The Red Circle

40. Kid Cudi – A Kid Named Cudi (2008)
Shaker Heights, Ohio native Scott Mescudi released this mixtape while he was working in Brooklyn for hip-hop fashion company Bathing Ape. A few months later, he was writing and recording with Kanye West and had a smash hit single of his own. Along with producers Emile and Plain Pat, Kid Cudi inadvertently assembled one of the most consistent and innovative hip-hop records of the decade. Cudi’s casual flow and breezy singing match up well with most of the album’s indie electronica aesthetic as well as the more obviously hip-hop influenced tracks. Inspired sampling sets Cudi up to deliver a string of absolute knockouts as in “The Prayer,” a spacey melodic loop built from Band of Horses’ “The Funeral” or “50 Ways To Make A Record,” a clever reworking of Paul Simon’s “50 Ways To Leave Your Lover” about the creative process and the record industry. The stoner groove of “Day ‘n’ Nite” serves as a soothing lead-in to the upbeat electro of “Embrace The Martian” and the soul adventure of “Maui Wowie.” Rounded out by three blazing club tracks and the simple majesty of closer “Heaven at Nite,” the mixtape packs seventeen individual tracks into under an hour. Despite its frenetic pace, A Kid Named Cudi works because each part stands up on its own and is thoughtfully sequenced. Though he may never have officially released it to stores, Kid Cudi’s debut is a remarkable and unique achievement in hip-hop.

39. The Black Keys – Rubber Factory (2004)
Akron, Ohio’s Black Keys spent the last decade or so on the bluesy side of the wave of garage-blues revival. Their breakthrough album, Rubber Factory, applied progressively modern touches to traditional blues progressions in ways that revitalized and that oldest and most basic form of rock music. Building carefully upon their two previous albums, the duo chose to take advantage of the studio to tastefully increase the range of their sound, from the inclusion of a second guitar on certain tracks to varying production. The disc’s opener is among its most intriguing tracks, a single droning repetition that is only interrupted for vocalist/guitarist Dan Auerbach to moan the song’s slyly seductive hook. Their understanding of blues’ influence on music over the last century plays heavily into the album’s funkier cuts and there’s even a lovely Stones-style ballad in “The Lengths.” Rousing album closer “Till I Get My Way” swings with an easy swagger that makes it seem like these songs are just born naturally from Auerbach’s hands. Rubber Factory flows effortlessly from track to track in the truest “album” sense and the entire record serves as a powerful argument for the continuing vitality and importance of the blues in rock.

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