Gang sign for "wubba wubba."
This morning’s musical year in review comes to us from Jeremy Brightbill, guitarist of the late Tremendous Fucking and mastermind behind the long running Panic Strikes a Chord. Despite all this rockitude, Jeremy is known for his love of hip-hop and his picks of 2010 reflect this in a big way. Check it out before you wreck it out. Or something.
Twenty-Ten. Oh man, you suck. Eat a dick.
I hate you more than the words “despise,” “hate,” “loathe,” and “detest “ combined and rolled up into an abhorrence pie then forced into me through my tear ducts could convey.
All I can think of to not hate about it were a few weddings (Mr. & Mrs. Postcard, Mr. & Mrs. Murder, etc.), the recording of my band’s fifth album, and listening to music made by others.
So here are the 2010 albums that kept me from lighting myself on fire in protest of the death of my belief in karma, among other things, the ones I listened to daily to keep me from stepping in front of those assholes in SUVs who drive like campus is a demolition derby, the things that got me through.
Janelle Monáe – The Archandroid
You’ve got to be kidding me. The fact that this record wasn’t on top of more lists is criminal. This chick is like Andre3000 channeling Bowie remixed by Amon Tobin directed by Fritz Lang (okay, that’s cheap of me. Monáe has stated that Metropolis is a direct influence on her work), all ridden by one of the most versatile voices I’ve heard since PJ Harvey or Björk. I listened to nothing else for at least three weeks after I bought it, and I still discover new things every time. Seriously, it’s like she’s not even trying. She can do anything, and she’s only 24.
Ugh. Where’s that gasoline?
Liars – Sisterworld
I saw the video for “Scissor” and freaked all the way out. My boys were back, and how. More cohesive and darker than their previous albums, yet somehow diverse and light at the same time, this may be their best. I got to see them live this year, too, finally. Neat.
Cee-Lo Green – The Ladykiller
What can be said? Cee-Lo has got the soul, the dopeness, the badassery. Album after album, he delivers. And this one… this one is killer. Wait… it’s… lady… killer.
Big Boi – Sir Lucious Left Foot… The Son of Chico Dusty
Since I didn’t get an Outkast jam this year, I’ll take this. Read some jerk on another website. Big Boi is the bomb.
Erykah Badu – New Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ankh)
The lady just gets better with age. Ever since she started hanging out with dead prez, the Roots, and Common, her albums have turned into Parliament-like explorations of the outer limits of “R&B,” which anymore for Badu would be as dumb a misnomer as calling Radiohead “indie,” or David Lynch’s films “thrillers.”
The Roots – How I Got Over
Speaking of getting better with age… the Roots’ music is unfukwitable, and Black Thought is one vicious MC. I can’t get over how good every album they make is, how incredibly solid and interesting they are, and how every year they get overlooked by so-called hip-hop heads and certain “taste-maker” websites and magazines. Not that it matters at all anymore. I’m sure the Fallon gig has them covered.
Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Go ahead, haters. Cry about whatever.
I don’t care about Kanye. I don’t watch TV or award shows or anything that I’m supposed to hate this guy for. I don’t care or know or want to know who Taylor Swift is. I do think George Bush doesn’t care about black people. None of this has anything to do with ANYTHING about Kanye’s music. His production is magic. He got skill. If I listened to music for the personality of its makers, I wouldn’t like music at all.
The Besnard Lakes – Are The Roaring Night
The first two tracks alone are almost enough to land this one on here. Somehow these people play music that gets labeled by critics and magazines as every type of indie rock I absolutely hate, but I really like this band. And this record is just beautiful.
Teenage Fanclub – Shadows
Trashcan Sinatras – In The Music
Longtime fan of both bands, so I’ll cop out and stick ‘em on here. Both are solid albums. Both won’t change the world or break ground. Good songs, good production, melodies and words. I love it.
