Fake Coachella Flyers

Now that we have roughly two weeks until the lineup for Coachella 2012 is revealed, fake flyers are beginning to make the rounds across the internet. Here are some that I've seen in the past few days. While all of it is speculation, quite a few acts (i.e. Radiohead, Death Cab For Cutie, M83, Justice, The Knife, Foo Fighters, Bjork, Coldplay and the perennial fan favorite Daft Punk) appear on multiple flyers.

       Not too bad...

        Can't really see The Rolling Stones headlining at this time.

    Daft Punk and Radiohead on the same bill is way too much to ask for. Bloodhound Gang would be       awesome though haha.

              Getting closer... No way Goldenvoice could book Earl Sweatshirt though.

               Feelin' the love for Outkast on the last couple flyers. No better place for a reunion than Coachella...

                          Not sure I get what they're going for on this one.

       Probably the closest one so far.

              Too old school on this one.

       Really loving this one!

        Still my favorite one.

2011 In Review

Now that 2011 is officially behind us, I can finally list my top albums and tracks of the year. Before I get to that, I feel it's necessary to preface my wrap-up by briefly talking about 2010.

Since I started Suburban Sound in November 2011 I immediately jumped into new music as it was being released in the latter part of the year. And while there were solid albums that came out in 2011 that inspired Suburban Sound, the idea wouldn't have manifested if 2010 hadn't been such a strong year in music. I won't sugarcoat it: 2010 is probably my all-time favorite year as far as new music goes. Arcade Fire, Gorillaz, and Kanye West all released their best albums to date (all three of which rank toward the top on my all-time favorite albums list). Vampire Weekend, MGMT,  and Crystal Castles all avoided sophomore slumps with fantastic albums in the first quarter of the year. The National continued their streak of great albums with their melancholic, baritone High Violet. The Black Keys (finally) had a breakout year with Brothers. Eminem released his best album since The Eminem Show. My Chemical Romance returned with the underrated Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys. Avenged Sevenfold released the surprisingly powerful Nightmare, their first album since drummer James "The Rev" Sullivan passed away in late 2009. LCD Soundsystem released their enjoyable (and final) album This Is Happening. The Gaslight Anthem gave us American Slang, their third LP that sounds like Springsteen going punk.

And then there were the debuts. Oh the debuts. Beach House, Janelle Monae, Broken Bells, Tame Impala, Two Door Cinema Club, Warpaint, The Drums, and The Naked and Famous all made solid LP debuts that gave me hope for the future of music.

I felt it was necessary to list all of that because I couldn't help but feel underwhelmed by 2011's crop of music in comparison to the gift that was music in 2010. There were some good albums, but at the end of the day 2011 didn't bring the same level of quality that 2010 delivered. Here are the top 5 albums that really stood out this year.

5. Torches - Foster the People

   Fantastic debut album that doesn't produce a bad song. "Pumped Up Kicks" may have received the most airplay, but this album is chock full of catchy hits including the superior opening track "Helena Beat", "Call It What You Want", "Don't Stop (Color on the Walls)", and "Houdini". 

4. Suck It and See - Arctic Monkeys

    After 2009's change of pace Humbug (which I really enjoyed) had some fans questioning the band's sound and doubting a return to form (which is stupid because Arctic Monkeys never lost their touch), Alex Turner and Co. told everyone to, well suck it and see. Britain's hottest band proved that they can still make fantastic music. Suck It and See took a few listens to warm up to it, but Alex Turner proves he can still write a great set of songs, including "She's Thunderstorms", "Don't Sit Down 'Cause I've Moved Your Chair", and title track "Suck It and See". Most of this albums tracks take a slower tempo approach, providing the yin to the yang that was 2007's Favourite Worst Nightmare.

3. Hurry Up, We're Dreaming - M83

    French musician Anthony Gonzalez's M83 finally achieved mainstream success on their infinitely enjoyable 2011 double album. The shoegaze act delivered a solid 80 minutes of electro pop bliss with breakout single "Midnight City", which was featured (but doesn't quite work) in a Victoria's Secret commercial. Other album highlights include "Wait", "Raconte-Moi Une Histoire", "New Map", and "Steve McQueen". Great album that is perfect for both club dancing and the late night afterglow. 

2. El Camino - The Black Keys

    Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney followed up 2010's breakout album Brothers by teaming up yet again with producer Danger Mouse for the equally thrilling El Camino. Nearly every track here is flawless. Gone are the slow burners that, while good, have chewed up time on previous albums. Instead, El Camino is a nonstop thrill ride of blues-rock  that never lets up in its 37 minute run.

1. Wasting Light - Foo Fighters

    The Foos returned in 2011 to give us their best album since 1997's The Colour and the Shape, not to mention the best album of the year. From start to finish, Dave Grohl and Co. (along with returning guitarist Pat Smear) deliver nothing but pure rock n' roll on each track and is the best rock album I've heard in a very long time. Every song is perfectly executed and the lyrics are as deep and catchy as they've ever been on a Foos album. As the Foos kicked off their North American tour in St. Paul, MN earlier this year, Grohl said it best to the crowd: "You know what's one of the greatest things about being in the Foo Fighters? We don't need any fucking computers behind us to do it. It's just guys on a stage. It's still possible to do that, ladies and gentlemen, and this is what it sounds like." These guys still have what it takes to make the best music to date and they've proved it with Wasting Light.

Honorable Mentions: SBTRKT's self-titled debut turned me on dance music. Red Hot Chili Peppers' I'm With You was better than most people give it credit for. The Strokes returned with Angles, which had some great songs, but not enough to make it a great album. Florence + the Machine, Fleet Foxes, and Lykke Li each avoided sophomore slumps with Ceremonials, Fleet Foxes, and Wounded Rhymes, respectively. And finally I'll give credit where credit is due to British powerhouses Radiohead and Coldplay, both of whom delivered good, but not great albums in The King of Limbs and Mylo Xyloto.

2011: The Playlist (in alphabetic order by artist)

1. "Rolling in the Deep" - Adele
2. "Brick By Brick" - Arctic Monkeys
3. "Not Your Fault" - AWOLNATION
4. "Another Naive Individual Glorifying Greed and Encouraging Racism" - Big K.R.I.T.
5. "Lonely Boy" - The Black Keys
6. "Holocene" - Bon Iver
7. "Bonfire" - Childish Gambino
8. "Charlie Brown" - Coldplay
9. "You Are a Tourist" - Death Cab For Cutie
10. "Helplessness Blues" - Fleet Foxes
11. "What the Water Gave Me" - Florence + the Machine
12. "Miss the Misery" - Foo Fighters
13. "Helena Beat" - Foster the People
14. "Vomit" - Girls
15. "Up Up Up" - Givers
16. "Colours" - Grouplove
17. "Adolescents" - Incubus
18. "Limit to Your Love" - James Blake
19. "Niggas in Paris" - Jay-Z and Kanye West
20. "Whirring" - The Joy Formidable
21. "The Edge of Glory" - Lady Gaga
22. "I Follow Rivers" - Lykke Li
23. "Midnight City" - M83
24. "Blood Pressure" - Mutemath
25. "Little Talks" - Of Monsters and Men
26. "Lotus Flower" - Radiohead
27. "Brendan's Death Song" - Red Hot Chili Peppers
28. "Wildfire" - SBTRKT
29. "Cruel" - St. Vincent
30. "Under Cover of Darkness" - The Strokes
31. "Yonkers" - Tyler, The Creator
32. "Wicked Games" - The Weeknd
33. "Born Alone" - Wilco

Live Show of the Year

 

This is a tough one so I'm gonna cop out and say it's a tie between Arcade Fire at Coachella and Foo Fighters at the Forum. Coachella 2011 as a whole was the best concert experience of my life and it was highlighted by Arcade Fire's headlining performance on Saturday night. It was my first time seeing the greatest band to ever come out of Canada and they delivered masterfully, from cranking out last years tracks from The Suburbs, to playing older classics like "Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)" and "No Cars Go". However, the best part of the show was when a collection of glowing balloon balls fell from the stage into the crowd during "Wake Up". My sister even managed to snag one after the concert ended. It was a perfect concert moment that I'll never forget.

I can't praise Foo Fighters enough for their showmanship on stage. I was lucky enough to see them twice this year: the first time at KROQ's Weenie Roast as surprise guests and the second time in October at the Forum in L.A. Both sets, were fantastic but seeing them as a headliner at the Forum was truly epic. Every night on their tour they go out and perform for nearly three hours in arenas packed with thousands of screaming fans, whom they are extremely grateful to have garnered over the years. These guys know what it is to be a truly great rock band and it is evident in their never ending supply of energy. It's easy to forget how many truly amazing songs the Foos have until you see them performing live. Dave Grohl is one of the best musicians and entertainers alive today, Courtney Love be damned!

Rookie of the Year

I was about to call this one a tie as well, but I felt that one cop out doesn't deserve another. So instead of giving it to Foster the People, I'm giving SBTRKT the inaugural Rookie of the Year award at Suburban Sound*. The reason for this is simple. Before SBTRKT, there was never an electronic act or album I really enjoyed. 

Dubstep was a musical revelation that took the U.S. dance scene by storm in 2011. For the most part, I can't stand listening to it because it all sounds the same, despite the plethora of artists that put out new music in the genre: just wobbly basslines and distorted "womp womp womps". Skrillex, 12th Planet, Datsik, Noisia, Excision, etc. They all have the same awful rhythms that unleash a maelstrom of as much noise as possible and are highly overrated as "artists".

However, European dubstep is more than that. Yes the basslines can be a bit repetitive, but a lot of great European dubstep artists use actual lyrics in their songs, which keeps them from meandering on one bass line for too long. Artists like Katy B, James Blake, and SBTRKT use more minimal and/or melodic sounds accompanied by actual lyrics to enhance the quality of their music.

SBTRKT stood out from this bunch because of the different loops and samples he crafts in his tracks. They are minimal, but they each have a good balance of fast and slower jams. It doesn't hurt that he also enlists guest vocalist and frequent collaborator Sampha on 5 of the albums 11 tracks. Other guest vocalists include Little Dragon, Jessie Ware, and Roses Gabor, all of whom are used perfectly on each track they perform. In fact only 3 tracks feature no vocals and are spaced out evenly on the album, which makes them more enjoyable.  

SBTRKT opened up my mind to the positives of electronic music and has encouraged me to give the genre a legitimate shot. I'm now actually going out of my way to discover new electronic and dance acts.  The least I can do to thank him is to give him Suburban Sound's inaugural Rookie of the Year award.

* Though he's been releasing singles and EP's since 2009, SBTRKT still qualifies as a rookie in 2011 because he released his first LP in 2011.

The Dreamer, The Believer

Common

After three years of focusing on acting, Common makes his return to hip hop with The Dreamer, The Believer. On 2008’s Universal Mind Control, Common dabbled in electronic sound, using synths to provide beats for his songs. It seemed as though the rapper/actor/author was progressing his sound into what most mainstream hip hop was becoming and it was greeted with a mixed reaction.

Thankfully, this seemed to only be a fad. On The Dreamer, The Believer, Common returns to his roots. Not only does he return to using R&B samples for his music, but he also enlisted the help of No I.D. (who produced Common’s first three albums) to produce and co-write his latest LP for the first time since 1997.  These steps were key to ensuring a solid return to form.

The Dreamer, The Believer showcases the positive side of everything Common has achieved to date. The album opens with the powerful “The Dreamer”, with Maya Angelou narrating the final verse of the album. It borders on being preachy, but really drove the track’s message home. Though she may not be a fan of the finished product, it’s clear that this track sets the tone of what’s to come in the next 50 minutes. The next track, “Ghetto Dreams” goes in a totally different direction as Common’s lyrics are delivered more brashly (along with a guest verse from Nas), yet the whole “dreamer” theme is still present. It’s clear that Common wants to prove that he hasn’t lost his edge and can still assert his swagger on tracks like this and “Sweet.”

Though its good to see Common hasn’t lost his edge, this album really hits its stride when it sticks to its “dreamer/believer” theme. Songs like “Cloth” and “Windows” really illustrate where his priorities in terms of life’s big picture. It’s these tracks that allow him to get away with the somewhat preachy finish of the album’s last two songs: “The Believer” and “Pops Belief”, the latter of which is a spoken word track by Common’s father. These final tracks wouldn’t work if the album wasn’t so uplifting as a whole, especially “Pops Belief”, which is an inspiring coda to a triumphant return to form by Common.

Recommended tracks: “The Dreamer”, “Ghetto Dreams”, “Cloth”, “Windows”

Let's Go Eat the Factory

Guided By Voices

After disbanding in 2004, Robert Pollard not only resurrected Guided By Voices last year, but he’s also reformed the most popular lineup in GBV’s 28 year run. Yes, the mid-90’s lineup featuring Robert Pollard (the band’s only consistent member), Tobin Sprout (co-writer and multi-instrumentalist), Mitch Mitchell (guitars), Kevin Fennell (drums), and Greg Demos (bass) – lineup behind indie rock staples Bee Thousand and Alien Lanes – have returned with Let’s Go Eat the Factory.

The album kicks off with “Laundry and Lasers” and it’s clear that these guys are in no hurry to switch up their signature lo-fi British-invasion sound, which is exactly what their opener aspires to be. The album continues just like any of GBV’s previous work: roughly two-minute punk-inspired tunes. The good news here is that for the most part the band plays really well together and they are able to recapture the classic sound they’d previously mastered 17 years ago. Some songs really do flow well together, like the full-on rock assault “Spiderfighter” with its piano coda; “The Unsinkable Fats Domino” with its punkish tribute to the legendary R&B singer-songwriter; and “Either Nelson” is a completely packaged piano and drum epic with a killer guitar solo to cap it off.

The bad news here is that a lot of the songs feel like they’re missing something. This something is usually another verse or two. Often times the songs are finished when they feel like they’re just starting to build up. Songs like “Doughnut for a Snowman” and “Chocolate Boy” started off so strong, but ultimately left me unsatisfied and wanting more (that’s what she said). And the last couple songs toward the end (“Go Rolling Home” and “The Room Taking Shape”) both clock in at less than 45 seconds and barely qualify as songs. They both build up to album closer “We Won’t Apologize for the Human Race”, which feels like an actual complete song, but didn’t measure up to some of the other stronger tunes on the album. This has always been GBV’s style, but it doesn’t work the way Bee Thousand did because those songs did feel complete and felt more like poetry than songs, which is what’s missing from Let’s Go Eat the Factory.

While it’s good to see the best incarnation of Guided By Voices back together, they just couldn’t recapture the magic of Bee Thousand, though that is a tough standard to hold them to. Should this lineup stick together in the coming years it would give them a better opportunity to return to form.

Recommended Tracks: “Spiderfighter”, “The Unsinkable Fats Domino”, “Imperial Horseracing”,  “Either Nelson”

The Path of Totality

Korn

Korn is a band on a mission. Just 15 months ago, the nu-metal rockers released Korn III: Remember Who You Are. Yet here they are now with their tenth studio album, The Path of Totality. Whereas last year’s LP took the band back to their nu-metal roots, here Korn takes a step into new territory by boldly fusing nu-metal with dubstep – two of music’s most polarizing genres – into one album. The result will no doubt lead an equally polarizing reception.

For The Path of Totality, Korn wrangled up a plethora of dubstep producers like the increasingly popular Skrillex, Noisia, Excision, Downlink, and 12^th Planet to produce individual songs. The problem with this is that too many of the songs sound the same, despite the numerous producers. I’ll admit I’m a little biased. For the most part I hate dubstep. I can only listen to a few tracks it before I get bored and it all sounds the same: just a guy on his laptop making reverb noises and bass distortions.

Another admission I’ll make today is that Korn has always been a guilty pleasure for me. The real draw for me here was the curiosity factor on how dubstep sound’s fusion with Jonathan Davis’s mostly dark, but occasionally uplifting lyrics would work. It turns out hey blend really well with the dubstep genre. Same goes for the powerful guitar riffs and bass lines - though the latter has been more toned down in Korn's last few albums. It allows tracks like “Chaos Lives in Everything” and “Narcissistic Cannibal” to reach their full potential.

Unfortunately about one-third of the way through the album, I had lost interest like I do with most dubstep music. Every song started to sound the same. In fact, it was solely Davis’ lyrics that kept me hooked. I’m not saying that this is what will happen to everyone who listens to it. I expect some people to really enjoy the fusing of these two genres. And I expect some people to really loathe it, especially purists of both dubstep and nu-metal.

Jonathan Davis has gone on record saying that this is the future of metal. A bold statement, but it’s much too early to tell whether or not this is how metal reinvents itself. Nevertheless, I admire Korn’s creativity here and their desire to experiment with new sounds. Time will tell whether or not we’ve stepped into the future of metal.

Recommended Tracks: “Chaos Lives in Everything”, “Narcissistic Cannibal”, “Let’s Go”

El Camino

The Black Keys

It’s hard to believe that only 19 months ago The Black Keys, as talented as they were, was just another band that you’d read in the small print on a festival poster. They were one of those bands you always enjoyed, but were never quite blown away by. The mainstream music world felt the same way. They were entertaining, but after 5 studio albums they hadn’t yet made it big and it looked as though (as with most musical acts) that this far into their careers they had reached their peak.

Along came Brothers, last year’s mega-hit album that launched Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney into rock superstardom. Radio hits, Grammy Awards, headlining festival gigs, SNL performances, and commercials soon followed.

A mere 19 months later the duo have released their seventh LP, El Camino. And they haven’t missed a beat. Where Brothers gave us a good crop of blues-rock anthems and slow burners, El Camino is a 38-minute, balls-to-the-walls, rip-roaring album that never lets up. Every last song is bursting with pure rock and roll energy all the way through, beginning with the brash and fierce “Lonely Boy”, and finishing with the smooth guitars of “Mind Eraser.” Other stand out tracks include the glam-tastic “Gold on the Ceiling”(which channels its inner “Howlin’ for You”), the acoustic “Little Black Submarines” with a power finish, the seductive “Run Right Back”, and the terrific “Stop Stop”, which sounds like Deep Purple in their prime.

I give a lot of credit to producer Danger Mouse who took the sound The Black Keys captured on Brothers and perfected it here. He’s been working with the duo since 2008, having produced their album Attack & Release and 2010’s breakthrough single “Tighten Up.” Danger Mouse knows what The Black Keys are capable of and he utilizes their sound perfectly.

For the majority of their early years the crux of The Black Keys’ sound has been Auerbach on guitar and vocals and Carney behind the drum kit. All others were secondary. At the end of the day that’s what their sound will always boil down to, but here they expand more on that sound with some solid bass lines, flashy keyboards, and beautiful backing vocals. This adds so much versatility to a stellar album that wouldn’t sound out of place at a 1970s record store or a 2003 hipster club.

I’m often very skeptical about bands releasing new material so soon after a hit album, especially when it’s their breakthrough album like Brothers was for The Black Keys. Needless to say, Dan and Pat did not let their fans down with El Camino. It’s every bit as good as Brothers and should be played as loud as possible to get the full affect of one of the years best albums.

Recommended tracks: “Lonely Boy”, “Gold on the Ceiling”, “Run Right Back” 

Site Update

Ok so in the last week I've really been lagging. But, the good news is I have a whole week off of work so I can put more effort into Suburban Sound. Tonight I'll be posting my reviews of the new albums by The Black Keys and Korn. This week I'll also be reviewing new albums by Guided By Voices and Common. Finally, since 2011 is coming to a close I'll be listing my top albums and songs of the year.