Bowlful of Crickets
music, books, soda, food, miscellany
The 2006 Timmy Awards
So the blogging came to a standstill YET AGAIN, but this time it was beacuase I was working on my best albums of 2006 list, the Timmy Awards.
Expanded from a Top 25 to a Top 50, here it is:
http://www.vasilcastle.com/timmys/2006.htm
I have three jackass sodas on deck and more fun coming your way soon…
The 2004 Timmy Awards
Comments always welcome, hope you enjoy reading the write-ups and if I was able to introduce you to a new album you’ll enjoy, then my time was well spent.
Timmy Awards: 2004 Honorable Mentions
I’ll even put these in order for you, from the furthest to crack the Top 25 on down to the nearest.
I’m leaving out the "Try Instead" that I had in Not Quite The Timmys, as these are certainly all worth a listen.
The Dears- No Cities Left
Style: Morrissey and other British influences meet in an album which compares the end of a relationship to the end of the world.
Fatal Flaw: A little too depressing.
Rolling Blackouts- Black Is Beautiful
Style: Sloppy, Stones-y Rock with a capital R.
Fatal Flaw: Sometimes a bit too sloppy, not always memorable.
Goldie Lookin’ Chain- Greatest Hits
Style: Adidas-wearin’ joke-rappers from, you guessed it, Wales.
Fatal Flaw: Works like a comedy album- once you’ve heard the jokes a few times, you don’t have the desire to hear it again right away, or maybe ever…
Nouvelle Vague- Nouvelle Vague
Style: Bossa Nova versions of punk and new wave classics
Fatal Flaw: It’s good at what it is, but I can’t say I’m often in a bossa nova mood.
Bjork- Medulla
Style: Very out there a capella
Fatal Flaw: More interesting and artsy than something I’d put on every day.
Camper Van Beethoven- New Roman Times
Style: Crafty college rockers return after 12 years with a political concept album
Fatal Flaw: They have other albums are much better than this.
Badly Drawn Boy- One Plus One Is One
Style: Folksy alternative singer songwriter
Fatal Flaw: Almost as much flute as a Jethro Tull album.
Elliott Smith- From A Basement On A Hill
Style: Alternative singer-songwriter’s posthumous release
Fatal Flaw: Depressing to listen to, both in the content of the songs and the end of his life…
Next Up: The 2004 Timmys!
Not Quite The Timmys, Part Two
Gomez- Split The Difference
Style: Brit Popsters, who quite possibly, just maybe, have owned a Beatles album or two.
Fatal Flaw: Bright, sunny but ultimately forgettable.
Try Instead: Ed Harcourt- Strangers
The Streets- A Grand Don’t Come For Free
Style: A Brit-Rap concept album.
Fatal Flaw: A Brit-Rap concept album. Seriously, though- works as a whole, but some of the parts are a bit weak.
Try Instead: Dizzee Rascal-Showtime for the Brit Rap, Sleep Station- After The War for the concept.
The Icarus Line- Pennance Soiree
Style: Loud, Noisy, a little Stooges meets Sonic Youth.
Fatal Flaw: Maybe a bit too loud and noisy for this 37-year old, who listens to most of his music these days while working.
Try Instead: The Stooges- Fun House
Fiery Furnaces- Blueberry Boat
Style: Art-damaged Brother/Sister act crams everything into a five minute song
Fatal Flaw: I never thought I’d say this, but there’s a little too much going on in some of these songs.
Try Instead: The Arcade Fire- Funeral
Volcano, I’m Still Excited!!- Volcano, I’m Still Excited!!
Style: Catchy, poppy, and more than a touch of new wave.
Fatal Flaw: Not enough strong tune.
Try Instead: Dogs Die In Hot Cars- Please Describe Yourself
Beastie Boys- To The Five Boroughs
Style: Aging rappers kickin’ it old school.
Fatal Flaw: A little heavy-handed with the politics, a little light with the humor.
Try Instead: Beastie Boys- Paul’s Boutique
The Radio Dept.- Lesser Matters
Style: Co-Ed Swedish pop that’s not too sweet, eschewing ABBA comparisons
Fatal Flaw: Not the best Co-Ed Swedish pop album this year…
Try Instead: The Concretes- The Concretes
Elvis Costello- The Delivery Man
Style: Elvis gets rootsy in Mississippi
Fatal Flaw: Some strong songs, but not a solid "album" from start to finish
Try Instead: Elvis Costello- King Of America
Next Up: Honorable Mentions
Not Quite The Timmys, Part One
In the past, I have listed Honorable Mentions just by title and artist. Since I now have a blog and need stuff to write about, these will get brief write-ups here. I have 8 albums that I deem close but no cigar.
Sometimes the honorable mentions are harder to determine than the Top 25. This year, I’ve identified 16 albums as being good, but somehow flawed enough not to be in my short list of
Honorable Mentions. They are still worth pursuing for those die-hard fans of a particular style- these are all decent albums. But they ain’t Timmy winners, and I’ll tell you why.
Welcome to Not Quite The Timmys. This is the lower half of the Sweet 16, in no particular order…
Rufus Wainright- Want Two
Style: Operatic, Out Of The Closest Alternative Folk
Fatal Flaw: Overly Dramatic- could be as good as Want One, released last year, but it was fresh then. This is a sequel that sounds like a sequel.
Try Instead: Rufus Wainright- Want One (#12 on the 2003 Timmys)
Graham Coxon- Happiness in Magazines
Style: "Look, Ma, I Don’t Need Blur!"
Fatal Flaw: Blur albums still readily available.
Try Instead: Blur- Best Of Blur
The Libertines- The Libertines
Style: Drug-Addict drama over catchy 1977-style UK punk-pop
Fatal Flaw: Makes one want to listen to The Clash, not more Libertines.
Try Instead: You guessed it, anything by The Clash
Wiley- Treddin’ on Thin Ice
Style: UK Garage Rap- techno beats, British accents
Fatal Flaw: Repetitive, some do this better.
Try Instead: Dizzee Rascal- Showtime
The Thrills- Let’s Bottle Bohemia
Style: Irishmen visit California and fall in love with The Byrds and The Eagles, then listen to some Motown
Fatal Flaw: That singer’s voice. I put up with it on the debut but cannot do so any longer.
Try Instead: The Thrills- So Much For The City (#11 on the 2003 Timmys)
John Cale- HoboSapiens
Style: An aging, artsy cult hero tries his hand at 21st Century pop.
Fatal Flaw: Sounding a little too much like Warren Zevon, which is fine if you’re Warren Zevon, unsettling if you were once in The Velvet Underground.
Try Instead: Brian Eno & John Cale- Wrong Way Up
Hope Of The States- The Lost Riots
Style: Turn up the Radiohead, Baby- It’s Coldplay Outside
Fatal Flaw: Hasn’t grown on me yet- maybe it will, maybe it won’t.
Try Instead: Whatever Radiohead you’re missing, starting with OK Computer and moving forward
Skinnyman- Council Estate Of Mind
Style: UK Rap, more old school than Dizzee or Wiley
Fatal Flaw: Good, but repetitive
Try Instead: Either Dizzee Rascal Album or Beastie Boys- To The 5 Boroughs
Camper Van Beethoven: New Roman Times
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Camper Van Beethoven New Roman Times 7.5 of a possible 10 Key Tracks: 51-7, New Roman Times, Might Makes Right |
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Camper Van Beethoven was one of my favorite bands when I was in college, which I suppose dates both of us. Their skewed sense of humor, everything-but-the-kitchen-sink instrumentation and refusal to take themselves too seriously appealed to me then as it does now.
As I graduated, CVB lost their original violinist but added a new one and released Key Lime Pie, a solid album but a bit darker than their previous efforts. This was to be their last, as leader David Lowery went on to form the more commercial but still 0ff-center Cracker. I enjoyed the Cracker albums (which also became a bit darker as the years progressed) but it just wasn’t the same- the carefree goofiness and mock ethnic melodies of CVB were missing, a memory of college days gone by.
A couple of years ago, I was surprised to find a new Camper Van Beethoven album on the shelves- but it really wasn’t new at all, it was a cover of the entire Fleetwood Mac Tusk album recorded years earlier. A tour followed, but Cracker remained active and Camper Van’s resurgence seemd like a one-off, "for old times sake" affair. A box set of earlier albums and a previously unavailable live cd (the brilliantly-titled Greatest Hits Played Faster) was released, along with another tour. Just when I thought that was the last I had heard of CVB, I heard that a new album was coming out in the fall of 2004. It was like finding out you get to go back to hang out at school for a weekend with all of your buddies there, no responsibities and no studying. I bristled with anticipation.
Needless to say, no album could live up to the expectation of bringing me back to my carefree collegiate ways, but New Roman Times certainly does not embarass itself. In fact, when it’s on, it matches up with some of the band’s best work. And that this is accomplished after 15 years since the orignial line-up played together is really no mean feat. Oh yeah, did I also mention that this is a concept album?
Ah, yes- the concept album. Where rock musicians put on their stroytelling hats and try to create an epic work which over the course of an hour or so will tell a great tale which will change the world. Even at their best (The Wall, Tommy, Quadrophenia), the concept album ultimately is fighting a losing battle- trying to take the disposable format of a rock album and elevate it to high art. The best concept albums have always included more filler than their non-thematic bretheren, and most crumble under the weight of their own ambition.
New Roman Times suceeds where many concept albums have failed as the newly-reformed Campers thankfully remembered what made their group work in the first place- an off-kilter approach to the established rock format and an out and out refusal to take themselves too seriously. The concept is explained as one line under each song in the liner notes, and draws a certain paralell to recent world events- a catastrophic attack occurs, a young Texan joins the military, the soldier has doubts, the soldier rebels against the ideals he once revered. Oh sure, I left out the bits on the fascist regime in California, narcotic flowers and the like- but never does the concept overpower the songs. The concept itself is loose, and the songs stand well enough on their own. The political messages are from the far left, and this comes across without the narrative in the cd booklet. The themes aren’t that different from what was surfacing on Key Lime Pie and follow along the same anti-right lines as most rock music. CVB’s humor and their unique sound keeps everything in check.
Yeah, the sound. I’m glad they played their old songs for a couple of years before heading back into the studio, as the ethnic-folk-in-a-blender of their earliest albums comes shining through on the fake Eastern European "R n’ R Uzbekistan", the giddy hoedown "Militia Song" and the fake ska of "Might Makes Right", among others. The band also paid attention to their more commercial past- "New Roman Times" is a country lament to rival Key Lime Pie’s "Sweetehearts", and "51-7" is as catchy and as rocking as anything they’ve recorded (with the possible exception of "Take the Skinheads Bowling," of course.) Not every track is a winner, but the percentage is higher than most albums, concept or not.
Fans of CVB- like me- will be happy to have an old friend back around, and it’s as close to old times as one might expect. Neophytes are better off exploring one of their first three albums instead- open-minded music fans who don’t mind a little humor or a lot of slightly-off violin will enjoy those and probably wind up here eventually.
A record review manifesto
1. What does it sound like?
As simple as this should be to accomplish, I’m still amazed at how often I finish a review and find that I have no clue what the album is actually going to sound like. These are generally shorter, capsule-style reviews, which is even a bigger travesty- if you have a few words to describe a fire, you should be able to get across that it’s hot and dangerous, shouldn’t you? I’m not asking for a note-by-note description, but just a general idea of what’s going on, so that Point #2 below is easier to arrive at.
And I will add this- things like "imagine Pavement meeting Richard Hell at Mission of Burma’s house while Joey Ramone makes pizza" are somewhat useful, if only to:
a) let the reader quickly identify bands they like and dislike and then decide if it’s worth reading more of the review, or
b) none of the bands are familiar to me, the reader, so I’ll stop right there. When’s that new Huey Lewis comin’ out anyway?
That being said, these sorts of name-dropping metaphors should be considered frosting, not the whole cake. Use them within the context of other descriptions, don’t make them the focal point of the review. The reader may not have heard of anyone that you name-drop, but may still be interested once they read the rest of the review.
2. Will I, the reader, like it?
People read reviews for a reason- to see if they should check something out themselves. The mere fact that a reviewer likes it is not enough. The review should, again, give a good idea what the album sounds like. Paint a detailed enough picture to give the reader an idea of whether they may like it or not. There’s no way to guarantee success here, of course, but by attempting to answer the question, the writer is at least heading in the right direction.
3. The writer is not smarter than the reader.
Whoop-de-doo, you review records and you owned Bleach well before Nevermind came out, or any of a number of cooler-than-thou touchstones. That doesn’t make you smarter than anyone else. The record reviewer should feel as though he’s helping a buddy out, trying to get them to enjoy some of the great music out there, not looking down his nose at the uninformed public. That should be left to the independent record store clerks.
4. Not everything is good/not everything is bad.
Some music sucks, some music is great, and it’s all a matter of opinion. This should be remembered at all times. Don’t like or hate everything, say how you personally feel about it. As long as the first three points are remembered, this should come across just fine and will probably add to a better understanding of what it sounds like/will I like it.
5. Make the review worth reading.
It’s O.K. to be a smartass, or witty, or to go into great detail on why Brian Wilson is a genius. Make sure that somebody other than yourself will gain from this. Keep the writing interesting. You can describe an album perfectly, but if the review puts the reader to sleep, the reader will assume the same about the album.
That’s my basic guidelines for writing a good review. Please enjoy my future posts in which I inadvertently break these rules one by one.