Holy F’ing Cow! It’s Time For A List Of Albums That I Love So Much That I’m Putting Them On A List Of Albums That I Like

It’s July 2nd and NPR has already put together a best of 2010 list. What a ridiculous practice. Who the hell is interested in looking at a best of the year list when we’re only halfway through the year? Stupid timewaste if you ask me.

Here’s my list of The Best Albums of 2010 So Far:

12. Vampire Weekend, “Contra”

11. The Dead Weather, “Sea Of Cowards”

10. Broken Bells, “Broken Bells”

9. Spoon, “Transference”

8. She & Him, “Volume Two”

7. MGMT, “Congratulations”

6. Frightened Rabbit, “The Winter Of Mixed Drinks”

5. LCD Soundsystem, “This Is Happening”

4. Wolf Parade, “Expo 86”

3. Broken Social Scene, “Forgiveness Rock Record”

2. Local Natives, “Gorilla Manor”

1. The National, “High Violet”

At this point, it would take the second coming of “Sgt. Pepper” to knock The National off the top stop.

There have been a few disappointments and underwhelming efforts for me. “Infinite Arms” by Band Of Horses is a huge disappointment for me. I adore reverb soaked vocals and guitar as much as ever alt-country junkie out there and this group was championing that cause. This record is just, well, boring. I don’t know. Maybe I expect too much from these bands?

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How can my brain handle the deadly combo of Craig Ferguson’s genius and the beauty of “Airplanes” by Local Natives? I really can’t. Honestly, you need to hop on board with this band before Apple or Cadillac buys one of their tunes and bombards you with it in an effort to sell products. Damn you capitalism! Can’t we just buy music from these people? Why do you evil companies have to try and make money in addition to bands that sell their songs in an effort to make money?

It’s difficult to type sarcasm sometimes.

Forget Eryka Badu, Cinematically Correct Made A Guerilla-Style Nude Music Video Back In 1993

There are so many great albums coming up (Broken Social Scene, Band Of Horses, Hold Steady, Rufus), not to mention the greatness of April 17th, which is Record Store Day. Here are a few albums I’ve been listening to lately, including a re-review of the latest Spoon album.

Oh, I didn’t make a nude video. I know it was bothering you.

• MGMT, “Congratulations”

So far, I like this album way, way more than “Oracular Spectacular”. That first album just seemed like it was too cool for school, where as this one is definitely way more experimental. Almost every single song sounds like two, or even three, different songs in a four minute span. The worse part about it is that I can’t get “Flash Delirium” out of my head.

• Drive By Truckers, “The Big To-Do”

Hm, wonder what I think of the latest album from one of my favorite bands. It’s stellar. It’s way better than “Brighter Than Creations Dark”, but not quite as good as my favorite record from them, “The Dirty South”. I am a bit taken back by their constant songs about economic hardships while the entire band is decked out in Billy Reid gear from head to toe. Dude, those shirts ain’t cheap.

• Spoon, “Transference”

As usual, I didn’t like this Spoon album after the first go round. Now it’s awesome. Why does this band insist on doing this with every single record? What a skill to make me so put out after one listen that I say I’ll never listen again, then by the fourth time, you profess its greatness.

• Frightened Rabbit, “The Winter Of Mixed Drinks”

I’m a bit worried about this Scottish band. They could slowly be going into Snow Patrol territory…which means that they will then slowly go into U2 territory. That’s just icky. I’m just not interested in the quiet verse then explosive chorus arena rock tune anymore. This entire album avoids it for the most part, but it sneaks in there every now and then. Grrr…

• Local Natives, “Gorilla Manor”

Go buy it now. I cannot say anymore or stress this enough.

• She & Him, “Volume Two”

I really can’t go into all the reasons why this album is awesome without pissing my wife off. Umm…it’s really good?

• Shearwater, “Golden Archipelago”

This band isn’t for everyone. They are about as dramatic sounding as you can get, but if you like heavily layered, melodic tunes with some fairly unique instrumentaion, along with…oh dear Lord I just went crosseyed.

Heavy Quick Music Hits! The Lips, The Stripes, The Vampires…Oh, Betty White Too

There hasn’t been a run of great new albums in quite some time. Sure, I’m obsessing over Local Natives, but it’s hardly made a serious dent on the music scene. Since I haven’t had any music talk here for awhile, here’s a few quick hits:

• The White Stripes are releasing a live album titled “Under Great White Northern Lights” on March 16th. The album is for a concert film with the same title that covers their 2007 Canadian tour. You know…the one in which they played a small show on a boat. Oh, if you follow the link here, you can listen to the album online.
• On a side note, if you haven’t seen the documentary “It Might Get Loud”, see it. Even if you aren’t a music geek, you should dig it. It had me on permagrin for two hours. You really haven’t lived until you see Jack White build a guitar out of two pieces of wood and an empty Coke bottle.
• This Saturday, I will see The Flaming Lips perform “Dark Side Of The Moon”. This will no doubt be sick. The Flaming Lips’ movie “Christmas On Mars”…was not sick. It may have actually made my wife sick instead. This is not stopping Wayne Coyne from moving forward with another movie. This time, Wayne is hoping to pull in bigger stars than Fred Armisen. He claims to be in talks with Justin Timberlake…which is actually quite awesome sounding.
• Everyone is talking about how great Vampire Weekend was on SNL this past weekend. Sure, “Cousins” was fun and cool…but “Giving Up The Gun”? So, so boring. I’m just not a fan of the song or a performance that had the majority of the band not playing instruments. The best music of the night was the piano performance of Zach Galifianakis. Greatness.
• Speaking of SNL…Betty White has confirmed she will appear on the show at some point this year.
• Finally…in news to only excite reverb-loving, country rock fans, Band Of Horses will release “Infinite Arms” on May 18th.

Quick Hits!! Damon Goes Against Type, Kevin Smith Bottoms Out, & Why Are Most Hobbits English?

Hm, I can’t seem to find much random stuff this morning for me to blather on about. I will say that I am in love with the Local Natives album “Gorilla Manor”. They are easily my new favorite band of all time that I’ll listen to this week and obsess over for a month or so.

• Wow, these early “Cop Out” reviews sure sound like the movie is a major, major stinker. Is it time for the world to realize that Kevin Smith may be a…deep breath…bit of a hack? Trust me, those who know me will realize the paradigm shift in thinking this represents for me. Look…he hasn’t made anything really worth seeing since “Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back” and even that flick is more amusing due to the inside jokes than anything else.
• Tracy Morgan isn’t funny.
• Is Matthew Goode the next Bilbo Baggins? I would be okay with that choice. He’s a good actor (see “The Lookout”, “Match Point”) and has earned a shot at the big time. I haven’t seen “A Single Man” but I’ve read enough to know he’s good in it as well.
• In a move that goes against all convention, Matt Damon will play Robert Kennedy in a new biopic. No doubt that Damon will have to leave his militant right-wing beliefs in his trailer as he steps into this role. It’s going to be tough for him to play such a famous Massachusetts liberal like RFK.
• The Coen Brothers have rounded out the cast for their remake of “True Grit” by hiring the unknown Hailee Steinfeld. So far, they have aforementioned Matty Damon, Josh Brolin, and the genius of Jeff Bridges stepping into the famed John Wayne role. Seriously…just give Bridges Best Actor for this already. I don’t even have to see it. This movie is definitely The Greatest Movie of All Time That No One Has Seen.