My Top 20 Albums of 2010

1) Parallels - Visionary (Marigold)
2) Cygnets - Bleak Anthems (Independent)
3) Caribou - Swim (Merge)
4) Women - Public Strain (Flemish Eye)
5) Kele - The Boxer (Glassnote)
6) Efterklang - Magic Chairs (4AD)
7) Suuns - Zeroes QC (Secretly Canadian)
8) Devo - Something for Everybody (Warner)
9) Yeasayer - Odd Blood (Secretly Canadian)
10) !!! - Strange Weather, Isn't It? (Warp)
11) Glasser - Ring (True Panther Sounds)
12) Apollo Ghosts - Mount Benson (Independent)
13) LCD Soundsystem - This is Happening (DFA)
14) Fond of Tigers - Continent and Western (Drip Audio)
15) Twin Crystals - Twin Crystals (Needs More Ram)
16) Fine Mist - Public Domain (Independent)
17) Iron Kim Style - Iron Kim Style (Moonjune)
18) David Byrne/Fatboy Slim - Here Lies Love (Nonesuch)
19) The Black Angels - Phosphene Dream (Blue Horizon)
20) Turzi - B (Record Makers)

Who we've lost: 2010

Shirley Nelson
Robert "Squirrel" Lester (Chi-Lites)
Teddy Pendergrass
Jay Reatard
Ed Thigpen
Brian Damage (The Misfits)
Willie Mitchell
Tony Clarke
Lhasa
Greg Slay (Remy Zero)
Greg Pianka (Dirty Looks)
Jake Hanna
Doug Fieger (The Knack)
Lee Freeman (Strawberry Alarm Clock)
T-Bone Wolk
Lolly Vegas (Redbone)
Mark Linkous (Sparklehorse)
Alex Chilton
Herb Ellis
Malcolm McLaren
Pete Steele (Type O Negative)
Devon Clifford (You Say Party)
Guru
Owsley
Rob McConnell
Lena Horne
Hank Jones
Ronnie James Dio
Paul Gray (Slipknot)
Marvin Isley
Stuart Cable (Stereophonics)
Jimmy Dean
Garry Shider (Parliament)
Pete Quaife (The Kinks)
Sugar Minott
Andy Hummell (Big Star)
Al Goodman
Derf Scratch (Fear)
Chris Dedrick (The Free Design)
Richie Hayward (Little Feat)
Michael Been (The Call)
Rich Cronin (LFO)
Arrow
Eddie Fisher
Solomon Burke
Eyedea
Ari Up
Gregory Isaacs
John Sekula (Mushroomhead)
Jim Clench (April Wine)
James Freud (The Models)
Peter Christopherson
Ann Southam
Don Van Vliet/Captain Beefheart
Teena Marie

RIP Captain Beefheart

Don Van Vliet has died. Just back on Decembe 4th, I was doing my annual mourning/tribute to Frank Zappa and here we are two weeks later mourning another giant in experimental music. Captain Beefheart, as Van Vliet was known, was one of the true iconoclasts in music, unafraid to take chances and unafraid to truly explore what music was.

Beefheart was a strange man and, often, a brutal man. Read up on the stories on the creation of his masterpiece Trout Mask Replica and see what he subjected his bandmates too. Locking them up in a tiny house for 8 months, not permitting them to leave, letting them go hungry and go without sleep, forcing them to practice 14 hours a day. But, at the same time, Beefheart composed that album on the piano, an instrument he didn't know how to play. Think about that for a second. He had to teach himself how to play the piano, and with no instructor, he was able to come at the instrument with no preconceived notions on how to approach the instrument, so he came up with a completely unique take on the piano. What musician can say they had that kind of inspiration or vision to their music?

Beefheart also collaborated with Frank Zappa on his 1975 album Bongo Fury, and helped compose a few Zappa classics, like "Muffin Man". Van Vliet and Zappa were collaborations and friends for a time, but more than often, their egos and talent made them adversaries as well.

Few musicians can claim the sheer volume of left-field and non-commercial artists that Beefheart had influenced. They range from noted oddballs like Mark E. Smith of the Fall, The Residents and Tom Waits, to more mainstream acts like the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Franz Ferdinand.

RIP Mr. Beefheart, you will be missed.

Q: Are We Not Men? A: Ant Man Bee

Your Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2010 Inductees

And the winners are...

Tom Waits
Neil Diamond
Alice Cooper
Darlene Love
Dr. John
Leon Russell (musical excellence)

Here's Tom Waits saying emphatically, "Rod Steward who?":

Canadian Top 40 Cancon Roundup for December 16, 2010

On the Top 40: Fefe Dobson (top Canadian at #9), Nelly Furtado, JRDN, Marianas Trench, Johnny Reid, My Darkest Days, Shawn Desman, Elise Estrada, Michael Buble, Neverest (10/40 = 25%, still below the 35% needed for Cancon regs)

Weirdness: Not much. Neverest in there with their first song. Neverest look and soundlike a douchey Nickelback clone, so you can ignore them for now.

December Doldrums

December is a pretty dead time for new music. Since Christmas is looming, labels spend a lot of time putting out tree-friendly releases like Best Ofs, cheap compilations and re-releases, plus the ubiquitous Christmas music albums. So, things might be a bit dead on the blog for a while too.

Christmas is music hell for me at work too. Radio is awash with repetitive Christmas music, so saccharine and so fake. Everyone seems to have a Christmas album out and every single one has some horrible, over-wrought version of Silver Bells or Silent Night. So, I cleanse my palette with this:



I also have to mention, this came up on my workout random playlist today. Totally got me moving:

Canadian Top 40 Cancon Roundup for December 9, 2010

In the Canadian Top 40: Fefe Dobson (top charter at #10), Nelly Furtado, JRDN, Marianas Trench, Johnny Reid, Michael Buble, My Darkest Days, Shawn Desman, These Kids Wear Crowns, Finger Eleven (10/40 = 25% Cancon, still below the needed 35%)

Chart notes: These Kids Wear Crowns get their first Top 40 hit. They've been a buzz band for a while, having been discovered on MuchMusic reality show disBand. Michael Jackson is back in the Top 40 too, with "Hold My Hand", a duet with Akon. I bet we'll see lots of Tupac like posthumous releases from Michael over the next few years. In the US charts, Florence and the Machine have their first Top 40 hit at #21, thanks to the Glee Cast doing her song. The Glee version is at #22.

Onion A/V Top whatevers for 2010

Onion A/V Club:

25) Spoon - Transference
24) Four Tet - There is Love In You
23) Titus Andronicus - The Monitor
22) Flying Lotus - Cosmogramma
21) Baths - Cerulean
20) Dessa - A Badly Broken Code
19) Yeasayer - Odd Blood
18) Call Me Lightning - When I am Gone My Blood Will Be Free
17) Avi Buffalo - Avi Buffalo
16) Arcade Fire - The Surburbs
15) Wavves - King of the Beach
14) Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest
13) Dum Dum Girls - I Will Be
12) The Black Keys - Brothers
11) Frightened Rabbit - The Winter of Mixed Drinks
10) Robyn - Body Talk
9) Vampire Weekend - Contra
8) Superchunk - Majesty Shredding
7) Big Boi - Sir Lucious Left Foot
6) Janelle Monae - The ArchAndroid
5) The Roots - How I Got Over
4) LCD Soundsystem - This is Happening
3) The National - High Violet
2) The Walkmen - Lisbon
1) Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

!exclaim Top 20 for 2010

From !exclaim Magazine:

1) The Suburbs - Arcade Fire
2) Halcyon Digest - Deerhunter
3) Teen Dream - Beach House
4) Meet Me at the Muster Station - PS I Love You
5) Heartland - Owen Pallett
6) Crazy for You - Best Coast
7) High Violet - The National
8) The Age of Adz - Sufjan Stevens
9) Transference - Spoon
10) Public Strain - Women
11) Special Affections - Diamond Rings
12) Have One on Me - Joanna Newsom
13) Lisbon - The Walkmen
14) Forgiveness Rock Record - Broken Social Scene
15) Before Today - Ariel Pink's Haunted Grafitti
16) Treats - Sleigh Bells
17) Expo 86 - Wolf Parade
18) Wilderness Heart - Black Mountain
19) American Slang - Gaslight Anthem
20) The Monitor - Titus Andronicus

Forgotten Music #4: The Connells - "Stone Cold Yesterday"

Yet another one of those bands that made music catchy enough to be on the radio but totally ignored by mainstream radio. North Carolina's The Connells were a great, highly underrated power pop band that even flew under the radar on college radio. "Stone Cold Yesterday" comes from an album called One Simple Word, that came out in 1990 on TVT records.



Nothing fancy here, just infectious power pop. Enjoy!

Canadian Top 40 Cancon Roundup for December 2, 2010

No new Top 40 charts this week, so no update there.

I rarely listen to commercial Top 40 radio, so I'm a bit confused about seeing country artists next to R&B and hip hop artists in the chart. Does Top 40 radio really play Eminem back to back with Tim McGraw?