Hey kids, first things first. Generally I try to be as conservative as possible in assigning numerical percentages to the albums I�ve reviewed on this site, and more often than not, no regrets. But one of the inherent pitfalls of music criticism involves the fact that the window in which you�re allowed to listen to an album before passing judgment is often very small. Many records take a significant amount of time to reveal their charms, while at the other end of the spectrum, devoting one�s self to nothing but a certain record for a short period of time may result in a lopsided judgment.
That said, a few alterations: I would now say that Phish�s Undermind is significantly better than the 72% I awarded it a few weeks ago, while Tortoise�s It�s All Around You, despite being enjoyable, is in no way worthy of an 87% (all told, it�s probably closer to Phish�s 72%). An 87% for the Tortoise record would imply that I place it in the same league as the Beta Band�s identically rated Heroes to Zeros, which couldn�t be further from the truth. Chalk up my leniency towards Tortoise to nostalgia for my college years.
And guess what CMG, readers? I�m a lawyer now. I graduated from law school in Manhattan last month, and though I�m not actually licensed to practice just yet, I�ve earned the right to place an �Esq.� after my full name, placing me just behind a Williamsburg hipster on the pomposity scale. But June graduation means taking the New York Bar Exam in late July; the study process of which is about as enjoyable as taking your little brother to a Linkin Park show, and nearly as scary. It will all be a fond memory in just over two weeks (provided I pass), but it�s unquestionably a level of academic stress the likes of which I have never experienced (and only going to get worse). I even feel guilty that I�m using this Sunday evening to write this list as opposed to hitting the books.
Some people deal with stress by eating lots of chocolate or going to the gym. I deal by eating lots of Sour Patch Kids and buying lots of CD�s. The following list is a mix tape of sorts (although in no particular order); twelve of my favorite songs from my twelve favorite albums from the first half of 2004. I�ve even gone so far to include lyric quotations that accurately reflect my sentiments at this moment in time (surely self-indulgent, but I wouldn�t have it any other way). Dig in.
1. Belle and Sebastian: �Your Cover�s Blown� (From the Books EP)
�Pick up the girl in someone�s borrowed Mini / Take her to dinner / Use her boyfriend�s money.� WTF?! This delectable chunk of pure ’70s indie disco is what I envision my life to be like immediately after I take the Bar Exam. Just how decadent will the bacchanalia get? Your guess is as good as mine, but this song could well provide a textbook soundtrack for some enchanted evening. Belle & Sebastian have flirted with the coke mirror in the past, most notably on Storytelling�s �Big John Shaft� and �If She Wants Me� from last year�s Dear Catastrophe Waitress, but �Your Cover�s Blown� will get you higher than Alfred Molina in Boogie Nights. Your move, Jamiroquai.
2. McLusky: �Without MSG I Am Nothing� (From The Difference Between You and Me Is That I’m Not On Fire)
�Everywhere I look, there�s a darkness!!!!� Self-explanatory. Actually, the sickly sweet pop of �She Will Only Bring You Happiness� could very well be my favorite song of the year thus far, but �MSG� is a better overall representation of McLusky�s brutal sound, and the lyric was far more appropriate. How awesome is the Albini drum sound?
3. The Tragically Hip: �Summer�s Killing Us� (From In Between Evolution)
�Summer exists in a doorway / Summer exists at the fair / Summer is forever changes / Summer�s taken me unawares�� Well, I suppose summer can mean all of those things provided you�re in an aging Canadian rock band that still has plenty left in the tank despite having existed for nearly two decades. But as far as I�m concerned, Summer is reading endless streams of multiple choice questions, Summer is going to Bar review class every morning, and Summer is glaring at obnoxious kids bragging about their six figure jobs, oblivious to the fact that many of their peers are unemployed. I initially liked �Summer�s Killing Us� considerably less than most of the other excellent songs on the new Tragically Hip record, but it grew on me like a weed, and now I�d rank it among my favorites. It�s a little disarming at first in that it�s quite possibly the most obnoxiously upbeat song they�ve written in their career, but its relentless hooks and sarcastic overtones allow me to look past the fact that at his current age, Gordon Downie really has no business attempting to hit those impossibly high notes in the chorus.
4. Phish: �Crowd Control� (From Undermind)
�Listen now I�m talking / I�ve been here for weeks / Waiting in this growing crowd / Staring at my feet / The world around me�s turning / I�m just standing still�� Seriously. There sure is a hell of a lot of lawyers out there. What exactly does life purport to offer, post-Bar Exam? Lord only knows. A jubilant rocker in E major, �Crowd Control� is one of the more instantly satisfying Phish songs in recent memory, and its parent album is a quality effort. I grew up with Phish all throughout high school, college, and graduate school. Now my academic career is finished, and so are they. It�s nothing more than a coincidence, but an amusingly appropriate one.
5. Wilco: “Company in My Back” (From A Ghost is Born)
�I move so slow / steady crushing hand / holy shit! There�s a company in my back.� Tweedy feels my pain. This song and �Muzzle of Bees� are my favorites on Wilco�s new record. Both songs feature a languid, late Sunday morning, stay in bed lethargy that really makes me wish I had someone female to share them with right now. All in good time I suppose.
6. Sonic Youth: �Unmade Bed� (From Sonic Nurse)
No lyrical quotes here, but suffice it to say, I haven�t done laundry in over a month. Probably my favorite track on Sonic Nurse. Let�s see you make a record this good when you�re pushing 50.
7. Echo and the Bunnymen: �The Cutter� (From Porcupine)
�Conquering myself until / I see another hurdle approaching / Say we can, say we will/ Not just another / DROP IN THE OCEAN!!!!� Motivation!!! Porcupine was originally released in 1983, but with Coldplay covering �Lips Like Sugar� on an almost regular basis, and so inferior its not fucking funny New Wave-influenced bands like The Stills and The Killers making headway on college radio, Rhino cashed in on Bunnymen fever and re-issued the band�s ’80s catalog at the start of the year. Ocean Rain had more hits, but Porcupine is weirder and more varied, featuring some massive U2-ish singles (�The Cutter�, �The Back of Love�), gothic gobbledeygook (�Higher Hell,” the title track), and soaring paeans to the Almighty like only Ian McCulloch is capable of (�Gods Will Be Gods,”�In Bluer Skies�). Fuck yeah.
8. The Beta Band: �Assessment� (From Heroes to Zeros)
�I think I cracked my skull on the way down / I think I lost my head, better lay down / the fear facts presented in the cold light of day.� A frighteningly accurate summation of the last month or so of my life; deprived of sleep, living in fear of mindless facts and fine-line distinctions. If you�re just dying to know the subtle differences between voluntary manslaughter and �depraved heart� murder in the state of New York, I�m your man. With its Edge-aping lead riff, and full on brass attack towards the end of it, �Assessment� is one of the better songs on what�s easily one of my favorite records of the year so far. Three months since its release, Heroes to Zeros still finds its way into my five disc changer on a fairly regular basis, filling my ears with layers upon layers of sound like only the Betas can.
9. Gomez: �Silence� (From Split the Difference)
�I�ve been caught in a trap I set for myself.� Self-explanatory. Their fourth record, and considering how abysmal their third record was, it�s far better than anyone had a right to expect.
10. Ash: “Orpheus” (From Meltdown)
�That summer I did NOTHING!!!! / Sleepin� thinkin� hanging around�� What I wouldn�t give for this to be true. If nothing else, I plan to go to the Jersey Shore a bunch when the Bar Exam is over, and this will entail listening to �Orpheus� really, really loudly on the car ride down. This is assuming I own a car, which I don�t.
11. Franz Ferdinand: “The Dark of the Matinee” (From Franz Ferdinand)
�Find me and follow me / Through corridors refectories / and files you must follow leave / This academic factory�� I�m typing this sentence on a Monday afternoon in an academic factory that I don�t plan to leave anytime soon. But when I do, I can only hope that I�m being followed by the bookish indie-rock chick whom the song seems to be about. I don�t listen to Franz Ferdinand as much as I used to (re; once a week as opposed to every hour), but I doubt I�ll hear a better debut record all year.
12. The Walkmen: �The Rat� (From Bows and Arrows)
�When I used to go out / I knew everyone I saw / Now I go out alone, if I go out at all.� Yup. I actually took a break last night and went out alone to see the new Metallica documentary. It was surprisingly dull, yet fascinating if only because all of the band members seem sincerely honest in their belief that St. Anger is a good album. I had no idea that Eric Avery auditioned to be their new bass player. Bows and Arrows is a fantastic record which will probably miss a whole bunch of top 10 lists this year because it was released in January. Don�t let that happen.
