Chronologic - Get Lucky

I enjoyed this. The '70s version is by far the coolest.

Rundfunk-Tanzorchester Ehrenfeld - Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger

Crazy live performance of this little ditty.

Scary Pockets - I Feel It Coming

Tread carefully when going the cover route. It's been done ad nauseam but I dig these guys, just a bunch of random musicians jazzing it up. Think I might actually like this one better than the original, which is really only saved by Daft Punk's production.

Alive 2017

Is it true? Are they back? Am I back?

EDIT: Mirrored. p.s. fake.

Daft Punk - Touch

It's Friday, which is a good day for groovy disco beats. Have at 'er.

Best of 2013 Part 7

So here we are, the grand finale, the last gasp of the hour. After writing all this up and listening to everything repeatedly over the last week, I'm feeling a little better about this year in music than my initial diagnosis suggested. Lots of breakthroughs, the return of some established stars, and a lot to look forward to in the coming year.

Electronic music was the story of the year, no question, with ambient and disco sounds really shining. Not so much hip hop, and both indie and dubstep feel like they're beating a dead horse. Rock didn't necessarily find any new tricks, but maybe some new expressions.

What will 2014 bring? I think dance music will shift again, possibly to something we haven't quite heard yet, and there's still a place for some soul if the right artist can deliver it. Whatever happens, by this time next year some names I've never heard of will have a place among the best of the best.

On a personal level, it's been a frustrating year. After dropping several EPs last year, I didn't really finish any this year. It's not that I haven't been working on anything, far from it, I just didn't feel like anything was ready to be released. Thankfully that will change pretty soon, as I have a couple releases that should be good to go by the end of January.

It wasn't all bad though, I did manage to record some cool new mixes, got to experience silent disco at Folly Fest, and very recently bought a couple new toys to help with the music making process. The next 12 months should be very fruitful and though there's lots of work ahead, I'm very much looking forward to it after several months of inspirational stagnation.

Anyway, let's get on with it. Here are my top releases of 2013.

#3

Daft Punk

Random Access Memories

I was so excited when this album was announced. Then came all the marketing, which one has to admit was frickin ingenious, almost as good as the music itself. When the album finally dropped I was like everyone else - stunned. We all expected a rocking robot dance album, and got something totally different. Thank goodness for that.

Soul, disco, funk, and just about the most incredibly tight production quality I've ever heard on an electronic album, or any album. Almost 75 minutes of awesome. More jams and grooves than you knew what to do with. It has it all, and it only took eight years to happen. Please let the next one come sooner...

Within

Instant Crush

Contact

#2

Disclosure

Settle

Guy Lawrence is 22 years old, and his brother Howard is just 19. Here they are with the electronic world at their feet, and they've barely just begun. This album is essentially a mash up of old school Chicago house with UK garage, and it's the catchiest dang dance record of the year by a country mile.

Numerous collaborators helped out to really give this disc life, including singers Aluna Francis, Sam Smith, and Jessie Ware, among others. Motivational speaker Eric Thomas even lends his distinct voice to once of the year's hottest dance tracks, "When A Fire Starts To Burn". The haters will say this album is repetitive, and it is, but who cares. It sounds fresh and it makes you move. What more do you want?

Latch

F For You

White Noise

#1

Queens Of The Stone Age

...Like Clockwork

The big cheese! After all that bumping and grinding it's time to get serious, and what better way than to crank this 45 minute masterpiece from the best grunge rockers still going strong. Is this a better album than, say, "Rated R"? Not necessarily, but it's certainly worthy of a debate.

Crunchy guitars, creeping bridges, and moaning hooks punctuate the album's best moments, with Josh Homme's semi-casual vocals fitting the script to perfection. It's hard to find any faults at all. Each song leads into the next seamlessly, and the title track closes out the album with such grandeur you have to sit quietly, stunned, in awe, regathering your senses once it ends... and then you press play to start it all over again. 

If I Had A Tail

Smooth Sailing

Keep Your Eyes Peeled

EP #1

Jungle

The Heat

Far and away my favorite abbreviated release of the year is this four-track stunner from UK newcomers Jungle. The thing is, nobody really knows who they are. There's two of them, but we don't know their name, where they come from, or what they've done before. All we know is that they're bringing back the soul, and in a big way. I must have listened to this disc close to 50 times already, it's that good. Just check out the videos below and tell me that it ain't dope. Told ya so.

The Heat

Platoon

Lucky I Got What I Want

That's all she wrote! Thanks for checkin' in! Back Monday! Happy New Year!

Pentatonix - Daft Punk Medley

What was I saying about cover songs? You've probably seen this one already but what the hell, watch it again. It's nuts.

David Wong - Get Lucky

Another Daft Punk inspiration. This is probably the first violin cover I've posted.

Daft Punk - Lose Yourself To Dance

Awesome video from the Daft Signz crew. Check it.

TRON light suit dance!

I remember talent shows back at my high school. They did not look like this.

Bustin' moves, Charleston style

Aw hell yes! So sick.

Scientists Of Sound - Rollin' & Scratchin'

It's still raining in Halifax. Still. That is one solid week of straight cloud and rain. Yuck. Well at least I have some sweet tunes to keep me company. Today we look to the future and bring you more Scientists Of Sound, covering one of my favourite Daft Punk tracks. So sick. Back to work, enjoy.

Added a new live JSB show, see the post below this one.

Jimmy Swift Band - Turnaround

Well tonight at the Capital is, at long last, the CD release party for the new album from the Jimmy Swift Band. It's a double album, so that kind of makes up for the wait. Gonna be a long day for me first setting up for the Team Canada DJ's show up at the SUB, then down to the Cap to play some JSB, and heck, watch a little JSB. You should really check it out. I have a feeling it's going to be something in the area of awesome. Here's a video from their last album. Oh and some new Daft Punk from the Tron Legacy soundtrack that comes out in 5 days.

Jimmy Swift Band - Turnaround

BONUS BEATS!

Daft Punk - Derezzed



And... it's go time.

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.

Alan Braxe & Fred Falke - Rubicon

Fred Falke was the man behind that last remix, and he along with fellow Frenchmen Alan Braxe have combined to make some sweet tunes, with this proving to be a pretty big hit. So-called "French House" is in vogue these days, the term is used to describe the heavily filtered disco house style popularised by others like Daft Punk, Cassius, and most recently Louis La Roche. I'm a big fan, and you hear some of that in my "future samplers" tracks.

This particular tune doesn't have any lyrics at all in it, and it's a bit up-tempo for classic house, but it's still distinctly French and full of cheesy 80's synth brilliance. Not the most inspiring of videos either, but hey, you can't expect those crazy Frenchmen to get everything right...

More please.

Scientists Of Sound vs Daft Punk

I skipped yesterday so today I have two great links for ya. Last week I went to see Scientists Of Sound cover Daft Punk's "Homework" album in its entirety. For the record this is probably the greatest electronic music album of all time.

I could tell you that it was an awesome show; I could tell you that I loved every second; I could probably even tell you that it was so hot in there I decided to have my own shirts off party. While these might be truths, these words don't really adequately describe the level of awesomeness achieved that evening. With that in mind, I give you:

and...

There are no words.