Music That Matters
Green Day – American Idiot
Just try getting “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” out of your head… didn’t think so.
Said But True
“I do.”
– Britney Spears, twice, in 2004
The Happy Recap
This week on InsidePulse Music, there’s been a ton of “year in review” and “best of 2004” themed content – many of my fellow writers have put together “Essential” lists over the past few days, and I thought I should explain why I haven’t done so myself.
When attempting to put together a “top ten” list of this year’s CDs, I keep coming back to the same point: If everyone’s telling me 2004 was such a great, fun, eclectic year in music, why then, to me, does it seem that outside of a few really fun dance-rock singles, it’s been one of the worst?
Perhaps it’s just that I’ve had a hectic year, moving into a new apartment, getting a new job, being a part of this new Web site’s launch, and in generally being busy/distracted, and therefore haven’t taken the time a good music snob should to download, buy, borrow, burn, and of course critique all of the new music I can get my hands on. Perhaps my tastes are changing at a different pace than my peers, and I haven’t yet figured out in what direction I want to go. Or perhaps everyone around me is just full of shit, and pop music DID suck this year, yet not as bad as over the past ten, makings things seem better in context.
Who knows?
Here’s a quick, dirty, and seemingly pathetic list of the new releases I’ve purchased or otherwise received this year:
Green Day – American Idiot
The Killers – Hot Fuss
Badly Drawn Boy – One Plus One Is One
Garden State Soundtrack
The Libertines – The Libertines
The Hives – Tyrannosaurus Hives
The Kicks – Hello Hong Kong
Mike Watt – The Secondman’s Middle Stand
Nas – Streets Disciple
Mos Def – The New Danger
Eminem – Encore
Franz Ferdinand – Franz Ferdinand
Prince – Musicology
Perfect – Once, Twice, Three Times A Maybe
Beta Band – Heroes to Zeros
TV on the Radio – Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes
Danger Mouse – The Grey Album
Wicker Park Soundtrack
Charlie Hunter Trio – Friends Seen & Unseen
U2 – How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
Brian Wilson – SMiLE
Simon & Garfunkel – Old Friends Live On Stage
Pearl Jam – Live at Benaroya Hall, October 22, 2003
Of these 23, are any of them “album of the year” candidates? Probably Green Day’s surprisingly excellent punk rock opera American Idiot, maybe the newest from Prince, possibly Nas’ ambitious double-CD (which *would* have been AOTY hands down if only he chose the best tracks and made it one CD)… but to tell you the truth, I’ve probably enjoyed listening to the Garden State soundtrack more than any of the above, and that’s not even a “real album.”
I donno, I look at the lists from Spin, Rolling Stone, AllMusic.com, Pitchfork … and it’s slightly depressing. I have people offering to buy me an iPod for Christmas, and I’ve turned them down. Yet, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the Nirvana box set, I saw the Pixies in concert a few weekends ago and the show completely kicked my ass, and I just finished reading Nick Hornby’s “Songbook” and DO find myself inspired again.
What it comes down to, I think, is that the pop music industry is going through a great deal of growing pains… Not only are usual juggernauts like Eminem a bit lost, trying to figure out where to go next (while icons REM and U2 seem to be going in entirely different directions), new technology has actually been the big music star in 2004, outshining any fun single from Franz Ferdinand or hot chart debut from Kanye West. Usher’s “Yeah!” could very well have been song of the year – at least in the “gets stuck in your head and won’t come out” department – but the success of the “Yeah!” ring tone was the real story this past year. Howard Stern signed with Sirius, while XM topped 3 million subscribers this year… both satellite radio companies battling for market share, exclusive content deals, and of course, big headlines. REM offered up its latest album on Friendster-on-steroids MySpace.com before it was available anywhere else. Rarely does a day go by where I’m not listening to Yahoo!’s Launchcast Internet radio in my office. Oh, and then there’s those silly iPod things.
It will be interesting to see where this inspiration takes me in 2005 as far as the world of pop music goes… For now, I’ve got my Nirvana box set and SMiLE in heavy rotation – and I love that I’m still able to keep my tastes broad enough to do so. I guess it’s up to me to take advantage of this new technology to open myself up to more new music next year than I did in 2004…
News To You
A few news bits to wrap things up…
– Kudos to Linkin Park for donating $100,000 to disaster relief for the recent Southeast Asian tsunamis…
– Attention Holiday Shoppers – it looks like Eminem’s latest CD, which recently dropped in sales, has jumped back up to Number One on the Billboard charts…
– Whether she’s hitting someone else in the head, or bumping her own, Liza’s never had a problem making headlines! Looks like we’re all a bit safer now that she’s cancelled some upcoming tour dates…
Until next time”¦
peace. love. moe.
– Matthew
