Favorite Sh*t of the Year!!!

Album of the Year:

JK: Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest

This record was such a departure from everything I had been listening to at the time I heard it. In fact I only heard it about a month and a half ago when I started desperately trying to find and listen to all of the year's releases I missed so that I could compile a 'Top 10' list for Alter The Press! (which you can find HERE). I think it was the lyrics that got me. Most of the lyrics are so dark, depressing and hopeless. The music behind the lyrics are actually dreamy and ambient. This provides the light at the end of the gloomy tunnel. The lyrics make you feel sad but the instrumentation is that gleam of hope that gets you through the record without having an emotional breakdown. It's a gorgeous record. I'm really into hard rock and lately some metal, but this was refreshing. It's amazing how much you can hear and feel when you slow things down.

LLV: The National - High Violet

Have you ever been drawn to something, but could never explain why? You just loved it. Simple as that? This is how I feel about The National’s High Violet. From the first listen and every listen after that, I knew it was going to be my record of the year. I don’t necessarily understand all their songs, but there are many lines and verses that I found so much comfort in. I’m sure a lot of this has to do with Matt’s voice – deep, stern, and full of emotion, without making many or drastic vocal changes. The beautiful instrumentals that compliment Matt’s hypnotizing voice provided me with many much needed escapes for 47 minutes at a time. What did I get out of those 47 minutes? A beautiful soundtrack for solitude from the harsh realities of life.

Song of the Year:

JK: Blood Red Shoes - "Colours Fade"

The opening line got me, "You take all you have and you leave it behind in the hope that there's more to find. In blind ambition, yeah in blind faith, you wait for things to change". That's what I did when I left the city. That's the stage I'm at in my life, as are most people my age. This is when we make those first big life decisions without any certainties of a positive outcome. All we know is something has to change, we've got to move forward so we finally take the necessary steps and hope for the best. I love this band. I decided against a 'favorite new artist' category but if I had to choose, I would pick BRS. I'm a complicated person. I don't process emotions well and I've never even been in a relationship worth crying about. So it's hard for me to relate to songs about love and romantic failures. BRS write about everything else, all the other ways in which life flat out sucks. "Colours Fade" is a perfect example of that. Press Play. Cue cheesy anthemic fist pump!

LLV: Foals - Spanish Sahara

If I were to base this off of the song with the highest play count, Holly Miranda’s Slow Burn Treason would be the “winner”. I love that song; I had it on repeat for days, spending many nights in bed crying to it. It had been a while since a song (or record) had affected me to the core on such a personal level. So while it’s definitely in my top favourite songs, Foal’s Spanish Sahara – a new song I got – is my number one. I’m not even going to explain why – I’ll let the song do that. Wait until about midnight. Put on a good pair of headphones. Turn off all lights. Lie in the middle of the floor. Close your eyes. Press play.

Video of the Year:

JK: Arcade Fire - "The Suburbs"

I know, I know! So predictable. I hate myself. But it's so great! This was a great year for music videos. Which is saying a lot because I'm quite sure I'm missed some. Hesta Prynn's stop motion clip is great. Also I have to say Band of Horses have been putting out great videos as well. And I mean did any band come harder than Ok Go this year? All their videos blow my mind. In the end though, I love a video that tells a story. I love cool visual effects and great editing but I always find myself most impressed by videos that are more like short films and tell a complete story, in a very short period of time. I was going to go with Cee Lo's video for his Band of Horses cover, "No One's Gonna Love You". It's pretty much every romantic/drama film you've ever seen. It blooms then comes crashing down in less than five minutes. Perfection. However, again, romance/relationships are lost on me. But a video about fucked up teenagers in the suburbs isn't.

LLV: Hesta Prynn - "Can We Go Wrong", Blood Red Shoes - "Heartsink", The Good Natured - "Prisoner"

Three-way tie. What? I suck at choosing. Common theme: Editing and Artsy. (1) HESTA PRYNN – CAN WE GO WRONG. 13k photos! THIRTEEN THOUSAND! That’s incredible. And the video looked fantastic. It’s probably the art geek in me, but that’s how stop motion is suppose to be. So smooth. Plus who doesn't love Central Park and Simon!? (2) BLOOD RED SHOES – HEARTSINK. Simple, but effective. The editing was great, with all the shots of fans and slowing down of parts. The concept of smashing prized possessions was also great. It had a powerful effect. (3) THE GOOD NATURED – PRISONER. Alright, so I’ll admit I’m not 100% sure if I fully understand the video, but that attracts me more to it. It’s really artsy and I miss weird fucked up videos. The video and what I take from it, made me like the song more.

Collaboration of the Year:

JK: Tiesto ft Nina Diaz (Girl In A Coma) - "In Your Mind"

Probably the most unexpected, most "wtf" moment in indie music this year! But it's great! Weird, but in the best way possible! Nina's unique powerhouse vocals lacing a Tiesto beat? Amazing. When this popped up in my subscriptions on Youtube I didn't know what to expect! Nina's voice is so wonderfully odd I honestly would never think it would work with a dance/techno/trance-y instrumental (program) in the background. But it works well. She isn't overpowering Tiesto and he isn't drowning her out either. It sounds like just what it is, a collaboration and too often collaborations come across as competitions, like the artists aren't friends at all and are trying to over power each other on the same track.

Runner(s) Up: Fences ft Sara Quin - "My Girl The Horse", City & Colour ft Shad - "Live Forever"

LLV: Peter Lee Johnson - "Changes (The Way It Is)" Tupac, Bruce Hornsby cover

This is probably cheating, (*JK interrupts* "IT IS!") but I don’t care ("Fine!"). I may be a total sucker for anything with violins, but Peter Lee Johnson is a phenomenal musician. Fact. And what he does to the songs he covers is pretty much breathtaking (I mean he made me like a “Katy Perry” song o_O). Changes by 2Pac is by far one of my all time favourite/life changing songs. I didn't think anyone could make me appreciate it more than I already did…until I heard this cover. As I listened to it, I could hear all of Pac’s verses and the violin made it more inspiring, beautiful, and hopeful. It made me tear up.

Runner(s) Up: Biggie vs The XX (LLV doesn't understand the word 'collaboration'), B.o.B ft Hayley Williams & Eminem - "Airplanes pt II"

Concert/Show of the Year:

JK: Kaki King w/An Horse, City & Color/Tegan & Sara w/Ra Ra Riot and Wintersleep

I'm a loser. Well, it's not really my fault. Due to my hopeless work schedule and lack of funds I rarely even make it out to a show. I'm no concert or music snob. I'm not jaded and hope to never be. I have yet to go to a show and not enjoy myself. I have yet to leave a show going "Well, that sucked". I love live music. It's amazing to me. Live music is transcending. My only complaint is to the bands who you can tell themselves have become jaded. I'll admit this was where Tegan & Sara disappointed me. I've only seen them twice and I think I missed the phase where they were rough around the edges and really had fun doing this. I understand why they're the way they are after so long. Not much surprises them and not much is new to them. Their professionalism at times just came across as them being "over it". But I've also seen amazing footage of shows that prove they can still let loose and have a good time. I'm just referring to the vibe at that particular show I attended. End Rant.

Point. Kaki King is fucking amazing! She's charming, hilarious and charismatic on stage. When you're not laughing you're simply in awe of her raw talent. There's never a moment to relax or feel settled. You're always on edge and always engaged, simply because she is. I loved that! It took quite a few shows, quite a few months later for anything to come close. When I went on a road trip to Toronto in late August to see City & Colour and Tegan and Sara with some Ra Ra Riot on the side, something finally did. Great performances from Dallas, Ra Ra Riot and TnS. When Tegan & Sara joined Dallas on stage for "At The Bird's Foot" I almost lost my mind! Then when Gord Downie (The Tragically Hip) joined him for "Sleeping Sickness" I DID lose my mind, along with everyone else in the amphitheater who all jumped up and pushed to the barriers screaming their heads off!

Runner Up: Tegan & Sara w/Holly Miranda & Steel Train (March 27th). Yeah, they were a little uptight, but still awesome! With fantastic support acts!

LLV: Roger Waters, Holly Miranda w/Braids

Roger Waters hands down! But with the small concerts I see, it would be hard to beat this one. It was amazing to see all the different generations in attendance. The concert took me back a few years when Pink Floyd were pretty much the only thing I listened to. My love for them was born again. And that’s just the music. I can’t even put into words the visuals that were going on throughout the entire show. Things flying, massive blow up puppets, the wall made of TV screens being built and exploding, and the imagery on those TVs. It was beyond amazing. And if you caught one of his shows you know what I mean.

Out of my not-so-extravagant-concerts…aka club concerts, the Holly Miranda/Braids concert takes the cake. Braids were probably one of my biggest obsessions this year. I had never heard of them before this concert. And I kid you not from the second they started playing my jaw dropped. It pretty much stayed there through the set too. If you've heard their music, there is a lot going on and to see them pull it off live is just………. There is one moment I clearly remember. Native Speaker – the title track off their upcoming album. Watching Raphie just belt out the lyrics. Her voice is just too amazing and unique I couldn't stop staring in awe. The four of them are extremely talented and since that night I haven’t wanted an album to come out so fast then Native Speaker (Jan 18). The jaw dropping didn't stop there. I had seen Holly Miranda before, but it was only her and Timmy. This time she had a full band. Hearing her songs with a full band made them even more powerful. And holy crap that drummer can play! I can never get used to Miranda’s voice…so soulful, raspy, and beautiful. Her cover of an Etta James song sent chills down my spine. It was a very powerful night of music that I now compare all concerts to.

Runner(s) Up: Blood Red Shoes, The XX w/Warpaint

What's YOUR favorite album, song (or single), video, collaboration and concert of the year? You don't even have to pick one for all you can answer for one AND you can have ties, obviously we're not the people to force you to make a decision!

City & Colour footage: http://youtube.com/wojo4hitz

Roger Waters footage: http://youtube.com/concertaholic

Tegan & Sara Covered Bad Religion: Not Gonna Lie, I Liked It

Everyone knows I'm a big Tegan & Sara fan. But do not be fooled, that does not mean I love everything they do. I was excited when I found out there was new material from the band to be heard. Excitement quickly morphed into fear when I learned that that new material was a Bad Religion cover.

Tegan and Sara are not new to covering tracks by rock icons, however, to this point rendering these songs in Tegan and Sara form seemed to have happened effortlessly. But, Bad Religion? Tegan and Sara doing Bad Religion-does not compute. My first thought/fear was "Oh no, they're going to suck the life out of this song". I mean for as punk/indie as Tegan's material can sometimes get she's never gone this far into this sound. If Sara was taking reign on the production then I expected an odd interpretation with random riffs and keyboards. I was probably sweating by time I pressed play.

Once I did hit play I was immediately pleased with what I heard. I heard lyrics. For what felt like the hundredth time when hearing a Tegan and Sara track my attention was pulled directly to the words being sung instead of how they were being sung. With punk rock music or any fast, high energy genre I listen to I find myself sucked into the vibe or the pace of the song. When this happens I forget to pay attention to the message. And the message Bad Religion is trying to get across here is painful and relevant and I'm glad Tegan and Sara recreated this song in such a way that the lyrics were what stood out above everything else.

Some might say my initial thought was correct, that they sucked the energy from the very aggressive, "Suffer", I disagree. Yes, Sara stripped it WAY down but she took what was left and turned it into a deeply moving, intense track. The track was already like this but this version is slow and lined with that signature Tegan and Sara heartbreak fans have come to love.

What we end up with is a powerful Bad Religion track translated by a once two-piece band that have become accustomed to using sad lyrics and acoustic guitars as emotional daggers-doing just that with this nearly-naked cover.

This cover is born of the new Tegan & Sara format; Finger picking, Vocal collaboration, Con keys, Sainthood synth and Sara's less quirky more sultry lead vocals.

Tegan and Sara covered Bad Religion and I liked it.

Use Your Imagination: Dream Cover Record

Let's pretend we live in a world where I get what I want all the time.

Got it?

Good, now one of the things I want is my very on cover compilation record. NO not people covering all my songs (oh hey Steel Train), I have none, but artists I love covering songs I love by other artists I love. I tweet about this all the time. I can't help it. I can't help that I fall in love with a song and often wonder what it would sound like interpreted by another artist whose ideas I usually like.

This would be the 16tk-tracklist of said imaginary cover compilation record. This is only put together in my mind by artists I've been listening to lately which is why the same names appear all over the place. I could do this every few months with dozens of bands really. But let's focus:

Covered by: Tegan & Sara

Covered by: Holly Miranda

Covered by: Fences

Covered by: Steel Train

Covered by: Against Me!

Covered by: First Aid Kit

Covered by: The Gaslight Anthem

Covered by: An Horse

Covered by: Sleater-Kinney

Covered by: Paramore (Hayley's voice here...think about it)

Covered by: Kaki King

Covered by: Dallas Green (tell me that that's not epic)

Covered by: Sara Bareilles

Covered by: St. Vincent (oh she would make it so much cooler!)

Covered by: Metric (perhaps my best idea yet)

Covered by: Lucas Silveira (so determined to get Lucas to cover Dallas)

Awesome Spring/Summer Releases 2010

Yeah I totally stole this, shhh, it's beautiful.

So I've been listening to a lot of new material this spring/summer. So I thought I'd share some with you. Some that it'd be a shame for you to miss out on. I'm no record reviewer. I just like to recommend things I love. So that's what this is. Enjoy.

Brandon Boyd - The Wild Trapeze

I'll start with Incubus' frontman Brandon Boyd's solo effort, The Wild Trapeze! This was a gem. It won't sound like it if I pull it apart. I do truly feel like it came too late in his career, and sounds too similar to Incubus' material to be a powerful solo record. However, it sounds great. It doesn't sound too original, but it sounds like great music...that has been made before. Regardless of these things, it's a great listen. Standouts: "Courage & Control", "Revenge of the Spectra Tiger", "Mirror of Venus" and "All Ears Alow". That last one is just chaotic and I thought it was great for Brandon to let go like that. One thing worth noting, that I can always appreciate is that Brandon played all the instruments on this record.

Kelis - Flesh Tone

A lot of people don't "get it". Me on the other hand, oh I got it! This record was fun! It was of course a great departure from what Kelis has contributed to the hip-hop game. A lot of people simply couldn't separate what they knew of her previously to go here. I think the best thing to do is think of this as a debut record from a new Electro-Pop artist, if you do this, I promise you will be impressed. The songs are fun but deep. There are a few clearly about her child and her divorce but it's all hidden meaning behind tight beats and that amazing signature voice. Standouts: "Intro", "Scream" , "Brave" and "Acapella". To be honest, you can just dance your ass off to the whole thing without skipping anything.

Hesta Prynn - Can We Go Wrong [EP]

Hesta Prynn FINALLY released her much anticipated EP Can We Go Wrong earlier this month. It was worth the wait. The sometimes agonizing thing about Twitter is that you're forced to read updates constantly about an artist's progress in the studio every single day while seeing/hearing no results. You wait and wait and wait. Then you see a tweet about a song being completed. Then you wait and you wait and just when you think you're going to die, THEY RELEASE SOMETHING! This was the case with Hesta Prynn. What we finally got was a consistent full sounding EP that's leaving everyone, yet again, waiting for more! I've given so many thoughts on this EP already on different sites, it's almost obnoxious-I cannot shut up about it. But I will tell you to go grab it immediately! Standouts: "Motive", "Recall", "Le Coq Aux Folles" and the title track.

Steel Train - Steel Train

So. Good. Every song is passionate and guitar driven! Amazing vocals from the incredible Jack Antonoff! Every sound on this record is significant; every note, every bass line, every key pressed, hell at times every hand clap. There is no shortage of imagination and experimentation. This record is lustrous it starts off on fire and doesn't burn out until the very very end on "Fall Asleep" but by then you're so physically and emotionally drained (from crying at the sad words and moving around to the cool music, naturally) you don't mind at all. Standouts: ALL OF IT.

Japanese Cartoon - In The Jaws of the Lords of Death

Because there seems to be something encoded in Lupe Fiasco that prevents him from failing, he won again. Japanese Cartoon is the rapper's side project. The post-punk outfit has finally released the record that has had tracks floating around youtube for quite a while now. Lupe sings lead vocals with an English accent, one so convincing that when the tracks first surfaced many questioned whether or not it was him, which I'm guessing, is why he did it. The lyrics range from romantic to heartbreaking to political. Please don't write this off because Lupe is a famous rapper. Every artist needs to express themselves by stepping out of their comfort zone every once in a while. What's rare is when an artist releases side material and it's so compelling you feel they could easily do it full time. That's what happened here. Standouts: "Heirplanes", "Crowd Participation", "Firing Squad", "You Are Here" and "Gasp".

Various Artists - Terrible Thrills

It's weird I didn't put this after Steel Train's record. I debated putting it on here at all because it's technically the same record. Terrible Thrills is an all-female compilation cover record of Steel Train's self titled third record, which I mentioned earlier in the post. What makes it worth mentioning is it doesn't sound like the same record. Every artist took a Steel Train song and made it their own. I mean it's quite amazing. Tegan & Sara, Holly Miranda, Amanda Palmer and Rachael Cantu, the more notable acts featured on the record, for example covered the tracks in such a way you could easily imagine hearing it on one of their original releases. But if you read my interview with Jack you know that's exactly what he was hoping for. This project was an amazing, unique idea and it turned out beautifully. All the covers were great, all these women are brilliant, but this time there are standouts: "Turnpike Ghost" (Tegan & Sara), "You and I Undercover (Holly Miranda), "Behavior" (Amanda Palmer), "Bloody Lips" (Charlotte Caffey & Astrid McDonald), "Fall Asleep" (Rachel Antonoff), "You Are Dangerous" (Angel Deradoorian), "The Speedway Motor Racers Club" (Anna Waronker)...ok ALL OF THEM.

Kaki King - Junior

I know, I know! And I wasn't going to add it but then I realized that April 13th is actually spring and therefore this qualifies. I'm sick of talking about how awesome it is. I mean gosh what else can I say? The woman is phenomenal. If you think you're hearing her name too much and there's too much hype being built up around her to believe-trust me, believe the hype. In fact, I was just like you Mr. Skeptic. I only became a hardcore Kaki fan about five months ago. Before that I was just a casual listener, I thought "There's no way she's that good!". I was wrong and so are you. Junior is a lot different from her previous records, however it follows her Mexican Teenagers EP appropriately. It's full of heavy drums and busy guitar riffs, I've given a review of it so I won't say much. Standouts: Ha, please.

Honorable Mentions: B.o.B's The Adventures of Bobby Ray, Eminem's Recovery and The Roots' How I Got Over. All great records that have received lots of coverage in mainstream media so I'm guessing you've read all you care to read about those.