Reviews and Clues on Music That Matters (to me)
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?
Vote NO on Prop Autotune
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…
Institutionalized by Kendrick Lamar