That's My Dad.

Top 100 Albums of 2012 

(High-Res Version Here)

Top 50 Songs of 2012 -

1. Purity Ring - Fineshrine
2. TNGHT - Higher Ground
3. Death Grips - Bitch Please
4. Tindersticks - Chocolate
5. Kendrick Lamar - Backseat Freestyle
6. Spiritualized - Hey Jane
7. The Weeknd - D.D.
8. Japandroids - The House That Heaven Built
9. Perfume Genius - Normal Song 
10. El-P - The Full Retard
11. Frank Ocean - Forrest Gump
12. Joey Bada$$ - Survival Tactics (feat. Capital Steez)
13. Bat for Lashes - Laura
14. Kitty Pryde - Okay Cupid 
15. AlunaGeorge - You Know You Like It
16. Theophilus London - Big Spender (feat. A$AP Rocky)*
17. The xx - Angels
18. Miguel - Use Me*
19. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - Same Love (feat. Mary Lambert)
20. Hop Along - No Good Al Joad
21. Jens Lekman - Become Someone Else’s 
22. Tame Impala - Mind Mischief
23. Baauer - Harlem Shake
24. Young Magic - Sparkly
25. The Tallest Man on Earth - There’s No Leaving Now
26. First Aid Kit - King of the World
27. Schoolboy Q - Hands on the Wheel
28. Cloud Nothings - Wasted Days
29. Usher - Climax*
30. Jack White - Sixteen Saltines
31. Darq E Freaker & Danny Brown - Blueberry (Pills & Cocaine)
32. Mac Demarco - Freaking Out the Neighborhood*
33. Odd Future - Rella
34. Alabama Shakes - Heartbreaker
35. Jessie Ware - Running
36. How to Dress Well - & It Was U
37. Fiona Apple - Every Single Night
38. The Men - Turn it Around
39. Alt-J - Matilda*
40. Title Fight - Head in the Ceiling Fan
41. Dum Dum Girls - Lord Knows*
42. Zammuto - Too Late to Topologize
43. Beach House - Wild
44. Lil B - I Own Swag*
45. Grimes - Oblivion
46. Father John Misty - Funtimes in Babylon
47. Ondatrópica - Descarga Tropica
48. Fun. - Some Nights (Intro.)
49. Passion Pit - Constant Conversations
50. XXYYXX - About You

* - Newly Added Tracks

(Source: Spotify)

Top 50 Songs of 2012: #7, The Weeknd - D.D. 

I’ll be the freak you can taunt.

Abel Tesfaye’s rendition of Michael Jackson’s “Dirty Diana” was the most slept-on hit of 2012. Coming from his third act mix-tape “Echoes of Silence”, The Weeknd answers all calls by covering his most compared influence: the king of pop. Remarkably enough, Tesfaye delivers and then some. The classic single from “Bad” comes into a new sonic generation with the same high-intensity drama and larger-than-life production style from Jackson’s era topped with a modern, dark and twisted edge. “D.D” follows the rules of essential music covers with dignified grace, adding to what made Jackson’s version essential and blending Tesfaye’s own style in on a pitch-perfect ratio. As the vocal comparison, the resemblance is mystifying. 

(Source: Spotify)

Bat for Lashes - The Haunted Man

U.K. indie pop queen Natasha Khan returns as Bat for Lashes with an emotionally stunning 3rd LP, “The Haunted Man”: a breath-taking baroque pop record sculpted from some of the most mature, detailed and innovative musicianship and dramatic potency we’ve heard from Khan as well any other poet this year. (8/10) 

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Top 50 Songs of 2012: #20, Young Magic - Sparkly

Take my name plate, it screams for you. 

The first time I listened to “Sparkly”, I felt like I just discovered my best friend was a belly dancer. I can hear my heart thumping as I hear dozens of dancers with bangles on their ankles crash against each other as they pound the floor. Soaring vocal samples and hypnotic lyrics, it’s like a blanket of sound wrapping around you to bring a faded coziness. Brooklyn’s Young Magic bring along a bundle of fresh sonic textures to often conventional psychedelic and electronic music, but there’s a slick payoff to be found here. An element of familiarity dipped in exotic marvel: your best friend, a belly dancer. 

(Source: Spotify)

How to Dress Well - Total Loss

You were there for me when I was in trouble.

Front-man Tom Krell of R&B/ambient Brooklyn project How to Dress Well, Tom Krell wants you to dream with him. Not in a romantic or inspiring sense, more like the ‘seduce you on a beach at night and disappear by the morning’ type. His delectably under-rated debut 2009 record, “Love Remains”, an LP built for cathartic late-night drives but also marked the beginning of a slew of experimental R&B based projects in years to come. Three years later comes his sophomore effort, “Total Loss”: an ethereal sound built to please ears more R&B-laden and less lo-fi than Krell’s past work. “Total Loss” takes production cues from the likes of Michael Jackson and Prince while following similarities with his contemporaries like Purity Ring or Holy Other. In comparison to “Love Remains”, How to Dress Well achieves a set of more realized artistic sensibilities, then again, trades off large chunks of experimental value from his sound in the process. For me, Krell fits the proverbial glove of a dark and brooding ghost that he plays on “Love Remains” better than the omnipotent narrator character heard on “Total Loss”. Take your pick though. Artistic transitions are always welcome, some are just better than others. (7/10)

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XXYYXX - XXYYXX

Lose me in a sea of smoke with ripples of bass.

Call him a one-trick pony, but 16 year old producer Marcel Everett a.k.a. wonky beat-maker XXYYXX is a technical landmark for the world of down-tempo bass music who should make you feel bad for not accomplishing enough at your age. (7/10)

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Jessie Ware - Devotion

Sexy, dreamily mature and pure in sophistication, latest rise-to-fame contemporary R&B singer-songwriter Jessie Ware hits the underground UK pop scene with a satisfying slow-burner debut record, “Devotion”: an alluring work of love more enticing than Janet Jackson, smarter than Lana Del Ray and as emotionally effective as James Blake. (8/10)

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Clams Casino - Instrumental Mixtape 2

In one of the most intoxicating collections of beats, remixes and original mixes of the year: electronic gone hip-hop producer Clams Casino puts out an update to his mesmerizing micro-manifesto of sexy, nightmarish and brooding sonic productions all while pushing his own boundaries, refusing to pull the same trick twice. (8/10) 

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Phantogram - Nightlife

With a set of six tracks flowing with dozens of ideas, Phantogram’s EP “Nightlife” serves as an engaging spin-off sequel to their debut LP, “Eyelid Movies”, with the same intoxicating rhythm-based electronic dream pop signature formula Phantogram fans love. (7/10)

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Gotye - Making Mirrors

A hundred forty million YouTube viewers can’t be wrong.

Australian musician Gotye has struck mainstream gold worldwide. With the viral hit single, “Somebody That I Used To Know” under his belt from album Making Mirrors, the sky’s the limit for this generation’s Peter Gabriel.

Starting with the ubiquitous tune on everyone’s thoughts: the emotionally riveting “Somebody That I Used To Know.” From Point A to B, “Used To Know” invests in deep story-telling; breaking the all-too-familiar break-up song formula. What makes this a winner comes from its exciting emotional intensity. This thing has the dramatic highs and low of an Ibsen play. The verses carefully sets up a fragile plot about a relationship from the guy’s perspective, developing an intimate and quasi-anthemic piece of poetry for those who can relate. The song then explodes when enters the chorus, one riddled with taunt conflict and bitterness of a break-up’s emotional aftermath. Every aspect of the song switches gears, particularly the vocal style where Gotye unleashes his inner Sting/Phil Collins that truly baffles the ear. Then, the real zest and wit of the track comes on the mic: the feature spot of singer Kimbra, who plays the part as on the other end of this relationship. For the first time, in the same song, you hear the scathing damage done from the other gender’s point of view. A bitter, pissed woman who has just as much, if not more, intensity to give right back at Gotye’s character; it’s a striking song-writing concept for the ages. 

From there, Making Mirrors is something of a entirely outlandish piece of music. Like a soccer mom with an empty cart and ten minutes to get anything she can grab for free in a supermarket, Gotye responds with the same frantic nature. Finding every genre and style to fit inside this album, Gotye finds himself creating an eclectic collection of ideas instead of an album with a single direction; which is both a good and bad thing. Making Mirrors may feel like a mix-tape, but it allows for Gotye, as an artist, to stretch as far as he damn well pleases. From art-pop tunes like “Easy Way Out” and “Smoke and Mirrors”, a style that undoubtedly sounds like Gotye’s real turf, to things more bizarre. Tracks like “Start of the Art”, a grimy hip-hop/reggae/auto-tuned work of social commentary, or the neo-soul piano ballad “I Feel Better” that sounds like something off a Cee Lo record.

Through all of the curve balls Making Mirrors can throw at you, there is never a moment where Gotye’s quality and musicianship can be questioned. A straight-through listen of the album will certainly leave anybody uncomfortable with the obscure spectrum of sound present.

This album was like my zany uncle who took a time machine ride from the ’80s. (8/10)

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JMSN - Priscilla

JMSN is an R&B project of multi-talented underground artist/producer Christian Berishaj; his self-made debut release, Priscilla, has picked up steam around the indie side of the Internet for its strong noted resemblances to recent sensation The Weeknd. While Priscilla deserves tremendous praise on its production quality, one of a vivacious, intrepid and detailed nature, nearly every single other speck of this record reeks of intolerable amateur failure. From every conceivable aspect: lyricism, vocal style, hooks and choruses, Priscilla falls hard; face front on the concrete hard. It’s unfair to bare artists as influences to JMSN when the whole affair sounds like a childish copycat to artists Drake or The Weeknd. It’s not as if you can hear elements used creatively to fit a new, similar sonic concept, it sounds like the cheap grocery store knock-off version. If I may deplore: JMSN’s lyricism serve as an textbook example of the “douchebaggery” element that gets wrongfully tagged with emotional postmodern R&B. String along that much of what this over-long album has to offer thematically comes off unconvincing, juvenile and laughable. It doesn’t help that there isn’t an instance of artistic ingenuity here either. Priscilla, for me at least, is undoubtedly one of 2012’s scoff-worthy flops. (3/10)

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March Music Recommendations (Playlist from tonight’s broadcast)

1. D.D. - The Weeknd

2. Some Nights - Fun.

3. Child - The Maccabees

4. Hol’ Up - Kendrick Lamar 

5. Risky Endeavors - KOAN Sound

6. Right In - Skrillex

7. Takyon (Death Yon) - Death Grips

8. Rigamortus - Kendrick Lamar

9. Es-So - Tune-Yards

10. Pelican - The Maccabees

11. One Foot - Fun.

12. Montreal - The Weeknd

Kendrick Lemar’s Section.80 -

You hear about an up-and-coming underground rapper from Compton and the context around this release. You think here’s a guy probably bound to be the next rapper here to exploit and commentate over sex, violence, the “thug life”, etc. Kendrick Lamar is not that rapper, far from it actually. On Lamar’s debut mix-tape, Section.80, we find heaps of smooth, classy beats, surprisingly insightful lyrics (not by any hip-hop conventions) and a very likable, humble persona from Lamar. It’s a simplistic and intellectual blend of hip-hop uncommon to come across. What makes Section.80 a memorable and unconventional listen is how easy Lamar makes it seem to blend old-school with new-school rap with a certain artfulness; it’s pretty refreshing. Songs like Hol’ Up and Ronald Reagan Era serve as great and specific examples of Lamar’s style, talent and his mature take on society and politics. Section.80 is never afraid to be versatile too. There are some nifty pop elements wandering around this release, refer to the simple yet insightful track No Make Up. The biggest surprise Section.80 pulls is the track Rigamortus, a dauntingly challenging song where Lamar’s beats go head-to-head with his freestyle that create a cohesive and untamable jam. For a debut mix-tape, Section.80 is able to show off how bold this guy can really get if he wants to and then some. I look forward to where this guy goes in the future. (8/10)

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Returning with his third mix-tape and the finale to his trilogy of previous releases House of Balloons and Thursday, R&B project The Weeknd is back with his most mature, well-produced and daring release: Echoes of Silence.

This, without question, could be The Weeknd’s most recommendable release yet by a long-shot. Where House of Balloons was an experimental R&B release, there was a slight requirement to keep an open mind and a bit of patience to appreciate the complexities of the album. On Echoes of Silence, we’re given a perfectly structured mix-tape where old and new fans can fall into The Weeknd’s immersion and intoxication almost immediately.

The mix-tape opens with “D.D.”, a phenomenal cover of Michael Jackson’s classic pop track “Dirty Diana”. Comparisons between The Weeknd and Jackson have always floated around, but this cover blows all possibilities way out of the water. The Weeknd gorgeously updates the 80’s hit, honoring it with a bold musical treatment by building bigger, darker and sadder beats along with a production style that’d give Nine Inch Nails a run for their money. It almost seems like The Weeknd even goes so much to improve on Jackson’s version by giving a focus on the storytelling where Jackson only used it as a vehicle for his abundant style. The Weeknd keeps both style and substance intact, and then some. It’s such an accurate cover, I could put money on the fact that if you played it for your parents, they’d think it was an unreleased Michael Jackson B-side or a remix of the original.

The rest of the album glides through with all of the elements The Weeknd is known for while also presenting a lot of new themes and ideas. The romance found in the lyrics is devastatingly sadder, mournful and gorgeously decaying. The drugs, the nightlife, the alcohol, are now a realized evil. There is an overshadowing darkness that gives everything the past two Weeknd releases were about a mirror to show how horrifying the party really was. By being the most mature mix-tape out of the three, Echoes of Silence makes sure not to make past releases seem inferior. Instead, it gives all of the Weeknd’s work a certain closure, making the themes come full circle and seem like it had been liked this all along; right from the release of House of Balloons. It was almost like reading the Lord of the Rings trilogy, the succession between the two series are similar.

This release alone not only works as the most successful Weeknd release that can be appreciated individually, but also credits the past two releases dramatically and places it in a more interesting context.

House of Balloons welcomes to the party of your life while warning you of the dangerous and intimidating high you’re about to encounter. Thursday explores the experience and provides the wishful thinking associated with that high. Echoes of Silence is what it feels like the morning after. The painstaking reality, the pain, the sadness, the sorrow, the regret of everything you just went through. You want to experience this. I don’t suggest you wait. It’s a critical musical experience for our generation for this year.

This album was my dad. (10/10)

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