Here we are at my top 10 albums of the year. Read on to see who made the cut.
#10: Khruangbin – Con Todo El Mundo– I was a bit late to the Khruangbin party, but I’m glad I showed up. This three-piece makes beautiful psychedelic jazz with few vocals. The tones they produce are so clear they’re almost like Tibetan mediation singing bells.
#9: Janelle Monae – Dirty Computer– Ms. Monae is a genius. She can blend hip-hop, R&B, electro, jazz, and rock with such ease that it sounds like she’s cloned herself at least five times and each of those clones studied a different genre to mastery. Knowing her love of androids and science fiction, this wouldn’t surprise me at all if it were true.
#8 – Cookin’ Soul and MF DOOM – DOOM XMAS– I don’t remember how I stumbled upon this album after Christmas Day, but I’m glad I did. It’s a wicked mix of lyrics by MF DOOM and Christmas-inspired beats by Cookin’ Soul. Any DOOM is good DOOM, and this collaboration is among his best.
#7: Throw Down Bones – Two – I stumbled upon this excellent electro / industrial / rave album on Bandcamp and it turned out to be the best electronic music record I heard all year. This will be booming in your favorite club soon if it isn’t already.
#6: Ron Gallo – Stardust Birthday Party– I’ve enjoyed Mr. Gallo’s garage punk music since I saw him open for Screaming Females in a dive bar a couple years ago. Now he’s put out a Zen-punk record that blew my mind and included my top single of the year – “Always Elsewhere.”
The top five will be revealed tomorrow!
Keep your mind open.
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#5: “Limp Wrist” by Bev Rage and the Drinks – This queercore punk delivers a wallop in under two minutes. This song floored me when I heard it, and I started telling everyone I knew about Ms. Rage and her band.
#4: “How Did This Happen!? by BODEGA – The return of post-punk continues with this great NYC band and this single that trashes hipsters. I couldn’t stop listening to this once I heard it.
#3: “Blinded by the LEDs” by Lindstrom – If you need an amazing EDM track, floor-filler, workout playlist topper, or just something to be stunned by, look no further.
#2: “Make Me Feel” by Janelle Monae – Easily the sexiest song of the year. I can’t describe it any better than that.
#1: “Always Elsewhere” by Ron Gallo – This Zen-punk jam became my mantra after hearing it. It was a much-needed crack with a Zen master’s stick during months of chaos both local and domestic. Gallo‘s suggestion that we embrace presence instead of the willful scattering of our attention is a battle call.
Thanks for reading. Up next, the top 30 live acts I saw in 2018.
Dehumanization, over-reliance on technology, (un)intentional loneliness, love, freedom, sex, and the inward journey toward finding the true self are just some of the concepts covered on Janelle Monae‘s newest, and best yet, record – Dirty Computer.
The title refers to a futuristic world in which people who don’t fit into social norms are classified as “dirty” and relegated to either second or third-class citizenship or brainwashed into civility. What’s worse is that many of us do this to ourselves daily. The title track (featuring Brian Wilson, no less) sets the tone. “I’m not that special. I’m broke inside, crashing slowly. The bugs are in me,” she sings as she shuffles through a bleak, futuristic landscape looking for love.
“Crazy, Classic, Life” begins with a sermon preaching that freedom, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is for everyone no matter their social status, sexual preference, or skin color. “I just want to party hard, sex in a swimming pool. I don’t need a lot of cash. I just want to break the rules,” Monae sings behind big, bold beats. “I am not the American nightmare. I am the American dream,” she proclaims. It’s a rallying cry for everyone.
The beats on “Take a Byte” remind me of Tears for Fears at first, and then they switch to sultry house beats as Monae claims she’s not the kind of girl you take home to meet your mother. She’d rather you nibble on her mocha skin. Meow. “Screwed” keeps up the sexy theme (“Wanna get screwed at a festival, wanna get screwed like an animal.”) and takes potshots at those in power who are screwing over those below them (“You fucked the world up now, we’ll fuck it all back down.”).
If you don’t think she’s serious, then consider “Django Jane,” in which Monae puts down a fierce rap about misogyny with lyrics like, “And we gonna start a mother-fuckin’ pussy riot, or we gonna have to put ’em on a pussy diet.” and “Let the vagina have a monologue.”
It’s fitting (and tongue-in-cheek…and more) that “Pynk” follows, as it’s a tribute not only to lady parts, but also to female sexuality and empowerment. As if that weren’t sexy enough, “Make Me Feel” is perhaps the sexiest song of the year as Monae boldly comes out of the closest as pansexual. Monae worked with Prince on some of the sounds of this record before his death, and his influence is immediately apparent on this track with its funky guitar, swelling synths, and dance beats.
“I Got the Juice” is Monae again claiming her freedom from expectations, illusions, and haters – including one in the White House when she states, “If you try to grab this pussy, then this pussy’ll grab you back.” “I Like That” has Monae telling us that she’s happy with who she is at this point in her life, which is really what all of us want. Her vocals on “Don’t Judge Me” are lovely, showing her versatility. She can float between serious rap chops and torch songs with ease.
She admits that she’s not perfect on “So Afraid.” She’s tentative about settling down and commitment, and her bold, to-the-back-of-the-church vocals emphasize how she’s on the verge of taking the plunge but still can’t quite make the leap of faith.
“Just love me, baby. Love me for who I am…Don’t try to take my country. I will defend my land. I am not crazy, I’m American,” she sings on “Americans” before dropping in sound bytes of a sermon on what America represents and what it has become in 2018 and it could be in the future. The last lyric on the record, as the music fades, is, “Please sign your name on the dotted line.” Is it a call to action, or a warning?
I’m not sure. That’s for Monae to know and for the rest of us to learn by self-introspection and, among other things, listening to this record.
In case you weren’t aware, Afrofuturist / electro-funk artist / cyborg Janelle Monae is set to unleash her first album in five years, Dirty Computer, later this year. She’s calling this project an “emotion picture” and, judging from the trailer she release, it looks like it deals with many of her favorite themes – the future, the blurred line between technology and humanity, love, sex, and female empowerment.
She’s already given us “Django Jane” from the upcoming album, and she just delivered the Prince-inspired (with whom Monae was working before his death) bisexual anthem “Make Me Feel,” which is easily the hottest and sexiest track of 2018 so far. Anything that hopes to top this in terms of getting your groove on will have to bring serious chops.
Monae is an innovator and free spirit, and we need her and many more like her not only in the world of music, but also in the world at large. This is probably going to be one of the best albums of the year.
