Day 3 – I had initial hopes of seeing many more bands. It was a bust. Sort of. There was one BIG show I did get to see that kind of made up for the entire week. And pretty much solidified my inevitable return to SXSW.
Who Did I See The Dodos
Kanye West!
Sometimes you just need to concentrate your efforts to get the best possible reward. Super concentrated efforts. Like 4 hours waiting concentration. I’ll skip the pithy quips and get to the Kanye business
So, I’m getting a bit better on posting my favs from the prior year. 2010 theme: size and depth. It was a good year for the grandiose and high minded concepts. Amidst the cacophony, it was also a notable year for thoughtful lyrics. Put it all together and it was a great way to end the first decade of the aughts.
Honorable Mentions
Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy – I told you. I respect it as a work of high art. There is a ton of talent on display. And it really can’t get any more (tastefully) bombastic. But there is too much lacking in lyrical quality to deign a top ten placement let alone the top spot. Maybe next year.
Kanye West, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy – I’m a hater. By nature. I had this same sentiment with Mrs. Jay Z until actually listened to B’day. I felt similarly annoyed with Animal Collective until they ended up here. And so I continue my base sense of negativity and dismissal with Mr. West. This time, it’s for keeps.
About time someone declares a war on Kanye West. Let (real) arrogance meet (fake) arrogance in a steal cage, ladder, casket royal rumble retirement match. Yeah, I caught the last SmackDown on TNT. What can I say, I still got love for the Undertaker 😉
In some ways, I actually would like for Stephen’s scenario to play out. The record industry subverted by a viral effort based on a fake political commentary host. Now if that is not innovative, what is?
After the blatant rip off of Justice’s “D.A.N.C.E” video for “The Good Life” and the blank check co-op of Japanese cartoons for the Graduation album title, is there anything else left to steal? Why yes, T-Pain’s autotuner. Just when you thought we had finally reached the end of vocoded bliss (even Pain has conceded that the days of electronic singing are numbered), Kanye has dedicated a whole album to it. But wait, he doesn’t sing? Neither does Lil’ Wayne. But that has never stopped either of them from picking up a pitch straightening mic (and in Wayne’s case, a guitar ???).
Furthermore, Kanye has stolen 65 Japanese animators for his latest release from 808’s & Heartbreaks, “Heartless”. The song is mind-numbing at best but the visual provides some entertainment. I can’t imagine watching it over and over again (thank God TRL just died). But I guess it”s just the coldest story ever told…