Jimmy Swift Band - Now They Will Know We Were Here

Today is mine and I nominate JSB to kick ass once again.

Jimmy Swift Band - 80s Runway Model

I'm in Fredericton right now and posting this with telekinesis. These guys aren't playing here tonight but it would be better if they were.

Jimmy Swift Band - Two Hands On The Wheel

Too bad the video is uploaded in potato version!

Chandelier - Fire And Youth

Made it at the 11th hour! Let's do an Aaron Collier double bill.

Chandelier - Following A Promise

Ach! Where did the time go? Hurry, check this out!

Chandelier - Nation Promo

This is Aaron Collier, of Jimmy Swift Band and Scientists of Sound fame. It's his latest project, and it looks dope as hell. Hope to be able to check it out soon.

Best of 2011 Part 5

Inside the top 10 today, let's waste no more time and get at 'er!

#9

Digitalism

I Love You Dude

This is the stage name of Germany's Jens Moelle and Ismail Tüfekçi. I have no idea how you pronounce that name. What I do know is that I love this album. Often as a DJ when you're looking at genre-specific sets you have a preconceived idea of what category a particular artist falls under. These guys, although their instrumentation is fairly similar throughout, have managed to mesh electro-pop, electronica, industrial, techno, and even a little trip-hop into one album.

What I really like about the album is that you can listen to it track by track, or you can just put the thing on and press play and hear it all at once and it's equally impressive. Most of the tracks have an "epic" feel to them, but there's enough variety in the tempo and style of each track that keeps it fresh as you move along. And you will be moving.

2 Hearts

Blitz

Stratosphere

#8

Death Grips

Exmilitary

Holy cheese and rice what an album. This one came out of nowhere. I first came across the single "Takyon", and my immediate reaction was WTF?!? That pretty much explains the album right there. I should just stop this review. That's it.

Ok maybe not just yet. Maybe you've heard of Tyler The Creator. His album got a ton of hype and really turned out to be pretty average. This album got no hype and turned out to be pretty awesome. It's really, really loud and really, really angry and really, really intense. The production is totally whack, the vocals are on the verge of insane, and the whole thing in general doesn't even make sense. You probably won't like it. At all. Definitely not. No chance.

Beware

Culture Shock

Guillotine

#7

The Decemberists

The King Is Dead

This album is pretty much a polar opposite of the last one. It would have to be from a Disney soundtrack to be further from it. That's why it's so much fun to be a music nut. On one hand you can rock out to something completely insane, and then five minutes later you can groove out to something smooth and fairly straight forward. This is one of those albums. It glides, swings, and melts its way through your ear canals into your soul.

I really don't know much about these guys. I'd heard of them before and I guess this is their sixth studio album, but I wouldn't recognize anything else. This is also a little weird for me because I really hate country noise, and while this is a folk rock album at heart it is heavily marked with the taste of slide guitars and garish fiddles. Somehow, though, they work. There are no fake southern accents in the vocals, and the pace of the album is pretty flawless. For lovers of folk, indie, and probably country too, this album is a sure bet.

Rise To Me

Don't Carry It All

This Is Why We Fight

EP #3

Scientists Of Sound

Wealth And Hellness

I have to admit my slight bias in this particular review, as I've been following these guys in their previous life as half of the Jimmy Swift Band, but don't let that sway you from the truth. This is an awesome EP. Craig Mercer and Aaron Collier are probably best known for their stunning live renditions of electronic classics like Daft Punk's "Around The World" but it won't be long before their originals start to catch on. Get this album. Better yet, see them live. You will move your booty, guaran-freakin-t'd.

Dentifrice

March Of The Killer Ants

Wealth And Hellness

Two more to go, stay tuned!

Jimmy Swift Band - When Worlds Collide

I remember my first JSB experience, way back in the day. Well, sorta. Bits and pieces really. Mostly a blur, but what a blur! If colour could stream out from the band and the instruments and the sound itself, and to be fair it often does, there would be a rainbow of energy so emancipating you would think you had slid down straight into the pot of lucky charms and had absorbed all their greatness in one fell swoop. There have rarely been live performers more spiritually liberating than these guys. I could go on, but we have music to listen to.

These guys rocked the UNB campus last night (sadly I missed it) but the amazing Aaron Collier and colossal Craig Mercer will instead don their Scientists of Sound outfits and obliterate our senses with the pumping madness of Daft Punk's "Homework" album once again. For those who missed the last show, read my review here, and for the love of all things awesome get out and see this show. Or don't. And be the one who missed out who has to listen to me and everyone else saying how freakin' awesome it was. Here's some JSB to get us through the day until we hit up the Capital.

That's mystical Mike MacDougall keeping it steady on the 7-string monster bass.