With all of the end of year lists rolling in, I thought it would be a good idea to collate the best tracks of the year to find an 'ultimate' list of sorts, so you can hear for yourself what the musos out there have been loving this year. Here's what each publication reckoned was the best song released in 2013:
Consequence of Sound: Lorde - Royals
DIY: Lorde - Royals
Drowned in Sound: Justin Timberlake - Mirrors
NME: Daft Punk - Get Lucky
Paste: Janelle Monae - Q.U.E.E.N.
Pitchfork: Drake - Hold On, We're Going Home
PopMatters: Daft Punk - Get Lucky
Rolling Stone: Daft Punk - Get Lucky
The 405: Young Galaxy - New Summer
The Fly: Smith Westerns - Varsity
You can listen to their choices in a handy Spotify playlist below. Enjoy!
New music blog covering indie, alternative, hip-hop, reggae and, well, pretty much anything actually.
Tuesday, 17 December 2013
Thursday, 12 December 2013
Album of the Week #5
Artist: Bahamas
Album: Barchords
Year: 2012
Label: Universal Republic
With all of the 'Best Of...' lists flooding in for 2013, I thought I would take the logical step and have a look back at one of my favourite albums released...released last year that is. Bahamas is a Canadian singer-songwriter who cut his teeth playing guitar for artists such as Jack Johnson and The Weather Station. Barchords is his second solo release after his 2009 effort Pink Strat. And although he's pretty well-liked in his home country, securing a Juno Award nomination this year, his music really didn't seem to get the recognition it deserved here.
Bahamas (real name Afie Jurvanen) clearly perfected his art whilst sessioning for other musicians. Although the guitar is at the heart of this album, it's never overpowering. Jurvanen balances his delicate voice with the orchestral-ness of his guitar sounds, adding a woozy, airy atmosphere to proceedings. And when he does decide to kick back and really let his guitar do the talking, it's done to stunning effect on I Got You Babe.
With elements of folk, indie and 70s California - similarly evoked by Jonathan Wilson's Fanfare this year - Barchords also has a certain vulnerability to it and Jurvanen's lyrics are strikingly honest throughout. He croons on Be My Witness (I couldn't give you, all that you wanted/I couldn't even give you half of what you wanted if I wanted to) and then bemoans on Lost in the Light (If we would try again/Just remember when/Before we were lovers, I swear we were friends)- there's seemingly no light at the end of the tunnel here.
But that dour, hopeless tone isn't the prevalent theme (fortunately!). Jurvanen tempers it with upbeat lyrics referencing the past (Every time George sings here comes the sun...Every time Sam says a change gonna come...That's okay, that's alright, I'm alive) and closes the album with the most upbeat and poppy tune on the album in Where You Go. What a riff! The album is skilfully sequenced, and his song-crafting abilities shine throughout.
Listen for yourself below.
Album: Barchords
Year: 2012
Label: Universal Republic
With all of the 'Best Of...' lists flooding in for 2013, I thought I would take the logical step and have a look back at one of my favourite albums released...released last year that is. Bahamas is a Canadian singer-songwriter who cut his teeth playing guitar for artists such as Jack Johnson and The Weather Station. Barchords is his second solo release after his 2009 effort Pink Strat. And although he's pretty well-liked in his home country, securing a Juno Award nomination this year, his music really didn't seem to get the recognition it deserved here.
Bahamas (real name Afie Jurvanen) clearly perfected his art whilst sessioning for other musicians. Although the guitar is at the heart of this album, it's never overpowering. Jurvanen balances his delicate voice with the orchestral-ness of his guitar sounds, adding a woozy, airy atmosphere to proceedings. And when he does decide to kick back and really let his guitar do the talking, it's done to stunning effect on I Got You Babe.
With elements of folk, indie and 70s California - similarly evoked by Jonathan Wilson's Fanfare this year - Barchords also has a certain vulnerability to it and Jurvanen's lyrics are strikingly honest throughout. He croons on Be My Witness (I couldn't give you, all that you wanted/I couldn't even give you half of what you wanted if I wanted to) and then bemoans on Lost in the Light (If we would try again/Just remember when/Before we were lovers, I swear we were friends)- there's seemingly no light at the end of the tunnel here.
But that dour, hopeless tone isn't the prevalent theme (fortunately!). Jurvanen tempers it with upbeat lyrics referencing the past (Every time George sings here comes the sun...Every time Sam says a change gonna come...That's okay, that's alright, I'm alive) and closes the album with the most upbeat and poppy tune on the album in Where You Go. What a riff! The album is skilfully sequenced, and his song-crafting abilities shine throughout.
Listen for yourself below.
Wednesday, 4 December 2013
Feature: In Defence of Spotify
The online streaming giant Spotify have recently unveiled that they pay out $0.007 per stream. The figure represents the 70% that they pay out to rights holders, although the money is presumably diluted through a series of publishers, record labels, suits and toilet cleaners before the artists themselves see anything.
Spotify have recently come under a double-pronged attack from Thom Yorke and Nigel Godrich, with the Radiohead frontman commenting that 'new artists get paid fuck all with this model'. Despite this, Spotify bosses have claimed that a 'niche indie album' typically generates $3,300 in monthly income, with a 'global hit album' earning the record label $425,000 a month.
But sidestepping the ongoing debate about the financial rewards of the music streaming service for a second, are these music industry figureheads missing the point somewhat?
Let me explain. First off: I'm a huge fan of Spotify. I pay £4.99 a month (thanks to my, ahem, expired student card) and I can access an extensive, global catalogue of music, with a few obvious exceptions (I'm looking at you Floyd, Led Zep and Beatles!). As soon as a new album is released, or even before it comes out in some cases, I can listen to it in its entirety, on a sort of try-before-you-buy basis.
"But the artists aren't getting much money for that!" I know, I know. But thanks to Spotify, I've bought albums I would never have bought before, because I've had the chance to sample them first- and I don't mean the crummy, utterly useless 30-second iTunes samples either.
But that's not all. I can listen to these new albums, then browse around the 'related artists' section and discover even more music for my listening pleasure. 'Spotify' is a blend of 'spot' and 'identify' after all. Man, I've found absolutely tons of new music this way. This blog probably wouldn't be in existence if it wasn't for Spotify- I just wouldn't know about albums that other people might not!
So do these rewards not outweigh the supposed financial imbalance that many accuse the streaming service of? I, and many others I'm sure, would never have discovered so much great music without Spotify, and these previously unknown bands might still be hiding away in a dark corner of the internet without it. It's like the Facebook of the music industry! Ok, that's slightly hyperbolic, but the point remains.
I've written before about how I feel that any way you discover new music is fine by me- and this is just another of those methods. Sure, artists might not receive their full entitlement from the streaming service, but can we not appreciate Spotify for what it is? As long as I can keep spotting and identifying new music then I'm happy.
Friday, 29 November 2013
Album of the Week #4
Artist: The Brian Jonestown Massacre
Album: Take It From The Man!
Year: 1996
Label: Bomp! Records
It's sometimes easy to forget just how bloody amazing this album actually is. Beyond the antics of Dig!, the documentary charting the Brian Jonestown Massacre and Dandy Warhols rivalry, the BJTM managed to release three, yes, THREE stunning albums over a 12 month period- and this was the pick of them.
Take It From The Man! is like the band have taken everything that was great about 60s British music: rock & roll, drugs and chaos, added their own unique brand of chaos, locked themselves in the recording studio for a couple of months and out came this. It's a mess, it's a glorious mess.
But the songs are remarkably strong. Your favourite song on the album will most likely coincide with your favourite riff - and there's riffs aplenty here. Straight Up and Down now trademarks Boardwalk Empire, whilst the 11-minute version is a rarity in that it genuinely never feels like an eleven minute song. It's a suitably epic conclusion to an album that rarely loses any momentum from the first track onwards.
The band absolutely tear through 60s numbers that recall the Stones at their riotous best, The Kinks at their delicate best and The Troggs at their, well, just The Troggs. They wear their influences on their sleeves - (David Bowie I Love You) Since I Was Six and My Man Syd are two example titles - but it never turns into a lazy pastiche of music that, lest we forget, is around 50 years old now.
Instead, the BJTM use that time period as a template and expand upon it. The sprawling Cabin Fever or the, sorry to mention it again, glorious closing track Straight Up and Down span over 7 and 11 minutes respectively- it's a snapshot of what these 60s bands might have sounded like in the modern day. Who?, B.S.A. and Mary, Please are similarly euphoric nuggets of raw, rifftastic, garage rock brilliance. There's not a studio trick in sight, and it's all the better for its simplicity.
If you've never heard of this album, check it out. If you love it, rediscover it. If you've never been convinced by it, give it another go. It's a set of 18 tracks that is pretty damned hard to dislike.
Album: Take It From The Man!
Year: 1996
Label: Bomp! Records
It's sometimes easy to forget just how bloody amazing this album actually is. Beyond the antics of Dig!, the documentary charting the Brian Jonestown Massacre and Dandy Warhols rivalry, the BJTM managed to release three, yes, THREE stunning albums over a 12 month period- and this was the pick of them.
Take It From The Man! is like the band have taken everything that was great about 60s British music: rock & roll, drugs and chaos, added their own unique brand of chaos, locked themselves in the recording studio for a couple of months and out came this. It's a mess, it's a glorious mess.
But the songs are remarkably strong. Your favourite song on the album will most likely coincide with your favourite riff - and there's riffs aplenty here. Straight Up and Down now trademarks Boardwalk Empire, whilst the 11-minute version is a rarity in that it genuinely never feels like an eleven minute song. It's a suitably epic conclusion to an album that rarely loses any momentum from the first track onwards.
The band absolutely tear through 60s numbers that recall the Stones at their riotous best, The Kinks at their delicate best and The Troggs at their, well, just The Troggs. They wear their influences on their sleeves - (David Bowie I Love You) Since I Was Six and My Man Syd are two example titles - but it never turns into a lazy pastiche of music that, lest we forget, is around 50 years old now.
Instead, the BJTM use that time period as a template and expand upon it. The sprawling Cabin Fever or the, sorry to mention it again, glorious closing track Straight Up and Down span over 7 and 11 minutes respectively- it's a snapshot of what these 60s bands might have sounded like in the modern day. Who?, B.S.A. and Mary, Please are similarly euphoric nuggets of raw, rifftastic, garage rock brilliance. There's not a studio trick in sight, and it's all the better for its simplicity.
If you've never heard of this album, check it out. If you love it, rediscover it. If you've never been convinced by it, give it another go. It's a set of 18 tracks that is pretty damned hard to dislike.
Monday, 4 November 2013
Album of the Week #3
Artist: Kamp!
Album: Kamp!
Year: 2012
Label: Brennnessel
Let's take a trip over to Eastern Europe for the album this week, for an electro-pop trio who are pretty huge in Poland but haven't made a massive impression anywhere else. Why, I'm not too sure! Kamp! (don't forget the exclamation mark) make euphoric, radio-friendly dance music, and quite frankly it's a bit of a mystery as to why they've not really made a mark outside of their native land.
Whilst the electro-pop, vocalised tunes on the LP are all well and good, the straight up housey disco music is where the real value is. Cairo combines an ambient intro with a gloriously funky drop that's just as enjoyable on the dancefloor as at home. Heats seems indebted to the funky Justice remix of MGMT's Electric Feel as the influence of the 80s remains consistent throughout.
I find electronic music sometimes takes itself too seriously. The dark, brooding atmospheric soundscapes created by the likes of Burial and Four Tet are glorious, sure, but up until a couple of years ago the genre was really threatening to start collecting its pension far too soon. It was a coffee table phase of sorts, after the initial explosion of dubstep.
Fortunately, spearheaded by Disclosure, it's renaissance has been a shameless promotion of straight-up dance music, with its influences firmly rooted in the 90s. Even Chic, the formerly out of fashion disco group, are the ultimate hipsters' choice nowadays after Nile Rodgers' hugely successful collaboration with Daft Punk. Disco is back! Although Kamp! haven't received massive amounts of attention for their releases, it's a sound that ought to be receiving far more success.
Album: Kamp!
Year: 2012
Label: Brennnessel
Let's take a trip over to Eastern Europe for the album this week, for an electro-pop trio who are pretty huge in Poland but haven't made a massive impression anywhere else. Why, I'm not too sure! Kamp! (don't forget the exclamation mark) make euphoric, radio-friendly dance music, and quite frankly it's a bit of a mystery as to why they've not really made a mark outside of their native land.
Whilst the electro-pop, vocalised tunes on the LP are all well and good, the straight up housey disco music is where the real value is. Cairo combines an ambient intro with a gloriously funky drop that's just as enjoyable on the dancefloor as at home. Heats seems indebted to the funky Justice remix of MGMT's Electric Feel as the influence of the 80s remains consistent throughout.
I find electronic music sometimes takes itself too seriously. The dark, brooding atmospheric soundscapes created by the likes of Burial and Four Tet are glorious, sure, but up until a couple of years ago the genre was really threatening to start collecting its pension far too soon. It was a coffee table phase of sorts, after the initial explosion of dubstep.
Fortunately, spearheaded by Disclosure, it's renaissance has been a shameless promotion of straight-up dance music, with its influences firmly rooted in the 90s. Even Chic, the formerly out of fashion disco group, are the ultimate hipsters' choice nowadays after Nile Rodgers' hugely successful collaboration with Daft Punk. Disco is back! Although Kamp! haven't received massive amounts of attention for their releases, it's a sound that ought to be receiving far more success.
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