By The Beachwood Rock Affairs Bureau
Adding value to a few lists you might be interested in. Feel free to send us your own.
1. Greg Kot’s Best Local Releases of 2010.
Topping Kot’s list is Cap D’s PolyMath. Kot writes:
“For more than a decade, this erudite MC has been forging his own path with his label and group (both named All Natural), as well as his solo projects. He is criminally under-recognized nationally, but he takes a back seat to no MC with his sharp mind, incisive flow and increasingly robust tracks in the Chicago dusties-soul tradition. Though typecast as too high-minded for an art form that puts a premium on swagger, there’s nothing soft about these rhymes. In ‘Chicago Five-O’ he’s as ominous as a shiv in a back-alley rumble, exposing the brutal politics of race relations in the streets of his home city. A landmark release from one of the best MC’s this city has produced.”
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2. Jim DeRogatis’s Best Albums of 2010.
Topping DeRo’s list: Janelle Monae’s ArchAndroid. DeRo writes:
“ArchAndroid continues the futuristic space opera sketched out on [an] earlier EP, spinning it into a full-length concept album about a robot that comes back from the future to warn humanity about its errant ways while encouraging all of us to value our freedom and fly our freak flags high. But you don’t have to buy into any of that to enjoy this wildly psychedelic but consistently funky suite of killer pop songs, which I love even despite my knee-jerk aversion to anything that sounds like the soundtrack of Fantasia. (There’s a bit of that overwrought orchestral hoo-ha at the beginning and end of the disc, but grew on me as the year progressed.) Unforgettable.”
* “Tightrope” official video (embedding disabled).
* “Tightrope” live in Berlin:
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* More German tour video.
3. The Best Music of 2010 by Gossip Wolf feat. Jessica Hopper.
Topping Hopper’s list: Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Hopper writes:
“From the flashy combo of newer Jay-Z beats and older Dipset rhyme schemes to the parade of A-list guest spots (like the totally monster hook Bon Jovi sings on ‘Monster’), it’s pure ear candy. But Kanye’s newfound humility – perhaps an act of contrition for publicly embarrassing both himself and Taylor Dayne at her graduation – is what truly anchors My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. After that controversy, we turned our furry backs on Yeezy. But he has reupholstered the pussy of our shared musical landscape with his luxurious excellence. He is forgiven!”
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4. Pitchfork’s Top 50 Albums of 2010.
Topping Pitchfork’s list: Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Pitchfork writes:
“[S]omehow, West managed to transcend the preposterous talk show appearances, the too-good-to-be-true Twitter account, the live breakdowns, the Horus chain, the free-MP3 stunt(ing), the press blitz, the breakups, the make-ups, the dick pics, the furniture pornography, the Rosewood movement, the NO NEGATIVE BLOG VIEWING, the living paintings, the short film, and the rest of the lot. Through all that noise, we obsessed first and most deeply over the eye of the storm: the album.”
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* Wikipedia entry for My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.
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Comments welcome.
Posted on December 29, 2010