Sometimes I Look Into The Sun and Wonder What All My Worrying Was Really For

OK, I know, I know.  I started something that I couldn't finish (to quote Moz).  The Ideological Cuddle Top 10 Albums of the year started well, but never came to a conclusion.  Part of this is due to being busy, part is due to being lazy.  I think it's time to remedy this...

Album #9 - Teenage Fanclub - Shadows
Now, I outlined my new-found love for Teenage Fanclub in the last post, but a few more select thoughts - Shadows continues down the pathway that the band blazed from Grand Prix forward.  It's modern pop that looks backward to the grandiosity of 60s and 70s AM radio.  The first two tracks are stand-outs - "Sometimes I Don't Need To Believe In Anything" and "Baby Lee" - and a heck of a 1-2 punch.  Here's a taste:



Album #8 - Corin Tucker Band - 1,000 Years
Another album that was outlined in its own post just a couple months ago - October, to be exact (found here).  Not Sleater-Kinney, but no less powerful and affecting, Tucker harnesses years of being a mother, a wife, and an adult (there's a concept in modern indie rock!).  It is an album that is reflective ("Riley" and "It's Always Summer"), sensual ("Dragon"), and angry (standout track "Doubt" - the closest to Sleater-Kinney that you'll hear... that is, until Carrie Brownstein's new band Wild Fang hits the ground running).  I really look forward to what Tucker has planned next.




Album #7 - Josh Ritter - So Runs The World Away
This one has been a quick riser on the Ideological Cuddle list (if I hadn't finished the list in mid-December, it might have made the top 5).  Ritter's latest LP was released in special vinyl form on Record Store Day and it took quite a while to dig through all of the lyrical depths that Ritter presents.  The full impact of his prose has to be studied to be fully appreciated.  The BFF and I had the distinct pleasure of seeing Ritter in concert in Toronto back in October, and he and his band absolutely tore the Phoenix Concert Hall up. The band is tight and Ritter's renditions of "Folk Bloodbath" (which premiered in fetal form on his March, 2008 tour stop to the same venue) and "Lantern" from SRTWA were fantastic.  I have been waiting months for the right time to share the video for "The Curse".  Be forewarned - this might be the only time that marionettes have ever made me cry :




Album #6 - The New Pornographers - Together
Another band that I have been singing the praises of for years, The New Pornographers stick to their formula (joyous power-pop filtered through the lenses of songwriters Carl Newman and Dan Bejar), yet allow Kathryn Calder to take her place next to Neko Case, rather than in her shadow.  You can't help but feel energized by the band's sound. Here they are performing "Sweet Talk, Sweet Talk" live in studio on Q TV in their native Canada (undoubtedly the best lyrical use of the word "Byzantine" ever):




Album #5 - Ted Leo & The Pharmacists - The Brutalist Bricks
Another long time Cuddle favorite who swung through our region in 2010, Leo brought his trademark punk energy to venerable Buffalo dive-bar landmark Mohawk Place in June.  The place was packed wall-to-wall with every age of devotee - aging hipsters, young punks, and whatever group I belong to.  Everyone seemed to vibrate at the same frequency with the sheer frenetic energy of Ted's music, as he showcased the live intensity of the tracks from The Brutalist Bricks.  As if you ever needed another reason to see Ted Leo in concert (if you haven't you're missing out big time), the songs from this record absolutely shine live.  "Where Was My Brain?", "The Mighty Sparrow", and "Gimmie The Wire" shook the room to its foundation, while my favorite track, "Bottled In Cork" (a rumination on the state of the world filtered through a travelouge that stings of regret) was drawn out into a full-scale sing along with the tune's closing couplet" "I told the bartender/I think I'm falling in love".  The official video is downright silly and hilarious (and Paul F. Tompkins rules) :



Album #4 - Spoon - Transference
Somewhat overlooked as the year went on, owing to its release in January, 2010, Spoon continued its streak of amazingly crafted records with Transference.  As with many of the albums on this list, the band didn't really try to reinvent themselves, just merely made a few tweaks to alter their sonic delivery.  "Written In Reverse" follows in the footsteps of other danceable, funky Spoon tunes like "Don't You Evah" and "You Gotta Feel It".  "I Saw The Light" sounds like it would have fit perfectly between "I Turn My Camera On" and "My Mathematical Mind" on Gimme Fiction.  "Goodnight Laura" is contemplative and heart wrenching piano ballad along the lines of, well, nothing else in their catalogue.  Everything this band puts out sounds nothing like anyone else.  The band is truly original and fantastic.




Album #3 - The National - High Violet
Yeah, it's not my #1 record of the year.  Yes, it's fantastic.  No, it's not as good as Boxer, but not much out there is.  I've outlined the grandiosity of the National's live show (at both the Massey Hall and Rockin' at The Knox gigs in 2010) and sung the praises of Matt Berninger and crew over and over again.  This album helped to get me to understand that it was OK to be a thirty-something indie music fan in this day and age; that there were people out there in my age bracket making music and outlining themes that we understand (namely, having kids, struggling with a career, maintaining friendships, finding/losing love, mistaking sex for intimacy, feeling claustrophobic in our day and age, feeling paranoid about the government - you know, your  basic Top 40 radio themes).  And somehow, despite the heaviness of these topics, the band absolutely blew up this year; you could scarcely turn around mid-year without seeing The National on late night TV or being highlighted in print/internet media.  It would have been impossible for the band to have reached this level if the songs weren't fantastic (and they most certainly are).  Here's my favorite, live on The Interface in LA (and yes, I partially grew a beard this past Fall in a feeble attempt to look more like Matt Berninger):



Album #2 - The Black Keys - Brothers
Speaking of bands that absolutely blew up in 2010... After slogging along on the outskirts of fame for years, the Black Keys made their long-deserved breakthrough to the big time this past year, on the heels of their most ambitious (and, to my ear, best) album to date.  Prior to this album hitting the stores, there were plenty of folks who knew and loved the Black Keys, but they weren't exactly household names.  Now, they've played Saturday Night Live, have had their songs soundtrack commercial after commercial, and even came full circle to parody their "commercial" breakthrough on The Colbert Report (which, if you haven't seen, is an absolute riot - much credit to Ezra Koenig from Vampire Weekend for skewering their robust fame as well.  Check out the clip at Colbert's website here.)  The album should be enjoyed on vinyl (and that goes for all of my top 10) and can be purchased in one of many forms (I must say that I feel that I was punished for being a dedicated little fan and buying the record on its release day on double LP vinyl - it's subsequently been re-released on limited edition 10" records with 45rpm mastering and I would have preferred that version, but whatever).  The addition of bass and Hammond organ/harpsichord/keyboard is key to the album's success, as it pulls the Keys sound out of a blues orbit into more of a 60s Stax/Volt R&B vein (right down to the choice of recording studios - legendary Muscle Shoals).  "Everlasting Light", "10 Cent Pistol", "Black Mud" - these are centerpieces, but for me, the last two tracks are what cinches it for me.  The closing 1-2 punch of soul classic "Never Gonna Give You Up" (made famous by Isaac Hayes) and should be new soul classic "These Days" (imagine the late Sam Cooke or Otis Redding crooning this one) and unparalleled.  It's refreshing to see a band so confident in their songs that they can end a record with such gems.  Absolutely killed it live at Town Ballroom in September as well. 



Finally, The Ideological Cuddle #1 Record of the Year for 2010... Drum Roll, please...
Album #1 - Superchunk - Majesty Shredding
This album turned out the be the feel-good story of the year for me, as this was not only the most catchy, well-written return-to-form album, but also the soundtrack to my running resurrection.  On a personal level, this record gave me the push that I needed to get out there and get healthier.  It has been, almost exclusively, the soundtrack for each of my two and four mile runs since its release.   What Mac, Laura, Jon, and James did with this record is nothing short of amazing.  For a band that seemed to be lost to nostalgia just a few short years ago, to rebound with such a vital, triumphant record is inspiring.  That they've done it while making sure that Merge Records, the label Mac and Laura founded in 1989, continues to flourish as indie rocks' foremost success story is even more impressive.  The songs are great individually, but even more impressive when taken as a whole.  The track order is seamless, with one anthem flowing into another, but never feeling "samey".  As with High Violet, So Runs The World Away, and The Brutalist Bricks, Majesty Shredding finds its authors struggling with adult issues in a changing world.  No track that I heard in 2010 sums this up better than "Fractures In Plaster", a tune that celebrates getting older while recalling the fragility of life as we yearn to be like Christopher Robin "in the woods with your yellow bear", perpetually in childhood.  It was fitting that the band chose to remaster and re-release two of their best loved records, No Pocky For Kitty and On The Mouth, in 2010 as well, since Majesty Shredding sits right next to those two classics in Superchunk's celebrated discography.  You won't find a record that makes you feel better being an adult than this one.  It's about time, in the current musical milieu, that we can say that.



So, there you go. It took a while to get posted, but I hope it was worth the wait. I hope that everyone who reads this post will go out and check out these albums. They're all well worth your time.
Until next time (when I'll likely be drooling over the reissue of Emergency & I by The Dismemberment Plan), take some time to review the wonderful music that 2010 had to offer... and listen...

I'm Alive After 1,000 Years

It sounds like hyperbole, but the title is apropos.  It seems like 1,000 years ago that Sleater-Kinney broke up.  It's had to believe that it's been 5 years since The Woods blew the doors off of everything else that was hanging around the fringes of indie rock and 4 years since Sleater-Kinney called it quits.  Thankfully, fans have a new reason to rejoice and celebrate.  Roaring out of the Pacific Northwest - a three-headed hurricane with breasts - was the troika of Janet Weiss (she wasn't the original drummer, but she was the important one), Carrie Brownstein, and Corin Tucker.  They were perfectly suited for one another  - Tucker's lyrical genius over the top of Brownstein's squealing/thundering guitar and Weiss' heavy back beat.  They couldn't just be pigeon-holed as a great grrrl group - they were a great group period.
S-K's early albums comprise blasts of pure punk ("A Real Man" from their self-titled debut, "I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone" and "Call the Doctor" from Call The Doctor come to mind) with screeching noise ("Heart Attack").  While their first album has a few clunkers and is kind of uneven, their second and third albums may be their best.  Call the Doctor and Dig Me Out are both soaked with punk rock energy delivered from a distinctly feminine perspective (although not so feminine that it alienates male listeners).  Dig Me Out is truly where S-K hit their stride - loaded with classics, the record is a taut, tense package.  "Words and Guitar", "Little Babies", "Dig Me Out", and "Dance Song 97" are my favorites.
After garnering significant attention with those releases, the band could have rested on their laurels and put out a carbon-copy of Dig Me Out.  Instead, they chose to go their own direction, open up their sound, turn down the anger slightly, and release The Hot Rock.  This album tears fans down the middle.  Songs like "The Size of Our Love", "The Hot Rock", and "Burn, Don't Freeze" are cerebral, heart-felt, and somber.  This record proved the band's range - not only could they rock out, they could ease back and give a message as well.
For my money, the final three records in the S-K catalogue are the band's finest.  All Hands on The Bad One contains great song after great song - "All Hands On the Bad One", "Ironclad" (how many bands can you name that can write balls-to-the-wall rock and roll allegory songs likening arguments between hard-headed lovers to the battle between the Monitor and Merrimack?  None besides S-K?  Thought so.), "Youth Decay", "#1 Must Have", and my personal favorite, "Milkshake & Honey" - sexy, dirty, longing goodness.  You won't find a better pure rock record from the 2000s.
After the events of 9/11, the ladies in Sleater-Kinney felt it necessary to look inward toward what was really important.  By this time, Corin Tucker had a daughter, and living in a world where our safety was suddenly thrown into question colored the songs that comprise One Beat.  "Far Away" is downright harrowing and the feeling of claustrophobia and xenophobia is palpable.  It may be the finest post-9/11 song out there.  Check out the first stanza:
"7:30am, nurse the baby on the couch
    Telephone rings: Turn on the TV, watch the world exploding fast, don't leave the house"
and later - "Don't breathe the air today" and, finally, questioning the meaning of it all - "why can't I get along with you?" - while questioning the powers that be -
"And the President hides, while working men rush in and give their lives/I look to the sky and ask it not to rain on my family tonight"
The band's swan song, The Woods, allowed the grrrls to go out on top.  A bruising, full-force gale of a record, it includes one of the finest songs of the past 15 years, "Jumpers", a song that perfectly shows off each of the member's strengths - Janet Weiss is a powerhouse of drumming fury - pounding the skins with precision.  Carrie Brownstein's guitar lines are sharp and cutting - alternating between the bouncy bop of the body of the song to the ferocity of her solos on the breakdowns.  Finally, there's Corin's howl.  There is no finer vocal instrument in indie rock history - somewhere between the screech of Chris Cornell and the blues yelp of Janis Joplin, Tucker's voice slashes everything in its path.  We shouldn't discount the power and the harrowing nature of the song itself - a solemn taken on suicide, there might not be a more heartbreaking line in rock history than "4 seconds was the longest wait".  Here are the ladies in action, playing this song, on The Henry Rollins Show:



The Woods also contains the epic, 11 minute "Let's Call It Love" - a sprawling, lumbering, beast of a song, and one that would make Jimmy Page and Robert Plant green with envy.
When S-K announced their indefinite hiatus in 2006, the indie music community was shocked, but hopeful that the ladies would take a break, then reform quickly.  Alas, to this day, Brownstein, Weiss, and Tucker have not come together in any way, shape, or form.  What fans of the band do have now is a new record from Corin Tucker under the moniker of The Corin Tucker Band.  1,000 Years is NOT a Sleater-Kinney record (although fans of the band will not be able to help but feel a little nostalgic at bits and pieces of the album).  It is a thoughtful, mature, and well-crafted group of 11 songs that reflect where Corin Tucker is mentally and emotionally today.  Gone is the anger, present is the longing of missing one's spouse ("Half A World Away"), the dangers of estrangement after years ("Riley"), and thoughts on the recession ("Thrift Store Coats").  Listen to "Doubt" - it's the most S-K-ish of any of the songs - you get some of Tucker's yelp with a little S-K fire in the guitar solo.  "Half A World Away" sounds like One Beat's "Combat Rock", but slowly burns without an explosive payoff.  It's nice to have any transmissions from any of the ladies in Sleater-Kinney.  1,000 Years should tide us over until Brownstein and Weiss release the debut album from their new project, White Flag, sometime in 2011 on Merge Records.
In the meantime, we'll always have the fiery performances that Sleater-Kinney was so famous for.  Check out some live goodness from the grrrls:
Sleater-Kinney Live in Vancouver, BC, 2006:
"You're No Rock and Roll Fun"
"O2"
"Oh!"
"Get Up"

Sleater-Kinney Live on KBOO Radio, Portland, OR - "Drinking From Puddles" Show:
"Light-Rail Coyote"
"Funeral Song"
"The Remainder"
"Far Away"
"Call the Doctor"
"Youth Decay"

Until next time, check out Corin Tucker's new record, 1,000 Years out on Kill Rock Stars now, remember the finest straight-ahead rock band of the last 15 years, Sleater-Kinney, and don't forget to listen...