randombeau - Tumblr blog

randombeau · 5 years ago

Text

Letter From A Thief

It feels like this year was just stolen from us. Stating the obvious, this has been a really shitty year for a myriad of reasons. This pandemic has stolen concerts, movies, and even going out to a restaurant. It’s made even an introvert like myself go out of his mind. One of the only things saving my sanity has been a handful of albums and tracks released this year that I can listen to while riding a bike or talking a walk around the neighborhood as I continue to wait for the world to come back. It’s been a long time since I’ve been back to this blog and I have to say I’m kinda pissed that I can’t add all the music videos to the list like the past, but that really keeps with the theme of disappointments in 2020. I’m gonna try not to go into these tracks with too much depth like I have in the past, but I’m not promising anything. Just remember this isn’t the best tracks of the year. It’s just the ones I enjoyed the most. Well, I’ve wasted enough time this year so let’s get to this list.

*Here’s a iTunes playlist link for those drinking the Apple Kool-Aid:

https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/top-20-songs-of-2020/pl.u-oZylaMlTAYYJz

20. Genocidal Humanoidz - System of a Down

It’s been 15 freaking years since SOAD released new music and damn it was too long. The group has been rumored for years to be making a new album only to dash the hopes of fans, but 2020 finally saw the band release two new tracks. Always being very political, the increased tensions and fighting between Armenia and the Republic of Artsakh have brought the group out of hiding to drop a pair of bangers. All proceeds raised from the tracks have gone straight to humanitarian needs for displaced families of the war. The lead single, Protect the Land, was the main piece of work that address the bands emotions and feelings on the current situation, but they attached the previously written Genocidal Humanoidz to bring a little more heat and boy do they bring it. Both tracks are worthy of the band they come from, but Genocidal Humanoidz just gets the blood pumping like it’s the early 2000’s again.

https://youtu.be/_74nVpLVn9Q

19. Oh My My - Blue October

Blue October? Aren’t they just a one-hit wonder? Well kinda, as they only pushed into the mainstream stratosphere with their self-destructive anthem “Hate Me” in 2006. There have been a few gems here and there, but nothing that would really catch most people’s ears. However, this new release just has a bouncy infectious beat that draws you in. Just one of those tracks that makes a long car ride feel not that long. In a year that was filled with very little to feel good about this was a nice little bright spot.

https://youtu.be/IRzvkWVWmA0

18. 6 Feet Away - Chromeo

So many bands tried to write songs that captured the feelings and political implications surrounding this pandemic, but nothing worked as well as the funky beats and soothing vocals of David "Dave 1" Macklovitch and Patrick "P-Thugg" Gemayel as they weave a tail of love, attraction, and social responsibility. There are so many clever lyrics that are laced through this jam it’s impressive how easy it’s also to just bob your head to the beat.

https://youtu.be/CPTCrqyf6os

17. I Want More - KALEO

While this track was dropped before the pandemic was in full swing it encapsulates a feeling that a lot of people are experiencing because of it. The singer expresses this longing for emotional connection he is missing, but it’s not nearly as depressing as it sounds. The bluesy track manages to portray a sense of hopefulness that even though this connection is currently missing you feel that he will find it and somehow things will be alright. I think that’s a sentiment everyone wants to share in.

https://youtu.be/iKd4diJRkPo

16. Cyr - Smashing Pumpkins

The Smashing Pumpkins, basically Billy Corgan at this point, have not been at the top of their game in a long time and while the album doesn’t offer a lot of praise, this track harkens back to the Cure/Depeche Mode sounds of the Smashing Pumpkins past. Easy listening synth lines drive the track forward and while the conclusion it pushes towards isn’t exciting the journey to get there is enjoyable.

https://youtu.be/2AN_GRWlU7k

15. Red Skies (feat. Dr. Disrespect) - J + 1

I know, let me explain. First, I’ll admit I’ve been stuck inside for most of this year working from home and I’ve been watching a little too much YouTube and Twitch streams, but dammit is Dr. Disrespect entertaining to watch. This Magnum P.I. mustache, Mel Gibson Lethal Weapon mullet sporting dude just has that je ne sais quoi. That being said, this little track feels like it was plucked right out of the 1980’s or at least from the soundtrack of that cool ass Ryan Gosling film ‘Drive’. The melodic synths that push the song through its sub 3-minute play time just vibe so well that when the guitar comes in the bridge it’s like you’re taking a neon trip to another time. I just love it, sorry not sorry.

https://youtu.be/CakgCPl3mlE

14. Ohms - Deftones

Need me some Deftones, simple as that. Chino and company have delivered an album filled the aggressiveness of a 16-year-old. I’ll admit I didn’t gel with the whole album as much as previous entries, but this title track is a joy to listen to. The speedy guitar riffs and how the track itself just continues to pick up steam as it blazes toward the end is worth the price of entry in itself.

https://youtu.be/KUDbj0oeAj0

13. Phobia - Nothing But Thieves

It’s a known story that on Nirvana’s breakout album, ‘Nevermind’, the band was having a hard time recording the track ‘Lithium’ because Dave Grohl kept speeding the song up to a breakneck pace so they brought in a click track for him to stay on the correct pace. As Dave tells it, having to play to a click track is like having the human part of you just ripped out. In this track, it sounds like the band takes that click track and throws it out the fucking window around the 1:45 mark because this song builds and builds toward a manic conclusion that finishes with an orgasmic ending and if that’s not a human feeling I don’t know what is. In the words of 20-year-old, this track is a fucking banger.

https://youtu.be/vQThlhgiysw

12. The Adults are Talking - The Strokes

Honestly, this entire Strokes album could fill this list. This was my favorite album of the year and I could sit and listen to the whole thing front to back without skipping a track. That doesn’t happen a whole lot. This upbeat opener just sets the stage for an album that feels fresh and peppy. That’s saying something because most of the tracks are hitting around the 5-minute mark yet it never feels like it. The chorus is catchy, the verses are esoteric, and the track goes through several different instrumental shifts that it never gets boring or bogged down. Also, a highlight is Julian’s falsetto, which is actually really great. This track just paved the way for an album that I’d be listening to a lot.

https://youtu.be/ewOPQZZn4SY

11. Caution - The Killers

I’ve been listening to The Killers since 2004 when a friend gave me a copy of their debut album. Been a fan since then and while a lot of what they’ve released in the 2010’s has been a lot of hit or miss, there is always a few catchy gems in each album. This is certainly one of them. The track does lean on some of those Springsteen feelings that the band has become known for, but there’s no denying that The Killers can make some great heartland rock songs. Essentially, that’s what this song is falling back on. Brandon Flowers sings charismatically about how this woman protagonist isn’t going to follow the safe path traveled and she’s gonna throw caution to the wind and follow her dreams. It’s a track with an uplifting story and it’s got some great searing guitar riffs. I’m a simple man, I don’t need much.

https://youtu.be/WrpBgN_iUnA

10. JU$T (feat. Pharrell Williams & Zack de la Rocha) - Run The Jewels

It is amazing how smooth this track is because it dropped just as all the BLM and racial injustice issues started really gaining traction this last year like they wrote it the day it dropped. A song with a lyrical commentary on the unjust economic system in our county really hits home at the point in time that it was needed come out. Not only does this track have something to say, it also delivers its message in a slick way. El-P and Killer Mike breath fire, as they usually do, but the addition of Zack de la Rocha of Rage Against the Machine fame is really the cherry on top. The last time RTJ collaborated with Zack was for the amazing ‘Close Your Eyes (And Count to F**k)’, which was an amazing social commentary on the senseless violence between cops and minorities. This new track hits home just as hard.

https://youtu.be/32hUIGnMpOY

9. Must Stop (feat. Sarah Barthel of Phantogram)

Give me a duet between a male and female singer, lyrics about their lack of self-worth, and constantly being emotionally hurt and you’ve got a hit ballad. Alright, I’ve just broken down this track to its most basic elements and if you didn’t know I could have easily been talking about ‘Somebody I Used to Know’ by Goyte. Still, it’s an contagious track that has been stuck in my head since it dropped in October.

https://youtu.be/wNeyh_pfd8Q

8. Think About Things - Daði Freyr

This is the second Icelandic group to end up on my top song list this year and I blame social media for this one. This song was so catchy and the TikTok videos surrounding it made me laugh that it just ear-wormed its way into my head. The beat is so catchy and the background vocals are these heavenly voices that it’s hard not to tap your foot in beat with it. Also, one point of interest is the music video feels like it took the awkwardness right out of Napoleon Dynamite. That’s not a bad thing.

https://youtu.be/VFZNvj-HfBU

7. Save Your Tears - The Weeknd

I’m just gonna start by saying The Weeknd got freaking shafted at the Grammys this year. This is my favorite album he’s put out since I downloaded the ‘House of Balloons’ mix tape in 2011 and the best direction change for an artist in the last decade. The introduction of the 80’s synths and groovy basslines are so contagious that the internet roar from the lack of any acknowledgement from the academy was completely justified in my eyes. This track in particular features a shimmering melody as Abel bears his relationship failings. The opening bassline is more addictive than the cocaine Abel sung about on ‘Can’t Feel My Face’. It’s simply a well-made and beautiful piece of pop music. And if you ask why ‘Blinding Lights’ isn’t on my list it’s because it dropped as a single in 2019 and it’s already on that list.

https://youtu.be/XXYlFuWEuKI

6. Lost in Yesterday - Tame Impala

Some songs make my top lists for reasons that don’t necessarily have anything to do with how the song is constructed. While this track from Tame Impala is certainly catchy it makes it so far up my list for another reason. Kevin Parker echoes the nostalgia of old memories and how even the bad ones turn into good ones after enough time goes by. This track dragged up memories of driving 50+ miles in the wrong direction with my best friend as we made our way to Havasu. That was a shitty experience that turned into one of the fondest memories I have of a friend that’s no longer around to make more of those memories with. The song asks, “Does it help to get lost in yesterday” and I can answer this one very clearly. Yes, yes it does.

https://youtu.be/utCjuKDXQsE

5. At the Door - The Strokes

This is the most stripped back The Strokes have ever been. They tried something in this vain back with ‘Call Me Back’ on their album Angles, but not to this result. Typically, the vocals are layered behind a wall of guitars, bass, and distortion, but here Julian’s vocals are laid bare and it rightfully calls more attention to the emotions of the song. Emotions are what you really must hold onto in a Strokes song because like the previous entry, these lyrics are shrouded in metaphors. It certainly doesn’t take away from the track because the feeling of dread and being unable to escape comes across clearly as the heavy synths propel you forward. When the bridge finally comes in with its angelic vocals and 70’s induced sound waves it’s just a pleasure to listen to.

https://youtu.be/9CAz_vvsK9M

4. No Time to Die - Billie Eilish

Trying to follow singers Adele and Sam Smith can’t be an easy task, but especially following them in singing the opening number to the next Bond film. Thinking of singers that could fill those shoes I struggle to understand how the pop sensation Billie Eilish came to be the one producers turned to, but damn does it work. The melody is quintessential Bond. The horns, the background strings, and orchestral flourishes are all tried and true parts of a Bond song, but Eilish surprisingly works well in those confines and even reaches beyond her normal range in the backend of the track to show us she’s more than the whisper quiet singer we typically hear. There is still a lot here that is classic Eilish and it does change the normal Bond track from these high soaring ballads into something I’d say is more noir and moodier. I think the best description would be to call this a PB and chocolate accident. I didn’t think they’d go together, but they really do.

https://youtu.be/BboMpayJomw

3. Dragonball Durag - Thundercat

This song is like being soulfully harmonized by a R&B group in front of a fire, but the fire is coming from a dumpster. There is some amazing basslines coming out of this track and Thundercat marriages them perfectly to some truly funny lines that had me chuckling while I grooved along with the song. The vocal delivery is perfect and it brought back memories of my #2 song of 2016, Childish Gambino’s ‘Redbone’. I can certainly use more of these groovy tracks in my life.

https://youtu.be/ormQQG2UhtQ

2. Ode to the Mets - The Strokes

Like I said way back over there, The Strokes album could have filled my entire list, but this ending track takes the number 2 spot on this year’s list. The closing ballad goes through a roller coaster of melodic changes while keeping the tonal feeling of disappointment towards something or someone remains constant. Others have tried to decipher exactly what is being said and it’s always different. I think it’s up to the listener to determine and it’s different for everyone. We’ve all got someone or something we love, but continues to come up short. I think the best thing about this track is how it’s able to build a sense of urgency, but still end up in a quiet place but the end. Sort of like the ending of The Graduate. Yeah, this song is the end of The Graduate. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

https://youtu.be/BjC0KUxiMhc

1. Run - Joji

There is a pitch perfect clarity to Joji that he never displayed before. Let’s be clear here, this is not a classically trained singer. This is a former crass YouTuber that has somehow belted out the most beautiful ballad this year for me. This really came out of the proverbial left field and actually shocked me. While previous works have relied on R&B and keyboard hooks, this track features an electric guitar that is woven through the track, but as the bridge comes the guitar flies into an amazing solo performance and builds and builds with a wail as Joji comes in for the finish with “I know you’ve not in love”. This is a dark morose track that fills the room with a vague sadness and the soaring guitar finish is just the high this low needs. I absolutely loved it.

https://youtu.be/P2YYk-oZFyI

0 notes

randombeau · 11 years ago

Text

Listen Like Thieves

Its been a long time since I've come back to this blog and maybe one day I'll explain it, but because I was asked by several people about my 'Best of' list I figured I could write it up again. I had my list done several weeks ago, but just giving people a plain list without any exposition about why I love each song would be doing a disservice to the process. Just one caveat, I wrote this very hastily and with no proofreader so take my grammar mistakes with a grain of salt. With that out of the way let's get this started.

20. Turn Me Up - Twin Shadow

George Lewis Jr.’s (aka Twin Shadow) newest single continues to exude the synth laden New Wave 80’s influences he’s shown on his first two albums, but this is a much more seductive track than those previous efforts. A slowed drum beat reminiscent of 90’s Massive Attack lays down the road for lyrics like “You’ve got my heartstring pulling in the wrong direction/ You’ve got me all alone with my own affection/ Sooner I pull away/ Sooner I’m safe as I try to forget you” to hover over. Then a sneaking bass creeps in as it heads into the chorus “Turn me up/ I’m coming around/ Turn me up/ I’m falling down”. It’s a nice up and down number that sees Lewis let loose in this stunning breakup track.

19. Out of the Black - Royal Blood

Give this song just 25 seconds and you’ll probably be saying “That’s a hard guitar shredding song” and you’d be wrong. That’s because this two man group from the UK has Ben Thatcher smashing out the hard beat on drums and Mike Kerr singing vocals and playing the hardest sounding bass I’ve ever heard. Yes you read that right BASS. The amount of pedals and soundboard usage at Kerr’s feet must be astounding because you can’t tell he’s not playing a 6-string guitar without seeing this band play live. The track has one of the best rock intros I’ve heard in awhile, but it’s completely left in the dust as the duo launch into an adrenaline induced outro and I soon found myself hitting the repeat button. Give their debut album a spin if you’re a rock fan.

18. They Want My Soul - Spoon

The titular track off Spoon’s new album is just as catchy as about anything the Austin band has written. It’s very much a business as usual for Spoon, but the subject matter speaks volumes more than just the bouncy melody. Britt Daniel sings about all the people that try to take who you are and make it their own. “Educated folk singers want my soul/ I got nothing I want to say to ‘em/ They got nothing left I want/ All they want’s my soul”. It’s about all the soul-sucking parasites that we’ve all come in contact with and I’m sure Daniel has met several within the music business. This is his song saying his soul is his and you can’t have it.

17. Sanctified (feat. Kanye West & Big Sean) - Rick Ross

Take a radio hit verse from Big Sean, add a soulful chorus from Betty Wright, throw in some piping hot beats from DJ Mustard and finally a dash of some sick lyrics from Kanye and you’ve got a ready to eat song. Let’s not forget the owner of the song, Rick Ross with his trademark lyrics about how great he is “All I wanted was a 100 million dollars and a bad bitch/ Now I want 200 and menage in my palace”. For all the posturing the song never truly feels like it belongs to Ross. That privilege goes to Kanye. By the time Ross comes in with his lyrics it's almost like an afterthought. Still this puts another high-water cut to add to the collaboration between the two artists and it doesn’t matter whose album it’s on. It's still good and the fan made emoji music video is quite entertaining. I had no idea the eggplant emoji meant that.

16. I'm Only Joking - Kongos

Ok this is the oldest new song on this list. While the song and album have been out since 2011 in their native South Africa, Kongos debut album has only started to make waves across the Atlantic this year. I’m Only Joking is the opening track and it rumbles in on a wave of dense tribal beats and chants. As the four brothers sing together it only adds to the hard hitting animalistic nature that the song gives off. The song is dark, forbidding, carnal, and infectious. You’ll have a hard time getting it out of your head, but don’t worry the band is just fucking with you.

15. West Coast - Lana Del Rey

Lana Del Rey has had a hard go it and it’s not entirely her fault. After sending the song Video Games into the bloggersphere, fans of her sound wanted nothing but more of the same sultry vintage sound that the song exudes. Instead they got some out of left field hip-hop type songs like Diet Mountain Dew and Off to the Races. With the release of this single Del Rey finds a way to please all those asking for more video games and still pulling another switch. The song starts with some faster lyrics and strumming guitar, but as the song heads down pop single way Del Rey takes a quick right onto love song drive. Her vocals go soft and sultry as the tempo of the song slows way down and we get this beautiful mix of what Lana Del Rey wants to be and want we want from her. Just because their isn’t enough room several of her songs on Ultraviolence could be on this list. Do yourself a favor and listen to songs like Old Money and even Is This Happiness off the deluxe cut of the album.

14. Bored In the USA - Father John Misty

This song is like a huge middle finger to America’s entire way of life and how we as Americans live. It takes all of the religion, politics, culture, and social aspect of our society and says look how fucked up this is. Josh Tillman’s Father John Misty alias is very much a glass is half empty kinda guy with lyrics like “They gave me a useless education/ A subprime loan/ On a craftsman home/ Keep my prescriptions filled/ Now I can’t get off, but I can kinda deal”. It’s an incredibly depressing tale and not just one about heartbreak or loss, but about our entire lives. You’d expect most people would just turn the channel or brush it off their shoulders, but somehow Tillman slaps us in the face and makes you seriously think about something we all tend to ignore.

13. The Futurescope Trilogy - Weezer

I’m cheating things a little bit here, but this is my damn list and I’ll do as I please. This is actually the final three songs on Weezer’s amazing Everything Will Be Alright In the End album, but they are meant to be all listened together in one sitting. The first two songs within this trilogy don’t have a clear ending like Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1. As we get to the third and final song, Return to Ithaka, everything is shored up in a really satisfying way unlike all those tween trilogy movies for girls and moms. The major thing you’ll notice on the tracks is that they are mostly wordless. In my ears it’s mostly just a full 8 minute excuse for Cuomo and the band to rock out like it’s ‘94. This is really an epic and daring way for the band to close out what is arguably their best album in almost 20 years and as such I had to break the rules a bit and place it in my 13th spot on the list.

12. Would You Fight For My Love? - Jack White

A haunting tale of love. Jack White sings about how he’s scared of women and getting hurt (a sentiment I can agree with). If there is one thing to say about White’s songs is the amount of different instruments and sheer creativity he continues to add into his tracks. The song starts off seeing White break out the piano before bringing out the big guns aka his stellar guitar work. As I listen to White lay himself bare with “The last person in the room she hugged/ Was the person that she loved the most/ Nobody noticed that I was down on the rug/ I’m getting better at becoming a ghost” you start to feel sorry for the man, but then he turns the tables in the back half of the song with distorted guitars and the lyrics “People do their best to not let passion begin/ It’s dead before it has a chance to start/ And so then there I am, the caretaker of sin/ To you abandoned and malignant heart.” Jack White wants you to fight for his love, but he's not afraid to tell you how to fight for it. There’s a good chance it involves you not using your cell phone at his concert.

11. Go - Grimes

Peer pressure is a bitch. Especially if you’re Claire Boucher. After writing this song for Rhianna’s Unapologetic album and not being chosen she took it back and reworked it to this fine piece of electro-pop. She started playing it for concert goers during the festival season this past summer and finally released it in July to a big response. The response from the music media was mostly positive, but the large majority of her fans denounced it saying it was too mainstream. Proving again that hipsters only want to like something if no one else likes it. What should have been a big boost to her career ended up making the young artist completely scrap her next album and start over from scratch. Which just made me just scratch my head because this is catchiest guilty pleasure I took in all summer. From her obligatory “Woh’s” and breakneck EDM beats. With so many Dj’s trying to find the next breakthrough single by employing Ellie Goulding in every fucking shitty song that they can come up with, Boucher does it herself. She found the perfect balance between the EDM drops and pop lyrics. It’s just a shame her fan base doesn’t want her to get any more popular. Someone get me a ‘Death 2 Hipsters’ t-shirt.

10. Two Weeks - FKA twigs

Who is FKA twigs? Simply, a female version of The Weeknd. Basically. Not since the Toronto R&B artist has someone been able to take some very vulgar sexual lyrics “My thighs are apart/ For when you’re ready to breathe in/ Suck me up/ I’m healing with all the shit you’re dealing” and made them sound beautiful. And I’m still a little pissed I completely missed her debut EP last year in which her song Water Me would have certainly made my best of list. The electric brooding sound on Two Weeks is populated with twigs beautiful vocals. The song is a personification of the term juxtaposition. It’s like walking into a ghetto and seeing it inhabited with royalty. With an album very high on a lot of the music critics lists FKA twigs has made what is a very promising start to her career. The only misstep might be dating Robert Patterson.

9. Something From Nothing - Foo Fighters

Damn I love a good Foo Fighters song. With all its tried and true parts that you can see coming from a mile away it is still fucking great. Not everything good needs to be new and different. You don’t need to show me something I didn’t know to make me love my iPhone. I know what it does and I still love it without having to pull another trick out of its sleeve. Same goes for Dave Grohl. Now the eighth studio album did try to pull out something different with being recorded in 8 different studios to get a taste of how music is formed all across this country. As well as being able to make the excellent documentary series of the same name on HBO, it still sounds like the same Foo Fighters. Is that a bad thing? No and this lead single is proof. It builds from a quiet Grohl whisper to a bellowing “Fuck It All” howl that brings out the classic rock lover inside of me.

8. All the Rage Back Home - Interpol

Interpol is a trio now and their lead singer Paul Banks is their new bassist. If I wrote that sentence 6 months ago every Interpol fan and critic that still thinks the bands debut album is the best thing ever would say the band is dead. But today it means the band has put out their best album since the early 2000’s. After releasing the 2010 self-titled disaster and having bassist Carlos Dengler leave, fans speculated that the band was done for. Four years later Interpol answered back. As the most upbeat charged song since 2007’s The Heinrich Maneuver this lead single starts with the slow licks of Daniel Kessler’s guitar and soon picks up momentum like a breaking wave and doesn’t stop until it hits the shore. This wave was just the first in what ended up to be one of my Top 5 albums of the year. Simple fact is I love great alt-rock albums. They are all the rage back home.

7. Gold - Chet Faker

Gold comes to you by way of the bloggers hype train of 2011. Chet Faker, which is just a play on names about jazz icon Chet Baker, was nobody a few years ago. After hitting viral status with his rendition of No Diggity and a few pairings with the dance/house musician Flume, Faker drops his debut album Built On Glass. Gold is a slow burning song that builds on itself in spectacular fashion. The electronic jazzy beat flows in and out as Faker lays the foundation of the song and stripes it away in an instant. Then there’s the music video. When I’m writing about the feel of a song especially when the subject matter talked about can be crude I try to ride a line. The line between being respectful to the art and being a man. I could say that this video might represent the three Parcae of the Roman religion that define the human destiny with each woman representing our past, present, and future as we move toward our own deaths. Or I can simply say there are three women in tube socks, really short shorts and lots of midriff roller skating in a way that makes me adjust the way I’m sitting here. Umm….yeah.

6. Good Sex - Kevin Drew

Back in January this was the first song I heard in 2014 that made me stop and listen. This is a song that at first is very blunt in what it’s talking about, but only on the surface. “Good sex never makes you feel hollow” is a sentiment that I think we all can agree on, but then it’s followed with “Good sex will never make you feel clean” and you wonder where this song is really falling. Is this a hook-up, making love, or just fucking? Truthfully it’s all of it as Kevin Drew tries to reconcile all the one night stands and long relationships into one song. He lets all his partners know that however long they were together it meant something to him with the line “Well I’m still breathin’ with you baby”. It’s sweet. It’s dirty. And over the shimmering electric harmony that makes the song flow, it’s just good. Kinda like sex.

5. Really Love - D'Angelo & The Vanguard

Up till about a week ago every music critic and overzealous fan had their Top 10, 25, 50, or 101(scratching my head at Spin) song list done. Then D’Angelo gets mad and pulls a Beyonce. Thus we get Black Messiah, his first album in almost 15 years and holy fuck is it good. D’Angelo’s last album was Voodoo in 2000 and while most will just remember the video Untitled (How Does It Feel) the album made all the critics say this is how R&B should sound. Fast forward to today and we’ve been inundated with more of the same computer produced beats and lyrics about fucking slowly. This song isn’t far from that, but it's just about what comes before…love. D’Angelo sings in a soft as a baby’s butt falsetto about all the best parts about why we all want to be in love and none of it has to do with sex. What really sets D’Angelo apart from all other R&B singers out there isn’t just his choice of lyrics. It’s that he is also an amazing musician. The song opens with a beautiful Spanish guitar before slowly falling into its groove. A groove that begs you to sit down in a comfortable chair and just vibe to it while you change that “Best of 2014” list.

4. Ain't Got Nobody - Weezer

“Go back to sleep honey. Everything will be alright in the end” says a mother to her child who’s just woken up from another nightmare. These are the opening words for the song and the brand new Weezer album and they couldn’t be more right. It could just be another stab at Rivers Cuomo bad childhood or yet another tale of girl problems or it could relate to every Weezer fan having a nightmare at yet another Weezer album releasing that was pretty shitty. In truth it’s actually a little of it all, but the band is here to tell us that everything will be alright in the end. Ain’t Got Nobody is another song from a band that has mastered the ways of inadequacies, problems with women, bad childhoods, and disappointing their fans. They wrap all of that into one song and make it the opening to their best album since the late 90's. Not only are the lyrics on point, but the song just rocks with the whole band doing its best hard as nails sound since…ever.

3. My Wrecking Ball - Ryan Adams

You have got to have some serious balls to release a song with this title because most of us are still trying to drink enough to forget that horrendous song, video, and all its countless parodies that Miley Cyrus gave us last year. Still Ryan Adams has taken the title and made it his own. A quiet ballad with only Adams voice and an acoustic guitar to frame this touching tale of loss. It gives me chills as Adams opens and closes with the same lyrics “I wish I could call you, I wish you were still around”. This could very easily be a tale of lost love, but for me it’s a tale of a lost friend and I see Tim every time I hear it. Truthfully it just makes me miss him more and every lyric sung takes on a meaning that only I can see. Maybe that’s a sign of great songwriting or maybe I just hear what I want. Whatever it might be, when Adams sings “I wish I could call you, I wish you were still around” all I hear is my voice talking to someone that can’t hear me anymore.

2. My Favorite Faded Fantasy - Damien Rice

Eight years after his last album Damien Rice comes back in full force with My Favorite Faded Fantasy and boy was it worth the wait. Rice falls right back into the niche he’s been known for; devastating songs about all the worst parts of love. The entire album is laden with tales of heartbreak and not just any heartbreak, but Rice’s own heart-shattering moments. The title track is unlike any song Rice has served before. True it still has the heartache, but he sings in a soft falsetto not heard before as the sounds of the acoustic guitar melt into electric keyboards and strings that give off a dreamy vibe. As the 6 minute story about this love that never truly blossoms flows up and down it finally comes crashing in crescendo with Rice proclaiming “I’ve never loved”. It’s shattering and tragic like so many other songs written by Rice, but it’s absolutely beautiful. Here's just a brief taste test of the ballad. Take a listen and you might find it hits your pallet just right.

1. Old 45's - Chromeo

Back in May I found myself listening to an advance stream of Chromeo’s White Women on iTunes First Play. As I spent my hour in the gym I grooved to the funky sound I’ve come to love from the Canadian duo until I hit this jam. The hard hitting synth beat shook me senseless and I soon realized I looked liked I should be standing next to Chris Kattan and Will Ferrell because my head was bobbing in sync with this infectious beat like I was at the Roxbury. Only bad part about it was there isn’t a reverse button on streams. I eventually listened through the album several times, loving it mind you, but really just waiting for this song to come back on. After the albums release it would eventually go on to become a single and Dave 1 commented saying the song was added just one day before they mastered the album. Thank god they did because this is absolutely the best thing I heard all year. So sit back, relax, and let’s pop open a box of old 45’s.

#music bestof2014

0 notes

randombeau · 12 years ago

Text

My List

One of my favorite things to do at the end of the year is making a list of my favorite tracks of the past 12 months and this year is no different, but if sometime in the far future I'm out to dinner and I hear people ordering wine and wondering what year to pick I will lean over and say 2013 was a bad year. Not for music, but just for me. The death of my best friend, the most memorable date I had was someone just using me to make their Ex jealous, and the list goes on. That being said the songs that landed in my top 20 were the ones I connected with the most so they aren't the most upbeat, but all are excellent. So without further ado I give you my top 20 songs of 2013.

20. Despair - Yeah Yeah Yeahs

"Oh despair, you've always been there,....You were there through my wasted years... there through my wasted life" sings Karen O. A song so much about the emotion at our lowest points, but the Yeah Yeah Yeahs take that emotion and drive though the song with an increasing hope and rise above it. It's a song about reaching that low and fighting back because at the end of the tunnel there is light. Props to filming on top of the Empire States Building in the music video too.

19. She Will - Savages

The all women group of Savages have brought back the savageness of punk is a really amazing way. The song along with their debut album is really an empowering anthem for women. Jehnny Beth screams the call "SHE WILL" over and over as the band builds and builds, and as the sound reaches a fever pitch it crashes in a fantastic crescendo with Beth shrieking a final orgasmic scream. If you were a Siouxsie & The Banshees fan then let me introduce your new favorite band.

18. Acid Rain - Chance the Rapper

It's not common to see someone as young as Chance the Rapper write a track about growing up surrounded by the youth violence in his home city of Chicago. I'm reminded of the amazing lyrics from last years channel Orange by Frank Ocean. It's that introspective and it seems more in your face since it's coming out of the mouth of a 20 year old that chose to drop a great mix tape on the internet that you can download for free instead of paying $10 on iTunes. The beat from Jake One is perfect with it's slow somber pace and amplifies the lyrics about growing older then friends killed and kindergartners hit by stray bullets.

17. No. 1 Party Anthem - Arctic Monkeys

There are so many great tracks off of the Arctic Monkeys AM, but I’ve got to give it up to this Britpop ballad. With a song title that gets you thinking this is gonna be another “I Bet You Look Good On the Dancefloor” it’s really just the band pulling a bait and switch on the listener. A slow burner about drunken advances on the dancefloor. With lyrics like “It’s not like I’m falling in love / I just want you to do me no good / And you look like you could” its like the young Alex Turner from Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not tried to hit on the same girl except this time he’s older and inebriated.

16. From Can to Can’t - Corey Taylor, Dave Grohl, Rick Nielsen & Scott Reeder

Coming from the soundtrack for the amazing Dave Grohl documentary Sound City, this track sung by Slipknot’s Corey Taylor is a beautiful story about a protagonist’s decent into sadness and depression. A song about moving his line in the sand further and further until he doesn’t know where he is anymore when the song ends. All he knows is that he’s alone. For a guy like Taylor that's more known for his screaming he can really hit the falsetto notes. Its also got Grohl on drums and Cheap Trick’s Rick Nielsen belting out some great melodies on the guitar. Sure its a power ballad, but it’s a damn fine one at that.

15. Chances - The Strokes

The Strokes really had a tough outing this year with the release of their album Comedown Machine. The new 80’s sounding Strokes was definitely not praised by most critics and fans at its release. To be fair The Strokes seem destined to be attached to the 70’s rock sound that everyone heard on Is This It, but the reality is this break-up song is just what The Strokes needed. The softer sounding lyrics of Casablancas create the sound of a different Strokes band, but one that is just as compelling as the one we heard in 2001.

14. ...Like Clockwork - Queens of the Stone Age

The closing track for the Queens of the Stone Age album of the same name has a breathtaking vulnerability to it that is typically not apparent is their music. I have to imagine this stems from Josh Homme's brush with death in 2011. The song itself seems to be a critic on our modern lifestyle and how most people miss the true beauty of life. As Homme sings with his best fragile voice the more he sings about human nature and how finding that beauty and love in this life is hard he comes to the conclusion that his efforts are pointless. Very beautiful song that ends an amazing album.

13. Rap God - Eminem

With the release of Berzerk everyone started saying Eminem is back, but he was just getting warmed up and he then dropped Rap God on us. It's basically a show piece for Eminem to put his skill on a pedestal and say to the rest of the rap community “BEAT THAT!” Em’s technique is flawless and even using old Clinton references can’t dim it. The most impressive part of this 6 minute epic is his flow. With each new bar it gets faster and more furious until the 4:25 mark when he basically turns into the guy from the Micro Machines commercials and goes off. It’s quite the display.

12. Just Another Girl - The Killers

It has been almost a decade since The Killers first came on the scene and still after all that time they can still put out a great love lost tune. Brandon Flowers sounds lovelorn as he tries to convince himself that his lost love is just another girl. Its a synth-heavy ballad that just screams Killers song and Flowers really plays up the lyrics of heartache like he’s done it before. Oh wait he has, but how can you fault him when it sounds this good.

11. Rat Trap - Feed Me

With all the frenetic noise that is typically associated with EDM these days thanks to artists like Skrillex it was refreshing for me to listen to Calamari Tuesday by Feed Me. There are several standout tracks, but I have to highlight the hardest hitter Rat Trap. The beat isn’t all over the place and it isn’t littered with beat drops like most tracks, but what it lacks in twists and turns it more then makes up with just hard hitting bass. When the beat does drop it comes with an immense force that you’ll feel.

10. Ya Hey - Vampire Weekend

First Vampire Weekend flip around the title of Outkast's most popular track to approximate the self-given name of God. Then they have the balls to wax the philosophical problems of God. "America don't love you / So I can never love you in spite of everything." Ezra Koenig isn't saying he doesn't love God, but instead is asking him why should he show such love for people who go such lengths to deny his existence. It's a bold thing to ask and for that I have to give this my number 10 spot. Plus its got Alvin, Simon, and Theodore singing the chorus.

9. Recover - CHVRCHES

This Scottish trio got my attention very early this year with their Recover EP and for good reason. They wield the two-part melodies like old school veterans. The pint-sized singer Lauren Mayberry has an amazing voice not to mention she's gorgeous. She can sound powerful in one verse and fragile in the next and that is very much the strength of this song. She asks with one line "If I recover, will you be my comfort?" Then in the next she challenges, "I'll give you one more chance / To say we can change or part ways." It's a tried and true formula they use a lot in their debut album, but it never feels old.

8. Amnesia - Justin Timberlake

While I found the first installment of Timberlake's 20/20 Experience superior this song resinated with me the most. It sounds like it could have been a single off his FutureSex/LoveSounds album. The subject of meeting a lost love after years separated and not knowing that person anymore. Memories slip away, people change, and Timberlake croons about it really well with the lyrics "She's a stranger that I use to know." Like most of his songs its interwoven into two different, but connected tracks and the second finds him confessing his amnesia for her, but realizing he's still in love "Memories fade away/ Love is so insane."

7. Retrograde - James Blake

James Blake has managed to do something I didn’t know was possible. He made falling in love sound just as depressing and lonely as not being in love. When he sings “Ignore everybody else / We’re alone now” it exhibits several emotions all at once. It’s sexy, seductive, sad, and utterly lonely sounding. That’s quite the achievement. Ultimately its just a very good R&B song. It sounds like the music that the cool kids in college make out to.

6. Afterlife - Arcade Fire

Now we start getting to the songs that hit some strings inside me. “Afterlife / Oh my God / What an awful word” sings Win Butler on one of the final songs on Arcade Fire's Reflektor album. What happens after we pass away? All of the pain? All of the love? Where does it go? Its a sad sentiment and one driven home by the accompanying music video that showcases the three remaining men in a family after the loss of the one woman that meant the most to all of them. Fair warning...bring tissues.

5. Sweater Weather - The Neighbourhood

More or less this is my guilty pleasure of this list. Sure it's lyrics are kinda juvenile as the singer Jesse Rutherford sings about liking a girls high-waisted shorts and hoping where their date will eventually lead to, "One love, two mouths/ One love, one house/ No shirt, no blouse." A friend described the band to me as five Justin Bieber's, but point blank the song is catchy as hell and Rutherford's voice is smooth as silk. Enjoy.

4. Hold My Liquor - Kanye West

It's rare when you get to see any kind of weakness out of Kanye West which is why Hold My Liquor holds a high spot on my list. Employing Chief Keef and Justin Vernon in the supporting cast of the song works really well. Even the late Lou Reed was a fan of Keef's contribution. It's a song about Kanye's troubles with substance abuse, relationship problems, and even his self-image issues. With a beat that's the most downplayed on the entire album this really sticks the track out for the listener and if you take the time it's a very rewarding listen.

3. Graceless - The National

The National put out their best album to date in my opinion and Graceless is the song that stuck in my head the most this year and for good reason. With the death of my best friend I gravitated to the song that embodied all the feelings I've been dealing with. Its a song about losing someone close to you, then losing your belief in God, and then finally losing yourself. Every time I hear it I cry, but I can't stop myself from not listening to it.

2. Instant Crush - Daft Punk

Daft Punk's Random Access Memories blew the minds of countless people when it dropped in May. The EDM crowd had a collective shit fit, but for those that weren't interested in when the beat drop was coming were in for a treat. What was more of less a tribute to what Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo loved about music as they were growing up it left those of us still growing up something new to love. The most iconic is the single "Get Lucky" but it's the track "Instant Crush" with the Julian Casablancas cameo that gets my nod. Casablancas who showed an interest in the same type of 80's vibe on his 2009 solo effort Phrazes for the Young helps create a great track with the robots. The best part is how his voice sounds through the use of a vocoding machine. Keeping in track with Daft Punk's sound Casablancas sounds more like an artificial life form version of himself as he sings about his crush that he doesn't know how to approach.

1. Song For Zula - Phosphorescent

I must of have listened to this one more times then I can count. It's a haunting tune with rising synth beats and swirling strings that gives the track a pulsating rhythm as the singer's (Matthew Houck) voice rises to fragile peaks and slump to low mumbles. The lyrics of the wounded narrator recount how he got his scars from a soured relationship "I saw love disfigure me / Into something I am not recognizing......I will not open myself up this way again". The song has no chorus. There is no resolution or light at the end of this tunnel. Just a growing desperation and with the final line "I could kill you with my bare hands if I was free" its apparent the key word is "if" because even at the end of this 6 minute song the narrator is still imprisoned in the nightmares of his broken heart......I connected with the emotions of this song the most in 2013 and that's why it holds the number 1 spot on my list.

#music #bestof2013

1 note · View note

randombeau · 12 years ago

Audio

There is no way I'll ever be able to take the immense amount of sorrow this movie puts out, but this soundtrack is almost as chilling. So powerful.

#music #spotify

1 note · View note

randombeau · 12 years ago

Text

Oil and Water

It's no secret that I'm extremely vain. Of course that could be the majority of the human race (you've taken selfies; own up to it) but I'm gonna focus on me because....well because I'm vain duh? Well vain to an extent. My narcissistic nature only goes so far hence the reason I always try to hide my face whenever possible.

When I was growing up and going through the pains of adolescence I wasn't the popular kid in school. I wasn't the fit kid in school. I wasn't the cute kid. In fact whenever I did find the nerve to talk to a girl I was shot down so fast even the Red Baron would do a double take. Me and women were basically like oil and water. You can try to shake it up and get them to mix, but in the end the oil gets pushed out and that's how I felt. I got so good at being rejected that I just built up a fear of talking to women and that even persists to this very day. So to combat this fear I started working out thinking that making my body into what television, magazines, celebrities, and basically society in general was telling me that I wouldn't be turned down the way I was so accustom to. The joke was on me though because turning myself into what I am now did nothing to expel the fear that was built in my head so many years ago. To add to that I am now always criticizing myself and if anything is a miss I'm convinced I look horrible. Hair not styled the way I want? Am I holding on to an extra few pounds of water? Is my shoelace untied? Well maybe not that, but you get the point. This just brings up another reason I still find tears leaving my face when I think of my friend Tim. He was always there to reel me in when my self-conscious nature started to run rampant or when my ego was getting too inflated he always had the needle to pop it and bring me back down to earth...Wasn't even going to write about him, but he just kind of worked his way into this blog. Not sure if there will come a time when the thought of him won't be there. Anyway, back on topic.

The truth is no one is perfect and the older I get the more I have come to realize this. Perfection isn't something I should have ever tried to chase. I don't want to be perfect. I want to be a human being with all of my flaws. When I do actually find the nerve to ask a woman out I want her to not just like me for my good qualities. I want her to like my flaws or at least smile and accept them because our flaws make us who we are. Our insecurities. Our weird little habits. Those little idiosyncrasies that make me...me. That's what I'm looking for. Now I just have to get over this fear. Can I trade someone for their fear of flying please?

Your truly,

Patrick

1 note · View note

randombeau · 12 years ago

Audio

Don't know why I torture myself, but I remember playing this over and over a few days before I lost Tim knowing he didn't have much time left. I don't think I'll ever listen to it again without him in my mind and I find myself with tears whelling up now as I get ready to throw him a proper irish wake tomorrow. I know it's supposed to be a celebration, but I still feel enveloped with the sadness that I'll never get to talk to him or see him again....I guess I just miss my friend.

#music #spotify

0 notes

randombeau · 12 years ago

Text

You've Got a Friend In Me

If you're lucky you have a friend you've known longer then you can remember. A friend that knows you better then you know yourself. A best friend.

For me that's this guy, Tim Bumbalough. I met Tim when I was 10 years old in 5th grade. He had just moved into the area in the middle of the school year and the teacher asked if anyone would like to show Tim around the campus. For some unknown reason I immediately raised my hand and volunteered. The only problem was that I think I pointed out a few things when recess started and then left him to go play handball. He still remembers thinking I was a dick after that, but as fate would have it we became friends anyway and stayed that way for the next 23 years.

Tim is always the guy that just crack jokes for the sake of cracking a joke. As time moved on he honed this skill into deadly accuracy. He is as sharp as a Ginsu knife. Just a really smart guy and instead of just using that brain power for multi-variable calculus (which he also did), he uses it to make his comedy even better. Everyone that knows Tim will tell you the same. He is a genius with his jokes. The way he just knows how to lighten a scene. Of course they will probably mention how sarcastic he is. If sarcastic was a language Tim would be the professor teaching it. Growing up with him I got quite use to that.

There are so many great memories floating around in my head about the times we had together growing up. Epic trips to Vegas and Havasu and the roads in between. Looking back I had this realization that I never saw before. When you know someone from such an early time in your life and you share countless major moments in each others lives like we have you become a diary of that other person's life. To say I know who Tim is is a gross understatement. I know what makes him the person he is because I was there in the important moments as we grew up together and he was there for all my moments. We know why each of us is the way we are because we have shared so many of those moments together. Even when we aren't there we call each other up and talk about it. First girlfriend. First kiss. First everything. We share our lives with each other because its what we have always done since we were 10 and for that I will always be grateful. Other people aren't so lucky to have the kind of friendship I had with Tim.

I finally used the past tense. I don't want to reference my friendship in past tense, but I know I have to because from now on my friendship with Tim will always be in the past. Today I laid my friend to rest and it rips my heart apart typing it. Tim lost a very hard fought battle against lung cancer at the age of 32. Its a strange feeling I'm having talking about Tim in the past tense. I'll never have a new memory of him. No new sarcastic quip he'll shoot off to me. No more text message conversations where all we do is quote movie lines back and forth until one of us says, "Good talking with you. See ya later." My diary is gone. The one person that knew me just as good or better then I know myself isn't around anymore. A part of me has died with him and it breaks me just to think about it.

I've said this before, but I have let very few people within arms length of my heart. I have a lot of people I would consider acquaintances, but friends is a very very small number. A friend is someone that knows me at an intimate level. Someone I've let in and knows the worst parts about me and still wants to hang around because they see something in me that is good. That number hovers below the digits on one of my hands and the person that knew me the absolute most was Tim. As men you never really tell another man that you love them. There is just this recognition between the two of you and you do the "bro hug" if anything, but when things were getting down to it I found myself sitting next to Tim and looking him in the eye with that recognition and saying, "I love you." He gave me that same recognition and said, "I love you too." I'm glad we were able to say that even though we both knew it long before we said it.

A true friendship like that is really at the top of any other relationship I've ever had or am likely to have. He was the one person that I was absolutely truthful with no matter how ugly the truth was because he was my friend. He saw me grow from this little runt into the man I am now and I saw him grow from that little bleach blonde haired kid into the awesome man I called my best friend. Called? No. Tim IS my best friend. I will have other friends in my lifetime, but no matter how long I live or what events change the course of my life Tim will always be my best friend because even though I can't call him on the phone or see him walk through my door anymore he is with me. I lost my diary, but I've still got his. I've got a friend in me and he will never fade away.

0 notes