Music for Beer Snobs

One of us will turn 30 this year. We're pretty decidedly not in high school or college anymore. Maybe our tastes are getting better with age. . . maybe not. (Mark was there too, but he came late.) I'm not a wine snob yet, maybe (hopefully?) I never will be, but I am kind of a beer snob, (I do enjoy a good Oly from time to time) and I am kind of a coffee snob. I'm beginning to feel like I kinda sorta know what's good, but I also still enjoy some serious guilty pleasures. It's a good time in life, no doubt. Here's my soundtrack for it.

I lack the ambition and editing software to mimic Logan's soundcloud streamer, so here's a lazy youtube playlist with a song from each of my top ten albums. I took artistic liberties with the order instead of counting down from ten to one. So play it and read, or read it then play, or do whatever you want.


Didn't make the cut but almost, and worth mentioning:

Sufjan Stevens - The Age of Adz
Arcade Fire - Suburbs
The Soft Pack - The Soft Pack

10. Das Racist - Shut Up, Dude/Sit Down, Man
My 10 spot seems destined for an album from a Wesleyan band that probably won't hold up well. But wait, this time there are two albums! Das Racist was prolific this year, which probably happens when you don't finish songs and/or edit them. It seems unlikely that anyone else will like Das Racist, or the ones that will already do, so I won't waste many words. Hipster Rap? Hipster Hop? American Rapperal? Their crazy as eff Ek Shaneesh is the last video in my youtube playlist.

9. The Black Keys - Brothers
I know, yawn. Brad likes the Black Keys. Next. (Ten Cent Pistol is song 2 [woohoo] on the TRL Countdown, uhh whatever.)

8. B. Dolan - Fallen House, Sunken City
Activist rap from a white guy with a beard. Am I jealous, maybe. Check out a (sorta) live version of his ode to Marvin Gaye at number 8 on the vidplist. Then check out B. Dolan's awesome knowmore.org. Yeah, Ethical Consumerism!

7. The Walkmen - Lisbon
This album is all about restraint. Sorta like The Walkmen only allowed themselves to write songs during the rain and only use the bottom 3 frets on the guitar neck. And only record on equipment invented before 1940. Hey, sometimes less is more. Woe is Me is the 6th video, even though it's just the song with a picture of their album cover.

6. Black Milk - Album of the Year
You might see the name of this album and think, wait, why does Brad have it at 6, I'm confused. Or you might think, oh another egotistical rapper. Or you might think, chocolate milk is tasty, more Ovaltine please. Well whichever one of those you think you'd be wrong, or only partly right. Or confused.

Album of the Year (not The Wild Hunt by Tallest Man on Earth, that comes later. SPOILER ALERT! but the album by Black Milk) is about the 365 days between the release of Tronic and the beginning of work on this new album. So. . . Album, of the Year. See what he did there?

The intro song 365 is near the end, coincidentally, of my playlist. It checks in at number 9.

5. The National - High Violet
High Violet has a sort of gray beauty, Matt Berninger's effortless, emotionless delivery is at odds with the invested pleading of his lyric and the driving syncopated pulse of the percussion. All of this shines through especially well on song Bloodbuzz Ohio, the first single dropped. Yeah, it's not quite Alligator or Boxer, at times it lacks the energy that was present despite the subdued nature of The National's last two albums. But it's still The National, and by no means a disappointment. The aforementioned Bloodbuzz Ohio is the seventh video on the old list. I'm not sure if it's intentionally funny, but. . . well.

4. Two Door Cinema Club - Tourist History
Tourist History is Two Door Cinema Club's debut album, and it's polished. The dudes who make up TDCC are obviously well-versed in the recent UK indie scene. Listening to their album brings out the flavors of their influences, I get some Bloc Party and surprising and pleasant Talking Heads notes.

This album's probably good for anyone who's not a huge cynic, so yeah, I guess I can't really recommend it to anyone who reads this blog. But if you feel up to it all you gotta do is click on play, their Something Good Can Work is the first song on my playlist. The video ain't bad either.

3. Janelle Monae - The Archandroid
Wow. A debut LP of epic proportions. Mainstream music hasn't seen an album this ambitious since The White Album. (exaggeration!) But seriously, there's good stuff here, and lots of it. I doubt this is the last we'll hear from miss Monae. I included the awesome video for Tightrope at number 3 on the playlist.

2. Frightened Rabbit - The Winter of Mixed Drinks
I absolutely loved Frightened Rabbit's last album, Midnight Organ Fight. So, as you can imagine my level of anticipation for 2010's The Winter of Mixed Drinks was sky high. Amazingly, it nearly met my expectations. TWoMD is more contemplative and less openly expressive than Midnight Organ Fight. The single Swim Until You Can't See Land is featured at number 4 on my playlist.

1. The Tallest Man on Earth - The Wild Hunt
The Tallest Man on Earth is a Swede and his guitar. Or banjo, or piano. The obvious comparison here is to Dylan. It's pretty much the first thought that comes to mind when anyone hears Kristian Matsson's raw gravelly croon over the top of his oh so acoustic strums. And I guess the comparison is apt, here's a guy whose voice sounds terrible, who plays with purpose, whose lyrics sometimes don't make much literal sense. And he's captivating. His soulful You're Going Back is song 5 on the playlist.