Blog: A Reminder

25 for 2010: Twelve

Dec 15, 2010, 2:10am A Reminder
Jonsi - Animal Arithmetic
Album #12: Go by Jónsi I used the word "joyous" when writing about Jónsi's song Go Do yesterday and that single word is probably the best all-encompassing word for Go . On his first solo album, Jónsi took the poppy direction of the last Sigur Ros album and then ran with it for this short, focused collection of songs. It's quite an achievment and a record I know I'll keep going back to. * Song [...]
MORE »

25 for 2010: Thirteen

Dec 14, 2010, 12:58am A Reminder
Flying Lotus - MmmHmm (taken from Cosmogramma)
Album #13: Cosmogramma by Flying Lotus You know that fantastic record that comes out every now and then that you find very hard to describe so you just tell your friends to buy it? Cosmogramma by Flying Lotus was this year's hard-to-describe masterpiece. It's jazz, it's electronic, it's techno, it's IDM...it's a really, really great album. Video: MmmHmm * Song #13: Go Do by Jónsi [...]
MORE »

25 for 2010: Fourteen

Dec 13, 2010, 1:02am A Reminder
Soft As Chalk
Album #14: Have One On Me by Joanna Newsom Triple records are never an easy sell. But when your triple album centres around long harp/piano based songs, well, then you really have your work cut out for you. Have One On Me is an extremely ambitious record and the songs are, for the most part, excellent. '81 is one of Joanna Newsom's finest compositions yet, while Baby Birch is a heartbreaking epic. In Good Intentions Paving Company JoNew rather successfully finds an entirely new way to tell her story. So, [...]
MORE »

25 for 2010: Fifteen

Dec 12, 2010, 3:43am A Reminder
'The Great Elsewhere' by Owen Pallett on Q TV
Album #15: Postcards From A Young Man by Manic Street Preachers Every Manics album must fight the history of the band and it's not an easy fight as Postcards From A Young Man proves. The album doesn't really hit the mark artistically the way last year's amazing Journal For Plague Lovers did. Postcards was intended to be full of radio hits and, well, even in the UK the singles aren't exactly blazing the charts...no matter how badly Nicky Wire wants them to - so [...]
MORE »

25 for 2010: Sixteen

Dec 11, 2010, 2:46am A Reminder
Janelle Monáe (feat. Big Boi) TightRope Official Video
Album #16: Barking by Underworld Do I wish all of Barking sounded like Bird 1? Yes. Do I wish the band had avoided all the guest producers? Yes. But since I'm a massive fan, any Underworld is welcome Underworld. While Barking is a bit too safe (what with actual choruses and relatively familiar song structures), it's actually a pretty fun album. And while I'm on record as saying that I prefer my electronic music dark, it can't hurt to have a little light every now and then. And [...]
MORE »

25 for 2010: Seventeen

Dec 10, 2010, 1:55am A Reminder
Album #17: Wilderness Heart by Black Mountain I just wrote about this album recently so I will very briefly reiterate: it rocks. Download Black Mountain - Old Fangs * Song #17: Dance Yrself Clean by LCD Soundsystem If I were to make a list of this year's biggest disappointments, LCD Soundsystem's record This Is Happening would certainly be near the [...]
MORE »

25 for 2010: Eighteen

Dec 8, 2010, 11:33pm A Reminder
Album #18: The Besnard Lakes Are The Roaring Night by The Besnard Lakes I just love the way this record sounds . The rich, full tones from the guitars are beautiful, the vocals are often drenched in a dreamy reverb, and the entire album has this incredible warmth to it. Maybe that fire burning on the cover has something to do with it. It helps that the care in recording this album circled around a collection of pretty great songs. Download The Besnard [...]
MORE »

25 for 2010: Nineteen

Dec 7, 2010, 6:57pm A Reminder
Album #19: Form by Die! Die! Die! Living in Vancouver meant I didn't get to see Die! Die! Die! live live live this year but that didn't stop me from tracking down their latest album, Form . While still maintaining their punk aggression, Form finds the band exploring some new musical terrain with great results. Why these guys aren't more well known is criminal. Download Die! Die! Die! - How Ye * [...]
MORE »

Vancouver's Best Local Bands

Dec 7, 2010, 3:28pm A Reminder
Over at From Blown Speakers , Quinn has resurrected his once annual poll of the best/hottest bands from Vancouver. I helped out with a list this year and most of them made the final cut including Black Mountain, Japandroids, Fine Mist, and Apollo Ghosts. Check out the list here and be sure to get out and support Vancouver's local music scene.
MORE »

25 for 2010: Twenty

Dec 7, 2010, 3:28am A Reminder
Neil Young - Walk With Me
Album #20: Le Noise by Neil Young I'm not the biggest fan of most of Neil Young's recent work (and by recent I mean the last 30 years) but Le Noise bucks the trend as Neil put out an album I really enjoyed this year. The Daniel Lanois produced record finds Neil at his most raw - most songs feature just a distorted electric guitar and Neil's vocal. The record has a lyrical depth that has really drawn me in as well. Hitchhiker, a song leftover from 70s, is a [...]
MORE »

25 for 2010: Twenty One

Dec 7, 2010, 2:42am A Reminder
Janelle Monae - Cold War [Official Music Video]
Album #21: The ArchAndroid by Janelle Monáe Janelle Monáe is surely the most impressive thing to ever come out of Kansas City, right? I was totally unaware of Ms. Monáe until early this year when I first heard The ArchAndroid , a record so ambitious and so accomplished that it belies the age of its creator. I don't listen to a lot of funk/soul/hip-hop but records this stunning demand attention. Video: Cold War * [...]
MORE »

25 for 2010: Twenty Two

Dec 6, 2010, 2:38am A Reminder
Kanye West - Runaway (Full-length Film)
Album #22: Phosphene Dream by The Black Angels After Directions To See A Ghost I was expecting another dark and evil record from The Black Angels. Instead they've lightened their sound up a bit and recorded a modern psychedelic album. The songwriting has also tightened up as evidenced by the brief yet memorable Telephone. Phosphene Dream is the sound of a band just coming into its own and I'm pretty excited to see where they go next. Download [...]
MORE »
Artist:The Black Angels
Title:Telephone
Link Text:The Black Angels - Telephone
File Name:theblackangels_telephone.mp3
Bitrate:192 kbps

25 for 2010: Twenty Three

Dec 5, 2010, 4:40pm A Reminder
Album #23: Head First by Goldfrapp The number of people who still care about Goldfrapp seems to be dropping with each release since their third record Supernature . I, for one, am still on board. Head First is the most straight-forward pop record Goldfrapp have yet made. In fact, a lot of the time it sounds like it could by a Kylie Minogue album as Alison Goldfrapp and Will Gregory craft Head First 's massive singalongs with ease (at least they don't sound laboured over...a good thing). Plus, [...]
MORE »
Artist:Little Loud
Title:Goldfrapp - Believer (Little Loud Remix)
Link Text:Goldfrapp - Believer (Little Loud Remix)
File Name:Goldfrapp-Believer-Little-Loud -Remix-11.mp3
Artist:The Radio Dept.
Title:The new improved hypocrisy
Link Text:The Radio Dept. - The New Improved Hypcocrisy
File Name:The Radio Dept - The New Improved Hypocrisy.mp3
Year:2010

25 for 2010: Twenty Four

Dec 4, 2010, 12:38am A Reminder
Album #24: Strange Tourist by Gareth Liddiard In his review of Strange Tourist for Mess & Noise, Everett True (a massive Drones fan) described the record as "rambling [and] unfocused" and I can totally see where he's coming from. Strange Tourist is not an easy record to listen to. The songs are long, it's all acoustic guitar and Gaz's voice, and the subject matter is not the stuff of pop records. So while I won't be putting this record on all the time, I find the [...]
MORE »

25 for 2010: Twenty Five

Dec 3, 2010, 4:50pm A Reminder
Album #25: Plastic Beach by Gorillaz As I mentioned in my review of the recent Gorillaz performance in Vancouver, I've never outright LOVED an entire record by the animated supergroup. Plastic Beach included. But I find myself really enjoying Damon's latest project and I think it might have more legs than the previous Gorillaz records - while they've always been a great singles band, this Gorillaz album has depth beyond the radio. I also think it's becoming increasingly obvious that Damon Albarn's songs are heading back in a [...]
MORE »
Artist:Jens Lekman
Title:The End of the World Is Bigger Than Love
Link Text:Jens Lekman - The End Of The World Is Bigger Than Love
File Name:jens_lekman-the_end_of_the_wor ld_is_bigger_than_love.mp3

Grinderman @ Commodore Ballroom

Nov 27, 2010, 9:20pm A Reminder
Grinderman @ Commodore Ballroom Nick Cave and Grinderman ...you can put your fingers in Vancouver's biscuit jar anytime you like. After seeing the Bad Seeds at a festival a couple of years ago I had extremely high expectations for last night's Grinderman show at the Commodore. Unsurprisingly, Grinderman delivered. The intensity that Nick Cave, Warren Ellis, Martyn Casey, and Jim Sclavunos brought to the stage was incredible and puts most bands to shame (and this from men in their 40s and 50s). The set featured the entirety of Grinderman 2 in [...]
MORE »

Deerhunter | Halcyon Digest

Nov 25, 2010, 6:58pm A Reminder
Deerhunter are currently in a musical state where everything they do I pretty much love. Halcyon Digest may not be a huge artistic leap from Microcastle and Weird Era Cont. but it still has a unique feel amongst Deerhunter's body of work. It's a focused and, at times, shimmery record that deceptively sneaks up on me. By the time the closing quartet of Helicopter, Fountain Stairs, Coronado, and He Would Have Laughed have ended I immediately want to play the entire record again. Certainly one of my favourite records of the year. [...]
MORE »
Artist:Deerhunter
Title:Helicopter (Diplo & Lunice mix)
Link Text:Deerhunter - Helicopter (Diplo  Lunice Remix)
File Name:Deerhunter - Helicopter (Diplo & Lunice Remix).mp3
Bitrate:320 kbps
Year:2010

Grinderman. Friday. Vancouver.

Nov 22, 2010, 9:31pm A Reminder
Vancouver, are you going to see Grinderman Friday night? If you're not, you should be. Nick Cave is one of the most electric live performers I've ever seen and I cannot wait for these four Bad Seeds to roll into town this weekend. The tour is in support of the stellar Grinderman 2 which is out now on Anti . It's one of my favourite records of the year: full of fury, bile, and a song called Palaces Of Montezuma which is so good it hurts. The first single Heathen Child [...]
MORE »
Artist:Grinderman
Title:1223 Heathen Child (edit)
Link Text:Grinderman - Heathen Child
File Name:cee482ce-4760-4f9a-a806-b97e7b 621004.mp3
Bitrate:192 kbps
Year:2010

Ryan Adams & The Cardinals | III/IV preview

Nov 17, 2010, 7:30pm A Reminder
Ryan Adams is known for being a prolific songwriter/releaser of records but he's been pretty quiet since The Cardinals played their final show together in March of last year . In his time away from the stage he's married Mandy Moore and recorded a couple solo records (which will hopefully see some sort of release next year). But Ryan's also been busy going through his archives and putting the finishing touches on albums he recorded years ago but have yet to be released. The first album to come out of this seemingly ongoing project is called [...]
MORE »
Title:Typecast
Link Text:Ryan Adams  The Cardinals - Typecast
File Name:ryanadams2006-10-16.sbd.d2t10_ vbr.mp3
Bitrate:178 kbps

Jens Lekman | Black Cab

Nov 15, 2010, 8:42pm A Reminder
I figure if it's good enough for me to yell about on Twitter I should put it here as well. I've written frequently about Jens Lekman before and I've probably posted this song before but Black Cab is just so, so good. Even six years later I still find myself endlessly enthralled with this little pop gem. Download Jens Lekman - Black Cab
MORE »
Artist:Jens Lekman
Title:Black Cab
Link Text:Jens Lekman - Black Cab
File Name:blackcabjens.mp3
Bitrate:192 kbps
Year:2003
Page   1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ... 45 46 Next >