WWTB
Just one this week, but it’s highly anticipated and I may just buy it for “Video Games” alone…
- Lana Del Rey - Born to Die (buy the CD/buy the MP3s)
WWTB
So this is the first week of 2012 where there’s been more than one thing worth buying. Welcome to 2012, kids.
- First Aid Kit - The Lion’s Roar (buy the CD/buy the MP3s)
- Kathleen Edwards - Voyageur* (buy the CD/buy the MP3s)
- Nada Surf - The Stars Are Indifferent to Astronomy** (buy the CD/buy the MP3s)
- Rodrigo y Gabriela - Area 52 (buy the CD/buy the MP3s)
* And this was actually already released, but didn’t seem to warrant a WWTB all on its own…and I’m a slacker.
** I don’t care what else comes out this year, this album has already won “Most Pretentious Album Title of the Year”.
Daveed Diggs - Small Things (To A Giant)
Daveed Diggs is one third of The Getback (the other parts of the triumvirate being Rafael Casal and Chinaka Hodge). The Getback is a Bay Area originated art collaborative with fingers in music, film, and theater. The Getback music tends to be hip-hop featuring live instrument production and incredible lyrics, which shouldn’t be a surprise given their poetry and theater backgrounds.
Daveed just released his first solo album “Small Things To A Giant,” which is available as a free download from his official site. His collaborator Rafael Casal is dropping his solo album next month, and I suspect it’s going to be just as awesome.
This was a guest post by Keith. Thanks, Keith!
Saturday treat!
Gotye - Somebody I Used to Know (featuring Kimbra)
Sometimes, at tuneage, we accidentally let great music slide past our radar. Allow me to now rectify this mistake and present Gotye’s Somebody That I Used to Know.
I love the Peter Gabriel and 80s pop influence in this song but it’s the music video that really won me over. Unlike the narrative arc within the lyrics, the music video isn’t necessarily trying to tell a story. It emotes and I find it to be at once be enchanting and heartbreaking.
This song has really launched Goyte’s international career and he will even be playing at Coachella in April.
With another year out of the way it’s time to find out what the Tuneage gang’s favourite albums of the year were.
Dave
- Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
- Laura Stevenson & The Cans - Sit Resist
- Cloud Nothings – Cloud Nothings
- Wilco – The Whole Love
- Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks – Mirror Traffic
Tristan
- Fucked Up - David Comes To Life
- M83 - Hurry Hurry Up We’re Dreaming
- tUnE-yArDs - w h o k i l l
- Smith Westerns - Dye It Blonde
- Disco Inferno - The 5 EPs (reissue)
Greg
- Elzhi - Elmatic
- Toro y Moi - Underneath the Pine
- Thundercat - Golden Age of Apocalypse
- Quelle Chris - Shotgun and Sleek Rifle
- Real Estate - Days
Sophie
- The Drive Soundtrack
- Beirut - The Rip Tide
- Girltalk - All Day
- Jay-Z & Kayne West - Watch the Throne
- Black Keys - El Camino
Bill
- Bon Iver - Bon Iver
- The Weeknd - House of Balloons
- The Field - Looping State of Mind
- Cults - Cults
- tUnE-yArDs - w h o k i l l
Richard
- Jay-Z & Kayne West - Watch the Throne
- Fucked Up - David Comes To Life
- tUnE-yArDs - w h o k i l l
- Real Estate - Days
- Black Keys - El Camino
What were your favourites?
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Of Monsters and Men - Dirty Paws
Iceland! Iceland! What do you put in your water? You give me Björk, Sigur Rós, Emilíana Torrini and now Of Monsters and Men?
This sextet’s first album is like this perfect smorgasbord of indie music. Little bit of Arcade Fire, Mumford & Sons, sprinkle of Florence & the Machine and a touch of the xx. Admittedly, Dirty Paws is not their catchiest song (that award goes to Little Talks) but I think it best represents the album as a whole. I also love how evocative the lyrics are.
Their new album, My Head is an Animal, is only available in Iceland but it’s slated for an early 2012 US release. To tide you over, you should check out their EP Into The Woods.
p.s. Oh and did I forget to mention that their song, “Little Talks” is the free single of the week on iTunes?
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Emily Jane White - Wild Tigers I Have Known
Winter winds and the Midwest’s biting cold have kept me inside this wintery season. I need music to match my mood and to match the unrelenting grey that January promises.
The calmness and simplicity of Emily Jane White’s style may come from her California upbringing or the time she spent in the French countryside. But there’s something soothing about all of her music but also a little bit dark.
Wild Tigers I Have Known is off her 2007 debut album. I like the combination of her brooding lyrics (You keep your heart from your chest/It’ll be gone just like the rest/’Cause it’s a man’s world) with a voice that is simply enchanting.
“The Problem” is Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter Jared Saltiel’s latest single and the cinematic sound - a dark, poetic tale of family strife with a driving beat and a remarkable string arrangement - now has a proper cinematic visual to accompany it.
The video is a collaboration between Jared and his filmmaker brother, Jason Saltiel, based on the relationship between a depressed teenager and his emotionally remote parents. It follows the 15-year-old protagonist as he attempts suicide, only to descend into a hallucinatory state during eerie foliage takes over their home as he follows his mother around. As the track reaches its climax, he comes to a hallway covered in beautiful trees, a sign that he has confronted “the problem.” Contrasting the natural world with a surreal artificial reality, it’s a beautiful and masterfully shot nod to the alternative music videos of the early 90’s.
Next week, Saltiel begins a tour in support of his forthcoming EP, Caught Beneath the Wheel. Head over to his Bandcamp for a free download of “The Problem.”
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Miles Kane - Come Closer
Mr. Kane is no stranger to the music scene - he was a part of The Rascals and then The Last Shadow Puppets with Alex Turner.
Come Closer is off his debut solo album: Colour of the Trap. And his music shows that he’s definitely on the cusp of something. I’m just not sure whether that cusp is him developing an awesome unique sound or if his solo work is just another British cliché.
This song leans more towards kick ass though. It’s got something funky, vaguely 60s. Kane’s sharp with his guitar and I’m not going to deny doing a bit of air instrumentals during the killer solo. After drowning my emotions in a lot of overly complex indie lyrics this summer, I’m on a kick of embracing less verbose lyricists. Plus, the scat style call and response just gives itself to drunken sing-alongs.
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I mean, we here at tuneage think it’s unlikely that any of our readers haven’t seen heartthrob Ryan Gosling’s new film, Drive. It is a work of cinematographic genius. And the soundtrack? Pure perfection. It stands alone but once you see the movie - every song is perfectly linked, if not intertwined, within the film’s plot.
Now, many would argue that “A Real Hero” by College is the breakout hit of the compilation and they aren’t necessarily wrong. But Desire’s Under Your Spell has a special place in my heart. Admittedly, both songs fantastically use a mix of 80s synth and modern indie with simple, repetitive lyrics.
WWTB
Been slow lately, so even with the catch-up being played here, there’s just a few…
- Atlas Sound - Parallax (buy the CD/buy the MP3s)
- Jonathan Coulton - Artificial Heart (buy straight from him)
- Tom Waits - Bad as Me (buy the CD/buy the MP3s)
WWTB
- M83 - Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming (buy the CD/buy the MP3s)
- My Brightest Diamond - All Things Will Unwind (buy the CD/buy the MP3s)
- Real Estate - Days (buy the CD/buy the MP3s)
WWTB
It’s looking like a good week* to spend your hard-earned money by buying music, kids.
- Bjork - Biophilia (buy the CD/buy the MP3s)
- Feist - Metals (buy the CD/buy the MP3s)
- The Field - Looping State of Mind (buy the CD)
- Mayer Hawthorne - How Do You Do (buy the CD/buy the MP3s)
*Note: actually, Feist is from last week, but who’s counting, right?
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AWOLNATION - Sail
I know, I know. I’m posting another Billboard song. This is a habit I have to stop and look, I can’t tell you exactly why I love Sail, I just do.
While I’m not as a big fan of AWOLNATION’s other stuff: this song is perfection. It balances a sweetness in harmony and clapping with the harsh hoarseness of leader singer, Aaron Bruno’s voice. The lyrics are simple but evocative. And then there’s this hint of synth that I love. Sail has a grittiness a lot of rock music is missing these days. Dammit, there’s even a piano interlude!
And it all ties together perfectly because you literally feel rocked; you’re at the edge of a cliff, you’re in the pouring rain, you’re watching waves crash down.
