Your guide to retro 2008. The unoriginality matrix. The rip-off ledger. “It happened last year ... and a few years before that, and a bunch of times in the 10 years prior, and then probably it happened for the first time about 12 years before that.”
All these titles will work just fine. None are truly fair, and indeed there’s a good deal of this music that I like. But the first rule of snobby criticism is that if there’s enough to like then there’s enough to not like. So ...
| That 2008 “best of” band ... | ... basically sounds like ... | ... circa: |
| Crystal Castles | Kraftwerk | 1981 |
| Crystal Stilts | Velvet Underground | 1968-69 (“quiet” period) |
| Jay Reatard | Billy Childish | 1991 |
| Beach House | Mazzy Star | 1993 |
| Lykke Li | Björk? (does she have a less talented sister?) | 1995 |
| School of Seven Bells | Lush | 1990 |
| TV on the Radio | TV on the Radio | 2006 |
| Metallica | Metallica | 1988 |
| Guns N’ Roses | Guns N’ Roses | 1991 + 25 TB of tinkering |
| Fleet Foxes | My Morning Jacket | 2003 |
| Department of Eagles | Grizzly Bear | 2004 |
| Santogold | M.I.A. | 2005 |
| The Ting Tings | Toni Basil with Devo | 1981 |
| Vivian Girls | Beat Happening covering My Bloody Valentine | 1989 |
| AC/DC | AC/DC | 1980 |
| Hercules and Love Affair | Pet Shop Boys | 1988-ish |
| The Hold Steady | Shane MacGowan with the E Street Band | 1984 |
| Girl Talk | Soulwax | 2001 |
| Portishead | Portishead | 1997 |
Contributions? Challenges?
Coming soon: My best-of list(s) for 2008.
10 comments:
OK, I know you put the Portishead comment in there just to piss me off. They don't sound like "Portishead circa 1997." They sound like "Goth kids from 'South Park' abusing Pro Tools circa 2008."
Other than that, you have broken new ground with this post. It makes every year-end top-10 list look totally pointless.
Vampire Weekend = Paul Simon circa 1986
Well, a yelpier Paul Simon.
Actually I've always found the "Vampire Weekend = Graceland" thing completely off. A little Afropop does not a Paul Simon rip-off make.
But listen to those bass lines! It's Graceland all over.
If I listen to Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa and I Know What I Know back to back (which I just did), the only thing really that different between the two are some vocal mannerisms and production (Vampire Weekend's is much flatter and the arrangements are more minimal, Mr. Simon has hella loud reverby 80s drums, etc.)
Well, and the African backup singers.
Funny, I just heard that Vampire Weekend is flying in Ladysmith Black Mambazo next month to sing on their new record.
(Before everyone's heads explode, please note that I'm joking.)
The first "Creator" single from the Santogold record, does, indeed sound like MIA. Beyond that, it's a pretty lazy comparison.
MGMT = Bee Gees 1977
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