Year-End Madness

Seriously, NPR? Erykah Badu's "Window Seat" ? The song that makes every single person I know that hears it go "What on earth is this?"

Badu has made some good music but come on. I would rather hear silence.

Veronica brought the NPR list of 50 Favorite albums of 2010 to my attention. Though there were only 15 artists that I had never heard of, there were fewer still that I would have put on a year-end list of my own.

This sent me on a chase around the internet to try and answer a series of questions:

Which albums, artists or songs would I put on my list? What even came out this year? Am I a Bob Boilen? Can I really not name ten albums from 2010 that I really liked? (True story: He only listed nine).

I found some answers, but not really the ones I was looking for. Meaning that I wont be sharing a top ten list this week.

What I wanted to have happen, was to open my music player, my last.fm, and have the albums I liked this year to just leap out at me. No such luck. I got a couple that way. So then I looked to other year-end lists, hoping that I would share favorites with these people and would be able to compile my list that way...

But, most of these lists included Sleigh Bells, which is a deal breaker for me. Yes, that girl is really, incredibly, attractive. And yes, the music is very loud. However, it is obnoxious. Seriously people, if you like this music because it makes you want to jump around, you can do better. I promise. Whoever you are, you can do better.

Another  conflict I had with many year-end lists: Best Coast. While I enjoyed her releases as singles, (well, mostly I enjoyed "When I'm With You") as an album it is about the most excruciating thing to have been released this year. They are all catchy, well-crafted pop songs. They are all about boys and love and whatever else. And they all sound very much the same. 

I can't believe that I am so far out of touch with the rest of the world.

Feeling frustrated, and suddenly very self-conscious about what I should be listening to, I went on a downloading binge. I am now in the process of sampling tracks from as many artists as I could find from as many different sources as I could think of. Because the truth is, my greatest fear surrounding the making of a year end list is that I have not yet heard the best albums of 2010. And as of now, no one knows. But if I go out and swing my top ten around, everyone will know - she hasn't heard this yet, otherwise it would have made her list for sure. 

This has also been a disappointing experience. I feel as though I wasted much of the day searching, and not coming up with much.

The thing that I've been enjoying the most actually, is a digital mixtape that I got from a friend in Chicago. It's called Positive Thinking Made Easy and appears to a collection of songs that make him happy. 

Betty Davis, Prince, Biz Markie, Misfits, Brother Ali, Blueprint. Robert Johnson? All here? Get comfortable. Cause you all work very well together.  I probably wouldn't have selected these tracks myself, but they work.

Another alienating musical experience this week: On Wednesday, The Cedar was host to Dark Dark Dark, Brute Heart and The Weather Duo. I thought Brute Heart put on a stunning performance: haunting, loud, surprising, eerie, grunge-y, raw. Pretty much right up my alley. No one I was with felt the same way. In fact, they didn't care much for the music at all.

Oh well. It is possible that I might just be a freak.

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The most exciting musical moment of the week was not mine, but belongs to The Cedar's own Jason Koffman. I'm hoping he will write a blog entry of his own about the experience, but for now I just have to share this with you. Check the video at the top.

Until next time,

AoR