Bolster Your Holster

A friend of mine posted a video on facebook a couple weeks ago. It’s for a song called ‘Work’ by up and coming hip-hop artist Iggy Azalea (see video below). Sure I could be accused of hopping on the bandwagon, as some young know-it-alls might say, but Iggy Azalea really seems like she has everything going for her at the moment. Her debut album, The New Classic, is set to drop in June. The two songs released already, ‘Work’ and ‘Bounce’, are two slices of club-friendly electronic heavy hip-hop.

Oh wait, you’re not familiar with Iggy? Well, hell, that’s ok, I wasn’t either until a couple weeks ago. She’s an Australian rapper who gained popularity through the new celebrity maker, YouTube. Back in 2011 she released a couple videos that went viral, one for the track  ’Pu$$y’ and one in November 2011 for ‘My World’. Both tracks were featured on her first mixtape Ignorant Art. An official EP entitled Glory was released in May 2012 featuring guest appearances from T.I., B.o.B. and Pusha T. Her second mixtape produced by Diplo and FKi, Trap Gold, followed in late 2012 (available freely on her website). Besides being a hip-hop artist she’s also a model and is “The new face for Levi Jeans”.

Fast forward to 2013, as the release of her debut album approaches she released the afforementioned first single, ‘Work’ in March followed by ‘Bounce’ last week, with the video premiering today. The new video is direted by BRTHR and finds Azalea in India, extremely happy doing some Bollywood dancing and riding an elephant. Check it out:

If you like Iggy, why not follow her on Twitter, where she updates constantly (42000+ tweets) or on Facebook for song, album and mixtape updates.

No matter how much the Arts permeate our lives, they are often seen as ‘optional’ in the eyes of politicians and governments. At a Federal level the Stephen Harper led Conservatives have made Canada less environmentally, internationally and artistically friendly than it has been in years. In fact they celebrated their two year anniversary with a majority government and the Toronto Star has a good review of what they’ve done since then. No matter how much we criticize Canadian programming on the CBC, it was still ours and we secretly loved what we could get out of low-budget shows over the years. CBC’s funding has been cut drastically, CBC radio music studios have been closed almost everywhere, people have lost their jobs and we’re quickly losing our ability to embrace our peoples imagination and initiative as the Government tries to control the heart and soul of Canada’s media.

But that’s another story. What I’m concerned about is the Provincial Government and the recent funding cuts to the Edmonton Public Schools Music Enrichment Program. The Music Enrichment program has been a part of out city for over 50 years and gives students the opportunity to further their music studies after school in a safe environment with qualified instructors on a wide variety of musical instruments. This program benefits both students by encouraging their talents and parents by providing a safe, educational extracurricular activity. The students in this program are there based on their aptitude and commitment, these are students that want to play an instrument and may take it up as a profession in the future.

I never took part in this program, but there are thousands of people who have, many who have gone on to become full-time musicians or at least continued playing throughout their lives. It may not seem like much to some, but imagine cutting a school’s basketball or football team and see the uproar that would come from that. These students will go on to join orchestras, form bands, or maybe just play songs with their families, but in turn that will influence countless others. Our lives are shaped and lived by the culture that surrounds us and stifling that culture will make us look elsewhere and ultimately affect our growth as people and as a city. If you’ve ever seen the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, these are the students that become the musicians. If you’ve even seen a local jazz group, these are the students playing those songs. If you’ve ever seen a band at a local music venue, these students are that band. You get the picture.

Funding cuts to the Edmonton Public School Board from the Provincial Government has caused the School Board to look for ways to save money and ending the $220,000 Music Enrichment program was one way to save money. Now $220,000 per year is not a lot of money to continue a program that enriches hundreds of students lives per year and with the Government expecting a $5.2 Billion surplus in the next budget, it would be easy to save the program, which many parents, musicians and concerned individuals are trying to do. I would suggest signing this petition or writing your local MLA or the Premier directly.

-Kris

 

 

Last day of April and we’ve been teased with Spring, but then Winter came back for a short reprieve. I made this mix throughout April and it contains 17 tracks released throughout 2013 that have found their way into my mind. Enjoy it at your leisure from the link below or on 8tracks here.

The Cover of the mix is brought to you by the beloved Corpse Flower, lovingly named ‘Putrella’, from Edmonton’s Muttart Conservatory. She bloomed just over a week ago, the first to do so in Western Canada. More info about the Corpse flower, latin: Amorphophallus titanum, can be found here.

Thanks for listening. -Kris

Tracklisting

1. The Knife – Tooth For an Eye

The lead-off track of the Knife’s new 90 minute plus opus Shaking the Habitual combines the more experimental parts of Silent Shout with a lot of influence from their experimental score to the opera Tomorrow, in a Year. It’s likely the most accessible of all the tracks on the new album, which shows how willing they are to change their sound at their own discretion. A video accompanied the release of this track following the strange, yet humorous, videos that The Knife like to release.

2. James Blake – I am Sold

 James Blake’s newest release, Overgrown, sees a slightly more straight-forward release from the young talent. ‘I am Sold’ is the second track on the album and was the one that caught me immediately. Influence from Burial is noted in the  The repeated lyrics harken back to ‘The Wilhelm Scream‘ and ‘I Never Learned to Share’ from his self-titled debut, though musically it has a lot more going on it than those songs. A song that shows he is becoming more confident in his vocal ability, I sense even more from him over the next few years.

3. Phoenix – The Real Thing

Phoenix’s newest album, Bankrupt!, doesn’t live up to Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, but it does provide a safe opportunity to hear some of the best produced music out there, and good music at that. First single ‘Entertainment’ was catchy as hell, but lost some luster on repeated listening. ‘The Real Thing’ gets better and better with each listen, in a way I find quite similar to ‘Fences’ on their previous album.

4. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Under the Earth

Aptly titled, since I imagine this of the sound of the band digging and digging further into the ground, but not in any relation to their career. It’s almost a march with that extremely catchy drum beat that sounds amazing when the vocals and keyboards come in to accompany it.

5. Junip – So Clear

Jose Gonzales and company return with the same sound that made their album Fields one of favourites back in 2010. I could have put any track from their new self-titled album on here, but this one really stands out on first listen. Junip makes music that reminds me of the Autumn and Winter so it will be interesting listening to it on those hot Summer days, laying in the Sun, dreaming away.

6. Local Natives – Mt. Washington

Never was impressed by this band, but their new album has changed that. Some great tunes on Hummingbird, with this one being the most depressing and Death Cab for Cutie-like. Short, concise, but hits you right where you want it.

7. Caveman – Shut You Down

I don’t know much about this band, but I believe I was introduced to them on Stereogum. They remind me of Wild Nothing with the dreamy guitar highlighting many of the songs on the album. A great album that shows musicianship well beyond their years. Check out their website for more info.

8. Jessie Ware – Imagine it Was Us

Jessie Ware’s debut album Devotion was beautiful late-night fare harkening back to the smooth soul of the 1980′s. ‘Imagine it Was Us’ is the missing 80′s dance single that would have made the dance floor explode. It’s already been released as a single and as part of the deluxe re-release Gold Edition of Devotion available here or on iTunes.

9. Solar Bears – Cosmic Runner

The Solar Bears provide a nice jaunt through the last 15 years of laid-back electronic music on their sophomore album Supermigration. It’s a mix of everything for this Irish duo who try to put in all together and succeed on this sleeper of an album.

10. Major Lazer – You’re no Good

Less dancehall and more R&B permeate the lead-off track of the new Major Lazer album Free the Universe. Santigold, Vybz Kartel, Danielle Haim and Yasmin provide some stellar vocal work over a great beat from Diplo. I think the closest you’ll get to a slow jam from Major Lazer.

11. The Cave Singers – It’s A Crime

If a band could sound Canadian, but not be Canadian, these Seattle rockers would surely fit the bill. I’m disappointed I’ve never listened to them before as I’ve missed them live a bunch of times before. Check them out in May and June as they tour throughout Canada and the States.

12. Kurt Vile – Never Run Away

The short standard rock song comes from Vile’s newest release Walking on a Pretty Daze, an album that really cements his great songwriting and guitar abilities. He still sounds sleepy in every song, but this is what you’re going to want to put on when you just need to sit on a sunny day after work and relax.

13. Phosphorescent – The Quotidian Beasts

Throw some Springsteen, a little country and maybe even some Kurt Vile in there and you get this 8 minute journey from the newest release from Phosphorescent, Muchacho. The lyrics and the title make this almost definitely a song about drug abuse, the beauty of those swells are euphoric.

14. Pickwick – Brother Roland

Seeing these guys live a few weeks ago was really a treat and to everyone who missed them, make it a mission in your life to catch them live. Shaun defined their music as garage-soul. I think this is the best song to exemplify this. Also buy their album.

15. How to Destroy Angels – We Fade Away

Combine Nine Inch Nails with the soundtracks of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross and add some female vocals and you get How to Destroy Angels. Sure it sounds a lot like NIN, but in my opinion, better than anything Reznor’s released since Year Zero in 2007. I also thought Reznor wouldn’t be singing, but he’s on a few of the songs, including this one, that really just makes me want him to make a new Nine Inch Nails album. See them both live at the Mountain Oasis Electronic Music Summit in October in Asheville, North Carolina!

16. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Higgs Boson Blues

Push the Sky Away is quickly becoming my favourite Nick Cave album and this track is one of the highlights. I’ve never thought I’d hear Cave sing about Miley Cyrus or her alter-ego Hannah Montana, but he paints a morbid picture of life with this 8 minute bluesy dirge. It’s all about the atmosphere he creates.

17. Bombino – Tamiditine

Bombino was basically exploited by the Black Keys with his new album. It just sounds like they decided to play their music over his own stuff and make it sound like them. Sad really, but his amazing guitar playing is still in there. Check out Guitars From Agadez Volume 2 if you want to hear what he sounded like shortly after he escaped the tyranny in Niger.

The band Daughter has released one of my favourite albums of the year.  If you leave is a slow burner of an album that combines the vibe of The XX and the subtle grandiosity of Sigur Ros together into one understated masterpiece.  It is an album that features a lot of strong tracks, but really stands as a cohesive album.

One of the tracks that really stands out lately is Smother.  So lyrically dark and vocally haunting, this sparse song really gets inside you.

Recently I came across their cover of Bon Iver’s Perth and Hot Chip’s Ready for the Floor (Found on Twentyfourbit) that was recorded on Zane Lowe’s BBC Radio show.  This is one of perfect blends of two covers that just seems like they were written together.  I highly recommend you grab their Debut album, grab a bottle of red wine, kick back and soak it in.

and for further exploration, their single Still Which really features the Sigur Ros sound

Say Lou Lou, formerly Saint Lou Lou, have released their follow up single on the interwebs today.  Julian is another dreamy pop gem, in the same vein as Maybe you.  With artists such as Rhye and Jessie Ware making waves, I expect that Say Lou Lou may be one of the next it bands when they release their album.

You can hear the studio version through soundcloud below, and check out a stripped down version over at listenbeforeyoubuy.net.

-Shaun

 

I wish you could be with me, as my life’s just begun,

You should see him lying there, he looks just like me, 

But I sure hope that it is you, that he grows up to be.

 

I miss my Mom.  I think about her all the time.  And lately it seems that nearly everything reminds me of her.  Special occasions, letters from family members, Billy Elliot, my two sisters and my Dad, and of course my wife and daughter.

I know that she would be proud of me.  Of my wonderful family.  Of my sister’s and how we live our lives.  She is, after all, why we do.

Recently I heard this song by Norwegian singer Jonas Alaska, and it really hit home.  It is about losing a brother, but as with all songs about loss, it becomes more than that.  I have found myself listening to it a lot lately.  It is one that gives me some form of reassurance.  Or it simply fills me with happy thoughts about my Mom.

I know that this isn’t the happiest of Easter posts.  But to me Easter is about family.  And this is just where I am right now.  But, trust that I am alright.  I am quite well actually.  I have Neko and Steph, who truly have large pieces of my Mom.  I have my sisters, who obviously carry on a lot of her Legacy.  And I have my Dad.  I have crazy good family, and I feel blessed.

So here is the song by Jonas Alaska off of his second album, if only as a ghost, that was just released.  A little slice of Norwegian Americana.

And a little quote from Billy Elliot (which happens to be one of my favourite movies), and although my Mom was amazing, this just rings true.

Mrs. Wilkinson: She must’ve been a very special woman, your mother.
Billy: No she was just me mam.

 

As I have mentioned before, my wife Steph and I had a baby girl on 12.12.12.  Together we had a variety of names that we kept swinging between.  Some she really liked.  Some I really liked.  And a few that we both liked.  We knew that naming your child is an important and difficult task.  We both wanted something that was unique, but not too unique.  Something that was artistic and athletic. Something that was pretty, but not overtly girly.

We decided upon 3 names.  One that stood out.  The others were great names and were there in case it just didn’t suit her. It did, and it does.

Her name is Neko Anne Scade.

Her middle name Anne was in tribute to my Mother.  It was her middle name and it came from her Grandma, and is a classic feminine name. However, we get asked quite often where the name Neko comes from.  Of course it comes from music.

Neko was named mainly after 2 musicians, but ultimately 5 artists influenced it.  Back in University I had a friend name Niko, and since then I thought it was unique sounding name.  There is a variety of spellings, Nico being the most popular.  But we felt that the most feminine version was that of the fantastic singer Neko Case.  For those that don’t know the works of Neko Case, she has been performing solo material since the mid 90′s and is also a member of the Canadian band The New Pornographers.  I have only had the opportunity to see her live once, which was in the 90′s.  She has one of those signature voices, and her 2009 album Middle Cyclone was on my best of 2009 list. She is also scheduled for this years Edmonton Folk Music Festival, so maybe Neko can meet Neko.

The other musician that the name is inspired from is Nico Muhly.  If you have read the music blog before, you will likely know that I am a huge fan of Nico Muhly and his compositions.  He is a prolific classical composer that works with many contemporary musicians.  Nico has released a number of albums/pieces through the label bedroom community and some of his more traditional work through the classical label Decca.  He has also worked with musicians such as Jonsi, Valgeir Sigurddsson, Grizzly Bear, Sufjan Stevens, Bjork, Antony and the Johnsons’s and most recently Usher, among many others.  He also composed the score to The Reader.

The other artists that had some influence on the name is Andy Warhol’s muse Nico who contributed to the self-titled debut album by the Velvet Underground and Nico.  One of the most influential rock albums of all time.  And to a lesser degree, Nicolas Jaar (who goes by Nico sometimes) and Nico Stai.  But they are mostly just supportive.

In the last 3 months we have found that Neko suits Neko.  And that any other name just doesn’t seem to fit.  It’s funny how that works.

So, in celebration of Neko, I have created a playlist that consists of music that inspired the naming of Neko.  Neko Case, Nico Muhly (and some of his collaborative arrangements), The Velvet Underground and Nico, Nico Jaar, and Nico Stai.  It is available for listening on 8Tracks.

The first half concentrates on Neko Case then transitions in Nico of the Velvet Underground, then Nico(las Jaar) and then into Nico Muhly and his collaborations.  8tracks unfortunately limits you to 2 song per artist, so that is the way it has got to be.

 

 

You can also check out some more pictures of Neko at our friend’s website Erik Hornung Photography, and a slideshow of her birth at Kelsy Nielson Photographer.

 

Just as Kris has created a Valentine’s Day Mix, I decided that I would as well.  This is a year, that I am feeling the love of life more than usual.  I am not one who actually believes in Valentine’s day as an actual thing, but it does make me reflect on love.  This year, I have my lovely wife Steph, and my beautiful daughter Neko to be thankful for.

This mix is more obvious than Kris’ and features some good cheese.  Named after the classic Eels track, it features the song we first danced to (Ray Lamontagne – You are the Best thing), the song we walked out of our wedding ceremony to (Fyfe Dangerfield – When you walk in the room), our first dance (Joshua Radin – Lovely tonight), and many more.  Ultimately, it is a pretty feel good mix.  So, throw it on, and hug the one you are with, whether it be your your significant other, your kids, your pets, or your bourbon.  Enjoy your love all year round.

Here is a link to the playlist on 8tracks.

Happy Valentine’s Day to all of you out there. I wanted to do an all Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Valentine’s mix, but since 8tracks doesn’t allow that, here is the next best thing. Enjoy this mix alone, together or with a bottle of wine.

Valentine’s Day Mix 2013 from kjb1 on 8tracks Radio.

I’ve released this way too late. We’re already 44 days into 2013. Let’s get on with it!

50. Tame Impala – Lonerism

Give it time, give it time. Wanted to like it more, it kind of clicked in Australia. Now to just wait until it’s warm again.

49. Anais Mitchell – Young Man in America

Such a unique voice sometimes I love it sometimes I can’t stand it. I won’t deny the songwriting ability.

48. Dirty Projectors – Swing Lo Magellan

‘Gun Has No Trigger’ is my favourite song they’ve written. Not nearly as difficult Bitte Orca, and for that I thank them.

47. Sebastian Tellier – My God is Blue

French cheesy disco dance party.

46. Angus Stone – Broken Brights

Australian folk-rock singer takes you there and back again. Not normally my scene, but it feels like the edge of the outback.

45. Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes – Here

Lo-fi and as sparse as you can be in a ten person band. Nothing as catchy as ‘Home’, but definitely more cohesive than the last one.

44. Bat For Lashes – The Haunted Man

Someone really wants to become Kate Bush. Tori Amos did before she got all contemporary pop, let’s hope Bat for Lashes keeps this up.

43. Moonface – With Siinai: Heartbreaking Bravery

Spencer Krug’s descent into darkness. It’s all doom and gloom up in here.

42. The Shins – Port of Morrow

James Mercer fired the whole band and proved that the Shins were basically a one-man band all along. Their most polished record yet, it also has some great music on it too!

41. Various Artists – Lawless (soundtrack)

The Bootleggers (a band which is basically Grinderman and Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds) curate this album which contains some excellent dark and dusty country covers of non-country music. Emmylou Harris joins in.

40. Sharon Van Etten – Tramp

I feel like crying when listening to Sharon sing.

39. Daphni – Jiaolong

A little bit more accessible than the previous works by the man formerly known as Caribou, formerly known as Manitoba (or is it the other way around?). It’s a dance party until the bleep-bloops come around.

38. Florrie – Late

Only 4 songs more from the English pop Goddess, but she’s back on form after her slightly disappointing Experiments EP.

37. Heartless Bastards – Arrow

Laid back rock from a band who was already too laid back. I wish for more rocking out, but i’ll respect the subtlety.

36. Fiona Apple – The Idler Wheel…

Fiona Apple is still angry, but she sounds older and raspier.

35. The Antlers – Undersea

Another EP on the list, this time from the band that had my number 2 album last year. It really does sound like you’re underwater except for the song that sound like Nintendo.

34. Father John Misty – Fear Fun

He left the Fleet Foxes to make some great music. I don’t believe he was the lead singer, but damn, he should of been.

33. Whitehorse – The Fate of the World Depends on the Kiss

Seeing them live really made me appreciate this album even more. I love when I can say that. I also love Melissa McClelland. Now to get Luke Doucet out of the picture…

32. Regina Spektor – What We Saw From the Cheap Seats

It’s been a year where I’ve had way more female singers on the list than usual. Why? Because they’re making the best music! Regina put out a lovely little album here,  probably her most accessible yet.

31. Dum Dum Girls – End of Daze

This is where they take off. This is pure bliss in 5 songs. Beautiful.

30. Niki & The Dove – Instinct

You wanted The Knife to sound like a mainstream band, well maybe Niki is for you. Dancey, a bit experimental, but good ole’ Swedish pop.

29. Grimes – Visions

She had a good year.

28. The Avett Brothers – The Carpenter

Still good, but not as good as the last one. Maybe it sounded too much like the last one. I wonder…

27. Various Artists – Don’t Break My Love: A Collection of Lost Memories from Sunset & Clown

A great introduction to a label which doesn’t have much recognition. Also it’s a metal cube you plug in to your stereo. Talk about accessibility.

26. Killer Mike – R.A.P. Music

It feels like the 90′s again. Sometimes we need that.

25. Bear in Heaven – I Love You, It’s Cool

Is this the 80s or the 90s or just something I don’t understand since I wasn’t 18 in 1986.

24. Perfume Genius – Put Your Back N 2 It

A depressed man can make some very good music.

23. Shearwater – Animal Joy

Solid release, back on track, not as good as Rook though.

22. Schoolboy Q – Habits and Contradictions

This album is too long, which is to say it is the average length of time of a hip-hop album. It could have been gold, I’ll settle for silver, especially when it has two of my favourite songs of the year and a Portishead sample.

21. Olafur Arnalds – Another Happy Day

A little classical for your enjoyment. Shaun can tell you all about him if you ask nicely.

20. DIIV – Oshin

Hazy surfer shoegaze. The more I look at the cover the more it makes me want to listen to this album again.

19. The xx – Coexist

Their first album sounds like a non-stop party compared to this. Talk about a band showing restraint. Minimalism in rock music taken to a whole new level. I just wish it was as good as the last one.

18. Lana Del Ray – Born to Die

Up and down year for poor Lana. Terrible live performances after 2 big singles. I hear she’s gotten better. Her album is pretty good though, catchy, sexy and sultry.

17. Japandroids – Celebration Rock

It seems like I don’t listen to a lot of loud music based on this list. This acted as that angry album for me this year, even though it has a positive message. More Canadiana please.

16. Beach House – Bloom

If you’ve head a Beach House album you pretty much know what you’re in for with this one.

15. Cat Power – Sun

Chan doesn’t sound so sad anymore, i think she’s decided to get angry and take it out on a synthesizer. Is this a one-off or her new direction for the future. I miss her long hair.

14. Wild Nothing – Nocturne

Early 90s indie updated for all the young ones or the nostalgics. Something really catches me with this album, must be the nostalgia.

13. Poliça – Give You the Ghost

Drums and layered female vocals, surprisingly addictive.

12. Electric Guest – Mondo

A little bit electro, a little bit soul and a whole lotta Danger Mouse make this one work.

11. Frank Ocean – Channel orange

He basically made me start to associate the colour orange with music similar to his when really it should be more of an aquamarine. I liked a few songs, then a few more and now it’s all good.

10. Ellie Goulding – Halcyon

She became a dance queen, or shall we say almost. Ellie’s second album shows off her vocal chops once again, but it’s a livelier affair with chipmunk vocals, addictive choruses and some beats here and there. I only remember ‘Lights’ off her last one, I remember most of these. She should keep this up.

9. David Byrne & St. Vincent – Love This Giant

David Byrne is a bonafide hero. The music he created in his career has influenced so many bands that he could be solely responsible for much of New York’s sound in the 2000s. Here he collaborates with one of the indie world’s goddesses to create a new fresh sound. Backed by a large brass section, rather than relying on the typical 4 instrument arrangement, Love This Giant sounds unique and unlike anything either of these artists have done before.

8. First Aid Kit – The Lion’s Roar

Good old fashioned country music straight from the country we most associate with country music, Sweden. Let’s not dismiss Sweden as not having any affiliation with country music as Lee Hazlewood’s ‘A Cowboy in Sweden’ came from there many years ago. Two ladies from Sweden make some of the sweetest country-folk you could imagine and do it in a manner which does not disgrace the fine heritage of the genre, but also pays homage to the greats in a track called ‘Emmylou’.

7. Burial – Kindred EP

It’s only 3 songs and about 30 minutes long, but Burial’s Kindred EP easily deserves it’s place in the top ten album of 2012. There is a lot more going on in these songs, which are more like sonic collages, with the beginning and the end of each track sounding dramatically different from one another, often feeling like a whole different song. The highlight is ‘Loner’ where we are presented with the first Burial track that belongs in a club. It’s still really dark, but the beat just calls for your feet to take over. The other two tracks expand on his atmospheric sound and really set the bar high for anything he releases in the future.

6. Hot Chip – In Our Heads

It’s another Hot Chip album! Seems like every couple years a Hot Chip album ends up in my top ten and I say how great it is and how their next one could be their best yet. I admit now that I don’t think that is going to happen because every Hot Chip album is on that same great level and i’ve come to accept that. A consistently great band is very difficult to find and Hot chip is innovative and smart enough to remain in that category for many years to come. In Our Heads is even more reminiscent of the 1980s than their last album and many of the sounds and effects reinforce that. Whatever, its fun, its dancy and its just geeky enough to make it accessible for everyone.

5. Grizzly Bear – Shields

Grizzly Bear’s Veckatimest was nowhere to be found on my favourite albums list of 2009 as it did not click for me until 2010. Looking back it should of been in the top ten, maybe even the top 5. Shields is nothing like Veckatimest and that turned quite a few people off. Gone are the multi part harmonies, the strings, the gentleness. Instead Grizzly Bear turned into a rock band, a more complex rock band, but a rock band nonetheless. What Shields doesn’t lack though is great songs. At least 5 of the tracks on this album rank with Grizzly Bear’s best work. Sure there isn’t a ‘Two Weeks’ on the record, but the songs get under your skin after multiple listens and just drive to be listened to over and over. Shields was a departure from their previous work and I believe Grizzly Bear will go back to their earlier style on their next album. This will be the one in their catalogue looked back as the ‘different’ record, but some will consider their favourite.

4. Jessie Ware – Devotion

Last year I praised the return of 80s soul with Jamie Woon’s stellar Mirrorwriting. This year Jessie Ware has taken the 80s soul sound and refined it even further. She’s like a modern-day Sadé with smooth silky singing over songs that scream sensuality, but would not be out of place at a dance club. An album that could find its place on the dance floor, on the radio or in the bedroom, it hurts that more people are not aware of Jessie Ware and her revival of a type of music that has been missing for many years.

3. Kendrick Lamar – Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City

One of the few hip-hop albums that can claim correctly that it is consistently great from start to finish. Based on his previous output I didn’t think much would come out of this record, but positive reviews started to flood in, I gave it a listen and after a couple of times I was hooked. It’s rare for me to want to listen to a whole hip-hop album over and over, but Good Kid, m.A.A.d. City has the cohesiveness of a good movie or story. It doesn’t rely on interludes or skits unless they play a part in the autobiographical tale. It is full of great songwriting and smart production decisions. It is an updated story of growing up in Compton, reflecting on many of the same issues that gave rise to one of rap’s iconic groups, N.W.A.

2. Chromatics – Kill For Love

A 90 minute late night drive, windows down, a pack of cigarettes within arms reach and no destination. 80′s throwback, shoegaze, Italian-disco, songs that dissolve into silence, seductive female vocals. The Chromatics create a sexy haze of a record with Kill For Love. Starting with a stark cover of Neil Young’s ‘Hey Hey My My (Into The Black)’ flowing into the danceable title track the album weaves a journey through the darkest streets of night hitting stretches of neon-lidden strips and then back into the darkness. The vinyl version was released in hot pink which only reinforces the 80′s feel.

1. John Talabot – Fin

Being a fan on the sideline of electronic music for years, I’ve only had minor forays into the genre, though others have enlightened me on certain sub-sub genres. I can’t classify this album into one of those sub-genres, but it is house music. Possibly Spanish house since Talabot is from Barcelona. What I can tell you is that it has been my favourite album of 2012 since it was released early in the year. It is a culmination of all that makes electronic music good, this is and will continue to be my go-to album to show people what I like about electronic music.

It is full of cathartic payoffs after long build-ups. The songs seem to follow the same pattern buildup/payoff/breakdown/repeat, but the sounds utilized don’t make the album ever seem old or repetitive. It doesn’t sound new, but it sounds fresh and unique. And while it does have its stand-out tracks (see my top songs of 2012) it works much better as a whole, an hour long trip through the mind of one of the best electronic artists today. If I was ever to indulge in creating electronic music this the album I would hope to make, that’s the highest praise I think I can offer.