Favourite Albums - 2015

Four tiers this year; I couldn't make up my mind on a well structured 10 or 15 or whatever.

Honourable Mentions (More of the Pop side of things or just didn't quite make it) in no particular order:
- Vince Staples - Summertime '06
Probably would/should be higher, but just didn't spend enough time on it.

- Freddie Gibbs - Shadow of a Doubt
Same situation as Vince Staples.

- CHVRCHES - Every Open Eye
Really solid, but just a bit too much like 2013's Bones of What You Believe, which I still prefer.

- Carly Rae Jepsen - E•MO•TION
Just some really solid pop fun, but more grown up than her last effort. Couldn't get it out of my head.

- Derrival - Departure & Arrival EP
I'm biased: I love these boys and am really proud of them, but dang, this is some fun power indie pop goodness.

- Josh Ritter - Sermon on the Rocks
I had broken up with Josh Ritter a couple albums ago, but "Young Moses" and "Getting Ready to Get Down" won me back for now.

- Grimes - Art Angels
Adorably creepy and very shiny pop music.

- The Mountain Goats - Beat the Champ
While I love The Mountain Goats (a LOT), this isn't my favourite effort of theirs. But I could not stop playing "Foreign Object" on repeat. That track slays.

- Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit
Quirky rock/pop with some really fun story telling and lots of fun energy. Glad she's starting to get some decent recognition.

- Arca - Mutant
I've listened once. It was great. I loved his last album so I'm sure this would be higher if I'd gotten around to giving it the close attention it deserves.




TIER THREE (A ten-way tie for 8th, 9th, and 10th place):
Note: All of these albums are reaaaaally good. I just couldn't decide which to put where.

- Bell Witch - Four Phantoms
Richly textured and gorgeous doom metal. Four tracks with a play time of over 66 minutes. This is the album I've been waiting for from them. Easily one of my favourite metal albums of the year.

- Prurient - Frozen Niagra Falls
Oh man, this record is exhausting. It feels like being stuck outside in a snowstorm. There are glitchy noise tracks which just sounds like ice and wind tearing past your face. There are pretty spoken word tracks which feel like you've ducked into an old church to escape the weather for a bit. And there are tracks where you feel like you're being beaten physical and verbally. It's an album of isolation, despair, anger, and regret. But there's something very cinematic to it as well.

- Zs - Xe
How to describe this album? Aphex Twin, Neu, and Krallice all merged to play jazz. It's a really mesmerizing experience to hear what I think is a fully live band (aka no programming) playing intricate and glitchy prog jazz jams. Yes. All I can do is throw buzzwords at you and hope you realize that this ambitious project is well worth exploring. The drumming is terrific. Like really really good.

- Lightning Bolt - Fantasy Empire
It's amazing how much noise two guys can make. This is the most ferocious and ambitious garage rock album I've maybe ever heard. One guitar, one drumkit: MASSIVE sound and amazing riffs. Once I put this on I don't want it to stop. So frenetic and chaotic but always totally in step with each other. Some of the drumming had me on the edge of my seat. So hard hitting and SO fun.

- Ghost - Meliora
I started listening to this album this week. If I'd discovered it earlier it may have been solidly in the second tier. I don't usually go in for melodic metal and clean vocals, and even more rarely do I accept cheesy organ/key solos in my metal. But for some reason this is the perfect blend of theatrical goofiness, good groves, catchy tunes and heavy riffs to work for me. I've had a hard time listening to anything else since I found it.

- Chelsea Wolfe - Abyss
This is a heavy freaking album, and Chelsea's vocals are hauntingly gorgeous. Super crushing and beautiful. Really enjoyable.

- Björk - Vulnicura
This is a really incredible album. It's a devastating chronicle of a divorce. I think it is probably one of the best albums of the year, but didn't quite make it higher because it's so exhausting to listen to. However if you dig into the lyrics and the music on this one it is well worth the effort. You can see my full review in a previous post.

- Julia Holter - Have You In My Wilderness
Man, Tier Three could have competed with other year's top ten lists in and of itself. I wasn't as impressed with Julia's last album as I had been with her first two really excellent and (very) challenging albums. It had felt a little unfocused - like it couldn't decide between pop and weird. This one finds the balance I think she was looking for and has some lovely songs with really great arrangements with strange instrumentation. Her voice is very soothing, but lyrically she has many subtle layers which I wish I'd spent more time on this year. This album will be one I keep coming back to to find more.

- Thundercat - The Beyond / Where the Giants Roam
Thundercat featured heavily on To Pimp a Butterfly this year, as well as on You're Dead! last year. This solo EP is super dreamy while still showing off his incredible bass-playing prowess. Sounds like a companion piece to You're Dead! in a lot of ways - which is a great thing. At only 16 minutes it's basically a short suite of songs. Really great production, tone, and arrangements.

- Torres - Sprinter
This album surprised me. It almost slid by without me noticing it. But Torres' vocals are SO intense - even at their quietest - and the instrumentation (in someways very basic and straightforward) really lets her shine. This album is at times uncomfortably personal. It reminds me most of Lisa Germano's masterpiece Geek the Girl. This is one album I rarely felt like listening to, but as soon as her voice got in my head, I couldn't turn away. Really, really intensely great. My biggest surprise of the year probably.




TIER TWO (Solidly in the Top Ten):
7) Kamasi Washington - The Epic
Epic indeed! Kamasi was the band leader for a lot To Pimp a Butterfly - especially the jazzier sections. This is his band at full force. Three discs (nearly THREE HOURS) of incredible modern jazz. This thing has everything. I know I've barely scratched the surface of this thing in my listens. I don't think I've done the whole thing straight in a row yet for one thing. But I can't stop coming back to it, and each song is worthy of attention in and of itself. A really amazing blend of modern music and older jazz traditions. I really don't know what to say except that the band is super tight, the arrangements are super ambitious, and...just go listen.

6) Lin Manuel Miranda, et al. - Hamilton - Original Broadway Cast Recording
Now, musically this album is not as impressive as many of the albums in Tier Three, but as a whole this project is a massive musical feat. This is a hip hop Les Miserables set in NYC during and in the aftermath of the American revolution. It's this high on the list because I CANNOT stop listening to it. The way Miranda blends musical themes, history, and hip hop and makes it feel cohesive is truly remarkable - and I haven't even SEEN the show. This will make you laugh one moment and give you a lump in your throat the next. Also, how did he make a cabinet meeting about a financial system into an exhilarating rap battle? Seriously. You heard that correctly. Go listen to this. I really hope it tours coz I want to seeeee it.

5) Baroness - Purple
Yellow & Green made my top albums of the year in 2012 ago, and it was far from perfect. It was too long and there were definitely some filler tunes mixed in with the killer tunes on the massive double disc. Regardless, Baroness should have exploded that year, but a devastating bus accident nearly killed the whole band. John Baizley, writer/singer/guitar player and prolific artist (all the band's STUNNING album covers have been painted by Baizley) was told he would never play guitar again. But he persevered in pursuing music and this is a reinvigorated Baroness with a mostly new line up (a couple of the former band members decided to give up touring after the accident). This album cuts all the fat on Yellow & Green and just delivers solid riffs and huge hooks. This album oozes energy and despite the somewhat dark lyrics (as always) there is a new sense of vibrancy here. The video for album centrepiece "Chlorine & Wine" shows a band just EXPLODING with how excited they are to be making this music. It's EXHILARATING to watch, and this album was pencilled into my top ten on the strength of that single alone, but when the album released with great tune after great tune I couldn't deny it a place in my top five.

4) Destroyer - Poison Season
Destroyer was the best live show I saw this year and I'd be lying if I said that this fact didn't influence how high this album is on my list. But it's solid on it's own merits. Destroyer has always put out interesting albums, with complex and thoughtful lyrics full of obscure references to a very broad section of music history. Poison Season continues to reinforce Destroyer as one of my favourite artists. Dan Bejar is a poet at heart, and sometimes can lean towards the understated, but his band is SO tight here. With three versions of the same song (opening, dividing, and ending the album) this almost feels like a very long (52 minutes) EP. That might sound unappealing to some (hearing the same song three ways) but each version brings out a different character of the track. Same with his re-working of "Archer on the Beach." This is not a new song, but the new arrangement brought such a new take on it that it took me a while to recognize it the first time I heard it. Bejar has always been self referential, weaving his own mythology and world by reinterpreting or quoting his older songs, and there are plenty of gems for long time Destroyer fans here. But this album is also solid by itself for new fans. Lush production and great arrangements (plus an amazing live show) put this solidly up in my top five.



TIER ONE (Clear Winners):
Note: These three albums were a good couple steps ahead of the rest of the pack.

3) Joanna Newsom - Divers
This was my most anticipated album of...well since Have One On Me came out in January of 2010. FIVE YEARS later, here it is! Joanna Newsom is one of the most unique artists of our time. She plays harp and piano mostly, and her chirping voice swoops and soars in complexly melodic tongue twisters, spinning magical tales of (in Divers) time-travel, oceanic exploits, and birds at war. The longer I waited for her next album the more worried I grew about what it would be. Have One On Me was a gorgeous album (my favourite of the decade, still) born out of trauma and heartbreak, and in the ensuing years she got married to Andy Samberg (ya, THAT Andy Samberg) and I was scared that marital bliss would somehow work against her musical genius. NOT SO! Once again she casts her magic spell and I am entranced. The first single, "Sapokanikan", begins with a lilting piano and a charming melody which just grows as the arrangement expands, while lyrically Newsom discusses the founding of the city of New York with references to Ozymandius as well as native american legends, and somehow it's still a love song. Divers has no "On a Good Day" style little charming songs, nor a counterpart to the heart-rending "Baby Birch", which is why it didn't soar as high as Have One On Me did for me, but it did not disappoint and I am still very excited for everything Joanna Newsom will do in the future. This is a really magical album worth diving into deeply (pun not intended).

2) Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell
I've always respected Sufjan, but I've never really fallen in love with him, until now. This album is very sparse (the polar opposite to something like Illinois) and deals with loss, trauma, abuse, a crisis of faith, and suicidal thoughts, all while being stunningly gorgeous AND human. I have posted below part of a review I didn't finish from when the album first came out if you want a deeper analysis about why you should listen to this. "The Only Thing" is my favourite track of the lot if you need a place to start. To summarize my love for this album let me say this: On Carrie and Lowell, Sufjan Stevens' honesty hurts me and heals me, saddens me and gives me hope.

1) Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly
Well this should be no surprise by now as I've mentioned TPAB a number of times on this list already. Kendrick wins 2015. Hands down. This album... man... what can be said that hasn't been said already? Good Kid M.A.A.D City was my favourite album of 2012. TPAB is maybe better. But the important thing is that Kendrick hasn't lost his strong narrative voice or point of view, which is what makes him one of the best musical artists of our generation. GKMC was about growing up, and trying to take responsibility for yourself in spite of your environment; TPAB is about expanding that responsibility out TO your environment. Race, Culture, Fame, Greed, Depression, and History - all battle for influence in Kendrick's life. Musically you get a history of west coast rap music through Dr. Dre's influence, combined with jazz music (courtesy of Kamasi Washington), as well as some deep soul elements. It's a masterpiece of urban synthesis. Thematically the whole album is tied together by a poem, of which we hear a little more every song or two, which guides the narrative, until it culminates in a chillingly recreated interview with Tupac Shakur. Along the way Kendrick fights for his freedom from Uncle Sam (Greed incarnate) who wants to hold him down with debt and the desire for things, Lucy (Lucifer) who wants him to sell his soul for fame, and fake fans who want to take from his recent gains. He also fights with himself - depression, hypocrisy - and comes through able to say "I love myself."

I didn't even try and tackle a full review of this album. There's too much. "King Kunta" is groovy brag rap at it's best. "Alright" which basically became the theme song for #BlackLivesMatter, chants "I'm fucked up/ homie, you fucked up/ but if God got us/ then we gon' be alright!" On "The Blacker the Berry" Kendrick declares "I'm the biggest hypocrite of 2015" when he rants against police against young black men, but then finds himself turning his back on others who need help. "How Much a Dollar Cost" has him confront his new found wealth and try and sort out his negative and dismissive attitude towards a homeless man begging. And I haven't even mentioned how he modulates his voice to portray multiple characters and perspectives, the fact that his flow is always impeccable, and how he can be hilarious without detracting from the broader important point he's trying to make. This is an album of a young man wrestling to find something greater than himself, while at the same time trying to find where he fits in. Kendrick at I are the same age, and To Pimp a Butterfly gives me a window into a world I have no understanding of. It challenges me, in my relatively easy environment, and shows me my complacency. Kendrick is fighting for his humanity, and for the humanity of those around him. And he learns, and teaches, much on this journey. That's why this is easily my favourite album of the year. Thanks Kendrick.

Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell (2015)

Sufjan Stevens opens Carrie & Lowell with the beautiful “Death With Dignity” which acts as a thesis statement of sorts for the rest of the album. This album is Sufjan’s attempt to work through the emotional backlash caused by the death of his mostly absent mother. (He talks about it himself in an interview with Pitchfork here: http://pitchfork.com/features/interviews/9595-true-myth-a-conversation-with-sufjan-stevens/) “I forgive you mother, I can hear you, and I long to be near you.” Sparkling acoustic guitars contrast with the fear and self doubt as he attempts to air the wounds of childhood trauma. Haunted by his mother’s “apparition” Sufjan doesn’t know “where to begin.” While most of the production on this track remains uniform, there is great little piano interlude which acts as a bridge before the last verse, which is adds echoed vocals before accepting that Carrie will “never see us again.” Immediately following this realization is the first of several beautiful hymn-like codas which act as transitions between songs. They seem to act as wordless prayers, emotional outpourings which cannot be expressed even with Sufjan’s impressive songwriting skills. This first coda is unique in that it has a lap-steel solo which adds a melodic aspect to the swelling guitars.

“Should Have Know Better,” one of my favourite tracks on this album, is beautifully structured from a poetic stand point. The verses are made of five line stanzas, each with the line “my black shroud” in its centre. The second stanza is one of my favourites on the album:

I should have wrote a letter

And grieve what I happen to grieve

My black shroud

I never trust my feelings

I waited for the remedy

Repression, self doubt, and procrastination have led to regret and lost opportunities for healing, as they have in my life and I’m sure in many others. Avoiding grief deepens grief later. The first chorus reveals just how traumatic having Carrie as a mother could be: “When I was three, three maybe four, she left us at that video store.” While the song opens in a very somber mood - acoustic guitars, floating background vocals - after the second chorus there is a wonderful tonal shift brought about by a chirping casio-keyboard solo (the kind which were very popular in indie music from the early 2000s). After this solo Sufjan confronts the fact that while yes, he should have wrote that letter, “the past is still the past, the bridge to nowhere.” And so, discarding his black shroud of first half of the song, Sufjan reflects on the “beauty” and “illumination” brought into his family’s life by the birth of his niece. This is one of the few moments which really opens up, which soars in hope, which approaches any of the exuberance of 2005’s Illinois. The coda breaks the spell with swelling chords descending back into the gloom of depression.

“All of Me Wants All of You” opens with one of the most devastating verses I have heard in a very long time. Nothing could convey Sufjan’s sense of disconnection or his failed search for love and meaning in relationships than the line, “You checked your texts while I masturbated.” While in the first track he felt his mother’s apparition pass right through him, now he sings “I’m just a ghost you walk right through.” The emptiness caused by his mother’s death, now reinforced in his lover’s indifference, begins to encroach on the realm of faith as he sings, “Revelation may come true.” There is both hope and doubt in that line, a dichotomy which persists throughout the rest of the album.

Dismembered beasts, the the ingredients of a failed spell, fill “Drawn to the Blood.” While praying for love, Sufjan wallows in self pity, “How did this happen?” Strangely he calls on Delilah, a figure of betrayal in the Old Testament, to avenge his grief. And yet, despite the questioning self pity, the coda is one of the most extended and beautiful, swelling upwards and seeming to resolve more than many of the other codas, as if maybe there is an answer to his questioning.

“Eugene”, one of many references to Oregon on Carrie & Lowell, is the city where Carrie met Lowell, and the place where Sufjan and his siblings spent their three best summers with their mother as children. The refrain at the end of each verse intones a deep desire to be near his mother. Images of baptism (“Like a Father he led community water on my head,” and “In the sprinkle I mark the evidence known from the start.”) and death (“From the bed near your death, and all the machines that made a mess”) contrast each other while he continues desperately to “pray to what I cannot see.” But in the end hopelessness sets in:

For the rest of my life

Admitting the best is behind me

Now I’m drunk and afraid

Wishing the world would go away

What’s the point of singing songs

If they’ll never even hear you?

“Eugene” ends very abruptly on that last “You?” This is the first song without a coda, and they don’t return for a while, as if the “What’s the point” extends past singing songs to “What’s the point of prayer, or hope, or life?"

The imagery rich “Fourth of July”  seems to be a conversation with his mother, who he refers to as “my fading supply.” It’s almost as if she’s a drug he’s addicted to and he knows that withdrawal is going to kick in soon. Despite being implored to “make the most of your life, while it is rife” and wondering “What could I have said to raise you from the dead?” the song ends with a long litany meditating on the line “We’re all gonna die.” Musically there is a sense of hospital room beeps and the pulse of life support machines, along with a shimmering, dream-like effervescence, but again, no coda.

“The Only Thing” is hands down my favourite track on this album. The guitar line dances, the melody flows gorgeously, and Biblical and Mythological allusions abound. Despite the uplifting mood of the music, the lyrics are the darkest yet, with Sufjan discussing possible ways of committing suicide: "The only thing that keeps me from cutting my arm/ Cross hatch, warm bath, Holiday Inn after dark” (like The Death of Seneca by Manuel Dominguez.) So what is the only thing which prevents this self destructive behaviour? Is it faith? Signs and wonders? God’s grace? It seems that these things, while contributing to a sense of hope, are less sure for Sufjan than they may have been in the past. They’re there, but perhaps not giving him the security he hoped. Sufjan’s sweet falsetto croons “Everything I feel returns to you some how.” Is that a prayer to God? To his mother? I think both. So, again the question is, what’s the only thing? There’s one line in the song which doesn’t fit into the established verse structure: “I want to save you from your sorrow.” From this line erupts the second truly transcendent moment on the album with electric guitars adding more energy with a high counter point. In the next verse, possibly my favourite on the album, Sufjan, saved from despair by wanting to spare others seems to elevate to yet another reason to continue striving:

The only reason why I continue at all

Faith in reason, I wasted my life playing dumb

Signs and wonders, sea lion caves in the dark

Blind faith, God’s grace, nothing else left to impart

And yet, even this is not conclusive. The question of the reason for existence hangs in the air, like the last fading chord at the end of the song.

"Carrie and Lowell” is probably the track which reminds me most of Illinois with it’s percussive layering of sounds. It is a simple, impressionistic tune in which Sufjan shares a story about Carrie breaking his arm, possibly while under the influence of drugs and alcohol. Dido’s Lament by Henry Purcell, a gorgeous song about death and love (seriously look it up), is also referenced. Strangely, the arm breaking incident comes after energetic shift upwards at the end of the song which is then followed immediately by the coda’s return after a number of songs.

NOTE: This is an incomplete review posted about 7 months after it was written, because I won’t ever finish it at this point.

Bjork - Vulnicura

Produced by Bjork, Arca, The Haxan Cloak

I’ve always been intrigued by and interested in Bjork, but I’ve struggled to really get into her music. There have been tracks which have grabbed me - "Army of Me", "Where is the Line?", "All is Full of Love" etc. - but I don’t have any of her other albums. I usually find them exhausting. The curiosity which is generated by her strange production and syncopations, and her passionate and somewhat jarring voice has, in the past, worn thin after ten minutes or so.

Vulnicura has rather captivated me however. It is sonically rich, emotionally vulnerable, and musically diverse - partly thanks to Arca’s great co-production on all but the first and last track. For those of you unfamiliar with Arca, he worked on Yeezus (one of my favourite albums of 2013) as well as all of fka Twigs' excellent releases (including 2014's LP1 which made my year end list).

This is a break up album. "Vulnicura" is a portmanteau of the root words for wound and heal (the same from which we get “vulnerable" and “cure") and as the cover art shows, Bjork has a gaping wound in her chest.  Various tracks are subtitled by how many “Months Before” or “Months After” Bjork’s divorce they were written. This gives an emotional context for the whole album as we get to watch Bjork work through the five stages of grief.

The opening track, "Stonemilker (9 months before)", has some gorgeous string arrangements and really sets the tone for the whole album. Hurt, longing for respect, and sensing her husband’s withdrawal, Bjork, her voice at it’s most gorgeous I’ve ever heard, sings about her desire to “find [their] mutual coordinates” and reconnect. 

"Lionsong (5 months before)", finds her switching back and forth between hope and cold indifference as her own frustration begins to come out. This track has more nice strings, but with more dissonant moments (including some interesting vocal layering), and showcases the first of Arca's mercurial beats. Lyrically this track isn’t as powerful as some of the others, but in the stage play of this crumbling relationship, it moves the scene forward well.

"History of Touches (3 months before)" disintegrates the previous tracks lush beauty, almost like a glitchy Tim Hecker track. There is very little beat or melody to speak of, but lyrical poignancy makes up for it.

"Black Lake (2 months after)", may be my favourite track on the album. Its 10 minute run time gives Bjork’s string arrangements and Arca’s beats to really develop and evolve around the main theme. It’s also very raw. Hurt (“I am one wound”) and anger (“Family was always our sacred mutual mission/ which you abandoned”) are very apparent lyrically as well as in the arrangements, but still tempered by the sadness of the strings and Bjork’s vocal. The song is filled with long droning pauses between verses, almost as if Bjork gives her all emotionally and then has to catch her breath before she can continue and deliver and even more biting verse, climaxing with a painfully sustained “No hope in sight of eveeeeeeeeeeeeeer recover.” Dynamically this song builds and breathes so well with the emotional content, and the tension held in some of the droning interludes only adds to the effectiveness.

"Family (6 months after)" features production from The Haxan Cloak and his signature low throbbing squelches really adds a great attitude to this album. Lyrically this is the strongest track on the record, it could stand alone as a poem. She calls her divorce a death of her family, but where can she get closure? There is no grave stone to place flowers and weep. Bjork is now removed enough from her own pain to realize the devastating this experience has been for her daughter as well. The manic interlude, with jagged horror movie strings and pounding chaotic noise, showcases her helplessness and fear in the face of how to protect her daughter. The music then settles into a beautiful hymnic chant of “God save our daughter” as the noise and horror melt into slow soothing swells.

"Notget (11 months after)" begins with a warping staccato of strings and synths which wouldn’t be out of place as the intro to a song by The Knife. This song moves more quickly than any yet, with a martial beat which makes this song almost feel like Bjork is going to war with everything: her ex, her own self pity, and death itself. "If I regret us/ I’m denying my soul to grow/ Don’t remove my pain/ It is my chance to heal.” “Love will keep all of us safe from death.” Almost a year after her divorce Bjork is violently reclaiming what she knows is most important in her life: love. And she’s taking no prisoners.

The last three tracks on Vulnicura have no subtitle, pointing to the fact that life has begun to move on. No longer is everything Bjork experiences directly correlated to her divorce, though it still provides rich context. These last three tracks are definitely more energetic and dance-like, but are still tied strongly to the earlier two acts of the album by the strings and production. 

Love is again the theme of "Atom Dance" (featuring Antony Hegarty of Antony and the Johnsons). Dancing pizzicato strings in 6/8 propel this track. Healing has begun. She is “learning by love to open it up/ let this ugly wound breathe.” The arrangement is really wonderful as the strings build and different elements take on main rhythm of the dance, and the movement serves as a good reprieve from the emotional intensity of the “after” tracks. The last part of the song with Antony really takes the energy up and adds a lot of cool character. His voice meshes really well with Bjork’s - If I hadn’t read that he was a feature on this I might have almost thought it was Bjork pitched down and layered.

"Mouth Mantra” has the coolest beat on this whole album, and really reminds me of some of the best parts of Shaking the Habitual. It is a celebration of Bjork “rediscovering” her voice, her creative passion, and her strength.

“Quicksand” is a driving force looking to the future. The beat is relentless and the singing is less disjointed that the rest of the album. Bjork leaves us with a message of the importance of being perseverant in order to provide a lasting legacy. Again she is thinking of her daughter’s future (through the lens of thinking about her own mother).

Vulnicura is a very cohesive and emotionally powerful album. Bjork’s voice is very strong here, as are her string arrangements, and the complementary contributions of Arca and Haxan Cloak’s production styles really enhance the experience. The unifying themes of divorce, heartbreak, and the search for healing after a traumatic event brings a focus as well as an emotional story map for the album to develop along. The more I listen to this album the more I am impressed. It makes me want to go back and see if I missed this same strong vision in previous albums.

8/10
Favourite Track: "Black Lake"
Least Favourite Track: "Lionsong"

Today's soundtrack:

Black Flag - Damaged (1981)
Sun Ra - Sleeping Beauty (1979)
Sun Ra - Beyond the Purple Star Zone (1980)

Still inspired by Henry Rollins yesterday I dragged out Damaged. I have listened to it once or twice before, but probably in the background and not loud enough, because today I cranked it up, and it was beefy and aggressive and delicious. Tracks I had previously taken at face value (Six Pack, TV Party) as juvenile party punk were discovered to be satirical. Pays to listen. Also the rhythm section kicks ass on this record!

Sun Ra is always a trip. I'm always a little disappointed at the mixes on the records. I feel like the sounds could be so much more trippy and lush, but the playing never ceases to mesmerize. He seems to oscillate between chaotic and spasmodic space journeys and hypnotic hymn like chants. (Rocket Number Nine takes off for the planet - VENUS!) I admire the dude just for sticking to his "from another planet" schtick so faithfully without taking a break. And he managed to make some convincingly other-worldly compositions in the meantime!

2015/Henry Rollins/SfB/The Needle Drop/Kendrick's Control Verse/Challenge Accepted

twentyfifteen

I posted ZERO times between the end of year lists of 2013 and 2014.
Let's change that for 2015.

Music is such a massive part of my life. I listen to it constantly. I'm always looking for new and interesting music. BUT I DON'T TAKE ENOUGH TIME TO PROCESS IT! I have a massive backlog of music to listen to. Or music I've casually listened to but haven't formed more than a vague opinion about. I kind of know how I feel about the new Bjork album, but I'm not sure I could explain it. Because I haven't written about it. I find that only when I write do my thoughts become concrete. That's probably why I'm scared to write a lot of times.

Why is this changing? I need a hobby. I need to MAKE/PRODUCE something. I keep talking about so many things. This is one I can do NOW. I have no excuses except fear and laziness. also. Henry Rollins kicked my ass today.


Henry Rollins

SO I DISCOVERED HENRY ROLLINS RADIO SHOW TODAY!
Holy crap. So much rocking goodness. Jimi Hendrix Voodoo Chile raw outtakes. Alan Vega of Suicide covering Be Bop A Lua. Alternate versions of the Clash doing Brand New Cadillac. Just mind blowing song after song. So into this.

I knew Rollins was a scary looking dude who helmed Black Flag, but I was listening to his episode of the Nerdist Podcast today (it's an oldy. dig for it.) and am just blown away by this guy. Travels around the world to the places you shouldn't go making documentaries. 100+ shows a year. Buys a record a day.

BUT MY FAVOURITE PART! He said that while he was in Black Flag he said "I love those guys but I want to bury them!" Meaning that EVEN THOUGH THEY'RE A TEAM, "I WILL DO ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING TO BE BETTER THAN THEM." Not by bringing them down, or undermining them, but by working harder and shining brighter and being the best he can be. By being pushed by their excellence to be even more excellent.

I NEED MORE OF THIS ATTITUDE!


Steel for Brains

Steel for Brains is the best metal blog I've come across. It started when author Jonathan K. Dick got divorced and was living by himself and just blasted metal loudly all day just to survive. He turned that pain and anguish into passion and a creative force. He's interviewed many of the best names in metal, has recently published his first Pitchfork review (which was excellent btw), has his own podcast, and I JUST FOUND OUT HE INTERVIEWED JOHN DARNIELLE of the MOUNTAIN GOATS! SON OF A BITCH! I will be reading THAT this week.

Also. He's a super dude. I rarely tweet. But I tweeted him three times last week and he replied thoughtfully every time. That made me feel good and also revealed much of his character to me.


The Needle Drop

Then there's Anthony Fantano, the internet's busiest music nerd, and his Needle Drop. He does video reviews. He's amazing. He puts out multiple videos a week. He's an up beat and thoughtful dude. and another inspiration for getting this blog going more.


Kendrick Lamar

Henry Rollins "Bury them" mentality bring to mind Kendrick's "Control" Verse where he called out other rappers and challenged them to step up, not as a "diss" but as a challenge to raise the bar for everyone. To give him something even brighter to aspire to.

Alright.


So what now?

Now accept the challenge. SfB, Van Zanthony Townestano, I am going to do my best to surpass you. And even if I fail. Let's make the whole music blog world shine brighter.

With that challenge comes my commitment to post TWICE A MONTH. That's my minimum commitment to you: my readers, myself, my music.

2014: The Lists

Once again the end of the year makes me dive back through the year to dredge up my favourite musics of the year. This was a bit of a dry year for me as far as new releases went. Definitely some good ones, but seeing how many 2014 albums I have in my iTunes compared to what I have for 2013, it seems positively barren. I really delved into Classical music and some areas of Jazz I was a little weak on this year which may account for part of that. Also...I spent a good chunk of the year obsessed with early 2000's Hip Hop (specifically Ja Rule - Pain is Love, Nelly - Country Grammar, and Ludacris - Word of Mouf) Yup. I did that. Not even guilty pleasures. Proudly.

That being said, there were some really excellent releases this year. Here are some of my favs:

FAVOURITE ALBUMS (Alphabetical)

Caribou - Our Love
EDM has never been something which grabbed my attention and held it (unless you count James Blake's early EPs), but Our Love is one of those slow burning records which I kept coming back to over and over until it became one of my favourites of the year. It's uniform in mood, while being quite varied in approach and is just chill as heck. Really creative arrangements, well used vocal samples which don't annoy you to death, and just a solid production value made this record stand out for me this year.
Best Track: "Silver"

FKA twigs - LP1
Super smooth and sexy, but also a little sad. This record is bold and beautiful with some really interesting beats/production. She has a killer R&B voice and takes the genre in new directions.
Best Track: "Two Weeks"

Flying Lotus - You're Dead!
Flying Lotus crams so many ideas into each of his songs that there's something new for each listen. This is essentially a jazz record through an electronic music lens. Phenomenal instrumentals blend with some interesting/funny/bizarre impressionistic stories to create a really exciting record. An amazing Kendrick Lamar feature doesn't hurt either!
Best Track: "Never Catch Me" (feat. Kendrick Lamar)

Freddie Gibbs and Madlib - Piñata
West Coast hip hop at some of it's finest. Madlib's beats are always delicious and Gibbs really showcases his story telling on this album. Great flows and good beats, for over an hour. What else do you need?
Best Track: "High" (feat. Danny Brown)

Lykke Li - I Never Learn
I Never Learn is a heartbreaking singer/songwriter record. The yearning in Lykke Li's voice pulls at my heart strings. Simple arrangements really showcase the lyrics and voice, and this record finds a great balance between the lush and sparse. Very compelling.
Best Track: "Love Me Like I'm Not Made of Stone"

Olga Bell - Krai
This is one of the most unique records of the year. Olga Bell's voice is reminiscent of Bjork but less strident. Her vocal layering evokes the pain of Eastern European history. Her creative and untraditional guitar playing reminds me of some of Tim Buckley's more adventurous records. This is a very creative and haunting work which keeps bringing me back to it. Probably the most challenging record on this list, but well worth the effort!
Best Track: "Stavropol Krai"

Perfume Genius - Too Bright
Perfume Genius has always been on the edges of my radar, but Too Bright just grabbed me and held on to me. The arrangements have more depth on this record, and there are some really dissonant moments couched among the soaring and tender vocals and the gorgeous piano (See "My Body" which sounds like it could be off of Suicide's self-titled record). There are also some huge moments which soar in a mixture of pain and pride. This is probably tied with LP1 for second place on my list this year.
Best Track: "Queen"

Run The Jewels - Run The Jewels 2
Album of the year, people! So much swagger. So much aggression. A great feature by Zach De La Rocha of Rage Against the Machine. El-P and Killer Mike come together for the second time in two years to release a phenomenal record. No filler on this 39 minute record. El's production is phenomenal as always, throwing you curve balls while keeping you locked in so hard. The boys' interplay on the mic is crazy as well, playing off of each other and pushing each other harder and further. (They even play off of the flow from "Move That Dope"!) So many great bars, so many great beats. Hard hitting from front to back...and leaving me wanting more.
Best Track: "Close Your Eyes (And Count To Fuck)" (feat. Zack De La Rocha)

Swans - To Be Kind
Swans not only managed to follow up The Seer well, they even surpassed it. To Be Kind is just as long (over two hours long) but with fewer lulls. Michael Gira is pushing his voice in new ways on this record and the arrangements are again an amazing blend of bright and shining, and crushing and dissonant - all at once. This record also boasts some really great grooves. Also, less eastern-inspired noodling. This record is HUGE and violent, and deserves some respect.
Best Track: "Oxygen"

Thou - Heathen
Doom is always a genre I have enjoyed. I love me some down-tempo, crushingly heavy songs. But a lot of them focus too much on the "down-tempo, crushingly heavy" part and miss out on the all-important "songs" part of the equation. Thou has managed to do both on this record. Gorgeous, heavy riffs are countered with soaring peaks, including something that could almost be a chorus (!!!) on "Free Will". They aren't scared of playing fast (by doom standards) occasionally too when the song warrants it. This was my favourite Metal record of the Year. (Sorry Pallbearer)
Best Track: "Free Will"


Honourable Mentions (Alphabetical):

Aphex Twin - Syro

The New Pornographers - Brill Bruisers

Old Man Gloom - The Ape of God (I+II)

Ought - More Than Any Other Day

St. Vincent - St. Vincent

Sun Kil Moon - Benji

A Sunny Day in Glasgow - Sea When Absent

Taylor Swift - 1989 (Don't hate, haters!)

tUnE-yArDs - Nikki Nack

The War on Drugs - Lost in the Dream


Favourite Track Not Featured on the Twenty Records already listed?:
Future - Move That Dope (feat. Pharrell, Pusha T, and Casino)

A little extra 2013

Update: I probably would have swapped QOTSA out for Gorguts in my Honourable Mentions list if I had been more on top of my game

Albums I Really Wanted To Spend More Time On:

(in no particular order)

SubRosa - More Constant Than The Gods

Sannhet - Known Flood

Colin Stetson - New History Warfare Vol. 3: To See More Light

Darkside - Psychic

James Blake - Overgrown

Julia Holter - Loud City Song

Julianna Barwick - Nepenthe

These New Puritans - Field of Reeds

Other Favourite Tracks

(again in no particular order)

Haim - "The Wire"

Everything Everything - "Kemosabe"

Miley Cyrus - "Wrecking Ball (G Major Remix)"

Lorde - "Tennis Court"

Kurt Vile - "Wakin on a Pretty Day"

Churches - "The Mother We Share"

Death Grips - "Whatever I Want (F*** Who's Watching)"

Justin Timberlake - "Pusher Love Girl"

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - "Jubilee Street"

Savages - "She Will"

Robin Thicke - "Blurred Lines" (shut up haters, that beat is sick)

Dishonourable Mention:

Jay Z - Magna Carta Holy Grail

(Uh! Uh! Uh!)

Favourite Albums: 2013

Over the last couple of years my lists have gotten deeper and longer as I try to distill a whole year into which albums are best. This has involved exhaustive listening of 25+ albums over the course of December, redactions based on other year end lists and last minute switches due to hearing albums I hadn't heard yet. NOT THIS YEAR FOLKS! This year I am simplifying my list to what I have listened to and why I've liked the albums I've listened to. If I didn't thoroughly examine the lyrics before December, I won't start now (or not just for the sake of this list at any rate.)

ENOUGH PREAMBLE! TO THE MUSIC!

SHAMELESS PLUGS!

Two records I produced/engineered were released this year, and I am very proud of both of them and think you might like them (I hope you do!) Check them out below (links in the titles)!

Derrival - Youth Captured
Derrival are an awesome bunch of guys from the Langley BC area that I had the pleasure of meeting through the "Best Teen Bands" Competition (2012) put on by youthink Magazine. They were super fun to record and write some really great songs in the pop/indie sort of genre. Super catchy and fun, but also using some nicely complex syncopations and great harmonies, I found them to be a real breath of fresh air. Keep an eye out for these boys, and go to their killer live shows. They just started tracking their next release so keep an eye out for that too!

The Monarch - World Without End
Jesse Janzen and I met in kindergarten and have been best friends and sometimes friendly rivals for 20 years since. Last year I had the honour and great pleasure of collaborating on this gorgeous and crushingly heavy solo project which has been distilling in his brain for a number of years. This is BIG music with a lot of soul. Countless hours were put in to crafting this and I am incredibly proud of this accomplishment. Jesse plays all the instruments on this record (with some additional cello by Vancouverite Alex Hauka) and composed the whole thing by himself. It was a real pleasure being part of bringing these songs to life!
P.S. It's free on bandcamp - so go get it!

FAVOURITE ALBUMS OF THE YEAR (Alphabetical)

Altar of Plagues - Teethed Glory and Injury
Produced by Jaime Gomez Arellano



Something about the sharp opening drone that begins this album captured me almost immediately. The deep, dead, drums. The cutting guitars. All of the terrible and violent beauty that this album explores is foretold in the first four minutes of "Mills." And then the torrent is unleashed in a fury of drums and angular guitar chords that is "God Alone." The album continues to explore the contrasts of violence, pain, beauty and strength throughout, incorporating electronic sounds, choral sounds, vast spaces, and claustrophobic chaos. The broad sound palette really sets Teeth Glory apart from a lot of black metal these days. However, while it is explorative, it never meanders, which means each element pops and has it's own time and space, without outliving its welcome. And this record sounds gorgeous! The tones, production, and mixing are all very high quality, which could have pushed away some of the more kvlt (hardcore) fans of black metal, but I find that by having a very rich production style, the chaotic moments scream out all the harder. It truly is a shame that this is the band's last album, but what a way to go out!

The Haxan Cloak - Excavation
Self Produced

This album is a bottomless well. A dark, electronic, and lonely journey into spacious cavern in which there is no light. In some respects it feels like Teeth Glory was knocked unconscious and left deaf and mute, hanging upside down and being lowered endlessly into the earth. While the whole experience feels in hindsight like one huge drone, there are visceral beats, spastic shudders and fluttering noises, like nightmares at the corners of your vision which you can never quite see. But you're never terrified, you're too drowsy and apathetic to feel frightened. This is a gorgeous and evocative album, rich in textures and should definitely be listened to on good headphones and in the dark. From pretty much my first full listen of Excavation, I knew it would be in my top ten of this year.

Tim Hecker - Virgins
Self Produced

Tim Hecker made it into my top ten list of 2011 with his excellent Ravedeath, 1972, and returns with an even stronger record. Hecker is obsessed with how things sound in a space. And this album is a wonderful collage of loops and sounds which he recorded and then arranged. There are so many facets to this music, so many details, all swirling and enveloping you. There are individual songs, yes, but I can't listen to this album except as a whole. Each new movement expands or contrasts or complements the rest of the whole. If Ravedeath was a walk through the fog, this is as if you are drifting and tumbling simultaneously through water, fire, blizzards, and earthquakes, and yet you remain pure and unscathed. Could be my favourite album of the year.

The Knife - Shaking the Habitual

You can read my extensive review of Shaking the Habitual here. This spent most of the year as my favourite album, but is now getting some strong competition from Virgins.

Melt-Banana - Fetch
Self Produced



In case you were starting to think that this whole list was going to be dark and moody music (thanks alphabetical order), THINK AGAIN! Fetch was the single most startlingly refreshing album of the year.  FUN FUN FUN FUN FUN! (Like Tigger, but ... Japanese.) High pitched vocals, crazy drums, and catchy tunes make this just a great record. Do you remember ever getting in a fight with your best friend? Rolling around and hitting each other but everyone is laughing and having fun so it's ok? This should be the soundtrack to that moment.

Janelle Monae - The Electric Lady
Produced by Janelle Monae, Sean "Diddy" Combs, Big Boi, and a ton of others



Janelle Monae is probably the single most interesting pop/r&b artist currently active. She has crafted an alternative reality filled with androids, an oppressive government system, and crazy parties: kind of like a vibrant theme park version of Blade Runner... or something equally bizarre. She melds pop styles from throughout the ages into her own creation. Whether it's Ennio Morricone style guitars with classical, or Stevie Wonder type harmonies with the sexual funk of Prince, Monae continues to find ways to recreate pop music. This isn't mere recycling of sounds, this is reinterpretion and recreation. She writes her music in suites, telling the story of the Archandroid (part's II and III were found on the amazing album of the same name). I will say this, I felt that Archandroid was stronger, it's influences more seamlessly fused together. On The Electric Lady it is easier to go, "Oh, this song is really Stevie Wonder," or "This song sounds a lot like a Jackson 5 song." While this slightly diminishes the impact of the synthesis she has established, it nonetheless feels fairly fresh and new, and there are some massive tracks on here. "Give 'Em What They Love" featuring PRINCE(!!) is a bold opening statement with killer guitars (duh! Prince!) and a really dirty groove. "Q.U.E.E.N." and "Dance Apocalyptic" are both upbeat dance tracks with all the different ear candy she can throw at you, but are really fresh compared to anything you hear on the radio. One of my favourite tracks tho is "Primetime" featuring the current king of sexy R&B (sorry R. Kelly): Miguel. This is a gorgeous love song which somehow brings the 90's slow jam into the future and make it not only bearable, but plain old sexy and gorgeous. Seriously, if you only listen to one track on this album, listen to "Primetime." Lyrically this album combines futuristic themes, messages of a rebellion of positivity ("While you're sellin dope, we gon keep on selling hope") and self love. This is the strongest pop album (and plays like an album, not just a collection of singles) of the year.

Nails - Abandon All Life
Produced by Nails and Kurt Ballou



I'm not entirely sure, but I think Abandon All Life may have been the album I listened to the most times this year. Not because it's my favourite, but because it is 17 minutes and 22 seconds long. Ten songs, 17 minutes! Shaking the Habitual has a single song which is longer than this whole album! But what a 17 minutes. Easily the most aggressive release I heard this year, this is pure vitriol: blood-spitting, teeth-kicking hatred and rage and pain. I don't know if I understood a single lyric (except for the two expletives at the end of the 24-second-long "Cry Wolf") but I don't need to, everything is right there in the undeniable emotion of this record. This is powerful catharsis.

Run the Jewels - Run the Jewels
Produced by El-P

Sorry Kanye, and I'ma let you finish this list, but Run the Jewels was the greatest hip hop record of 2013. Killer Mike and El-P both had really great records in 2012 (Mike's R.A.P Music made my honourable mentions list) but when they came together as Run the Jewels things got really good. El-P's hardcore, left-field, and aggressive beats/ production mastery combined with his bizarre, complex, violent and often hilarious lyrics and flows are well documented on his solo work, but something about this hard hitting Brooklyn-based sound smashing into the dirty south, Atlanta, GA. hip hop stylings of Killer Mike brings new life to both their styles. Mike's lyrical delivery is much more straight forward than El-P's but the two of them tag team and mix and match and play in and around each other's flows creating some really special and creative flows. Both of their solo records from last year were intense, and RTJ is no less intense, but it has something beyond intensity: it's FUN. These boys are having a blast. And they have a lot of respect and love for each other. On "Banana Clip" (featuring Big Boi of Outkast) Mike raps "Producer gave me a beat/ said it's the beat of the year/ I said El-P didn't do it/ so get the f*** outta here" and you know what? He's right.

I don't know if I've heard a hip hop record released in the last year which hasn't in some way responded to, ripped off, or been directly influenced in some way by Watch the Throne, and Run the Jewels is no exception, except that they've done it better. The name, the fact that two well established and respected solo artists are joining together, and the line "there will be no respect for thrones." And then this: "I stand on towers like Eiffel, I rifle down all your idols/N***as will perish in Paris, n***as is nothing but parrots." But unlike haters or Throne worshippers, Killer Mike and El-P don't come off as obsessed. It's a jab, but then it moves on. It's a humorous way to deal with, and move on from, the subject. You feel like they didn't need to respond like some other people, but chose to, because it would be fun.

All in all, one of my favourite records of the year, one which continues to reveal more nuances and jokes with every listen.

If you want to know how much fun these dudes are having, watch this:



Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City
Produced by Ariel Rechtshaid



Vampire Weekend have grown on me. I was impressed with, but didn't fall in love with, their baroque stylings, their witty lyricism, and their creative songwriting on their debut, but maybe I wasn't ready. on Contra, their 2010 sophomore effort, there were some more chaotic and visceral songs which made me pay more attention but I still didn't dive in as hard as I could have. It's sometimes hard to say what puts a band over the edge of interest and into the playing field of enjoyment for me. But while Vampire Weekend's cover of Springsteen's "Going Down" was a step in that direction, ironically it wasn't until the song "Unbelievers" that I began to believe. The driving groove, the wonderful melody, the little hymnic interlude in the bridge, the lyrics which proudly proclaim his unbelief at the same time as they question it.

Other songs deal with God and belief in interesting ways too, but if I'm honest, it's the sound of this record which held me, after the lyrics of "Unbelievers" captured me. So many ideas: The Bach-like keyboards on "Step." The bouncing synth bass and guitar staccato interplay and the vocal effects on "Diane Young." The strange found-sounds collage which disappears into the minimalist reverbed piano and dead sounding bass on "Hannah Hunt." The distorted mispronunciation of YHWH on "Ya Hey." Every track has a number of brilliant ideas and an interplay of sounds, and yet the album sounds extremely homogenous. Brilliant work.

Kanye West - Yeezus
Produced by way too many people, including: Rick Rubin, Hudson Mohawke, Daft Punk


"Yeezy season approaching/ f*** whatever y'all been hearing!" Kanye came out swinging hard this year with Yeezus. The album opens with waves of distortion and a glitchy beat courtesy of Daft Punk and just rips right in. Compared to the brilliantly composed and arranged My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, this is guerilla warfare. Samples being thrown in between verses with no regard to whether they fit stylistically or even emotionally, lyrical themes of slavery, an inverting of the american dream, and a reappropriation of white supremacist symbols like the the KKK hoods, or the confederate flag: this is an assault. And that's not all. "I am a God/ hurry up with my damn massage/ in an french ass restaurant/ hurry up with my damn croissants" Kanye declares on "I am a God." "I just talked to Jesus/ he said what up Yeezus?/ I said, Shit I'm chillin/ tryin to stack these millions." Kanye really stepped up his delusions of grandeur on this one, but if you listened to the screams and the distortion on this track, it sounds like the responsibility he feels in his "divinity" is a sort of torture.

That's what I love about Kanye: the dichotomy. On "New Slaves" he's wrestling with hating that the status symbols of his success feel like a new form of class slavery, while also bragging about his wealth. Same with "I Am a God": he feels like he has unlimited potential but feels frustrated and angry at his limitations. While this album has some really powerful moments, it is far from perfect. Apparently Kanye recorded and wrote most of the lyrics in the last couple of days of the recording process and some of the tracks on the second half feel sloppy in the lyrics department, even if the sounds continue to be amazing. And then the album ends with "Bound 2," a throw back to some of Kanye's earlier work, and a love song for Kim Kardashian, which feels somewhat out of place on this album, but also works as a tonic for the vitriol of the previous album. It also regains some of the lyrical wit which some of the later tracks lack. The sample is great, some of the word play is awesome, and it's just a feel good track. I believe in Kanye as an artist and as a creative mind and look forward to wherever he takes us next, whether in this angry vein or maybe in more of the direction implied by "Bound 2."

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

Arcade Fire - Reflektor
Arcade Fire put out a sprawling and admirable record this year, chock full of great production ideas.

Autre Ne Veut - Anxiety
"Play by Play" was one of my favourite tracks of the year, and the rest of the album has some really great melodies, and heartfelt (and appropriately anxious) vocal performances.

Danny Brown - Old
Danny Brown is one of the most versatile and impressive voices in hip hop currently, as proven by the Side A part of Old. Side B had more club bangers a lost a bit of my attention, but if Side A was released on it's own as an EP it would have easily been in my top 10. Check out the track "Wonderbread."

Bill Callahan - Dream River
Bill Callahan put out another wonderful collection of dreamy and rich songs which cover territory from Neil Young to Van Morrison. A wonderful voice and wonderful songwriting.

Chance the Rapper - Acid Rap
Chance is a young rapper, with a goofy voice, but some thoughtful lyrics. The star here tho is the gospel infused production, reminiscent of College Dropout.

Drake - Nothing Was The Same
Drake has a lot of haters, but I love that he continues to transcend radio-friendly styles for his own moodier artistic vision. Not as strong as Take Care, but still excellent.

Phosphorescent - Muchacho
This is a great collection of Americana. "Sun, Arise! (An Invocation)" and "A Charm, A Blade" were two stand out tracks of the year for me. A kind of stoned out, desert dwelling, Springsteen.

Pusha T - My Name Is My Name
Produced mostly by Kanye, Pusha T brought a bunch of great tracks this year, especially "Numbers on the Board" which was easily one of my favourite tracks of the year, and "Nosetalgia" featuring Kendrick Lamar.

Queens of the Stone Age - ...Like Clockwork
QOTSA bounced back this year, with some great sounds, and some really excellent lyricism. Not quite my favourite record by Joshua Homme, but definitely a strong release.

Vhol - Vhol
Vhol is a metal supergroup of sorts made up by remnants of Ludicra and members of Yob. Great blasts of black metal will some more melodic vocals (though there are still the wretched vox of black metal.) Super catchy for black metal but still aggresively delicious.

Record Store Day

TODAY IS RECORD STORE DAY! My favourite secular "holiday." It happens to align with my least favourite secular holiday this year (besides kick a ginger day...), but that's another story.

This year I'm in Calgary and so had to wing it on which record store to go to. I don't have a local favourite yet. So I went to Heritage Posters and Music. Fun little shop with a decent selection, but a little heavy on the posters/cds to vinyl ratio. What really made the place was the owner, didn't catch his name but super friendly and helpful and more on the fun side of the scale than the weird. Proprietors can really make or break a record shop, it's really their personality in a store.

On to the haul!

Only picked up three records this year because of a tight budget, but I managed to get some beauts:

Captain Beefheart: Strictly Personal
Strictly Personal is a bastardized arrangement of weird blues and re-recordings of some of the Mirror Man sessions, which was kinda wrecked by the record company at the time. Beefheart didn't like the final product in the end but there are some decent jams including "Gimme Dat Harp Boy."

Rating 6.5/10 (Almost Great)

Captain Beefheart: The Legendary A&M Sessions
The A&M Sessions are some of Beefheart's most straight ahead blues tunes, but man they rock! I love this short LP to death.

Rating: 7/10 (Great)

The Move: Greatest Hits Vol. 1
I haven't listened to this (or anything by The Move) with the exception of their single "Brontosaurus" as of yet, but will give a brief review when I get to it. British Invasion psychedelia suggested by Greg Godovitz, my studio manager at OCL Studios. And there must be something to it, because when I brought it up to the counter at Heritage the owner's eyes looked up with delight and surprise and said in a british accent, "The MOOOOVE!" So. Looking forward to it!

That's it for now! :)

The Knife - Shaking the Habitual (2013) Review

Just keep on rolling with these blog posts I guess.

I'm finding music hard to write about. I either feel like I'm being too general about how something sounds or what is good or not about it, or I feel like I get so detailed that it's a pain to read. Let's see if this works.

The Knife, for those of you who don't know, are a brother/sister duo from Sweden who make dark synth driven grooves. They broke through (spawning tons of dark-synth-pop wannabes) with their third album, 2006's Silent Shout. Philosophically, being a big band doesn't seem to jive with these siblings, because after Silent Shout blew up they split up to follow solo paths (one result of which was the awesomely bizarre Fever Ray record). When they did return together as the Knife, instead of making a logical follow up to everything they had done so far, they made a bizarre electro-opera which tied Darwin's life to the evolution of life on Earth. Strange, long, with few driving beats, it was super interesting, and alienating. But now they've made the huge, double disc monstrosity Shaking the Habitual, which both sounds like the proper follow up to Silent Shout/Fever Ray, but also shows that their dabbling in evolution seems to have had an impact.

This is an incredible record, currently my top contender for Album of the Year. The album kicks off with three back to back great tunes over 24 minutes. "A Tooth For An Eye" kicks it off, taking tight rhythms and bright sounds and managing to make them creepy. "Full of Fire" throws out any pretense of normalness with a huge banger of a track which distorts and disintegrates over nearly ten minutes, never slowing it's pace but never feeling too repetitive. Karin (the sister/lead singer) makes her voice distort and crack through both vocal and digital manipulation, sounding like a little girl one moment and an old man the next - climaxing with her yelling "Let's talk about gender baby, let's talk about you and me" in a deep baritone which can barely hold itself together. And then another shift to "Cherry on Top", which begins with 5 minutes of really cool droning noise which wouldn't be out of place on The Seer (one of last year's favourite albums), then morphs into a creepy little nursery rhyme, and then back into creaking drones.

If all this record gave me was these three songs, it would be enough to put this album in my top ten of the year. The intricate rhythms, the amazing sonic manipulations, everything I love about these guys, summed up nicely in 24 exciting minutes. But it doesn't stop there, that's not even half of the first disc!

The rest of the album is in turns exciting, terrifying, meditative, and actively disconcerting. They also get outside of just electronic sounds on this record - it is called Shaking the Habitual after all. Without "You My Life Would Be Boring" has flute playing that reminds me of some of the weirder jazz records Don Cherry and Sun Ra recorded in the early 70s. There are tribal drum jams (closer to what was on Fever Ray) and there are weird chirping noise tracks. The record paces itself well, with tracks ranging from under a minute in length to nearly twenty minutes, and nothing is ever boring, or ever rehashed. Despite the fact that the basic elements are mostly represented in the first three songs, all of those elements take on new faces which themselves take on new masks. You can tell that this album came out of restless creative energy, but the best part is, it not only was born there, but it furthers the cause: of pushing and striving and destroying any and all boxes which might inhibit the minds growth.

Rating: 7.5/10 (Great +)

Return to a form of the former form / Ash Borer - Bloodlands

Well, I am temporarily out of musical projects to be working on. So I will attempt to write some reviews, or just blog posts music related. Briefer ones than usual I think.

First of all, there are three projects I have engineered/produced over the last year which are in that "finished but awaiting official release" phase. I am super proud of them and super stoked for them to come out. I will post about them in greater detail when the time comes.

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I want to kick off a new season of blogging by mentioning a band which has been slowly creeping up on me: Ash Borer. They are a Californian Black Metal band signed to Profound Lore. The last 3 years or so has seen an incredible explosion in the American Black Metal scene. There have been a few stand outs in this scene so far: Krallice, Liturgy, some members of the Black Twilight Circle collective, and Wolves in the Throne Room. I must confess that despite my love for these bands, the rest of the music to come out of the ABM scene has mostly bled together into one big blast beat, tremolo picked, incoherent screech.

Ash Borer however has cut through the milieu for me recently. It's not that they are breaking any new ground (the already mentioned bands above have done a lot of that already) and I've been trying to put my finger on why I kept going back to their 2012 release Cold of Ages. I think with the fairly new Bloodlands EP I am finally starting to be able to solve this connundrum. These guys aren't just great players with crazy chops playing as fast as they can, they are intelligent musicians who want to tell stories. Their songs take their time to get to the blast beats, it isn't just madness straight through. They build songs, drawing you in. They make you wait for the pay off and then kick you in the teeth. They're like professional fishermen, reeling you in, then cutting you just enough slack to let you think you've gotten through before hitting you even harder.

The production quality of both Cold of Ages and Bloodlands is better than a lot of black metal too. These are sonically rich albums, everything is crisp. There's no over-trebled hiss, like a lot of black metal has. Everything sounds good, and the songs are good. I don't know whether there has ever been a blast beat that has had a real weighty impact on me as much as the one which appears around the 7-minute mark of the 20 minute behemoth that is "Dirge / Purgation." Check it out below via ashborer.bandcamp.com

Rating: 7/10 (Great)

The Annual Music List: 2012

Quick foreword:
This year was very unique for me musically because this was the first year that I got to participate actively in the creation, recording, and production of a lot of great music. 9 months of this year were spent at Nimbus School of Recording Arts and I learned so much and met so many awesome people. So I start this post off with some shout outs to the bands/artists I got to work with this year; YOU GUYS made my musical year. Thank you!

Derrival
The Monarch
The Ruffled Feathers
Shadows

Also shout out about my cousin Kevan Chandler's band Innocent Smith, which released a really witty and heartfelt album called Losing Lungs, Finding God.

Another little side note:
This year was a pretty big one as far as my relationship with Hip Hop goes. Discovered some classics from over the years and also there were just a ton of great Hip Hop albums released this year; many more than will appear on this list.

PPS: Sorry bout the formatting (extra gaps in the first few reviews.) it's coz I wrote it in word and copied it in...too lazy to fix it now.

Now to the Records of the Year! (in alphabetical order):

Fiona Apple - The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do
Produced by Fiona Apple and Charley Drayton

The Idler Wheel… is a sparse album, if you’re only listening to the arrangements. Lyrically and emotionally Fiona Apple covers a huge amount of ground and the spaciousness of the music allows her voice and words to cut through and hit hard. These open arrangements have the odd effect of occasionally creating a sense of claustrophobia, almost as if she is sitting too close and singing only to the listener; a personal concert that you cannot turn away from.

This is essentially a break up album, there is pain, anger, longing, pleading, and everything else you’d expect, but backed and reinforced with a unique turn of phrase and powerful vocal performances.

The album begins with the chiming of bells on “Every Single Night” which is mostly an unaccompanied melody with the refrain of “I just want to feel everything.” “Daredevil” follows up with “I don’t feel anything until I smash it up.” Daredevil has some of the most intense vocal passages where Fiona’s vocal chords twist up and spit out “WAKE ME UP!” to a frantic brushed snare beat. This album definitely required some physical pain to create.

It’s hard to convey in words how effectively the arrangements match the emotion of the songs. Sometimes the piano is very present and upbeat and other times it is awash with dissonant strings and feels very far away. “Valentine” contains one of my favourite couplets. “I’m a tulip in a cup, I stand no chance of growing up.” Another appears on “Left Alone.” “How can I ask anyone to love me when all I do is beg to be left alone?”

“Werewolf” is one of the most immediate songs and sums up the whole album pretty well: “I could liken you to a werewolf, the way you left me for dead, but I admit that I provided a full moon.” I think this album is so powerful because it jumps back and forth over the fine line of blaming the other and blaming oneself and knowing full well that both parties share the guilt of why things went wrong. Regret, pain, wishful fantasies of things working out, fond memories all collide and blur until the picture is both complete and unclear.

There’s only one track that feels at all misplaced: the album closer “Hot Knife.” I love the song and lyrically it works, but production wise it is a multilayered vocal round which is really the only song which FEELS like it was tampered with in the studio. There’s plenty of recording brilliance and manipulation throughout, but this song SOUNDS like it. It does however end the album with strength and an energy, almost as if in admitting defeat she can pick herself up and face the world again.

Fiona Apple is more honest than many of us have the courage to be and in being so opens doors for us to feel her raw humanity, and in turn we get to feel more human ourselves.

Favourite Track: "Periphery"

"Periphery" is just barely ahead of "Left Alone" for my favourite track. It moves well, the riff is really catchy, her vocals are at turns strained and sing-song, and the lyrics are some of her most acerbic. “All of that loving must have been lacking something if I got bored trying to figure you out. You let me down, I don’t even like you any more.”

Baroness - Yellow & Green
Produced by John Congleton

Yellow & Green was my favourite album of the year for about half the year until a few amazing albums starting giving it some competition. This is a double album and runs over an hour. I have liked Baroness’ previous efforts (Red and Blue) and loved their combination of great heavy riffs, that Atlanta holler (see Mastodon), and a surprisingly delicate musical approach of interweaving melodies, riffs and rhythms. Yellow & Green both outdo their predecessors by miles in almost every area. The melodies are stronger, and while the vocals are cleaner and a little more up front (which has led to some fans complaining about the band going soft) there are some seriously crushing and triumphant moments.

One thing I like about this album is the subtlety of the effects and tones used. The whole thing sounds totally unified and yet every track does something different, every ringing note has a different effect which keeps it interesting and yet it isn’t distracting (like some tracks on the new The Mars Volta album…)

A lot of the best moments are on Yellow, but there aren’t enough lulls to stop me from listening to both discs back to back. “March to the Sea” is one definite strong point. It combines all the traits I described above. It starts with a gorgeous guitar melody and then kicks in (with a fill reminiscent of "Smells Like Teen Spirit") and then just gets heavy with dueling guitars swirling around. I love that I can hear everything in the mix on every track. Each line is distinct and nothing is by accident. And yet it never grows stale like some albums which are too planned out.

Lyrically the album is vague and the most of the songs convey more of an emotional impression, usually on the nihilistic/negative side (“I wish I was drowning, then I could watch you burn.” The singer states on “Little Things.”) but the album avoids depression with its gorgeous melodies and huge moments as display on the instrumental “Green Theme.”

I was really worried when I heard that Baroness had a really bad accident in their tour bus this fall, rendering all of the band members hospitalized. I’m glad to hear that they have recovered and are hoping to get back to touring as soon as possible.

This album is a pretty huge achievement and I’ve listened to it more than any album released this year and I still find some new gem to enjoy every listen.

Side note: the singer does all of the artwork for the baroness albums as well as for a lot of other bands. The art, like his music, is an ornate and gorgeous juxtaposition of the morbid and the beautiful.

Favourite Track: "Back Where I Belong"

This song has my favourite lyric/melody combination. It starts as a frustrated complaint of ending up back in a bad relationship, “stuck with you… back where I belong.” But takes a turn at near the end with a gorgeous moment where they, for a split second, remember the better days of love they enjoyed as young lovers. “When we were kids we never felt so young. Take me to a hazy Sunday morning.”

Cloud Nothings - Attack on Memory
Produced by Steve Albini

Attack on Memory is angst and frustration incarnate. The singer flips between total apathetic paralysis and a deep seeded anger at the futility he sees in his life. The album begins with the repeated statement “Give up, come to.” Life has “No Future/No Past” and is just a cycle of passing out and waking up. Life is lifeless.

Musically this album hearkens back to late 80s early 90s indie such as …Trail of Dead and Sonic Youth a la Daydream Nation. And it’s refreshing to hear a band that feels like it just wants to play hard and loud and just get lost in the cacophony.This album is simple but never boring. Aggressive but introverted. Apathetic yet threatening to explode at any moment. And explode it does.

“I thought I would be more than this!”

“Fall In” with its harmonies and “Stay Useless” with its enigmatic chorus are the catchiest tunes on the album and are a welcome relief after the wonderfully harrowing “Wasted Days.”

The album pounds along for just over 33 minutes, but when it ends it’s hard to know if you’ve been listening for just a moment or for hours. The final track is called “Cut You” and is a creepy letter to an old flame asking questions like “Does he hurt you like I do? Is he gonna work out? I need to know. I deserve to know.” Dude is dealing with some serious issues, but Cloud Nothings have managed to turn them into a concise and kick ass album.

Favourite Track: “Wasted Days”

Running near the 9 minute mark this track takes up over a quarter of the album and is a distressing but compelling journey. There are more than one great riff in this song and which flies along at breakneck pace for about three minutes until it suddenly breaks down. Weird noises flit in and out like inhuman babble and a huge crescendo builds and builds until the song explodes into a frantic energy again while the singer screams, “I thought I would be more than this!” over and over and over until the song collapses in on itself. Anyone who has struggled with identity or has been disappointed with how things have turned out cannot help but relate.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - 'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!
Self Produced

At their prime, Godspeed You! Black Emperor were one of the most interesting bands around with their incredibly complex and long (like 20 minutes a song long) compositions which blossomed slowly and enveloped you in their sound before crushing you with a powerful wall of sound. They were pioneers of the crushing wave of post-rock that erupted in the early 00's (Sigur Ros, Explosions in the Sky, etc.)  'Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend!, their first album in 10 years, gathers some unrecorded material from that time (some of which has been played live in the meantime) and manages to faithfully maintain and increase their tradition of powerful post rock. Few bands live up to their name after a 10 year break, so it’s wonderful that Godspeed have not only survived but delivered something that expands, rather than merely sustains, their legacy.

The album consists of two twenty minute tracks and two short(er) compositions of just over 6 and 8 minutes each. Like all of their material each song is essentially a giant crescendo. On some of their previous work there were moments where I felt that the slow builds served no purpose, were just there for their own sake. I feel that this album has more of an obvious arc to it which I enjoy. The title really fits. It really feels like some massive beast is struggling up out of the mud, breaking free, and roaring at the clouds before taking wing. The two shorter interludes also provide more movement to the album than some of the more cumbersome moments of other albums.

This album is not something to throw on in the background. It demands your full attention. At times we feel like the clouds will continue to close around us forever, but then light bursts through.

Favourite Track: “We Drift Like Worried Fire”

The second of the longest compositions has much to offer. It’s always hard to pick “favourite track” on a Godspeed album because each covers an enormous amount of ground. So I’ll say this, the last 8 minutes of “We Drift Like Worried Fire” is kind of like a summary of the whole album: plodding along in dismay, a huge fight for freedom, bursting through and then a sobering moment of reality but ending in a much better place than you began, and hope of even better things ahead.

Julia Holter - Ekstasis
Self Produced

Julia Holter’s last album, Tragedy, was a masterpiece, a bizarre opera based on an ancient greek play which combined high baroque pop sensibilities with sound collage and yet kept a certain simplicity of soul. This year’s Ekstasis contains more focused songs, and has a higher production value (Tragedy was very raw and much of it self recorded.) and, although it falls short of the previous work, is still wonderfully captivating.

Each piece is very impressionistic. 80s synths blend together with new age melodies and classical string arrangements and medieval chants. This is meditative music which refuses to remain still.

The second track, “Our Sorrows” ends with a gorgeous chant, immediately to be juxtaposed by "In The Same Room"’s drum machine and harpsichord driven refrain “I can’t recall this face, but I want to.” Julia creates a wonderful swirl of keyboards and vocal lines which overlap and weave in and out of each other throughout the album and often feels like a combination last year’s The Magic Place by Julianna Barwick and Native Speaker by Braids, both which made my top 10 of 2011.

“F’ur Felix” is feels like you’re exploring a foreign bazaar. And yet you could never quite place where in the world you could be. It’s a magical in between place which also boasts one of the catchier riffs on the album.

I find it hard to explain this album. Here, in short, is why I love this album: It beholds a magical world with a childish sense of wonder and yet filters all it sees through mature eyes. That is no small feat. A perfect example of this is the song “Four Gardens” which begins with a girl’s giggle but sings about waiting patiently for love.

Float away into Ekstasis.

Side Note: Julia Holter recently released an expanded version of Ekstasis which includes some re-arranged and re-recorded versions of some songs on both Tragedy and Ekstasis which are wonderful but cannot replace the initial versions in my mind.

Favourite Track: “Ekstasis”

At nearly 9 minutes, "Ekstasis" really provides the time for Julia’s ideas to progress and develop. The groove is slow but not slack. Everything builds, it is a peaceful celebration of wonder. Then everything but the saxophone cuts out and then even that falls silent and when the voices begin again you feel as if you have stepped through some veil onto holy ground but the journey is not over. The pace increases and drums become the most prevalent instrument while church bells chime in the distance. A disjointed and strange bass groove carries you along. And always the voices remind you, “This is the ekstasis.” Then just as suddenly as they began, the drums disappear and you are left floating between a cello and a saxophone which play you off to sleep.

Kendrick Lamar - good kid, m.A.A.d city
Produced by Dr. Dre (and a million other guest producers)

Oh. Damn. This album is good. Gunna say it's tied for the top spot of the year. Hailed as an instant classic and drawing many and much deserved comparisons to Illmatic this album kicked the doors in when it was released. Kendrick Lamar has created a hip hop album that far surpasses a bunch of great hip hop albums released this year. good kid, m.A.A.d city is subtitled "a film by Kendrick Lamar." and it's true. This is cinematic. This is good story telling. This is complex character development.

The album opens with a group of young men dedicating their lives to Jesus in a prayer. It's kind of shocking at first, but this album tells a story which touches on many areas of life and it is rich with meaning. Produced by Dr. Dre and a bunch of other great beat makes/musicians, this is a sonically rich album with plenty of ear candy. The beats are in turns laid back, aggressive, sad, hopeful and hazy, depending on the situation the protagonist finds himself. In theory the story follows a young Kendrick who heads out to meet up with a girl, gets sidetracked by some buddies, gets into some trouble and then has to deal with the consequences. The mental and spiritual journey these events take him on become his story.

The skits (and there are lots) rather than just being interludes contribute to the story greatly. Voice mail messages from Kendrick's mom begin annoyed that the car is missing and end up just praying that Kendrick remember who he is and that he get home safely. 
Kendrick's brilliance as a performer is not limited to his great word play and narration, he actually morphs his voice so that it sounds different on nearly every track. Some of this is achieved with effects, but just as much is his own versatility as a vocal artist.

There aren't any low moments on this album. There are good, great, and amazing moments. The album is mostly somber and self reflective, but there is humor and energy. Some of the most poignant lyrics are in "The Art Of Peer Pressure" which can be summarized by "Really I'm a peacemaker, but I'm with the homies right now" after describing jumping and terrorizing someone. Another stand out track is "Swimming Pools (Drank)" which hides lyrics about a dangerous drinking habit under the guise of a party track. A third stand out is "Backseat Freestyle" which is supposed to reflect on young Kendrick's mindframe (it's supposed to be his first freestyle in highschool.) As such there's a lot of classic rap humour re: sex and violence, but it creates a bold contrast to the conscientiousness most of the rest of the album shows. I also can never get that opening "Martin had a dream! Martin had a dream! Kendrick have a dream!"

The final track I'll talk about is "Sing About Me, I'm Dying of Thirst." It's a song for those who have gone before. "Promise that you will sing about me." It's 12 minutes long. Which is crazy for a hip hop track. But it moves, it grows, it mourns. It has some shocking moments, and after it's all over the prayer for salvation comes back, this time led by an older black woman who chastises the boys for being angry when anger solves nothing. It's powerful stuff. 

This album is about life examined. It's honest. It's hurting. It's strong and vulnerable. It's an amazing piece of art by a young artist.

Favourite Track: "The Art Of Peer Pressure"
It's super hard to pick a favourite for good kid, m.A.A.d city, but I think the powerful truth of how easily we can be swayed if we're not careful sticks with me. The beat switch halfway through is awesome too.

> Frank Ocean - Channel ORANGE
Self Produced (with a few co-producers including Pharrell)

This year Frank Ocean made people who don't like R&B listen to, and find they like, R&B. That's quite an achievement. This album easily covers the most musical ground out of any album on this list. Frank Ocean is a stylistic chameleon, but the album maintains a pure vision because of his voice. It is a powerful and emotional tool which never shakes your attention.

The album opens with the sound of a Playstation (the first one) starting up. For anyone that listened to his last release Nostalgia/Ultra, this shouldn't be any surprise. He talks a lot on that album about video games, anime, and other fairly nerdy pursuits (for a potential R&B heartthrob). Frank has had a crazy couple years tho: Joined Odd Future when everyone was listening to anything those boys put out; guest spots on The Weeknd and Watch the Throne, being threatened with legal action by The Eagles (!!!) for his re-writing of "Hotel California" as "American Wedding" (exact same music, all new lyrics) etc. He's matured a lot, there's a lot more thoughtful writing on Channel ORANGE, but the kid is still there. On "Pink Matter" - one of the more reflective feeling songs on the albums - he references Majin Buu (THIS GUY BELOW)

from Dragon Ball Z, followed closely by a lazy sounding but always on point Andre 3000 verse.

"Super Rich Kids" is maybe the best summary of the dichotomy Frank Ocean is living. "Too many bottles of this wine we can't pronounce... the maids come around too much. Parents ain't around enough....Super rich kids with nothing but loose ends. Super rich kids with nothing but fake friends." He wants to be young and restless, but he's too aware of what's wrong with everyone, including himself. "We are the [Xanax] Nation" Earl Sweatshirt raps. A generation of over medicated avoidance.

This is probably the most cleverly produced album of the year. Multiple genre's and styles and seamlessly blended and woven together to paint a picture of a sensitive, but wreckless life. One that's trying to be lived to the fullest but is too aware of it's own short fallings to really take off. It's a sad story. But not too sad. Just kinda numb, with all the emotion just raging below the surface.

I really feel like I didn't do this review justice. There's just too much. Go listen.

Favourite Track: "Pyramids"
Ok, so I kinda avoided talking about this up top. But this really is the reason I love this album in a nutshell. Another 10 minute mindblowing track (only the second half is in the video up top). This starts off as fantastical story about an Egyptian princess named Cleopatra who has been stolen away. "Set the cheetahs on the loose!" The beat evolves as the story morphs dreamstyle. "Chandeliers inside the pyramids tremble." And then suddenly the song shifts dramatically, and the dream is over. Now a lonely Frank lies in bed as his girl dresses to go work [strip] at the Pyramid. "She's workin at the Pyramid tonight." So he hits the town to try and forget, "Bubbles in my champagne, let it be some Jazz playin" but there's still a sentimental longing for the girl who's workin at the Pyramid tonight. It's crazy. But it works. And I love it.

Oh ya. And there's that John Mayer Solo. 

Purity Ring - Shrines
Produced by Corin Roddick

This album blends so many opposites together in such an awesome way that it makes me giggle sometimes. It's chill. It's fun. It's downtempo and dark, but fun and catchy. The lyrics are sung by a really cute female voice, but they are bizarre and morbid and just plain weird. As a result I am rarely not in the mood for this album. If I'm happy the beats and melodies make me happy. If I'm down, the atmosphere is just murky enough that I'm not annoyed by what made me happy. If I'm exhausted the beats are just chill enough but not lugubrious. Shrines is a masterwork in tightrope walking.

Favourite Track: "Fineshrine"
To those lyrics I was talking about. This song opens like this: "Get a little closer, let it fold/ Cut open my sternum and pull/ my little ribs around you." But the melody is so sweet. And the beat moves as weird vocal swells swirl. Just a great tune. Followed by another. Followed by another.

Swans - The Seer
Michael Gira

And now we come to the second double album on my list and the album which ties Kendrick for Album of the Year. THE SEER. Weep! Woe! Despair! This album is just freaking bleak. And it is passionately bleak for very nearly two hours. Tracks range in length from under 2 minutes to over 30 minutes in length and very few minutes in any way relent. It is, in many ways, the inverse of 'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend! This is claustophobia incarnate. The story, loosely, seems to be about a young boy with a special gift for seeing what others cannot, torn from innocence, and thrust into a sort of deranged and enlightened lunacy which people fear but are drawn to. That's how I feel about his album. It is scary and yet it draws you in.

So much to talk about. The drums are huge and pounding. The repetitive riffs are hypnotic and distressing. The squalor of sound! It really feels like you're being chased through the slums of a foreign land for a lot of these tracks (especially the beginning of "Mother of the World") And yet along with the moments that sounds like a higher fidelity outtake of "Sister Ray", there are moments which sound more like Earth's more recent droning, Ennio Morricone influenced, Spaghetti Western, doom paced, compositions. But even those slower meditative moments - like the uber creepy lullaby "The Wolf" ("Wash me in your bloodlust") - never allow a moment of ease. It's always the calm before a new storm or an eye in the storm or a mental collapse of exhaustion because of trying to endure the storm.No rest for the wicked. Prime example? The 32 minute monstrosity which is the title track. Bagpipes, church bells, droning organs, disjointed cymbal rolls, all erupt at once in an extended cacophony of madness. Then the frantic dulcimer with lumbering drums being dive bombed by guitar slides. And then a crescendo into madness that would make Godspeed proud. 

"I've seen it all. I've seen it all. I've seen it all. I've seen it all. I've seen it all. I've seen it all. I've seen it all. I've seen it all. I've seen it all. I've seen it all. I've seen it all. I've seen it all. I've seen it all. I've seen it all. I've seen it all. I've seen it all. I've seen it all. I've seen it all. I've seen it all. I've seen it all. I've seen it all. I've seen it all. I've seen it all. I've seen it all. I've seen it all. I've seen it all. I've seen it all. "

There is some amazing drum work going on while the Seer further loses his mind in the immensity of what he's seen.

Perhaps the only break is the 4 minute opener of disc two, "Song for a Warrior" where Karen O guest stars in an (actually pretty) country ballad before things go totally south and crazy again.

Part of me is tempted to draw comparisons between The Seer and the second half of Salman Rushdie's literary masterpiece Midnight's Children. Bleak, but wonderfully expressed, and fantastical in nature.

You really have to drown in this album. Or swim away. It's not for everyone, but it's a remarkable experience.

Favourite Track: "The Seer"

Really this track could stand alone. So much crazy stuff happens. So much heavy chaos. Right at the half way mark there are these waves and waves of heavy chords. Unrelenting. You feel like surely the world must be ending. And then you realize that there are 16 more minutes. And you feel like...these waves could actually go on for 16 more minutes and I would not be able to turn away. Fortunately, Swans mastermind Michael Gira decides to not drive us quite as completely mad as the Seer, and the track enters a desert of harmonica loneliness before it rises, like a ghost.

Honourable Mentions:

Note:

I just couldn't decide on my tenth for my top 10. So I'm going to write a mini review for 11 Honourable Mentions. (No Links. Look em up!)

Black To Comm - Earth - The most Scott Walker influenced album I've heard in a while. Very detailed and textured compositions which require close listening.
Burial - Kindred EP - Burial kills it again with his subtle and deft producer's hand giving pre-Skrillex dubstep new life. These are long compositions which grow and collapse and rise again. Gorgeous.
Death Grips - The Money Store - Could have been my number 10 maybe if I'd got it earlier in the year. Insanely aggressive in its exclusion of others, angrier than most metal albums, and featuring the brilliant Zach Hill on drums, these are some of the weirdest and coolest beats going. Totally bizarre and abrasively awesome.
Dirty Projectors - Swing Lo Magellan - Never got into Dirty Projectors before this. Really weird art rock with plenty of strange harmonies and melodic ideas, as well as some really interesting lyrical ideas.
Killer Mike - R.A.P. Music - This album just ripped my head off. So political. So hardcore. So uncompromising.
Krallice - Years Past Matter - Krallice again just barely misses my top ten with another amazing black metal/prog metal/shred fest of unrelenting ferocity. The complex rhythmic and modular developments this band consistently puts out is amazing to me.
METZ - METZ - At just under 30 minutes, this album is a punch in the gut and a kick to the teeth of teenage angst. Super fun, super fuzzy, super good.
The Mountain Goats - Trancendental Youth - Another band who consistently releases great albums which barely miss the top 10 mark. Now with way more horns!
Pallbearer - Sorrow and Extinction - I don't usually go for more straightforward metal. I like it weird. And I even more rarely go for metal with sung vocals (as opposed to harsher vocal manipulations). This album just had some really great, doomy, tunes which I was really impressed by.
Spiritualized - Sweet Heart Sweet Light - If you can find me a more Beatles influenced album released this year I'll be surprised. You definitely won't find a better one. More songs life and death and depression and God and girls with names like Mary and Jane. Some really great tunes.
Split Cranium - Split Cranium - ISIS broke up. I was sad. Aaron Turner (the lead singer) joined Split Cranium for some super fun, crust punk, hardcore goodness.

Other Mentions:
Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band - Bat Chain Puller - This is the album which the record companies rejected and was replaced by 1978's Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller). 35 years later we finally get what the Captain had intended. It's basically a more blues'd out version of Shiny Beast. But I love it.

Scott Walker - Bish Bosch - This album makes Lulu look like it made sense. Scott Walker is both making fun of himself and his fans while taking his art deadly serious (listen to those knives being sharpened.) Probably the only person who can make a fart joke sound like a death threat nightmare. 



Favourite Tracks (not appearing on the above 20 albums):
Beck - "73 - 78"
Big Boi featuring Kelly Rowland - "Mama Told Me"
The Harpoonist and the Axe Murderer & Portage and Main - "Wake Up"
Japandroids - "Younger Us"
Carly Rae Jepsen - "Call Me Maybe"
Jordan Klassen & Facts - "A Silent Sphere"
Kanye West featuring Big Sean, Pusha T, 2 Chainz - "Mercy"
Taylor Swift - "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together"
Schoolboy Q featuring A$AP Rocky - "Hands on the Wheel"
Jessie Ware - "Wildest Moments"
Jack White - "I'm Shakin'"