Mid-Year Report

Well, we've made it halfway though 2012. It's been, all things considered, a pretty awesome year for music so far. While I'm really excited about releases and events to come, I think it is worth stopping to reflect on the first half of this year. The good, the bad, the weird, but firstly the good.

Here are my top ten releases from the first half of 2012:

1) Fiona Apple - The Idler Wheel (June 19): 9/10
2) The Smashing Pumpkins - Oceania (June 19): 8.5/10
3) Joe Bonamassa - Driving Toward the Daylight (May 22): 8.5/10
4) Alabama Shakes - Boys and Girls (April 10): 8/10
5) Esperanza Spalding - Radio Music Society (March 20): 8/10
6) Lamb of God - Resolution (January 24): 8/10
7) The Shins - Port of Morrow (March 20): 7.5/10
8) Andrew Bird - Break It Yourself (March 5): 7.5/10
9) Metric - Synthetica (June 12): 7/10
10) Scars on 45 - Scars on 45 (April 10): 7/10


Two things to note: 1) I have not listened to all the releases I intended to, including a few partial/insufficient listenings to albums like Rush's Clockwork Angels, which (according to reviews and musical precedent) is likely to displace albums above. 2) I am allowed to change the order of this list any time I feel like it, so be warned that it probably will not be the same by the end of the year.

Okay then, here's some miscellany:

Stuff I like:

"Call Me Maybe" by Carly Rae Jepsen

BEFORE YOU CAME INTO MY LIFE I MISSED YOU SO BAD I MISSED YOU S—

I love this song and I don't care what you say. h8rs gon' h8.

(Also I know this song was released last year, but the EP was this year and the explosion was this year and dammit I really fucking love this song.)

Rize of the Fenix - Tenacious D


Again, I don't care what you say. This album is hilarious. Sure, it's not quite up to the precedent they set, because that precent was legendary and unattainable. This album is a damn good follow-up to The Pick of Destiny. It does exactly what it is supposed to do: rock hard, be gross, and make people laugh. People who complain about how The D have sold out or lost touch or made a gimmick album are 100% missing the point.


Driftless Pony Club


New favorite band. They put out a new album like ten days ago and it's great. It's fun and lighthearted, but also serious and loud. It rocks. I love it. Craig Benzine has a really beautiful beard. Also one of the songs begins "screw you, North Dakota, you're the neighbor of my least-favorite state right now." So that's the best.

Vintage Trouble


Absolutely the sexiest frontman to ever have existed. Like, you aren't ready for this. But go anyways because they are SO GOOD.

Stuff I don't care for:

JEFF the Brotherhood


Saw them open for Best Coast (hey I talk about them below!) and was not impressed. But that was largely due to very inadequate sound engineering, and I didn't want to write them off until I heard some studio material and had a chance to really get a feel for their music. Well, now I've had that chance and I'm still not sold. Even with the mighty and fabulous Dan Auerbach (The Black Keys) producing, I just don't like this album. The music is decent, not great, I find the lyrics are unimaginative and underwhelming, and I just don't care for it. There was a lot of hype for their major label debut, and I'm just not seeing what for.

Radiohead at Coachella


Okay, I'm going to come right out and say it; enough of this fuckery. I don't like Radiohead. THERE. IT'S DONE. IT CAN'T BE UNDONE. I'M SORRY I JUST HAD TO DO IT.

I don't hate them and I don't disrespect them as artists (very much), but I just don't find them compelling. I saw them at Coachella and they sounded, on balance, very good. But they were 500% too showy. Giant (and I mean GIANT) moving, hanging LED screens and enough stage lighting to rival Las Vegas on New Year's eve. Way too much interest in visuals and not nearly enough on an interesting set list. I was bored after the first half hour because it seemed like they just kept playing the same song over and over again (To be fair, I was not, and am not, familiar with their canon, which probably added to my disinterest. But I really did not enjoy that set, and I have yet to hear a really artistically or musically compelling Radiohead album. But please, someone: prove me wrong here.). They played for a solid 2.5 hours. At least. We left after the SECOND encore (we heard them come on for a third as we walked out, so god knows how long they were really there). A 2 hour concert isn't really that bad, and that isn't the problem in and of itself, but when all the other bands (including the other headliners LIKE THE BLACK KEYS AND FLORENCE + THE MACHINE) got a mere 50 minute allotment and no encore, this seemed unnecessary and unprofessional.


Stuff I don't know what to think of:

Reignwolf


Reignwolf is the on-stage moniker for Jordan Cook, a solo act out of Canada. He plays big, loud, dirty, noisy, brutal blues rock. It's all just him: one guitar, one mic, and one kick drum. The dude rocks. However, after the initial intensity wears off, I'm not sure where I'm left. He catches my attention with the massive noise coming out of his amp and his I-Don't-Give-Any-Fucks aesthetic. But once he has my attention, he doesn't seem to have anywhere to put it. He hasn't released any real studio material, and all my knowledge of him comes from YouTube videos and Soundcloud clips of live shows, so I'm not comfortable dismissing him as a one-trick pony. I think he can really play, and I think he can make something awesome happen. But he's going to have to go a bit further to have me 100% convinced. Time will tell.

Best Coast


So many feels... Let me begin by saying I stand firmly by my defense of Best Coast's album The Only Place; I think it is a good album that hits its mark precisely. But I'm wavering in my defense of Best Coast as a professional and respectable act. I saw them live a few weeks after their album was released, and was very disappointed. They sounded flat, and were visibly unhappy to be playing a Monday night in Portland (taking the California-centric lyrics to "The Only Place" to heart a little too much?). Frontwoman Bethany Cosentino addressed the crowd like an emotional teenager would address his/her parents. She left the stage with a scowl at the end of the set, and after a minor slip-up during the encore (no one would have known if she hadn't reacted), she threw her guitar down on the stage and stormed off with her warm beer. Bobb Bruno had to cover for her to save face. A band that disrespects an auditorium full of eager fans like that is not a band that I feel comfortable putting my full weight behind. Nonetheless, I look forward to finding an opportunity for redemption.

Gotye


Gotye's album Making Mirrors is excellent. Gotye's song "Somebody That I Used To Know" is good (decidedly NOT the highlight of the album, but still a worthwhile tune). But here we have another classic case of video killed the radio star, and then radio revenge killed the video star's brother with a rusty fork and a loudspeaker. Overplayed is an understatement. I can't listen to that song with any joy at all because of how horrible the remixes are, and how stupid and boring the popular commentary that surrounds it can be. Gotye sounded great at Coachella and is a really good artist, and I really like the album. But damn if that song hasn't gotten to me a little bit.

The new John Mayer


John Mayer's new album is good. But it's getting clear that the days of guitar pop Johnny are long gone. Which is good and bad. Good that we're not dealing with his old, pop star self. Bad that we're not getting interesting, singable, radio-friendly tunes. Good that he has an opportunity to showcase his actual musical talents (they are many). Bad that he seems to only want to play borderline whiny country folk pop. He has some winners, and the album holds up. But I don't think he can go too much farther down this road without losing everyone's interest. I'll take the guitar-savvy blues buster, with a side of pop, hold the douchebaggery.

Jack White


Jack White's debut solo album Blunderbuss is... kinda weird? I like it, but I'm not sure it's quite up to all the hype (as per usual, hype ruins the day). Jack is a bizarre fellow, and this album seems to show it. Don't get me wrong, he's a fantastic musician, producer, artist, and performer, and he deserves his place in the spotlight, but I don't totally feel like I'm on board. Especially because he was a total ass to The Black Keys, who are the best. That's not 100% relevant. End of story, I'm just not connecting with this album. Maybe I will after a few more tries. I have been known to change my mind.

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Okay. That's done. Now let's recap a few notable musical news items in one sentence each:

Randy Blythe


Randy Blythe, the vocalist for legendary metal band Lamb of God, was arrested and charged with manslaughter in the Czech Republic for a two-year-old incident that, as clearly shown in videos, he had nothing to do with.

Frank Ocean


Frank Ocean came out as gay, but he did it right after Anderson Cooper also did it, and his music is only so-so, so it wasn't that interesting.

Adam Yauch


Adam Yauch (MCA) of the Beastie Boys died of cancer in May, which sucks because he was awesome and he isn't alive anymore to fight for his right to party.

Holograms


During the Snoop Dogg/Dr. Dre portion of Coachella, a hologram of Tupac was unleashed, prompting the beginning of similar absurdities for Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, Freddy Mercury, and other rockstars who would vomit if they ever knew a thing about it.

Axl Rose


Guns N' Roses was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, but lead vocalist and noted douchebag Axl Rose declined his induction because he is a pretentious ass; meanwhile, legendary (and incredibly talented) bands like Rush, Deep Purple, KISS, and The Cars still wait patiently for an overdue invite to the party.

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Well that was longer than I thought it would be. Sorry about that. But hey, well done if you're still reading down here! Really good work. That's impressive. Uh... yeah... see you next time!