2008: The Year in Music

[PUT THAT DICK IN MY MOUTH! 0]

While searching for Juelz Santana videos on YouTube last night I discovered the existence of Duke Da God's Harlem Classics, a recently released compilation of unreleased DipSet tracks. If you've ever wondered what Cam'ron would sound like rapping over a pitch-shifted sample of Billy Joel's seminal classic "Movin' Out" this is the album for you.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

Oh my god. Tell me Juelz isn't rapping over a sped-up "You Oughta Know."

[FroGG_NeaL 0]

haha.

 

niggas is crazy. yall look out for Nas, the game, g-unit, lil wayne and a few others for the summer.

[Gary Floyd 0]

The new Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds album is awesome.

[The Man in Blak 0]

Anyone else heard the new Portishead? It's a bit of a deviation from the '90s trip-hop stuff, to be sure.

 

Taking my first listen through it now and, just like the self-titled, it's kind of a drag. Maybe it's just me, but Portishead seemed a lot more palatable when every single song wasn't structured as a big ol' cathedral dirge for Beth Gibbons' misery to reverberate around in. There was a time when these guys were actually dance-able or even head-bob-able, at the very least. Now, their best song with some semblance of a beat ("Machine Gun") is probably destined to serve as soundtrack for one of those over-directed lab analysis scenes in CSI: Miami.

 

I don't want to render complete judgment and say that I don't like it because, at times, I do. But, on my way through the first pass, it just doesn't come together quite as well as Dummy and, given the tone of the last record, that unfortunately seems to be Portishead's ultimate intent.

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

That's disappointing. I have today off and was going to go buy it. I'll probably do that anyway.

[The Man in Blak 0]

Okay, I've taken multiple passes on Third and I'm starting to come around on it a little bit. Track by track commentary, periodically edited into the post in REEEEAL TIME

 

"Silence" - Idiotic foreign movie sample rides into action sequence! drums for a little bit, before introducing guitar and strings on a weird temporal figure...which they proceed to drive into the damn ground for two minutes or so. Then we break down and Beth enters, offering some self-titled-esque anti-tonal gloom before we jump back into the previous loop, weirdo vocals intact. Doesn't exactly mesh. Guitars and strings swell up to the end, then everything just abruptly ends, mid-phrase, like somebody was doing a chicken dance from Arrested Development and tripped over a critical studio cable. What an awkward way to end things. Well, anyway, this is kind of a suspicious opener, but it's interesting in spots.

 

"Hunter" - Are they pressing straight to vinyl again? Slow, brooding pace at the start, occasionally punctuated by some overdriven guitar bending upward. Oh, then they alternate that with some synth-y arpeggios to try and bring the tempo up a little bit...because we're just dragging on here. Three minutes in, the drum sample wakes up a bit, just in time for the song to peter out. Ugh. Not bad, but it would have been right at home on the previous album. (Not exactly a compliment.)

 

"Nylon Smile" - Nice little groove at the start, with the background kinda oscillating in and out throughout. And, for the first time thus far, we have a clear and understandable vocal line. We bridge into an exchange of guitar licks, echoing back and forth, before returning back...and then the song's over pretty quick. Seems restrained, compared to the hyper-produced tracks that preceded it, but the simplicity actually works because all of the elements mix together well. Nice contrast, not just to the album thus far, but to their usual tendencies at large.

 

"The Rip" - Transitions from a White Chalk acoustic number into up-tempo Kraftwerk. As useless as it sounds.

 

"Plastic" - Probably the best consolidation of the smoky trip-hop from Dummy with the horror movie soundtrack of their self-titled disc. Drum rolls phasing in and out, weird "flying bat" percussive sounds, all thundering into a grinding synthesizer halt at the end. Great track, even if it doesn't reach the same emotional climax as the other highlights in their catalogue.

 

"We Carry On" - See Also: Clinic. Might be more shameless than the callback to Stereolab in Yo La Tengo's "The Room Got Heavy", but it works well enough. In case you haven't had a formal introduction to Beth Gibbons, enjoy the vocal over the "chorus" of voices and syncopated bass punches: "Oh can't you see / Holding on to my heart / I bleed"

 

"Deep Water" - Far worse than "Faust Arp", but the analogy still works. Considering all of the other tracks that they've wrapped in worship of crap analog production, they leave this one, the song that wouldn't sound out of place snoring out of your old AM radio next to "Big Rock Candy Mountain", entirely clean and untreated? Whaaaaat?

 

"Machine Gun" - Giant, industrial drum machines, rolling over any possible musical accompaniment (bass, chords, whatever, squish), leaving only Beth Gibbons to abstract upon the terrible destruction with self-reflective visions of savior and sinner, helpless alike. ("For I am guilty / for the voice that I obey") Then it turns into John Carpenter rewriting the Terminator theme song for the homestretch, like some final leap of desperation towards tonality before something cuts the cord. About as oppressive as you can get, musically, but it rides a very fine line between intrigue and outright boredom; for a lot of people, I suspect the ability to enjoy this song multiple times will be determined upon the ability to lock into that drum loop. I like it, but it's a very bold choice for the first single.

 

"Small" - So, if today is judgment day, what is tomorrow? There's no choice to come down from something like "Machine Gun", sure, but that doesn't mean you get to just punt the whole damn thing. And yeah, the end points are nice - the quiet start provides a decent contrast to the previous track and the eventual wall of noise makes for a great ending - but the fact that it takes six minutes to go between them makes the whole trip ultimately regrettable. Fo sheez.

 

"Magic Doors" - BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP oh hey, more cowbell. As off-putting as the carnival accompaniment may be, the song still holds a solid pulse, driving the song forward beneath the musings of Sad Beth until somebody decides that pounding out power chords on a piano might elicit an emotional response. Which is a nice thought, except that it seems like, rather than enjoying the conversation, Portishead is stepping outside for a smoke. And then, after reluctantly coming back in, they make up some bizarre excuse to leave again, like "dude, it sounds like an axe murderer is chasing after the saxophonist with a trumpet." It's just too much of a departure.

 

"Threads" - Very reminiscent of the previous album. Slow, methodical exploration crests into fuzzy guitar, then back again (and again and again and again). Not bad, but not great either, and it seems a little anti-climactic when positioned as the final track in the album.

 

Also, presented without comment, an excerpt from the Pitchfork review of the album:

 

As for how the music itself has changed, long story short: Third is a psychedelic rock album.

[Gary Floyd 0]

Funny, I'm actually loving Third. It's not their best, but as it stands, I think it's a pretty logical progression for the band.

 

Also, "We Carry On" sound like the Silver Apples collaborating with either Can or Neu!

[Mik 0]

Coldplay is giving away the lead single for their 4th album for free at their website.

 

It's called Violet Hill and it's different, to say the least.

[Gary Floyd 0]

The new Autechre and Meat Beat Manifesto albums are a bit disappointing.

[Skywarp! 0]

I just won Hot Chip's "Made in the Dark" through a work contest and I'm unimpressed. I don't understand why the critical universe has gone ga-ga over such a boring, unremarkable group.

[PLAGIARISM! 0]

I'd recommend their previous, The Warning, and Coming on Strong over Made in the Dark.

[Gary Floyd 0]

Portishead's new album is probably my favorite of the year so far, and is possibly their best album yet.

[Guest College Party]

I won't go that far. It's still not as good as the debut.

 

Sitting on my desktop is an ambient album called Our Sleepless Forest by a band of the same name. Sounds like a concept band or something. Thoughts forthcoming.

[PUT THAT DICK IN MY MOUTH! 0]

I'm listening to that Scarlett Johansson Tom Waits tribute thing right now. It's really, really good. What a pleasant surprise.

 

EDIT: The more I listen to it the more I think this might be the best thing I've heard this year. Too bad it'll probably never escape the "Weird Celebrity Vanity Project" tag.

[FroGG_NeaL 0]

That thing was fucking terrible, except for like two songs.

 

I've seen meth whores sing karaoke beter then that shit.

[Guest College Party]

I don't think I really like M83's Saturdays = Youth all that much yet. I like Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts quite a bit, but the whole '80s pop thing on some of these songs, like "Graveyard Girl," feels more like an affectation than anything else. I mean, I should be all about this.

[Mik 0]

That's been on my list for awhile - still haven't gotten around to listening to it.

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

I downloaded it but haven't listened yet. They're playing in DC the night before my birthday, so I should probably get familiar.

[Annabelle 0]

m83 - we own the sky is like the song of the year thus far. rep it.

 

oh, and i'm loving vampire weekend, secpially the walcott track. and the new boris. and the new no age. and the new rick ross. and the santogold & teeneagers lps.

 

still waitin on the carter iii, new THE game, and for definately the new wolf parade.

 

holla.

 

 

[Gary Floyd 0]

M83-eh, I just can't get into them. I've tried to, but I can't.

 

The new album from The Roots is pretty good.

[Guest College Party]

I've been listening to an ambient project called Sound of Light which is apparently written to go along with a place called the Nordic Light Hotel over in Stockholm. It's a morning/day/evening/night sort of concept. It's really cool in bite-sized visits, but I've yet to listen to the entire 60 minutes start to finish. I don't think I can.

 

http://www.nordiclighthotel.se/en/Experien...ght--The-Field/

[Annabelle 0]

M83-eh, I just can't get into them. I've tried to, but I can't.

 

The new album from The Roots is pretty good.

m83 usually sucks my knob, but this album is different. he actually made songs. no more ambient garbage. that reminds me, ambient may be the worst genre of music ever. fuck, did brian eno get boring when he moved to "ambient".

[Guest Desensitized]

Reggae is worse than ambient.

[King Kamala 0]

I really hate underground rap but a lot of that can attribute to its fans (See The Atmosphere thread).

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

m83 - we own the sky is like the song of the year thus far. rep it.

Now that I've gotten around to it, this is wholly accurate.

[PUT THAT DICK IN MY MOUTH! 0]

Wrong. Song of the year (so far) is "Titus Andronicus" by Titus Andronicus.

[Annabelle 0]

Reggae is worse than ambient.

 

you're way wrong.

 

lee perry's work alone disproves this

[Kinetic 0]

I d/led that M83 album. I don't think this is for me.

[Guest Desensitized]

I guess I just like ambient stuff more than most people. Also, I'm using "ambient" as more of a catch-all term, beyond just Brian Eno holding synth-pad chords or tape-looping rudimentary piano lines for 25 minutes at a time.