Some Other Fantastic 2010 Music

Here are some other excellent things I've heard/thought of that have come out this year:

Forgiveness Rock Record - Broken Social Scene
I was initially disappointed by this album, but it's grown on me a lot. I think at first I was hoping for it to be another You Forgot It in People, which is unfair for two reasons: one, You Forgot It in People is one of the greatest albums ever, and two, Broken Social Scene is not the same band that it was eight years ago. Bands evolve. They've got a different sound now, and it took me a little while to be cool with that.

"Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)" - Arcade Fire
Gotta throw another track from the Suburbs on here. Man, this song is incredible.

"Fuck You" - Cee-Lo

"Cold War" - Janelle Monáe
One of the best videos of the year as well. Actually, the whole album (The ArchAndroid) is pretty great.

"Monster" - Kanye West ft. Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Bon Iver, and Nicki Minaj
This is a weird track, but I like it a lot. The production is fantastic, and Nicki Minaj absolutely kills this track.

"Elastic Love" - Christina Aguilera
I actually really like a lot of this album (Bionic). Her lyrics can be over-the-top to the point of silly, but it's really well produced, and her singing, no matter what you think of the lyrics, complements the productions pretty well; there's another high-profile Nicki Minaj spot here too, on "WooHoo." "Elastic Love", though, is the standout for me.

Heartbeats - Grum
This is just a really fun electronic dance record in the vein of French house (even though he's Scottish) with a big '80s disco thing going on. Can't play it without dancing. I am dancing right now.

And finally, this week, Royskopp released Senior (the sequel to Junior, one of my favorite albums of last year), and holy shit does it kick ass and take names. This is a very different album from Junior; it's largely instrumental, and has more of an instrospective, downtempo feel, but you can still come in at any point and know immediately that it's Royksopp. They've crafted a really unique and characteristic sound within the Scandinavian electronic scene. I dig it.

VMAs 2010: A Toast to Douchebags

Being without cable, I scrounged around various websites of dubious legality and watched the MTV Video Music Awards live and streaming. I subject myself to these kinds of punishments – award shows – because I like seeing what the celebrities are wearing, if the comedians are funny, and if any musical performances transcend past the false context of the occasion. I always watch the Emmy’s, Grammy’s, and Oscar’s, so the VMAs are nothing out of the ordinary for me. (Sadly, I don’t watch the Tony Awards, ruining my chance to win a viewer EGOT.)

The main conclusion I come to about the VMAs, and this is how it is every year, the actual musical talents are blaringly obvious compared to the popular dancers and performers. Even the authenticity of Linkin Park – they’re still around? – was evident compared to the artists that can’t sing (Taylor Swift) or put more emphasis on the performance (Usher, Justin Bieber).

Kanye West, in a red suit with a ripped black t-shirt and gold chains on his chest, mopped the floor with most of the performers even if the song he chose (something from the new album, I’m guessing) wasn’t a banger like some of his new tracks (See: “Monster” and the “Power” remix). Taylor Swift’s song earlier in the night addressing the 2009 VMA incident (“Imma let you finish…”) was pretentious, doubly so when compared to Kanye pushing the envelope of pop music under tremendous personal and media-driven scrutiny.

The VMAs are what they are, a two-hour long commercial with pretty, skinny girls in tiny dresses and bands and artists that record labels spend millions of dollars promoting, in order to do what? The channel, the host, or the musicians aren’t subversive in any way. The outros to commercials are sponsored by Taco Bell. You can go to Rhapsody.com to buy the song Drake is currently performing. Make sure to use your hash tags properly when you tweet about this. The show celebrates the music that’s only heard on the radio or seen on YouTube while promoting reality shows that take airtime away from music. (Chelsea Handler aptly pointed that out.)

It’s hard to believe that the channel cares about music when the best female pop singer, Robyn, is pushed into singing a minute of one of the best songs of the year, “Dancing on my Own”, on the way out to commercial, indie rock is ignored, and MTV’s biggest star, Lady Gaga, didn’t even perform. Think how fresh it would be if Big Boi, who released the best rap album of the year so far, did "Shine Blockas", or if Arcade Fire performed "Sprawl II". Alas, we're stuck with Paramore (a pretty, skinny girl, but this time in thrift store clothes) (I do like "Airplanes") and Kim Kardashian. Free Weezy.

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A non-music note: Chelsea Handler wasn’t funny and seemed unprepared. The pre-packaged skits where she met the Best New Artist nominees were the highlight, as were other prepared bits, the opening with Lindsey Lohan and jumping into the hot tub with the Jersey Shore cast. Every time she mentioned a celebrity in the audience, she would look and ask where that person was sitting. Isn’t this why you and your production team rehearse and prepare camera shots before the live show? During the Emmy's a couple weeks ago, when Jimmy Fallon made a Late Night joke, a camera was pointed directly at Conan O'Brien's face.

Some Songs I've Been Obsessed With Lately

"In for the Kill" - La Roux
"I Can't Hardly Stand It" - The Cramps
"Today" - Jefferson Airplane
"The Suburbs" - Arcade Fire
"Paradise by the Dashboard Lights" - Meatloaf
"Shutterbug" - Big Boi
"Gentleman" - Fela Kuti
"Dancing on My Own" - Robyn
"Never Going Back Again" - Fleetwood Mac
"Power" - Kanye West

..and finally: "I Pharaoh" - Sun Ra