It’s time I got back to the good life

It took a while but here it is; time for everyone’s favourite: album rating time! This is where I get to spout off shit about why people should listen to the same music I am listening to. Now, fact is, most of what I listen to is already listened to by other people, rendering it impossible for me to force my views upon them. This is highly unacceptable, so after being inspired by a thread on the questionable content board, here are the 10 albums I wish everyone else would listen to, but probably won’t.

1 – Dizzee Rascal – Showtime
I will fight anyone who doesn’t think this is incredible. I know I’ve written about it before, but I have yet to hear anyone tell me how much they love the album. So until that day I am going to push this shit like it was my job. Or a job where I wanted to excel. Dizzee speaks with London slang and raps super fast. He does all his own beats, and kills it every time. Plus he got stabbed by some other rappers in Ibiza last year. That is how you sell albums nowadays isn’t it?

2 – The Decemberists – Picaresque
This is bandwagon jumping at its finest. I read all over the place how this was the best album so far this year, and by gum it is. This is super catchy indie music at its finest. I defy anyone to say something is wrong with “The Mariner’s Revenge Song.” Hell, I’m listening to it as I type this, dreaming of being a pirate instead of an accountant. I don’t listen to enough indie music to draw proper parallels between this band and others, so you will just have to realize that this stands on its own as an excellent piece of work.

3 – Dizzee Rascal – Boy in Da Corner
More Dizzee. You are either in, or in the way. Seriously this time. This is like rap for people who played too much Nintendo. Or ever went to raves in high school in desperate attempts to score Carlene/free drugs off Kuzma and Shumon. Like you didn’t. Plus, Dizzee opened for Jay-Z at Wembley in London. If the god emcee thinks he is good you should to.

4 – Zion 1 – Mind Over Matter
Probably the most chilled out album I have on this list, Silly Puddy is a staple for every cd I make. I am not even sure how to describe this music. They are a west coast rap group, but I wouldn’t really compare them to the people I would consider their contemporaries (Heiro, Quannum). Dammit, I did a real shitty job explaining this one. Download Silly Puddy and listen to what I was trying to get it.

5 – Propagandhi – How To Clean Everything
This is the best punk rock cd ever created by a group of people from Winnipeg. Everyone who listens to the Weakerthans should be forced to listen to this cd to see where John K. Samson is coming from. Prop are political to a fault, but their music is so good it is forgivable.

6 – Raised Fist – Dedication
You know how you like a band and play their album forever and then three years later they release another album and the whole sound changed? That will never happen with this band. They are soldiers of hardcore and kick ass the exact same way every time they release an album. The only reason this one is included above the others is that it has Dedication on it, and that is my favourite hardcore song ever.

7 – Madvillain – Madvillainy
The fact that no one I know owns this album (except Leo) is maddening. This album got top scores across the board from every music review site I frequent (RapReviews, Pitchfork, PrefixMag). I don’t care if you haven’t yet discovered your enjoyment of hip-hop. This is the album that will help you on your way. I can’t really say much else about this, other than I can’t imagine someone being disappointed with this album. It is too well crafted.

8 – Little Brother – The Listening
This is another rap record that everyone should own. 9th Wonder is a hell of a producer and this album is laced with mellow soul samples. It is a quiet album without any club tracks or really anything people would throw on at a party, but it is perfect for throwing on when you are sitting around reading or other such activities.

9 – DL Incognito – A Sample and A Drum Machine
DL is my favourite Canadian rapper. This is actually a higher accolade than it sounds. He is up against k-os and Classified to name a couple. This cd is straight hip-hop, with very, very little filler. I think what he was shooting for was a cd that brought back the late eighties vibe, but didn’t sound dated today. I think he did that. I would recommend checking out Audio Coke and Universal Love. Both deadly songs in completely different ways.

10 – Atreyu – Suicide Noted and Butterfly Kisses
Someone’s Standing On My Chest is the song that really got me into the hard/metal/glam-core style of music. I first heard it on a sample from Victory with songs from Thursday, Waterdogs and Taking Back Sunday’s “Cute without the e”. Now that TBS song is one of my favourite songs ever, but when I got this cd all I could do was listen to the Atreyu song. The whole album is that good, and would go so far as to say this is one of my favourite cds ever.
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Looking back I could have divided this into two lists: Why Mike Should Like Hip-Hop, and Why Everyone Else Should Enjoy Screaming. Granted one list would be way longer than the other, and two of the picks don’t really fall in those categories, but I can’t say I am really bothered. I know some of you are enjoying your small dabbles in hip-hop, and with some effort and luck you can expand your collection beyond the Black Album and whatever Atmosphere tracks you downloaded.

For the non-hip-hop albums, everyone should at least try downloading a track, or hitting me up for one. It’s not like I am trying to force Pig Destroyer or Anal Cunt on you (I just dropped AC because I wanted to sound cool. I don’t actually listen to them beyond their incredible cover of the Pina Colada song. They make my brain hurt. You would never have known anyways.). These are like gateway drugs, nice and easy to lull you into a space of false security until you try going to a local show and some shitty grind band starts playing and makes your stomach hurt with their music [note: I was going to go for a far more graphic description involving shitting in mouths and stuff, but the music really does make your stomach hurt, so I went truthful]. It’ll happen, just wait. And that day you will thank me because there will be some really hot 18 year-olds at that show.