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Jan 2, 2011 - 04:16 PM |
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Compiling "Best Albums" lists is hard |
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Because most of the stuff that I hear for the first time in any given year is generally released at some point in a previous year. I was close to talking about Shrinebuilder because I enjoyed that crunchy shit so much, but, lo and behold, it's released in 2009.
So as far as albums that I heard that were actually released this year, here's a short list of my favorites in no particular order (and please notice where a lot of these things are from, too):
Sufjan Stevens - The Age of Adz
Completely fucking different from his earlier albums, with all sorts of silly electronic stuff, and the fantastic "Impossible Soul." Expect to see "I Want to Be Well" on SAUS this year.
Pretty much everything released by Pause this year has been great, especially if you enjoy any sort of chippage. Standouts to me have been Peer's Dances (a collection of dance-ish tunes on altered Game Boy synths), Norrin_Radd's Anomaly (which those of you who have been paying attention have heard about already, since I've already gushed about it in various places, and then Sprout went and shared it to "normal" people on facebook. Not long before I did. This is probably my favorite album of the year OF THE YEAR.), Spiny Norman's Across the milky tracks (melodic chippy fun and a nice green cover), Disasterpeace's Midnight Orphans (laid-back enhanced chiptune goodness, and probably will be represented in my SAUS noms as well), and sadnes's Fill my head (90's throwback rock with chippy roots. This one'll probably get its own entry, honestly. I enjoy it that much.) So yeah. Pause is about the only place I've regularly checked for new music and have pretty much been ravenous about listening to each album (well, the free ones. Actual money goes to other things.)
And finally, the best album released this year:
Kanye West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
With My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, Kanye West made music as sprawlingly messy as his life. When he wasn't feuding with Matt Lauer or bugging out on Twitter, Kanye was building hip-hop epics, songs full of the kind of grandiose gestures that only the foolish attempt and only the wildly talented pull off. The more he piled on — string sections, Elton John piano solos, vocoder freakouts, Bon Iver cameos, King Crimson and Rick James samples — the better the music got. Never has Kanye rhymed so hilariously ("Have you ever had sex with a pharaoh?/I put the pussy in a sarcophagus") or been so insightful about his relationship-torpedoing faults. From the bracing prog-rock of "Power" to the spooky grandeur of "Runaway" to the shape-shifting "Hell of a Life," he made all other music seem dimmer and duller. Is the album dark? Sure. Twisted? Of course. But above all, it's beautiful. Kanye's cock tastes great.
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