2:25 a.m.
December 24, 2006
22. Cansei De Ser Sexy - s/t
Let's Make Love and Listen to Death From Above is a killer track. Absolutely killer. Alala is pleasant as well. I can only take CSS in doses. Some of their tracks leave you unsettled, but when they nail it (as in Let's Make Love), boy, do they nail it.
21. Ben Harper - Both Sides of the Gun
His songs are expertly composed, minimal but very pretty. He splits it really well between the slower, delicate songs and the rockers with the two discs - but even between tracks, he demonstrates his fantastic range.
20. The Streets - The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living
The problem with this record is that it couldn't be nearly as good as A Grand Don't Come For Free. Which was a pretty high bar to tackle. While his last record ended up sounding sort of like Guy Ritchie meets Shaun of the Dead, this one highlights, more than any of his other records, his nation of origin. I'm not a Anglophile, I'm sort of the opposite, but his take on fame gives me a good image in my head - that there must be some sort of Beverly Hills equivalent in Britain.
19. Cex - Actual Fucking
Probably one of the more peculiar picks on the list. The songs are almost all different, but that just lends to the idea that he's being so deliberate. In one song, he's yowling like Thom Yorke, in another, he's screeching like... I don't know, fucking Sigur Ros or something. And then there's the anxious pulses of "Los Angeles," the penultimate track, that almost sounds like something out of a Depeche Mode album but... just completely indescribable. The album booklet is adorned with a plaid couple, the man having just pulled out of the woman, and the interior is full of stories of anonymous sexual experiences. It's a weird experiment. It suffers because this overly serious ambient plodding music that he's being so deliberate in almost parodying is inherently annoying and he really can't escape that Catch-22, but in the high moments of the album, remembering the absurdity of those are half the fun.
18. Clipse - Hell Hath No Fury
I only got into this one recently, and haven't had time to digest it yet. That works against it. These aren't the Neptunes' catchiest beats, so I wasn't hooked immediately, though that may lend itself better to deeper listening. What I was impressed with, though, was the flow. That's what might bring me back a few more times.
17. Heligoats - The Sapling Sessions
It's B-sides. But oh, boy. The rough cuts of some early TH songs, a few experiments here and there. It's not coherent. That's what his next album is for. But the demo of "Phones" demands an extension that the quintuple on the first album can't match.
16. Hello Radio: The Songs of They Might Be Giants
There are some disasters here. Don't Let's Start was mangled, and Doctor Worm is obnoxious. But the reinventions of Dead, Ana Ng, and They'll Need a Crane carry it through. It's a testament to TMBG's songwriting ability that so many of these translate so well. It let me have the experience of experiencing some of my favorite songs all over again. Except for Don't Let's Start. Come on, This Radiant Boy.
15. Ben Folds & Rupert Gregson-Williams - Over the Hedge
Rupert's stuff sounds ripped straight from a Maxis catalogue, jazzy and movie-efficient. My real joy is the Ben Folds tracks - Family of Me is clearly inspired by the movie, but it has a bit of his aged, more pointed irony. The reinterpretation of Rockin' the Suburbs means I can enjoy my favorite song, circa 2001, as a much more clever satire. His cover of Lost in the Supermarket is faithful, and Still has great narration that works even better standing alone.
14. Ghostface - Fishscale
I had to delay my list for this one. Dogs of War has an inescapable beat, and R.A.G.U. has one of my new favorite candid hip hop lyrics (I'm in the crib, watchin' Larry King Live). I haven't had a lot of time to dwell on it but it's been an instant favorite. Ghostface is 36 now, and he really shows promise for this generation of aging rappers that should be starting to settle down.
13. dj BC - Let It Beast
To tell you the truth, I liked this a lot better than the Grey Album. He said that it was mostly just practice, nothing intended to be a big project. I loved To The Five Boroughs when I got it, but it lacks a substance to keep me listening to it in the long term. This adds that substance.
12. The Changes - Today is Tonight
They brought back most of their EP, except for "You Want It," which I still think is a glaring omission. The whole record doesn't derive much from their established style, which can only be described as jangly, but don't fix what ain't broke. When they take three minutes to wrap up a song, the fun is only starting.
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