Ten albums down, thirty to go. Here's the next installment, albums #30 to #26...
Why I chose New Maps of Hell
Another simply great album from Bad Religion,
New Maps of Hell is another set of fantastic songs from beginning to end. This band is an old standby that keeps cranking out good music with a worldly point of view and lots of relevant commentary that not many other bands are willing to put in their music. When a new Bad Religion album comes out, you pretty much know it's going to be solid before you even listen.
Highlights from New Maps of Hell
• "Fields of Mars" –
Maybe we can make it right, someday, I'll see you high above the fields of Mars
• "Grains of Wrath" –
With the grains of wrath blazing a path from sea to shining sea
• "Scrutiny" –
It seems like a lifetime of scrutiny, wither the path and whether worth the fee
Why I chose Is Is
So this isn't really an
album, if you will, it's just an EP. Nevertheless, it's pretty good stuff, so I think it's worthy of inclusion on the list. Yeah Yeah Yeahs had a bunch of old songs sitting around, "written amidst one of the most turbulent and emotionally unstable periods" in their history, so they decided to record them and release them. Turned out pretty good!
Highlights from Is Is
• "Rockers to Swallow" –
And out of the beats of tomorrow, tell me what beat fills the night
• "Isis" –
We'll throw them to the sea and watch the murder of the wilds to the music of the deep
• "Kiss Kiss" –
We're three we're three in the dark tonight, oh baby my snake is a shark tonight
Why I chose Disco Romance
You're probably already like "what the hell is this thing," but I'm telling you right now, open your mind and check this out. Sally Shapiro is the pseudonym of an unknown European singer who put this album together last year. It's hard to believe it was recorded in 2006, because it sounds like nothing else from the last 20 years. It's officially known as a revival of Italo disco and '80s Eurobeat, but I say it's like a psychedelic trip back to late-night MTV in December 1982 at 4 AM, and you're snowed in, and the music is sad but the words are happy, and it's so late you don't even realize what's going on. It's amazing.
Highlights from Disco Romance
• "I'll Be By Your Side" –
When the world is falling all apart, I'll be by your side, tonight
• "I Know" –
I know you're my love, even though sometimes I believe I will wake up from this dream
• "Find My Soul" –
Take my hand and show me you'll understand
Why I chose Under The Blacklight
Some of the real hardcore indie types would have nothing to do with this record, claiming it's too mainstream, too shallow, too different from Rilo Kiley's old stuff. I say to hell with that. It's an experiment in a different style of music instead of just another album of the same exact stuff, and I think it worked pretty well. The excellent "The Angels Hung Around" is my favorite track.
Highlights from Under The Blacklight
• "The Angels Hung Around" –
And the angels hung around as they carried me away
• "Silver Lining" –
I never felt so wicked, as when I willed our love to die
• "The Moneymaker" –
They showed the money to you, you showed them what you can do
Why I chose Can I Keep This Pen?
Before they released this album, Northern State said, "We have either lost our minds completely or we made the best record of our career. You decide." I think I'm going to go with "both." There's a lot more singing on this album than their previous ones, and it's really a big awesome cluster of stuff that you can appreciate if you have the right attitude about it. Plus, I've seen them in concert and met them twice, and they're some of the nicest people out there, so that gives them an instant boost in my book.
Highlights from Can I Keep This Pen?
• "Better Already" –
We're getting better already, the truth be told, you know we're better already
• "Mother May I" –
Complex times call for complex rhymes, a lime to a lemon said a lemon to a lime
• "I Luv It When Ya" –
My girlfriend knows how I like to rock it, we lock in rhythm right in the pocket
The next installment, albums #25 to #21, will finally let us reach the half-way mark!
