Bobby B's Top 50 Albums Of The Decade (#25-21)

For ramblings on how I came to compile this list go here. And for commentary on previous selections: [#50-46] [#45-41] [#40-36] [#35-31] [#30-26]

25. Kid A - Radiohead (2000)

While I completely understand my own enthusiasm for this album, I can't say that I really get why everyone else loves it so much. I've noticed that it's already topped some other 'best of the decade' lists and it was also Radiohead's first mainstream number one. But if this album is so commercially viable, then how come King Crimson isn't the most popular band of all time? Or how come other old school eccentricitists like Can or Van Der Graaf Generator isn't emanating out of every 14 year old girl's headphones? I'll never understand how Radiohead has done it, but I'm very glad that they have, because expanding the boundaries of what can be referred to as music is something that has been explored as far back as the early 1900's with french composer Edgar Varèse, and brought into the mainstream by the psychedelic movement of the 60's. Say what you will about Radiohead's over indulgent ways, but any band that brings a redefining of what is acceptable to the mainstream masses is worthy of our respect. And Kid A sounds awesome in headphones. [Myspace: Radiohead]

24. Destroyer's Rubies - Destroyer (2006)

So I've had just over 3 years to fully absorb Dan Bejar's way of thinking as is transmitted through his lyrical wordplay, his thoughts and transgressions along with carefully studying just how his mind works and what it is that makes him tick and I gotta say that I still don't know what the hell he's talking about. But he just sounds so dang cool when he's musing and Destroyer's Rubies continues to be an entertaining listen from start to finish. The fact that it confuses me to the point where there are many times while listening that I find myself actually laughing out loud at how bizarre his ruminations can get (i.e.-sapphires vie for your attention, cheap dancers they mean well in their way but priest says - "please, i can't stand my knees and i can't bear her raven tresses caught up in the breeze like that!" etc etc etc) is only part of its charm and I still find it most enjoyable to continue the journey to finding out what it all means. Besides, if Bejar was easier to understand, what would be the point of returning? [Myspace: Destroyer]

23. Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots - The Flaming Lips (2002)

It is a risky move to create an album that is steeped in the glory days of prog, it is an even riskier move to create an album that is steeped in the second wave and significantly lesser cool days of nouveau prog. The fact is that Wayne Coyne's musical opus about dueling futuristic robots has more in common with FM's Black Noise and ELO's Time than it does with more "respectable" acts like Pink Floyd or Can. Of course, much like my number 25 pick above, this all explains why the album is on MY personal list, but it doesn't really make sense of the fact that the public at large seemed to enjoy this album also. It's a weird one, that's for sure, with its electronic flourishes and bizarre content, and admittedly, I have to be in the mood for it. But when I am, it's an awesome sonic spectacle that reaps rewards and surprises with every listen. It's amazing, but I've listened to the album hundreds of times and there'll still be certain noises, blips, bleeps and moments of instrumentation that catches me off guard, particularly within the two major instrumental pieces, Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots Pt 2 and Approaching Pavonis Mons by Balloon (Utopia Planitia). I also appreciate the album's lasting power, and how some of the songs that I thought were throwaways at first, have become my favorites, such as In The Morning Of The Magicians and All We Have Is Now. Stunning. [Myspace: The Flaming Lips]

22. Funeral - Arcade Fire (2004)

Ok, so this album is great and wonderful and fantastic and bla bla bla, yada yada yada. It's a great album, I get it. This one is destined to top more decade end charts than any other, and it's deserved, nobody is denying that. I do think that the accolades are a bit overblown, especially the ones where people are calling this the most original thing they've ever heard. The fact is, if you've ever listened to anything prior to this decade, than you know that not only has this sound been done before by the likes of Byrne, Bowie and others, but it's also been done better. Heck, if you really know your Canadiana, then you must've noticed how much Neighbourhood 3 (Power Out) sounds eerily similar to Rush's Red Sector A, at least at certain moments. Does that stop this from being a great album? Of course not. If you're going to emulate past artists, those are good ones to go to, even if the Rush fans and Arcade Fire fans still refuse to mingle at my parties. And as much as I hate the hype, the album is still responsible for some of my favorite musical moments of the year. The last minute breakdown of Une Anee Sans Lumiere, the woah-oh-oh's of Wake Up, the incredible lift-off of Rebellion (Lies) and the epic grandiosity of In The Backseat. So to sum up: album=great, overhype=bad. Alright? We still cool? [Myspace: Arcade Fire]

21. Boxer - The National (2007)

If ever there was an album that was a textbook example of a grower for me, this was it. At first I found it very hard to focus on. The borderline comatose slur of Matthew Berninger was consistently lulling me to the sleep, and if I wasn't such a sound sleeper then I'm sure that the blast of horns at the end of Fake Empire should have waken me with a jolt, but at first, it didn't. Then I went from easy distraction to mild intrigue, thinking that a couple of the songs were pretty dang epic before finally embracing the album as a whole the way most of my friends already had. Like most of my all time favorites, taking the time to let these recordings sink in is what eventually triggers a response within me, a response that, quite honestly leads to addiction and that's the case with Boxer, I've become addicted to it. This magnificent album is one of contrasts, as it is both comforting and alienating, political and deeply personal, melacholic and triumphant. It's a great album to put on when I'm feeling good, and it's an even better album to put on when I'm feeling lousy. That settles it, I know what I'm going to be listening to today. [Myspace: The National]

Tomorrow: Bobby B's 50 Albums Of The Decade (#20-16)

The High Dials - Moon Country

It takes a very talented band to remain fresh and original without repeating themselves. This is what makes me love Montreal's The High Dials so much. In their original incarnation as The Datsuns, they were another above average Nuggets-inspired garage band, which was cool. Other bands of that ilk have proved beyond any measure of doubt that this sound is all that they can do and although they continue to regurgitate album after album of the EXACT SAME THING, The Datsuns were determined not to all into that trap. They changed their name to The High Dials and explored more of a psych-rock territory for their second album, A New Devotion, much to the high praise of none other than the ultimate modern day psychster Anton Newcombe. Well, here they are a few albums later, and they've managed to do it again. Moon Country is the name of their latest release, and this time I'm hearing more of a power pop sound, not entirely dissimilar to Big Star or Teenage Fanclub. Oh, their psychedelic slant is still in tact, but the reigns of accessiblity have been pulled in just a little bit and, as per usual, it works really well. Although many of the songs are a little bit more straightforward this time around, trippiness still abounds aplenty on a few of the tracks. Seagull Blues morphs from a singalong head bobber to a droney instrumental in a matter of seconds, quite unexpectantly. Open The Gates is the most blatantly psychedelic number, with the voice alterations, fuzzy guitars and slightly muffled drumline all merging together to form an 8 minute existential oneness (!!) (OK, that last statement probably doesn't make sense but it's what I felt like typing while the song was playing.) If that's not your cup of meat however, most of the songs cut to the chase nice and quicklike, such as the Lennon-ish Clare, the beautifully executed My Heart Is Pinned To Your Sleeve and the slight Britpop of Invisible Choirs. While many bands have lost their ability to know when to quit and call it a day, The High Dials' ability to reinvent themselves while still sounding very much like themselves is a talent that they should continue to nurture for many albums to come.

The High Dials are playing on Tuesday night (November 11th) at The Horseshoe on what is probably the greatest free bill I've heard of all year! Evelyn Room are on at 9; The Golden Hands Before God come on at 10; you've got Spiral Beach bouncing around at 11; and then this here band The High Dials go spinning at 12! Holy awesomeness!!!

Myspace: The High Dials
Download: Killer Of Dragons mp3


More stuff: I've made no secret about how much I dig Sweden's Loney Dear and it looks like his new album Dear John will be released on January 27th. The new single Airport Surroundings is being streamed over on Pitchfork and I like it a lot! [Myspace: Loney Dear]

80's pop band Ultravox is doing a little reunion tour of the U.K. in 2009; beginning in Edinburgh on April 10th, and ending in Portsmouth on April 28th. I've gotta be honest, I didn't know that there was still this much interest in the band. Cool. [Myspace: Ultravox]

Bob Dylan's world tour takes him to Ontario starting today. He's not coming to Toronto, but he's playing strange venues like John Labatt Centre in London and General Motors Centre in Oshawa. Does anybody else think that this is sort of strange but kinda cool at the same time? [Myspace: Bob Dylan]

Oasis' Noel Galagher gives us some of his opinions of Radiohead at Spin Online. OK, everybody's entitled to their opinion but "they've been making the same record since Kid A"? Erm, excuse me black pot, have you met kettle? [Myspace: Oasis; Myspace: Radiohead]

A blog entitled From Closer To Near has just posted Pitchfork's list of the 500 greatest songs from punk to the present. It's a pretty cool list although part of me wishes that it was done in some sort of numerical fashion instead of being divided up by year. Still, it's definitely an enjoyable time waster. It is going to be released in book form on November 11th. [Official Pitchfork 500 site]

Wow, and while scouring the net for some other newsworthy items to post here, I just saw that HeroHill has just finished posting their very own review of The High Dials as well. So, y'know, great minds and all of that...

Radiohead - In Rainbows

Probably the most blogged about, buzzed about, spoken about event in the world of music over the past month has been the pay-what-you-want digital release of Radiohead's new CD "In Rainbows." It's already been talked about, blogged about, reviewed about an awful stinking lot so I'll keep my review relatively brief. I think it's an excellent album, in many way possibly their best since "OK Computer." It's at least their most accessible, since it is definitely more song based as opposed to sound based. Most of my friends either love them or hate them, although I'll have to say that the haters generally consist of people who have been listening to the same music for the last 20 years. Radiohead has always been for those who appreciate change and expansion in music, as opposed to cranking out essentially the same release every time you put out a new album. Radiohead is once again, the most original band out there, and for an ADD'er like myself, I thrive on their surprises. One thing that I really appreciate about it is something that seems to be a sore spot for others. It's the simple fact that it's only 42 minutes long. That, my friends, is the perfect length for an album. I felt that even "OK Computer," as great as it is, was probably a song or two too long. But anyhoo, there's my brief review; let's get to the real topic at hand.

The band's choosing to release the album digitally, essentially for free, has been quite the source of controversy among fans and all sorts of industry types. (Interesting discussions can be found here and here, for example.) Some feel that this is all a bit hypocritical for a couple of reasons. It's been said that it's easy for Radiohead to stick it to the man, simply because they've been relying on the man to make them as big as they are. A valid point perhaps, although I feel that putting the music industry in its place has to start somewhere, and it has to be somewhere big for people to take notice. Other artists have done this, (I remember Harvey Danger doing so a few years ago) but none of them were arguably the biggest band in the world. Some also feel that this is nothing but a big publicity stunt. Of course it is! But how is something going to make a difference if it isn't being publicized? There's also the argument that if something is offered with the option of obtaining it for free, people will always choose the free route. I personally don't think that's true, especially since music has always been something that people are very passionate about. Statistically, the average band only makes a few cents per CD sold, so even if you toss them a toonie (for my other parts of the world readers, that's Canadian talk for 2 bucks) the band still comes out ahead. Finally, there also seems to be a bit of an uproar over the fact that the bitrate is less than the highest bitrate possible, and that the alternative of purchasing the boxset at 80 bucks is ridiculous. These two things don't really concern me since I go to way too many concerts, therefore I'm deaf, therefore a bit rate of 160 kbps sounds fine to me. As far as the the boxset goes, I won't be buying it, but from what I see at the stores, 80 dollars isn't too bad concerning all that you get. I also said early on that I'm pretty sure a standard release will be made available soon enough, and now from what I hear, we'll be getting one in January. It'll be interesting to see how much those go for.

One thing that I'll definitely be interested in seeing is how much a ticket to their show is going to cost. As of yet, I have never seen Radiohead in concert. Chances are, I never will, due to the simple fact that I can't afford it! Will they be going the usual ticketmaster route, or is there some way to get around that? I predict that this download venture will actually see them at the end of the day with more money in their pockets than usual, so does this mean that they can tame down the ticket costs? Are they in a position where they can do special "free" shows at intimate venues? I personally don't see how it would even be possible to do such things, but Radiohead has always had that admirable (or irritating, depending on how you look at it) twinkle of controversy in their eyes, so it will be interesting to see if I actually post a concert review of their show on this goofy little blog sometime next year. Until then, I'll just keep enjoying the new album in my ipod while I walk over to the shows that I can afford to go to. It looks like there's going to be ton of them in November, so stay tuned.

You probably already know this, but "In Rainbows" can be downloaded here, at their website, for whatever you want.

Nurses - Hangin' Nothin' But Our Hands Down

Nurses is a wicked awesome band from California who have created a truly remarkable album in “Hangin’ Nothin’ But Our Hands Down.” They’re obviously very interested in bucking the current musical trends (and really any other past trends too for that matter) and creating a listening experience that really is like no other. Of course, in order to make a recommendation one has to find a point of comparison somewhere. I guess there’s a little bit of TV On The Radio, Q And Not U or Radiohead in their eclecticism. But what makes them unique is that they are eclectic, true, but they are not so avant garde that they require a lot of getting used to. No, the hooks and melodies are there, but they’re presented in a wholly original way. In fact, I was compelled to write this review based on a single listen. It really is THAT impressive. “Way Up High” made me laugh with its wacky vocals, thumping piano and crazy “buh-weeep” whistle sound that the band obviously just threw in for the heck of it. “Wait For A Safe Sign” and “Act Now! You’re King” could have been simple pop songs if that band chose to go that route. The verse-chorus-verse thing is there but they threw in so many Zappa-esque background doo-wops that mainstream radio will likely find it hard to get past that. Of course, that is exactly why I hate mainstream radio and why I love Nurses.

Download:
Alone At Last mp3
Hungry Mouth mp3

You can purchase “Hangin’ Nothin’ But Our Hands Down” here.
Visit Nurses myspace page.