By The Beachwood Music Ranking Desk
Earlier this month, the dynamic Sound Opinions duo of Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot played tracks from their favorite records of the year so far. As we are wont to do around here, we’d like to bring you the good news and add some value of our own via the good folks at YouTube. Enjoy – we did. (Hint: we thought the choices got better as the guys went along . . . )
Critic: DeRo
Record: This Is Happening/LCD Soundsystem
Critics’ Commentary: “The least of their three albums so far, however I haven’t been able to stop listening to it.”
Song: “You Wanted A Hit”
*
Critic: Kot
Record: Traveling Like the Light/VV Brown
Critics’ Commentary: “Neo-soul from England . . . new wave, girl group, rockabilly doo-wop with a fresh look, a fresh sound . . . a break-up album, but not a self-pitying one.”
Song: “Crying Blood”
*
Critic: DeRo
Record: Plastic Beach/Gorillaz
Critics’ Commentary: A “weird sustained dark and threatening mood . . . it’s not an easy listen, but it sure is a rewarding one.”
Song: “Some Kind of Nature” featuring Lou Reed.
*
Critic: Kot
Record: A Badly Broken Code/Dessa
Commentary: A University of Minnesota philosophy student who comes out of spoken word; some Portishead.
Song: “Dixon’s Girl”
*
Critic: DeRo
Record: S/T/Broken Bells
Critics’ Commentary: “It’s a wonderfully irresistible but very arty pop record. By that I mean a little bit skewed.”
Song: “Your Head Is On Fire”
*
Critic: Kot
Record: The Besnard Lakes Are The Roaring Night/The Besnard Lakes
Critics’ Commentary: “orchestral splendor of 60s Beach Boys” . . . falsetto with dense guitars . . . big melodies developing very patiently.”
Song: “Glass Printer”
*
Critic: DeRo
Record: Odd Blood/Yeasayer
Critics’ Commentary: “Top record so far . . . hints of hip hop in here, dance rock, electronic record . . . great harmony laden pop sound of the 60s . . . hypnotic, entrancing, melodic.”
Song: “O.N.E.”
*
Critic: Kot
Record: The ArchAndroid/Janelle Monae
Critics’ Commentary: “We arm-wrestled about who got to talk about it . . . one of the best records of the last couple of years . . . makes us want to run up and down the street and grab people by the lapel and scream, ‘You have have to listen to this now!’ . . . about the freedom to be yourself . . . to try on any musical style that suits your fancy . . . every one of these songs has a hook in it that you cannot forget.”
Song: “Come Alive (The War of the Roses)”
–
Comments welcome.
Posted on June 29, 2010