These records make the rounds
I really debated doing this or not. Lately, I’ve come to appreciate hearing other people’s reviews more than I care to express my own. Not to mention, I think more people make end-of-year lists than vote in elections. Lastly, who the hell reads these? What it came down to is I’m waiting for breakfast, and I can’t read because of all the chatter, and watching television seems rude, so you faithless reader, get to quickly peruse some of my favorite albums from this last year. I usually do a whole year in review, and if I find the time or the relevance, I’ll do that as well. In truth, a lot happened this year. Too much to mention without leaving something out. So you’ll just have to take my word for it: this was a pretty good year. My previous end of year reflections were probably sub-conscious attempts at convincing myself that I had a good year. I usually did. I just have difficulty recognizing it in the moment. This year, I can forgo with the convincing. I know what kind of year it was. It was awesome.
This was a critical year for music, not just in terms of releases, but for me personally. Two of my long-time favorite bands, Social Distortion and Red Hot Chili Peppers, released albums this year. I picked up a digital copy of Social Distortion’s album, and while it wasn’t great, or maybe it was and I just don’t have the same appreciation for rock, it was a nice nostalgic flashback. Social Distortion was the first band that I heard at my first job, and it was quite possibly the first album I bought with my own money. I remember my mom took me to the mall so I could buy the cd (I was still only 14 so I couldn’t take myself), and she asked what I was getting, and I told her it was a band I heard at work. She chuckled and remarked how funny it was that I now had references from my job. I remember feeling grown up at that moment. Then I threw a fit until she bought me a corndog. It’s likely that their new album got no more than two plays, but as long as Mike Ness puts out music, I’ll buy it, if for no other reason that it makes me feel like a big boy.
As for the Chili Peppers, my earliest memory of them is skipping recess in 3rd grade to listen to their cassette on the school’s blue and white cassette player with the metal headphones and the life preserver foam. Ryan Johnston and I would listen very carefully for any and all expletives. When one of us would hear one, we would pause the tape, inform the other one, rewind it, and listen again. I have been a loyal fan ever since. As far as I’m concerned, no album they’ve released has even come close to the magic of Blood Sugar Sex Magik. Still I buy their albums, and for a couple months, it’s all I listen to. This time around, I picked up a physical copy of their album, one of only three actual cds I bought this year. I can say with certainty that it was the end of an era. I will probably never buy another Chili Peppers album, and I will probably never buy another cd. If I need a RHCP fix, I’ll just listen to the classics, and if I feel like I need to buy a cd, I’ll just masturbate. Because my irrational need to consume stems from anxiety and control. And nothing’s as cathartic an ol’ fashioned.
Conversely, with Amazon’s mp3 albums averaging $5 a pop, I probably bought more music this year than ever before. A rough estimate puts the total number albums of albums around 50. This made composing a list quite a process. At least I take comfort in knowing that it will forever be immortalized on a visitor-less website.
Here are my top albums for 2011 in no particular order:
J. Cole- Cole World: The Sideline Story
All year, reviewers have given the same review to any number of albums. “Good, but more of the same.” Then you get people criticizing Watch the Throne for being brash, flamboyant, or unrelatable. So if you’re tired of the recipe, and the new is too exotic, then where do you turn? To a Cole World. I was waiting for this album for some time. Jay-Z signee, college graduate with honors, stellar mix-tapes, lyrically sharp, and legitimate producer. It’s a hustla’s flow with a university word bank. J. Cole sounds like what 2Pac would’ve sounded like had he not been so hell bent on being a thug.
Goes well with: a pair of headphones and a walk through the city, or simply by yourself at home with your finger high-speed scrubbing to catch the word play.
Jay-Z and Kanye West- Watch the Throne
These two guys have enough money and fame to never have to clock another minute in the studio. So despite all the excitement, there was some fear that they might phone it in. While it may not be the best product from either man, it would be hard to argue that they’ve ever worked harder. I recently saw them perform at the Staples Center, and the only downside to the concert was that their performance made the album underwhelming by comparison. And if you think listening to Ni**as in Paris 10 times would make you never want to hear it again, you’d be wrong. Year after year, I tip my hat and open my wallet in appreciation of what these two are doing for rap.
Goes well with: a live show at the Staples Center, a long night, and an early morning.
Mayer Hawthorne- How Do You Do
Beautiful and soulful. A remarkable album.
Goes well with: paperwork, home cooking, wine, or a Sunday.
Exile and Blu- Give Me My Flowers While I Can Still Smell Them
Released without warning (I was going to say “…out of the blu,” but that kind of wordplay will inspire people to call you a prick), and totally amazing. Recorded two years ago, and it captures the same introspection and careful delivery as their freshman effort. Their previous release, Below the Heavens, is one of my top three albums of all time. This release probably won’t change that, but it’s a serious threat.
Goes well with: traveling, writing, relaxing.
Drive Soundtrack
If you don’t have 90 minutes a day to set aside to watch the movie, then this will serve as your methadone. I like it as background music while I read, but I’m sure it would also work if you like to bake, do cocaine, or stomp someone’s face in.
Goes well with: the movie, a book, a cardio work-out.
Slim Cessna’s Auto Club- Unentitled
If you like macabre Evangelical theatrical rock n’ roll, then…who am I kidding? Who the fuck thinks they like that? But you will. Trust me.
Goes well with: A long pour, a road trip from Colorado to California, or the dark.
Random Axe
Black Milk, Guilty Simpson, and Sean Price. It’s gritty Detroit rap. Strap in.
Goes well with: A car, a joint, and a grudge.
Boaz- Transition
Just downloaded this. Don’t know much about it, except dude is from Pittsburgh, and he used to hustle. Now he raps. From what I’ve heard he’s more than decent at both.
Goes well with: a few good friends, a backyard, a bbq, and some time to kill.
Dessa- Castor, the Twin
Instrumental and vocal reimaginings of some of her best songs. It’s quite a divergence from the rap style so many of us have come to love, but it’s fresh and inspired, like nothing I’ve heard before.
Goes well with: A dimmer switch, a full bottle, a blank page, a dripping pen, and some shit to sort out.
Roc Marciano- Marcberg LP
From what I’ve read, this was unofficially released in 2010, but then officially released in 2011. Whatever I don’t need to justify myself to you. You probably stopped reading back at masturbation. Minimal beats, maximum lyrics. No filler, no gaudy hooks, just bars on top of bars. Like Only Built For Cuban Linx.
Goes well with: a long day in traffic.
Freddie Gibbs- Cold Day in Hell
Here is that inspired, but not a throwback, gangsta 90’s rap album you’ve been waiting for. You have been waiting for that right? Well doesn’t matter. It’s arrived whether you like it or not. And for your safety, say you like it. Gibbs is a cold muthafucka.
Goes well with: a hot day in the 90’s, a 40oz, and the movie Menace II Society
LOUIS C.K.- Hilarious…but also Live at the Beacon Theatre, and season 2 of Louie, and season 1 on DVD with audio commentary
I don’t like to have heroes. It’s never been my thing, but can I just say nothing comforts and inspires me more than talking to my Dad about Louis C.K. and David Foster Wallace. Right there are the three men that have had the biggest influence on my life.
Goes well with: Life.
Honorable Mention
Wale- Ambition
There’s so much heat on this album. But no matter how unique or talented the rapper, they will always strive for that R&B number, that Ja Rule and Ashanti track that will buy them a maybach and a honey to ride in it. An understandable gamble, but one that will likely cost you the coveted Jabbour album of the year.
Childish Gambino- Camp
See: Wale. Oh, and if you’re new to the scene, then all your response to criticism is just projecting. And it comes off a little whiney. Bonfire, You See Me, and Sunrise are pretty dope.
Doomtree- No Kings
Great album. Outstanding production. And from what I can make out, the lyrics are also dope. The trouble is the beats be turned up and the lyrics turned down. Not just technically, but emphasis. The whole project seemed focused on cohesion and production. The lyrical content just seems neglected.
A$AP Rocky-
Not my style, but with all the hype surrounding them, leaving them off the list would cost me my street cred (or more accurately my white guy blogging trend). Slow southern raps over Harlem-inspired beats.
Raekwon- Shaolin vs Wu-Tang
Consistent since Enter the 36 Chambers. Actually that’s not true at all. There were a couple stinkers in the past 15 years. This was a hot album, but when you release the flawless OB4CL2 last year, you sort of make the hype to big to conquer.
Lloyd Banks- The Cold Corner 2 Mixtape
I may get shit for this one, but Banks has stepped out of 50’s shadow, and this hustle and flow themed album is hot shit. Banks has switched up his flow, and his raps are raspy and gutter. Reminds me of The Lost Boyz, but with a larger scope.
I also enjoyed releases by The Roots, Saigon, Jay Rock, The Book of Mormon, Torae, Pharoahe Monch, Killer Mike, Kool G. Rap, Das Racist, Pusha T, and Bad vs Evil.
And for the record, Lil Wayne and Drake are garbage.
Alright, just a quick list:
Del Close Marathon, trips to Colorado, weddings, Really Fucking Great Comedy Show, Puerto Rico, first year teaching, Infinite Jest, Watch the Throne, Guns & Roses, Books, Nooks, and iPads, Relaxation, new friends, rap, improv, STAND-UP, Drive, Midnight in Paris, Ernest Hemingway, A fucking sweet birthday, a great companion, holidays with the family, Leadville, tacos, cheeseburgers, american apparel, a grown-up coat, appreciation for a job well done, breaking new ground, visiting stomping grounds, road trips, Grandpa, roommates, and Lemon.
There. Detailed enough to mark the events, vague enough that no one should feel left out. If you do, I’ll make it up to you in 2012.
Good Morning and Happy New Year! Start the year off on the good foot and get down to the Fanatic Salon this Friday!
Also
The song at the end of the finale of Louie was written by Louie. Unbelievable.
“In my head! it’s starting to feel like the world is making fun of me.”
-Louie
If you get high and watch season 1 of Louie with the commentary on, everything he says will sound profound.
By the way, I can’t recommend doing that enough
Emotionally intense images of retired Philadelphia police captain Ray Lewis - who has joined the #OccupyWallStreet protests - being arrested by the NYPD.
Captain Lewis has been outspoken against the NYPD’s wrongful use of violence against peaceful protesters.
From what I have seen, Ray Lewis’ conduct defines honor, bravery, and dignity.
There is a media blackout on images of his participation in the protest, and on his arrest:
It’s proved impossible for me to get this shot of former Philadelphia Police Cpt. Ray Lewis being arrested, published anywhere. I was adamantly rebuffed by the Philadelphia Inquirer, NYT, local NY papers, and Newsweek, before even looking at the photograph. One of the only published photos of this paradoxical and intense event is located here at the NYC Observer:
http://www.observer.com/2011/11/former-philadelphia-police-captain-ray-lewis-arrested-ows/
Make this viral and they will come.
Ray Lewis gets 2 posts this morning, because this needs to be seen. I’m not even sure why, but this pair of photos made me cry hysterically.
oh my god. so much props to this man. this country has turned into utter fucking insanity.
I have so much respect for this man.
Always reblog Cpt. Ray Lewis.
That’s some real shit there.
I know a repost isn’t the same as being arrested by your peers, but here’s me doing my part.
(via pauliophonic)
Ahh. Vice. Always bringing my favorites together.
![thedailywhat:
Cosplaying Kids of the Day: For Halloween, Redditor marjoegortner’s friend’s kids dressed up as something that stopped being a thing nearly a decade before they were born.
THAT’S HOW OLD YOU ARE.
[reddit.]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ltybbcbEvk1qzpwi0o1_500.jpg "thedailywhat:
Cosplaying Kids of the Day: For Halloween, Redditor marjoegortner’s friend’s kids dressed up as something that stopped being a thing nearly a decade before they were born.
THAT’S HOW OLD YOU ARE.
[reddit.]")
Cosplaying Kids of the Day: For Halloween, Redditor marjoegortner’s friend’s kids dressed up as something that stopped being a thing nearly a decade before they were born.
THAT’S HOW OLD YOU ARE.
[reddit.]
(via markdavidchristenson)
TONIGHT // FOUR LOKO // SKURTCH COMEDY // MOVING ARTS THEATRE // 9PM // FREE
