15 rock albums that shaped my taste over the years (part III)

See also: Part I (Nos. 1-5) and Part II (Nos. 6-10)

11. Sigur Ros - ( )

I heard about Sigur Ros from one of the unlikeliest of sources: my blue-haired roommate Colin who was, at the time, pretty much exclusively into punk rock. He'd read about them in some music mag that said something extremely complimentary about it. He liked it, so I gave it a listen, and I fell asleep. Actually, this is probably the best album I can think of to fall asleep to. The words are some jibberish combination of English, Icelandic, and made up sounds, so there are no lyrics to occupy your mind. The tempo is slow, and the mood is dramatically mellow. This is night-time, headphone music. I have no idea what they're saying, but I think it's better that way, because the singer's voice acts as just another beautiful sounding instrument along with the reverbed guitars played with violin bows and the synths hovering idly on whatever note or chord would be most likely to stir up some sadness and awe. Getting into Sigur Ros opened me up to ambient sounds like SOAD opened me up to metal.  

12. Dismemberment Plan - Change

The Dismemberment Plan embody the "grower" label for me. I love all four of their albums, but it took a lot of listening to each one until I "got it." I got into D-Plan's discography in a backwards manner, literally. I started at the end, and worked my way to the beginning. Change was the DC band's last album, and their most accessible work too. It was a good starting point. Songs like "Time Bomb" and "Following Through" kept the CD in my car stereo long enough to let songs like "The Other Side" and "Pay for the Piano" settle into a comfortable space for my ears. This was, and arguably still is, my favorite band. They're a bit too weird for most people, but the mix of indie/emo/post-punk/prog sounds is right up my alley. The lyrics are clever, sometimes deep, sometimes funny, and the eccentricity of lead singer Travis Morrison really shines through in all of their best work. Sadly, the band broke up before I ever knew about them. They played two reunion/charity shows at the Black Cat two years ago, and the first one of those still ranks as my favorite concert of all time.

13. Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

Neutral Milk Hotel represents the first band on this list that I was not told about by someone I know personally. I just found them based on reviews online, which seems so obvious to me now that I'm kind of obsessed with this stuff, but reminds me that the internet has made such a difference in every area of life. I'm sure I gravitated to this album because of an existing affinity for bands like the Flaming Lips and  Modest Mouse, who I think owe at least some of their inspiration to this great but short-lived band. This album is the work of what I think must have been some sort of mad genius. All the best musicians are a little mad, but NMH almost flaunts it. The genius part is what makes it so interesting though. The music and lyrics represent timeless songwriting. The crazy sounds you hear may irk you at first, but they all come together to paint a surreal, dreamlike picture of love and loss, or at least that's what I think it's about.

14. Mars Volta - De-Loused in the Comatorium

Just when I thought I'd fully swayed from prog to indie rock, Mars Volta came along and called me back. This album blew me away on first listen, and still blows me away every time I listen to it. I think this album is one of the most amazing things to come out of rock music in the aughts (...hmm future blog post?). This album incorporates some of my favorite features of prog bands like Rush and King Crimson, classic rockers like Pink Floyd and Zeppelin, with some of the smoothness and class of Latin music, and the edge of post-punk. High praise, I know, but this album and their next one, Frances the Mute, definitely warrant it. It didn't bring prog-rock back to favored genre status for me, but it reminded me how unimportant it is to have a favorite genre, because there are always going to be exceptional bands and albums that defy the boundaries and just sound like damn good music.

15. Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand, The Faint - Danse Macabre, The Rapture - Echoes

I know, I totally cheated here. It bothers me a little, too. I don't think I would put any of these albums on here on their own on this list. I got into all of them around the same time, and all three of them together contributed to get my ass on the dance floor. Until not too long ago, I was one of those guys that refused to get up and dance. Then, the infiltration of dance beats into my favored genre of music got me wanting to move my feet. It's unfair to the bands to lump them together like this, but in my life, these are the songs I put on at parties to get people moving, even though it usually ends up being me alone.

Honorable Mention:

Beatles - Abbey Road

Dream Theater - Scenes from a Memory

Yes - Close to the Edge

Cake - Fashion Nugget

Fiona Apple - When the Pawn...

The Walkmen - Bows + Arrows

Sufjan Stevens - Greetings from Michigan: The Great Lakes State

The National - Boxer

15 rock albums that shaped my taste over the years (part II)

See also: Part I (Nos. 1-5)

6. Pink Floyd - Animals

Around the same time I was experimenting with illegal internet downloading, I also started experimenting with mind-altering substances. And what better way to appreciate those substances than to rock out to some Pink Floyd at their trippiest. It's not like I hadn't heard Dark Side of the Moon or The Wall by this point. I liked them, too. But Animals was the one that made me love Pink Floyd and psychedelic music in general. It's a concept album with five songs, including two short versions of the same song, "Pigs on the Wing" as the album's bookends, and three epic (10 min. plus) tracks, "Dogs" (my favorite Floyd song of all time), "Pigs", and "Sheep" in between. The songs have many parts, and many weird sounds, but they flow incredibly well, especially after a few hits off our dorm room's trusty apparatus, Sub-Zero, in the glow of a fiber-optic Christmas tree in April.

7. King Crimson - Red

Here's where my tastes started getting kinda weird. My sophomore year of college, my roommate Andrew introduced me to King Crimson, based on my positive feelings for Yes and Dream Theater, two of prog-rock's giants. I liked those bands, but there was always something inherently nerdy about them that kept me from total adoration. KC, and specifically Red represented an unnerdy prog-rock band that I could fully get behind. Now, don't get me wrong, the members of Crimson are definitely nerds. But a few times in their nearly 40-year existence, they've put together the right formula for a technically brilliant album that has soul. Kurt Cobain said Red was one of his major influences, and is quoted in various places on the interweb as saying it is the best album ever made. The closing track, "Starless," is 12 minutes of brooding, blues-prog-jazz-rock mastery. It remains one of my favorite songs of all time. 

8. Radiohead - OK Computer

Duh! What list of significant albums would be complete without Radiohead's OK Computer? After all, it's their OK Computer! Ahh how I amuse myself. I got on the Radiohead bandwagon about a decade late. I'd heard "Creep" and "Fake Plastic Trees" and even "Karma Police" when they were first on the radio, but never bothered to get any of their albums until just before Hail to the Thief came out. Then I kicked myself for having missed all the bandwagony goodness of Radiohead's prime. Better late than never, though, right? Actually, I think they're still in their prime, and that In Rainbows is their greatest success, and the The Bends is a better album than OK Computer, but for the purposes of this list, this is the one that started it all for me. It opened the doors of "indie" music to my prog-rock-obsessed ears, and I have never turned back. An oversized poster of the album artwork is prominently displayed in my bedroom, but it keeps falling down onto my bed because it's too heavy for the many layers of poster tape I have used to secure it. Yes, OK Computer is so good, it even haunts me while I sleep.

9. System of a Down - Toxicity

I never thought I'd like metal. I was wrong. System of a Down proved me wrong. In a dimly lit dorm room in Ellicott Hall, when I should've been doing homework for that class I failed that cost me my scholarship, I first heard "Chop Suey" on MTV2. Yes, MTV2 used to show music videos, late, late at night. SOAD made metal very hip in my mind. Metallica are douchebags as far as I'm concerned. They can suck it. They killed Napster, after all. Also, their music never appealed to me beyond their technical proficiency. Other metal groups with the screaming and the hair ... not for me either. But SOAD brought a little extra something, with that Middle-Eastern vibe and Serj's crazy vocals. Their songs are exciting and fresh. Also, seeing them live was one of the greatest musical moments of my life. They bring the energy like a metal band should, but they don't take themselves so seriously like a lot of metal bands do, unfortunately.

10. The Strokes - Is This It?
Those late-night MTV2 videos introduced me to the Strokes too (as well as this obscure English group called Coldplay). "Is this from now or the 70s?" I asked my roommate as I watched Julian Casablancas wail away on "Last Nite." Turns out it was "now." Or 2002 anyway. There was definitely something vintage about the sound, but I couldn't buy the simplistic explanations of, "Oh, they just sound like the Velvet Underground." Uhh, no they don't. If anything, a closer approximation might be Television, but even that comparison is missing something. I thought long and hard about it, and decided that, despite a sound reminiscent in instrumentation and production quality, these were very modern types of rock songs, more similar to early Weezer and Nirvana in their effortless expression of the language of pop.

Stay tuned for Part III in the coming days.

15 rock albums that shaped my taste over the years (part I)

I often think about the scene in "High Fidelity" where John Cusack's character, Rob, explains to Dick his new organizational scheme for his record collection: autobiographical. I have no desire to organize my entire collection in this way, nor can I think of how, given that it's mostly in digital form. But I am posting here the next best thing: a list of 15 albums, arranged chronologically in terms of my awareness of them, that shook up my music taste when I first heard them. (FYI: This is not my list of 15 favorite albums of all time. That will come sometime between "later" and "never.")

1. U2 - Joshua Tree

I'm pretty sure this is the first complete album I ever consciously listened to in its entirety. I was about four, and I fell completely in love with "With or Without You," which my four-year-old brain was somehow convinced was sung by the bearded dude on the cover (not Bono). It's funny to think that my long and twisted journey into rock music fandom started with a band that, in retrospect, was already nearing the end of its serious musical relevance, yet is still producing "hit" records that I would never in a million years pay money for. Nevertheless, Joshua Tree's anthem-rock odes to the American West will always hold a special place in my heart. 

2. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magik

This was the first CD I ever owned. I'm pretty proud of that. A lot of people I know wouldn't want anyone to know what their first CD was, but I stand by mine 100%. I asked for the album for my 10th(-ish?) birthday from a group of friends, one of whom chided me that I had poor music taste. Ha, if only he could hear what I listen to nowadays. Coincidentally, the Chili Peppers were also at what I now consider the end of their creative relevance with this album, and they too continued to make mainstream "hits" that I would never buy. But this album was and still is fantastic. It was right at the crossing point between their spastic funk and chilled out alternative periods, a phase I wish would've lasted longer.

3. Weezer - Weezer (Blue)

I'm starting to notice a trend here. The first four albums on this list are all by artists who have gone majorly downhill in recent years, yet have the mainstream backing that allows them to sell out stadium shows with ease. Weezer's self-titled debut (the first of three self-titled albums... jerks!) was a staple of my middle-school post-grunge alternative diet. I was a little too young and perhaps not yet angry enough to fully appreciate grunge when it first came out. Bands like Weezer, Beck, Green Day, Blur, and Oasis dominated my interest in those formative years. The Blue album remains in my top ten(-ish?) albums of life to this day, and has one of my favorite songs of all time too, "Say it Ain't So." Also, on a personal note, in 7th grade, when I was dating Elain Szu, "our song" was "Buddy Holly." 

4. Dave Matthews Band - Under the Table and Dreaming

I had a long love affair with DMB from late middle school until early college. It'd be easy for me to say that I'm embarassed of this period, since I don't really like them anymore, but I will not. In my defense, this was before the days of downloading music, and the rock music on the radio in the late 90s was a steady stream of garbage (Third Eye Blind, Matchbox 20, Blink 182). During this dark period of mostly boy-bands and bling-bling hip-hop, DMB's fun, mellow songs were the best of what was around. Appropriately, the opening track on this album was called, "The Best of What's Around." Anyway, even though I no longer consider myself a fan, I still contend that DMB's first three studio albums were all pretty good, including this one, which had their first big hits, "What Would You Say?" and "Ants Marching." Also, interestingly enough, the second (and final) time I dated Elain Szu, in 8th grade, "our song" was "Satellite."

5. Dispatch - Bang Bang

This one is sort of cheating, because I never listened to Dispatch songs in album form, and had to Google their discography just now to figure out which album I should put on here. Why? Because to me, Dispatch = Napster. My freshman year of college coincided with the peak of illegal downloading on Napster. Dispatch was one of the bands that benefited the most (at least in terms of fame) from Napster, because their popularity spread like this: friend > AOL Instant Messenger > me > Napster > CD Burner > Discman. Yes, the process has been streamlined in the last decade, but this band, and specifically songs like "The General" on this album, were the prototype for peer-to-peer music sharing over the internet. Their jammy songs were pretty good too. Yes, they lacked depth, but back in the early aughts, we weren't looking for complexity. We were looking for things that were free. When the RIAA took Napster to court, Dispatch held a benefit concert for the cause, attended by Napster founder Shawn Fanning, in his ironic Metallica hat. I met the band at that gig at the 9:30 Club, and then I was one of 110,000 people to attend a free reunion/farewell concert in Boston a few years later.

Stay tuned for Parts II and III in the coming days.

Top 25 Albums of 2008

This was hard. Much harder than I thought it would be. I listened to about 75 albums from 2008, but there were so many more that I thought I "should" listen to, to be fair. Well, time ran out, and here's what I ended up with. I'm happy with it. I'd really appreciate your comments. Also, see my FULL list of reviews of all of the albums I listened to.

25. Beach House - Devotion
Very nice Nico-esque sound they have. It's retro, for sure, but not the same kind of retro everyone else seems to be ripping off lately. These Baltimoreans have done my home state proud.

24. AU - Verbs
I heard these guys open for the Dodos, and it took a few songs, but I eventually got into their sound. For some reason, I end up comparing a lot of bands to Animal Collective, but I think it's apt here. They have that same sense of how to make the bizarre beautiful.

23. Delta Spirit - Ode to Sunshine
Not consistently good through the whole album, but there are a few outstanding tracks. Their old-school folk/soul lo-fi sound feels comfortable from the moment you hear it.

22. Kanye West - 808s and Heartbreak
As much as I dislike the guy for his attitude, there's no denying his ear. Yeah, maybe he isn't a very good singer, but he knows it, and makes up for it with some appropriate effect-work.

21. Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours
Fun and dancy, this record doesn't take itself too seriously like a lot of electronic music. The synths and beats make for perfect party music that owes plenty to Depeche Mode and other earlier electronic groups, but still sounds modern. I think the singer could use some voice lessons though.

20. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
All quality songs. This mellow folk rock rookie in the Iron & Wine mold has some stellar melodies and a haunting sound that will touch your heart and be appropriate for the soundtrack to Gray's Anatomy (woops, too late).

19. Deerhunter - Microcastle
This album has multiple personalities. Its ambient, spacey, trippy side makes it pleasantly groovy. Its power pop melodies and hooks give it a familiar feel. "Never Stops" is a really good track.

18. Santogold - Santogold
Hopping back and forth between new wave, reggae, hip hop, and hard rock, (even a taste of country) this exciting new artist is fresh and filled with the funk. Can't wait to hear what she has to give us next.

17. The Raconteurs - Consolers of the Lonely
Jack White's "other band" is better than his regular band (The White Stripes). Yeah I said it. This isn't his side project. This is the real deal. Unlike White Stripes albums, this one keeps moving the whole time, not pausing to marvel at Jack's virtuosity. This is about the songs, not the man. The rest of the band must bring out the more practical rocker in him.

16. Amadou & Mariam - Welcome to Mali
Blind husband-wife duo mix traditional and modern sounds with soulful song-writing. I have no idea what they're saying, but they've got me convinced.

15. The Dodos - Visiter
This duo, sometimes trio, is downright nasty with the skills. Acoustic guitar, drums, and singing (and sweatpants). That's all you need, apparently. Their music is a frenzy of activity that you should be shocked to learn comes from just two young dudes from San Francisco. Full review.

14. Shugo Tokumaru - Exit
When I first listened to it, I thought it would surely be one of my top 3 albums of the year, but it didn't take too many spins before I realized it's just a very very good album. The multi-instrumentalist from the nation of my birth did the homeland proud with a little gem of an album. It's fun, trippy, airy, and concise. Full review.

13. Sigur Ros - Med sud i eyrum vid spilum endalaust
The Icelandic group's most accessible album to date. Mosts of the songs are single-length and of fairly standard song structure, unlike much of their more ambient catalog. A good listen for sure, even if it seems to cater more to the masses. They're still near the top of the active psychedelic music scene.

12. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
It took a long time for me to appreciate this album. It seems to be on everybody's top ten list, and I just didn't see it until I listened to it in the morning. Some albums are night-time music. This is morning-time music, for me at least. My beef with it for a while was that it's not very original, as it borrows a lot from the 60s and 70s era psychedelic and folk scenes, especially the Beach Boys. I know everyone borrows, but it just seemed too similar. But I realized that regardless of whether the style is new, the songs are great, and the melodies are timeless.

11. Jay Reatard - Matador Singles '08
What is he? Indie? Punk? Who cares, it sounds so good to me. It's defiant, angry, paranoid, confident. Everything he seems to be as a person.

10. Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles
Another innovative electronic group making beautiful sounds with blips, beeps, and buzzy beats.

9. Elbow - Seldom Seen Kid
This Mancunian group have been one of my favorite bands for a while now, but this album seems like their best, most confident work so far. Also, their show at 6th & I historic Synagogue was my favorite show of the year, and I went to a LOT of good shows this year.

8. Dr. Dog - Fate
They might be higher if not for a weak final three tracks. This band has been one of my favorite music discoveries of the year. They're awesome live, and this album, an indie/blues/folk fun-ride, complete with great vocal variety and harmony. Full review.

7. The Cool Kids - The Bake Sale
Midwest hip-hop duo lay witty, self-deprecating rhymes over minimalist, old school beats. My favorite hip-hop album since Madvillainy. Ok, so I don't listen to that much hip-hop, it's true. But this has fulfilled my undernourished taste for it for '08, and I think '09 will be a year of hip-hop exploration for me.

6. Fuck Buttons - Street Horrrsing
The future of music? This electronic group put together a great effort filled with hard beats, dramatic buildups, and a fascinating mix of melody and noise.

5. Frightened Rabbit - The Midnight Organ Fight
"I am armed with the past, and the will, and a brick / I might not want you back, but I want to kill him." These are the kinds of raw emotional lyrics, sung with a wobbly, earnest voice, that make this album great. It's produced by the same guy who produced Boxer by the National last year, and the two albums share the quality of breathing new life into the conventional rock style with just good song-writing and production.

4. The Walkmen - You & Me
Roommate Ed proclaims, "Sounds like Bob Dylan" and dismisses it. Whatever, he does have that great-singer-that-can't-really-sing kind of sound to him. There's so much more though. You feel like you're in some grainy independent film that's vaguely set in the past, but feels particularly timely, if that makes even a lick of sense.

3. TV on the Radio - Dear Science
This album occupied my top spot for a good portion of the year, and might have suffered from being the first of these top 3 that I heard, and therefore, the least fresh. It's amazing. They deserve all the praise they're getting. I think they finally put it all together on this record, where in their previous efforts, there were good tracks, but not a good album. Also, read my full gushing review.

2. Portishead - Third
Wow, who knew a band could go away for so long and come back with an album this good? I guess it's not unheard of. These alt-electro-rock-ish veterans know how to make some amazing sounds with their instruments, machines, and voices. To use a cliche term, the songs take you on a journey, and all the stops on that trip are beautiful and strange.

1. Department of Eagles - In Ear Park
First off, props to Brooklyn for putting out so many good records this year (this one, TVOTR, Santogold, The Hold Steady, MGMT, Vampire Weekend). Nicely done. This one takes the cake though. It's a full album, stunning from start to finish. They ditched their out-and-out electronica sound and humor (which were good too) and focused on making a spooky folktronica masterpiece. Daniel Rossen, also from Grizzly Bear, has a beautiful and earnest voice that colors the album with vivid, pained strokes. Also check out my full review.

songs of the year: 2008

The year's coming to an end, and I'm still working on my albums of the year list, but here's something to whet your appetite.

Ten Favorite Songs:

10. Department of Eagles - In Ear Park

9. Fuck Buttons - Sweet Love for Planet Earth

8. MGMT - Time to Pretend

7. Sigur Ros - Gobbledigook

6. Amadou and Mariam - Sabali

5. Elbow - Grounds for Divorce

4. Frightened Rabbit - I Feel Better

3. TV on the Radio - Dancing Choose

2. Portishead - The Rip

1. Dr. Dog - The Old Days

Bonus! Least Favorite Song:

My Morning Jacket - Highly Suspicious