2014 Faves: #90-#76

OK, the country music and the dead guy are in the rearview mirror so let's see what this next slate of tunes has in store. Maybe some more Swedes… And I realize that going in increments of 15 songs is strange, but it's what I had time for today.

#90: "Tough Love (Cyril Hahn Remix)", Jessie Ware

Another song that came to me later in the year. Jessie Ware's first album, Devotion had so much good stuff on it that there was no way that Tough Love was going to slip past my radar. One thing I can never predict is whether a remix will take or not. In this case, the remix gets the nod over the original.

#89: "Night Sky", Chvrches

The Bones of What You Believe is definitely one of my most played albums of the year. "The Mother We Share" and "Lies" were huge hits for me last year and Chvrches dominated my personal soundscape for the first half of this year. I promise they'll be back for more later on down the line.

#88: "Stolen Dance", Milky Chance

There was this time a couple of months ago when I wondered if "Stolen Dance" would outperform "Take Me to Church" on the Top 40 charts. Then a dance mix of "Church" was cut, the single erupted and Hozier ended up at Number 2 (as of this writing) on the Billboard Hot 100 and seems destined for #1. Well, so much for that. P.S. "Take Me to Church" was not one of my favourite 100 songs of the year. Neither was the remix.

#87: "The One", The Knocks feat. Sneaky Sound System

I'm still trying to figure out how The Knocks got onto the Ottawa Bluesfest bill last summer. Slightly dismayed that they didn't bust out "There's Something About Us Between the Sheets", but it was a good set nonetheless. This track would have gotten the 100 people in attendance dancing for sure.

#86: "Dear Boy (Dave Edwards Remix)", Daft Punk x Avicii

This is the only mash-up on the year-end round-up. It's really hard to succeed with a mash-up. Typically the mashed songs were both good to start out with, so how do you elevate them both by combining them? Not my problem. Then again, it's hard to ruin the recipe when Avicii and Daft Punk are the ingredients.

#85: "Don't Call it Love", Zero 7

Zero 7 and I have a long history, dating back to Simple Things, when they introduced me to this promising young artist named Sia Furler. "Warm Sound", "Destiny", "In the Waiting Line" and "Somersault" are classics for me. Time to add "Don't Call it Love" to the list.

#84: "Mine", Beyonce feat. Drake

So I really thought I'd like Beyonce more than I did. When Billboard claims your album is the best of the year, expectations are high. The problem for me was that the songs were a bit too all over the place within themselves for my liking. I mean, even this song feels like three different songs. Honourable mentions go to "Jealous", "Pretty Hurts" (Sia-penned, natch) and "Partition". I was fortunate enough to be in Winnipeg to catch Bey and Jay at a stop of the "On the Run" tour. Great show, although I'm curious as to how often she was actually singing. And P.S., for those of you who missed her staggering 15+ minute medley of (maybe?) every track off her album at the MTV VMAs, you can see it here.

#83: "Fall in Love", Phantogram

It had actually been a while since the last time I heard this song. Wow. Still amazing. Glad that Phantogram finally got some wide-spread exposure with this song and the accompanying album. I've had two near-misses catching these guys in concert (they lost out due to scheduling conflicts against Chromeo and The Strokes at Coachella 2011 and I was on the road when they hit Bluesfest this summer) so maybe we're just not destined to meet.

#82: "It's Alright Now", Bombay Bicycle Club

Speaking of near-misses, these guys played the local college in October while I was out of town. ARRGHH! I had been wondering earlier in the summer how often BBC toured and now I'm hoping it's frequent enough that I'll get another shot at seeing them live. This is the first of two tracks from So Long, See You Tomorrow, the band's fourth full-length release.

#81: "Wasting My Young Years", London Grammar

From the first time I heard "Hey Now", I was very intrigued by London Grammar. Their collabo with Disclosure melted my brain and then I picked up their album If You Wait. It didn't resonate with me right away, but after many, many listens, it has settled in as one of my favourites from 2014.

#80: "Two Weeks", FKA Twigs

Ahhh, the first F-bomby song on the list. You've been warned. FKA Twigs is possibly one of the strangest artists to break out this year. Like, take Janelle Monae's persona, make it more twisted and that's a good start. I really liked a few songs on LP1 but just plain didn't get many of the others. If I were to recommend a second song, I'd probably go with "Pendulums".

#79: "Loveless Way", Belgian Fog

I just love that this guy idolizes Jacques Brel and named his stage persona after Belgium, Jacques's country of birth. One of the more infectious ear worms I stumbled onto this year.

#78: "Fare Thee Well (Dink's Song)", Oscar Isaac & Marcus Mumford

While I didn't totally understand the fanfare surrounding Inside Llewyn Davis, I really enjoyed listening to this song. Oscar Isaac is clearly talented and I'm looking forward to seeing what he does next. I also love Marcus Mumford's voice and am currently listening to some of his work with The New Basement Tapes ("When I Get My Hands on You", "Kansas City").

#77: "Walking Lightly", Junip

And here is the second Junip track on the run-down. Both "Walking Lightly" and "Line of Fire" would have held down higher positions if I'd first heard them this year instead of last year. I have no idea if this band was a one-off or if there is more to come. I'll definitely be keeping my ear to the ground.

#76: "Late Night", Foals

That last statement applies to this song too. One of my absolute favourites from the last two years (one of five songs featured on the best-of lists for 2013 and 2014), it had sadly run most of its course by the time January came around. If you're looking for some more Foals, I would steer you to what might be their best-known track, "Spanish Sahara". IMHO, though, it's not nearly as good as "Late Night".

2014 Faves Part 1: #100-#91

Well, the time is finally here. I spend a couple of weeks spewing out a list of the songs I listened to/loved the most from this past year and then I turn around and spend a couple of weeks trawling the internet for everyone else's lists so that I can kick next year off with a bang. Before I get too excited about checking out those other sites, though: first thing's first. Welcome to my favourite songs of 2014! Granted, some of these songs were released in 2013. Some of them were released closer to 2010. One was released in the 90s by a guy who is now dead. My only rules for inclusion on this list are that I have to have first heard these songs in 2014, or in late 2013 and their impact on my life carried over to 2014. I first found out about many of these songs via either The Hype Machine or the Spotify Viral Charts, but have also been introduced to tracks via TV shows, pitchfork reviews, retro Rick Dees countdowns, Grantland podcasts, the Grammys telecast, radio stations in strange cities and albums purchased as a result of liking other songs on the countdown. Yes, I still occasionally buy albums.

Without further ado, let's get this party started.

#100: "Line of Fire", Junip

Roughly a quarter of the songs on this list are hold-overs from last year. This is one of them. From his solo days to doing guest vocals with Zero7 to Junip, I've always been a fan of Jose Gonzalez. And he's Swedish.

#99: "Cop Car (Live from 2014 Grammys)", Keith Urban & Gary Clark Jr.

I openly mock country music all the time. Country artists all look the same, sound the same and are masters of conjugating their lyrics in the past tense, for starters. I can't explain what it was about this performance that sunk its hooks into me. Gary Clark Jr. is awesome - that helps. Nice guitar work at the end, too. Regardless, I end up feeling moderately embarrassed that this song is sitting here. iPod don't lie.

#98: "Drowning in Your Eyes", Ephraim Lewis

This is also pseudo-embarrassing. I'm very nostalgic for 1990s pop music and syndicated AT40 and Rick Dees shows have become a bit of a soundtrack to my weekends. At some point late last year, I heard this song from way back in 1992 and swear I had never heard it before. I instantly thought to myself that if only I had latched on to this song in the early 90s, it probably would have been an all-timer (given my penchant for artists like Seal and Shai back in the day). So I started listening to it and it still felt right 22 years later. R.I.P., Ephraim.

#97: "Are You That Somebody", BANKS

This one is not embarrassing. As you might have surmised from the last blurb, I was a pretty big Aaliyah fan. I am also a BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge fan. WORLDS COLLIDE! A sweet acoustic jam you can even hear the backing musicians getting into if you listen closely. There was no question this was going to get a lot of run around here this year.

#96: "Reflektor", Arcade Fire

Another remnant from 2013, I'm not sure why I didn't end up liking "We Exist" or "Afterlife" nearly as much as "Reflektor". The video for "We Exist" still goes down as one of the year's best (and the Grammy nominations for 2015 seem to agree:). This is one of many songs featuring French lyrics that snuck onto my playlists over the past year.

#95: "Humiliation", The National

About a year ago, after being in love with "Sea of Love" for the better part of last year, I bit and picked up a copy of Trouble Will Find Me and have not regretted it one bit. This is the first of three songs from the album on the year-end list.

#94: "Wonder", Adventure Club feat. The Kite String Tangle

Hey, didn't I just feature this at #8 in my last post? Yup. Foreshadowing? Yup.

#93: "No Diggity (Live)", Chet Faker

While I'm sorry I missed this track as it was going viral a while back, I'm not sorry I stumbled onto it in the end. Loved this song the first time around and this arrangement is amazing. This might even sneak onto the 2015 best-of list.

#92: "Holdin' On", Flume

From Chet Faker to a frequent Chet Faker collaborator, Flume checks in at #92 with a short and sweet little confection. While a pile of this guy's remixes are floating around on the Internet, I seem to be more struck by his original compositions. "Possum" is getting a lot of spins around here these days.

#91: "Campo", Toro y Moi

Perennial favourite Toro y Moi dropped this track last year and it immediately went into heavy rotation for me. I love the smooth vibe of the song, the stuttering rhythm structure and the use of "sequoias" in the lyrics. Chaz Bundwick, you done good.

Fall adds

I'm already giddy. Four weeks separate today from the start of the year-end music season. Four weeks until the Interwebs explode in a rush of blogs nominating their favourite songs, artists and albums of the year. Also known as a fertile ground for trawling for my favourite music of next year:) Granted, I've been getting better lately at actually catching waves before they crash on the shore, but still, it's a great time to fill in some gaps. I'll also run my list out there, for anyone who is interested. Given that my annual views will maybe reach 500 by New Year's (is that more than I had expected? Less? I'm not actually sure. I'd lean toward more…), I assume there might be a couple. My monthly posts have at least laid the groundwork for the big countdown - most of my favourite songs of the year are covered in those blog entries. So, to maybe throw out a few final spoilers, here are 10 songs that I've added to my personal rotation since the summer.

10 - "Tough Love (Cyril Hahn remix)", Jessie Ware

I'm always excited for new Jessie Ware material. "Tough Love" is the title track from her latest release and this remix is my favourite version that I've heard so far. The second single is another track from the album that has caught my ear: "Say You Love Me" (co-written by the ubiquitous Ed Sheeran). Both songs have been moderate hits in the UK, charting in the 20-30 range. Not sure if she'll ever have her big North American break at some point. Both of her albums hit the top half of the Billboard 200, which probably means sales in the thousands. Looking forward to hearing what's next. And FYI, Cyril Hahn is from Vancouver, BC.

9 - "Options", Brika

As far as I can tell, Brika is from Miami and "Options" is the third of four songs she has released. "Mumbai" came first earlier this year, followed by "Expectations" before summer and more recently, "Gold". Allegedly, she cites Coldplay as her main influence. Can't say that I can see it. Regardless, there's something refreshing about the smoky voice, the harmonies and minimal instrumentation at the start of the song. The back end is not as strong, but it's still a good listen. By the way, "Expectations" is cut from the same cloth.

8 - "Wonder (featuring The Kite String Tangle)", Adventure Club

This is one of my internet finds that I've been most surprised to hear on the radio this year. I've been listening to The Kite String tangle since "Given the Chance" erupted in Australia last year. The first track of Adventure Club that I remember hearing was their complete reimagining of Alexisonfire's "To a Friend". I loved both of these songs so when I heard that they were featured together on the same track, I bought stock. It turns out that the song got a bit of run on Canadian radio and hit the top 30 recently. A solid electronic track.

7 - "Hey Mami", Sylvan Esso

I mentioned this track a few months ago when I posted "Coffee". While "Coffee" was an instant revelation for me, "Hey Mami" was a slower burn. I love the background noise that comes through as if they recorded this on a street corner. The appearance of the electronic backing track is surprising and adds a whole new dimension to the song. Sylvan Esso has definitely got my attention.

6 - "I Need My Girl", The National

This summer, The National joined the pantheon of bands I've seen at least twice in concert. I was fortunate enough to see their 17-song set at this fall's Folk Festival…an impressive show. Look for a couple of tracks from last year's amazing Trouble Will Find Me to make an appearance on my year-end list.

5 - "Looking too Closely", Fink

Next up, a track that peaked at #89 in the Netherlands!! Fink, a.k.a. Finn Greenall, has been around for a decade and a half…first as a DJ and now as an indie folk artist. What's really weird is that I have a Fink-as-DJ track called Independent Introduction on a Ninja Tune compilation album, Fungkungfusion from wayyyy back in the day…who knew that 16 years later, his folkie alter ego would reappear in my life? Nope, not me.

4 - "Stolen Dance", Milky Chance

Strangely, I stumbled onto this song last September when I discovered The FlicFlac edit of Bedouin Soundclash's "Brutal Hearts". FlicFlac had done a couple of remixes at the time, including one of "Stolen Dance". For whatever reason, the song didn't catch my attention enough to listen to twice, nor did it intrigue me enough to track down the original mix. Now that these German dudes have taken over alternative radio (is CHR next? Is this the next "Safe and Sound"?), I find myself sucked into the vortex. Another darkish song that sounds much happier than it is. As a bonus, I'm embedding the FlicFlac edit I first heard oh so long ago...


3 - "Mess is Mine", Vance Joy

Well, my wife and I had the opportunity to hear Vance play the local college a couple of weeks ago but we ended up taking a pass. Oops. It turns out that was probably one of our last shots to hear him on a small stage, now that Taylor Swift has tapped him to open for her on her next tour. Remember what happened to the last guy she did this to? That Ed Sheeran fellow? Yeah, future's bright for Mr. Joy.

2 - "Hunger of the Pine", alt-J

There seems to be a bit of a love/hate thing going on for the Miley Cyrus "4x4" sample laced into this song. Personally, I love it. This is All Yours is growing on me, but more slowly than expected. This seems to be the album's shining star, although "Every Other Freckle", "Lovely Day" and "The Gospel of John Hurt" are all solid as well. Time will tell if this album turns out to be one of my faves next year.

1 - "Days With You (featuring Sinead Harnett)", Snakehips

This post's championship belt goes to Snakehips and Sinead Harnett. This is a fantastic piece of pop music! These two guys (and one woman, of course) released this track in August and it has not taken long to become my #1 ear worm. Snakehips hail from Camden, London, UK and have been in existence for a couple of years now, mainly doing remixes for other artists like Banks and Bondax ("Gold" was one of my faves from this year). They will be doing some shows around New Year's in San Diego, L.A. and Miami. Not sure what the future holds for Snakehips, but I'll be listening.

Summer adds

So in my last post I mentioned I had been on the road for a while this summer. I didn't have a lot of spare time to look into new stuff. Well now I'm getting back to work…at making some new playlists!! As with past months, I present to you some of the songs I've grown attached to over the summer months. The only difference being that I'm lumping both months into a single post. Here goes:

10. "Drifting" - Nate Eiesland

This is a beautiful song that reminds me a bit of "Bella" by Angus and Julia Stone. Nate Eiesland is a musician who plays with the band ON AN ON and used to play with another band called Scattered Trees. His label, Red Brick Songs, organized a sort of retreat for fifteen songwriters in their stable and watched the magic unfold. This is one of the collaborations, as noted here.



9. "Heavenly Father" - Bon Iver

This is the first new Bon Iver recording I've heard in quite some time. I suppose it will be included on whatever new album the band produces, but for now the only place to find it is on the soundtrack to the Zach Braff movie Wish I Was Here. While I do like the falsetto Justin Vernon, it's also nice to mix in something a little more like "Blood Bank".



8. "I Was Born a Winner" - Freddy McGregor

And now for something completely different. Yes, it's a little piece of 20-year-old reggae. I heard a DJ spinning this a couple of weeks ago and fell in love with it. Hopefully it will keep me warm as the snow starts to fly this winter. Freddy McGregor is almost 60 now and Wiki reports he has released roughly 30 albums. Dude was born a winner.



7. "Ghosts 'n Stuff (feat. Rob Swire)" - deadmau5

Keeping it retro, I can't believe that while listening to The Beat in Vancouver, I stumbled across a deadmau5 track from 2008 that I had never heard before. My original thought was that it was a little derivative of tracks like Wolfgang Gartner's "Illmerica", but then again that track (with an AMAZING video) was recorded three years after this song…so who's zooming who? Some nice vocals from Aussie Rob Swire elevate this track way beyond the instrumental version.



6. "Home (feat. Sam Romans)" - Naughty Boy

This is some happy music right here. Great vocals from Roc Nation signee Sam Romans and a gospeled-up chorus that put a smile on my face every time I hear it. Great pop melodies with a lot of soul…a sound not too unlike that provided by some other guy named Sam who did some other song with Naughty Boy last year.



5. "Emanate" - Phoria

17 seconds. The time it takes from the first harmonized hum until the rhythm kicks in and I reach for the volume knob, turning it clockwise. Quickly. This is such a quiet song with a compelling, quirky percussion until the blast at the end. Oh by the way, Anna Kendrick, maybe this is the beat you were looking for. I checked the wiki page on this fivesome and when I saw comps to Aphex Twin, James Blake and an accolade saying that they were reminiscent of "Radiohead at their best" (I'm sorry, but that's just ludicrous), it definitely raised my eyebrow (not both, 'cause then I'd just look scared). I think I'm going to have to give more of Display a listen.



4. "In the Grass" - Vacationer

Another great summery song. It sounds like something vaguely 80s-ish, but I can't quite place it. Hence my not being a professional music blogger. A super-catchy song that earns bonus points for the flute and horns. If only Vacationer was a Swedish band...



3. "Never Say Never (feat. ETML)" - Basement Jaxx

I'm including the YouTube video as opposed to the Soundcloud embed for two reasons: 1) the Soundcloud tracks from "Junto" aren't available in Canada (boo) and 2) this video is something else. Tw3rk-bot? Twerks per minute=TPM? Classic Basement Jaxx. A great feel to this song for a group that can sometimes make music that's a little less-than-accessible (for every "Red Alert", there's a "Living Room"). I'm looking forward to hearing more off the album.



2. "I Got You (feat. Jax Jones)" - Duke Dumont

Duke Dumont had his first taste of the spotlight many months ago when his "Need You (100%)" was nominated for "Best Dance Recording" at the Grammys. That track never hooked me quite like this one does. The funny thing is that, at first listen, it's tough to pick it out, but this is all one big cut and paste of Whitney's "My Love is Your Love". A great deep house sound and 11 million listeners on Soundcloud can't be wrong, right?



1. "Gold" - Chet Faker

As per usual, I save the best for last. I first heard Chet Faker on Say Lou Lou's "Fool of Me", although apparently his first breakthrough came when his cover of "No Diggity" (who doesn't cover this song now??) went viral in 2011. This song is off Chet's first studio album, "Built on Glass" and has also been reworked by frequent collaborator Flume. The album topped the charts in Chet's native Australia and peaked at #158 on the Billboard 200. I'm not sure if his work will catch on and go mainstream but as I'm sure Vance Joy, The Neighbourhood and Bastille (who have not covered "No Diggity", to my knowledge, but have covered "No Scrubs") now know, it just takes one big break.

Awesome. Music. Videos.

Well, I've returned from a 7-week road trip with my family and I am furiously scouring the Internet for some new music to listen to. My kids' playlist is burned into my brain and even some of the more recent stuff I've been listening to is suddenly sounding stale. Sadness.

One thing that was not depressing was my amazing visit to Seattle's Experience Music Project. I went once in 2000 and had a great time. This time around, we spent 5 hours or so going through their exhibit on Fantasy in Pop Culture, their exhibit on Lego models of some of the world's most fascinating buildings, jamming in the Sound Lab and watching some of the best music videos of all time in the Spetacle: The Music Video temporary exhibit. It was the perfect museum visit for our family. I wish we had had another couple of hours to see some more music videos, but instead, I decided to transcribe some of the lists they had curated so that I could share them with you. If you love a good music video, stick around - this might take a while.

Here are some of the videos that were set up with their own stand-alone displays and/or screens. Most are groundbreaking for one reason or another.

a-ha “Take on Me” (dir. Steve Barron, 1985) (wiki)(YouTube)

O.K. Go! “This Too Shall Pass” (dir. James Frost, 2009) (wiki)(YouTube)

Kanye West “Power” (dir. Marco Brambilla, 2010) (wiki)(YouTube)

Bjork “Wanderlust” (dir. Encyclopedia Pictura, 2008) (wiki)(YouTube - sorry, this is only the 2D version)

The White Stripes “Seven Nation Army” (dir. Alex and Martin, 2003) (wiki)(YouTube)

The White Stripes “Fell in Love With a Girl” (dir. Michel Gondry, 2002) (wiki)(YouTube)

Cibo Matto “Sugar Water” (dir. Michel Gondry, 1985) (wiki)(YouTube)

Radiohead “House of Cards” (dir. James Frost, Aaron Koblin, 2008) (wiki)(YouTube)

There were others, but I didn't get them all down on paper..:(

One large screen was dedicated to showing the following list of videos in their entireties. I believe these videos were singled out for intelligent use of light and shade. Many of these are in black and white.

Jay-Z “99 Problems” (dir. Mark Romanek, 1999)(wiki)(YouTube)

Bjork “Big Time Sensuality (night version)” (dir. Stephane Sednaoui, 1993)(wiki)(YouTube)

The Verve “Bittersweet Symphony” (dir. Walter Stern, 1997) (wiki)(YouTube)

The White Stripes “Blue Orchid” (dir. Floria Sigismondi, 2005) (wiki)(YouTube)

Nine Inch Nails “Closer” (dir. Mark Romanek, 1994) (wiki)(YouTube - yeah, this one's a little NSFW)

Patti Smith “Don’t Smoke in Bed” (dir. Melodie McDaniel, 2007) (YouTube)

Police “Every Breath You Take” (dirs. Godley and Creme, 1983) (wiki)(YouTube)

REM “Everybody Hurts” (dir. Jake Scott, 1993) (wiki)(YouTube)

Madonna “Express Yourself” (dir. David Fincher, 1989) (wiki)(YouTube)

Red Hot Chili Peppers “Give it Away” (dir. Stephane Sednaoui, 1991) (wiki)(YouTube)

Sigur Ros “Glósóli” (dirs. Arni & Kinski, 2005) (wiki)(YouTube)

Lenny Kravitz “Are You Gonna Go My Way” (dir. Mark Romanek, 1993) (wiki-super enlightening)(YouTube)

REM “Drive” (dir. Peter Care, 1992) (wiki)(YouTube)

Johnny Cash “Hurt” (dir. Mark Romanek, 2002) (wiki)(YouTube)

Fever Ray “If I Had a Heart” (dir. Andreas Nilsson, 2009) (YouTube)

Nick Cave “Into My Arms” (dir. Jonathan Glazer, 1997) (wiki)(YouTube)

Woodkid “Iron” (dir. Yoann LeMoine, 2011) (YouTube)

REM “Losing My Religion” (dir. Tarsem, 1991) (wiki)(YouTube)

New Order “The Perfect Kiss” (dir. Jonathan Demme, 1985) (wiki)(YouTube)…I don't get this one.

Dizzee Rascal “Sirens” (dir. W.I.Z., 2007) (wiki)(YouTube)

Nirvana, “Smells Like Teen Spirit” (dir. Samuel Bayer, 1991) (wiki)(YouTube)

Ministry “Stigmata” (dir. Ben Stokes, Eric Zimmermann, 1988) (wiki)(YouTube)

Radiohead “Street Spirit” (dir. Jonathan Glazer, 1996) (wiki)(YouTube)

Massive Attack “Teardrop” (dir. Walter Stern, 1998) (wiki-seriously, nothing more to say about this???)(YouTube)

REM “Man on the Moon” (dir. Peter Care, 1992) (wiki)(YouTube)

George Michael “Freedom” (dir. David Fincher, 1990) (wiki)(YouTube)

Marilyn Manson “The Beautiful People” (dir. Floria Sigismondi, 1999) (wiki)(YouTube)

Metallica “The Unforgiven (Director’s Cut)” (dir. Matt Mahurin, 1991) (wiki)(YouTube)

Sigur Ros “Untitled #1” (dir. Floria Sigismondi, 1999) (wiki)(YouTube)

Chris Isaak “Wicked Game” (dir. Herb Ritts, 1991) (wiki)(YouTube)

Sinead O’Connor “Nothing Compares 2 U” (dir. John Maybury, 1990) (wiki)(YouTube)

There was one other selection of videos I managed to transcribe, though the plaques didn't suggest any sort of unifying theme. Aside from the fact that many of them are due to Gondry, Jonze or Cunningham. Let's just call these noteworthy, then.

Radiohead “Karma Police” (dir. Jonathan Glazer, 1997) (wiki)(YouTube)

The White Stripes “The Hardest Button to Button” (dir. Michel Gondry, 2003) (wiki)(YouTube)

Beck “Lost Cause” (dir. Garth Jennings, 2002) (wiki)(YouTube)

Lucas “Lucas With the Lid Off” (dir. Michel Gondry, 1994) (wiki)(YouTube)

Cornelius “Music” (dir. Koichiro Tsujikawa, 2006) (YouTube)

Portishead “Only You” (dir. Chris Cunningham, 1998) (wiki)(Vimeo)

Air “Playground Love” (dirs. Roman & Sofia Coppola, 2000) (YouTube)

Unkle “Rabbit in Your Headlights” (dir. Jonathan Glazer, 1998) (wiki)(YouTube)

Manchester Orchestra “Simple Math” (dir. Daniels, 2011) (wiki)(YouTube)

Flying Lotus “Soft Gun Lily” (dir. Timothy Saccenti, 2009) (Vimeo - NSFW)("Making Of" on Vimeo)

Vitalic “Poney Pt. 1 (Birds)” (dir. Pleix, 2006) (YouTube)

Grizzly Bear “Two Weeks” (dir. Patrick Daughters, 2009) (wiki)(YouTube)

Jamiroquai “Virtual Insanity” (dir. Jonathan Glazer, 1996) (wiki)(YouTube)

Eskmo “We Got More” (dir. Cyriak, 2010) (YouTube)

Royksopp “What Else is There?” (dir. Martin de Thurah, 2005) (wiki)(YouTube)

Basement Jaxx “Where's Your Head At?” (dir. McG, 2002) (wiki)(YouTube)

Oh Land “White Nights” (dir. Canada, 2011) (Thanks, wiki)(YouTube)

Chemical Brothers “Star Guitar” (dir. Michel Gondry, 2001) (wiki)(YouTube)

Kid 606 “Sometimes” (dir. Pleix, 2004) (wiki)(YouTube)

MC Solaar “Nouveau Western” (dir. Stephane Sednaoui, 1994) (YouTube)

Bjork “All is Full of Love” (dir. Chris Cunningham, 1998) (wiki)(YouTube)

LCD Soundsystem “All My Friends” (dir. Tom Kuntz, 2007) (wiki)(YouTube)

Wax “California” (dir. Spike Jonze, 1995) (wiki)(YouTube)

The Cure “Close to Me” (dir. Tim Pope, 1985) (wiki)(Vimeo)

Rob Dougan “Clubbed to Death” (dir. David Slade, 2002) (YouTube)

Kylie Minogue “Come Into My World” (dir. Michel Gondry, 2002) (wiki)(YouTube)

Jarvis “Don't Let Him Waste Your Time” (dir. Dougal Wilson, 2006) (wiki)(YouTube)

The Pharcyde “The Drop” (dir. Spike Jonze, 1995) (wiki)(YouTube)

Foo FIghters “Everlong” (dir. Michel Gondry, 1995) (wiki)(YouTube)

Leftfield “Afrika (Shox)” (dir. Chris Cunningham, 1998) (wiki)(YouTube)

Cornelius “Fit Song” (dir. Koichiro Tsujikawa, 2006) (YouTube)

Weezer “Buddy Holly” (dir. Spike Jonze, 1994) (wiki)(YouTube)

God Lives Underwater “From Your Mouth” (dir. Roman Coppola, 1998) (wiki)(YouTube)

Beck “Girl” (dir. Motion Theory, 2004) (wiki)(YouTube)

Charlotte Gainsbourg and Beck “Heaven Can Wait” (dir. Keith Schofield, 2009) (wiki)(YouTube)

Oren Lavie “Her Morning Elegance” (dirs. Yuval, Merav Nathan, Oren Lavie, 2009) (wiki)(YouTube)

REM “Imitation of Life” (dir. Garth Jennings, 2001) (wiki)(YouTube)

My take-aways: some of my favourite videos while coming of age actually stood the test of time and were on display for me to share with my kids (awesome); video directors frequently go on to direct movies; my kids love Macklemore, though likely not as much as Seattle; a complete confirmation that Michel Gondry is awesome. I can't wait to back the EMP and see what they have in store for me next time...

June adds

Summer breeze. Makes me feel fine.

About time this summer got started. Garden's blooming. Kids can smell the holidays. Iggy Azalea's on the radio 2.3 times an hour. Yep, it's summer, and I'm staring down a pretty sizeable road trip in the near future. I'm excited to see new things, go to new places, visit some friends and listen to some music. Here are some of the songs I'll be cranking with the windows down:

8. "I Can't Keep Up (feat. Will Heard)" - Tourist

"Will someone ever show me love, won't somebody give a f…?" Somebody get this guy some time on the couch! He's only 21! OK, so fine. The kids will have to be asleep if I'm playing this one (and even then…rumour is they hear everything). The song starts out having the same soulful feel of some other recent electronic hits featuring male vocalists (which stand out because the tendency is for electronic artist to go with the generic female vocalist) such as "Latch" and "Black and Gold" (dang - that's a good one…up for a Grammy and everything!). I just so happen to enjoy those songs, so listening to this one a few times was a no-brainer.



Bonus cut! Adele covering Sam Sparro! Love the throat-clear to kick things off:)



7. "Lost on the Way Home (feat. Solange) - Chromeo

I didn't really want to share more than 5 tracks this month, but then what would have happened had I run into Solange in an elevator and left this off the list? Too soon? I love some of these new albums by acts that have been bubbling under for a while that are just loaded with great collaborations. Disclosure's Settle is the blueprint, but Chromeo's "White Women" is in the discussion this year. Man, Solange has a voice on her.



6. "The Journey" - Tom Misch

Awwww yeah. Cue the dimmed lights, get me this track on vinyl and let the loving begin. So smooth. Reminds me of something that would have been right at home on Mark Farina's Mushroom Jazz compilations back in the day. This is off Misch's debut EP Soulection and, oh, dude's 18!!! I remember what I was doing when I was 18 and it wasn't anything this beautiful. My eyes are officially on Tom Misch.



5. "Okay" - Holy Ghost!

I thought LCD Soundsystem was done. My bad. I've been loosely aware of these guys for a few years (and even recall hearing one of their tracks piped into the sound system at the excellent local bakery Art Is In, scoring points for both the duo and the eatery!), but never got around to digging into their music at home until now. Consider myself initiated.



4. "Mine (feat. Drake)" - Beyonce

Yeah, yeah. The album's been out for half a year. To tell you the truth, it was a bit of a hard listen for me. I found the chopping of many of the songs into multiple keys and multiple time signatures at once interesting yet distracting. "Mine" is a prime example as it essentially plays out in three parts. Oh, and Drake? Canada even thinks your being a bit too Drakey lately. Tone it down. "Partition" is probably my favourite track on the album, but this one's been getting more spins around here lately.



3. "Loveless Way" - Belgian Fog

Ah sweet falsetto. Definitely on my list of "little things that make a song more appealing to me", along with "background noise like traffic or people talking", "removal then reintroduction of percussion" and "use of nonstandard instruments". Given the tempo and feel of this song, it's easy to gloss over the lyrics. Somebody's not in the right kind of relationship. I've read in a couple of places that the inspiration was actually Flemish songwriter Jacques Brel…hence the pseudonym of the artist (who is American and not Belgian).



2. "Southern Sun" - Boy & Bear

It's killing me. This song is very derivative of something retro and I can't put my finger on what band or song I'm thinking of. "Southern Sun" is off this Australian group's second album, Harlequin Dream and, as per Wikipedia, pays "homage to [Australian singer/songwriter] Richard Clapton's relaxed 1970s steel guitar sound". Not knowing anything about Richard Clapton, that's probably not what I'm freezing on. Oh well, I'll figure it out someday.



1. "Coffee" - Sylvan Esso

Hands down, this is the winner of the month. Feist-y/Regina Spector-y/Noosa-y vocals over electronic beats? Sign me up. And this is before I saw the video which was partially filmed at a contradance in North Carolina. I have not contradanced, but have had a number of discussions about it with friends recently and it was serendipitous on some level that it turned up in this video. Sylvan Esso is Amelia Meath (formerly of Mountain Man) and Nick Sanborn (formerly of Megafaun) and "Coffee" is actually the second song of theirs I heard (the other being "Hey Mami", which is also something special, just not AS special). My wife better like this one or it's going to be a long summer.

May adds with an extra!

Or should I say an extra with May adds? I should have posted some of the songs I have been putting on repeat lately a few weeks ago but life has been getting in the way. It's better this way anyway because the video below wasn't out earlier in the month - apparently it was released today, in fact. Anyone listening to alt rock radio has heard the song a few times, but now you have a visual to accompany the audio. This is movie star Andrew Garfield dragging it up for the video of "We Exist", which apparently closes on footage from Arcade Fire's second-weekend show at Coachella. I can only assume that A.G.'s intrusion at the concert would have been a bit confusing. But now it all makes sense. Here is the video:



And now for some of the big hits around my house.

5. "Faded" - ZHU (¯\_(ツ)_/¯)

The rest of this post leans a bit synth-poppy so I'm going to start the May list off with some bigger beats. I'm not sure what it is about EDM falling in love with being faded and/or wasted (see Tiesto, DJ), but it seems to be a bit of a trend. This is a total earworm and I love that the distorted part of the song suggests that you might be listening while faded. As far as I know, nobody knows a lot about this person (it has to be a person, right?), aside from the fact that they (?) are a producer from L.A.. ZHU released its (?) first EP NIGHTDAY this past week. Allegedly, a tour is also in the works. 1.6M listens on Soundcloud for "Faded" (and the other EP tracks are running in the hundreds of thousands) is definitely a good sign.



4. "Seasons (Waiting on You)" - Future Islands

The world has already seen this clip twice over, but I'm going to help spread it some more. Future Islands made a NAME for themselves with this little performance on Letterman a couple of months ago. Then, they marched on to Coachella, where many considered them to have served up one of the breakout performances of the festival. This Sam Herring guy? I think he likes his job. I also love how one writer online called his death-metal-like growl his "cookie monster" voice.



P.S. This article about the Letterman performance is awesome.

3. "Paris" - Little Dragon

You know I love me some Swedes. Well, these are some of my very favourites. Little Dragon's last album, Ritual Union, is still one of my favourites and I look forward to hearing more of Nabuma Rubberband. "Let Go" and "Klapp Klapp" have been officially released, but "Paris" is my bread and butter. Have a listen:



2. "Shooting Stars" - Bag Raiders

How did I miss this song? Oh I know, I don't do this full-time. This one goes back to 2009 so it kind of predates my dip into the indie pool. Excuses, excuses. These guys are from Australia and this track blew up back then and somehow made a comeback last summer, re-cracking the top 50 of the national charts. Regardless, I'm in on this song now. Enjoy.



1. "Red Eyes" - The War on Drugs

They're playing a local show this summer and their label is Secretly Canadian. I feel like I am predisposed to like these guys. The band has been around for nearly a decade and one of their co-founders, Kurt Vile, has already left to go solo (see "Wakin' On a Pretty Day"). The group just released their third studio album, Lost in the Dream and this was the first release. I am definitely looking forward to hearing "Red Eyes" live.