Archive for December, 2005
jamie on December 30th, 2005
So it didn’t take that long to order the Best of 2005 list- I simply ordered the tracks by A) how much I liked the song, and B) how much I thought I had listened to it. What you see below is the result:
Top Tracks of 2005:
1 - Missy Higgins - Scar
2 - James Blunt - You’re Beautiful
3 - KT Tunstal - Other Side Of The World
4 - Missy Higgins - Ten Days
5 - Athlete - Wires
6 - James Blunt - High
7 - Jose Gonzales - Crosses
8 - KT Tunstall - Under The Weather
9 - Alex Lloyd - Never Meant To Fail
10 - Daniel Powter - Bad Day
11 - Stephen Fretwell - Emily
12 - Hard-Fi - Cash Machine
13 - Kanye West - Touch The Sky
14 - James Blunt - Wise Men
15 - Kano - Nite Nite
16 - Bedouin Soundclash - When The Night Feels My Song
17 - The Magic Numbers - Don’t Give Up The Light
18 - Alex Lloyd - Sometimes
19 - Ben Folds - Landed
20 - Mike Doughty - Looking At The World From The Bottom Of A Well
21 - Kanye West - Diamonds
22 - Embrace - Gravity
23 - Maximo Park - Apply Some Pressure
24 - Corinne Bailey Raye - Just Like A Star
25 - Imogen Heap - Hide And Seek
26 - Augustana - Stars And Boulevards
27 - Tristan Prettyman - Love Love Love
28 - Rise Against - Swing Life Away
29 - The Magic Numbers - Forever Lost
30 - Nizlopi - JCB
31 - Alex Lloyd - Brand New Day
32 - Switchfoot - Lonely Nation
33 - Kings Of Leon - The Bucket
34 - The Subways - Oh Yeah
35 - Jamiroquai - Feels Just Like It Should
36 - Alex Lloyd - Outside
37 - MIA - Galang
38 - The Go! Team - Bottle Rocket
(yeah, I don’t know how I ended up with 38 tracks, just go with it, okay?)
Top Albums of 2005:
1 Missy Higgins - The Sound Of White
2 James Blunt - Back To Bedlam
3 KT Tunstall - Eye To The Telescope
4 The Magic Numbers - The Magic Numbers
5 Daniel Powter - Daniel Powter
I’m not going to do an official “Worst of 2005″ list, but rest assured that Antony and the Johnsons and Bright Eyes are at the top.
jamie on December 29th, 2005
September:
After the incredible month of August, it seemed that the music pool suddenly just dried up, and the only thing I coul dfind worth nominating in that month was the track below. This could just be because some of the music I got in August was pre-release material, or it could just be that the industry slows down in September so that the kiddies (the segment of the population that has the greatest amount of disposable income, but also starts classes in September) could save their money for pencils. Either way, it still leaves me with only one nomination:
Switchfoot - Lonely Nation
Yeah, so they’ve got ‘christian metaphoric’ lyrics, and are lauded by bible-thumpers everywhere, but I stil think they’re cool. The band can write a good hook, that’s for sure. While Stars was their single from this album, I think Lonely Nation is a better track with a stronger verse, and equally strong chorus. The dynamic between the two really highlights frontman Jon Foreman’s incredibly powerful voice. For those of you who might think that this is their second album (therefore, it was the first album that spawned Meant to Live), this is the bands fifth album, and they’re all crackin’ albums.
October:
So, only one nom in September leaves me two extras for October, which is necessary because October was another realy good music month. Not because there was an unusual number of new releases really, but more becuase the ones that we did get were quality. A couple were the US releases of UK artists that I’d been waiting for, and there were some new discoveries for me that have become almost instant favorites. Oh, and I’m gonna borrow one from December.
Augustana - Stars And Boulevards
I saw this album on the “Breaking Artists” rack at Target early in the year, but didn’t pick it up until almost the end of the year. Don’t know what I was thinking, but I missed almost a full year of listening to Augustana! This track blends flavors of Counting Crowes and the Wallflowers all wrapped up in a finely tuned package by producer Brendan O’Brien (recorded in the ATL!).
Jamiroquai - Feels Just Like It Should
This one was out early summer in the UK, but wasn’t available Stateside until fall. Classic Jamiroquai, Jay Kay delivers with his blend of 70’s funk and soul and 80’s synth music. The intro sounds like a vocal sample that’s been meddled with, but makes an incredibly effective bass line, and the floating synth parts over a driving funk beat (speaking of driving Jay Kay was banned from driving for six months after he was caught travelling at nearly 160 kilometres-per-hour (100 miles-per-hour) in Scotland last year - nearly double the speed limit. He was driving a Mercedes G-class Wagon at the time, not one of his Lambos or the Aston).
The Go! Team - Bottle Rocket
Tracks from The Go! Team are so healivy laden with samples that it’s hard to find a moment in the entire album that isn’t layered with at least two different things going on. The unique, yet affable sound won them nomiation for the Mercury Award in the UK this year (only to be beat out by my pick for worst new artist of the year: Antony and the Johnsons). The bands moniker is uniquely fittin to their music, as most of the lyrical presentation is done a la cheerleader chanting. The one downside to the Go! Team is that in the midst of so many sounds blending together on each track, many of their tracks seem to belnd into each other with little variety to the album.
The Magic Numbers - Forever Lost
The Magic Numbers - Don’t Give Up The Light
I’ve heard all kinds of praise for bands like the Arcade Fire and Clap Your Hands, Say Yeah on ‘popular’ music sites like Stereogum and Pitchfork (’popular’- i.e. sites people actually read), but these critics seem to largely ignore the Magic Numbers. This is a grave error, as Magic Numbers combine the artistic values of these other bands, but still hold elements of classic songcraft form the likes of the Mamas and the Pappas. The incredible harmonies of Romeo, Michelle, and Angela are mezmerizing. The doo-woppie vocal arrangements fall neatly into place with the simple guitar-bass-drums rock. While difficult to describe, the music is indeed magical, and easy to love.
Corinne Bailey Raye - Just Like A Star
Corinne Bailey Raye has a smokie, smooth voice that just sinks right through your skin, and straight to the soul. This pre-release single from her upcoming UK release is simply amazing. With the first listen, I was completely hooked, and look forward to much more from her.
November:
Alex Lloyd - Brand New Day
Alex Lloyd - Outside
Alex Lloyd - Sometimes
Ah, a taste of Lloyd’s new album, how could I not include them on the Best of 2005 list? It’s a bias, I agree- Alex Lloyd has been a favorite of mine for years now, and I have all of his albums, even if they’re not available in the US. But this is my list, and November was another slow month for music in other places. Besides, did you really think I’d actually include Clap Your Hands Say Yeah on my list? Not on your life. More organic than his breakthrough solo album Watching Angels Mend the material form the new self-titled album on Sony/BMG Australia is very strong out of the gates, and as soon as I can get a copy, I htink the rest of the album will follow suit. Lloyd’s songwriting voice is dark and broody, but the music maintains a level of optomism and bright melody that is the reason I think Lloyd is such an amazing talent.
December:
Nizlopi - JCB
This track was one of the entries for the Christmans Number One in the UK, and unfortunately lost to the likes of an X-Factor (UK Idol) winner. The JCB song is just a warming story-song told from the viewpoint of a five-year-old whose gone to work for the day with his father, and is proclaiming the overall greatness of his dad (as most five year-olds would) by singing “I tell all my mates my dad’s BA Baracus / with a JCB and Bruce Lee’s nunchuck-a’s / I’m Luke, I’m five and my dad’s Bruce Lee / Drives me around in his JCB” (notes: 1- JCB is a type of construction truck sold mostly in Europe, simlilar to Catepillar in the US. 2- BA Baracus was the name of the character that Mr. T played in the A-Team television series, which is still dearly loved in the UK).
KT Tunstall - Under The Weather
More form KT Tunstall, and another amazingly beautiful song. More melodic than Black Horse, like Other Side of the World. I’m pinning my hopes for a big US effort on KT in the next year, and she is on the top of my list of can’t-miss live shows.
So, that’s it- twelve months worth of songs. I’ll put them all into an ordered list, as well as deciding my top ALBUMS of the year, and post it sometime over the holiday- i hope.
jamie on December 27th, 2005
July:
Imogen Heap - Hide And Seek
The first time I heard this song was in the musical-montage ending of the O.C. season finale. The song is sung acapella with a vocal harmonizer effect over most of it. Imogen Heap has a fantastic voice, and the addition of the synthetic affect made me cringe a bit when I first heard it. But a week later, I’m listening to Zane Lowe in the afternoon, and he drops the track on me again. This time, I was prepared for it, and it clicked. After several further listens, I really liked it. The vocal harmonizer is almost harshly evident in the very begining of the song, because it’s a sound that no one could mistake for a choir, or even creative overdubbing. But as the track progresses, the effect is slowly minimized, and overdub tracks are subtly brought in to the mix. It’s an amazing song in itself, and the choice to record it acapella like this was a good one. I know that not every finds the same beauty in the track as I do. In fact, the Radio 1 listening audience seemed to be polarized by it- half of them adoring it, the other half hating it. But this isn’t their list, it’s miine, and this one makes the cut.
Bedouin Soundclash - When The Night Feels My Song
A gift from Mike Davies on his BBC Radio 1 show The Lock Up- this acoustic-punk-reggae track is a real gem, and has easily found favor among fans of punk, rock, and pop. There’s something in it’s raw reggae rhythm on acoustic guitars and tinny drumset that makes it instantly likeable. The melodic verses and empassioned hook round out a terrific song.
August:
August is a terrible month for me to have to choose the best tracks from. There was seriously so much good music coming out of everywhere at the end of the summer that I could barely keep up with it. Thankfully, I’ve only got limited selections in the months before and after August- so, I’m one selection from each month to make this easier (and so that I don’t have to eliminate two deserving songs from the list).
Still, I have to cut a few songs here that deserve some mention: First, David Gray is an all-time favorite songwriter of mine, and his work this year was nothing less than I would have expected. The One I Love is brilliantly beautiful, and I also particularly enjoyed his cover of The Killer’s Smile Like You Mean It. Second, it seems that every critic this year loves the Arcade Fire, and well that they should- it’s really good music, but I just couldn’t get into it. Since this is my list, and pretty much nobody else in the world cares, I’m cutting them. This leaves five tracks on the list (I’ve only included one from Kanye West, even though at least half of the full album is pretty brilliant- in the long run, I burned out on them really fast and moved almost the entire album out of rotation by October).
Tristan Prettyman - Love Love Love
Hot surfer chick does sweetly melodic music with an acoustic guitar and an amazing voice. She totally scores points for being sponsored by Roxy, but then looses them for dating Mraz. But this is about the music, and Prettyman’s debut album Twentythree is amazing. It’s got a wonderful range of tone and emotion and this single from the album is Prettyman in top form.
Alex Lloyd - Never Meant To Fail
One of my favorites released an album in his homeland of Australia this year, but treated fans to selection from that album on his website months before the release there. The first published single from the album, Never Meant To Fail is tonally darker than his previous album, but well-written and produced. This isn’t just me playing favorites to Lloyd here- I’m simply amazed that some of his previous work hasn’t gained a foothold in the US, because he’s simply an amazing singer-songwriter.
Stephen Fretwell - Emily
Rounding out a trifecta of singer-songwriters, Stephen Fretwell is a talent from Manchester, England, and is most recently being compared to Dylan (as if every songwriter with an acoustic guitar isn’t compared to Dylan), and Nick Drake. The track Emily comes in a variety of flavors- the album version is the simple magnificance of Fretwell’s writing and performing power, and truly deserving of being on the Best of 2005 list. Unfortunately, the song was remixed for radio with a strings and drums, and could have done without the drums, or at least less of them. ut it’s still an amazing song and I especially love the live version I found from an Internet radio broadcast, which displays Fretwell’s renouned live performance skills.
Kanye West - Heard ‘Em Say
Kanye West at the console, Adam Levine in the sample box. Fat beats and star appeal. Yeah, it’s probably still on the TRL charts (I havne’ twatched MTV in ages), but it deserves the props, because it’s just a killer track. I’m sure you’ave all heard it, so ’nuff said.
Rise Against - Swing Life Away
I’m not even sure when this was released, but I first heard it after a friend at the gym asked “Hey, do you know that song that goes…”, and with a few lyrics and a request for the song, I went out and found Rise Against. The thing was that this song is so unlike anything else on the album that I overlooked it several time swhile searching for it. In the end, it’s a great acoustic ballad that falls into that multi-genred spot that Beduoin Sounclash’s track When the Night… (see above) found.
jamie on December 15th, 2005
April:
April was a good month for music. So many new tracks just seemed to appear magically. I could barely keep up! Not only was a month of quantity, but also a ver quality month- chich makes the task of choosing three songs from April’s playlist exceptionally tough. To ease things, I’m making this month a four-track month. I couldn’t decide on just three, so I’ll have to reduce a later month by one, but I’m keeping four here!
Several others in April certainly deserve at least honorable mention here: Dilaudid is just an amazing track from The Mountain Goats full of tension (a great driving song); Kano gave us the second single frorm his brilliant album Home Sweet Home titled Remember Me, fusing UK two-step with latin rhythms.
#1 KT Tunstal - Other Side Of The World
KT first grabbed me this year with Black Horse and the Cherry Tree, which is a great song in it’s own- but when I first heard Other Side Of The World is when I really fell in love with her. It doesn’t hurt that she seems to have a perfect mix of good cheer and sarcasm in interviews, writes her own tour blog, and is easy on the eyes. But her songwriting voice is just incredible, and this track exemplifies this as she sings of long-distance love. She is a storyteller in her music, and each story is backed by it’s own musical texture, all joined together in Tunstall’s percussive guitar playing. Stateside, this track got picked up by the WB for inclusion in the series Smalville, and was added to the latest compilation CD to come from a WB show.
#2 Jose Gonzales - Crosses
I just read that Sony is using Jose Gonzalez’s track Heartbeat in a commercial for their new type of LCD televisions, and Crosses was aired on the season finale of The O.C.- so if television exposure for Gonzalez works as well aas it did for artists like Moby, then we’ll soon ALL know of this Sweedish singer/songwriter. His sound is surprisingly complex, coming from only a nylon-string guitar, and his voice. Crosses is prime example of Gonzalez’s delicate finger-picking, and muted vocal styling.
#3 Mike Doughty - Looking At The World From The Bottom Of A Well
Mike Doughty might be familiar to some of you, even if you don’t know the name- as he was part of the 90’s band Soul Coughing (Circles). Doughty’s new solo album, Houghty Melodic classic Mike Doughty (of which I’ve read some fans dissappointment), with lyrics that are witty and ironic (or sardonic, if a certain coffe-drinking segment of the population is listening), and his guitar riffs punchy and percussive. The first single, Looking At The World From The Bottom Of A Well is just a great song to listen to- and to sing with as well. The repetative nature of Doughty’s lyrical/singing style are especially fun for the echolalia-prone. Roudning out the trifecta of television-series music picks, Looking At The World From The Bottom Of A Well was featured on the hit series Grey’s Anatomy, and also on it’s compilation CD.
#4 Kanye West - Diamonds
Months before the album hit stores, somebody ‘leaked’ this track to several major radio outlets. I liked about half of West’s sophomore effort. The tracks on the album worth listening to are brilliant, but the rest are just filler. Diamonds is brilliance. The version to first appear was better than the eventual album release- I’m sure that’s why the first mix was released as a bonus track on the disc. Who else could take Shirley Bassey, and mold it into a rap beat?
May:
James Blunt - You’re Beautiful
James Blunt - High
James Blunt - Wise Men
James Blunt is surely one of my favorite artists of the year, one of the few albums that spent consecutive weeks playing (in the car, at work, in the iPod…constantly). That’s why my three favorite tracks from the album take the cuts for this month by default. It may also explain why the playlist for this month was so short on other artists- there just wasn’t enough time lef tin the day to listen to anything else. Blunt’s popularity in the US is finally taking off, with tour dates supporting Jason Mraz, and appearances on late night television shows (Tonight Show, Leno). His sucess in the US is about to mirror that in the UK.
June:
#1 Embrace - Gravity
Embrace just seems to have been skipped over when the US started importing music form the UK. OR maybe, more likely, the Brits decided to hold back some of their best as their own little secret. While stateside listeners clamor for ever new release from Coldplay, that brit-rock outfit gave Embrace one of their songs for their album Out Of Nothing. Gravity is so perfectly suited for Embrace, that you’d never guess it wasn’t written by the band themselves. In a case of truly taing a song and making it theirs, they embrace its anthematic hook, and back the piano themes with amped up guitars. The Coldplay version, just released recently in the UK, lacks this power, sapping the song’s power.
#2 Daniel Powter - Bad Day
Bad Day has a way of making you feel really good. It’s melodic way of dealing with the trials of thse days when shit just happens reminds you of the hope that tomorrow will come soon enough. Beside all that, it’s a catchy, melodic song that is very well produced.
#3 Kano - Nite Nite
Last year, it was Mike Skinner and A Grand Don’t COme For Free in UK Garage/2-Step. This year, it’s Kano. Skinner steps in to produce the UK rapper’s third single from Home Sweet Home (he also lends his voice a bit). Kano’s raping style is smoother, better suited to rapping than Skinner’s, and the pairing is perfect.
jamie on December 13th, 2005
Okay, an evening spent wrapping um-teen million toys to pack into cartons and ship to the nephews and nieces- and only ONE of them came in any sort of packaging that could be considered ‘rectangular’. Every toy of the season appears to come in some odd-shaped, irregular packaging that offers only one option for proper wrapping: box it. But when you’re shipping, extra packaging just means more shipping volume=$$$. I even went through the trouble to buy more smaller-sized items this year, in an effort to make carton arrangement easier. I cut my finger trying to cut out extra flap shapes for wrapping a Transformer. Arrrrgh!
jamie on December 7th, 2005
K.T. Tunstall on Radio1 this morning says she’s preparing to do a MAJOR tour of the States next year! I’m so stoked about this. She did a show in Boston this year, but that’s about it. Atlanta better be on the schedule.
jamie on December 6th, 2005
March:
#1 The Subways - Oh Yeah
Listening just now to these three tracks together, I noticed the extreme similarity between the Maximo Park song, and Oh Yeah from the Subways. Both convey the same frantic pop experience, shouting verses at you over pounding drum tracks, but the Subways add a touch Maximo Park couldn’t- Charlotte Cooper’s vocals exchanging blows with Billy Lunn. The two voices a perfect compliment to each other. This song is a real emotional rocker, conveying the effects of every drop of adreneline produced by the band.
#2 MIA - Galang
MIA’s album Arular was released in May this year, but her single Galang was getting regular spins in the UK as early as December 2004 (I couldn’t find a US version until March). Critics were instantly wild for it, and for once, I agreed. There’s something refreshing in the breaking rhythms of MIA’s Sri Lanken-infused low-fi electronica. Galang is full of bleepie goodness, and mashes grime and ragga beats with surpising effectiveness.
#3 Maximo Park - Apply Some Pressure
Maximo Park seem to have been passed over in the US in favor of more stable sellers like Franz Ferdinand or the Killers, but Appky Some Pressure kicks the crap outta both of them. They may have arrived to the ball a moment too late for the first dance, but their Mercury Prize nomination proves that they’re going be around for a while. I almost put Graffitti on the list, simply for its lyrical line: “I’ll do graffiti and you’ll sing to me in French”…aw, how romantic, seriously, they make it sound romantic- and that’s par tof the strength of this band. Apply Some Pressure is more of a straight-forward rock song, shaking the floor with pounding drums and guitars with seemingly one dynamic level- loud.
jamie on December 6th, 2005
February:
#1 Missy Higgins - Scar
#2 Missy Higgins - Ten Days
I have been absolutely in love with Missy Higgins all year. Scar is a brilliant piece of songwriting, and Higgins’ voice has quality to it that makes it easy to relate. Co-writing credits also go to Better Than Ezra’s Kevin Griffin, who’s heart-on-your sleeve and 4-chord simplicity really shows through on Scar (the two wrote four of the songs from Higgins’ album together, with Missy’s songwriting style shining through most of them). Ten Days is probably the second most radio-ready track from her debut album The Sound Of White. While these are two of my favorite tracks on the album (I would put the whole album on the list if there was room), they really only show off one side of a singer/songwriter that has several sides to her music. Scar and Ten Days dispaly a brighter, pop feel, while other times Missy Higgins sounds more like a broody, dark Tori Amos, and sometime her music alludes to a more playful side. On he co-writing experiences, I found a quote from The Sunday Herald Sun website (Australia):
“It’s such a personal thing co-writing with someone because I take my music so personally…It’s like ‘one, two three - go’ and then dropping your pants.”
#3 Ben Folds - Landed
Ben Folds can sometimes be hit-or-miss wiht me, but Landed was a definite hit in my book. Fold’s album Songs For Silverman is a solid piece of work, with Folds playing nearly everything on the album. Landed is a perfectly poppy single made for radio (and TV too), setting a toe-tapping pace, and mixing melody with well-crafted lyrics.
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