Tag: Music

Top 10 Albums of 2016, Part 1

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Oh it’s that time of year again. This Christmas season has more urgency for me than ever. I look forward to seeing my family. Needing a life line will make you realize what you’ve taken for granted for years. These relationships matter more than ever. Even getting closer to my dad changed things for the better. Being close to my mom like I was as a child has healed a lot of old wounds. This year has been hard to describe. Disappointment, failure, embarrassment, self-loathing are just some words. When I look at this list though I see my year in perspective. Every year when I make this list I can tell the story of whatever year it is. 2016 is no different. I think that’s why I continue doing it every year. Document my life through the noises that make my days go by a little better. As I say every year, these records are my ten best of the year. They are judged by what I like and satisfies me. There are probably better records. One can argue another record tops any of mine. That’s ok. It’s not about anyone but me (a selfish little devil).

My Bandcamp heroes Dikembe had a solid year. Their subscription service brought some great live and demo releases. It’s sad they ended the service due to the credit card company Bandcamp uses takes just under 25% of subscriber dues as a fee. Despite the service ending, the $20 investment I made more than paid for itself. As a community we got to communicate with the band about what we wanted. I personally got what I asked for. Creating this subscription colony helped build up the self release of Hail Something. It’s immaculate from any outside forces. You can read my review here. With more time to consider, it’s not their best record but the riffs register to memory. “Earth Around Me” fills any vacant space and lets the distortion travel through a vacuum. Much of this record rallies around big riffs. “Just Explode” & “Fix” sound so bare yet fill a room with sound with really simple chords. Never too busy. Hail doesn’t over stay it’s welcome.

Somethings don’t change. Roaring power chords and rolling kick drums building up to a chug train that could. Breakdown of Sanity‘s Co-Existence starts like this on “Bulletproof” and throughout 43 minutes of melee. They’ve also written their best song to date. “Restless” has all the stuff metalcore and djent bands ought to repeat like a formula over and over again. Stringy and elastic open seven string guitars bouncing away. Lead guitar player soaring over the top like a hawk. Cookie monster growls anyway can repeat at a show. Play that chorus three times or more. As Phil Anselmo says, give’em the “money riff.” If you need a good cardio work out, put this fucker on. Random breakdowns don’t do shit anymore. It has to hit just right. A lot of the time production play a major role in that. How it builds up matters too. Tone always makes or breaks it though. “Crossed Fingers” checks all the boxes. The closing breakdown sounds like a Final Fantasy character summoning meteors. It’s devastating. One of the few records recently that brings back the feeling of being in the scene.

If you want your album to hold up, plan a summer release. Issues followed this strategy well dropping Headspace in late May. “The Realest” had the perfect ingredients for a Warped Tour run. The choruses hype so super loud and catchy. The bass player really takes the fun energy to a level that invited people who would never try this band out. It also prologues the rest of the album. There’s an eclectic mixture of rap, R&B, metal, even country on “Yung & Dum.” It’s an album that experiments with everything and doesn’t afraid of anything. Most of these attempts don’t work but I respect the effort and fortitude of the band to just try shit. “Slow Me Down” shows a bit of serious away from the fun of the record but it’s also memorable and impact. I can identity with the subject of infidelity. It’s a real summer album though. Tons of groove, with a little funk sprinkled in, perfect for hot days with the car windows down.

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Once you get a certain number of years in, several albums deep, keeping the goodwill and optimism of your fans turns into solving quantum gravity. Joyce Manor got there for me. Honestly Cody was not great. The first singles were forgettable. It finally came out in October and I’ve had time to digest. If you’ve been following them since early on the shift in sound has given them a new perception. The energy has changed. Their yelling and loud guitars have subsided. From “Leather Jacket” to “Eighteen” the maturation stands out. Maybe it’s getting older. You’ve been through it on the road. It all becomes normal. Naturally sameness can inspire a new approach. I’ve seen this with many bands.

I feel different about the music I want to hear. The metalcore/hardcore scene I came from is dead to me. It’s nothing they did. I just don’t feel it anymore. I’m not angry like that at the world anymore. The heavy sounds do affect me the same way. Once in a while something still gives me that feeling I used to have. I’ll explore that later but Joyce changed as much as I have. As this year ends, I see a lot of myself in their record. “Last You Heard of Me” described moments of grabbing another beer, smoking another cigarette. The title says a lot about how I think. Maybe they’re borrowing a little from The Smiths with the song titles. “This Song is a Mess but So Am I” retires with sleeping the hour away. I’d rather just sleep the whole day away sometimes. Most of this record speaks of having enough of days, people, situations. Over time Cody will stand up. Just not right now.

All hail the queen bee. I’ve started worshiping Beyoncé since her self-titled album. She showed me she was a real artist, musician, and genius putting out a record that dropped with surprise. There was no promotion, just here it it. She discovered BOOTS of Soundcloud out of nowhere. Knowles found those talents randomly and had the ear to recognize how special the producer would be with her voice. I have the ultimate respect for her and that continues with Lemonade. It’s odd. I feel like Knowles made this record for women spurn by men. Yet I was man spurn by a woman. Read plenty of articles about how this empowered woman yet I was a guy. It doesn’t really matter. The music works for me.

“Don’t Hurt Yourself” continues Knowles’ trend to crossing over the pop border that limits most mainstream artists. Having Jack White in on the action definitely legitimizes an outside the bubble track. “Love Drought” was the strongest track here. Predominantly written and produced by Knowles and Mike Dean (Kanye West, Jay Z, Scarface) its sound is tranquil and simple but makes the hollow void echo. Knowles gets the space rhythm in odd time signatures. Not just 4:4. Lyrics have depth and honesty. The music provides the canvas while keeping Knowles within an expansive boundary. She can communicate emotion but not break through the music behind her. Easily the most noteworthy piece among the rest. Most have praised “Formation” and deservedly so but “Love Drought” personifies the album and a lot of 2016 for me.

Part 2 coming next week…

Influential Records

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I’ve always thought about hierarchy when it comes to my taste in bands, artists, and music. I like listing out in my head who are my favorites and what order they’re in. When a new band comes along it’s always fun to see where they rank with old favorites and where they are years later. Before starting this I thought about listing my top favorite records or bands but that seemed like a really long prospect. Instead, since I promised myself I’d have something out sooner, I borrowed a concept of weaving my thoughts to static. So many bands and musicians have impacted me but without hesitation four individuals were above the rest. One moment in time, a seminal record, influenced me forever. They may change someday but these have stood for years, some for decades.

Still young in time, I cannot deny the impact Roomrunner had on me when I got their first tape. It changed how I wanted to write and play music. It changed how I dressed in a small way. I had to go see them some years ago the only time they came out to the west coast. RMRNNR bled with noise and turned up the sonic dial whenever they damn well pleased. The beautiful thing about them was their simplicity. Under all their effects the music was simple yet elegant. They understood how to exploit the desired sound from their instruments with what I call easy playing. Usually critics call this functional playing. They weren’t functional however. Simpler chords were used to accomplish what their style asked for. They were all proficient players but much like Tool it was about sculpting the piece.

While I know they hate the comparisons to Nirvana its undeniable they sound like what made Seattle’s best unique. RMRNNR evolved that sound to the level I had always wanted to hear next. I like In Utero as much as most but it was a response to the fame and expectations acquired from Nevermnind. I always wondered what they would have sounded like if Teen Spirit never made them famous or if they stayed at the same level from Bleach. I think they would have sounded like RMRNNR or gone towards that path. That’s a high complement I couldn’t pay to anyone else. They were what everyone was waiting for.

My personal evolution in indie rock started with Radiohead. They’re kinda like the gateway into the genre like pot is to recreational drugs. In high school I found Mew on those random music channels you get with your cable provider. My uncle who introduced me to RH was also a fan. The Danish band came along at a perfect time. They had progressive elements that my metal tastes like but at the same time I felt a connection with Denmark again. Their lyrics had an element of mystery but they were obviously emotional in nature. My adolescent self sucked that up like crack. I still do when it feels right.

Frengers will always be their best work. “Am I Wry? No” leads off with a memorable melody into a captivating riff. It sets the air for the album that’s present through out. “Comforting Sounds” builds up for four minutes, keeps your attention, and breaks out into bombastic and enchanting sections. I listened to that record through and through for years. Finally seeing them last year was rewarding. My ex asked if I wanted to go closer to the stage at The Observatory but I only wanted to see them from afar. I love participating in shows but this time it was prudent to just behold them.

There are bands that change the way you cut your hair, influence the cloths your wear, tattoo their art on your body. Thursday are my favorite band and that will never change. They broke at a time when the internet ingrain itself into our everyday lives. Full Collapse spread by word of mouth like many great underground albums do. The internet pushed it through a warp gate. They went from indie band to crashing the party on the pop charts with “Understanding in a Car Crash” playing three times a day on MTV. Their music sounded how I felt during those times. It still resonates now.

Geoff Rickly became like Jesus to me, and many others. He had all the questions I had and sometimes their answers. His honest liberated me. It spoke about grieving friends and family, love lost, or even dark specters in suicide or rape. If Kurt Cobain made it ok to have feelings, Geoff freed them. There wasn’t anything that couldn’t be discussed. I only got to see them once but it was a religious experience. My close friend Greg still gives me crap about the funny photo I took with Geoff or how primordial I got during the show. I still have no tattoos and probably won’t get many. When I decide to have one it will be their dove.

Remembering my earliest memory of music I go back to my biological father in Denmark. I recall Bob Marley, Tupac, and Nirvana but none of them as early or significant as Metallica. “Enter Sandman” is not only my first recollection of music but it’s also the best song I’ve ever heard. That’s my opinion. I’ve wanted to write it down as a statement for years. That song and The Black Album are what The Beatles represent to most. It’s a musical starting point. There’s a reason why I gravitate to heavier sounding music, judge songs by riffs, and seek certain structures in music. Metallica is the reason.

Before 1991, they had just come off touring …And Justice for All around the world. This concert from Seattle encapsulates the band at their peak of writing ridiculously fast and chaotic metal. There was nothing like them. Just look at the fracasing crowd. Metallica took their style at the time to highest level of success possible. What they did with The Black Album however drew all the metalheads and everyone else in world. People who were completely clueless about metal praised this record. The most common criticism here lies in the pace of its songs. No longer were they speed and sweeps. Lar Ulrich when asked about if they sold out as band (Metal Evolution Thrash Episode) replied making another fast album would have been selling out. They went in another direction rather than just doing what Slayer does. I have no complaints about doing the same kind of record over and over again. It’s worked out well for them but there’s a reason one band is far more regarded and popular than the other. Without this change I may have never gone the metal direction. I’m sure so many others could say the same.

Just imagine what you would be like if heard something different during impressionable times. If Garth Brooks had influenced me early on I clearly would be different. Think how disparate everything about me would be. Music influences how we think which effects our behavior. It changes how we look, feel, express our lives. Looking at what shaped us explains not only the past but the present and future too.