Best of 2012 - Music

You know I love music.  And you knew I was going to do a “year end” list.  So don’t act surprised that this has been posted.

I mean seriously, don’t we know each other well enough by this point to dispense with the pretense? 

Let’s get into it. 

Swede

I spend a lot of time
listening to music. I listen to music on my way to work and on my way home. I listen to music while I clean and cook and even while I sleep. At work I also listen to music, but it's not the music of my choosing.

I was thinking about music just today and it occurred to me that I've got quite a few artists in rotation who hail from Sweden. I can't explain it. I can't even tell you why it popped into my head.

But it did.

Skip Serpico's Concert Adventures - The Kills @ 930 Club 2/2/12

Like quite a few people, I discovered the The Kills via The Dead Weather.  When I saw The Dead Weather perform I was entranced by Alison Mosshart and I wanted more.  So I got into The Kills.

The last time The Kills were in the area was last Easter, when they also played 930 Club.  I totally meant to go to that show, but the stars weren't lined up.  So, when I saw they were coming back around this way, I knew I had to see them.

Best of 2011 - Music

Yeah, I know; "Skip, January is almost over and you're just posting your best albums of 2011?"  What can I say?  My bad.

Can I say in my defense that I got some fancy pants headphones for X-Mas that completely altered my "Best of 2011" list?  Seriously, the speakers I was using on 12/24 made what I was listening to sound like mud.  The addition of the headphones completely altered my list.

Oh, are you curious now?

Five Dope Albums I Discovered In 2011

Every year I buy and listen to dozens of albums.  And every year I compile a list of my ten favorite albums of that year.  And every year I fall in love with an album that doesn't make that list because it was released in a previous year.

What can I say; I'm not perfect.  I don't have a chance to buy every album released every year.  Some stuff is going to slip through the cracks.

But this year decided to try to rectify my careless overlooking of such albums by giving them some shine.

My Road Atlas Journey

So, the entire year I've been meaning to stock up on Calexico music.  I'd managed to cop most of their studio albums and EPs throughout the year.  The problem was that Calexico also had a series of "tour albums" self released joints that they sold at live shows.

As December approached it looked like I was going to strike out on my mission to collect Calexico.  And then I found out about Road Atlas.

Revisiting "Five Musical Acts I'm Trying to Get Up On in '11"

So, like eight months ago I posted about the five musical acts I was going to do my best to get up on in 2011.  I've got a ton of bands and artists that I'm trying to get into.

Some come from recommendations from friends.  Some are bands that I've either seen on tv or as opening acts.  And some I've just read about on wikipedia.

Anyway, my musical acts of 2011 were Calexico, Madlib, Vince Guaraldi Trio, Anathallo and A Fine Frenzy.  Did I succeed?

Skip Serpico's Concert Adventures - Jessica Lea Mayfield & Ryan Adams @ Lyric Opera House 12/4/11

One of the perks of going to concerts on a semi regular basis is that you end up on variety of venue mailing lists.  Sure, some of the mail is spam that you've got no use for, but occasionally it's a gem of an email.

That was the case when a couple months back I got an email from 9:30 Club informing me that Ryan Adams was going to be at the Lyric and giving me the opportunity to get my ticket in pre-sell event.

I jumped at the chance and I'm glad I did because the show sold out.

No, Seriously; Concert Cursed

Remember Skip Serpico’s Concert Adventures? Remember how I used to go to concerts on a semi regular basis? Well those days appear to be over.

And remember when I told you how I was Concert Cursed? Um, it’s looking like that’s a pretty accurate assessment of the situation.

Allow me to explain.

Quad City International Airport

So, some of you may have surmised, I went on a bit of a trip recently. It took me away from the blog and actually required air travel.

One of the airports that I spent some time in was in Moline.  It was actually the Quad City International Airport.  (I'm assuming the "international" comes from flights to and from Canada.)

Moline is one of the Quad Cities, a place  I'm sure some people are still surprised actually exists.  Y'see back in the day the Quad Cities DJ's had a monster hit, but many people thought it was a purely fictional locale.

It's not.

That One Time, When I Met Cameron Crowe

So, I was watching Jimmy Fallon last night and Cameron Crowe was on.  And Fallon was his typical full of praise self when he announced Cameron Crowe was coming on.  Fallon talked about how Crowe really had a huge impact on his life and was a genuine cool dude.

And I completely concur about Cameron Crowe being a cool dude.  And I say that as someone who actually met him.

I Think I'm Over Red Hot Chili Peppers

Red Hot Chili Peppers, along with U2 and REM are one of the few bands that defined Rock for my generation.  I mean obviously there were bands before them, but those three bands really created the sound of Rock for me.



But I've listened to the latest RHCP offering, I'm With You, and I think I'm sort of done with them.

Five Trends I'd Like To See In Hip-Hop

Hip-Hop, like most genres of music, tends to get caught up in trends.  There was a time when everyone was creating mafia-esque pseudonyms.  In recent years we've seen the rise and death of auto-tune.  We've seen throwbacks become the uniform.  And gold chains are always fashionable.



But there are some things that are barely represented in Hip-Hop that I feel could be huge trends.  Or at the very least, these are five trends that I think would be cool to see happen.

Fleshing Out Jay-Z

I've got Jay-Z's first book Decoded sitting on my bookshelf.  It's next to some graphic novels and a book on screenwriting.  I've yet to finish it.



I flipped through it when I got it and really the book lost me when I read Jay-Z's annotations of his lyrics.  That dude was seriously working overtime trying to make his rhymes deeper than they actually were.



Decoded was a pretty successful attempt to loft Jay-Z in the rarefied air of artistry.  Now he's thought of as a contender for G.O.A.T. and as genuine thoughtful artist.



Ok.



Well, if Jay-Z is such a great writer I'd really like to see him address some actual topics.  I mean, really, anyone can rhyme about money, cash, hoes and girls, girls, girls.  But imagine if he rhymed about something of genuine importance?

Watch Wait For The Throne

By the time you read this people will be slathering praise upon Watch The Throne.  People will be calling it an achievement for Kanye West (high praise) and Jay-Z's best album in years (completely believable.)

I will not be one of those people.

In fact it's highly unlikely that I'll be picking up the album before the month is almost over.  Allow me to explain.

Sadness at The Sound Garden

I hit up The Sound Garden today.  I really only went to pick up one album and ended up picking up an additional sixteen.  There's a thrill and rush in finding music especially when it's stuff you've always wanted to hear.

But there's also an occasional sadness that happens at The Sound Garden as well.  It happens when I comb the used cds and it really truly breaks my heart.

Concert Cursed

So earlier this year I had a pretty impressive string of concerts that I attended.  I was averaging roughly two a month.

Ok, it's not that impressive when you put it that way.  My point is that I had a run of concerts and I always seemed to have one on the horizon.

But now it's been almost three months since I've seen someone live.  And I don't have any tickets to any future shows.  I'm in the middle of a drought or worse, I'm concert cursed. And I think I know why.

Vinyl Fantasy

So I spent this past weekend hanging out with The Fam.  A fun time was had by all.  Naturally we got to talking about music and had a really cool discussion.

But what I learned is that one of my younger cousins is way into vinyl and he's sort of got me considering buying stuff on vinyl.  It's really funny because there was a point in time when he couldn't care less about music.

The point is, I'm trying to decide if I'm going to jump into vinyl or not.

My Troubled Relationship With Weezer

You know that point when you sort of mentally check out of a relationship.  That moment you realized that, at least from your perspective, the relationship is over and you're going to stop investing in it?

Well, I'm trying to pinpoint that moment when it comes to me and Weezer; when did I stop being a fan of the music that they produce and become someone who reluctantly buys their album desperately hoping to hear something that harkens back to their first two albums?

Five Acts I Expect To Release Albums in 2011

2011 has been shaping up to be a pretty good year musically.  Saigon, Foo Fighters, Iron & Wine, The Kills and Raekwon have all released stellar albums and the year's not even at it's halfway point.

But I'm never content when it comes to musical content.  I'm always expecting  for an artist and group to drop new material. And the cool thing about listening to so much music is that there always seems to be someone I like who's got something new on the horizon.

Well you can take your Detox and The Carter IV and cram them somewhere tight. Here are five acts that I'm hoping release new albums before the year is out.