2012 has been a prolific year for music, with many new releases, some interesting new artists, reunions and astonishing live shows. But which albums can be considered the greatest marvels of 2012? The Toonari Post presents you its very own top-five list of albums on which you should have put your hands during this year.

5. Of Monsters and Men – My Head Is an Animal

The debut album of the indie-folk Icelandic band, it was first released in 2011 in Iceland, and only in 2012 in North America. The album debuted at number six on the U.S. Billboard 200. The extremely successful single ‘Little Talks,’ a catchy tune accompanied by dark and inspiring lyrics, reached the Top 20 in over five countries and positioned as No. 1 on the US Alternative Songs chart. Catchy choruses are a characteristic which pertains to the entire album, along with the contrast created by the male and female voices, and with the monumental sound generated by the accordance of the many instruments used on the tracks. The biggest strength is probably the union, given by sound and lyric, of joyful feelings with very dark ones. Great starting point for a band which seems to be very promising.

4. Tenacious D – Rize of The Fenix

This might be a hazard, but the American rock band delivered this year its best studio album. The originality of the band, which succeeded in developing a mature and smooth rock sound together with extremely ironic lyrics, has to be rewarded. The solid rock‘n’roll is helped by the presence of Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters, Nirvana) on drums, sustaining a series of ridiculous stories told through ironic lyrics and skits. This album is the demonstration that Tenacious D wants to play with everything but the music. Rock’n’roll, indeed, stays as serious as it can get. Rize of The Fenix is the perfect meeting point for two opposite attitudes, with Tenacious D presenting a sound that is completely mature, and an attitude that never matured instead.

3. The Black Keys – El Camino

The album was released in December 2011, but it surely has gained a lot of fame in 2012. Preceded by the single ‘Lonely Boy,’ which captured the attention of most with its catchy melody and amusing video, El Camino reserves many facets to be enjoyed by the listener. With this album The Black Keys have been able to maintain the enormous success gained with the previous studio album Brothers. El Camino is the fastest of the band’s albums, and the rock duo has demonstrated, through its live performances, to be able to keep up with the new tempo and the renovated energy. Drummer Patrick Carney told CBS Local “It [an album] is definitely gonna happen in 2013. It’s just a matter of how long it takes us to make the album and deciding when we want to get back on the road.” With this premises, the expectations are surely set high.

2. Mumford & Sons – Babel

After the success of 2009 Sigh No more, folk-rock band Mumford & Sons released their second studio album, Babel, last September. The fastest selling album of the year in both the UK and the US, Babel keeps up with the great professionalism that characterizes the British band. The band stayed faithful to its musical soul in this album, delivering a highly rocking folk reinvention. Babel, though, sounds angrier, bitterer in respect to Sigh no More. Not to be misinterpreted though, the main message coming from the album is love, the real and deepest meaning of it. Sounding like a crude look at the world, with the frustration won over by the hope created through love, Babel perfectly draws all these different moments of the soul. Excellent work overall, the track ‘Holland Road’ will take the listener into a musical journey hard to forget.

1. Jack White – Blunderbuss

The most awaited album of 2012. After the White Stripes split last year, the future of one of the most talented musicians currently in circulation, as Jack White is, was some sort of concern for most music lovers. In his album Blunderbuss, the Detroit musician experimented with less than expected by many; he mixed in a perfectly smooth and harmonic result different momentum of rock and blues, refreshing old sounds to perform in an innovative final outcome. The mood of the album is a dark one, with the lyrics letting perspire White’s inner demons, although never resulting heavy. ‘Blunderbuss,’ the song that gives the title to the album, is the pearl hidden in the record. A brilliant album, which succeeds to crown White as a solo artist.

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On the wave of Tenacious D’s success the interest for humorous music is growing. Their latest album serves a high quality of rock music melted with a good laugh, and on the music scene, the captivating attitude of musicians who focus on a funny albeit rigorous approach, varying between musical styles, is tempting.

Mad Fantastic is walking this path. The Irish duo, composed of Gary Byrne and Tony O’Neill, focuses its efforts on developing a humorous concept resulting from the mixture of sound and lyrics. The sound is left free, in the sense that Mad Fantastic has not focused solely on a particular style to accompany its expression so far; music adapts to the situation. The duo shows good potential to succeed in this direction, and be part of an important, although sometimes underestimated, niche of music.

Toonari Post had the chance to talk to Mad Fantastic about its project.

Toonari Post (TP): When and why did you decide to start this project?

Mad Fantastic (MF): It’s been said that music can change the world, but for us it was a particular food item. Pancakes! ‘Is love like a pancake’ was the song that started our transition to  comedy music. In February 2012 we sat down to write a novelty song to celebrate pancake Tuesday, after noticing this unsung holiday had no official anthem. Then something happened we didn’t expect: the combination of comedy and music seemed to bring a new level of energy into the camp. So like a breath of fresh air and with a sense of “where have you been all my life,” we decided comedy music  fusion (com-usi-fusion) was what we had to do.

TP: While music, mainly certain genres, is usually taken very seriously, there is an increasing interest in music and bands that are able to make people laugh, such as Tenacious D. Why do you think this is happening?

MF: Society is shifting so fast these days, everyone is struggling, so we need a relief and comusifusion is still fresh enough to be interesting. We take the view that making people laugh is a “serious business.” With comedy music you get two for the price of one, and it’s developing nicely. No longer is it a comedian with a prop or a singer with too many syllables and a swear word; it’s coming into its own creative form.  Also, music and the music business are taken very seriously so when that comes in contact with comedy…well, we’ve all seen spinal tap!

TP: Who would you say influenced you the most?

MF: You would expect us to say, Flight of the Conchords or Tenacious D, and you’d be right; but also the genius comedic performances of Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy and the social and edgy stuff that Bill Hicks and George Carlin did, had you thinking ” You’re right!, Why can’t everyone see how silly, war, sex, consumerism etc., is” Holding up a microscope to life and showing how caught up we get with the little things really hit, excuse the pun, a note with us.

TP: How would you define your style? Do you want to stay faithful to a certain kind of sonorities, or you just mind staying faithful to the funny part of your music, moving among different styles?

MF: The lyrics dictate the music. For instance ‘Is Love like a Pancake’ could only be an 80′s rock ballad ’Hero,’ a blues reggae offering, couldn’t have been anything else. Our comedy is based on ideas, so it doesn’t feel like an option to be closed to any style or genre of music that will enhance those ideas. Also, we really want to see what comusifusion can do and where it can take us creatively, because we are only getting started.

TP: How do you want to develop this project?

MF: We want to create a journey for people; entertain the pants off them and then give them their cab fare home. Connect and maybe make them laugh, think and even stamp their feet. Furthermore the music we are working on animated comedy sketches that will hopefully develop into an animated sit-com (think “Flight of the Conchords” HBO show meets “Family Guy”), to give the music a context and back drop. We’re doing it all ourselves so it takes a bit of time.

TP: Do you find it hard to convince people, also in the industry, to take your music project seriously, because of your style?

MF: Not really. The comedy music genre is growing all the time. There might even be an explosion into the mainstream soon enough. The next Kurt Cobain could be hilarious [The real one was hilarious too, Ed.], or the next Jay-Z might have 99 jokes!

TP: What are your near-future plans? An album, a tour?

MF: Well, all of that really. There are enough songs to fill two albums at the moment, it’s just a case of deciding which ones, then of course hitting the comedy clubs to test it out in front of real, honest and drunk people. It’s about gaining exposure at the moment. We are even entering competitions. Incidentally we are in one at the moment, if you don’t mind us mentioning it and if anyone wanted to vote for us they could here.

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Tenacious D, the self-proclaimed “Greatest Band On Earth,” is back with a new album, ‘Rize Of The Fenix.’ It will be released on May 15, six years after the latest studio album ‘The Pick of Destiny’. The rock duo, composed of Jack Black and Kyle Gass, uses the ironic approach, in this album, that has always characterized Tenacious D.

Black and Gass demonstrate with this album that they can make fun of pretty much everything, themselves included, nevertheless playing some very serious and solid rock ‘n’ roll. Furthermore, the drumming of Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters, Nirvana), who serves as drummer for the studio recordings of this album, is unmistakable. After all, Grohl is one of the best drummers in the world.

The album opens with the song ‘Rize of the Fenix’, which re-establishes the presence of Tenacious D in the music scene. The listener will move in the album within funny lyrics, roaring guitars, and blooming drumming. Everything is enriched by the presence of a couple of skits, which give a strong sense of rock opera, recalled by the entire structure of the album. Every track, as well as the album cover (it features a penis), is full of sexual references which have to be taken for what they are: not offensive, just classically silly.

The best songs of the record are ‘Rize Of The Fenix,’ ‘Roadie,’ ‘Ballad of Hollywood Jack and the Rage Kage,’ ‘Throw Down’ and ‘Rock Is Dead,’  capturing and enhancing the whole approach used by”The D”, both musically and in terms of attitude.

The album is really enjoyable, easy to listen to, goes on smoothly, and does not get boring after few listens. It catches the listeners with great rock sonorities, and entertains them with comedy. Black’s voice sounds rougher than in the previous records, more old-school-rock and blues-style oriented.

The message that Tenacious D sends is a genuine one: don’t take everything so seriously. This does not prevent them from addressing, in the song ‘Rock Is Dead,’ one of the main issues of the current state of music and rock ‘n’ roll.

When Peter Travers, of Rolling Stones, asked about the thoughts behind the song, Jack Black said that he feels like the only great rock acts left in the industry are the Foo Fighters, Jack White, and the Black Keys.

“When you think about rock, at its origin, you think of the Beatles and millions of kids screaming as loud as they can and running as fast as they can toward the Beatles. There is no one that is that kind of lightning rod. I contend that the last band to really have that kind of power was Nirvana,” says Black.

Rize of The Fenix is probably the best work by Tenacious D so far, with a sound that is completely mature, and an attitude that never matured instead.

Rating:
SUPERB 4.5/5

Image Courtesy of    Tenacious D

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Guitar Center (www.guitarcenter.com), the world’s largest musical instrument retailer, continues its support of unsigned artists, announcing 21-year-old Jean-Pierre “JP” Didier Bouvet as the winner of the twenty third-annual Guitar Center’s Drum-Off (http://gc.guitarcenter.com/drum-off-2011/), the nationwide search for the next great undiscovered drummer. JP beat out over 4,500 contestants to take the nearly $50,000 grand prize.

“I’m blown away by this win,” says Bouvet. “Sometimes you feel like you should win, sometimes you shouldn’t. This time I was right in the middle. I had no idea this was going to happen. I honestly thought it could have gone to anyone and I wouldn’t have been mad. I’m flattered, honored and humbled, it’s truly amazing. For Guitar Center to put a contest like this on, it’s fantastic. I’m honored just to be hanging out backstage and meet all these drumming legends.”

“Guitar Center annually celebrates drummers by giving aspiring musicians the chance to take their careers to the next level,” said Maria Brown, manager of music and entertainment marketing at Guitar Center. ”JP put on an incredible performance at the 2011 grand finals, excited to see where he goes from here.”

The grand prize package includes:

• $25,000 Cash
• Custom Drum Kit (Gretsch, OCDP, Tama, Pearl or DW)
• Drum Kit Endorsement Deal (Gretsch, OCDP, Tama, Pearl, or DW)
• Complete Set of Cymbals (winner’s choice: Zildjian, Sabian, or Meinl)
• Cymbal Endorsement Deal (Meinl, Zildjian, or Sabian)
• Drumhead Endorsement Deal (Evans or Remo)
• Stick Endorsement Deal (Pro-Mark or Vic Firth)
• Roland TD-20SX Electronic Kit & PM30
• Audix DP7 Drum Microphone Pack
• $500 Converse Gift Card
• Feature in Modern Drummer Magazine
• 2012 NAMM VIP Experience
• Trip to New York to record at the Converse Rubber Track Studio
• Guest Spot on Drum Channel’s Live Show

The grand finals at Club Nokia in LA featured not only a riveting competition between the five grand finalists, but also a series of sets by some of the drum world’s biggest icons. It even featured one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, as Jack Black and his Tenacious D band mates joined Brooks Wackerman for three songs during his set.

The rest of the performers included: Ilan Rubin (Angels & Airwaves, Nine Inch Nails) with Hayden Scott (Awol Nation) and Daniel Rubin; Aaron Spears (Usher, Alicia Keys) with Jabo Starks (drummer for James Brown) and Roland Garcia (American Idol) as well as Arthur “Buddy” Strong, Tim Stewart, Eric Ingram, Kevin Williams, Sean Erick and Leon Silva;

Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater, Avenge Sevenfold) with Billy Sheehan (Steve Vai, David Lee Roth), Tony MacAlpine (Steve Vai), and Derek Sherinian (Dream Theater, Planet X, Black Country Communion); Dennis Chambers (Santana, Parliament/Funkadelic) with Gary Grainger, Haakon Graf, and U-Nam; Brooks Wackerman (Bad Religion, Tenacious D) with Robert Trujillo (Metallica) and Armand Sabal-Lecco (Paul Simon) plus very special guests; Terry Bozzio (Frank Zappa, Missing Persons) with Jimmy Johnson (James Taylor, Allan Holdsworth) and Alex Machacek.

The evening’s panel of judges included: Cora Coleman-Dunham (Beyonce, Prince) – former Drum-Off champion, Tony Royster Jr. (Jay-Z) – former Drum-Off champion, Peter Criss (Kiss), Adrian Young (No Doubt), Dave Elitch (Mars Volta), Ray Luzier (Korn), Jose Pasillas (Incubus), Tommy Clufetos (Ozzy Osborne), Thomas Lang, and Trevor Lawrence Jr. (Herbie Hancock, Dr. Dre).

In addition to all the incredible performances, the night featured the Drum Legend induction of drumming greats Peter Criss (KISS) and Terry Bozzio (Frank Zappa, Missing Persons).

Guitar Center’s Drum-Off has jump-started the careers of a number of professional drummers over its twenty-three year history, including those of Cora Coleman-Dunham and Tony Royster Jr. (Prince, Beyonce and Jay-Z respectively).

Guitar Center’s Drum-Off is just one of many Guitar Center initiatives created to foster growth and success within the music community, including its annual On-Stage, Your Next Record and King of the Blues competitions, among others.

Image Courtesy of   https://www.facebook.com/pages/JP-Bouvet/114606655239675

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