Category Archives: Music

Top 5 Albums of 2013: The Contenders

Yeah, I’m still doing this. So let’s go!

Here are the new albums I’ve added to my collection in 2013, and are therefore contenders for this year’s list…

another cultural landslide — last days last days
Atoms for Peace — Amok
Boards of Canada — Tomorrow’s Harvest
Caroline Smith — Half About Being a Woman
The Darcys — Warring
David Bowie — The Next Day
Disappears — Era
Joe Satriani — Unstoppable Momentum
Justin Timberlake — The 20/20 Experience (1 and 2)
Lusine — The Waiting Room
MGMT — MGMT
Midlake — Antiphon
Nine Inch Nails — Hesitation Marks
Nitemoves — Themes
Phoenix — Bankrupt!
Steven Wilson — The Raven That Refused to Sing (And Other Stories)
Toro y Moi — Anything in Return
Washed Out — Paracosm

Honestly… I’ve heard some really great new music this year, although my range of styles has narrowed in considerably on “chillwave” electronic music and surrounding genres. And while not completely homogenous, almost all of the artists are men, and almost all of them are white. I regret this, but it is what it is. And what it is, is, the music I listened to a lot this year, which is a reflection of me.

My heart isn’t quite in this whole process as much as it has been in years past. (Also, I just don’t have time.) So let’s cut to the chase. My top 5 albums are in bold above. But in what order? That will come in the next post.

Classic albums I belatedly “discovered” in 2012

I have, with some friends and acquaintances, cultivated the notion that I’m some kind of walking encyclopedia of music, especially that of the 1970s. But in reality there is so much music out there that I’ve never heard or just never really given a chance, even things by bands I really like. For instance, this year I finally heard Pink Floyd’s Obscured by Clouds for the first time. It was the album they recorded just prior to their legendary breakthrough Dark Side of the Moon, and it’s been on heavy rotation in the studio for the past few months.

That got me thinking: every year I compile my list of the top 5 new albums of the year, but I never reflect on the “new to me” music that I’ve only just gotten into this year. I’m not going to bother with a review of every album, but here’s a list of all of the new music I added to my library in 2012 that wasn’t released in 2012. Some of it is from the past couple of years; some of it is older than I am.

For extra fun, the list is presented in the order I added these albums to my iTunes library. I also bought a few greatest hits albums but I’m leaving them out, along with — of course — new remastered versions of albums I already owned.

  • Weather Report: Black Market (1976)
  • Antonio Carlos Jobim: Tide (1970)
  • Washed Out: Within and Without (2011)
  • Boards of Canada: Music Has the Right to Children (1998)
  • Washed Out: Life of Leisure (2010)
  • Hüsker Dü: Zen Arcade (1984)
  • Sufjan Stevens: Illinoise (2005)
  • Boards of Canada: Hi Scores (1996)
  • Boards of Canada: Trans Canada Highway (2006)
  • Billy Joel: 52nd Street (1978)
  • The Alan Parsons Project: I Robot (1977)
  • The Darcys: The Darcys (2011)
  • The Beach Boys: Concert (1964)
  • The Beach Boys: Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!) (1965)
  • The Beach Boys: Today (1965)
  • The Beach Boys: Live in London (1968)
  • Van Halen: Women and Children First (1980)
  • Bob Dylan: Nashville Skyline (1969)
  • Trombone Shorty: Backatown (2010)
  • Boz Scaggs: Silk Degrees (1976)
  • Def Leppard: Pyromania (1983)
  • Gong: Flying Teapot – Radio Gnome Invisible, Pt. 1 (1973)
  • The Sea and Cake: Car Alarm (2008)
  • The Mothers of Invention: Freak Out! (1966)
  • Frank Zappa: Hot Rats (1969)
  • Pink Floyd: Obscured by Clouds (1972)
  • Com Truise: Fairlight (2011)
  • Com Truise: Galactic Melt (2011)
  • Röyksopp: Senior (2010)
  • Röyksopp: Junior (2009)
  • Tame Impala: InnerSpeaker (2010)
  • Com Truise: Cyanide Sisters (2011)
  • Queen: The Game (1980)
  • Emerson Lake and Palmer: Live at the Mar y Sol Festival (1972)
  • Peter Gabriel: So (1986) [Seriously! OK, I did already own it on vinyl.]

Top 5 Albums of 2012

Here it is… my long awaited (?) top 5 albums of 2012 list. Contain yourself. Here we go.

5. Rush — Clockwork Angels

It may not have made the biggest splash in the musical world, but for Rush fans this album was a long time coming… the band’s first true full concept album (no, really), their best music in decades (we really mean it this time), and it was followed by a tour featuring an 8-piece string ensemble (!) and their long overdue induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (!!). It also features what is arguably the most genuinely beautiful piece of music in the band’s career, the closing track “The Garden.”

In many ways, the concept of Clockwork Angels is a steampunk-inspired, 21st century reinterpretation of their 1976 classic 2112 (note the time on the clock on the album cover), with less Ayn Rand and more first-hand wisdom. It’s also a clever retrospective and reflection on the band’s career itself. I don’t know if Rush will ever record any more albums, but I think this would be a good place to stop.

4. Aimee Mann — Charmer

Charmer is full of infectious melodies and perfectly crafted pop, but much like the best work of Steely Dan, beneath this sonic veneer lies a dark core. These songs explore, with… not quite cynicism, but perhaps a tired resignation, the more deplorable aspects of human nature. Which doesn’t make the songs any less catchy.

I have to confess that up until now I haven’t been a huge Aimee Mann fan. It’s not that I had anything against her music; I just never really gave her much of a chance. I also have to confess that the main reason I changed my attitude about her was her outstanding deadpan performance on an episode of Portlandia where she, being a struggling musician, was found working as Fred and Carrie’s housekeeper. There wasn’t much of her music in the show, but she was so natural in her performance that it really got my attention. I’m glad it did, because her music is fantastic.

3. The Darcys — Aja

Speaking of Steely Dan, how would you like a dark, noisy, post-rock reinterpretation of their entire 1977 classic Aja? Toronto-based indie band The Darcys have achieved something amazing with their stark, haunting, brooding take on the yacht rock classic (and one of my favorite albums of all time). At turns ethereal and icy, then erupting with white-hot rage, this album manages to do with Steely Dan’s music what they could never do themselves — match the darkness of their lyrical content.

At first I found this album hard to listen to, but as I allowed it to unfold and reveal itself, it became one of my favorites of the year… and I may now even like it more than the original.

2. Air — Le voyage dans la lune

Hugo was my favorite movie of 2011. With its focus on the legendary, and nearly lost, works of silent filmmaker Georges Méliès, specifically Le voyage dans la lune (A Trip to the Moon), it was also a perfect set-up for this year’s release of Air’s new score for the 1902 film.

The album came with a video of the restored, hand-painted color version of the film with Air’s musical accompaniment. It was a great way to see the full film for the first time, and I think despite over a century’s distance, and playing in styles (and with instruments!) that wouldn’t yet be invented for decades when the film was made, it works perfectly. The album also stands well on its own apart from the film.

1. Com Truise — In Decay

It’s funky, it’s weird, it’s overflowing with ’80s synths and drum machines. In short, it’s pretty much exactly the album I wish I had recorded myself in 2012.

This is definitely not an album for everyone, but I find it manages to perfectly balance my own penchant for weird noises and unpredictable song structures with an approachability that doesn’t make me embarrassed to be caught listening to it. (Yes, this is a serious concern for me a lot of the time.) It’s not as “out there” as Boards of Canada, but it’s got a fair amount of that IDM vibe (if we must put such a pretentious label on it). It never lets experimentation get in the way of a good groove however, and — despite being entirely instrumental — captures a lot of the nostalgic ’80s synth pop sound people of my generation just can’t quite seem to let go of.

Would I say Com Truise (great name, by the way) has recorded “objectively” the best album of 2012? Despite the fact that there’s no objectivity in art, I would still probably say “no.” But it’s the one album of the year that I just couldn’t stop listening to. Besides my own, anyway.

Playlist for the end of the world

Needless to say, I do not believe the world is going to end tomorrow. OK, I said it anyway. And now that it’s said, let’s have a little fun with it.

I’ve put together an iTunes playlist of songs from my music library that seemed fitting in some way for the occasion:

  1. Steely Dan — Black Friday
  2. National Health — The Apocalypso
  3. Nine Inch Nails — The Beginning of the End
  4. Rush — In the End
  5. The Beatles — The End
  6. Styx — Don’t Let It End
  7. Zero 7 — End Theme
  8. Kraftwerk — Europe Endless
  9. Hall & Oates — Friday Let Me Down
  10. Chicago — It Better End Soon (1st Movement)
  11. Chicago — It Better End Soon (2nd Movement)
  12. Chicago — It Better End Soon (3rd Movement)
  13. Chicago — It Better End Soon (4th Movement)
  14. Prince — 1999
  15. Genesis — Los Endos
  16. King Crimson — Peace: An End
  17. R.E.M. — It’s the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
  18. U2 — Until the End of the World
  19. Elvis Costello — Waiting for the End of the World
  20. Happy Apple — The World Begins and Ends in Your Combover
  21. Room 34 — December 22, 2012

Yes, that last one is my own… recorded earlier this year as a reflection on what the world will be like the day after it ends. You can get it here. (Interesting side note: every sound on that song — the whole album in fact — was produced on an iPhone.)

Album covers from the Mayan Apocalypse playlist

The Post-it note that started it all

My recently completed rock opera, 8-Bit Time Machine, did not begin as most of my albums do, with a list of song titles to serve as inspiration, an overarching concept, and a handful of drum beats or keyboard grooves.

No, it began with this Post-it note.

8-Bit Time Machine chords Post-it

You see, I keep my cheap Fender Strat hanging next to my desk in the studio, so whenever I feel inspired or just need a mental break, I can take it down and noodle for a few minutes. In September I started tinkering with a chord progression, which I had to write down so I wouldn’t forget it, and then I continued to expand on it and rework it, until it became the structure for track 10, “You’re Not That Old Anymore.”

In fact this chord progression ended up serving as the basis for almost the entire album, as it first appears (in its entirety) on a keyboard in the opening track, and crops up again in bits and pieces in other tracks (especially #2, “Daydream of the 8-Bit Time Machine”, and #7, “(No) Meaning in the Machine”), before getting its full realization in the album’s penultimate track.

I kept this Post-it note stuck right on the front of that Strat for over a month before I actually began recording the album. At that point the chords were in my blood and I no longer needed a cheat sheet to remember them. But I kept it anyway as a rare physical memento of the unusual origins of this most unusual album.

Obviously not everything from the Post-it was entirely relevant. There’s nothing on the album in 5/8, for instance, although perhaps that interest in 5 is what inspired the crazy quintuplet drum fills in the loud section of track #8, “Horizontal Hold”.