New music

I've gotten into a lot of new music recently. Mostly because of Pitchfork.com's list of the best albums of the decade. I realized that in the first half of the decade, I was kinda blind to the whole "good" or "indie" scene. I also didn't listen to rap (except for Eminem). So, I've played a bit of catch up and gotten into some cool stuff.




Modest Mouse- The Moon and Antarctica
I always assumed that I didn't like Modest Mouse's older stuff. I really liked We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank and I assumed that their older stuff is way more punk and Isaac Brocks screaming. This album is full of gems. Especially "3rd Planet." The whole album makes me feel like I'm in some alternate universe free of gravity and this feeling of loneliness.














The Avalanches- Since I Left You
This is like a combination of Girl Talk, Incubus, ambien, Sufjan Stevens and Jay-Z. It flows like a rap album, the samples are varied and totally obscure and the beats make you want to dance during any and every decade, as long as you're doing something bad.













The Streets-Original Pirate Material
There's something charming about hearing this guy spit about smoking weed and playing Grand Torismo (on the hardest setting), ordering pizza, getting take away food and taking the piss out of the government. Unlike most rappers, he doesn't hate on specific people. Mostly, he rants about unfair policies in the government and how they make criminals out of non-violent, peaceful people (aka pot smokers). All of this while the same piano "loops over and over and over."













Outkast- Stankonia
Just a brilliant rap album. There will never be another album like it. It's the kind of album that people still bought as a CD instead of a download. The kind of album that takes you back and makes you forget the upheaval that occurred when George Bush took office and bombed Baghdad, then declare that their mission was accomplished. It's sad that 9 years later we realize that there never was a mission.












Hercules and Love Affair
This album is full of great dance music. This is more of a feeling album. I don't need to pay attention to what they're saying, it just makes me feel lighter and helps me forget my stress and worry. The songs with Antony Hegarty (from Antony and the Johnsons) are particularly touching. Such beauty and ambiguity in his voice. I can relate to that.













Basement Jaxx- Rooty
Again, great dance stuff. Electronica afro-beats and such. Just great.














I'll be posting more albums as time goes on. I just wanted to mess around with the format. Perhaps I'll do my own list. Everybody loves lists, right? How about a countdown?