I'm gonna pick them at random and do them whenever I want and not have any sort of standard and you can suggest albums too.

#1


Here We Go Magic - Here We Go Magic

So here's the thing: I don't know shit this band or guy or whoever he is (I think he's a one-man operation) but the album is pretty good. I say pretty good because it doesn't really make sense as an album. It's 9 tracks. The first is like lo-fi Graceland-era Paul Simon, then he gets like 3 excellent dreamy pop songs and then "Ghost List" is this ambient/experiemental piece, which is pretty decent for what it is, but really kills the mood of the album. After one more percussion-heavy pop song (you know, the "tribal" percussion), he then veers into 3 ambient/experimental/instrumental pieces to close out the album.

Nothing on here is particularly band. Nothing on here is particularly great. But it doesn't flow as an album. It's worth keeping for me, and I have found myself going back to it quite a bit throughout the year, but it will never find itself as a "favorite" album of the year...but could perhaps sneak onto a consideration of favorite songs (which song of the 4-5 that is, I can't say).

That song "Tunnelvision" on their myspace is decent.

Saw this on their page:



Edit: Actually, shit, I like both of the first two songs on their myspace. Would you consider those two of the better ones on the album?

yeah Tunnelvision is so fucking great. i mean REALLY great.

Fangela is one of my favorite songs of the year.

I heard this song for the first time the other day, and holy crap. You talk about a song that just gets stuck in your head. I haven't stopped humming it all week. Superbly catchy.

k, i was gonna do starving weirdos - into an energy next but naw

Do it dude. That's a killer record. I think they've benefitted a bit by releasing less. Hell, two or three years ago it seemed they were putting out a record every two weeks. They now seem to release only the best, more focused (for what they do) albums. Anyways, yeah the first three minutes or so on that album is so close to perfect it's disgusting.

#2
[img][585:585]http://www.albumoftheyear.org/2009/album/covers/see-mystery-lights.jpg[/img]
YACHT - See Mystery Lights

I can see the draw of this band. I understand why lots of my annoying friends of years past have updated their facebook statuses over the last couple years talking about this band and how much fun they are. That's true, they're fun.

They're also fucking annoying. Somewhere between every other pop-based DFA act, YACHT is putting out music that is nothing new. I feel like while, yes the songs are catchy: they also fucking suck.

Here's what I've now decided on this band. If a Yacht song comes on in a commercial (this album seems bred for hip commercials), if a song from this album is playing on college radio, in a shop or restaurant or if some person I know is telling me they really like Yacht...well that's fine. It's standable.

But I'm not going to be a supporter. And I'm not going to listen to them on my own time anymore.

Deleted.

Really liking Here We Go Magic so far. Thanks for the heads up.

You make me feel better about ignoring Yacht and not really liking DFA that much. Thanks.

i got yacht mixed up with health when this album came out and was really disappointed. listening to a bit of it now, it's alright but nothing i'd go out and buy.

#3
[img][585:585]http://allthingsthatrock.com/cms/images/stories/jreviews/223_Illogicalbumcover_1240158207.jpg[/img]
Illogic - Diabolical Fun

This album blind-sided me. Not in a way that I was shocked at how good or bad it was, but just the sound of the album.

Illogic has been one of my favorite underground rappers for almost 10 years now. The problem with that being, that'd the last 5 years of those he hadn't actually released anything.

So it should come as now surprise that a hip-hop album after 5 years of nothing would sound different. However, one would think that the album would show maturity, age, or perhaps a sense of being tired.

With Diabolical Fun, Illogic changes his entire system and finally becomes what most would actually consider a "rapper".

You see, his older releases seemed to have just about as much dark poetry and imagery as braggadocio rap (probably more.) On "Diabolical Fun", Illogic is still poetic, in a sense that he is rhyming in a style that most rappers with deals can't even approach, but he's baring his soul. He's gained confidence, he's gained an up-and-coming production partner, and on this release Illogic is not tired: his is fired up.

Punchline after punchline. Critique after critique. Its a solid album for no-nonsense rap music. It seems like Illogic spent the last 5 years finally reading all the praise for his previous releases and is now about to tell the whole world just how good he is.

Yet with this change, Illogic loses what makes him a truly unique voice in this genre. He's good if not great, sure. But he was great before he had to tell us himself.

Don't know anything about Illogic, but I can not stand YACHT.

I like that YACHT album. It's catchy and fun. I can see, however, how it might not have any staying power. We'll see.

one other thing about the YACHT album is that the percussion loops or whatever are like the fucking same on all the songs

Haven't paid attention to Illogic in years, I'll seek that out, sounds interesting.

TERRIBLE cover art though.

This is pretty funny. (have not heard Yacht, assumed from the name that they were like the band Yacht Rock

Bump. You guys are slacking on these...

#4

Torae & Marco Polo - Double Barrel

Refreshing in the way that a good Boot Camp Clik record is.

There's nothing new here, but if we tried to value every record on providing something new then:

1. Obner as a message board of music fans wouldn't exist.
2. There'd be like what, 30 good acts in the history of popular music?

Regardless, this is a good record. This record brings me back. It doesn't bring me back to when hip hop was fresh and the sounds on this record were what hip hop sounded like, but it does make me remember the times when I loved hip hop more than anything in the world.

If you are not familiar with either people involved, Torae is a rapper loosely affiliated with both Boot Camp Clik and the Little Brother/Justus League collectives. A couple years ago, he was at the forefront of NY-based rappers releasing shit every day to blogs and message boards, building a name for themselves. Before the mixtapes were filled with bright hoodies and auto-tuned r&b, 2007 made it seem like hip hop was bringing it back to the basics. Marco Polo is a Canadian producer who has more or less been dubbed the next DJ Premier. Those are some big shoes to fill...but if this release is evidence, there is other producer out there right now more deserving of that title.

This is the 90s. I don't mean this is golden age shit. No, this is when the East Coast was trying to fight for survival a few years later. Torae spits with ferocity, demanding the "game" to change and doing his best to usher that in. Polo, for his part, is the real star. The beats hit hard. The vocal samples are familiar with most hip hop fans. The guest spots (including Heltah Skeltah, Masta Ace, Guilty Simpson) and more showcase the individuals that Torae is aligning himself with. He's joined the party of those east-coast rappers keeping hip hop fresh, by keeping it hip hop. You can call it a throwback, you can call it outdated. It's not. It's hip hop done right, and one of the best the genre has offered all year.

Stop being such a queen, Queenie.

I played Marco Polo's Port Authority a lot last year, really like his beats.

I saw this album on some blogs, but didn't bother at the time.

i like it better than Port Authority

cool, I'll check it out.

#5

Kylesa - Static Tensions

DUN DUN DUN CHUG CHUG RAAAAAAAAAAAAA





BADABADABADABADA CHUG CHUG NEEEEEEYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

I forgot that I was gonna download that a while back. I could use a good heavy record right about now.