moozik

Some of my favorite albums of 2011

I’ve always wanted to write a “Best Of” list; however, I’m embarrassed to say that I really haven’t listened to much of the music 2011 had to offer. I was left disappointed by many of my eagerly anticipated records early in the year to the point where I wanted to dismiss the year altogether. But that wouldn’t be fair. While there are no clear winners, no universally acknowledged AOTY’s as there have been in previous years, there was still a steady release of solid albums.

So here’s my take on some of my favorite releases of this year. I thought it a bit arbitrary to rank them, so they’re all in the same boat, if you will, except for the last two, which are my personal favorites.

The Kills - Blood Pressures
garage rock revival

This album is hip. But don’t hold that against it, Blood Pressures happens to contain some pretty good music despite its coolness.

listen to DNA

Frank Turner - England Keep My Bones
folk punk

2011 was a good year for folk punk, and Frank Turner’s fourth release in five years comes as no exception. What these songs might lack in innovation, they more than make up for through their passionate and uniting delivery.

watch video for Wessex Boy

Wild Flag - Wild Flag
post-punk revival

With Carrie Brownstein and Janet Weiss on the band roster, it’s no surprise that Wild Flag’s debut album makes for a pretty good time, even though it doesn’t quite manage to pack the energy and creativity of Sleater-Kinney’s riot grrrl tunes.

watch video for Romance

Touche Amore - Parting the Sea Between Brightness and Me
post-hardcore

Evidently influenced by vintage screamo acts like pg.99 and Funeral Diner, Touche Amore craft a short but sweet reminder that the genre is not dead.

watch video for Home Away from Home

tUnE-yArDs - w h o k i l l
experimental

4AD never disappoints in bringing original, fearless music to the masses. These are happy-making tunes.

watch video for Bizness

Colin Stetson - New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges
avant-jazz

More weirdness. Give it a fair chance; you’ll never hear anyone else use the bass saxophone to make sounds like these — actually, you’ll never hear sounds like these anywhere else, period.

listen to Judges

Buck 65 - 20 Odd Years
alternative hip hop

Rich Terfry.

watch video for Paper Airplane

Bill Callahan - Apocalypse
lo-fi

Although this is the first album Bill Callahan’s released under his own name, it doesn’t at all abandon to the distinct “Smog” sound he’s established over the last two decades. That’s a good thing.

watch video for America

Nero - Welcome Reality
dubstep / drum & bass

Yeah, I know. Dubstep. But you have to give credit when it’s due. Welcome Reality is an energetic, balanced and entertaining album that, if anything, works to show the potential of the booming genre.

watch video for Promises

Fucked Up - David Comes to Life
hardcore punk

Concept album, maybe. So what.

watch video for Queen of Hearts

Destroyer - Kaputt
art pop

Yet another solid release from Dan Bejar that stays true to the magical “destroyer” aesthetic.

watch video for Savage Night at the Opera

The Mountain Goats - All Eternals Deck
lo-fi

The Mountain Goats have always been good and will continue to be good always.

watch video for Estate Sale Sign (I think this is my favorite video on the list)

The Throne - Watch the Throne
hip hop

It’s a bit messy, a bit underwhelming, a bit unorganized. But. Kanye.

watch video for Otis

Tim Hecker - Ravedeath, 1972
drone / ambient

You have to immerse yourself in this one.

listen to In the Fog

Grouper - A I A
drone

Eerie, beautiful and unsettling. All that one would expect from a Grouper album.

listen to Come Softly

Kendrick Lamar - Section.80
conscious hip hop

Empowering. Great beats. Great lyrics. Interesting incorporation of jazz and other styles.

watch video for HiiiPOWER

Mastodon - The Hunter
sludge metal

They just keep getting better.

watch video for Black Tongue

Ramshackle Glory - Live the Dream
folk-punk

Live the Dream is a perfect album. Pat’s honesty and passion have made this the most moving album of the year for me.

listen to Your Heart is a Muscle the Size of Your Fist

Tom Waits - Bad As Me
experimental

Tom Waits.

listen to Bad as Me

Andrew Jackson Jihad - Knife Man
folk-punk

AJJ have surpassed every expectation with this album. It’s a perfect fusion of passion and wit.

listen to Big Bird

St. Vincent - Strange Mercy
experimental

With this album, Annie Clark has yet again managed to make innovative and (dare I say) challenging music flow through our ears and into our hearts with ease. Second favorite this year.

watch video for Cruel

PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
folk rock

PJ Harvey reinvents herself once again with these lyric-driven odes to England. As far as I’m concerned, this is songwriting at its best, and the best this year had to offer music-wise.

watch video for Let England Shake

π (1998)

Darren Aronofsky took on the endeavor of his first feature film, Pi, at age 28, with his only funding coming from $100 bills given by friends and family; the budget, in total, was $60,000. Why is this relevant? Because it is this ability to create something so magnificent out of something so modest that marks a truly great piece of art; this ability to find support in the foundation of an idea, rather than from the celebrities and production associated with a big budget release, that heralds a truly genuine film. Pi hits all the right notes.

From the very beginning, as the overexposed black and white image thrusts us into a surreal, nightmarish world, and Clint Mansell’s dark, electronic soundtrack starts to activate our adrenaline, it becomes obvious that we are in for a unique experience. It also becomes obvious that this is not a film for everyone. The low-budget cinematography constructs a tangible sort of insanity—we are right there, alongside tragic protagonist Max, trying to navigate through the hullabaloo of a foreign-seeming world, and this can become tiring. But if an audience is willing to commit itself to a film that may, at times, be uncomfortable and confusing, it bears lofty rewards in the end.

The premise itself isn’t very complex: math mastermind, Max Cohen, attempts to uncover the nature of ultimate reality through number patterns. This is a subject that has been discussed time and time again by philosophers, and the film presents few (if any) ideas to add to the discourse—but then again, it’s not trying to. What it does do admirably is translate this abstract subject into a resonating visual landscape; it associates a concrete feeling to a vague concept.

This is, in a lot of ways, similar to what Eraserhead achieved a little over two decades earlier. Aronofsky admits to having been influenced by David Lynch, and this debut film is his clearest homage to vintage Lynchian style: from the nihilistic undertones to the industrial surroundings to the grotesque, surrealist images—numerous parallels can be drawn. But while Eraserhead’s protagonist passively trudges through the rubble, Pi’s leading man desperately tries to explain it, and it is with this desperation that the film builds intensity in a way Eraserhead never quite does, nor attempts.

However, despite its many successes, the film does suffer from a few downfalls worth mentioning, most of these a result of the low production cost. For one thing, the acting in many scenes, while not cringeworthy, can definitely become a distraction; this is partly due to the dialogue which doesn’t lend itself well to the actors’ interaction. Furthermore, there are instances when the camera becomes so shaky that it might take considerable effort to fully grasp what’s happened (those instances are rare). But these are minor shortcomings that are easily overshadowed by the film’s strengths.

Overall, Pi is a very fitting film to mark the beginning of an exceptional directorial career.

watch trailer

Todor Kobakov - Pop Music (2009)

Though largely under the radar, Todor Kobakov has produced a steady outpour of music over the years. Originally from Bulgaria, Kobakov immigrated to Canada when he was sixteen and graduated from the University of Toronto with a degree in Performance Piano when he was just twenty. He’s since composed music for a variety of commercials, including Footlocker, Canadian Cancer Society and Winners. But don’t let that fool you into thinking he makes bland, corporate music. He’s also exemplified his great capacity for emotive composition through his numerous film scores, most recently for the upcoming Noir Thriller The Samaritan. Perhaps his most well known contribution, however, is found in his arrangement of the string orchestration for such Canadian mega-stars as Metric, k-os and Stars.

2009’s Pop Music marks the first time this behind-the-scenes composer steps out into the limelight. It is a piano-driven classical album, overflowing with beautiful subtleties and nuances. The poignant opening track sets the melancholy mood for the entire album, and even tips its top hat off to Erik Satie, with its dizzy, minimalist melody. While the album itself does not diverge at all from this established route, it also never teeters on the mundane; rather, Kobakov approaches the simple piano pieces with a delicacy that can melt the hearts of anyone willing to lend an ear. Vocal accompaniment can only be found on two songs: “Carpe Diem,” in which Emily Haines’ distinctive voice dances with the piano notes in unsurpassable harmony (and who could keep from shedding a tear as a result of Haines’ heart-wrenching vibrato, reciting “so much… for Carpe Diem”); and “Loving Hands,” where TV on the Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe fervidly implores: “Don’t let it eat your mind.” However, that is exactly what this music will do to you, disguised in a dangerous sort of tenderness.

A very beautiful record.

watch video for “Toronto Stories”

Feist - Metals (2011)

We all know Leslie Feist as the indie darling who garnered quite a bit of mainstream attention after being featured in Apple’s colorful nano commercial back in 2007. It’s no secret that “1234” was overplayed to death and just may have stamped an ironically oversized, and sickly sweet, hipster label on all things Feist; however, that title is largely undeserved. Over the course of twelve years, Feist has released well-constructed music with a consistency that could be the envy of any songwriter—and she’s done this while remaining, for the most part, distinct and separate from silly cultural trends.

Metals, the fourth album in her already impressive repertoire, can stand its ground just fine among her other albums — and it might just be the most immediately satisfying release yet. The dramatic, soulful aesthetic of the album opener, “The Bad in Each Other,” works wonderfully as an animated gateway into the hilly 50-minute auditory journey. In fact, that “hilly” quality might just be the most impressive aspect of this album; it glides seamlessly through a variety of contrasting sounds and arrangements, all without showing any discontinuance in flow. From the minimalist, acoustic tone of “Caught A Long Wind” to the complex, rocky feel of “A Commotion.” Perhaps the stand-out for me is the chilling “Anti-Pioneer,” where the heartbreaking vocals and strings are met with sparse, and almost intrusive, guitar progressions — truly breathtaking. It’s the sort of album that is perfect for a long, chilly Autumn walk through trees and clean air.

All in all, this is yet another gem of an album. I’m glad 2011 is getting its act together.

8/10

stream full album on official website

St Vincent - Strange Mercy (2011)

Annie Clark has been occupied with making music for almost nine years — first with the melodic choral collective, The Polyphonic Spree, then as part of Sufjan Stevens’s touring band and afterwords in her solo project under the moniker of St Vincent. One thing to be certain of is that her music has always been intriguing and technically mind-blowing.

Strange Mercy, her third solo release, had quite a reputation to live up to after 2009’s critically acclaimed Actor but, despite this pressure, it doesn’t try to be Actor Part 2, nor does it lose sight of its unique vision. Instead, it feels like a natural growth that builds off of themes and techniques introduced in her previous albums but goes beyond them to create an original, albeit distinctly St Vincent, piece of work. It’s all here: the sweetly innocent vocals coupled with the dark lyricism, the guitar shredding coupled with the unconventional, but melodic, progressions; however, to complement these tried and true techniques she’s incorporated more funk-inspired rhythms and instrumentation, adding a completely new dimension to the music. The record is also noticeably less poppy than previous releases; that’s not to say Annie Clark has ever been a particularly conventional songwriter, but this album seems to rely even less on hooks than ever before. The lack of pop-sensibility might make the album less immediately satisfying but, as most St Vincent fans will attest, this music is the sort that begs for multiple listens to properly sink in. And once it does, oh boy is it good.

Another thing Strange Mercy expands on masterfully is St Vincent’s usual emphasis on perfectionism, structure, calculated boundaries. There are people who will critique this album for being musically brilliant but lacking “emotion,” arguing that it should “let loose” a little. I beg to differ, I think the calculated structure exemplifies the idea of being trapped between established margins, whether societal norms or something else. It’s a lyrical theme of the album and it seems as though the guitar shredding and melodic experimentation are attempts to rebel against this oppression while still being confined to the limits of the structure. It might, at times, feel cold and detached but that’s not an accident, it’s purposeful.

Regardless, this was my most anticipated album of the year and it didn’t fail to live up to my expectations. Highly recommended.

9/10

watch video for Cruel

official website

Excuse me while I try to justify why I still kind of like Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga does a lot of ill-judged things. And a lot of thoughtful things. I think it’s important that everyone sort of gets a handle on what she gets right and what she gets wrong instead of immediately jumping on the Gaga-disapproval train — or, alternatively, the Gaga-approval train — and refusing to budge.

The disapproval train likes adopting the (admittedly accurate) notion that Gaga’s gender-bending personas have all been done before; that she’s not the first musician to address LGBTQQ issues; that she shouldn’t be celebrated as a revolutionary force when she’s simply following in the footsteps of true revolutionaries who’ve beaten an easy path for her. This all may be true but we have to keep in mind that people can’t be expected to always look back in time to the true pioneers. That isn’t to say that Lady Gaga is in any way better than David Bowie, Grace Jones, Annie Lennox or Boy George, it’s to say that she’s more relevant. She’s the latest pop star to revive interest in these social issues and — probably because of the internet and the many media outlets she’s been able to use in advertising her work — she’s reaching a wider audience than any pioneer has ever been able to. So let’s not underestimate the potential good that can come out of Gaga’s career, and the good which has already come. Her music and message have made people from around the world feel empowered and have helped them form a community of acceptance and positivity. It’s good.

That said, being a blind fan and failing to address everything she gets wrong isn’t the way to go either. Because she gets a lot of stuff wrong. Her appearance as Jo Calderone at the VMAs drew deserved backlash. As many have pointed out, this depiction of her male alter-ego seemed to celebrate rape culture — it was in no way a flattering representation of transgender people and the mixed signals probably did more harm than good for the cause. I know I was left completely confused by what she was trying to do — it’s as though she’s exploiting these real issues simply for the sake of shock; and I know that’s what she’s known to do with her outlandish outfits and bizarre performances but in this case it really is a shame because transcending the conservative confines of gender shouldn’t *be* shocking. That’s the whole point.

It would have been amazing if she would have just shown up, dressed as Jo, but without all the sexual objectification and over-the-top shit; without making Britney uncomfortable and without groping Snooki; without making a big fuss at all. If she would have just shown up and acted like  Jo was a *genuine* expression of her masculine identity, — no fireworks, just honesty — I would have bought it. And I would have been happy. But that didn’t happen.

So I’m disappointed… but the optimist in me still has faith in Gaga’s intentions. Though she’s taken a lot of misguided turns, she does have the talent, bravery and influence to make a positive impact. So let’s not be so inflexible in our (dis)approval and try to see both the good and the bad. Maybe then our criticisms won’t fall on deaf ears.

Ramshackle Glory - Live The Dream (2011)

Ramshackle Glory is the latest project from prolific DIY-er, Pat The Bunny, known for being the creative force behind Wingnut Dishwashers Union and Johnny Hobo and the Freight Trains.

Unlike previous ventures, Live the Dream seems more produced, with intricate arrangements, diverse instruments, backing vocals — it definitely has more of a band-feel to it but that in no way compromises its energy and passion. On the contrary, it works in its favor to create a smoother listen — with a clearer direction than Pat’s previous work — and helps in channelling his endlessly-emotive lyricism into a distinctive, flowing style of music. The production just brings more attention to the lyrics, really. And those lyrics deserve attention. Every verse of this record is quotable. Pat’s aptitude for writing incredibly clever and genuine words has quickly become my favorite part of his music — and I think he’s reached a new peak with this release. It expands on his usual themes of anarchy, friendship, addiction and recovery — “thank God that all my veins have to pump is my blood.” — but with more coherency than ever before.

I guess what this album does admirably is articulate what it’s like to be an individual living in disagreeable society, with an aspiration to change it into a more moral one, but with no clear direction to take in doing so — “I don’t know how to live but I’m sick of learning how to die.”

But Pat’s wrong about one thing: this music isn’t just a “temper tantrum,” as a line from “From Here ‘Till Utopia” states. It’s an important, genuine contribution to the modern music scene — the unity and hope this music can inspire in people is truly rare and encouraging.

Keep on fightin’ and hold on, hold on, hold on for your life.

9/10

stream album on bandcamp / buy digital copy

official website

The Throne - Watch the Throne (2011)

As undoubtably one of the most hyped and anticipated albums of the year, this debut from the Throne — on the off-chance you don’t know, it’s the collaborative effort of Kanye West and Jay-Z — could have easily buckled under the pressure of its expectations. And it did, somewhat, but not to the point of causing any lasting damage to the hearts of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy enthusiasts.

It’s the natural, albeit messy, sequel to Kanye’s acclaimed 2010 release — submerged in the same sort of anthem-y chants, multi-instrumental, grandiose arrangements and old-school rapping style. And, while Jay-Z seems to hog the spotlight for the majority of the album — and Kanye drifts in and out with his autotuned vocals and characteristic “heh”s — the production is most definitely very Kanye. And because of this, the collaboration works extremely well as both artists realize their strengths and work in unison to make each song a success.

The lyrics are a bit lacking. While for the most part they’re just corny, there are hints at misogyny with lines like: “Come and meet me in the bathroom stall, and show me why you deserve to have it all.” I think that’s more just Kanye being full of himself than it is actual sexism, but it shouldn’t be excused or overlooked. Besides that, the only real flaw with this record, musically, is that it feels rushed, especially in comparison to the mature and steady pace of MBDTF. The ideas are definitely there: they’re interesting and ambitious — but it just doesn’t feel like they were given the time to become fully realized (which is a bit surprising seeing as the idea for this record has been floating around for years). Regardless, it’s an exciting album — and definitely a welcome contribution to a bit of a sleepy year in music.

“Sweet baby Jesus, we made it in America!”

8/10

watch video for Otis

official website

Back to the Past: Levi “Doctor Octoroc” Buffum’s Quest to Resurrect the 8-Bit Charm of the 80’s

You may know Doctor Octoroc from reinterpreting web hit, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, as a “theoretical Nintento game.” Or for providing music and animation for TheFineBro’s interactive video tribute to Saved By The Bell. But besides his youtube projects and animation, he’s also released three nostalgic chiptune albums: 8-bit Jesus, a videogame-esque arrangement of classic Christmas songs; After These Messages, a chiptune take on classic themes from tv shows and commercials — from the Gummibears to Juicy Fruit to Alf; and, most recently, Shamroctoroc, where he applies the same vintage 80’s aesthetic to “Irish folk and drinking songs.” These albums are free to stream at their respective links.

 All of his projects come highly recommended as a comforting journey into a simpler time  — a bit of a break from the high-stress hullabaloo of the modern world. Heck, it might just make you want to dust off your old Atari and lose yourself in its pixel-y innocence. Or, if you’re like me and weren’t actually alive when the 8-bit revolution was taking place, it might just make you want to read the Wikipedia article on the history of computers and gaming systems. It’s truly remarkable how far we’ve come in thirty years.

official website