2011 Album Reviews - 6/30/2011

The Dears - "Degeneration Street" - A+

And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead - Tao Of The Dead - An outstanding indie / prog album. Possibly a contender for album of the year. - A+

Cut Copy - Zonoscope - B+

The Streets - Computers And Blues - B

The Twilight Singers - Dynamite Steps - B

The Drive-By Truckers - Go-Go Boots - A

2010 Song Project - Countdown - #420-#411

#420 The Weepies - "I Was Made For Sunny Days" from "Be My Thrill" - An upbeat song from the usually dour Weepies, "I Was Made For Sunny Days" is a great song in the band's usual twee indie pop style.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0z71SWcG2o


#419 Iron Maiden - "Mother Of Mercy" from "The Final Frontier" - The old monsters of metal keep rolling through yet another decade. "Mother Of Mercy" isn't their highest charting song on this year's countdown, but it ranks among the top tier of Maiden classics nonetheless.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3jUfDPc60Y


#418 Los Campesinos! - "A Heat Rash In The Shape Of The Show Me State; Or, Letters From Me To Charlotte" from "Romance Is Boring" - "Romance Is Boring" is the latest in a series of great albums from Los Campesinos!, one of the most original bands in modern rock. "A Heat Rash" is the first of several peppy songs with dark undertones from the album.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDvf7Uq9DLs


#417 Lissie - "Stranger" from "Catching A Tiger" - Between covers and her own original work, 2010 was a fantastic breakthrough year for Lissie. This indie rock song is one of her best originals, with a great hook leading into the chorus.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Quqb-p3Ikbo


#416 Gogol Bordello - "Immigraniada" from "Trans-Continental Hustle" - Gypsy punk greats Gogol Bordello took a big step forward with "Trans-Continental Hustle", a more accessible rock album that previous albums. "Immigraniada" sounds like the kind of song that Serj Tankian might have written for System Of A Down if his ancestry was from the same part of Europe as Gogol Bordello's.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oioNZSPqRM


#415 Les Savy Fav - "Clear Spirts" from "Root For Ruin" - Aggressive lyrics and swirling guitars highlight this track from indie rock favorites Les Savy Fav.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HU_ndUXGY84


#414 The Joy Formidable - "Popinjay" from "Blalock's Indie Rock Playlist" - Long hyped as the next big thing, the Joy Formidable might be one of the highlights of the 2011 countdown, but for now, "Popinjay" makes an early debut on the 2010 list with this song, which strikes me as a different take on the Silversun Pickups' hard rock style.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9fvl88FyX4


#413 Swans - "My Birth" from "My Father Will Guide Me Up To A Rope In The Sky" - A blogger once declared Swans as the best band that no one has ever heard of. With songs like "My Birth", which sounds like a darker version of the best And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead song mixed with shoegaze elements, it's hard to argue.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sy_p28PXG0Q


#412 Hole - "How Dirty Girls Get Clean" from "Nobody's Daughter" - Hole maintains their brilliantly out of control 90's alt rock style despite having a mostly new line-up. "How Dirty Girls Get Clean" is one of the best grunge songs of 2010. It's good to know that someone can still do that properly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9FA2MlT7n0


#411 Grinderman - "Bellringer Blues" from "Grinderman II" - Dark, twisted, crunchy and grinding, "Bellringer Blues" is vintage Nick Cave as the sequel to "Grinderman" surpasses the original. Nothing else in rock n roll sounds anything like this artist.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsUjo3P8FG8

2011 Album Reviews - 6/29/2011

Bright Eyes - "The People's Key" - A+
P.J. Harvey - "Let England Shake" - A+

2010 Song Project - Countdown - #430-#421

#430 Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers - "High In The Morning" from "Mojo" - Tom Petty's "Mojo" didn't get the same level of hype that his previous albums did, but it ranks among his best, adopting a more blues rock sound than previous records. "High In The Morning" is the first of many songs from "Mojo" to make the countdown.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sme4z1Tjgw


#429 The Like - "Catch Me If You Can" from "Release Me" - The first I heard from the Like was when Elvis Costello picked them to do a cover of one of his songs (which I believe was actually a cover of an older song) for the "War Heroes" album last year. Since then, they've released "Release Me", a solid album of throwback music inspired by the girl groups of the Wall Of Sound era.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-0gP4I-zNo


#428 Black Milk - "Distortion" from "Album Of The Year" - One of four Black Milk songs to make the countdown, "Distortion" is (fittingly) a heavily distorted hip hop song with great lyrics.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UV4evbEoR6U


#427 Herzog - "Paul Blart And The Death Of Art" from "Blalock's Indie Rock Playlist" - Herzog doesn't pull any punches about their feelings about "Paul Blart, Mall Cop" on this alt rock attack on the decline of popular culture.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ytXK2n1kNk


#426 Two Door Cinema Club - "Come Back Home" from "Tourist History" - 2010 was a breakthrough year for Two Door Cinema Club. They have much bigger hits on the countdown, though this song comes through with a solid chorus and some quirky guitar work throughout.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dv--y03Wm6A


#425 Spoon - "Trouble Comes Running" from "Transference" - Another great song from "Transference" as Spoon continues to own the space between OK Go and Wilco with another hooky indie rock hit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwxpJD8HTQo


#424 The Eels - "Unhinged" from "End Of Time" - In another year, this pulsing alt-rock song from The Eels might have charted much higher.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHd9-ymWvxU


#423 Band Of Horses - "Life On Earth" from "Twilight: Eclipse Soundtrack" - Band of Horses had a big year with several songs from their own album making the list along with this sad, folksy tune from the latest "Twilight" soundtrack.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XEk-uvb1c8


#422 Kylesa - "Tired Climb" from "Spiral Shadow" - 2010 wasn't a great year for metal, but Kylesa did help to provide some Maynard methodone with this crunchy prog metal song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgdqizS5wCA


#421 Johnny Cash - "Last Night I Had The Strangest Dream" from "Ain't No Grave" - The latest (and last?) great song from the Johnny Cash / Rick Rubin recording sessions.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Os9LGbF8lbM

2010 Song Project - Countdown - #440-#431

#440 Of Montreal - "Hydra Fancies" from "False Priest" - "False Priest" was a big step forward for Of Montreal as they saw their fanbase expand and made one of their best albums yet. "Hydra Fancies" has a definite Prince vibe to it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVoXb2xDVSc


#439 Ben Folds And Nick Hornby - "Levi Johnston's Blues" from "Lonely Avenue" - Ben Folds shared writing duties on "Lonely Avenue" with author Nick Hornby. The pair created an album of somewhat mixed results, but "Levi Johnston's Blues" is a quirky, clever song that ranks amongst Folds' best.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZbUOCqdSuw


#438 Devo - "Sumthin'" from "Something For Everybody" - Devo was an unlikely candidate for comeback of the year in 2010, but track after track from "Something For Everybody" (including the title track here) kept showing that the brilliant art rockers from the late 70's and early 80's still had a lot of great music left in them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sF532h0CxKk


#437 Jonsi - "Go Do" from "Go" - The lead singer for Sigur Ros released a solo album in 2010 and this unusual indie pop song was the best of the results.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5VgLOs0LwQ


#436 The Klaxons - "The Same Space" from "Surfing The Void" - 2010 was a great year for The Klaxons. "Surfing The Void" is easily their best album so far and "The Same Space" is a big part of that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlUWHGDdu50


#435 Eminem - "You're Never Over" from "Recovery" - "You're Never Over" is about as close to a real ballad as Eminem will ever (or should ever) get. The chorus isn't that great, but the rap verses are among Eminem's best.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlsbRM1eZIo


#434 Danger Mouse And Sparklehorse - "Insane Lullaby" from "Dark Night Of The Soul" - Even though the Shins didn't release an album in 2010, lead singer James Mercer had a great year, combining his success with Broken Bells with his guest vocal on this song, the best song off of "Dark Night Of the Soul".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2amKYQ8EgA


#433 Kings Of Leon - "Pickup Truck" from "Come Around Sundown" - "Come Around Sundown" was a bit of a disappointment, but it did produce a few great songs, such as "Pickup Truck", which calls back to an earlier Kings sound than more recent efforts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=af5A08OWPRE


#432 Wolf Parade - "Pobody's Nerfect" from "Expo 86" - Another brilliant album from Wolf Parade produces another great indie rock song for the 2010 countdown.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqG4sj6H2vg


#431 The Thermals - "I Don't Believe You" from "Personal Life" - Considering how great their previous albums were, "Personal Life" has to be viewed as a letdown, but even a letdown by The Thermals standard is an excellent album that produces several great songs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNhlR7v3LkA

2010 Song Project - Countdown - #450-#441

#450 Holy Fiction - "More Than Ever" from "Hours From It" - The only song from Holy Fiction to make the countdown, "More Than Ever" is a sweeping song with a great chorus.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9TZMExzmEs


#449 Rick Ross - "MC Hammer" from "Teflon Don" - Rick Ross put a couple songs on the countdown this year, with this song being a more straight-forward rap song than "Life Fast, Die Young".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4OGoIoOero


#448 Cypress Hill - "Rise Up" from "Rise Up" - 2010 was a surprisingly good year for Cypress Hill. Though they didn't experience much success from their album "Rise Up", it was their best work in years. This track features Rage / Audioslave guitarist Tom Morello.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iatjMEp3bxw


#447 Travie McCoy - "Dr. Feel Good" from "Lazarus" - Cee Lo Green guests on this track, providing a great chorus to go with Travie's rap verses.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JFIYjEU_wc


#446 Athlete - "Superhuman Touch" from "Black Swan" - Athlete's style of music is very hit or miss. Their songs will either be stadium-filling pop hits or obtuse misses.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5TTe2Gj2LM


#445 Bo Burnham - "Rant" from "Words, Words, Words" - Bo's comedic rant about religion. He's a great lyricist if you can get past his nasal singing voice.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hCQLEIWadk


#444 Elvis Costello - "Five Little Words" from "National Ransom" - Elvis seems to have a few songs on every year's list. "Five Little Words" ranks among the best songs he's produced in the past decade.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThzOrkXBLD4


#443 UNKLE - "The Runaway - Lupe's Revenge" from "The Answer" - The Lupe in question is, of course, Lupe Fiasco, who provides the trippy, paranoid rap vocals on this track from UNKLE.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWCDeR6Z-1g


#442 Darker My Love - "Backseat" from "Alive As You Are" - This song has a distinct Grateful Dead vibe to it, with smooth verses bleeding into a hooky chorus and twangy guitars throughout.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-GEKB43I5g


#441 Kate Nash - "Do Wah Doo" from "My Best Friend Is You" - 2010 wasn't quite as good a year for Kate Nash as 2008 was, but she did manage to put this song on the countdown.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqV-embx_tA

2011 Album Reviews - 6/24/2011

The Cold War Kids - Mine Is Yours - A+

Motorhead - The World Is Yours - A+

Gang Of Four - Content - B-

Iron And Wine - Kiss Each Other Clean - A+