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February 11, 2006
My Ballot for the 2005 Village Voice Rock Critics' Poll
My top albums are Common's Be and Loudon Wainwright III's Here Come the Choppers!
Be is in the classic soul tradition of Marvin Gaye's What's Going On, De La Soul's 3 Feet High and Rising, and A Tribe Called Quest's The Low End Theory: rich, coherent musical statements, full of both humor and outrage, but far too humane to fall for gangsta posturing. It's produced by Kanye West, and West's new record is great, too, but I think Common has him beat as a wordsmith. Together, they're an amazing combination.
Here Come the Choppers is the latest from one of America's smartest singer-songwriters. Wainwright's music sounds better than ever before, thanks to brillaint guitarwork from the amazing Bill Frisell. The title track works up a level of dystopic menace that reminds me of Warren Zevon's overlooked 1989 cyberpunk classic, Transverse City (which featured similar guitar from guest Jerry Garcia).
My top single of the year, hands down, is "George Bush Doesn't Care About Black People" by The Legendary K.O." It's a remix of Kanye West's "Golddigger," with new lyrics about New Orleans. It's both a withering indictment of the Bush administration, and a tribute to West's act of political courage for criticizing Bush in front of a national audience on the Katrina telethon (an act that may have cost him several Grammies). The brilliant music video - unplayed on MTV, but one of ifilm.com's top downloads - is available here.
The one album I wished I'd ranked higher is Wilco's new live record, Kicking Television - it kept on growing on me after I sent in my ballot. At first, I figured it was just another live greatest hits package, like Radiohead's disappointing recent set. But it's a lot more than that. I've always admired Wilco, but (as with Radiohead) sometimes their studio albums come off a little too cold - making them feel perhaps less heartfelt than Tweedy intended. The band's new live lineup reimagines their entire catalog, turning experiments like "Misunderstood" and "Ashes of American Flags" into off-kilter anthems, and "At Least That's What You Said" and "Via Chicago" into self-lacerating confessions. Along with Dylan & The Band's Before the Flood, the Stones' Get Your Ya-Ya's Out, James Brown's Revolution of the Mind, Johnny Cash's Live at Folsom Prison, Marvin Gaye In Concert, Maxwell Unplugged, and maybe Frampton Comes Alive, Kicking Television is one of the handful of all-time great live records.
Posted by tedf at February 11, 2006 03:02 PM
Comments
OK, my first question is 1) why does the Arcade Fire only get 10 points? and 2) why was Arcade Fire on this ballot anyhow when their album clearly was released in 2004?
Ah well, I weighed in on my thoughts on 2005 on the Locals board...
http://media.locals.ca/localsconf/viewtopic.php?p=688584#688584
Some good choices, though, Ted. I don't think, however, that Kanye's criticism of the Bush administration cost him Grammys. The constant preoccupation with martyring U2 probably had more to do with it...
BMN
Posted by: BMN ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.tedfriedman.com//nav-commenters.gif)
at February 12, 2006 06:25 PM
1) The anthems are mind-blowing, but the quieter tracks don't really work, except for that great last song about finally getting to drive after riding in the backsteat you whole life.
2) I didn't hear the Arcade Fire record until Jan 05, so it was a 2005 record for me.
Posted by: Ted Friedman at February 12, 2006 09:37 PM
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