Category Archives: The National

Listmania ’12! Music Round-Up

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2012 was yet another year of austerity for Shades of Caruso. Unsurprising. This was, after all, a year in which the global economic meltdown even brought about the cancellation of a universally popular but prohibitively expensive TV show like CSI: Miami – the show so important and groundbreaking that it led to the creation of this blog. If the endlessly dynamic and gestalt-shattering adventures of Horatio Caine are no longer considered profitable enough to keep on the air, then what hope the rest of us? As belts were tightened disposable income vanished, and it looked like I wouldn’t be able to buy enough music to justify a post celebrating anything. In 2011 I vanished into a jazz hole for most of the year; this year I couldn’t even afford to do that.

And then came Spotify, many years after everyone else began using it, and that all changed. The tenner a month I spent on that was possibly the best money I spent all year, transforming a dour work environment into a wonderland of musical exploration. I could listen to even more jazz! I could try out albums I would never have bothered with otherwise! I could go back and catch up on stuff I should have heard years ago! The other night I was justifiably unhappy as I read yet more bad press about the poor, beleaguered BBC, before Spotify swooped in and gave me the chance to compare the Menier Chocolate Factory cast recording of Sunday In The Park With George with the original Broadway recording. This might seem like small consolation at 4 in the morning, but to realise that the lovely Daniel Evans version of Finishing the Hat was actually not even as lovely as Mandy Patinkin’s rendition, with more grandiose orchestral backing, was a revelation.

At times this year I’ve wondered how I’d get through the night, but Spotify turned this around. Yes, the funding model for bands is appalling, and I appreciate that the system is not anywhere near perfect yet, though some of the bands I’ve enjoyed this year might even have made something in the region of $3 at the very least thanks to repeated listens. You’re welcome, Grimes, by the way. Hopefully this can be resolved soon; I can’t afford to buy all of the albums I’ve enjoyed this year, but I’ve tried to pimp out the stuff I’ve loved, in the hope that someone else would pick up my financial slack. Nevertheless, the guilt I feel is almost completely wiped out by the relief I feel at keeping my interest in music alive. The amount of variety I’ve experienced as a result means all of my lists here are larger than usual; a consequence of the revolution in my head.

Best Albums:

20. Blunderbuss - Jack White

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19. Slaughterhouse - Ty Segall Band

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18. Nootropics - Lower Dens

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17. Put Your Back N 2 It - Perfume Genius

perfumegenius

16. Bend Beyond – Woods

woods

15. The Only Place – Best Coast

bestcoast

14. Just To Feel Anything – Emeralds

emeralds

13. Cancer For Cure – El-P

cancerforcure

12. Lonerism - Tame Impala

tameimpala

11. Reign of Terror – Sleigh Bells

sleighbells

10. Among The Leaves - Sun Kil Moon

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9. Lost Songs - …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead

andyouwill

8. Celebration Rock - Japandroids

japandroids

7. Major – Fang Island

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6. Total Loss - How To Dress Well

totalloss

5. America - Dan Deacon

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4. Visions – Grimes

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3. Spooky Action at a Distance - Lotus Plaza

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2. Shields - Grizzly Bear

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1. Channel Orange – Frank Ocean

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Best Singles:

10. Dark Parts - Perfume Genius

9. Myth – Beach House

8. Anchor - Tu Fawning

7. Year of the Glad – Marnie Stern

6. I’ll Be Alright – Passion Pit

5. The House That Heaven Built - Japandroids

4. Call Me Maybe - Carly Rae Jepsen

3. I’m Shakin’ – Jack White

2. Thinkin About You - Frank Ocean

1. Sleeping Ute – Grizzly Bear

Best Album Tracks:

20. Anchor – Future of the Left

19. Goddess Eyes II – Julia Holter

18. Five Seconds – Twin Shadow

17. Hollywood Forever Cemetary Sings - Father John Misty

16. Wait - DIIV

15. The Place I Live - Mount Eerie

14. Backseat Freestyle – Kendrick Lamar

13. Is It Honest? – Woods

12. Drones Over Bklyn – El-P

11. Catatonic – …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead

10. Half Gate – Grizzly Bear

9. Asunder - Fang Island

8. Lots - Dan Deacon

7. & It Was U – How To Dress Well

6. Be Above It – Tame Impala

5. Crush – Sleigh Bells

4. Bad Religion – Frank Ocean

3. Monoliths – Lotus Plaza

2. Monkey Riches – Animal Collective

1. Genesis – Grimes

Best Album Cover of the Year: Clear Moon – Mount Eerie

mounteerie

Hear me out. It might seem like a really boring cover, but this image of a mountain on a bright moonlit night, shrouded in mist, when coupled with the atmospheric sounds of this exceptional album, have propelled me into a reverie many times this year, transforming any number of sullen tube trips into magical journeys. It might not be an iconic image, but it captures the sound of the album so perfectly it’s like a window into frontman Phil Elverum’s head.

Worst Album Cover of the Year: Tempest – Bob Dylan

tempest

Worse than Good As I Been To You. Worse than Empire Burlesque. There are just no words.

Disappointment of the Year: Centipede Hz – Animal Collective

centipedehz

Were it by any other band I would have loved this but Animal Collective are coming off a trio of albums so impressive they topped my lists in each of the years they were released. Not a bad album, per se, but only the mighty Monkey Riches supplied their usual chaotic uplift.

Most Hypnotically Troubling Album of the Year: Among The Leaves – Sun Kil Moon

Mark Kozelek might not be the biggest artist in the world, and might even survive in most people’s minds as little more than a punchline, but to his fans he’s a constant, the writer of songs both epic in size and intimate in scope, a droning (in a good way) background noise to our lives. It’s impossible to love him and not know that the guy is often pretty spiky and unhappy, but Among The Leaves, the latest on his own Caldo Verde label and a continuation of his post-Admiral Fell Promises “minimalist” period, finds him even more troubled by, and resentful of, his lack of success, reminiscing about happier times in a way so excoriating and unpleasantly honest that it becomes almost masochistic to listen to. Nevertheless, his lyrics have become sharpened to a point and those sparse arrangements are now counterpoints to that frankness, and if the soundscapes of his past might have disappeared as a result of budgetary constraints, the new phase in his career might bring about a critical renaissance. If people can handle the escalation in the scale of his self-loathing, that is.

Favourite Vocal Performance of the Year: No One Like You – Best Coast

Favourite Middle-Eight of the Year: Regalia – Fang Island

Most Darkly Funny Track of the Year: UK Blues – Sun Kil Moon

Most Emotionally Wrenching Track of the Year: Set It Right – How To Dress Well

Best Opening Track of the Year: I Know It’s Pathetic But That Was The Greatest Night Of My Life - Sun Kil Moon

Best Closing Track of the Year: In The End Is The Beginning - Lower Dens

Best Throwback To The Glory Days Of Tangerine Dream: Everything Is Inverted – Emeralds

Most Gratefully Received Return To Form: The Sound Of the Life Of The Mind – Ben Folds Five

Best Video of the Year: True Thrush – Dan Deacon

Best Albums I Heard This Year For The First Time, And Yes, I Know Some Of These Are Shocking Omissions But Gimme A Break, At Least I Got There In The End, Okay?:

20. Q. Are We Not Men? A. We Are Devo - Devo

19. The Golden Age of Apocalypse - Thundercat

18. Let The Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel – Atlas Sound

17. Low – David Bowie

16. Open and Close – Fela Kuti

15. Requiem For My Friend – Zbigniew Preisner

14. Post-Nothing – Japandroids

13. Alligator – The National

12. Childish Prodigy – Kurt Vile

11. White Light / White Heat – The Velvet Underground

10. Ghosts of the Great Highway – Sun Kil Moon

9. Swim - Caribou

8. Talking Heads 77 - Talking Heads

7. Freedom of Choice - Devo

6. King of the Beach – Wavves

5. Tarot Sport - Fuck Buttons

4. Plastic Beach - Gorillaz

3. I Get Wet - Andrew WK

2. Treats – Sleigh Bells

1. Alive 2007 – Daft Punk

And for those who have Spotify and want to give any of these a try without having to deal with YouTube’s ads, here’s a link to a playlist of 60 songs.

FAO those who are waiting for the multipart Listmania! film lists (and much to my surprise, apparently there are people waiting on them, which is massively flattering), I’m working on them up until the last minute to pack in as many movies as possible. They should be done by the time the next scheduled apocalypse comes around. Or at least earlier than the UK release of the majority of the most critically acclaimed films of the year yes I know I complain about this every year but goddamnit my Twitter timeline is all Django this and Bigelow that and I’m allowed to pout, okay?

Listmania ’10! Music Round-Up

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Whenever I do these stupid-ass lists I always try to keep the numbers down, and the music list is usually easy. I might only listen to about 20 albums a year, and it’s hard to find more than ten that I really love. This year I’ve had to do a top 15 because it’s been the best year of music I can remember, and I know I should’ve listened to even more, or given certain albums more times (I know Cosmogramma by Flying Lotus needs more than the hasty listen I gave to it). Even more annoying is that that crazy bastard Yeezy only went and released the most critically-acclaimed album of the year in December, and like an idiot I didn’t bother listening to the various streamed tracks earlier in the year because I wanted to wait to hear the whole damn thing in one go. As a result I have only listened to it about seven times in its entirety. That it still ranks so highly here is a testament to its obvious brilliance.

The only other thing making me a little hesitant about this list is that I found out this morning that somehow I have been listening to Joanna Newsom’s incredible triple album in the wrong order. Having thought that it was a little odd to have the last disc be composed of almost exclusively slow and mournful songs, it now makes perfect sense. Sadly I haven’t had time to listen to the whole thing in the proper order: as I’m an album snob who thinks the track order is an essential aspect of the work, who knows if that would affect its position here? The world awaits any future amendments to this post, I’m sure. Anyway, here is the conservative list of an almost middle-aged white man with not enough hip-hop in his music collection, a man who wishes Animal Collective could release an album every year, and whose only experience of playing music is playing Rock Band, which is ALMOST EXACTLY THE SAME AS PLAYING AN INSTRUMENT so there, musicians with a stick up their arse. #annoyedbymusiciansdissingmyfavouritegame

Best Albums:

15. Marnie Stern – Marnie Stern

14. The Monitor – Titus Andronicus

13. The Wonder Show of the World – Bonnie “Prince” Billy and the Cairo Gang

12. The Courage of Others – Midlake

11. Does It Look Like I’m Here? – Emeralds

10. High Violet – The National

9. Crazy For You – Best Coast

8. The ArchAndroid – Janelle Monae

7. Contra – Vampire Weekend

6. Fang Island – Fang Island

5. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy – Kanye West

4. Have One On Me – Joanna Newsom

3. This Is Happening – LCD Soundsystem

2. The Suburbs – Arcade Fire

1. Halcyon Digest – Deerhunter

Best Album Tracks:

10. Risky Biz – Marnie Stern

9. Goodbye – Best Coast

8. Desire Lines – Deerhunter

7. Troublesome Places – Bonnie “Prince” Billy and the Cairo Gang

6. Esme - Joanna Newsom

5. Bring Down – Midlake with Stephanie Dosen

4. Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) – Arcade Fire

3. Treeton – Fang Island

2. I Want To Be Well – Sufjan Stevens

1. Lost In The World – Kanye West and Bon Iver

Best Singles:

10. Rocket - Goldfrapp

9. Revival - Deerhunter

8. Boyfriend - Best Coast

7. Cold War – Janelle Monae

6. Four Score and Seven – Titus Andronicus

5. This Too Shall Pass – OK Go

4. We Used To Wait - Arcade Fire

3. Bloodbuzz Ohio - The National

2. Runaway – Kanye West feat. Pusha T

1. Radar Detector – Darwin Deez

Best Album Track That Will Soon Be Released As A Single: Run - Vampire Weekend

Best Opening Track: Dance Yrself Clean – LCD Soundsystem

Best Closing Track: He Would Have Laughed – Deerhunter

Best Video: Drunk Girls – LCD Soundsystem

Best Song From A TV Show: Gunfight Epiphany – Rob Duncan (the theme tune to Terriers)

Best Animal Collective-Related Song: Stick To My Side – Pantha Du Prince (feat. Panda Bear)

Coming soon: way too many blogposts about my movies of the year. (ETA: In case some humorless musician sees my earlier comment and is enraged by my Rock Band moaning, I was being facetious about the game while being totally serious about sticks up arses.)

Hipster Douchebag Music Recommendation Of The Week: "Slow Show" by The National

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Actually that headline should probably read “Of The Fortnight”, considering how I only got three weeks in before missing a week. Oops. Listen, I’m busy reading Zadie Smith and going to lectures by Elizabeth Wurtzel and then hanging out in coffee shops eating tiramisu; I don’t always have time to sit here and post while redoing my dreads. (Actually I’m confusing myself with Ellen Page’s character in Hard Candy, which we just watched. It was ball-slicingly brilliant!)

This week’s selection is “Slow Show” by The National. Any of you Chuck or One Tree Hill watchers out there have probably already heard this song, as apparently it’s been on both shows (as well as being used incessantly by the BBC promo department), which pisses me off a bit. Not because I don’t like the shows (okay, not just because — I know Chuck is bad by firsthand knowledge; One Tree Hill is just bad by reputation) but because this always happens to me. I seem to have an uncanny ability to hear of a singer or band just before the producers of TV shows and commercials do, and for maybe a few months I think I’m relatively alone in knowing the music, but my illusions are soon shattered when I hear the songs on CSI: Miami commercials (Antony and the Johnsons’ heartbreakingly beautiful song “Hope There’s Someone” was played over images of our redheaded hero saving children from terrorist Nazi clowns or whatever the hell was going on that week, and oh god I hope Antony Hegarty feels good about himself).

I don’t know whether to be depressed at the way corporations co-opt “cool” bands to get themselves a bit of credibility (not that all TV shows are about corporate interests — but in the case of the above TV shows, they were certainly trying to appear “down with the kids” and “jiggy wit’ it” and “hep to that style, daddio”), or whether it’s good that bands that are probably struggling financially get themselves more exposure and more fans. A bit of both, I suppose. I suppose it also means that the music the bands are making is more appealing to the masses than people assume, which can only be a good thing, really. I absolutely love a lot of mindless Top 40 pop music — I’ll confess here that a few years ago I could not stop playing Hilary Duff’s “So Yesterday”, which probably disqualifies me from douchebaggery entirely — but it’s really good to see when actually properly thoughtful and complex music gets popular. Of course, anything that is critically respected at first usually ends up suffering a massive backlash (see: Coldplay), but them’s the breaks, I guess.

At any rate, here’s the best video I could find — set to Jean-Luc Godard’s “Masculine-Feminine” because…well, just read the poster’s description. The song starts about 30 seconds in.

I really like the rest of the album (Boxer), though I don’t love it completely, and I haven’t had the opportunity to listen to the rest of The National’s output. But I adore this song. There’s something addictive about the way it builds — becoming (slightly) faster and peppier as the initially morose lyrics give way to cautious optimism (or is it?? Yes, it probably is).

Matt Berninger’s voice would make the aforementioned “So Yesterday” sound like a funeral dirge, I have to admit, but the song has a self-deprecating quality even as it becomes more hopeful. (I think comparisons to Stuart Staples of the Tindersticks are quite apt — the bands are even on the same label — but I think Berninger has a bit less of a muffled subway announcer’s drone. Though I may just feel this way because I had to sit through a Tindersticks concert of an album I didn’t like one song on. Damn you, Admiral!!) [Again with the Tindersticks hatred? I'm cut to the core of my flamenco-tinged fandom. Excuse me while I depart in sadness, and walk through the rain to the nearest sleazy bar, where I will smoke a cigarette, dolefully drink whiskey, and stare in heartbreak at a picture of Jacques Brel behind the bar - Neck] It starts out with the words that probably go through every introvert’s brain at a party:

Standing at the punch table swallowing punch
can’t pay attention to the sound of anyone
a little more stupid, a little more scared
every minute more unprepared

I made a mistake in my life today
everything I love gets lost in drawers
I want to start over, I want to be winning
way out of sync from the beginning

But as soon as we think that the singer’s going to become more depressed as the song goes on, berating himself more and more, we get this sudden ray of hope for the chorus:

I wanna hurry home to you
put on a slow, dumb show for you
and crack you up
so you can put a blue ribbon on my brain
god I’m very, very frightening
I’ll overdo it

There’s such self-hatred in the lyrics that they’re hard to hear — he thinks he’ll even disappoint the person who loves him — but there’s hope and relief in them, too, at the knowledge that this person, at least, will give him some comfort. (Or there’s cowardly wish to escape, but I prefer the former.) The second verse is more self-recrimination, and the second chorus more wishing that he were at home with his lover, but this time a little faster and lighter.

Then the song shifts, and we hear the mournful yet weirdly hopeful sound of an accordion — which to me is the hook of the song — and then a piano riff that will make you instantly recognize the song the next time you hear it, and some even more poignant lyrics:

You know I dreamed about you
for twenty-nine years before I saw you
You know I dreamed about you
I missed you for
for twenty-nine years

Which pretty much breaks your heart. It’s a love song about depression, or perhaps even about someone who’s loved unrequitedly for years. Either way it’s simultaneously depressing and hopeful (have I said that already?), and that’s all you can really ask for in a song. I’ll be listening to this one for years.