Every year, I design what ends up being a 6-cd best-of-the-previous-year mix. I have several friends who want all six, another several who like to receive samplings therefrom. I design one set in February, another in August or so (giving me further time to explore, as I don’t assume I’ll discover all my favorite music in the calendar year it happens to be released in). I’m told, and choose to believe, that I’m very good with track-to-track flow, so in this era of things like Spotify and Rhapsody playlists, I figured I might as well share with you the first three tracklists for 2012 in case you want copies (if I know you) or just were curious and wanted to play with these a bit.
I chose to let them be dominated by my 50 Favorite Albums list; the subsequent set, obviously, will not be. All mix titles are lyrics from somewhere on the mix.
Food for Thought is a Good Trade
Decomposure, Readymade
Animal Collective, Pulleys
Paul Weller, That Dangerous Age
Delta Spirit, Money Saves
Winter Sounds, Everything Wounded Comes Home to Die
Agony Family, I Stop Clocks
Jon Lindsay, Tiny Violins
Profusion, Chuta Chani
Amanda Palmer, Melody Dean
Jukebox the Ghost, At Last
Bryan Scary, Faintness Moody: Outlaw
Verlaines, Pets
Mike Keneally w/Andy Partridge, You Kill Me
Rudi Zygadlo, the Domino Quivers
Lost Lander, Belly of the Bird / Valentina
Birdeatsbaby, Love Will Bring You Nothing
dEUS, Constant Now
Stew & the Negro Problem, Black Men Ski
Pepe Deluxe, Go Supersonic
the Very Best, We OK
Manifesting a Metropolis
Rush, Brought Up to Believe
Mars Volta, the Whip Hand
Bastards of Fate, Huge Magic
Of Montreal, Spiteful Intervention
THEESatisfaction, Enchantruss
Holobody, Hurricane Season
Justinus Primitive, City Dervish
Mawwal, No Finer Men than We
Jesca Hoop, Peacemaker
Carina Round, Girl and the Ghost
Yakuza, Lotus Array
Jonny Polonsky, See Your Lies
Sigh, Purgatorium
Propagandhi, Things I Like
Serj Tankian, Ching Chime
Thinking Plague, Sleeper Cell Anthem
Gemma Ray, Bring Ring Ring Yeah
Regina Lund, Return
Aesop Rock, Gopher Guts
This Monkey Who’s Just Curious
Dirty Projectors, Offspring are Blank
District 97, Who Cares?
Debo Band, Habesha
Surplus 1980, M.E.S. Shoe Contract
BBU, Beau Sia
Killer Mike, Reagan
Extra Life, Righteous Seed
Fiona Apple, Left Alone
Kyle Hambor, So I Said to Her
glenn mcdonald, the Rules That Govern Hearts
Kate Miller-Heidke, Ride This Feeling
Passion Pit, I’ll Be Alright
Beth Jeans Houghton, Nightswimmer
Squonk Opera, Shimmy and Shake
Ani DiFranco, Which Side are You On?
Mountain Goats, Amy a.k.a. Spent Gladiator 1
BidiniBand, Last of the Dead Wrong Things
Dar Williams, I am the One Who Will Remember Everything
Regina Spektor, the Party
LATE EDIT: glenn mcdonald has created an online playlist from this. It contains only 47 of the 58 tracks – his own song is among the 11 missing – which means there’s a few bizarre segues. Nonetheless, I’m happy: that was super-thoughtful of him. Enjoy!
Some years ago, I remember having a conversation with a friend who had just bought a new album and was disappointed because she hadn’t realized it was a “live recording”. She objected to the sound of the roar of the crowd and the variations on studio perfection that come out on live albums. My friend said she planned to take the album back to the store because, in her words, “if [she’d] wanted to hear that shit, [she’d] go to a concert.”
Over time, I’ve discovered that I actually like live albums. In fact, I find that if I love an artist’s live album, I typically become a diehard fan of their music. If an artist impresses me live, even if it’s just on a live recording, I find that I respect their talents more. Sometimes I find live renditions of songs incredibly moving. A couple of years ago, I was watching a DVD of Stevie Wonder in concert and before I knew it, I had tears rolling down my cheeks. My husband asked me why I was crying and I couldn’t really explain it. I think it was the sheer joy of listening to an incredible talent playing for an appreciative crowd. I am myself an occasional performer and there’s nothing quite like performing with other musicians to get the blood pumping. I think that energy is infectious.
So I’ve sort of come up with a “live album” test. If I really like an artist’s live album, I figure I’m a true fan. I’ll want to see them in concert. I’ll want to buy their studio albums as soon as they come out, listen to them, and review them. It makes me more likely want to follow them and less likely that I’ll lose interest in their career. A good live album impresses me. Here are a few live albums I’ve loved and returned to again and again.
Alison Krauss & Union Station- Live
Alison Krauss & Union Station sing “Oh Atlanta” on Live…
I discovered Alison Krauss & Union Station in 2002 or so when I bought a couple of her CDs from the old BMG music service. When my husband bought me a CD as a Christmas present and discovered I already owned it, we exchanged it for a copy of Alison Krauss & Union Station’s 2002 double disc set, Live. I quickly fell in love with it and became a devoted follower of their version of “newgrass” music. From there, I branched out to other bluegrass artists and found a couple more I admired. I eventually managed to see Alison Krauss & Union Station in concert and it was one of the best I’ve ever been to, despite the fact that we were in the nosebleed seats.
AC/DC- Live
AC/DC playing “Thunderstruck” live…
Okay, so I’ve never actually seen AC/DC live, I do have their two disc Live album, which is all kinds of fun. I became particularly enamored of their song “Thunderstruck”, which is a lot fun to drive to in icy weather. I don’t know if I’ll ever get to see these guys perform live, but I sure do enjoy their live album. Something tells me their show would kick ass.
The Police- Live
The Police performing “Roxanne” live in 1979…
I’ve never seen The Police live either, but I did buy their 1995 album Live while riding on a train through southern France. I bought the album on cassettes because I had a Walkman and to this day, I can’t listen to their live recordings without being reminded of traveling through France in the mid 1990s. Not a bad memory to associate with a band, eh? I later replaced the cassettes with CDs and I’m always surprised by how that band evolved between the 1979 concert in Boston and the 1983 concert in Atlanta represented on that album. Anyway, it’s safe to say that I love The Police… as long as they’re performing and not breaking down my front door with a search warrant.
Lyle Lovett- Live In Texas
Lyle Lovett sings “That’s Right, (You’re Not From Texas)”.
My husband and I had the great pleasure to see Lyle Lovett perform live in Stuttgart, Germany in March 2009. We had amazing seats and Lyle was up there on stage with a small band. The Germans didn’t seem to get his jokes, especially when he sang “Pantry”, a tongue in cheek song full of double entendres. In 1999, he released Live In Texas, which introduced me to what a great performer he is live. I chose “That’s Right, (You’re Not From Texas)” because pretty soon that will be the story of my life. My husband and I are moving to Texas in 2013.
James Taylor- Live
James Taylor sings “Copperline”, live.
It’s no secret that I am a true JT fan. I’ve only gotten to see him in concert twice; both times were amazing, despite the fact that two drunk women were in front of me the last time and were practically creaming themselves every time James sang one of their favorites. He’s done several live albums and I love them all. I think my favorite two right now are One Man Band and Live At The Troubadour, which he did with Carole King. His most popular live album is probably 1993’s Live I do love “Copperline” too, and it’s probably nearer to my heart now because I live in North Carolina, very close to where James grew up.
Livingston Taylor- Unsolicited Material
Livingston Taylor sings “Railroad Bill” at a concert.
Livingston Taylor is James Taylor’s younger brother. I had the pleasure of seeing him live at the Birchmere in Alexandria, Virginia in October 2003. Again, we were within spitting distance of the stage. Livingston Taylor is amazing live and very approachable. I own two of his live recordings, Unsolicited Material and Snapshot- Live At The Iron Horse. I prefer Unsolicited Material, but it’s pretty hard to find that album these days.
Robert Randolph and the Family Band- Live At The Wetlands
Robert Randolph and the Family Band sing “I Don’t Know What You Come To Do”.
I discovered Robert Randolph and the Family Band at an Eric Clapton concert in Washington, DC. They were the opening band and I’d never heard of them. They were freakin’ awesome. I enjoyed their part of the show much more than I did Clapton’s. When I got home, I immediately bought the two albums they had out at the time. One of them was 2001’s Live At The Wetlands, which was a concert they did at a club that closed shortly after, just days before 9/11. Anyway, they definitely passed the Live Album test with flying colors!
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band sing “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) in 1984… live…
I didn’t specify a live album for Bruce Springsteen because he’s released a couple of them. I’ve never seen The Boss live, but I did have a teacher who went to high school with him in Freehold, New Jersey. In 1986, I got a box set with live recordings done between 1975 and 1985 and just about wore it out. No live album test results would be complete without Bruce Springsteen on it.
Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble
Stevie Ray Vaughan sings “Pride and Joy” Live at Montreux.
Again, I didn’t specify an album because just about all of the ones I’ve heard by Stevie Ray Vaughan kick ass. It’s so sad that Stevie Ray Vaughan died so young.
Heart- Live in Seattle
Heart performs “Mistral Wind” live in Seattle, 2002.
Back when I was in college, I had a copy of a live album by Heart which featured them covering Led Zeppelin’s “Rock and Roll”. Ann Wilson did such an amazing job on that song that when I heard about another live album coming out in 2002, I knew I had to have it. Heart has a long history of putting out solid rock hits, some of which are better than others. They do a fine job with “Mistral Wind” here, though.
There are definitely other artists out there who would easily pass my live album test. I’ll save those for another post. Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!
Animal Collective‘s overall musical style has centered from the start on trebly, percussive yet wibbly-wobbly songs with a powerful hippie vibe. If I played Centipede Hz for fifty random newcomers, telling them sincerely that it’s happy-sounding music, I’d expect a little argument about “happy-sounding” (there can be an anxious undertow, sure), but more argument about “music”. They’ve been a critical favorite since their 2000 debut Spirit They’ve Gone, Spirit They’ve Vanished was adopted by the folks at Pitchfork, who called it “a masterful piece of electro-acoustic fairy-tale music [with] squalling electronics and vitrified rhythms”. They referenced “space-pop”, “free-noise”, “insect electronics and demented piano”, Piper at the Gates of Dawn, krautrock, and Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds in their review — all of which sound like plausible things to mention about the band to this day. The reviews stayed compelling enough for me to keep me trying out new Animal Collective albums even though my reaction to each didn’t rise much above semi-intrigued bafflement; and compelling enough to the rock critic community that the band rose steadily up the year-end polls. Until, at the end of 2009, their Merriweather Post Pavilion easily won the grand Pazz & Jop Critics’ Poll as the year’s best album, and sold over 200,000 copies.
I liked Merriweather Post Pavilion. I’m not sure it would’ve made my Top 50 if I’d done one that year, but I liked it. It benefitted from some obvious changes. One was more expensive production: it remained a strange record (especially with so much going on at high pitches), but it felt more intentional, more polished and layered and harmonized. Another was that it was more relaxed, not quite as dense, and — by a good margin — more melodic. My Girls was the one that topped Song of the Year lists, with an intensely colorful video, a surprisingly square attitude (devoted to taking care of family), and a blissfully stoned, peaceful vibe that helped sell a tune as weird and unpredictable as anything the Dirty Projectors have written. Summertime Clothes is the one that went on my year-end mix-cd set, burbling over with energetic synthesizers that buoyed a limber, sunny tune worthy of the pre-rock glories of Frankie Lymon, or one of the girl-groups.
Centipede Hz is Animal Collective‘s follow-up to Merriweather Post Pavilion. Rather than finishing 1st in the Pazz & Jop roundup vote, it tied for 157th. It is, I think, clearly their masterpiece.
Wasn’t that a good set-up paragraph? Unfortunately, and out of character, I don’t feel up for making the sales job that goes here; they’re such an odd band, an odd candidate for wide-scale acceptance. Thing is, I basically agree with the descriptions in the Centipede Hz reviews. Their most live, rock-band-feeling album? Sure. “Blunt-force”, “sensory overload”, “sing-song melodies out of a melee”, “percussive clatter and synth-noise splatter”, to quote Pitchfork? Yep. I think that misses how *joyous* Applesauce is; how Wide-Eyed invites a lab full of bubbling test tubes to dance; how tuggingly minor-key shiny/pretty Pulleys is; how classic-rock structure and dynamics make a sproingy off-kilter anthem of Amanita. But it’s all true. “There is rarely time to draw a breath”, complained the London Observer; if you can’t breathe in the presence of three-plus distinct instrumental rhythms, this album will indeed kill you, which would be bad. I shouldn’t snark at the Observer’s reviewer, though: not only is her name “Kitty Empire”, but her review adds the perfect phrase “galumphing sense of abandon”.
I guess that’s what it comes down to. All Animal Collective albums seem to owe debts to Barrett-era Pink Floyd, Brian Wilson’s Smile, the wildest Beatles music, rhythm and vocal-weaving patterns from various parts of South America and Africa, modern electronica, and a galumphing sense of abandon. Their two most recent albums should be (and in my opinion are) their best: the ones they’ve been able to apply enough time, money, and experience to. Centipede Hz is the one of those you’d start with if you like changing time signatures, rock music drive, and many things going on at once. Me! Me! Me! I do! Apparently I’m outnumbered.
