Musical Years In A Metaphorical Hat

David Bowie - ★ (Blackstar) This was David Bowie’s final album in his lifetime, and he was definitely aware that it could be when he was writing it: The lyrics are generally pretty abstract, but there’s definite recurring themes of mortality, fleeting time, and leaving a creative legacy, so they can be quite haunting. Other than that, what stands out on this album is that it has a unique sound while still being recognizably Bowie: there’s nothing completely new, but styles he’s used in the past are sort of combined in a fresh way: For example, the title track might have the overall feel of “Station to Station”, but the rhythm track is sort of drum n bass Earthling style but played by a live drummer, and there’s elements of funk and jazz in the same track. I’ve only given this a few listens so far and feel like I’m still digesting it in some ways, but it’s a really intriguing listen and probably the best album he’d made since the nineties.   They Might Be Giants - Phone Power ...

I started out thinking I had actually run out of years to review, which was part of why I endeavored to actually write reviews of everything - as it turns out the slip of paper for 1956 just migrated on its own to one corner of the bag, and I have a few other years left still. I do think it's a good idea to keep up this approach the next time I pull a year out of hat, rather than the quantity over quality one I've been using. Elvis Presley - Elvis Presley (1956) Through this project I’ve learned that I enjoy listening to early rock and roll albums, but that it can be a little hard to assess them because so much of what would have been considered fresh to listeners at the time is now just part of the basic foundation of a genre that’s existed for 70 decades or so. Maybe adding to this is the fact that Elvis was always a performer rather than a songwriter, and I’ve heard the original versions of a few of these songs before. Still, I can understand some of the excitement there mus...

Micachu - Jewellery (English experimental pop, debut album) Weezer - Raditude (American pop rock)  Radiohead - “These Are My Twisted Words” (English art rock, non-album single originally released for free via the band’s official website)  Paramore - Brand New Eyes (American emo pop / alternative rock)  Them Crooked Vultures - Them Crooked Vultures (American / English hard rock / alternative rock, debut for supergroup featuring members of Queens of the Stone Age, Foo Fighters and Led Zeppelin)  Silversun Pickups - Swoon (American alternative rock / shoegaze)  Black Moth Super Rainbow - Eating Us (American psychedelia / indietronica)  Powerman 5000 - Somewhere on the Other Side Of Nowhere (American industrial metal)  They Might Be Giants - Here Comes Science (American children’s music / edutainment, concept album themed around science)  Sonic Youth - The Eternal (American alternative rock / experimental rock, their final studio album)  The Crys...