I mainly sought this out because of the AWESOME name but it turned out to be four tracks of psychedelic instrumental-centric atmos-rock that lived up to my expectations more than satisfactorily, albeit not in the manner I expected. Unfortunately it's so mysterious and not-shit that I can't think of any funny jokes to make about it. Wait wait! Eternal Tapestry? Yeah right! More like SPINAL TAPestry if you ask me!!!!!! Hey, they're broadly within the confines of rock music, fuck you.
JAM: Reflections in a Mirage
19. Wilco | “The Whole Love”
Despite "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" being an utterly magnificent work of experimentalist pop-rock, Wilco have gradually lost their indie cred and embraced the mellow sounds of dad-rock, which is uncomplicated rock music that middle-aged men can bang out to show they're still down with the kids. Example; I showed my dad Dawned On Me from "The Whole Love" and he fucking loved and now he wants to buy the album! In situations like this it's lucky I'm not a pretentious P4K windbag, because it hasn't deterred me in the slightest from my unequivocal belief that the aforementioned Dawned On Me is the best power-pop jam Wilco have put out since maybe I'm Always In Love from "Summerteeth" which was released aeons ago when their instrumental heart Jay Bennett was still alive and people still thought they were alt-country because a couple of their members were in the overrated (where are the hooks, guys?!) Uncle Tupelo.
As much as I hate to declare a record to be a "return to form" or "the band doing what they do best", this is no "A Bigger Bang"; Wilco have returned to the tried and tested formula of weird arrangements and damn good songcraft, songs that are well-crafted including the sprawling (CRITIC BUZZWORD, translation = "long") Art of Almost, Born Alone and Standing O, the latter being so good that we can even forgive the band for writing the first letter of the title's second word and thinking "hey, let's have a cool ambiguous single letter!". There's even a bonus disc with some above-par material for those who know how to torrent or have a bit of cash to spare. The guitars are noisy. Jeff Tweedy still sings in a pretty likable way. I don't think Wilco have ever been bad, but while their last few albums show them getting a little too comfortable and set in their ways, here they find comfort in doing something that challenges them a bit. It pays off!
Newly-converted Wilco fan Jack's dad repeatedly mistakes the band for blues-playing Voldemort-lookalike Wilko Johnson.
JAM: Dawned On Me
You know the drill; distorted, feedbacky guitars and pop hooks, with both female and male vocals. This sounds like a lot of other bands but they do the Dinosaur Jr/Sonic Youth/Ride/My Bloody Valentine/blah sound very well and are better than Yuck. Man I'm wiped out from that Wilco review...does your band reference both The Beatles and Star Wars in the name? No? Then GO HOME.
Also, these nice, enterprising young Texan chappies spell "colour" in the British, CORRECT way. Extra points.
JAM: So High
The deathliest picture of Starr I have ever seen. © D. Menham, 2011
17. J Mascis | “Several Shades of Why”
This truly is the year of the male solo artist, or it could just be that I really like them seeing as Neil Young and Sun Kil Moon dominated my 2010 charts as well. This year, however, it's more singers/guitarists from great bands taking the solo routes, with excellent albums from Thurston Moore, Gruff Rhys, Stephen Malkmus and this J Mascis record being welcome antidotes to the abject lack of Sonic Youth, Super Furry Animals, Pavement and Dinosaur Jr LPs. Ok, time-wasting over; feedback-friendly J plays acoustic guitars for the most part and sings in his loveably cracked voice, which is fine at least, especially slathered in gorgeous strings and all kinds of guitar overdubs (even some flat-out tremolo shit that springs out of nowhere on Is It Done!). Naturally his strength as a player is highlighted even with his restraint from his usual Young-esque exploratory solos, as Mascis fingerpicks his way through pretty, lilting pseudo-country highlights like the wonderful Not Enough. Critics put too much emphasis on the album as an event or supposed source of innovation, which to me often sounds like a very boring person sucking a laptop's dick, but J Mascis knows that it's the songs that are important.
JAM: Not Enough
JAM: Not Enough
16. Radiohead | “King Of Limbs”
+ (From The Basement)
I don't love Radiohead. Never had much of an emotional reaction to their songs. Don't necessarily see them as this modern Beatles they're pimped up to be. Would never list them as a favourite artist.
They're a great band, though. Let's be fair; over eight albums they've covered a lot of ground and always made sure to write pretty good songs. On "King of Limbs" I would argue that if the songs are maybe not quite up to the standards of their previous work, the band more than compensate with the slippery grooves that run pretty deep through the piece (remember, Radiohead don't write albums, they write "pieces" because they literally spring from the cock of Jesus). The great thing is, that although Radiohead have embraced electronic music, they still play their songs as a band and for this reason I favour "King Of Limbs: From the Basement" over the original album as a chance to wonder at the band's incredible tightness and mastery of their complicated arrangements. The grooves really are awesome.
JAM: Lotus Flower
JAM: Lotus Flower
15. Shabazz Palaces | “Black Up”
Hippitty hoppity electro beatz wiv HARD BARS. Got it because there was a hype surrounding it thanks to legendary (synonym; "they released one Nirvana album, and it was "Bleach"") indie rock label Sub Pop picking up the group when they had previously been averse to rap music. The song titles are as long as MY PENIS (promise the next blurb won't feature a phallic reference) which hints at the intricate lyricism contained within. Also, like, these dudes are like totally HIP-HOP and like BLACK and shit and they're on SUB POP omfg maybe this album will be like "Bleach" except not in any way. I don't even know who I'm making fun of now. Maybe the hype-spreaders? Why hasn't Sub Pop been signing rap artists for the 20+ years of its existence? If there are shit-hot rappin' wonders like this in Seattle then damnit the label should keep more of an ear out. Obviously it renders pretty good results.
JAM: An Echo From The Hosts That Profess Infinitum
JAM: An Echo From The Hosts That Profess Infinitum
Senior Sub Pop executives prior to the discovery of Shabazz Palaces.
14. Creepoid | “Horse Heaven”
Don't be fooled by the album name, "Horse Heaven" is no My Little Pony companion album, but rather totally unclassifiable. Just kidding; it's indie rock, obviously. Nasty, buzzing guitars run through it like a mass-death-inducing rift in the time-space continuum runs through Conservative Party HQ in my dreams. It is a pleasure to lazily pimp these sleepy drones.
JAM: Grave Blanket
Don't be fooled by the album name, "Horse Heaven" is no My Little Pony companion album, but rather totally unclassifiable. Just kidding; it's indie rock, obviously. Nasty, buzzing guitars run through it like a mass-death-inducing rift in the time-space continuum runs through Conservative Party HQ in my dreams. It is a pleasure to lazily pimp these sleepy drones.
JAM: Grave Blanket
13. Gruff Rhys | “Hotel Shampoo”
If Super Furry Animals are the best band ever to emerge from Wales and certainly amongst the best purveyors of psychedelic schizo-pop/electronic trip-rock or whatever the fuck, then Gruff Rhys' solo material is amongst the best in the market if you lo-fi fruity pop dittying. The singer's gentle falsetto guides these lovely songs over acoustic guitars, pianos, OBVIOUSLY bass and drums (listed them in case of passing pedants) and his beloved Casio keyboard, which provides sikk beats and groovy key tones which are all hilariously cheesy. If this all sounds a bit twee and simplistic, this Welsh stoner has more delightful hooks in his head than prime minister David "Little Lord Fauntelroy" Cameron has frightful crooks in his bed! If the silly sound affects, steel drums and funky brass of Sensations in the Dark don't charm you then I guess you probably don't particularly like this music. Fair enough.
Asshole.
If Super Furry Animals are the best band ever to emerge from Wales and certainly amongst the best purveyors of psychedelic schizo-pop/electronic trip-rock or whatever the fuck, then Gruff Rhys' solo material is amongst the best in the market if you lo-fi fruity pop dittying. The singer's gentle falsetto guides these lovely songs over acoustic guitars, pianos, OBVIOUSLY bass and drums (listed them in case of passing pedants) and his beloved Casio keyboard, which provides sikk beats and groovy key tones which are all hilariously cheesy. If this all sounds a bit twee and simplistic, this Welsh stoner has more delightful hooks in his head than prime minister David "Little Lord Fauntelroy" Cameron has frightful crooks in his bed! If the silly sound affects, steel drums and funky brass of Sensations in the Dark don't charm you then I guess you probably don't particularly like this music. Fair enough.
Asshole.
12. Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks | “Mirror Traffic”
Stephen Malkmus has as little a desire to be in Pavement as David Cameron does to be in the European Union. This is a shame, as the sloppy dynamic of Pavement always complimented Malkmus' guitar style in the same way that actually having a modicum of allegiance to the countries that neighbour us was more of a help than a hindrance, despite our refusal to adopt the same currency as every other nation mirroring Malkmus' supposed refusal to recognise fellow guitarist Spiral Stairs' songwriting. Admittedly, the pound is stronger than the euro and Malkmus' songwriting is stronger than that of Spiral Stairs but ANALOGY DITCHED
hey doesn't "analogy" look kinda like "anal orgy"?
The Jicks kick ass. I don't know who's in them apart from the fact their bassist is a chick (damn near essential if you're forming an indie rock group with good guitar parts), but they sound great. There's even pedal steel guitar on the catchy-as-all-fucking-hell opener Tigers, an eternally welcome instrument to my ears. Middle-aged SM sounds pretty much exactly the same as his younger self, both in his madcap guitar playing and his vocals, with his voice forever wondering into falsetto or losing interest in the melody, but he has found a solution to the latter; every song is positively stuffed with different musical movements, forever moving and forever catchy. Great LP. Album of the year apart from eleven others!
JAM: Senator
hey doesn't "analogy" look kinda like "anal orgy"?
The Jicks kick ass. I don't know who's in them apart from the fact their bassist is a chick (damn near essential if you're forming an indie rock group with good guitar parts), but they sound great. There's even pedal steel guitar on the catchy-as-all-fucking-hell opener Tigers, an eternally welcome instrument to my ears. Middle-aged SM sounds pretty much exactly the same as his younger self, both in his madcap guitar playing and his vocals, with his voice forever wondering into falsetto or losing interest in the melody, but he has found a solution to the latter; every song is positively stuffed with different musical movements, forever moving and forever catchy. Great LP. Album of the year apart from eleven others!
JAM: Senator
