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defrogContinuing up our coverage of Team Def's favorite music of 2010. Part 1 is here.
And Part 2 is a round-up of all the miscellaneous awards handed out previous to the live broadcast. You know, like they do on Grammy Night. (Or I assume they do – I haven’t watched the Grammys since high school. That was the early 80s, for yr reference.)
THE 21ST BEST LP OF 2010
Janelle Monae
The ArchAndroid (Bad Boy/Wondaland) Debut album from Monae, who got noticed after appearing on Outkast’s Idlewild album. But there’s more to her than a great singing voice – few in hip-hop/R&B circles would attempt a concept album based on Metropolis (with the female robot as the main character) with music styles ranging from hip-hop, psychedelic rock and Sparks-era glam to Broadway show tunes and classical music. Pretentious? Maybe. Awesome? Not quite, if only because I was never really sold that the songs had that much to do with the overall concept. That said, some of the songs are quite good, and I prefer Monae’s style to the vocal gymnastics we usually get with R&B. So she’s definitely one to watch.
BEST SOUNDTRACK
Various Artists
Fantastic Mr Fox (Abkco) Okay, so it was the only soundtrack I bought. But it’s a good collection of songs if you dig Burl Ives, The Wellingtons, The Beach Boys and the Bobby Fuller Four, whose “Let Her Dance” is worth the price of admission alone.
BEST COMPILATION
Various Artists
Dengue Fever presents Electric Cambodia (Minky Records) A collection of lost 60s/70s pop-rock nuggets from Cambodia compiled by Dengue Fever, the LA band specializing in revivalist Cambodian psychedelic rock. It’s a good set of songs, though in some cases it sounds like some of them have been overdubbed with new music tracks (possibly by Dengue Fever themselves), presumably because the original cassette quality was so muddy. Either way, the proceeds go to Cambodia Living Arts, which is also nice. Recommended for people who like the Cambodia Rocks bootlegs.
BEST RE-ISSUE
Falco
Falco 3 (Sony Music) Everyone else is giving this category to Exile On Main Street, which is a great album but I never did get around to buying the re-release – partly because I was spending my money on several Kinks re-issues and this: the 25th anniversary re-issue of Falco’s third album. Why give this one to Falco? Because there actually is a lot more to him than “Rock Me Amadeus”. And because it’s Falco.
BEST DOWNLOADED SINGLE
The Good The Bad
“030” (Stray Cat Records) Not many bands can claim to be a surf-flamenco band from Denmark whose song titles are all numbers. That’s how The Good The Bad describe themselves, though the surf influence is more obvious than the flamenco influence. Granted, they got more attention from the naughty video that went with this song, but as post-modern surf instrumental bands go, TGTB is pretty good. Too bad I never got around to getting a copy of the rest of the album.
BEST ALBUM I DIDN’T KNOW HOW TO CATEGORIZE
Jimi Hendrix
Valleys Of Neptune (Experience Hendrix/Sony Legacy) The label promoted this as an all-new previously unreleased studio album, but it’s really more like a collection of remastered and previously unreleased songs recorded by the Jimi Hendrix Experience, with a few featuring Billy Cox replacing Noel Redding on bass. I can’t really call it a proper album (since it was obviously never intended by Hendrix to be one), but it’s hard to call it a compilation or a re-release. But I had to mention it here because it’s really enjoyable, and it’s great to hear some “new” songs by Hendrix. They may not all be instant classics, but I do like listening to the guy play his guitar.
BEST ALBUM TITLE / BEST ALBUM COVER
Which didn’t make my Top 20 albums, incidentally – not because it’s bad, but because Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings are a better proposition live than on record. And while 60s Southern Soul is a good sound to revive, listening to this made me want to listen to the Stax/Volt singles box set instead.
MOST EDUCATIONAL ALBUM
Christopher Lee
Charlemagne: By The Sword And The Cross (Cadiz) A “symphonic metal” concept album about Charlemagne by Christopher Lee (yes, that one, who is also a direct descendent of Charlemagne, as it happens) and Italian composer Marco Sabiu. It’s more symphonic than metal, which means it’s not really camp or pompous enough to be entertaining. On the other hand, I sure learned a lot about Charlemagne. He made today’s religious zealots look like they’re not even trying.
Up next: the thrilling conclusion!
I shed the blood of the Saxon men,
This is dF
And Part 2 is a round-up of all the miscellaneous awards handed out previous to the live broadcast. You know, like they do on Grammy Night. (Or I assume they do – I haven’t watched the Grammys since high school. That was the early 80s, for yr reference.)
THE 21ST BEST LP OF 2010
Janelle Monae
The ArchAndroid (Bad Boy/Wondaland) Debut album from Monae, who got noticed after appearing on Outkast’s Idlewild album. But there’s more to her than a great singing voice – few in hip-hop/R&B circles would attempt a concept album based on Metropolis (with the female robot as the main character) with music styles ranging from hip-hop, psychedelic rock and Sparks-era glam to Broadway show tunes and classical music. Pretentious? Maybe. Awesome? Not quite, if only because I was never really sold that the songs had that much to do with the overall concept. That said, some of the songs are quite good, and I prefer Monae’s style to the vocal gymnastics we usually get with R&B. So she’s definitely one to watch.
BEST SOUNDTRACK
Various Artists
Fantastic Mr Fox (Abkco) Okay, so it was the only soundtrack I bought. But it’s a good collection of songs if you dig Burl Ives, The Wellingtons, The Beach Boys and the Bobby Fuller Four, whose “Let Her Dance” is worth the price of admission alone.
BEST COMPILATION
Various Artists
Dengue Fever presents Electric Cambodia (Minky Records) A collection of lost 60s/70s pop-rock nuggets from Cambodia compiled by Dengue Fever, the LA band specializing in revivalist Cambodian psychedelic rock. It’s a good set of songs, though in some cases it sounds like some of them have been overdubbed with new music tracks (possibly by Dengue Fever themselves), presumably because the original cassette quality was so muddy. Either way, the proceeds go to Cambodia Living Arts, which is also nice. Recommended for people who like the Cambodia Rocks bootlegs.
BEST RE-ISSUE
Falco
Falco 3 (Sony Music) Everyone else is giving this category to Exile On Main Street, which is a great album but I never did get around to buying the re-release – partly because I was spending my money on several Kinks re-issues and this: the 25th anniversary re-issue of Falco’s third album. Why give this one to Falco? Because there actually is a lot more to him than “Rock Me Amadeus”. And because it’s Falco.
BEST DOWNLOADED SINGLE
The Good The Bad
“030” (Stray Cat Records) Not many bands can claim to be a surf-flamenco band from Denmark whose song titles are all numbers. That’s how The Good The Bad describe themselves, though the surf influence is more obvious than the flamenco influence. Granted, they got more attention from the naughty video that went with this song, but as post-modern surf instrumental bands go, TGTB is pretty good. Too bad I never got around to getting a copy of the rest of the album.
BEST ALBUM I DIDN’T KNOW HOW TO CATEGORIZE
Jimi Hendrix
Valleys Of Neptune (Experience Hendrix/Sony Legacy) The label promoted this as an all-new previously unreleased studio album, but it’s really more like a collection of remastered and previously unreleased songs recorded by the Jimi Hendrix Experience, with a few featuring Billy Cox replacing Noel Redding on bass. I can’t really call it a proper album (since it was obviously never intended by Hendrix to be one), but it’s hard to call it a compilation or a re-release. But I had to mention it here because it’s really enjoyable, and it’s great to hear some “new” songs by Hendrix. They may not all be instant classics, but I do like listening to the guy play his guitar.
BEST ALBUM TITLE / BEST ALBUM COVER
Which didn’t make my Top 20 albums, incidentally – not because it’s bad, but because Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings are a better proposition live than on record. And while 60s Southern Soul is a good sound to revive, listening to this made me want to listen to the Stax/Volt singles box set instead.
MOST EDUCATIONAL ALBUM
Christopher Lee
Charlemagne: By The Sword And The Cross (Cadiz) A “symphonic metal” concept album about Charlemagne by Christopher Lee (yes, that one, who is also a direct descendent of Charlemagne, as it happens) and Italian composer Marco Sabiu. It’s more symphonic than metal, which means it’s not really camp or pompous enough to be entertaining. On the other hand, I sure learned a lot about Charlemagne. He made today’s religious zealots look like they’re not even trying.
Up next: the thrilling conclusion!
I shed the blood of the Saxon men,
This is dF
