Shanies: Artist of the Year

No, I am not shooting my proverbial blog-load to early (man, the word blog does nothing to help that sentence) by announcing the Shanie for Artist of the year.  Let me explain: still to come are award for song of the year, album of the year, etc.  However, Artist of the year is an award I wanted to give to a group who I saw make a remarkable leap into the mainstream this year and help define what music was for the past 12 months... not necessarily by having the best song, album or video... but simply be being EVERYWHERE.

And this year, that group is The Black Keys.  Besides being one of my favorite bands in the world for the past decade, the keys have had an astounding year.  After finishing up 2009 with their Blakroc project, the twosome just decided that they would continue to define cool.  They are popping up on just about everyone's top 10 list for the end of the year, Brothers has been heralded as a masterpiece, it seems like every second commercial on TV this days is a keys song, and their music is being played, and loved by everyone... seemingly regardless of what scene they're into.  All in all... these guys have found a formula that is heroin to the masses and I for one say, "don't hold out on me man... just one more hit... you know I'm good for the cash... COME ON I NEED THIS!"

All the same, there is no denying that The Black Keys have been on every radar known to man for the past year and as such, they easily walk away with the Shanie for Artist of the year.  Keep it bluesy, boys.



-Keep my head above the water, but never let me climb too high

Shanies: Biggest Dissapointment

For any of you longer term readers, you may remember me making the argument that the Gorillaz 2001 self-titled release was one of the top albums of the noughties (2000-2009).  I still would defend the argument that this album was one of the most influential pieces of work to come out of the decade.  However, one of the things I hate the most in this world is betrayal.  As such, you can imagine that after the release of Plastic Beach, Damon Albarn and the rest of his long armed cartoons, have fallen out of my favour and the Gorillaz, have dropped more than a few rungs on the ladder of musical awesomeness.

So, why was Plastic Beach so bad?  Part of it was definitely that the incredible pieces of work that preceded would have made anything seem abysmal by comparison.  Still, that same argument could have been made about Demon Days, yet it was fantastic.  Part of it could have been that the group became too caught up in the gimmickry of it all and departed from the importance of the music (just look at the video below... 3D rendered animation and Bruce Willis... necessary?).

However, I would argue that Albarn was simply trying too hard.  He's dug a musical hole in his mind so deep that he couldn't possibly escape himself.  Listening to the album again from start to finish, this record contains no singles, and barely any moments of catchy hooks.  In short... they made a pop record without making it popular.  The record is exceptionally diverse and contains a huge variety of sounds, instruments, guest appearances and concepts.  Yet, somewhere in all of this noise, the primates appear to have forgotten to actually write songs.



Fortunately, after this disappointment, Albarn et al. are considering retirement.

-I hear it again, I heart it again... you're always screaming in my sleep

Shanies: Rookie of the Year

Some may argue that after spending the past four months in blogernation (blog-hibernation? Anyone? Too much of a stretch?) that I have no right to dole out awards at my whim and fancy regarding the state of the music industry. I would argue that those people should learn their place and sit down in the corner before I seat them there.

Yes, it's that time of year again. No, not Christmas... no one cares about that. It's time for the 3rd annual installment of the Shanies.  Yes, these much coveted awards are given to the greatest in musical achievement for the past year and are based on a rigorous process of me sifting through my computer, listening to music from 2010 and deciding what I like; bollocks to what everyone else thinks.

The first Shanie to go this year is for the Rookie of the Year.  Apparently a re-occurring theme, this year's Shanie will be given to another supergroup: The Damned Things.  Formed from members of Every Time I die, Anthrax and Fallout Boy, this group sounds precisely what you would envision a fusion between those three bands to sound like... and it's fucking awesome.  Mixing southern blues riffs with metal drumming, catchy hooks, Keith Buckley's monster voice and harmonic backing vocals, TDT are one of the strangest combinations of styles I've heard in a while.

It also helps that these guys are bloody hilarious.  Let's just hope this doesn't end up being an ill-fated supergroup one-off.





-I'm not in the business of keeping you around

I apoligize for very little

In the midst of one of those 'crazier than a bag full of rabid cats' type weeks, I find that I need a bit of a release from the monotony.  I've been listening to a lot of old school tunes this week to get myself in a familiar groove, and sure enough, Sage Francis hit the randomizer.

Half MC, half beat poet... all genius.  You want your motivation for the day?  Here you go, rocky.



PS: While I've been negligent this semester with the insanity of school, I assure you, the 2010 installment of the Shanies will happen. I wouldn't miss my opportunity to pontificate about music over the holidays.

-I'll be slipping you my silver tongue, while I feed you my lover's talk

Is he living?

He is... but this is all you get...for now.



-Please, won't you tell me what to say... or I'm never going to speak again