Here’s another album that I kept off my list of the top 20 of the decade so far because I didn’t want to show undue favoritism.
Rufus Wainwright’s 2012 Out of the Game was a splendid return to art-pop form after a five-year span in which he released only an album of somber piano ballads.
As my recent list of top 20 albums of the decade so far was wrapping up, my brother-in-law asked me if I’d forgotten to consider Ben Folds Five’s The Sound of the Life of the Mind.
For a moment, I thought I had. So I went back to my notes to see exactly how things shook out.
Turns out the album was in the 21st spot, bumped out of the countdown when I decided to make a space for Adele’s 21, which I had forgotten when first compiling the list.
A year after the release of her surprise self-titled album, Beyoncé has dropped a Platinum follow-up edition that adds a few extra tracks and videos.
It feels more like a holiday season cash-grab than an extension of the very personal and artistic statement she made with the first record.
I have a great musical memory.
I don’t mean that I can easily recall melodies or lyrics. On the contrary, I butcher the lyrics even to songs I know very well.
I mean that I can vividly remember the experience of hearing certain songs — the time, the place, the people I’m with.
This is the second time a cut from Rufus Wainwright’s live recreation of Judy Garland’s concert at Carnegie Hall has shown up on a Random Weekend.
The first time, I took advantage of the opportunity to land a pretty good joke, which I’ll paraphrase here:
“Buying this album is the gayest thing I’ve ever done. At least so far.”
