Revisiting My 2008 Top 10

Well friends, we're within 2 months of Top 10 season, and I decided there was no time like the present to revisit what I submitted for 2008 and see how everything holds up. Was I astute? Pretentious? Drunk? Let's find out...

10. The Tallest Man on Earth- Shallow Grave
I discovered this days before making my list (props to Quinapalus) and impulsively put it on my list based on lust alone. Well, I still like it, but the lust has worn off. Great guitar/banjo playing and the best pseudo-Bob Dylan persona Sweden could ever hope to produce, but ultimately most of the songs sound the same. Verdict: CUT

9. The Week That Was- The Week That Was
Another record I learned about via a fellow kittybrain. This time it was Tex Plush. This album has aged strangely for me. It has my single favorite song of 2008, "Scratch the Surface," but this album is no longer my 9th favorite of last year. Verdict: CUT

8. Vampire Weekend- Vampire Weekend
I still don't understand what business I have liking this band, given their hype and cutesy songs about summering in the Vineyard. They also rip off Paul Simon. But they do all this stuff so well! Still, 10+ months later, they don't hold up as #8. Verdict: CUT

7. Wye Oak- If Children
Loved this record, which I discovered randomly on eMusic. (Anyone still a member?) They quickly released a follow-up, and that one is in contention for this year's list. It sounds a lot like this one, but that's a good thing. Verdict: KEEP

6. Sun Kil Moon- April
This one holds up well. I haven't listened to it as much as I'd like to, but when I put it on, the songs nonetheless sound immediate and familiar. And I'm certain I haven't even played it 10 times. Not the zenith of Kozelek's career, but very good and was still among the best I actually heard last year. That said, I've since heard more stuff from last year... Verdict: CUT

5. Bon Iver- For Emma, Forever Ago
This record is still really good, although I think half of its merit lies in its last song alone. To clarify, however, that last song is amazing. Verdict: KEEP, but drop further down the list.

4. REM- Accelerate
Not top-tier REM, but easily in their second tier along with Life's Rich Pageant and Out of Time. And as their "hard rock" albums go, it's superior to Monster, (which itself is underrated.) Verdict: KEEP but drop further down.

3. Bob Dylan- Tell Tale Signs: The Bootleg Series Vol. 8
Someday Baby, Dreamin' of You, God Knows, Series of Dreams and the live version of Ring Them Bells have haunted me all year. It compensates for his merely pretty good new album plus the bizarro Christmas disc he just put out. This record has really held up. Verdict: KEEP and move up.

2. School of Language- Sea From Shore
Still the discovery of last year for me. Again, thank you eMusic. A totally random find and a great one! Verdict: KEEP

1. Guns N' Roses- Chinese Democracy
At the risk of pulling a Jay Bennett, I'm going to quote myself here: "Out of 14 songs, it had zero duds, 2 tracks that didn't hold up (Scraped and Sorry), 2 tracks that were interesting but overwrought (Madagascar and This I Love) and 10 fucking amazing songs that are going to join Axl Rose's canon. Yes, he is a ridiculous individual who screwed himself over by refusing to publicly promote the album, but he's a very gifted musician. Time will be kind to this record."

I stand by that review. Verdict: KEEP

So what got left off? I had given honorable mentions to Deerhunter, Deerhoof, American Music Club, the Hold Steady, Shearwater, Drive-By Truckers, Andrew Bird (Soldier On EP), Gutter Twins, Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan, Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks. I also never heard Sea and Cake, Pavement (Brighten the Corners reissue), Calexico, Ryan Adams, TV on the Radio, the Roots and Dr. Dog.

Since 4 slots opened up on my list, I get to pick replacements from this list (because I said so) and the first 3 are Sea and Cake, Dr. Dog, and TV on the Radio. I hadn't heard any of these when I made my list last year, and I feel the desire to edit to reflect their greatness.

The last record I'll add is Bonnie "Prince" Billy's Lie Down in the Light, which didn't affect me the way it did Tex and others, but it has held up well during 2009. And Beware, which really feels like a companion piece, is definitely in contention for this year's list.

So, with that said, here is my revised list:

10. Dr. Dog- Fate
9. Wye Oak- If Children
8. Bon Iver- For Emma, Forever Ago
7. Sea and Cake- Car Alarm
6. Bonnie "Prince" Billy- Lie Down in the Light
5. REM- Accelerate
4. TV on the Radio- Dear Science
3. School of Language- Sea From Shore
2. Bob Dylan- Tell Tale Signs
1. Guns N' Roses- Chinese Democracy

Top honorable mentions to Sun Kil Moon and Stephen Malkmus (whose album has also held up well over the past year).

Rant Against Music Critics, Continued

Back when we were all going back and forth about Chinese Democracy, one of the things I kept complaining about was the way that critics wrote about how "loud" and "compressed" the album was. But people who actually know what those terms mean, such as Dr. Kittybrains and Tex Plush (and the rest of us really), heard something very different: dynamics. And on a hard rock album of all places.

And yet still the critics wrote the same lines over and over again, making me think that either a) they had written the reviews before the record actually came out or b) they were just copying what they read in other reviews, throwing in terminology like "compression" without actually understanding what it means.

Well it's vindication time. I stumbled across this press release/blog post from Bob Ludwig, the mastering engineer who did Chinese Democracy, other GNR, tons of modern rock and also tons of classic rock from Zeppelin to Hendrix to Springsteen. Basically he is the rock mastering engineer.

Check out the link, because damn if he doesn't reveal the truth: There is NO compression in the mix. Yes, some of the individual instruments are compressed, but the mastered mix has none. In this respect, it's the very opposite of over-produced. Over-written is a valid argument (although one I disagree with.) Over-produced is simply wrong.

Anyway, the point here is not to re-pimp Chinese Democracy all over again. Rather it's to take critics to task for not even knowing what they're writing about. It's very unfair for people's careers to be at the mercy of writers who genuinely do not understand the craft they critique. (I'd extend this criticism to 85% of the staff at Pitchfork.)

This concludes this installment of Drischord's rant against music critics-- from the letters to the editor of major newspapers to this here blog.

Drischord's Top 10 Albums of 2008

A Merry Christmas, Hanukkah and Festivus to the entire Kittybrains Collective, our loyal readers and of course, the Web Sheriff. I give you my Top 10 albums of 2008-- a year that wasn't as jam-packed with awesomeness as 2007, but certainly had enough to make a Top 10 difficult.

10. The Tallest Man on Earth- Shallow Grave
Thanks to Quinapalus for weeding through Pitchfork's annual paean to pasty white guys playing rave music to dig out their review of this. I love this record. I love the guitar playing, the lyrics, his off-kilter voice and the fact that he's from Sweden.

9. The Week That Was- The Week That Was
Thanks to Tex Plush for alerting the collective to this record. Thanks to Field Music for a) being pretty darn good in and of itself and b) spawning side projects that are even better than the main band.

8. Vampire Weekend- Vampire Weekend
God I want to hate this band. In terms of background and hype, they basically are the Strokes. But in terms of talent, they're so much better. Yes, I do hear the Paul Simon-isms. But I think they're limited to only a few songs, and frankly there's a lot of Afro-pop that they touch on that Paul Simon missed. They also are one of the few indie acts to use string instruments in a way that doesn't reek of total dilletante-ism. I'll give points to anyone who gets more out of major scale than their cellist. This debut isn't perfect, but damn if it isn't promising.

7. Wye Oak- If Children
I can't understand why this record was ignored by critics this year. Goes to show that good PR can take you a lot farther than good music. If you want an album that better combines delicate beauty and dissonant guitar/drum fuzz-outs, you'll have to settle for Yo La Tengo. (Only Yo La Tengo doesn't really sound like these guys. So you'll just have to get this record.)

6. Sun Kil Moon- April
Mark Kozelek has gotten so good at what he does, sometimes we don't give him enough credit for solidly connecting every time. This isn't going to make a non-fan a fan or vice versa, but if you dig Red House Painters, solo Kozelek or earlier Sun Kil Moon, this record offers up exactly what you'd be asking for.

5. Bon Iver- For Emma, Forever Ago
As I noted in my earlier rant about the cheapening of "minimalism," this record is a great example of how stripping back can be the best thing an artist does. (Just not always.) Anyway, by "minimalist" standards, this isn't particulary drastic. There's a good deal of multi-tracking, particularly on the vocals, which gives them this amazingly eerie quality. I'm totally with the critics on this one. Awesome.

4. REM- Accelerate
Hope everyone can hear me over the sound of Tex Plush barfing. I believe Eric linked to an blog entry documenting how critics claim that every REM album is "the best since ___", thereby invalidating the previous album they had bestowed with equal praise 2-3 years ago. Well this time it's true. This is their best album since either Up or New Adventures in Hi-Fi. (Both are classics, but not everyone realizes Up's greatness. Ironically Tex does, yet he does not care for Accelerate. Go figure.)

3. Bob Dylan- Tell Tale Signs: The Bootleg Series Vol. 8
I was late in the game to this because I wasn't in a place to be buying double CDs. Also, the fact that everything on here was recorded 2 to 20 years ago makes it somewhat unconventional to make a 2008 Top 10 list. But there are so many great unreleased songs on here, that there was really no way I could deny it. Quinapalus posted some great tracks-- Someday Baby and Dreamin' of You-- and there are many more where that came from. God Knows, Series of Dreams and Marchin' to the City are standouts for me.

2. School of Language- Sea From Shore
Quirky, guitar-heavy, great drums, reminiscent of Shudder to Think, Jeff Buckley and noisy Flaming Lips all at once. What more could a boy really want?

1. Fleet Foxes- Fleet Foxes
Originally this wasn't even going to make my list, but then I read Pitchfork's brilliantly rendered Top 50, which reminded me how much I loved the Knife in 2006 and suddenly I reali--

Aw, fuck that! I don't need the skinny-pants music intelligentsia to tell me what the best album of the year was. It was GUNS N' FUCKING ROSES motherfuckers!

Chinese Democracy, though flawed (yes, even I admit that) was the best record of the year. Out of 14 songs, it had zero duds, 2 tracks that didn't hold up (Scraped and Sorry), 2 tracks that were interesting but overwrought (Madagascar and This I Love) and 10 fucking amazing songs that are going to join Axl Rose's canon. Yes, he is a ridiculous individual who screwed himself over by refusing to publicly promote the album, but he's a very gifted musician. Time will be kind to this record.


Honorable Mentions
Deerhunter, Deerhoof, American Music Club, the Hold Steady, Shearwater, Drive-By Truckers, Andrew Bird (Soldier On EP), Gutter Twins, Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan, Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks

Might Have Made It But Never Heard It
Sea and Cake, Pavement (Brighten the Corners reissue), Calexico, Ryan Adams

Likely Would Have Made My 2007 List Had I Heard It That Year
Travis Morrison Hellfighters, Field Music

"Going Minimal"

Before we fully launch into list season, I just want to opine on a topic raised during the discussion of 808s and Heartbreak. It's the concept of "going minimal", which most critics agree to be Kanye's trajectory on that particular album.

Well here's my argument in a nutshell. "Going minimal" isn't nearly as impressive as it used to be. Many people have done it to great success and it often-- although not always-- is a euphemism for doing less work.

I've liked a lot of "minimal" albums. Bon Iver is definitely making my list this year, and that CD is pretty minimal. I like people like Nina Nastasia (on my list last year) and the simplest of Bonnie "Prince" Billy. I like that Tallest Man on Earth guy that Quinapalus shared with us.

But it's so much more impressive when people try to go all-out and actually succeed. That's part of the reason I like Chinese Democracy. No, it doesn't always work. But when it does, it's awesome and highly unique. I find it unconvincing when critics rip Axl Rose for creating multi-tracked Queen-style vocal lines, throwing in keyboards, "orchestra", crazy shredding, etc. and then they jizz all over a Spoon recording that's basically a Casio keyboard and a trap kit.

And look, I like Spoon. But there's more acts like them floating around than there are acts like Guns N' Roses. Critics love solo people with a piano or acoustic guitar, but there are so damn many of them who do it well. How many people, since the days of Queen, Love, Steely Dan, etc. go for the big sound and get it right?

Rufus Wainwright often succeeds, and I like a lot of his work. Joni Mitchell's album Travelogue (with orchestra) was brilliant, and I intend to post on that in the new year, even though it came out back in 2002. Kanye's earlier stuff was in that vein, especially Late Registration. And then there's the aforementioned Chinese Democracy.

Radiohead is a category unto themselves, because while Kid A had that icy, minimal sheen to it, closer inspection reveals a very complex album. There are a million things going on within the title track. Morning Bell grooves in 5/4. Even something spare like How To Disappear Completely is meticulously layered and EQ'd. Radiohead is one of those great bands that deceive you into thinking their music is simple, when in fact there's a lot going on. (The inverse is bands like Mars Volta, who'd like you to believe there's a lot more to their music than actually is there. And sorry kids, I'd put Sigur Ros in that category too. At least up until the current album, which I haven't heard, but I hear marks a departure.)

Well that's my rant on minimal vs. whatever you want to call the opposite trajectory. Feel free to angrily disagree, but remember: I like many "minimalist" albums. But for every 20 of them, there's just a single "over the top" album that truly connects. Much more impressive in my opinion... and, to bring it full circle, it's what drew me to Kanye in the first place.

Chinese Democracy: One Week Later

Time for a follow-up post on the now week-old Chinese Democracy. Interesting to hear everyone's comments and I hope there will be more.

#1 song that has grown on me: Catcher in the Rye. It's definitely the most upbeat, fun song on the album (relative statement of course) and it's slowly infectious. There's no clear-cut chorus (which is the case on a number of tracks) and that makes the gratification come with time, which I like.

Other songs that have grown on me: Chinese Democracy (the song), Prostitute, and the two songs I was most dismissive of, If the World and This I Love.

Regarding If the World specifically. This melody is great. The lyrics aren't half bad either. I think the style is a little campy with the Spanish guitar and the cliché piano runs. That still holds it back somewhat for me. But this song has really grown on me. I love the way it builds over the course of the track.

Another song that I fundamentally like but have trouble with stylistically: Shackler's Revenge. I love the chorus to this song and I love that Axl uses a number of his old "voices" here-- particularly the "It's So Easy" voice. I don't love the industrial sheen and the solo is too heavy on shredder gimmicks. This one is all Bumblefoot, which concerns me because he's the only lead guitarist who's still in the band. (BTW, Alex, if you're still reading, I feel like so many of your criticisms are specifically about the production values of this one track. You should listen to the whole album several more times and get back to us.)

One element that's not holding up with repeated listens: Lyrics on Sorry and This I Love. I normally don't care about lyrics (I often don't even bother to discern them in the first place.) However, the lyrics to Sorry are almost impossible to like. Axl is always going to be self-righteous, but normally he's so much more clever about it. This one is just petty and spiteful. And This I Love has some lame rhyming couplets that remind me of Meat Loaf. Way too cliché for the guy who wrote Don't Damn Me, Bad Apples, Rocket Queen, and Paradise City.

Other criticisms that remain: Orchestral arrangements. First they're so heavily compressed that they sound like keyboard patches. This is a shame because most of the guitars and vocals aren't compressed and build really nicely. I love songs like Street of Dreams or Prostitute that don't even reach their dynamic peak until about 3 minutes in. But the "orchestra" sounds like it's coming from a different album. Also, the arrangements are boring. None of the songs truly benefit from all that extra weight. Riad N' the Bedouins comes close but that track is so damn awesome, it wouldn't matter either way.

Regarding the guitarists: I'm really impressed with Buckethead on this album. He's the most versatile of all the players. Overall, Robin Finck disappoints me. His solo on This I Love is pretty good, especially when the drums kick in, but on almost every track, the guy falls back on what I'd call "blues-isms." He shows no ability for legato phrasing, which was Slash's calling card. His (Slash's) solos weren't lightning fast like Buckethead or Bumblefoot or Butterballs or whatever, but they were so damn fluid. Robin Finck, by contrast, does the same thing every time: Bluesy bend on one note and then slide into a new one, with a little bit of palm muting for effect. He sounds more like B.B. King than Slash and I don't think it always fits.

Buckethead's stuff is better. His solos are the most "singable" of the three (though not approaching Slash) and he has the best sense of when to hold a note and when to shred. Alex, you know I hate 4-fingered tapping as much as anyone (certainly more than you do), but it totally works on Better. In fact, you couldn't have the chorus to that song without those tapping runs.

My jury is out on Bumblefoot. I like him when he slows down and plays within the guitar's normal range, but he does seem to love the squealing effects more than the other two combined. That said, he appears to be the guy going forward, so we'll just have to hope for the best.

I don't think I like Chris Pitman. He seems to be the one who's providing all the industrial elements and I'm not sure what he contributes beyond that. He's all over Madagascar, which might now be my least favorite track on the album. He's now been in the band longer than anyone except for Dizzy, so I'm guessing he's here to stay. I'm guessing that he's the guy Slash and Duff most object to when they listen to this.

I think this record is remarkably strong. I stand by my previous declaration that Riad, Street of Dreams, Better and There Was A Time are all stellar. And I'm getting ready to add Catcher in the Rye and the title track to that list. Really the only tracks that I'm not fully on board with are Sorry (for the lyrics) and Madagascar (for a variety of reasons.)

I've been listening to this record every day-- at a pace I haven't matched since Sky Blue Sky-- and I find it to be very rewarding. And no, I can't really think about the 17 years part when I listen to this, because even the worst tracks are better than anything Slash, Duff, Izzy, Steven Adler, whoever else... has done in that time.

Initial Review of Chinese Democracy

Alright, I'm ready to weigh in (for the first of what might be several times.)

I think this record is remarkably strong. The most important thing I could say for it is that there is nothing that sounds like it. Not past Guns N' Roses, nor any other rock band for that matter. Now that will disappoint some people who loved their old sound (as I did.) But I'm happy to accept this for what it is. (As if I had a choice.)

The best aspects of the album:

1. Axl's voice. I don't know whether individual tracks were recorded in 1994 or 2007, but he's never sounded better.

2. Axl the arranger/producer. There are a million things going on in each song, and he weaves them together remarkably well. Particularly impressive are the guitar solos-- played by different people and perhaps recorded years apart-- which interweave with one another almost seamlessly. You can clearly hear when the soloist switches, but the transfer is remarkably organic. Actually this award should be shared with the co-producer Caram Costanzo, who it appears took the lead with a lot of the guitar arranging.

3. Axl the arranger/producer continued. As Dr. Kittybrains and Tex Plush have noted, the album is full of dynamics. One of the reasons I keep buying CDs is because their dynamic range is superior to that of mp3 files. And I listen to them on my nice stereo system (I finally bought one) instead of computer speakers. This is a record to be heard in high fidelity; not as an mp3, which cuts dynamics and frequency range.

4. The non-industrial sound of the record. People seemed to fear that this was going to be a techno metal album based on the "Oh My God" single, and the fact that ex-NIN guitarist Robin Finck was all over this. But Robin Finck doesn't sound anything like techno metal. He's totally '70s blues rock. Some critics have compared him to Slash. That's blasphemous. But he does compare favorably with Zakk Wylde. Very similar in fact. (And Oh My God is felicitously not on the album.)

4. The two shredder guitarists are surprisingly tasteful. For the most part, they keep the crazy squealing high-pitched-rockets-going-off thing to a minimum. There is some-- particularly in the Bumblefoot solo on Shackler's Revenge-- but most of it is awesome. Buckethead isn't just a great guitarist; he's genuinely musical. He knows when to cascade through arpeggios and also when to milk a single note. Bumblefoot too. And they also thankfully stay away (mostly) from the whole two-handed tapping thing, which should be banned for all guitarists not named Eddie Van Halen.

Negative Aspects:

1. The intros to the songs. Almost every song has one (some have outtros too) and none of them make the songs better. Some are interesting, like the Queen-style vocal collage at the beginning of Scraped. But most are really gratuitous.

2. The trip-hop beat in If the World. It doesn't work, and the song is too blandly mid-tempo. It wouldn't stand out as much if the whole album weren't mid-tempo.

3. The lack of any classic GN'R-sounding songs. There isn't a single riff on here to rival Welcome to the Jungle or Mr. Brownstone, nor is there any fast-paced punky thing to rival Perfect Crime or Right Next Door to Hell. (Then again, there's nothing remotely approaching the idiocy of My World, the shlubbiness of So Fine, or the third-grade lyrics of Back Off Bitch, Get in the Ring, etc. Come to think of it, there might not be a single curse word on this album.)

4. The "string" and "orchestra" parts. Boring and uninspired. Would sound better without them, or with only mellotron in their place. (Exception: Riad N' the Bedouins)

As for the specific songs, I'd group them into three tiers:

Tier One (classic): Street of Dreams, Riad N' the Bedouins, Better, I.R.S., There Was A Time

Tier Two (great but not classic): Shackler's Revenge, Scraped, Catcher in the Rye, Sorry, Chinese Democracy, Prostitute, Madagascar

Tier Three (would be better if omitted): This I Love, If the World

But again, what stands out most about this record is that it sounds like nothing else out there. It's the death knell of the old Slash/Duff/Izzy GN'R, because it sounds like neither Welcome to the Jungle nor Estranged. And that's okay.

This isn't the band I grew up loving, but I'm totally digging it for what it is. (4.5 stars out of 5.)