102: picspam - my 2010 album superlatives.
{ done for challenge twenty-five @
picspammy. }i wanted to do a sequel to last year's spam, then this idea came to me as if from some higher power. i blame the 3 dedicated years I spent on my high school yearbook staff.
only albums have been taken into account. if I tried to do individual songs or singles, i'd be here forever.
- do not use/repost any of the following images without proper credit. namely @ tumblr. -
new amerykah pt. 2 - return of the ankh ; erykah badu
i could put erykah into many categories, but I had to go with the stunning visuals. hat-tip to designer emek.
track to blast:
"20 feet tall"
the power of madonna ; glee cast
i love the music in every episode, but this one wins for most entertainment value. i hope they do more themed eps. i know they have some mj coming up. i could do with some janet.
track to blast:
"what it feels like for a girl"
the king meets the president in africa ; michael jackson / fela kuti
i have no words for how genius this is.
track to blast:
"thriller vs. zombie"
flesh tone ; kelis
sigh. kelis my dear, i will follow you into the depths of musical transformation, but that doesn't mean i'll always like or understand it. and things were so promising with "acapella" as the lead single, too. i knew it was going to be a dance album, which is fine. could be great. but the cohesiveness got lost somewhere. the "acapella" music vid is my only favorite part of the entire project.
track to blast:
the segues and "acapella"
sunstorm ; zo!
this solo debut is flawless, and i hope zo! continues with more. but i also hope he keeps producing for the foreign exchange family, and eventually other artists. his talent is immense.
track to blast:
"flight of the blackbyrd"
i want you ; theophilus london
these days, it seems like mixtapes have more creative license than LPs. and theophilus puts out the best of the best. that charming mixtape is still my fave, but this is an excellent follow-up.
track to blast:
"soles of fire (chauffeur)"
record collection ; mark ronson and the business international
mark and everybody he collabo-ed with played all over the field with this album.
track to blast:
"somebody to love me"
airtight's revenge ; bilal
when the band stops playin and the lights go down and
the pusher man's gone and your friends ain't around
time to go home but it's early in the morning
and your thoughts won't stop but it's too late to get away
do you think about the good times?
or do you think about the bad?
wordsmithery on 1000.
track to blast:
"who are you"
for colored girls soundtrack ; various artists
i picked this because it's feel good music that you have to work for. the film and some of the songs involve hard confrontations that you have to have with yourself, but once you get past that, it's all beautiful.
track to blast:
"what more can they do"
how i got over ; the roots
this band has been changing the world on the low for years, imo. just another dissertation to add to the library.
track to blast:
"walk alone"
hope for haiti now ; various artists
it's studied in the fact that whomever organized it picked great songs, aligned them with the right artists to sing said songs, and pulled it off in a timely manner with class. the "we are the world" remake? polar opposite.
track to blast:
"hallelujah"
wake up! ; john legend / the roots
another example of great, strong song choices. an album of covers, remade by musical masters, during a time when everyone needs to hear the messages again.
track to blast:
"i can't write left handed"
/\/\ /\ Y /\ ; m.i.a.
she rocks her sound and doesn't care what anyone thinks. standing ovation.
track to blast:
"tell me why"
fela! obcr ; various artists
i'm a huge fela fan. this musical came to broadway in 2010 and with it came these stellar adaptations of some of the songs in his enormous discography. fela's influence can be heard across so many genres and i was happy to have the reminder of why. this is an album that never leaves my ipod.
track to blast:
"water no get enemy" / EVERYTHING
the archandroid ; janelle monáe
the world finally sat up and paid attention to janelle last year. i've been blasting her since 2006, during the days of the audition. I've enjoyed every moment of her journey and i'm starting to think it's impossible for her to disappoint. these suites do not sound like a debut album.
track to blast:
"faster" / EVERYTHING
~ fin. ~
previously
1: picspam | death proof rgb'd.
2: icons | janelle monae / napoleon dynamite.
3: picspam | the (almost complete) alphabet of tropes in RENT the movie.