Sloan - Carried Away

From the new album... could use a little more energy fellas!

Moxy Früvous - My Baby Loves A Bunch Of Authors

Holy crap I almost missed Throwback Thursday! Not to fear, here I am! Here's some Jian Ghomeshi before he was... well... the superstar he is now.

Best of 2013 Part 4

Tonight is a big night for fight fans, myself being one of them. The Silva-Weidman rematch is a monstrous spectacle, one of the biggest in the history of mixed martial arts, and however it finishes it will be dramatic and exciting. Personally I hope Silva wins and retires immediately after. Since GSP has already virtually done just that, it's just about time for me to take a break from my almost fanatical following. It's time to focus on other endeavors Silva's retirement would make the decision a little less traumatic.

Back to music, the list so far hasn't taken too many unpredictable turns, so hopefully today changes that. There will likely be a couple of these discs that you haven't heard, or even heard of, which is a good thing, though not something done intentionally. I legitimately thought these releases were great, and I hope you find some enjoyment in them as well.

#12

Axel Boman

Family Vacation

From Stockholm comes this terrific house producer, his style mostly entrenched in minimal or ambient noise but with some really interesting use of samples. He uses a lot of repetition and plenty of reverb with some delay effects to give it a jazzy dub kind of feel. Everything is carefully weighted, and the breaks in the programming are subtle and clean.

There are a lot of similarities between the songs but at the same time they vary just enough to keep your interest peaked for the duration of the 86-minute presentation. It's a great album for a late night drive, if that's your thing, or just to groove out to with your headphones on. Super chill, masterfully built, highly recommended.

Fantastic Piano

Hello

Can't Find It

#11

Buke & Gase

General Dome

This pairing of souls from Brooklyn is a little strange. They have similar names (Aron & Arone), play handmade instruments, and make really odd music. I like it. Their EP "Function Falls" didn't quite make my best of last year, but their song "Misshaping Introduction" from that disc was one of my favorite songs of the year. With so much 'alternative indie' being favored by the hipsters of today it's a wonder to me that these guys aren't more popular, because to me they're way more progressive and politely awkward than most of the boring stuff being passed about.

This album is their actually their second LP, though I haven't heard the first, and it's really, really good. It was one of those that I mulled over placing higher on the list, and very well could enjoy a greater long-term appeal than some others. There's just something about it, the dissonant harmonies, the wacky time signatures, and the little intermittent passages of genius. More of this please.

Houdini Crush

General Dome

Hiccup

#10

Kixnare

Red

Of all my selections, this is probably the one most likely to get a 'wtf?' reaction. I haven't seen it on anyone else's list, nor did I expect to, and it's quite likely you've never heard of this guy. His name is Łukasz Maszczyński and he hails from Kraków, Poland. To be honest I'd never heard of him either before randomly coming across this disc, but I'm so glad I found it. It's a massive find.

The album is mostly downtempo bass beats, with really minimalist drum machine samples, basic patterns, and waves of dreamy synths and loopy vocal samples over top. It simple, uncluttered, and effective. The second track, "Gucci Dough", is probably my favorite electronic production of the year. I absolutely love this album and can't wait to hear more.

Gucci Dough

No More

Eraser

EP #4

Koreless

Yūgen

Another likely new to you, thank me later. On first listen I didn't know what to make of it, but it caught my attention enough for me to listen to it again. And again. And again. No kick, no snare, the only sign of any percussive elements are some tonal synthetic toms, but even they are more counterpoint than rhythmic. The main themes are repetitive and progression is achieved through overlapping loops and a liberal application of various distortion effects. It's pulsating and mechanical, and a great introduction to Glasgow's Lewis Roberts, one of the new stars on the experimental scene.

Sun

Never

Last Remnants

Tomorrow we head inside the top 10!

Buke & Base - Houdini Crush

This crazy duo have released a new LP and you can certainly bank on it being on my best of 2013 list as it's fantastic. I also enjoy the creativity of their live performances, like this one.

Ben Caplan - Down To The River

owe

Mumford & Sons - I Will Wait

Long week, somehow I haven't posted since Tuesday. Let's make up for that with a bunch of new music today. I had hoped I would have another EP ready to today, but didn't quite get there. Maybe have it done in time for tomorrow. Enjoy these hipsters.

Oscar the Grouch on Q

Who knew Oscar was a New Brunswicker? Inspirational.

Kermit the Frog on Q

The new Muppets movie comes out this week and Kermit decided to stop in to the Q studio to have a few words with Jian Ghomeshi.

Dang I miss Jim Henson.

Arkells - John Lennon

These guys have come a long way in a couple years. The Arkells have won a CASBY, a Juno, and headlined the Burlington Sound of Music festival this year. Bigger things are surely in store. Here's probably their best-known song, live on Q.

Oh look it's Monday.