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.
Monday, November 30, 2009
John Mayer - Battle Studies
8.5/10
Damn. Just when I was starting to doubt him, he drops this album and does it again. Battle Studies is John Mayer's 5th album, and I'd probably say its his second best, maybe third. Sorry, but I don't see anything beating out Continuum, it was just too perfect. He went for a more mellow vibe on this album, which I was skeptical about at first, but it ended up really working well.
The album is trimmed down perfectly. At 11 tracks, 46 minutes, you get your fix and then it's over before you get bored. Lyrically, John still knows how to write some great songs. I love the whole war theme in "Battle Studies", with tracks like "Heartbreak Warfare", "War of my Life", and "Assassin". He said he was going for a Tom Petty style approach to the music, and wanted to make something that would last forever, and I really think he did. Instrumentally, he's still one of the best guitarists alive right now, although he doesn't show it quite as often as I would've liked. As I mentioned in my album preview on here a few weeks ago, I really wanted more upbeat fast songs that would set up crazy guitar solos, but that didn't happen. There are a few short solos, which do enough to show that he's still got it, but really leaves me wanting more. I can't wait to see what he will do with these songs live. The only other letdown, for me, was "Crossroads". I thought for sure that a John Mayer cover of a classic Cream song (actually a Robert Johnson song that Eric Clapton/Cream decided to cover) would be amazing. But it was kind of awkward. The Cream version of the song is already basically perfect, so I didn't think it could be better, I just wanted it to be different. I wanted to see what John could do with it, and it was kind of boring. It sounded overly synthy and weird. Oh well, can't win them all. So even with the flaws, I think the album really flowed, and after giving it a few listens to grow on me, I couldn't put it down for weeks. Definitely one of my favorite albums of the year.
Listen to my 2 favorite songs, "Perfectly Lonely" and "Assassin" here:
(Also don't forget that I posted "Who Says" and "Heartbreak Warfare" back in the album preview post)
Perfectly Lonely
Assassin
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Felt 3 - A Tribute to Rosie Perez
8/10
"Them Felt boys are back." I don't know if I've ever said this on here, but my absolute #1 favorite hip-hop group is Atmosphere, Slug (the rapper) and Ant (the producer). Felt takes Slug and pairs him with Murs, who is also pretty dope, although I never got into his solo stuff or Living Legends stuff. They have a different producer do each album, and make it a tribute to some sort of fallen star actress. So here we have Felt 3: A Tribute to Rosie Perez, produced by Aesop Rock.
As far as Felt goes, in general, I just love the way that Slug and Murs seem to bounce off of each other. It's never really formulaic, like Slug Verse, Chorus, Murs Verse, Chorus. They go back and forth, and I love that. (It's what makes me excited for the Nas & Damian Marley album, Distant Relatives.) They're both great rappers, and they continue to show it here. Felt seems like a fun sort of release for Slug. A lot of the Atmosphere stuff is a little more serious and toned down, and Felt is where he can just have fun and say whatever he wants. It's really cool to hear another side of him. The production on the album is where it falls short, believe it or not. I really like Aesop Rock, he's a cool guy who does his own weird style of rap and pulls it off pretty well. And as much as I think a lot of the songs on the album are well-produced, they don't fit Slug and Murs. There are several points in the album where it sounded like the guys' flows didn't match the beats at all. It was like they didn't really know how to rap over some of the stuff that Aes gave them. Some of the songs sound great, and they match up well, but there's just those few that don't work. And it's not like they couldn't have cut them out. The album is a little too long for me, going just over an hour. I think cutting it down to 45-50 minutes would've really helped the flow. Personally, Felt 2 was my favorite, but that's really just because Ant (the other half of Atmosphere) produced the whole thing. Still, it's a good album, and definitely worth listening to.
Check out 2 of my favorites, the first single, "Protagonists", and "Henrietta Longbottom"
Protagonists
Henrietta Longbottom
Monday, November 16, 2009
Brand New - Daisy
9/10
This one took a while. It came out way back on 9/22, and I didn't feel right reviewing it until now. I really didn't like it all that much at first. Not that I thought it was bad, it just wasn't what I was expecting and it's not the type of music I usually listen to. Brand New is actually the only band I can tolerate with any sort of screaming. Anyways, after I got over the more heavy vibe and screaming on the album, it really grew on me. It's just the right length, not too long and not too short, and each song is really there for a reason. The tracklist was made perfectly, and the album flows really well. As a matter of fact, I think one of my favorite things about the album is the fact that it's so cohesive. The intro and outro clips are old, creepy music, and there are a few portions in the middle of the album, such as the beginning of the title track, daisy, that have the same type of clips. There is a really creepy feeling to the album, and I actually really love it. Instrumentally, it's Brand New. It's a little more intense and hardcore than their previous albums, and while it's not extremely intricate or anything, there are a lot of layers and pretty awesome riffs on the songs. Something that I still don't know how I feel about is the songwriting. The guitarist, Vin, took over lead songwriting duties on this one for the first time. While I don't think that he is nearly as talented of a songwriter as Jesse Lacey, I do think it gave a nice change to the usual Brand New songs. Kind of a breath of fresh air. The album just really clicks. There's not a single change I would make. I read something a while back where Jesse said that they were afraid the album might sound weird because they wrote the songs based on how they would sound live, which is hard to carry over to studio tracks. Well it worked. Everything sounds great.
I posted my two favorite tracks, "Daisy" and "Sink" below:
Sink
Daisy
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Wale - Attention: Deficit
8/10
Great debut album. Almost better than Kid Cudi's, in my opinion. Cudi has one spot up on him on my list right now, and really it's only because he went and made an album with a style I've never heard anywhere before. But, back to Wale, this album is killer. I kind of expected less of him, to be honest. The dude's been putting out mixtapes like he has nothing better to do, and that material was really good (see: The Mixtape About Nothing), so I couldn't see him having anything left for the album, but I was wrong.
I wouldn't put it on the same level as something from Atmosphere or Mos Def, but it's not supposed to be as serious and conscious as those albums. It's just a good, mainstream rap album. With that said, its a little less mainstream than your everyday 50 Cent crap. (I'm not even listening to Before I Self Destruct, nevermind wasting time writing about it.) The production on the album is good, some songs better than others, particularly the two that Cool & Dre did. Lyrically, you have to listen to the album a couple times to be able to pick up on all of the great lines. My personal favorite, at the end of a verse in "TV in the Radio", goes "fat rhymes everytime, bitch, Roseanna Barrs". I mean, c'mon, that's amazing. Besides the fact that anyone under 20 probably doesn't know who Roseanne Barr is. The content isn't all fun and games, there are some more serious songs, like "Contemplate" and "Diary", which are also great. There are some good features, like K'Naan, J.Cole, and Pharrell, which significantly outway the bad, particularly Gucci Mane. Wale really proved himself to me with this one. You can tell he couldn't be happier with doing what he's doing. And he does it really well.
Check out these links to my favorite track on the album, "World Tour", and "Contemplate":
World Tour (ft. Jazmine Sullivan)
Contemplate
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
John Mayer Album Preview
In the last couple weeks, 2 new John Mayer songs have come out, off of his upcoming album, Battle Studies. At this point, I'd say this is my most anticipated album for the rest of the year, so I wanted to post the two tracks, album cover, and track listing.
1. "Heartbreak Warfare"
John Mayer - Battle Studies is out November 17th.
1. "Heartbreak Warfare"
2. "All We Ever Do Is Say Goodbye"
3. "Half of My Heart" (feat. Taylor Swift)
4. "Who Says"
5. "Perfectly Lonely"
6. "Assassin"
7. "Crossroads" (Robert Johnson cover)
8. "War of My Life"
9. "Edge of Desire"
10. "Do You Know Me"
11. "Friends, Lovers or Nothing"
Listen to the first single, "Who Says", as well as "Heartbreak Warfare":
Who Says
Heartbreak Warfare
The album cover is lame. I like the design aspect of it, with the vertical type and the tracks listed, but that picture is awful. He looks like he's training to be Obi-Wan Kenobi. They should have used the "Who Says" single artwork as the album artwork, because it's pretty sick (see below). As far as the music goes, I really love both songs. The only thing that worries me is that they are both on the slow side. There's not much upbeat about them, and not much in the way of crazy guitar work or instrumentals. I really want some great technical instrumental work, like Continuum had. It's just two songs, though, so I'm hoping the album will have a nice balance.
Who Says - Single Artwork:
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Phish - Joy
9/10
Wow. I really didn't expect to like this album as much as I did. I had the wrong idea about Phish. I always pictured them as being a dirty hippie band with long, disjointed jam sequences. Turns out I love them. "Joy" is their 14th studio album (first in 5 years), and I had never listened to any of the earlier stuff, but now I can't wait to. The music is so much more pleasant and melodic than I thought it would be. It's really catchy, but also really well written, well sung, and well played. There are solos and instrumental bridges, but nothing to drawn out. Everything works. It's almost perfect. Slower songs like "Joy" aren't too slow to bore you to death, but slow enough to provide a nice change of pace. I can't say enough about how catchy, but good, the music is. I always feel like catchy songs sacrifice quality; generally the lyrics aren't as thoughtful or meaningful. But that is definitely not the case here. It's also very rare that bands with great songwriting have great instrumentals, including some really great guitar solos. These guys are just so much more talented than I ever gave them credit for. The only song that does go a little too long is "Time Turns Elastic", which kind of loses me halfway through. The album is a little bit short, too, which is ironic for a band known for epic 3+ hour live shows.
Regardless, it's great, and definitely worth a listen. Check out the tracks "Backwards Down the Number Line" and "Joy", and let me know what you think.
Backwards Down the Number Line
Joy
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
State Radio - Let It Go
8.5/10
The album was released 9/29, and is actually streaming free right now on www.myspace.com/stateradio . If you are even remotely interested, you should listen to "Arsenic and Clover" and/or "Doctor Ron the Actor." I've posted both below, so you can listen easily. So check them out and let me know what you think.
Arsenic & Clover
http://www.zshare.net/audio/69486826a03677d4/
Doctor Ron the Actor
http://www.zshare.net/audio/69486854fd5d1366/
Monday, October 5, 2009
And so it begins
Welcome to "One Good Thing About Music", where you can find the latest in album reviews, concert reviews, and more.
All coming soon... very soon.
I back-logged all my short album/concert reviews from my old blog, which I hadn't updated in about a year, but I wanted all my stuff in one place.
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