Bolster Your Holster

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.

So, it has been a bit of time since my last post. And that is because we spent over 2 weeks travelling. We did a week in Maui, and then, last minute, decided to do a week in England. While Maui was a “work” trip, it was really a great time to relax with some friends and just enjoy one of the neatest places on earth.

As for England, we spent the week in Northern England, ie Sheffield, with my sister for her 30th birthday. This being my first time in England, I was enamoured by the history and the culture. We also, had a fantastic opportunity to see Ryan Adams at City Hall in Sheffield perform an intimate and solo acoustic set. In short, it was fantastic. The best I have seen Ryan Adams yet. The opener Jason Isbell brought his southern charm to the stage and won us over with his Americana songs. Following the show, we headed to my favourite pub in Sheffield, Bungalows and Bears, to watch an amazing set by Niki and The Dove. To say that this show was the antithesis of the Ryan Adams show would be an understatement. It was loud, sweaty, and dancey. A perfect cap to an already brilliant day.

There was a lot of other things going on throughout the month, but obviously, the vacations seemed to be of the most interest. I even ended up missing Record Store Day, but Kris and his roommate Dave got me my Sigur Ros and Tallest Man on Earth specials, and the following week Kris and I went out to grab some extras. So here are 5 things I have been listening to this past month.

5. The Shins – September

This catchy little number has been in my head all month. So simple and great.

“I’ve been selfish and full of pride, and she knows deep down there’s a little child.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHes7yhwIRk

4. Polica – Lay Your Cards Out

Contrary to what Jay-Z said, autotune is not dead. There is something about this track that sucks me in every time. The autotuned vocals over the simple instrumentation build up to each chorus. But then those drums come in, and steal the song. A fantastic song off of a strong album.

3. First Aid Kit – Emmylou

I am not a country music fan. But I just can’t get enough of this song in spite of country-ish folkiness. It is a sweet little song equating past country legends with love.

I’ll be your Emmylou and I’ll be your June
If you’ll be my Gram and my Johnny too.
No, I’m not askin’ much of you
Just sing little darlin’, sing with me.

2. Bastille – Overjoyed

Bastille is a London based pop band that recently released a collection of heartache covers that is rather entertaining. But it is this original that seems to grab me the most.

“And I hear you calling in the dead of night”

1. Tinariwen – Tenere Taqhim Tossam (Four Tet Remix)

I ended up getting this record store day release the following week at Blackbyrd music. On top of the amazing album, there are 4 additional remix tracks, including this great one by Four Tet. Africa Desert rock and electronica blend way better than I expected.

March was the quietest month I have had in a very long time. I liked it. It was a month of Spring cleaning and a month of music. We saw a few live and local bands, and a British Classical prodigy. And I ended up getting a “few” new records. But what did I listen to the most in March? Once again it seems to be new music. I like new sounds. new things. Old stuff is amazing, but I am always seeking new stuff. So we have one oldie, and 4 brand new tracks. The song I have listened to the most I posted on the weekend. So you should check out the video for DJ ease my mind by Niki & the Dove. I just can’t get enough of it.

5. Meg Myers – Monster

A simple sounding guitar riff, a percussive hit, and minimal beats begin this track. Simple and understated. Until the chorus, when that sad cello line comes in. “What it takes out of me to lay by your side”. An angry and remorseful tune that has been on repeat all month. And here is a link to download her EP for Free!

4. Teenage Fan Club – The Concept

I wasn’t much of a Teenage Fan Club fan back in Junior High when this track was first released. However, I see a large resurgence of this sound lately, and its prominence in the movie “Young Adult” nearly elevates it to the level of a character. “She wears denim wherever she goes, says she’s gonna get some records by the Status Quo”. A classic 90′s rocker.

3. Angus Stone – Broken Brights

Angus Stone is an Australian singer known foremost as being the guy in Angus and Julia Stone. Both Angus and Julia have solo albums being released this year, and this is the first single from his. A simple and pretty acoustic track that features his calmingly raspy voice. You can download the track over here at his website, and his album is to be released in July.

2. Sam Sparro – Happiness

This list needs a happy and bouncy track. Too much, angst and sadness. Sam Sparro to the rescue. This song is very much like his earlier work, which is great, and it calls to mind the Jim album by Jamie Lidell. Music that is very 70′s/80′s retro soul/funk, mixed with 90/00′s dance. Ultimately it’s dancey. And as the name implies, it’s happy. Here is the video featuring him and his new pervy mustache. And he is Australian as well, bringing the Aussie count to 2 out of 5 on this list. “Happiness you belong to me, happiness you’re mine”. Album due this Spring.

1. Glen Hansard – Take the heartland

And back to the angsty rock. This time care of Ireland. Glen Hansard, known as the frontman for The Frames, or as the guy in The Swell Season, or as the Actor in the amazing movie Once, released this track on the Hunger Games Soundtrack. Or should I say album of music inspired by the movie the Hunger Games, aptly entitled “The Hunger Games: Songs From District 12 And Beyond” as I don’t really think more than one of the tracks is actually in the movie, and that is during the credits. But I digress. This is a rocking track that features Glen and his amazing voice pushed to the edge, where it belongs, over guitars and pounding drums. A killer rock song about killing.

Bonus: And here again is the video for DJ Ease my Mind – by Niki & The Dove

Well now it’s March 14, this should of been out 2 weeks ago, but time has sped up. Hey let’s just all agree that February was an interesting month and that it passed by very quickly. First of all, we got a new blog site, which I am unsure many people even know about. I think it looks way better than the old one and it gives us some freedom to post some different things. Let’s just hope that we keep it up! Secondly it’s been a month full of great things, bad things, sad things, but all for the case of moving forward (or upward).

Here are 5 tracks that I listened to in February, though I continued the process of working my way through the Complete Motown Singles (I’m at 1963!) and revisiting some of my favourites from 2011.

John Talabot – Destiny (Featuring Pionel)

Just a fantastic electronic track that harkens back to the early 2000s with a somewhat familiar sound that has been updated for today. I can say that this is probably my favourite track of the year so far and makes me wish that more people were putting out electronic like this. Just bought the vinyl earlier today and man it sounds so good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUyBJg5MiEU

Burial – Ashtray Wasp

Burial’s new EP is all brilliant. 3 songs and the best stuff he’s ever done. This track features vocals that are not manipulated and remind me of 90′s electronica. Parts of it also play out with the fastest BPMs I’ve heard from him, this is a Burial track that you can dance to. Another track on the EP, ‘Loner’, also is something you could hear in the club.

Bon Iver – Perth

It was and still is Bon Iver time. He is coming to town and it just feels like something that needs to be listened to. The opener from Bon Iver was supposedly written about Heath Ledger, but the lyrics are ambiguous enough that you can interpret it any way you want. “Still alive for you love”.

Chairlift – I Belong In Your Arms

A track that I put up on the Valentines Day mix. Chairlift are a perfect combination of melancholy and dance music, something that BYH really like. Maybe we can get one of our writers out of her extended retirement to write about this track or the Chairlift album.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJAPrOkyeiw

Singin’ Sammy Ward – Someday Pretty Baby

No video, so the above is also an mp3 link to the song. Just some classic underrated Motown that feels more like the blues than soul. Lots of early Motown bordered on doo wop, blues and crooning. Singin’ Sammy Ward is fantastic, too bad he never made the big time like many of his label mates.

La Fin. See you with another retrospective in a few weeks. – Kris

So it looks like Edmonton will finally get some form of a winter now. As the snow fell, I got a chance to relax and read and listen to some music. I also ended up getting some good vinyl over at Listen Records. February always seems to be a month of Ttransition for me, perhaps even more than January. A month of birthdays, myself, Kris and my wife all were born in February. This month we also decided to switch blog hosts. We will keep the old one up indefinitely, but all future posts will be posted here. It is fresh and new, but we will likely continue to develop and improve upon it. As for what I have been listening to, it is a mixture of old and new (mostly new), and a little varied it seems. So here we go.

5.  Too Many Kids Finding Rain in the Dust – Nicolas Jaar

As I mentioned in a previous post, I recently rediscovered Nicolas Jaar. Last weekend I picked myself up a copy of the great LP “Space is only Noise”, and when I got home, put the LP on during a large snowfall and just enjoyed it. The entire album is stellar, but this one track reminds me of some old Nick Cave, which is perfect music for inclement weather.

4.  Bullets – Tunng

This is the oldest track of the 5. In fact, it isn’t all that old, being only 5 years old and all. It is a track by the fantastic band Tunng. They recently released a live album that reminded me of this gem that I have been listening to all month. This is a song that was featured prominently at the Iceland Airwaves festival in 2010 playing in between sets at the main venue. “I’m catching bullets in our teeth, it’s hard to do, but they taste sweet.”

3.  Some Nights – fun.

On my birthday, the new album by fun. was officially released. My vinyl special edition showed up on the Friday a few days later. And it has been on full spin since. The entire album is great, excluding one ultra-anti-emo emo track. But this secondary opener (Following its own intro track) is a clear standout that just makes me smile and won’t leave my head. And yes, I already posted about it, but I am still listening to it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEDpIfNdDE8

2. Bad Girls – M.I.A.

Another brand new track is the new single by M.I.A. “Bad Girls”. This song is insanely good. It builds off an Indian beat and then it just coasts. “Live fast, die young, bad girls do it well”. Instantly appealing, with a killer video.

1.  Hold On – Alabama Shakes

And in true fashion, another new track. The Alabama Shakes debut album is to be released in April. However there are versions available for listening opportunities. Hold On is the lead off track that sets the tone of the album. It is a middle tempo soul rocker that has just the right amount of energy. It has been written that they are amazing live, and I hope to one day find out for myself. Here is a link to their performance on Conan.

Thank you all, and have a great March.

-Shaun

Shaun has invited and encouraged me to take part in this monthly retrospective so I humbly accept his invitation. It’s a great way to keep track of some of those musical moments throughout the year that could be easy to forget down the line and I like that.

January was a strange month. I’d like to include the last couple weeks of December in there as well for the strangeness, but music wise I’ll keep it to stuff from January. A lot of stuff has happened in the last six weeks ranging from heart wrenching to scream-out-loud fantastic and while I won’t list those things here I will say it has been emotional. It also doesn’t help that I’ve been stuck with the damn flu for the past week and unable to do much of anything.

5. Jeff Buckley – Everybody Here Wants You (1998)

A random revisit to Jeff Buckley happened a couple weeks ago. Such a shame that he died so young. I know I can’t sing as good as he could, but Buckley is often my sing-along music for the car. I love the range. This is one of the most straight forward rock ballads he ever wrote, but I think it should be reinterpreted with a slight soul flair that a certain band should start playing soon. This is definitely something you want to put your soul into.

4. LMFAO – Party Rock Anthem (2011)

Yeah I’m late to the party, I only heard this for the first time on December 28. I don’t even know if I like it, but it’s damn catchy and I finally understand what people were saying when they said, “everyday i’m shuffling”, being only familiar with the classic Rick Ross line “everyday i’m hustling’”. It’s also a good song to dance to, that’s a thumbs up in my books.

3. Townes Van Zandt – Only Him Or Me (1971)

Part of my continuing dip into the annals of classic pop/rock/folk/country that doesn’t seem to have an end. Townes seemed like the right choice earlier this year with a glass of tequila or bourbon. Just sad enough to raise up those emotions and just angry enough to throw them away. I’ve been listening to Live at The Old Quarter a great intimate concert to really get to see Townes as he was. He closes the show with this track, one that makes me able to push some feelings elsewhere and move on.

2. Azealia Banks – 212 (2011)

The requisite song that should of been in my top songs list of 2011, but I didn’t hear until 2012. This is something I need to hear in a club. Is there anywhere that would play this in a club. Somebody let me play this in the club.

1. Gene Clark – Strength of Strings (1974)

I have never really listened to The Byrds. I know the hits, but I haven’t listened to a full album of theirs ever. Gene Clark was the original Byrd, but his solo work is so good that I’m scared to even listen to The Byrds now. I wanted to listen to old country/rock one day in January and put his album No Other on after having not listened to it in over a year. Instead I got a perfect piece of psychedelic country rock that is pieced together so beautifully. This is my favourite track from it.