? When I go out place, it often seems like the entire DJ set is a spin through 80s and 90s classics, barely touching on today. And, the death of Michael Jackson only reinforced that notion that no one will ever cross over the way he did.

But, some songs did make it, even if only in certain circles. Throw “D.A.N.C.E” on at a party and people will go nuts, same for “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger.” And, Kanye West made a continuous string of songs that crossed borders and united people. It’s not as easy to become ubiquitous, but it’s still possible.

So, ultimately the narrative of the 00s seemed to be the restoration of fun to music. What artist symbolizes the decade as a whole? For the 90s, it was Kurt Cobain, and his infinite troubles and inability to deal with fame. For the 00s, perhaps Daft Punk, a band that’s admired by everyone and avoids the pitfalls of fame by dressing up as robots and playing their concerts in a giant pyramid. Even as politics got worse, music grew more and more celebratory, so that even songs about stolen elections and crumbling societies could sound euphoric when filtered through the powerhouse voice of the Arcade Fire or the dance rhythms of !!!.

Michael Jackson and Musical Convergence

Obviously, the death of Michael Jackson has been a huge deal culturally speaking, with much of the focus on the idea that we’ll never all be united in adoration of a performer in the way that people unanimously loved him back in the 80s. I was born after the release of Thriller, so I missed Michael’s biggest years, catching him in some early 90s performances, like his Super Bowl performance and I do vaguely remember watching the debut of the “Black or White” video when I was younger. So, I’m probably not the best authority to say whether someone could reach the heights that he had.

But, I do think that the notion of a unified, racially transcendent pop superstar doesn’t necessarily die with Michael. People point to Nirvana’s “Nevermind” replacing Jackson’s “Dangerous” as a sign that the times had left him behind, an era of “authentic” artists replacing the pop spectacle that Jackson represented. But, nearly twenty years later, who has the more enduring artistic legacy, whose sound has been more influential? Sure, there were a legion of Nirvana knockoffs in the 90s, but listen to the music that’s out there today, both mainstream radio popular stuff and the hottest indie bands and you’ll hear a lot more Jackson than Nirvana.

In a lot of ways, I think we’re in a post authenticity age. While I have a lot of issues with hipster culture and values, I think one of the good things it did was pave the way for a broadening of taste, by making it acceptable to like popular songs, at first through the pretense of irony, then through straight up embrace. Songs like Britney Spears’ “Toxic” and Justin Timberlake’s “Rock My Body” were just flat out great pop songs, so good that they forced people to embrace them.

Timberlake is frequently cited as one of the heirs to Jackson’s title as King of Pop, and his career followed a similar trajectory. Starting out in a heavily packaged pop band, he branched out into solo work and took artistic control of his music, creating dance floor hits so solid they basically forced people to enjoy them. Pitchfork, the arbiter of hipster taste, ranked his “My Love” as the number one song of 2006, a choice with no irony behind it.

Artists like Timberlake and Kanye West draw on Jackson’s legacy of music that’s simultaneously personal and danceable, rewriting the notion that only in an acoustic or rock setting can real feeling be expressed. And, I think their songs are so transcendent and popular, they fill that cultural need for music to unite us. I enjoy loving a band no one else knows as much as anyone, but there’s a certain joy in connecting with people over a popular song that everyone knows, and I think that’s why even in a fractured audience MP3 world, we’re still going to have blockbuster songs that everyone knows and loves. You need those songs that a DJ play and everyone will know, and even as radio loses its influence, those songs will still find a way to become known to people.

Over on the rock side of things, the major thing that’s changed in 00s popular “alternative” or indie music is the infusion of dance rhythms and instrumentation into rock music. Sure, there’s still non-dance bands, but the sound of the 00s is definitely the 80s style, synth driven electroclash, like MGMT, Phoenix, etc. That’s a sound draws on the pop aesthetic of Michael Jackson, not the dour heavy atmosphere of bands like Nirvana. To some extent, I think there’s been a re-embrace of fun and style in music. MGMT is a very image driven band, a stark contrast to the “anti-image” approach of 90s bands, like Nirvana or Radiohead. And, songs like MGMT’s “Kids” are breaking out in a huge way, uniting people across genre lines in a way that Jackson’s stuff did in the day.

Personally, I love the embrace of fun and pop structures in contemporary music. I think the 90s was a nadir for music, as pop and rock radically diverted, leading to lame work on both sides. Now, we’ve got pop stars like Kanye West creating really ambitious, challenging albums, and rockers making danceable fun stuff.

Sure, Jackson lost his own footing in mainstream culture, but I think he was one Timbaland or Neptunes produced album away from a return to mainstream prominence. I’d have loved to see him do something along the lines of Jay-Z’s Black Album and bring in a host of huge producers, all with the goal of doing the best possible Michael Jackson song. But, I guess we’ll never get that.

I also think much of the furor surrounding Jackson’s death is due to the totally bizarre life he led. I saw him called the first post-human celebrity, and if you see video of the guy, it’s hard to believe he is of the same species as us. He seems more like an alien playing a person. I don’t think we’ll ever see a celebrity as bizarre as Michael Jackson again, but I do think the potential is out there for someone to drop another Thriller, and the time is more conducive for it now than it’s been since the 80s. Barriers between music are breaking down, in an MP3 age, there’s not that strict allegiance to one subculture or genre. Songs can break out and becomes sensations on their own terms, and the distinctions between what’s popular in the rock world and the rap world are lessening everyday.

All Points West: Friday

I haven’t been to too many concerts lately. Working the night shift means I can’t go to any shows during the week, but with some time off coming, I took yesterday off and went out to All Points West, the latest attempt to start a New York area music festival. The lineup yesterday was full of bands I liked, and on the whole, it was a great experience.

I started things off with The New Pornographers. I’ve seen them four times now, and only once did they totally impress me. Not coincidentally, that was the Summerstage two years ago where they headlined. The other times I’ve seen them, they were either opening for someone else or at a free show. It’s a huge difference when the whole crowd is there to see a band. Most people didn’t seem to know their songs, and the energy level just wasn’t as high as it was when they headlined.

But, it’s always good to see them, and they played most of my favorite songs. “Bleeding Heart Show” and “A Testament to Youth in Verse” are always fantastic live. Nothing they do can top the wordless chorale moments on those two songs. However, without Neko Case, their stage presence is pretty low energy. They sprinkle in lengthy self deprecating banter between songs that drains the show of momentum. I’m no fan of the stereotypical “Hello Cleveland!” classic rock style audience pandering, but at the same time, I think the endlessly rambling “I don’t know what I’m doing” style banter has gotten old too. We paid to be there, you guys have played a bunch of shows, I think you can string together something better than saying the camera looks like that thing from Wall-E and trailing off ashamed.

Compared to the other bands I saw, the NPs seemed to be actively trying to crush any momentum their set had. They need to get the drummer out in front, he’s the only one who seems to be really enjoying himself. But, the music was still good, particularly a great cover of ELO’s “Don’t Bring Me Down” to close out the set.

I next headed over to the ‘Bullet’ stage to see CSS, who thankfully had a fifteen minute delay on their start, so I could catch all of it. I loved their first album, but have been totally underwhelmed by my few listens to their new one. But, hearing the newer songs live, they played pretty well. They’re not as distinctive as the first album’s, but they keep the energy up live. LoveFoxx was a manic presence on stage, but got outclassed by the restrained cool of her bandmates. Still, her craziness is a huge part of the band’s success, and she killed it throughout.

Next up, I caught the last few songs of Underworld. I’ve listened to some of their stuff, and generally like it. ‘Born Slippy’ is the obvious classic, and I walked over right as it was starting. Their set was a bit odd, one guy on a mixer, and the vocalist dancing around with various video effects behind him. It’s definitely the kind of set that would play better in a club setting, where you’re expecting one guy with a DJ, rather than a festival setting like this, with a full band. It was still fun to see, but a bit underwhelming.

Of course, the real attraction was Radiohead. They came out with an amazing stage setup. Surrounded by hanging lights, and backed by a video screen that featured a multitude of angles on the band, processed through color filters. The video screen visuals were so good, you could record them and make a great music video without any editing. It was one of the best light shows I’ve seen from a live band.

Most of the set was drawn from In Rainbows. I had mixed feelings about the album going into the show, and coming out of it. I definitely liked it, “Reckoner” and “All I Need” are standout tracks, but it’s definitely a lower tier Radiohead album. My ranking of their albums as a whole would be:

Ok Computer
The Bends
Hail to the Thief
Kid A
In Rainbows
Amnesiac
Pablo Honey

The issue I had with In Rainbows was that most of the songs had a similar feel, in the same way that Amensiac did, but Computer or Thief didn’t. They used similar instrumentation on most of the tracks, and there weren’t as many of the emotional shifts that songs like ‘Lucky’ or ‘Paranoid Android’ had. Ironically, it’s like In Rainbows was all painted in one color, whereas their best work used a spectrum.

However, as the show got going, they played a bunch of tracks off Rainbows, and I was wondering why I didn’t love it. “15 Step” was a great opener to the show, and “All I Need” was fantastic live. Other than an amazing “Lucky,” most of the early going stuck to songs from Rainbows. That was fine, I figured they would start with newer stuff, then segue into older songs. It’s not that I only wanted to hear the older stuff, I just wanted a mix.

As it went on, I was loving the show, the light effects were amazing, and the song selection was pretty solid. However, towards the end of the opening set, the momentum started to slip. Closing on “How to Disappear Completely” meant a loss of energy after they left. The crowd reaction was pretty small, I’m guessing people assumed there would be an encore so they didn’t feel the need to get too loud. Still, going out on a more uptempo song would have probably left things with more emotion. It’s not that the softer songs can’t work at all live, it’s just at one point they strung three or four low tempo songs together in a row, and that cut a lot of momentum. When they came back with ‘House of Cards,’ I was like, didn’t they play this one already? They hadn’t, but it’s when Rainbows fatigue set in for me.

Still, I’ve got to stress how amazing the visual presentation was, and the performance. The slower songs still sounded great, it’s just a question of scarcity. When I’ve only got a few Radiohead songs to see, it was frustrating to have a bunch of songs I don’t particularly care for. I’d have to liked to see more off Hail to the Thief, and a couple more tracks off Computer or Bends. I don’t want to be one of those people just asking for the old stuff, I’m sure it’s more exciting to play a song you wrote a year ago than to play one written twelve years ago for the thousandth time, but by the end, I was reminded why I had issues with Rainbows in the first place.

But, this was still one of the best shows I’ve been to in a long time. The stage presence was amazing, and they had the crowd rapt throughout. I’d definitely like to see them when they pass through New York again.

Best of 2007: Top 15 Albums

A bit late on this, but I’ve been busy. Anyway, here’s the top 15 albums for 2007.

15. Kanye West – Graduation
People talk a lot about the sophomore slump, but I think it’s the third album that’s really problematic. Most artists do the same, but more for the second album, but then were do you go for the third? This album has some of Kanye’s best tracks, but also a couple of duds, most notably “Barry Bonds” and “Drunken Hot Girls,” which just don’t work. Still, the good stuff far outweighs the bad. While “Stronger” got a lot of attention, and is a great track, it’s “Flashing Lights” that stands out as his best dance track. “Homecoming” is also fantastic, with a killer piano line.

14. Jay-Z – American Gangster
The master beat the apprentice with a really great album that presents a time spanning journey between Jay’s past, present and imagined life as Frank Lucas. The lyrics tell a really interesting story, and the beats match it with a great 70s soul aesthetic. The opening, with voiceover courtesy of Idris “Stringer” Elba is wonderfully over the top, but it’s the back half of the album that really shines. “Ignorant Shit” and “Party Life” are the highlights.

13. Tori Amos – American Doll Posse
This album was frequently criticized for being too long. At 80 minutes, it is a bit daunting, and cut down to 45 or 50 minutes, it would be a lot easier to endorse. But, there’s no real bad tracks here, and a lot of great ones. I love the ethereal pop of “Bouncing Off Clouds” as well as the haunting closer “Dragon.” And, she thankfully ditches the adult contempo aesthetic of her past couple albums with the rocking “Big Wheel” and “Teenage Hustling.”

12. Bruce Springsteen – Magic
Springsteen’s popularity peaked during the arena rock Born in the USA era, but unlike a lot of other ultra-popular artists, he’s managed to remain artistically vital for over thirty years. This album has a lot to say about the world we live in today, and manages to sound contemporary without reaching for techno beats or something like that. Born to Run feels like it could have come out this year, so keeping that aesthetic works. The standout here is “Girls in their Summer Clothes,” but the record goes deep. Every track has something to say, and does so in an interesting way.

11. The Colour – Between Earth and Sky
They’ve broken up after only one album, which is a shame because The Colour did a great job of reviving 60s style blues rock for today. Recalling Zeppelin and The Doors, this album rocks pretty hard throughout. The songs can bleed together a bit, but “Silver Meadows” and “Save Yourself” are as good any rock songs out this year.

10. Rilo Kiley – Under the Blacklight
A hugely controversial album, I really liked the new direction. It’s 70s soft rock, crossed with dance beats and the occasional hint of Fleetwood Mac. I like bands that change their aesthetic and explore different sounds and styles. “Moneymaker” is a killer single, and even though I like what’s come before, I’m glad that they’re branching out. My guess is this album is the equivalent of Belle and Sebastian’s “Dear Catastrophe Waitress,” a total departure in style that will eventually be integrated into what the band was doing before on their next album. But, this album really stands up, and just because it’s easy to listen to, doesn’t mean it’s not great.

9. Amy Winehouse – Back to Black
I’m glad I saw Amy play back in March because it seems like she’s gone completely off the deep end, into tabloid land and away from the musician who put out this album. She manages to use retro style without sounding like pastiche, this is a really emotional album. While the two big singles are great, the highlight for me is the pop epic “Back to Black,” a flawless piece of work.

8. The National – Boxer
A fixture on best of ’07 lists for a reason, this album creates a world, drawing you in with the great opener “Fake Empires,” then lingering for mini suites of songs that make up the album. They have a very specific sound, the piano and strings bulking up the sound and making for some really unique songs. These are fantastic songs, and the album has a tangibility that few others do.

7. The Polyphonic Spree – The Fragile Army
As with Kanye, the third album presents something of a problem. I loved the massive epics on Together We’re Heavy, but this album scales things back a bit. The songs are still great, and few bands can match the scope of what they can do when all their instruments are in the mix. But, these songs are generally more closed in, avoiding the epic sweep of Heavy, and focusing on more concise arrangement. It’s still a great album, that sounds like nothing else out there, but it didn’t hook me like their previous albums did. But, considering how much I loved those albums, not quite matching up isn’t a huge problem.

6. Timbaland – Shock Value
An album that the critical establishment knocked even as it continues to produce a litany of top singles. People criticized the album for skipping from genre to genre without any sort of clear aesthetic. I don’t think that’s a criticism, I love that an artist can make an album that takes us from 50 Cent to Elton John. The songs are arranged in sections that flow together well, listened to on random, it would be disorienting. But, the sequencing takes us seamlessly from rap to pop to rock, with great songs all along the way. “Way I R” is a distillation of everything Tim can do well in the rap field, and probably the best track, but really, there’s a lot of highlights on here. “Scream” is fantastic, as is “Time.” Like Handsome Boy Modeling School’s White People, it’s a deliriously kaleidoscopic album, but you’d think skipping between genres and styles wouldn’t be a problem for the IPod generation. Listen to this album and you don’t need to shuffle anything, Tim does it for you.

5. The New Pornographers – Challengers
Even as their weakest album to date, this is still an amazing piece. Like the Spree, they tone down the over the top pop and joy of their previous work, going a bit more melancholy. That gives Neko Case some of her finest showcases, particularly “Go Places.” The epic “Unguided” is one of the most emotional songs they’ve ever done, and “Spirit of Giving” is a perfect distillation of the unique, poppy aesthetic of the band. It sounds like nothing else out there, but I wish that everything sounded like this.

4. Justice – Cross
The big dance hit of the year, Justice produced the album a lot of people wanted Daft Punk to make with Human After All, a fusion of hard rock riffs and poppy synths. “DANCE” stole the show, justly, but it’s a top notch album throughout. The beats are heavy, the hooks colossal, it’s a joy to dance to. “Stress” and “Phantom, pt. 2” are two of the album’s best.

3. Daft Punk – Alive 2007
This was a tough one to rank. My memories of the amazing live show are wrapped up in the disc, so I can’t judge it objectively. However, it’s pretty undeniably a fantastic mix. This should have been their greatest hits album, cobbling together pieces of nearly every song in their catalogue into a monster mix. There’s so many classic moments here, the fusion of “Harder Better” and “Around the World,” the mix of “Da Funk” and “Steam Machine,” and the crawling vocal from “Harder” over the base line from “Face to Face.” Throw this on as high volume as possible and just get lost in it.

2. !!! – Myth Takes - Another fantastic dance album, this album represents a huge jump for the band. “Heart of Hearts” and “Must be the Moon” were killer singles, perfect fusions of rock and dance, but the album didn’t stop there. I love “Break in Case of Anything” and the epic “Bend Over Beethoven” really tears things down. The dance rhythms give the music an energy and vibrancy must rock is lacking, their live show at Studio B in May was one of craziest I’ve ever been to, a mess of jumping and dancing. I’d love to see them live again.

1. Arcade Fire – Neon Bible
Funeral was already a great album, but this is a quantum leap from that. The scope of their orchestration is amazing, you hear things on this album you won’t hear from any other band. Think of the huge pipe organ intro on “Intervention,” or the wordless vocal breakdown on “Anti-Christ Superstar.” The album just makes me so happy, so charged. There’s a sense of deep emotion here, some regret and sadness all overwhelmed by the sheer power of the music. “No Cars Go” is the band’s opus, a climax for everything that’s come before, and “My Body is a Cage” is a haunting closer, building from nothing to an epic organ line that puts a perfect cap on the album. This isn’t just the best album of the year, it’s an all time classic. People will be listening and talking about this album thirty years from now.

Best of 2007: Top 10 Songs

10. The National – “Fake Empire”
The song opens with a rolling piano line that is just mesmerizing and that tentative march forward underlies everything that comes after. Boxer has been rightly hailed as one of the best albums of the year, and for me, all the tracks kind of blend into each other. But, this one stands out, the overture to the entire piece and a wonderful song on its own, particularly during the majestic interplay of trumpet and guitar at the song’s conclusion.



9. The New Pornographers – “Unguided”
A departure from their usual modus operandi, this song stretches over six minutes and has more of a build than their usual concise power pop songs. However, the song is just as emotional as anything they’ve done. Backed by a beautiful tinkling percussion line, the interplay of male and female vocals all builds into the ecstatic, driving chorus. Some songs just beg to be used in a movie, and listening to this one, I can see the scene in my head. It’s the ecstatic reunion of our heroes, hard fought and well earned, a happy ending after all kinds of trouble.



8. Kanye West – “Flashing Lights”
“Stronger” got all the attention as Kanye’s move toward techno and dance, but it’s this track that impressed me the most. The keyboard line is incredible, both danceable and emotional. The strings are haunting, and Kanye’s delivery is strong as well. Much like “My Love” last year, the song would work just as well in a club as it would in a silent, introspective moment. I first heard the song on the radio and was instantly impressed, I didn’t even realize it was Kanye at first, I just knew it was great. This song should have been a massive hit, I’d still like to see it get a big single push.



7. Rilo Kiley – “The Moneymaker”
Huge controversial upon its release, I loved this thing from the first listen. The video perfectly captures the sleazy funk vibe of the song. I could image the band playing this song in the Canadian club from Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, accompanying the decadent drinking and drugging of a bunch of dirty people. The riff underlying this song is fantastic, and Lewis’s vocals are among her best. The whole album was great, but it’s this opening salvo that really sticks with me.



6. Timbaland – “Way I Are”
I know a lot of people have gotten a bit tired of Timbaland, but I thought Shock Value stands up well with his two fantastic albums from last year. This song is probably the most typical Timbaland song on the album, but it’s also a flawless pop song. Fusing elements of “My Love,” “Sexy Back” and “Promiscuous,” he creates a kind of uber-Timbaland song. This is the equivalent of David Lynch’s Mulholland Dr., it might not innovate as much as his other work, but it fuses much of his previous work into a singularly successful work.



5. Amy Winehouse – “Back to Black”
The greatness of this album has been largely overshadowed by her tabloid antics, and that’s unfortunate. The whole album is great, but this is the high point, a perfect example of the way she makes 60s sounds relevant for today. The song builds on the percussion line before taking off into the swirling surf guitar backed chorus. I love those tambourines in the background, and this is her most emotional vocal on the album.



4. !!! – “Must Be the Moon”
One of the greatest dancerock songs of all time, this track does not stop bringing it. The bassline is relentless and I love the robotically heavy drumming. I love the rap-style vocal on the chorus, the stripped down nature of that makes the return of the entire band even more powerful. Back at college, when I was responsible for dropping music for our pre-parties, this track was a fixture. It’s one of those tracks you just can’t not like.



3. Daft Punk “Around the World/Harder Better Faster Stronger”
The best moment I’ve ever experienced at any concert is commemorated at 2:48 in the live recording of this song. Both these songs are already colossal hook machines that would have killed live, combined, they become a mutant pop song that just destroys everything in its path. Listening to the track, I’ll sometimes latch onto the “Around the World” bassline and ride that, sometimes hook onto the “Harder Better” vocal, and other times just stick to that crazy synth line. The song just keeps building as it goes on, even during the b-section, which drops some of the heaviest bass I’ve ever heard. This is a track that’s exponentially better the louder it is, only the live experience can do it justice, but put that record up high and you’ll get close. If this wasn’t based off two existing songs, it would easily rank number one on this list, and be a strong contender for the greatest song all time.



2. Justice – “D.A.N.C.E”
While Daft Punk made a resurgence, their protégées at Justice dropped a track that rivals their best. “D.A.N.C.E” is an insane fusion of Jackson 5 and house music, one of the most exuberant pop songs I’ve ever heard. Odds are strong that this track was played at every single party in Williamsburg, Brooklyn this year, and it just never gets old. This was another one that was omnipresent on my college DJ mix, and it never failed to go over. I love the disco style bassline and Goblins sounding synths. It’s a flawless pop song, and should survive on dance floors for a long time.



1. Arcade Fire – “No Cars Go”
This song is extremely special for me, an absolutely exuberant rallying cry, it’s just bursting with energy and dreams, a desire to break free and become something else. The Arcade Fire have a lot of might behind their sound, and no song showcases it better than this. It sounds like there’s a hundred trilling instruments underlying the chorus, and it only builds as it goes into the crazy breakdown in the middle of the song. Win’s shout fo “No Go!” is amazing, but the real highlight of the song for me is the segue between “Well we know!” and the instrumental solo that follows. The song is all about those transitions, taking things down to nothing, then building again to an ecstatic pace. The song’s majesterial finale is like very few things I’ve heard in music. I think the people who lived with me last year hate this song. There were a bunch of nights when I was like “I need to hear ‘No Cars Go’,” and at 2 AM, I’d play this thing real loud, and just get lost in it. It might have woken them up, and I’m sorry about that, but the final minute of this song just left me feeling cleansed and renewed, and maybe that’s worth a wake up.

Timbaland: Today's Beatles

I'm listening to Timbaland's Shock Value for the second time right now. It's a strong album, not quite as effective as his work with Justin Timberlake and Nelly Furtado last year, but it's seventeen weird, but catchy songs like only he can make. At this point, Timbaland is so ubiquitous, and just so fucking good, he's creating songs that are critically respected and beloved by club kids, hip hoppers and elitist indie hipsters. His work transcends boundaries in a way that reminds me of very few artists before, one of the most notable being The Beatles.

The Beatles have become something of an institution, they're so good, it's barely worth talking about them. What can we really say that will add to what's come before? Perhaps a little something. I think of the most notable things about The Beatles is the fact that they were simultaneously the most groundbreaking band in the history of recorded music and the most popular. That happens so rarely, in film and literature, it always seems to take a few years for people to catch up to the really good art. Spielberg is probably the closest thing film has to a Beatles, but he's much more mainstream and traditional than The Beatles were.

The genius of The Beatles was their ability to experiment so much within an accessible form, the three minute pop song. Part of the reason they've been so analyzed is the layers within the songs, the many instrumental tracks and subtle details. Like a lot of great artists, they seemed to be positively running over with ideas, leading to songs like "A Day in the Life," which fuse together two potentially good songs into one great one. Listening to Rubber Soul or Revolver is intimidating, to hear just how many now classic songs they stacked, one after the other. Virtually all their songs have become part of our collective culture, everyone just seems to know every Beatles song, you can't say that for other very respected bands from their era, even massively popular ones like Pink Floyd or Led Zeppelin.

While there certainly isn't a direct correlation between popularity and artistic credibility, I think it's important to look at music's place in our collective consciousness. While I may love some Daft Punk songs more than ""One More Time," if I was in a club, I'd rather hear "OMT" than " Face to Face" just because it's what people know. There's nothing like hearing people cheer when a song is dropped, and a song has to have a certain level of popularity to reach that point. That's why it's important that we still have mainstream radio, or some kind of media through which songs can become widely popular. Without that, we lose our shared culture. Part of the reason that 80s songs are so ubiquitous today is because everyone knows them, and you can't say that about most bloghouse tracks. I'd imagine a large part of why people go to concerts is just to be with a bunch of people who know the same songs and love the same band, it's the collective experience as much as the performance.

The 90s was a downtime for pop music, a lot of bad songs were wildly popular. Now, there's always going to be bad songs that go over, but there's very few popular 90s songs that were actually good. So, I've been really happy to see pop music resurge in the 00s, thanks primarily to two producer teams, The Neptunes and Timbaland. These two put together a list of incredible songs that were both great songs and incredibly popular. The Neptunes have slipped off the radar a bit, but looking at the songs they were involved in earlier this decade is astonishing.

But, this past year, Timbaland has surged ahead, with an unprecedented dominance of radio and the pop culture music space. Most of this is his work with Nelly Furtado and Justin Timberlake. It's been amazing to watch Justin go from middle school girl icon to one of the most respected men in music, largely because his work with Timbaland is just amazing. The album has spawned five singles, and there's still a bunch of strong tracks in the wings. It's so rare that a song become both incredibly popular and get such strong critical response, but "My Love" did just that, getting love from everyone.

What does it all mean? Basically, I think it's important that we have a collective musical experience to draw on as a culture, and I'm glad that Timbaland is making it such a good one. He's making the best and most popular songs, and dominating things in a way that The Beatles did before him. Artists may say they don't want to be popular, or it doesn't matter to them, but I think ultimately all of us want people to love our art, only some artists are most willing to make compromises to do that than others. I pride myself on making the movies I want, but it's tough to watch people respond to a mainstream comedy more than my stuff. What I want is for people to love the movie I want to make. I'm not quite able to do that yet, but with music, Timbaland is. It takes a little bit, but already, his solo album is spawning a bunch of hits. "The Way I R" hooked me, and it's getting better with very listen. I'm really glad to be part of a time when an artist like Justin Timberlake can get the respect of everyone, that we've moved past the idea that being popular, or being pop, is equal to selling out.

Junior Senior @ Highline Ballroom

Setlist (Courtesy Fluxblog)
Go Junior Go Senior / Chicks and Dicks / Dynamite / Good Girl, Bad Guy / Rhythm Bandits / Happy Rap / Itch U Can't Scratch / We R The Handclaps / Can I Get Get Get (with JD from Le Tigre) / Move Your Feet / Shake Me Baby / Shake Your Coconuts / Hip Hop A Lula // Trust Tissue / White Trash

Junior Senior’s first album was a strong, fun bunch of songs, but their second album, out today in the US, is a masterpiece, each song a three minute pop masterpiece, flowing seamlessly from one high point to the next. So, I was eager to see Junior Senior in action, nearly two years after first hearing the album, and I was not disappointed by what they brought.

But, before they went on we had the antics of the gayest band in the world, Gravy Train. That’s not a judgment, it’s just the undeniable truth. They reminded me of a less skilled Scissor Sisters, amplifying the stage antics and removing any of the emotion. Scissor Sisters are a band who use theatricality to enhance their music, while these guys are just theatricality. I have no particular desire to see them again, but it’s rare you see people actually talking about an opening act, and nearly every review of the gig I’ve read has spent at least some of the time discussing them.

Before getting into Junior Senior, a quick rant about set start times. Now that I’m working, it’s a real hassle to stand around for two hours after the stated start time, four hours after door open, waiting for the band to start. The stage crew was done setting up by 10:40, and we just there for twenty minutes, waiting. This can really kill a gig, particularly when you’ve got to get up at 7 AM for work the next day. Last week’s free show from Cansei de Ser Sexy was ruined by the fact that they went on at 1:15, by that time all the momentum that was building was gone and we were just a bunch of people standing in a sweaty room. This wasn’t so bad, and my annoyance was pretty much erased by their energetic performance, but still, I’m assuming most of these people work, is it that tough to move things along?

Anyway, once Junior Senior emerged, things took off. Most of the band came out, a guitar, a bass, two backup singers, Junior and finally Senior, who looked like a giant European version of Eminem. This was a really tall guy, particularly when standing against the tiny dude from Le Tigre. He had phenomenal stage presence. Even though Junior probably has more musical talent, it’s Senior’s stage presence that puts the band over the top as a live act.



In a radical departure from nearly every other concert ever, I was pretty annoyed by the initial bombardment of old songs, and was almost ready to yell out “New album!” by the time they finally dropped “Happy Rap.” It’s not that the show wasn’t working well, those tracks got the audience into it, and “Rhythm Bandits” in particular was a highlight, but the new album was such a jump, I was hoping to hear more from it.

When they finally did play a new track, it was my least favorite, “Happy Rap.” Now, this was a situation where least favorite is the optimum phrase, pretty much every track they played rocked the audience and was tremendously entertaining. This is infectious, ecstatic music and that comes across in the live show. I was just grinning throughout the whole show, it was so much fun. Next up was “Itch U Can’t Skratch,” which owns right from the opening synth descent. That song has a great hip hop style bounce dwelling under the poppier main part.

The highlight of the show was “We R the Handclaps,” which featured amazing guest vocals from their backup singer. Not only was she ridiculously hot, she had a voice that reached way up, hitting notes I heard on the album, but found hard to believe were sung by a human voice. She absolutely owned this song, already one of the best off the album. I only wish she could have gotten a chance to take on more of their songs, particularly “Take My Time.”



The rest of the show provided a bunch of highlights. “Move Your Feet” was fantastic as expected, the interplay between Senior and JD on “Can I Get Get Get” was a lot of fun, and the closing stage rush for “White Trash” was a great finale. If the band was this fun and strong with Junior’s voice in recovery, I can only imagine what they’re like at full strength. This show was a great followup to Daft Punk, another blast of infectious dance music. I hope they pass through here again, and give us more off the new album. That’s really the only complaint I’ve got. Where were “I Like Music” and “Dance Chance Romance”?