Template-Based Charting

We have computerized template charting where I work. I'm not even sure what all of these are...

2010 Album of the Year

I've refrained from writing about music for quite some time now. It's not really out of lack of interest, but lack of time. However, a recent release has inspired me to take the extra time and effort to do so. That release is what I believe to be the best album of this year and the first masterpiece of this decade: Kanye West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.



Whether it is the best album of his career so far… well the verdict is still out on that, and I don't make that statement lightly. His first two albums will always be in the running for any "best-records" list I make, and this new release certainly deserves to stand next to those. In my mind, his best produced / best "sounding" album was his second Late Registration, and My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy nearly obliterates that one. The orchestration is richer and his palette of samples is broader than they have been in the past. He's gone beyond soul and hip/hop references and is now incorporating King Crimson and African Chant samples. Several songs go past the 7 minute mark to include lengthy piano/orchestral intros or even a 3-4 minute outro of him singing incoherently into a vocoder. However, this richness and near-indulgence don't take away from the record's grittiness and murkiness. He's simultaneously made the most orchestrated and most raw album of his career.

The appeal of Kanye's prior album, 808s and Heartbreak, was it's emotional rawness. When it was released, I felt that songs sounded incomplete, but I accepted that because I thought the lack of slick production helped the album get finished quickly, and as result be personal and emotionally naked. It was his Nebraska. Well, as of my listen to this new album, it appears that honesty and rawness have not been lost with the expansive production. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy delves even deeper into his psyche. The lyrics lay bare his character flaws and are full of self-loathing, paranoia, and insecurity. It has all the pessimism of his first album The College Dropout, but now that pessimism has turned away from society and inward to his own character. When I heard The College Dropout, I found myself disagreeing with his world-view and refuting his points song-by-song. I loved that he as enough of gifted lyricist that I could even have that kind of imaginary debate with him. Well, with this new album, I continue to have that kind of relationship to Kanye's lyrics. Although instead of debate, I think my reaction is more pathos and shock.

There is no one track that can possibly give a proper sample of what the experience of listening to this record is like. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy demands to be listened to from beginning to end. The track I've chosen to share lacks the lyrical depth of the rest of the record. It's definitely one of the more fun tracks on the album... the "banger" so to speak and the beats are awesome. The closing verse by Nicki Minal is a star-making performance... much like Busta Rhyme's breakthough when he closed out that A Tribe Called Quest song.

"Monster" (featuring Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj & Bon Iver) by Kanye West

Also some honorable mentions for other great albums this year:

• The ArchAndroid (Suites II and III) by Janelle Monáe
• Astro Coast by Surfer Blood
• Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty by Big Boi
• One Life Stand by Hot Chip