Rob J comin' at you with four songs that crept all up on me and found a place in my life this year. For me 2010 was a long one. Lots of celebrations and frustration this year, and the songs that I'm gonna post this week have a little bita both of those sentiments in them.
Let's start out in February shall we? I don't know if I've mentioned it yet but I'm a runner, and in the winter that means lots of shitty runs in the ice/slush/snow which in turn means a lotta time spent grumpy as hell as you get pushed around by the winter winds. Fortunately I like to take this time to discover new music. Listen to the albums and really get to know them. Well, this first tune is from Gil Scott Heron's release "I'm New Here." Of course Scott Heron is not new. He's been around doing amazing work for 40 years. He's influenced Mos Def, Kanye, Common, Talib heavily and on "I'm New Here" he allows them to help him out. "New York is Killing Me" is a track with the simplicity of a Blind Lemon Jefferson tune and the production value of a Kanye jam. I love it. It marks my 2010 journey into the world of hip hop:
The second tune I've got for you today is from a band my good buddie Rob Watson showed me: The Gaslight Anthem. This band loves Springsteen. I don't know how else to put it but they really get after a sound and a style that seems to be largely forgotten in this hypemachine era of remixes and experimentation. Nothing wrong with that stuff. I like it, but every now and then I fucking love listening to something that just punches you straight in the jaw. I saw these guys with DST, Courtney, and Destroyer one of my first nights in the U.K. It was one of the best show's I've ever seen. Ladies and Gentlemen "American Slang"...
I really love Canadian music. My favourite thing is to listen to Grant Lawrence's CBC Radio 3 podcast (check it out in our links section) and go for a long run. There are maybe a few things in the world that beat that. Dan Mangan is no exception. He's a great songwriter who gets the humour and the tenderness of this great country. His songs aren't sappy but they're heartfelt. Toward the end of my euro tour I was getting homesick. I wasn't running well and I was pissed off. I plugged myself into my Ipod and threw on the CBC podcast. This tune struck a chord with me that day:
My final song is by Sufjan Stevens. To set the record straight I don't love Sufjan. I never understood his zodiac album. I find his long titles irritating. I think he's kind of a dick in interviews and I think there are a lot of people who would jump off a musical bridge if he told them to. Maybe I'm not on a high enough wave length to dig all of his songs. However, there are some ones I couldn't live without. This tune is the title track from his "All Delighted People" EP. I love the vocals. I love the crescendos. I love the allusions to Simon and Garfunkel. I love the cover. I love that it has a classic rock version. All 11 minutes and 38 seconds of this song blow my mind (sorry this video stinks):
So there you have it. The most difficult post I could imagine. There were a shit ton o' good albums released this year and I can't wait for the year to come!
Cheers!
Rob J
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