Best of 2009 Albums

The end of the year was amazingly busy. I know you are all probably sick of lists already but I'm gonna hit you with one more. I'm gonna skip any description and give it to you like it is.  Peace and love in 2010.

1. Miike Snow - Miike Snow

2. Regina Spektor - Far

3. La Roux - La Roux

4. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

5. Major Lazer - Guns Don't Kill People, Lazers Do

6. Matt & Kim - Grand

7. Ida Maria - Fortress Around My Heart

8. Passion Pit - Manners

9. Kid Cudi - Man on the Moon

10. Jay Z - Blueprint 3

Jay Z

One of my favorite ads in recent months that is not humorous. Its a really cool idea to have Jay Z walk through all this album covers.

Car Radios

So, as I walk through the Streets of Stamford, some noises have come to my attention.  I can't walk anywhere in Stamford without hearing the Blueprint 3, and its not any song in partiular.  I have heard D.O.A., Run This Town, On to the Next One, Empire State of Mind, Forever Young, and more almost the whole track listing.  I started to think, this makes sense, it is the most I have heard from one artist since Tha Carter III came out, and these are the two biggest heavyweights in the game.  My thoughts about the Blueprint 3 are still changing, I am liking the songs I liked more and more, but still hating the songs, I originally hated more and more, I dont know if that makes this a good record or what.

Outburt Weekend

 

In a weekend filled with the start of the NFL season, there were two other events that stole the show and everybody is talking about.  Let me tell you, as I watched Kanye steal and mic and poor little Taylor Swift's thunder I honestly felt bad, Kanye once again demanding the spotlight. But enough with him, his outburst does not compare to the brilliance of Serena Williams.

"I'm going to shove this ball down your f------ throat"    Any rational person who was getting screwed over as much as Serena would have said something along these lines.  The foot fault was way too close to call like that.  On the bright side, she got to attend the VMAs after that because she no longer had any tennis to play.  I wish that every weekend would have outbursts like this on large stages, it makes for great entertainment.

 

Not to be outdone, Lil Mama jumps on stage and tries to steal Alicia Keys and Jay-Zs thunder. They were doing a very good performance of Empire State of Mind and she just shows up and really doesnt do anything except look like a clown.  I would have to say having the VMAs live really gave it a spark that it needed and got everybody talking about it.  It may have been more enjoyable than all the football games this weekend minus the Broncos win.

 

The Blueprint 3

Well, I have been waiting a week to make this post. And after around 15 listens front to back, I still can't figure this album out.  Lets start off by getting this clear, this is no Reasonable Doubt, Blueprint, or Black Album.  But it's not Kingdom Come either. It starts off great with the first 6 or 7 tracks, minus Young Jeezy whose voice forces me to skip it almost ever time. It has both Run This Town and Empire State of Mind which are directly aimed at the z100 crowd, as much as Hov says "this aint for the z100 crowd...this is for hot 97."  Either the tracklisting was chosen incorrectly or the producers didnt match, but there is no flow in the second half of the record at all.  Beyond that, sometimes I forget whose album I am listening to because there are so many cameos who take up over half the track.  As I was listening, I could not find one song really that could be a club-banger so to say (On to the Next One is the only thing that comes close)  But overall, I will not say this is a bad album or a good album I need more time to evaluate it, but I am interested to see what single Jay-Z will choose next after D.O.A. and Run This Town.  I do think On to the Next One could work for Hot 97, although it gets pretty repetitive.  This blog post is definitely subject to change based on more I listen to it, but I have never before had to listen to a rap album this many times to get a feeling for it.

Biggest Question about this Album:
Is Young Forever needed on this album?  Come on, we all love forever young and Hov raps over it pretty smoothly, but could it just be on a soundtrack or something?