Best of 2011 #2: Braids - Native Speaker

Only a couple of albums this year truly made me emotional from the power of their music. Braids are a great band from Calgary, AB that didn't get the proper attention for album of the year from other critics, in my opinion. One, they released their debut album Native Speaker on the tiny Flemish Eye record label (Kanine Records in the States), and two, the album came out in the doldrums of music releases, early January. I had been paying attention to this band since they started their careers in 2008 as The Neighbourhood Council. Their debut EP as that band, Set Pieces, was a slow burn of spacy post-punk. The EP simmered and sparkled but never seemed to coalesce. With Native Speaker, the band truly found their places as musicians and the result was a lush album of sprawling post-punk with pop and goth tinges. Their sound is quite similar to how Animal Collective sounded like before they started listening to their own hype.

http://youtu.be/1RnfroBOgO0

Best of 2011 #3: Thurston Moore - Demolished Thoughts

I've loved Sonic Youth ever since my first listen to Daydream Nation way back in the early 90s at CKUL in Lethbridge. Their sound totally rewired my brain and made me rethink a lot of what I thought about rock music. Their unique "wall of guitar noise" approach to music appealed to me, as did their later experiments in more textured indy rock. The members of the band are ruthlessly and unapologetically experimental. Guitarist and vocalist Thurston Moore's latest solo effort is an often subtle album of understated guitar-based indy rock. Producer Beck Hansen's handiwork is apparent all of this album. Often the music less Moore's penchant for guitar skronk and more Hansen's tendency to layered, dense poppy rock. The collaboration produced some fantastic tracks though. If you're a fan of either Sonic Youth or Beck, you deserve to give this album a listen.

http://youtu.be/5wllPXb4lkI

Cancon Round up for January 26, 2011

Cancon on the Canadian Top 40 Charts this week: Carly Rae Jepsen (top Canadian at #10), Victoria Duffield, Mia Martina, Marianas Trench, Hedley, Nickelcrap, Hedley (again), Martin Solveig and Dragonette, Dru, Drake, Anjulie (11/40= 28%, still below the nationally legislated 35% for Cancon)

Notes: I've been doing the Cancon column on my blog for about a year now and never has the Top 40 quota for Canadian content met the 35% needed for Canadian broadcast radio. This is pretty telling about the will of Canadian broadcasters to air Canadian music. It's not like there's a shortage of it, more a lack of will of broadcasters to seek it out and play it. Moreover, it seems to be the same acts each week. A lot of the songs played over the past year spend more than 9 months on the Canadian charts.

The only thing of note on the Canadian charts this week is the Black Keys, lurking around the low 20s for the past few weeks. On the US charts, Adele gets her third #1 song from her second album, and electro-rockers Breathe Carolina get their first Top 40 single.

On a side note, does anyone else think that Maroon 5's "Moves Like Jagger" sounds a lot like Cee-Lo's "Forget You"?

Best of 2011 #4: Wild Flag - Wild Flag

Sometimes, I long for the crunch of a rock guitar. But only when it's done well. Sleater-Kinney were the best rock band around until they broke up a few years ago. We've been bereft of the awesome sound of Sleater-Kinney since then. Sure, Corin Tucker brought out an album with her own band, but her unearthly blues wail just wasn't the same without Carrie Brownstein's guitar and Janet Weiss's drums. Enter Wild Flag. This band is about the closest we'll get to a Sleater-Kinney reunion in a while, and while they don't exactly capture Sleater-Kinney's wild abandon, they get pretty close. Brownstein and Weiss are joined by Rebecca Cole of The Minders and Mary Timony of the obscenely underrated noise pop band Helium to form Wild Flag. If you like your guitars crunchy and melodic and your music just a touch snotty, Wild Flag are for you. And if you've never heard Helium, check them out too.

http://youtu.be/8J8n9R8rnB8

Best of 2011 #5: Austra - Feel it Break

Toronto's Austra made a heck of a splash this year. Propelled by the startlingly expressive and operating voice of Katie Stelmanis, Austra have the sheen of a classic 80s new wave act combined with the tautness of a modern indy rock band. Feel it Break seems a bit unfinished in places, but it is a shockingly powerful album. As a debut album, Feel is Break is strong, but I have a feeling that their next album will be the one that defines them and puts them on the international radar.

http://youtu.be/8LJtMrhb558

Best of 2011 #6: Brian Eno - Drums Between the Bells

Those of you that know me know I'm a frothing Brian Eno fan. The man practically invented whole genres of electronic music, and continues to reinvent himself every time he puts his musical knowledge to work, whether as a musician himself or as a producer. Since jumping to Warp Records a few years, Eno's output has increased and his experimentation has also expanded. Drums Between the Bells is a collaboration with poet Rick Holland, who's words are sung by Eno and a number of guest vocalists. The result is an album full of glitchy ambient music the way only Eno could produce. Whereas lesser artists embrace a droning tone as a simple background, Eno uses the drone to construct immense castles of sound.

http://youtu.be/RMQXm4etRhU

Van Halen - "Tattoo"

Let's take a little break from the 2011 countdown and talk about Van Halen

The music world is abuzz about the return of the (kinda) classic line up of Van Halen, and their new song "Tattoo". Check it out here:



Overall, this song is pretty disappointing. The thing that made Van Halen interesting was they were dangerous. Rock and roll, especially the beer-fueled, testosterone laden arena rock that Van Halen espoused, should be menacing. The band was burly, theatric and, more importantly, listenable. And, their appeal went beyond the casual rock fan. Eddie Van Halen was legitimately one of the best guitarists in the world at one time, and appreciated by both serious and casual music fans. Alex Van Halen was a decent drummer. David Lee Roth's theatrical stage persona was perfect for drawing in a casual listener. But, where has this band gone?

This new version of Van Halen is the first time that Roth has recorded with the Van Halen brothers in more than 25 years. Given the volatile nature of their relationship over the years, there was potential for something dramatic to happen, something to spark the creative juices and make their music dangerous again. Something far from the radio-friendly rock that Sammy Hagar's years as singer brought to the band. But that hasn't happened. "Tattoo" is just limp.

First, Eddie's guitar playing is pedestrian. There's no virtuouso style solos, no burning, driving guitar punch. His playing here is merely competent. he sounds like very other rock guitarist around. Same with Alex, his drumming lacks flair and he seems just to be keeping a beat. David Lee Roth's singing is on par with his early work with the band, but the theatrics are gone. No high kicks, just jazz shuffles. It's sad really.

Rumour has it that the rest of the coming album is more gritty, but I can't see it from this early single. You're supposed to lead with your strengths. If this is the strongest song on the album, the rest should be very underwhelming

Latest Earshot reviews - January 2012

Not a great batch, but the Kathryn Calder is highly recommended!


Glenn Chatten - Where You Need to Be


Kathryn Calder - Bright and Vivid

Cloudsplitter - Cloudsplitter

Dixie's Death Pool - The Man With Flowering Hands


Lord Bubba's Nu-Jazz Project - The Nu Standards


Ox - Tuco

Pomegranate - Ahead and Behind

Vesely Couture - Nerd Party


Yukon Blonde - Fire//Water

Best of 2011 #7: Cold Cave - Cherish the Light Years

Cold Cave's last album, 2009's Love Comes Close, was one of my favourite albums of that year. This past year's Cherish the Light Years was another good outing for this band, perhaps a step or two behind Love Comes Close, but engaging nonetheless. Whereas Love Comes Close was more textured and more electronic based, Cherish the Light Years is more rock and pop based. The electronics are a bit more subdued, in favour of more guitars and vocal styles. What's more is that the band sounds a bit more like a band and less like a side project. Hopefully, Cold Cave will continue to blossom and make more great music.

http://youtu.be/686K_X9C5qU

Best of 2011 #8: Small Black - New Chain

Yes, I know this album was released in 2010, but I didn't hear it until spring 2011, so I'm counting it. Small Black are one of the leading bands of the "chillwave" movement, a hit and miss style of music that borrows heavily from the analog electronic pop of the 80s and adding in the looping and sampling of the modern electronic world. Small Black's style of chillwave is a lush, looping style of electronics and vocal effects, trance inducing but noisy at the same time. Their dirty sound is a big draw for me, making them much more interesting than the more sterile Washed Out, whom I was very disappointed by this year. New Chain is an exciting and forward thinking album, but one that still pays homage to the artists that paved the way for them.

http://youtu.be/C_llci-C7hc

Best of 2011 #9: Dreamboat - Buddies

My #9 pick goes to a band that is very independent, so much there isn't even any of their music on Youtube. Dreamboat is Aaron Bergunder, a member of the Victoria based indy rock band Colourbook. Dreamboat is a pure synth-pop, straight out of the early 80s. Think a more minimalist Depeche Mode and you get the idea. I'm a sucker for retro sounds, and no album sounded more retro than Dreamboat.

http://dreamboat.bandcamp.com/album/buddies

Best of 2011 #10: Male Bonding - Endless Now

2011 was a great year if you liked shoegaze. London based Male Bonding have only been around since 2008 and Endless Now is only their second full length album, but the band already has a great handle on the British style of noise-rock. They sound a bit like a mix between The Wedding Present and Ride, with jangly, ferocious hooks laden in a fuzzed out guitar mess. I considered Canadian band Shimmering Stars for the #10 spot as well, but Male Bonding grew on me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXrwKOOacEw

Who We Lost in 2011

Gerry Rafferty
Mick Karn (Japan)
Margaret Whiting
Don Kirschner
Charlie Louvin
Gladys Horton (The Marvelettes)
Doc Williams
Gary Moore
Bad News Brown
Sir George Shearing
Mark Tulin (The Electric Prunes)
Eddie Kirkland
Johnny Preston
Mike Starr (Alice in Chains)
Joe Morello
Big Jack Johnson
Nate Dogg
Ferlin Husky
Pinetop Perkins
Zoogz Rift
Carl Bunch (The Crickets)
DJ Megatron
Mel McDaniel
Scott Columbus (Manowar)
Gil Robbins (The Highwaymen)
John Bottomley
Billy Bang
Hazel Dickens
Poly Styrene
Phoebe Snow
Jack Richardson
Seth Putnam
Carl Gardner (The Coasters)
Kenny Baker
Amy Winehouse
Bill Morrissey
Fred Imus
Marshall Grant (Tennessee Two)
Jani Lane (Warrant)
Jerry Leiber
George Green
David "Honeyboy" Edwards
Willie "Big Eyes" Smith
Johnnie Wright
Sylvia Robinson
Bert Jansch
Mikey Welch (Weezer)
Bob Brunning
Moogy Klingman (Utopia)
Paul Motian
Ross McMahnus
Gary Garcia
Hubert Sumlin
Dobie Grey
Myra Taylor
Billie Jo Spears
Cesaria Evora
David Gold (Woods of Ypres)
Jim Sherwood
Dan Terry