Two Very Overrated Bands

1. The Clash. I'm not afraid to say it, even though I really like the idea of Joe Strummer.

2. Grizzly Bear. I can't even get through all of Veckatimest.

FIVE from 2009

As the year is nearly one-third of the way through, I’ve decided to recommend five albums released thus far. I’ve absented Animal Collective’s MPP because so much has already been said about it, and it’s placement in my top 100 of all-time list (first alphabetically if not comparatively) should tip everyone off to my thoughts on its quality. Also, I should note that I’m horrible at keeping up with (and evaluating) new music, as most of my listening habits are retrospective, so there’s no telling whether any of these choices will be anywhere near my top-whatever at year’s end—it all just seems too obvious and Pitchfork-y. I’ve liked some dubstep releases but still don’t know enough about the genre to be able to rate them (though look for a UK garage posting in the very near future, especially since I’ll be spending summer in the London fog). Anyway, I think some of you might enjoy some of these picks regardless of the countless caveats …

Antony & the Johnsons – The Crying Light

Androgyny has been cool even before the ‘Mats sang its praises on Let It Be. On this record—the follow-up to 2005’s nearly indistinguishable I Am a Bird Now—crooner Antony Hegarty dances with epilepsy and forces evocations of uneasy sadness. It’s better than it sounds.

Blank Dogs – Under and Under

Lo-fi synth punk is a shallow genre that’s too often much worse than it even sounds, but this record is one of its few standouts. Under and Under is a superior successor to last year’s hit-or-miss On Two Sides, as melody finally begins to reveal itself amidst the layers of noisy distortion. That said, nothing on here comes close to its predecessor’s “The Crystal Ladies,” which finished as one of 2008’s finest tracks.

Crocodiles – Summer of Hate

I’m not completely sold on this release. Part of me views it as another retro-New Wave effort in a genre that’s been almost entirely discredited by fraudulent acts like the Killers. (Quick aside: does anyone else find the doofy look on the Killers’ drummer completely fucking maddening? Eh, maybe not.) At least the Crocodiles didn’t take their name from a New Order music video and, to my knowledge, haven’t been touring across the globe covering Joy Division’s “Shadowplay” (we get it, you were influenced by the British post-punk movement). But it is a bit worrisome that this band name might have been inspired by the bridge scene from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. At least they’re lo-fi enough to keep MTV away, and “I Wanna Kill” is one of the best new songs I’ve heard this year, with a primary riff that sounds like it was lifted from Adventures in Babysitting.

Peaches – I Feel Cream

Before hearing this release, I’d mostly viewed this middle-aged erotic electrotrash artist as a novelty act (perhaps obvious from my wordy description) who could occasionally happen across an isolated success. I Feel Cream is a pretty great record, though, as it trades shock for quality in producing several fantastic pieces that are perfect regardless of whether you’re rolling in an Eastern European dance club or, like me, sitting in the law school library cuffed in a pair of oversized headphones.

Wavves – Wavvves

Wavves creates ultra-lo-fi surf punk that buries coherent songs beneath oceans of fuzz. If that sounds appealing, then Wavvves (with three “v”s) is worth a listen. It also has really cool cover art showing a little kid skateboarding in red-trimmed tube socks.

FINAL (MOSTLY UNRELATED) THOUGHT:

While watching the Real World/Road Rules Challenge last week I was told by MTV that Asher Roth was poised to drop one of the three most influential hip-hop records of all-time. I’ve heard “I Love College” and know that it’s a shitty middle-class Enimem rip, but, even supposing it were somehow less horrible, does MTV even bother to think before it promotes? I mean, the top three most influential hip-hop LPs of EVER??? I’ll start: Eric B. & Rakim – Paid in Full; NWA – Straight Outta Compton; Beastie Boys – Paul’s Boutique. According to Music Television, Asher Roth’s sophomore effort is not only more influential than EVERY OTHER HIP-HOP ALBUM EVERY RECORDED (including all of the Eminem releases that provided a blueprint for Roth's hopefully ill-fated career), but it also manages to surpass either, (1) the record that helped to jumpstart modern hip-hop, (2) the record that founded gangsta rap as a sub-genre, or (3) the record that revolutionized the ways in which the genre uses samples and approaches production. Fuck you, MTV, please stick to your specialty: scripted teenage dating farces.

Also, I've been listening to Mercury Rev's Deserter's Songs for the first time, and I'll be damned if it doesn't sound exactly like late-era Flaming Lips.

100 of My Favorite Records

Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion (2009)
Aphex Twin – Selected Ambient Works 85-92 (1993)
Archers of Loaf – Icky Mettle (1993)
Avey Tare and Panda Bear – Spirit They’re Gone, Spirit They’ve Vanished (2000)
The Beatles – White Album (1968)
Belle and Sebastian – Push Barman to Open Old Wounds (2005)
Big Black – The Rich Man’s Eight Track Tape (1987)
Bob Dylan – Bringing It All Back Home (1965)
Bob Dylan – Desire (1976)
Bruce Springsteen – Born to Run (1985)
Bruce Springsteen – Tunnel of Love (1987)
Built to Spill – Keep It Like a Secret (1999)
Burial – Untrue (2007)
The Buzzcocks – Singles Going Steady (1979)
Cannibal Ox – The Cold Vein (2001)
Clipse – Hell Hath No Fury (2006)
David Bowie – Low (1977)
David Bowie – The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972)
Dead Moon – Echoes of the Past (2006)
The Descendents – Milo Goes to College (1982)
Dinosaur Jr. – You’re Living All Over Me (1987)
Disco Inferno – The Five EPs (1999)
Dizzee Rascal – Boy in da Corner (2004)
Dr. Dre – The Chronic (1992)
Dusty Springfield – Dusty in Memphis (1969)
Eric B. and Rakim – Follow the Leader (1988)
The Fall – This Nation’s Saving Grace (1985)
The Frogs – It’s Only Right and Natural (1989)
Funkadelic – Maggot Brain (1971)
Fushitsusha – PSF 3/4 (1989)
Ghostface Killah – Supreme Clientele (2000)
Glenn Branca – The Ascension (1981)
Global Communication – 76:14 (1994)
The Gories – I Know You Fine, but How You Doin’ (1994)
Graham Lambkin and Jason Lescalleet – The Breadwinner (2008)
Gravediggaz – 6 Feet Deep (1994)
Guided by Voices – Propeller (1992)
GZA – Liquid Swords (1995)
Hasil Adkins – Out to Hunch (1986)
Iggy Pop – The Idiot (1977)
Iggy Pop – Lust for Life (1977)
Iggy and the Stooges – Raw Power (1973)
Iron & Wine – The Creek Drank the Cradle (2002)
J Dilla (Jay Dee) – Donuts (2006)
Jerry Lee Lewis – Live at the Star Club, Hamburg (1964)
Jesu – Jesu (2005)
Joanna Newsom – Ys (2006)
Joy Division – Unknown Pleasures (1979)
Leonard Cohen – Songs of Leonard Cohen (1967)
Les Rallizes Denudes – ’77 Live (2002)
Life Without Buildings – Live at the Annandale Hotel (2007)
Lucinda Williams – Car Wheels on a Gravel Road (1998)
Madvillain – Madvillainy (2004)
The Magnetic Fields – 69 Love Songs (1999)
Mclusky – Mclusky Do Dallas (2002)
The Melvins – Lysol (1992)
The Modern Lovers – The Modern Loves (1976)
Modest Mouse – The Lonesome Crowded West (1997)
Modest Mouse – The Moon and Antarctica (2000)
The Mountain Goats – All Hail West Texas (2002)
The Mummies – Never Been Caught (1992)
My Bloody Valentine – Loveless (1991)
NWA – Straight Outta Compton (1988)
Neutral Milk Hotel – In the Aeroplane Over the Sea (1998)
New Order – Substance (1987)
Notorious BIG – Ready to Die (1994)
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark – Architecture & Morality (1981)
Panda Bear – Person Pitch (2007)
Outkast – SouthernPlayalistiCadillacMuzik (1994)
PJ Harvey – Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea (2000)
Portishead – Third (2008)
Public Enemy – It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (1988)
Radiohead – Kid A (2000)
Ramones – Rocket to Russia (1977)
The Replacements – Tim (1985)
The Ronettes – Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes Featuring Veronica (1964)
Sam Cooke – Live at the Harlem Square Club, 1963 (1985)
Scott Walker – Scott 3 (1969)
Scott Walker – Tilt (1995)
Scratch Acid – Scratch Acid (1984)
Silver Jews – American Water (1998)
The Smiths – The Queen Is Dead (1986)
Sonic Youth – Daydream Nation (1988)
Sonic Youth – EVOL (1986)
Sonic Youth – Sister (1987)
Steve Reich – Music for 18 Musicians (1978)
The Stooges – Fun House (1970)
The Strokes – Is This It (2001)
Suicide – Suicide (1977)
The Terminals – Touch (1992)
Tom Waits – Bone Machine (1992)
Tom Waits – Rain Dogs (1985)
The Vaselines – The Way of the Vaselines: A Complete History (1992)
The Velvet Underground –White Light/White Heat (1968)
The Velvet Underground – The Velvet Underground (1969)
The Velvet Underground – The Velvet Underground and Nico (1967)
Ween – The Pod (1991)
Ween – Pure Guava (1992)
Wilco – Summerteeth (1999)
William Basinski – The Disintegration Loops (2001-2003)
The Wrens – Meadowlands (2003)
Wu-Tang Clan – Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (1994)