I want to start by saying I love the Animal Show. Maybe I need to reiterate that: I truly am both an avid reader and a huge fan. And although that is a clear harbinger of criticism, I hope I’ll be allowed to continue. One of the very few faults of this fantastic beacon of the blogosphere is their unbridled Vampire Weekend devotion, yet total disregard for Born Ruffians. And while the Vamp Weeky deserve a great deal of adulation, Born Ruffians too deserve their fair share.

Hailing from Midland, Ontario, the group is made up of lead hollerer and guitarist Luke LaLonde, with Mitch Derosier on bass and Steven Hamelin on drums. The trio met in high school back in hockey country and have been playing together ever since. They released their first EP back in 2006, Born Ruffians, and, while it ran for just 16 minutes, they quickly and impressively punched everyone who heard it in the face. The first track “This Sentence Will Ruin/Save Your Life”, is an upbeat and honest chronicle of many adolescents’ lives, slamming into its opening with a healthy dose of hollering (as per usual with Born Ruffians) before leading into tender and heartfelt lyrics like “I need a girlfriend I’m lonely/ Someone to love me and fuck me/ I need to get laid immediately/ but also one to fulfill my needs.” In this instance Born Ruffians demonstrate both their honesty and borderline vulgarity. While they don’t even attempt to reach the impressive baudy heights of, say, that voice of a generation Cam’ron, I’m not sure those lyrics are exactly PG. I would go through the other five songs but, frankly, this article is already longer than I intended.

In 2008, they released their first LP, Red, Yellow & Blue (also the name of the first track). With the Born Ruffians EP, they had to quickly make their mark; Red, Yellow & Blue is a more controlled chaos. They are similar to Vampire Weekend minus Africa and the Upper West Side. Both feature impressive falsettos at the helm and hooting and hollering galore. Remember how cool Veepy Weepy was until every wannabe and top 40 listener knew who they were? Well, that’s Born Ruffians! All the cool and fun minus the mainstream! Think how cool you will be again!

I just realized how excessive and annoying those exclamation points are. I apologize, and I will cease.

Back to Red, Yellow & Blue: I will for the most part let the record speak for itself, which it does effectively in its fun, upbeat and simple melodies. I do however feel inclined to mention one technique that Born Ruffians use to keep their songs interesting:  halfway through their songs, they tend to completely change the style. The first half of “Little Garçon” is Luke LaLonde softly professing his love with his co-troubadors backing him up with some beautiful humming. But at about 2:06 the song begins to pick up the pace and change temperament completely. Another example of this signature mid-song change is on “Kurt Vonnegut.” The song starts loud and strong with the usual hollering, yet at about 2:29 the song begins its true genesis: the rest of the track is a round between the three, with instruments gradually dropping off until all is left is simply a beating bass drum and vocals. The second part is a truly striking Romeo-esque call to a Juliet up in her bedroom attempting to woo her down for a healthy dose of teenage lovemaking (see above).

Born Ruffians are currently in the early stages of writing and recording their next album. They have not yet set a date, but they suggest sometime either at the end of ’09 or early ’10. So in conclusion, not just for me, but for you, start blaring Born Ruffians and ride atop the beautiful wave of your very own trend (well mine, but I’ll lend it to you). I’ll start you off with one classic from Born Ruffians, and two great jams off of Red, Yellow & Blue and let you discover the rest with the multiple listens that I promise will ensue.

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This Sentence Will Ruin/Save Your Life – Born Ruffians (YSI)

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Barnacle Goose – Born Ruffians (YSI)

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Kurt Vonnegut – Born Ruffians (YSI)

What are you waiting for. Invest in your very own copy!

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Fuck.

Well, here were are again. Another year, another black president, another round of Grammy Awards… the sad cycle of life continues. The 51st annual (really semi-annual, go look at the Wikipedia page) were filled with really shitty awards (surprise surprise) and some truly awesome performances. Below the jump is my recap and commentary on this year’s Grammy Awards… but be forewarned. The path is filled with overly pretentious opinions, stupid jokes, spelling errors, grammar errors, and hobgoblins of the worst variety.

Please note, there are NO MP3’s below the jump. Videos only! With that said…

Let’s start with a little recap:

When I first read the nominations, I was filled with quite a bit of joy. While Fucked Up had (unfortunately) not been recognized for The Chemistry of Common Life, a number of great artists were recognized for their 2008 creations. M.I.A’s Paper Planes was up for “Best Song That Was Overplayed and Then Became The Official Anthem of Sorority Sisters Trying To Be ‘independent’ Or Something”. Uffie wannabe ‘Duffy’ was nominated 3 times for something or other, and The Academy seemed to love that ‘wacky’ Sgt. Pepper cover group Coldplay:

Hey Coldplay, Paul McCartney called. He told me to tell you to stop making references to him whenever you receive awards.

Additionally, several really good artists were nominated for various awards, like Lupe Fiasco (The Cool, Best Rap Album), Estelle and Kanye (American Boy, best duo rap performance, Song of the Year), Béla Fleck & The Flecktones (Jingle All The Way, Best Pop Instrumental Album), Beck (That new album that everyone keeps telling me to listen to but I haven’t yet sorry Carl, Best Alternative Rock Album), and Radiohead (OMG Thom Yorke, Best Alternative Rock Album)

Finally, there were a few independent artists who were given niche nominations just so The Academy can say “look, we’re hip too” like No Age (Nouns, Best Type Face or something), Justice/MGMT (Eletric Feel (Justice Remix), There Is A Best Remix Category???), and essentially Kimya Dawson (Juno Soundtrack, Best album that made me HATE The Moldy Peaches).

To say the least, I liked the outlook of this years awards. Maybe the deserving will be rewarded this year…

So, Marquis, how were the results???

Frankly… pretty fucking poor. As predicted, the results heavily favored sales and ‘ass kissery’ over talent or artistic integrity. For instance, Hot Chip lost “Best Dance Track” (’track’ was the 420th word of this post… lol) to Daft Punk, Lil Wayne beat out Lupe for “Best Rap Album”, and Metallica won “Best Metal Performance”, despite the fact that Dragonforce was nominated.

The biggest winners of the night were probably Robert Plant and Allison Krauss, who won the “major awards” despite the fact that their album had lukewarm reception from all the critics who actually critique music rather than giving an album a write-up and slapping an ‘x out of 5′ score to it (I’m looking at you Allmusic, Rolling Stone, Blender, etc.). I’ve only heard a few songs from the album, all of which are forgettable. I thought its overall merit was based on the fact that Plant had finally made something post-Zep that wasn’t horrendous, which is an assumption I garnered from all the positive reviews focused mostly on that aspect of the album, (in addition to Krauss’s voice [which is, admittedly, beautiful]). (EDITOR’S NOTE: I found Raising Sand pretty solid, though definitely not “album-of-the-year-good.” Still, definitely worth a spin. — Edw.)

Even the cool awards went to the profitable rather than the creative, with No Age losing “Best Packaging” to Metallica (are you fucking kidding me?) and best “non-Classical Producer” going to Rick Rubin (album listed: Red Album by Weezer, Death Magnetic by Metallica, and Seeing Things by Jakob Dylan [lol]) instead of Will.i.Am (American Boy, Pick It Up amongst other great pop songs) or Danger Mouse (Modern Guilt by Beck [sorry Carl], The Odd Couple by Gnarls, and Attack and Release by The Black Keys. Essentially, a really well known guy who produced a bunch of super mediocre albums (except for The Red Album, but I didn’t see Rivers Cuomo getting an award so…) beat out several people who produced at least one really good album/song. Additionally, Rick Rubin sits at a console adjusting levels, while both Danger Mouse and Will.i.Am ACTUALLY produce (lay down backing beats) songs. You decide who actually deserves an award…

But you knew that was going to happen, dumbass. Why did you bother watching?

Not gonna lie, I was excited about the performances. And, boy, did they deliver. I was a tad worried after U2 (they’re still a group?) and that weird ensemble of Al Greene, Boyz 2 Men, Keith Urban, and JT both gave pretty forgettable performances, but my faith in the power of an awards show was revitalized after Coldplay teamed up with Jay Z to give a spectacular duet before hitting the crowd with the all-too-catchy ‘Viva La Vida’. Kid Rock’s performance is worth watching just for the humorous sampling of Sweet Home Alabama in All Summer Long, and Jenifer Hudson delivered her single “You Pulled Me Through” with force… she has a seriously beautiful voice:

However, shit never takes off unless Kanye is involved, and the live Grammy performances are no exception. Though the mixing might have been off for Estelle and Kanye’s duet on American Boy, both Kanye’s energy and Estelle’s vocal talents were totally on. Not to forget ‘Kanye West’s Multi-directional-light-reflecting Coat of Dreams”:

(a higher quality video can be found here)

Seriously, could it get any better?

Yes.

Yes, it most definitely can. The introduction of the “Rap Pack” had me obsessed with this performance of ‘Swagga Like Us’ before the music even began. But the group managed to one-up their own introduction by appearance alone. Not only was M.I.A deep in the throws of full-on pregnancy, but T.I, Jay-Z, Kanye West, and lil’ fucking Wayne were all wearing tuxedos and amazing sunglasses. Lil’ Wanye’s name is high-lighted because his tux was custom tailored to have baggy slacks. AWESOME. I can’t use words to describe how high energy the performance was, so I’ll just roll the video:

(a much much higher quality rip can be found here)

I really hope that this group keeps making music together. In addition to having a nickname already picked out for them, they make some amazing music. Can you really go wrong with the 4 biggest names in rap? Well, probably yes, but they’ve easily got at least one GREAT album that would appeal to both the “indie Pitchfork” and “frat house Rolling Stone” crowds. KANYE IF YOU ARE READING THIS MAKE IT HAPPEN.

I guess Radiohead performed (OMG Thom Yorke):

[googlevideo=http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5175317999285072447&hl=en]

Lastly (and I am skipping quite a few performances here, because most of them were boring except for Dave Grohl ROCKING THE FUCK OUT with Paul McCartney) I found Weezy’s solo performance to be mentionable. I thought the arrangement was well planned, though the amount of political commentary was a little over the top. Robin Thicke can still sing (holy crap…).

So, what was the best part of the night?

BLINK 182 REUNION

I’m not sure if I can explain just how happy this makes me. Granted, their new album will probably sound like a combination of +44 and Angels and Airwaves (re: horseshit) but that’s okay. That fact that there is a remote chance of Tom DeLonge singing about “M.I.L.F’s”, dog crap, and hand jobs again makes me SO HAPPY. Not to mention the fact that there is now a remote chance of my ultimate 8th grade fantasy coming true: a Blink 182 and Weezer tour (maybe Tenacious D will open). Seriously.

Any last words, Marquis?

No. Why did I do this instead of my homework. I hope you didn’t actually read all of that.

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Only 8 days left to wear these!

I know, I know, dear readers. You’ve been so very patient these past 24 hours waiting for this, and I appreciate it. Well, now you can stop sending me hate emails, and feast your eyes and ears on this cornucopia of musical goodness. Just in time for Christmas Eve.

Did you know making year-end lists is hard? I really hadn’t counted on there being so much writing involved in blogging. I thought it was all about writing funny things over people’s faces in MS Paint. Dagg, yo. Anyway, I wrote many many words, and I hope you read at least one out of every 5. That’s really what I’m going for.

Catch the list after the break.

• 10) MGMT – Oracular Spectacular: Technically a 2007 release, I’m including this because the physical release was 2008. And because I don’t care to split hairs. I liked this album a lot, but not as much as some people (deep, right?). Mainly, I was turned off by the album art. What the hell, guys? Do you think you’re cooler than me? I can paint my face, too. Anyway, there are some sweet tracks on here, which have inspired some even sweeter remixes. Check em both out.

MGMT – Electric Feel

• 9) Esau Mwamwaya – The Very Best Mixtape: I do a lot of reading the internets for music. Presumably, you do too, unless you’re my dad, in which case, Hi, Father. Anyway, in September, the entirety of the information superhighway was blowing up with news of this dude, Esau Mwamwaya (pronounce his name just by reading it so fast that noone can tell the difference). He was totally bringing afro-pop into the world-wide-web generation, man. He sang Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa! Totes out-Africa’d Vampy Weekend! And then he released this super-sweet mixtape for free, and I was all like, dang, bro, this is sum hawt shitt. You’ll prolly be like that, too.

Esau Mwamwaya – Funa Funa

• 8 ) Cut Copy – In Ghost Colours: The word “Colours” snagged me, although this album has the dubious distinction of being the only one on this list I purchased at Pitchfork’s recommendation. To be fair, I bought it because I was going to Pitchforkfest (which I cannot recommend highly enough), and they were one of the bands on the lineup I hadn’t heard of. I was not disappointed. My major criticism of Pitchfork is their love for music more cacophonic than melodic. Cut Copy is none of that. If anything, they err on the side of Eurotrash pop beats, which is fine by me. All in all, this is an album which delivers the jams without compromising intelligence.

Cut Copy – Feel the Love

• 7) She & Him – Volume One: Zooey Deschanel is a mystery to me. Mainly because I have no idea how to pronounce her name. I’ve been told it’s supposed to be like Zoe, but I will continue to call her “Zoo-ee” until she personally corrects me. I find that exoticism makes her all the more attractive. She has one of those instantly recognizable voices, and the songs on Volume One could have been written forty years ago. And I mean that in the best way possible. She’s a cutey patootie. I’m waiting for Volume Two.

She & Him – This is Not a Test

• 6) Okkervil River – The Stand Ins: I had a poster of the cover art from The Stage Names up on my wall last year, and I told my roommate at the time that I thought it would be hard to find creepier album art. Then Okkervil River stepped it up, to make something even more disturbing. Then put them together. Yummy. This was completely a sequel to The Stage Names, which was, at one point, going to be a double album. Stage Names was probably my favorite album of 2007, so I was understandably very excited about Stand Ins, and it really didn’t disappoint. It didn’t have as many amazing individual songs as Stage Names, but it flows perfectly and makes me all the more excited about the prospect of new Okkervil material. Of course, now if they don’t release another album in 12 months I’ll probably be disappointed.

Okkervil River – Bruce Wayne Campbell on the Roof of the Chelsea Hotel, 1979

• 5) E-603 – Something for Everyone: If Girl Talk and Diplo had a lovechild, I would be very confused. But I’d be a lot more interested if, instead of Girl Talk, E-603 and Diplo had a lovechild. Because I think E-603 is legitimately better than Girl Talk. And not just because he looks like this or dresses like this, or writes things like this. Having seen both perform this year, I can say that E-603 puts on a better show. Period. Whereas Girl Talk plays through his hits, prolonging some samples and occasionally venturing into new material for a few seconds, E-603’s show is completely different every time. I kept looking for my favorite samples from the album, and being impressed and surprised when the ones I heard were even better. His debut album is all the mash-up I need. And it’s available for free on his website. Download it now.

E-603 – Crystal Friend

• 4) Santogold – S/T: If I said this was due to my embarrassing affection for Gossip Girl, I wouldn’t be giving Santi enough credit. But I can’t say it didn’t help. If you’ve never heard the blood-curdling “Ah-ah-ah-ahhh”s of “Creator,” you’re missing out. I’m not afraid to say I like Santogold more than M.I.A., and her collaborations have been sick. Though I have too much of a conscience to post her album (you should buy it. Now.), she did release a mixtape with Diplo, one of my favorite DJs of the year, which is nasty (and an honorable mention on this list). Catch it.

Santogold – Creator

• 3) TV on the Radio – Dear Science: 2006’s Return to Cookie Mountain has been one of my favorite albums of the past couple years. It showed TV on the Radio’s stepping in stride, perfecting their formula for hard-hitting electro-rock. I would have been all right with a straight sequel to that (a la The Stand Ins), but Tunde and the boys rocked my world with a deep and troubled album that still rocks. I feel it’s hard to write about it in a way that gives it enough credit. Just listen.

TV on the Radio – Halfway Home

• 2) Fleet Foxes – Sun Giant EP/ S/T LP: Pitchfork packaged this as their number one, the LP I bought came with the EP in it, and both were released in ’08. I’ll follow Subpop’s lead and do the same. Enough has probably been written about Fleet Foxes, but I’ll say this: the album continued to surprise me. It stood the test of time, of overplay, of overblogging, and still came out a surprisingly strong effort. I’m a big fan of indie-folk, and this seems to be the perfection of it. The most amazing thing about Fleet Foxes to me is how note-for-note they could replicate their harmonies live. Listening to them, you’d assume that overdub after overdub had gone into the recording, but those chords in White Winter Hymnal really just are a few guys singing together. Beautiful.

Fleet Foxes – Drops in the River (From the Sun Giant EP)

• 1) Vampire Weekend – S/T: It’s a little disappointing to me how quickly the tide of public approval can turn against an artist. Overexposure really is deadly (and I suppose I’m not doing much to remedy that..), and Vampire Weekend suffered more than any other band in 2008. They deserved all of the hype, though. They brought simple youthful joy to music for upper-middle-class hipster kids. They exposed the too-cool-for-school to pure, unadulterated fun. And that’s no easy task – I saw them in concert in July, and, during “A-Punk,” they attempted to get audience participation in the form of a few well-placed “ohs.” Ezra Koenig, before teaching us, looked out at the audience (which had been standing still for the entirety of the 4 songs leading up to the moment) and asked, “do you guys do this? Are you into this?” Not really, but Vampire Weekend helped them try.

Vampire Weekend – M79

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Droids + Wookies = Christmas

As a self-aware nerd, there are few things I love as much as awkward Star Wars tie-ins. And none of them are as good as the bumbling attempts at holiday relevance.

Of all those, one stands head and shoulders above the rest. More stomachable and overlooked than the infamous Holiday Special, this album was a fantastic mistake. Anthony Daniels claims he doesn’t remember it. Sure, Anthony, sure. But I do. And now you can, too. Link after the break.

R2-D2 and C-3PO Proudly Present Christmas in the Stars

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• 5) Beyonce – Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It): If you haven’t seen the music video for this, you’re living under a rock. I’m still working on learning the moves, but I’ve got this much down: having a Robotic Hand makes everything a little cooler. This is an uncompromising joy ride of hard-hitting beats and the sort of wails only Beyonce can pull of. It’s no “Irreplaceable,” sadly, but it’s my November party anthem nonetheless.
• 4) Vampire Weekend – Ottoman: Vampire Weekend are crazy addictive. I’ve probably listened to the album 50-odd times now, and by the end I’m always craving the beginning again. By mid-September, however, I was craving new material. Luckily this gem dropped right around then. Not ashamed to cover ground they’ve tread well, those cheeky Manhattanites followed their pattern perfectly, going so far as to even repeat lyrics from a previous song. Oh-ho! Indie bastards! How I hate to love you!
• 3) Swizz Beats – That Oprah: Viva La Vida is like the flaming bag of crap you leave on your old racist neighbor’s doorstep, but, because you rang his doorbell at 8:30 PM, he answers the door without his glasses and mistakes the enflamed turd for an orphaned baby who needs changing. Later, you see him walking the poop in a stroller around the block, and you think, “how the hell did I work my way into this metaphor?” Has noone caught onto how boring and repetitive that album is? Do people still like Coldplay uncompromisingly? I enjoy 3 songs on Viva La Vida, and that’s on days when I’m feeling generous. This masterpiece/craptastrophy samples the opening salvoes of the title track of my choice for most over-rated album of 2008, and then provides some choice rhymes over the pop beat. My personal favorite couplet? “Bill Gates! Steve Jobs! iPhones! Microsoft!” Shakespeare is crying in his grave.
• 2) The Black Kids – I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance With You: Every now and then, you get a free song on iTunes that’s worth more than just one listen. I was really excited when I saw this was free, because the Black Kids definitely deserve the exposure that got them. Basically, this has everything I look for in songs to beat to death: a hummable synth part, repetitive lyrics, and explicit references to dance. If you can sing or shout “dance” while dancing, you know it’s an awesome song.
• 1) Estelle ft. Kanye West – American Boy: Late summer and early fall of this year, it was hard for me to turn my head without hearing this song. And I can say honestly I liked it more every time I heard it. Each of those million times. In a year in which Kanye spent the better part embarrassing us with off-key warbling, this reminded me of why I loved him. I’ll give you a hint why – the man drops hot rhymes about his clothes being designer. Also, the way he enunciates the “rubbish” at the end of his verse is priceless.

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