Some Albums Through The Third Quarter of 2010

[koganbot]

Wrote this album wrap-up in response to Greg over on my singles thread, so might as well give it its own post. I've let album-listening slide, so I need to do lots of exploring. These are my top five:

Ke$ha's Animal: her vision or shtick is up my alley, and is pretending to come from an alley, but her lyrics could use stronger, more original images, and her voice is opening-act raw; yet somehow she's the only Top 40 star who knows what she's doing this year, the only one to sound like she's riding the current dance-pop mess rather than just trying to grab hold somewhere, balances ugliness and prettiness, storm and calm, etc. "Blah Blah Blah" is my favorite and after that the best stuff hasn't been singles: "Backstabber," a hint of Latin freestyle, the words being a bitch-fest about a gossip but the music bouncing the words around in the rhythm so much that Ke$ha hardly sounds unhappy; "Boots And Boys," which compares boys to boots, loves them both, tries them on, they got her looking rad, while a quagmire bass tries to pull her under but she floats blissfully above it; and "Party At A Rich Dude's House," sounding like Dr. Luke finally getting the loud-blaring-chorus-thing right, the melody lifting the song without blasting our ears off, except Luke actually had nothing to do with the song (is Ke$ha, Shellback, and Benny Blanco; but Luke restrains his own blare effectively on "TiK ToK" and "Take It Off"). In any event, for all the puke-slinging etc. the album is surprisingly pretty.

Marina And The Diamonds The Family Jewels, ridiculous lyrics coming across as if she's just discovered rebellion and originality, and she sounds like a heavily overburdened posh woman in the throes of letting loose, and I'm charmed.

Princesa Más Fuego, which Princesa herself posts on Mediafire for legal free download (all her links are on her Facebook); a reggaeton ball of fire from Argentina, got the ugly reggaeton yammering bit down but also what sounds like grief and dreaminess, even with a rough not particularly flexible voice; you may have heard the title track if you were following Argentina in the Pop World Cup.

E.via Must Have (EP), which even for an EP is scattershot in tone and quality, and through my cultural misunderstandings of Korea and my non-knowledge of the language I'm basically inventing her in my mind, so this account may have nothing to do with reality but... I imagine her as what I wish Gaga were, someone critiquing the sex sell while selling herself sexily in both a cute and threatening manner, and crucially she really can rap with force, while doing all the tuneful Asian chirpy things well.

Various Artists Shangaan Electro, South African speed dance with bubbling "marimba" keyboards; I like the fast burbles and the slow rich voices.

And that's all I've got for you, though I now possess the new Jamey Johnson without having had a chance to listen. Listened once to Chely Wright's Lifted Off The Ground and it feels like a potential grower, she now being more singer-songwriter than country, writing and singing with gentleness. Hurts' Happiness may also be a grower: only has one wonderful "Wonderful Life," but in general their dourness doesn't weigh down their prettiness as much as I'd feared, in fact the two facets sometimes work well together. Also intend to give Traband's Domasa and Kelis's Flesh Tone further listens, 'cause they have good stuff on them though so far they haven't hit me as much as they hit Chuck and Dave, respectively.

Disappointments: Little Big Town, Shontelle, A-Trak, Nina Sky, Lillix, though I've not listened all through the last two and only listened to the first two once.

Comments

[askbask.livejournal.com]

Someone said about e.via that "she just gets her hoes to strip for her" in reply to someone else pointing out the fact that she's usually in a hoodie with scantily clad girls dancing around her. Not entirely true, but...

She just released a teaser for her new song. This time there won't be any sex controversy, but maybe Nintendo gets her for copyright infringement instad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCDWdR3fdFE

Pick Up You, Attack!

[koganbot]

Any idea how the Korean lyrics translate into English? I'm wondering if "pick up you" means to imply "pick you up in some bar and go off and have sex" (if that's a Korean idiom; if not, how would "pick up you" translate back into Korean?) or is it just meant to make people think (as someone at allkpop suggests) of "Pikachu!"

(It seems as if the song might also be called "Bbik Kka Chu!" in which case the suggestion of Pokémon is likely to be deliberate.)

By the way, I just now discovered the lyricalmovement livejournal community, devoted to translating Korean song lyrics - mostly indie, they say, but I've linked a couple translations of E.via, whom I'd assume would be considered "rap" rather than "indie":

"Diary," which translates with raw, clumsy beauty, which is sort of what the lyrics are claiming about themselves:

this might sound like the lyrics you might pick up on the streets
but this is just a clumsy picture of separation, drawn with tears...
a stepping stone called memories on top of a broken road called 'us'
madly walking around on the road in the moonlight
with a big voice, filling up my mouth with your name...
(translated by someone named gogoparty)

"Oppa! Can I Do It?" (this is the xxx version, supposedly, but the lyrics mainly concern clubbing, flirting, and bitching about lack of airplay if you're a rapper)

Also, found a transcription and translation of "Shake" at JpopAsia, which gives us "Groggy butt (I wanna shake it)," but if we run the same line through Google translator we get "Ass, wonky (I wanna shake it)."

Here are all the JpopAsia translations of E.via. I haven't checked them yet. There are eight.

I'm now tending to think of E.via less as "critically subversive" and more as "rapper w/ an r&b and hip-hop sex sensibility running a deliberate juxtaposition with super cutey-mode looks to see what happens," alternating chirpy voice and tough voice, though maybe that is critically subversive. It does come across as really smart (not to mention sexual, of course), though again that could be me projecting my liberal hopes onto her.

Though I wonder if the new track is meant to appeal to kids.

[chuckeddy.livejournal.com]

If it's any help, my top 100 albums of 2010 at the three-quarters point would look something like this, though obviously I'm still re-listening (at least to the ones nearer to the top), and the list is in flux by definition. Also, seriously doubt I'll include any reissues other than the Seger on my Pazz & Jop ballot, though the gospel one still has an outside chance if I'm stumped about what should go in my #10 spot (which, right now, would probably be occupied by Chely Wright, which is actually kind of spotty beyond four great tracks or so, I'd say.) Another problem is that so many albums on the cusp of my Top 10 (Coati Mundi, Sweet Angel, Far*East Movement, Laura Bell Bundy) are also likely to put singles on my ballot, and that kind of duplication always looks lazy, so I try to avoid it if I can help it. Another problem is my singles list seems sort of ad-hoc itsownself, and there are lots of ones on your list I haven't heard. Anyway, here:

1. Bob Seger – Never Mind the Bullets Here's Early Bob Seger (Myonga CD-R reissue)
2. Joe Cuba – El Alcalde Del Barrio (Fania reissue)
3. Bigg Robb – Jerri Curl Muzic (Over25Sound ‘09)
4. Jace Everett – Red Revelations (Western Boys/Hump Head)
5. (Various) – Fire In My Bones: Raw + Rare + Otherworldly African-American Gospel [1944-2007] (Tompkins Square reissue ’09)
6. Allan Sherman – My Son, The Folk Singer (Collectors' Choice Music reissue)
7. (Various) – Classic Sounds Of New Orleans (Smithsonian Folkways reissue)
8. Traband – Domasa (Indies Scope)
9. Luther Lackey – Preacher’s Wife (Ecko)
10. Ke$ha – Animal (RCA)

11. Jamey Johnson – The Guitar Song (Mercury)
12. John Mellencamp – The Early Years (MMRX reissue)
13. Flynnville Train – Redemption (Evolution)
14. Radar Favourites – Radar Favourites (Reel Recordings reissue)
15. The Orlons – The Wah-Wahtusi/South Street (Collector’s Choice reissue)
16. Was (Not Was) – Pick Of The Litter 1980-2010 (Microwerks reissue)
17. Coati Mundi – Dancing For The Cabana Code In The Land Of Boo-Hoo (Rong)
18. Chely Wright – Lifted Off The Ground (Vanguard)
19. Sweet Angel – A Girl Like Me (Ecko)
20. Far*East Movement – Free Wired (CherryTree/Interscope)

21. Laura Bell Bundy – Achin’ & Shakin’ (Mercury)
22. (Various) – The Roots Of Chica 2: Pyschedelic Cumbias From Peru (Barbés reissue)
23. Burning Spear – Marcus Garvey/Garvey's Ghost (Hip-O Select reissue)
24. Frank Zappa – Greasy Love Songs (Zappa reissue)
25. Pylon – Chomp More (DFA reissue ‘09)
26. The Endtables – The Endtables (Drag City reissue)
27. Danny Krivit – Edits By Mr. K: Vol. 2: Music Of The Earth (Strut mix)
28. Dwarr – Animals (Drag City reissue)
29. Colt Ford – Chicken And Biscuits (Average Joe’s)
30. Tim Woods – The Blues Sessions (Earwig)

31. Joan Soriano – El Duque De La Bachata (¡Aso)
32. (Various) – Salsa Explosion! The New York Salsa Revolution 1969-1979 (Strut/Fania reissue)
33. Lee Brice – Love Like Crazy (Curb)
34. Scott Morgan – Scott Morgan (Alive Natural Sound)
35. RockTits – Heavy Cosmic Groove Mix (aordisco.blogspot.com mix)
36. Walter Gibbons – Jungle Music (Strut mix)
37. Allan Sherman – My Son, The Celebrity (Collectors' Choice Music Reissue)
38. Katrina And The Waves – Katrina And The Waves (CGB reissue)
39. Bob Blank – The Blank Generation: Blank Tapes NYC 1975-1985 (Strut mix)
40. This Moment In Black History – Public Square (Smog Veil)

41. Raymilland – Recordings ’79-’83 (BDR reissue)
42. Kenny Chesney – Hemingway's Whiskey (Sony Nashville)
43. Dave Douglas & Keystone – Spark Of Being (Greenleaf Music)
44. The Sword – Warp Riders (Kemado)
45. Wounded Lion – Wounded Lion (In The Red)
46. Jerrod Niemann – Judge Jerrod And The Hung Jury (Sea Gayle/Arista Nashville)
47. Slim Cessna’s Auto Club – Buried Behind The Barn (Alternative Tentacles reissue)
48. Shinyribs – Well After Awhile (Nine Mile)
49. Cankisou - Lé La (Indies Scope)
50. Jefferson Airplane – Setlist: The Very Best Of Jefferson Airplane Live (RCA/Legacy reissue)

[chuckeddy.livejournal.com]

PART TWO:

51. Chubby Checker – It’s Pony Time/Let’s Twist Again (Collector’s Choice reissue)
52. Art Museums – Rough Frame (Woodsit EP)
53. Tutu And The Pirates – Sub-Urban Insult Rock For The Anti/Lectual 1977-1979 (Factory25 reissue)
54. Chin Chin – Sound Of The Westway (Slumberland reissue)
55. (Various) – Diplo Presents Dubstep: Blow Your Head (Downtown mix)
56. John Jackson – Rappahannock Blues (Smithsonian Folkways reissue)
57. Chuck Brown – We Got This (Sweet Venture)
58. Ebo Taylor – Love And Death (Strut)
59. Randy Houser – They Call Me Cadillac (Show Dog)
60. Kermit Ruffins – Happy Talk (Basin Street)

61. Earl Gaines – Good To Me (Ecko)
62. Shakin’ Street – 21st Century Love Channel (Pervade Productions ’09)
63. M.I.A. – Maya (XL/Interscope)
64. Allan Sherman – My Son, The Nut (Collectors' Choice Music reissue)
65. Grong Grong – To Hell ‘N’ Back (Memorandum/Aberrant reissue)
66. Method Actors – This Is Still It (Acute reissue)
67. Chrome Dome – Chrome Dome (Lexicon Devil EP)
68. Jeff Eubank – A Street Called Straight (Drag City reissue)
69. Ashley Hutchings, Richard Thompson, Dave Mattacks, John Kirkpatrick, Barry Dransfield – Morris On (Fledg’ling reissue)
70. The Fall –Your Future Our Clutter (Domino)

71. Katrina And The Waves – 2 (CGB reissue)
72. Terry Knight And The Pack – Terry Knight And The Pack/Reflections (Collector’s Choice reissue)
73. Dr. John and the Lower 911 – Tribal (429)
74. Steve Winwood – Revolutions: The Very Best Of (Island reissue)
75. Rosehill – White Lines And Stars (Cypress Creek)
76. Selena Gomez & The Scene – A Year Without Pain (Hollywood)
77. Rick Schaffer – Necessary Illusion (Tarock)
78. Honey Ride Me A Goat – Udders (Lexicon Devil)
79. Merle Haggard - I Am What I Am (Vanguard)
80. Ray Wylie Hubbard – A. Enlightenment B. Endarkment (Hint: There Is No C) (Thirty Tigers/Bordello)

81. Elizabeth Cook – Welder (Thirty Tigers)
82. Trace Adkins – Cowboy’s Back In Town (Universal)
83. The Mother Truckers – Van Tour (World)
84. Eddy Current Suppression Ring – Rush To Relax (Goner)
85. DJ Spinna & BBE Soundsystem – Strange Games & Funky Things Volume 5: Smoking '70s Soul and Rare Grooves (BBE mix album)
86. Syl Johnson – Complete Mythology (Advance Sampler) (The Numero Group promo reissue)
87. Johnny Flynn – Been Listening (Thirty Tigers/Transgressive)
88. The Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band – Wages (SideOneDummy)
89. (Various) – Casual Victim Pile: Austin 2010 (Matador)
90. Da-Exclamation Point -- [Un]released Recordings 1980-81 (Factory 25 reissue)

91. Kid Rock – Born Free (Atlantic)
92. Marrow – Sunshine Enema (Marrowcell)
93. Jason Boland & The Stragglers – High In the Rockies: A Live Album (Apex Nashville/Thirty Tigers)
94. Trombone Shorty – Backatown (Verve Forecast)
95. Johnny Winter And – Live At The Fillmore East 10/3/70 (Collector’s Choice reissue)
96. (Various) – Indies Scope 2009 (Indies Scope ’09)
97. Kleenex/Liliput - Live Recordings, TV-Clips & Roadmovies (Kill Rock Stars reissue)
98. (Various) – Classic Appalachian Blues (Smithsonian Folkways reissue)
99. Stone River Boys – Love On The Dial (Cow Island)
100. Heart – Red Velvet Car (Legacy)

[koganbot]

Don't think I'm going to consider the Seger an actual album, not even a bootleg album. And the Everett is probably too early in 2009 for me to count; according to Wikip it was June 2009 (also, I haven't heard it yet). May try to go play the Jamey Johnson now, if my cranky CD player cooperates.

I've only heard the Seger, Allan Sherman, Traband, Ke$ha, Coati Mundi, and Chely Wright from your top 20. Haven't heard of Bigg Robb, Luther Lackey, or Sweet Angel, unless you mentioned them on Rolling Country and I forgot. And I don't know what "Radar Favourites" are.

[chuckeddy.livejournal.com]

Radar Favourites is a weird and uncommonly warm-sounding Henry Cow/This Heat-related prog/fusion/experimental rock reissue from 1974 that came in the mailbox one day -- a real stretch, in other words, and I don't think I can even otherwise justify it being so high on that list except that I listen to it in the background a lot. (Can barely say anything else about it, regardless, and it has not even a remote shot at my Top 10.)

I'm counting Everett's barely distributed 2009 album as 2010, which is when it got issued on a bigger label with more distibution when I'd never heard of it before, by exactly the same logic as I counted Jamey Johnson's barely distributed 2007 album as 2008, when ditto. (Well, I guess Johnson's was inititally digital only, and Everett's may have been existed physically in its original form -- I've never seen a copy of the alleged 2009 version -- but they were both new to me in the year I voted for them. Though then again, so were a few hundred old '70s and '80s vinyl LPs I paid $1 for this year, but there's no way they came out in 2010. And Jace's, for all intents, still strikes me as new music.)

Am surprised you've heard the Coati Mundi, which I'm pretty sure just came out this week (unless you got sent an advance, just like I did, or downloaded it.) And though I probably mentioned Luther Lackey on Rolling Country, I don't think I ever mentioned the other two (though all three are marketed under the umbrella of "Southern Soul," even though Bigg Robb is from Cincinnati, used to be in Zapp, and sounds like it.)

Pretty sure Kenny Chesney's album will climb before now and the year's end; could place Top 10. Should've listed it higher.

And I'm not even sure I'd call four songs on that Chely Wright album "great," now that I think about it, though "Notes To The Coroner," "Snow Globe," and "Damn Liar" certainly come close. (Maybe "That Train" or "Object Of Your Rejection," too. I love the idea of "Like Me," but whenever I actually listen to it, it's too quiet to really connect somehow. As are other tracks.)

My own CD player got stuck a couple weeks ago, so now I've got the spare portable in my office, not even hooked to speakers. Was actually wondering whether you still had a working player.

[chuckeddy.livejournal.com]

Actually, come to think of it, I think Coati Mundi's full album comes out next week. (3-song EP was late 2009.)

And I obviously didn't mean to imply that I voted for $1 vinyl albums this year, even though that's sort of what I said. (Haven't voted for the Jace Everett, or anything else, yet either, obviously. But I'm pretty sure you knew what I meant.)

[chuckeddy.livejournal.com]

And "a few hundred" $1 LPs is an exagerration. I hope. (If not, I'm clearly spending beyond my means. But I have definitely bought a few. Spent more time listening to old music this year than any year in long, long time. One side effect of having a turntable in the living room, I guess.)

[koganbot]

Yeah, I was sent an advance of the Coati Mundi. I like it on one listen but nothing jumped out at me as not sounding like all the other stuff on the album, though that's probably my fault not the album's, and anyway I was doing the dishes when "listening."

Maybe I will count the Everett (didn't realize it got picked up by another label). If I like Davey Boy Smith's Best Of The Wiley Zip File I'll count that, and I suppose that we could count the Seger for the same reason except that you can actually go to a Davey Boy Smith site on the Web and download from there, and when Wiley released all those tracks for free I'm sure he was possibly expecting and hoping that people'd create their own version. (Just dl'd the Davey Boy Smith and haven't heard it yet.)

Re: Pick Up You, Attack!

[askbask.livejournal.com]

This youtube translation of Shake similarly goes for 'wonky' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zsg1g8sgFQ

I'm afraid my limited Korean becomes even more limited when the rapping picks up speed. I think 'pick you up' translates as 'in a bar etc', on a date if not straight to sex. I don't think it's meant to appeal to kids (very little is, explicitly, except for the obvious: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKwh6ofhPDs) as much as appeal to the mainstream. When money is set aside for a video you need a pop gimmick to make it worth the money, because, in her words, if you try to sell it as rap you'll fail!

In the spirit of third quarter summaries, I have to conclude that the SNSD album doesn't offer much outside of the singles. The album tracks feel a bit "will this do?"-ish. Doubly disappointing since their debut is my favorite Asian bubblegum pop album of the new millennium. I appreciate that they've moved on in image and sound, but even last year's two modern-sounding mini albums were enjoyable from start to finish.

Fefe Dobson

[(Anonymous)]

What do you think about "Ghost", Frank? I couldn't find any mention it on here, so I'm not sure if you've discussed it already.

—Renato

Re: Fefe Dobson

[koganbot]

I know I've had discussions about "Ghost," but I think those discussions might have been via email with Jimmy Draper and Dave Moore. Jimmy likes the song and Dave loves it; I think Erika might too, if I remember right from her Tumblr. I'm more middling on it. It's a good song, but the chorus isn't as insinuatingly haunting as I want. I like "Stuttering" more, with its fierce tunefulness that manages to avoid jamming its sugar so hard into my ear that it hurts. Talked about it here:

Tongueful and tune-tied

[talrose.livejournal.com]

One thing I notice is that neither you nor Chuck have any rap on your lists, unless you count Princesa, M.I.A., Kid Rock, Shangaan Electro, or Bigg Robb as rap, and I don't think I would. Off the top of my head, Big Boi, Rick Ross, Starlito, E-40, Shabazz Palaces, Curren$y, and Roc Marciano all made great rap albums this year. In fact, it's probaby the best year for rap albums since 2004! If you guys are interested in any of these I'd be happy to send you guys .zip files or CD burns, whatever your druthers.

I'd make a top 20, but my list is always changing the more I hear stuff. At the moment, I think my top 10 would look something like this:

1. Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Before Today (4AD)
2. Flying Lotus - Cosmogramma (Warp)
3. Erykah Badu - New Amerykah Part 2: Return of the Ankh (Universal Motown)
4. Gonjasufi - A Sufi and a Killer (Warp)
5. Rick Ross - Teflon Don (Def Jam)
6. Oneohtrix Point Never - Returnal (Editions Mego)
7. Javiera Mena - Mena (Unión Del Sur)
8. Lindstrøm & Christabelle - Real Life Is No Cool (Smalltown Supersound)
9. Motor City Drum Ensemble - Raw Cuts, Vol. 1 (Faces)
10. Shed - The Traveller (Ostgut Ton)

One of these will have to make room for Seger on my P&J ballot, and I'm not putting in Jace Everett, which I love, because it did come out in 2009, and in June of 2009 at that. Ke$ha, No Age, The-Dream, Big Boi, Starlito, and Autechre all deserve a spot too, but hey, I can only submit ten! With The-Dream and Big Boi and maybe Ke$ha, I'll probably go for singles instead.

[chuckeddy.livejournal.com]

Thanks for this list, Talrose (whoever you are). Though from my list you left off at least Far*East Movement and Colt Ford, both of which albums I'm pretty sure have more rapping on them than Kid Rock (which has none) or Bigg Robb (which has just I little). (Fwiw, both Laura Bell Bundy and This Moment In Black History rap in at least one track on their albums, too.) (I'm not saying Far*East's or Colt's rapping is great, though.)

I really appreciate the zip-or-burn offer. But knowing my habits, I don't think I've ever gotten around to listening to a zip file of an album I wasn't expressly being paid to write about, and I'd feel bad if you took the time to burn those CDs and I gave up on them after just a couple songs, then never played them again (which, given my history with hip-hop albums over the past two decades, is highly likely. Somewhere along the line, new rap albums really started seeming like work to me, for some reason. Partly my fault, I'm sure. But mostly the music's fault.) I will though, try to find some time to figure out which of those albums you listed are on Rhapsody, and check them out there. But again, I'm not optimistic. I've more-or-less hated most of the Rick Ross I've heard this year (including "Blowing Money Fast"); been meh on what Big Boi I've checked (though his album's been on my "try to find time to listen to this" shortlist for a while already now.) I've got an older E-40 CD on my shelf (My Ghetto Report Card from 2006) that I determined was good at the time, but haven't been remotely inspired to play since; in fact, yesterday, before your email, it was almost bumped into the storage boxes in the closet before being saved by the second Eluvium CD, which made that trip instead. Don't even know who Starlito, Shabazz Palaces, Curren$y, or Roc Marciano are; I'm really not keeping up with this stuff lately, I guess. So I'm now vaguely curious about them, but to be honest, what I'm now most curious about on your list is Motor City Drum Ensemble, which I never heard of before. Promising name though!

Had no idea 2004 was considered a great year for hip-hop albums, by the way. All those '00s years run together in my head, but going back and looking at the (probably incomplete) album list from that year on my laptop, here are the hip-hoppingest things I'm seeing in my own top 50 or so:

Spoonie Gee – Godfather Of Hip-Hop (Ol’ Skool Flava/Tuff City reissue)
Big & Rich – Horse Of A Different Color (Warner Bros.)
M.I.A. – Piracy Funds Terrorism Volume 1 (unlabeled promo mix album)
Chingo Bling – The Tamale Kingpin (Big Chile Enterprises)
Death Comet Crew – This Is Riphop (Troubleman Unlimited reissue)
Mannie Fresh – The Mind Of… (Cash Money/Universal)
Mr. Wonka?! – Codeine Rock (mistrwonka@yahoo.com)
Federation – The Album (Virgin)
(Various) – Crunk Classics (TVT)

Definitely overrated Chingo Bling at the time. (Did not overrate Big N Rich, which okay, doesn't have that much rapping on it. Might have more than Mr. Wonka, but I think screwing and chopping still counted as hip-hop back in the pre-witchhouse era.) Pretty sure my own favorite year for hip-hop albums of the '00s (or at least the year the most made my Top 10 -- four, I think) was 2003, thanks primarily to Ying Yang Twins, Bubba Sparxxx, two David Banner albums voted for screwed-and-chopped one), and Buck 65 and Fannypack if they count. (Lyrics Born, Lifesavas, and Joe Budden also good that year, looks like.)

[talrose.livejournal.com]

Have not heard Far*East Movement aside from what was reviewed on the jukebox, but I'm looking forward to hearing it when it comes out. Listened to the Colt Ford off of a prior list you made and didn't like it at all. Thought the idea took precedence over the music, if that makes any sense (and yes, the rapping was a barrier).

Don't worry, it's just an offer and no shakes if you guys wanna pass up on it! Just seeing that maybe you guys haven't heard these albums and was wondering if you wanted to. MCDE is actually just one guy, a German house producer, and this is a collection of all his early singles.

2004 had M.I.A. and Crunk Classics and Mannie Fresh, and also Madvillain, Ghostface, Cam'ron, The Streets, Kanye West, Masta Killa, De La Soul, Masta Ace, Jadakiss, Ludacris, etc.

and it's Ta1 from the Jukebox.

[chuckeddy.livejournal.com]

Oops, duh -- Kid Rock's album has T.I. on one cut (same cut as Martina McBride!), so that's some rapping, I guess.

And Colt Ford's album has definitely soured on me a bit since it came out; played it again a few weeks back, and decided it doesn't really kick in til its second half. But I do still think a handful of songs come close to pulling the "idea" off.
Has a shot at my Nashville Scene ballot, but not Pazz & Jop.

My favorite hip-hop artists of the '00s, fwiw, were probably Trick Daddy and Field Mob, and maybe Trina. (Not that I pull any of their albums out all that much anymore either, tbh.)

Also, excuse all my typos above, as usual.

Re: Fefe Dobson

[skyecaptain.livejournal.com]

Erika was the one who introduced me to "Ghost"! She seemed to quite like it, though I don't think we've ever talked more about it.

[koganbot]

What my album list has on it is a notable lack of albums! But the most rap thing on it is actually the E.via EP. Websites refer to her as "rap," anyway, though she's pretty much her own category I'd say, but rap is a big part of it, and she raps well.

[talrose.livejournal.com]

Whoa, this is pretty wild! I haven't really been keeping track of K-pop too much so I'm pretty unfamiliar with her. Is this pretty popular in (what I'm assuming is) South Korea?

[koganbot]

I think E.via is borderline popular, her songs maybe dipping into the top 40 or being near misses. She's not part of the teen idol machinery, in fact on her first video she started off with a parody of those moves... except she actually takes advantage of her cutie-pie looks, the second video - the fabulous Shake It! - having her falling somewhere between Betty Boop and Hello Kitty*, though with such a deliberately blatant sex sell (and send-up of sex sell) that the video wouldn't get TV play in Korea. Click my e.via tag for more discussion of E.via (mostly excellent and mostly not by me but by askbask and an Anonymous poster who I think but I'm not certain is a Spaniard whose moniker is anhh who also sometimes posts on my lj about theory). And check my more general k-pop tag for more general discussion about K-pop (and a little on J-pop) from askbask and Anonymous/anhh, and a lot of video embeds.

Here are links to my other favorite K-pop tracks from this year (besides "Shake It!"):

After School "Bang!"
2NE1 "Try To Follow Me"
Lee Hyori "Swing"
SNSD "Oh!"
(Though the SNSD song that everybody loves including me is "Gee," which was a single last year)

And here's the ilX K-pop thread that askbask started, though I've not had a chance to look at or contribute to it much.

*Was petronia who pointed out to me the Hello Kitty-ness.

[chuckeddy.livejournal.com]

And oh yeah....duh, theres's also rapping on the albums on my list by Coati Mundi and Chuck Brown (both of whom have used rap as a part of their music since Old Old Old School Days, and reside on the cusp of hip-hop if not actually in it.)

[koganbot]

The E.via track I'm calling "Shake It!" seems to actually just be "Shake!" (쉐이크! in Korean), and I botched the link above, so might as well just embed it (for the third time or so):

Chesney

[anthonyeaston.livejournal.com]

Do I need to hear the Chesney again, because I thot it was the worst work of the year?

Re: Chesney

[anthonyeaston.livejournal.com]

his career not the year

Re: Chesney

[koganbot]

Haven't heard the album, only a couple of singles (one of which I liked), so I don't know yet.

Re: Pick Up You, Attack!

[koganbot]

Here's a new link for an Eng Sub "Shake," since YouTube killed the other one. This one gives us both "groggy" and "wonky."

Re: Pick Up You, Attack!

[koganbot]

Er, here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9zw85uFqsM

And here's the only Eng Sub for "Pick Up! U!" I could find; unfortunately not only has it been chipmunked, but they didn't get the first two verses:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJgaIOnNe9Q

And I doubt that James at the Grand Narrative will ever try any E.via translations since he thinks she has no talent, leading me to decide never ever to trust his judgment about music. (He adds that he doesn't like rap. This is sorta like saying you never thought Keith Moon had talent, but then, you don't like drumming anyway.)

Re: Pick Up You, Attack!

[koganbot]

And I found "Pick Up! U!" in Korean (hope it's accurate):

날 따라와
날 따라와
나 를 선 두 로
여 긴 이 미 난 장 판
판판판판판판~~~
(ah~ yeah~ pick up you!)
Pick up pick up pick up you
Pick up pick up pick up you
Pick up pick up pick up you
Pick you up now pick you up
Pick up pick up pick up you
Pick up pick up pick up you
Pick up pick up pick up you
Pick you up now pick you up
다긴장하라구준비땅
학실한한발의 신호탄
킁킁따브다재밌다 (ha!)
내맘대로하는힙합
동해물백두산
내가못가는없단다
니멋대로듣다간 oh my GOD!
내매력을놓치고말아그러니까
자따라와
나를선두로여긴이미난장판
빠라바라바라밤길을비켜라
꽤잘노는우리들이나간다
의로운군인빠도
기다리던의fan 도
Yo wait a minute now
내가널데리러갈게
Pick up pick up pick up you
Pick up pick up pick up you
Pick up pick up pick up you
Pick you up now pick you up
Pick up pick up pick up you
Pick up pick up pick up you
Pick up pick up pick up you
Pick you up now
Pick you up
Follow follow me
나 를 따라 와따라 와
누 구 랑
달 러 달 러
비 교 는
관 두 고
잘 들 어 (ha)
피리 부 는 소 년 처 럼
매 력 이 넘 처
길 을 잃 은
아 이 들 도 내 뒤 를 촟 아
백 이 면 백 점
(만 이 면 만 점 )
나 는 백 점 만 점 에
백 만 점
자따라 와
나 를 선 두 로
여 긴 이 미 난 장 판
빠 라 바 라 바라 밤
길 을 비 켜 라
꽤 잘 노 는
우 리 들 이 나 간 다
Under 랑 over를
왜 갈 러
엄 마 랑 아 빠 가
뭐 가 달 러
Yo wait a minute now
내 가 널
데 리 러 갈 게
Pick up pick up pick you
Pick up pick up pick you
Pick up pick up pick you
Pick you up now pick you up
Pick up pick up pick you
Pick up pick up pick you
Pick up pick up pick you
Pick you up now
Pick you up
You you you pick up you
You you you pick up you you
Pick up pick up
Ah~~ ye pick up you
너도bat잲아여긴이미난장판
내가만들어부르는음악따라간다
내길앞에가짜는 dwit걸음질해
야자는손들어박수를치네
김이 라 는 게 있다 면 남 들 을 이 끌어
이 건 우 리 가 만 들 어 가 는 매 력 의 color
내 가 하 는 거 bat 어 ? 너 도 할 소 있어 !
Hey come on everybody
날따라 와
Pick up pick up pick up you
Pick up pick up pick up you
Pick up pick up pick up you
Pick you up now pick you up
Pick up pick up pick up you
Pick up pick up pick up you
Pick up pick up pick up you
Pick you up now pick you up
이 비아 내 무 대 는
뜨 거 운 놀 이 터
나 를 보 고 만 있 어 도
모 든 일 을 잊 어
모 두 다 소 리 처
나 를 보 고 미 처
두 번 말 안 해 이 렇 게 날따라해
딱내 가 노 는 것 만 큼 만 놀 다 가 면 돼
넌 내 입 술 을 보 고 반 하 지
난 다 알 아안 녕 ? 내 이 름 은 이 비 아
날따라 와