I used to do these roundups of music I’ve been enjoying pretty regularly, but it seems like it’s been ages since I’ve done one… so, here goes. I’ll add a comment or two to each, but you can certainly find thorough reviews and/or streaming samples for most of these. I’ll add a streaming audio track to each album, but I can’t guarantee how long I’ll leave that up, since I may need to clear out that disc space at some point in the future.
Tinariwen – Tassili : This band of Tuareg musicians from Mali, Africa get better and better with every record. Despite the unexpected guest appearances by U.S. musicians from Wilco, TV on the Radio, and The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, this record is their best record since Aman Iman–in fact, maybe their best ever. Stream the whole record here.
[audio:https://www.benzilla.com/uploads/2011/09/01-Tinariwen-Imidiwan-Ma-Tenam-feat.-Nels-Cline1.mp3|titles=01 – Tinariwen – Imidiwan Ma Tenam (feat. Nels Cline)]
The Replacements – Institutionalized : This is a <cough, cough> “unofficial” release. It’s a recording of their last show: July 4th, 1991 in Chicago’s Grant Park. This is a widely circulated bootleg and here’s just one of the many places you can find it. The version I have (probably for the best) doesn’t have the final song listed there, “Kiss Me On The Bus,” which was performed not by the band, but by the roadies.
Fucked Up – David Comes To Life : I guess if I said this was the greatest punk rock double-LP concept album since Hüsker Dü’s Zen Arcade, it’d probably seem like I was damning the record with faint praise since there aren’t very many punk rock double-LP concept albums… but, damn, this is just about the most relentless guitar rock album I’ve heard in a long time. The vinyl record came with a fold-out poster with the lyrics and I’ve just begun to sit down and listen song-by-song for the story–but story or no story, this album ROCKS.
White Denim – D : I’m really surprised by how much I wound up liking this record. I bought it after hearing the song “Street Joy” on Sirius XMU but it turns out that song is a bit of an odd man out on this record–and I’m glad. It’s kind of hard to exactly describe what White Denim sounds like (a good sign in and of itself in my book) but to take a rough stab at it: Imagine taking some of the positive elements of classic jam-y bands like The Allman Brothers and The Grateful Dead and then infusing that with some early Meat Puppets-style insanity and some really interesting prog-rock tendencies song structure-wise.
Ladytron – Best of 00-10 : I’m not a big proponent of “best of” collections, but Ladytron, like a lot of electronic bands, has a catalog filled with a bewildering array of singles, EPs, remixes, etc., so this collection seemed like a good place to get started. Most of the songs I like best on this collection seem to be from the records Witching Hour and Velocifero.
Rodrigo y Gabriela – 11:11 : I only recently got hip to this acoustic guitar duo via their appearance All Songs Considered’s “Tiny Desk” concert series. They’re former thrash metal musicians from Mexico City who ditched their electrics in favor of a couple of nylon string classical guitars and are now playing an amazing, bizarre hybrid of speed metal and traditional flamenco. The cuts I like best are the ones, like the single “Hanuman,” that remain as close as possible to just the two guitars. The more produced cuts on this record are my least favorites. With chops like these two have, anything extra is lilly-guilding.
Tame Impala – Innerspeaker : It’d be easy to tag this record as “retro”–especially with the singer’s slightly John Lennon-ish voice–but it’s way too inventive and sonically interesting for that. I was blown away by this record on the first listen and it’s easily one of the best records of 2010. The obvious comparison to draw here sound-wise would be with ’60s psychedelia (and it clearly bears that influence), but I’d just as easily make comparisons to bands like Kula Shaker and The Flaming Lips.
Raphael Saadiq – Stone Rollin’ : Speaking of records that could be erroneously dismissed as “retro,” the most recent record by Raphael Saadiq is truly amazing. Yes, for sure it’s steeped in the traditional late 60s/early 70s Memphis/Muscle Shoals soul sound, but that’s just the “wrapper” Saadiq’s working within. Unlike acts like Sharon Jones, etc. Raphael Saadiq’s taking the classic soul idiom and running with it… and–more importantly–obviously having fun with it. I’m considering having my end-of-life directive changed to read, “If patient remains vegetative during Raphael Saadiq’s ‘Heart Attack’ or ‘Radio,’ PULL THE PLUG!”
Smith Westerns – Dye It Blonde : Apparently these guys are relative youngsters–not even of legal drinking age when their very first record came out. You’d never know it, though, listening to Dye It Blonde, their second release. These guys are just one of the more recent bands to be “converted” via the seminal Nuggets collection and you can for sure hear the influence of 60s psychedelia here. Bigger, though, influence-wise are classic British glam acts; the record sounds like a lost T-rex album.
The Feelies – Here Before : I’m a huge Feelies fan and their second record The Good Earth is definitely on my “top 50.” It’s precisely because I’m such a big Feelies fan, though, that I was somewhat dubious of this reunion record–their first in two decades. The record’s really grown on me, however. Sound-wise it rests comfortably between their first record, Crazy Rhythms, and the mellower sounds of The Good Earth. As pointed out in a review I read, this record requires (and rewards) something rarely asked of listeners these days: patience.
Meat Puppets – Lollipop : Since their glorious heyday, this band has produced a string of records that range from uneven to nearly unlistenable. It was a truly pleasant surprise to find that this most recent record of theirs is actually really good. It’s for sure more in the mold of the mellow Up On The Sun than the about-to-fly-off-the-rails Meat Puppets II, but guess what? It’s 2011 and this band has matured. Every time R.E.M. puts out a new record, people hope for one last great, mature record from the now-grown-up band… and they never deliver. But The Meat Puppets have (and no one seems to have noticed).
Ok, I could go on like this for a while (I’ve been listening to a lot of new stuff!)… but I won’t. Maybe I’ll do a Part II post at some point in the future, but for now that’s it.
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