2017 is a missed opportunity for me in terms of music. I didn’t get to go to a single show, though I damn well intended and hoped to go to many. I didn’t discover much new music that I dug until earlier this week, even.
But the albums that clicked? Fuck did they click.
Let’s start with one that really hit me.
After Laughter by Paramore
I’ve been so depressed this year. I have been so crippled by issues with anxiety. I went into a partial hospital program to cope with these and more. I learned I have OCD. But through out a good portion of this I found respite in the upbeat melodies of Paramore’s After Laughter. Why?
It’s one thing to have a catchy song. It’s another thing to have a catchy song that is lyrically quite fucking depressing and relatable.
Look at these lyrics, for “Hard Times”:
All that I want
Is to wake up fine
Tell me that I’m alright
That I ain’t gonna die
All that I want
Is a hole in the ground
You can tell me when it’s alright
For me to come outgonna make you wonder why you even try
(Hard times) gonna take you down and laugh when you cry
(These lives) and I still don’t know how I even survive
(Hard times)
(Hard times)
And I gotta get to rock bottomWalking around
My little rain cloud
Hanging over my head
And it ain’t coming down
Where do I go?
Gimme some sort of sign
You hit me with lightning!
Maybe I’ll come alivegonna make you wonder why you even try
(Hard times) gonna take you down and laugh when you cry
(These lives) and I still don’t know how I even survive
(Hard times)
(Hard times)
And I gotta head to rock bottomTell my friends I’m coming down
We’ll kick it when I hit the ground
Tell my friends I’m coming down
We’ll kick it when I hit the ground
When I hit the ground
When I hit the ground
When I hit the ground
When I hit the groundgonna make you wonder why you even try
(Hard times) gonna take you down and laugh when you cry
(These lives) and I still don’t know how I even survive
(Hard times) (hard times)
(Hard times) (hard times)gonna make you wonder why you even try
(Hard times) gonna take you down and laugh when you cry
(These lives) and I still don’t know how I even survive
(Hard times) (hard times)
(Hard times)And I gotta get to rock bottom!
Now, listen to the actual song:
It’s so upbeat and catchy.
And this, a recurring theme through the record, is why I love it. It feels very much like me. And don’t get me started on songs like “Fake Happy”.
After two albums of getting as far away as possible from the intricate concept of Crack the Skye, Mastodon returned to the world of concept albums on Emperor of Sand. The result is good overall but it does feel like it’s missing something? The concept is powerful, and I like the tale it tells about dealing with cancer but the album feels like two very distinct halves — the first half feels more like the Mastodon we saw on the tracks of The Hunter and Once More ‘Round the Sun but the latter half, for me, feels much closer to Blood Mountain with a much aggressive and heavier feel. With that said, I do enjoy it and “Scorpion Breath” and “Jaguar God” are fucking fantastic. On the other hand “Show Yourself” is the most boring song the band has done.
Check out “Scorpion Breath” which continues the tradition of Scott Kelly guesting on a killer track.
Of course Mastodon wasn’t the only perennial Cian fave releasing some music this year. The second of a planned trilogy (which I guess we aren’t going to see the final EP of this year) of Nine Inch Nails EP was released.
Add Violence is the incredible. I’m obviously a wee bit biased as Nine Inch Nails is my favorite musical act but this is the first time I’ve actually been surprised by a release since I started listening.
Single and opening track “Less Than” had an amazing video.
The song itself is a great mix of the more dancy NIN sounds with the power chord rock of tracks like “The Hand that Feeds” and just really works
But the four remaining tracks are just… interesting. “The Lovers” which is inspired by Reznor’s struggles with addiction when he was in New Orleans. It also shares some qualities with “Dear World” the second track on Not the Actual Events — lines such as “Yes, everyone seems to be asleep” being pretty immediate.
But really, the crown jewel is “The Background World” which is 11 minutes and just fucks with you.
I loved this album, even more than I have a NIN album in quite some time.
Another album that hit me hard is Masseduction (not pronounced Mass Education, fwiw)from St. Vincent. I fell in love with her music after hearing her self-titled album, and was anticipating this one. It’s different — less guitar heavy (but still got them, despite leaning more on an eletronic sound) and I just really enjoy it.
“New York” is a very somber track and listening to it while in NYC was a cool experience. I dunno why.
One other notable album this year, for me at least, was Melodrama by Lorde. I loved Pure Heroine, even if “Royals” was played to the point of Oblivion. The album’s vignette approach is great and I just absolutely adore it — especially “Homemade Dynamite” and “Sober”.
I also want to shout out to the fantastic 10th anniversary cover album of Tegan and Sarah’s “The Con”. You gotta listen to it.
Other notes:
- Cold Dark Place EP by Mastodon was pretty good, and a more solid effort than Emperor of Sand overall?
- Humans Become Humans by Aristophanes
- The Persona 5 OST
- The Blade Runner 2049 OST
- The Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross rework of Halloween.
- HEALTH remixed Ghost’s “He Is” and it’s terrifying and great
- Virtual Self is an EP of music that sounds like it could be in a Beman igame and I am glad Porter Robinson embraced his inner rhythm game nerd
- Eminem is boring now
- NERD’s new album is pretty cool
- Cyndi Lauper’s “Back in Your Head” cover bonus track
