The Year in Music

Toasting revivals: from Adele's new pop standard to Paul Simon and other aging,raging rockers

Tom Waits
Adele
Photo via HaveeruOnline
The Decemberists
Justin Vernon of Bon Iver
Wilco
Paul Simon
Paul Simon/Facebook

Earlier this year, I was driving my 9-year-old daughter somewhere; I can't remember where or when. Hits 1, the SiriusXM channel for the hottest music of the day, was on, which is a given when the little girl is in the car.

My ears were being assaulted by one nonsensical piece of schlock after another, as usual, when the bleating receded to allow a lovely little piano arpeggio take center stage. In just moments, Adele’s wounded voice came on to accompany that piano, the beginning of “Someone Like You,” and I was floored.

That’s the funny thing about pop music: Just when you give up on it, something comes along to remind you why you fell in love with it in the first place.

Adele’s success not only revived the music industry (the monster sales for her album 21 were a major factor in the 3-percent increase in U.S. album sales), but it formed the first consensus between critics, fans, and radio in a dog’s age.

What was refreshing was how old-fashioned the execution was, a combination of excellent songwriting (mostly from Adele herself, the most underrated part of her skill-set); tasteful, soulful production; and a voice that recalls Aretha Franklin and Dusty Springfield and resonates with just about every wounded soul on the planet.

That’s the funny thing about pop music: Just when you give up on it, something comes along to remind you why you fell in love with it in the first place.

Adele is no doubt the dominant musical story from the year that was, but she wasn’t the only one. Here are some of the others that got my attention this year:

A new way to listen

Even if the music we heard wasn’t always inspired, the delivery systems for that music became more and more innovative. From Pandora to Spotify to music in the Cloud, I don’t quite understand all of it, but, as a music fan, I sure am enjoying it.

The idea that I can listen to just about any song on the planet anytime I want to is somewhat overwhelming to a guy who grew up trying to tape the hottest songs off the radio to my 8-track player just so I could listen to them at my own convenience.

The grumpy Luddite in me wants to turn up his nose at all of this; the music fan in me flips the Luddite off, sticks the headphones into the computer, and cranks the volume up.

Geezers on parade

Because radio means less and less these days in terms of success, older artists have come out swinging, knowing that they’ve got the best chance of being heard since they were in their heydays.

As a result, guys like Paul Simon, Robbie Robertson, Nick Lowe and Tom Waits showed the whippersnappers how it was done, putting out albums that were far more than echoes of past glory.

That's them in the spotlight

The morbid side of human nature demands that we use the end of the year as a time to reflect on what we’ve lost. It’s no different with music heroes, who always seem to leave us far too soon.

Among the many memorable figures who passed on this year, two stand out. Amy Winehouse’s sad deterioration cannot overshadow her singular talent, even if that talent was on display for far too brief a period. As for Clarence Clemons? Bruce Springsteen often described his saxophone player as the “King of the World.” Anyone who has ever heard the solo in “Jungleland” knows that there is no hyperbole whatsoever in that description.

Album of the year: Sorry, Adele, but no album gave me more enjoyment than the first one I heard in 2011 — The King Is Dead by The Decemberists.

R.E.M.’s members, thankfully, are still with us, but the band decided this year to call it quits. They parted on amiable terms, but, then again, they always did things a little different and a little better than other bands.

The best

I’m happy to report that there was enough great music this year to make compiling a best-of list a difficult proposition. So I’ll just throw some names out there off the top of my head:

Newcomers of the year: Tyler the Creator, Lana Del Rey, Dawes, Das Racist, Kurt Vile
Avoiding the sophomore slump in a big way: Fleet Foxes, Bon Iver
Continued greatness: Wilco, Radiohead

Which leaves my album of the year. Sorry, Adele, but as great as you were this year, no album gave me more enjoyment than the first one I heard in 2011: The King Is Dead by The Decemberists.

The band toned down the sci-fi trappings and hyper-literate lyrics and yielded a moving set of timeless songs that alternately rocked with brooding intensity and swayed with dreamy beauty.

In fact, I’ll think I’ll cue that up on Spotify right now. See you next year.

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Movie Review

New movie Friendship pairs Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd in a bizarre bromance

Photo courtesy of A24

Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd in Friendship.

Comedian Tim Robinson has gained a cult following thanks to series like Detroiters and I Think You Should Leave, in which his brand of cringe comedy is on full display. The former Saturday Night Live writer/performer has had a few small movie roles over the years, but he’s now getting his first starring role in the off-kilter Friendship.

Robinson plays Craig, a mild-mannered suburbanite with a wife, Tami (Kate Mara), and son, Steven (Jack Dylan Grazer). Craig has a boring life that involves little more than going to his middle manager job while wearing the same clothes day after day, anticipating the next Marvel movie, and helping Tami out with her at-home floral business.

He gets a jolt of energy when Austin (Paul Rudd) moves into the neighborhood. The two men seem to hit it off, with Austin — a weatherman at a local TV channel — even taking Craig on a couple of impromptu adventures. But when Craig commits a couple of faux pas at a group gathering at Austin’s house, their bond starts to fracture.

Even though the film is written and directed by Andrew DeYoung, it’s clear that Robinson had a big influence on the style of comedy it features. There are no big set pieces with a slew of jokes coming one after another. Instead, the film forces the audience to try to vibe with the very particular type of wavelength it’s giving off, one that could almost be called anti-comedy for the way the laughs come out of left field.

The 100-minute film is full of random comedic moments, like Steven kissing Tami on the lips, Craig being obsessed with his plain brown clothes, a group sing-along, and more. More often than not, it’s the way Craig reacts to both normal and abnormal situations that gets the laughs. The character is needy and oblivious, two traits that combine to make many of his actions cringeworthy.

Perhaps most importantly for this type of movie, many things in the story go unexplained or don’t make sense. Seemingly crucial elements are brought up only to fade away just as quickly, while other parts that appeared to be throwaway sections get callbacks later in the film. DeYoung and Robinson are determined to keep the audience on their toes the entire time, never knowing what to expect next.

Robinson has the perfect face for a story like this, one that’s bland enough to blend into the background but memorable enough to sell the jokes. His demeanor is also excellent, never becoming too expressive, even when he gets angry. With long hair, a mustache, and a certain swagger, Rudd is a great complement to Robinson. Only in a film like this would an everyman like Rudd be considered the suave and cool one.

There will be some that will see Friendship and come away wondering what the hell they just watched. But anyone who goes in knowing that they’re about to witness a comedy that challenges their sensibilities will likely have a great time.

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Friendship is now playing in select theaters.

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