The Zimmermann Note

Tame Impala – Innerspeaker

I can say this for certain that this 2010 release is the most recent recording on this list.

The Zimmermann Notes Note: I tried to avoid either more recent releases/purchases. Time is such an essential component to the album review and something that is quite impossible early on because it lacks a certain amount of context. There could be an entire post about this but if you do not let your opinions change then you are an idiot. I love the idea, for example, of someone telling me that they went back to an album that they initially thought sucked, and listened to it in it’s entirety again and came up with the same conclusion. If they were honest with themselves that there was a desire to check again to see if they missed something, i.e. when they listened to it the first time around that something was clouding their judgment. It should not be looked at as an exercise in futility and surely they are not pissing into the wind either.

The fact that this album made the list to begin with says just how much it has impressed me in this short period of time.

How does time make a difference? When I put together my best of 2010 listing this album was 11th on the list. Looking back at that list there are some amazing albums that I still listen to. Tame Impala was a grower, which as I think back upon it, had not as much to do with Tame Impala but rather a slew of amazing albums in 2010 and a debut album from a band from the land of OZ might not capture your attention right away. When the dust settled however, it was this album that I went back to.

I remember seeing the band at Lincoln Hall in 2011 and was blown away partly due to the fact that Lincoln Hall in Chicago is the best sounding venue that I have ever been to. I was particularly impressed however with a cover that they did of Massive Attack’s ‘Angel’:

When you put a psychedelic band onstage in an acoustically perfect venue the rest is history. Kevin Parker, the brainchild behind the entire band, found a way to make 60s psychaedelic music sound fresh. This is “Open Your Mind” music plain and simple.

The other important factor, and if you have ever listened to Sound Opinions is that they have a segment where Derogatis and Kot host “Rock Doctor” where they try to set up music for couples that have differing tastes. While we do both have our own interests there are bands such as Tame Impala and especially this album that we both thoroughly enjoy so this one is definitely wife approved.

Judging from their latest release ‘Lonerism’, Tame Impala could be the biggest thing that has come out of Australia in a long time.

#57 Leonard Cohen – Songs

When I thought I could write, I had conceived a screenplay in my head based on the song ‘So Long Marianne’. I have to admit the details are hazy, other than to say it would have been some very complicated postmodern plot that would have been hard to follow. Secondly, I had always felt that if I did do something it could have to have been something unique and surreal. Keep formulas in the classroom.

The above does not have much to do with Cohen other than to suggest that a certain song had caught my liking and was played fairly often because that is what you do when you play songs (especially on CD or any electronic format) as it is much easier than the days prior when batteries were wasted rewinding tape players.

At this time, Cohen did not have his raspy, Pall Mall voice but if you were to give me a folk singer that I have most obsessed over it would be Cohen over Dylan anyday. Bold statements, I know, and trust me it is not to diss my namesake Mr. Zimmerman, (minus the second N in the name) but rather to stress what I thought Cohen’s words have been so meticulously chosen.

He’s created a couple of sirens during his time. “Suzanne” for example, which is not a song about love per se, but the human condition especially with the parallel to Jesus.

“So Long, Marianne” offers both the bittersweet reminiscing of past events as well as the current truth of a relationship gone bad, not to mention the subject of a previously mentioned never written screenplay for a movie that will not be coming to your hometown anytime soon.

What strikes Cohen as a true artist was that he was a poet first before grabbing a guitar and beginning a professional music career. His poetry offers a certain vividness that cannot be replaced. You feel that certain bohemian quality in his work. He feels like a man of the streets, seen injustice, seen his heart broken or yearn for others. He did spend some time in Warhol’s Factory which might suggest that bands and artists like The Velvet Underground and Nico might have rubbed off on him.

My introduction to Mission of Burma was actually through R.E.M. who used to cover the song “Academy Fight Song” on their live shows, especially in the late 80’s when they were touring for that pop album, ‘Green’ and thus my interest in the Burmese began around then.

“Walk into my room, ask me jerky questions”- Academy Fight Song

At this point, ‘Mission of Burma’ was not a household name but rather featured a fairly catchy song that didn’t describe the true genius of this band and in the process, I admit to asking some fairly jerky questions regarding its background. For example, the original release of ‘Signals, Calls and Marches’ did not include either Academy Fight Song or Max Ernst, which were added later in a reissue of the album. The two songs were actually the first single the band had released in 1980. When you chip away and find gold, there might be more where you are looking.

In the case of Mission of Burma, it is the fact that they have probably not received their due recognition for their role in the post-punk movement. The fact that they were influential on bands like Nirvana and Fugazi should suggest their importance but I bet that if Mission of Burma play in your hometown that the show will probably not be sold out and will put on a better performance than bands half their age.

Of course part of the issue with the band was their inability to cash in on their success. With Roger Miller’s worsening Tinnuitis, due to their live shows the band had to call it quits.

Thirty plus years later their legacy still grows and this is the album to start with.

#59 – Animal Collective – Sung Tongs

What I always found special about listening to ‘Sung Tongs’ was its ability to reminisce on the past.
A song ‘We Tigers’ express this as almost as if they are moments pulled from our unfeigned memories. Dancing around with masks, beating of drums, shrieking like a child in such a vivid detail it feels as if you are there.

Sung Tongs was the earliest of the releases that really bonded with me both due to themes as well as it’s ability to create more arching melodies that didn’t just feel like art students banging pots and pans and screeching. Of course the last comment was not to offend the art community but rather bring to attention at what Animal Collective had been slowly attempting to do.

At the heart of the album is primordial and the ability to live and thrive, a very Peter Pan-like quality.

‘Winter’s Love’ on the surface is so beautifully written that if handled in the wrong hands could musically sound very schlocky. The song challenges that same childlike premise, suggesting that more than just foreplay happened on this winter evening and turned that boy into a man. While there is no suggestion that this was completely innocent or lacks a certain level of complication, (I mean when is sex not complicated) there is still a level of vigor to the event but also a level of transformation. That boy turned into a man.

The soul of the band has been it’s strong understanding of rhythm. It’s the drumcircle, or the campfire songs, the most primitive nature at which we listened to music in the first place and they slowly begin to expand this onto a broader stage.

Maybe as I get older and consider my own mortality I see that in my son, this concept of life, the random shrieks or the banging of pots and to conclude there has been a level of comfort from the album. I am reminded in songs like ‘Who Could Win a Rabbit’, that Mr. Ferris Bueller, said it best when he said, “Life moves pretty fast, if you don’t stop and look around once and awhile you can miss it.”

It seemed fairly obvious that after the government was caught snooping in my private life that I could no longer keep this list a secret. As we count through the days of summer, what better time than to spend moments careening over my 60 best albums of all time. Unlike a Greatest Hits listing this is a Best Of which means it’s going to be better quality than a greatest hits. For example, if you were to ask someone how you did on a task, and you got “You did great!” that is not as good as “You were the best”.

Secondly, this is better than a top 100 listing in that there are 40 less spots so this makes it just that much tougher.

I made this argument fairly recently that best of lists are more than just showing off my record collection but rather provides a gauge in terms of how I felt about music in 2013. Now of course I have been working on this list on and off for over a year and I realized that at some point I needed to stop fucking around and actually post something.

I decided to spend time and do something fairly substantial because at the time I had started this list, I was only a “Father-to-be” and wanted to share something with my son that I enjoyed and that was music. That and I am in my 40th year and I wanted to come back to something years from now to see how right or wrong I was. I wanted to see what albums pushed up the ranks and which ones fell down.

There has not been any typical rules per se, other than being albums that I listened to. There might be situations where the actual tracks were different on import releases or the disc changed on later versions so my rule was that I stuck with what I listened to.

No soundtracks are included although I have to give kudos to “Until the End of the World” which was the only soundtrack that could even be close to consideration.

Every day or so I will try to post my next album on the list counting down from 60. And drumroll please…….

Number 60: R.E.M. – Out Of Time

Part of me wanted to lead off with this album just to fuck with people. I guess if you live in the R.E.M. world as I do, there is part of me that finds moody Michael dancing around with Kate Pierson pretty hilarious. While Stipe at this time was not Morrissey and writing songs about unhappy birthdays I surely would not call him Mr. Congeniality either. That being said ‘Shiny Happy People’ has a certain dated quality on this album and might work better as a hilarious B-Side. Another B-Side would be Radio Song which leads off with KRS-1 intermixing a bit of rap. There is a song somewhere buried here but the song feels too much like 1991. For every Radio Song there is a song like “Country Feedback” for which Neil Young wished he wrote himself and arguably their best song ever written.

I would make the case that people that think that “Shiny Happy People” sucks also think that “Losing My Religion” has anything to do with the literal translation in the title.

For me it was not the singles but the subtle moments on this album with album tracks like “Low”, “Belong” and “Me in Honey” that really begin the delve into an album on relationships, something that Stipe had not attempted much before this.

Lastly, the reason that the album made the list is that it was the album that pushed my fandom onto a different level. The album came out just before I went to college which meant access to better record stores and well we know the end of this story.

Oh yeah, this one too..

There is not enough time to write and as we are almost through January, I figure this would be an appropriate time to look back on 2012.

12. Peter Buck – 10 Million BC

What has to be impressive right off the bat with this album is that Buck would be the last individual that you would think would come out with an albums worth of material, some of which he actually sings on. There are some worthwhile tracks such as the title track and the several tracks that take him on his lo-fi surfari nightmare. For that he took challenges. It would have probably made my top ten list if it had kept off some of the more “Country & Western” tunes off the album. We don’t wear cowboy hats in Chicago.

11. Animal Collective – Centipede Hz

Animal Collective – Centipede hz. If you have the opportunity to pull out Animal Collective’s “Merriweather Post Pavilion” or either of Panda Bear’s last two records there is one thing that is common on all three in that the album content has quite a bit of depth. It has air to breath and develop in your brains. There is no doubt about it that Centipede has great songs but it comes off as if you are watching cartoons in the 70s on a UHF station watching programs such as the Banana Splits and Speed Racer. Songs like “Today’s Supernatural” give the eerie feeling of watching Japanese animation with flashing videos that children would have seizures while watching. As I have been listening to it, I have been reluctant to gather my thoughts, in the same way I would be unwilling to critique a bottle of wine just after it has just been opened up. In this way it makes a list that considered a concept that seemed worthy on paper but not necessarily in reality and for this reason missed the cut

Top 10 List:

10. Crystal Castles (III)

Alice Glass is a rockstar pure and simple. She holds all the keys behind what you need to do to be a great front person. Confident, mysterious, poetic, strong, dark and plays her role to perfection and I am not just talking about the album but on the stage as well. Crystal Castles (III) is dark, violent, and still danceable. While I would not suggest their last album was necessarily mainstream this album pushes back from that dangerous territory (the lamestream) when Glass could become one of the greats. However, there is a second element to the music and that is Ethan Kath, the electronic mastermind behind the project. Kath just doesn’t write tracks for Glass to sing to but rather consume. At times the music becomes the barrier and you feel the struggle that she is trying to break through such as on ‘Insulin’. Other tracks like “Child I Will Hurt You”, she haunts you with her siren voice.

9. Trust – Trst

Another band from Toronto, Ontario like Crystal Castles which plays along the same moody electronic dancemusic. To be honest with you the thing that really caught my eye with this album was the overweight goth rocker on the cover. As any album with overweight goth stars, it’s dark and moody with plenty of dance pop hooks to keep you drawn in. At times, Robert Alfon’s lead singing sounds a bit like a muffled Vincent Price which I think gives the album a bit of character and not just like any other run of the mill rock album with an overweight goth rocker on the cover.

8. Cloud Nothings – Attack on Memory

The first important note about this album is that it was engineered by Steve Albini. This would mean that it is probably opinionated. The bigger question of course would be if Albini was feeding the band, as his secondary career over the past few years has been having just as serious opinion of food. The second important characteristic this year was trying to have more rock music influence my listening habits. As much as I enjoy the concept of someone sitting behin a mixing board, there is something compelling of getting back to the roots of guitar, bass and drums. This album was reminiscent of the late 80’s and 90s hardcore/grunge sounds while still sounding fresh and invigorating. “Wasted Days”, checking in at nearly 9 minutes, was on repeat during the early part of the year.

7. Ty Segall – Twins

The first of the Ty Segall releases to appear here. In typical “Guided By Voices” fashion, Segall has been prolific in 2012 releasing 3 albums worth of material. I would say that he is also the artist most influential on my music listening in 2013. I think it started with last years Grammy winning artist “Bon Iver” whose album “Bon Iver” seemed to have won over the hearts and minds of those that are impressed with music that you want to slit your wrists to. I began to miss the cockyness that rock and roll was built on vs. the artist that would admire their own shadow. I wanted every that was “Anti-Iver”, which meant that it needed to be a “Bon-ifide” rock and roll record. Segall became that artist for me and allowed me to embrace or believe in something that felt real. In some ways it reminds me of lo-fi grunge because there are some definitive 60s pop sensabilities in his work but it doesn’t sound as polished as many of the 90s albums that defined the early part of the decade.

6. Foxygen – Take the Kids Off Broadway EP

This album feels like a combination of Motown, Nuggets-era rock and the Rolling Stones. On the surface it sounds a bit rough but that is also what gives it its charm. It doesn’t have that polished feel but as if the band is sitting there doing their best impression of Mick Jagger going cukoo for Cocoa Puffs. While the inevitable comparisons exist and the band is clearly up on their 60s genre’s this EP is still fun. However, where I see that this bands future is in it’s ability to create something that still feels like their own. Having listened to their follow-up album that was released just a few weeks ago, I am concerned that they are trying to emulate the various sounds from the era rather than create their own.

5. Grizzly Bear – Shields

There could have been a time when this album would have been ranked higher than 5 but when I saw that Edward Droste seemed disappointed that the band was not nominated for a grammy, it got dropped a couple of notches on principle. Of course there is a reason that the Mumford & Sons can secure 6 Grammys because the Mumford, etc. suck and well the Grammy’s suck. Droste’s disappointment would suggest that they (The Grammy’s) mean something and that they were looking to follow in the footsteps of Bon Iver and Arcade Fire.

(Admittedly, the Mumford & Sons/Lumineers, Civil War rock fondness has already reached it’s peak and it is time to burn the acoustic instruments.)

Grizzly Bear is a much different band than the one that Droste formed as an art project, pushing more in the direction of pop band than say ‘Dirty Projectors’ but still providing enough of their art rock to not sound stale. ‘Shields’ is an appropriate follow-up to ‘Veckatimest’, continuing in the direction of offering some of the more intelligent baroque pop that is in existence today.

4. Ty Segall & White Fence – Hair

One of my favorite “underappreciated” tracks of the year was Ty Segall and White Hair doing the song Tongue on their album “Hair”. The glory is the combo of Segall’s lo-fi pop with Tim Presley (White Fence’s) psycha-funkyness. The second Segall album to break the top 10 and the one that in my opinion flew a bit under the radar. The question of course when someone releases 3 albums in a year would be whether or not had they edited down the work and only released 1 album would the quality be such where it could be considered a classic?

As this is often the question that plagues “Guided by Voices”, Segall’s travels lead him to various artists which should suggest unique working relationships which should push different influences forward.

3. Spiritualized – Sweet Heart Sweet Light

The neo-psychaedelic space rock sounds of Jason Spaceman, Spiritualized, in my opinion brings it’s strongest album, a flurry of tunes that will allow you to reminisce from the classic Spacemen 3 days. Quite possibly the track of the year was “Hey Jane”, which seems appropriate with its luring Velvet Underground feel. While the album does move in various soulful directions as it progresses there is plenty of white noise to be excited about.

2. Ty Segall Band – Slaughterhouse

The third of the Ty Segall releases to grace this listing, this album features Ty with his entire band and the album that definitely ignites the most amount of energy. It also breaks one of my rules regarding bands with the name “Band” in the band name. This is just pure unadulterated rock and roll. From the opening track “Death” opens with almost a minute of guitarwork before the onslaught occurs. While some have compared him to Jay Reatard, I sense a closer relationship to Wavves, but with a bigger sound. There is a definitive B-Movie Surf rock that begs for your eardrums to bleed. It does it in such a way that it creates an aura rather than make the process painful, such as Sleigh Bells. It feels like a mixture of Iggy Pop meeting Nirvana and that is a good comparison in my opinion.

1. Tame Impala – Lonerism

Oftentimes the term “Classic” can feel overused. One of my favorite talkshow hosts Kevin Matthews, formerly of the Loop AM 1000 joked that it “doesn’t have to be good to be a classic”, referencing the classic rock stations that would fill the airwaves of the best of the 60’s and 70s, offering up songs that on the surface were a bit overrated.

The goal when bands try to capture the essence of prior decades is to put their own stamp on the material, that line in the sand which you can clearly capture the essence of a prior decade rather than copying a sound.

Tame Impala’s own rise among my own favorite bands was built by their debut LP, ‘Innerspeaker’, an album that has improved over time with it’s brilliance slowly revealing itself. Over two short albums, the troubadour, Kevin Parker has made himself one that should be noticed. The influences he is pulling from, as well as his attention for detail is such that the landscapes are captivating. “Lonerism” becomes the theme, i.e. getting lost in the music on top of the themes discussed in the music which deal with the concept that you are alienating yourself from the rest of the world. There is the euphoric, “Feels Like We Only Go Backwards”, which uses an almost dreamlike bubbly music to describe a relationship that seems to stall. “Apocalypse Dreams” theme is suggestive in the title itself.

While the album might take influences from works like Pink Floyd, Supertramp or Fleetwood Mac, Parker has developed his own signature sound that makes this release a true classic.

It is the end of the year which means that the world is putting together their “Best Of” lists. Often times, the case of putting together a ‘Best Of’ listing is a case of futility. How are we supposed to put a numerical value to your listening enjoyment? These lists often mention songs and albums over a limited listening window while, during this brief period of time we are expected to make a summation of the best albums over a government-sponsored Gregorian calendar and then write something slightly witty or asinine about the album while I fart onto my chair.

Over this period, a handful of idiots will expect us to make an objective review of the music, as if I am going to find Colin Meloy of the Decemberists somehow palatable or that R.E.M.’s latest would match the perfection of Murmur, that Jeff Tweedy would regain the magic he had with Wilco or that several of the senior circuit bands such as The Feelies and Wire would make records worthy of repeat listening. Will the bands trying to copy the retro sounds of the 80s live up to the scrutiny of that era and decide to put together something unique rather than just recycled.

I have focused in on about 60 albums or so, which would be about the limits for my attention in any given year because music is not just researching the present but the past as well.

I did not find the year to have one spectacular release that stood head and shoulders above the rest. As often is the case, these things take decades to realize that the album that saw minimal listens in 2011 becomes a desert island classic in 2031. In the meantime I wanted to break down the latest year into albums and bands that I thought that were movers and shakers and deserve a fans attention.

I broke the list into three categories:

The Greats – The albums which were head and toes above the others.

Extended Play – Albums that have showed promise and depending on your tastes might be worth your attention.

Deep Cuts – A land of misfit albums. There might be a compelling reason to listen or not to listen.

The Greats

Fleet Foxes –Helplessness Blues

I am not sure if this album is the best album of the year but the title song moved me enough to suggest there is a greater meaning to this album than maybe what I expected after first listens. I do know that the title track is the best song of the year, Simon and Garfunkelesque!; The song provides a socially active conscience that is sorely lacking in today’s music scene. For a sophomore effort they have shown the world they are for real.

Girls – Father, Son, Holy Ghost

The growth of the indie rock community has created several bands that would sound good in an intimate setting of a small club. And while ‘Girls’ sounds like an amazing intimate experience, the latest album breaths life into the 70s Rock Albums where everything was larger than life, even the floating pigs. Girls is that 70’s band that you could only dream about. Their latest release captures that energy of that decade without sounding stale. There is an epic sound on songs like ‘Vomit’, and ‘Die’ relives all those great guitar albums but then it ends with the Randy Newman inspired Jamie Marie.

Panda Bear – Tomboy

A psychedelic beach-combing experiment with the Animal Collective drummer. Panda Bear (aka Noah Lennox) follows up his highly acclaimed ‘Person Pitch’ with a much more organic record. With the help of Sonic Boom (aka Peter Kember) of Spacemen 3 fame, the album is much more intimate and personal and still worth the effort to engross yourself in it.

M83 – Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming

How often can you remember any bands putting together a solid double album that doesn’t have significant portions of the album, which are weak? ‘Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming’ relives the 80’s but offers enough of the 21st century to not be put off as a cheap imitation. Check out simple but clever songs like ‘Midnight City’ that becomes total 80’s ear candy. And yet for every 80’s induced sound they turn the decade into progressive rock. This is not just a cheap imitation of the era and it is the only album that I have listed here where the Sax solo actually works.

The Bewitched Hands – Birds and Drums

This French band has a couple things in common with the band Arcade Fire, both in their music as well as their point of origin speaks quite a bit of French (Reims, France, for Bewitched Hands and Montreal, Canada for Arcade Fire). This act put together a fantastic pop album that’s infectious after the first listen. For some reason, the music media has largely ignored this gem of a record. Become the first person on your block to check these guys out!

Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi – Rome

If you were in the mood for a spaghetti western movie soundtrack, this would be your album. This album caught me by surprise but I have to admit to have been taken in with its charm. The unlikely successes of Norah Jones and Jack White (they would not normally be my favorite artists) pit their strengths alongside the spirit of the “Good, The Bad, and the Ugly”, in this winner.

PJ Harvey – Let England Shake

PJ Harvey’s latest is a political statement/concept album/social commentary on Britain’s role in WWI and uses the themes of colonialism, war, .etc to ask questions as to their worth in the 21st century. Harvey might not be as in your face as he was in the past but her lyrics and pop sensibilities are clever enough to pull off this concept album.

Tuneyards – WHOKILL

Merrill Garbus. A name that should be remembered as her album WHOKILL was a definitive highlight for the year. What sets Garbus out is her ability to truly have a voice behind what she was saying. Dare I say feminist? Judging from the Pitchfork crowd this year that wore face paint in honor of her, it was obvious she is gaining a loyal following. I did miss her live set this year, for a couple reasons but from what I have seen online it would look like something that I would enjoy. At the same time, I do think that she needs a proper band so to put more attention on her soulful presence as a live singer. As impressive as it is to have a recorder and drums onstage while singing, it essentially cuts from her singing abilities when she is focusing on about three things at once.

Radiohead – King of Limbs

There were legions of fans that might have felt a bit shortchanged by Radiohead’s latest effort, an album that had to push it to bypass your typical EP Length record. That is also what happens when you are Radiohead, when you have taken your audience on wild trips with albums such as Ok Computer and Kid A, possibly the best albums of the 1990s and 2000’s respectively. ‘In Rainbows’, and the marketing genius behind that album was as solid musically and ‘King of Limbs’ expands in these directions. Oftentimes when you have a couple “Masterpieces” to your name, there is quite a bit to live up to.

Still, the release of ‘King of Limbs’ became an event like old school album buying. Fans and critics got their shot of the album at the same time which brings upon a unique dynamic where the fan becomes the critic while traditional journalism tried to catch up with the Radiohead dynamic. Very few bands could pull off what they did but it speaks to the quality of their work and also a reminder of being one of the few bands that truly matter in the music industry

‘King of Limbs’ sees the percussion play a more prominent role as sound is much more stripped down from the warmer ‘In Rainbows’. The single off the album ‘Lotus Flower’ made the biggest splash, as Thom’s dancing became an Internet meme with others editing songs on top of his work.

Cut Copy – Zonoscope

Maybe in a different world they would be the twins of M83. Their sound is very similar and at times it can be difficult to tell each band apart. In terms of Zonoscope it again crosses into the retro 80’s dance category with ‘Need You Now’ and ‘Where I’m Going’ but is not afraid to stretch into ambient region with the 15 minute Sun God.

Atlas Sound – Parallax

After listening to Bradford Cox lose it recently during an interview, this brilliant songwriter suffers from the fact of being a very depressed individual. And after having my wife telling me that she thought that this poppy record was anything but upbeat, I cleaned the potatoes out of my ears and gave it some more listens.

As the Deerhunter/Atlas Sound motif has evolved Cox has kept the psychedelic sounds but have added themes and ideas to his sounds which

Anna Calvi – Anna Calvi

Anna Calvi displayed a hefty amount of talent on her debut album, mixing the beauty of Julee Cruise but also the power of Patti Smith. Her flexibility in a song that showing the blue collar edge of a Bruce Springsteen vs. ‘First We Kiss’, which sounds like a title track to a 60s James Bond movie and other parts it feels like a David Lynch movie. But there is a little bit of Jeff Buckley in here as well. She is not just a beautiful singer but an accomplished guitarist.

Woods – Sun and Shade

Songs such as ‘Sol y Sombra’ and ‘Out of the Eye’ exhibit Woods strength of pushing trippy psychaedelic rock into epic proportions. Woods has expanded their lo-fi psych-folk sound into something much greater. Probably the best true “Psychaedelic” record of the year for me.

Worth an Extended Play


The Feelies – Here Before

The Feelies first album in about 20 years shows a band that has matured over this time. It’s not the ‘Crazy Rhythms’ of its youth but will still go down as a strong resurgence. They don’t remake the formula of the Feelies but rather rediscover it, with Glenn Mercer and Bill Million battling it out on the guitar.

Smith Westerns – Dye It Blonde

This Chicago outfit has captured the spirit of John Lennon and the Smashing Pumpkins to update their sound and come out with a quality rock record. Their second record eclipses their debut record showing that the band can update their sound but also show they are not going to go away quietly.

James Blake – James Blake

I would imagine that seeing James Blake live has to be a rip-roaring experience filled with slam dancing, jumping from the stage, with plenty of broken bones and bruises. Ok, maybe in a different dimension. Blake delivers in trying to define the dubstep genre with an original recording that is both innovative and endearing. There are two songs here that stand out for me: ‘The Wilhelm Scream’ and ‘Limit To Your Love’ which become genre-defining songs. The album has holes at times but it should be understood that the good is much better than the bad and much too

Bon Iver – Bon Iver

It’s the type of album that you would expect to hear playing in Green Bay when the Packers lose in the playoffs this coming 2012. It bleeds Cheesehead land while Mister Meatpacker is contemplating about his sad and depressing life. Somehow, this album got some Grammy nods. Quite honestly, this is not the indie record that I would gather would get some type of following and it speaks maybe to the irrelevance of the Grammys in general.

Mike Watt – Hyphenated-Man

This album looks into the work of Hieronymous Bosch in this wonderful collection of songs that are reminiscent of his work with the Minutemen. Most of the songs do not stray beyond the 2 minute mark and offer a unique and often humerous response to the work of Bosch.

Dirty Beaches – Badlands

Alex Zhang Hungtai has created a landscape with his 60’s surfari-themed album. Where I would love to see an artist like this go is try to expand their sound beyond that of youtube clips and exhibit that same power on album as what would be expected live.

Le Butcherettes – Sin Sin Sin

Judging from the lead singers stage name Teri Gender Bender, there is plenty to be excited about in this band. This Mexican trio is not your mother’s band with the lead Ms. Gender Bender covered in blood onstage. This is in your face rock and roll!

Wire – Red Barked Tree

‘Red Barked Tree’ shows off a level of intelligence for Wire, a band that has been making music on and off for close to three decades. Over this time they have gone from Punk, Prog. Rock, dabbled in Electronica and we see them capturing all of those elements here.

TV On The Radio – Nine Types of Light

Part of me is still a bit torn up regarding the death of Gerard Smith this past year and it’s been trying to listen to this album. Say what you want, but TV on the Radio add some needed soul and funk to rock and roll and this world would be sorely lacking without their efforts. ‘Nine Types of Light’ is their most commercially accessible album but for newbie’s, I would still recommend Return to Cookie Mountain as possibly one of the best albums of the last decade. In terms of epic songs, nothing quite tops ‘Killer Crane’ which adds some organ reminiscent of early Zeppelin.

Cults – Cults

The Cults seems to offer a lo-fi sixties bubble-gum/psychaedelic pop combo meeting the “Wall of Sound”. As a debut album they offer plenty of hooks to please. The band is obviously looking to the direction of Animal Collective’s “Merriweather Post Pavilion” as an outside influence even if their tracks are relatively simplistic.

Wild Flag – Wild Flag

What gives bands like Wild Flag their edge is the fact they don’t play it safe. They are not selling their sexiness as much as their grittiness. In a year when many of the albums on this list were afraid to rock, preferring the sensibilities of synths, Wild Flag takes their supergroup status to provide a wholly enjoyable romp. Includes Carrie Brownstein and Janet Weiss from Sleater-Kinney, Mary Timony from Helium and Rebecca Cole from The Minders. What I am looking for in this album is something that blows me away and that seems to be the problem. The album is almost too perfect. I want a little bit more Patti Smith jumping off a cliff while grabbing her crotch.

Crystal Stilts – In Love with Oblivion

Like the Dirty Beaches, their sounds of 60s surf rock are more organic and feel a little less like pulling out an old 45 and dusting it off. They pull off plenty of psychedelic riffs with some catchy hooks to warrant a look in any stoner’s collection.

Deep Cuts

Wilco – The Whole Love

The Whole Love is Wilco’s best album since ‘A Ghost Is Born’. Jeff Tweedy went back to basics and actually wrote some rock and roll songs and then some. For every classic song like ‘Art of Almost’, the best song since take your pick of songs on YHF, there are clunkers like ‘Capitol City’ and ‘One Sunday Morning’. There is a solid EPs worth of material here and the rest is pretty disposable.

Fucked Up – David Comes to Life

Like some that appreciate the rock opera, its nuanced characters and crazy plotlines, ‘David Comes to Life’ becomes slightly trying for my ears for the fact of it’s length as well as it’s twisted plotlines. If you are interested in something where progressive rock meets punk, it might be your thing.

R.E.M. – Collapse into Now

The album becomes R.E.M.’s swan song and while it doesn’t push R.E.M. in any new dimensions, it merely looks back at R.E.M. over the past 30 years playing R.E.M. by numbers. While that might be nostalgic for some, it’s not a final product that sets the world on fire nor is it completely forgettable. But the problem with R.E.M. ultimately becomes that the album will not replace the memories of their earlier works.

Yuck – Yuck

This hit and miss effort offers a couple of indie rock classics such as ‘Georgia’, with it’s catchy Yo La Tengo tributary feel.

Destroyer – Kaputt

2011 has become the year for the sax solos. The forgotten instrument has been reinvented by the Lisa Simpson’s of the world all grown up and remembering the music of their youth. Dan Behar’s effort is a hit and miss record remembering both the good and bad from the 80s.

Gang Gang Dance – Eye Contact

A mixture of 80’s pop, Indian, and oriental, I would imagine that they would be quite huge on the planet Tatooine. The album material is uneven however with standout tracks like Mindkilla and Adult Goth outpacing much of the other works.

The Braids – Native Speaker

Being the R.E.M. fan from the 80’s, after Murmur came out, all these bands wanted to start imitating their works and in the 21st Century, that band has become Animal Collective. Native Speaker, with it’s pop sensibilities and animal ‘yalps’ will remind you of Animal Collective, but do they break new ground?

St. Vincent – Strange Mercy

I honestly think that St. Vincent goes off the theatrical deep end with this album and some of her pop sensibilities from her previous effort ‘Actor’ have been lost. Some have called this one of her best efforts but I have not really bought into it.

The Pains At Being At Heart – Belong

One of those albums that is not offensive nor stands out. They put together some nice pop songs and a bit cleaner production that would remind you of Jesus & Mary Chain/Shoegaze pop but it’s not something that you are going to want to pull out over and over again.

Lou Reed & Metallica – Lulu

I remember going to Blockbuster video, I would imagine that it was over 20 years ago and finding the movie, Ed Wood’s ‘Plan 9 From Outer Space’ and reading the cover and thinking “I need to see this!”. Plan 9 is considered by most accounts one of the worst movies of all time, and maybe the same can be said for this Lou Reed/Metallica collaboration. If you go into it with the though that this is going to be the worst album I have ever listened to and I am going to laugh and have a riot making fun of Lou, Lars, James, .etc., then you might actually enjoy yourself.

As I sit here and listen to the latest album by M83, a so far stunning double lp release that needs an Atari 2600 present while listening to it, I am curious as to whether, the ghost of John Hughes will soon make his way back into the limelight.

This year has seen it’s fair share of albums that are 80s retro sounding. Depeche Mode, Cure, New Order, and every and any Flock of Seagulls wannabe. What is even more strange is that some of the kitschy sounds from that era – i.e. the sax solo have ended up in anonymous places and there are other bands like Destroyer (Dan Behar) and while I enjoyed Bon Iver’s new album, it’s final track is one of the worst examples for 80s campyness.

As these new albums start the retro craze of teaming themselves with the “Oldies” I am feeling old that the music that I grew up on is well, there is no better way to put it but ….old.

Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ is nearing it’s 29^th year on this planet. This issue seems to be a more troubling aspect to me than the fact that I will be turning 40 next year.

I’ve tried to get my head around the resurgence of the 80s. While I believe that these rediscoveries are inevitable. What I am always curious about is why an artist will grasp an era of music. I only wish they dressed like them too. Women, don’t you want to go back and wear the shoulder pads? Don’t you want to make a disaster of a dress like Molly Ringwald did in ‘Pretty In Pink’?

Does John Hughes get any credit for this resurgence? Do his movies play a prominent role among the artists that grew up on watching these movies over and over again?

I have wondered whether it was necessary this year to come out with a Retro 80’s Album Listing, separating this from the rest of the albums, putting on my best Boy George impression while describing them.

I mention Boy George because there is one thing that many of these bands lack and that is the charismatic front person. The music exists but the full package doesn’t. Part of the flair of that era was a change in the way that music was being delivered to us. Back in the 80s it was the music video, a disaster of 3 minutes where bands would sail off to far away lands or perform some lip synching in a studio that was edited by Uncle Charlie.  All the same, Generation X ate that shit up and loved every delicious bite.  It was our Hostess Twinkee.

As I end my trek into the past and finish up the last song on M83’s new double length album I realize that it has felt odd and yet strangely appealing. I do have to say that I see visions of Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy and Anthony Michael Hall while listening to these albums.  But rock and roll is still young enough that it could have skipped a generation and never admitted to that time or era. The music was underappreciated. It followed the big bang of punk with a more fashionable futuristic model that flaunted for style points for possible demerits in substance.

At any rate, the music of today’s kids is copying that of my generation which should make some Gen X’ers take note.

3.5 out of 5

When I said I liked the new Wilco album, that means like with a small l. Lets make one thing clear is that if there is any band that has disappointed me more than R.E.M. it was Wilco.  The period between Being There and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot is pure gold and I still look at that era as the golden age as well as the “Classic Lineup”, one that will obviously not return.

I think I am more disappointed because I thought that they had more potential. Jeff Tweedy had the power to be the 21^st Century’s Bob Dylan with a knack for sonic exploration. We see this on Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, one of the true innovative and classic albums of our era.  However, since the demise of Jay Bennett from the band, I have to admit to them being just alright to bad.

At times, their Dad Rock/Jam Band genre they are trying to invent is boring going on ridiculous. The Whole Love however, has a handful of tracks that make the grade as being the best since YHF.

‘Art of Almost’ is a great way to start off this album, and is definitely the best track that Wilco has released in nearly a decade.  It contains everything that I would have hoped this band could have turned itself into.  Lets face it, it is very difficult to get someone with music talent who at the same time has the potential to write eloquent lyrics.

The Whole Love is much more up-tempo than some of their previous efforts and I think this has afforded the band some better reviews due to critics not being lulled to sleep. ‘I Might’ is a drum-stomping track that exudes more Velvet Underground than Dad Rock.

Before we get too excited, Sunloathe hits our eardrums and all of a sudden we are reminded of ‘Sky Blue Sky’ and the fact that Wilco’s mellow days are behind them.

Off the top of my head without thinking some golden oldie Wilco mellowness

She’s a Jar

Via Chicago

Far Far Away

The Lonely 1

Pieholden Suite

Radio Cure

Ashes of American Flags

Now you take a song like ‘Sunloathe’ and to be honest I just do not get it.

Capital City sounds like a B-Side/Broadway Number and Rising Red Lung has mellow Wilco syndrome as well.

Still there are plenty of other positive moments. ‘Born Alone’  and ‘Standing O’ kick this album up a notch, bringing a little pleasure and less pain to their sound but also point to the fact there is more positive than negative on this album.

Finally, I can say is that ‘One Sunday Morning’ (Song for ‘Jane Smiley’s Boyfriend) would make me go postal.  If I saw Wilco live this would be the perfect time to check out the bathroom and get yourself a drink.  Part of the problem with a 12-minute track is that it needs to go somewhere instead Wilco decides to proceed on cruise control. At about the 4-minute mark it becomes annoying. The 6 minute mark you are getting twitches and there have been cases of music listeners going into full seizures by the 10 minute mark. So before you play this song in the Jukebox at your local watering hole, think of your friends and choose epic songs by Sufjan Stevens instead.

A Whole Love is a solid album but not a classic one. It reminds fans why they loved Wilco but it will also remind why they still annoy.  For many fans like myself they are in a difficult predicament not being the same band they were 10 years ago and they never can be. I don’t know, I always thought there was something rock and roll about Jay Bennett.

Over the past few weeks of listening to the new Wilco and Girls albums on top of the breakup of R.E.M. I focused much of my time on how some of those old Wilco albums had a lot more heart in them. You could say that ‘Being There’ is your classic 70’s double album that you would never see anymore. I found myself missing the old Wilco after listening to the new Girls album and wondered aloud while listening to the new album where did that band go?

But bands become more than the songs. We care about the parts making those songs. When parts are changed along the way can we move on with the spare parts or is the machine not as authentic?

The Tweedy/Bennett feud was never answered but swept under the rug and while a review might not be the place to talk about it, I am not sure where is a good place. Critics are not objective voices in the crowd but subjective listeners just like the rest of the population, we’ve been maimed by rock and roll as well.

Counting down some of the better shows or at least acts that I saw over the past year.

I still believe that for an outdoor venue you really cannot beat Pritzker here in the city. For a venue with such perfect sound overlooking the Chicago Skyline is one of the better spectacles to be seen.

I admit, even with this list, there were plenty of shows that I wished I could have made, if it weren’t for funds, schoolnights or other plans. I think the show that I wished I could have been present for was the LCD Soundsystem/Hot Chip performance at the Metro.  I saw James Murphy’s gang at P4K and was thoroughly impressed however, a smaller venue would have made quite an impression.

I might be getting too old for the Festival Experience as Pitchfork took everything out of me getting parched by the heat. I thought in retrospect it was the weakest of the P4Ks that I have been to and will have to rethink or maybe just go to the shows that truly appeal to me.

Listing the Favorite Shows of the Year

15.            John Spencer Blues Explosion – Pitchfork Music Festival

14.            Beach House – Pitchfork Music Festival

13.            Titus Andronicus – Pitchfork Music Festival

12.             Deerhunter /Spoon – Aragon Ballroom

11.            Woods/Netherfriends – Lincoln Hall

10.            Janelle Monae/Of Montreal – Riviera Theatre

9.            Dean and Britta perform Galaxie 500 – Lincoln Hall

8.            Mission of Burma – Double Door

7.            Massive Attack – Riviera Theatre

6.            Panda Bear – Pitchfork Music Festival

5.            Roger Waters – United Center

4.            Atoms For Peace/Flying Lotus – Riviera Theatre

3.            The National – Riviera Theatre

2.            LCD Soundsystem – Pitchfork Music Festival

1.            Caribou – Pritzker Auditorium

Favorite Outdoor Venue: Pritzker Music Auditorium

Favorite Indoor Venue: Lincoln Hall (Location of where the 3 Penny Theatre used to stand near Lincoln Ave. and Halsted).