2009 Wrap #9: Nick Blandford

Here is a top 9 in alphabetical order, then a few more records I liked, then some other things:

1. Akron/Family Set ‘Em Wild, Set ‘Em Free (Dead Oceans) Music doesn’t belong in boxes. Tributaries intersect regularly to create new styles and reinvent the old. But in the ’90s, the concept of genre-bending/splicing/smashing seemed to become more intentional, calculated. Odelay and Paul’s Boutique successfully executed this at a mainstream level, and the copycats followed, reducing the concept to lazy self-conscious pastiche. Then we cycled through garage and electro revivals, refocusing that calculation on simpler formulas. And now we’re back to a place where there are a lot of bands/records that are really difficult to pin-down. Yes, I love that A/F pack so many ideas, so many sounds, so many vibes into this record. However, what truly grabs me is that it all sounds so effortless – like it just happened. Maybe this is the place where I should go on about how much media we consume these days, and how perhaps that rapid, constant consumption would have to guide honest artistic expression this direction eventually. But that’s boring. It’s a lot more fun to think these the guys got really stoned and imagined themselves as members of Funkadelic, Black Sabbath, and CSNY, then decided to jam on a new score for Disney’s Pocahontas. 

2. Bear In Heaven Beast Rest Forth Mouth (Hometapes) On previous releases, this band had a great sound, but the songwriting did not always stand on par. Here, they have finally put it all together. The captain of SS MarathonPacks has reviewed this record in a few places, summing it up quite well: “What Bear in Heaven do so well is combine the expansiveness of southern rock, with the dark textures and sinuous rhythms of synth-pop.” I can’t top that. So, let’s just say, “I’ve been jamming this record a lot over the last month”and stop there.

3. Girls Album (True Panther Sounds) I get why some people don’t like this record. Hype. Hype. Hype. But, I implore anyone who turned away from this one early to seriously reconsider. Yes, the singer sounds a bit like Elvis Costello (but since when was that a bad thing?). Ok, the lyrics can be a touch saccharine at times. I understand not everyone can get wrapped up in suntans, pizzas, bottles of wine, and beautiful girls. But this sweet simplicity is usually coupled with genuine hurt, as in the song “Laura”: “Oh I wish I had a boyfriend. I wish I had a loving man in my life”, then “I wish I had a father. Then maybe I woulda turned out right.” I have been listening to some of these songs all year, through all seasons. The epic “Hellhole Ratrace” serves as the centerpiece for one of the most honest records I’ve heard in years. The song-writing is so strong, the hooks so catchy and groovy, that I keep going back – even if it doesn’t all feel good.

4. Lee Fields & The Expressions My World (Truth & Soul) The long-needed soul/funk revival has been in full swing for a few years now. I nominate Lee Fields as the latest heavyweight contender. Fields has been at it for 40 years, having worked with dozens of labels and who-knows-how-many musicians. The Expressions and backing vocalists The Del-larks provide a canvas that incorporates Meters groove and Temptations swell. There are modern flavors to the production, but the results are decidedly classic. Fields is able to range from James Brown burn to gentler ballads. My life gets a little bit better each time I listen.

5. Harlem Free Drugs (Female Fantasy) Some bands sound like they are about to fall apart at any moment. Often that thought indicates that you are listening to / watching a bad (or at least unpracticed) band. But sometimes that mess you see clattering towards you is pure bliss. Harlem is bliss – drunken, exuberant, ramshackle bliss. The points of reference are easy: Nuggets-style garage rock, vocals that channel The Pixies, blah blah. I saw this band at SXSW. I’m not sure if I had heard them before or not. When they played, I was drunk, and I loved it. Maybe I was sold on the line “Ridin’ in the south of France, and I’m blasting ABBA.” I bought the record at the show. Once I got home and listened, I was happy to confirm that it wasn’t just the margaritas.

6. HEALTH Get Color (Lovepump United) The music HEALTH makes is brutiful. I looked up that word on UrbanDictionary to see if I had successfully invented a term, and I was crushed to see it associated with something called “Masked Penguin Slaughters.” Since that doesn’t sound like something that should actually exist, I am reclaiming the word and distilling the definition to the root “brutally beautiful.” The album starts with machine-gun blasts of percussion and dizzying synth swirls. Less than 30 seconds in, this gives way to groaning, squealing feedback and a wash of dreamy androgynous vocals. Am I listening to the slaughter of robot animals? Is this ritual or chaos? The video for their single “Die Slow” answers: a little of both. This clearly stands as my favorite video of the year–if nothing else, it seems to perfectly reflect what this band is about.

7. Memory Tapes Seek Magic (Sincerely Yours/Acéphale) Many reviews of this record invoke micro-genres du jour – chill-wave and glo-fi. Gag. (I know that reaction is ironic considering my attempt to coin “brutiful,” ugh). Let’s not try too hard, as there are some clear antecedents here. Smoother than Junior Boys, the funk is not as sparsely robotic. There’s a taste of Aphex Twin’s ambient work, but more fun. Not as melodramatic as M83, and more bounce than Galaxie 500 usually delivered. A keener sense of melody than most of Four Tet’s output. Maybe this is what RJD2 was going for when he ditched hip-hop on his pop reach The Third Hand. All that name-dropping just speaks to how we got here. There was no scene or movement that emerged this year, despite the arbitrary critical labeling. The man behind this project (as well as Memory Cassette and Weird Tapes), Dayve Hawk, has described himself as “just some dude in southern New Jersey.” It just so happens, this dude made a sublimely infectious record. It also happens to include my favorite song moment of the year. The first half of the stellar track “Bicycle” gives way to an ethereal chorus of layered ohs and ahs, only to be lifted seconds later by a rubbery, then chiming guitar solo which carries the song to the summit, before yielding again to the chorus for a close.

8. Ofege Try and Love (Academy LPs) There are hundreds of great reissues every year; I only hear a fraction, and for that I am sorry. I’m not a crate-digger. I don’t have the patience for it. I am content to find reliable curators that can point me the right direction – whether they be friends, labels, newsletters, or blogs that I trust. This year, all paths quietly lead to Ofege. The band popped up on a couple of great comps–Nigeria Rock Special: Psychedelic Afro-rock & Fuzz Funk In 1970’s Nigeria released by Soundway Records; and Forge Your Own Chains: Heavy Psychedelic Ballads and Dirges released by Now-Again. Thankfully the new Academy LPs imprint has given a full Ofege album proper reissue treatment. Try and Love is certainly a product of its time: Santana guitar runs, searing Da Capo-era Love solos, Beatlesy tambourine-chorus ballads with unmistakable Harrison/Clapton noodling, wah-wah funk, a hint of reggae-soul. But the finished product is SO GOOD. “Gbe mi Lo” and “It’s Not Easy” are instant mix-tape fodder. Go get this record.

9. Raekwon Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, Pt. 2 (EMI) Part of me is a bit disappointed that this is the only hip-hop record I’m listing here. I have listened to a lot less hip-hop this year. I don’t know why. (Ed note: You didn’t miss much) Maybe I was just waiting for the next great coke-rap epic, since the new Clipse record fell a bit short of the mark. The production is killer (particularly tracks from Pete Rock, J Dilla, and RZA). The rhymes cut sharp. The guest verses are integral – not just phoned-in name-drops and boasting. Ghostface is all over this record, and it rings classic Wu-Tang. Oh, and there’s this very NSFW video.

Other records I really liked this year, in no particular order:
Atlas Sound Logos (Kranky)
Mulatu Astatke New York – Addis – London: The Story of Ethio Jazz 1965-1975 (Strut)
Mountains Choral (Thrill Jockey)
jj jj nº2 (Sincerely Yours)
Lindstrom & Prins Thomas II (Eskimo)
Mount Eerie Wind’s Poem (P.W. Elverum & Sun)
We Were Promised Jetpacks These Four Walls (FatCat Records)
Grizzly Bear Veckatimest (Warp)
Russian Circles Geneva (Suicide Squeeze)
tUnE-yArDs BiRd-BrAiNs (Marriage/4AD)
Cass McCombs Catacombs (Domino)
Surfer Blood Astro Coast (Kanine)

A few more things that I enjoyed this year:

Explosions in the Sky live at the Crystal Ballroom in Portland as part of MusicFest NW. I’ve seen EITS a few times, and each show feels life changing. They are absolutely one of the best live bands I have ever seen. Regardless of whether you think you like them on record, you need to experience the power and emotion that EITS conjure out of 2 guitars, a bass, and a drum kit.

Salem x Gucci Mane remixes. I am totally entranced with everything I hear from Salem, There is a dark part of my soul that finds it to be quite beautiful. But, damn, does it terrify me. I can’t quite bring myself to link to their videos here, because I don’t want to be the gateway for anyone that I do not know personally. I need to be able to judge whether or not you can handle it. The Gucci Mane mixes are slightly less terrifying, but they still make him sound like some sort of tar-monster MC.

David Simon speaking at DePauw University. Not music related, but this was a definite high point of my year. He delivered the keynote address for DePauw’s Undergraduate Communications Honors Conference. The room was full of very nice looking journalism students and professors. I attended with a couple friends; none of us were students, and I think it was better that way. The talk was titled “The Audacity of Despair: The Decline of American Empire and What’s In It For You.” USA! USA! USA?! Oh, no? Um, nevermind.

Full Disclosure: Nick Blandford “works in music.” He manages two companies that are operated alongside Secretly Canadian/Jagjaguwar/Dead Oceans. Bellwether Manufacturing make CDs, LPs, and other forms of media, and SC Distribution sells some of that stuff. He swears there are only a few records on this list that he has a hand in selling (Ed note: those are Akron/Family, HEALTH, WWPJ, Russian Circles, EitS). But that seems fair. If he didn’t like the records that he works with, then Nick should probably get a new job.

Filed under: 2009 Wrap  Akron/Family  Bear in Heaven  Girls  Harlem  HEALTH  Lee Fields & the Expressions  Memory Tapes  Ofege  Raekwon