Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Top 10 Albums of 2008

Here it is. My official annual top 10 albums of 2008 list. This year, I've included You Tube clips of each band so you can see and hear them instantly! What albums did I leave off my list that you feel belonged on it? Comment on this post to let me know!

10. Swell Season – Live from Chicago

I admit this album is a bit of a “cheat” choice and a make-up addition to the list for not adding the Once soundtrack to my 2007 list. From a recording of their show at the Chicago Theatre in 2008—where I was in attendance—this group really delivered a performance that left nobody in the building doubting how downright talented they all are. If you haven’t seen the movie Once, go rent it ASAP. Then, go buy the soundtrack and music from Swell Season—featuring the Once duo with a full band. Some people are just born with the skill. And this band proves it.

9. Army Navy – Army Navy

I hated the Smashing Pumpkins when they first came out. I thought Billy Corgan’s voice was too odd for my ears. But the unique vocals were something I grew to appreciate and I was—until recently—a big SP fan. Army Navy can be described in the same way. The vocals my bother you at first. They sound whiny and flimsy. But once they grow on you, you’ll hear an album that is a fine and unique brand of pop music.

8. TV on the Radio – Dear Science

A critically-acclaimed album, so I was swayed into buying this album. Upon first listen, I admit I thought only one thing: overrated. But I gave it another shot and discovered this is an album that grows on you slowly. With elements of Prince, New Wave, Beck and old R&B, the group puts together a unique sound that draws you in deeper.

7. Santogold - Santogold


It took me some convincing to give Santogold a shot, as she seemed more like an M.I.A. copycat from a distance. But a closer listen to her self-titled album disproves this assumption with a wide range of sound that borrows heavily from the 80s, but updates the sound with gracefulness and rhythm.

6. Foals - Antidotes


Foals are a math rock band. (Math Rock is music that sounds electronic/techno, but is actually created with real instruments). Since I’m not generally a fan of this type of sound, it takes a good album for me to take a liking to it. Foals accomplishes this with Antidotes; a catchy, powerful album that demands your attention.

5. Josh Ritter – The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter


Technically an album from 2007, I had overlooked Josh Ritter for years until discovering this effort. (Truthfully, with the emergence of Robin Thicke—son of 80’s TV icon Alan Thicke—I made an unfair assumption of Josh Ritter and avoided his music altogether.) But I’m glad I gave the guy a shot, because he’s a heck of a songwriter. This album takes elements of Simon & Garfunkel, Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen and reworks them into Ritter’s own brand of sound.

4. Albert Hammond, Jr. – Como Te Llama

Albert Hammond Jr., of The Strokes fame, is not an easy guy to like; as is the entire Strokes group. They all act like they’re too cool for school; like you’re missing out on the big joke. But the annoying attitude does not transfer to Albert Hammond’s latest album, which picks up that Strokes sound; removing some of the punk elements and replacing them with more harmony. The result is a good, classic pop rock album.

3. Frightened Rabbit – The Midnight Organ Fight


Frightened Rabbit are what Snow Patrol had the potential to be: very good. An album that at first listen sounds like a Scotsman beat up the lead singer of Counting Crows and took over; but after a few more listens, you’ll realize it’s much more than that. This album is a truly great pop effort.

2. Clear Tigers – Brutal

This artist is hard to describe. Sometimes, you hear the Shins, other times I Am Kloot. But overall, the song development and creativity of this album is remarkable. Many textures and layers and a catchiness that will get you hook you in. My favorite song: Igloo, which sounds like a modern pop song using the framework of an old 1920s French tune.

1. Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend


If you would have told me at the beginning of the year that my top album of the year would come from a band whose primary influences seem to be African pop artists and 1980’s Paul Simon, I’d have said you are crazy. There is so much about this band that I should hate. One, the Paul Simon influence. Two, their overtly ivy school preppy style. Three, MTV has even pushed this band.

Yet ever since the album was released way back in January 2008, it has consistently found my iTunes and CD players and I knew it would take quite an album to top it for the year’s top honor. It’s catchy, well written and fun music that will get your toe tapping. I urge you to purchase this album and if you aren’t singing “Who gives a f*#@ about an Oxford comma?/I’ve seen those English dramas toHOO/They’re CruHOOL” within a week, then you can ask me to refund your money…and you can call me Al.

Monday, December 15, 2008

best songs of 2008 list

It's that time of year. Here is my annual list of the best songs of the year. If you would like to receive a free CD of all the tracks below, feel free to email me your address and I will burn a copy and mail it your way. Or, if you have an iPod and just want the tracks, I will be posting a zip file for download later this week. Let me know if you want me to email you the link to download the file.

Tomorrow, I will be posting my annual top ten albums of the year.

Best songs of 2008 (and some from 2007 that I didn't hear until this year), in alphabetical order by band name:

gfcalbert hammond, jr.
my thin sides – army navy
evening/morning – bombay bicycle club
igloo – clear tigers
what up man – the cool kids
nothing ever happened - deerhunter
am I wasting my time – eli “paperboy” reed and the true loves
cassius – foals
the modern leper – frightened rabbit
try not to think – the grey race
to the dogs or whoever – josh ritter
better to be – liam finn
death to los campesinos! – los campesinos
little bit – lykke li
get better – mates of state
weekend wars – mgmt
i woke up today – port o’brien
l.e.s. artistes – santogold
love dog – tv on the radio
a-punk – vampire weekend
valium skies – the verve
right hand on my heart – the whigs

If you think I missed a track, comment on this posting and perhaps I'll publish an amended list later this week!

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Obama Grant Park Rally: The Perpective of One American in Attendance


“I wish it was the sixties. I wish I could be happy. I wish, I wish, I wish something would happen.” –The Bends lyrics, Radiohead

Deep down, I have always been a bit envious of the 60's generation. Sure, today we look back at that era more as a caricature rendering of a hippy, free love, drug-addled cultural phenomenon. But they were more than that.

They were a generation whose youth stood up and demanded change. They strove for the ideals of peace, freedom and liberty in all aspects of life—and it was a rough road that brought with it the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr; a destructive Vietnam war, civil rights atrocities and fear mongering politicians.

But as I laid my head on my pillow last night and thought about my evening spent at the Obama Election Rally in Grant Park, I no longer felt envious of that 60’s generation. And, more importantly, the void in my soul made from the departure of that envy was filled with something that I—and likely many of the Gen X and younger crowd—have never felt: proud patriotism.

Don’t get me wrong. I’ve always loved my country. I believe the United States is the greatest nation in the world. But I just never felt that connection with it. To me, it was like a distant second cousin—a shared bloodline, but little beyond that.

But I did feel that connection on November 4th, 2008, when I ventured out to my first ever political rally and witnessed and was part of an event that was truly remarkable in so many ways. To give you a full grasp of what I am talking about, following is a summary of my evening at the Obama Election Rally in Grant Park:

The train ride into the city was quiet. I’d discussed with my girlfriend Dana the news I was hearing about the rally. How people had stood in line for more than 13 hours; how Mayor Daley had basically called in the entire Chicago police force to handle the event; and even how the city had expected one-million people to show up. But as I looked around our nearly empty train car, I began to suspect I’d fallen for a bit of media hype.

But as we began to make stops along the route, the car began filling up. First, a pair of twentysomething males wearing ties. Next, a group of college-aged girls boarded with an introduction to our first “Obama!” cheers of the evening. After that, another college-aged group entered. All who boarded were beaming with excitement and giddy. But this being a work day—thus me already being tired—I attributed it to the typical energetic jubilance of youth.

As we’d exited the train, and worked our way up to street level, we began our walk over to Grant Park. As I looked around, I saw dozens of young Americans walking to the event as well. The mood: determined to get there as soon as possible. But with our first sighting of a police presence—four officers leaning on a parked squad car parked in the middle of Michigan Avenue—came the view of the spectacle of the event. Hundreds of people walking down the same, traffic free street.

Lining the street along the way were dozens upon dozens of vendors selling unofficial Obama merchandise—t-shirts, buttons, hats, rally flags and more. These street vendors were spaced no more than 10 feet from each other and lined our entire quarter-mile walk to the event. Some sold t-shirts that said “Yes We Did,” or “McCain-Palin: Same old Bushshit.” Some sold buttons that said “Obamapalooza.” All made me feel like the event I was to attend was more of a gimmick—a scene, the place to be—more than a potentially historic moment treated with dignity. (I was later proved wrong.)

The pure size and scope of the event wasn’t apparent until we crossed over Michigan Avenue and made our way up to the designated Congress Street entrance. Thousands upon thousands of people were crowding their way in. Think Taste of Chicago times a one hundred. The crowd of people were buzzing and eager, with their digital cameras out snatching images of every little detail signifying the event: a line of police officers on horseback, the lights on a nearby skyscraper lit up to spell out “USA;” a group of people cheering from atop a pillar.

Near a statue, a duo stood wearing masks. One, a pigs mask and another in a skeleton mask and both holding up anti-Republican signs. I’d thought to myself that this was the sort of tasteless and mindless approach that keeps this nation divided—and there’s no room for it. Luckily, they were the only two I saw taking that tack this evening.

We eventually weaved our way through the security lines and made our way to the event grounds. In front of our eyes were a sea of people, thousands deep—lit up by several high-powered floodlights. Dotting the crowd were several American flags waving in the wind. A large jumbotron with CNN tuned in sat in the center of the crowd, with five or so spotlights beaming out at an angle into the night sky.

We made our way into the crowd and got as close as we could to the main stage—which was basically about 800-yards away and out of plain sight—and knew we were going to have to rely on the jumbotron for our glimpse of the stage.

I have been to a number of high-attendance events such as Lollapalooza and sporting events where trekking through a crowd is like fighting an angry mob along the way. Don’t you dare step on somebody’s shoe or there may be fight! How dare you bump into that guy, you deserve an angry look! Or, "I’m pushing you out of my way because I’m more important than you" type of people.

But this crowd was not that way. Bumps were met with smiles. Toe steps met with courtesy. This was a crowd that saw past the minor inconveniences and agreed to just be content. It is something I have never experienced before throughout the many crowd-filled events I’ve attended through the years. It was a truly happy and peaceful event.

As we stood in the crowd, my proud patriotism was born. I was shoulder to shoulder with people whom I didn’t know, but they acted as if we were old friends or part of the family. We talked and shared in conversation. We exchanged smiles. We shared in our anticipation for an announcement. We were courteous, concerned with others in the group and peaceful. We were in this together. We were fellow Americans.

And when the announcement was made that Obama won the election, you could feel in the air a collective release of anxiety and stress from the years of frustration. People cheered, hugged, celebrated or stood in a silent awe to let it all absorb in.

The audience was made up primarily of people 30 or younger. The youth of the nation who decided to stand up—like that generation did 40 years ago—and demand a new way. History may look back at that moment as the time when the first African-American US President was elected. It should be remembered in that way. But this is an election that produced a biggest voter turnout in decades. It’s an election that substantially grew the first-time voter numbers. It’s an election that drew the youth back into the equation.

Well after Obama’s speech as we walked back to the train stop, I saw thousands of young people walking in their own makeshift parades down the center of the streets. Cheering. Clapping. Dancing. Waving to onlookers who viewed through their hotel windows. And, most importantly, filled with an excitement and drive to be a part of this great nation of ours. When we walked down those streets, I saw people who were proud to be Americans. Proud to be true patriots. Focused less on the “win” and more on the beginning of things to come. There were no chants of “we won!” There were chants of “Yes we can!”

And I can’t help but think, someday years down the road, I will look back at that moment and remember those people more than anything else. They are the ones that made all the difference. They are the ones that played the biggest role in looking past barriers from the past and demanding a change for tomorrow. They are the ones who helped make history while at the same time built a bridge of hope to the future.

They are the ones who made me feel for the first time how proud I was of my patriotism—something those storied tales from the 60’s were never able to do. And I feel truly honored to have been one of them.