I Shit Music

30) Yeasayer – Fragrant World
If you still haven’t become familiar with the obscure, dance-worthy psychedelia that is Yeasayer, then this latest album is a fantastic place to start. Every song’s turn is unexpected yet comfortable, and I wholeheartedly believe they’re one of the most important bands on the planet right now. They should be opening for Radiohead.

29) Benny Yurco – This is a Future
                For any of us familiar with Benny’s dominating axe-slashing prowess, it’s hard to believe there’s not one guitar solo on this, his debut record. But then you realize how great these Kingston via Brooklyn tunes are, and it all makes sense.

28) Actress – R.I.P.
                The ambient electronic magic of this album falls somewhere between the subtle wonder of Caribou and the genius production of Flying Lotus. If you’re worried that every producer is being subdued by the womp of dub-step, then this album is a huge sigh of relief.

27) Heems – Wild Water Kingdom
                Heems released two mix-tapes this year that made you realize that maybe Das Racist breaking up isn’t as big of a bummer as first instincts project. Things clicked perfectly on WWK, where laid-back, spun-out beats created the perfect backdrop for his hilarious and furious attacks.

26) Frank Ocean – Channel Orange
                Modern soul music needed a good kick in the head, and thank God Ocean showed up to do it. Like anybody who’s heard it, I think the record is killer, but I feel it lacks the amazing hooks found in previous singles like “Novocaine” and “Swim Good.”

25) The Black Keys – El Camino
                Shit, who would have thought a few years back that the Akron duo would become the biggest band in America?  Bringing back Danger Mouse was a huge move, even though this album comes in a solid third to their previous 2 efforts. And yeah I know, this album actually came out in December of 2011, but it was fucking everywhere this year so deserves its spot on the list.

24) Dinosaur Jr. – I Bet on Sky
Ahhh, the 3^rd album since Dino Jr.’s reunion 5 years ago is once again consistently amazing, and finds Mascis and crew truly at the top of their game. If you ever loved this band and haven’t given the new stuff a try, be prepared to love them even more than ever before.

23) Swans – The Seer
                The legends of post-punk made the greatest album of the career this year, 30 years after this debut. Centered around the half-hour long title track, drone and darkness have never coexisted in such a land of triumphant light.

22) Dr. Dog – Wild Race E.P.
                The tunes just keep fucking keep coming from the Dog gang, and like always, they’re undeniably amazing. I have no clue why “Be the Void” wasn’t on this year’s album of the same name, other than the fact that they needed to prove how many amazing songs they had tucked away still.

21) The Shins – Port of Morrow
                Sure, James Mercer may have once again hired an entirely new band for this album, but his consistent onslaught of amazing songs makes him allowed to do whatever the fuck he wants. Deceptively complex pop music at its apex – keep em’ coming James.

Plagiaristic copy-cat artists have existed since the dawn of rock and pop music. And yes, admittingly the echoes of familiarity have helped all music expand at rates tolerable to the mainstream ear. However, there’s a deeper range of this echoing that comes when bands just straight-up intentionally try to sound like another band. Now throw all Zappa intentional mocks out the window, as well as anybody who ever tried to make a Bob Dylan song because that shit’s always fun. No, I’m talking like those bastards in America who wanted people to think “Horse With No Name” was Neil Young. And even more, it’s one thing to do it in the 70′s. It’s another thing to do it in 2012, when there’s so much variety of music coming from all different directions, and yet you try to intentionally get some 15 year old kid to buy your track on itunes because he think it’s some other band he likes. OK, enough rambling – example time.

Now I couldn’t start this off without last month’s Volkswagon ad that completely ripped off Beach House. Reportedly, VW had asked for the rights to “Take Care” only to be shot down – then this absurd ad came out with a song they claim has no connection whatsoever. I hope they win some money in this lawsuit – seems pretty cut and dry to me. I’m not even gonna credit whoever did the remake.

And this goes on and on with film and TV shots all the time. Just a year ago, Audi did an exact copy of Eminem‘s “Lose Yourself”, but anyway… what I’m really getting at is these bands that totally just try to steal someone’s vibe and alternative-pop radio is pumping 2 such bands right now. The one that really has me irked is these tools out of San Diego calling themselves Little Hurricane. Now sure, some are gonna argue that a guitar and drum rock duo is obviously gonna sound a little like The Black Keys, but these guys are just stealing the Ohio boys’ formula at gun point. You know it’s bullshit even without listening to it, because no good blues-rock has ever come out of Southern California. Ever. I don’t care what names you want to throw at me. Anyway, listen to their track here “Haunted Heart” and try to tell me that 95% of the people who hear it on the radio don’t think it’s The Black Keys.

Compare it to any Keys track – how bout “Sinister Kid.”

The other one I think is total bullshit is these doof-wads calling themselves The Lumineers who are so epically, blatantly trying to be Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros. The big thing is that I don’t even like Edward Sharpe! I think it’s already contrived, insincere bullshit, and now these guys are trying to steal that vibe. Ugh, c’mon people. Try these on for size.

That’s my 2 cents of nerd-venting for the evening. And God, we’re not gonna even talk about all the stoner kids out there who think they literally ARE the next Phish. Or the fact that Muse just said they made a Skrillex-inspired track – I don’t even know what to say about that. Kids – throw your iPods out the window, take 17 bong hits, sit in your basement on a beautiful summer day, and play whatever fucking sound the higher power chooses to channel through you. Stop imitating. Be a channel, not a repeat.

50-41 – http://www.ishitmusic.com/?p=122

40-31 – http://www.ishitmusic.com/?p=124

30 – 21 – http://www.ishitmusic.com/?p=125

20) Booker T. Jones – The Road from Memphis
- With the MGs, Booker T. forged the cornerstone of instrumental soul music, and this album is by no means just a nostalgic celebration. Ideally having most of The Roots backing him up, Jones is still all about filling the pocket rather than playing crazy organ arpeggios. There’s an amazing take on Lauren Hill’s “Everything is Everything,” a killer cut with Jim James on vocals, and a crushing tune with Lou Reed called “The Bronx” which if you can imagine what it sounds like, I assure you it’s even more badass.

19)  Panda Bear – Tomboy
- Five years ago Person Pitch was released, and its’ influence on the independent music scene has been enormous. Tons of young kids realized their whiny acoustic tunes could sound way cooler with massive echo, drone, and repetition; and the genre known as electronic music suddenly took on much more depth than anyone could have realized. Tomboy is a perfect continuation of this master’s craft, with a touch more focus on melody lines but still that same ‘float up to Neptune on a sunny day’ feel.

18) Tennis – Cape Dory
- Yeah, this album is definitely geared more towards the harmonic desire of my fellow Caucasians, but what do you expect from a band named Tennis? There are plenty of duos out there right now fronted by female vocals, but this husband/wife act makes it sound far more natural than the rest. Part 50’s doo-wop and part gritty roots-rock, this is the new theme music for hipsters on sail-boats who want to puke when they hear Steely Dan.

17) Beastie Boys – Hot Sauce Committee Part II
- Hi, my name’s Adam King. I’m 31 years old, and I fucking love the Beastie Boys. Sure, this isn’t their finest work but it’s still ultra-hype, has a bunch of incredible tunes, and gives credit to me wanting to wear skate-shoes until I die. Hopefully, MCA fully recovers from nasty throat cancer, and we won’t have to consider this their swan-song. Either way, it melds perfectly into the rest of their catalogue, with tunes like “Make Some Noise” being able to theoretically exist on any of their albums.

16) The Black Keys – El Camino
- It took a few albums, but The Black Keys are now officially the coolest band on the planet. Creating a thicker sound as a duo than most full bands out there, this is where the soul of rock and roll dwells these days. Despite Danger Mouse reprising his production role, this is one of the first times that an album he’s touched doesn’t sound simply like a Danger Mouse record – which is a testament to how well these guys fit together. And if you haven’t been to a strip-club in a while because you got tired of hearing Van Halen on repeat, I assure you that half the girls only dance to The Black Keys these days.

15) My Morning Jacket – Circuital
- After the rather dis-conjunct feeling that 2008’s Evil Urges left me with, I decided it was best to lessen my expectations of MMJ. Then this album dropped and they became my heroes all over again. The huge, slow build of the opening “Victory Dance,” the undeniable power of “Holdin’ on to Black Metal,” and the slow time-pod ballad “Slow Slow Tune” are 3 of my favorite tunes the band’s ever released. They are defining what the modern idea of a true rock band should be.

14) The Black Lips – Arabia Mountain
- Calling this band punk-rock is like calling Jonathan Richman punk-rock; it’s more of a mentality than it is a sonic connection. After over a decade as a band, these guys have settled into their niche of just writing cool, catchy tunes and not giving a fuck what anybody wants to call them. This is the kind of band The Peanuts Gang would be really into during their high-school years, and Arabia Mountain finds them at the top of their form.

13) Bon Iver – Bon Iver
- Regardless of the mythical hype that swirls around Justin Vernon these days, and as much as I initially tried to deny it, this album is incredible. It initially comes off as way too simple, but then you realize that it’s actually totally complex. Masterful use of different layers and incredibly melodic chord changes take what could have been an incredibly drab and boring collective of tunes, and make them incredibly thick and literally brilliant. I didn’t want to love it, but I fucking love it.

12) Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi – Rome
- DM took 5 years to make this album, teaming up with Italian composer, Luppi, and re-assembling many of the same musicians used in the old Spaghetti Westerns like “The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly.” Essentially imagine that movie just came out, and Danger did the soundtrack and this is what you’d get. The creepy choir and dark strings, Jack White singing on a few morbid tracks, and a few with Norah Jones sounding badass for the first time in her life. This album is epic, and magical, and sadly overlooked by too many this past year. I personally thought it was gonna get nominated for at least a few Grammys.

11) Yeasayer – Live at Ancienne Belgique
- Ok, so this album was actually released a few days before 2011, but whatever, I make the rules. The tribal psych-rock of Yeasayer is presented with a whole new power here. A pristine recording from a Belgium show in the Fall of 2010, this is the album that can turn a whole different amalgamation of your friends onto this band – both head nodding hipsters and funked out post-hippies. It’s big, it bounces, it rocks, and it’s everything a great live album should be.