Danice's Favourite 2012 Albums

12.  Devotion - Jessie Ware

Some classic UK R&B has been coming out this year, but Jessie Ware is the one most worth paying attention to.  She doesn't look like your typical pop or soul star, yet perhaps the best comparisons have been made to Sade, one of the greatest R&B vocalists to ever step out of the UK.  Whether Jessie is epically belting about your "Wildest Moment", or playfully singing a catchy pop tune like "Sweet Talk", the sounds coming out of her are raw and beautiful.  In a world of pop music that's trying too hard to be sexy, Jessie Ware's naturally sexy tone is breath of fresh air.  Also, did you know she found her earliest success in a taxi?  Yep, check this out:

11. Coexist - The XX

Since their album Islands, I have been falling in love with the work Jamie, The XX's DJ does.  He has created some of the most original and beautiful remixes I have ever heard or imagined.  With The XX, he generally creates an atmosphere for Romy Madley Croft's soft and haunting voice.  Their 2012 album, Coexist does more of the same of what they do best.  Their sound feels detached, as if they are primarily creating a world to step into, rather than communicating an idea or expressing an emotion.  This is one of my favourite records to play while doing administrative catch-up, or to discover is being played in a coffee shop.



10. MTMTMK - The Very Best

This year I was able to go see The Very Best live in Seattle, and had no idea before I got there that they even had a new record out.  I have appreciated everything this Malawian lead and Swedish DJ have ever produced, so it was no surprise that I bought the new album as soon as we got home.  MTMTMK stands for "More to Malawi Than Madonna's Kids," and features a bit more dance music than The Warm Heart of Africa did.  If you are still unfamiliar with these guys, look into both albums - the first for a more African feel, and MTMTMK for more of a sense of blended cultures.  This album also brought some attention to Seye (pronounced like Cher), the Nigerian-born, London-bred singer-songwriter who toured and collaborated with The Very Best.  I would have considered one of Seye's songs in my top 12, only that my favourite is not actually available yet.  Still, here's a video of him singing J.O.A.N.N.A.:

9.   True - Solange
I was racking my brain whether to include E.P.'s on this list.  There were a few really great and really promising short albums that came out this year, from Brandi Carlisle, Shad, and Azealia Banks, for example.  But there is something about this 7-track collection from Beyonce's younger sister that I simply can't exclude.  Maybe it's the 80's R&B throwback (the record is full of drum tracks, synthesizer, and even retro sounding harmonies) just when we most miss Whitney Houston's early years.  Maybe we've all been secretly wishing to know what Beyonce would sound like if she weren't an epic diva. For whatever reason, True feels as though it's exactly what a musical doctor would prescribe. 



8.   The Heist - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
This album may still be in the "Under $8" section on iTunes.  That's how I picked it up, only having really listened to the two tracks that had viral videos, "Same Love," and "Thrift Shop".  I actually forgot I had purchased it, until one day a song popped into my headphones while my ipod was on shuffle (a rare moment, indeed).  Macklemore surprised me by being far more than your average white rapper.  He does hip hop justice by both speaking out on issues, and having a sense of humour, two things that I believe hip hop music does at its best.  There are a couple moments that could feel slightly preachy to some, but for the most part this is a solid record built on thought and guts.



  7.   Love this Giant - St. Vincent and David Byrne
I think this collaboration makes more sense than any I've heard of in a long while.  Two incredibly talented, brilliant, and quirky musicians from different generations team up to give us exactly what you would expect, plus some extra horns.  The only downside to Love This Giant is that Annie Clark (St. Vincent) doesn't have nearly enough guitar solos.  Still, it's clear through the work they did produce that both David and Annie respect and generally enjoy each other's music and style, which along with their stunningly complementary vocals, makes this team-up worth every effort. 

6.   ...Little Broken Hearts - Norah Jones
Like no Norah you've heard before, ...Little Broken Hearts shows off the jazz standard singer's versatility, and producer Danger Mouse's ability to transform an artist's sound.  Like Adele's 21 the year before, ...Little Broken Hearts is an album dedicated to a break-up, and although it hasn't reached nearly the level of mainstream success that 21 did, I find it refreshingly more mature and balanced on the dejected-to-irate spectrum.  Highlights for me are "Sad Goodbye", "Happy Pills", and "Miriam".  Just click on the album image to stream all the songs.




5.   Boys and Girls - The Alabama Shakes
The Alabama Shakes have the secret power of time travel.  Every time I play Boys and Girls I have to remind myself that I do not actually live in the 60's.  The album kicks off with the addictive single, "Hold On", and then does nothing less than restore my faith in Rock & Roll.  The album is filled to every last edge with lyrics of desire, anger and sadness that are only deepened by Britney Howard's soulful, raspy, low croon.  I have yet to see them live, but I've heard this is necessary, so if you have the chance, don't pass it up.  




4.   Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City - Kendrick Lamar
I did not like this right away.  At first listen, I couldn't handle the macho and misogyny long enough to get past the first half.  Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City tells Lamar's own coming-of-age story, and at first, Kendrick tries to prove himself a man with the usual tough act. In order to see him grow, you need to give the album/story time.  Punctuated by voicemails left by Lamar's parents (beginning angrily asking for the car back but eventually become gentle invitations to come home) this solid rap record leaves a surprising message of manhood: that it's not perfected in violence but in taking care of family.  Although it is heard best in context, I've embedded my favourite song off the record below.

  

3.   The Idler Wheel... - Fiona Apple

I had started to give up on hope that Fiona Apple would come out with another album as amazing as Tidal or When the Pawn...  She has certainly returned to the longer album title though, this time with an exactly Twitter-kosher 140 characters.  The Idler Wheel... is exactly what I want to expect from Apple: fast jungle-inspired rhythms mixed with slower angst-y ballads, held together by Apple's own eccentric personality and dark imagination, and unique percussive-style piano.  The best place to stream this one is on grooveshark, so instead of a soundcloud link, here's a bizarre video you should watch from The Idler Wheel is Wider Than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do:

2.   The Bravest Man in the Universe - Bobby Womack

There was something about 2012 that brought a lot of older artists out to record.  Springsteen, The Stones, The Beach Boys and even Van Halen all released music this year, but only Bobby Womack was able to give us something that feels stunningly relevant and original, while holding a greater depth of experience and wisdom.  His age can be heard in his voice, and I think it makes The Bravest Man in the Universe Bobby's best album yet.
Stream it at the Guardian, here.

  

1.   Channel Orange - Frank Ocean

Someone asked me what my life highlight from 2012 was, and my first instinct was to say Frank Ocean.  I anticipated this album like nothing else this year, so it had a strong potential to let me down, but obviously it did not.  Channel Orange explores the disadvantages of living a privileged rich kid's life along with a couple deep and personal instrospective pieces that are held together by flipping television channels that offer news from the outside world.  The music is fresh and heavy R&B with a hip hop attitude, and I can't get enough of it.  If you still don't have this album, click the image to the right for a stream of it on soundcloud.  I doubt you'll last long without purchasing this one.

2010 Rerun: Wake Up! - John Legend & The Roots

Here it is, the first of the Record Rerun series.  Beginning with 2010, I'll be moving backwards, picking an album from every year.

It could be a little tricky to predict that an album less than 2 years old will be one I listen to for years to come.  2010 was a decent year for music, but I have to admit, this decision wasn’t so difficult for me.  Although there were a fair amount of stand-out albums - Sufjan, Kanye, Janelle Monae, Erykah Badu, Beyonce, Cee-Lo, Arcade Fire and The Black Keys, to name a few – still, Wake Up! was a relatively quick pick.  It did help that I’ve written about a few of the albums above already.  But ultimately, this gospel-saturated collaboration between John Legend and The Roots (and a few other guests) gives off the sense that it intends not only to be a great album of its year, but an all-time classic.

In 2010, I so anticipated this record.  I love John Legend's voice and style, but am often let down by his actual song choices, so I was stoked for him to work with The Roots on some soul covers.  I picked it up immediately, and was not disappointed.  The animated cover art is beautiful, and the music is even better.  I suggest a relatively high volume for your ideal listening experiece.  Speaking of, if you want to listen along, here's the soundcloud link: http://soundcloud.com/billboard/sets/wake-up-john-legend-and-the-roots

“Hard Times” kicks off the album with some brief reflection time, as ?uestlove gives us some cymbal love, and John Legend freestyles a bit before the beat drops.  And when it does, it drops hard.  Nearly every beat is accented by something, whether it’s the drums, horns, or bass.  It's a full song, with a lot of anger-release potential, showing off just how tight The Roots can be.

“Compared to What” settles into a groove, without ever letting go of the drive already established.  As it fades out, piano runs and tambourines give us a decidedly philly-style introduction to the title track, “Wake Up Everybody”.  The duet features Melanie Fiona, who sounds best when harmonizing with Legend, but I am probably biased.  Common also makes an appearance, which is also just fine with me.  I feel like it would be a good idea for him to collaborate with John Legend more in the future.  The call to “Wake Up” continues into “Our Generation”, with the punchy response of, “let’s straighten it out”.  The invitation to accept responsibility and make things better is refreshing, and the baritone saxophone doesn't hurt either.

“Little Ghetto Boy” – first the prelude, which comes across more as a spoken word over piano and drums, and then the song – begin Side B of the record.  The song flows seamlessly, and kicks in with Black Thought rapping over a progression led by an organ.  These two related tracks represent what this album is all about: optimism in the face of pain and suffering.  Never does “Little Ghetto Boy” excuse the kid to spiral – he's expected to grow up and change his situation – but neither does it minimize the difficulty that his situation presents.  Like in “Our Generation”, a the choral response is repeated, but instead of an imperative, a different kind of hope is offered: “everything has got to get better”.

I somehow always miss the next song on Wake Up!  Even when I intentionally listen to it, by the time “Humanity” drops its reggae feel, and talking “about love the way it should be…” and I forget all about “Hang In There”.  Both songs offer optimistic hope and encouragement, and feel laid-back, which you should enjoy before you're taken to church on Side C & D of the vinyls.  

“Wholly Holy” is a song I would legitimately love to hear in a church.  On this record that calls us to not only believe, but act towards making our world more live-able, it makes sense that the spiritual overtones would be given some explicit reference.

I have a sneaky suspicion that “I Can’t Write Left Handed” was The Roots' favourite song to record.  Legend opens it up with some preamble, recognizing that, “war is always hell.  It always will and it always has been”, before launching into to this beautiful soul-folk song, telling the story of a man shot in the arm.  This song is long, builds slowly, and is performed in every imaginable collection of dynamics.  John Legend shows what he’s made of, as he repeats a lot of the story several times, yet every time brings the lyrics alongside a deep-seated emotion and soul.

One last time, I flip the vinyl over for the shortest Side of the record.  “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to be Free”, and “Shine” complete the song cycle, by moving the focus not just to ourselves, but letting stifled voices heard.  You should probably listen to Nina Simone doing “I Wish I Knew…” as well, because she is the bomb.  "Shine" works almost as a benediction, or a modern day version of "This Little Light of Mine".  While we move out to Wake Up the world around us, and make it better, "Shine" reminds us not to write anyone off, and let them shine on.

It is so easy to complain about everything and anything, but this album inspires hope in a way that few have the confidence to do.  Happy listening, and I'll try to be quick with posting my 2009 rerun.  Peace out.

Actor - St. Vincent, 2009

Recently, I made the mistake of trying to listen to St. Vincent's Actor at work.  I call it a mistake, partially because this album begs more attention than it gets as the soundtrack to my pink ukulele sales pitch, but also because I've become accustomed to listening to it on vinyl, in my living room, very loudly.  Background levels of volume at the music store hardly does it justice, and left me wanting, so I played it again on the bus over my headphones, and yet again when I got home on the record player where it was truly meant to be.

I have no qualms describing Actor as a work of art.  Themes and images run deep beneath thick textures boasting of driving rhythms and catchy-as-hell melodies and counter-melodies(whether sung or played on sax or violin, I can be heard whistling St. Vincent melodies daily).  As the title suggests, the album explores the line between fake and real, authenticity and invention, especially in the portrayal of personas and primarily in the likely setting of the suburban neighborhood.  Nearly every song is linked by foundational questions of how well we are really known by our lovers, friends and family, introduced right off the bat in "Strangers".  As I let these questions percolate, I can't help but wonder what part her stark headshot on the album cover plays, and indeed, even her use of pseudonym (her given name being Annie Clark).  How well do we know this woman who serenades us?  Who is she really?  How thick a line separates who we are from who we present ourselves to be?

When I break from philosophizing, I appreciate St. Vincent's sense of orchestration.  Like listening to Radiohead, you know know that every sound has been placed by a perfectionist - with utmost precision - so that even the most chaotic moments are fully controlled.  Also like Radiohead, St. Vincent loves to experiment with extreme clarity and distortion, yet somehow is never beyond accessible.  Strings, horns, and a rhythm section give Actor the epic feel of a movie soundtrack that is mostly rock and roll, but transforms itself when necessary to jazz or even Broadway-esque.  Her rhythms are intensely controlled, creating a contrast against her almost lazy vocals.  

One thing that I find so beautiful about listening to this on vinyl is that it seems intentionally divided into two acts, moving the final song on the CD, "The Sequel" to the end of Side A, allowing for the bouncy "Laughing with a Mouth of Blood" to be heard as a new beginning, and concluding the album with "Just the Same but Brand New", which I never even noticed before hearing it as the final track.

Although the songs of this album feel completely tied to one another, in an attempt to take angled digs at the same subject, I feel as though I respond to each one differently: During "Strangers", I'm philosophizing; "Save Me from What I Want" has me grooving with my shoulders while I drink my beer; "The Neighbors" gets me moody; "Actor out of Work" gives me an all-out desire to dance; "Black Rainbow" has me singing the lines of the violins and horns out-loud; "The Sequel" allows me to sink back into my head, before I'm brought back to reality when I flip to Side B and hear "Laughing with a Mouth of Blood"; I can't not rock out to "Marrow" before settling into my thinky-ness as "The Bed" brings me a sense of mystery in the world, though it doesn't make me want to actually lie down in bed like "The Party" ironically tends to; and finally "Just the Same but Brand New" pulls me full-circle to a nostalgic questioning of meaning in the world.  And I don't regret the experience for a minute.  Just writing this blog gives me such an impatience for this woman's next work of art.  But for now, let's watch this great video:



Peace out,
Dance

Paul Simon: Graceland, 1986

I could take a year to write a blog post on such a great musical landmark as this.  Graceland.  I think I could research and analyze and compile enough material to write a small book (or at least a chapter) on the album's cultural, social and political significance/implications.  Because I have enough trouble keeping this updated as it is. 


So I have decided to try to keep this short, in order to primarily point you to spend a bit of time with this experiment-gone-oh-so-right.  And if you get a real tangible copy, Paul Simon has included plenty of interesting details about the instrumentation and composition about the pieces. 

There is something about this album, and hearing the married styles of American rock and roll with the people's music of South Africa... yes, there is something distinctly flavored about this record, but it doesn't leave the awkward after taste of forced fusion for the sake of concept.  It's SO much more than a concept.  It's a love story that transcends all prejudice.  It's Romeo and Juliet with a happy ending.  Paul Simon fell in love with the music of South Africa - it equally felt to him foreign and familiar - so he made an inspired album using local musicians and their traditions, crossing a metaphorical barrier into a country that was being culturally boycotted by America for anti-apartheid convictions.  However Simon, far from supporting apartheid, managed to expose a music that had been hidden from the world under a racist regime.

And when finally uncovered as a mash-up with Simon's own folky American rock-and-roll style, the overwhelming feeling this record communicates can only be described in one word: happy.

I am sure once someone described the music on this record like floating.  And it does float: it grooves along a slow canal under hot sun.  It bounces up and down and never loses the momentum.  Nothing can get me down, even as I unload my dishwasher and notice a layer of grit left on all the bowls.   I have probably already said too much, and I haven't said a thing about a single song.

Ok, well hold on tight through The Boy in the Bubble.  It always sounds a bit messy to me, and I have to be in the right mood for it, but I never regret letting it play out into the title track, Graceland, which still is not my favorite track, but sets the tone as a strong story of journey and pilgrimage to where "we all will be received".  And then we start to have fun.  I can do anything while I listen to I Know What I Know, as long as I can sing along, and Gumboots keeps me doing it.  Activity preferred.

Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes is the smoothest track, going down like a latte from Cafe Artigiano, and I do tend to pour myself something to drink at this point of the record to relax a little, just in time to turn it over for the superior side of the album.

If you don't have this on vinyl, I would encourage you to take a 30 second break before you start the second half, because I'm convinced it's supposed to be there.  You Can Call Me Al sounds like it's starting over somehow, and Under African Skies is maybe the most stereotypical nod to the motherland, but it's so perfect, and prepares us for the accapella Homeless that follows.

And what else can I say?  Three more songs (on the vinyl edition that I have) and they are all fantastic.  Crazy Love Vol II makes me passionate, That Was Your Mother makes me smirk (it's the one song I feel Paul Simon could have maybe left off), and All Around the World or the Myth of Fingerprints makes me want to dance, and leaves us feeling hopeful for the world.

Hopeful.  An album made in the thick of Apartheid debates in traditional South African styles that remains full of hope is nothing short of a Paul Simon miracle.  Maybe he should be made a saint.  If he can ever successfully reunite with Garfunkle, he just might.

#5) Fleet Foxes: Fleet Foxes, 2008

Hands down the best album of 2008.  Hands way down.  It's an album with a unique mood and timbre that makes my living room smell like the woods when I listen to it on vinyl.  The folky guitar lines and full, high male harmonies make me want to put on flannel and eat spinach at the same time.  If you have not yet listened to the Fleet Foxes on a proper vinyl record, please consider this your invitation to join me on a foggy day at Chalet de Brie (this is the name of my house).  Something about this record sounds simultaneously old-fashioned and like nothing I've ever heard before.  And I swear the crackles of dust enhance the entire experience.

I must admit, this listmas thing has become more of a challenge than I ever expected.  And although I am fully enjoying the listening and writing that is the process of blogging, I know that I cannot do the Fleet Foxes justice.  Also, as contradictory as this sounds, though Fleet Foxes are best heard on vinyl, they are also best listened to in a moving vehicle.  Yes, I do know turntables are rather stationary, and that this makes no sense, but just go with me for a second.  If you can't give all your attention to the album, in a setting that would ideally include blankets, hot beverages, and a well-stoked fire, one must have the album be the soundtrack to beautiful British Columbia, in all of it's big green splendor passing by your window.  Seriously, you should try both sometime.

What I am trying to say here, is that I am not going to blog this album song by song, but instead make these two suggestions: play it on your way home from somewhere in daylight (at least a 40 minute drive), or come over.  I promise one day I will blog about this album in a more in-depth way - hopefully from the point of view of a road-trip passenger - but until then, it must make a brief appearance to accept the honor of receiving my personal award of the fifth best album released between 2000 and 2009.