The Roots - It Ain't Fair

I've got it. We need this. This right here.

Jimmy Fallon & The Roots - Desire

Might as well post the song that inspired this whole shindig. Great job Jimmy.

Best of 2011 Part 6

Now we're really moving quickly, we're heading into the top 5 today, with some of the year's truly outstanding albums. It's exciting, but getting harder and harder to pick only three songs out each one. I guess that's part of the fun. Onwards and upwards!

#6

Gus Gus

Arabian Horse

Gus Gus is constantly evolving, both in sound and in membership. Hailing from Iceland they are an electronic ensemble who have been around for several years now and have always been on the "pretty cool" side of things, but this album was really a changing point for me. Whereas most electronic music these days is released in smaller EPs and full albums are scarce, this one is meant to be listened to as a whole composition rather than in singles.

It's essentially a tech-house album, but features lots of airy reverb and pulsating pads and beats that give it a trance-like feel. It's subtle, smooth, progressive and deep all at the same time. The production is superbly done and the vocals are just enough to keep it interesting without being overbearing. The mood overall is almost a searching, inquisitive tone, teetering effortlessly along positive and negative space. Devote an hour of your life to listening it straight through and you might find yourself in places you didn't expect. A musical journey well worth taking.

Over

Arabian Horse

Changes Come

#5

Red Fang

Murder The Mountains

I think it's kind of awesome when the most fun album of the year comes from a metal band out of Portland, Oregon. These guys look like four dudes who work at the bottle depot after their high school garage band careers didn't quite pan out. Their videos are super low budget (and hilarious), they have scruffy haircuts, are in their mid-30's at least, and they kick f'in ass. Seriously. They absolutely rock. A strange bit of trivia too, this album was produced by Chris Funk, a member of The Decemberists. Nice of him to make this album even better than his own.

Their sound is kind of like Mastodon, who they're opening up for on a European tour starting in mid-January, but with less screaming and kind of a southern rock tinge, though at times they are classic metal in a Black Sabbath vein. They really are something else. I haven't been this excited about a metal band in a long, long time so I'm more than happy to say that if you are into hard rock at all, this album is a must have. After that you'll probably buy a shirt, because they're so damn cool.

Wires

Dirt Wizard

The Undertow

#4

The Roots

Undun

This is back-to-back killer albums from The Roots, who's album "How I Got Over" was my choice for album of the year in 2010. Whereas last year it was a full eighty minute killer front to back, this time it's a thirty-eight minute concept album, delivered backwards from death to life about a street hustler. The critics are going crazy over it, and I'm just another member of the chorus this time.

Some prefer it over the last album, I'm not sure I feel the same way. It's a masterpiece, for sure, but it's just different. This one feels more like a sort of rap opera, there's completely different pacing and voices throughout and it just seems to move through time and space to bring you to the conclusion. Check out the accompanying short film that I posted a few weeks back and it might help explain. Then get this album. It solidifies this band as THE premier hip-hop act in the world right now, and one of my favorite acts, period.

Sleep

Make My

Tip The Scale

EP #2

Sweatshop Union

The Bill Murray EP

Anything with Bill Murray in it has to be awesome, doesn't it? These guys are reppin' the 604 out of Vancouver and seem to be getting better with each new release. This one, for me, is their best yet. Up until a week before I started this list this was tops on my EP list, and at twenty-three minutes of top notch hip-hop it's my favorite Canadian disc of the year. It'll probably be yours too after you listen to this.

Makeshift Kingdom

Bill Murray

John Lennon

Tomorrow we get to the big cheese, numero uno!

The Roots - Undun

This is a short film produced by The Roots to accompany the release of their new album, Undun, that comes out in a couple days. Last year they put out "How I Got Over" and it was my choice for best album of the year so I can't wait to hear this one.

Best of 2010 Part 7

Well we made it. I started this thing on January 21st of this year, so we're not quite a year old yet, but close enough. Thanks to all of you who came and checked out the blog, and pretended to read some of my ramblings. The new year will see some more changes to the blog. It will become more than just a music blog, as I'll be posting more stuff like crazy news links, funny videos, goofy pictures and such, but the music will remain. The new website is still in the works, but it's not quite ready yet, so maybe by the end of this month it will be ready to go. In the meantime, enjoy your new year's festivities, whatever they may be, and I'll see ya tomorrow. Afternoon. Late afternoon.

And my top three albums of the year are...

#3

Kings Go Forth

The Outsiders Are Back

In July I posted about Milwaukee's Kings Go Forth. Since then I've had them on regular rotation on my playlist. With the sort of funk-soul revival that's going on, there has to be someone leading the charge, setting the standard. These guys are so perfectly named it's uncanny. They are the new Kings of the genre, and they are taking us forward to a new musical era.

These guys aren't about making flashy music videos, or goofy merchandise, or anything else, they're all about the funk. From the the first note to the last, this album is absolutely fantastic. The thing is, these guys aren't young. Where have they been for the last fifteen years? Doesn't matter, the cat is out of the bag. For righteous funk-soul extravaganza on a stick, look no further. Their time is now. Hail to the Kings, baby.

One Day

High On Your Love

I Don't Love You No More

#2

Grum

Heartbeats

I was wrong about these guys. First, I got the name wrong. It's just Grum. Second, I thought it was more than just Graeme Shepherd. Nope, just him. Then after hearing a couple singles that this might just be a couple fun tracks on a mediocre album. Boy was I wrong there. I don't care what anyone else says. This is 80's electro-discopop, only it's awesome. Really awesome. I've listened to this album countless times since I got it and it's still amazing.

Take Chromeo, add a dash of Daft Punk, a pinch of David Bowie, and just a hint of Mylo for flavour, shake vigorously and you have Grum. It's true, this album is goofy and pretentious but it's just so much damn fun. Remember those nights when you went out and partied like an animal and just didn't give a damn? Put it on a record and this is what you get. One day this will be considered a classic. It already is in my books. Check out my September post for the two singles, and then blast these tracks.

Heartbeats

LA Lights

Turn It Up

#1

The Roots

How I Got Over

The Roots! Congrats guys, you are my favourite album of the year. These guys brought us their finest album in a decade with this new release. It brings elements of soul and funk to their raw classic hip hop sound. For me it captured the vibe of the year perfectly. A rock solid beat but a hint of frustration in the lyrics, but driven with sense of purposeful inevitability.

Social consciousness is not something everyone is born with. Some people develop it, some people don't, for whatever reason. For those with it, it's a struggle to make other people wake up and take notice. It's not about trying to change the world on a global scale, it's about trying to show those people standing right next to you that the world works just great when we all work together. Let this album shine it's light on you. Dear God. Right on, right on.

Doin' It Again

Now Or Never

The Fire

BONUS BEATS!

Deadmau5 - Community Nap

Rock over Fredericton, roll on Toronto.

The Roots & Monsters Of Folk - Dear God

The Roots are awesome. They're a sort of hip hop supergroup. Their 1999 live album "The Roots Come Alive" is one of my favourite live albums of any genre. The new album is great. Go get it. Today is New Brunswick day so I think I'm going to do a double post. The first is by Monsters Of Folk, a folk supergroup. The second is the Roots version.

Monsters Of Folk - Dear God

The Roots - Dear God 2.0

I like the second one more than the first.