Killuminati, Arab Money and a Semester Abroad.
 

I've been here some time now. I tend to come and go, moving from place to place.
I never felt as if I truly belonged in any one place, in any one pursuit.
I move from person from person, friend to friend.
Those that I once considered friends, I grew apart from, I grew tired of, I grew to resent.
I grew to resent a lot of things, perhaps this is reflected in my music tastes.

I look at the albums I owned in younger years, I resent them.
I resent the mere memory that I once thought said albums may be the epitome of all that was good taste within music.
Some may label a scenester, a hipster. That I just move towards liking what's trendy, what's cool at this present moment.
When others have caught up, I turn my back on it. I denounce it.
It's no longer the artwork I touted it as being.

I don't believe this is who I am, in fact I know it isn't.
But, I wouldn't expect others to know that. It is true that I turn off music when others begin to show interest in it.
I'm sure there are those of you who can empathise with me.
When you hear a particular brand of music, an album, a song that sparks something inside of you. That feeling is yours. Yours alone.

Nobody has ever told me what to like, if they have I'll almost certainly turn against it.
I don't go out of my way to be against the norm, to be different.
It subconsciously has always been the case. To antagonise others with my refusal to follow the norm.

Therefore to reiterate an earlier point, when I have a piece of music in my possession, in my mind. It's mine. My feeling. In my mind, unique to me.
When I see another person touting that particular artist/album/music that I turned them onto, I'm happy that someone else can share the experience with me.
When the masses tune in, when the majority try to identify with the very essence of what I felt, it's no longer mine.

These people don't understand me, we are not like-minds.
There are very few intellectually compatible people on this earth I believe.
The human mind has evolved to a stage where I don't believe we should all feel the same way. The majority should not hold a mutual feeling, a mutual admiration for something so special as what certain pieces of music provoke inside an individual.

Perhaps this is why I seek to evolve, to move onto what's next.
Not just in music, in life.
If you're reading this, you don't know me. You have no idea about who I am in real life.
I could be living vicariously through an internet gimmick.
A figment of my own imagination which I portray as myself, therefore I'm not going to shower this thread with information about myself.

Nor am I here to lazily post YouTube videos and say
'yeah good song' 'check out their debut'
I'm here to tell a story, to talk about music, to really talk about music. And my feelings towards other subjects.

This is a music forum. I appreciate 50% of the websites title is made up the colloquial term 'Banter', but is this website really a 50/50 split of the two.
Or do we have many members whose sole purpose here is to be the class clown.
The guy first with the lame pun or attempt at humour, last with substantial input or thought.
Is this site true on its offer of providing music related discussion.
I don't think so. This journal is where it evolves into that.

Now, I can't promise I'll update every day, I don't have the insatiable appetite for blog writing that Trollheart has. I appreciate the effort he puts into his work and although I have never held conversation with him, he epitomises the attitude and efforts many more of you need to make, myself included to help this website evolve into everything it can be.
I will update this journal when I feel I have something that needs to be said.
Something that needs to be shared.

I shall leave it at that for the time being, hit me up, block me, write a meaningless post about me in the Spill My Guts thread, I don't give a ****.

Regards

MC

Thanks for the huge compliment Manky (not sure if it's deserved or not), and welcome to the world of music journals. I look forward to seeing yours evolve, and I get the feeling --- however cliched this may come out --- that you stand on the cusp of something truly great.

Now, don't forget to check out this band's debut! ;)

So I got to thinking, do people feel obligated to like certain artists/certain albums.
I haven't heard anyone on here say anything against Pink Floyd, could it be that they're so good that everyone actually likes them?

It seems Dark Side Of The Moon makes every greatest album of all time's list, which I don't buy into because according to said lists; albums like Nevermind are considered better than everything that came thereafter.
Nirvana aren't even good. I mean, really what's so fantastic about them?
Remember the first time you heard Cobain growl and you weren't sure you liked it, but felt almost inclined to play along because everyone else liked it.
Could it be their records were so bad, that the hype surrounding them blinded or perhaps - deafened you to them. Made you ignorant of their sound.

Apologies for the second person perspective, this isn't aimed at anyone in particular, it just annoys me to think that Nirvana are considered one of the greatest bands of all time by out-of-touch publications and alienated individuals who think Cobain spoke to them.
He didn't. He didn't speak to anyone. Have you ever read his lyrics?

So how does this relate to Pink Floyd?
Are there those out there who feel bound to the band, swept up in waves of hype. I remember seeing some douchebag down the pub wearing a Pink Floyd shirt, I asked him his favourite album, he couldn't think of one.
Now, I'm not a Pink Floyd fan, I don't wear the t-shirts, I don't tout their praises mindlessly on facebook. But even I know and own some of their albums.
Does this douchebag represent the people who feel obligated to like critically renowned bands like Pink Floyd?

I listened to Dark Side of the Moon again yesterday. I've been listening to it a fair bit recently. I work at a bar in a Spannish restaurant/hotel and it's a requirement to always have music on. To be fair to my employers, it's not a bad selection of albums I have at my disposal excluding the Bing Crosby Christmas album which I am denouncing before even playing.
First shift I worked, I browsed the music collection and picked out Dark Side of the Moon.
I played it, most shifts I do.
There's a certain calm amongst the technical musicianship which makes for good background music, the soothing lyrics that hit on Breathe after a few minutes of progressive build, a.k.a the first track.
I listen to it with headphones at home, the sounds are clearer, crisper, the layers of instruments become more apparent, quite clever in arrangement.

Yesterday, not only did I listen to Dark Side of the Moon, but I also listened to this record again;

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ma...mlbmo1_500.jpg

For those of you unfamiliar with this record, which I'd wager most are as this forum is deprived of post-hardcore fans to the best of my knowledge, it's by a band called The Blood Brothers. The album 'Burn Piano Island Burn'

Now, I can't think of two more polarising albums in terms of sound, but these two records are much more similar than one may think.
First off, I'll start by saying, I don't really understand either record, but I enjoy listening to them regardless.

Dark Side of the Moon is good, no doubt. But I don't understand its cult following.
Sure, technically, the band are talented musicians, but is it the most technically astute record ever? No.
Sure there are nice harmonies which makes for easy listening, especially when compared to Burn Piano Island Burn, but is it the most harmonic, smoothest album ever? No.
Perhaps it's an all-rounder? Its versatility may be the reason for its long lasting success.
I don't understand all the hype though. Sure it's good, but what exactly qualifies it as one of the best records ever?
I haven't delved deep into the albums meaning. I'm sure there's some deep-rooted concept that leaves Pink Floyd fans in floods of their own semen, but that doesn't interest me.

As I said in my first Journal entry. I want music to mean something to me.
Perhaps this is why I struggle to connect with this record. It doesn't really speak to me. I have listened a number of times, and although I quite like it and its good music to fall asleep to, it never stays in my memory.
Can I recall the latter part of the album? No.
I listened yesterday.

You may think this is due to a lack of memory proficiency on my behalf.
On the contrary, the first time I heard Blood Brothers's 'Burn Piano Island Burn' it sunk into my subconscious straight away.
It was one of those records that the opening few seconds of the opening song, I thought 'wow, this is different? I don't understand what this is but I don't really care'
I listened on intently searching for answers as to what it was I was listening to. To this day, I have no idea.
Burn Piano Island Burn is one of the most energetic, chaotic records I've ever heard. Constantly jumping around with its infectious 'catchiness' (not a real word, perhaps I should consult a thesauras) and outright off-the-wall attitude supported by a vocalist who squeaks, squeals, screams and serenades in the oddest of fashion.

The record kept me coming back due to its raw enthusiasm and charisma.
Every time I listen, it's an incredible blast of noisy yet really well structured and cleverly processed carnage.
Dark Side of the Moon keeps me coming back in my search for it to finally click, for it to finally ingrain itself in my memory, for it to finally make sense to me.

Maybe in that I favour a record like Burn Piano Island Burn to Dark Side of the Moon speaks volumes about me.
Dark Side of the Moon is calm; controlled, reliable and soothing.
Burn Piano Island Burn is erratic; wild, antagonistic and attitudinal.

Both have the distinction of being very good records performed by talented sets of musicians. Similar in that they both leave me puzzled.
I read so much about The Blood Brothers clever lyrics. How clever and witty they are.
I have no doubt they are very clever. However I have no idea what these lyrics are.
I have no idea what the two front men are saying through their vast vocal range as the screams are hard for me to translate.
Sure, I can pick out words here and there, but it doesn't matter what they're saying. Just like when struggling to interpret a love scene from a foreign romantic film or even listening to Gangam Style, it's better not to know what's being said. Knowing may take away from the moment. Take away from what you think of the song/scene.
I like Burn Piano Island Burn so much because I don't understand it.
It's just a fun record which leaves you humming the various disorderly melodies.
I don't need it to be made crystal clear, some things are better left not said.

In contrast, I see the two records as so;

Imagine watching a gazelle drinking majestically from the lake in its natural habitat. A cool breeze in the air. Relaxed. Tranquil. It's a thing of beauty to watch nature in such surroundings.
This is Dark Side of the Moon.

Now imagine that same gazelle galloping frantically across the planes. It's being chased by a blood thirsty lion who roars on after it sensing the destruction it's about to cause in order to feast and salivating at the lips at the prospect of devouring its prey.
This is Burn Piano Island Burn.

Both are, whether you like it or not, displays of nature in motion.
Both are fascinating to watch in there own ways.
Just as nice as it is to see an old vintage car chugging along with the roof down on a sunday afternoon, it's also impossible to look away from a car crash.

For me, I find destruction fascinating. Watching the world crumble is unintentionally gripping.
Watching last years London Riots was the most glued to news coverage I've ever been.
It kept me coming back, not because I liked the thoughts of the many people suffering. No, because part of me was drawn to the intrigue of chaos.

Just like with Dark Side of the Moon, sure it's nice and I'd listen to it, it's not got the unorthodox and unpredictable nature which makes Burn Piano Island Burn so compelling.

I'm sure there are many would disagree, but perhaps I can relate to the Blood Brothers. Piano Island wherever it may be, it'd be a whole lot more interesting to see, burning.

I think you're doing a superb job with your well-thought-out analysis here MC. I love DOStM and would certainly consider myself a fan, however the albums I have are all more of what would be considered "bandwagon-jumpers", in that they all come after that one: "The Wall", "Wish you were here", "Final cut", "A momentary lapse" and "Division bell". Okay, I own "Meddle" and have listened to it once, maybe twice, and I've never really heard "Animals" all the way through, but the older albums? The Syd era, the "Pipers" and the "Saucerfulls" and even the likes of "Atom heart mother"? Never heard them. Bits of, yes. But I've never been that impressed/interested that I HAD to go buy, or acquire them.

But if I like Pink Floyd it's because, well, I like their music, not because I feel I have to. There are HUGE bands I don't quite dislike but have little interest in, that to admit such would bring a huge roar of disapproval/disbelief from certain quarters: the Stones. The Who. The Beatles. The Kinks. Nir-bloody-vana! And I hate Elvis with a passion; always have, always will.

But throughout my life I have bought records for one reason and one reason alone: that I like the artiste. I don't care who else does. It's one reason why my first stay here was curtailed when I perceived too much elitism in members and that my musical tastes, seen as pedestrian or even mainstream were being looked down on, as if I hadn't got the sense or the let's say breeding to look beyond those and discover the delights of bands I'd never even heard of, or wanted to, but that half or more of the people here were totally into.

Anyone who follows a band or artiste, or buys their music because they think they have to, or should, is kidding themselves. This is a case of following fashion in music terms: all my friends like Westlife (for example) so I should too, even though I think they suck but I'd never say that in front of them. My buddies are all into hardcore metal so I have to be too, even though I'd rather listen to a George Michael album. People feel they have to fall in with the crowd, that to have a different or dissenting opinion is generally frowned upon, and runs you the risk of alienation.

And I say, what of it? If people aren't into my music then I consider that their loss. Maybe at some point they'll discover it and see what they've been missing. Or not. But I would never listen to something just because I thought I had to, or was expected to, or should. I would take recommendations, certainly, but as with Bon Iver, I make my own mind up, and yes, I agree, I fail to see what was so great about Nirvana. Never liked them.

As for Floyd, sure I like them but I do because I do, if that makes sense. DSOtM speaks to me in ways it may not to others; it evokes certain memories and brings back certain times, and I always, always enjoy listening to it. If Burn Piano Island Burn does this for you, then fair play because you've discovered something that may be personally important to you, that others may not get, but again, that's their/our loss.

And I LOVE your description of Dark Side as the gazelle on the mountain...

Oh, and catchiness is a word... ;)

Great journal so far, and I like the fact you shy away from les tubes of you: the way you use your descriptive prose to paint the picture is much more interesting. Keep it up! :thumb: :)

Thanks for the feedback Trollheart, it's nice to know someone's reading out there.

In regards to Pink Floyd, I'm not a massive fan but I can appreciate the talent. I also picked up The Wall which bored me to within an inch of my life and steered me clear of picking up any other Pink Floyd releases.

It's interesting to me that you do not like The Who. I cannot fathom why, I don't see anything that may be potentially repelling about them. I'm not some fanboy by any means, but I've enjoyed every one of their records I've heard and there's definitely a great variety in their music. Usually; even in artists I like, I can see aspects of the artist that may not appeal to everyone, but The Who I cannot fathom the dislike for.
I'm sure you have your own reasons.
I also really enjoy Elvis Presley if just for the simplicity and 'catchiness' of his songs.
I don't mind The Kinks, I'm not interested in trying to defend the other artists.

Journal Entry No.3

It often perplexes me how competent musicians who gel together well in a band and have produced incredible albums in their lifetimes can also churn out sub-par albums.

It isn't for lack of talent, this much is evident in the fact that they can make good albums and have done so.
An unwillingness, a lack of enthusiasm? Perhaps.
Relentless touring and publicity which affects the most popular of musicians is bound to take a toll on musical output.
I then ponder if that is the case. Why put out a record at all?
If your heart's not in it and you're suffering from tour dates, media attention and playing the fame game, why thrust yourself back into the limelight with a new record.

Especially major label releases. Think of the touring; the promotion, the interviews, the marketing of a major artists upcoming record.
It's a lot to try and shove down the consumers throat to assure people buy the record.
But if it's not worthy of the hype that's inevitably going to precede its release, why bother releasing it at all?

If the records born out of frustration, exhaustion, why bother taking the time to record it at all. The idea of quitting whilst ahead, keeping a favourable image of your music in the eyes of the listener would seem like a better option.
Perhaps that's what the deliberate inductees of the 27 forever club had in mind.
They didn't want to reach the stage where they were releasing meaningless records for the sake of it and didn't think that they could ever recapture the fire and passion of their early works. Deciding to bow out whilst still ahead of mediocrity.

It seems like an extreme. But every artist must suffer from it at some point.
A creative blockage, once where the ideology of creating music was enough to drive them to success, merely sustaining their position within the industry and adding to the ever depleting quality of their discography has replaced what led them to success in the first place.

One need only look at Greenday for an example of this. It's not that Billie Joe Armstrong and co are not capable of putting out good records, they have done so.
Years ago, when rising up the ranks they were seen my many as a symbol of alienated youth. An angst ridden group of young men who wore their hearts on their sleeves and created music to express themselves.

Fast forward to 2012 and Greenday are releasing three records in one year (which unless you're The Weeknd is almost certainly setting yourself up to fall) and Billie Joe has had what for me was a toss up between on stage breakdown and cheap publicity attempt by losing his bearings during a live performance and slamming industry scapegoat Justin Bieber.

I don't think exhaustion is the key here. If one were to truly love music. To love their art, they'd know when to release records.
If you were growing distant from your passion, any right thinking individual would assume time away from said passion would be the best remedy to try and recapture a passion in it or to find that you no longer can connect with it, and move away completely.
It beggars belief that if you became so disengaged from music that you would continue to keep with it, whilst beginning to resent it.
Unless it was for financial reasons. I get that people have families, bills to pay, mouths to feed, rent to pay, etc. Lots of people work jobs they hate.
However I fail to believe this extends to artists such as Greenday who surely cannot be in any financial troubles.

Therefore, I introduce my theory. Why can an artist like Weezer produce a masterpiece of an album like Pinkerton and then go onto release an album like Raditude.
Simple. A change in circumstance.

Think about how many artists produced their best works in their early career and fell off the more they kept prolonging their careers.
When most of the songs from Pinkerton were written, it's to the best of my understanding they were written by an emotional teenager who channelled their true to life feelings into songs.
Songs such as Across The Sea and The Good Life are simple in topic yet have a genuineness unmatched in later releases.
Why is this?
Could it be, that when they were written, the artist was in a genuine state of mind. They were just expressing their true to life, everyday feelings about run-of-the-mill activities that many could relate to.

Everyone can relate to feelings of confusion about love, depression and a teenage anxiety of confusion.
This likely lead many people to begin supporting the artists, knowing that they could relate their feelings to that of the artist.
Because at the time, when Weezer wrote Pinkerton they were alike many of those who gained solace in the record.
They were average joes with a passion for music speaking about things that mattered to them, things that they cared for.
They weren't superstars. They weren't millionaires. Their problems were the same as many of their fans. They could be related to.

When a person has it all; money, fame, legions of fans, as many woman as they want...how can the average person relate to them?
Try as they might to repeat past successes, it can not escape the feeling of falseness attached to the new material.
How can they embrace the same angst, the same emotion they had when they were teenagers questioning their place in life and high school status when they don't have those concerns any more.
They're successful, they're not like us any more. They made it. They grew up and regrettably they didn't allow their music to grow with them.
In trying to retain, trying to pretend they were the same angsty teenagers, they produced records of illegitimate emotions and subject matter which was no longer relevant to them which just ended up sounding forced, phony and immature.
It's Blink 182 syndrome. How can one take 40 year old men singing about first dates and skateboards seriously.

Weezer are a talented band despite what may be popular opinion, but they are not showcasing themselves as much with a reluctance or perhaps ignorance in adapting to the times.
Not that the world has changed. It hasn't. I guarantee as many young people can relate with Pinkerton now as they did in 1996.
The world hasn't changed, Weezer have.
They have not changed with their circumstances. Sure they can still sell records, but can their new material really match Pinkerton in terms of quality no.
Until they quit becoming a parody of their former selves they won't be able to make another Pinkerton.
Actually, they never will. They will never be those angst ridden teenagers again. Try as they might they will never capture those feelings, those emotions again.

People often ponder on here why emo is dead. It isn't. it is survived with every generation of young emotional people who come up through their teenage years and enter adult life.
Emo isn't dead, the artists just grew up.
Not to say emo is immature. It isn't. In my humble opinion it is the most open, brutally honest genre of them all.
However when a person settles into happy adult life with children and a secure job they can no longer relate with the scene.
Which is a hard but true reality. How can one who is perfectly content channel the raw emotion and misery within themselves to make an emo record?
Oh, they can try and you get albums like Raditude. They're just ****.

You make some really interesting points, in each of your posts actually, but I'll try and keep it up to date and just talk about the latest one.

I think you make some very good points about the changing fortunes of artists. Green Day didn't just wake up one day as poor musicians (although some will obviously argue they were never good to begin with) I liked them though, and while I wasn't exactly looking forward to this trio of albums of theirs I was at least hopeful. Needless to say I was massively disappointed.


This is definitely a key point in the case of Weezer. It would be an interesting experiment, to introduce a person to Weezer in a reverse chronological order. Despite the obvious superiority of the Weezer/Pinkerton albums, would someone who enjoyed their later stuff and then listened to their early stuff be that impressed by it? I mean it's so ****ing samey..

Anyway, back to your point-I know what you're getting at with the whole "they're not like me" anymore idea, but in all honesty I think it's a bit simplistic to say some bands have it all as it were and then lose their inspiration. Not that i'm saying musicians have a hard life, far from it, just that fame, "success" the girls, the money can bring with it problems that "normal" people have themselves, like isolation perhaps. I think successful artists can still find that same emotion that they had when they began their careers albeit they will generally have to change and adapt their music-as you say. But yeah, in Weezer's case, they never really grew up..

So, I've been looking over the last year of music.
Contrary to what mindless youtube comment section lurkers and those who suffer from the chronic disease of mass-thinking would have you believe; music is better than it's ever been.

Now more so than ever, there is such a great variety of music being released weekly. Whether you're a fan of metal, hip-hop, electro, jazz or whatever, there are talented artists creating great albums in every genre of music IN 2012.
Music is susceptible to evolution just like life itself (sorry Bible bashers, read a f/cking book, and not the one with the woman getting swallowed by a whale)
and therefore will continue to grow and evolve, with music that adapts to the times, trends and goes beyond what many thought was possible years before.

Who could have imagined back when Elvis was recording in the Sun Studios, during the days Martin Luther King was still having wet dreams and Frank Sinatra had just signed for Capitol Records that in less than 60 years, music could be generated on computers (whatever they are) comprising of electronic rhythmic patterns, that black men would be releasing political tirades on former presidents and that a group like Death Grips would even exist.

Now that there are more people on earth than ever before, it seems just that there should be more music available to cater to the ever expanding tastes of the growing population.
Music is more readily available than ever before, I've got through nearly 100 albums this year without paying for one.
One need only search for an artist, an album and include the term 'zip' or 'rar' and have a decent chance of acquiring the record they desired.
We have radio stations dedicated to particular brands of music, growing underground scenes the world over as well as an uprising of independent artists.
There is more music than ever before, and it's never been easier to acquire (well, perhaps it was last year. f.u. US government!)

Everywhere you go, there are people listening to music. And the fact that there is enough music out there to cater to the number of people who own music playing devices is a testament to the industry itself.

Now, onto my point. It angers me when people say 'music isn't as good as 60's,70's,80's,90's,2008 or insert whatever small-minded response you want in here, because it undoubtedly is.
It doesn't make for a fair comparison if one were to take the weakest element of music in 2012 and compare it to one of the greatest from another era and proclaim this as evidence.
Imagine if science worked in the same way.
We'd still be stuck in the dark ages when Galileo Galilei had the intelligence and testicular fortitude to come forward and against popular belief and the masses informed ignoramuses that the earth indeed revolved around the sun.
How could one say, music is inferior in 2012 and point the finger towards mainstream and reality TV show fodder whilst presenting a valid argument.
They couldn't. They are dumb.

The beauty of being on a music forum is that we can discuss good music, of today and yesteryear without being bombarded by ignorant and unfounded jargon about comparing the two.
Yes, there are bad artists in 2012, who just so happen to be popular but on the other hand, nobody can say there has ever been a flawless musical era where every artist in that period was special.
No, believe me or not, there were bad artists in the 60's, 70's, 80's, dammit even in the 1800's that were their eras equivalent of T-Pain, Muse or The Enemy.
It seems with time eloping, that those who draw these wildly inaccurate comparisons conveniently sweep musical abominations such as Styx, Pat Boone and the Insane Clown Posse under the carpet, but they all happened!

I could say, "music sucked in the 80's. You had Styx, in 2012 we have The Saddest Landscape"
Would people see this as an unfair and selective statement? Yes.
So, why contradict oneself and throw out statements such as;
"One Direction can't hold a candle to The Beatles"
(Top youtube comment on The Beatles track 'follow the sun')

Last time I checked, One Direction were not attempting to be The Beatles Version 2.0. (that role has already unsuccessfully been attempted by the Gallagher brothers)
They appeal to a completely different demographic and create a completely different type of music.
This is not a fair comparison.

For those who are not willing to look past the mainstream in order to disprove their own theories that music is inferior in modern times, I pity their ignorance and stupidity.
In fact, no I don't. It's self inflicted.
If one were to find that music is indeed rich with incredible artists in 2012, they need only open their ears and listen to what is out there other than popular music.

Here's a twist. I like 2012 popular music.
When at a club, a social event or even at work, when artists such as Lady Gaga, The Wanted or Calvin Harris come on. I don't mind.
I enjoy their music for what it is. Catchy and easy to listen to.
Can you imagine what would happen if Radiohead came on at your local night club for instance or if Converge began playing on Absolute Radio.
People wouldn't understand. They wouldn't get it.
That is why pop music exists. It's there not to be taken too seriously.
It's supposed to appeal to those of limited musical taste, those who want an inoffensive and catchy song to sing and dance along to.
One that can be played to anyone, anywhere and won't alienate anybody.
If you take it for what it is, it's hard to hate on.

So when wannabe hipsters who have grown up on pop music suddenly catch their first whiff of artists like Nirvana, Beatles, Rolling Stones or whoever is a poster boy for guitars and nostalgia, they say;
'wait, this Nirvana band are better than what I hear nowadays'
And then they turn on popular music, without fully understanding why.
They feel as if they have hatched onto an epiphany of sorts. As if there hadn't been many millions of likeminds before them who had also been 'enlightened'
In fact, this 'enlightenment' had ironically made them even more ignorant.

They pine for eras gone by, as if all music from that era was of the same level as the artist they have just discovered.
What if instead of Beatles or Nirvana, they had discovered Silversun Pickups 2012 album 'Neck of the Woods'.
They could then say;
'wait this Silversun Pickups album is better than Lady Gaga'
This is a more accurate statement. It involves no sweeping generalisations.

Yes, I understand music is subjective. But, this is my journal and these are my opinions. So I am of the opinion that one artist can be superior to another.

If people find that they like artists similar to the Beatles, there are artists playing similar music in 2012. That does not mean the 60's are better than 2012. They are not. The same music (and much better music) exists in 2012, just go and look for it in the same way you went looking for The Beatles.

Plus, in eras gone by, artists only scraped the tip of the iceberg in what music can be. Music in 2012 combines past influences with innovation and evolution to create new and dynamic sounds and forms of music.
We have much more technically competent artists in 2012 as well as much more creativity. There are whole hosts of niche conceptual artists that cater to every unique taste out there. So, how could any one person be unsatisfied with what is produced in 2012?

If worst comes to worst and you can't get over Beatlemania, you could always see a tribute act in Majorca in the summer of 2013.
Yup, the music is out there to cater to EVERYONE even if you don't have the bravery to escape the past and try new things.

So, on another note. I was looking back over the past year trying to structure my favourite albums into some sort of list, a pretty hard task I may add.
I looked over my 2011 list for inspiration on ranking records and I recalled what an incredible year of music, last year was.
And whilst I am still awaiting 2012 releases and waiting for certain albums to 'grow' on me, I thought I'd have a run-down of 2011.
Therefore, starting this week I will present my top 25 albums of 2011 and hopefully by the time I have completed said list, I can start with my 2012 list.

Regards.

MC.

Extended Plays or EP's are frustrating.
If a band has a new track they've just created, they may release an EP.
First off, the chances are the track in question is rather good or the artist is quite excited about it, so excited that they cannot hold it off for their next album and want to share it with their fans now.

While that is all well and good. We can't knock a really good track being released, I don't think it's essential to create 2 or 3 below-par songs just to justify the release of an Extended Play to accompany the leading track.

Nor do I think there is much of a case for filling 15 minutes or so on an Extended Play with remixes of the leading track.
It just strikes me as a lack of creativity and imagination from the artist.
If you're so anxious to release a particular track, why put it out amongst pigswill and kill all momentum the track may have had.

On the other side of the tracks, there's the case that EP's are a cop out.
When an artist creates a good EP or two in the space of as many years without releasing a full length album, it's frustrating for fans... *cough* Burial *cough*
It's either a clever use of anticipation, just teasing the fan with promising snippets of new material or just the artist feeling - 'compulsed' is that a word? - that they have an obligation to release something, even if it's a daunting reminder of what may have been heard on a larger scale; a full length record.

Negativity being spouted early, EP's can be done right. And last year I counted at least 5 examples of such. I usually stay clear of EP's unless they're from an artist I particularly like. They tend to frustrate me, or are used by the artists as a way of test marketing a new sound direction.

However, that being said I shall present you all with my top EP's of last year.
*I've probably let a lot of goof EP's pass me by, so it's 5 of the best from what I heard, not all that were released*

Hence;

Good Things Come In Small Packages; The 2011 Top 5 EP Countdown

No.5 Blawan - Bohla

Define electro music. It's such a vague description of a brand of music that incorporates so many different styles of music, using so many different production techniques.
Within the genre there are so many sub-genres with their own branches of sub-genres, which means there are no two identical electronic records.
So, this begs the question as to what the gold standard of electro is. What is the bar that artists must try and reach.

While I don't believe Blawan has set the bar for his brand of electro/house, he's created an interesting record full of odd sounds and an atmosphere that meanders the very thin line between lunacy and just plain old eccentricity.
(A trait which reminds me of my friend whom has just passed on, Howard the Duck. RIP buddy. )
First and foremost this is a headphone record. I never understood listening to electro music aloud. So many of the little things that add to the overall dynamic of the record are lost, if they're not relayed through headphones.
It's not a dumb AC/DC record, there are a lot of things going on in Blawan's music.

I see this record as a little like a restrained lunatic locked in a cell. Despite what may be the popular opinion of the 'lunatic' he does have something interesting on his mind that he wants to share, however the venom with which he spits it at you may turn any right-thinking person away.
If you persevere, you'll be rewarded with his knowledge.
He struggles to express himself, and his communication comes across violently and aggressively.

There are some sharp, harsh effects in this record, almost sounding alike really thick elastic bands pinging violently to and forth, layered with the voice of the man locked in the cell. Trapped and unable to fully get out. He can only speak through the thin vent of air he has been afforded.

Perhaps he's no man. The vocals which are locked behind so many layers of sound, are alike no man I've ever spoken to.
Almost extraterrestrial in how they come across. Unintelligible yet showcasing a certain human like state which is hard to point a finger at.
Perhaps this is what an extraterrestrial or alien is, just another almost human like character that no one can truly comprehend, although there is always the flicker within them that makes you think that one day the two can relate to one another.

When a Blawan track picks up pace and becomes more frenzied, that's when you can hear the artistic intent at its finest. Behind the layers of disturbed alien/lunatic voices and aggressive sounding beats, there is a talented artist carefully weaving the record together.
This is no more clear than on 'Lavender' a track which vibrates and crashes together with the might of high tide waves.
There is an intrigue in hearing the head-nodding lashings of the waves.
And, Blawan's EP leaves me with an intrigue in hearing what he'll do next.
Will we ever one day understand his message, or will it remain one of those things better not said.

No.4 Sound of Guns - Breakwater

I'll start by saying, I'm not sure I should like this record. It encompasses a lot of things I don't like about 'indie' music.
The whole laddish mentality of beer, cigarettes, leather jackets and footballing chants for choruses is here.
Don't get me wrong, I do like all those things, just not in one yobbish package.
Perhaps I'm a hypocrite, but there's a certain charm to this record.

It's not nearly as self worshipping as an Oasis record, as shamelessly clichéd as an Enemy record or as poorly put together as a Kasabian record.
I remember my college lecture saying of Kasabian that they;
"make music for those who don't like music"
And whilst I can see the psychology behind the statement, and knowing that it probably applies here, the band aren't the most technically competent nor do they trod on any new and exciting themes, there is undeniably a spark to this record.
Yes, Zane Lowe would have you believe it's the best thing since someone actually gave him a job in the radio industry despite having zero charisma, it's unmistakably good.

Stripping the EP of its two live recordings and retaining the three original tracks is definitely the way to go, and that's what I did.
All 3 songs are what you'd expect from an indie record geared at cracking the stadium sing-song mentality.
They're endearing and extremely catchy.
Not exactly complicated in structure, but I'm sure that's not what Sound of Guns were going for. They just wanted to create an EP with tracks that their fans could remember fondly and get behind.

I remember my friend was the one that put me onto this back in what, last March I think.
He's into his live bands and I've seen a few local artists with him.
Nothing special, but you'll be able to get a few beers and have a decent time.
That's Sound of Guns to a tee. They personify this 'local gig scene' full of young adults who sport stubble, ruffled hair, leather jackets and once tried to learn acoustic guitar.

I find it hard to hate on something which is as true to itself as this record is, even though third track 'Collisions' genuinely does have an 'Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh' chorus, there is a spark; a charm in this record that a lot of 'indie rock' bands could learn from.

Give it a listen if you're just beginning your path into musical discovery and you'll love it. If you're already well versed in good music, I still believe you'll be able to gain an appreciation from a record as simple and yet lively as this.
Whilst they'll probably falter as a band when they have to release a longer record, the duration of three songs is perfect for this group as it gives them a chance to showcase what they can do without drowning when put out into greater depths.

No. 3 Dowsing - All I Could Find Was You

I love emo music. There's nothing else quite like it.
At its core, it's technically astute and painfully honest.
Perhaps it draws so much unwarranted criticism from misinformed people because they struggle to display any array of complex emotion themselves and are just here to make up numbers on Planet Earth.
It's clever, thought provoking, really well put together and above all emotional when done right, and it is done right on All I Could Find Was You.

Dowsing keep it short and to the point here and it's never sounded better.
Each track tells a story, and the lyricism and accompanying melancholy melodies makes for an almost movie like scene being painted in my mind when I shut off all else and listen to this record.

They're one of the bands where lyrically, take what you will from what they're saying. This isn't Sound of Guns, there's meaning within meanings and how you interpret and receive the song is what you as an individual make of it.

One need only look at first track 'Driving' for evidence of this. On the surface it could be a song about a roadtrip.
If one were to look below the tip of the iceberg there's much more that could be going on.

Now, I could annotate this for you and show you what I think it means, or I could leave you to build your own impression of what Dowsing are trying to say, that's the beauty of emo music, it helps you utilize your own emotions whilst listening to others.

There is so much nostalgia for youth in this record as well as a penchant for a time that is long gone but still lingers fondly in memories.
Perhaps the instrumental breakdowns between verses of lyrics that are a signature of the band are to convey this separation between the past and the so-so present.

It's heart achingly personal, yet so relatable in content is All I Could Find Was You that anyone with the relevant capacity can relive their angsty teenage years vicariously through this record.
It definitely speaks to me. But as we've earlier deciphered by the prejudice many people have towards emo, it may not be for everyone. It's definitely not for those not in touch with their emotions.

I think above all this record shows that there's a beauty in the fact that those memories we hold dear from a time long passed, will never be recreated or duplicated. We can only hold onto them for what they were.
By the time, last tracks 'Maxwell' and the ironically named 'Joking/Laughing' come around, this record has done it again for me and has pulled me abruptly back from the stage of angst and confusion that has been sung about into the oh-so so-so present. Man, nostalgia is some feeling.

No.2 Jens Lekman - An Argument With Myself

Walking the line somewhere between GOAT and a mere parody is swedish singer song-writer Jens Lekman.
Jens comes across as a charming gentleman with a love of witty retort and lyrics that leave you wondering whether or not this is a clever spoof of conventional folk and singer/songwriting music or an unintentional re-writing of the rule book.

It's hard to write about Jens Lekman without being dumbstruck by how one artist can flip-flop back and forth between sincerity and joking around as often and as concisely as he does so.
Despite not possessing English as a mother-tongue, Jens has an almost unparalleled use of the language in his music, where he uses many clever metaphors, personifications and similes so flippantly.

I truly believe if Jens retained his sincerity which can be heard on tracks such as A Promise full-time, he'd be the unmatched top singer-songwriter today.
However, it seems as if he's adamant to match the beautiful melancholy he is capable of displaying with a class joker mentality for making witty one-liners which somewhat takes away from the seriousness of his music yet adds to the oozing personality of his records.

There are beautiful arrangements in his music, borrowing from a wide array of influences with jazz, reggae, country and even latin music being incorporated in inspired and unique ways.
Jens is almost schizophrenic in the amount of emotions and styles his music displays. Whilst title track An Argument with Myself is an amusing tale of one mans journey through a regular day in his life whilst questioning himself, which oddly reminds me of Barry Manilows Copa-cabana in an instrumental sense, A Promise is an outpouring of genuine emotions.

Every thing he creates however is laced with his great personality and is bleeding with character. No one could accuse Jens of being another run of the mill singer songwriter.
His voice is different, his lyrics are different, his whole style is rather unconventional yet it comes together so effortlessly and synchronised.

There are times where his lighter, jokey material makes me want to grab him and give him a good shake, knowing how much potential he possesses it's at times frustrating to see him squander it on trying too hard to be funny, there are other times where those exact same songs bring a smile to my face as his expert imagery takes you through another crazy chapter in his life.
He's the type of guy that could pick up the ball and run with it if you gave him a sitcom or a serious drama to play with. His versatility knows no bounds.
It's this versitility which should make him marketable to many different audiences and it surprises me greatly that although he caters for many different tastes, he's not discussed much if at all on this forum and across the internet.

An Argument with Myself showcases the full range of what he can produce, and it whets the appetite for the album "I Know What Love Isn't" which came out earlier this year. I'll close by saying that we'll be hearing a lot more about that one a little bit down the line.

No.1 Burial - Street Halo

Believe the hype.

Ever since Burial emerged in 2006 with his self-titled LP, he has taken the musical world by storm. He's an artist that has managed to gauge an interest in the darker side of electronic music like no other.
And he just keeps getting better and better at it.

No other artist manages to create the dark atmosphere as well as Burial does. Imagine walking home alone on a dark rainy night through a concrete jungle of dingy alleyways, flickering streetlights, graffiti stained underpasses and the only things stirring are your footsteps in puddles and the ever looming prospect that you're not alone out there.

There is nothing more daunting than putting yourself into this situation whilst listening to Street Halo. Burial manages to create one of the grittiest, shadowy sounds I've ever heard. It's music inspired by the claustrophobic nature of inner city life displayed in such a telling and real manner that you genuinely are put in the shoes that Burial wants you in.

As in individual, he tends to stay away from the spotlight and let his music do the talking. And it does. It creates this whole illusion of isolation and murky lonesomeness that is gripping to listen to.

Never before has an atmosphere been more vividly put together through the medium of music. The inescapable darkness that surrounds Burials music is a masterclass in how to tell a story without saying one word.
The vocals as always do not take away from the atmospheric noises being built up but add to the experience as on NYC, a voice in the night repeats 'No Body Loves Me' along with other chilling messages.

So eloquently layered and so incredibly well sculpted, every beat of the drum, every nuance plays a role of significance. Everything is there for a reason, this is minimalism at its finest. There are no unnecessary or wasted motions that usually swamp down electro music. Everything serves purpose, every little note holds significance.

Although the music is so dark in nature, it invites the listener into the gritty underground world with ease. I find myself returning to Burials music every week, and after every listen I leave amazed by how fu.cking awesome it is.
No words can truly do his work justice, it needs to be experienced to be understood.

It's dark outside at the moment, I might chuck on a hoody, go out and listen to this EP and just watch as visual and audio align perfectly right around me.

Another brilliantly written piece, MC. The fact that you don't use YTs to showcase the music you're talking about makes it all the more important that you write well and describe it well, and you always do. There is, in fact, no need for videos: your excellent descriptions paint a better picture almost than a video could. Like you say, make your own mind up and decide what the music means to you.

On the subject of EPs, which I almost never buy, the one thing that annoys me about them is that if you wait a little while, nine times out of ten you will end up getting those same tracks on the new album. Some bands, admittedly, don't do that --- Porcupine Tree spring to mind --- but for most as you say it's just an excuse to air new material early, and that material will later be included on the album, so why not just wait?

You paint one hell of a picture with that guy Burial's music. I doubt I'd be into it, but it sounds damn interesting. Not something I'd prefer to play when going out walking at night, not that I get to do that much --- was never that fond of the night anyway.

:shycouch:

Oh, and really touching to see your permanent tribute to Howard/Patrick/Il Duce, may he rest in peace. Such a loss, and I think most of us feel the same way.

One final pedant/grammar Nazi shot: compulsed isn't a word, but compelled is. You can have a compulsion to do something, which means you're compelled to do it. Just in case you were wondering...

Thanks a lot Trollheart. It's pretty cool to think that there are actually people reading what I have to say, and it's always good to receive feedback.

Admittingly, I don't think any of the artists I listed above perhaps with the exception of Sound of Guns would be guilty of re-releasing EP material on a full record, but I totally agree that it is frustrating when an artist decides to do so.

I would say Burial doesn't exactly fit the mould of the music you usually review in your Journal, but I'm sure everything's worth a shot once.

I was a little sceptical about using that term, perhaps I should add it to the Urban Dictionary and hope people get behind it. It may yet gain recognition from those involved with the upkeep and modernisation of our language.

Will be updating either tonight or tomorrow dependent on work patterns with albums 20 and 19 of my 2011 list.

MC

I said I would do this, and now I shall begin the task. I'm taking a look back at 2011, which for me stands as the best year yet for music especially if like me, you're a fan of hip-hop.
Perhaps by the time I have conducted this list, I shall be able to give the more relevant '2012 List' but as of now I am unable to create a coherent and structured list.
Too many records this year have not resonated with me first time. And as I think I've listened to more than 100 new albums in 2012, it's going to be hard to rank outside of my Top 10 or so. However the show must go on.

Without further delay I shall delve deep into the world of pretension and give you;


The Pains Of Being Pure At Hearts' band name may well be a precursor for what to expect with this record.
As the name suggests, there are grievances in being good. Despite trying your hardest to live an honest lifestyle, bad things will happen to you, and bad things may well happen as a result of your leniency and well-meaning nature whilst always trying to bring the best out in yourself and others around you.

Nobody will get through life without hardships, yet it seems all the more unfair when those who truly represent the best of humanity are suffering.
Now, I'm not saying for a moment the members of this band bring out the best of humanity, I do not know them personally so cannot determine that, yet their harrowing tale could make one believe they are poorly well-meaning souls who have been unfortunately caught in the crossfire of bad luck.

On the surface, the almost dreamy sounds could be mistaken for a contentedness with life, displaying a happy go lucky attitude, taking each day as it comes and being happy with the little elements in life.
Easy to listen to and quite pleasant on the ear are the in-discriminant and at times androgynous vocals rising to little more than a comforting whisper at times accompanied by slightly above melancholy melodies.

Yet, just like a person with their world falling around them putting on a brave smile, I feel that both the calmness displayed in the soothing vocal presentation and the never aggressive melodies are just a front for a more depressing and saddening back story.
Using this not so convincing method for disguising sorrow may fool the fools, but anyone with an ear for emotion can hear the woe etched into this record.

However, the combination of the bittersweet sound and the distressing tale are a near perfect combination creating a record that both hits home and spurns catchy songs.
The use of various inspired textures and moods create a sound scape up there with the best dream pop records.
Think Smashing Pumpkins before ego consumed them.
It's a record that shows how an emotional outpouring does not have to end in either anger, violence or tears. It can just sound defeated and hopeless.

And on 'Belong' defeat and hopelessness have never sounded more inviting.

What would the hip-hop landscape look like had a then nineteen year old relative unknown from Queens, New York by the name of Nas not have released the genre defining Illmatic in April of 1994.

I do not know the answer and thankfully we live in a world redundant of that scenario. Illmatic is without doubt the single most important album in hip-hops growth and development throughout the 90's into what it is today. It has inspired legions of MC's to get into rap and has forever set the bar for the level that hip-hop should be striving to reach for.

So what better way to pay homage to one of the best records in history than to re-create it. Whilst in the hands of most artists, that task would only have served to taint and possibly even tarnish the original, Elzhi and producer Will Sessions manage to pull off the vision by creating an album in the same calibre as the original.
Whilst it won't receive the accolades and immortal stature of Illmatic, it plays its role as a more than competent tribute, never straying into the paths of mockery or parody and retaining enough originality to stand on its own two feet.

Elmatic isn't just a lazy re-mastering by any means, Elzhi writes completely new verses whilst retaining most of the simple yet classic hooks that made Illmatic great.
I see a lot of similarities to Illmatic in Elzhi's stories that he candidly shares with us throughout the album in that although he and Nas both grew up in areas that dragged down many people around them, they managed to learn from their environments and better themselves because of what they learned.

What makes this album easy to digest is obviously sharing the same ideologies and concepts of Illmatic, yet there is enough of Elzhi's own personality in here to make it sit well with the listener.
With most hip-hop records, the best thing about this record is the lyrical content and Elzhi holds the benefit of being a compelling story teller, taking us through his not quite rags to not quite riches tale.

Although not all the credit can lie with Elzhi as producer Will Sessions does a terrific job with the instrumentals. Having created his own interpretations of Illmatics production from scratch he has managed to far surpass the originals simple beats.
Nothing against the beats in Illmatic, they served their purpose in keeping the record simple yet effective. However, Will Sessions takes the potential the original beats had and runs with them, creating better sounding, crisper and more interesting backing tracks which complement Elzhi's MCing.

I do get the impression however sometimes that Elzhi is living under Nas's shadow to an extent. His constant shout-outs of 'You're Listening to Elmatic' perhaps are those of an artist trying desperately to differentiate himself from his predecessor.
Elmatic isn't an album on which we can truly gauge how good Elzhi can be on his own because it's not entirely Elzhi's own work, yet being able to pull off what he has with Elmatic shows a great level of artistic integrity, one which many other current rappers could only hope for.
It's a double edged sword.

Listening to this record does two things for me, it makes me want to check out more of Elzhi's material, but it also makes me want to listen to Illmatic.
It is because of this, I cannot rank this album higher because despite how good this album is, it isn't Illmatic which isn't a slight on Elzhi but is the undeniable truth.
It's a remake of a classic album, and although it is good, it's still just one artist paying homage to another and not establishing his name in the genre like Nas did with the original.

I've been listening to a few new records recently. Namely Flying Lotus's 'Until The Quiet Comes', Big Shug's 'I.M 4-EVA' and Kiss The Anus of a Black Cat's 'Weltuntergangsstimmung'
And you know what, all have been met without any great enthusiasm from yours truly.
Unlike 2011, where nearly every record that I heard, I initially either really enjoyed or despised, there's been too many records this year that have just been average.

Well established artists like Deftones, Greenday, Anathema, The Flaming Lips, The Mars Volta, Sigur Ros and MeWithoutYou have been guilty of releasing average records verging on being sub-standard.
Perhaps this is to be expected, I mean how many artists truly have flawless discographies. There's always a few minor notes on every artists resumes.
But, none of the above artists albums felt necessary. Apart from Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends and Dos, there weren't any horrible albums released by the above named artists. They were just middle of the road, more of the same material.
Very reminiscent of REM's last album in that it was playing it safe. And, after Collapse Into Now, REM folded. After 31 years, one of the biggest and most influential artists in that same time period decided to 'call it a day', in part due to the fact they could no longer make great records.
Could REM's fate be a sign of what is to come for the artists I mentioned above.

It's certain that Greenday will follow suit, having sunk from one artistic low to another and earlier this year completely falling off the wagon.
Releasing three lacklustre records in one year didn't help matters.
One would have been enough to seal their fall into irrelevancy. Anathema haven't released a good record in years, and their conversion from Doom to Alternative Rock was like trading premium steak for beef jerky.
Their new record just being infuriatingly boring and tedious to plough through, which makes it all the more frustrating considering they are the same band who released the sublime 'Judgement' .
Oh yeah, if you were new to the band and were easily impressed, you'd probably really like 'Weather Systems'. Those attributes do not apply to me.
The Mars Volta's record was so memorable that I cannot even recall the name of the album. (It had an 'e' in it, right?)
As for Sigur Ros, well I've never really been that much into them. I know that a lot of people on the internet really like them, so I usually give them the benefit of the doubt. I usually think it's me that's missing something, not the record itself because how could so many want-to-be music critics be so woefully wrong?
On this instance, the fault lies with Sigur Ros for not releasing a good album.
MeWithoutYou and Deftones probably had the two better records of the lot, but at the same time, they only scratch the surface of what each artist is capable of.

And to add to those offenders, we have Flying Lotus, Big Shug and Kiss The Anus of a Black Cat.
Now, don't get me wrong, there's nothing 'wrong' per se but there's nothing particularly brilliant about any either.

Flying Lotus may be a victim of circumstance rather than anything else.
A few years back, in the mid 2000's when hip-hop was struggling, his instrumental beats were considered some of the finest work in the genre, which is saying something.
Now however, after hip-hop undergoing a complete 180 and being better than it's ever been due to the emergence and breakthrough of the new school of hip-hop; artists such as Kendrick Lemar; Odd Future, Big KRIT, Ab-Soul, Lil B, Death Grips, Jay Electronica, J.Cole and Danny Brown as well as the constant growth and improvement of guys like El-P, Kanye West, Immortal Technique and Killer Mike have helped make hip-hop more important and better than it's ever been.
This leaves Flying Lotus in somewhat of a predicament.
Now, that all of these artists have come out with such good music in the last year or two, his music which gained critical acclaim off the back of a complete lowering of expected standards in the genre, just isn't that special any more.
If he wants to continue having success, he's going to have to do better than 'Until The Quiet Comes' because records like this will just be lost in the shuffle, and aren't good enough to be classed as 'undiscovered gems'

Perhaps Lotus knew his time of riding on autopilot was coming to an end, and thus decided to launch his alter ego, Captain Murphy.
A hip hop artist; who you know...actually raps, just not well.
Captain Murphy is devoid of the artistic talent that Lotus possesses and just strikes me as Lotus desperately trying to remain relevant.
Perhaps he foresaw having Kanye West success in converting from producer to centre-stage superstar.
Well Lotus, what makes Kanye so successful in the most part is his character and personality that he brings to everything he does, be it an album, guest spot or controversial interview; you do not have any character or personality, none. That is why you were able to play the part of anonymous and enigmatic producer so well, because you had nothing to really hide from the public. There was never anything there to show off.

Maybe I'm being overly harsh on Flying Lotus, I'm sure there are those out there who consider his new record to be on a par with Los Angeles and 1983 - two of his earlier records - and they probably are but lets face it, when those two were released there wasn't such stiff competition in the genre so an average record could gain moderate success rather easily.
Flying Lotus finds himself in the precarious position that he isn't exactly creating great hip-hop, nor is he creating great electro music.
So what is a hip-hop producer whose records rely solely upon backing tracks supposed to do. Rap! Oh, wait...

Another guy who could probably have become quite successful in 2006 or 2007 is Big Shug. He's average enough to have floated along perfectly with what was the norm for hip-hop at the time.
Fortunately those days are over. And Shug either cleverly created a throwback album to those halcyon days or is just not that great at the game of hip-hop.
At a length of 18 tracks it was going to be hard for an artist as mauve to keep the interest of the listener and I thoroughly commend anyone who can get through this record in one sitting without taking a nap.
Again, Shug isn't necessarily bad, but as his bland name suggests, he's alike rice pudding in that it's okay. Not very special. Not very creative. Not anything groundbreaking, but if you're looking for a cheap and easily prepared desert it'll suffice.
If a track from I.M 4-EVA comes on I wouldn't mind. It's decent enough for me not to skip it, but at the same time, listening to a record 18 tracks long that never really even shows glimpses of being anything other than mundane is a bit of a tall task.

This brings me to Kiss The Anus of a Black Cat. Considering the way they're heralded by all lovers of obscure, I expected to be amazed by their 2012 offering 'Weltuntergangsstimmung'
The only thing this record makes me thankful for is that I don't do a video log as I'd have no idea of how to pronounce that one.
Again, this record wasn't bad. In fact, it was the best of the three I mentioned in my opening paragraph. It just wasn't great.

I think I could help point this band in the right direction though, because there were glimpses of potential in this record.
Each track on this album is like a pre-mature ejaculation in that it starts so promisingly, yet time after time fails to go the distance and ultimately ends up being rather underwhelming and disappointing.
The musicianship is actually really good, and each track starts with a good thirty seconds or so of solid build. Build that ultimately eclipses into 'meh' territory.
What this bands problem is, is that they try too hard to create an imposing brooding atmosphere when in actual fact it just repels any interest I may have had in this record by just coming across forced and unauthentic.
Every time the vocalist chimed in with his best attempt at being moody and atmospheric, I groaned.
Why try and create an insincere atmosphere? Why not just concentrate on what your bands strengths are? Like being talented musicians.
It just felt overly pretentious that a group would feel the need to create such a phoney sound scape in order to live up to their dark yet intriguing name.
They're not a black metal band as I first thought by looking at their names, although I get the impression they want to be.
The fact is, the black metal community's an odd one (look at Hip Hop Bunny Hop for evidence of this) and they could smell a fake a mile off. It wouldn't be long before Kiss The Anus were unearthed for what they truly are. Wannabes.
Why you would want to be miserable I do not know. Perhaps they feel it would bring some character to their music.
Be it misery, or anything else on this earth for that matter. There's rarely an appropriate and accurate substitute for the real thing.
And the atmosphere that Kiss The Anus try to convey, just isn't real.
This is what hampers the band. Too much focus on trying to create a mystique and not enough concentration on just creating a well crafted, well rounded record.

There are however many really good records out there, and I'll be returning to look at some from last year in my next post which will be the second instalment of 'Caaant Take The Heat: Get the F/ck up out the Kitchen'.
Ironically, it won't include Iceage's 'New Brigade', which came on album shuffle today, as it's meh.

Regards

MC

Another great entry, really insightful. I know nothing of hip-hop (bunny hop!) :D but you certainly seem to know your stuff and it's interesting to read.

I just wanted you to know that the only reason I didn't vote for you as "Best Journal" was because you've only started and I couldn't really put yours up against such recent powerhouses as "Pounding decibels" or established future classics as "25 albums", but keep it up and you'll definitely be in with a shout for 2013! :thumb:

Alright, so I was at the casino last tonight. Now, the casino on a Friday night is a little different to the casino on a Tuesday afternoon.
During the days, and into the early hours of the morning; the casino is home to the diehards. Either those so masterful at their craft that they can make a living out of their winnings or those so disillusioned by the aura and magic held within its confines that they play for hours on ends, running up their credit card bills in the slim hope of one day breaking even.
The verdict's still out on which one of the two categories I fall into.

Ever since I first laid eyes on the game of roulette I've been hooked. There's something so alluring about a game which honours the brave and exposes peoples true characters.
I have literally seen a middle aged man, sporting a wedding ring drop to the floor in despair upon one simple spin of the wheel.
The responsibility that he holds in everyday life; diminished. He was broken by the wheel of fortune.
The fact that something so humble, so meagre as a coloured wheel and a tiny ball could evoke such strong emotions in people; ranging right from jovial ecstasy down to the most harrowing sorrow has always kept me fascinated.
Add to this; the bright lights, a range of fine spirits and the unmistakable big-win atmosphere that the casino environment always teases and it's enough to get sane, right-thinking people hopelessly addicted.

So, Friday night rolls round. For those who come to the casino most days, it holds no extra significance. Sure, the bouncers will be more vigilant, there'll be trophy wives dressing to the nines akin to the proverbial mutton dressed as lamb and the drink prices will take an astronomical rise, which I believe violates Bar Licencing Laws but alas for an industry that contributes little in corporation tax despite being one of the highest grossing, breaking simple regulations won't phase them.
Friday night seems to attract the moths like a massive light. By moths, I mean city-slicking high-rollers who swan around the casino in a flurry of affluence and ego.
In the 9-5 world of board meetings, video conferencing, stock holding and tailored suits these men are the pinnacle of their working environment.
In the casino, they are nothing. Little more than moths.

You see, the casino is like time itself. It will always win. No one can out last it, no one can ever truly defeat it.
As with time, the casino will change you. Sure, you may take minor victories from it on your way but ultimately at the end of the day, whom is the one standing tall preparing to do it all over again for eternity.
I see these 'business men' swan in with their fancy clothes, their wives who have escaped the pretension, finely cut lawns and personal trainers of Suburbia and their wallets full of various cards and pound notes.
I see these same people cashing their money in for towers of chips. Just like many of the companies these men represent, I see their towers falling, their empires crumbling as spin by spin, the House takes from them what the downturn in the economy took from their annual bonuses.
It's a great feeling of liberation and satisfaction seeing these men lose hundreds, even thousands of pounds and become just like everyone else. Losers. In the casino, their stature, their reputations mean nothing. The game of Roulette treats everyone as equals and is not discriminating in who it will rape.

There's almost a divinity to it. A God like presence, in that Roulette treats us all as equals and both rewards and punishes us more fairly than any God could.
Perhaps this is why the Bible and various other religious hyperbole scriptures warn off gambling. They try and paint it as evil.
The Bible the very same manifesto that promotes discrimination, that was written in blood and violence and has caused waves upon waves of mindless persecution and war has the audacity to claim something else as 'evil' is the greatest irony of all.
The Bible would have us believe that two men who are in love with each other, two men who follow the law, respect and treat others equally and are capable of raising children in a loving household are evil because of the way the feel about each other. The Bible would have its followers persecute these men. Their crime? They love one another.
The Bible believes that this is not natural and that is why we must condemn it. Well, Reverend, evolution is ****ing natural and you try to deny its existence!
Roulette is more divine than God. It treats everyone equally, be it a gay couple, a house-wife who spends her days ****ing the tennis coach whilst her husband ****s his secretary, or be it me a 19 year old, straight white male who is little more than an observer in all of this.
The Roulette wheel does not believe in 'karma' nor does it believe in racism, homophobia, xenophobia, sexism, ageism or any other form of hate that religion breeds.
It's impartial and unbending. It doesn't matter who you are, where you're from, what you did and it sure as Hell doesn't matter if you like the Backstreet Boys, Roulette will treat you as fairly as it does the next person.

Perhaps this is why my friends and I find solace in it. Now, by no means is this a cult movement. I do not worship the wheel of fortune. I find more truth in it than I do most things.
It's honest. Anyone who enters the casino does so on their own accord. Anyone who loses money at the Roulette table does so of their own choice.
In a life full of prejudice and unfair treatment, the casino is one of the few Mecca's where the laws of the concrete jungle don't apply.
Sure, the House has the edge. Look at the Roulette wheel. 36 standard numbers, 6 even chance columns; Red, Black, Even, Odd, High (19-36), Low (1-18), 3 sections; the first, second and third twelve numbers and three rows; top, middle and bottom. Then there is of course the House's great equaliser Zero.
The unknown quantity. The enigmatic anti-hero who always rears its head in the most inappropriate of times to ruin it for those who bet with probability in mind.
Zero is the Casino's secret weapon, the added feature that tilts the odds ever so slightly in their favour.
Zero is the Jesus Christ of the Roulette God.
However, what are the chances Zero will come up upon a spin of the wheel.
37/1. It doesn't take a betting man to realize that they have greater chances of winning on a row, on a section, or on an even chance column than Zero coming up.
However, when it does. You have not been tricked. You know Zero is a factor. It's painted a distinct green, it's given a sizeable part of the board to show itself. Everyone who plays knows it's there. So, when it comes up, you know that you have willingly bet against it.

I enjoy soaking up the atmosphere of the casino. Sometimes I go only for a few Canadian Clubs as I watch the game of Roulette unmercifully tear through the bank accounts of those who think they can defeat it.
Will they ever learn? Will I?
Sure, I've lost more money there than I can ever begin to estimate, yet I am drawn back more than most. Does this make the contents of this entry somewhat hypocritical. Perhaps.
I do feel that I have come to appreciate the beauty of the game.
Despite what the old Asian guy with the notepad and pen may believe, there are no patterns in Roulette. How can there be. It's the randomisation of wheel and ball coming together.
It can humble even the most ego-maniacal and wealthy. Just as there is no 'karma' (sorry weed-smoking teens) in real life, if there were, explain to me how George W Bush remains rich and healthy, there is no 'karma' in the casino. No matter how nice you are, Roulette doesn't care.
No matter how much of a **** you are, Roulette equally could not care.
It will take from and reward you randomly.
It's a game of chance, nothing more, nothing less yet it holds more power than and can evoke greater emotions than any religion ever could.

Regards

MC

Just another brilliant entry. Don't want to come across as licking any part of your body, MC, but your writing is fresh and new and paints a great picture. I personally abhor gambling, at least in its real sense. Sure, I do the lotto occasionally, I bet on teams in the World Cup every four years and have been known to (when in my job) join in the fun when Cheltenham rolls around, but never any big money. We're talking five, ten euros max. Not gonna break anyone's bank account.

I love the way you liken the falling towers of chips to the crumbling dreams and the financial meltdown, and yes, it must give you some solace to see these fat cats (down, boy, looking at your avatar!) losing big. Of course, they never learn: if they hadn't bet big (with OUR money!) in the first place the world wouldn't be in the place it is now, but there they are, doing it all over again. At least this time it's with their own money. Still, some people never learn.

My sister (before she got sick) went out with a gambler --- was engaged to him actually --- and came to appreciate the truism of gambling: gamblers don't play to win, they play to lose. What else can explain why someone, having made a big score, will push their luck further and "let it ride", or not leave the table till they've lost it all again? It's not the thrill of winning, it would seem --- that appears to be very low on the list --- it's the frisson you apparently get when you know you could lose.

There was a "Twilight Zone" episode where a smalltime crook died and it seemed went to Heaven. He ended up having everything he ever wanted, including winning all the time at the tables. Every time. He never lost. Eventually he got fed up: what's the point of winning all the time, he asked? Where's the fun? Where's the risk? He asked that if this was Heaven, could he not go to the other place instead? To which the guy he had taken to be his guardian angel gave a nasty smile and asked him incredelously why he thought he was in Heaven?

Great story, and it illustrates the point. But to your idea about the roulette wheel being "the great leveller", as it were. Can't those things be rigged, like with magnets or something? I've seen it on "Hustle", and I know that's just a drama, but it seems likely. Magnetic redistribution of the weight of the wheel tilts it where the House wants it to go, so perhaps there's little chance of winning, except of course when the House decides to let someone win a little, just to keep people playing.

I hope you haven't lost too much, and I'm sure I wouldn't be able to change your mind about gambling, but for me, there's only one type of person who plays that game: https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/i...H_7Fza1StfYiDl

I appreciate everyone's cracking on with their 2012 lists so I had better get through with this one, with no further delay I present to you Number 18.

No.18 A$AP Rocky - Live.Love.A$AP

Hip hop is often criticized as being overly misogynist, violent, provocative, controversial and guilty of glorifying crime, weapons, gangs and drug usage.
Sometimes hip-hop is all of those things, and sometimes it enjoys being offensive.
Live.Love.A$AP plays to these stereotypes and revels in it. It isn't trying to be accessible to all walks of people and socially conscious. It's just brutally true to both itself and the hip-hop community.
If you're going to go in with pre-conceived perceptions of what you think the genre's about then A$AP isn't going to bother trying to change your mind. This isn't a record for old ladies and their young grandchildren, it's a hip-hop record for hip-hop fans

I think a lot has been lost from hip-hop in recent times in that many artists tried too hard to pander to the masses and break down ill-informed notions about the genre. The rise of political rappers as well as those who talked of 'real' subjects took away from what hip-hop was all about. It was the music of the streets, it wasn't meant to cater to everyone's needs and it wasn't meant to educate the world.
Neither was it meant for the big stages, the rock n roll crowds of people chanting choruses or the pop music market.
In 2012 we have rap artists who want to be philosophers, rap artists who want to festival head liners or happy-clappy nightclub track makers.
How many get into hip-hop artists break into the game with the aim of just making hip-hop?

A$AP isn't the most technically gifted rapper, nor does he have the widest vocabulary or greatest vision for subjects. He's just a rapper who succeeds in being a rapper. His hooks are catchy and the production of the records are brilliant hiring two of the best producers in hip-hop today in SpaceGhostPurrp and Clams Casino as well as others shows that A$AP has an ear for beats which allows him to coast through tracks without any great effort.
He's able to just ride the beats without clamouring for the spotlight. His laid-back style perfectly complements the beats, neither taking away from the other. A$AP doesn't try to be pretentious or pseudo-intellectual, he uses the type of language that is commonplace in the african american community bringing in a lot of regional slang to his verses.

It's a record that just allows you to nod along to it, as A$AP effortlessly delivers his verses about 'bitches' being 'stoned' and his 'niggas'; the thing about delivering one of these records is that the artists who do end up trying too hard to exaggerate how much of a gangster they are and how they're the 'realest in the game' which comes across sounding more like a horrendous parody. A$AP stays away from these pitfalls and assembles a clever record in that it doesn't stray into these territories but still manages to encompass all that gives hip-hop a bad name. It's a hard balance to get and many fail yearly to do so, and whilst not making a classic by any means, A$AP makes a record that every fan of hip-hop should be able to appreciate for its simplistic nature and tremendous production standards.


That record was quite hard to write about, is it possible to just like a record without any great reason. Does it have to necessarily provoke any images in your mind, or resonate with you in a deep, emotional way to just enjoy it for what it is.
What makes us like a particular song or album? Can it just be likeable.

There are people you like in life, not because they have anything obviously grabbing about their personalities, just because they're decently well-rounded and I suppose their most redeeming aspect of their character is that they're just likeable. I guess that in itself is a positive characteristic trait.
Can someone be just likeable without any greater reasoning?
If so, surely this applies to music, food, films, literature, art, events or whatever. I think in life we are guilty of trying to over-analyse many things, especially those of us who felt the need to join a Music Forum to debate music, which in essence is subjective.

Can't it all be more simple. I'm sure if I asked my brother Mark why he likes a particular playstation game for example, he'd reply that it was good.
If he's been to the cinema, I can always bank on getting his analytical views of the film.

Me: Hey Mark, what did you think of the new James Bond film?

Mark: It was good.

Does he need to go any further in depth for me to think, you know perhaps I should see it. After all Mark said it was good. And whilst he is definitely not someone who will ever be paid to give their expert opinion on the matter it's enough of an endorsement for me to at least think about going to see the film, I mean he didn't say it was 'bad'

And I know for sure we as a human race can dislike certain things without a particular reason, so surely this applies in reverse and we can like things without any great reasoning.

If so I like Live.Love.A$AP. It's y'know....'good'

What's up with all the weird line breaks in this journal?

- Usually line breaks signify a new paragraph, they're used to break up text and make it easier to read. Using frantic paragraphing is just a trademark of my style of writing, got to do the little things to differentiate oneself from the other journals out there.

-If you'd taken the time to read it Surell, it's a 2011 list, henceforth your discovery the Live.Love.A$AP was released in 2011 is of no great news to me.

-thanks for the feedback guys :)

So what's the difference between the ones that look like actual paragraph breaks and the ones that just look like soft returns?

Oops, but i'd still argue irrelevance. I think I'll go compile a best of '74 list now, thanks for the inspiration.

I haven't updated in a while, sorry guys. However, I'ma get right back into it here and talk about a subject that deep down we all love to bring up.
Those albums that sucked. There's an odd delight that many of us take in rubbishing an album, perhaps as a form of retribution for the way said album had crumpled our expectations or to let out frustration about how mind numbingly **** it was.
Whilst I believe 2012 was a good year for music, I stress the term 'good' not 'great' there were some albums that were just terrible.
To quote the greatest of Presidents: 'Let's take a tally of these agitators, shall we?'

Manky ****s! The Twelve Worst Albums of 2012

12. Flying Lotus - Until The Quiet Comes

I don't get it. I just don't get. I have listened to Los Angeles 4 maybe 5 times and I still cannot recognize a melody from it. In an age where great production is expected on every hip-hop record, is there any room for someone who just makes instrumental hip-hop to make waves within the industry? Some fault genre classics like Illmatic for production qualities, so in an age where technology is at its most advanced and hip-hop at its most diverse, can I not fault Flying Lotus for just being boring? Needless to say, I find Until the Quiet Comes to be more of the same, which would be fine if I was a fan but I'm not particularly.
I think ole Fly Lo knows himself that mediocre instrumental hip-hop is just not enough to suffice in this day in age, hence the Captain Murphy experiment.
I heard a few tracks from that album and it just sounded like a producer desperately trying to cling to relevancy. Fly Lo may want to consider just laying the beats for others, because there's no doubt he's a talented producer, his beats on their own just aren't enough to cut mustard in a genre bursting with innovation and evolution.

11. MeWithoutYou - Ten Stories

So someone recommended me this band because I like Brand New. (:crazy:) Needless to say, they were not in the least similar....or interesting. Heck, I listened three times to this album and there just seemed to be no redeeming qualities. I don't need all ten stories to write a blurb for this album: Uninspired and lacking in anything of interest. I wish I could write more about this album, but I just don't have anything to say about it, it was like Meg Griffin's presence in Family Guy, it left no impression. Picture the never ending story with the story being an episode of Emmerdale. Not very nice.

10. Big Shug - I.M 4-EVA

Shug seems oblivious to the fact that his album title contains similar wording to another rapper with the 'Big' moniker, the much more talented and relevant Big K.R.I.T he also seems oblivious to the fact his album title actually makes no sense.
But the biggest factor Shug's oblivious to is how the hip-hop and rap industry has changed and how he has no business being in it. If one were to want a definition of below average rapping and even less inspired production they need only 'Google' Big Shug. The man with the personality of deadwood.
In 2012, Shug was little more the deadwood floating meaninglessly by and releasing this bland overly long release (seriously 8 tracks was enough, never mind 18) was just not necessary.
Every man out of ideas cliché was ridden here from the perennial 'I miss my homie' song to the never requested track about that man's offspring and the youth of today.
Hey, Big 'Slug' pay attention to the youth of today; they're telling you you're not relevant and never were. Please just stop.

9. Childish Gambino - ROYALTY

The hipster communities favourite rapper of the moment, which reminds us why hipsters should stick to choking on their Starbucks mochas and not pollute hip-hop. What is this guys appeal I will never know? What was so nauseating about this album that I instantly deleted it from my Ipod (I have a 160 GB, this just didn't deserve to take up 0.0001% of my memory. ) I can't remember, it was a while ago. I fear listening to it again just like revisiting a bad dream, in case something horrible jumps out at me. It shall just be pushed to the forgotten archives of my mind.
The irony of using such a hierarchical term as an album title is that Gambino is more alike an unfunny jester rather than the King of rap.
Yeah, I'm not a fan of his comedy either.
I remember he sampled Britney Spears and he somehow sucked Danny Brown into the abomination. For that alone I condemn this man. Similar to I.M 4EVA this packed more clichés than Arsenal's left back position on the weekly team sheet and had nothing to separate Gambino from the field. Try harder funny guy.

No. 8 Meshuggah - Koloss

This just served as another reminder that I do not connect with metal music. Many people were talking positively about this album, but for me it just contained all that I dislike about the majority of metal records I've heard: Loud, obnoxious thrashing instruments and grunty unsubstantiated growling devoid of any emotion other than trying to convey some form of masochism. Now, I thought metal and I were making a breakthrough when I heard Converge's 'All We Love We Leave Behind' but then Meshuggah just brought us back to loggerheads. It just seemed mindless apart from the few breaks from noise into shows of technical musicianship which unfortunately were too few and far between. This probably isn't the album to judge a genre by, but it's an album that I can judge as not being very good, at least in my eyes. It just seemed rushed and frantic. And I couldn't wait for it to end.

No. 7 The Bunny The Bear - The Stomach for It

A dumb band. A dumb gimmick. A dumb album. And yet I feel the dumbest for downloading and actually listening to this exercise in ridiculousness. Okay, I'll try and explain this freak show. The concept is that one of the members is a bear, usually a ferocious animal but in this group he is the sensitive 'emotional' one who exhibits the worst in post teenage retained testosterone and annoyance and the other a 'bunny'.
After this album I support my bosses decision to chop up rabbit and chuck it in his paella and can only hope that this particular 'bunny' ends up in his frying pan. Honestly, what on earth is the 'bunnies' purpose. It's as if someone off the street heard screaming in a song once and then tried and failed to recreate it by merely shouting at a microphone. Then formed a band.
I heard my brother playing a bit of one of their songs, and noticed that one of the vocalists 'the bear' had a voice similar to that of the vocalist from The Blood Brothers, I wish I had stayed and listened to 30 more seconds of the track and heard 'the bunny' take a massive **** all over the music industry with the fact he actually recorded a studio album rather than downloading an album of theirs on a whim.
It encompasses the worst in eyeline wearing wannabe 'emo' f.aggots who have daddy issues and an impatience to learn how to play instruments properly not to mention a strange obsession with throwing a messy synth over everything!
This album doesn't even retain novelty as a 'guilty pleasure' record, it's just terrible and I still don't understand why a rabbit and bear would team up to make a horrible album. Please, don't listen for your own sanity

No.6 Alt-J - An Awesome Wave

Pretentious ****ty indie being pretentious and ****. I should have known. I still listened. I have already aired my frustrations on this record. Why people like it I do not know, unless they've all been brainwashed by those malcontent's at NME magazine into believing that this record is worth the megabytes it consumes. An album devoid of artistic integrity and full of horse**** with lyrics that could rival those of either The Bunny or The Bear. The vocalist stumbles through every song trying to recreate Thom Yorke's at times minimalistic and effortless vocals by trying too hard and sounding robotic. Never have I heard more mundane or monotonic vocals outwith an Aesop Rock record.
I can't help but feel he was going for the 'cool indie guy' vibe, what he ends up sounding like is someone with respiration problems.
If anyone could present any evidence as to why this band are so popular outwith mass mind control I would like to see it. Average guitars, average drums, average musicians, poor vocalist. Not a good album.

No. 5 T.I. - Trouble Man: Heavy is the Head

T.I. has shown flashes of potential throughout his career and if he applied himself could be one of the best pop rappers around. He carries all of the characteristics to appeal to wiggers worldwide, has a good flow and voice to appeal to hip-hop fans, keeps his content based around 'street life' so as not to deter those from ghetto backgrounds from being unable to relate and has enough marketability and past success to make a considerable impact in the charts. So, why on earth he has let the momentum he had for himself a few years back rapidly diminish is anyone's guess and as one of his few defenders in the world of the Internet Music Community left me frustrated. You see, I can't really defend T.I. this time, he's just going to have to take a critical pounding if anyone still cares about him that is.
T.I. brings all his trademark material to the table here but forgets to bring with him the killer hooks and inspired production that made Paper Trail so good. Instead we get too much male posturing and too much filler. It's as if T.I. used up all his ideas on the first two tracks and recycled the same concepts over the rest of the album.
Why don't rappers understand that if you don't have enough material to fill an EP then you don't release an album with nearly 20 tracks!
The worst thing about this album is the horribly ill advised choice for guest spots. Seriously everytime I hear R Kelly singing about trying to seduce that special girl, I just envision the sick bastard urinating all over children. Ugh, why has he not had his vocals removed yet or better yet still believes he can fly and jumps off the Eiffel Tower whilst trying to impress his french love interest.
Then, Pink, y'know the alternative pop star in her youth now the bitchy divorcee who just menstruates over everything lets her monthly flow out all over a horribly screechy verse that was about 12 seconds in length and yet still had me frantically hitting fast forward.
And to top it all off Akon, remember when he was relevant? No? Neither do I. Akon ruins Elton Johns timeless 'Your Song' with one of the most unnecessary horribly auto-tuned train-wrecks of a chorus on any song I've ever heard on the track 'Wonderful Life'
Did T.I. blow his entire budget on truffles and fine wine or something? Because there was no need to bring any of those three castaways anywhere near this record. Perhaps he employs Big Shug as his talent relation adviser, because whoever brought those individuals on board is horribly out of touch with the times.
The only saving grace of this record is Andre 3000's sublime verse on the track Sorry. Honestly, it's worth suffering through the rest of this album just for that verse alone. That's what was saving this album from being even further down this list.

No.4 Sun Kil Moon - Among the Leaves

So, it appears Mr Moon is unhappy about his status in the music industry. He feels disillusioned with what he used to love because despite making good music for so long is largely under appreciated and has nothing to show for the relentless touring and song writing he has carried out.
He just wants to call it a day because he will never get the attention and accolades he probably deserves for his earlier work. He's not rich, not famous and not motivated to carry on for the minuscule thanks he gets.
Okay, I understand his position and would support him if he decided to retire from music. Who knows in years to come, he may do a Nick Drake and people may finally start giving him the respect he deserved but didn't receive when he was actually making the music.
The last thing Sun Kil Moon should have done was pass his discontentedness onto the few followers he has.
He's bored, uninspired and out of ideas so in what seems to be the trend of 2012 released an album that was painfully long and horribly unnecessary. This album almost seems like a lazy middle finger to the music industry for the way he was mistreated. But he doesn't react angrily or emotionally he just shrugs his shoulders and sighs. Never have I heard a record so devoid of effort as Among The Leaves.
Perhaps his record label insisted he make an album when he clearly didn't want to and this is the result of his half assed ethic. Still, I didn't need to be subjected to this.

No. 3 The Walkmen - Heaven

And the award for most ironic album title of the year goes to...
So, your girlfriend's finally dumped your sorry ass and after listening to this I don't blame her. A whiny, self pitying snooze fest of an album. Oh, you're so sad and feel so betrayed, well do something about it rather than wallowing in your own circumstance hoping someone will lend you a shoulder to cry on.
I hope these series of songs weren't based on real life events because if they were, someone in The Walkmen is in the running for most pathetic human being alive. It was like listening to a twelve year old hysterically grieving about the demise of their first ever week long relationship.
Instead of writing this album, why not just get another partner, you're somewhat rich and somewhat famous, I'm sure that could buy you most females.
I read somewhere that this album coincided with The Walkmen celebrating so long together without in band conflict or without succumbing to the vices that crippled bands both bigger and better than them. So perhaps gaining another partner wouldn't be that easy for this band of losers. And we can also add being boring to The Walkmen's ever growing list of positive character traits.

No.2 Flaming Lips - The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends

Wtf? Only three letters but I feel an adequate description of this album. What this was supposed to be, I have no idea. An album in which the Flaming Lips decided to push the boundaries of how much distortion and radio static can be classed as experimental music. Bringing in a whole host of odd special guests from a variety of music fields, yet none being able to save this record from being too out there for its own good.
The only positive I can come up with is that this record is unique. But sometimes sticking to what works, y'know works.
This is just a showcase in an alternative to alternative music and in turn makes its niche market so small that the only people this album probably appeals to are those who made it. I like The Flaming Lips, but they seem content in alienating me with this record which just flat out sucked.
No doubt someone will say I just don't understand this. Well I'm not sure I want to understand this strange strange album. Strange in a Charles Manson way, not in a good way.

No.1 Big Boi - Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumours

This album ranks highest because it was the only one on this list I eagerly anticipated. It was the only one I had expectations for, the only one I didn't just listen to on that hope I would like it. I was sure I would like it. I greatly enjoyed Big Boi's first solo album and was hoping for more of the same of his ice cold delivery, catchy hooks and top rapping instead I got this crap.

Recalling how bad this album was upsets me, I feel sorry for Big Boi. I want to go to someone who can give a more concise angry take on this album, so at this time I would like to pass over to me last month upon hearing Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumours.


Yeah, **** you Big Boi. You have won the dubious honour of creating the WORST album of the year. Comments welcome as always

MC

TNGHT
Madlib
J Dilla
DJ Shadow
etc
All make pleny of influential instrumental hip hop

Fly Lo doesn't make instrumentals exlusively either, check the production credits, son.






What is the connection here?

Sounded like an artist who drew inspiration from hodgy beats telling him he recorded most of his verses in less than 15 minutes. Check the pitchfork interview if you get a chance.

and this is why it was one of the worst records or the year?

Many conservatives have forever condemned the notion of social media as evil. At first I dismissed such claims. Conservatives, those of us who laud such traditions as Bible Bashing, racism and Daily Mail reading have never had much in common with myself. I'm not liberal by any means, although the lines between the two once opposites are more blurred now than ever before, especially in the United Kingdom under an odd bedfellows coalition government. My opinions on different matters vary, I don't blindly follow one ideology when applying it across the board.
Sweeping generalizations and poking jest about Conservatives aside, the idea that social media is detrimental to society is starting to resonate with me.

I'm sure when Mark Zuckerberg ripped off someone else's idea for 'facebook' that he had envisioned an environment where family and friends could stay connected sharing vacuous baby photos and nonsensical nostalgia.
And yeah I'm sure this actually happens on an extremely large scale, people in general are dumb and when combined with social media take up an almost ghoul like state where conscious thought is abandoned in favour of idiocy.
What concerns me is the growing trend (pun intended) of using social media as both a battle ground and a burial site.

Taking the whole issue of 'trolling' and intentional antagonism out of the equation, there seems to be a hell of a lot of conflict in the world of social media. Individuals and groups of opposing people meet on neutral ground and trade verbal jabs in the hope of gathering 'likes' and 'retweets' whilst those not involved in the ruckus watch intently from the sidelines, silently observing and formulating their own opinions on the matter at hand.
Whether said conflict has arisen solely online or is a result of a real world altercation or issue, I find it somewhat interesting that the two opposing sides decide to bring their grievances with one another into what is in effect a snapshot into their social life.
Surely bringing a private dispute into the open in an environment such as facebook would give those whom would not usually hear of such things an impression they had not organically formed about that individual.
It can have a domino effect. Sharing personal matters whether they be of dispute, failed relationships or venting anger at everyday issues such as that 'brown' guy getting served ahead of you in the post office line will negatively impact how others perceive you.
What if potential employers are looking? What if your parents are looking? The girl you like from down the street may be looking, as might your nosy neighbours or Law enforcement.
As it is impossible to know who is viewing what, a logical mind may want to consider carefully what they share on facebook.

Yet, each day I am seeing people I used to attend school and college with, those I used to play sports with or those I have otherwise lost touch with sharing increasingly defaming things. I don't need to know that someone I have been at college with has had social services called on him as the anonymous caller was concerned with his children's welfare. What right-thinking individual would share such a demeaning personal issue on facebook?
Your children were thought to be placed in an environment so bad that social services would have to intervene. That's embarrassing. That's shocking. That's painting you as a bad parent, why on earth would you share that on facebook. Had he not, I would have never known, now I will forever hold that against his character for future. It's not as if someone else leaked that information on facebook as a form of slander, he openly uploaded it himself.

It's instances like this that have me contemplating why we live in a society where taboo subjects are spread to willingly across social media.
Would you go into a pub and announce that social services have been keeping tabs on your parenting?
Does nobody have inner voices anymore. Where is the line one has to draw when sharing titbits about themselves with their online 'friends'
These people aren't or at least shouldn't be strangers, it's different from talking about degrading, deeply emotional or highly opinionated matters on forums such as this one where we all hide behind usernames and avatars. Where we connect with people we will not encounter in everyday life, where we can paint ourselves in the image we would like to be seen.
On facebook, when you're using your true identity and interacting with people you know via the world outside of a computer screen, a certain degree of control must be applied. Think of the impact your willingness to share certain items could have before jumping right in. The damage may be irreversible.

Now, I could talk about an invasion of privacy like many Conservative's and conspiracists preach but I don't buy it. Only what you willingly share can be found out. It's not so much an invasion of privacy as it is opening yourself up to be viewed by private parties. If you're concerned with people finding out certain things about you; say you've got a deep rooted prejudice against a religious group, nobody will find out, nobody will invade this private information if you keep it private!
There seems to be this enticing draw that people have to sharing sensitive and private information with everyone on facebook. I for one don't understand it. What good can possibly come of sharing such information.

The one aspect that is sticking out like a sore thumb recently due to unfortunate circumstances is using facebook and twitter (I neglect the other social media sites as somewhat irrelevant, who actually uses MySpace in 2013?) as a memorial refuge for discussing those who have recently passed on.
Now, I'm a firm believer in allowing privacy for those affected by a recent loss. It is not my place to speculate nor offer an opinion. I don't believe in the afterlife, nor reincarnation, I honestly think the best thing you can do for someone who has passed on is either preserve them in your heart and mind through the memories you have, or if you didn't know the deceased too well or indeed not at all, to show the respect to stay out of their business and let those affected by the loss grieve.
To me, death does not constitute a free-for-all on social media to see who can post most frequently or whose posts can achieve the most attention after someone has passed.
When I have been giving the news that someone I knew has passed on, it is never my first reaction to log onto something so insignificant as social media to post about it. I prefer to maintain a respectful back seat and not go online in search of sympathy from strangers nor do I see it as an opportunity to show everyone what a heartfelt person I am by hearing of someone's passing and offering 'R.I.P x'

I find it quite disturbing how many people will crawl out of the woodwork in a selfish attempt to get over on someone's passing. Recently, a young lad the same age as my brother died in a car crash, now I don't doubt there were sincere social media posts made after his passing, in fact I know there were genuinely emotional and completely honest posts made, it's the many, many irrelevant 'I never knew you but...' posts that really frustrate me.
I remember in Primary School (Elementary for you Yanks) possibly age 6 or 7, a boy in our small schools mum had died. Now for many of us, we were too young to contemplate death, none of us knew how to handle it. Our teacher at the time said words that I have abided by throughout life, and in their simplicity make so much sense;
'if you didn't speak to (the boy in question) before, don't speak to him now'
On the surface that may seem odd, but in reality if you're mourning a loss, the last thing you need are waves of people whom you did not previously interact with offering condolences just because they feel somewhat obligated to.
The reality is, you are not obligated to. Let those affected mourn, and keep a respectful silence rather than an ignorant outpouring.

It frustrates me, it really does when there are people trying to garner social media plaudits by showing alleged concern towards the recently deceased. I question the psychology: Because you've seen others affected, you feel that you're somehow affected too and must say something to show that this tragedy somehow is of your concern also.
It is not. You're not showing respect by inanely posting about someone you didn't know in life and offering 'I didn't know you but you seemed like a great guy, R.I.P' you're invading the privacy of others.

There are also the unfortunate clichés that come with someone's passing, at least in my experiences I see the same things time and time again.
First, there will be an alleged rumour that someone is slandering the recently deceased, this will lead to angry, outraged posts with people threatening great acts of violence against unsubstantiated claims made by people who can never seemingly be tracked.
I get the impression that someone starts the ball rolling. They want to show what lengths they will go to to defend their friends passing so claim to have heard 'someone' badmouthing the deceased. To gather social media attention and to show everyone what a good pal they are, they will make threats about what will happen to these naysayers when they get their hands on them. The investigation and promises of vigilante justice may continue for a few hours before being swept under the carpet never to be heard from again.
Then there will be talk of funeral arrangements, which of the many many concerned and affected people on social media will actually play significance to the minority.
So you can be distraught on social media yet can't take the time out of your oh so busy schedule to be present at the funeral of the deceased person.
Recently, one of my old high school teachers passed on and many were upset on facebook, many of my former classmates were so visibly distraught by her passing that only a small percentage of us actually attended her funeral.

Now you can't tell me that a post on social media has replaced the more conventional method of attending a funeral as a medium of showing respect and grieving for the recently deceased, yet increasingly this seems to be the way it is.
If so, social media is breeding idleness, it's breeding falsity and it's vastly replacing the real world.
Why make the time to meet up with old friends when you can send them a facebook message, why bother asking that girl you like on a date when you can like her profile picture, why attend a funeral when you can post 'R.I.P' on facebook.

The young lad in question has seen has followers on twitter grow by around 100 people since his passing. Is this supposed to be a show of admiration for him? You didn't take the time to follow his story in life, but suddenly you're so interested in death. And what are these 100 followers going to achieve, they aren't going to be treated to any follow-up tweets. Surely they only followed in a vain attempt to show others that they appreciated the deceased in life because look: - they're following him on twitter.
People and their inabilities to handle situations like these demonstrate why social media really brings out the worst in humans.
I intend to pay my respects to the kid who has passed on by attending his funeral and not embarrassing myself on social media. Social media is the last of my concerns when paying respects. It's high time people followed my example. I'm appealing to reason here, unless that too has been swept away in the pandemic known as social media.

Hey you said comments are welcome. And I just saw this point of interest for the first time

I have to disagree with this as always. Mainly I am doing this because the album does what Flaming Lips have practically always done: Make weird, experimental pop music that's more in line with Barrett Floyd than the Beatles. Even Yoshimi had very evident traces of psychedelia and prog that don't mesh well with modern popular formats, but still kind of succeeeded a little maybe. At least with my mother. Even their poppy pop bugglegum charleston chew stuff has their own little ticks; for example, "yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah" plays with negative space (to an extent) and political/philosophical content. This is NOT ok on the radio, and oftentimes, with more dedicate music listeners, because they think it's corny or what have you. They also have women shooting rainbows out of their vaginas live.

My point is the fact that they definitely didn't just get weird all the sudden. They've been involved with experimentation, avant-garde, and conceptual art since their beginning. But the other side of my argument is that they actually have a good bit of melody and great production work on this. As annoying as Ke$ha is (if you ask me which you didn't or won't or shouldn't) she contributes infectious vocals and an infectious melody the band wrote, and the song is dirt nasty like her pop is in a better way. The Bon Iver collaboration, though very minimal, involves the listener and the repeated drum line is so hypnotic, you can't help but get caught up in it. WEell i guess you can because you did.

Right, I'm not going to get into where I've been or what I've been doing, those questions will be answered very shortly. Just thought I'd review a wee album to let y'all know the master's back.

The dog has died and has been reborn a lion. Snoop Dogg, a name synonymous with gangsta rap, hos, bitches, guns, hos, joints, blunts, hos and referring to oneself in third person has been reincarnated, without actually dying, and has transformed into the majestic lion. A symbol of his newly discovered Jamaican roots. Or something like that. Snoop 'Lion' took a vacation in the Caribbean island and whilst over there and presumably whilst higher than the peak of Blue Mountain had an epiphany. He was living a life of sin. To repent for his evil ways he had to change his ways. And with great change comes great responsibility, he is now responsible for getting on his soapbox and preaching to any that will listen the evils of pollution, crime, guns, hos and hate.

Now taking this album for what it is, carrying the most ridiculous concept of all time, it was never going to down as an instant classic. But if you take it for what it is; a delusional, hypocritical yet somewhat charming train wreck, it's only 80% as bad as it should be. You can use that as an album blurb RCA Records!
As usual Snoop blends his always smooth and laid back dulcet tones with a penchant for catchy hooks. Snoop sounds in his zone, and sounds like he firmly believes in his new direction as he spreads the feel good message of Jah and one love and all those other Rastafarian clichés...for a couple tracks anyway.

After that, the album becomes less about reincarnating the tired and often uninspired genre of reggae and more a free for all of sorts. During his rebirth Snoop must have neglected to acknowledge that reggae by all accounts is rather dull and boring. Its simplicity means that all that could have been said and done, already has been said and done. This leads to the deployment of bewildering house and trance pumping over the top of the attempted roots revival. The album seems confused as to whether it wants to be in Jamaica or Ayia Napa by the fifth track as the panic button has well and truly been beaten relentlessly and the bobsleigh has completely fallen off the track.

Add the constant diversions in place in the form of electronica with the horribly nauseating female looped choruses and the album's already become less about reggae and more an exercise in trying to unsuccessfully cash in on what's popular in the pop music scene at the moment without hitting the nail on the head. The female voices are far too high pitched and irritating, and don't feel at all at place next to Snoop's trademark chilled vocal stylings. However, that being said the art of drilling the same vocal patterns and drum and bass sequences into the listeners brain at an almost irresistible pace leads to the creation of some shamefully catchy songs. If you manage to look past the brain cell killing lyrics, most songs have redeeming qualities in their infectiously stupid hooks and rhythm. As many times as my face found itself in my palm, I found my feet tapping subconsciously away. Yeah, it's dumb. But at least it retains an element of fun.

If only it had chosen to stick to one mood throughout, we'd have definitely been treated to a more cohesive, consistent album. Instead this album switches emotions more times than a Black Veiled Brides fangirl. One moment the album's going with a reminiscent, sit back and light one up feel, the next Snoop's making a desperate plea to save mankind and a minute later he's absolutely ecstatic without a care in the world. Perhaps the marijuana consumption has effected his mood greatly and each track represents a stage in the cycle of getting high and coming down but I doubt anyone involved in this project has the intelligence to come up with an underlying meaning like that. The album suffers from just being too over the place as Snoop tries to take on a task he is not capable of fulfilling and that's encompassing a bit of everything into one project. This explains the bi-polar syndrome in place and the addition of various electronic music styles which do just feel randomly tossed in there to appeal to a larger market.

However, as I've touched on this album has an undeniable innocent charm. It carries itself with enough carefree character and personality that it's impossible to truly hate. Tracks such as 'The Good Good' show flashes of something (greatness is too strong a word, but you get the gist) and had Snoop opted to stick with the sunny day, no problem mentality that track promotes he could have had a happy-go-lucky album that is no technical masterpiece but does enough to leave the audience with a smile on their face. The album still retains that aspect but incorporates other not so positive elements.

These include Snoop acting like a complete douchebag. Who'd have thought a weed smoker would become so eager to talk about the fact that they do indeed partake in smoking it. Don't worry Snoop lets you know many many times that he is partial to the occasional bong.
If anyone was wondering if the drug carries any symptoms, becoming completely hypocritical and possessing an overbearing self righteousness should deter those thinking of giving it a go. The last person I want to hear lecturing me on gun control is Snoop Dogg, who has several criminal convictions for firearm possession and one for involuntary manslaughter. 'No Guns Allowed' smacks of hypocrisy and I have a hard time believing anyone will seriously heed Snoop's words. Snoop also goes all Al Gore on us, telling us how we should all protect 'Mother Earth' although Snoop himself owns several SUV's. He also tells us of the evils of money and material wealth. No, seriously. There is also a track or two where Snoop goes all sentimental on us as he addresses his dead homies. Talk about contrived.

Added to Snoop's complete negligence for taking his own life into account when telling you to live yours, he brings others down to his level. The usually on-point Drake drops his most insincere verse to date and sounds genuinely uncomfortable doing so, as he adds to the anti weapons propaganda. But hey, at least Drake's relevant. Snoop must have blown the majority of his budget using archived 90's eurotrash beats as the quality of guest artists is questionable. Akon hasn't had a hit in God knows how long. Miley Cyrus has moved from making Z-List music to Z-List movies. And Rita Ora?! What even is that?
It's also somewhat uneasy listening to Snoop throwing his individuality out of the window in an ill-advised attempt to sound like every carbon copy 'born and raised in Kingston' modern reggae artist out there. His attempts at incorporating patois just feel far too forced. And unnecessary.

But whilst weighing up the negatives, one must ask; was it ever expected to be better? Admit it, we all laughed when we heard that Snoop had seen the light. We laughed when we heard the singles from the album. There's no need to get all serious now. And this album sure as hell can't be taken seriously. But for what it is, it still retains a novelty value with some genuinely contagious songs and the odd glimmer of potential. Reggae has never set the world ablaze so in a genre devoid of innovation and diversification, this is probably a good record. Take that as you will. To summarise this album in one sentence; it's as I said earlier: It's only 80% as bad as it should be.

MC

8. The Gaslight Anthem - American Slang

5. Craig David - Born to Do It

2. Thursday - Full Collapse

1. Genesis - We Can't Dance

Wasn't Patrick Bateman the cat from American Psycho

He was, and he really liked Invisible Touch...and murder.
Not sure if the two are connected at this stage.