So last year's multiple posts with screen after screen of links and videos and blurbs didn't seem to be a big hit. Except for the post listing my 10 favourite songs of the year. So here's how I'm going to break it down this year: one post, ten songs and a link to everything else. I looked back over the list of my favourite 100 songs that I either heard first in 2015 or heard first in 2014 but really hit their stride for me in 2015 and realized that I pretty much shared all of them with you over the course of this year. So if you have been following along, there is no real news here. Except for the fact that LCD Soundsystem is getting back together and Radiohead just dropped a new song online. Squee!
The full list of my 100 favourite songs of the year has been converted into a youtube playlist HERE. I invite you to go have a look. Spoiler alert! The first song on the list is #100 and, as Casey Kasem used to say, as the numbers get smaller, the hits get bigger. I am featuring the tail end of the list (#10 to #1) below.
#10: "My Silver Lining", First Aid Kit
Followers of this blog over the past couple of years know that I've got a thing for Swedish music. This is the country's lone representation in my top 10 of the year. Not the kind of song that I would have listened much to a few years ago, but it really stuck itself in my consciousness this year. I'd say that I regret missing the sisters' show at Osheaga this past summer (apparently it was amazing), but the festival schedulers created a real Catch 22 for me by scheduling them opposite The War on Drugs (more on that later) so regret isn't the right word. "America" and their 2012 recording "Emmylou" were other songs of theirs I listened to this year. Definitely check both of them out.
#9: "Fool For Love", Lord Huron
Interesting. For all of the electronic uptempo music I listen to, we're kicking things off with a couple of rootsy tunes. "Fool For Love" ranked as Billboard's #15 Adult Alternative song of the year and you'd think that with a hit that big, they'd have followed it up with something else by now but I have no indication of what their next move is. With this song as my jumping-off point with Lord Huron, I took the opportunity to travel back in time and explore their previous album, Lonesome Dreams. The title track is definitely a winner and the album is a nice slice of folk.
#8: "Bloodstream", Ed Sheeran and Rudimental
Ed Sheeran's had a pretty nice run over the past year and a bit with hit after hit from X getting played on the radio. Billboard even had "Thinking Out Loud" as their #2 Hot 100 track of the year. Impressive. This track ended up hitting #2 in its own right on the UK, Scotland and New Zealand singles charts, was followed up by Rudimental's minor hit "Rumour Mill" (that just barely missed my top 10) and then the current collabo that you can still hear on mainstream radio in North America, "Lay it All on Me". Looking forward to hearing more from both Sheeran and Rudimental.
#7: "Snake Eyes", Mumford & Sons
When M&S released Babel in 2012, the world shook. It seems that with the band's brief hiatus since then, they lost some steam and the lead single from Wilder Mind, "Believe", didn't quite fare as well as "I Will Wait" did three years prior. But it still got played a lot. "The Wolf" followed and then the current release "Ditmas", but the standout single for me was definitely "Snake Eyes". A bit formulaic for the band (see: "Awake My Soul"), but still a pleasure to listen to.
#6: "Disappearing", The War on Drugs
Even though Lost in the Dream came out early in 2014, I really only warmed up to it after a number of listens later in the year. "Red Eyes" made my top ten list last year and a number of tracks lived on to have an impact on me this year. The greatest of these was "Disappearing", an ethereal track that featured minimal vocals and a five-minute instrumental denouement. Pitchfork apparently suggested that a potential inspiration for this song was Tears for Fears' "Pale Shelter". You be the judge.
#5: "First", Cold War Kids
Seriously, that's five alt-rock songs out of six now. I'm a little stunned. This was Billboard's #3 Alternative Rock song behind only "Shut Up and Dance" and "Renegades". This was my most buzzy track from March and it held sway through the spring and beyond. I still love cranking it up.
#4: "Loud Places (feat. Romy)", Jamie xx
When all is said and done and I look back at the songs to which I was introduced in 2015, this will probably go down as my all-time favourite. It came along a bit late in the year to have as much overall impact as the top 3 songs of the year, but I'll at least take this space to say that I have a special place in my heart for this song (as well as most of Jamie xx's album).
#3: "Fade Out Lines", The Avener
I'm a total word dork and I've decided that French DJ The Avener's name is a play on "avenir", meaning "the future". Then again, Wikipedia says that an avener is the chief officer of a king's stables. I like my idea better. I'm not sure if Phoebe Killdeer and the Short Straws (whose song forms the basis for this mix) will ever surface again, but this has provided some pretty awesome exposure across Europe. Not sure why it wasn't a bigger deal here. Except in Quebec. I have a feeling that "Fade Out Lines" will figure prominently on year-end charts of radio stations like this one.
#2: "One Touch (feat. Rae Sremmurd and AlunaGeorge", Baauer
I never thought this song would click with me this year like it did. I'm not really a Rae Sremmurd guy, but I am an AlunaGeorge guy and I am a wicked bass drop guy. This came off the ß album by Baauer (although I'm not sure if this is the Greek B (likely) or the German ss (less likely). The single apparently only surfaced on the Belgian charts, so I suppose I share something with my Flemish friends aside from a love of frites and mayo!
...drum roll...
#1: "Falling Short", Låpsley
British ambient electronic songstress Holly Lapsley Fletcher (aka Låpsley) takes the crown this year. "Falling Short" is from her debut EP, released in January of 2015. Allegedly a full-length album is due out in 2016 and I will be keeping my ears open for that. I always find it interesting to stumble across a song that I come across digging through music blogs online in mainstream pop culture references and "Falling Short" offered up one of the most unexpected pop culture sightings of the year when it was featured in episode 2 of HBO's "Ballers". Granted, this show featured a TONNE of my favourite artists (such as Gallants, Kendrick Lamar, Daft Punk, Busta Rhymes, The War on Drugs, Major Lazer, The Knocks, Sleigh Bells, Outkast and the above mentioned Baauer) so I guess it shouldn't have come as too much of a surprise.
Thanks for listening and Merry Christmas!
Friday, December 25, 2015
Tuesday, December 8, 2015
December Tunes
This is it! The last monthly rundown of 2015. It's been a good year, I've found some new artists and some great new songs. Every year, I think "I'm not going to hear a song next year that I'll like as much as I liked (insert song from current year)" but I'm never disappointed. Well, I have been a bit disappointed in The Hype Machine - over the past few months it seems that fewer and fewer songs are clicking with me. Spotify was doing OK for a bit (I'm a cheapskate and was using the free web browser) but now it doesn't seem to want to load anymore. Boo. Apple music has been OK (though I hate not being able to load the songs onto my iPod. Oh well). To celebrate the Closing of the Year, I even offer you a bonus 11th song this month (and also because I might have music hangover in January and the blog might be slow to get up and running again in the new year).
11 - "Shine", Years & Years
It's been a good year for these guys in my opinion. A little disappointed that the Brits couldn't break through in North America but that just means I get to keep them a little more to myself:). This is the third single from Communion that I've put up here and the other two will definitely factor into my tracks of the year, to be released later this month. Years & Years is up for BBC Music Awards' British Artist of the Year Award (to be awarded in a couple of days) against (alphabetically) Adele, Ed Sheeran, Florence and the Machine, Foals and Jamie xx. So, essentially the bulk of my playlist at any time.
10 - "Keep You On My Side", CHVRCHES
In one day I went bananas and bought the new albums from New Order, Disclosure and CHVRCHES. The New Order one was the flattest of the bunch as both of the others had some real gems on them. More on Disclosure coming up. "Leave a Trace" is one of my favourite songs at the moment, but in the next tier of tracks on Every Open Eye, this is the frontrunner for now. Pure 100 proof synth pop straight into your bloodstream. Given that none of this track's youtube uploads seem to have cracked the 20,000 view mark, it doesn't seem to be many other people's fave. So. What.
9 - "Her Morning Elegance", Oren Lavie
This is so weird. I heard this song recently and really liked it. Then I booted up this video and I thought that I had definitely seen the video before. I don't remember the song at all but sure enough the video was in my search cache. It must have been when I was looking for Grammy nominees for music video work as this one was shortlisted in 2009. Wiki says that he revealed in 2012 that he had a second album coming but that doesn't seem to have materialized. Anyway, smooth jam.
8 - "S.O.B.", Nathaniel Rateliffe & the Night Sweats
Ahh the misery of alcoholism laid out in a stomper that sounds like it's straight out of the 50s. I heard this one toward the end of summer and thought it was pretty interesting as a song but it took a while to sink its hooks in me. Now it seems to be a fairly massive alternative hit across the continent. Apparently their performance on Fallon is what ignited their exposure (Future Islands anyone?) and they've been riding the wave ever since.
7 - "Cream on Chrome", Ratatat
Oooooh that opening is so sweet. These guys are off in their own genre. I've been listening to Ratatat for almost 10 years now (my brother was actually the first person who tipped me off, shortly after they had released Classics in 2006) and I still haven't found anyone else who fuses electronic music and guitar work in such an interesting way. Wiki dubs the style "rocktronica" if anyone is wondering. The last minute is not as funky or strong as the front end, but it's not crazy enough to completely derail the song.
6 - "If You Ever Want to Be in Love", James Bay
Yep. Despite the fact that REAL MUSIC CRITICS tend to pan this guy (like this or, WOW, this), I still dig. Although the hat is starting to make me think of Maria Bello's fedora in Prime Suspect.
5 - "Automatic", Zhu X AlunaGeorge
I was thinking the other day about compiling a list of artists that I'm happiest that hunting through music blogs has turned me on to, that I likely would not have known about otherwise. Both Zhu and AlunaGeorge would have been on the list at one time until they had radio hits with "Faded" and "You Know You Like It", respectively this past year (so I probably would have found out about them anyway). I will have to get around to pulling that list together.
4 - "Magnets (feat. Lorde)", Disclosure
This is an interesting departure from the sound that Disclosure put forth on many tracks on both Settle and Caracal (odd fact: I knew what a caracal was thanks to my kids watching Wild Kratts). It's great to see Lorde back (the Mockingjay tracks didn't quite do it for me) and I'm very interested to see what she does next.
3 - "Loveless", X Ambassadors
Another rock-life act that makes REAL MUSIC CRITICS go meh, I have a bit of a soft spot for X Ambassadors ever since we shared a moment in Montreal this summer. Fine, I shared it with many other screaming fans, but it was still good. "Unsteady" had a good run with me and now I've moved on to "Loveless", a much more uptempo romp. An antidote to "Renegades" I suppose.
2 - "Hourglass (feat. LION BABE)", Disclosure
LOL on the Youtube comment "I'm glad to see the silhouettes from the ipod commercials still finding work". This is that Disclosure sound I was talking about earlier. If house music is not your thing, please don't even press play here.
1 - "Ocean Drive", Duke Dumont
One of the beneficiaries of Disclosure breaking through a couple of years back is English DJ Duke Dumont. Though this song sounds NOTHING like his past hits and more like something out of the 80s. The song has topped the US Dance Club charts and was a fairly big hit in Australia. And in my house.
And oh yeah, no snow yet!!
11 - "Shine", Years & Years
It's been a good year for these guys in my opinion. A little disappointed that the Brits couldn't break through in North America but that just means I get to keep them a little more to myself:). This is the third single from Communion that I've put up here and the other two will definitely factor into my tracks of the year, to be released later this month. Years & Years is up for BBC Music Awards' British Artist of the Year Award (to be awarded in a couple of days) against (alphabetically) Adele, Ed Sheeran, Florence and the Machine, Foals and Jamie xx. So, essentially the bulk of my playlist at any time.
10 - "Keep You On My Side", CHVRCHES
In one day I went bananas and bought the new albums from New Order, Disclosure and CHVRCHES. The New Order one was the flattest of the bunch as both of the others had some real gems on them. More on Disclosure coming up. "Leave a Trace" is one of my favourite songs at the moment, but in the next tier of tracks on Every Open Eye, this is the frontrunner for now. Pure 100 proof synth pop straight into your bloodstream. Given that none of this track's youtube uploads seem to have cracked the 20,000 view mark, it doesn't seem to be many other people's fave. So. What.
9 - "Her Morning Elegance", Oren Lavie
This is so weird. I heard this song recently and really liked it. Then I booted up this video and I thought that I had definitely seen the video before. I don't remember the song at all but sure enough the video was in my search cache. It must have been when I was looking for Grammy nominees for music video work as this one was shortlisted in 2009. Wiki says that he revealed in 2012 that he had a second album coming but that doesn't seem to have materialized. Anyway, smooth jam.
8 - "S.O.B.", Nathaniel Rateliffe & the Night Sweats
Ahh the misery of alcoholism laid out in a stomper that sounds like it's straight out of the 50s. I heard this one toward the end of summer and thought it was pretty interesting as a song but it took a while to sink its hooks in me. Now it seems to be a fairly massive alternative hit across the continent. Apparently their performance on Fallon is what ignited their exposure (Future Islands anyone?) and they've been riding the wave ever since.
7 - "Cream on Chrome", Ratatat
Oooooh that opening is so sweet. These guys are off in their own genre. I've been listening to Ratatat for almost 10 years now (my brother was actually the first person who tipped me off, shortly after they had released Classics in 2006) and I still haven't found anyone else who fuses electronic music and guitar work in such an interesting way. Wiki dubs the style "rocktronica" if anyone is wondering. The last minute is not as funky or strong as the front end, but it's not crazy enough to completely derail the song.
6 - "If You Ever Want to Be in Love", James Bay
Yep. Despite the fact that REAL MUSIC CRITICS tend to pan this guy (like this or, WOW, this), I still dig. Although the hat is starting to make me think of Maria Bello's fedora in Prime Suspect.
5 - "Automatic", Zhu X AlunaGeorge
I was thinking the other day about compiling a list of artists that I'm happiest that hunting through music blogs has turned me on to, that I likely would not have known about otherwise. Both Zhu and AlunaGeorge would have been on the list at one time until they had radio hits with "Faded" and "You Know You Like It", respectively this past year (so I probably would have found out about them anyway). I will have to get around to pulling that list together.
4 - "Magnets (feat. Lorde)", Disclosure
This is an interesting departure from the sound that Disclosure put forth on many tracks on both Settle and Caracal (odd fact: I knew what a caracal was thanks to my kids watching Wild Kratts). It's great to see Lorde back (the Mockingjay tracks didn't quite do it for me) and I'm very interested to see what she does next.
3 - "Loveless", X Ambassadors
Another rock-life act that makes REAL MUSIC CRITICS go meh, I have a bit of a soft spot for X Ambassadors ever since we shared a moment in Montreal this summer. Fine, I shared it with many other screaming fans, but it was still good. "Unsteady" had a good run with me and now I've moved on to "Loveless", a much more uptempo romp. An antidote to "Renegades" I suppose.
2 - "Hourglass (feat. LION BABE)", Disclosure
LOL on the Youtube comment "I'm glad to see the silhouettes from the ipod commercials still finding work". This is that Disclosure sound I was talking about earlier. If house music is not your thing, please don't even press play here.
1 - "Ocean Drive", Duke Dumont
One of the beneficiaries of Disclosure breaking through a couple of years back is English DJ Duke Dumont. Though this song sounds NOTHING like his past hits and more like something out of the 80s. The song has topped the US Dance Club charts and was a fairly big hit in Australia. And in my house.
And oh yeah, no snow yet!!
Thursday, November 19, 2015
November Tunes
Well, I'm posting earlier in the month than I did in October. #smallvictories. Now I have the Faith No More song going through my head. Great. I have 10 more songs for you NOT by Adele (although wow. What a comeback single. Looking forward to seeing 25 blow past the million sales mark when it comes out). Here they are:
10 - "Morning Sun", Melody Gardot
I could not find an edited cut of this song anywhere. The only one I saw was on the billboard website here but it's been blocked in Canada for copyright reasons. This concert footage is the only thing on youtube and vimeo, dailymotion and other sites came up blank. She gets going at the 1:13 mark after goofing around for a while. Melody is a jazz/blues singer-songwriter hailing from Philadelphia and this is a pretty smooth sound. A beautiful song to start your day or read the weekend paper (like that's something I've done in the past eight years) to.
9 - "Frail Love", Cloves
Yikes UMG - copyright issues on this song too. Back to Soundcloud we go! I said no Adele, but I didn't say anything about people wanting to sound like Adele. Cloves is Kaity Dunstan and she hails from Melbourne Australia. She released her debut single about a month ago, entitled "Don't You Wait" and is not touring across the southwestern U.S. with James Bay. If you happen to be in the 'hood.
8 - "Sedona", Houndmouth
Speaking of the Southwest, we're going' to Sedona! Now that is some straight up folk/Americana. This song is doing the rounds at alternative radio and comes from the band's second LP, released earlier this year (in March). Nice retro vibe out of this one.
7 - "Different Colours", Walk the Moon
I remember the first time I saw the video for "Shut Up and Dance": I though "catchy song but what is this video??". Now everybody knows who there guys are and they have a little more cash to up the production value the next time around. I like this song nearly as much as their debut release (which had to be the most timeless hit of the year, the song that could have been released at just about any time in the past three decades and been a hit). Not sure at what point "Different Colours" is going to be promoted on mainstream stations but this might be another hit.
6 - "Barcelona", George Ezra
Continuing his trek around Europe, George Ezra has moved from Budapest to Barcelona. This was one of the highlight performances from his show at Osheaga. A wonderful song.
5 - "Everyday", Diane Coffee
It's like Dirty Projectors' "Gun Has No Trigger" crossed with "Rocky Horror Picture Show". Not my typical fare, but there's something very ear wormy about this song. P.S. Diane Coffee is a man...specifically Shaun Fleming, a.k.a. the drummer for Foxygen.
4 - "Then Comes the Wonder", The Landing
Oddly enough, the second link I found about The Landing (from Brooklyn) says "sounds like: Foxygen". Weird. As per The Landing's Facebook page, it sure looks like someone is into the cosmos! Hence the artist's name, I'm sure.
3 - "Sleep Sound", Jamie xx
And now we've tipped right over into bleep and bloop land. I have nothing to say about this song. I love Jamie xx. Watch the video.
2 - "Window to the Sky", Kim Churchill
And back we go to Australia. This is an acoustic version of the song that I wasn't aware existed. Over the years I've found some cool content on Mahogany Sessions and this is no different. If you like the plugged-in stuff, feel free to check it out here.
1 - "Lovesick F**k", Mura Masa
I love how the creator of this video felt the need to point out that this was unofficial "obvs". Mura Masa (a.k.a. Alex Crossan) is another wondering a la Tom Misch. HE'S 19!! "Lovesick" is off MM's debut EP released in April and topped the Spotify viral charts (always a good place to look for cool new music) in the UK and US. A number of his tracks have popped up on The Hype Machine but this is the first one that has mesmerized me. Recently, I've been listening to "Love For That" feat. Shura as well so perhaps that track will pop up on a future list.
12 degrees today. Seriously awesome November weather. Perhaps I can crank the December post out before the snow flies!!
10 - "Morning Sun", Melody Gardot
I could not find an edited cut of this song anywhere. The only one I saw was on the billboard website here but it's been blocked in Canada for copyright reasons. This concert footage is the only thing on youtube and vimeo, dailymotion and other sites came up blank. She gets going at the 1:13 mark after goofing around for a while. Melody is a jazz/blues singer-songwriter hailing from Philadelphia and this is a pretty smooth sound. A beautiful song to start your day or read the weekend paper (like that's something I've done in the past eight years) to.
9 - "Frail Love", Cloves
Yikes UMG - copyright issues on this song too. Back to Soundcloud we go! I said no Adele, but I didn't say anything about people wanting to sound like Adele. Cloves is Kaity Dunstan and she hails from Melbourne Australia. She released her debut single about a month ago, entitled "Don't You Wait" and is not touring across the southwestern U.S. with James Bay. If you happen to be in the 'hood.
8 - "Sedona", Houndmouth
Speaking of the Southwest, we're going' to Sedona! Now that is some straight up folk/Americana. This song is doing the rounds at alternative radio and comes from the band's second LP, released earlier this year (in March). Nice retro vibe out of this one.
7 - "Different Colours", Walk the Moon
I remember the first time I saw the video for "Shut Up and Dance": I though "catchy song but what is this video??". Now everybody knows who there guys are and they have a little more cash to up the production value the next time around. I like this song nearly as much as their debut release (which had to be the most timeless hit of the year, the song that could have been released at just about any time in the past three decades and been a hit). Not sure at what point "Different Colours" is going to be promoted on mainstream stations but this might be another hit.
6 - "Barcelona", George Ezra
Continuing his trek around Europe, George Ezra has moved from Budapest to Barcelona. This was one of the highlight performances from his show at Osheaga. A wonderful song.
5 - "Everyday", Diane Coffee
It's like Dirty Projectors' "Gun Has No Trigger" crossed with "Rocky Horror Picture Show". Not my typical fare, but there's something very ear wormy about this song. P.S. Diane Coffee is a man...specifically Shaun Fleming, a.k.a. the drummer for Foxygen.
4 - "Then Comes the Wonder", The Landing
Oddly enough, the second link I found about The Landing (from Brooklyn) says "sounds like: Foxygen". Weird. As per The Landing's Facebook page, it sure looks like someone is into the cosmos! Hence the artist's name, I'm sure.
3 - "Sleep Sound", Jamie xx
And now we've tipped right over into bleep and bloop land. I have nothing to say about this song. I love Jamie xx. Watch the video.
2 - "Window to the Sky", Kim Churchill
And back we go to Australia. This is an acoustic version of the song that I wasn't aware existed. Over the years I've found some cool content on Mahogany Sessions and this is no different. If you like the plugged-in stuff, feel free to check it out here.
1 - "Lovesick F**k", Mura Masa
I love how the creator of this video felt the need to point out that this was unofficial "obvs". Mura Masa (a.k.a. Alex Crossan) is another wondering a la Tom Misch. HE'S 19!! "Lovesick" is off MM's debut EP released in April and topped the Spotify viral charts (always a good place to look for cool new music) in the UK and US. A number of his tracks have popped up on The Hype Machine but this is the first one that has mesmerized me. Recently, I've been listening to "Love For That" feat. Shura as well so perhaps that track will pop up on a future list.
12 degrees today. Seriously awesome November weather. Perhaps I can crank the December post out before the snow flies!!
Saturday, October 24, 2015
October tunes
I know, I know. October's almost over. I guess I got bloggburned out on the previous post. But I thought I'd share a few more tunes before November rolls around. Listen:
10 - "Shake it Off", Ryan Adams
Well isn't this an interesting improvement on the original (in my opinion)? Ryan's rerecording of the entire 1989 album is pretty cool. Has anything like this ever been done before? Covering an entire album? Applause from me.
9 - "10,000 Emerald Pools", BØRNS
While "Electric Love" is doing the rounds at alternative radio, this one wins out in my books. It took a couple of listens, but eventually it sunk its claws in. Don't let the cool "Ø" in the artist's name lead you to believe this is some Danish import or something - Garrett Borns is from Michigan. He toured with Charli XCX and Bleachers this past summer and his debut album Dopamine was released just last week.
8 - "Lay Down", Son Little
And now for something completely different. I don't know if Leon Bridges bringing old old school soul back to life has brought some other folks like this out of the woodwork, but this is some nice bluesy smoothness from Son Little. Son's from Philly and has worked with both RJD2 and the Roots crew. I'm not sure if his album has actually come out yet, but this is the first single.
7 - "Back of the Car (feat. Nate Henricks)", RAC
RAC is back at it again and once again, not in the electronic remix genre. If I have this right, Nate Henricks is a super DIY record-at-home folk artist from Kansas. Not entirely sure how he and RAC hooked up but the result is pretty catchy.
6 - "Show Me Love (EDX's Indian Summer Remix)", Sam Feldt
Why does nobody ever play "Love for Love" anymore? Can anyone tell the difference? Oh Robin S.... While it might not seem like it from some of the songs I've posted this year, I'm not the biggest fan of covers of decades-old iconic pop hits. But this one grabbed my attention. .
5 - "Omen (feat. Sam Smith)", Disclosure
Disclosure goes back to the well with Sam Smith and radio went back to the well with both of them, but only briefly. No, this track is no "Latch" and Sam Smith has been around the block now so he doesn't have that new car smell, but this is still a decent song and I'm a little surprised that the reception was so luke warm. One of many reasons I don't let others program what I listen to anymore. By the way, I bet the tattoo scanned to get into the party in the video read "fidelio".
4 - "One Man Can Change the World (feat. Kanye West and John Legend)", Big Sean
This one's been rattling around for a while. Overdue to get some shine on this list. Call your grandmothers.
3 - "Beautiful Escape (feat. Zak Abel)", Tom Misch
611 views on this video! Awesome. My man Tom Misch released his debut LP Beat Tape 2 a few weeks back and this is by far the standout on the album. However, I doubt it will be the last album track I highlight on these pages...stay tuned! Hi guitar work reminds me of some of the instrumental "new jazz" they used to play at ungodly hours on my childhood fave radio station in Winnipeg....I think the show was called "A New Way to Relax" and I kept hearing it on the way to the airport for early morning flights. But I digress. Tom is 20. 20!
2 - "No Justice", Astronauts, etc.
This is Anthony Ferraro, a guy who has worked very closely with Toro y Moi. In fact the two of them have a cover of Elton's "Rocket Man". I have read that Anthony was studying at UC Berkeley to be a classical musician but that career was sidelined due to arthritis. Yay internet facts! "No Justice" was released back in May and makes for a very nice listen.
1 - "All Your Love is Gone", Boxed In
Here's everything you need to know about Boxed In. Thank you, Guardian, for lines like "All Your Love Has Gone, has been all over Radio 1 like an indie-disco rash". Enjoy as I spread the rash?.
See you in a couple of weeks for the November rundown. And then the ever-popular tracks-of-the-year rundown (almost all of which I've put up for you on this site...but in what order will they settle???)!
10 - "Shake it Off", Ryan Adams
Well isn't this an interesting improvement on the original (in my opinion)? Ryan's rerecording of the entire 1989 album is pretty cool. Has anything like this ever been done before? Covering an entire album? Applause from me.
9 - "10,000 Emerald Pools", BØRNS
While "Electric Love" is doing the rounds at alternative radio, this one wins out in my books. It took a couple of listens, but eventually it sunk its claws in. Don't let the cool "Ø" in the artist's name lead you to believe this is some Danish import or something - Garrett Borns is from Michigan. He toured with Charli XCX and Bleachers this past summer and his debut album Dopamine was released just last week.
8 - "Lay Down", Son Little
And now for something completely different. I don't know if Leon Bridges bringing old old school soul back to life has brought some other folks like this out of the woodwork, but this is some nice bluesy smoothness from Son Little. Son's from Philly and has worked with both RJD2 and the Roots crew. I'm not sure if his album has actually come out yet, but this is the first single.
7 - "Back of the Car (feat. Nate Henricks)", RAC
RAC is back at it again and once again, not in the electronic remix genre. If I have this right, Nate Henricks is a super DIY record-at-home folk artist from Kansas. Not entirely sure how he and RAC hooked up but the result is pretty catchy.
6 - "Show Me Love (EDX's Indian Summer Remix)", Sam Feldt
Why does nobody ever play "Love for Love" anymore? Can anyone tell the difference? Oh Robin S.... While it might not seem like it from some of the songs I've posted this year, I'm not the biggest fan of covers of decades-old iconic pop hits. But this one grabbed my attention. .
5 - "Omen (feat. Sam Smith)", Disclosure
Disclosure goes back to the well with Sam Smith and radio went back to the well with both of them, but only briefly. No, this track is no "Latch" and Sam Smith has been around the block now so he doesn't have that new car smell, but this is still a decent song and I'm a little surprised that the reception was so luke warm. One of many reasons I don't let others program what I listen to anymore. By the way, I bet the tattoo scanned to get into the party in the video read "fidelio".
4 - "One Man Can Change the World (feat. Kanye West and John Legend)", Big Sean
This one's been rattling around for a while. Overdue to get some shine on this list. Call your grandmothers.
3 - "Beautiful Escape (feat. Zak Abel)", Tom Misch
611 views on this video! Awesome. My man Tom Misch released his debut LP Beat Tape 2 a few weeks back and this is by far the standout on the album. However, I doubt it will be the last album track I highlight on these pages...stay tuned! Hi guitar work reminds me of some of the instrumental "new jazz" they used to play at ungodly hours on my childhood fave radio station in Winnipeg....I think the show was called "A New Way to Relax" and I kept hearing it on the way to the airport for early morning flights. But I digress. Tom is 20. 20!
2 - "No Justice", Astronauts, etc.
This is Anthony Ferraro, a guy who has worked very closely with Toro y Moi. In fact the two of them have a cover of Elton's "Rocket Man". I have read that Anthony was studying at UC Berkeley to be a classical musician but that career was sidelined due to arthritis. Yay internet facts! "No Justice" was released back in May and makes for a very nice listen.
1 - "All Your Love is Gone", Boxed In
Here's everything you need to know about Boxed In. Thank you, Guardian, for lines like "All Your Love Has Gone, has been all over Radio 1 like an indie-disco rash". Enjoy as I spread the rash?.
See you in a couple of weeks for the November rundown. And then the ever-popular tracks-of-the-year rundown (almost all of which I've put up for you on this site...but in what order will they settle???)!
Saturday, September 19, 2015
The J500
So back in 2008 or 2009, a good friend planted a seed by mentioning to me this pet project of his where he generated a list of his current 500 favourite songs and updated it annually. I like music. I like ranking things and I like making lists. Sometimes the longer the better. I thought about how I would go about creating something like this but kind of make it my own. In the end, I decided to make a list of the songs that have meant the most to me over time. This could be interpreted as the songs that I've liked the most, the ones that have been tied to the some of my most significant moments or (for the lucky ones) a fusion of the two. I like to think of it (morbidly) as a list that could be played at my funeral to give people an overall sense of the essential songs of my life.
It took a while to get that first list together: scouring through my collection (digital, CD and cassette!), going through old music charts to cover the top 40 obsession years and wracking my brain to fill in the gaps was a fairly involved process. The Internet was extremely useful, as was taking suggestions from friends and family. Ranking the songs was another chore altogether. I would never have been happy just leaving it as some alphabetically-ordered list, but it became hard to figure out things like whether the first dance song at my wedding would be higher on the list than that song I couldn't stop listening to that one summer or the first pop song that my kids and I both liked or the song I first liked enough to go out and pick up the album. I gave it my best shot and have tried to stay on top of it by updating it every two years to incorporate new songs that should be added to the list.
There are very few rules for eligibility:
It took a while to get that first list together: scouring through my collection (digital, CD and cassette!), going through old music charts to cover the top 40 obsession years and wracking my brain to fill in the gaps was a fairly involved process. The Internet was extremely useful, as was taking suggestions from friends and family. Ranking the songs was another chore altogether. I would never have been happy just leaving it as some alphabetically-ordered list, but it became hard to figure out things like whether the first dance song at my wedding would be higher on the list than that song I couldn't stop listening to that one summer or the first pop song that my kids and I both liked or the song I first liked enough to go out and pick up the album. I gave it my best shot and have tried to stay on top of it by updating it every two years to incorporate new songs that should be added to the list.
There are very few rules for eligibility:
- Generally speaking, I'm starting the eligibility period with 1990, when I first started loving songs and buying my own music. There are some songs that predate 1990, but they are almost all tied to events occurring in 1990 or after or being songs that I discovered/rediscovered in a serious way after that time.
- I have to be able to still want to listen to each song on the list. This wasn't originally a rule, but I found that I'd get the earlier versions of the list together, but then I wouldn't be able to fully enjoy it as there were songs that I'd want to skip. So maybe this affects the purity of the list, but I just had to be able to throw it on shuffle and know that I'd be ok with whatever came up. NOTE: this rule is in no way an attempt to eradicate embarrassing entires from the list. Jude Cole, Nelson and Deep Forest should back that up. I have to say though that a song's position on the list is definitely influenced by longevity - it will take some time for songs from the past five years to mean as much to me writ large as favourite songs from the 90s that I've never grown tired of.
- Ummm, I think that's actually it. The idea of disallowing seasonal music was brought up, but I don't think there were any applicable tracks that would have cracked the list anyway.
In the end, there were a few things that I'm still a bit bummed about. I love jazz music, but the genre itself is pretty much nowhere to be found here. I realized that there were very few songs that I couldn't get enough of and that it was more jazz albums that I loved...and this didn't really fit the methodology. Same with some other albums that I listened to throughout my university years (primarily as study music) where none of the actual tracks stood up to the others on this list. So shouts out to the Joshua Redman canon, Ella Fitzgerald, Vince Guaraldi, Astrud Gilberto, To Rococo Rot, 1 Giant Leap, Sade and Kruder & Dorfmeister - none of you are anywhere to be found here.
So that's about all there is to be said about my funeral list. There's a lot of good music on it. And a lot of music most would consider bad (I'll just file it under "guilty pleasure"). There's a lot of very popular music and a few songs that most people wouldn't have ever heard of. The selected songs are a little all over the map and I'm pretty happy it turned out that way. Through the magic of YouTube, I've constructed video playlists of the whole thing so you can flip through the tracks at your leisure. Over time, I suspect that some videos will be pulled down (particularly those by Prince - that dude does NOT like his work in the public domain) so I'll have to keep an eye on that. This version was finalized last week so it's set in stone for another couple of years.
With these playlists, the first number is the rank of the first song of the list and the second number is the rank of the last song. So the playlists are arranged like a countdown.
As always, enjoy!
Sunday, September 6, 2015
September tunes
What happened? Summer already seems to be over. Oh well, at least there's always new music to dig up online. Here's what I have for you this month (you might notice that a number of Osheaga acts have made their way onto this list):
10 - "Breathe In (Carmen Rizzo Remix)", Low Roar
Well, it seems that I'm making my way through Scandinavia now. Low Roar's frontman is originally from Oakland, but recently moved to Iceland to start this band. The original version of the song features Amiina doing instrumentation - a really cool experimental female group who opened for Sigur Ros here in Ottawa a few years ago. This track has a really nice chill vibe for late summer, er, fall nights.
9 - "I'm a Ruin", Marina and the Diamonds
I've heard a lot of Marina and the Diamonds before but none of it has ever stuck. I think this is a first. I think this is one of the most "pop" songs she has done. Yes, it would probably find a home at AC radio rather than CHR, but I'm almost 40 so it's allowed.
8 - "Need You Now", Hot Chip
More deep house from Hot Chip. I was at a party a few weeks ago and some guy used his phone to play some music but I'm pretty sure nobody asked him to, so it was a bit weird. An onslaught of under the radar indie rock followed, none of which was recognized by anybody...and then "Need You Now" popped up. What a playlist. If anyone's curious, 1) the song samples vocals from the very end of Sinnamon's 1983 release "I Need You Now" and 2) the song has enjoyed the most popular success in Belgium.
7 - "Between Me and You", Brandon Flowers
This is a really sweet song from The Desired Effect. I like the alternation between the use of "between me and you" as a measure of distance and a suggestion that something is being communicated in confidence. I like wordplay. If anyone wants to see a live version featuring Chrissie Hynde, crowd singing and feedback, here ya go.
6 - "In the Wind (feat. Joey Bada$$, Big K.R.I.T. and Chauncey Sherod)", Statik Selektah
Awwwwwww yeeeaahhh. That's smooth. There's not a lot about Statik Selektah out there - he's from Boston, used to be a radio personality and has already released seven studio albums and two EPs. K.R.I.T. and Bada$$ are a couple of nice names to have on your track though.
5 - "Ship to Wreck", Florence + the Machine
While this video is not as out there as the one for "What Kind of Man", it still features suspension of the laws of physics, rain, wrestling, questionable degrees of consciousness, an apparently comfy tub and the ever-present flailing.
4 - "Pirouette", Made in Heights
I'm a little shocked to see that I never included MiH's track "Panther" on this list. I sure listened to it a lot. I like "Pirouette" even more. Playful, breezy, nice to throw on in the background. Their album Without My Enemy What Would I Do just got released so their material might be popping up in more and more places (ads, shows, movies, etc.) over the next while.
3 - "Could I Be", Sylvan Esso
This live performance is a pretty faithful rendering of the album track - not really any surprise considering it's electronic music. But still, there's a lot of room for the vocal to be rubbish. That dude may just be twiddling knobs when performing, but he sure seems to enjoy himself. Their interplay at Osheaga was pretty cute.
2 - "It's All Okay", Julia Stone
The opening piano/drum combination screams "Moby". The closest song I could find though was Mothers of the Night, which is different enough to be outside the plagiarism zone:) Despite the fact that the song is three years old, I'm still loving it right now. Songs being a little dated has never stopped me before.
1 - "Leave a Trace", CHVRCHES
Oh man, look who's back and who has not lost a step. CHVRCHES! And you had best believe that I am getting that album the second it's released in a couple of weeks. I have nothing more to say. Enjoy the syntheses of it all.
Before leaving this week, I want to throw a shout-out to whosampled.com, a FANTASTIC resource for sorting out those samples that you totally recognize but not quite enough to identify. Check it out.
10 - "Breathe In (Carmen Rizzo Remix)", Low Roar
Well, it seems that I'm making my way through Scandinavia now. Low Roar's frontman is originally from Oakland, but recently moved to Iceland to start this band. The original version of the song features Amiina doing instrumentation - a really cool experimental female group who opened for Sigur Ros here in Ottawa a few years ago. This track has a really nice chill vibe for late summer, er, fall nights.
9 - "I'm a Ruin", Marina and the Diamonds
I've heard a lot of Marina and the Diamonds before but none of it has ever stuck. I think this is a first. I think this is one of the most "pop" songs she has done. Yes, it would probably find a home at AC radio rather than CHR, but I'm almost 40 so it's allowed.
8 - "Need You Now", Hot Chip
More deep house from Hot Chip. I was at a party a few weeks ago and some guy used his phone to play some music but I'm pretty sure nobody asked him to, so it was a bit weird. An onslaught of under the radar indie rock followed, none of which was recognized by anybody...and then "Need You Now" popped up. What a playlist. If anyone's curious, 1) the song samples vocals from the very end of Sinnamon's 1983 release "I Need You Now" and 2) the song has enjoyed the most popular success in Belgium.
7 - "Between Me and You", Brandon Flowers
This is a really sweet song from The Desired Effect. I like the alternation between the use of "between me and you" as a measure of distance and a suggestion that something is being communicated in confidence. I like wordplay. If anyone wants to see a live version featuring Chrissie Hynde, crowd singing and feedback, here ya go.
6 - "In the Wind (feat. Joey Bada$$, Big K.R.I.T. and Chauncey Sherod)", Statik Selektah
Awwwwwww yeeeaahhh. That's smooth. There's not a lot about Statik Selektah out there - he's from Boston, used to be a radio personality and has already released seven studio albums and two EPs. K.R.I.T. and Bada$$ are a couple of nice names to have on your track though.
5 - "Ship to Wreck", Florence + the Machine
While this video is not as out there as the one for "What Kind of Man", it still features suspension of the laws of physics, rain, wrestling, questionable degrees of consciousness, an apparently comfy tub and the ever-present flailing.
4 - "Pirouette", Made in Heights
I'm a little shocked to see that I never included MiH's track "Panther" on this list. I sure listened to it a lot. I like "Pirouette" even more. Playful, breezy, nice to throw on in the background. Their album Without My Enemy What Would I Do just got released so their material might be popping up in more and more places (ads, shows, movies, etc.) over the next while.
3 - "Could I Be", Sylvan Esso
This live performance is a pretty faithful rendering of the album track - not really any surprise considering it's electronic music. But still, there's a lot of room for the vocal to be rubbish. That dude may just be twiddling knobs when performing, but he sure seems to enjoy himself. Their interplay at Osheaga was pretty cute.
2 - "It's All Okay", Julia Stone
The opening piano/drum combination screams "Moby". The closest song I could find though was Mothers of the Night, which is different enough to be outside the plagiarism zone:) Despite the fact that the song is three years old, I'm still loving it right now. Songs being a little dated has never stopped me before.
1 - "Leave a Trace", CHVRCHES
Oh man, look who's back and who has not lost a step. CHVRCHES! And you had best believe that I am getting that album the second it's released in a couple of weeks. I have nothing more to say. Enjoy the syntheses of it all.
Before leaving this week, I want to throw a shout-out to whosampled.com, a FANTASTIC resource for sorting out those samples that you totally recognize but not quite enough to identify. Check it out.
Thursday, August 6, 2015
Summer tunes Pt. 2/Notes from Osheaga
This summer's been pretty good to me, musically. First, that batch of songs I posted in the last missive were part of a solid soundtrack for July. Second, my wife was kind enough to take the kids for the long weekend as I hopped off to Montreal to attend the 10th annual Osheaga music and arts festival. This is really only the second music festival that I've attended in the sense of being on site trying to see as many acts as possible, start to finish. Ottawa's Bluesfest and Folk fest don't count - too few acts or too many days. I though that the line-up was pretty strong, although the distribution of acts I was interested in was a little lopsided. Day 1 had some points of interest, but gaps big enough that I could take the time to wander the grounds and get used to the layout (most importantly, being able to figure out timing, such as the travel time between stages, average wait time for food and water, etc.). Day 2 was seriously cobbled together from past Bluesfest pre-headline acts, artists that if I were on-site, I might check out...but I'd never buy a ticket just to see them. Day 3 was a heart-attack though. There were a pile of bands that I would have loved to see if only they had been scheduled on other days as opposed to against bands I was more excited to see. Sigh. At least I wasn't let down by anybody on Day 3 - choosing one band over another and then being let down would have left me wondering but now I have no regrets.
With regards to overall comments regarding the festival, the layout is great in the sense that the stages are far apart from one another that there is little opportunity for sound bleed. Furthermore, the main stage area was large enough to accommodate over 20,000 people on either the flat ground or the grassy hill at the back of the site (the hill was actually so far back from the stage that the sound and video were out of sync!). However, the layout stinks in that the ways in which one can get from a grouping of stages to another are limited and so thousands of people all taking the same path tended to bottleneck at times, making it tight to get from one set to the next. However, the flow back and forth between the two main stages was seamless - one act would finish on one stage and the other would start up within a minute or two, tops. Also, the park is on an island and so, generally speaking, the only way off at the end of the day is by subway. The line-ups to get on the subway were horrendous. I actually left a few minutes early twice to avoid the brutal wait I suffered on night 1.
Just as I made adjustments to my plan of attack after the first day of sussing things out, the festival also made some adjustments. For example, the way in which they funnelled people into the site was made much smoother (yay) and they took away an entire water station (boo). Seriously, was that a cash grab to take a bottle-filling station away? Kind of a safety issue, no?
While it was still to see so many cans and bottles discarded on the ground, I have to commend the festival for having a grounds crew working all day long to pick up garbage as shows were going on and for adopting an eco-cup system whereby drinkers had to pony up $2 for a cup in which draft beer could be poured all weekend and then the cup could be returned at any point for a $2 refund. This probably put a dent in the mountain of trash.
As for the acts themselves, just like March Madness where the top seeds pre-tournament don't necessarily win the whole shebang, I was interesting to see how my anticipation of shows didn't necessarily correlate with how good they turned out to be. Angus and Julia Stone disappointed; George Ezra, Zhu and Ryn Weaver (honourable mentions) surprised. The moment of the festival might have been when a severely disabled man in a wheelchair was crowd surfed to the stage where he was greeted by the lead singer of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros and then invited on stage for the band's finale, "Home". Pretty cool.
Because I like to rank things, here are my favourite 10 shows from the weekend:
10: Hot Chip - well, they didn't win the fashion award...but then again neither did most of the festival-goers (note for next time: cut my hair short, grow a thick beard, wear a crazy print - preferably floral - on a tank-top, weave a tiara out of something that looks like a flowering vine and apply glitter press-on tattoos). The musical highlights might have been the book-ends, "Huarache Lights" and a cover of "Dancing in the Dark"
9: Of Monsters and Men - I'm not too familiar with much of their repertoire aside from "Little Talks" but it was a strong set with a little bit of banter. Side note: in the same way that nobody ever knows what DJs look like from the sound of their voice, I had no idea what the male vocalist looked like before the show. Now I do.
8: Alt-J - expectations were high and unfortunately they didn't really engage the audience and messed up the lyrics pretty badly twice. They definitely played the right tracks and played most of them really well, I just wanted more.
7: Iron + Wine with Ben Bridwell - this was unexpected. I like Band of Horses quite a bit and have heard a few Iron + Wine tracks, but I hadn't heard anything from their joint album of covers. A fairly stripped-down early-afternoon set, but it had a mix of tempos and they got the crowd into it. It was apparently their last show together too so that was neat.
6: The War on Drugs - primarily a hit-the-highlights run through Lost in the Dream, they played pretty much every song I wanted to hear except maybe "In Reverse". Adam Granduciel hurling his guitar on the stage and walking off to close was a nice touch.
5: Weezer - I was warned that these guys didn't have it anymore. Psshht. Weezer whipped through a number of their best-known songs in a 1-hour set. Occasionally, a couple of kids ended up on stage: a girl who looked like she might have been 7 or 8 took over on the keys for a couple of songs and a younger boy showed up twice to rock out on an inflatable guitar. The entire band wrapped by hammering out a group drum solo (?) that hearkened back to tam tam jams on Mont-Royal.
4: James Bay - this guy might not have the biggest fan base, but it is young and hungry. The entire set, which I got to enjoy right close to the stage, was one big sing-along and James enjoyed flashing a "yeah, I got this" smug sneer between tracks while pointing to people in the crowd ("did you see that? I killed that.). A very enjoyable show.
3: Sylvan Esso - I was expecting to sit in on this set for 20 minutes or so on my over to Future Islands. Sorry Future Islands, this NC duo DESTROYED their side stage with a bass-heavy organic-feeling dance party. The highlights for me were "Coffee" and some new song that they didn't name and setlist.fm doesn't seem to list. Argh.
2: X Ambassadors - This was the biggest surprise of the weekend. All I knew of them was "Renegades" and that they were featred in a Jeep commercial. Well, their lead singer laid it all on the stage. Lots of charisma, relatively strong vocals (including a wicked falsetto) and can handle guitar, bass guitar, the sax and drums. In fact recorded tracks on the album VHS are a bit of a letdown...that has to be the sign of a good show. Also of interest: their keyboardist is visually impaired. Not something that you see every day.
1: Florence + the Machine. Earned top marks for everything I'd want to see in a show: great music and vocals, chit-chat from the artist and engaging/interacting with the audience. They only missed bonus points for a left-field cover, but that's just getting picky. Great song selection, 7 musicians and 5 backup vocalists (3 of which occasionally formed the horn section) on stage for creating a wall of sound. Florence herself was a dervish, whipping herself all over the stage, getting into the crowd and clearly enjoying herself.
Now that I've spent this much time blah-blahing, I'm just going to lay out my top 10 new tunes of the month without any comments. Enjoy!
10: Passion Pit double shot!! Lifted Up (1985) and Pay No Mind by Madeon
9: Feki - Remember
8: Grimes - REALiTi
7: Billie Black - Hung Up
6: Alessia Cara - Here
5: Sjowgren - Seventeen
4: The Black and the White - Torn Up
3: Freedom Fry - Yeah You
And I know that I'll be spinning these next two into the winter:
2: Jamie xx - Loud Places (feat. Romy)
1: Rudimental - Rumour Mill (feat. Anne-Marie and Will Heard)
With regards to overall comments regarding the festival, the layout is great in the sense that the stages are far apart from one another that there is little opportunity for sound bleed. Furthermore, the main stage area was large enough to accommodate over 20,000 people on either the flat ground or the grassy hill at the back of the site (the hill was actually so far back from the stage that the sound and video were out of sync!). However, the layout stinks in that the ways in which one can get from a grouping of stages to another are limited and so thousands of people all taking the same path tended to bottleneck at times, making it tight to get from one set to the next. However, the flow back and forth between the two main stages was seamless - one act would finish on one stage and the other would start up within a minute or two, tops. Also, the park is on an island and so, generally speaking, the only way off at the end of the day is by subway. The line-ups to get on the subway were horrendous. I actually left a few minutes early twice to avoid the brutal wait I suffered on night 1.
Just as I made adjustments to my plan of attack after the first day of sussing things out, the festival also made some adjustments. For example, the way in which they funnelled people into the site was made much smoother (yay) and they took away an entire water station (boo). Seriously, was that a cash grab to take a bottle-filling station away? Kind of a safety issue, no?
While it was still to see so many cans and bottles discarded on the ground, I have to commend the festival for having a grounds crew working all day long to pick up garbage as shows were going on and for adopting an eco-cup system whereby drinkers had to pony up $2 for a cup in which draft beer could be poured all weekend and then the cup could be returned at any point for a $2 refund. This probably put a dent in the mountain of trash.
As for the acts themselves, just like March Madness where the top seeds pre-tournament don't necessarily win the whole shebang, I was interesting to see how my anticipation of shows didn't necessarily correlate with how good they turned out to be. Angus and Julia Stone disappointed; George Ezra, Zhu and Ryn Weaver (honourable mentions) surprised. The moment of the festival might have been when a severely disabled man in a wheelchair was crowd surfed to the stage where he was greeted by the lead singer of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros and then invited on stage for the band's finale, "Home". Pretty cool.
Because I like to rank things, here are my favourite 10 shows from the weekend:
10: Hot Chip - well, they didn't win the fashion award...but then again neither did most of the festival-goers (note for next time: cut my hair short, grow a thick beard, wear a crazy print - preferably floral - on a tank-top, weave a tiara out of something that looks like a flowering vine and apply glitter press-on tattoos). The musical highlights might have been the book-ends, "Huarache Lights" and a cover of "Dancing in the Dark"
9: Of Monsters and Men - I'm not too familiar with much of their repertoire aside from "Little Talks" but it was a strong set with a little bit of banter. Side note: in the same way that nobody ever knows what DJs look like from the sound of their voice, I had no idea what the male vocalist looked like before the show. Now I do.
8: Alt-J - expectations were high and unfortunately they didn't really engage the audience and messed up the lyrics pretty badly twice. They definitely played the right tracks and played most of them really well, I just wanted more.
7: Iron + Wine with Ben Bridwell - this was unexpected. I like Band of Horses quite a bit and have heard a few Iron + Wine tracks, but I hadn't heard anything from their joint album of covers. A fairly stripped-down early-afternoon set, but it had a mix of tempos and they got the crowd into it. It was apparently their last show together too so that was neat.
6: The War on Drugs - primarily a hit-the-highlights run through Lost in the Dream, they played pretty much every song I wanted to hear except maybe "In Reverse". Adam Granduciel hurling his guitar on the stage and walking off to close was a nice touch.
5: Weezer - I was warned that these guys didn't have it anymore. Psshht. Weezer whipped through a number of their best-known songs in a 1-hour set. Occasionally, a couple of kids ended up on stage: a girl who looked like she might have been 7 or 8 took over on the keys for a couple of songs and a younger boy showed up twice to rock out on an inflatable guitar. The entire band wrapped by hammering out a group drum solo (?) that hearkened back to tam tam jams on Mont-Royal.
4: James Bay - this guy might not have the biggest fan base, but it is young and hungry. The entire set, which I got to enjoy right close to the stage, was one big sing-along and James enjoyed flashing a "yeah, I got this" smug sneer between tracks while pointing to people in the crowd ("did you see that? I killed that.). A very enjoyable show.
3: Sylvan Esso - I was expecting to sit in on this set for 20 minutes or so on my over to Future Islands. Sorry Future Islands, this NC duo DESTROYED their side stage with a bass-heavy organic-feeling dance party. The highlights for me were "Coffee" and some new song that they didn't name and setlist.fm doesn't seem to list. Argh.
2: X Ambassadors - This was the biggest surprise of the weekend. All I knew of them was "Renegades" and that they were featred in a Jeep commercial. Well, their lead singer laid it all on the stage. Lots of charisma, relatively strong vocals (including a wicked falsetto) and can handle guitar, bass guitar, the sax and drums. In fact recorded tracks on the album VHS are a bit of a letdown...that has to be the sign of a good show. Also of interest: their keyboardist is visually impaired. Not something that you see every day.
1: Florence + the Machine. Earned top marks for everything I'd want to see in a show: great music and vocals, chit-chat from the artist and engaging/interacting with the audience. They only missed bonus points for a left-field cover, but that's just getting picky. Great song selection, 7 musicians and 5 backup vocalists (3 of which occasionally formed the horn section) on stage for creating a wall of sound. Florence herself was a dervish, whipping herself all over the stage, getting into the crowd and clearly enjoying herself.
Now that I've spent this much time blah-blahing, I'm just going to lay out my top 10 new tunes of the month without any comments. Enjoy!
10: Passion Pit double shot!! Lifted Up (1985) and Pay No Mind by Madeon
9: Feki - Remember
8: Grimes - REALiTi
7: Billie Black - Hung Up
6: Alessia Cara - Here
5: Sjowgren - Seventeen
4: The Black and the White - Torn Up
3: Freedom Fry - Yeah You
And I know that I'll be spinning these next two into the winter:
2: Jamie xx - Loud Places (feat. Romy)
1: Rudimental - Rumour Mill (feat. Anne-Marie and Will Heard)
Monday, July 13, 2015
SUMMERTIME! (Part 1, obvs.)
'Tis the season for rolling down the windows and letting people know what you're listening to. Pull up beside me and this is some of what you'll hear:
10 - "Rich (feat. Anndreyah Vargas)", Cosmo Sheldrake
I'm pretty happy with how eclectic the list is this month. For starters, this song doesn't really seem to fit into any sort of category. Seriously, is that an oboe? Cosmo Sheldrake is pretty quirky and seems to play every instrument under the sun. There are some interesting factoids about him on his website. Plus, if you wanted to see him lay this track down in a barn, just click here.
9 - "The Night", Honne
I have no idea how to pronounce Honne, but it apparently comes from the Japanese for "a person's true inner feelings"? This U.K. duo (music teachers!) has a few tracks circulating online and they appear to be recording an album at the moment (if I believe their Facebook feed). This is my favourite track at the moment, though "Top to Toe" isn't too far behind.
8 - "That's Love", Oddisee
Well, it took three tries, but I finally found someone on this list with some wiki presence. Oddisee is Amir Mohamed el Khalifa, from DC. Since 2008, it looks like he's been pumping out albums and mixtapes and has earned some minor fanfare recently. "That's Love" is his most recent release, coming out earlier this year.
7 - "Sparta", Ten Walls
A seemingly very basic instrumental song that has been stuck in my head repeatedly. Hopefully you don't suffer the vicious combo of hating it AND getting it stuck in your head.
6 - "Entropy", Grimes + Bleachers
Oddly enough, pop stations in Canada don't seem to be touching this song and instead it's being promoted to alternative radio. Really? I get the alternative/Bleachers angle, but this song doesn't sound like anything successful in that format. The song was apparently featured on an episode of Girls earlier this year. The best thing on Grimes's wiki page is the quote from Tastemakers Magazine describing her as an "alien love-child of Apex Twin and ABBA". Wow.
5 - "Peanut Butter Jelly", Galantis
Last summer, my family was all about putting "Budapest" on repeat. This summer, it's "Peanut Butter Jelly". Nothing like a 3 year-old wandering around going "VISUALIZE!!!". I've put enough Galantis material up here already this year, so I'll just sit back and let you experience sleepless nights at the chateau.
4 - "Lonely Town", Brandon Flowers
Is this the only song to use "Gravitron" in its lyrics? Nope. Apparently, there was a song by Au Revoir Simone called "Gravitron". Also of interest: typing in gravitron led Google to auto-complete it to "gravitron bong". This is definitely the standout track from The Desired Effect although I can't figure out for the life of me what sort of radio format is spinning Brandon Flowers's solo material these days. Adult Alternative perhaps? Apparently "Can't Deny My Love" had a cup of coffee on the alternative charts in May. "Crossfire" from Flamingo seems to be his only even moderate hit to date. We'll see if things change.
3 - "Holding On (feat. Sam Dew)", Julio Bashmore
Recently Julio was probably best known for his production work on Jessie Ware's Devotion album, although I seem to think that his name's been floating around there on The Hype Machine for a few years. He's about to release his first album (Knockin' Boots) this month and "Holding On" is the lead-off single. Summer. Jam.
2 - "Snake Eyes", Mumford & Sons
This is possibly the Mumfordiest song the band has recorded since Sigh No More. Start off all mellow, then let the instrumentation swell while the vocals are still chilling in the second verse and then completely rock out to bring it home. I may have seen this routine from them before, but I like it every time.
1 - "Don't Wanna Fight", Alabama Shakes
It's not often that you refer to a woman hitting the high notes as "falsetto", but I suppose that's exactly what we have on our hands here. My love for this song didn't fully blossom until a few listens through, but I'm there now. I was listening to this in the car with my wife when we were driving in to Toronto a few weeks ago and she asked if the band toured much in Canada. We hit the Internet and it turned out Alabama Shakes was playing Toronto that night. Hilarity. We were already booked up with wedding festivities but I bet it was a good show.
Happy listening!
10 - "Rich (feat. Anndreyah Vargas)", Cosmo Sheldrake
I'm pretty happy with how eclectic the list is this month. For starters, this song doesn't really seem to fit into any sort of category. Seriously, is that an oboe? Cosmo Sheldrake is pretty quirky and seems to play every instrument under the sun. There are some interesting factoids about him on his website. Plus, if you wanted to see him lay this track down in a barn, just click here.
9 - "The Night", Honne
I have no idea how to pronounce Honne, but it apparently comes from the Japanese for "a person's true inner feelings"? This U.K. duo (music teachers!) has a few tracks circulating online and they appear to be recording an album at the moment (if I believe their Facebook feed). This is my favourite track at the moment, though "Top to Toe" isn't too far behind.
8 - "That's Love", Oddisee
Well, it took three tries, but I finally found someone on this list with some wiki presence. Oddisee is Amir Mohamed el Khalifa, from DC. Since 2008, it looks like he's been pumping out albums and mixtapes and has earned some minor fanfare recently. "That's Love" is his most recent release, coming out earlier this year.
7 - "Sparta", Ten Walls
A seemingly very basic instrumental song that has been stuck in my head repeatedly. Hopefully you don't suffer the vicious combo of hating it AND getting it stuck in your head.
6 - "Entropy", Grimes + Bleachers
Oddly enough, pop stations in Canada don't seem to be touching this song and instead it's being promoted to alternative radio. Really? I get the alternative/Bleachers angle, but this song doesn't sound like anything successful in that format. The song was apparently featured on an episode of Girls earlier this year. The best thing on Grimes's wiki page is the quote from Tastemakers Magazine describing her as an "alien love-child of Apex Twin and ABBA". Wow.
5 - "Peanut Butter Jelly", Galantis
Last summer, my family was all about putting "Budapest" on repeat. This summer, it's "Peanut Butter Jelly". Nothing like a 3 year-old wandering around going "VISUALIZE!!!". I've put enough Galantis material up here already this year, so I'll just sit back and let you experience sleepless nights at the chateau.
4 - "Lonely Town", Brandon Flowers
Is this the only song to use "Gravitron" in its lyrics? Nope. Apparently, there was a song by Au Revoir Simone called "Gravitron". Also of interest: typing in gravitron led Google to auto-complete it to "gravitron bong". This is definitely the standout track from The Desired Effect although I can't figure out for the life of me what sort of radio format is spinning Brandon Flowers's solo material these days. Adult Alternative perhaps? Apparently "Can't Deny My Love" had a cup of coffee on the alternative charts in May. "Crossfire" from Flamingo seems to be his only even moderate hit to date. We'll see if things change.
3 - "Holding On (feat. Sam Dew)", Julio Bashmore
Recently Julio was probably best known for his production work on Jessie Ware's Devotion album, although I seem to think that his name's been floating around there on The Hype Machine for a few years. He's about to release his first album (Knockin' Boots) this month and "Holding On" is the lead-off single. Summer. Jam.
2 - "Snake Eyes", Mumford & Sons
This is possibly the Mumfordiest song the band has recorded since Sigh No More. Start off all mellow, then let the instrumentation swell while the vocals are still chilling in the second verse and then completely rock out to bring it home. I may have seen this routine from them before, but I like it every time.
1 - "Don't Wanna Fight", Alabama Shakes
It's not often that you refer to a woman hitting the high notes as "falsetto", but I suppose that's exactly what we have on our hands here. My love for this song didn't fully blossom until a few listens through, but I'm there now. I was listening to this in the car with my wife when we were driving in to Toronto a few weeks ago and she asked if the band toured much in Canada. We hit the Internet and it turned out Alabama Shakes was playing Toronto that night. Hilarity. We were already booked up with wedding festivities but I bet it was a good show.
Happy listening!
Monday, June 15, 2015
June tunes
It was a year ago that I set off on the road trip of a lifetime. Lots of time spent in the van, jamming out to my favourite tunes from last May and June. Many of those songs (as well as some of the bigger radio hits of the summer like "Am I Wrong", "Latch", "Fancy", "Problem", "Rude" and "Stay With Me") will always remind me of driving out to the ocean with the family. Sigh. On to the current month's picks!
10 - "Huarache Lights", Hot Chip
This list starts out a bit electronic so apologies if this isn't really your thing. I've been interested in Hot Chip on and off since "The Warning". I say on and off because it looks like I've never heard their big hit, "Ready for the Floor". Oh, now I have. Not my jam. "Huarache Lights" is the lead-off from their latest album and I love that little callout - reminiscent of Groove Armada's "I See You Baby". Classic.
9 - "Bloodstream", Ed Sheeran & Rudimental
My wife just saw Ed Sheeran in concert and said it was a great show. She was most impressed that he played alone, looping his own vocals and music to layer everything into a complete piece. Ed Sheeran impresses me a great deal too and I don't think he's done with being Grammy darling. As for Rudimental, they are a drum and bass band from the U.K. who actually have writing credits on Sheeran's album version of "Bloodstream" (along with two members of Snow Patrol). The remixed version was released at the end of March and hit #2 on the British charts. Not a bad piece of work. And Ray Liotta's in the video. What more could you want?
8 - "Julia", Jungle
Jeez Soundcloud...you're letting me down this week. I suppose the tracks I'm highlighting are just too mainstream for you:(. I dropped "Busy Earnin'" on last week's list. This is yet another interesting piece of choreography (krumpoeira?) so I suppose it's just as well I'm including the video.
7 - "Gold Dust", Galantis
With "Help", Galantis definitely hit a double with me. "Gold Dust" might just pump that up to a triple. Their album just got released last week and I'm getting into it. In case you're wondering what that animal is on all of their artwork, they apparently call it a Seafox. I've also just learned via wikipedia that Galantis was voted "Best Dance Moment" at Coachella 2014 - pretty impressive considering some of the artists on hand that year (Calvin Harris, Disclosure, Girl Talk and Flume).
6 - "What Kind of Man", Florence and the Machine
This video features dialogue, wild flailing, big hats, too many guys, nudity, symbolism, emoting, blatant lack of seatbelt use and a lot of water. Feel free to watch it more than once.
5 - "Leaf Off / The Cave", Jose Gonzalez; "After All is Said and Done", Junip
Yeah, that's right, I'm doing it! A Jose Gonzalez DOUBLE SHOT. I try to keep it to one release per artist, but I'm cheating a bit here, including some new solo material as well as a strong track from his second album recorded with Junip (from back in 2013). Jose's cover of The Knife's "Heartbeats" (Wiki reports that the original was ranked #15 song of the 2000s by Pitchfork Media.) is one of my favourite songs of all time so pretty much any time he puts something new out, I'll give it a listen.
4 - "Fool for Love", Lord Huron
In case it's not obvious, we have now moved on from the electronic portion of the tunes list. "Fool For Love" is off Lord Huron's sophomore album Strange Trails, released back in April. I'm still getting into Lord Huron (not my typical fare), but I suppose I've heard this song enough times to get a feel for the vocals...I heard a song on the HBO show Togetherness whose vocals sounded familiar and it turned out to be the title track from Lord Huron's first album, Lonesome Dreams. Cool.
3 - "My Silver Lining", First Aid Kit
First Aid Kit is our third and final Swedish artist on the list this month. I would have slipped this in a double shot last month with "America", but they don't have Gonzalez-level cred quite yet. This is a relatively old song, released early in 2014. The two sisters performed it on Letterman, Conan and Ellen last year and Billboard named it one of the best songs of the first half of 2014. Regardless, it's on my list for 2015. Take that, chronology!
2 - "Ohio (Filous Remix)", Damien Jurado
I know nothing about Damien Jurado. Apparently, he is from Seattle and is label mates with The War on Drugs. "Ohio" is from Damien's 2nd album, released in 1999 (!). Austrian DJ Filous has been all over the Internet lately, remixing all sorts of music. This is probably the track that he is best known for, but that might not last long. If you're interested in what's hot in electronic music in Vienna, Filous has created the following playlist
In case you want to hear the original version of "Ohio", here it is:
.
1 - "Breathe Again", The Kickdrums
When I hit up Soundcloud and see that a song I really like has racked up 1M listens, I'm not terribly surprised. However, when I see that the song in question is more around the 100k mark, that's when I wonder "how did I stumble onto this song?" "What do I see in it that others don't?". I'm not really sure on either count for "Breathe Again", though I think I've figured out the tiniest part of "Breathe Again" that hooks me...it's where it feels like the chorus should be. There's something about those simple sung notes around 1:04 that make me happy. Nothing special. Maybe it hearkens back to some other song I loved a long time ago...I can't place it. Regardless, it's my favourite song right now that I have yet to share with the masses.
Happy listening!
10 - "Huarache Lights", Hot Chip
This list starts out a bit electronic so apologies if this isn't really your thing. I've been interested in Hot Chip on and off since "The Warning". I say on and off because it looks like I've never heard their big hit, "Ready for the Floor". Oh, now I have. Not my jam. "Huarache Lights" is the lead-off from their latest album and I love that little callout - reminiscent of Groove Armada's "I See You Baby". Classic.
9 - "Bloodstream", Ed Sheeran & Rudimental
My wife just saw Ed Sheeran in concert and said it was a great show. She was most impressed that he played alone, looping his own vocals and music to layer everything into a complete piece. Ed Sheeran impresses me a great deal too and I don't think he's done with being Grammy darling. As for Rudimental, they are a drum and bass band from the U.K. who actually have writing credits on Sheeran's album version of "Bloodstream" (along with two members of Snow Patrol). The remixed version was released at the end of March and hit #2 on the British charts. Not a bad piece of work. And Ray Liotta's in the video. What more could you want?
8 - "Julia", Jungle
Jeez Soundcloud...you're letting me down this week. I suppose the tracks I'm highlighting are just too mainstream for you:(. I dropped "Busy Earnin'" on last week's list. This is yet another interesting piece of choreography (krumpoeira?) so I suppose it's just as well I'm including the video.
7 - "Gold Dust", Galantis
With "Help", Galantis definitely hit a double with me. "Gold Dust" might just pump that up to a triple. Their album just got released last week and I'm getting into it. In case you're wondering what that animal is on all of their artwork, they apparently call it a Seafox. I've also just learned via wikipedia that Galantis was voted "Best Dance Moment" at Coachella 2014 - pretty impressive considering some of the artists on hand that year (Calvin Harris, Disclosure, Girl Talk and Flume).
6 - "What Kind of Man", Florence and the Machine
This video features dialogue, wild flailing, big hats, too many guys, nudity, symbolism, emoting, blatant lack of seatbelt use and a lot of water. Feel free to watch it more than once.
5 - "Leaf Off / The Cave", Jose Gonzalez; "After All is Said and Done", Junip
Yeah, that's right, I'm doing it! A Jose Gonzalez DOUBLE SHOT. I try to keep it to one release per artist, but I'm cheating a bit here, including some new solo material as well as a strong track from his second album recorded with Junip (from back in 2013). Jose's cover of The Knife's "Heartbeats" (Wiki reports that the original was ranked #15 song of the 2000s by Pitchfork Media.) is one of my favourite songs of all time so pretty much any time he puts something new out, I'll give it a listen.
4 - "Fool for Love", Lord Huron
In case it's not obvious, we have now moved on from the electronic portion of the tunes list. "Fool For Love" is off Lord Huron's sophomore album Strange Trails, released back in April. I'm still getting into Lord Huron (not my typical fare), but I suppose I've heard this song enough times to get a feel for the vocals...I heard a song on the HBO show Togetherness whose vocals sounded familiar and it turned out to be the title track from Lord Huron's first album, Lonesome Dreams. Cool.
3 - "My Silver Lining", First Aid Kit
First Aid Kit is our third and final Swedish artist on the list this month. I would have slipped this in a double shot last month with "America", but they don't have Gonzalez-level cred quite yet. This is a relatively old song, released early in 2014. The two sisters performed it on Letterman, Conan and Ellen last year and Billboard named it one of the best songs of the first half of 2014. Regardless, it's on my list for 2015. Take that, chronology!
2 - "Ohio (Filous Remix)", Damien Jurado
I know nothing about Damien Jurado. Apparently, he is from Seattle and is label mates with The War on Drugs. "Ohio" is from Damien's 2nd album, released in 1999 (!). Austrian DJ Filous has been all over the Internet lately, remixing all sorts of music. This is probably the track that he is best known for, but that might not last long. If you're interested in what's hot in electronic music in Vienna, Filous has created the following playlist
In case you want to hear the original version of "Ohio", here it is:
.
1 - "Breathe Again", The Kickdrums
When I hit up Soundcloud and see that a song I really like has racked up 1M listens, I'm not terribly surprised. However, when I see that the song in question is more around the 100k mark, that's when I wonder "how did I stumble onto this song?" "What do I see in it that others don't?". I'm not really sure on either count for "Breathe Again", though I think I've figured out the tiniest part of "Breathe Again" that hooks me...it's where it feels like the chorus should be. There's something about those simple sung notes around 1:04 that make me happy. Nothing special. Maybe it hearkens back to some other song I loved a long time ago...I can't place it. Regardless, it's my favourite song right now that I have yet to share with the masses.
Happy listening!
Friday, May 8, 2015
May tunes
Finally, a month that doesn't start with snow on the ground. Now I can roll the windows down in my hot ride (minivan) and crank some of these tunes for my neighbours..
10 - "1998", Chet Faker
I really missed the bus on watching the Coachella Live Stream online this year. One guy I did not miss though is Chet Faker, a mainstay on these monthly lists. I'm not sure if "1998", "Gold" or "No Diggity" got the biggest crowd response, but it was close. This song has been around an awfully long time to be showing up as "fresh new music", but I have no shame. Plus nobody reads this:). I'm hoping to get to Osheaga this summer to see Faker in person. Fingers crossed.
9 - "Fade Out Lines", The Avener
The Avener is a French house DJ and this is his reworking of "Fade Out Lines" by Phoebe Killdeer and the Short Straws. I actually heard this in a diner in Montreal last month (massive cool points for whatever station was spinning this) and was very surprised. For anyone who wants to hear the slower original without the driving bass thump, here it is.
8 - "Ain't That Easy", D'Angelo and The Vanguard
Holding down the 8-spot for back-to-back months, it's D'Angelo with another single from Black Messiah. For follower(s) of this blog, you know I love interesting rhythm in music so this song gets some points for the seemingly slightly uncoordinated hand-clap every couple of bars. This is a great lead-off single and definitely caught my attention when I first booted up the album. Hope you enjoy.
7 - "Kansas City", The New Basement Tapes
While I might not be all caught up in the new Mumford & Sons single, I do appreciate this cut from Mumford's work on the New Basement Tapes sessions. The album is not really my cup of tea, but it made a great gift at Christmas for some of the classic rock/Dylan lovers in my family.
6 - "Where are U Now", Skrillex and Diplo feat. Justin Bieber
And now for something completely different. I'll probably take some heat for listening to anything associated with Biebs. Shrug. I'm hoping that the Skrillex/Diplo presence works as a sort of carbon offset. I'm not entirely sure if this passes for Can-con, but I've heard it a few times on local radio stations, which has surprised me a bit. In an case, it's a very strange confluence of musical minds that I'm not sure I would have ever predicted would work together.
5 - "Somebody New", Joywave
I first heard of these guys a couple of years ago when "Tongues" (feat. KOPPS) did the rounds (a very different sound from "Somebody New" with a REALLY weird video). Then last year, they were featured on Big Data's alternative smash "Dangerous". I'm very intrigued by these guys and will be keeping an ear open for more.
4 - "Busy Earnin'", Jungle
So these guys love making some choreographed music videos! This is the first of theirs I saw, but "Time", "Julia" and "The Heat" are all along the same vein. Like one, you'll like them all. Jungle exudes a pretty sick retro cool that doesn't sound like much else out there right now. Me gusto.
3 - "King", Years & Years
I'm trying to figure out what decade this hearkens back to. Mid 80s? The synths remind me a lot of Cut Copy from a couple of years ago. Very catchy..
2 - "America", First Aid Kit
I have a monster soft spot for Fleetwood Mac. But I also have a separate part in my heart reserved for Simon and Garfunkel. This is a pretty nice cover of an S&G classic. I promise I'll hook you up with some more First Aid Kit (Swedish!) next month (feel free to track some down yourself if you like;)).
1 - "A Thousand Miles (Vanessa Carlton Refix)", MNEK
Oh my God I can't get this song out of my head. Make it stop! No wait, one more play. Obviously, if you were not a fan of the original, then this won't go well for you. The infusion of "Love Shack" is pretty awesome, imho.
Happy listening!
10 - "1998", Chet Faker
I really missed the bus on watching the Coachella Live Stream online this year. One guy I did not miss though is Chet Faker, a mainstay on these monthly lists. I'm not sure if "1998", "Gold" or "No Diggity" got the biggest crowd response, but it was close. This song has been around an awfully long time to be showing up as "fresh new music", but I have no shame. Plus nobody reads this:). I'm hoping to get to Osheaga this summer to see Faker in person. Fingers crossed.
9 - "Fade Out Lines", The Avener
The Avener is a French house DJ and this is his reworking of "Fade Out Lines" by Phoebe Killdeer and the Short Straws. I actually heard this in a diner in Montreal last month (massive cool points for whatever station was spinning this) and was very surprised. For anyone who wants to hear the slower original without the driving bass thump, here it is.
8 - "Ain't That Easy", D'Angelo and The Vanguard
Holding down the 8-spot for back-to-back months, it's D'Angelo with another single from Black Messiah. For follower(s) of this blog, you know I love interesting rhythm in music so this song gets some points for the seemingly slightly uncoordinated hand-clap every couple of bars. This is a great lead-off single and definitely caught my attention when I first booted up the album. Hope you enjoy.
7 - "Kansas City", The New Basement Tapes
While I might not be all caught up in the new Mumford & Sons single, I do appreciate this cut from Mumford's work on the New Basement Tapes sessions. The album is not really my cup of tea, but it made a great gift at Christmas for some of the classic rock/Dylan lovers in my family.
6 - "Where are U Now", Skrillex and Diplo feat. Justin Bieber
And now for something completely different. I'll probably take some heat for listening to anything associated with Biebs. Shrug. I'm hoping that the Skrillex/Diplo presence works as a sort of carbon offset. I'm not entirely sure if this passes for Can-con, but I've heard it a few times on local radio stations, which has surprised me a bit. In an case, it's a very strange confluence of musical minds that I'm not sure I would have ever predicted would work together.
5 - "Somebody New", Joywave
I first heard of these guys a couple of years ago when "Tongues" (feat. KOPPS) did the rounds (a very different sound from "Somebody New" with a REALLY weird video). Then last year, they were featured on Big Data's alternative smash "Dangerous". I'm very intrigued by these guys and will be keeping an ear open for more.
4 - "Busy Earnin'", Jungle
So these guys love making some choreographed music videos! This is the first of theirs I saw, but "Time", "Julia" and "The Heat" are all along the same vein. Like one, you'll like them all. Jungle exudes a pretty sick retro cool that doesn't sound like much else out there right now. Me gusto.
3 - "King", Years & Years
I'm trying to figure out what decade this hearkens back to. Mid 80s? The synths remind me a lot of Cut Copy from a couple of years ago. Very catchy..
2 - "America", First Aid Kit
I have a monster soft spot for Fleetwood Mac. But I also have a separate part in my heart reserved for Simon and Garfunkel. This is a pretty nice cover of an S&G classic. I promise I'll hook you up with some more First Aid Kit (Swedish!) next month (feel free to track some down yourself if you like;)).
1 - "A Thousand Miles (Vanessa Carlton Refix)", MNEK
Oh my God I can't get this song out of my head. Make it stop! No wait, one more play. Obviously, if you were not a fan of the original, then this won't go well for you. The infusion of "Love Shack" is pretty awesome, imho.
Happy listening!
Wednesday, April 8, 2015
New April stuff!
I'm back with another 10 songs to pop inside your walkman and cruise to.
10 - "Dust", HÆLOS
This is the first of four artists I bring to you that feature strange diacritical marks in their names. Well, I suppose the overring, acute and umlaut fit the bill, Æ is technically a grapheme. But I digress. I'm actually killing space because very little is known about HÆLOS (formerly just Halos). I can confirm that they are a trio and that they are from the U.K. They have also signed to Matador Records. Beyond that, nothing. "Dust" was released last year and it was followed up earlier this year by "Earth Not Above".
9 - "Memo", Years and Years
Another trio, this time definitely from London. These guys won the BBC Sound of 2015 award this past year, an annual award that has previously been given to Sam Smith, HAIM, Michael Kiwanuka, Jessie J and Ellie Goulding (James Bay finished second this year) since 2010. They are probably more known for their single "King" (I'm also listening to that one a lot), but "Memo" is the standout for me at the moment.
8 - "Betray My Heart", D'Angelo and The Vanguard
It's taken a while for one of the tracks from Black Messiah to make it onto my monthly list and the one that finally cracked it was not one of the more popular songs out there...but it's my current favourite from the album. It's been a while since I've seen critical reception for an album like I saw with this one - it's still growing on me, but I definitely enjoy a few tracks including "Ain't That Easy", "Really Love", "Till It's Done" and "Back to the Future (II)".
7 - "You Didn't Need My Love", Ánders
Wow - I know nothing about this guy from the UK. Soundcloud reports that this was recorded on the Greek island of Sifnos. Oh and if you're interested in having Ánders come play your house party, click here.
6 - "Memory", Tom Misch
Another smooth jam from Tom Misch. Is this guy seriously 19? Apparently he has now cleared 10M total streams on Soundcloud. Wow. Looking forward to more electro-jazz-hip-hop-fusion from this guy. Oh and for those of you who want to pay your respects to J Dilla, feel free to give this a listen.
5 - "Won't Look Back", Duke Dumont
I'm really not sure how, in the midst of my Duke Dumont phase last year, I managed to miss out on this one. Maybe it's because, out of the three singles D.D. has released in the U.K., "Won't Look Back" is actually the only one to stall out at #2 and not top the chart. I'm posting the video because it's kind of funny.
4 - "No Enemiesz", Kiesza
I am actually showing no signs of Kiesza fatigue just yet. The first time I heard "No Enemiesz", it was a pretty crazy remix that didn't really do the song justice. After "Giant in My Heart" failed to crack the top 50 in Canada, I'm not too sure what to expect for this single. It's getting some run in Ottawa, but it might not take off nationally. P.S. I very much support the z at the end of the title.
3 - "Goodbye", Who is Fancy
I have a feeling that this song will be everywhere in short order. I also have a feeling that this is going to be filed under "guilty pleasure" when all is said and done. It came out a few weeks ago that Who is Fancy is actually some dude named Jake Hagood who is wrapped up with Dr. Luke, Scott Borchetta and Scooter Braun. Look out world. He gave his first highly visible performance on Jimmy Fallon this week (seen here) and I'm sure it will feed into the buzz. It's a pretty simple earworm...beware if you haven't heard it...
2 - "I Had This Thing", Röyksopp
Jamie Irrepressible and Röyksopp first appeared on my playlists almost two years ago with "Something in My Heart", a track that would eventually be included on Röyksopp's curtain call "The Inevitable End". I'll really miss these guys and will have to settle for spinning their catalogue repeatedly in memoriam.
1 - "Falling Short", Låpsley
This is Holly Lapsley Fletcher from Liverpool and was also featured on the BBC Sound of 2015 long list (i.e. did not finish in the top 6). This song blows me away. As you might know from my previous (and frankly, current) posts, I like me some uptempo music. So it takes something special for a slow burner like this to catch my ear. I will likely be listening to this one right through the summer and will try to dig up some more Låpsley to see what else is out there.
Happy listening!
10 - "Dust", HÆLOS
This is the first of four artists I bring to you that feature strange diacritical marks in their names. Well, I suppose the overring, acute and umlaut fit the bill, Æ is technically a grapheme. But I digress. I'm actually killing space because very little is known about HÆLOS (formerly just Halos). I can confirm that they are a trio and that they are from the U.K. They have also signed to Matador Records. Beyond that, nothing. "Dust" was released last year and it was followed up earlier this year by "Earth Not Above".
9 - "Memo", Years and Years
Another trio, this time definitely from London. These guys won the BBC Sound of 2015 award this past year, an annual award that has previously been given to Sam Smith, HAIM, Michael Kiwanuka, Jessie J and Ellie Goulding (James Bay finished second this year) since 2010. They are probably more known for their single "King" (I'm also listening to that one a lot), but "Memo" is the standout for me at the moment.
8 - "Betray My Heart", D'Angelo and The Vanguard
It's taken a while for one of the tracks from Black Messiah to make it onto my monthly list and the one that finally cracked it was not one of the more popular songs out there...but it's my current favourite from the album. It's been a while since I've seen critical reception for an album like I saw with this one - it's still growing on me, but I definitely enjoy a few tracks including "Ain't That Easy", "Really Love", "Till It's Done" and "Back to the Future (II)".
7 - "You Didn't Need My Love", Ánders
Wow - I know nothing about this guy from the UK. Soundcloud reports that this was recorded on the Greek island of Sifnos. Oh and if you're interested in having Ánders come play your house party, click here.
6 - "Memory", Tom Misch
Another smooth jam from Tom Misch. Is this guy seriously 19? Apparently he has now cleared 10M total streams on Soundcloud. Wow. Looking forward to more electro-jazz-hip-hop-fusion from this guy. Oh and for those of you who want to pay your respects to J Dilla, feel free to give this a listen.
5 - "Won't Look Back", Duke Dumont
I'm really not sure how, in the midst of my Duke Dumont phase last year, I managed to miss out on this one. Maybe it's because, out of the three singles D.D. has released in the U.K., "Won't Look Back" is actually the only one to stall out at #2 and not top the chart. I'm posting the video because it's kind of funny.
4 - "No Enemiesz", Kiesza
I am actually showing no signs of Kiesza fatigue just yet. The first time I heard "No Enemiesz", it was a pretty crazy remix that didn't really do the song justice. After "Giant in My Heart" failed to crack the top 50 in Canada, I'm not too sure what to expect for this single. It's getting some run in Ottawa, but it might not take off nationally. P.S. I very much support the z at the end of the title.
3 - "Goodbye", Who is Fancy
I have a feeling that this song will be everywhere in short order. I also have a feeling that this is going to be filed under "guilty pleasure" when all is said and done. It came out a few weeks ago that Who is Fancy is actually some dude named Jake Hagood who is wrapped up with Dr. Luke, Scott Borchetta and Scooter Braun. Look out world. He gave his first highly visible performance on Jimmy Fallon this week (seen here) and I'm sure it will feed into the buzz. It's a pretty simple earworm...beware if you haven't heard it...
2 - "I Had This Thing", Röyksopp
Jamie Irrepressible and Röyksopp first appeared on my playlists almost two years ago with "Something in My Heart", a track that would eventually be included on Röyksopp's curtain call "The Inevitable End". I'll really miss these guys and will have to settle for spinning their catalogue repeatedly in memoriam.
1 - "Falling Short", Låpsley
This is Holly Lapsley Fletcher from Liverpool and was also featured on the BBC Sound of 2015 long list (i.e. did not finish in the top 6). This song blows me away. As you might know from my previous (and frankly, current) posts, I like me some uptempo music. So it takes something special for a slow burner like this to catch my ear. I will likely be listening to this one right through the summer and will try to dig up some more Låpsley to see what else is out there.
Happy listening!
Saturday, March 7, 2015
March adds
There were so many songs I wanted to hype last month that I've opted for a quick turnaround on this post. Here is another handful of songs that might interest you. Taking a look at the list now, I'm shocked by how far this leans away from the EDM stuff that I tend to post here. Lots of indie/alt rock offerings this time around.
10 - "End of the Affair", Ben Howard
Ben Howard is back on my list. His most recent album (I Forget Where We Were) is phenomenal, if you're into Brit folk stuff. This is the third song of his that I've really enjoyed, the others being "Old Pine" and his BBC Live Lounge cover of Kiesza's "Hideaway". The first time I heard "Affair", the second half of the song really took me surprise. It reminds me of something I heard in my teen years, but I can't place it. I hate it when that happens.
9 - "Your Love Will Set You Free (C2's Set U Free RMX)", Caribou
So my kids have really gotten into living-room dance parties and they love high-BPM electronic stuff. Their favourite part is standing still, waiting for a drop to happen and then losing their minds. Pretty funny to watch. This song doesn't quite work for them because, well, what child wants to wait 120 seconds to go bonkers? Instant gratification please!.
8 - "Chasing Time (Pham Flip)", Azealia Banks
A friend of mine recently pointed out that if I were picking Azealia's I was on team Banks (as opposed to team Iggy). If tallying up songs I've actually downloaded onto my hard drive is what settles the dispute, then yes, I'm guilty as charged. Pitchfork named the video for "Chasing Time" one of their best of 2014 - feel free to check out some of their awardees, but be warned that there's some weeeeirrrrd stuff on that list.
7 - "Sweet Emotion", The Kooks
This song isn't winning any prizes for lyrical complexity, but it is winning awards for handclaps, exhales, tsch-tsch-tsches and catchiness. The long tail end of the song's a little weird too, but that bass and rhythm...like Letterman said, "I'll take all of that you got".
6 - "Hold Back the River", James Bay
The last time Brits were trumpeting James Bay, Henry Hudson might have been involved (Hey-yoooo). This James Bay, however, has been given the Brits' Critics Choice Award that has formerly gone to Sam Smith, Adele, Ellie Goulding and Florence and the Machine, among others. This could be a breakout year for Bay, whose music is starting to creep into TV shows already. Stay tuned...
5 - "Teach Me", Bakermat
With that high-hat opening, you'd be forgiven if you were expecting Simone Denny to launch into "Broken Bones" (btw I do recommend searching YouTube for "Broken Bones" and seeing the crazy accident videos that pop up). But this song features Shirley Caesar, a gospel music legend. Not sure how many times gospel and disco have been fused together, but this makes it at least once.
4 - "Disappearing", The War on Drugs
KCRW has such an awesome vault of live performances on YouTube. I heart KCRW. And, after giving the critically-acclaimed TWoD album Lost in the Dream another couple of chances late last year, I have really gotten into a few tracks beyond the no-brainer "Red Eyes". This one takes the cake at the moment, though "Under the Pressure", Suffering" and "In Reverse" are on the short list too. Definitely check out the comments below this video...lots of people cracking on the sloppiness of the solo. Hahaha.
3 - "On & On", Joey Bada$$ feat. Maverick Sabre & Dyemond Lewis
"Black Skinhead" aside, there's not a lot of rap music I'd have put this high up a monthly list in the last year+. But then Joey Bada$$ said "psychopomp". This song isn't as jaw-dropping as, say, Lupe Fiasco's "Mural" or maybe even NAS's "The Season", but it is strong. "Paper Trail$" is another nice JB track, in case this is your kind of thing.
2 - "Warm Foothills", alt-J
What a peculiar track. Joe Newman's vocals are spliced together with those of Conor Oberst, Lianne La Havas, Sivu and Marika Hackman, two of whom have appeared on my recent year-end charts. I'm not entirely sure whose idea it was to structure the song like this, but the final product is pretty amazing. It took me a while to warm up to This is all Yours (see The War on Drugs, above), but I'm there now. Oh and I just saw on Wiki that the album that kept alt-J out of the top spot on the Canadian album charts last year was a Leonard Cohen album. Seriously???.
1 - "First", Cold War Kids
Last and unleast is the most recent release from Cold War Kids. Yep, we're closing with some anthemic rock today. To bring up my kids again, this choice is actually unrelated to my boys and I cranking Muse's "Uprising" in the minivan and watching them pump their fists screaming "REVOLUTION"! Hilarity. I feel like "First" would be right at home on Alt-rock radio, but it doesn't seem to have been released as a single. The only former single of theirs that I had listened to with any regularity was "Louder Than Ever", which was supposed to tune me up for their Coachella '11 show. In the end, they lost the concert conflict battle to Lauryn Hill and Interpol so I'm still an 0-fer in the "seen them" column.
Happy listening!
10 - "End of the Affair", Ben Howard
Ben Howard is back on my list. His most recent album (I Forget Where We Were) is phenomenal, if you're into Brit folk stuff. This is the third song of his that I've really enjoyed, the others being "Old Pine" and his BBC Live Lounge cover of Kiesza's "Hideaway". The first time I heard "Affair", the second half of the song really took me surprise. It reminds me of something I heard in my teen years, but I can't place it. I hate it when that happens.
9 - "Your Love Will Set You Free (C2's Set U Free RMX)", Caribou
So my kids have really gotten into living-room dance parties and they love high-BPM electronic stuff. Their favourite part is standing still, waiting for a drop to happen and then losing their minds. Pretty funny to watch. This song doesn't quite work for them because, well, what child wants to wait 120 seconds to go bonkers? Instant gratification please!.
8 - "Chasing Time (Pham Flip)", Azealia Banks
A friend of mine recently pointed out that if I were picking Azealia's I was on team Banks (as opposed to team Iggy). If tallying up songs I've actually downloaded onto my hard drive is what settles the dispute, then yes, I'm guilty as charged. Pitchfork named the video for "Chasing Time" one of their best of 2014 - feel free to check out some of their awardees, but be warned that there's some weeeeirrrrd stuff on that list.
7 - "Sweet Emotion", The Kooks
This song isn't winning any prizes for lyrical complexity, but it is winning awards for handclaps, exhales, tsch-tsch-tsches and catchiness. The long tail end of the song's a little weird too, but that bass and rhythm...like Letterman said, "I'll take all of that you got".
6 - "Hold Back the River", James Bay
The last time Brits were trumpeting James Bay, Henry Hudson might have been involved (Hey-yoooo). This James Bay, however, has been given the Brits' Critics Choice Award that has formerly gone to Sam Smith, Adele, Ellie Goulding and Florence and the Machine, among others. This could be a breakout year for Bay, whose music is starting to creep into TV shows already. Stay tuned...
5 - "Teach Me", Bakermat
With that high-hat opening, you'd be forgiven if you were expecting Simone Denny to launch into "Broken Bones" (btw I do recommend searching YouTube for "Broken Bones" and seeing the crazy accident videos that pop up). But this song features Shirley Caesar, a gospel music legend. Not sure how many times gospel and disco have been fused together, but this makes it at least once.
4 - "Disappearing", The War on Drugs
KCRW has such an awesome vault of live performances on YouTube. I heart KCRW. And, after giving the critically-acclaimed TWoD album Lost in the Dream another couple of chances late last year, I have really gotten into a few tracks beyond the no-brainer "Red Eyes". This one takes the cake at the moment, though "Under the Pressure", Suffering" and "In Reverse" are on the short list too. Definitely check out the comments below this video...lots of people cracking on the sloppiness of the solo. Hahaha.
3 - "On & On", Joey Bada$$ feat. Maverick Sabre & Dyemond Lewis
"Black Skinhead" aside, there's not a lot of rap music I'd have put this high up a monthly list in the last year+. But then Joey Bada$$ said "psychopomp". This song isn't as jaw-dropping as, say, Lupe Fiasco's "Mural" or maybe even NAS's "The Season", but it is strong. "Paper Trail$" is another nice JB track, in case this is your kind of thing.
2 - "Warm Foothills", alt-J
What a peculiar track. Joe Newman's vocals are spliced together with those of Conor Oberst, Lianne La Havas, Sivu and Marika Hackman, two of whom have appeared on my recent year-end charts. I'm not entirely sure whose idea it was to structure the song like this, but the final product is pretty amazing. It took me a while to warm up to This is all Yours (see The War on Drugs, above), but I'm there now. Oh and I just saw on Wiki that the album that kept alt-J out of the top spot on the Canadian album charts last year was a Leonard Cohen album. Seriously???.
1 - "First", Cold War Kids
Last and unleast is the most recent release from Cold War Kids. Yep, we're closing with some anthemic rock today. To bring up my kids again, this choice is actually unrelated to my boys and I cranking Muse's "Uprising" in the minivan and watching them pump their fists screaming "REVOLUTION"! Hilarity. I feel like "First" would be right at home on Alt-rock radio, but it doesn't seem to have been released as a single. The only former single of theirs that I had listened to with any regularity was "Louder Than Ever", which was supposed to tune me up for their Coachella '11 show. In the end, they lost the concert conflict battle to Lauryn Hill and Interpol so I'm still an 0-fer in the "seen them" column.
Happy listening!
Sunday, February 22, 2015
January and February, 2015
So after that deluge of posts around Christmas time, I burned myself out on music and the blog for a spell. Now that I'm fully recharged, it's about time I shared with you some links to some new(it) tunes! I haven't really recommended anything since November so I barely even know where to start. Hopefully at least one of these will strike your fancy.
10 - "Happiness", Chris Malinchak feat. MNEK
OK, let's get it started with the latest Deep House beats from Chris Malinchak. This guy has been putting out some really smooth music for a couple of years now - "If You Got It" was one of my favourite 100 songs of 2012 and "So Good to Me" was almost in my top 40 for 2013. Apparently, this was a massive hit in the U.K., where it was only held out of the #1 spot on the charts by "Get Lucky". Impressive.
9 - "One Touch", Baauer feat. AlunaGeorge and Rae Sremmurd
So this is not the typical type of song that I get into. The vocals are a bit manic and I've never been into beating anything to put it on crutches, but that bass line...wow. I wasn't sure if Baauer would ever resurface after "Harlem Shake" and technically, until this actually turns into a hit, I suppose he hasn't. And hey, I learned what a Senzu bean was.
8 - "Work Song", Hozier
Was this really supposed to evoke images from 12 Years a Slave (somebody posted a video on YouTube with Hozier's audio played over clips from the film)? It's funny - "Take Me to Church" introduced me to Hozier, but I never totally fell in love with the song. A number of other tracks from his album are pretty strong, though, including this one. After almost winning The Grammys with Annie Lennox, I'm curious to see if he'll be more than just a blip on the map.
7 - "Please Don't", Leo Stannard
So this guy's pretty young. As far as I can tell, he's either 19 or 20. Apparently, his exposure on the Internet may have started around the time he covered alt-J's "Tessellate" for The Mahogany Sessions blog (if you're interested, you can see it here. It looks like he signed on with Black Butter records (Sony) just last week so maybe he'll be a little more "out there" in the coming months.
6 - "Giant in My Heart", Kiesza
This song was just on the fringe of my November list so it's already kind of run its course. "No Enemiesz" is getting a serious amount of spins around my house these days. But if you've somehow not heard "Giant" yet, it's definitely worth a listen. The single may or may not be hovering just outside the top 50 in Canada (it's a little hard to interpret Billboard's Canadian Hot 100 chart:( ) so it's definitely getting some run up here.
5 - "Artifice", SOHN
SOHN, otherwise known as Christopher Taylor, grew up in England but is now based in Vienna. Though he has been releasing tracks under the SOHN name for almost five years, "Artifice" is the lead single from just his first album (Tremors was released last April). His previous best-known track was probably "Bloodflows", also a really nice piece of music.
4 - "Lover", Chet Faker x SAINT WKND
Another young 'un. Apparently, SAINT WKND is a 20-year-old German producer (who went by just WKND until a couple of weeks ago...perhaps a bit too close to The Weeknd?) who has also just reworked some of M83's music. Interestingly, this is a cover of "You Don't Treat Me No Good", a song released by American soul group Sonia Dada in 1992. How did Chet Faker end up covering this song? It turns out that it topped the charts in Australia back in '92, knocking "I Will Always Love You" out of the pole position. In 2010, a cover went to #1 on the Hot Country Singles chart. That's a pretty rich history.
3 - "Silver", Caribou
I got to see Caribou opening for Radiohead in Montreal a few years ago and that was a real treat. I was particularly into "Sun" at the time and he played it...there's nothing better than hearing something that may or may not get played at a concert. In any case, I love me some Caribou...so much so that I'm slightly troubled that I only just found out that he has a PhD in Mathematics. AWESOME. This is the first track I heard from the latest album, Our Love. I will almost certainly be pimping another album track in the near future.
2 - "Help", Galantis
Swedish! Galantis is a duo of electronic musicians who have both had past hits with me (Miike Snow's "Animal" and "Paddling Out" and Style of Eye's "Wallpaper"). Late last year, Gallants threw a pile of tracks up on Soundcloud. This is the one that struck me the most - right in the vein of "Don't You Worry Child". Radio should be up on this, but it won't be. More for me.
1 - "Happy Idiot", TV on the Radio
And this month's winner is TVotR. Man, these guys have been around for a while. Looking at Wiki, it seems that the first song I remember hearing of their was actually their first (although there are gaps along the way): "Staring at the Sun". This song is amazing and I'm surprised that US Alternative radio has not run with it. The follow-up, "Careful You", is also pretty solid (and features some French!).
That's it for this time around...hopefully my next post won't take so long to put up.
10 - "Happiness", Chris Malinchak feat. MNEK
OK, let's get it started with the latest Deep House beats from Chris Malinchak. This guy has been putting out some really smooth music for a couple of years now - "If You Got It" was one of my favourite 100 songs of 2012 and "So Good to Me" was almost in my top 40 for 2013. Apparently, this was a massive hit in the U.K., where it was only held out of the #1 spot on the charts by "Get Lucky". Impressive.
9 - "One Touch", Baauer feat. AlunaGeorge and Rae Sremmurd
So this is not the typical type of song that I get into. The vocals are a bit manic and I've never been into beating anything to put it on crutches, but that bass line...wow. I wasn't sure if Baauer would ever resurface after "Harlem Shake" and technically, until this actually turns into a hit, I suppose he hasn't. And hey, I learned what a Senzu bean was.
8 - "Work Song", Hozier
Was this really supposed to evoke images from 12 Years a Slave (somebody posted a video on YouTube with Hozier's audio played over clips from the film)? It's funny - "Take Me to Church" introduced me to Hozier, but I never totally fell in love with the song. A number of other tracks from his album are pretty strong, though, including this one. After almost winning The Grammys with Annie Lennox, I'm curious to see if he'll be more than just a blip on the map.
7 - "Please Don't", Leo Stannard
So this guy's pretty young. As far as I can tell, he's either 19 or 20. Apparently, his exposure on the Internet may have started around the time he covered alt-J's "Tessellate" for The Mahogany Sessions blog (if you're interested, you can see it here. It looks like he signed on with Black Butter records (Sony) just last week so maybe he'll be a little more "out there" in the coming months.
6 - "Giant in My Heart", Kiesza
This song was just on the fringe of my November list so it's already kind of run its course. "No Enemiesz" is getting a serious amount of spins around my house these days. But if you've somehow not heard "Giant" yet, it's definitely worth a listen. The single may or may not be hovering just outside the top 50 in Canada (it's a little hard to interpret Billboard's Canadian Hot 100 chart:( ) so it's definitely getting some run up here.
5 - "Artifice", SOHN
SOHN, otherwise known as Christopher Taylor, grew up in England but is now based in Vienna. Though he has been releasing tracks under the SOHN name for almost five years, "Artifice" is the lead single from just his first album (Tremors was released last April). His previous best-known track was probably "Bloodflows", also a really nice piece of music.
4 - "Lover", Chet Faker x SAINT WKND
Another young 'un. Apparently, SAINT WKND is a 20-year-old German producer (who went by just WKND until a couple of weeks ago...perhaps a bit too close to The Weeknd?) who has also just reworked some of M83's music. Interestingly, this is a cover of "You Don't Treat Me No Good", a song released by American soul group Sonia Dada in 1992. How did Chet Faker end up covering this song? It turns out that it topped the charts in Australia back in '92, knocking "I Will Always Love You" out of the pole position. In 2010, a cover went to #1 on the Hot Country Singles chart. That's a pretty rich history.
3 - "Silver", Caribou
I got to see Caribou opening for Radiohead in Montreal a few years ago and that was a real treat. I was particularly into "Sun" at the time and he played it...there's nothing better than hearing something that may or may not get played at a concert. In any case, I love me some Caribou...so much so that I'm slightly troubled that I only just found out that he has a PhD in Mathematics. AWESOME. This is the first track I heard from the latest album, Our Love. I will almost certainly be pimping another album track in the near future.
2 - "Help", Galantis
Swedish! Galantis is a duo of electronic musicians who have both had past hits with me (Miike Snow's "Animal" and "Paddling Out" and Style of Eye's "Wallpaper"). Late last year, Gallants threw a pile of tracks up on Soundcloud. This is the one that struck me the most - right in the vein of "Don't You Worry Child". Radio should be up on this, but it won't be. More for me.
1 - "Happy Idiot", TV on the Radio
And this month's winner is TVotR. Man, these guys have been around for a while. Looking at Wiki, it seems that the first song I remember hearing of their was actually their first (although there are gaps along the way): "Staring at the Sun". This song is amazing and I'm surprised that US Alternative radio has not run with it. The follow-up, "Careful You", is also pretty solid (and features some French!).
That's it for this time around...hopefully my next post won't take so long to put up.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)