Last night, after briefly eavesdropping/contributing to a Facebook conversation which my brother was having with a friend, I decided that I am cynical almost to the point of absurdity; what pushed me to make this realization? Christian Music...and specifically a back and forth about the Sonshine "Music" festival.
First of all, c'mon you couldn't have thought of a better name? Here are a few off the top of my head:
(Alright I do realize that most music festivals have absurdly stupid names, but Sonshine...)
So as the back and forth between my brother and his friend continued, it was made clear that neither my brother's or my opinion (both looking at a Christian Music festival as not our idea of fun) could be credible since we "hadn't experienced Sonshine."
I guess that statement was 100 percent the truth...so I decided to do a little research on the festival website, because heck, it might just be something that is secretly AWESOME. The first thing that you will notice (and if you want to play a long with me and make your own informed decisions about possibly attending Sonshine well here is the link) is that the full name of Sonshine isn't the "Sonshine Music Festival" but is actually the "Sonshine Family and Friends Festival."
Hmm omitting the word music seems a little suspect... (Is that some kind of admission by the festival promoters that the sounds heard at Sonshine can't be legally classified as music?)
Ok, back to exploring the website, prominently displayed on the front page is youtube player, which starts with some christian rock band's music playing over a slideshow of black and white pictures of Minnesota, and... homeless people - And then ends with a plea for coat donations - because I know if I was homeless the thing I'd want most wouldn't be a home, job or filling meal, but would actually be a donated coat.
Oh and if you keep going with the related videos, you'll begin to notice that they like to use the word Sonshine a lot... I wonder why?
I guess I'll move on to the festival lineup, which by the looks of it all went to the same portrait studio. Does being in a Christian rock band mean that your press photo has to use the same photoshop effect? I have heard a few of these bands (not by free will, but by my third extra roommate during sophomore year.) and do you want to know a secret? (They aren't very good). I could possibly tolerate the lyrical content if the music had any redeeming quality, but it is pretty much the same boring power cords and pseudo-metal riffs that have already been used to death by Creed and Nickelback.
Probably the most enticing thing about Sonshine seems to be the price, which is a measly 89 dollars for 4 days with camping included - but there in lies a huge problem for me, the only thing worse then tenting in a huge field with a bunch of hippies would be the same scenario - but with christians. At the very least, hippies are on loads of illegal drugs when they are talking about peace, love and the environment - Christians are just high on their own brand of self delusion. Also hippies occasionally play Bob Marley or Sublime on their guitars.
I am also on Soundcloud now, just thought I would throw that up here.
I have dubbed myself mcchair, after noticing rncchair was a trending topic on twitter and continually mistaking it for mcchair, and my further bewilderment that no mc had taken the chair moniker.
http://soundcloud.com/mcchair
Did a little quick edit of the Brodyquest theme/Don't Trip mashup that was in my January Mixtape (Under 'Analog Days' on soundcloud - or also lower on the main page)
Oh and if you don't know what Brody Quest is, have I got a treat in store for you:
[An editorial I wrote for my gaming site that sat ignored by an editor, so I place it here]
If someone were to ask you who the most important entertainer of the year was, whom would you single out? There are many possible answers depending on your consumption of various forms of media, but in my mind there really is no story that has a greater reach and realm of influence (games, television, film, music, print) then that of Kanye West.
All right, have I lost everyone who was expecting something relevant to their interests? Sweet. Moving beyond the superficial argument that Kanye is stupid and has no bearing on any realm beyond hip-hop sits if not the best, surely the most interesting musical album of the year. Everything that happened in the run up to the release of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy makes just as compelling of a story as any other media, and acts as a model relevant in any artistic yet consumer reliant medium (music, television, film, video games) to the perils of public image, transparency, and what happens when an artist just doesn’t care about what anyone else thinks is cool.
Following the release of his 2008 auto-tune heavy release, 808s and Heartbreak, critics and fans alike were perplexed as to the predominant artistic direction that Kanye would finally settle on. While there was no doubt that everyone in America had at least heard of the artist after criticizing
President Bush’s handling (or lack there of) of Hurricane Katrina, it was ultimately the interruption of an awards speech by Taylor Swift at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards that even got President Obama to call him a jackass.
Coincidentally, the incident at the VMAs echoed a similar scene that took place at the 2007 Spike Video Game Awards, in which a group from Gamecock interrupted Ken Levine before being able to accept the rightly deserved Game of the Year award for BioShock. Be it shameless self promotion (as the case with Gamecock) or picking the wrong place at the wrong time to voice a selfless opinion, Kanye has had an uphill battle against a country that wanted nothing to do with him.
And let's level for a minute here, Single Ladies > Anything that Taylor Swift will ever create.
Like any individual or entity that had suffered a crippling PR disaster (or series of disasters, as is the case with Kanye), questions arose if it would be better to fade away into oblivion then to try and reconcile with a jaded and hostile American public. After furiously apologizing and briefly vanishing from the public view, Kanye emerged on a platform where he could speak candidly and uninterrupted.
Twitter, especially in such a technology-focused industry, has provided the ultimate connection between an individual and the public. One of the best and most recent examples was when Epic employee and Gears of War creator Cliff Blezinski confirmed that Gears 3 would not utilize Kinect after reports had come out saying that it would. While still constrained by media blackouts that are focused on hiding projects from prying eyes, Twitter still provides a veiled sense of ambiguity as to the interest and actions of these individuals.
The resurrection of Kanye’s career can be somewhat attributed to his adoption of this public transparency, which in addition to humanizing himself also offered glimpses of his creative process. Would John Romero be relevant in this industry had Twitter been around in 1997? My guess, although completely speculative in nature, would be a resounding yes.
Another portion of Kanye’s plan to climb out from under the weight of his poor decision-making was G.O.O.D. Fridays. Starting on August 20th, Kanye released a free song every Friday in a program that was intended to run up until the release of his album, but has now been extended through the month of January. While it was unknown at the time, the tracks given away actually ended up comprising over half of the final track listing, essentially giving away half of the final retail product.
It’s been an argument for years that the Internet is responsible for the death of the music, film and video game industries through illegal downloading, but this isn’t true in the least. The Internet has simply provided a means of resetting the typical norms of consumer tastes and preferences by allowing for a far broader library of content to choose from. I hesitate to make the comparison to the creation of a communist state, but the redistribution of dollars spent away from larger corporate entities and back into the pocket of the creative individual is pretty much just that.
I find it funny that small development teams like Amarita Design (Machinarium), Frictional Games (Amnesia: The Dark Descent), and GSC Gameworld (S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Series) all come out and complain about piracy; certainly it doesn’t seem a best-case scenario as far as the bottom line goes, but it is inherent to the creation of a game in the Internet age. What these small teams have to really look at and realize is that in the days of old their games would barely garner a blurb in the back pages of a video game magazine. Piracy is simply a less then desirable form of advertising. No matter what, pirates will grow a product's relevance to the point that it will push legitimate paying consumers to purchase it.
In addition to this free song program, came the ultimate in self-promotion with the release of a film directed and starred in by the artist himself. Taking the form of a music video for the single Runaway, but also encompassing many other songs included with the album, the 35 minute short film completed a comeback that ensured My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy couldn’t, and shouldn’t be ignored. Although there is almost always pre-release coverage, be it trailers, singles or screen shots, Kanye had hit on a potent combination that has propelled his piece of work from probable obscurity to media experience of the year.
While all of the above is well and good, in theory it all relies on the final execution and quality of the product itself. Although it is simply my opinion at this point (You probably wouldn’t still be reading if you hadn’t at least bought into part of my argument) My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy succeeds on every level. It has mass-market appeal without making that outcome the focus; it instead relies on the narrative that Kanye set out to tell, a lesson that some game creators and the suits at the companies who employ them should take to heart. Focus testing is all well and good, but tailoring the entirety of a product to suit consumer wishes and expectations cheapens an experience to the point where it becomes irrelevant.
I guess in the end I have entered the whole "games as art debate," which is a can of worms I have no desire to dive in to. Creative people are at their best when they are not hindered by anything besides themselves, a lesson that Kanye's album illustrated better then any product released this year. Even if you don't like hip-hop or the man behind it, I urge you to have a listen to My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy if simply for the statement that it makes about the current shortfalls of consumer centric design philosophies and the joy and diverse creations that can be forged when it is abandoned.
Here it is... better late then never. As always, I didn't listen to every album released this year so this list is by no means definitive, it is simply a list of my favorite albums from the past year.
20. Quantic Presenta : Dog With A Rope
If I set out to create the next hit television show on AMC, which of course would be a crime drama set in Columbia, my first hire would be Quantic to work on the soundtrack. Certainly, Dog is not as good as Quantic’s previous release under the ‘Quantic Presenta’ moniker Flowering Inferno, nor last years Quantic & his Combo Barbaro release, Tradition in Transition, but with that said - Dog brings the dub, and brings it hard. Dog is probably Quantic’s most playful release to date, more then likely due to his continued residence in Columbia. Improvisation always seems incredibly lacking in traditional latin music, but Quantic has abandoned the rigid genre norms in favor of something that feels loose and has the potential to collapse at any moment – I hate to use the phrase, but will anyways – it is truly a controlled chaos.
Choice Picks: Dog With A Rope, Te Pico El Yaibi, Portada Del Mar
19. Royksopp – Senior
It took me the longest time to finally ‘get’ Royksopp's follow-up to Junior, mainly due to the dramatic stylistic differences between the two releases. Originally planned for release almost immediately after Junior, Senior was delayed for over a year, making it much harder to associate the two albums as part of one cohesive whole. Senior is a decidedly dreary album, but it represents the ying to the ultra saccharine pop explosion Junior’s yang. I think the overwhelming problem with accepting Senior was simply the elongated period of time in between the two conceptually related albums… unlike every other form of media you really don’t get sequels in music, so if you intend to make a statement, you better do it all at once.
Choice Picks: The Alcoholic, The Fear, …And the Forest Began to Sing
18. Flying Lotus - Cosmogramma
In twenty years, or heck even a hundred, I think Flying Lotus will be looked at with great reverence as a true innovator whose music will become timeless. In what may seem like some weird musical version of the “Will it Blend Game,” Cosmogramma seems to throw just about every genre and musical style into a single pot and when it is mixed around and finally unveiled at the dinner table it amazingly turns out to be both the most unique flavor you’ve ever tasted, as well as the most nostalgic. It’s hard to even put Cosmogramma on this list or even compare it to other albums because it seems to exist somewhere apart from what is normally perceived as music. I’ll liken Flying Lotus to being the best example of a true modern composer who is creating a whole new style of music (Think from the Romantic period to the Baroque period).
Something about Heligoland is dirrrrty. This album feels like a journey into some shady underworld where everyone looks like a beardy and homeless Brad Pitt and the classiest looking lady is a few steps below Meghan Fox. This is what I would, and hopefully will play in my dream future as a strip club DJ. Name me a better song to throw dollar bills at then Splitting the Atom… You Can’t! Point Me.
Choice Picks: Splitting the Atom, Paradise Circus, Pray for Rain
16. Spoon – Transference
Let’s face it; if you don’t know why this album is on my list, you probably don’t know me very well. Somewhat of a return to the signature crunch of A Series of Sneaks, Transference delivers a fulfilling contrast to the incredibly well, but arguably over produced sounds of Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga. Obvious standouts like Written in Reverse and Is Love Forever provide something for newer fans, while I Saw The Light and Got Nuffin (and Stroke Their Brains from 2009’s Got Nuffin EP) appeal directly to fans who thought Britt may have lost his way by favoring production over raw sound. Since I fall somewhere right in the middle of this argument I win on both sides, which is pretty great.
Plus they threw one hell of a show at First Ave… it goes a long way.
Choice Picks: I Saw The Light, Written In Reverse, Got Nuffin
15. Sage Francis – Li(f)e
Further bridging the gap between indie rock and indie hip hop sits Li(f)e, which conceptually billed itself as a collaboration between a diverse array of indie figures crafting music for Sage to add his patented blend of lyricism to. Unfortunately for reality it actually turns out that indie rockers don’t quite know what goes into making good beats, yet despite this fact, a relatively high musical quality is retained throughout, and Sage hits the mark more often then not. I’d be lying if I tried to pass this album off as some sort of genius work, but it is on this list mainly for the album closer, The Best Of Times. Composed by Yann Tiersen and acting as a true metric of rap as poetry – an argument I’ve never felt was terribly robust in the first place - Sage speaks of his childhood and upbringing with a tone impossible to capture through any other musical or spoken word performance method.
Choice Picks: The Best of Times, Three Sheets to the Wind, Love The Lie
14. Record Collection – Mark Ronson and The Business Intl
Lets get real… “The Business Intl” What a stupid fucking name… Picking up where Here Comes The Fuzz left off, Ronson continues to deliver stellar productions with a great list of collaborators (himself as far as singing is not included) contributing to this effort. If Record Collection says anything it really screams that Ronson needs another Winehouse, preferably a less crazy one, and Rose Elinor Dougall makes a strong case for the part, especially on the hard to place album closer The Night Last Night.
Choice Picks: The Night Last Night, Bang Bang Bang, Lose It (In the End)
13. MGMT – Congratulations
Wait, what? Why is an album that almost every critic and indie blog decried as an almost universal disappointment as a follow up to Oracular Spectacular doing
A. On this list, and
B. This high on the list?
Hmm, maybe it is because Flash Delirium is the best MGMT song yet? It could be the fact that I thought Oracular was overrated? Is it that I secretly love 12 minute self-indulgent but musically devoid songs? Looking at it compared to Oracular is fine, but judging it on those merits becomes difficult. Do I think MGMT could have made another Kids or Time to Pretend? Sure; but what would have been the fun in that? Besides Oracular's two hit singles, you could work just about every song from Congratulations onto Oracular or vice versa, the supposed drop in quality between the two albums wasn't apparent to me in the slightest.
Choice Picks: Flash Delirium, Song for Dan Treacy, Brian Eno
12. Hidden Orchestra – Hidden Orchestra
It is a testament to how creative and talented the folks in Hidden Orchestra are based on the below video, which is a live performance. Despite being seemingly sample based upon a first listen, it becomes even more incredible when you learn that just about everything is played by a group of five individuals. Rain plays a prominent part by creating a springboard that every piece seems to depart from. I hesitate to call it a concept album, mainly due to the rather ambiguous way that rain samples are interwoven into each track, but a unified theme seems to benefit the album as a whole. Also, I love Tru Thoughts (The UK record label on which Hidden Orchestra resides), that is all.
Choice Picks: Strange, Undergrowth, Antiphon
11. Big Boi – Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty
Attention: Anyone still waiting for a new Outkast album: IT IS THIS ALBUM. Continuing to be an illustration of hip-hop as a compelling base for just about every established genre sits SLLF:TSOCD (Man that is a long acronym). Big Boi owns every verse and beat with a seemingly carefree and casual effort that it seems silly to even miss Andre 3000. Crushing horns and opera accompany General Patton, while Shutterbug seems like it was discovered in Don Johnson’s white suitcoat pocket after Big Boi bought it at the 1980s celebrity estate sale I see sometimes in my dreams.
Why wasn’t this album played more on the radio? Did America forget what good hip-hop sounds like?
Choice Picks: Fo Yo Sorrows, General Patton, Shtterbug
10. The Black Keys – Brothers
Brothers represents a big note to Jack White that while he was out working with any one of dozens of his side projects that The Black Keys have taken up his torch of endlessly entrancing and simplistic blues garage rock and moved it another step forward from Get Behind Me Satan. Brothers is a fun album; It seems like it is taking the Keys in a different direction then the road they traveled with Attack and Release (Although Danger Mouse was invited along for the ride again with production on Tighten Up). For me at least, the album peaks with the soul-jarring ballad I’m Not The One, which seems like an entire movie, nay a TRILOGY, could be conceptualized from the brooding emotions it conjures.
On A side note… can I get a Black Keys & Spoon collab please.
Choice Picks: I’m Not The One, Tighten Up, She’s Long Gone
9. Anamanaguchi – Scott Pilgrim VS. The World: The Game
Soundtracks are always kind of hard to justify on ‘best of’ lists, but besides being the soundtrack for the downloadable Scott Pilgrim game, Anamanaguchi created the definitive sound for what should have accompanied a film so inspired by video games and geek culture. Anamanaguchi’s signature layering of guitar and drum tracks on top of chiptune compositions compliment the graphic novel come to life aesthetic that film director Edgar Wright worked so hard to create.
Choice Picks: Sushi Box, This Is The End, TechnoMan
8. Gorillaz – Plastic Beach
Plastic Beach furthers Gorillaz into an ever changing niche sound that blends hip-hop and pop with even stranger beats and guests then previous outings. The expertly crafted and tight formula from Demon Days seems to have been abandoned along with Danger Mouse in favor of a more organic sound that focuses less on creating an album for a pseudo real cartoon band and more on highlighting the strengths of its guest artists and the imagery associated with each song. The Plastic Beach tour was the first time that Damon really appeared in person on stage drawing himself further to the forefront as the genius behind the band, opposite of what his original intentions of Gorillaz was. By allowing himself to take a more central and focused place as a performer allowed his featured tracks to stand out better then those on their debut and Demon Days. Gorillaz is an idea that has far exceeded any expectations by being a million times better then the concept originally warranted.
Choice Picks: On Melancholy Hill, Cloud of Unknowing, White Flag
7. Sufjan Stevens – The Age of Adz and The All Delighted People EP
After a relatively lengthy hiatus, Sufjan blew the doors off 2010 with enough music to make the five year wait between albums seem trivial. I have found it hard to judge Sufjan albums within a short amount of time between releases, but both his proper album, and the EP (Which on vinyl is actually longer then Adz), delivered on promises made by both Michigan and Illinois. Self-restraint is not something that Sufjan learned over his hiatus, but working with some indie producer probably wouldn’t have yielded a familiar or quality product as one might assume. I come for the over the top production and instrumentation and guess what? I stay for it too.
Choice Picks: All Delighted People, I Walked, I Want to be Well
6. Janelle Monae – The ArchAndroid
I feel as if I’ve never been able to get R&B – a term that seems so far removed from its literal definition of ‘Rhythm and Blues’ – I’ve always felt like an uninvited guest at a party that got brought by my cool friend hip-hop but, having no one else to talk to end up leaning in a corner and taking out my cell phone to make it look like I’ve got some sort of super important business to attend to. The ArchAndroid is by no means a R&B album, but continuing with my horribly implemented metaphor, it is most definitely at the same party acting as Hip-Hop’s sassy and upbeat friend from college. Monae slides so effortlessly through a diverse array of styles and beats that the album catches you like a book you can’t put down. The guest list is managed and refined with the focus always straight on Monae’s captivating voice (as it should be). A fun album through and through, TheArchAndroid is deserving of all of the attention and praise it has garnered this year.
Choice Picks: Dance or Die, Come Alive, Cold War
5. LCD Soundsystem – This is Happening
Man, I love Dance Yrself Clean. I don’t have much to say about LCD that hasn’t been said, so I won’t try and justify an album that probably shouldn’t be this high on the list in the first place. The continual play on the Current has tricked my mind into a strange ‘must listen to every few days’ mentality, and just for that it has landed right here. Ask me in a week and I might say, god This is Happening is garbage.
Choice Picks: You Wanted a Hit, Dance Yrself Clean, Drunk Girls
4. Vampire Weekend – Contra
Easily the most interesting indie rock outfit of the past 10 years, Vampire Weekend has flourished by making ‘World Music’ relevant to a scene that has all but ignored it’s existence since, well, ever. While their debut album pushed the focus more squarely on afro-pop, Contra sticks to the more nebulous world music sound by implementing unique instruments and sounds from a growing number of influences. A lyrical success on almost all accounts shows that Ezra and the rest of the band have grown quite a bit, but fortunately haven't departed from what made them successful in the first place – writing catchy ditties about women.
Choice Picks: I Think Ur A Contra, Diplomat’s Son, California English
3. Robyn – Body Talk
Probably the pinnacle of pop music for years to come, Body Talk is a definitive collection of intelligent and well composed dance music that makes GaGa look absolutely foolish in trying to pass off her theatrical bullshit as lyrically complex ‘art.’ Body Talk is perfect in concept and execution; it exposes the true sadness of what the dance genre as a whole was, and has subsequently become by telling it effectively through the music itself. No one has the chops to fuck with Robyn, and guess what, she makes sure you are readily aware of that fact. As opposed to Kanye’s narcissistic confidence, Robyn’s comes from a place where she truly knows who she is and what she stands for – a good thing for music fans everywhere.
Choice Picks: Dancing On My Own, Don’t Fucking Tell Me What To Do, Call Your Girlfriend
2. Arcade Fire – The Suburbs
This album, and my number one album (Obviously My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy), are pretty much one in the same, or I guess more accurately tell the same story of an artist that has lost the meaning of what both they themselves and their given genre have become. At first, The Suburbs sells itself as an introspective look into its member’s upbringing, but what follows becomes a criticism of indie music as a whole. Pontificating aside, The Suburbs is easily the most accessible and musically musical (Not sure that is a real term but I am gonna roll with it at this point) of their three albums – It isn’t about death, it isn’t entirely sad (at least on the surface), and it doesn’t take an emotional toll to listen to.
Choice Picks: Ready To Start, Rococo, The Suburbs
1. Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
I am simply too dumb with words to accurately encapsulate my feelings for this album. I suppose the best thing I could say for it is that I haven’t been this enthralled with an album since Ok Computer. Never has the statement (Which I have oh so cleverly revised) ‘The Man, His Ego, His Myth, His Legend’ really been an apt description of a person until Kanye stepped up to the plate. The album is incredibly self indulgent, but because Kanye has made it obvious that he is in on the whole joke, or at least aware of it, an odd sense of sincerity comes through with every verse and beat. Instead of folding under pressure from his critics, Kanye has stood up and let his music speak for him. With the ideas of 808s not forgotten, and lyrics that stem from his image imploding, MBDTF is an album that only comes around once every decade – it is going to take one hell of an album to even come close.
1. S&K (Teddyloid) + The Club Can't Handle Me (Flo Rida) 2. Get a Move On (Mr. Scruff) + Rats (MC Chris) 3. Walk Away (Kelly Clarkson - Chris Cox Radio Remix) 4. Philistine (GMH) + Can it Be (Murs) 5. Brodyquest (Neil Cicierega) + Don't Trip (Trina ft. Lil Wayne) 6. Umbrella (Rihanna ft. Jay-Z) + Blue Magic (Jay-Z) 7. Bust Out Brigade (The Go! Team) + Tear it Up (Yung Wun ft. DMX) 8. Senior Living (Royksopp) + Creep (TLC)
