Every month Robert Christgau publishes the Consumer Guide for MSN Music, and every month he chooses a handful of songs off albums he otherwise isn’t interested in, labeling them “Choice Cuts.” (This month those honors go to a couple of Rough Guide collections, two Jason Mraz discs, and George Stanford.) That type of sorting through the stacks is something all critics do a little of, at least: certainly the MP3 makes it easier to do so than ever. So tell us–which albums so far this year have you found only a couple of remarkable songs on, and which ones are they? My own short list is after the jump.
The Black Angels, “The Return” (from Directions to See a Ghost, Light in the Attic). Since the Black Angels are the kind of neo-psychedelic band that sounds good when you first put them on but increasingly pointless over the length of an album, they’re kind of tailor-made for the designation.
9th Wonder and Buckshot ft. Swan, “Be Cool!” (from The Formula, Duck Down). The album tended to slide out of earshot for me, but 9th Wonder’s cut-up soul track always caught my attention.
Midnight Juggernauts, “Road to Recovery” (from Dystopia, Astralwerks) . The album’s mostly turgid, but this Justice-y disco track shines.
Zombie Zombie, “Psychic Harmonia 2″ (from A Land for Renegades, Versatile); Black Devil Disco Club, “For Hoped” (from Eight Oh Eight, Lo); Eliot Lipp, “Beyond the City” (from The Outside, Mush). Uneven electronic-dance albums are a dime a dozen, but these three each has at least one gem worth snatching: driving Italo-electro from Zombie Zombie, laid-back Italo-disco from Black Devil, shimmering electro-electro from Lipp.
Jay-Z vs. Public Enemy, “Roc Boys (THOSE MFs Remix)” (from Classic Gangster, mixtape). Findable from the usual places, most of this A-B matchup of the most recent Jay-Z album and vintage hip-hop tracks doesn’t usually go beyond its source material. This track, pairing the album’s greatest song and the squallingest parts of Nation of Millions, is the exception that proves the rule.
Please tell us yours in the comments.
Minisnap - New Broom (album gets a little samey, and never surpasses its stellar opening track)
Ladytron - Tomorrow (there are other good ones, i just picked my favorite. the album overall lacks the variety of “witching hour”)
Black Kids - Hurricane Jane (sorry :~/ ?)
Quiet Village - Pillow Talk (okay, the album’s pretty good overall, but nothing so transportative as “Pillow Talk”)
T.I. - No Matter What (i’m guessing nothing on Paper Trail is going to top this worthy “What You Know” rehash)
Neon Neon - I Lust U
Jamie Lidell - Figured Me Out (a complete snoozer of an album, but one song is nice and “Figured Me Out” is my favorite)
Hot Chip - One Pure Though (more like “One Good Song”! huurrrrr…)
Destroyer - Foam Hands (you do just stop caring what Bejar is nattering on about with this album)
Crystal Castles - Vanished (hateful, hateful group doing lazy idiotic music, but lord how i love this song)
Man Man-”Top Drawer”
This was the first track I heard from the LP, which I bought when it came out. The rest isn’t really bad, but just not really conducive to multiple listenings, in my opinion. This track though I listen to a lot still.
“Sunshine” & “Storms” off Person L’s Initial.
Crystal Castles - “Black Panther”
Duffy - “Distant Dreamer” (I actually really like the album as a cohesive work, but this is stunning; it’s head and shoulders above the rest of the album.)
Katy Perry - “Hot n Cold”
Ashanti - “Good Good”
Ratatat - “Shempi”
Janet Jackson - “Rock Wit U”
I’ve tried and I’ve tried and I’ve tried, but I eventually gave up on listening to Beck’s Modern Guilt past Youthless [Track 5]. The first five tracks are just so tight and well sequenced, and then BOOM(!) the songs just begin to meander like first takes of ideas “tossed off in a Silverlake living room.”
@westartedthis:
Huh, and just today I was thinking to myself that Trouble In Dreams might be my favorite Destroyer album yet.
I also really love that Crystal Castles album, too. One minute it makes me feel like breaking things, and the next I’m all chilled out and then bam, back to breaking. Something for everyone.
Ditto for the Jaime Lidell album, I like “Figured Me Out” but I also dig “Little Bit of Feel Good”.
“Hip-Hop Saved My Life” is the only track I still listen to from Lupe Fiasco’s latest offering
Mike Doughty - “Wednesday (Contra La Puerta)”
Firewater - “Three Legged Dog”
Bun B - “Get Cha Issue”
Elvis Costello - “Drum And Bone”
The Raconteurs - “You Don’t Understand Me”
The Raconteurs - You Don’t Understand Me
Coldplay - Viva La Vida
The Raveonettes - Aly, Walk With Me
Cut Copy - Midnight Runners
Islands - In the Rushes
The M’s - Big Sound
Coldplay - Lovers in Japan
Foxboro Hot Tubs - Mother Mary / Dark Side of the Night
Helio Sequence - Hallelujah
My Morning Jacket - Highly Suspicious
Vampire Weekend - M79
Walkmen and Wolf Parade both shit the bed so bad there really isn’t much to cherry pick :(
Delorean - As Time Breaks Off
This song is seriously infectious and has a cool guitar sound, but the rest of the album is just more of the same sans good hooks.
@PeterBjorn&Yawn:
Your Wolf Parade comment was so spot on buddy. I came so close to
typing Wolf Parade - At Mount Zoomer. Talk about picking up dust since
the day of purchase.
Also,
Glad to see that someone else gets a randy old kick out of My
Morning Jacket’s Highly Suspicious. That one gets me good everytime.
@PeterBjorn&Yawn: Your list seems to be the most similar to my taste of bands. I can honestly say I haven’t heard any of those tracks though, but will be sure to by the end of the week. Good job. Although, i’ve only heard about three songs from the new Coldplay, and one of those is “Lost” which I love. No love for “Lost”?
As far as cherry picking, i’ve been listening to the new Kings of Leon track they put up on their myspace. Anybody else listen to that yet? I love it. But then again, they’re one of my faves.
Vampire Weekend-Walcott
MGMT-Kids
Annie-Don’t Stop
Mudcrutch - wrong thing to do
My Morning Jacket - smoking from shooting
Abe Vigoda - all night all day
I am sure there are more.
Listing 25% of an album works for Xgau’s “Choice Cuts” feature. He’s done it a few times. That’s what “this exercise” is based on.
@Job: you shd give the Blige & Nas records another try. They’re keepers.
@Murk: @Job:
Cosign on that Blige tip. The same goes for Ashlee, Death Cab, and Jamie Lidell as well.
Funny… I actually really like At Mt Zoomer. Part of it may be that I got to see (ripping) live versions of the songs both before and after the album came out.
Jamie Lidell - Hurricane (not a “choice cut”, but the only track I return to).
Aimee Mann - Ballantines
Fleet Foxes - White Winter Hymnal
Erykah Badu - Master Teacher (favorite track by far on the album)
A lot of the other ones for me, are just albums that haven’t really gone too far beyond the singles (Ting Tings, — which is kinda what singles are all about, really.
@Job: Aw, I love the Kleerup album. I think it’s worth revisiting if only for 3AM… and Longing for Lullabies… and Music for Girl… & etc.
I’ve fucking loved Catcall’s “August” from the Anniversary EP.
It’s diametrically opposed to this topic but hey, it’s thursday afternoon, I’m drunk, I’m still at my desk, I have my bigass headphones on: I still cherry pick the ENTIRE Titus Andronicus record.
Where I listened to the entire album and decided to keep just the one song in iTunes:
Air France, “No Way Down” (from No Way Down)
Al Green, “Too Much” (from Lay it Down)
Black Affair, “It’s Real” (from Pleasure Pressure Point)
The Black Ghosts, “Until it Comes Again” (from untited debut album)
Death Cab For Cutie, “I Will Possess Your Heart” (from Narrow Stairs)
Alphabeat, “Go-Go” (from This is Alphabeat)
Ashlee Simpson, “Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya)” (from Bittersweet World)
Born Ruffians, “I Need a Life” (from Red, Yellow & Blue)
Clark, “Turning Dragon” (from Truncation Horn)
Coldplay, “Yes!” (from Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends)
Correcto, “No One Under 30″ (from Correcto)
Daedelus, “You’re the One” (from Love to Make Music to)
dEUS, “The Architect” (from Vantage Point)
Dwele, “If You Want to” (from Sketches of a Man)
Elbow, “The Bones of You” (from The Seldom Seen Kid)
Foals, “Olympic Airways” (from Antidotes)
Headman, “Super” (from Catch Me)
Jamie Lidell, “Hurricane” (from Jim)
Kleerup, “Until We Bleed” (from Kleerup)
Lenny Kravitz, “I Want to Go Home” (from It is Time for a Love Revolution)
Liam Finn, “Lead Balloon” (from I’ll Be Lighting)
The Magnetic Fields, “Too Drunk to Dream” (from Distortion)
Mark August, “3 of a Kind” (from Cocoon Compilation H)
Mary J Blige, “Roses” (from Growing Pains)
Moby, “Ooh Yeah” (from Last Night)
The Mountain Goats, “In the Craters on the Moon” (from Heretic Pride)
Mystery Jets, “Young Love” (from Twenty One)
Nas, “Fried Chicken” (from Nas)
Neon Neon, “Steel Your Girl” (from Stainless Style)
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, “We Call Upon the Author” (from Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!)
Pete Rock, “Don’t Be Mad” (from NY’s Finest)
The Plastic Constellations, “Stay That Way” (from We Appreciate You)
Princess, “Pretty Rave Girl” (from Class is in Session)
R.E.M., “I’m Gonna DJ” (from Accelerate)
The Rascals, “Freakbeat Phantom” (from Rascalize)
Shearwater, “The Snow Leopard” (from Rook)
Simone White, “I Am the Man” (from I Am the Man)
Thao with the Get Down Stay Down, “Bag of Hammers” (from We Brave Bee Stings and All)
Thomas Brinkmann, “Aleks in Love” (from Traum 100: 10 Years 100 Releases)
Throw Me The Statue, “About to Walk” (from Moonbeams)
Times New Viking, “My Head” (from Rip it Off)
Trimski, “Old School Bars” (from Soulfood Vol 3)
Tying Tiffany, “Not a Shame” (from Brain for Breakfast)
Wolf Parade, “Call it a Ritual” (from At Mount Zoomer)
Zombie Zombie, “Psychic Harmonia 2″ (from A Land for Renegades)
@Job: thank you for reminding me of “My Head” and “I’m Gonna DJ”. both fantastic songs from albums that, respectively, i found annoying or just kind of surprisingly un-shitty.
Cut Copy- out on the ice
Conor Oberst- Cape Canaveral
MMJ- Evil Urges
@Murk: Lil Wayne, “Mr. Carter,” “Dr. Carter,” “A Milli,” “Phone Home,” “Let the Beat Build”
Listing 25% of an album probably shouldn’t count for this exercise.
@Al Shipley: but it is true that a good part of the album should have been shit-canned for the previously “leaked” songs.
MMJ, “Smokin’ from Shootin’” & “Touch Me Pt. 2″
Lil Wayne, “Mr. Carter,” “Dr. Carter,” “A Milli,” “Phone Home,” “Let the Beat Build”
Lloyd, “Girls around the World”
Hot Chip “Ready for the Floor”
@fingerdancin96: Unless I am missing something (and I may well be) Don’t Stop is an entire album. Is the entire album a choice cut? (Say it is, say it is! The sampler is great already.)