Best of 2012: #1 - Eight and a Half - S/T (Arts and Crafts)

Yes, I suck at numbering these things.. I should go back and renumber the last one, I will... eventually.

My favourite album of 2012 was a super-group of sorts. Eight and a Half's debut album was actually an album by three veterans of the Canadian indy rock scene: Justin Peroff of Broken Social Scene, and Dave Hamelin gna Liam O'Neil of The Stills. You'd expect the band to do some accessible indy rock, but they go off in a different direction here. Eight and a Half are deeply rooted in oddball synth-pop. While there's an indy rock style to what they're doing, most of the album is loopy, playful synths. This album was a very pleasant surprise when I first heard it, and it continued to get better with repeated listens.

Next up, a couple of honourable mentions...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsywCBZ7myI

Best of 2012: #1 - PS I Love You - Death Dreams (Paper Bag)

PS I Love You really stepped up their game for their second album, Death Dreams. Their first, Meet Me at the Muster Station, was a solid piece of noise-pop. The follow up amped up the noise and fuzzed out the music, adding a solid vibe of psychedelics into the mix as well. And, importantly, this album is all Canadian. PS I Love You hail from my birth-town of Kingston, ON. I'd hard to believe such a full-sounding noise was made by just two people. No album was better at noise-rock this year.

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

Guest blog: Foam Lake - Force and Matter

RMD Music Blog just posted my review of Canadian indy rock/new wave act Foam Lake's new album Force and Matter.

http://rmdmusicblog.com/2013/02/28/album-review-foam-lake-force-and-matter-indie-rock/#

 

Latest Earshot Reviews: Feb 2013

Ron Davis - Blue Modules

Claude Munson and the Storm Outside - The Storm Outside

Best of 2012 #3: Shrouded Strangers - Lost Forever (Izniz)

I heard this album very early in the spring of 2012 and I immediately thought it would definitely be in my Top 10 albums of the year. And boy did it grow on me as the year went on. I've discovered that I have a solid love for noisy psychedelic rock and this album captured the sound I love very well. Shrouded Strangers are a relatively new and young band from California, with only one other album under their belts. This album was released pretty much as an independent release too. It was a good year for psychedelic rock, with Tame Impala and Ringo Deathstarr already on my list. This was  the best psychedelic album I heard this year.

http://youtu.be/IdvzcrF_rHo

Best of 2012 #4: Tanlines - Mixed Emotions (True Panther Sounds)

Brooklyn's Tanlines straddle the line between 80s synth-pop nostalgia and modern edgy indy rock. Not really staying in either world, the duo bounces back and forth between genres. Their latest album, Mixed Emotions, is just their second to date and their first for the highly influential True Panther Sounds label. Teh music is tense, edgy, paranoid and ultimately a lot of fun.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKJ3z9Pa7AU

 

Best of 2012 #6 : Purity Ring - Shrines (Last Gang)

2012 was an amazing year for Purity Ring. The duo had been kicking around Toronto under other names (Gobble Gobble, Born Gold) until landing their sound with the dark electro-rock of Purity Ring. The band has a nervous tension, plied into 2-3 minute pop gems. They exploded into prominence in Canada this year, and landed an international distribution contract with the lauded 4AD label. A stellar debut from Purity Ring with Shrines. I'm sure we'll see more of this great band in the near future.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xqw4wo8vdY8