Shanies: The Leftovers

Today is always a fun day since I tend to devote it to random awards that I completely pull out of my ass (as opposed to all of the others that undergo very rigorous scientific testing). Basically, this is the collection of awards that I simply have a strong opinion on, but likely don't really make sense outside of my own head.

You Fail Me: The Black Keys - Turn Blue
I really like this band... REALLY like this band, but I have no idea what the hell they were thinking when they went in this direction. I know bands have to evolve and grow both for themselves and their audience to keep things fresh, but Turn Blue was like the audio version of the movie Drive... so maybe I just didn't get it.

The Hell Did That Come From? The Tea Party - The Ocean at the End
Remember these guys? See, I even liked them enough in the 90s that I'd been keeping a passive eye on the fact that they'd disappeared to Australia, likely to have a lot of sex on nice beaches under the influence of heavy drugs. Then they dropped this album - which is actually half decent by the way - with almost no fanfare, promotion, or buzz. Someone needs to let Jeff Martin know it's not the 90s anymore and that he can't just release things and expect throngs of people (read: Canadians and Aussies) to flock.

Buckets Full of Win: Shooting Guns - Wolfcop Original Soundtrack
I'm sorry... could you repeat that into my good ear? Not only did someone make a movie called Wolfcop (it's exactly what you think it is), but my favourite prairie stoner band wrote an entire soundtrack for it? Yes, you heard correctly.

Got What You Deserved: Robin Thicke - Paula
Uncle bad touch took yet another juvenile step by naming his album after his recently-x'ed wife. The result? Less than 500 copies sold in the first week of release in each of the UK, Canada, and Australia.

The ADHD Award for...oh, look at that: Foo Fighters - Sonic Highways
I know... I thought I could never say anything bad about the Foo, but let's call a spade a spade: the album isn't that good. It's not bad, it's just not that great. However, I don't blame Dave or any of the Foos, because the TV series was amazing and they undertook a massively difficult challenge, writing 8 different songs inspired by and recorded in 8 different cities. You could say it's gimmicky, but you could also say that they're at least trying something new... though it might just be because Dave is getting bored again.

That's Just Not Right: Michael Jackson - Xscape
Seriously, just let the dude die.

STOP TEASING ME YOU ASS: Reignwolf - ???
Yup, after Jordan Cook released his solo album, and eventually teamed up with a few buddies to form Reignwolf, he apparently decided that he liked touring more than recording. Even though there are rumours floating around the interwebs that Cook and crew have recorded a debut album for Reignwolf at Dave Grohl's studio 606, we are apparently doomed to simply have to fill our audio-spank-bank with grimey, short clips of their live performance.

Not Quite Dead: D'Angelo - Black Messiah
This album actually nipped at the toes of my top 10 for 1 main reason. After a 14 year hiatus from recording, one would have thought D'Angelo to have gotten stale, rest on his laurels and produce an album very similar to his best-selling Voodoo. However, Messiah is a progressive effort, with a lot of cool experiments going on, but unfortunately, not enough that really clicked for me.

Backward Sound Forward

I've been tripping on a lot of old tunes these days - stuff that sounds really grimey but lets the absolute soul shine through. Been listening to a lot of old blues recordings, gritty acoustic stuff and early rock and roll.

Today was a day of obsessively listening to The Sonics. One of the original 60s garage rock bands, they blew up out of Washington and arguably laid the groundwork for future generations of grunge rockers. They played a lot of covers and blues/rock standards, however, they played them with such fury and intensity that I don't think anyone would have really called them on it.

As an aside, some of you may recognize the song below from another one of my obsessions, The Black Keys. While the keys did a monster cover of this song in 2003, I prefer the Sonic's version. However, the original song was actually an old R&B number by Richard Berry.

And now you know...


-Go right ahead, deliver me in chains

Paging Dr. John

I let sneak a little teaser back in April when I heard that the legendary Dr. John was surfacing for yet another album. You know you've had a long career when you're losing track of the number of albums you've put out, but you know this one is up there around #30.

I'll admit, even though the good doctor is one of those N'Orleans funk/soul staples that has been doing his thing since the 50s... I didn't really know what was what until that dashingly wonderful gentleman, Dan Auerbach, shone some light my way. I took a listen to some of DrJ's discography and while all of it shows a twinkling of musical genius, the effects of Auerbach in the producer seat make Locked Down a formidable contender in the realm of today's, or any day's, music.

Long and long of it... you know the drill... why read my garbage when the goods are sitting just below?

-This is the last time I'll hold you; this is the last time I'll say goodbye.

April Shananigans: HOLY CRAP I ALMOST FORGOT!

In a long-standing tradition (3 years), I traditionally do something really artsy-fartsy during my birth month and just post a bunch of awesome music that I happen to be listening to each day.  Let's just claim that my earlier post about The Archives happened in an alternate reality where it was actually March.

Let's start it all of with a song that takes me way back.  Cheers to asbestos-infested loft jam spaces in the English country side.