Champagne Symphony

At the end of the year, every single music publication put out a list of their top albums.  Who am I to buck the trend?  So, here's my list of the ten best albums of 2011.  I also included the score out of 10 for each album.  Here's what those mean: 10 - Top 40 Albums of All Time 9   - Classic 8   - Album of the Year Candidate 7   - Amazing 6   - Excellent 5   - Very Good 4   - Good 3   - Passable 2   - A Few Good Songs 1   - One Good Song 0   - Entirely Unremarkable Also, here's a Spotify playlist of all the good songs from the 6 of the 10 albums below.  Nostalgia, Ultra. and House of Balloons are left out because they were free mixtapes and are thus not out on Spotify.  Just download them, legally and for free, using the links below.  21 and Mylo Xyloto are left out because they're making too much money to be worth putting on Spotify, so I guess you'll have to just buy them or torrent them. Now, for the list: Drake - Take Care (10/10) - One

Over the past few years, Drake has established himself as the most compelling new voice in mainstream rap by perfecting the emo R&B/Rap hybrid Kanye pioneered on 808s and Heartbreak.  He has a unique ability, rivaled only by Taylor Swift, to articulate a specific and intimately personal narrative in a way that is universally relatable.  He is tailor made for this "time where it's recreation/to pull all your skeletons out the closet like Halloween decorations." This album is the culmination of all his artistic development.  For better or for worse, it is exactly the album Drake wanted to make.  On one hand, it is incredibly cohesive and sonically compelling.  It takes hip hop closer to R&B than it has ever gone, mixing contemporary rap, 90's Timbaland, and Marvin Gaye in surprisingly organic fashion.  There are some stunning lyrical moments as well, most notably the 1st verse of "Look What You've Done," which is the worthy followup to Tupac'

When releasing pop songs, major labels have been surprisingly good.  Sure, they often go with the obvious choices: the songs produced by famous producers and the songs featuring other big name acts.  However, after some bumbling around, they usually do end up releasing all the good songs as singles.  Every once in a while, though, they mess up big time.  Top 10 singles that could make millions of dollars and sometimes change the course of an artist's career are left to languish as album cuts because people are too stupid to comprehend their greatness.  Here's a list of songs that would conquer the world, if only someone would bother releasing them, and their likely peak chart position in the U.S.  There's links to YouTube videos of the songs imbedded below (obviously, there are some quality issues), and here's a Spotify Playlist with all available songs. Katy Perry - Hummingbird Heartbeat : #1 Jennifer Lopez - Hypnotico : #1 (Note: The YouTube video is sped up.)

Rap is undoubtedly the hardest genre of popular music to get into.  I've met plenty of people who love music but absolutely hate rap, and I can't say I blame them.  To the uninitiated, who have only heard mainstream rap on the radio, it all seems like nothing more than people throwing around rudimentary rhymes on the tired topics of sex, drugs, and money over a soulless, repetitive electronic beat. To counter this, rap fans consistently suggest a litany of socially conscious, lyrically dense rappers.  (Nas, De La Soul, Immortal Technique, Black Star, and Brother Ali are a few of the most common.)  However, this is a completely incorrect way to approach the issue.  Sure, all these rappers are incredibly technically accomplished, and they talk about interesting topics over soulful beats, but their music is incredibly inaccessible.  Their lyrics are so dense it takes numerous listens to parse them out, and the music is consistently completely devoid of any clear melody.  It&

This is basically just a list of my 20 most played songs of all time, with a bit on why I love each.  All the links are to the music videos if they exist.  Otherwise, it's just to a random YouTube video of the song.  Also, here's a Spotify playlist with all songs except Can't Stop & Viðrar vel til loftárása.  Also, I thought I'd note that Viðrar vel til loftárása and Protection have particularly awesome music videos. The Postal Service - Such Great Heights : I love the beat, I love the verses, I love the chorus.  Hell, I just love everything about this song. Michael Buble - Everything : It doesn't sound like anything special on first listen, but Everything gets my vote for the best song of all time.  Every bit of it is just perfect melodically.  That "I'm gonna sing with a lisp because it's cute" thing is just embarrassing though. Coldplay - Viva la Vida : The verses are great and the chorus is even better.  Everything about this song is f

I was just reading about the Michael Jackson tribute concert that happened like a week ago, and I realized that there has never been a good greatest hits album released for the guy.  The three major ones all have huge flaws; they're either incorrect or just too long.  So, I decided to put together a proper, one disc retrospective for the King of Pop.  Here's the track list, and a link to a spotify playlist .  The songs are ordered by the date they were released as singles. Don't Stop Till You Get Enough Rock With You Off the Wall Billie Jean Beat It Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' Human Nature P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing) Thriller Bad The Way You Make Me Feel Man in the Mirror Dirty Diana Smooth Criminal Black or White (Single Edit) Remember the Time Will You Be There (Single Edit) I had to leave out two tracks I originally wanted to include to make the 80 minute time limit: She's Out of My Life and I Just Can't Stop Loving You.  Both are beau

Since I did one on the 2000's, I figured I'd continue and do one on the 90's.  I don't know nearly as much about 90's music so this list could definitely change in the coming months/years.  Radiohead - The Bends : This is album that got me into indie music.  It's also my favorite album by my favorite band of all time.  Thom Yorke's songs have never been as good, and Johnny Greenwood's guitar work has never been as melodic.  A whole generation of British bands tried to copy this sound (Keane, Travis, Coldplay, Muse), but none have even come close to matching The Bends' tragic beauty.  Nearly every track gives me chills.  Best tracks: Fake Plastic Trees, High & Dry, Street Spirit, Planet Telex Oasis - Be Here Now: My favorite album by the best band of the 90's.  More filler than their first two albums, but also plenty of great songs.  The B-sides are some of the best in the history of music.  Admittedly, the original was really bloated,

There are only three things a great artist needs to do: Have great songs. Sing effortlessly in tune. Sing with complete abandon and faith in the music. Lady Gaga's got the last two points taken care of, but, in her drive to do something incredible, crazy, and meaningful, she forgot about the first and most important point.  She forgot to write good songs. The Fame/The Fame Monster were spotty but they had their fair share of great songs (Just Dance, Poker Face, Paparazzi, Bad Romance) and quite a few decent ones.  Born This Way, on the other hand has only one truly great song, The Edge of Glory, and two other passable ones, You and I and Born This Way.  The rest of the album is interesting but utterly forgettable.  She also didn't help her cause by giving the one great song a terrible music video.  Adele, Beyonce, Britney Spears, and even J-Lo released better albums this year, and, when you're trying to be the biggest pop star in the world, fifth best among female pop

Switchfoot - Vice Verses : I like the album title.  Too bad the music couldn't be as interesting.  It's all just extremely straightforward and easy-to-digest rock.  Pleasant enough, but entirely forgettable.  Dark Horse is rather enjoyable though.  Certainly below the level of Dare You to Move and Meant to Live, but better than anything else they've done.  Points: 1 Blink-182 - Neighborhoods : Just reread the Switchfoot review, replacing Dark Horse with After Midnight , and Dare You to Move and Meant to Live with All the Small Things, Adam's Song, and I Miss You.  Hell, I'll even do it for you: I like the album title.  Too bad the music couldn't be as interesting.  It's all just extremely straightforward and easy-to-digest rock.  Pleasant enough, but entirely forgettable.  After Midnight is rather enjoyable though.  Certainly below the level of All the Small Things, Adam's Song, and I Miss You, but better than anything else they've

In the U.S., Oasis is a one hit wonder, known only for the song Wonderwall.  This is a huge shame, since Oasis is undoubtedly the best band of their era.  Most critics would disagree, citing Nirvana, which was monumentally influential, or Pavement, which was consistently brilliant in every facet (except singing in tune), as better options. Certainly, it's easy to write off Oasis.  There's a litany of issues with the band's music: Noel wrote terrible lyrics, Liam doesn't have a traditionally good voice, and the other band members were mediocre at best.  All of that doesn't matter.  A great artists needs to do three things and three things only: Write great tunes. Sing them effortlessly. Believe 100% in the music. Oasis in the mid-90's had all of the above in spades.  Noel, without any assistance, wrote the best set of tunes this side of the Beatles, and Liam sang those tunes with a power and verve that made him one of the best rock vocalist of his generat

Since everyone likes lists, here's another list.  My 10 favorite albums of the aughts.  By far my favorite decade in music and the one I know the most about; it was rather heart wrenching trying to narrow the list down to 10.  More than enough has already been said in the music press about all these albums, so I'll just give a explanation of why I like each and note my favorite tracks. The National - Boxer : My favorite album of all time.  The general topic of the album, the fear and general discomfort of transitioning and settling into adulthood, really connects with me at the moment.  It feels tense, while Alligator feels drunk and High Violet feels depressed.  This tension gives the songs a direction and a purpose absent on the other albums.  It also doesn't hurt that it has the best songs of the three.  Hell, there's not a single bad track (one of less than a dozen albums that I can say that about).  Also, Bryan Devondorf is simply the best drummer in all

This coming Wednesday, Simon Cowell's replacement for American Idol, The X Factor, will debut here in the states. So, here's my favorite moments from the UK X-Factor, in the hopes that the US version will have moments just as good. Cher Lloyd - Turn My Swag On : A cheeky British teenager (16 at the time) covers the Keri Hilson cover of a Soulja Boy song.  On paper, it should've been a complete joke, but, somehow, Cher made it work.  She totally had the attitude, the look, and the voice to pull it off, and it didn't hurt that the song was actually awesome. Hands down the best and the most unique audition I've ever seen on any of these reality singing shows.   Jamie Archer - Sex on Fire : The song was a huge hit in the UK and an even bigger hit in Australia.  How it never became a hit in the US is beyond me.  Anyways, Jamie Archer has a perfect voice for the song and he just fucking sells it.  I can't help but smile watching this, and, judging by the video, I&

Coldplay just released a new song, "Paradise", from their forthcoming album, Mylo Xyloto, and it's actually really good.  Leagues better than Every Teardrop is a Waterfall.  Heck, it's better than anything off of Viva la Vida except for "Viva la Vida".  Anyways, that got me thinking about all the great pop music that the Brits have come up with over the past couple years that never made it across the pond.  So, here's a list of a few of the best ones: The Wanted - All Time Low (Genre: Pop): Boy bands and girl groups might've died in the U.S., but they're still going strong in the UK with acts like Girls Aloud, The Saturdays, JLS, and, god have mercy, Jedward.  (Seriously, if you think American music is bad, just look up Jedward.  They might be cute little kids but I want to strangle both of them at least three times over and punt them to Pluto.)  Anyways, the best song any of them has managed to put out in the past few years is The Wanted'

This week's a pretty good one for new releases.  Girls' Father, Son, Holy Ghost as well as St. Vincent's Strange Mercy will be officially released.  I've listened through both of them, and I thought I'd give them both a quick review. Girls - Father, Son, Holy Ghost: Girls is a San Francisco band, whose singer had a fucked up childhood in the Children of God cult, that makes ramshackle, charming, lo-fi, Beach Boys-sounding rock music. If you haven't heard their music, listen to Lust for Life , Laura , and/or Hellhole Ratrace off their first album (which was terribly titled as "Album").  Anyways, this album is definitely more expensive sounding than their debut, with more intricate and varied arrangements.  However, the songwriting is just not there.  I listened through the whole thing twice and found nothing to like.  Ironically, the only song that didn't make me want to vomit was the one called Vomit.  For that, I'll give this album a point

I love reading Pitchfork.  It's the one music publication that actually gets it right nowadays.  I mean seriously Rolling Stone, how can you give Tha Carter IV, which is a complete shitshow, the same rating as Watch the Throne, which is a rather solid album with three amazing songs (Those would be Niggas in Paris, Otis, and Illest Motherfucker Alive).  Anyways, Pitchfork does this Best New Music and Best New Track thing which I rather like.  I'm not one for albums, since I believe songs are individual entities that should be judged by themselves.  They're like a collection of short stories, not chapters in a book, and should be treated as such.  So, I will simply give my pick for Best New Track: Example - Stay Awake Example is another badly named British rapper (eg. Tinie Tempah, Chipmunk, Wretch 32).  Except, unlike the others, he can sorta rap and has a great sense of melody.  The track is currently the #1 single in the UK for a good reason.  The chorus to the song is

Now, for some actual music.  First, my last.fm account if you want a quick snapshot of what I like.  (Yes, I know, the name is stupid, go ahead and laugh, I don't care...)  Also, I made you bitches a list...bitches love lists... Top 10 Songs of 2011 (so far): The Weeknd - Wicked Games :   This song is perfect.  The best track off of the most interesting album to come out this year (It's also free, you should download it and give it a listen if you haven't already: Link ).  The overblown drums and grimy guitars give the song a lot of momentum and a great ambiance, but really, the song is all about Abel Tesfaye.  His voice is hauntingly perfect (or perfectly haunting, either one works) and his songwriting is on point all the way through.  I tried to pick the best part of this song, but I just can't.  It's that good. Tyler, The Creator - Yonkers : Should have won Video of the Year.  At least he won Best New Artist. Kid deserved it. His mom looked so proud. Anywa

I spend what can only be described as an obscene amount of time listening to music.  So, to convince myself that all that time hasn't been a complete waste, I've made a blog to share some musical knowledge I've gained over the years.  Thank you for being interested/bored enough to bother reading this, and hopefully, you'll learn a bit and discover some good new music. First, a bit about the blog name so you don't think it's complete retarded.  It's just an amalgamation of two song names, "Champagne Supernova" by Oasis and "Bitter Sweet Symphony" by The Verve (both absolutely classic britpop tracks, BTW).  It doesn't really mean anything, but it rolls off the tongue well.  Also, more importantly, it conjures up the lovely image of a melodious, alcoholic explosion of musical joy, and I sorta like that. Now a bit about my general music philosophy, illustrated by one of my favorite musical quote, courtesy of Lil Wayne, off of the song