I was going to try to do a list of the year before the decade, but realised I really do not listen to enough new music to give a fair view of this. Any way shit it, here I goes on the decade.
10. Royksopp / Melody A.M.
As much as I hate the idea of 'chill-out music' this is a great album, despite it's association with coked up twats returning home at 8am after a rave in a field somewhere in Norway, stumbling over to their soundsystem, somehow managing to make their jittery hands place this piece of plastic in their disc-tray, muster the coherence to smudge the play button, and then lying back to stare at the inside of their eyelids for 46 minute exhibition of the finest downbeat electronica that exists. They don't deserve it.
9. Madvillain / Madvillainy
Another extremely inventive album, Doom and Madlib deliver a unique experience that holds up to repeated listening and which grows over time. Obscure lyrics, off-kilter production result in an incredibly creative collaboration.
8. Flying Lotus / Los Angeles
Ethereal, spooky and funky in equal measure, Los Angeles showcases FlyLo's incredible skills on the boards. Drawing from all genres, this instrumental album is full of spine-tingling moments, brain-teasing inventiveness and, most importantly, dope beats.
7. Bloc Party / Silent Alarm
This album is so tight, raw and spiky that Bloc Party have not been able to come close to it since, despite releasing two great follow up albums. Every track is of the highest quality, this is indie-rock at it's finest. Matt Tong's drumming in particular stand out, his driving rythyms giving the album a fantastic energy with able assistance from an extremely talented lead guitarist, funky bassist and interesting lead singer. Sparkling with angry energy and climactic, crashing postpunk dance infused melodies this album is nothing less than amazing. ...too..many adjectives
6. Radiohead / Kid A
Not, in my opinion as beautiful as In Rainbows, but still an absolutely incredible album, and probably Radiohead's most important. This is a band going through a breakdown and reconstructing themselves from the ground up exactly as they want to and somehow without self-indulgence. Despite the accusations of inaccessibility there are loads of catchy songs with great hooks, just extremely different ones to those found on OK Computer or The Bends, and there is also a depth to this album as a piece of art that is unrivalled throughout history, with a few notable exceptions.
5. Ghostface Killah / Supreme Clientele
The best The Wu has to offer this decade (yes I know Cuban Linx 2 was great, but Ghost just cuts it and I didn't want to include two Wu albums). Whilst not approaching the dizzy heights of Liquid Swords, 36 Chambers or OB4CL, Supreme Clientele stand out as a fantastically accessible yet deep hip-hop record in a decade in which ringtone rap has beeped and whirred its way to depressing prominence. I still don't have a clue what Ghost is saying though...
4. Aphex Twin / druqks
Can't say it's as good as his previous work but this album does everything an Aphex album should. It's inventive, crazy, mesmering, deep and fucking terrifying. If I listen to this in the dark on my own I'm likely to break out into a cold sweat and repeatedly grab for the lightswitch just to make sure there are no mad Cornish ginger kids wielding knives gathered around my bed. That's what Richard D James' music is all about.
3. LCD Soundsystem / Sound of Silver
Couldn't decide whether this was better than the debut self titled-album but I think the sophomore release just edges it. Brilliant catchy melodies, funny, engaging songwriting makes this a downright funky record. Was considering demoting it for being too hipster-ish, then I realised I kind of am a wannabe hipster. Fuck myself and my nature t-shirts with deer on.
2. The National / Boxer
Much in the same vein as In Rainbows, Boxer brought me under its spell through its entrancing melodies supplemented by lead-singer Matt Berninger's powerfully emotional baritone (a neat counterpoint to Thom Yorke's ethereal falsetto). Filled with lyrics concerning hiding one's negative emotions behind a facade of blank-eyed happiness, there was always a sense of something terrible happening hinted at through the tracks' layered composition and incredible vocals. Managing to deal with loneliness and alienation, and the sense of being eaten up by the world around you, and yet leaving the possibility of redemption through friends and family, Boxer is astoundingly moving and a complete masterpiece.
1. Radiohead / In Rainbows.
Possibly the most beautiful thing ever committed to ethereal cyber-data. Every track is a stunner and they blend and flow perfectly to create a fucking brilliant album. As a long-term fan of Radiohead, this compilation of reimagined old live songs and b-sides was fantastic as I could plot each song's changes and subtleties from live to demo to studio. The most remarkable thing with this album is that compared to others Radiohead were able to create an entirely distinctive style without taking one of their previous gigantic lurches into leftfield. Imbued with beautiful melodies, soaring vocals and complex lyrics, In Rainbows is layer-upon-layer of music at its most engaging and enchanting.
25.12.09
Lists
It is Christmas Day, and I cannot wait to gorge myself on a ridiculous array of meats. I could do without all the bullshite surrounding Christmas, but the dinner is possibly the greatest thing on Earth.
Anyway, back to the title topic of this entry: Lists. The end of a year and a decade is nigh, and an army of lists marches forth from the pages of every newspaper and website in the land. Despite the miopic and subjective nature of these lists, and the nature of their design being to be a cheap and easy way to provoke a massive zealous response from readers, I can't help but be a sucker for them (damn you, doublethink). I thought over the next couple of days I would try to thrash out a couple of lists, one on music and one on games. I really do not know enough about films to have any authority on them, but I'm working on it.
As a preface to this I would just like to give a brief insight into my likes and dislikes, and my method of judging cultural output.
I believe there is a distinct division to be made between quality, or what is deemed to be "Good" (and will forever have a capital G to make clear this definition), and what I personally like.
This is my confused attempt to wade through the murky waters of subjectivity when judging all mediums - what is "Good", and what do "I like".
The perfect example for me is the Coen brothers 2007 film "No Country For Old Men". I honestly can say that I think this film is Good, but I do not like it. I have no intention of watching it again. I could appreciate the directorial efforts and acting ability on show, but the film left me cold.
So I did talk about films. Oh well.
Specifically in the realms of music and gaming:
Music: I tend to listen to all genres of music and I will usually go through periods when one artist is on extremely heavy rotation (hundreds of listens over the period of a few days). I think the best way to truly listen to music is alone, lying down with no distractions (at least for the first listen to a particular artist or album). After this, good points to listen are on the bus or walking. I spend a lot of time doing both.
For gaming, I lean towards appreciating thoughtful design and innovation in addition to gameplay which is of course the core of any game. I try to think through how the game's designers would have approached their task and their influences, just as you could critique a film director.
Fuck me that was almost devoid of humour and approaching enthusiastic. How did that happen?
Lists to come
Stay classy
Anyway, back to the title topic of this entry: Lists. The end of a year and a decade is nigh, and an army of lists marches forth from the pages of every newspaper and website in the land. Despite the miopic and subjective nature of these lists, and the nature of their design being to be a cheap and easy way to provoke a massive zealous response from readers, I can't help but be a sucker for them (damn you, doublethink). I thought over the next couple of days I would try to thrash out a couple of lists, one on music and one on games. I really do not know enough about films to have any authority on them, but I'm working on it.
As a preface to this I would just like to give a brief insight into my likes and dislikes, and my method of judging cultural output.
I believe there is a distinct division to be made between quality, or what is deemed to be "Good" (and will forever have a capital G to make clear this definition), and what I personally like.
This is my confused attempt to wade through the murky waters of subjectivity when judging all mediums - what is "Good", and what do "I like".
The perfect example for me is the Coen brothers 2007 film "No Country For Old Men". I honestly can say that I think this film is Good, but I do not like it. I have no intention of watching it again. I could appreciate the directorial efforts and acting ability on show, but the film left me cold.
So I did talk about films. Oh well.
Specifically in the realms of music and gaming:
Music: I tend to listen to all genres of music and I will usually go through periods when one artist is on extremely heavy rotation (hundreds of listens over the period of a few days). I think the best way to truly listen to music is alone, lying down with no distractions (at least for the first listen to a particular artist or album). After this, good points to listen are on the bus or walking. I spend a lot of time doing both.
For gaming, I lean towards appreciating thoughtful design and innovation in addition to gameplay which is of course the core of any game. I try to think through how the game's designers would have approached their task and their influences, just as you could critique a film director.
Fuck me that was almost devoid of humour and approaching enthusiastic. How did that happen?
Lists to come
Stay classy
24.12.09
beginning of the end of the beginning
Thought I'd start a blog, mainly due to severe boredom whilst home over christmas. Just started playing a bit of Warcraft after a recommendation from a friend. Yeah. That bored. Not that it isn't fun, but I hate myself for playing it. Still, better than watching Noel's HQ on Sky1. But then again fellating Mandingo would be.
Enough about gigantic black men (for now). I think I'll just post stuff I've been up to and what I think of it. This won't be much but it's mainly to amuse myself. Brilliant if you like it as well. Most of this will be music, games and film related musings and comments on my various misadventures.
As it is I have another 9000 words to write for my January 12th essay deadlines, so that's consuming the majority of my life.
Fuck Gatsby.
Stay classy
Enough about gigantic black men (for now). I think I'll just post stuff I've been up to and what I think of it. This won't be much but it's mainly to amuse myself. Brilliant if you like it as well. Most of this will be music, games and film related musings and comments on my various misadventures.
As it is I have another 9000 words to write for my January 12th essay deadlines, so that's consuming the majority of my life.
Fuck Gatsby.
Stay classy
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