The last 5 years in particular have been a singles heavy market.  And a great decade for Pop music, providing slamming tracks and summer jams.  As a consumer we cherry pick albums, saying yay or nay after a 30 second preview, looking for the most immediate songs.  It’s a barrage of info and choice, custom TV dinners.  The avenues through which music reaches us are innumerable, all of which has been giving me musical indigestion and melodic A.D.D.

In my own quiet way, I found the answer of how to enjoy the Album again. It’s a backwards revolution…I got on my bicycle and rode around at night, without my hands searching through songs or cutting off carefully faded outros, I let these albums play in there entirety, twice.

I purchased two albums these past few weeks to highlight, stylistically a world apart, but similar in there, uh, Album-ness. Let me preface by saying I make no apologies for good taste, I like any music that touches my soul or excites me.

Miike Snow – Miike Snow

Somewhere between Wilco, Techno & Journey, is Miike Snow.  They are a band, not a person…that’s only the first confusing bit.  The occasional boy band lyrics aside and  bedroom techno production,  it’s the willfull appropriation of any and every style that makes this album truly modern.  I think that appropriation with intent and intelligence is the calling card for albums released in the 2000’s.  Here, on the self-titled debut, this blender effect is done in equal and effortless parts, making a highly enjoyable album.  I will return to this album fondly in the future.  That makes me happy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niKT-kJfUz4

Mariah Carey – Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel

(Yeah, you read that right!)

For the few people who’ve been reading my posts, yes I love a good jam, and DAMN ! this album is one slow-cooking mofo.  For the same reason MOIMA is great, I can understand why someone wouldn’t like it;  The songs blend into each other, the production is somewhat ‘same-y.’  What that does is sacrifice the idea of the single (with the exception of Obsessed, which isn’t even that major, and my least favorite song). And makes what is surely the most solid R&B album I’ve heard in some time. A cashmere blanket instead of a cup of coffee

Check out H.A.T.E.U.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCndwmvdMSI 

X

Del

DEL DEMO

Bonus Oddity – Let Me Tickle Your Fancy – Jermaine Jackson (Demo cover by Del with Xavier on Vocals)

This was off of Jermaine’s first solo album for Motown, when he was poised to be as big (if not bigger) than his brother Michael.  The record was executive produced by Devo (!) how amazing is that.  You can definitely hear the Devo-fluence in this track.  And as a bonus, I fished out a Demo I did of this song with my friend Xavier.  Strangely enough, the gentlemen who co-produced my solo record, is wrapping up production on the NEW Devo record…work.

http://delmarquis.com/tickle/