Culture Greyhound

The trend I’ve noticed these last few years, and this is just my opinion, is the years with an Olympics (every other year) isn’t as good musically as the year prior.  2007, in my memory, was way better than 2008.  And so, unfortunately, the trend continues with 2010.  Last year was ripe with up-and-comers and a new exciting indie subgenre called chillwave.  This year was the aftermath, as most of those up-and-comers were featured on car commercials, and this year’s bright new stars were slower and more acoustic-based – Beach House and Best Coast seem to be the two critical darlings.

Not that there weren’t some great releases this year, as we will see in the next few days.  Like most years, bands got bigger and disappointed (Kings of Leon), others continued to stay at the top of their game (Kanye West), and some even managed to blow our minds with a new progressive sound (Star Slinger).  Arcade Fire was nominated for an Album of the Year Grammy, an award they are sure to lose to someone less deserving, but hey, still, pretty cool, right?  Perhaps the biggest notable trend, though not surprising, is the inevitable transformation of indie into mainstream culture thanks to the festival circuit, television advertising, and TV/movie soundtracking.

As the years progress, I too find my musical tastes to favor the more popular sounds, akin to how they were when I was in grade school.  I attribute this to the simple fact that, thanks to the spotlight the Internet shines on deserving artists, popular music is getting better, though old mediums like FM radio would have you believe otherwise.  Sure, there’s still plenty of shit out there, but the kids’ ears are being exposed to more sounds than ever before, and that’s never a bad thing.  Much like the revolutionary period of the grunge/alternative wave of the early 90’s, it’s not uncool to like what you hear on a Kia commercial.

In an oversaturated world of media, the term “selling out” doesn’t really mean anything anymore.  Exposure is always a good thing in this day and age, even if it’s used to move a product.  Just my .02….anywho, I hope you’ll join me for the next couple of weeks as I count down my favorites in music from 2010.  Here’s what the blog posting schedule looks like:

Jan. 1 – Quarterly Review
Jan 2. – 10 Best Videos
3 – Top Tracks 200-151
4 – 150-101
5 – 100-51
6 – 50-21
7 – 20-1
8 – Top Remixes
9 – Honorable Mention Albums
10 – Top Albums 50-41
11 – 40-31
12 – 30-21
13 – 20-11
14 – 10-1

Enjoy, and here’s hoping 2011 rocks hard.

This list is more comprehensive and accurate than yesterday’s Top 5 Movies list – needless to say, I am a big fan of appointment television.  So without further ado, here are my picks for this year’s best TV shows.

10. How I Met Your Mother

9. It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia

Watch Lethal Weapon 5 here. You’ll be glad you did.

8. Modern Family

7. Conan

6. The Walking Dead

5. Community

4. Boardwalk Empire

3. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

2. Mad Men

1. Breaking Bad

2010 was a great year for movies, and in the coming weeks/months, I’ll be doing a post of films I missed this year and didn’t get to watch until later.  Awards season is usually the time I catch up on my movie-watching, and this year is no exception.  Even living in an art-centric city like Austin (with an amazing venue for movie viewing like the Alamo Drafthouse) I still slacked on my film viewing in 2010, so obviously I feel this list is incomplete.  But nevertheless, here are my picks for the Top 5 movies I saw in 2010.

5. Shutter Island

4. Exit Through the Gift Shop

3. Toy Story 3

2. Inception

1. The Social Network

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Another Texas-born badass, Roy Orbison scored a regional hit with “Ooby Dooby,” ventured to Memphis for a recording session at Sun Studios in 1957, and the rest, as they say, is history. Orbison became one of the pioneer musicians for the rockabilly movement, but ventured into more ballad-based territory (due to his sharp, distinct, wavering croon) as the years went by.

I was introduced to Orbison through my father’s dusty CD collection when I was probably 5  or 6 – once I heard “Pretty Woman” and “Rock House,” there was no turning back.  Roy continued to make awesome music up until his death in 1988 from cardiac arrest.  In fact, right up until: Orbison was on the verge of a comeback, scoring a hit with “You Got It,” releasing a new well-received album Mystery Girl, and becoming part of the best supergroup ever, the Traveling Wilburys.

After the jump is a heaping helping of some of Roy’s best songs.  Educate yourself, ladies and gents.

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Trailers for upcoming movies. Some are good, some not as much.

Today I continue a series of posts dedicated to the best albums of the last decade, posting analysis of one album at a time.

44. Radiohead – In Rainbows

Released in October 2007 digitally (for a price of your choosing) and physically dropped on New Year’s Day 2008, In Rainbows was the end of the longest gap in between albums for Radiohead.  Whether you agree or not, the album is generally credited with establishing a new business model for a crippling music industry, offering a “pay what you want” scheme for the digital copy, exclusively from the band’s website.  It seems fitting that Radiohead would do this; they had just split with EMI, and In Rainbows was their first album not on a major label.  This idea has been adopted by many independent artists since the media storm surrounding the inventive self-leak.  But what In Rainbows is remembered for is not necessarily what makes it great – it is, for a group like Radiohead, quite shockingly amorous.

Thom Yorke once described the mood and lyrics of In Rainbows as “seduction songs,” and it’s hard to argue with that.  For the most part, the album is softer, more down-tempo, and, well, more romantic (in a weird Radiohead kind of way) than anything they’ve ever done.  Take the piano chords and easing texture of the sensual “All I Need,” or the creeping crescendo of “Videotape.”  Even songs that channel the 21st-century electronic-noodling side of the British group, such as “15 Step” and “Nude,” are less raw and foreboding than the highlights of Kid A and Hail to the Thief.  Meanwhile, the guitar-based Bends and OK Computer-era tracks, referring to “Weird Fishes” and “Reckoner,” show maturation, and, lyrically speaking, poetic contemplation.

With 2011 fast approaching, the talks from Johnny Greenwood are already aplenty regarding a follow-up to this fantastic disc, one of Radiohead’s best hands down.  And as their track record shows, in terms of ingenuous marketing as well as growth in musicianship, we can expect something completely different and amazing all at once.

Radiohead – 15 Step

Radiohead – All I Need

Radiohead – Reckoner

Today I continue my ongoing feature showcasing my personal picks for the best songs of the past decade, posting ten songs at a time.

80. The White Stripes – Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground

The opening track from White Blood Cells squeals to life, Jack White’s guitar screeching into a staple new-blues riff before Meg pounds in and all hell breaks loose.  For many, it would be the first we would hear from this Detroit duo, and first impressions have a lasting impact.  Jack and Meg needn’t worry – they certainly got our attention.

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