Some Albums Through The Third Quarter of 2010

[koganbot]

Wrote this album wrap-up in response to Greg over on my singles thread, so might as well give it its own post. I've let album-listening slide, so I need to do lots of exploring. These are my top five:

Ke$ha's Animal: her vision or shtick is up my alley, and is pretending to come from an alley, but her lyrics could use stronger, more original

Comments

[talrose]

One thing I notice is that neither you nor Chuck have any rap on your lists, unless you count Princesa, M.I.A., Kid Rock, Shangaan Electro, or Bigg Robb as rap, and I don't think I would. Off the top of my head, Big Boi, Rick Ross, Starlito, E-40, Shabazz Palaces, Curren$y, and Roc Marciano all made great rap albums this year. In fact, it's probaby the best year for rap albums since 2004! If you guys are interested in any of these I'd be happy to send you guys .zip files or CD burns, whatever your druthers.

I'd make a top 20, but my list is always changing the more I hear stuff. At the moment, I think my top 10 would look something like this:

1. Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Before Today (4AD)
2. Flying Lotus - Cosmogramma (Warp)
3. Erykah Badu - New Amerykah Part 2: Return of the Ankh (Universal Motown)
4. Gonjasufi - A Sufi and a Killer (Warp)
5. Rick Ross - Teflon Don (Def Jam)
6. Oneohtrix Point Never - Returnal (Editions Mego)
7. Javiera Mena - Mena (Unión Del Sur)
8. Lindstrøm & Christabelle - Real Life Is No Cool (Smalltown

[chuckeddy]

Thanks for this list, Talrose (whoever you are). Though from my list you left off at least Far*East Movement and Colt Ford, both of which albums I'm pretty sure have more rapping on them than Kid Rock (which has none) or Bigg Robb (which has just I little). (Fwiw, both Laura Bell Bundy and This Moment In Black History rap in at least one track on their albums, too.) (I'm not saying Far*East's or Colt's rapping is great, though.)

I really appreciate the zip-or-burn offer. But knowing my habits, I don't think I've ever gotten around to listening to a zip file of an album I wasn't expressly being paid to write about, and I'd feel bad if you took the time to burn those CDs and I gave up on them after just a couple songs, then never played them again (which, given my history with hip-hop albums over the past two decades, is highly likely. Somewhere along the line, new rap albums really started seeming like work to me, for some reason. Partly my fault, I'm sure. But mostly the music's fault.) I will though, try to find some time to figure

[talrose]

Have not heard Far*East Movement aside from what was reviewed on the jukebox, but I'm looking forward to hearing it when it comes out. Listened to the Colt Ford off of a prior list you made and didn't like it at all. Thought the idea took precedence over the music, if that makes any sense (and yes, the rapping was a barrier).

Don't worry, it's just an offer and no shakes if you guys wanna pass up on it! Just seeing that maybe you guys haven't heard these albums and was wondering if you wanted to. MCDE is actually just one guy, a German house producer, and this is a collection of all his early singles.

2004 had M.I.A. and Crunk Classics and Mannie Fresh, and also Madvillain, Ghostface, Cam'ron, The Streets, Kanye West, Masta Killa, De La Soul, Masta Ace, Jadakiss, Ludacris, etc.

and it's Ta1 from the Jukebox.

[chuckeddy]

Oops, duh -- Kid Rock's album has T.I. on one cut (same cut as Martina McBride!), so that's some rapping, I guess.

And Colt Ford's album has definitely soured on me a bit since it came out; played it again a few weeks back, and decided it doesn't really kick in til its second half. But I do still think a handful of songs come close to pulling the "idea" off.
Has a shot at my Nashville Scene ballot, but not Pazz & Jop.

My favorite hip-hop artists of the '00s, fwiw, were probably Trick Daddy and Field Mob, and maybe Trina. (Not that I pull any of their albums out all that much anymore either, tbh.)

Also, excuse all my typos above, as usual.

[koganbot]

What my album list has on it is a notable lack of albums! But the most rap thing on it is actually the E.via EP. Websites refer to her as "rap," anyway, though she's pretty much her own category I'd say, but rap is a big part of it, and she raps well.

[chuckeddy]

And oh yeah....duh, theres's also rapping on the albums on my list by Coati Mundi and Chuck Brown (both of whom have used rap as a part of their music since Old Old Old School Days, and reside on the cusp of hip-hop if not actually in it.)