The Best of Times, The Worst of Times (Part 2)

Best Album Title of 2008:
Atmosphere - When Life Gives You Lemons...You Paint That Shit Gold!

While admittedly I have yet to hear a note (much less song) off the long-awaited album from this Minneapolis hip-hop duo, I am now more inclined to based on the record's title alone. Someone was handing out promotional stickers of this album's potty-mouth phrase, and I gladly swooped up as many as I could. Words to live life by.

Worst Album Title of 2008:
Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - Cardinology

If you were to judge Ryan Adams' latest offering solely based on the cover/title combo, this one would end up in the stinker. The artwork looks like it was designed for an 8th grade science project on Miscrosoft Paint circa 1993. Fortunately, the music does the talking here. Great album; terrible artwork and title choice. On a good day, Prince can get away with naming an album Musicology. Not so sure if Ryan's got the credentials just yet to add the "-ology" suffix to any of his.

Most Improved Player of 2008:
Death Cab For Cutie - Narrow Stairs

While this one was in the running for Worst Album Cover of the Year, I couldn't resist giving the award to MMJ (even though this one gives me a headache when staring too long). Ok, so let me explain this award. While the sports metaphor doesn't quite fit here (I understand that album cannot physically change/improve once released), this is the record that just got better and better the more I listened throughout the year. I was completely wrong when I gave this one the measly 6.5 in April. Although I still stand by the fact that "I Will Possess Your Heart" was a terrble first single selection (to go along with it 8+ minute length), the follow-up singles (and videos) were brilliant. Way to pick it up boys.

Worst Dropoff of 2008:
N*E*R*D - Seeing Sounds

Like Death Cab's rating, this one clocked in at a respectable 6.5/10. However, if I got a re-do, this album's score would be much lower. I can't think of a record that plummeted so fast off my radar (and consequently iPod) than N*E*R*D's third release. In fact, this one was so forgettable that I have to think twice to remember that Pharell and crew even released an album this year.

Best Surprise of 2008:
Nine Inch Nails - The Slip

Ok, so I'm talking about actual surprises here. Like having no idea about an album until it actually came out. This seemed to be a trend that got kicked-off last year with the now legendary In Rainbows experiement. Earlier this year, Trent Reznor gave us a freebie with the excellent single "Discipline." But little did we know that this was just the beginning. A couple of weeks later, he posted an entire album on his website as a gift to his fans with the simple message, "thank you for your continued and loyal support over the years - this one's on me." The most shocking part of all? This just happened to be his most focused effort since 1994's The Downward Spiral.

Worst Surprise of 2008:
Bloc Party - Intimacy

This one just goes to show that sometimes experiments don't always work out as planned. Bloc Party announced that they had entered the studio this summer with an expected 2009 release date for their third album. Then one day in August they surprised us all by announcing that the album would be ready for download by the end of that week. But unlike the Nine Inch Nails record, there were no freebies and apparently not much time thinking this through. Instead, we got a choppy record chock full of the experimental electronica bullshit that made A Weekend In The City so utterly dismissible. Sadly, this uber-talented band is now 1-2 in my book.

Best Album Hype of 2008:
Coldplay - Viva La Vida


I think I've made it abundantly clear that I didn't want to like the new Coldplay record. Considering how overrated and decadent this band has become, it makes it very easy to want to throw rocks at Chris Martin's head whenever he flamboyantly gallivants around the stage. But unfortunately, I gotta call a spade a spade and agree that this one lived up to the hype. Produced by Brian Eno, this one is better than anything U2 has put out in a very long time -- further proving that there's a new king in town. Rebounding from 2005's X&Y, Coldplay is a rare success story in the 2008 dismal realm that is mainstream music.

Worst Album Hype of 2008:
Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III

Now I'll be the first to admit that there's a thing or two I can learn about hip-hop, but I just KNOW this album is utter garbage. When I hear about albums that are terrible yet get almost universal praise, I begin to question the sanctity of this industry (like I didn't already). Sometimes critics are lemmings, and this is just another example of it. Now Wayne is everywhere --- from Kanye West's album to the new Fall Out Boy. This stinks to high heaven.

The Hand That [Continues To] Feed

When it rains it pours for Trent Reznor. And it is only appropriate that the god of industrial music has become an album pumping machine as of late. After giving away the first part of Ghosts earlier this year, Reznor surprised us last week by offering a free download of a damn good song called "Discipline." Little did his legions of fans realize that this was just the beginning. In a move that has seemingly one-upped Radiohead's generosity, Reznor turned the music world on its head earlier this week by not only announcing that he had completed his most recent project, The Slip, but announcing that is was immediately available for free download on the official Nine Inch Nails site. Furthermore, the album is being offered in a multitude of formats, encouraging audiophiles to get their fix and remixers to get to work. Reznor in response, posted the message, "thank you for your continued and loyal support over the years - this one's on me."

And for those Nine Inch Nails fans who were a little skeptical about the two-disc, all instrumental Ghosts compilation Reznor released last month (it only debuted at 14 on the Billboard charts), this album will surely tide them over. Because what we are essentially given is a classic Nails record. Whether or not intended to be continuation of Ghosts, the album begins with the now token ominous instrumental track "999,999" before blasting into the pounding, appropriately titled "1,000,000" -- a song that could have very well been an a-side on the underrated With Teeth. The album's single, "Discipline," is equally astonishing, providing a powerful industrial beat NIN patented on Pretty Hate Machine and the convincing chorus, "Once I stop, I can't control myself." Perhaps this is a nod his newfound prolific nature.

Reznor, renown for his experimentation, contrasts the ambitiously cacophonous "Letting You," with an intimate piano ballad, "Lights In The Sky." The most impressive song on this album, however, is "Echoplex", a song that features complex, layered guitars mixed with an unfamiliar beat. The Slip continues with the ambient "Corona Radiata" before concluding with the aggressive, synthesizer-heavy "Demon Seed." At 44 minutes, this ten song collection is definitely worth the space it will take up on your iPod. If people thought NIN was going soft, they were gravely mistaken. And even if this is no Downward Spiral, Reznor is immediately forgiven because he continues to prove that he knows what's up. In an era of piracy, file-sharing, and mash-ups, he not only encourages fans to freely take his music, but also challenges them to make it better. Rather than alienating those have supported him for so long, he is one of the few people in the industry to actually knows how to preserve that connection.

My Rating: 8.0/10

The Hand That Feeds

It looks like brilliant minds think alike. In a move very reminiscent of Radiohead's In Rainbows "giveaway", Trent Reznor has opted to offer a completely free download of part I of the new Nine Inch Nails record. The project, entitled Ghosts, is a four volume set consisting of new instrumental material that Reznor has been working on since last year's Year Zero releases. According to Stereogum, eager fans can immediately get their hands on Volume I HERE. Or, if you are one of the diehards, you can pick your poison: $5 for a download of all four volumes (36 tracks), $10 for the complete download WITH CD's containing the songs, and $75 for the discs, special fabric slipcase and DVD. If you have nothing better to do with your money, $300 will get you ALL of the said material WITH limited-edition vinyl signed by the man himself. Choices, choices.

The label-less Reznor, who has not exactly been silent about his frustrations with the current state of the music industry, is self-releasing this album without the support of a big label funding. It is going to be very interesting to see how this project fares, particularly because this is NIN's first foray into the instrumental world. It didn't exactly work for the Beastie Boys, but hey, free is free and Trent's the man.