Favorite albums of 2011 at the halfway point: 10 - 9 - 8 - 7 - 6 - 5
Ilse: Nr. 4. J. Mascis – Several Shades Of Why
Though Joseph Mascis is better known as the frontman of grungy alternative rock outfit Dinosaur Jr. ; his solo work is definitely something that shouldn’t pass anyone unnoticed. His new album ‘Several Shades Of Why’ features mostly acoustic songs, clearly contrasting the much noisier and lo-fi nature of Dinosaur Jr.’s sound. The music on the whole also sounds a lot fuller, and the most remarkable part about it is that it makes Mascis’ distinctive voice come out a lot better and clearer than on your average Dino Jr. album. The songs are quite heartfelt and at times Mascis’ voice almost sounds breakable, something that is probably hard to imagine when you are looking at him mounting a stage with a can of beer in his hand, an expression filled with aloofness and an arse crack appearing above his trousers whenever he bends over to adjust his amp or pick up a guitar, making it all seem whether he got to the venue straight from the trailer park. But then when he starts to play it’s just a solid performance and the impressive guitar skills heard on the album are even a little more spectacular live. One of my favourite tracks from this album is ‘Not Enough’, which is accompanied by a great video featuring amazing graphic artwork by Chad VanGaalen. All in all, ‘Several Shades of Why’ is a great album to listen to excessively, it’s truly a ‘fun’ album, despite the more sensitive and, somewhat more than accustomed to with J. Mascis, emotional nature of the songs. Perhaps another reason why this is album is up here relatively high is that there is some personal attachment to it, which always makes it easier to repeatedly listen to a certain album, especially if the feelings or memories it brings up are positive, right?
Though Joseph Mascis is better known as the frontman of grungy alternative rock outfit Dinosaur Jr. ; his solo work is definitely something that shouldn’t pass anyone unnoticed. His new album ‘Several Shades Of Why’ features mostly acoustic songs, clearly contrasting the much noisier and lo-fi nature of Dinosaur Jr.’s sound. The music on the whole also sounds a lot fuller, and the most remarkable part about it is that it makes Mascis’ distinctive voice come out a lot better and clearer than on your average Dino Jr. album. The songs are quite heartfelt and at times Mascis’ voice almost sounds breakable, something that is probably hard to imagine when you are looking at him mounting a stage with a can of beer in his hand, an expression filled with aloofness and an arse crack appearing above his trousers whenever he bends over to adjust his amp or pick up a guitar, making it all seem whether he got to the venue straight from the trailer park. But then when he starts to play it’s just a solid performance and the impressive guitar skills heard on the album are even a little more spectacular live. One of my favourite tracks from this album is ‘Not Enough’, which is accompanied by a great video featuring amazing graphic artwork by Chad VanGaalen. All in all, ‘Several Shades of Why’ is a great album to listen to excessively, it’s truly a ‘fun’ album, despite the more sensitive and, somewhat more than accustomed to with J. Mascis, emotional nature of the songs. Perhaps another reason why this is album is up here relatively high is that there is some personal attachment to it, which always makes it easier to repeatedly listen to a certain album, especially if the feelings or memories it brings up are positive, right?
Random track to listen to: ‘ Not Enough’
Linda: Nr. 4. Bright Eyes – The People’s Key (Polydor)
I’ve never been a big Conor Oberst fan. I like all his Bright Eyes, solo and Monsters of Folk output, but it never managed to really entice me. Maybe it’s my current obsession with sci-fi (for which I blame Alan Moore, who is even more amazing in person than his comics might imply), but with ‘The People’s Key’ Oberst had me at the scorpion-men intro. The almost paranoid opening must have some sort of meaning, but as Oberst would rather leave his audience in the dark than use a powerpoint to present his album ideas in the way Sufjan Stevens has done on his last tour (and I’m to lazy to actually find a insightful review that does have the answers), I’m at a loss. But Conor Oberst still manages to sell out the Royal Albert Hall so he must be doing something right. And on this album, that ‘something’ would be writing actual songs that would do quite well as radio singles. ‘Jejune Stars’ and ‘Haile Selassie’ are just two of the tracks on this album that make me wonder why this hasn’t reached the level of exposure which would lead my mom to have a vague sense about who he is (on last inspection, she knew a surprising amount about the Kaiser Chief’s last album, meaning that someone is lacking in putting actual music out there).
Random track to listen to: 'Beginner's Mind'
Stef: Nr. 4. Holy Ghost! – Holy Ghost! (DFA)
Oh you know I love these lads. Interviewed them a while back, and they just love music. Moreover, they love the warmth of analogue sounds, the pureness of disco, and they believe in the effectiveness of mixing emotion with catchy songs. This warmth and wistfulness are two important aspects of this album in my opinion, they sure do it for me. But next to evoking these kind of feelings and emotions, the songs are also very catchy and tuneful, and all are borderline singles. It takes disco back to one of its main qualities: dancing on emotions. Whether these are of yearning, sadness, love (positive or not so positive) or happiness (and all feature on this album I reckon); it doesn’t matter. This combination is perhaps easiest to see in ‘Jam for Jerry’, the emotional track on the death of drummer Jerry Fuchs, which the lads of Holy Ghost! give an extremely tight rhythm. “I’ve got the feeling I’ve done / something half wrong / it surrounds me / drowns me in it”, but like any disco tune, the most emotional part is also the part where you dance. Warmth, emotion, and good tunes; now how can you beat that? And just when you think it couldn’t get any better, Michael McDonald unleashes his voice on the last track. Great debut by those two men.
Random track to listen to: ‘Say My Name’
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