If you know me at all, you know that one of my favourite things to do is to hate things. It’s like a pastime of mine. Some people paint, others play a sport, whereas me, I like to develop hatred towards any arbitrary thing that catches my attention. It’s very healthy. At least, that’s what I’d imagine a therapist would say about it if I were to ever consult one. Perhaps the only thing in this world that I don’t hate is when people tell me to “stop sippin’ the haterade.” Because really, who could get mad at an amazing turn of phrase like that?! Speaking of turns of phrases (an immaculate segue if I do say so myself), the point of this blog is to hate on a very different turn of phrase. The phrase I’m referring to is one that has caused my level of hate to rise to a point so high that its altitude is unmatched by almost anything else I can think of (except perhaps current gas prices. HA! topical, right?). The expression I’m referring to is “life’s too short.” These three words when used in this order have caused my blood to boil to such an extent that I have no choice but to write a blog about it that no one will read. (I really have to work on a more violent way to express my anger.)
If for no other reason at all, I hate the phrase “life’s too short,” simply because it’s cliché and completely devoid of any real meaning. Perhaps someone should tell people who say the phrase “life’s too short” that life IS too short. Life is definitely too short to be an unoriginal douchebag who says things like “life’s too short.” Yeah douchebag, life IStoo short. It’s too short for you because, if there was any justice in the world, you would be killed immediately for using the phrase “life’s too short.” By the way, I’m aware of the painful irony of using the phrase “life’s too short” to make fun of those who say “life’s too short.” But I’ve never claimed to be anything other than an unoriginal douchebag, so it’s okay.
Of course, this rant isn’t going to end here (though I suspect you might wish it did). My problems with this expression extend way beyond its banal nature. I hate the phrase “life’s too short,” mostly because I hate the people who use it. In my experience, the people who use this phrase are optimists. These optimists are usually attempting to shrug off some sort of negative experience, or alternatively, attempting to persuade others to shrug off a negative experience. Did I mention I hate optimists? What the fuck is there to be optimistic about in this world? Next time you’re feeling even slightly optimistic, think about a starving child and put your shit back into perspective. But this is a discussion for a different time. My problem here is that people who use the phrase “life’s too short” aren’t even good optimists. Like, if you’re going to be optimistic, be optimistic. Marry a kitten at 5 in the morning or do whatever the fuck it is that optimists do. Don’t just continually remind yourself and others of their impending doom. By saying “life’s too short,” you’re basically saying “you’re going to die and so will all of your friends and family” This is a wildly inappropriate thing to tell someone when they’ve just had some sort of negative experience. Could you imagine if you were to come to me and tell me “I lost my job today,” and I was to respond by saying “Don’t worry too much man. You and everyone you know will die.” I’d imagine the reception to this would be a lot less welcoming than if I were to have said “Don’t worry too much man. Life’s too short.” MEANWHILE, I’M SAYING THE EXACT SAME THING. As an optimist, I’ve completely failed. A much better way to approach this would have been to respond, “That sucks. But go ahead and dwell on that as long as you want because you’ll get over it eventually and then you’ll have the rest of eternity to do other shit since we are all immortal.” Of course, I’d be lying, not to mention speaking in run-on sentences. But let’s be honest, aren’t all optimists liars anyways (to themselves)? I’m kidding. Sort of.
I know what you’re thinking now. You’re probably thinking, there’s NO WAY he has MORE to say about this topic. And like the clairvoyant individual I am, I’m right. Unfortunately, however, you are not. I still have a shit ton to say about this topic. Why, you may ask? Well, your answer is as good as mine. The next reason I hate the phrase “life’s too short” is because it presupposes effective time management skills; something people do not consider when they say it. Go ahead and say “life’s too short.” Sure. Just recognize that if you’re going to do so, you must be prepared to defend your use of every minute of your life. What the fuck do you do with your time anyways that’s so important that you can’t take some time out to experience a negative emotion that could potentially help you grow as a human being? I’ll go so far as to say that if you’ve ever watched even five minutes of MTV programming, the phrase “life’s too short” is off limits to you. Otherwise, the implication of this is that you’re aware of your mortality at all times and yet you STILL chose to watch that episode of Jersey Shore. By saying, “life’s too short” one is basically saying that every moment he/she has ever spent on this Earth has been devoted to something profoundly important. If this is the case, I relinquish you the right to use the expression “life’s too short” without any sort of judgement. I doubt, however, that such a person would want this right. There’s no way that such a profound individual would say a shitty phrase like “life’s too short.”
I’m almost done. I promise. For now, you’re forced to continue reading because you’re pretty much pot-committed. Anyways, my hatred for the aforementioned expression reaches its most tenacious when the expression is qualified with a specific condition. From time to time, I will see a statement that says something like “Life is too short to ____________ (insert something stupid here). When this happens, I get angrier than Elizabeth Berkley (Jessie from Saved By The Bell) must have been when her film career didn’t take off after all the distasteful nudity in “Showgirls.” And yes, I’m going with that ridiculously outdated, obscure movie reference because I can’t think of anything better. Recently, I saw a caption on someone’s facebook picture that actually said the words “life is too short to be anything but happy.” The level of stupidity of this caption is actually what inspired this blog post. First of all anonymous person, why is this the caption to your picture? Is this really what the picture is supposed to convey? This exact sentiment? Did you think it would portray an image of you as being a cute, fun-loving individual? Or, was it a misguided attempt to be deep? I DON’T UNDERSTAND. In any case, WHAT THE FUCK DOES IT EVEN MEAN? Life is too short to experience a full range of human emotions? Huh? I want to sit down with this person and explain to them how emotions work as if they were three years old. I want to explain to this person that emotions work based on a sense of relativity. Does this person not understand that, without ever experiencing unhappiness, she wouldn’t understand what it means to be happy? If happiness is the only thing she ever feels then she won’t be able to appreciate it and she’ll just be an ungrateful asshole. If this is the existence she wants, she should just plug into the fucking matrix and leave the rest of us alone. I wonder what this person must think about people who suffer from depression. In her opinion, are depressed people just not aware enough of their mortality? I can imagine that, in her mind, she must think that crippling depression just shows up to someone’s door and has a conversation like this:
Depression: “Hey, I’m here to greatly hinder your progress as a human being for the next little while”
Human: “Fuck off depression. I’m dying in 60 years”
Depression: “Damnit! Another person who knows how short life is. We’d be able to get so many more people if it wasn’t for that girl’s caption on her facebook picture!”
How does she not understand that emotions are not dictated by one’s awareness of their mortality? To take her conclusion further; if life is too short to be anything but unhappy, she clearly does not experience sadness. This means that this girl has no empathy. She probably watches World Vision commercials and feels the same emotions she feels while skipping rope (simply because life is too short to feel anything else). This leads me back to the conclusion that this girl is an ungrateful asshole. Clearly this girl is a horrible person and not worth talking about anymore.
So, in conclusion, please don’t use the expression “life’s too short.” There is, of course, one exception. If you are using the phrase “life’s too short” to describe why you didn’t read this blog post, I’ll support your usage 100%
Allow me to first begin by saying that I have the utmost respect for what Invisible Children has accomplished. The agency’s ability to create a message effective enough to penetrate through the apathetic walls of today’s youth is a feat that deserves recognition. In addition, their overarching goals to bring an evil man to justice and to create awareness for political strife in Uganda are both admirable. I would also like to disclaim that I am not criticizing simply for the sake of criticizing. I am criticizing because I see a need to further question something that many people have accepted at face value. I’m not claiming to have the answers to all the questions I will raise but I think it’s important to ask them anyways.
My initial question asks whether or not the majority of people who have seen the Kony video have conducted further research beyond the scope of the 29 minute video? If yes, and you have made an informed decision to support the Invisible Children foundation, then you may stop reading here. If not, and you are one of the people who hit the ‘share’ button on facebook before the video even ended, then I think you need to seriously re-evaluate your idea of what it means to be informed. You have done nothing except for watch one video, created by one agency. Did you even stop to think about the bias that is being presented? At this point, you are no more informed about Uganda than a person who has watched a conspiracy theory documentary about the moon landing is about Nasa. To be clear, I’m not saying that the KONY video is a conspiracy theory, I’m simply saying that it has an inherent bias. Have you investigated Invisible Children’s financial statements and reviewed how much money the company spends on aid and assistance vis-à-vis how much it spends on marketing, filming, and promotion, etc? The numbers may shock you. Might you want to donate or give your support to another agency? Perhaps. To be clear, I’m not saying Invisible Children is an evil organization; I’m just saying, you might want to do a little more questioning. Here is the link to the financial statements for reference: http://c2052482.r82.cf0.rackcdn.com/images/737/original/FY11-Audited%20Financial%20Statements.pdf?1320205055
Another problem I have with the video is its call to action. From what I’m to gather, the video has asked us to lobby our politicians in hopes that they’ll militarily intervene within Central Africa. Aside from the fact that U.S. operations aiding the Ugandan government already exist, I wonder if anyone thought about the implications of this. Did anyone stop to consider whether the Ugandan government wants military intervention? More importantly, do the Ugandan people want military intervention? Does it not sound a bit like intervening in Iraq to find Saddam Hussein? Also, did you consider that the LRA might not be the only guilty party? To be sure, the Ugandan military has also committed many human rights atrocities during the course of a long, bloody, complex civil war. What about the fact that a full scale military intervention would put an end to any peace talks that currently exist, albeit even though they are filled with rhetoric?
Of course, there’s also the issue that finding Kony may not be the best way to contribute to productive development within the region. Sure, let’s say hypothetically that we find Kony; then what? The LRA disbands? Not necessarily. Even if it does, does this put an end to deep-rooted hatred that has existed between two groups of people for many years? Would it maybe be more productive to focus our efforts on dealing with the inherent problems in the region that led to the beginning of the conflict and those that have facilitated its long term persistence? Again, to clarify, I do believe that Kony being brought to justice will have a positive impact, I’m just unsure as to whether this is where all of our attention should be focused.
In my opinion, the Kony 2012 campaign falls victim to the same problems as many internet fads. Though it is a bit course to call this a fad when it has sincerely touched so many people, the truth of the matter is that it’s accurate. When looked at objectively, it is a bunch of people who have focused their collective consciousness on one event for a short period of time, stopping only to gather the minimal amount of information needed, because it will be gone from our consciousness before we know it. I mean, I even saw an Antoine Dodson picture about it. If that doesn’t make it a meme, I don’t know what does. Of course, we can prevent it from going the way of so many other memes by bothering to actually get informed. Please don’t take my word on anything I’ve written here. Feel free to conduct research yourself and argue with me. In fact, I encourage it.
Do you remember Valentine’s day as a kid in elementary school? I do. One thing that stands out in my mind is the rule that the teachers announced every year. Each year, a couple weeks before Valentine’s day, the teacher would stand in front of the class and say, ”Just a reminder, if you’re going to give out Valentine’s cards, you have to give one to everyone.” This was, of course, to teach us the very accurate life lesson that everyone is equal and that everyone loves each other equally (*cough*). The result of this rule, it seemed, was that greeting card companies had a field day mass producing shitty, low quality, Valentine’s day cards for kids, with every possible, recognizable face on them. I remember receiving Valentine’s cards with Spiderman on them. These cards had stupid slogans on them like “My spidey sense is tingling…with love, Happy Valentine’s Day!” or literary genius like “I’ll catch you in my web…of friendship, Happy Valentine’s Day!” It didn’t seem to matter to these greeting card companies that Spiderman has nothing to do with valentine’s day; they were simply trying to find a kid-friendly face to put on these cards. Though I haven’t seen children’s Valentine’s day cards in a very long time (A fact I’m surprisingly okay with), I’d imagine today’s cards are similar, except with the faces of pop icons like Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift. With Hip Hop becoming increasingly affiliated with the mainstream, I began to wonder if, somewhere, there were Valentine’s day cards with rapper’s faces on them. After thinking about this for 3 seconds, I realized how stupid of a thought this was. Even if such cards existed, there’s no way they’d be allowed anywhere near a 3 km radius of a primary school. I took the liberty of making some examples. Oh, and I made one with Amy Winehouse for good measure. Just to prove that girls can be offensive too! Enjoy!
In the interests of continuing the tradition I started last year, I’ve decided to do a write-up of my favourite albums of the year. 2011, in my opinion, was a great year for music. As a result of this, I found it really difficult to narrow the list down to 10 albums. This year I included 15 albums instead. It’s not a big deal. I’m sure you don’t care. As I mentioned last year, I think it is literally impossible to listen to all the music released in a given year. As such, I acknowledge fully that there’s probably a lot of stuff that I missed/forgot to include. If you can think of anything I didn’t include or if you disagree with any of my picks for some reason, feel free to let me know. Also, before I begin, I would like to stress that the rankings mean very little. Any person who can claim based on some sort of objective criteria that a folk rock album is “better” than a Hip-Hop one, must be some sort of God. For me, I find that it’s kind of similar to comparing apples and oranges (sorry for the incredibly cliché phrase, but its true.) So please keep this in mind as you read through the list.
15) Clams Casino – Instrumental Mixtape
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It seems like blasphemy on the internet these days to say that you’re not a fan of ASAP Rocky. In that case, bless me Based God for I have sinned. I don’t really see the dude’s appeal. I mean, I love the idea of walking around saying “I be that pretty motherfucker…” But other than that, it feels to me as if the guy lacks substance. One thing I did notice on ASAP’s mixtape LiveLoveA$AP, however, is that the production was amazing. This is what led me to Clams Casino’s Instrumental Mixtape. Clams Casino has produced for artists like Lil’ B and Soulja Boy but don’t hold this against him. When you listen to his beats without the “based” freestyles that happen over them, you realize that the dude is talented. His beats have this spacey, ethereal sound to them that create a landscape unlike any I’ve ever heard. He is the perfect craftsman for the smoked out feel that ASAP is going for. In the end, each beat comes together in a polished manner, something which I felt was lacking from AraabMuzik’s somewhat unfocused record “Electronic Dream.” The entire effort flows beautifully with every instrumental blending seamlessly into the next. If you’re the type of person who likes instrumental hip hop, definitely check this album out.
14) Jamie Woon – Mirrorwriting
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One of the trends that you will notice occurring on this list is that, this year, I was really into the rise of the Alt-R&B genre. If you’re a fan of this genre and you haven’t heard of Jamie Woon yet, you should definitely get into his music. His album “Mirrorwriting” was an enjoyable listen from front to end. In my opinion, the strongest attribute throughout the album is Jamie’s singing voice. Jamie is a great singer who has the ability to manipulate his voice in such a way that he manages to sound simultaneously mellow and powerful at the same time. On top of this, the work features stellar production from the critically acclaimed post-dubstep? (I don’t even know) producer Burial and great contributions from Royce Wood Jr. Together, the two of them create a great canvass for Jamie’s voice to shine over. The production straddles the thin line between being minimalistic and being boring very effectively, only very rarely falling off in one direction or another. It is definitely a project worth looking into.
13) Active Child – You Are All I See
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The coolest thing about Active Child is that he is primarily a harpist. The way he actively (Ha, see what I did there? Cause his name is ACTIVE child. HA) incorporates harp-oriented production into his brand of Indie-Pop, electronic, new-wave music is impressive. Whereas other artists whose approach is to incorporate one instrument heavily into a particular genre can seem gimmicky, (think Miri-Ben Ari playing the violin over hip hop songs) Active Child manages to avoid this trap through the use of multi layered instrumentation and a broader vision. To put it another way, it seems as if the harp fits into the music more than the music has to fit into the harp. “You Are All I See” is one of those records where a listener might be confused for the first little while. As the record progresses, however, it all seems to come together. Active Child has a great falsetto that shines throughout the album as well. Definitely worth checking out if you’re looking to hear something different.
12) The Black Keys – El Camino
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The Black Keys are the first of three artists on this list who make repeat appearances from last year. Last year, the world was widely exposed to The Black Keys when the song “Tighten Up” ended up in every commercial ever. Probably partly due to the success of that song, the band decided to go back into the studio with longtime producer DJ Danger Mouse. On this record, DJ Danger Mouse does for the Black Keys something he has been able to do for many of the artists he has worked with; he allows them to show growth. Though there is much of the same bluesy-soul tinged rock & roll music that longtime fans of the Black Keys love, there are also softer songs like “Little Black Submarines” which find the band toying with new sounds, often to a high degree of success. As with all Black Keys albums, “El Camino” is dripping with catchy melodies and great guitar solos. If you’re completely crazy and haven’t been able to get into the Black Keys before now, this album might be the one to do it for you.
11) James Blake – James Blake
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James Blake has had a hell of a year. At the beginning of the year, when I first brought up James Blake, a friend remarked to me that he preferred Roger Federer. This is, of course, a reference to the tennis player of the same name. I’m sure, by now, there is no longer any confusion between the two. These days, James Blake is releasing music videos featuring the actress from “The Town” and sitting in rooms with Kanye West, Mannie Fresh, John Legend, and Hit-Boy (this actually happened). James Blake is completely fathering his own style. James Blake’s minimalist, post-dubstep production is unlike any I’ve ever heard before. It’s almost completely impossible for me to describe unless you’ve heard it. As such, each song on his self titled album is an experience. What’s crazy is that James Blake also has an amazingly unique and surprisingly soulful singing voice. On almost any other album, James Blake’s voice would be the star, yet on this album the production takes front and center. As I said, you really have to hear the album to understand.
10) Common – The Dreamer, The Believer
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“The Dreamer, The Believer” finds Common hooking up once again with his longtime producer and friend No-ID. No-ID has gained recognition in recent years for producing songs like Death of Autotune for popular artists like Jay-Z. It is important to note, however, that No-ID is a legendary producer who has been around for a long time, banging out hits for Common way before he was in movies with Queen Latifah. Common has seen great chemistry since with producers like Kanye West and J. Dilla, but nothing has been able to match the cohesive nature of his albums with No-ID. Much historical precedence has shown that albums with a single producer at the helm are much better at maintaining a singular, polished theme than albums where each individual song is produced by a different person. “The Dreamer, The Believer” is no exception. The songs transition into each other in such a smooth way that the album may as well be one long continuous mp3 file. (Side note, if you liked this album, look up the Cocaine 80s EP produced by No-ID released earlier in the year.) Anyways, the album also sees a return to lyrical form for Common after a somewhat disappointing showing on his last album. On this album, Common goes back to doing what he does best. Common is one of the few people in hip hop who has the ability to rap consciously about a topic without coming across as too preachy. Given this, he uses the album to provide introspection about a wide variety of topics in a poetic manner. In addition to this, Common gets back to the gritty lyricism that made albums like Resurrection so dope. Many people forget that Common is responsible for one of the greatest diss songs of all time, with his Ice Cube crucifixion, “The Bitch in You.” On this album, Common flexes some of that battle rap type lyrical skill with lines like “Nah N*gga, I’m Chicago. So I cracked his head with a motherfucking bottle.” Plus, the album has a song with both Common and Nas on it! Literally a hip hop head’s wet dream. Overall, “The Dreamer, The Believer” is a great album that’s definitely worth a listen.
9) Kendrick Lamar – Section 80
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Plain and simple, Kendrick Lamar can rap his ass off. Between the lyrical content, the wordplay, and the flow, it seems like there’s no new rapper in the game coming close to Kendrick right now. Section 80 is a solid showing of all these lyrical talents. Perhaps somewhat counter intuitively, however, the entire album flowed together flawlessly. This is something many veteran rappers still struggle with on their albums. God knows Jadakiss STILL can’t put together a full album. If you’re a sceptic, listen to the song “Rigamortus.” The song sees Kendrick increasing his rapping speed gradually until his words are barely discernible. Definitely the best flow of any rap song to come out this year. To be honest, I don’t have much to say about this album. If you like rap music of any sort, you should listen to it. You will not be disappointed.
8) Frank Ocean – Nostalgia, Ultra
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Looking back on music in 2011, one of the things that will definitely be of note is the rise to prominence of Odd Future. It is heavily apparent that, in the long run, Odd Future probably won’t be sustainable as a group. Certain members like Tyler and Earl will have sustainable careers but many of the more obscure members will probably lose relevance and be forgotten. Appearing to be somewhat of an anomaly in the context of the group is alt R&B crooner Frank Ocean. On closer inspection, however, Frank Ocean fits right into the group with his fresh approach to the genre. As the story goes, Frank Ocean was signed to Def Jam as a song writer under the name Lonny Breaux. During this period, he penned songs for the likes of John Legend and Justin Bieber. The label soon became disillusioned with Ocean’s increasingly “creative” sounding music and kind of forgot about him. Frustrated with the label, Frank Ocean decided to release a collection of his songs online for free under the name “Nostalgia, Ultra.” This collection of music received massive critical and commercial acclaim, even spawning a surprise hit in the drugged out song “Novacane.” At this point, Def Jam began scrambling to sign this Frank Ocean dude, not realizing he was already signed to them under the name Lonny Breaux. Since then, Frank Ocean has written for Beyonce and been featured on songs with Jay-Z and Kanye West. Not bad, coming off a free release. People who have heard Frank Ocean’s newest work say it sounds even weirder than the older stuff. The thing that allows him to fit right in with the OFWGKTA crew is his DIY attitude and his complete lack of concern for what others think. The dude makes music for himself and no one else. It’s easy to fall in love with the story, but I assure you the story is outshadowed by the music. Frank Ocean’s singing voice is one of the most controlled I’ve heard in a long time. That, in combination with the lyrical content and stellar production, makes for one of the most original releases of the year.
7) Bon Iver – Bon Iver, Bon Iver
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Contrary to what the Grammy’s think, Bon Iver is not a new artist by any means. Their 2011 album “Bon Iver, Bon Iver” is actually their second album after the amazing debut “For Emma, Forever Ago” was released in 2007. Many people wondered how Justin Vernon and co. would be able to follow up this debut, partly because the bar was raised so high. On this album, however, the band proved all the doubters wrong and released one of the most critically acclaimed albums of the year. I know I’ve used the word “cohesive” a lot in this write-up thus far, but there is no other word for how well this album comes together. Thematically, the album is unique because it has a clear rise, climax, and fall in a way that few albums do. Though I do miss the immediately catchy songs like “Skinny Love” from the first album, “Bon Iver, Bon Iver” differs because it is beautiful in its subtleties, chock full of hidden gems for listeners to discover on the 6th or 7th listen. Each listen through to the album will provide a new experience. Throw this album on while on a particularly scenic road trip, and it will provide the perfect theme music.
6) tUnE-yArDs – w h o k i l l
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For the remainder of this paragraph, I’m going to refer to tUnE-yArDs as “band-aid” because the primary musician Merrill Garbus made it a bitch to spell the name correctly. Thus, I’ve arbitrarily assigned the name band-aid. Band-Aid’s second effort “w h o k i l l” can only be described as experimental. Transcending the idea of genre altogether, the album incorporates elements from Funk, hip hop, R&B, indie rock, punk, and tons of other genres to create something completely quite unlike anything I’ve ever heard. Merrill Garbus’s somewhat avant-garde singing is also a nice change from the easily accessible melodies that I’m used to. After getting used to this, however, the album was an easy sell. Songs like the lead single Bizness, have instantly catchy production and others like the above song “Gangsta,” are so interesting that, although not immediately catchy, you’re intrigued enough that you can’t stop listening. The latter song deals with issues relating to Suburban angst, with Garbus screaming the lyrics “Anger in his heart but he’ll never be a gangster.” This is a sentiment I’m sure many people can relate to. If you’re looking for an album that will challenge your palette, check this one out.
5) Jay-Z & Kanye West – Watch The Throne
Sample Song (Though, I highly doubt it’s necessary):
What is there left for me to say about “Watch The Throne” that hasn’t already been said? Yes, I expected more from two artists of this calibre. Yes, the album’s subject matter concentrated a little too heavily on how rich both artists are. Yes, the song “Lift Off” was one of the biggest abortions released this side of anything 50 Cent has put out in the past 5 years. And yes, the two have taken to performing the hit single “N*ggas in Paris” eight or nine times each show throughout their concert tour. Despite all of this though, the album fucking jams!! Even though the album may have been a bit disappointing due to an extremely high bar raised by fans, the question remains; How bad could an album by Jay-Z and Kanye West really be? The answer to this question is simple, not very. The production, as with anything Kanye West touches, is amazing throughout. Also, the lyrical content, upon closer inspection, delves into issues much deeper than money and fame. Look no further than the song “New Day” posted above, where Kanye and The RZA take Nina Simone and run her voice through autotune for God’s sake! There was mixed opinions on this in the critical community, but I personally think that they executed the sample to perfection. Plus, what other producers would have the balls to do something like that? This is a common theme throughout the album; Kanye and Jay-Z doing things that no other rap artists would have the balls to do. The lyrical content of the song itself is beautifully sincere with both artists penning letters to their hypothetical unborn sons, giving them lessons to avoid the pitfalls that they, themselves, have experienced in life. Though, on the surface, the album may seem like a giant brag/comment about their level of success, a closer examination of certain songs shows that it is more so an existential crisis on record. More than a simple brag about success, the album raises questions about what to do when you have reached a certain level of success. Jay-Z and Kanye seem unsure of whether they’re supposed to use their success as a means to make social commentary, as they do on “Murder to Excellence” or if they’re allowed to have the same struggles and emotions as regular people, something Jay-Z explores heavily on the song “Welcome to the Jungle.”…As I said before, I can’t really say much about this album that hasn’t already been said. If you haven’t heard it already, chances are you live in a cave.
4) The Weeknd – House of Balloons
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During a year in music that was heavily dominated by the rise of Alt R&B, “House of Balloons” seems to reign king over all other similar releases. Somewhat extrapolating on sounds that Drake experimented with on So Far Gone and Thank Me Later, Toronto based artist The Weeknd, has been able to carve out a lane for himself that few are able to even approach. Doc McKinney and Illangelo’s hazy, smoked out, percussion heavy production provides the perfect backdrop for Abel Tesfaye’s beautiful, catchy melodies to float over. Guaranteed, it is impossible to listen to this entire mixtape without at least one song getting stuck in your head. Since the release of “House of Balloons”, Abel has put out two more mixtapes and worked extensively on Drake’s solid outing “Take Care”, proving that he is a force of consistency and that he is here to stay. In my opinion, however, it will be difficult for anything he does from now on to compete with the impact this mixtape had. This album is too good for me to describe in words. To understand what I’m talking about, you just have to listen to it.
3) Little Dragon – Ritual Union
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I’m not sure if this album is THIS good or if I’m just a sucker for lead singer Yukimi Nagano’s voice. Highly likely, it’s a bit of both. But seriously, I would marry this woman’s voice. The cool thing about any Little Dragon album is that you know you’re going to hear something completely original on each effort. The band is constantly evolving to the point where no one will ever be able to accuse them of stagnating artistically. On “Ritual Union” the band draws heavy influence from dubstep, something very apparent on songs like “Precious.” However, the band takes the same subtle, understated approach towards dubstep that they take towards all their music. The result is a much more pleasant listening experience than the majority of dubstep out there. I mean, saying the word “subtle” to Skrillex is probably similar to saying the word “subtle” to a native Indonesian; it will mean nothing to either of them. Other than that, the album is just more of the down-tempo, trip hop goodness we’ve come to expect from Little Dragon. The album might be a grower, but give it a couple listens because I promise you, it will be worth it.
2) The Roots – Undun
Sample Song:
Forget that I’ve used the word “cohesive” at all during this article. Forget what the word cohesive even means. Now, listen to “Undun.” Done? (Ha, terrible pun). Okay, now you will understand what it means for an album to be cohesive. I can confidently say that this album is now my favourite concept album ever. “Undun” tells the story of fictional character Redford Stevens, a mid-level hustler living in urban poverty. It begins with his death and moves backwards detailing his life, delving into an exploration of the characters psychology and the thoughts and circumstances that motivate the choices he makes. By the end of the album, it is impossible not to empathize with the character because you know him so well. As cliché as it is to say this, this album is actually more like a movie. Black Thought and all of the featured rappers do an amazing job painting a picture for the listener while ?uestlove and the rest of the band provide a very cinematic score. Seriously, the production on this album is perfect, rising and falling with the hopes and despairs of the main character appropriately. Don’t let that fool you into thinking that the production simply serves as a companion piece. Quite the opposite in fact, each beat is filled with so many subtle intricacies that I would probably pay to purchase an instrumental version of the album as well. The entire thing culminates in the three instrumental movements at the end which bring an impressive sense of finality to an already amazing album. “Undun” has seen some criticism from reviewers who say that the story is one that is too familiar in Hip Hop. I could understand this criticism if they were reviewing a clichéd buddy cop movie, but they’re not. Though the theme of hustling and urban poverty has been explored many times in hip hop, it should never be allowed to become less important. The fact of the matter is that stories like this still exist in America. For their part, The Roots take a creative approach to telling this story. While other rappers may rap vaguely about someone being a product of their environment, The Roots take the approach of humanizing the character and forcing a listener to step in his shoes and experience his struggle. This allows the impact of the story to hit closer to home. If you haven’t heard this album, you should definitely check it out.
1) SBTRKT – SBTRKT
Sample Song:
This album gets the title of being number one on my list simply by virtue of the fact that it is probably the album I listened to the most. SBTRKT’s post-dubtep stylings on this album are extremely simple, yet sometimes it is this understated approach that makes for the greatest music. Each production choice that SBTRKT makes seems to be methodical, with every drum, every instrument, and every pad adding another layer to the great instrumentation. Singers Sampha and Jessie Ware shine throughout the album with their great voices taking center stage over the production, blending flawlessly, almost as if SBTRKT is using their voices as just another instrument to add to the overall effect. The album also features one of the best songs of the year, the jam “Wildfire” featuring Little Dragon. The song is so great that Drake took notice and decided to lay a verse over it, even performing the remix at SBTRKT’s show in Toronto. This is one of those albums that I have no words for. To understand why it’s so good, you simply have to listen to it.
Wow. That was long. Congratulations to anyone who stuck it out. Here’s hoping that 2012 will be equally as great of a year for music! Happy New Years everyone!
Yeah, that has nothing to do with what I’m writing. I just have an obsessive compulsive need to make hip-hop references. It’s a sickness. It really is. It’s something even my closest friends have come to tire of. “MAN. WE’RE TALKING ABOUT THE HOLOCAUST! THERE’S NO NEED TO BRING UP RAP MUSIC!” It wouldn’t be out of the question for someone to have to yell this at me on any given day. Okay, not this exact scenario. Though, that wouldn’t be because I’m above making rap references about the holocaust. No, not at all (It’s a sickness, I’m telling you). It’s moreso because…who really sits around and talks about the holocaust anymore? That was so 1940s!
This kind of brings me to the point of this stream of consciousness, piece of shit blog I’m writing; attention span. (Check out that segue. Flawless! They should give me a trophy or something. *cough*)…Where was I? Oh, yes, attention span. Our society, me very much included, has the collective attention span of a grade 3 who repeatedly asks the class teacher if “we can have class outside?” This doesn’t refer simply to our ability to concentrate on tasks; though, that’s not exactly at an all time high. This refers to the general amount of time, we, as a society, keep anything in our consciousness.
Today, while I was at my school’s library to, umm, apparently watch youtube and not study for my exams, I decided to go for a walk. Apparently I felt I needed a break from doing nothing. To give you some background information, the main library at my university is 10-stories tall. Each story of this significantly large building is packed, save for study space, wall to wall with books. As I walked up and down the bookshelves and looked at the books, I came to the sad realization that the majority of these books probably haven’t been picked up in years. Seriously, there are books on every topic you can imagine. If you ever need to research how to tell your kid you have diabetes in GERMAN, my school library probably has a book for it. I don’t know why the German part is emphasized. I’m sure Germans get diabetes too. ANYWAYS…I began to think about the wider discourse behind each of these books. It occurred to me that it is highly possible that many of these books came about as the result of someone’s life’s work. People, somewhere on this planet, may have painstakingly dedicated their entire lives to researching, writing, and perfecting these books. These same Authors probably waited with baited breath to find out whether they were going to be published, rejoicing like never before when they found out that they were. I wonder what these authors would think now if they knew that their books sat, collecting dust on shelves, as a completely insignificant part of a huge collection. The library keeps all these books on display as if to yell “HEY. LOOK AT HOW MUCH ARBITRARY KNOWLEDGE WE PUT IN A BUILDING.” As if that means ANYTHING. I’m sure many of these books were completely relevant when they were published, and for all I know they sold well. This doesn’t change the fact, however, that these books seem to be of very little value now. I suppose, one could argue that their sad, but inevitable loss of significance is a reality of human progress. Relevance goes away and things are forgotten.
Now picture that this library was even bigger. Like, infinitely big. And it contained infinite amounts of books. Not just books, but all media in fucking existence. Ever. In the history of the world. Even this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52duiUapITQ. In case you didn’t catch the metaphor (and you’re also the world’s least perceptive person) I’m talking about the internet. The internet’s effect on the collective attention span of society has been, umm, detrimental to say the least. We live in the age of the meme. If you don’t know what a meme is, I applaud you. Don’t look it up. Save yourself. Similar to the books in the library, it seems that each meme has its time of relevance but then fades into obscurity into the abyss of things that exist (whoa, so poetic. *cough*). But, because the internet contains even more information than the library, this period of relevance has become increasingly shorter and shorter. It’s as if, we, as a society, are trying to absorb as much information as possible but we simply can’t keep up. As a result of this, we rush through everything, randomly prioritize, and keep certain things at the forefront of our attention for miniscule time periods, and move on. As vlogger Kashif Pasta aptly says, “it’s like we’re getting the coles notes” on life. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not calling for society to start saying #Winning again or for a revival of the song “Friday”. God, those things got annoying. It just seems that increasingly, this culture of the “meme” is beginning to transcend the context of internet fads into things that actually matter. Remember the earthquake/floods in Japan that we all tweeted/made facebook statuses about? How many of us have followed up on that tragedy? Remember the uprising in Tunisia? How many of us have read recently about the progress of democracy in Tunisia? The 10th anniversary of 9/11? The incident all of a sudden became more tragic because that the earth rotated the sun 10 times since that day. Cause THAT makes sense… The next to go, and already somewhat on its way out, is the Occupy Wall Street movement. To be clear, I’m not saying that I’m better. I’m just as guilty of letting myself forget about something that was once very relevant to me. When it gets to this point, however, it seems there’s a danger in continuing this trend. This is getting pretty preachy, I’m sorry about this.
The effects of this meme culture have pervaded not only the news, but pretty much every aspect of pop culture. Remember when no one would shut up about the ending of Inception? Very few conclusions were actually reached, yet the debates don’t continue! It’s imperative that we figure out what the fuck happened there! Music as well, where the latest hit song is played obsessively for 2 months and then completely disappears from our consciousness. Who still listens to “Lollipop” by Lil’ Wayne…fucking no one. At least, I’d hope not. The danger here, is that media makers are now reluctant to put their time and effort into anything, knowing how quickly it will fade into obscurity. Long gone are the days where people dedicated their entire lives to researching and writing one book. Instead, we have people who determine what’s popular, churn it out in a factory style manner, and put minimal effort into their craft. What happened to the days where media could be described as “timeless?”
Part of this problem can be attributed to the rise of social media so I’m painfully aware of the irony involved in me writing this as a blog entry and posting it on facebook. I’m also aware that I’m not exactly covering anything groundbreaking here. I just feel that from time to time people need to be reminded to take a step back and re-evaluate what was once important to them. I have no suggestions on how to do this, cause, let’s be honest, it’s much easier to outline problems than it is to come up with solutions. Perhaps, however, make it your New Years resolution (another useless concept based on the earth rotating the sun) to take 10 minutes each day and revisit something that once mattered to you. I’m sure, you’ll find it to be an enjoyable experience. After all, why do you think it is we all love to have that incredibly cliché conversation about the tv shows we watched as kids?
“It ain’t safe in the city, watch the throooooone.” Words cannot describe my excitement for this album. Just reading the previews from the listening session had me smiling like an infant. Jay-Z and Kanye West going back and forth over a soul sample like a 2011 Brooklyn’s Finest? Do I even need to say anymore? The song is incredibly dope and both Kanye and Jay-Z bodied it.
The entire Little Dragon album leaked to the internet a little while ago. I gave it a listen, and I have to say that the band’s consistency blows me away. They so rarely make songs that I don’t like. This is a standout track from the album. It’s very synthy and down-tempo. As usual, Yukimi Nagano is singing her head off. Her beautiful singing voice never fails to astonish me.
First off, I have to say that I am eternally indebted to the Red Hot Chili Peppers. By that, I don’t mean that Flea is my bookie, just that The Red Hot Chili Peppers were the first group to really get me to expand my music tastes. Their music is undeniably catchy yet it still incorporates so many experimental elements of different genres. This new song is not a let down at all. It is clear that the band has continued to evolve, even though it has lost guitarist John Frusciante. I can’t wait for the new album to see what direction they’ve taken.
Movies on Demand 3 is beginning to look like a bit of a monster. These three rappers are all former members of legendary hip hop groups that have broken up; Consequence from A Tribe Called Quest, Elzhi from Slum Village, and Big Pooh of Little Brother. The three of them have gotten together to make a song that feels like classic 90′s hip hop. If you ask me, they did an excellent job. It really makes me miss the late 90s Rawkus Era (though none of them were really a part of the Rawkus movement). Check it out.
I first heard Sene on his incredibly dope, Blu helmed project “A Day Late and A Dollar Short.” Since then, it seems that the man has been on his grind, putting out more music and releasing videos. The song above is a good example of his music for those who are unfamiliar, complete with sick rhymes over fresh production. Don’t sleep on this kid! He definitely has some spit to him.
