Thanks to Jess for turning me onto this Darwin Deez song, “Radar Detector,” which is insanely catchy (and comes w/ this insanely cute video).
His latest video (for “You Can’t Be My Girl”) is pretty great too: http://vimeo.com/60004263
Japanese home-recorder Shugo Tokumaru’s Katachi video.
Cocktails are the most exciting SF slop-pop band I’ve heard in ages. Maybe since the Wrong Words. Or the Rantouls. Awesome. Check their video for “Hey Winnie.”
In honor of this lucky souls who scored tix to the sold-out R.Kelly Trapped in the Closet Singalong at Rickshaw on Tuesday, here’s “Share My Love.”
According to my brother, this is brega, the new Brazilian dance craze, which seems similar to New Orleans bounce. The song is “Gringo” by Banda Ou and it’s produced by Diplo.
A twisty-turny form of psych-pop from an LA duo called Foxygen, with at least a title that tilts in the direction of Shuggie Otis.
My Year in Music
Here is a very personal, very subjective, rather scattered, very long list of some music I discovered during 2012 (there’s also a Spotify playlist available, if you search for “My Year in Music - 2012”):
Let’s start with some albums. I’m going to say right now that I didn’t find a lot of full discs I loved this year. Blame it on the MP3 or iTunes or my dwindling concentration, I’m not exactly sure, but I didn’t like much all the way through. Save for these:
1. Nick Waterhouse - Time’s All Gone. The resurrection of late 50s blues, early 60s soul, a touch of modern garage (which is itself a throwback). Blue-eyed soul doesn’t get any bluer or more soulful.
2. Bahamas - Barchords. I don’t usually go in for tasteful but there’s something about the gorgeous singing and just-surprising-enough songwriting that wins me over.
3. Jessica Pratt - S/T. For those people who like Joni Mitchell but don’t like Joanna Newsom. Or vice versa. Or who, like me, buy up all the obscure folk reissues from the early ’70s. I’m glad someone’s still making music like this.
4. Terry Malts - Killing Time. It’s punk, but only if you thought the Jesus & Mary Chain and The Shop Assistants were punk. Loud, fast, surprisingly thoughtful.
5. Standard Fare - Out of Sight. Out of Town. There are a million bands like this, or at least there used to be. They can’t sing so great, they play sloppily, but they’ve got a lot to say (usually about love) and they say it enthusiastically (and catchily). British. Because that matters.
6. Allah-Las - S/T. Most of these songs sound the same, most of them share the same tempos. This is what makes this disc the most like surf music, even if it’s really not surf rock at all. Extra points for still working. More extra points for writing one of the saddest post-breakup songs in ages, “Vis a Vis.”
7. Allo Darlin’ - Europe. Yes, it’s not as good as the S/T debut, but that’s like saying Boy with the Arab Strap isn’t as good as If You’re Feeling Sinister. And if you get that reference, you’ll love this record (esp if you like the sad songs).
8. Gentleman Jesse - Leaving Atlanta. I miss power-pop. Apparently, so does this GA native. We are all the better for it.
9. Lee Fields & the Expressions - A Faithful Man. Rock is a young man’s game, but soul…soul can sound best in a throat that’s felt a truck-load of whiskey. Extra points for a great Stones cover.
10. Lee Moses - Time and Place. Originally released in 1971 and reissued in 2007, I discovered this soul record when the awful French film House of Pleasures used a track, “Bad Girl.” Otis Redding had an equal, it turns out - an absolute must for any soul fan.
Guilty Pleasures:
Rhye - “The Fall”
Solange - “Losing You”
Major Lazer - “Get Free”
Icona Pop - “I Love It”
R.Kelly - “Share My Love”
Some hip-hop songs that were way better than the rest of the album they came from:
Chiddy Bang - “Mind Your Manners”
Danny Brown - “Grown Up”
Why? - “Strawberries”
Mac Miller - “Party on Fifth Ave”
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - “Thrift Store”
I don’t get it:
Grimes
Frank Ocean
Fiona Apple
Kendrick Lamar
Ripping off Tom Petty AND Bruce Springsteen in the same song:
Nude Beach - “Walkin Down My Street”
Grunge anthem of 2012:
“Stay Useless” by Cloud Nothings
Best country song by a hardcore band:
“Candy” by The Men
Best Leonard Cohen impression:
The Babies - “Mean”
Best Liz Phair impression:
The Invisible Cities - “One Less Day of Hanging Around”
The best cover of the year:
“Baby” by Ariel Pink
Ye old jingle-jangle:
Letting Up Despite Great Faults
Veronica Falls
Heavenly Beat
Wild Nothing
Sad songs say so much:
Mean Lady - “Bop Bop”
WALL. - “Magazine”
Broken Twin - “Out of Air”
Three singles I really liked until they got played to death on the radio:
The Lumineers - “Hey Ho”
Of Monsters and Men - “Little Talks”
Grouplove - “Tongue Tied”
They sound like the Strokes, which isn’t a bad thing:
Parquet Courts
Pete & the Pirates
The Holloways
Chocolate Robots
I’m not old, I like that song…
“Fineshrine” by Purity Ring
“Kill For Love” by Chromatics
“Somewhere Close to You” by Dudes
Favorite reissues and discoveries of the year:
Francis Bebey - Cameroonian electro-pop.
Cleaners from Venus - ’80s British synth/guitar jangle.
The 5 Royales - early ’60s soul and R&B.
The Troggs - “I Can’t Control Myself” - even better than “Wild Thing”
Television - “Careful” and the other pop tunes on Adventure
Solomon Burke - “Got to Get You Off My Mind” - swinging soul.
Otis Redding - “Trick or Treat” - the perfect Halloween favor.
The Folkswingers - “Eight Miles High” - sitar inst version of the Byrds.
The Kinks - “Everybody’s Gonna Be Happy” - not sure how I missed this perfect British invasion nugget but damn it’s fine.
Barbara Lynn - “You’ll Lose a Good Thing” and “Oh Baby” (covered by the Stones)
I’m sure I missed a bunch but that’s way more than enough for now.
Guilty pleasure time. Rhye’s “The Fall.”
If you love kids rapping, you should def check out “Hot Cheetos and Takis.” Apparently, it was made at some after-school YMCA program in MN. Awesome.
Totally awesome Feist cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Closing Time” (the original of which is way too 80s bad synth production for me) from Sarah Polley’s pretty amazing Take This Waltz.
Feist - Closing Time Cover
I recently watched the film Take This Waltz, which featured this Feist cover of a Leonard Cohen original. Alas, I cannot for the life of me find an mp3 of it, or even a video that does not include the entire scene that featured the track. It is still worth listening to it! If any of you can find the mp3, please send it my way!
(If you intend on seeing this movie, I suggest passing over this. I’d hate to spoil anything!)
-Jess
(Source: youtube.com)
