Dudical! » Music

Posted on May 11th, 2010 in Music by dja

100 best albums of the aughts, part 1 (#100-91)

I was recently inspired by my friend to make a list featuring the top 100 albums of the aughts. You knew I would instantly have to make my own, right?

Thus! The following albums are my favorites from the year 2000-09. There are a few caveats; namely:

- This list is not meant to be academic! Importance; or significance; or otherwise albums that I am “supposed” to like do not mean added/weighted rank. Instead, I focused just on how much I alone adore them—like, by myself. You know? So you will probably notice some glaring omissions. (As much as I appreciate Animal Collective and The National, I just don’t find myself listening to them very often.)

- These were HARD(!) to rank. The albums at the top of the list are all basically perfect, but you could still probably make a convincing argument on reordering several of the top choices and I’d have a tough time refuting.

- No EPs allowed. No remixes either. Just regular-ol’ long-play goodness.

- There are no albums from 2010. The year is not done, sillies!

- I also found a ton of albums that I had completely forgotten about. That is always awesome.

On to the list(!!!) ( !!! is not on the list). #100 through 91:

	#100 Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (2005) Self-Released It seems like ages ago when Blognation erupted in flames over this album. I still enjoy it, but not quite as much as when it first came out. (Neo-David Byrnian vocals seem oddly placatory in 2010.) ‘Upon This Tidal Wave of Young Blood‘ remains an ridiculous anthemic closer that will overtake your soul, though.
	#99 Ambulance Ltd. – LP (2004) TVT Records Ambulance LTD is like Yo La Tengo Lite. This LP (aptly named … LP) takes a tour of indie rock’s guitar-centric past but transcends it with ridiculously catchy choruses (‘Anecdote‘) and hints of Lou Reed (‘Primitive‘). ‘Heavy Lifting‘ is the song that originally put me in the Ambulance, but the rest of the album begins to reveal itself after more listens as well.
	#98 Vincent Gallo – When (2001) Warp Records Vincent Gallo has always been polarizing and narcissistic, but he’s also damn talented; and he always seems to be at the forefront of art culture—notably, playing in a band with an uknown Jean-Michel Basquiat in the early 80s. Gallo’s voice is surprisingly gentle (his dad was also a singer), and these songs are charming and delicate; similar to the tracks he composed for the Buffalo ’66 soundtrack, but more fully realized.
	#97 Atlas Sound – Logos (2009) Kranky Records Bradford Cox is one of indie rock’s more prolific musicians right now; but surprisingly Logos was his only release in 2009. The album features guest spots from Noah Lennox and Laetitia Sadier, both of whom fit in nicely with Cox’s vision. Bradford’s penchant for dreamy, trance-like melodies is manifest beautifully.
	#96 Liars – Liars (2007) Mute Records The very nature of what makes Liars great is also what prevents me from listening to their records as much as I’d like; that is, the deconstructionist, No Wave vibe so present in their music. Liars dangle hooks like bait only to pull them away at the last second. The songs on this album are slightly more accessible (eg. ‘Sailing in Byzantium‘) than some of their others, but it’s a challenging (and rewarding) album nonetheless.
	#95 Local H – Whatever Happened to P.J. Soles? (2004) Studio E Records Local H combine witty lyrics (I particularly love the wry cynicism of ‘California Songs‘) and rock-your-ass-off riffs to make a two-person band sound twice as big. They also know when to hold the punches, though. The 10-minute quasi-ballad ‘Buffalo Trace‘ seems to meander aimlessly before ultimately turning on the shred for a Through The Fire And Flamesesque outro.
	#94 Primal Scream – Evil Heat (2002) Sony I prefer the darker, machine-like tone of Primal Scream’s later material to the more critically acclaimed dub-influenced psychedelia of their earlier records. ‘Rise‘ was apparently originally titled ‘Bomb the Pentagon‘, but was changed after the 9/11 attacks, which I think is kind of idiotic—why are you writing a song called Bomb the Pentagon if you don’t mean it?
	#93 The Life and Times – Suburban Hymns (2005) De Soto Records Allen Eppley expands on his work with Shiner—more hooks, more layers, less math rock; however, his thick, smoky vocals remain. Eppley has always excelled at writing melodies, but this album ups the ante, especially on its excursions into dreamy, post-shoegaze balladry (e.g., ‘Muscle Cars‘).
	#92 Phoenix – It’s Never Been Like That (2006) EMI I’m not as high on Phoenix as some, but they definitely have their place in my listening repertoire. Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix solidified their jump from cult heroes to legitimate indie stars, but I actually prefer this album—it’s slightly sexier; and if you have ever seen these dudes’ dress, you know just how sexy they can be.
	#91 Grandaddy – Sumday (2003) V2 Sumday isn’t as instantly memorable as other Grandaddy albums, but it’s a great record in its own right. Strangely, despite the wintry album cover, hopeless song titles (e.g., ‘Saddest Vacant Lot in all the World‘) and typically isolationist lyrics, Sumday just doesn’t sound as depressing as Jason Lytle can often be. (There’s a glimmer of hope here.)

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Posted on January 2nd, 2009 in Music,Year End List by dja

Top 25 albums of 2008

2008 kind of sucked for music. there were just a few utterly amazing records, and really only 20-25 good ones. i didn’t feel too terrible about any of those that didn’t make it on the list. BUT, here are my favorites anyway.

	#25 Portugal. The Man – Censored Colors Equal Vision Portugal. The Man’s brief history is already quite inconsistent. Their brilliant debut was followed by an amazing EP, which was followed by a starkly disappointing full-length just a few months later. Which was followed by this—possibly their most consisent record (whether that’s good or bad i’m still not sure). Still, Censored Colors more or less flows from beginning to end, albeit without the highs of their first album or the lows of their second.
	#24 Beck – Modern Guilt Interscope Possibly Beck’s most cohesive record to date, Modern Guilt is drenched in sublime melodies and sunny rhythms and sing-along choruses. Beck doesn’t rely on his chameleon-like musical ability as much as he has in the past, and as a result the album flows seamlessly from beginning to end.
	#23 The Faint – Fasciination blank.wav Fasciinatiion moves away from the orchestral direction of Wet From Birth and back to the machinistic vitality of The Faint’s earlier records. Unfortunately it falls short in its attempts to revisit the deceptively simple melodies and hooks of those efforts. A solid album, but we have come to expect much more from them at this point.
	#22 The Black Angels – Directions to See a Ghost Light in the Attic The Black Angels’ second full-length harkens back to the 60s even moreso than their first, resulting in an undeniably amazing trip through a dreamed-up-decade of faux Vietnams and LSD and Woodstocks. Yet, as much flower-power decade nostalgia The Black Angels possess, they still manage to sound simultaneously modern, which gives them resonance and reason to look back on the past and recreate it on their terms.
	#21 No Age – Nouns Sub Pop Nouns picks up where the highly acclaimed Weirdo Rippers left of — bursting with fuzzed-out guitars, abrasive melodies and barely audible vocals. Yet, buried underneath the layers and layers of noise and dissonance are sugar-coated hooks on par with some of the best indie pop bands around, which gives this record a disarming warmth.
	#20 MGMT – Oracular Spectacular Sony MGMT’s first full-length is a sort of savvy melangé of vintage Bowie and late Flaming Lips — juxtaposing sunny psychedelia with dancey anthems that compliment eachother beautifully by turning keyboards into acid flashbacks and acid flashbacks into dancefloor epidemics.
	#19 Tall Firs – Too Old To Die Young Ecstatic Peace! Too Old To Die Young meanders and stumbles through muddy melodies and half-drunk confessionals that are equally intrinsic and calming and sad and accepting of themselves. Dave Mies’ fatalistic vocals seem both at peace and self aware — melding perfectly with the band’s intricate guitar arrangements; brooding softly and peacefully, like a moon, setting in the sun’s sky.
	#18 Colour Revolt – Plunder, Beg, and Curse Fat Possum Colour Revolt’s first full-length tones down the raw, abrasive attitude found on their EP in favor of a muddier, introspective tone — lending the record a mature, slow-paced drawl that snakes around like a dirty southern creek littered with weeds and leeches. Yet, this subtle shift in songwriting enhances the band’s strengths even moreso, resulting in a strong record that reveals more of its secrets with each successive listen.
	#17 The Dandy Warhols – …Earth to the Dandy Warhols… Beat The World The Dandies’ tongues are firmly in cheek and their middle fingers raised high on their latest record — their trademark sarcasm and wit as good as ever. Such snide megalomania is what makes this band successful and they’ve come close to perfecting it here, with an album that brilliantly blends the hooks and neo-psychedelia of their early work with the fuck-you-i’m-better-than-you attitude they’ve spent so many years cultivating.
	#16 The Brian Jonestown Massacre – My Bloody Underground A Records Eccentric madman Anton Newcombe’s first album in four years is a hallucinogenic journey through the mind of the mentally insane. Most of the tracks found here are much less songs than strange, meandering collections of ambience: brain synapses, otherwordly anthems, mistake-ridden solecisms and druggy psychedelia. My Bloody Underground is neurotic and restless and moody and brilliant.
	#15 The Magnetic Fields – Distortion Nonesuch Stephin Merritt’s latest thematic undertaking is drenched in reverb — brilliantly accentuating Shirley Simms’ sugary vocals, which in turn act as delicious adversaries to Merritt’s deep, miserablist delivery. Merritt’s arrangements are melodic and sunny as ever, lending Distortion a sort of strange happy-but-sad temper that feeds off its own simplistic beauty.
	#14 Health – Disco Lovepump United Disco brilliantly blends Health’s noise-rock melodies with tumultuous beats and grinding synths that cycle in and out of focus while simultaneously stomping heads and making love. Each mix is unique and interesting, never boring, giving the record a linear feel that darkly (and murderously) straddles the line between man and machine.
	#13 The Dodos – Visiter Frenchkiss Essentially The Dodos’ third album, Visiter furthers the delicate guitarplay of Meric Long, dueling splendidly harmonic vocal melodies, slightly dissonant interludes and Long’s penchant for driving (almost tribal) rhythms that appear and disappear and reappear throughout the record’s (grimy? possibly) entirety.
	#12 Foals – Antidotes Sub Pop Foals utilize myriad influences (everything from the madchester sounds of The Stone Roses to the current neo no-wave of New Young Pony Club), creating a dichotomy of cool — a mature, multicultural sound that staccatos along at a deliberately slow pace and still feels fevered and energetic; kind of like the assured international shitstorm of a U.S. oil spill near the Russian border.
	#11 Murder By Death – Red of Tooth and Claw Vagrant Murder By Death’s fourth full-length is a soulful deathride through tumbleweeds and deserts and ghost towns, characterized by cryptic string arrangements and haunting passages that brilliantly accentuate Adam Turla’s deep, guttural vocals.
	#10 Kings of Leon – Only By the Night RCA Only By the Night takes Kings of Leon’s despondent southern rock to new, anthemic heights that are draped in a polished sheen not found on their previous work. Still, it works — providing the songs a glisten and shimmer that brings to the forefront the melodies that were often dirtied and muddied in the past.
	#9 Local H – 12 Angry Months Shout! Factory A concept album about breakups, this record perfectly encapsulates the withered energy required to sustain a useless and fruitless relationship. Musically, the band moves forward where P.J. Soles left off — at times willing to bare some vulnerability while still maintaining the thunderous power of past releases. As usual, Scott Lucas’s lyrics are witty and on point and smothered in a backdrop of pummeling, skullcrushing rhythmic passages.
	#8 Black Francis – Svn Fngrs Cooking Vinyl This mini-album from Frank Black is easily his best work since Teenager of the Year. Svn Fngrs is loaded with explosive riffs and supercharged dynamics — topped off with delicious, dripping melodies reminiscent of his prolific early-90s work.
	#7 Islands – Arm’s Way Anti- Islands’ second full-length finds the band coming into their own as a band with an actual voice instead of just a post-Unicorns project. Arm’s Way is significantly darker than its predecessors, but it’s dark in that sort of way that makes you kind of want to just solitarily confine yourself while you listen to your own insanity and dance happily and think about murdering past lovers and then dance some more.
	#6 The Kills – Midnight Boom Domino The Kills’ latest is as raw and catchy as ever. VV’s vocals are spot on, with a heavy reliance on melodic PJ Harvey-styled causticity. Conversely, the mellow moments add a delicate, complimentary flavor to the edgy mood that surrounds.
	#5 Auxes – Sunshine Lovitt Former Milemarker Dave Laney’s new project is a stunning amalgam of corrosive melodies and spastic dynamics that come together like the offspring of some kind of Tom Waits-meets-At the Drive in mutation. Abrasive and beguiling and raw, and ultimately brilliant.
	#4 Thinking Machines – A Complete Record of Urban Archaeology Catapult This Philadelphia trio’s third full-length is an exclamatory blend of post-punk dynamism and melodic discord that seamlessly connects to its roots but never denies its willingness to explore new sonic territory.
	#3 Pidgeon – Might as Well Go Eat Worms Absolutely Kosher Criminally underrated Pidgeon’s sophomore album takes more chances than its predecessor — consistently bait-and-switching the tempo; switching songs in the middle of songs; filling melodic passages with delightfully ear-splitting screams while simultaneously adding even more melody. Might As Well Go Eat Worms is a Pixies album on crack — taking extremes to the extreme all while brilliantly coalescing into one amazingly beautiful godlike sound.
	#2 Witch Hats – Cellulite Soul In-Fidelity Witch Hats first full-length continues the no-holds-barred, thunderous direction hinted at on their EP. Kris Buscombe’s rasping vocals perfectly match the band’s grungy, Nirvana-influenced palate, while the surrounding noise gives the record a fevered, frantic tone, creating a sort of catastrophic sounding cacophony of beautiful noise.
	#1 Crystal Castles – Crystal Castles Last Gang Crystal Castles’ long awaited full-length is smothered in 8-bit terror and synthy aural candy and out-of-this-world vocal manipulation and otherwise pure insanity. The new tracks stay true to the band’s renowned nightmare-freakscapes while adding an even more dancable vibe, creating a blistering fusion of intensity and melody.

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Posted on October 13th, 2008 in Album Art,Music by dja

This is album art

An entire library of album art:

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Posted on July 29th, 2008 in Music by dja

Amazing dive bar songs

Recently, I made a huge playlist of songs that are
What’s better than listening to whiskey-soaked laments at 1am? made to listen to on the jukebox in a shitty dive bar (with pitchers of shitty beer). Some of these are harder to find, but if you end up in a dingy bar some night with nothing but a a few dollar bills and an Evan Williams on the rocks, think back to this list and throw on whatever you can find.

If you can think of any amazing stuff that fits the vibe here, post them in the comments!

26 of the best:

Andy Williams – The Hawaiian Wedding Song
[The Hawaiian Wedding Song/1959]
Crooner Andy Williams covered this 1926 love song in 1959, turning it into a lazy aloha that fits a dive bar in a strange but perfect way.