Year-End best of

So picked up the Exclaim! year in review issue last night. It makes me think of my own. As usual, I have not really listened to many records this year. I think I bought five (at least, as far as I can remember) that were released this year: "Era Vulgaris," "In Rainbows," "Anonymous," "La Cucaracha," "Icky Thump," "Sky Blue Sky." Coming up with a list is hardly fair, but whatever.

Best albums:
1. Wilco: Sky Blue Sky
This is the most jammy I have ever heard Wilco. It is also the least obviously studio-constructed album they have made since Being There. And it's a lot of fun. I mean, in this day and age, few "experimental" bands (as that tag seems to follow them everywhere, even though Sky Blue Sky hardly fits that bill) are all about guitar solos. Sky Blue Sky is all about guitar solos. And it's fucking awesome because of it. When I first got it I wasn't sure what to make of it, but it and it's predecessor (which I initially disliked for reasons that I cannot imagine) are pretty rad. It's amazing what a virtuoso will do for a band. Just talking about it makes me want to put it on.

2. Tomahawk: "Anonymous"
This is probably "better" than Sky Blue Sky on a strictly artistic basis, but I enjoy the Wilco album more. This is a major record. It's also awesome, but it's important. However, I think it will be neglected for a quite a long time. The thing is, Tomahawk fans are alt-metal fans. All they really want is FNM or the Jesus Lizard. Contemporary native American music (whatever it is actually called) fans do not tend to listen to alt-metal. Anonymous has been categorized as alt-metal even though, after listening to this record, one would be very hard pressed to defend such a claim. I think it is probably one of the most important native-american-roots music albums of the last 25 years (or more) and it certainly kicks the ass of any Robbie Robertson solo albums or that Susan Agluclark nonsense. This is revelatory. However, the right people won't find it, because it's "alt-metal." I think they probably should have changed the name of the band, if only to allow some non-Tomahawk fans to find it.

3. The White Stripes: "Icky Thump"
Yet more goodness. Unlike Get Behind Me, Satan, this album does not feel like a departure. But it still feels different. And I guess that's the important thing. I don't feel like I've heard it before, even though it's pretty much the same ole shit.

4. "In Rainbows"
This is far from my favourite Radiohead album. It's way down on the list. But that isn't saying much, since an okay Radiohead album is still better than most other stuff. Hail to the Thief was loud, it was angry, it was paranoid, it was so many things. This is just...accessible. I don't really know what else to say. I still like it, but it's like they decided that they needed to attract more people since they were giving it away (essentially...though I paid a lot for it, I'll have you know). Like Hail to the Thief, it is a good amalgam of their two disparate urges: the rock one and the electronic one (unlike Kid A/Amnesiac, where they were separated from song to song), but it lacks Hail to the Thiefs energy and menace. Both Hail to the Thief and OK Computer, their two best, are held together by a particular mood and that mood is missing on In Rainbows. It's still really good though.

Biggest Disappointment:
Ween: "La Cuccaracha"
It's not as if this is bad. I like it. Maybe it will grow on me. I hope it will. But it's gotten to the point where I'm wondering whether they are are unsuccessfully trying to be funny or they are just bad lyricists. One of the songs on here is laugh-out-loud, but the rest are almost too convincing. I guess a lot of people thought that about White Pepper. Anyway, I still haven't made up my mind, but I worry that they will never make anything like Chocolate & Cheese ever again because they have "matured."

I don't know what to say about:
QOTSA: "Era Vulgaris"
Some listens I really like it. Others I don't. It's know Lullabies. Even though hardcore fans apparently hate that album, I think it's great. It's way better than this one. I think, 5 or 10 years from now, we'll all be talking about that 80s via 00s production sound. So many bands want to sound like it's the 80s, but they have better tech (when I say 80s, I mean underground 80s, not big drum hair metal 80s). I don't like the way the guitars are processed. It sounds like they're trying to fit in with the new new wave/post post punk nonsense, if only in terms of production.

Should I also say best movies?

It's a toss up between Zodiac, Grindhouse, and No Country for Old Men, probably. As usual I haven't seen enough movies, ask me about the best 2007 movies in 2010. I might be able to give you quite the authoritative list on 2004 right now...

Zodiac would lose that battle, if only because it's pretty much the acme of police procedurals, but the other two have more "weight." Meh, I can't decide.