#415: Paul McCartney - McCartney (1970)

Zack: I have, in the past, criticized much of the Beatles’ output for being boring. It turns out that this album has routinely been panned by critics for being too boring. I say these two things to frame the hypocrisy I’m about to spew. I really liked McCartney. It is a very rough album by design, and that gives it a sort of homespun charm that Beatles albums, where every note and melody has clearly been pored over, simply lack. There isn’t anything particularly challenging about McCartney. Other made-at-home classics we’ve run into like Nick Drake have combined the threadbare ethos with deep introspection. McCartney doesn’t really have that. There aren’t many grand statements built into the music. It’s just sort simple and direct and uncomplicated. Like a slice-of-life album. I can see why others would find that boring, but that’s so different from so many other things that I’ve heard that even if it’s simple it’s at least not repetitive.

Favorite Tracks: Maybe I’m Amazed; Junk; Momma Miss America

Emily: McCartney is the first post-Beatles release by Paul McCartney, and I think that shows through on the album. It seems like, once broken free of the creative sharing and conflict that came with the band, McCartney took the opportunity to make the kind of album he wanted without anyone else's influence or fingerprints on it. The result is slightly Beatles-esque, but with some of McCartney's quirks on more prominent display. As Zack noted, the music and lyrics are fairly simple and straightforward, but they're executed well so as to make them classic rather than boring. There's also a few instrumental-only rock tracks, plus some long instrumental breaks, which I wouldn't really expect from the Beatles. McCartney may lacks the experimentation of the late Beatles work that preceded it, but it is fully grounded in Paul McCartney's authentic sensibilities.

Favorite Tracks: Maybe I'm Amazed; Hot As Sun/Glasses; Junk

#414: Incubus - Make Yourself (1999)

Zack: Way too many years ago, when I was a freshman in college and before Emily and I had even started dating, I was sitting in my dorm building’s hallway talking with a friend at like 2 a.m. like freshmen in college do. There was this guy in our hall that no one liked. He walked down the hallway, saw us, and came over to tell us how excited he was because he heard that a new Incubus album had been leaked and he was on his way to his room to go download it. He asked me if I liked Incubus. I said that they were alright I guess, and then he left because I think I had deflated his enthusiasm a bit. After he was gone, I turned to my friend and asked her who the fuck gets that excited about Incubus. She did not know, because if it wasn’t sung in a Disney movie or a Broadway musical then she probably hasn’t heard it. And that’s the end of my story, although my central question remains unanswered. Who the fuck cares that much about Incubus? Now, when I look at Wikipedia and see that Incubus did not release any music in September or October of 2009 (I’m hazy on the exact time that this happened), I realize that someone was probably just messing with him and he probably got to his room, fired up his circa 2009 Macbook, went to the Pirate’s Bay, and saw no new Incubus album there. Was he disappointed? Really? Someone was disappointed about a lack of new Incubus? Look, Make Yourself is a fine album I guess. The songs that actually became radio singles are all largely pretty good. When the band chills out a bit and isn’t trying to make music that is exclusively the sound of debris falling in a Zach Snyder Superman movie, it can actually be kind of enjoyable. But it’s not exciting by any means. Which is why I’m so confused as to why this album is on this list. Was there just one guy (definitely a guy) in the room who was really passionate about Incubus and insisted that this album be on the list? Did everyone else in the room just cave in rather than ask him what went to horribly wrong that this was what he connected with at a spiritual level? The album is fine, but it’s only fine. That hardly seems good enough.

Favorite Tracks: Drive; Pardon Me; The Warmth

Emily: When Zack and I went home to visit our families for the holidays, we spent way more time in cars than we normally do in our city-dwelling, public-transportation-and-walking-filled everyday lives. My brother always has the radio in his car tuned to Radio 104.5, the Philadelphia alternative station that I've mentioned numerous times on this blog. He's not that into music, but Radio 104.5 has a solid enough rotation of music that it keeps him interested enough to not bother changing the station. Having not listened to Radio 104.5 regularly in some time (I occasionally listen to it on iHeartRadio, but have generally switched to their DC equivalent), I was somewhat surprised that I recognized nearly all of the music that I heard. Although they play some new stuff, alt-rock singles from the '90s and '00s remain in the heaviest rotation. It reminded me of all the time spent driving and as a passenger listening to the same station when I lived at home (which at this point was quite a few years ago). Included in that rotation are the singles off of Make Yourself. I wasn't listening to Incubus in 1999 when this album came out (because I was 8), but from many years of alt-rock radio in the car I knew every word. This album edges a little too far towards screaming for my taste (and, inexplicably, contains a rap-rock track), but the melodic singles hold up. Maybe it's nostalgia for the car-ride radio mix, but I'll take it.

Favorite Tracks: Drive; Pardon Me; Stellar

#413: Christina Aguilera - Back to Basics (2006)

Emily: As anyone who knows me well can attest, I love me some late-'90s/early-'00s pop jams. Just the other day my mom and I got our backseat groove on to the "Britney Body Workout" Spotify playlist (highly recommended for both working out and car dancing). Back when that music was actually popular, I generally preferred Britney to Christina. Christina obviously has the better voice, but Britney had the better songs out the gate. That voice, though, is the reason that Christina has been able to really diversify and change her sound over the years. Nowhere is that more apparent than on Back to Basics. The early-20th century big-band horns really complement her powerhouse-diva voice. Although the album is way too long (seriously, no album needs to be more than an hour) and overstuffed with unnecessary balladry, the best tracks are truly great pop songs from one of the greatest pop talents. They stand up today, over 10 years later, and rightfully hold a place on any '00s pop playlist.
Favorite Tracks: Ain't No Other Man; Candyman; Slow Down Baby

Zack: Christina Aguilera has been part of pop culture pretty much since I became aware that music was a thing that people listened to for enjoyment. Throughout all that time, she has gone through a number of versions. Back to Basics Christina is by far my favorite. Of all the pop stars of her era, I think she has by far the best voice (Mariah is one generation older of course), and pairing that with more of a big band sound really lets her show it off. I have an aforementioned bias against double albums, but this is one of the rare occasions where there is enough good content to almost warrant it. Almost.

Favorite Tracks: Ain’t No Other Man; Without You; Candyman

#412: Haircut One Hundred - Pelican West (1982)

Zack: Everything I knew about this album beforehand suggested to me that I would hate it. It’s a New Wave album. The band name sounds like the sort of thing a shitty band from the early 80s would think is a good name. And “Pelican West” is just two words mashed together randomly. I was ready to hate this album. But, much to my anti-dismay (just may?), it turns out that Pelican West is really good. Haircut One Hundred (seriously, that name is almost impossibly dumb) have a knack for mixing in enough jazz to offset the 80s cheesiness. It’s all the poppy danceability that the best New Wave singles have without the inherent one-noteness that makes albums made up entirely of those so boring 15 minutes in. Overall, the album itself was very fun and really blew away every other album from this genre that we’ve listened to, including the ones I didn’t totally hate like Duran Duran or A-ha.

Favorite Tracks: Kingsize (You’re My Little Steam Whistle); Lemon Firebrigade; Love Plus One

Emily: Obviously I picked this album solely because of the band name. It's absolutely ridiculous and could only come from a British early-'80s New Wave band that wasn't particularly successful. Turns out that, although both British and '80s New Wave, Haircut One Hundred was a little more successful than I thought they were (even though they burned out pretty quickly). Seriously - Pelican West reached #2 in the UK and #31 on the Billboard 200. After listening to the album, I kinda get why. It seems like they would be bad imitators of the more prevalent artists of the day since both the band name and album title are a few notches short of making any sense. However, this album does something a little different by fusing the New Wave synths, bleeps, and bloops with jazz-funk. It's a combo that seems a little off, but somehow totally works. Turns out Haircut One Hundred has more going for them than just a silly name.

Favorite Tracks: Lemon Firebrigade; Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl); Love's Got Me in Triangles

#411: Herbie Hancock - Head Hunters (1973)

Emily: Even though I've been writing about jazz at various intervals over the last 5+ years, I still struggle with the vocabulary to write about it. The adjective "jazzy" captures much of what I hear and feel about the music, but it doesn't really communicate that to an audience who hasn't heard it. Especially after attending a jazz festival this summer, though, jazz music in all of its variations is so much more about the vibe and the energy than the actual notes of music played. Head Hunters certainly embodied that. It's a jazz-fusion album that is smooth, funky, and totally engaging. It's the kind of music I'd want to hear at a jazz club, if I ever actually go to a jazz club. Does that actually do a good job of explaining what this album sounds like? Probably not, but that just means you have to listen to it for yourself.
Favorite Tracks: Chameleon; Sly; Vein Melter

Zack: We’ve run into jazz fusion before, but this was the most jazzy entry that we’ve had. It was quite exceptional. This particular entry merged a smooth variant of jazz with a dynamic funk sound. They were blended seamlessly, creating a dynamic listen. I need to listen to Head Hunters a few more times to really appreciate it, but on one listen it really popped out as an album I can play over and over again.

Favorite Tracks: Chameleon; Vein Melter; Sly

#410: The Divine Comedy - A Short Album About Love (1997)

Zack: First off, great band name. Second off, I really enjoyed this EP (you can’t force me to call it an album). Divine Comedy have this really lush sounds to them, like a big band started making 90s pop music. Wikipedia informs me that this is called orchestral pop, which I think is an apt name. The EP, as the name suggests, centers around the concept of love. It discusses it in sloppy, often hysterically awkward terms. This includes the incredible, “If you were a horse, I’d clean the crap out of your stables and never once complain / If you were a horse, I could ride you through the fields at dawn through the day until the day was gone.” I actually found this element to be somewhat charming. Think about all of the different quotes you’ve heard in movies and books and TV shows trying to explain love. Some are shitty, some are poignant, but none ever really capture it. Love is such an abstraction that we don’t really have a great way to explain in linguistically outside of cliches. This EP sort of accidentally captures that. It spends 32 minutes trying to explain being in love, which is an endeavor not unlike The Big Bang Theory trying to explain string theory. But the effort is sincere, if occasionally cringe-inducing. Along with the majestic music, this made for a fun way to spend half an hour.

Favorite Tracks: In Pursuit of Happiness; If…; I’m All You Need

Emily: I was also a big fan of this not-quite-EP, not-quite album. I'm all in on musical compositions clocking in at just over thirty minutes. They get their point and sound across clearly and efficiently, and hopefully with no filler. A Short Album About Love was just as it says in the title - short (and filler-free) and lovely. The sound is orchestral and grand, and you get the sense that in whatever venues The Divine Comedy plays in they can't quite replicate it without the stage cracking under the weight of all of musicians and instruments necessary. Or it's all on a computer, but I have no idea. The instruments are a romantic ideal, and this album is certainly romantic. It could be the soundtrack to a quirkier, indie-film Love Actually (minus all the Christmas music). It may not accurately capture what's it's like to fall in love, but that's a near-impossible achievement. But capturing the romance and grandeur of love? A Short Album About Love embodies that beautifully.

Favorite Tracks: In Pursuit of Happiness; If I Were You; Everybody Knows (Except You)

#409: Brian Eno - Before and After Science (1977)

Zack: I have a pretty special attachment to Eno’s Here Comes the Warm Jets because I listened to it the day I moved into my first grown-up apartment in North Philly. We hadn’t installed internet yet, so I didn’t have much to do besides listen to albums for the blog (wow, times were different) and this one just so happened to be the first one up. As soon as my mom left – she and I moved all of my worldly possessions including a bed, desk, and dresser up 3 flights of very narrow and twisty stairs – I set my old laptop up on the dresser and got to work. I’ve relistened to that album maybe 6 or 7 times since then, always just to feel nostalgic for when my major life stresses were finding a job and getting someone to buy me alcohol rather than health insurance and that moment of prayer between when you hit run on your do file and when you see the results. It’s a pretty good album. Outside of my normal wheelhouse, but something that I find it quite enjoyable every once in a while. I can’t imagine that I’ll develop a sentimental attachment to Before and After Science that will rival that, but it may be the better album anyway. I’ll admit, the first handful of tracks really threw me for a loop. I was not into them at all. But after that, the album settled into a nice groove and I really appreciated the vibe it was putting out. I guess I really prefer things after science. Those songs were sort of cold and distant, but sort of soothing. There was something…inevitable to the music. I guess I would describe it as sort of anti-jazz. All the life and vibrancy that makes jazz so great was absent, but it sort of became its own thing. I know that doesn’t make it sound too inviting, but I don’t really know how to explain it any better than that.

Favorite Tracks: Julie With…; King’s Lead Hat; Energy Fools the Magician

Emily: The title of this album evokes a grand scope, envisioning a world changed by the steady drumbeat of scientific progress and evolution. What did the world sound like before science, anyway? Primordial ooze? Darkness and chanted hymns? And what about after science? Does the light come in? What would that light sound like? I'm not sure if Eno answers these questions on Before and After Science (or even intended to answer them), but the album provides a pensive soundtrack by which to contemplate them. Eno takes rock music and twists and bends it around, experimenting with the avant-garde and ambient sounds that would come to define his later work. The result, like so much of Eno's work we've encountered, is at once familiar and yet totally unique.

Favorite Tracks: King's Lead Hat; Julie With...; Here He Comes