My Favorite Albums of 2010

Last week I posted my list of Favorite Archival Albums of 2010. Today's list is comprised of albums of "new" material released during this calendar year. It wasn't really too hard to keep up with new releases in 2010, as streaming services like lala.com [for the first half of the year], soundcloud.com, NPR's First Listen, and grooveshark.com allow one to stream albums for free. As well, vinyl and CD prices are fairly low right now which allowed me to purchase a good amount of PVC and polycarbonate platters, respectively.

Anyway, let's get to the list. I have known my likely favorite album of the year since early summer, though the rest of the list has been in flux up to this morning. I was shooting for a top 15 list, but I couldn't make 'em all fit without cheating. Here is the list of my 16 favorite albums of 2010, along with some honorable mentions:

1) Janelle Monáe – The ArchAndroid (at amazon.com and stream on grooveshark)

It was not really much of a competition for the number one slot. This was by far and away my favorite album of the year. This release is all over the map musically, with no song sounding the same as the one before it--funk, soul, Disneyesque interludes, tripped-out folk, paranoia-infused crooning, sharp electric guitar licks, wistful ballads, etc. Plus it has the added benefit of being a concept album set in a futuristic sci-fi world with an interlocking storyline of survival and rebellion. It is as if Ms. Monae intentionally set about the task of punching all your faithful blogger's buttons, both musically and lyrically. I hope she "keeps it weird" as her career moves forward and that she stays this ambitious.

2) Titus Andronicus: The Monitor (at amazon.com and stream on grooveshark)

Angst --> Ambition --> New Jersey -->Indulgence -->Brilliance

3) Blitzen Trapper – Destroyer of the Void (at amazon.com and stream on grooveshark)

Few albums were in more frequent rotation this summer than the 5th album by Portland's BT. Starting with the prog turn(s) in the opening track and on through the laid-back vibe of the remainder of the album, it was the perfect soundtrack to my June through August. I think I am probably in the minority on this album as I like it even better than 2009's Furr (and also 2007's Wild Mountain Nation). BT have a knack for getting away with some fairly schmaltzy lyrics at times (on par with early career Neil Young). Yet they somehow work. I am not sure how they pull it off. After the Gold Rush, mofos.

4) Ty Segall -- Melted (at amazon.com and stream on grooveshark)

The Bay Area's one and only garage psych king. One of my great finds of the last year. I am now working my way backward through the Segall oeuvre. Don't make him carry the Jay Reatard (RIP) mantle--give him some breathing room.

5) The Soft Pack – The Soft Pack (at amazon.com and stream on grooveshark)

Yes, there are Jonathan Richman, Velvets, and surf rock influences here, but I think the band gives us considerable value-added with the nifty songwriting and the churning arrangements. Play this loud, mofos.

6) Bee vs. Moth -- Acronyms (at amazon.com)

I reviewed this album (well, sorta reviewed it and linked to some of the album's tunes) a few months back.

7) Joanna Newsom – Have One on Me (at amazon.com and stream disc 1 on grooveshark)

I gave this wonderful triple-vinyl album a lengthy review back on the 1st of May.

8) The Budos Band – III (at amazon.com and stream on grooveshark)

The soundtrack to what you should be doing right now instead of reading my blog.

9) Roky Erickson with Okkervil River – True Love Cast Out All Evil (at amazon.com and stream on grooveshark)

Look, I’m not one of those dudes who is at your local indie record store, flipping quickly through the crates of vinyl, wearing a Roky shirt, and muttering about creatures with atom brains; but I am a fan of Roky and glad he can surface again with this great artistic update. I am not a big fan of the Okkervil River production and some of the arrangements, but the albums rises above those shortcomings. Goodbye Sweet Dreams.

10) The Fall – Your Future Our Clutter (at amazon.com and stream on grooveshark)

American translation: Get off my lawn. Get off my Goddamn lawn.

11) Of Montreal – False Priest (at amazon.com and stream on grooveshark)

I know that this album is underwhelming to certain OM fans, but Side 1A of the double vinyl set contains the best LP side of pop songs of the year for me. Sides 1B, 2A, and 2B are each a nice spin as well. I look forward to seeing where OM go next. "I participated in all your protests / Supported your stupid little blog / Got a Bowflex / Wore colored contacts to match your dress."

12) Grinderman – Grinderman 2 (at amazon.com and stream on grooveshark)

Keep on keepin' on, Mr. Cave. Weird to be following you into middle-age. Who woulda thunk it? Mofo is 53. I hit the big 4-0 next month. Listen to this album instead of reading Tom Wolfe's Jonathan Franzen's Freedom. And certainly don't do both at the same time, etc.

13) Various Artists -- Broken Hearts and Dirty Windows: Songs of John Prine (at amazon.com and stream on grooveshark)

A tribute album to one of my very favorite songwriters. The album includes prime Prine covers by the likes of Bon Iver, Conor Oberst, My Morning Jacket, Josh Ritter, Lambchop, Justin Townes Earle, The Avett Brothers, Old Crow Medicine Show, Sara Watkins, Drive-By Truckers, Deer Tick, and Those Darlins. I am only a fan of about half of these artists, but the majesty of Prine's songwriting shines through on each and every respectful track.

14) Ted Leo And The Pharmacists -- The Brutalist Bricks (at amazon.com and stream on grooveshark)

Contains my favorite opening line of an album this year: "When the café doors exploded, I reacted, too. Reacted to you, reacted to you.”

15) Maximum Balloon -- Maximum Balloon [tied](at amazon.com and stream on grooveshark)

This is Dave Sitek's (from TV on the Radio) solo album. Lots of special help on here: David Byrne, Karen O, Kyp Malone, and Theophilus London. I am very ready for a new TVotR release. Signs point to 2011?

15) Midlake -- The Courage of Others [tied](at amazon.com and stream on grooveshark)

Grap your flute, don your cloak, and meet me in the forest. Hurry up, we have little time.

Some honorable mentions, in no particular order:
•White Denim – Last Day of Summer
•King Sunny Adé – Bábá Mo Túndé
•Mulatu Astatke – Steps Ahead
•Merle Haggard – I Am What I Am
•Various Artists -- Twistable Turnable Man: A Musical Tribute to Shel Silverstein
•Willie Nelson – Country Music
•Harlem – Hippies
•Thee Oh Sees – Warm Slime
•Trampled by Turtles -- Palomino
•Justin Townes Earle – Harlem River Blues
•Magnetic Fields – Realism
•AfroCubism – Afrocubism
•Superchunk - Majesty Shredding
•Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band – Legacy
•Nels Cline Singers – Initiate
•Ray Wylie Hubbard -- A: Enlightenment B: Endarkenment (Hint: There Is No C)
•Arcade Fire – The Suburbs
•Marc Ribot -- Silent Movies
•Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings – I Learned The Hard Way
•Phosphorescent – Here’s to Taking it Easy
•Wolf Parade – Expo 86
•Alejandro Escovedo – Street Songs of Love
•The Steeldrivers - Reckless
•Bryan Ferry – Olympia
•Laurie Anderson - Homeland
•The Dead Weather – Sea of Cowards
•Orquestra De Tambores De Alagoas -- Bantus E Caetes
•The Black Keys – Brothers
•Mavis Staples – You are Not Alone
•Konono No. 1 -- Assume Crash Position
•Richard Thompson – Dream Attic
•Menomena - Mines

This Morning is a Morning for Willie Nelson singing "Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down"

My sincere advice is to listen to Willie's 2010 [and/or Uncle Tupelo's 1992, and/or Medeski, Martin & Wood's 2009] version of this traditional song to cleanse the awful 2010 Robert Plant version from your brain (in case you have been exposed):

Tonight is a Night for the Decemberists covering the Grateful Dead (Row Jimmy edition)

A couple of days back the Decemberists released this Dead cover as the B side of a vinyl 7″ single.

The Decemberists - Row Jimmy (Grateful Dead cover) by jp917

My Favorite Archival Albums of 2010

Within the next 10 days or so, I'll make sure to post my Favorite Albums of 2010 list. I don't have it completed, though I have started to make some progress.

Today's list, however, is comprised of music that wasn't released for the first time in 2010. These albums contain recordings from many years or even many decades ago. It is an exciting time to be a fan of music from earlier time periods, as new archival releases on vinyl and CD have been coming out at a remarkable clip.

I spend increasing amounts of time "living in the past" with my musical choices, and in recent years I have explored three main (related) areas of interest [beyond the standard rock/c&w/jazz/bluegrass that I usually listen to]: 1)hard driving U.S. regional funk from the late 1960s and early 1970s; 2)Nigerian and other W. African rock/funk/fusion music from the late 1960s and early 1970s; and 3)traditional/modern psychedelic/fusion music from other corners of the globe--most recently this has concentrated on Peru, Colombia, Turkey, and India, with the music primarily from the late 1960s and the 1970s.

The following 15 archival releases were my favorite of 2010 (in no particular order):

•Various Artists – The Roots of Chicha 2: Psychedelic Cumbias From Peru (available on amazon.com: Roots of Chicha 2)

A truly wondrous second collection of the formative years of chicha in Peru from the late 1960s into the 1970s.
Read an excerpt from the liner notes on the Barbes Records website and stream the album for yourself. A musical cup of coffee--day or night.

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•Various Artists – The World Ends: Afro Rock & Psychedelia in 1970s Nigeria (Parts 1 & 2) (available on amazon.com: Soundway Records Presents The World Ends Afro Rock And Psychedelia In 1970s Nigeria)

The Nigerian Civil War lasted from summer of 1967 to the beginning of 1970. How many people eventually died as a result of the conflict? 1 million? 2 million? More? This two-disc collection compiles some of the rock music that was created in the wake of the brutal civil war and the humanitarian emergency that followed. It is 32 tracks of hard-rocking psychedelic mish-mash as traditional forms of Nigerian music were incorporated into Western, late 1960s rock music (or was it the other way around). Simply fantastic. Read a bit more on the album and check out some tracks for yourself on the Soundway website.

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•Various Artists – Turkish Freakout! Psych-Folk Singles 1969-1980(available on amazon.com: Turkish Freakout!)

A groovin' compilation of 7" singles originally issued primarily in the 1970s on various labels based out of Istanbul. This is a hypnotic and hard-driving mix of traditional Turkish instrumentation with influences coming from the Western rock and psych scenes of the late 1960s.

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•Jimi Hendrix – Valleys of Neptune
(available on amazon.com: Valleys Of Neptune)

Perhaps you remember all of the hype about these "new" Hendrix tunes from back in March. A very fun listen all the way through. RIP Jimi.

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•Bob Dylan – The Witmark Demos (The Bootleg Series, Vol. 9, 1962-1964)
(available on amazon.com: The Witmark Demos: 1962-1964 (The Bootleg Series Vol. 9))

While I have had these heavily-bootlegged demos on tape for 15 years and on CDR for nearly a decade, this comprehensive official release in Dylan's bootleg series has cleaner sound than what I had from my Dylan tape trading days. This is must-have for collectors and an interesting listen for even the casual Dylan fan.

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•Various Artists – Good God! Born Again Funk
(available on amazon.com: Good God! Born Again Funk)

The second release of funk-tinged gospel music by the small label called Numero Group. I highly recommend putting this on fairly loud early on a Sunday morning, with hot cup of tea in hand. Has the Word ever been this funky?

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•Various Artists – Brazilian Guitar Fuzz Bananas
(available on amazon.com: Brazilian Guitar Fuzz Bananas)

Tropicalia and beyond. I talked about this release back in July.

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•Various Artists – California Funk: Rare Funk 45’s from the Golden State
(available on amazon.com: California Funk)

Another in the incredible regional funk compilations put out by Jazzman/Now-Again. These tunes collected from the original 7" recordings, are from the local early 1970s funk scenes in the Bay Area and Los Angeles. I would also recommend checking out the Texas, Carolina, Florida, and Midwest comps as well, mofos.

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•Various Artists -- The Afrosound of Colombia Vol. 1
(available here on amazon.com: The Afrosound of Colombia Vol. 1)

Since travelling to Colombia in the early summer, I have been exploring the country's musical past and present. This has been a gem of a find, as it contains a cornucopia of tracks: Salsa, Descarga, Funk, Boogaloo, Tropical, Chicha, Bomba, Cumbia, and Afro-Beat.

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•Various Artists -- Palenque Palenque: Champeta Criolla & Afro Roots in Colombia, 1975-91
(available on amazon.com: Palenque Palenque: Champeta Criolla & Afro)

More great music and "lost" recordings from Soundway. If music from northern Colombia fails to get you moving, then you have a problem. You can stream a couple of tunes and read a bit more about this release on the label's website here.

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•Various Artists -- Afro-Beat Airways: West African Shockwaves, Ghana & Togo, 1972-1979
(available on amazon.com: Afro-Beat Airways)

If you dig the sound of Fela Kuti and the classic Afro-pop vibe, do I have an album for you. This collection from the folks at Analog Africa explores musical nuggets from Ghana and Togo. It is a very fun listen. Read more here.

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•Various Artists -- Nigeria Afrobeat Special: The New Explosive Sound in 1970s Nigeria
(available on amazon.com: Nigeria Afrobeat Special: The New Explosive Sound in 1970s Nigeria)

More great 1970s Nigerian music from Soundway. We have had something like 12 Nigerian music collections from this time period and there isn't much overlap. It was a fertile time, mofos. Thankfully it is seeing the light of day outside of Nairobi record stores. More information and some MP3's on the label website here.

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•Various Artists -- Nigeria Special 2: Modern Highlife 1970-6
(available on amazon.com: Nigeria Special 2: Modern Highlife 1970-6)

Superb compilation. I am still totally enthralled with this one as I only recently picked it up. Check out more information and some MP3's here. Soundway delivers again (make sure to listen to the original Nigeria Special compilation from a few years back.)

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•Various Artists -- Psych Funk Sa-Re-Ga! Psychedelic Funk in India 1970-1983
(available on amazon.com: Psych Funk:Sa- Re Ga !)

This just came out last week and I have only listened to it a few times. Wow, it is a fun listen. The world needs more psych rock compilations from India! More info and some MP3's here.

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•Rikki Ililonga & Musi-O-Tunya -- Dark Sunrise (1970s Rock from Zambia)
(available at amazon.com: Dark Sunrise)

I just picked up this compilation of the king of rock music from Zambia. So, so good. Listen to a track for yourself and read more here.

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Viva globalization, mofos. We live in an amazing time of abundance with all sorts of dedicated labels that are collecting incredible music from decades past and releasing it. It is a glorious time to be a amateur musicologist. I'll be back with the list of my favorite new music from 2010 by the end of the year...

A Preview of My Favorite Albums of 2010 List (Budos Band edition)

Sure to rank pretty darn high:



I haven't started writing my Favorite Albums of 2010 list as of yet, though I do hope to have in done by Christmas. I have a pretty good idea of the top 15 spots, but I am not sure about the order on a number of them.

What He Said

Just When I Thought I Couldn't Dislike Bono Any More Than I Already Do (Sorry Spidey edition)

This atrocity falls close on the heels of the mental anguish caused by my repeated accidental viewings of this advertisement on the back covers of The Economist and The New Yorker over the last few months:

Why won't a lawyer take my case? Please message me if you are an attorney willing to help me sue Bono for all the pain and suffering he has caused me in the last decade or so. He has to be stopped.

Today is a Day for "New Garage Explosion! (Part I)" [View Out the Jams edition]

A couple of days back I watched part 1 of an entertaining and quite well-crafted documentary by Scion on the recent years (and historical context) of "garage rock" across the country. This first 25 minute segment contains live footage and interviews with bands that I was already familiar with (Jay Reatard, Black Lips, The Dirtbombs, and The Oblivians) and numerous bands that I had not heard about prior to viewing this documentary. The short explorations of the local Memphis and Detroit scenes are fantastic. The kids are alright, mofos.

Play it for free on the production company's site:


The promo description:
To find out what American garage rock looks like (and to know what it’s like to be in an independent band) right now, VBS toted a bunch of cameras around the USA and found a scene that was vibrant, loud, eloquent, effed-up, and nearly impossible to define. The musicians, artists, writers, deejays and label owners that we talked to could only be united by a single common thread—their commitment to music that they enjoyed, on their terms, at whatever cost necessary (or, in some cases, unnecessary). We met nice, smart, funny people who love rock and roll, don’t traffic in B.S., and had the wherewithal to pick up a guitar (or complementary instrument) at some point in their young lives, put their face to a microphone, and manage to not think too hard about what was going to come out.

Join us for Part One of New Garage Explosion!! With a nod to the genre’s founding fathers (bands like The Lollipop Shoppe and MC5), we travel first to Memphis to mind-meld with Magic Kids and to go head-to-head with Jay Reatard in the last interview he filmed before his death in January of this year. Next we hit Detroit, where watch The Dirtbombs wreck a bowling alley and talked to Dave Buick about the power of the hand-printed record.

I am very much looking forward to Parts II & III, mofos.

Tonight is a Night for Guateque Estelar by Matoraalman (2010)

Matorralman is led by Mexico City musician and producer Miguel Rizo.



You can stream the entire album for free on their label's website here.

Information from the offical album promo materials:

Nacional Records is proud to announce the release of the U.S. debut album from Matorralman. ‘Guateque Estelar’ is a collection of songs that fuse electronic lounge music with surf rock and retro sounds like go-go, ye-ye and psychedelia. It’s a tribute to those classic times of science fiction and foxy ladies. The sensational destiny that is so unavoidable and ruthlessly ironic.

Matorralman is a project created by Miguel Rizo, a selector, composer and producer from Mexico City. “Back in 2000, I bought my first computer and made my first trip to Europe,” Rizo says.

“I came back with a suitcase full of music from the films of the 60s and 70s which used to dazzle audiences with so-called ‘sexploitation.’ These were times when orchestral conductors would help color the plots of feisty teenagers in search of parties and wildness. The beats were mostly instrumental, giving sophisticated and loutish environments where the girls are without a doubt the visual attraction. That’s how the search for Matorralman’s sound began.”

The album name ‘Guateque Estelar’ translates to “stellar party.” “That is what we imagine to hear with our music,” Rizo says. “It’s a party without end – complete with music to lose your manners to - and all with style.”

While Matorralman began as a solo project experimenting with computers, samplers, keyboards and effects in Rizo’s studio, it soon evolved. “After a couple of years, I began working with Armando Vazquez on the keyboards and the true sound of the songs became more defined,” Rizo explains. “Our process is to find a good groove and develop it through structures– the adequate kind of sound, intention and melody for each musical cut. While looking for the right musicians to form a live band, I invited Gustavo Murillo on guitar and Benjamin Vázquez on bass and trumpet.”

Matorralman’s live setup has now developed into somewhat of a mini-orchestra highlighted by background visuals. “Why not?” Rizo asks. “Playing along with clips and images from the 60s and 70s helps create that audiovisual experience that completely encapsulates the concept of the group.”

I Just Don't Understand the Music Marketplace (Beatles on iTunes edition)

I'm sure you've heard the news by now, oh boy. The Beatles catalog is now going to be on iTunes.

I don't care if you are 16 or 64, you should be ashamed of yourself and renounce your Beatles fandom if you purchase these on iTunes. To every potential purchaser, young and old, I ask you this: why are you going to pay upwards of $1.29 a song (DRM-free) for sub-par, sonically-diluted, lossy music files of some of the richest studio work of the early rock era?*

You'll be paying yet more money for less. You will be downloading music of lower quality than what you can already get--Beatles vinyl records and CDs. Buy yourself a turntable (again or for the first time) and spin the wax, or buy the Mono box. Or rip FLAC or even 320kbs MP3 files if you really have to. But please don't listen to downloads that just don't sound as good (even over headphones on your iPod or iPhone or whatever).

I am sorry to say this, but iTunes downloads sound like crap. Yes, I know I riffed on this back in January, but these "finally, the Beatles are on iTunes!" stories are driving me insane.

*I would assert the same thing about music from more recent times. It still shocks me that people will listen to bands like Radiohead or Animal Collective via low-quality MP3's.

This Morning is a Morning for "Fuego" by Bomba Estereo

I have been on a real LA rock/electronica/fusion/neo-cumbia/neo-tango/neo-tropical/rap-en-espanol jag in recent weeks. I'll post some of my favorites here in in the near future. Bomba Estereo is from Bogota and their second album was released in Colombia in 2008, with a U.S. market release of Blow Up (re-titled) in 2009. They are one of numerous bands in the traditional-music-meets-electronica sub-genere that has been pretty popular in Latin America for the last decade or so.

This movement has gone in numerous different musical directions and a few groups have had crossover success in the U.S. (see Nortec Collective as a prominent example). "Electro Tropical" is how Bomba Estereo describe thier own music. It is good stuff, Maynard. CD's and downloads at all the usual places, mofos.

This Morning is a Morning for "Amar y Vivir" by Tonino Carotone (Day after Halloween edition)

Sometimes you just have to start your day with a song by the Spanish, Italophile singer-songwriter (and former punk rocker) Tonino Carotone:

Happy Halloween (Dead Kennedys edition)

Whatcha gonna be?

Happy Halloween (Roky Erickson edition)

We here at Jams, Mofo recommend listening to Roky all day and night on Halloween.

L.E.P. Bogus Boys - "Chicago Niggaz" (2010) [music video]

I saw this music video by the L.E.P. Bogus Boys last week on a global music video show on public television in southern Minnesota. They played the L.E.P. Bogus Boys vid in between a New Zealand singer-songwriter vid and one from a rock band from Italy. For me, seeing this video was like watching a 4 minute version of The Wire set in Chicago--it is a hell of a song, mofos:



UPDATE: Know much about Blue Light Cameras and policing in Chicago? Curious? Here are some interesting links that I found on the subject: one, two, three, and four.

Vintage Violence

Today is a Day for the Kashmere Stage Band's "Texas Thunder Soul, 1968-74"

The best high school band ever? Ever.

One of the best performing bands of the modern musical era? Most certainly.

The Kashmere Stage Band was insanely good both in the studio and on the stage. Texas Thunder Soul, 1968-74 compiles most of the band's available studio and live work on two CD's. The sound is incredibly crisp and well-mixed.

The Kashmere Stage Band, populated by students attending Kashmere High School in northeast Houston during the late-60s into the 70s, played and recorded some of the deepest funk grooves this planet has ever known.

Led by the bandmaster and music educator "Prof." Conrad O. Johnson, the KSB dominated high school big band competitions throughout Texas, the region, and the entire U.S. for nearly a decade. They recorded 8 albums of material and played live shows, during holiday and summer breaks, to packed auditoriums and gyms across the United States, Europe, and Japan. [You can find a fascinating interview with Johnson from the record label Now Again here where he reflects on his years leading the KSB.]

 

I can't say this strongly enough: this guy was a musical genius and he and his band of high school kids were making some of the best music in the country during the early 1970s. Everyone should know the name Conrad O. Johnson. As his biography on the Texas Bandmasters Hall of Fame (year 2000 inductee) award page describes his background:

After first attending Houston College for Negroes and later graduating from Wylie College in the east Texas town of Marshall, Johnson began teaching in public schools in 1941. His 37 years of classroom service were highlighted by a distinguished tenure as director of the Kashmere High School Stage Band, which won 42 out of 46 contests entered between 1969 and 1977, recorded eight albums featuring more than 20 original compositions by Johnson and traveled throughout Europe, Japan and the United States.

"Prof" Johnson passed away at the age of 92 on February 3, 2008, after spending the previous two nights as the guest of honor at a pair of Kashmere Stage Band reunion shows. The Houston Chronicle sums up his final days and his legacy here.

NPR's All Things Considered did a wonderful story on Johnson and the KSB back in 2006, a short 15 months before his death. You can listen to and download the story here, along with links to 3 songs that you can stream.

In addition, most KSB songs can be streamed on grooveshark. Check out this live version of the song "All Praises" from 1972:


I would strongly encourage you to get yourself a copy of the 2-CD Texas Thunder Soul set somehow, someway. The Kashmere Stage Band kick out the funk-jazz-fusion jams, mofo. The compilation can be purchased/downloaded in all the usual places.

And while I'm at it, I recommend that every music-loving American look for the recent documentary that premiered at SXSW '10 about the Prof and his band which should be out on DVD soon:

It is available to save in your queue until it shows up on Netflix.

Ok, still reading? Are there any high school large bands that have written, composed and recorded songs this perfect? I intend that as a serious question. Here is the student-penned "Al's Thing" from the KSB:


Still clicking? Here's "Headwiggle":