Thursday, December 31, 2009
Goodbye 2009
I still have 9 or 10 albums to listen to before I can finalize my "Best Albums of 2009" list... I've been trying to listen to a lot, which is why I haven't been writing any reviews lately. I'll post the list in the next week or so. Better late than never.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Michael Jackson's This Is It
So lastnight I watched the documentary/movie "This Is It". More than anything, it was just depressing to watch realizing that all this work that all of these people put into the project would never come to fruition. So many people were involved in the project, and everyone was so happy to be there and so excited to get on stage, it's just really sad that it never happened. Also, from the looks of things in the movie, the show was going to be amazing. Absolutely incredible.
MJ looked like he was in better shape than I expected. While he was moving kinda slow in the early songs, it looks like that's just because he didn't want to waste all his good moves right at the beginning. He dances and moves great, and still has a voice, too! Most of the songs that they show him rehearsing, he is actually singing, and sounds almost exactly like the recordings, even those that are from over 30 years ago. It was kind of amazing.
It was also great to see how involved he was in the whole process. He was there at the dancer auditions, for filming of backdrops that he wasn't even in, and just about everything else. He's such a perfectionist, and that's what made everything he did great, but it's great to see that someone as huge as him that could've just shown up for the shows and collected his check still really cared about it all. Overall, I thought the film gave a great behind-the-scenes look at the concert process and the hard work that goes into making a show as big as this one would've been.
So, really, it's bittersweet. It was awesome and fun to watch, but really depressing and unfortunate when you think more about it.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Brother Ali - Us
9/10
This guy just gets better and better. The only albino rapper I know of, Brother Ali is one of the underrated stars of Rhymesayers, my favorite hiphop label ever. This album, like his last, was produced completely by Ant of Atmosphere, who I've already expressed my love for in the Felt 3 review. The production is great. I really really hope some of this style carries over into the next Atmosphere album, and I could even see a little of it on the last Atmosphere album. I love rap production that utilizes real instruments instead of just computers. The first few tracks, and many more throughout the album, are packed with awesome guitar riffs and horn sections that really blow me away. Amazing production on some of those songs. The only song I didn't like the production on was "Breakin' Dawn", but with that said, it matched the topic of the song really well.
Ali is on fire, lyrically, just murdering every track on the album. Some tracks he's doing a little bragging, as he should be, about his rise to underground fame and things like that. There aren't too many of them to the point where you get sick of them, though. My personal favorite is the first song, "The Preacher". Others, though, he really shines as one of the better story-tellers I've heard in years. My two personal favorite story-telling songs on this album are "House Keys" and "Tight Rope". Another track, "The Travelers", is about slavery, which is a really hard topic to cover well and fairly, and Ali knows just how to do it.
I only have a few complaints about the album. I think it's a little bit too long. Actually, it's not even necessarily too long, it's just not even. The first half, for me, was way better than the second half, and so it seemed to drag a little towards the end. This wasn't helped by "Best@it", one of only 2 tracks I didn't really like, being near the end. The song features Freeway and Joell Ortiz, both of whom I don't care for. And in an album with no other features, I was just left wondering why this song was there. The positives FAR outway the negatives, though, and this album lands very very close (but sadly not in) my top 10 albums of the year. (The full list will be posted at the end of the year... I still have about 10 albums to listen to.)
I'm going to break my usual format here and post 3 tracks instead of 2, just because I can't choose between the 2 story-telling tracks I mentioned earlier. So here you go:
The Preacher
House Keys
Tight Rope
Sunday, December 6, 2009
A Few New Songs
2009 has been an amazing year for music, in my opinion. A lot of great great albums have come out. 2010 is shaping up, though, and it's looking great, too. So, I thought I'd post a few songs/singles that have been released for albums slated for early 2010 releases.
Spoon - Written In Reverse
This is the first single off of the new Spoon album, Transference, which will be out 1/19/10. Spoon is a great band, if you haven't heard them, listen to the albums "Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga" and "Kill the Moonlight". I just saw them this past Friday night, and I'll probably post a show review later on tonight if I have time. Great indie band. Check out the new single, and look back here for an album review in a month or so.
Vampire Weekend - Cousins
One of my favorite new bands of 2008 is going to be back in 2010 with their second album, Contra, out on 1/12. Cousins is a fast paced, fun song, kind of similar to what "A-Punk" was on their debut album. Make sure to check out the video for it, because it's even better than the song (which is why I posted a youtube link instead of zshare, haha). Also, I'll post the other song released so far, Horchata, which is a little more laid back, yet equally as good, in my opinion: http://www.zshare.net/audio/69507370acbb5ea6/
Ted Leo & the Pharmacists - Even Heroes Have to Die
I love Ted Leo. 2007's album, "Living with the Living", didn't really live up to what I wanted it to be, but "Shake the Sheets" will always be a classic in my book. His sixth album with The Pharmacists, "The Brutalist Bricks" will be out in March. This is the first single, and I love it.
The Roots - How I Got Over
This one has been out for a while now, since the album was supposed to be out a while ago, but got pushed back about 12 times. The album, of the same name as this track, is now supposed to drop in February, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see if it gets bumped yet again. The song is good, though. Not as good as it was live when they debuted it on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, but still good. I love the chill, jazzy vibe. Can't wait for the album.
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