This Means Everything Everything

cool song + quirky, surreal video = i likey.
add another cool song + quirky, surreal video = now you have my entire attention.
looking forward to receiving "get to heaven," their new album, so i can absorb more...

BANJO!

yes, that is a banjo as lead guitar...

New Metric

I swear I've been listening to this repeatedly since first hearing it this past Friday on AltNation on SiriusXM... Metric have been on my radar for some time, and they continue to sound contemporary but wholly their own. This will be on my favourites of 2015 list for sure.

Intensely Catchy

I'm surprised, even myself, at how I've come to enjoy two songs of types I wouldn't usually take too seriously. First, "S.O.S." by Femme. This is one that just dug into my brain. There's something extraordinary going on here that pushes it to the top of the heap of modern pop, but there's also this insane beat and unique backing sounds... Then, even a bigger surprise to me, "All of It But Me" by the Young Professionals. This one is so not my usual kind of track...it's club music! It's accompanied by a surreal video as well. What's happening to me?!?

TV is the New Radio

So, since terrestrial radio is pretty much worthless across the board, more and more bands are exploring "corporate synergies" with ads on TV. No doubt you've seen the new series of Jeep ads that use this song, "Renegades" by X Ambassadors, as the backing music. It's an appropriate pairing, I think, as the song nicely matches with the image Jeep is selling. As a bonus, I think it's a damn good song. So this has been creeping into America's consciousness via those ads, and this past week the song started showing up on the charts as well as on SiriusXM's AltNation channel (of which I am a fan). Good for you, X Ambassadors!

All This Wandering Around

Once in a while, i come across a song that just instantly resonates for whatever reason. It might be the tune, and there's almost always a lyrical connection. Here's one by Ivan & Alyosha. It's just a great song across the board and rather hopeful. See what you think. There's also a cool twist on the black and white video that starts at about 1:35.

Vance Joy: "All I Ever Wanted...Is Time."

Vance Joy debuted with a splash in 2014 with the song "Riptide" and followed that up with "Mess Is Mine." Both of these songs are fine examples of the modern singer/songwriter genre. I picked up the album in late 2014 and listed once or twice, so I basically missed the gem "All I Ever Wanted" until I went back this year. This song soon found its way into heavy rotation for me. The lyrics just really speak to me. This version finds him with his guitar in a room. It's bare bones, but it is beautiful in its sparseness.

Not Sure What This Is, Exactly, But I Think I Like It...

Two examples of the hip-hop/surf/ska/garage blend that is the music of Dutch group Kern Koppen (Nuclear Heads) can be found below. They combine those musical styles with outlandish visuals and a definite European but still over-the-top fashion sense. I kind of like it, actually. If absolutely nothing else, they are fun.

If Google Translate is correct, "Ruimte Weer" translates to "Room Again" (above) and "Vliegen Zonder Vleugels" to "Flying without Wings."

Prides' "Messiah" - Cool Song, Provocative Video

How did i miss this song in 2014? Damn, it's an intriguing song, and it definitely comes with a provocative video. It's synthpop with an updated sound for the 20-teens...

Videos of the Year (Year of the Rock Accordionist?)

Is the music video a dying art (or even a dead art)? Perhaps, since MTV and VH1 haven't played them in years... Still, this short list of my faves in this medium from 2014 reassures me, slightly...

1. "The Writing's on the Wall" - OK GO - The first release from their new album raised the bar in their tradition of escalation of all-in-one-take videos. I must give them the respect they deserve for playing with a lot of optical illusions.
2. "Digital Witness" - St. Vincent - My favourite videos have always tended toward the slightly surreal. St. Vincent has always incorporated that into her videos in spades. Bonus for a cool color palette. David Byrne must be proud.
3. "Agora" - Bear Hands - Here's a cool take on a lyric video that also captures what i imagine would be the living quarters of an agoraphobic.
4. "Do You" - Spoon - Who's destroying the city? Spoilers: giant rampaging toddlers.
5. "Dangerous" - Big Data - Is it the shoes that make you kill people by explosive head butts? Or is it just a clever marketing scheme? This video kind of scares me... Or is it just really, really meta? In any case the baseline is mesmerizing.
6. "When You Were Mine" - Night Terrors of 1927 (featuring Tegan and Sara) - Interpretive dance and cool splicing effects create an interesting video.
7. "Come With Me Now" - Kongos - I want to be a bearded rock accordionist... or a rock banjo player.
8. "Coming Home" - Kaiser Chiefs - Vignettes along the road...and another rock accordionist!?!?
9. "After the Disco" - Broken Bells - Sorta like "Groundhog Day"?
10. "Shia LaBeouf" - Rob Cantor - Weirdy goodness...
11. "I Wanna Get Better" - Bleachers - Best video about therapy with cool cameos.
12. "Every Other Freckle" - alt-J - Girl Version | Boy Version - These videos perfectly capture the almost sinister mood of the song... Do you think it might be about carnal desire?
13. "Holy Branches" - Radical Face - This video made the song for me. A bit creepy, but perfectly atmospheric.
14. "Daughters" - We Were Evergreen - Imagine the challenge of choreographing this. Cool result.
15. "Snug as Fuck" - Liam Finn - WTF? Don't forget to kiss the rat on Jubilancy Day

Andrew's Top 120 - Favourite Songs of 2014

Interesting tidbits about this list: 4 songs about home or coming home, 4 songs about some kind of high, 3 or 4 bears and a cub, 3 or 4 ghosts, 2 houses, and 2 hummingbirds...

1. “Every Other Freckle” – alt-J
2. “Paris” – Magic Man
3. “Dangerous” – Big Data
4. “Holy Branches” – Radical Face
5. "Quartz" – TV on the Radio
6. “Digital Witness” – St. Vincent
7. “Oblivion” – Bastille
8. “No Sugar in My Coffee” – Caught a Ghost
9. “Ghost Story” – Coldplay
10. “Left Hand Free” – alt-J

11. “Lazy” – Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s
12. “Slippery Slopes” – Jenny Lewis
13. “Do You” - Spoon
14. “Euphoria” - Blondie
15. “Another Set of Issues” – OK Go
16. “The Epilogue” – Crosses
17. “Got to My Head” – Waters
18. “If” – Armand Margjeka
19. “Time Between” – Bear in Heaven
20. “After the Disco” – Broken Bells

21. “Sparklers” – Gemini Club
22. “So Now What” – the Shins
23. “Come with Me Now” – Kongos
24. “Long Way Down” – Robert DeLong
25. “First” – Cold War Kids
26. “When You Were Mine” – Night Terrors of 1927 feat. Tegan & Sara
27. “Happy Idiot” – TV on the Radio
28. “I Wanna Get Better” - Bleachers
29. “Agora” – Bear Hands
30. “Flashed Junk Mind” – Milky Chance
31. “House on Fire” – Matt Alber
32. “Harder Than Stone” – City and Colour
33. “Time Go” – Caught a Ghost
34. “Love Without Fear” – Dan Wilson
35. “Red Hand” – Owl John
36. “Coming of Age” – Foster the People
37. “Sirens” – Pearl Jam
38. “Rise in the Wake” – the Trews
39. “Black Soap” – Ex Cops
40. “Quicksand” – We Were Evergreen

41. “Invisible” – U2
42. “Big Ideas” – Francisco the Man
43. “Agape” – Bear’s Den
44. “Always” – Panama
45. “Hold On” – Blitzen Trapper
46. “Hummingbird” – the Both (Aimee Mann & Ted Leo)
47. “Aviation High” – Semi Precious Weapons
48. “Changing of the Seasons” – Two Door Cinema Club
49. “Habits (Stay Hight)” – Tove Lo
50. “Be Ready When I Say Go” – Emperors
51. “Careful You” – TV on the Radio
52. “Unkinder (A Tougher Love)” – Thumpers
53. “The Writing’s on the Wall” – OK Go
54. “Lanterns” – Birds of Tokyo
55. “I Wish We Were Leaving” – Bright Light Bright Light w/Elton John
56. "Control” – Broken Bells
57. “I’m Only Joking” – Kongos
58. “All the Rage Back Home” – Interpol
59. “Coming Home” – Kaiser Chiefs
60. “Budapest” – George Ezra
61. “Leave the Party” – Happyness
62. “The Mute” – Radical Face
63. “Rent I Pay” - Spoon
64. “Blue Eyes” – Ladyhawke
65. “Tonight” – Magic Man
66. “Sprinkles” – We Are Scientists
67. “Desole Pt. II” – the Gromble
68. “Blue Moon” – Beck
69. “Parallels” - eels
70. “Take It or Leave It” – Cage the Elephant
71. “Balance” – Opus Orange
72. “Shipwreck” - USS
73. “Erosion” – Cymbals
74. “Castles” – Armand Margjeka
75. “When You’re Gone” – Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s
76. “Counting Stars” – One Republic
77. “Mile High” - Blondie
78. “Riptide” – Vance Joy
79. “Not the End of the World (Even As We Know It)” – Faded Paper Figures
80. “Coming Home” – Blitzen Trapper
81. “Warm Foothills” – alt-J
82. “Be Not So Fearful” – A.C. Newman
83. “Underwater” – Joshua Radin
84. “Best Friend” – Foster the People
85. “Days” – the Drums
86. “Daughters” – We Were Evergreen
87. “Holding on for Life” – Broken Bells
88. “What’s Fair Is Fair” – the Trews
89. “Hot Coals” – Cold War Kids
90. “It Was Like That When We Got Here” – Camper Van Beethoven
91. “Waves” – Sleeper Agent
92. “Hummingbird” – Armand Margjeka
93. “Out of Mind” – Magic Man
94. “Bright as Your Eyes” – OK Go
95. “Knock Knock Knock” - Spoon
96. “Home” - Dotan
97. “High” – Young Rising Sons
98. “One Minute More” – Capital Cities
99. “Black Out Days” – Phantogram
100. “Snug as Fuck” – Liam Finn
101. “Winter” – TV on the Radio
102. “I Don’t Know You Anymore” – Bob Mould
103. “Sugar on the Side” - Blondie
104. “Picking Up All the Pieces” – Strange Talk
105. “We’re the Future” – Fanfarlo
106. “They Want My Soul” – Spoon
107. “Magic” – Coldplay
108. “Age of Miracles” – the Trews
109. “All This Could Be Yours” – Cold War Kids
110. “Thunder Clatter” – Wild Cub
111. “Flying Saucer Blues” – Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s
112. “Giants” – Bear Hands
113. “House of Gold” – 21 Pilots
114. “Wants What It Wants” – Andrew Belle
115. “When We’re Fire” – Lo-Fang
116. “Lost Stars” – Faded Paper Figures
117. “Just One of the Guys” – Jenny Lewis
118. “Helena Bonham Carter” – Liam Finn
119. “Classy Dames and Able Gents” – Camper Van Beethoven
120. “Made for Ending" - Jukebox the Ghost

Note: some of these may have been released earlier, but I became aware of them in 2014. My list, my rules. Deal with it. Ha ha!

Favourite Albums of 2014

1. TV on the Radio – “Seeds”
2. Spoon – “They Want My Soul”
3. Armand Margjeka – “Hummingbird”
4. Magic Man – “Before the Waves”
5. alt-J – “This Is All Yours ”
6. Blondie – “Ghosts of Download”
7. Broken Bells – “After the Disco”
8. Caught a Ghost – “Human Nature”
9. Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s – “Sling Shot to Heaven”
10. OK Go – “Hungry Ghosts”
11. St. Vincent - "St. Vincent"
12. We Were Evergreen – “Towards”

Yes, Yes, Yes! Great New Song from alt-J with Two Versions of the Video...

UK group alt-J's new song "Every Other Freckle" is a slow burner, but really worth it if you give it a few listens. It has somewhat of an unorthodox structure, but a great, almost sinister vibe. The lyrics are interestingly inscrutable (but not really if you just read them)... There are two official versions of the video designated "Official Video - Girl" and "Official Video - Boy," so pick the one you want--or both! Definitely top 10 for me for the year.





"Every Other Freckle"

Aaah
I want to share your mouthful
I want to do all the things your lungs do so well
I’m gonna bed into you like a cat beds into a beanbag
Turn you inside out and lick you like a crisp packet

Hey!
Hey!
Hey!
Hey!
Hey!
Hey!

You’re the first and last of your kind
(Pull me like an animal out of a hole!)
I wanna be every lever you pull
And all showers that shower you
Gonna paw paw at you
Like a cat paws at my woolen jumper
Be your Minpin
And borrower of handsome trivia

Hey!

Ooh, devour me
Aaah
Lou Lou, let the cover girls sing
Hey!

Do, do do do, do do do do
Do do do, do do do, do do do do, do do
Do, do do do, do do, do do, do do
Do do do, do do

All hand claps
You will clap
(Let me be the wallpaper that papers up your room)
I want to be every button you press
And all mouths that surround you
Yes, I’m gonna roll around you
Like a cat rolls around saw-dusted patios
I’m gonna kiss you like the sun browns you

Hey!

Oh oh oh oh oh devour me
Oh oh oh oh oh oh devour me
Oh oh oh oh oh (Oh oh oh oh oh)
Oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh (Oh oh oh oh oh)
If you really think that you can stomach me

Hey hey!
Hey!
Hey!
Hey!

I want every other freckle
I want every other freckle
I want every other freckle
I want every other freckle
I want every other freckle
I want every other freckle
I want every other freckle
I want every other freckle
Freckle

Radical Face's Video for "Holy Branches"

Something really resonates for me with the song "Holy Branches" by Radical Face, a musical stage name for Ben Cooper. The video further reinforces that resonance. The video is a bit melancholy, a bit weird, and quite beautiful. It perfectly captures the tone of the song with appropriate dream-like surreality. It deserves millions of views in my opinion.

"But everybody's bones are just holy branches
Cast from trees to cut patterns into the world
And in time we find some shelter
Spill our leaves and then sleep in the Earth
And when we're there we'll belong
'cause the Earth don't give a damn if you're lost"

Within 24 hours of discovering it, I watched the video roughly 15 times, and I liked it more each time. I've known of Radical Face for a few years already, and this song is from the excellent recent release "Family Tree: the Branches," which also includes the stellar song "The Mute" (video at http://youtu.be/QRqKVo8oUn4).

Favourite Albums of 2014 (so far)

With a little over two-thirds of the year behind us, I thought I'd run down my faves thus far. At this point there are less than ten I would list as real favourites--something I go back to repeatedly. Makes me wonder a bit if it's true that the album is dead...  Anyway, here they are in rough order, most favourite first.

1. Spoon – “They Want My Soul”  --  I've always liked Spoon, but this is a nearly perfect set of tunes.

2. Armand Margjeka – “Hummingbird”  --  This one caught me by surprise.  At first unfamiliar with him as an artist, I continue to be intrigued by several of the songs on this album. "If" and "Castles" are definite standouts.

3. Magic Man – “Before the Waves”  --  So far their single "Paris" is at the top of my favourite songs of 2014 list. They are alternapop and rely on synthesizers a fair amount. This album is a great debut.

4. Blondie – “Ghosts of Download”  --  This release surprised me perhaps the most. Blondie had my attention way back with "Heart of Glass" and then "The Tide Is High" and "Rapture."  This album is wide ranging, but there are truly enjoyable songs like "Euphoria," "Mile High," "A Rose By Any Name," and "Sugar on the Side."

5. Broken Bells  – “After the Disco” --  I will never not like Broken Bells and the Shins. Period.

6. Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s  --  “Sling Shot to Heaven” --  Finally a true return to form after a few albums of more experimental stuff.

7. Caught a Ghost – “Human Nature” --  Another surprisingly strong debut mixing rock, soul, and blues. I really love the songs "No Sugar in My Coffee" and "Time Go."

Retrospective Appreciation: "Technique" by New Order, 1989

So it's been 25 years since this album was released...and I still go back to it as one of my favorites. The first single, "Fine Time," at first was a head scratcher for me, but it grew to be one of my favorites. It was very different from what I had grown to expect from New Order, but, again, it really grew on me. "Run" was more true to form and another favorite. "Round and Round" was also more characteristic of their sound. "Vanishing Point" and "Dream Attack" are two other standouts. This has become a perennial go-to album for me. 

12 THINGS YOU (PROBABLY) DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT TECHNIQUE

Favorite/Favourite Albums of 2013

My top ten albums for 2013 are a mixed bag.

01. Bastille – “Bad Blood”
02. The National – “Trouble Will Find Me”
03. The Zolas – “Ancient Mars”
04. Franz Ferdinand – “Right Thoughts Right Words Right Action”
05. Django Django – “Django Django”
06. Vampire Weekend – “Modern Vampires of the City”
07. Father John Misty – “Fear Fun”
08. Foals – “Holy Fire”
09. Frightened Rabbit – “Pedestrian Verse”
10. eels – “Wonderful, Glorious”

Bastille took the top spot for me. This U.K. band is somewhat "poppy" I will admit, but in the best way possible. They also make use of very distinctive percussion on many of their songs. I can say it holds up for me still after multiple plays, and I have faves that rotate based on mood.

Standout tracks: my current fave "Things We Lost in the Fire," "Bad Blood," "Icarus," "Oblivion," "Flaws," "Laura Palmer," "Weight of Living, Pt. I," and the big hit "Pompeii"
(I should add, any album that contains four or more faves is relatively rare for me.)

Favorite/Favourite Songs of 2013

Here's my list of faves for 2013. Deal with it.

1. “Dead Now” – Frightened Rabbit
2. “Ancient Mars” – the Zolas  

3. “Lightning Tent” – Wildlife

4. “A Rose by Any Name” – Blondie featuring Beth Ditto

5. “Graceless” – the National
6. “Right Action” – Franz Ferdinand
7. “Archie, Marry Me” – Alvvays
8. “Flaws” - Bastille
9. “We Were Wolves” – the Farewell Circuit
10. “The Hunter” – On and On

11. “Inhaler” - Foals
12. “Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings” – Father John Misty
13. “Default” – Django Django
14. “Diane Young” – Vampire Weekend
15. “Lean” – the National
16. “Best Day of My Life” – American Authors
17. “Ways to Go” - Grouplove
18. “We Are Golden” – Black Light Dinner Party
19. “Elastic Heart” - Sia
20. “Weirdo” – the Vaccines

21. “AOK” – Shark?
22. “Jet Black Crow” – Sons of the Sea
23. “Pompeii” – Bastille

24. “Ghost Lights” - Woodkid 
25. “Feels Like We Only Go Backward” – Tame Impala
26. “Firewater” – Django Django
27. “Sea of Love” – the National
28. “U&Me” - Earlimart
29. “Miracle Mile” – Cold War Kids
30. “Gold” – Wake Owl
31. “New Earth” – Zerbin
32. “Peach Blossom” - eels
33. “Sweater Weather” – the Neighbourhood

34. “Unbelievers” – Vampire Weekend
35. “Put Me to Work” - Papa
36. “Ever Loved Once” – Blitzen Trapper
37. “Brief Encounters” – Franz Ferdinand
38. “Tightrope (Reddfield Deep Radio Edit)” – Matt Alber
39. “Pumpin’ Blood” – NoNoNo
40. “I Love You” – Woodkid

41. “Shuggie” - Foxygen
42. “Radioactive” – Imagine Dragons
43. “Parade” – Three Blind Wolves
44. “Do I Wanna Know?” – Arctic Monkeys
45. “The Perfect Life” - Moby
46. “GMF” – John Grant 

47. “Black Chandelier” – Biffy Clyro
48. “Harbour Lights” – A Silent Film
49. “Weird Science” – Most Non Heinous
50. “Hearts Are Made for Beating” – Wax Fang
51. “Put a Light on” - Generationals
52. “This Is Sally Hatchet” – Father John Misty
53. “Animals” – Cultfever
54. “Knot in My Heart” – the Zolas
55. “I’m a Witch” - Ladyhawk
56. “Golden State” – City and Colour
57. “A Goodbye” – Earlimart
58. “Die in My Arms” – Marching Band
59. “Dust and Bones” – Night Terrors of 1927
60. “The Way I Tend to Be” – Frank Turner

61. “Cardiac Arrest” – Bad Suns
62. “Breakers” – Local Natives
63. “Frosted Tips (Watching the New World Die)” - Califone
64. “Bad Blood” - Bastille
65. “In Came the Flood” – Wintersleep
66. “Breezeblocks” – Alt J

67.  “Conquest of Spaces” – Woodkid

68. “America” – Laura Veirs
69. “Awkward” – San Cisco
70. “Live and Die” – the Avett Brothers
71. “Power Lines” - Telekinesis
72. “Feeling Good” – the Sheepdogs
73. “Timeless” – the Airborne Toxic Event
74. “The Woodpile” – Frightened Rabbit
75. “From Nowhere” – Dan Coll
76. “Wishes and Stars” – Harper SImon
77. “Home” – Phillip Phillips
78. “Hellbent” – New Order
79. “Laura Palmer” - Bastille
80. “Elephant” – Tame Impala

81. “I Love You” – Said the Whale  

82. “Hearts a Mess” - Gotye

83. “Good to See You” – Grapes of Wrath
84. “My Number” – Foals
85. “Bigger Than Love” – Benjamin Gibbard with Aimee Mann
86. “Nancy From Now On” – Father John Misty
87. “Kinda Fuzzy” - eels
88. “Fantasy” – MS MR
89. “Heart Attack” – Blitzen Trapper 

90. “Avalon” – Fiction Family
91. “Everlasting Arms” – Vampire Weekend
92. “Harlem” – New Politics
93. “The Walker” – Fitz and the Tantrums
94. “Heavy Feet” – Local Natives
95. “Believer” – American Authors
96. “Thirst” – City and Colour
97. “Awake” - Generationals
98. “Love Songs and Lullabyes” - Skittish
99. “Nothing Is Anything” - Wintersleep
100. “Born to Ruin” – Wildlife

101. “Just Make It Stop” – Low

102. “Cultured Man” – the Zolas
103. “Down Down the Deep River” – Okkervil River
104. “The Wire” – Haim
105. “Six Dead Tigers” – Yukon Blonde
106. “Don’t Swallow the Cap” – the National
107. “I’m Going Down” – Vampire Weekend
108. “Things We Lost in the Fire” - Bastille

109. “The Golden Age” – Woodkid
110. “Take It on Faith” – Matt Mays
111. “Now I’m Learning to Love the War” - Father John Misty
112. “Someday Our Love Will Sell Us Out” - Cracker
113. “Just My Luck” - Dawes
114. “I See You” – Caveman
115. “Overrated” – Soft Swells
116. “Bones” – MS MR
117. “Achille’s Desire” - Whitehorse
118. “Out of the Blue” – Prides
119. “Plastic Cup” - Low
120. “This Ladder Is Ours” – the Joy Formidable
121. “Up Against the Wall” – Fiction Family
122. “I’ve Got a Feeling” – New Order
123. “Wor” – Django Django

124. “Ghosts and Creatures” – Telekinesis
125. “Late Night” - Foals
126. “College” – Rogue Wave
127. “Welcome to My World” – Depeche Mode
128. “Shake It Off” – Soft Swells

Glitter Vomit!

"Fantasy" by MS MR is a relatively cool song, but the imagery that cannot be ignored is the colorful glitter vomit that begins at the 2-minute mark in the video. Well done! This is certainly no video cliché.

Franz Ferdinand Return with a Great New Single and Video

Love, love, love this new video and single. Gets me as excited as I used to be in the 80s when a new song and video came out for one of my then favorite bands. Thank you, Franz Ferdinand!