10-6

Yeah, Yeah, I'm a day late. As jordan mentioned, though, I didn't sleep last night, busy applying to grad school and writing a Milton paper. Today I took a Sununu final on no sleep; it was interesting. I have gotten extensions for two other research papers, so I assume I can have an extension on this. I should be able to post my top 5 later tonight, though.

10. Sonic Youth-Rather Ripped

I don’t know how well you, the reader, know me, but I am a pretty rabid Yoof fan. This might seem contrary to my heavy emphasis on pop melodies and production, and I think it is; I’m not sure what made me start to love the masters of distortion, but I do, and they are a definite contender for the coveted all-time top 5 list. Anyway, on some level, I think that everything avant-garde and noise-y that I like stems from its similarities to Sonic Youth. Which is why this album, the band’s best work in years (like since 1000 leaves at least, maybe even [gasp] Washing Machine), is so ironic; this song is not avant-garde or distorted at all. It is a great rock record, full of melodies, singing, normal guitar solos—rock stuff. Not to say that there is no distortion on this record, but it is used as an addition to the song structure, as opposed to vice versa. Like Jordan (or someone) said, the guitars are really restrained. And Christ, songs like “Jams Run Free” and “Incinerate” are so catchy, anthemic, and beautiful. I’m pretty sure that the last two Youth releases have also made my Top 10 lists, and, as said before, this one outshines them; let’s just hope everyone’s favorite aging hipsters can keep this streak going.

9. Spank Rock-Yoyoyoyoyo

I have never heard an album have so many remixes so quickly. Seriously, I have a folder on my desktop called “Spank Rock remixes” that has over 30 songs in it. A lot of this popularity, of course, comes from the fact that Spank Rock posted the a capella versions of all of his songs online and free for download; the remixers went at it. More than that, though, the dj/dance community recognizes in Spank Rock that they/I see in tragically few MCs; a distinct and funky rhythm that is dominated by beats, a flow that plays against instead of with a given drum loop or sample. Spank Rock is aware of this, and uses genius but simple little beats behind his tracks on his own versions of his songs, just like his great remixes of other artists (CSS etc). In a year dominated by groove tracks for me, Spank Rock was reigning MC, showing up everywhere I looked. At SCHOLARTRON 1.6USTER, the latest Scholartron party, Miguel (DJ Rockwell) alternated sets with the scholartron; our main point of overlap came in the form of Spank Rock, who made multiple appearances with both man and machine. The dancers loved it of course, grooving all night to at least 3 different versions of “bump.”

8. Peter Bjorn and John-Writer’s Block

So I had the luck of hearing the new Peter, Bjorn and John album early. And I mean early; my friend brought back a ’45 from the record label he worked at back before the album was released in Europe, which was way before it was released in the US. It was “Young Folks,” and we had just seen the Concretes that week; we ate the single up. Pitchfork didn’t like it so much, though, giving it a 3 or something on their singles review. I got to see the group in Berlin a few weeks later, on a mis-scheduled tour; they didn’t have any releases in Germany at the time, and had to play to a crowd of almost no one in a restaurant that charged 1 euro cover. It was great for me, who got to see an engaging if short live performance sitting right in front of what most probably thought was a local band; the show was really enjoyable. The album was also stellar, and quickly became my late spring sound of choice; I loved the catchy pop melodies and elegant production; songs like “Paris 2004” and “Amsterdam” haunted me for days on end. Pitchfork did not like the album very much, though, giving it a 6.something, I think (this is going somewhere, I promise). Ok, flash forward to this fall, with the trio taking the blagosphere by storm; everyone loved “Young Folks,” everyone loved “Amsterdam,” etc. Which they should. How does pitchfork respond? They add “Young Folks” to their infinite mixtape, and re-review Writer’s Block, this time giving it recommended or best new music or something. Those fucking two-faced revisionists! I was outraged, I am outraged, and no one knows/cares. Of course, I shouldn’t care about that website any more, but they didn’t do justice to one of the best albums of the year, and then they try to act like they did once it becomes popular.

7. The Rapture-Pieces of the People we Love

I like Pieces of the People We Love more than Echoes.

6. Clipse-Hell Hath No Fury

For me this is a cop-out position for the new Clipse album; 3 months from now, this album will either have risen to my top 5 or dropped out of my top 10, I’m sure. It’s just too unrelenting not too; the verses are demanding, the beats are violent, the production is in-your-face. Pusha T and Malice are much less lovable than they were on the first Clipse album. And this is why I love Hell Hath No Fury; it is unforgiving and dark while progressive and forward-thinking. Back in the day, I used to be all about “intelligent” rap music, you know the kind, Roots/Tribe/Talib, rapping about more abstract (no pun intended) subjects like politics and philosophy, groups that didn’t promote violence or drugs, instead opting for more “positive” lyrics. These days I think: fuck that. Intelligent rap music, intentionally or not, is the cultural appropriation of hip-hop culture by white people, who don’t want to deal with the unseemly aspects of the class struggle that permeate hip-hop culture. Well, as far as I can tell, it’s there, and it seems much more real to spit verses about slinging crack than to observing the problems from the outside like tamer hip-hop acts do. It’s the difference between talking about the culture and showing the culture by being a part of it. And of course I hate the term “intelligent rap;” it’s not only culturally classist, but also just wrong; Pusha T and Malice make some of the most clever and fresh wordplay that I have heard in rap music since, well, maybe forever.