Lil Wayne

Lil Wayne

I Am Not a Human Being

Cash Money, 2010

http://www.lilwayne-online.com/

http://www.cashmoney-records.com/

I've never been a huge fan of Lil Wayne and even less a fan of Cash Money. I always felt like Lil Wayne was kind of a douche and Cash Money is known for not paying royalties to producers. Double douchey. I like the fact that he attempts to come across as being absolutely out of his mind and will readily admit that he has some great tracks. I still bump "A Milli" because it's a fantastic track, but that's mostly because of Bangladesh's otherworldly production skills (most recently the work he put in on Nicki Minaj's "Did It on 'Em"). But on the whole, I've never been that impressed. I also find it laughable that some critics are quick to call him "the greatest rapper alive." But most people know that's total garbage. I think. Anyway, Lil Wayne's rhymes are clever, but that's about it. Album sales don't dictate lyrical ability.

I Am Not a Human Being has some decent tracks. The opener "Gonorrhea" had me thinking "okay, maybe this will be at least as good as Tha Carter III. " Unfortunately, it all quickly began to sound the same. It's not terrible, but not memorable either. It's good music to listen to when I don't want to think about anything. Kind of like Gucci. For mainstream hip hop it's alright, but I'll take Wiz Khalifa over Wayne any day. Turns out this is nowhere near as good as III but INFINITELY better than Rebirth, which I'm not even going to touch here. So in the end, I wasn't that surprised. It's pretty much what I would expect from Tunechi. Mediocrity.

N.A.S.A.

N.A.S.A.

The Big Bang

Spectrophonic, 2010

www.myspace.com/nasa

This is essentially a remix of 2009's Spirit of Apollo. I didn't really like that record, so I don't like this one. The only exceptions would be the Boombotz remix of "Whachadoin?" and the Treasure Fingers Epicwave remix of "Gifted". So basically, I listen to track five and six and then turn this s**t off. It's more of that hipster club stuff which, I'll admit, can be done well in the right hands (Spank Rock, Justice, LCD Soundsystem) and is atrocious when done poorly (N.A.S.A., Sleigh Bells, Diplo). It just feels.. dated. I mean, didn't Santigold's record drop in early '08? I would skip this one if I were you.

Caribou

Caribou

Swim

Merge, 2010

www.caribou.fm

www.mergerecords.com

I really don't like this. To me, this is almost unlistenable. However, the opening track "Odessa" is amazing. Really, really amazing. It almost makes up for the remainder of the record. Almost. It's like an early 80's dance track and Daniel Snaith's voice is tolerable, which is not the case for the rest of the tracks here with vocals. "Odessa" shows how great this album could have been if Snaith would just reign himself in a bit and not confuse creativity with grandiosity. It's probably one of my favorite songs this year even. Too bad the rest of the album is s**t. Yuck.

All the Saints

All the Saints

Fire on Corridor X

Touch & Go, 2009

www.myspace.com/allthesaints

www.tgrec.com

Seriously. I have found my new favorite band. For the moment. I first heard this band on a split with These Arms are Snakes and thought, "Hmmm...maybeee..". Then I bought Corridor X. Well played, sir. It's dark and slightly scary, but not in a nerdy way. It's more like if Washington Irving or Flannery O'Connor had played in a f***ing rad rock band. Okay so maybe that's not the best argument against being nerdy. But it's true, and holy s**t, it works. It's got a touch of American Gothic to it (or maybe that's just because I was driving through bumf**k Virginia when I first listened to it). They bill themselves as psychedelic rock, but don't let that fool you. This reminds me slightly of TAAS, but a bit more laid back and just straight forward rock. It's really impossible to explain so I'm just going to stop now. This is killer.

The Thermals

The Thermals

Personal Life

Kill Rock Stars, 2010

http://www.thethermals.com/

http://www.killrockstars.com/

My brother actually introduced me to these guys a few years ago. He gave me The Body The Blood The Machine, and for the most part I really liked it. I felt like it started off really strong, but kind of lost my attention towards the end. I enjoyed the whole anti-religion thing and what not, heavy-handed as it was. Then I obtained a copy of Now We Can See, and, well.. eh. So my expectations weren't exactly high when I decided to pick up Personal Life. Holy s**t. I was blown away. This record is everything that I always felt like this band could be but were either holding back on or felt like they were too cool to make. It's not blasphemous and aggressive like Machine. It's about love. All about love. And it f***ing rocks. It's definitely poppy, but it works for these guys. Seriously, there's a song on here that reminds me of Television's "Marquee Moon". Yeah. This is definitely going on my favorites of 2010 list.