(By Richard Goodman, March 2012)
Another year
has gone by which means I have somehow been forced once again to change the way
I find and consume music. Browsing music
stores has long stopped being an option, as has MTV and broadcast radio, and even
music magazines are starting to disappear too.
The most successful way to find stuff I like seems to be listening to
commercials and watching television shows.
I say that a bit sarcastically because there are some people who only
hear things through those venues whereas although I sometimes discover new things
through them, more often it’s a matter of recognizing something I’ve already
come across before. This year, I have
done a lot more downloading from Amazon because it isn’t worth paying hefty
prices for CDs from unproven talents that had a great 15-second blast in an
iPod commercial. I’m willing to gamble
$5 on a digital album from a buzz-worthy band but I won’t shell out $15 for the
physical CD of that same band. On actual
CD, I’m buying only what I think I will really like. For a digital or cloud purchase though I can
relax my standards or not have such high expectations to begin with. I don’t feel like I’ve been bilked if I only
spent $5 on something that isn’t worthwhile.
Plus, I can sample a snippet of the songs before buying so I have a
general idea if I think it will sound okay.
For that same reason, I’m starting to buy singles again, albeit digital
singles. Some bands aren’t worth
gambling even the $5 on so I get the song I know I like and skip the rest. At least the artist still gets some money
from me for the single, because I wasn’t going to buy the album anyway.
As I mentioned, the way I’m discovering what to buy has
radically changed. I’ve been listening
to Pandora on my phone so I get streaming radio that plays songs related to the
main artist I selected. It is a random
selection, and I can’t rewind or fast forward through a song. I can skip one but not too many in a row or I
get chastised with an ad. I’m also listening
to Spotify a lot, a whole lot. It is a
whole new way to consume music, unlike conventional or satellite radio (which I
still listen to as well) and most of the streaming services (http://sowhatelseyougot.blogspot.com/2012/03/hit-streaming-service-spotify-eyes-us.html). Spotify plays what you want, whenever you
want and you can control it just like playing a CD on your stereo. For a majority of things I’m interested in, I
can listen to the whole album and decide if I like it. If I do, I buy it. It beats getting an album from Lana Del Ray,
Kelly Clarkson, Tennis or Toro y Moi and finding out it isn’t that great.
Spotify really scares me though. If I can pull up something I like, whenever I
feel like it, and play it in its entirety, why do I need to buy it? It’s like having your entire music collection
in the cloud but not having to pay for it nor even take the time and effort to
upload it. I’m not sure how musicians
will get paid for their efforts. What if
nobody opts for the paid Spotify plan (which extends the unlimited listening
ability to include not only your computer but also your mobile devices)? Will it completely kill the music
industry? (And by kill, I don’t mean
ending conglomerate music companies who rip off their artists. I mean kill as in no one, not even do-it-yourselfers,
will be able to support themselves by playing music for a living.) I would hate to think I helped kill the music
business so I continue to support artists I like by buying their creative
output. I’m just now a much more
informed consumer and have vetted the product before buying it.
Along these lines, I have compiled two playlists for
you. They contain my favorite songs for
2011. These are the songs I liked the
most, the ones that played over and over in my car and on my computer. The lists are labeled as “What?” and
“That!”. The songs on “What?” are things
I liked but that may be new to most people.
You probably haven’t heard the song and might not know who the group
is. Things on “That!” are songs you
know, that you may have heard way too much probably but that I thought needed
to be compiled because they are good songs.
You’ll just have to wait three years until you’ve sort of forgotten
about them and you can hear them again with an almost open mind and a fresh
ear. I am also including some comments
about each selection so you know why I liked it or what brought it to my
attention. If you would like to hear the
songs, let me know and I can send you a CD of each playlist. I’m also going to see in if I can compile and
share the playlists on Spotify. (If I’m
successful though, you have to promise to buy something from one of the
artists- I refuse to be responsible for killing the music industry.) After the comments, I’m including my favorite
albums for the year, the ones that disappointed me the most and then my monthly
mix CDs for the car so you can see what else I listened to and liked but didn’t
quite make the cut for the best of the year playlists.
Year In Music 2011 (Disc 1- What?)
St. Vincent- Cruel: I’m a big fan of female musicians because
they seem to be more willing to take chances with their songs. Guys all want to be rock stars so they write
loud, dumb songs with lots of guitar, just like they heard on the radio when
they were playing air guitar in their bedrooms.
Chicks want to be songwriters, so they write songs that sound good but
aren’t necessarily rock songs. St.
Vincent is one of those bands that is really a one-“man” show. Annie Clark plays the guitar, sings and
writes the songs and she has a real weird idea of how to do that. Some of the songs are shoe-gaze dream pop and
others are art-rock pieces. Then there
is this song. “Cruel” sounds like a
weird mix of latter-day Queen, particularly the guitar solos from “I’m Going
Slightly Mad”, and Gwen Stefani’s “Holla
Back Girl”, including the near yodeling of the chorus. Guys would be scared to write a song as
interesting as this.
Kate Nash- I Love
You More: When they set their
mind to it though, some guys can write interesting songs that also rock. One of best examples of that is The
Pixies. I’ve loved the band ever since I
saw them open for Love & Rockets.
One of the weirdest guys in the business is Black Francis. He writes rock songs that somehow go askew
partway through the song. The vocals
might suddenly turn into random screaming or the instruments go almost silent
or the tempo abruptly speeds up or slows down or does both within 30 seconds. Of course, there is a girl in the band who
also helped write their stuff so maybe that explains some of it, why there is
melody amid the noise. Or is it noise
amid the melodies? That is the paradox
of the Pixies and that is why I really miss their unique sound. They did five albums before breaking up- three
great ones (Surfer Rosa, Doolittle, Trompe Le Monde), one good one (Come On
Pilgrim) and one mediocre one (Bossa Nova).Five albums and they were gone
although their influence continued on to bands like Nirvana and Radiohead. Kate Nash wrote one of the best Pixies songs
I’ve heard in a long while. She starts
with a typical song structure, crunchy guitars and breathy vocals, and then
towards the end she goes “Heath-Ledger-Joker” meaning she gets totally
demented, randomly wailing and shrieking until the song winds down. Several other songs on her album are good too
but this one is the stand-out since it is so different from the dance-pop,
hip-pop, crap rock you hear these days.
Cage The Elephant-
Aberdeen & Around My Head:
If Kate Nash wrote a good could-have-been-a-Pixies-song song, Cage The
Elephant took it to the next level and then two steps beyond that. I got the first C.T.E. album but that was
bland compared to this gem. They wrote
what could have been a lost Pixies album between the fourth (Bossa Nova) and
final (Trompe Le Monde) albums. Half the
CD sounds like an homage and the other half sounds like a current indie pop
album so I put two songs on this year’s compilation so you can see that
diversity. This album was one of my
favorites of the year.
Whitesnake- Steal
Your Heart Away: When I said
guys wanted to be rock stars, this is exactly what I meant. This has it all- long indulgent guitar solos,
bludgeoning drum solos, histrionic vocals and completely ridiculous lyrics, all
in a six minute long epic of hair metal stupidity. Yeah, I’m making fun of this song but I liked
enough to put it on my mix this year.
Sometimes you just need to rock out, unironically, to clear out your
head and reset your expectations. I
usually use dance-pop songs to do that but occasionally I want a bit more
testosterone in my aperitif (and I do realize all the reasons that sentence is
the exact opposite of testosterone laden.)
Tragedy- Shadow
Dancing: Everything I mocked,
but still loved, about Whitesnake is present in this band. They exist simply to mock hair metal
clichés. They do this by extending the
style to other genres, thus showing the ridiculousness of those clichés. I already wrote extensively on a blog about
Tragedy, the #1 heavy metal Bee Gees tribute band (yes, I really just said
that- it was not a typo), at http://athoughtoccuredtome.blogspot.com/2011/10/tragedy-happens-luckily.html
so I won’t say much else other than I
love this “band”. They create a
brain-befuddling mix of sounds and they have a great sense of humor. How can you not like a band who puts out an
album titled “Humbled By Our Greatness”?
Daft Punk- Derezzed: Good act and completely incredible first
album. Everything since then has been a
progressively steeper decline in quality.
I thought the soundtrack to Tron would reverse that but it turns out
that the two minute long musical snippets comprising the score for the movie’s
scenes aren’t long enough to tell for sure.
It sounded good while watching the movie but it loses something
listening to it without the visuals to go along with the music. Either that or they really have completely
lost their touch. The one thing I
thought worth salvaging from the film score was this piece, played during the
club fight scene.
Spoon- The Minor
Tough: Spoon makes low-fi alternative rock, relying mostly on acoustic
sounds and/or under-produced songs. I
hate low-fi rock yet I love Spoon. I
think that means they are good. This is
one of the two or three gems from their indie, early-days compilation a series
of sneaks.
Carbon/Silicon- DisUnited
Kingdom: Imagine if Mick Jones from both the Clash and Big Audio
Dynamite merged the two band’s styles, gathered a few friends and collaborators
and did some songs that he posted for free on his website just to keep himself
occupied. Well, no need to imagine it
because that is exactly what happened here.
Hot Chip- One Life
Stand: I’d heard some buzz about this band for a couple of years now
and finally bought a CD. Meh. The title track is really good at least- a
dance/pop ode to fidelity and true love that conveys real emotion and
sincerity. The rest is forgettable so
I’m passing on buying anything else unless I happen to listen on Spotify and
hear something else I like by them.
The Fixx- Shred Of
Evidence: I don’t know when I became a big Fixx fan but somehow I own
all their albums now. My brother-in-law
burned me a copy of the four I didn’t have so now I own the whole catalog. This song is from the 2-disc greatest hits CD
I got last year. I got the collection
mainly to have physical copies of some of the songs on those four burned CDs
since they are lower sound quality MP3 versions than those found on regular CDs. Plus, there were several live and demo
versions of stuff that I thought would be interesting to hear. This song is originally from the Calm Animals
album but I hadn’t heard it in so long that it was like brand new to me and I
really liked it (again.)
The Crash- Gigolo:
It was 2:00 AM at night (in the morning) at a poker game and I had actually
been drinking some beer while playing.
The host had his cellphone hooked into a speaker in another room and eventually
this song came on. When faint strains of
the song first reached my poker-addled brain, I walked into the kitchen to
stand next to the phone and listen to the song clearly. None of the previous 20 obscure songs had
made any impression on me at all, not even the Japanese pop stuff, but this one
did. I pulled out my phone to Shazam it
as well so I didn’t forget the name of it the next morning. Gigolo is from a 2003 album by an obscure
Finnish band no one has ever. It’s a
pop/disco throwback a la “Funkytown” so it tickles all my soft spots. Nothing else on either of their two albums,
that I bought used, is remotely comparable though- this is a perfect “Buy just
this song” band. That night is also the
first time I tried Bon Chon chicken- tasty, crunchy, juicy but with bones in
weird places and it requires 30 minute call ahead service. You can’t just walk in and get some.
Keane- Looking
Back: Did you ever wish the
theme from the movie Rocky had more lyrics?
Your prayers have been answered.
Keane decided to write a song based on that riff. So now you have a
whole song instead of just a really cool horn/brass riff that repeats for three
minutes. It is just as inspirational as
ever but it is a slightly bizarre feeling to hear the theme popping out in the
chorus.
Little Steven- Forever:
when I watched MTV as a kid back in the
80’s, there was this barely one-hit wonder song/video by some guy named Little
Steven who played in Bruce Springsteen’s band.
I recently came across my CD (yeah, a compact disc) of the song that I
had converted from my tape of this single (yeah, a cassette tape) and decided
to put it on my computer (yeah, my laptop) so I could listen to it some
more. I just loved the chorus, the sound
of the horn parts and the video where he rides around on a ridiculous looking
bicycle that was probably supposed to look cool. Twenty some years later, that guy helped
create and immortalize the television show The Sopranos, he created a fantastic
weekly radio broadcast featuring new and old garage-style rock & roll,
which became a satellite radio staple, he’s produced several albums for other
artists and he’s a respected voice in the music community. Not bad for a guy riding a stupid bike.
Mark Ronson- Love
It (In The End): Ronson is a
producer, most famous for having worked on Amy Winehouse’s big album, but after
listening to several of his own outings, he should really be considered a
multi-platform threat. He can write cool
songs, find the right artists to perform them, and produce the heck out of
them. I think he was more than slightly
responsible for Winehouse having a hit and here on this album, he creates some
great stuff in his own right. This song
has that same retro-style, like a lost 1960’s song that suddenly came to light
again, but is bolder than a lot of the stuff actually made in that era.
Emily Osment- Gotta
Believe In Something: Yeah, this
is a bubble-gum pop song from a former Disney Channel actress (and also Haley
Joel –The Sixth Sense- Osment’s sister) but I like it. It has a peppy chorus and a nice message that
isn’t burdened down by the cynicism of regular musicians. It is lightweight pop and if that is done
right, it sounds really fun. For instance,
Bananarama aren’t taken seriously as artists, but who doesn’t love “Cruel
Summer”, one of the most perfect lightweight pop songs ever written? This song isn’t quite in ‘Rama’s league but
it does momentarily fill my craving for aural candy.
Dandy Warhols- Little
Drummer Boy: Now speaking of
cynicism, here’s the poster boys for it, which makes it odd that they decided
to cover a Christmas song. Dandy Warhols
songs are normally full of sarcasm, jokes and ennui, and the music is all about
fuzzy, droning guitars and extended noisescapes. For some reason, what they do really excites
me whereas someone like Bush, Sonic Youth or My Bloody Valentine don’t really
have the same effect. I don’t know
why. This same style is used on the
classic Christmas song Little Drummer Boy and they make it sound like one of
their songs, not something you find in a Rankin-Bass animated television show. It is now tied for first place (with the Joan
Jett version) as my favorite rendition of this song which is also one of my
five favorite Christmas songs.
Mogwai- Rano Pano: I have no idea who this band is or what they
are doing on my list. Well, I do now,
obviously, but they are not someone who had been on my musical radar. Until I heard this song on a CMJ compilation,
I hadn’t heard their name before and had no idea what kind of music they
make. I still don’t actually, because I
listened to a couple of their albums on Spotify and only found two songs I
really liked. The rest weren’t bad but
they didn’t hold my attention long. This
one though, I have played over and over again.
It has a hypnotic sound, even with the jarring guitars and weird
sounds. Listening to it makes me feel
like I’m meditating in the middle of an apocalypse, like the world is
collapsing around me but I’m at peace in my mind.
Foster The People-
Warrant: Lots of people have heard of this group by now but most people
probably haven’t heard this song. In
fact, songs like this are a big reason why I am opposed to the disappearance of
albums. If you focus solely on singles
and just try to have a hit, bands won’t experiment as much and they won’t come
up with great album cuts like this one.
Actually, they won’t have as many hits either because the big success
from this album (“Pumped Up Kicks” from Torches) was not a song that the writer
considered a single and it was a surprise to them that a song about a serial
killer (yes, go back and really listen to the lyrics) was a hit. This means the hit wouldn’t have existed at
all if the band wasn’t trying to come up with enough songs for an entire album. I love the chorus of this song, both the
lyrics and the harmony vocals. It also
plays as a sequel of sorts to “Kicks” because the song is about a criminal
running away because of a warrant on his head and people wanting to take him
alive or dead. It’s also more muscular
than the laid-back “Kicks”, more anthemic and propulsive.
Grouplove- Tongue
Tied: This is another song that
lots of people have heard even though they don’t realize it. They have heard fifteen seconds of it on an
iPod commercial but not the full version.
I heard it in reverse, late at night on the radio first and then later
on the commercial where I thought “Wait, isn’t this…”. It is a happy sounding song and every time I
heard it I want to get up and dance around the room and sing out loud, even
though I do both of those things poorly.
Year In Music 2011 (Disc 2- That!)
Foster The People-
Pumped Up Kicks: In last year’s music review (http://richardsrantingandramblings.blogspot.com/2011/05/year-in-music-2010.html
) I anticipated that this song would pop up on my favorites for the following
year and I was right. Still love the
song. The surprise is that the rest of
the country came across it too and turned it into a big hit.
Peter, Bjorn &
John- Second Chance: This one wasn’t that big of a hit, but the reason
it is on this list instead of the other list is because you hear this song
every week on television, as the theme song to Two Broke Girls. I’m glad
that PB&J get some money for song licensing but I get annoyed when I
song I like becomes a theme song because I can no longer listen to the song on just
a musical basis. Every time I hear this
song now, I think of the Kat Dennings show (and want a cupcake), just like
every time that The Who’s “Who Are You” or “Won’t Get Fooled Again” comes on
the radio I think of the “CSI” shows, complete with the forensics and dead
bodies. If I play Billy Joel’s “My
Life”, “Bosom Buddies” comes to mind since it was used as the theme song. That kind of throws off your mindset right
away- men in drag are sort of a distracting image when listening to a
song. I better start getting used to it
though since that’s one way for artists to make money these days. Plus, there is the occasional perfect match
of song, television show and theme. The
opening credits for “Chuck” do justice to the Cake song and Veronica Mars used
the Dandy Warhols song “We Used To Be Friends” as their theme and that never
bothered me. In fact, I always tuned in
early enough to catch the opening credits because I wanted to hear the theme-
the song was great and the mood and lyrics for it fit exactly with the tone of
the show. One of my favorite songs and
one of my favorite shows- a perfect association.
Martin Solveig
& featuring Dragonette- Hello: I have a couple of albums by Dragonette so
when I heard this song on the radio, I immediately liked it. It is a nice club sounding track.
The Limousines- Very
Busy People: I got the whole Limousines album even though on first
listen the tempo of the songs all blended together. What started to emerge from the similarity
though were the different and very entertaining lyrics. The writer is a smart ass and a provocateur
so even on the bland songs, there is something to appreciate. I think this song is about some people who
think they have very busy lives and do important things even though how they
describe things leads you to believe they are actually deluded slackers. These guys are the best musical humorists
since The Bloodhound Gang (and they are way less smutty.)
Ke$ha- Blow:
Everyone knows about Ke$ha so her shtick
is no surprise anymore. You either like
her or you don’t. I was surprised at how
quickly she came out with a second album but I’m glad she did because there
were several excellent songs on it, or rather several excellent Ke$ha
songs. Some of the things she pulls off
would not work for any other artist. No
one else could make the lyrics “You don’t want to mess with us/ I got Jesus on
my necklace” rhyme, much less be a highlight of the song. My favorite song from the second album,
Animal, was this one.
Pink- Raise Your
Glass: Pink is the perfect
singles artist. Everything she releases
as a single is great and everything else on the album sucks. She is the counter argument to my Foster The
People lament about needing to see full albums from an artist instead of just
singles. Pink should release just two
songs a year and do a greatest hits album of those songs every five years,
because that is how long it takes for radio to stop playing them and for me to
stop being tired of hearing them.
Cee Lo Green- Forget
You: “Tired of hearing it” is exactly what I think when I hear this
song come on, regardless of the version (“F You, “Forget You” or “Fuck
You”). I change the station whenever I
hear it now. It is still a great song
though and you might not be as annoyed with it as I am so that’s why it is on
this list.
Red Hot Chili
Peppers- Adventures Of Rain Dance Maggie: Almost as soon as I heard it, this became one
of my favorite Chili Peppers songs, which means you might not like it since no
one likes my other favorites- One Big Mob, Aeroplane, Scar Tissue- and they love
the ones I hate – Under The Bridge, Give It Away, Suck My Kiss. This did get lots of airplay though, which is
understandable because there were no other good songs on the “I’m With You
album. I was so disappointed with the
album.
Kid Rock- All
Summer Long: I waited three
years to get this song because I didn’t think I wanted to get the whole Kid
Rock album just for one song. I kept
looking for a download of it and never found it since Rock is an anti-digital
artist. Eventually, I got a used copy
and found that I was pretty much right in my assessment. There were a few other decent songs, like So
Hott, Sugar and Half Your Age, but nothing as transcendent and inspired as this
mashup of Warren Zevon’s Werewolves Of London and Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Sweet Home
Alabama.
Aloe Blacc- I Need
A Dollar: I’d never heard of this guy so when someone I was talking to
said he was there current favorite artist, I had to check him out. I downloaded
the album from Amazon for $5 and it was worth it for this song and two others
(Love You Is Killing Me and Green Lights).
The song eventually found its’ way into a commercial so you probably
know it as well by now.
B.o.b. & Bruno
Mars- Nothin' On You: Bruno Mars
was everywhere last year. If he wasn’t
writing the song, he was singing on it or producing it. He had a bunch of hits as a solo artist and
also guesting on other people’s songs (which he likely wrote for them). He has a smooth croon to his voice, a sincere
sound that is full of sugar and longing.
This is one of my two favorites of his.
Far East Movement-
Rocketeer: This is the other
one.
Lady Antebellum- Need
You Now: I don’t need to say
anything about this one. Everyone knows
it and loves it as much as I do.
Black Keys- Howlin'
For You: The Black Keys really
hit it big last year. Their success
started with the Danger Mouse –produced song “Tighten Up” and then was
solidified with this song. They are both
very raw sounding, very emotional and very powerful. When deciding which of the two to include, I
listened to both of them repeatedly.
This one barely edged out the other because it is slightly less
repetitious and is more layered but they are both fantastic.
The Heavy- How You
Like Me Now: You know this song
because of the car commercial it was used in, the one with the Yo Gabba Gabba
characters and the sock monkey. This
song rocks even without the bizarro commercial (you can skip the other songs on
the album though.)
Michael Buble- Haven't
Met You Yet: Yes, I listen to
show tunes, so what? You might say this
isn’t a show tune, that it is a Harry Connick knock-off, but I would point out
that everything Connick did was a show tune of some sort. It either literally was one or it at least
sounded like one, which is just what Buble does too. This is an infectious piece of fluff that
gets lodged in your brain after ten seconds of the chorus.
Usher featuring
Pitbull- DJ Got Us Falling In Love:
a “clubby” song and a very good one.
Catchy and aggressive.
Selena Gomez- Love
You Like a Love Song: Remember
what I said about Emily Osment’s song?
All of that applies here except that you have heard this one a lot on
the radio. I am sure that Selena has no talent of her own; that her success is
the result a studio producer bringing together all the necessary elements for a
good song but it works. This is a very
good song, it works on several levels.
It’s edgy, melodic and lyrically sound.
It’s a pop song but a dark pop song, like ABBA used to make. Plus, her voice is interesting and brings
something extra to the song, like the way Miley Cyrus is also a puppet but her
throaty vocal style redeems things.
Whitney Houston, who passed away this year, didn’t write anything herself
and she relied on the producers in the studios to help concoct a good song but
her voice made the song her own. If
Gomez can continue to find good songs and work with good producers, she might
make my list again (and the same for Miley.)
Cast Of
"Glee"- Pure Imagination:
I’ve stopped watching Glee for the plots that don’t involve Britney and
just pay attention when a song comes on.
They cover some unusual choices, like this one- the linchpin from the
Willy Wonka movie. THE Willy Wonka
movie, meaning the Gene Wilder one. It’s
a classic song that deserves to be rediscovered and the cast of Glee does a
good job with it.
Adele- Rolling In
The Deep: Everyone has heard
this song. Everyone loves Adele. I don’t, at least not as much, because I
thought the album could be better. I got
it when it first came out, hoping all the songs would be like this one-
dangerous, booming songs featuring powerhouse vocals and raw emotion. The other songs do have the vocals but the
intensity is lacking, at least to me. I
like Rumour Has It and Set Fire To The Rain but nowhere near as much as Rolling
In The Deep. It still holds up, still
has an impact after dozens of listens.
I’ll close out my list with this song, the most universally acclaimed
one of last year. Besides, it would be
hard to find something that could follow it.
So that has been my list of favorite songs for the year. I hope you found a few new things that you
liked, which is really my intent here. I
want to share things I like and hear from you what you liked or hated and what
you would recommend to me. Music is
supposed to be a communal thing, drawing people together, disseminating ideas
and sharing interests.
Here are my favorite albums that I listened to last year
(the year they were actually released is in parenthesis). The lists are in descending order so my
overall favorite album last year was from Cage The Elephant, followed by the
Black Keys and continuing on to the decent She & Him Christmas album which
was my 15th most favorite of the year. The disappointing albums don’t necessarily
suck, although some of them do (like Lady GaGa’s- I didn’t hear a single song I
liked, after two albums that were full of great songs), but more often it is
because of the wasted potential. The Cars got back together and recaptured
their unique sound but forgot to write any good songs which is why they top the
list as the biggest disappointment of the year.
All of the elements were there except good music. The same thing happened to The Human League
and Was Not Was. Adele was a
disappointment for the reasons explained above but that didn’t mean she had no
good songs- just that there should have been more. After the albums list is my list of Car CDs,
the things I liked the most that month, pulled from what I listened to in my
car on the way to work. You can see what
other things I listened to and liked but that didn’t quite make the top 20 cut
for the year. Please pass on to me any
comments you have, any disagreements and- most importantly- any music you would
recommend for me. I’m all ears.
Richard’s Favorite Albums Of 2011
1)
Cage The Elephant- Thank You Happy Birthday (2011)
2)
Black Keys, The-
Brothers (2010)
3)
Foster The People- Torches
(2011)
4)
Ke$ha-
Cannibal (2010)
5)
Tragedy - We Rock Sweet Balls & Can Do No
Wrong (2008)
6)
Mark Ronson & Business Intl- Record Collection (2010)
7)
Limousines, The - Get Sharp
(2011)
8)
Whitesnake-
Forevermore (2011)
9)
Aloe Blacc-
Good Things (2010)
10)
Kate Nash-
My Best Friend Is You (2010)
11)
St. Vincent-
Strange Mercy (2011)
12)
Katastrophy Wife- All Kneel
(1993)
13)
Emily Osment-
Fight Or Flight (2010)
14)
Kid Rock-
Rock N Roll Jesus (2007)
15)
She & Him-
Very She & Him Christmas
(2011)
Richard’s Most Disappointing Albums
Of 2011
1)
Cars, The-
Move Like This (2011)
2)
Placebo - Live At La Cigale (2011)
3)
Red Hot Chili Peppers- I'm With You
(2011)
4)
Lady Gaga-
Born This Way (2011)
5)
Peter, Bjorn & John- Gimme Some
(2011)
6)
Keane- Night
Train (2010)
7)
The Muppets (& Friends)- Green Album, The (2011)
8)
Human League, The- Credo
(2011)
9)
Daft Punk-
Tron Legacy [Soundtrack] (2010)
10)
Liz Phair-
FunStyle (2010)
11)
Ellie Goulding-
Lights (2011)
12)
Dave Stewart & Barbara Gaskin- The Big Idea
(1990)
13)
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffitti- Before Today
(2010)
14)
Was (Not Was)- Boo (2008)
15)
Adele-
21 (2011)
Monthly Car CDs
|
January To April 2011 Car CD
|
|
|
|
Ke$ha
|
Cannibal
|
|
"
|
Grow A Pear
|
|
"
|
We R Who We R
|
|
"
|
Blow
|
|
Pet
Shop Boys
|
Building A Wall
|
|
"
|
All Over The World
|
|
Lita
Ford
|
Crave
|
|
"
|
Scream For Me
|
|
"
|
Everything
|
|
Daft
Punk
|
Derezzed
|
|
"
|
Fall
|
|
Liz
Phair
|
Bollywood
|
|
"
|
Beat Is Up
|
|
"
|
In Love With Yourself
|
|
"
|
And He Slayed Her
|
|
Golden
Smog
|
Easy To Be Hard
|
|
Joy
Formidable, The
|
Cradle
|
|
"
|
Whirring
|
|
Hot
Chip
|
One Life Stand
|
|
|
|
|
|
April 2011 Car CD (Part B)
|
|
|
|
Katastrophy
Wife
|
Sweetheart
|
|
"
|
Money Shot
|
|
"
|
Liberty Belle
|
|
"
|
Asstroglide
|
|
Steve
Martin & S.C.R.
|
Rare Bird Alert
|
|
Juliana
Hatfield
|
Taxicab
|
|
"
|
I Won't Let You Go
|
|
"
|
I Picked You Up (Version 2)
|
|
"
|
I Don't Wanna Dance
|
|
"
|
Between The Clouds
|
|
Cut
Copy
|
Where I'm Going
|
|
MEN
|
Off Our Backs
|
|
Catwalk
|
(Please) Don't Break Me
|
|
Asobi
Seksu
|
Perfectly Crystal
|
|
Toro
Y Moi
|
Still Sound
|
|
Nick
Lowe
|
Cracking Up
|
|
Dirty
Vegas
|
Changes
|
|
The
Kills
|
DNA
|
|
Sacred
Reich
|
The American Way
|
|
Roy
Orbison
|
Love Hurts
|
|
Brian
Setzer
|
Blue Moon Of Kentucky
|
|
Far
East Movement
|
Rocketeer
|
|
|
|
May 2011 CD
|
|
|
|
|
Black
Keys
|
Tighten Up
|
|
"
|
Howlin' For You
|
|
Carbon/Silicon
|
Best Man, The
|
|
"
|
DisUnited Kingdom
|
|
"
|
Global War On Culture
|
|
"
|
I Loved You
|
|
"
|
The Network's Going Down
|
|
"
|
T.F. Madness
|
|
The
Clash
|
Overpowered By Funk
|
|
Daft
Punk
|
The Brainwasher
|
|
The
Cars
|
Sad Song
|
|
"
|
Too Late
|
|
Black
Cards
|
Club Called Heaven
|
|
Psychedelic
Aliens
|
Bbe Keke Wo Taoo
|
|
Emily
Osment
|
Lovesick
|
|
"
|
Gotta Believe In Something
|
|
"
|
Let's Be Friends
|
|
"
|
1-800 Clap Your Hands
|
|
|
|
June 2011 Car CD
|
|
|
|
Martin
Solveig &
|
Hello
|
|
featuring
Dragonette
|
|
|
Ariel
Pink's Haunted Grafitti
|
L'Estat (According To...Widow's Maid)
|
|
"
|
Revolution's A Lie
|
|
Airborne
Toxic Event
|
Does This Mean You're Moving
|
|
John
Maus
|
Believer
|
|
She
& Him
|
Please Please Please Let Me…
|
|
Ce
Lo Green
|
Forget You
|
|
The
Black Keys
|
The Only One
|
|
"
|
Ten Cent Pistol
|
|
Whitesnake
|
Love Will Set You Free
|
|
"
|
My Evil Ways
|
|
"
|
Steal Your Heart Away
|
|
"
|
Tell Me How
|
|
B.o.b.
& Rivers Cuomo
|
Magic
|
|
B.o.b.
& Bruno Mars
|
Nothin' On You
|
|
Lady
Antebellum
|
Need You Now
|
|
|
|
July 2011 CarCD
|
|
|
|
|
Adele
|
Rolling In The Deep
|
|
"
|
Rumour Has It
|
|
John
Legend & Roots
|
Hard Times
|
|
"
|
Wake Up Everybody
|
|
Kylie
Minogue
|
Silence
|
|
She
& Him
|
Lotta Love
|
|
Antonia
Bennett
|
Love Is A Battlefield
|
|
Metric
|
Hustle Rose
|
|
"
|
Dead Disco
|
|
Wolf
Parade
|
What Did My Lover Say?
|
|
Givers
|
Up Up Up
|
|
Modest
Mouse
|
Whale Song
|
|
The
Crash
|
Still Alive
|
|
"
|
What If I Meet You
|
|
"
|
Gigolo
|
|
The
Heavy
|
Love Like That
|
|
"
|
How You Like Me Now
|
|
|
|
August 2011 Car CD
|
|
|
|
Aloe
Blacc
|
I Need A Dollar
|
|
"
|
Loving You Is Killing Me
|
|
"
|
Green Lights
|
|
Spoon
|
Metal School
|
|
"
|
Quincy Punk Episode
|
|
"
|
The Minor Tough
|
|
"
|
The Agony Of Laffitte
|
|
Class
Actress
|
Someone Real
|
|
Keane
|
Your Love
|
|
"
|
Clear Skies
|
|
"
|
Ishin Denshin (You've Got To Help
Yourself)
|
|
"
|
Looking Back
|
|
The
Limosines
|
Dancing At Her Funeral
|
|
"
|
Swordswlingwhr (Wishing Well)
|
|
"
|
Very Busy People
|
|
Foster
The People
|
Pumped Up Kicks
|
|
"
|
Helena Beat
|
|
"
|
Call It What You ant
|
|
"
|
Warrant
|
|
|
|
September 2011 Car CD
|
|
|
|
Linsey
Buckingham
|
Seeds We Sow
|
|
Class
Actress
|
Journal Of Ardency
|
|
Melissa
Auf Der Maur
|
The Key
|
|
"
|
Meet Me On The Dark Side
|
|
"
|
Out Of Our Minds
|
|
"
|
Follow The Map
|
|
EMA
|
Milkman
|
|
Lykke
Li
|
I Follow Rivers
|
|
Foxy
Shazam
|
Drain You
|
|
EMA
|
Endless Nameless
|
|
Aurelio
|
Tio Sam
|
|
Los
Amigos Invisibles
|
Dulce
|
|
"
|
Es La Verdad
|
|
Titus
Andronicus
|
A More Perfect Union
|
|
Black
Cards
|
Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Fame
|
|
The
Chain Gang Of 1974
|
Undercover
|
|
Ganglians
|
Jungle
|
|
|
|
September 2011 Car CD (Part B)
|
|
|
|
Lissie
|
Record Collector
|
|
"
|
When I'm Alone
|
|
"
|
Worried About
|
|
Wooden
Shjips
|
Lazy Bones
|
|
Diego
Garcia
|
Stay
|
|
Human
League
|
Sky
|
|
"
|
Breaking The Chains
|
|
Cage
The Elephant
|
Always Something
|
|
"
|
Aberdeen
|
|
"
|
Shake Me Down
|
|
"
|
Around My Head
|
|
"
|
Sabertooth Tiger
|
|
"
|
Flow
|
|
Weezer/Hayley
Williams
|
Rainbow Connection
|
|
Alkaline
Trio
|
Movin' Right Along
|
|
Little
Steven
|
Forever
|
|
Stars
On 45
|
Beatles Medley
|
|
|
|
October 2011 Car CD
|
|
|
|
Washed
Out
|
Amor Feti
|
|
Mogwai
|
Rano Pano
|
|
Collective
Soul
|
Energy
|
|
Delorean
|
Single Graces
|
|
Dave
Stewart & B. Gaskin
|
Levi Stubbs' tears
|
|
Pete
Yorn
|
Last Summer
|
|
Dead
Weather
|
Die By The Drop
|
|
"
|
Blue Blood Blues
|
|
"
|
The Difference Between Us
|
|
"
|
I'm Mad
|
|
Revolting
Cocks (RevCo)
|
Dykes
|
|
"
|
Juice
|
|
Nada
Surf
|
When We Were Young
|
|
Peter,
Bjorn & John
|
May Seem Mabcre
|
|
"
|
Second Chance
|
|
Tragedy
|
How Deep Is Your Love
|
|
"
|
Shadow Dancing
|
|
|
|
November 2011 Car CD
|
|
|
|
Ellie
Goulding
|
Animal
|
|
"
|
Lights
|
|
"
|
Under The Sheets
|
|
Bootsy
Collins
|
Bootzilla
|
|
"
|
Shejams (Almost Bootsy Show)
|
|
"
|
Countracula (This One'sFor You)
|
|
Pink
|
Raise Your Glass
|
|
Twin
Sister
|
Eastern Green
|
|
"
|
Stop
|
|
Neon
Indian
|
Polish Girl
|
|
Nick
Gilder
|
Here Comes The Night
|
|
The
Fixx
|
Shred Of Evidence
|
|
Kate
Nash
|
I Love You More
|
|
"
|
I've Got A Secret
|
|
"
|
Take Me To A Higher Plane
|
|
Kid
Rock
|
Sugar
|
|
"
|
So Hott
|
|
"
|
All Summer Long
|
|
|
|
December 2011 Car CD
|
|
|
|
Grouplove
|
Tongue Tied
|
|
Selena
Gomez
|
Love You Like a Love Song
|
|
Usher
featuring Pitbull
|
DJ Got Us Falling In Love
|
|
Michael
Buble
|
Haven't Met You Yet
|
|
Cast
Of "Glee"
|
Pure Imagination
|
|
"
|
Dancing Queen
|
|
Justice
|
Canon
|
|
Red
Hot Chili Peppers
|
Adventures Of Rain Dance Maggie
|
|
"
|
Ethiopia
|
|
"
|
Monarchy Of Roses
|
|
St.
Vincent
|
Dilettante
|
|
"
|
Hysterical Strength
|
|
"
|
Cruel
|
|
Oh
Land
|
Voodoo
|
|
Mark
Ronson
|
Love It (In The End)
|
|
"
|
Somebody To Love Me
|
|
"
|
You Gave Me Nothing
|
|
She
& Him
|
Little Saint Nick
|
|
"
|
Christmas Wish
|
|
Bananarama
|
Baby It's Christmas
|
|
Dandy
Warhols
|
Little Drummer Boy
|
