Top 15 Songs of 2015

Another year, another list. I’ve paired it down to a nice manageable 15 songs to tickle your ears this holiday season!

15. Fast Romantics – “Julia”

Coming off their great 2013 album Afterlife Blues, Fast Romantics hit it big this spring and summer with this memorable indie rock track. Great guitar lines, a catchy chorus and rhythmic tambourines just make you want to throw back your head and sing along.

14. Bad Sounds – “I Feel”

It’s the fat fuzzy bassline that keeps me coming back to this track. Cool falsettos and funk style guitar licks just add to the beauty of that bassline.

13. Telekinesis – “Sylvia”

Electro-pop blast from Telekinesis’s 2015 album Ad Infinitum. I love the very simple piano chords that come after the chorus, a cool analog juxtaposition to all the digital synths and big electronic drums.

 

12. Drake – Back to Back (Meek Mill Diss)

Drake had another big year, and this time I couldn’t just ignore it, especially given his hilarious “Hotline Bling” dance moves. In mid-summer, when terrible rapper Meek Mill accused Drake of using a ghost writer over twitter, Drake fired back in true old school hip hop style with a pair of diss tracks. The first track was alright, and definitely surprised people, but “Back to Back” REALLY shocked the hip hop world; Drake was spitting bars. Using a super simple trap beat, Drake almost drunkenly slaps Meek Mill with diss after diss. It’s gold. Almost as gold as those Hotline Bling moves!

11. Tough Age – “50 Girls 50”

Great surf/punk rock track from a Vancouver favourite of mine. The song really kicks into another gear when the OOOOOOHHHHHS come out of nowhere. Talk about catchy.

10. White Reaper – “Make Me Wanna Die”

I rate this song almost exactly same as the Tough Age song. Excellent driving punk rock with classic White Reaper keyboards that add special melodic flavour.

9. Kendrick Lamar – “Black Friday”

Kendrick’s 2015 album To Pimp a Butterfly is contemporary, aware, insightful, anthemic, and powerful. It says many of the things that need be said about systemic oppression, racism, and white privilege in the midst of Trump’s heinous campaign, Black Lives Matter protests, and more. However, as a body of music, Kendrick’s album is challenging. Unlike his melodic, trap-beat filled previous album Good Kid, Maad City, TPAB is choppy, varied, and wild. Instead of picking a track from the album, I have picked “Black Friday,” a single released on that day of overconsumption in November. Here Kendrick raps over another jerky, tricky beat from J Cole. Kendrick hits on all the themes from the album with viscous intensity: race, consumerism, poverty, the rap game, genres, Trump, privilege, and even Yeezy himself. It’s a brilliant song and comes off as completely effortless, a sign of a rapper on top of his game right now.

8. Viet Cong – “Continental Shelf”

This band was on my radar forever, but I didn’t really give them a real listen until the whole name controversy came up this fall. The band has since announced they will change the name. “Continental Shelf” is a post-punk song grounded in simple tension and release. The verses are grating, noisey, and irritating, with lead singer Matt Flegel crooning, yelping, and straining. Just as you think you can’t handle any more, the chorus floats in on a whim, complete with harmonious and triumphant guitar riffs and angelic backing vocals. This juxtaposition between verse and chorus is fascinating and keeps me coming back to this track again and again.

7. Death Cab for Cutie – “Little Wanderer”

A subtle guitar riff drives this longing love song from Ben Gibbard and the Death Cab boys. It tells the story of a relationship strained by frequent separation, and is probably-almost-for-sure-absolutely based in Gibbard’s divorce from indie sweetheart Zooey Deschanel in 2012. Gibbard’s longing lyrics are the centre-piece of the song, with a perfectly crafted catchy pop chorus straining everyone’s heart strings just a little bit.

6. Mumford and Sons – “The Wolf”

Will picking Mumford?!?! I know, crazy. But how could I not pick this song! What an amazing driving, energetic track. Awesome riffage, awesome drumming, awesome vocals. It’s that kind of song you crank when it comes on the radio and drum madly on the steering wheel...or maybe that’s just me. The 2015 Mumford-genre switch, from predictable banjo folk to heart pounding top 40 rock caught many by surprise, and has been lamented worldwide. I say heck ya! Bring me more of this and I’ll be a happy camper. Excuse me while I air drum!

5. Tame Impala – “Let It Happen”

Okay okay OKAY. This track. Honestly, an eight-minute track is VERY daunting for me. But as the song titles suggests, you just have to “let it happen.” It’s all about the build in this song. The song begins with intriguing synth layers, a bouncy and clappy drum beat, and a noodle-y little bass line that reverberates throughout the track. Soon this part of the track melts into a full orchestra of strings, which build into the grand climax of the song: the best riff of 2015. The riff is crunchy, listenable, catchy, UGH so good. Great song if you “let it happen,” no skipping to the guitar riff (it's at 6:15 btw) !!

4. Mac Demarco – “No Other Heart”

There’s something about Mac’s music that makes it very relatable. It’s the kind of music that makes you want to pick up the nearest instrument, be it a guitar, keyboard, drumset, or Peruvian pan flute, and write a little love ditty to your sweetheart. Mac does exactly that on this track, layering jangling guitar licks on top of simple piano chords and lovey-dovey lyrics like “come on give this lover boy a try/I’ll put the sparkle right back in your eyes.” It’s cute.

3. Lord Huron – “Fool for Love”

Best song from an album that all sounds the same. Love the carefree lyrics and fun bah-bahs in the background of the lyrics. A groovy drum beat with a clappy snare adds to the carefree vibes of this song. A fun one.

2. FIDLAR – “Stupid Decision”

I’ve liked California band FIDLAR since their 2013 debut album, but with 2015’s album, Too, FIDLAR really grabbed my interest. While the debut album was mostly skate punk tunes about partying, drinking, and raising hell, Too is mature and contemplative, yet retains enough fun punk vibes. “Stupid Decision” is a perfect example of this. It’s an extremely heavy song about Zac Carper’s lifelong struggle with drugs and alcohol. In 2013, while on tour with fellow punk rock band Wavves, Carper’s pregnant girlfriend overdosed and died from heroine use. Carper, a serious drug addict himself, was hit hard by the news, and spiralled even further into addiction and depression. Since then, Carper has recovered and sobered up; “Stupid Decision” tells his story. It isn’t very often when punk is so personal, so Too breathes a serious fresh breath of air into the genre. Some critics have attacked FIDLAR for softening up, but I couldn’t disagree more. While no longer a thrashy punk band, Fidlar more than makes up for that with melody and better songwriting. The lyrics, playing, and album crafting is top notch, and will be an album I look back on well into the future.

Song at 30:18

1. Courtney Barnett – “Depreston”

Courtney Barnett writes songs like a photographer. In “Depreston,” she takes us into a photograph of a “Californian bungalow in a cul-de-sac” in suburban Australia. With her deadpan sarcastic tone, Barnett conveys the overwhelming sense of grey emptiness of suburban life. Her writing, combining with a simple guitar part, immediately instills a nostalgic feeling deep in your gut. At its heart, “Depreston” is a coming of age song; it’s about the sudden, depressing realization that “real” adulthood means giving up a life of socializing in coffee shops for a glum existence in the suburbs. Yet the song is redemptive; if you have “a spare half a million/you could knock it down and start rebuilding.” While Arcade Fire advocates for “Suburban War,” Barnett’s message is much simpler: get rich or die trying.

December Singles

Here are a couple of new tunes tickling my ear hairs.

Bad Sounds - "I Feel"

Cool fuzzy bassline, catchy lyrical additions.



Fine Times - "Not Dead" 

Local boys continuing to mimic label-mates The Zolas in the best of ways.



Cage the Elephant - "Trouble"

Probably doesn't require a repost, but dang. CTE coming back with some "Cigarette Daydream" nostalgia on this tune. Very Portugal the Man-ish.



Silver Blueberry - "Walk With Me"

Effortless punk tune. Clash influence.

Don't call it a come back

It's time to stop being lazy and get this blog going again! Since I took the summer off, I thought I'd return with a super simple blog of straight tunes. I'll be coming back soon with album reviews, concert reviews, and my favourite top 10 lists!

Here goes:

Went to see Telekinesis a few weeks ago. The warmup, Say Hi, was hilarious. Here's a cool tune from the new record, I love the hollow synths.

FIDLAR is one of those bands really getting me fired up on punk again. While their last album was primarily party rock anthems like "Cheap Beer" and "Wake Bake Skate," FIDLAR seems to have grown up a bit on their 2015 release. Check out "40 oz on Repeat," a self-deprecating tune about the very real problem of money or lack thereof. Buy their album so they have more of that green stuff.



Port Juvee is a Calgary rawk band, here's an okay tune!



Another Calgary rawk band that has caught my ear is 36?. Winners of the 2015 Western Canadian Music Awards Rock Album of the year, 36? is a strange band without a defining sound. Their song "are you scared yet?" is my favourite, a blend of Hot Hot Heat and Violent Femmes.


Coming back soon with more!

Album Review: Drum and Bell Tower - "Out of the Time"

Note to fans of da blog: Sorry it's been so long between posts. School got busy and I've been listening to way too much house music as of late. That said, my friend Sam sent me this new album from Drum and Bell Tower. He's playing a show in Vancouver on March 21st at the Wise Hall. Here's my review.

Like Sam Tudor, Brent Morton (the man behind the moniker Drum and Bell Tower), is based in Williams Lake, a relatively isolated outpost in Northern BC teeming with musical talent. The nature of this northern town seems to leak its way into many its artists; there's a sense of expansion and desolation hidden within the sound of artists such as Brent, or Sam, or even punk bands like Rebel Spell. Drum and Bell tower is tone sensitive, lyrically driven early Radiohead rock mixed with strange electronic elements and breakdowns a la Kitchener's Decomposure (see the opener of the album). Drum and Bell Tower sound like you've heard them all your life, but you've never heard them before.

The first thing that strikes me about Out of the Time is how sonically cohesive it is as a whole. Many of the songs have similar guitar riffs and the vocal delivery remains even and paced for many of the songs, especially towards the end of the album. This similar soundscape gives a great continuity to the album, although sometimes by track six or seven I'm just begging for a track to break up the flow and truly surprise me with a new vibe or energy. A song like "Stitches" achieves this well, with a creepy and haunting drum intro and vocals done by Sam Tudor, sounding like a young James Mercer.

While many of the songs sound eerily similar, this is not necessarily a bad thing. The guitar tones are absolutely pitch perfect. Warm and round, but still edgy, these tones define the sound of the album, so I can't fault Brent for keeping a similar tone throughout the album. When the full band kicks in behind these gorgeous guitars, Drum and Bell Tower presents a serious sonic force. The best example of this, and my favourite song from the album, is "Song for a Teenage Girl." It begins with a heavy driving beat and careful guitar riffage. The vocals are pleading, and express level of warning. For a writer that has typically focused on large, political issues in the past, the lyrical basis of this track is very personal, telling of the pain of letting go of someone you love. The sentiment in the lines "take the pain and travel on" are matched perfectly by the desperate vocal delivery. The band follows along with the vocals, with an excellent bass riff and bass focused drums. It's a great track.

Overall, Out of the Time is an album of small, but deep impressions. It's that cool bass riff at 1:40 of "Song 0," or a particularly insightful lyric, or even just an emotion evoked. Like bands such as War on Drugs or Phosphorescent, Drum and Bell Tower does not focus on individual songs, rather on the album as a singular emotional unit, portraying a certain feeling. Like Lost in the Dream, Drum and Bell Tower takes me Out of the Time and into the woods of William Lake, BC.


Drum and Bell Tower play Wise Hall March 21st in Vancouver. To check out more tour dates, and to stream the entire album, head over to http://www.drumandbelltower.org/

Top 25 Tracks of 2014

Here are 25 of the best songs that made me think, dance like a dad, and poorly lip synch this year! Shake those buns!

25. King Tuff – “Headbanger”

A razor sharp guitar riff kicks off this upbeat rocker about love in a record store. Bang your little head!

24. Scenic Route to Alaska – “Paris”

This local Edmonton bands really rocks out in a very polished way. I love the howling vocal line.

23. Broncho – “Class Historian”

Another song that brings in you with a great riff! This time it’s a goofy vocal stuttering that sounds really cool, not to mention catchy as hell!

22. Band of Skulls – “Asleep at the Wheel”

Band of Skulls really blew me away with their rowdy set at Sasquatch this year. “Asleep at the Wheel” kicked off the party!

21. Alt-J – “Left Hand Free”

It might be a made-for-radio label pleaser, but “Left Hand Free” remains my standout from Alt-J’s mediocre 2014 release, This Is All Yours. There’s something distinctly strange and awesome about such a creative, non-traditional band producing such a straight-forward rock tune.

20. Sam Tudor – “Modern New Year”

I like to picture Sam lying on his back on a bare mattress in his barren beige room singing this song to the ceiling. I should probably direct the music video.

19. Mounties – “Tokyo Summer”

Whereas Mounties’ first hit “Headphones” is tiresome and slightly annoying, they really nailed the riff on “Tokyo Summer,” capturing a perfect slice of summer deck season.

18. Shiba San – “Okay”

I generally try to refrain from posting about house and dance music on this blog, but this song requires an exception. “Okay” defined the summer of 2014, be it in the club, in the car, or in my headphones. There’s nothing complicated about this 4 on the floor deep house track, but Shiba San really struck gold on this one, quickly becoming mandatory club fodder for any aspiring DJ. 

17. Run the Jewels – “Angel Dust”

There’s just something about this duo of El-P and Killer Mike that keeps bringing me back. This is grimy, dark, electronic hip-hop music at its best. “Angel Dust” is straight from a ski movie intro with its heavy bass drum and memorable chorus. EPIC.

16. Solids – “Traces”

Solids, a Montreal punk rock duo, hit hard and fast on this loud and grungy song. The piano chords in the chorus add an interesting texture to the typical guitar grunge noise.

15. Current Swell – “Keys to the Kingdom”

Current Swell have lots of amazing songs from previous albums that I love, but “Keys to the Kingdom” was their key to mainstream success. Aptly named!

14. Broken Bells – “Holding On For Life”

Probably the first song I heard from 2014! The falsetto chorus is perfect, and nicely opposes the deep bass plucking that continues throughout the track.

13. July Talk – “Headsick”

I guess I really liked radio hits from indie bands…

LINK

12. White Reaper – “Half Bad”

Crunchy, obnoxious, and oh so good.

11. The Rural Alberta Advantage – “45/33”

A real headbanger from RAA’s Mended with Gold. This track stood out from the rest with its distinct jam outs and final volcanic explosion of rock.

LINK

Drumroll……..the Top Ten!

10. New Pornographers – “You Tell Me Where”

While tracks like “Brill Bruisers” and “War on the East Coast” are excellent, you must wait until the end of the New Pornographer’s 2014 release Brill Bruisers for its best track. “You Tell Me Where,” like many New Pornographer’s songs, is a builder. This song is a celebration, with AC Newman, Neko Case, and Kathryn Calder all sharing vocal duties unlike ever before on a NP’s track. The song hits you with a full on wall of pop rock sound, dynamically balancing various melodies against a classic New Pornographers rhythm. The romantic lyrics “you tell me where to be there, I’ll be there” are a celebratory change from AC Newman’s mostly depressing lyrics from his latest solo work, and ends Brill Bruisers with a bang!

LINK

9. Francisco the Man – “You & I”

This is the opening track of Loose Ends, and completely sets the mood for what’s to follow. It’s basically a mid-tempo guitar driven rock song set to a fantastic drum track that marches in the verses and pounds in the chorus and bridge. The lyrics of chorus tell of a tortured love, with “Laura, I love you. But I’m leaving.” The chorus truly makes the song. It’s a soaring, melodic burst of energy that cuts through the guitar and bass riffs and reminds us of how rock music can somehow balance tormented feelings with melodic instrumentation. Francisco the Man, one of my biggest musical discoveries of 2014, nails it on this track.

8. Arkells – “Come to Light”

I like “Come to Light” because it sounds like the Arkells of old. By that, I mean the Arkells that brought us numerous rock gems such as “Pullin’ Punches” and “Whistlerblower.” Whereas most songs on their 2014 album High Noon put too much sugar in my coffee (if you catch my drift), “Come to Light” manages to balance a pop hook against in a fantastic guitar riff that gives the song some edge. It’s that edginess that brought me to like Arkells after Jackson Square, and that edginess is sorely missed on High Noon. That said, “11:11” is definitely my guilty pleasure of 2014 ;) .

7. Tokyo Police Club – “Hot Tonight”

Speaking of guilty pleasures, can we please talk about this chorus? One thousand fishing rods can’t even match the catchiness of this tune. Okay, I’ll admit that was a weak metaphor. This song serves little purpose other than to get the people dancin’. And I love it.

6. Eagulls – “Tough Luck”

Riff of the year! The lead guitar and the bass pass this amazing riff back and forth over the course of this grimy post-punk, noise rock song. Somehow lead singer George Mitchell’s assured yelp works perfectly in this setting, and I like to think of his howl as an instrument rather than a voice. In fact, I can only barely make out a few words over the course of the song, and it doesn’t matter in the least. However, that jangly, clearly plucked guitar part remains the central unifying force in the track, and continues to be my favorite riff of the year.

5. Vacationer – “The Wild Life”

Vacationer nailed a cool jungle, tribal feeling with the drum part of this extremely catchy tune. This mid-tempo bouncy beat sets the track apart from other indie pop songs, bringing a totally fresh instrumentation to a tired genre. The sentiment of the lyrics suggesting the wild and spontaneous nature of life perfectly compliments the drum circle vibes of the beat. Go ahead and clap along!

4. The War on Drugs – “Under the Pressure”

When I started to put together this list, I knew I had to put a War on Drugs song somewhere in the Top 5. But I struggled to name a single song from their beautiful 2014 album, Lost in the Dream. I think that sums up the true beauty of that album, since the entire album feels like one long song. In so many ways, listening to the album is aptly compared to being “lost in a dream.” The albums drifts and floats in the air; it feels non-material, as if it just belongs, just as a feeling or emotion simply exists. “Under the Pressure” manages to capture this feeling over the course of its 8 minutes. The simplicity of the piano part flawlessly captures a somber, yet optimistic mood, while the drum parts moves the track forward and keeps it focused. I like to think of the first part of the song as that period right before you fall asleep. Your brain is still chugging along, dissecting the day, but slowly and surely you begin to tire of this, and you descend towards sleep, becoming Lost in the Dream.

3. Generationals – “Would You Want Me”

If you know my musical taste at all, you know I’m a sucker for riffs. And male falsetto. “Would You Want Me” checks both of these boxes. Last year Generationals made my list with their “breakout” single, “Put a Light On.” While that song blew me away with interesting rhythms and cool instrumentation, “Would You Want Me” is much simpler. Nonetheless, this simplicity captures a joyousness beyond its bars. The song starts with the central riff played by an electric marimba-esque computer. This riff gets reused throughout the track before exploding into a chorus of faux trumpets at the end of the track, which makes me smile every dang time. Just wish they skipped the fade out, fade out, fade out, fade out, fade out, fade out.

2. Alvvays – “Archie, Marry Me”

Probably the biggest new band on the Canadian indie scene in 2014, Alvvays captured our ears with their catchy blend of dream pop. “Archie, Marry Me,” the lead single from their debut sef-titled album, is the perfect exemplar of their sound. The song tells of a love beyond material wealth, with lead singer Molly Rankin repeatedly pleading some chap name Archie to marry her. Dude Archie, just do it man. Seriously though, I love how Rankin sings, it seems so nonchalant, yet dreamy and reverbed out. It cuts through the distorted muck from the lead guitar part, and is clearly the key to Alvvays’s 2014 critical success. The video is pretty cool too!

1. Cloud Nothings – “I’m Not Part of Me”

Cloud Nothings had been on my radar since their 2011 release Attack on Memory, a loud, straight ahead emo/no-wave storm of sound. Whereas that album lacked little on the noise front, I felt it lacked a level of maturity and finesse. With their 2014 album, Here and Nowhere Else, Cloud Nothings brought everything together with a new level of production, song writing maturity, and general energy. “I’m Not Part of Me” is the climax of this brilliant album.

The song is grounded with a steady guitar and bass chord pattern, and like the rest of the album, it driven forward by drummer Jayson Gerycz’s animalistic rhythms. He is one of my new favourite drummers based solely on his performance at Pitchfork festival this year:

Lead singer Dylan Baldi kicks off the song with the line: “it starts right now”, which is odd given that this comes on the last song of the album, but acts as a succinct intro to the pounding groove that follows. Lyrically, “I’m Not Part of Me” is essentially a break-up song, but whereas Baldi’s previous break-up tracks were negative and self-deprecating, “I’m Not Part of Me” is celebratory, with Baldi coming to terms with the past and rejoicing what lies in his future. However, I don’t read this song as a breakup with another person; instead I see this as Baldi breaking up with his past self. This is apparent in the chorus: “I’m not, I’m not you, you’re a part of me, you’re a part of me.” As much as Baldi might want to avoid being that person that he used to be, it’s that past identity that made him who he is and who he is going to be. In my opinion, long as that future person keeps making incredible rock tracks like this one, I’ll be a very happy camper. Congratulations Cloud Nothings, you ruled 2014 in my books.

Here is the full spotify playlist of my top 25 for your streaming pleasure: LINK