Make sure you click the titles of the artists/titles for my favorite song clips from the album you’re viewing!

Ted Leo & The Pharmacists’ “The Brutalist Bricks”

-  The first true rock album of 2010 in my opinion.  ”Bricks” is a shout out to old-school TL & Rx with a twist of the Ramones thrown in as well.  ”Bottled In Cork” is yet another troubadour ballad a la “The Ballad Of The Sin Eater.”  There’s been a lot of rumors around whether or not Ted and the guys will continue to tour after this year but I really hope they’re unfounded because Ted definitely has some unfinished business to address…this album is sensational live in concert and I can’t wait to see what he does next.

Arcade Fire’s “The Suburbs”

-  Maybe the best album of the year all around.  Not quite a concept album but it’s subject, the American suburbs, are described with amazing detail.  As someone who grew up in the suburbs, this is an easy record to relate to when you’re driving through the sprawl of suburbia.  ”We Used To Wait”, “Empty Room”, “Month Of May”, and “City With No Children” are just some of the great tracks you’ll hear on Arcade Fire’s latest masterpiece.  Admittedly I was never a huge listener of Arcade Fire until last year, and now that I’ve caught up and gotten their previous records, it makes me appreciate what a truly genius record this is.

Best Coast’s “Crazy For You”

- With its hip surfer sounds and 1950s beats, it’s hard not to enjoy this summer classic album.  Best Coast is known for putting out surprise EPs without warning, and most of them are really good.  Lead singer, guitarist, and the face of Best Coast, Bethany Cosentino makes use of her lo-fi guitar with added fuzz sounds to make a really interesting sound that makes you feel like you’ve heard an artist like this before, but then you listen to the lyrics and realize that these are not ordinary love songs.  In some ways they’re deeply depressing lyrics about a love that the singer can’t obtain but at the same time the beat of the song is out to trick you.  ”Boyfriend”‘s beat is surprisingly upbeat for a song about a girl that wishes the male counterpart knew she simply existed, but then a song like “When I’m With You” slowly creeps into your ears and makes you smile with upbeat lyrics like “Ever since I was a little girl, my momma told me there’d be boys like you, but when I’m with you I have fun.”

Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros’s “Up From Below”

-  The whistling intro to “Home” is infectious, I dare anyone not to whistle along when this song comes on your iPod.  The lyrics seem stale at the beginning but then you listen all the way through the first line and realize how unique the songwriting is…”Alabama, Arkansas, I do love my Ma and Pa…not the way that I do love you.”  It’s impossible not to have some body part tapping or bobbing to this album; happy hippie music might be the best way to describe the sound of ES&MZ.  The band has also been creating videos to go along with the songs in spurts, at the moment there are two videos out and fans are anxiously waiting for more.  Alex, Jade, and the rest of the Magnetic Zeroes are truly a gift to see live too, they embody what your typical indie band is…climbing into the crowd and singing, staying around after the show to talk with fans…I’m very excited for the future of this band.

fun.’s “Aim & Ignite”

-  I initially heard about fun. through a friend of mine who had picked up the album.  The first time I heard them, I likened them to a mashup of Queen, Vampire Weekend, with undertones of The Format, obviously because the lead singer Nate Ruess was a former member of the aforementioned Format, currently on hiatus.  ”At Least I’m Not As Sad (As I Used To Be)” is like a modern-day “Bohemian Rhapsody” in my mind, with it’s exciting riffs and poppy lyrics-definitely worth the money I paid for the album.  I’m not usually a fan of the poppy sound but in fun.’s case I will gladly make an exception.  Live, this band blows the roof off any concert hall-everyone’s singing along happily and no pun intended, these guys make it a fun time.

———

Of course this is only the best of my list, there were tons of great albums I heard this year but when I look back at 2010, these will be the albums that wrote my spring, summer, fall, and (soon to be) winter.  Disagree? Agree? Let me know in the comments and share your thoughts about the best albums of 2010!

- Tim

“The Brutalist Bricks” came out earlier this year on Matador Records, three years after Ted Leo & The Pharmacists’ last album “Living With The Living.”  Their latest album incorporates every aspect of the band’s legacy that’s made them the band they are today: incredible guitar solos, killer drums, soul-shaking bass and Ted’s signature voice throughout the album.

The Mighty Sparrow

The album opens up with Ted and guitar blasting, kicking the doors off your ears.  Immediately the head banging starts and you’ll most likely begin air-guitaring along to the electric chorus.  The abrupt pauses for drum solos and bass are great and they couldn’t have picked a better opening song.

Mourning In America

“America” comes in where “Sparrow” left off and proceeds to burn down the doors that were previously kicked in.  Blaring guitars and fast-paced drums rain hell down on you for three minutes.  I think the drums are the best part of this track, but Ted’s guitar works great in this hard rock duet between guitarist and drummer.

Ativan Eyes

This is probably one of my favorite tracks off the album.  I love the opening lyrics, “The industry’s out of touch, the means of production are now in the hands of the workers.”  Ted still has a great way of bringing politics poetically to his songs, and this is no exception.  This is certainly not as “in your face” as “Bomb. Repeat. Bomb” but is definitely one of my top ten TL&RX songs of all time.

Even Heroes Have To Die

If you ever get to see the guys live, I hope you get to see this song live.  It’s incredible and a real crowd pleaser with a great beat.  It talks about how none of us are immortal and warns not to take life for granted and make the most of it a’la “Pig” by Dave Matthews Band.

The Stick

Let the head banging begin and the mosh pit open up!  It’s hard to describe this song so take a look at this video from their show at the Grog Shop:

Bottled In Cork

Another favorite of mine of this album.  Ted sings about his travels all across the globe and giving a shout out to his Irish roots in the title.  I’ve been very interested in how this song progressed throughout the past few years…they started playing it live for a while and then a few months ago after the album came out, TL&Rx released it as a free single along with a demo version.  For those of you that might be music majors in school this is a really good example of how a song evolves into what it is today.

Woke Up Near Chelsea

Piano never sounded so rebellious.  ”Chelsea” describes one’s self as alone in the world in the most simplistic terms…

“Cold in the bones, rot in the teeth
Alone in the home, out in the street”

This song harkens back to the “Shake The Sheets” days and even a little of “Living With The Living.”  A solid song overall.

One Polaroid A Day

Some of the best drum work can be found on this song, Larry Mullen Jr. would be proud.  At first it sounds a little like “Sunday Bloody Sunday” by U2 and suddenly takes off on a dark dark beat with some fantastic guitar work.  You’ll feel like you’re walking the mean streets of an urban town at night listening to this on your iPod.

Where Was My Brain?

Reaching down deep, Ted Leo finds his inner Joey Ramone in “Where Was My Brain?”  This is another kick-ass song heard live as well as the studio version.  I think out of all my favorites on “Bricks” this has to be in the top three.

Bartolomeo And The Buzzing Of Bees

Fans of the band’s early work will really enjoy this song as the feel is similar to The Tyranny Of Distance.  I’m a big fan of this song right after “Where Was My Brain?” because you’re on this musical high, pounding your head and rocking out and this song provides a great transition to the second part of the album.

Tuberculoids Arrive In Hop

The acoustic guitar makes an appearance in “Tuberculoids Arrive In Hop” with a cool background effect making you imagine you’re outside around a fire listening to Ted play.

Gimme The Wire

Another favorite of mine is “Wire”.  It has a fast-paced tempo and as usual the guitar is killer.  Ted & Company bring back another old-school TL&Rx sounding song and yet again, is a fantastic song live and in the studio.

Last Days

The title of this song could be considered by some to be a harbinger of the future of the band.  In multiple interviews, Ted has been asked about his retirement from touring and the band.  While the band isn’t breaking up, Ted has come out on his website and said that changes are probably on the horizon but won’t say what those changes might be.

As for the song itself, it’s a great closer to the album.  Throughout the album we’re greeted with an awesome trip through the mind of the band and just like any other album by Ted Leo & The Pharmacists, it’s a classic.

Final Thoughts

I was first turned onto the band’s music in my freshman year of college and since then I’ve had nothing but respect for them.  There’s almost no money gained for the band performing live, they don’t sell their songs for commercials…so is it really about the music?

Absolutely.

Ted Leo & The Pharmacists are the textbook definition of a band that is truly committed to the music.  Despite not selling out and becoming corporate like so many of their peers, Ted and the band continue to have a large following that realizes that when they go to see them play live, they’re seeing a band unlike any other, regardless of genre.  Part of me really hopes that the band sees this because I want to thank them for helping me believe in the purity of music…that a band can in fact make it big without being a sellout.

“The Brutalist Bricks” gets an A+ from me.  Just like every other album and EP put out by TL&Rx this is a home run all the way and is a great addition to any music fan’s collection.

The Clash’s 1980 release of Sandinista! is in the same category as the previously mentioned albums…regarded by some as trash, and to some, musical treasure.  I myself have had an undying love for The Clash ever since I heard Train In Vain on the radio years ago.  Suddenly a musical interest that had me listening to just their hits, had me delving into their entire catalogue, downloading and buying their albums, and finding live tracks to listen to.

Sandinista! was the last great Clash mountain I had yet to conquer after going through Combat Rock and Give Em Enough Rope.  So I decided to sit down at the Jerome Library’s Music Archival Collection at Bowling Green State University and listen to it the old school way…on vinyl.

What was visually pleasing to me was the Armagideon Times insert in the vinyl case.  Inside was a mock-newspaper style cartoon with most of the lyrics and cartoon versions of the songs all over the place.  My favorite was the drawing for “Ivan Meets G.I. Joe” where clearly you can see two enemies in a dance-off at a Studio 54-esque dance floor that soon turns into an all out nuclear war.

The music itself is an interesting mix of old-school Clash rock and roll, reggae, jazz, funk, world beats, overdubbing, and even a track that’s purely a previous track being played backwards with major overdubs inserted.

Side One & Two

The first portion of this triple LP record is very rock and pop oriented with songs like “Hitsville UK” and “The Magnificent Seven”.  ”Ivan Meets G.I. Joe” finds The Clash experimenting with disco…yes you heard me right, the same band that wrote “Know Your Rights” wrote a disco song…and it’s good.

Also included are the introductions of some dubbing and reggae beats as heard in “Rebel Waltz” and “One More Dub”.  One also mustn’t forget the cover of Junco Partner that Joe Strummer covered earlier with his band before The Clash, called the 101ers.  The reggae heavy beats could make even the staunchest metal head get down and bop his or her head to the cool rhythms.

Side Three & Four

This area of the album brings in interesting experimentation by the band.  We also get the first taste of Clash collaborator and friend, the late Mikey Dread, whose reggae background is noticeable in tracks like “If Music Could Talk”.  The rock and roll punk sound comes back in “Police On My Back” featuring Jones on vocals:

Following up to “Police On My Back” is the politically-driven “The Call Up” and “Washington Bullets”, which is also a politically-driven song, but much like the proceeding songs, has an obvious reggae sound to it.  ”Bullets” also notes The Clash’s apparent left-wing politics and their views on the United States’ foreign policy at the time.

Side Five & Six

Friend and collaborator of the band, Tymon Dogg leads the way into the final portion of Sandinista! with a rocking string introduction that begins “Lose This Skin”.  At first, this Dogg’s voice sounds like a sheep getting clubbed over the head repeatedly but once you listen to it on repeat a few times, you might find that it fits the song perfectly.

“Charlie Don’t Surf” is a reasonably decent song, fairly unknown in the band’s catalogue but would fit on anyone’s iPod mix if you’re looking for a relatively slower song to listen to.  Then we have “Mensforth Hill”, which for all purposes is “Something About England” played backwards with overdubs.  Usually a song like this gets overlooked as “the song that the band got lazy on/someone’s been smoking pot in the production studio again” however if you listen all the way through, instrumentally it’s not a bad piece.  Most of the rest of the album is more songs using overdubs and a version of “Career Opportunities” sang by keyboardist Mickey Gallagher’s sons Luke and Ben…which is a sure to miss track for sure.

Conclusion

So where does this leave Sandinista! in the world of experimental rock albums?  If we’re giving grades, I give it an overall grade of B+.  As mentioned before I’m a huge fan of The Clash, probably more so than the normal music fan should be; however there’s some tracks on here that just don’t make sense to me, specifically the middle-school version of “Career Opportunities”.  That’s okay though, that’s why it’s an experimental album.  Bands aren’t always going to make pure gold and The Clash is no exception-not every album can turn out like London Calling.

When it’s all said and done, this is an album worth listening to…give yourself enough time though as it’s over two hours long.  Joe and the boys put out a quality album here and when compared to the famous albums, I believe it ranks right up there with the White Album and much better than Zooropa.

Finally here’s an awesome video of Mick Jones and his daughter Lauren singing “Hitsville UK” live in 2008.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSObWfwuf1M

I hope this will spur you to check out the musical experiments of the only band that ever mattered.

Tim

The band was created by former member of The Format, Nate Ruess after The Format announced a split in 2008.  Nate soon asked Andrew Dost and Jack Antonoff of Anathallo and Steel Train, respectably, to join in his new project.  The end result is something beautiful that indie-rock has not seen yet.

From the get-go the album’s first song, “Be Calm” starts off as a quiet beat and then turns into a theatrical symphony of sound.  Throughout the album you get a great indie-rock sound that reminds you of the aforementioned Queen.

The album’s two singles, All The Pretty Girls” and “At Least I’m Not As Sad (As I Used To Be)” take on the lighter, humorous side of rock and roll, and choosing your friends based on their musical genre of choice.  fun. also shows their romantic side in “The Gambler” where Ruess sings about spending his life with the one he loves and without being overly sappy or dramatic; it’s a truly beautiful song without making you sick.

The guys in fun. have really put together a great album and one that’s remained relatively unknown in the music world to this point.  So few “super-bands” can put out a quality album these days and it’s nice to see that in the indie world that bands like fun. can make wonderfully happy music while at the same time staying hidden on the pop music radar.

For more information visit: www.ournameisfun.com

Thanks to a couple of you, I’ve become a huge world music junkie, particularly Fado.  The local Finders Records in BG will always be one of my favorite music stores to shop in, and one day I finally ventured into the world music section to pick up some of these songs.  Fado is a primarily Portuguese genre that has some of the most beautiful guitar stylings and vocals you’ll ever hear.  Fado talks of love, tears, pain, anger, and just about every human emotion you can think of.  Closing your eyes,  you can almost feel yourself on the streets of Lisbon, drinking wine and being with good friends.

Joao Bosco’s “O Bebado E O Equilibrista” is a beautiful representation of this genre:

A much younger representation of Fado comes from the voice of Ana Moura, the Portuguese-born singer that has linked Fado’s past with a much younger generation while still pleasing an older crowd.

The most famous of all Fado singers however, is Amália Rodrigues.  Deemed, “The Queen of Fado” Rodrigues brought Fado to the forefront in world music and helped create a connection between Lisbon and her music.

“The fado is not meant to be sung; it simply happens” – Amália Rodrigues

Here’s a playlist I’ve created if you want to learn more about Fado:

1.  ”O Bebado E O Equilibrista” by Joao Bosco

2.  ”Bom Feeling” by Sara Tavares (technically not Fado but still worth a listen!)

3.  ”Lisboa Nao Sejas Francesa” by Amália Rodrigues

4.  ”Às Vezes” by Ana Moura

5.  ”Fadista Louco” by António Mourão

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Though Radio Revolution’s time on WFAL Falcon Radio may be coming to a close, that doesn’t mean that it’s over for good.  We’re redesigning the show and how it works for the future.  Radio Revolution will become a whole new entity never seen before but will be maintaining it’s tradition of bringing you the best of classic, modern, alternative, and indie rock.