BUONO!
Cafe Buono!
(Pony Canyon)
Available on CD and through iTunes Japan

It was probably inevitable for me that Buono!’s debut album was going to be at the top of my list this year. It seemed like every time I went out of the house, I was usually grabbing this CD off of my shelf on my way out of the door. It took me until the band’s second single, “Renai Rider”, to start to become a believer in this particular project (despite the group’s lineage), but once the album had been  given its initial spins on my CD player and iPod it was obvious that Cafe Buono! possesses the best rock-based girlpop to come out since the heyday of the Go-Go’s and Cyndi Lauper. Now, if Miyabi, Airi and Momoko would actually pick up instruments for more than a few seconds like they did at the beginning of their concert this past year, they’d be even more perfect than they already are. 

MORNING MUSUME
Cover You
(Zetima)
Available on CD and through iTunes Japan 
(Reviewed on November 30th, 2008)

They weren’t as busy studio-wise as  they’ve been the past few years, but this album of covers penned by legendary Japanese songwriter Yuu Aku – three of which were made famous by Pink Lady, whose record for consecutive top-10 singles in Japan was long exceeded by Morning Musume a year ago) – makes up for the lack of singles activity and makes one hell of a teaser for the real ninth MoMusu studio album. 

HANK WILLIAMS III
Damn Right Rebel Proud
(Sidewalk/Curb)
Available on CD, 180-gram LP with bonus CD, iTunes, and AmazonMP3

Mike Curb is a moron. When he first signed Shelton Hank Williams, Curb figured that, starting with the infamous 1996 Three Hanks: Men with Broken Hearts album of Hank III and his father Hank Williams Jr. doing posthumous duets with Hank Sr., the foundation would be laid for a series of million-selling pop country albums like III’s formal debut album Rising Outlaw. Then Hank III handed Curb as his follow-ups the more traditional-sounding Lonesome Broke and Driftin’ and the metal/punk “hellbilly” album This Ain’t Country and all hell broke loose. Curb refused to release This Ain’t Country and seemingly gave Lonesome little or no attention becuase it didn’t sound like Tim McGraw. Hank III would be in legal limbo for several years, touring  his ass off both with his own band (doing country, hellbilly, and punk/metal all in the same show) and as bassist with Superjoint Ritual. Eventually, a settlement came and Hank III released his definitive album Straight To Hell in 2006, complete with his already infamous anti-pop-country anthem “Dick In Dixie”, through Curb’s Bruc imprint. Damn Right Rebel Proud is more of the same and then some. III lashes out at Gaylord Entertainment, the Grand Old Opry’s current owners, for not reinstating III’s influential grandfather (“The Grand Old Opry (Ain’t So Grand)”), unleashes some “hellbilly” material for the first time on an official release (“H8 Line” and “Long Hauls and Close Calls”), disses the Bush Adminstration (“If You Can’t Help Your Own”), carries on the “family tradition” in his own way (“Smoke and Wine”, “Six Pack of Beer”), and pays tribute to GG Allin (“Punch, Fight, Fuck”). This definitely isn’t your sister’s country - unless your sister is the type of girl who jumps onstage while  Hank III and his band are playing and flashes her tits at the crowd.

HANGRY & ANGRY
Kill Me Kiss Me
(Gothuall [Japan]/JapanFiles.com [North America])
Available on CD, iTunes US and Japan, and through JapanFiles.com

Ooof.

I wasn’t sure what to expect when this EP came out, but since this album has pretty much been my regular car music for the past two months, apparently the formula didn’t miss: Take two 4th-gen MoMusu’s, give them some great rock/goth/punk  hybrid tunes, wrap them in a bizarre image inspired by a Japanese boutique’s mascots, issue on CD and mp3, and knock thousands of MoMusu/H!P fans on their asses. “GIZA GIZA” recalls Evanescence somewhat (not as closely as that album track on 1st Goodsal, though), but the rest of the five-song EP has a style all of its own. A bigger independent label like Matador or Merge could give this album a better shot at American success, but JapanFiles.com put their nuts on the line to make sure this album came out simutaneously with its Japanese counterpart and did a better job in that department than The End did with Dir en grey’s new album.

NINE INCH NAILS
Ghosts I-IV
(The Null Corporation/RED)
Available on CD, quadruple-LP, and through NIN.com and AmazonMP3.com

NINE INCH NAILS
The Slip
(The Null Corporation/RED)
Available on CD, 180-gram LP, iTunes, AmazonMP3, eMusic, and NIN.com 

Vee can wax rhapsodic about these two surprise releases from Trent Reznor and company more than I can (she’s been to see the group at least three times on their most recent tour, including the closing show in Las Vegas last month), but the sudden prolific nature of Trent Reznor’s post-Interscope period has been nothing short of interesting and satisfying. Ghosts I-IV would have been more than enough NIN goodness for anyone,  even if an all-instrumental digital album, double-CD or quadruple-LP would seem daunting to casual listeners – but Trent, in the process of letting loose during the 10-week period that led to this project, proceeded to unconsiously reveal many of his childhood and adolsecent influences (Brian Eno, Tuxedomoon,  Kraftwerk, Devo)  in Ghosts’ 36 numbered, almost-eponymously titled tracks. But then, after a surprise digital single in “Discipline” (probably Trent’s best pop number since “Closer”), Trent drops The Slip on us – for free (and then several weeks later on CD and LP for those that want to thank Trent for his generosity by buying a tactile copy). Together, both albums prove to display an immense level of freedom within Reznor that could not have  been possible under TVT or Interscope. How Trent follows these two  albums up in 2009 is anyone’s guess, but he’s on a roll.

COLDPLAY
Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends
(Capitol)
Available on CD, LP with bonus CD copy, iTunes and AmazonMP3.
A special edition with the Prospekts March EP added is also available. 

This one was a Vee recommendation. I never owned a Coldplay album until she encouraged me to check it out, and it wasn’t until I was in New York City this past August with Tara and we visited the Virgin Megastore in Times Square  that I said the heck with it and bought it. There’s a snarky review on Rate Your Music that treats this like it’s a u2 album, as if that’s a bad thing, and while Brian Eno sat in the producer’s chair for this album as he did for several U2 albums and there are a few moments that do sound like parts of Bono & Co.’s back catalog (the opening synths on “Live in Technicolor” recalling “Where The Streets Have No Name”), the album still sounds like Coldplay from start to finish. If you never owned a Coldplay album before, this album will make you a fan. 

As for why I waited a few weeks to grab the album? I wasn’t sure whether to buy the CD or the LP and didn’t know that Capitol, in a rare moment of clarity (I’m sure some of their former superstar artists [*cough*Paul McCartney, Radiohead, Janet Jackson, the Rolling Stones*cough*] have a few nasty things to say about Capitol’s current owners), threw a bonus CD copy of the album into every LP copy.

With our period of mourning for punk  guitar legend Ron Asheton concluded, we now resume where we left off with our end-of-year album list…

KODA KUMI
Kingdom
(Rhythm Zone/Avex Trax)
Available on CD, two different CD/DVD sets, and iTunes Japan

While her mouth might have gotten her in a bit of trouble not long after this album came out (it’s apparnently not nice to joke about the nature of mothers in Japan), what usually comes out of her mouth – great urban contemporary-influenced pop – still served her well even while she was forced out of action for a few months. Kingdom still topped the album charts in Japan and stayed there while Kuu-chin was incognito – no doubt thanks to the fact that the album is a solid package of modern R&B/pop that has everything post-TLC American urban music lacks – solid songs and vocals, with no monotonous sound structures, gimmicky lyrics or half-assed hooks to be found. Kuu-chin’s vocals are getting better with every succeeding album – and the next one  is coming out in a week or two, so feel free to play catchup with Kingdom if you haven’t already. 

(SIDE NOTE: Speaking of Rhythm Zone artists, when the fuck is Maki Goto’s first post-H!P record coming out?)

DIR EN GREY
Uroboros
(The End [US]/Freewill [Japan])
Available on CD, double LP and on iTunes 

I have tried to write about this album several times since both my import CD and my US double vinyl arrived in my PO Box (the latter arriving a month after its release – what’s up with that, The End Records?), listened to it, enjoyed it… and had trouble trying to summarize things well enough for a review at the time.

That having been said, the album – irregardless of its edition – is an absolute masterpiece. Compared with their two previous American releases, Uroboros takes a lot more musical risks than its brutal predecessor The Marrow of a Bone, with songs that have earned comparisons to Led Zeppelin (“Dozing Green”, which could have been on In Through The Out Door) and Red Hot Chili Peppers (“Stuck Man”). The classic DEG instrumental sound and feel is still intact, and of course there’s no singer anywhere in rock whose voice is as multiple-personality as Kyo’s (probably his closest contemporary is Slipknot’s Corey Taylor). Bottom line? Best hard rock or heavy metal album of the year; in fact, so good, it knocked Metallica’s comeback album Death Magnetic out of contention for the Top 10 this year.

GUNS N’ ROSES
Chinese Democracy
(Black Frog/Geffen)
Available on CD, 180-gram LP with download code, and iTunes

It’s probably safe to say that for the past several years, W. Axl Rose has been operating on a principle not dissimilar to that of the Fall’s Mark E. Smith, who said in one famous instance regarding the high turnover in band members over the past thirty years, “If it’s me and your granny on bongos, then it’s a Fall gig.” While financially the album’s long-awaited release surely had to be a disaster for Geffen Records, artistically Chinese Democracy proves two thngs: 1) Axl was and is definitely the main creative force behind GnR, and 2) the album was worth the wait (and is worth seeking out in the vinyl format). Axl is still in fine voice, the songs are solidly written, and the various musicians employed throughout the lengthy recording process fill out the shoes of the classic lineup quite nicely. If that’s not all the assurance you need to check out this album, I don’t know what else to say to change your mind. 

ONGAKU GATAS
1st  Goodsal
(Zetima)
Availablility: CD, iTunes Japan and US

Ongaku Gatas’ 1st album (and apparently their only full-length album, given the impending graduation of most of the senior members as well as Hitomi and Rika’s current involvement in Hangry&Angry) was an easily overlooked affair by some fans. This was definitely an unfair assessment of the CD, as the efforts of “Soccer Musume” on the long-player recalled everything from “Love Machine”-era MoMusu (“Dakishimete… Namida” and first single “Narihajimeta Koi no Bell”) to Evanescence (“Koi Uranai Douri niwa Naranai wa”). With the Elder Club graduation concerts happening at the beginning of 2009, plus Erina Mano’s solo career and the impending US live debut of Hangry&Angry, now is the best time for listeners to give a second chance to 1st Goodsal. The album simply seems to get better with every listen.