Yessir! The end is nigh… so we thought we’d reveal what made our musical year worthwhile. In these internet-fueled times, tastes are so disparate & splintered, it’s always remarkable to see titles pop up on more than one list… it kind of galvanizes an album’s value amidst all the chatter.
So yeah, have a gander. We’ll post on our Facebook as well, please feel free to leave comments or your own lists!
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Tickets just went on sale for this mammoth Victoria event & we are super excited to see Rifflandia stretch its legs a little bit. This year, the 4 day event will include Royal Athletic Park, a massive addition that is sure to really hammer home the true spirit of a festival.
This year’s lineup *isn’t finished yet*, but already it’s a fantastic cross section of all genres & styles. Mother Mother, Broken Social Scene, Cold War Kids, Daniel Wesley, City & Colour, Awolnation, De La Soul, Cave Singers, J Mascis, Nosaj Thing, Besnard Lakes, AraabMuzik, Blackalicious, Machinedrum, Sage Francis, Tokimonsta, Ra Ra Riot & MOOOOORE will pack Athletic Park & the regular Rifflandia night time venues over four days/nights of amazing music.
This year there are more ticket options than previous years – we strongly encourage you to visit the Rifflandia website’s ticket page to help decide which option best suits you. Couple of points of note:
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Midway through this year & we’re already saddled with a hefty amount of big’uns. The National, LCD Soundsystem, The Black Keys, Caribou & Broken Social Scene have all released stellar efforts over the last 6 months. But as always, mid-year is a great time to assess some of the not-so-hyped nook-&-cranny-type albums that you might not have heard or maybe just glazed over while reading a blog. So here thems is…
(4AD) CD & LP
Ariel Pink has had a huge impact on DIY music over the last 3 years. The legend of his apparently vast vault of unheard music recorded to cassette from 1998-2002 is enough to hook the average music geek, but then there’s the tunes themselves; half-reimagined echoes of AM-radio pop & tuner dial errors. 80s new wave, lo-fi electro blippery, arm-in-arm feel good vibes & utter weirdness all blend together in a haze of modern tape-warped genius. Before Today bares a little more sheen than his historic swath of 7“s & cassettes but that’s fine, these tunes still retain the nostalgia & energy that keeps Ariel Pink one of indie music’s most enigmatic & magnetic fixtures.
Ariel Pink on the myspace
(Def Jam) CD & 2LP
One of the great things about The Roots’ residency on Jimmy Fallon has been the affect it seems to be having on how they’re going to be remembered. Instead of “retiring” on the show (something the bad was apparently contemplating after a tough couple of years of slim sales & meek reviews), their creative fire has been reignited & the public’s perception of where they sit within the lineage of important hip-hop acts is being appropriately revised. THESE GUYS ARE LEGENDS. They’ve co-wrote, produced, collaborated & played live with virtually every important hip-hop artist of the last 15 years, seriously. Not to mention Tariq aka Black Thought (along with Pharoahe Monch) seems destined to go down in history as one of Hip-hop’s most underrated MCs… ANYWAY, How I Got Over – new album, chock full of emotionally grounded, mature, grown-ass hip-hop that sees The Roots collab with Jim James (of MMJ), Joanna Newsom, Dirty Projectors plus old haunts like John Legend & Dice Raw. Man, it’s nice to see some of hip-hop’s elder statesmen (Wu-Tang, Big Boi as well) reclaiming this bewildered genre.
The Roots on the myspace
(Warp) CD & LP
Toronto-bred experimental poppers. Red, Blue & Yellow was a great post-Beach Boy vocal/guitar workout & Say it retains the agitated quirk & pep of that debut. Surf guitar, vox harmonies, neurotic wailing, spindly structures… in a world where Dirty Projectors are so highly regarded, Born Ruffians are certainly deserving of a second glance from fans of left-field, caterwauling indie-rock. “Sole Brother” fuses many disparate styles, but cohesively & fluidly; dry-as-bone guitar figures pin down otherwise sprawling ideas – it’s a great melange of what the fringes of pop has to offer at the moment.
Born Ruffians on the myspace
(Sub Pop) CD & 2LP
Another Portland band with serious chops, returning with another opus of 70s-inflected new classic rock. Eric Earley & crew straight up KNOW classic rock. From Laurel Canyon folkism to Band-era Dylan to Tom petty guitaring, they wrap all that’s good into one satisfying package that makes many plunderers of 70s lineage look silly. And that sums up Destroyer Of The Void. A great blend of everything that made 70s rock what it was: folk, prog, riffs, harmonies, saloon piano & killer harmonica. Plus relatable narratives that shimmy in cute aphorisms & ideas.
Blitzen Trapper on the myspace
(Warp) CD & 2 X 12”
After their return to melodicism coup-d’etat earlier this year, Sean Booth & Rob Brown hammer us with another 2010 release, the mechanical counterpart to the classic IDM ambiance of Oversteps. Move Of Ten is a rhythmic beast, grounded in tangible loops & recognizable meters of dystopian dissonance. As always, succinct sound design is the order of the day, but man, some of this stuff just straight BANGS. Ten new abstractions of rhythm, texture & pseudo-melodic inclinations. Opener “Etchogon-S” freaks 808 drums down a k-hole of verbed-out synths while “pce Freeze 28i” lumbers along at broken-beat measures… quietly, but surely, these two are cementing their place in the lineage connecting Kraftwerk, Detroit, Warp & the future. Truly mesmerizing, unearthly imaginings.
Ae’s Warp page
(Warp) CD, LP soon
Stephen Ellison returns after the slow build of global hype that surrounded Los Angeles. Cosmagramma still bears the claustrophobic funk of L.A., but is less concerned with traditional ”beat” blueprints – instead, FlyLo branches out & spends a lot of time star gazing; psychedelia is the order here, yielding some catatonic head nod gems. In truth, Cosmagramma is an ALBUM, looking for “the hit” is pointless – take it all in at once to receive the fruits. Harps, noise blasts, disco & a massive dollop of jazz make this a rewarding trek. Let’s see everyone try & bite this.
WE WILL BE OPENING AT 10am!
April 17 is officially Record Store Day! Last year was a great success with a bunch of exclusive & cool releases on RSD & this year promises to be even crazier.
For details on RSD & cool artist quotes/interviews, wander over the RSD site …
Along with sweet exclusives & a crazy amount of new releases in general, there are a few nifty things we’ll be adding on to make Saturday radder than the raddest radness, such as…
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(Warp) CD & 2LP
Sean Booth & Rob Brown are an inscrutable pair; 2008’s Quaristice glanced to the group’s past, connecting with ambient passages, 4/4 rhythms & a sense of cohesion that had eluded Ae fans for a couple of releases. Oversteps gives everyone an even bigger hug, reigning in the textural experiments & abstract structures for chordings & melodic themes that span a wide range of emotions & states. From the opening fade in of “r ess” to the loping, disintegrating arpeggios of “Yuop”, Oversteps is another fine notch on Autechre’s spiffy belt. After emotionally effective dance records from the likes of Four Tet & the great bass music experiments of from the Hyperdub camp, Autechre still resonate within their own idiom. Masters.
(Carpark) CD & LP
Toro Y Moi is producer Chaz Bundick’s solo dreamwave (or chillwave, WHATEVER!) endeavor that adds another quaint little album to the slowly building mountain of shoegaze miniatures that are seamlessly melding 80’s synthpop, post-electro &… well, Boards Of Canada songs (yeah, we said it). Much of Causers Of This sounds like Panda Bear if he went all super synthy & turned down the reverb. Tunes like “Thanks Vision” have that warbly tape vibe of Neon Indian & Washed Out, but still retain the structure of a catchy as hell modern pop tune.
(Rough Trade) CD & 2LP
German Hendrik Weber has a pretty impeccable track record so far when it comes to melancholic, melodic minimal techno. His last full length effort This Bliss was one of 2008’s electronic highlights. Along with Dial label mates Sten & Efdemin, Pantha trolls an eloquent little nook of the minimal techno pantheon that focuses mores on melody & emotional gravity than bass weight & dancefloor propulsion. With Black Noise, Weber has refined the glistening sheen of his beats even more. Weber’s propensity for lilting, chiming bell-toned techno is in brilliant form here, as Black Noise artfully straddles the line separating chill-hour microhouse & sleek minimal dancefloor mastery. Features “Stick To My Side”, a great duet with Panda Bear. A great start to what promises to be a strong year of electronic full lengths.
CD (Domino)
Kieren Hebden has trasversed a great deal of beatsmithery over the last few years. On top of successful forays through “folktronica” (can we now officially retire that silly term) with Rounds & Everything Ecstatic, he ventured deep into the free-music ether with jazz legend Steve Reid. Surprising perhaps, that There Is Love In You sees Hebden in a mode that renders him as accessible as he’s likely to get. Much like 2008’s teaser EP Ringer, Hebden has become well acquainted with 4/4 kick structures & cycling psychedelic techno voyages. Early single “Love Cry” has won over clubs — not a typical Four Tet thing to do — and much of There Is Love in You hovers close to the dancefloor. The grounded rhythms & thrumming grooves are a fresh respite from all that twinkling, strumming, glistening petite electronica that litters the glut of Hebden’s back catalog.
CD & 3LP (Perlon)
As founder of the impressively out there Skull Disco label, Sam Shackleton has a rep as an uncompromising idealist – Three EPs sees Shack stick to his guns & the results are truly original sounding bass-experiments. Dark, swarming atmospheres are pelted with tribal percussion, tambourines & the odd clap. Most of these tracks build with a teeming paranoia or tension, with the catharsis usually broken by some heaving bass-drop that starts a strange, ghost-haunted train rolling. “Moon Over Joseph’s Burial” & “Asha In The Tabernacle” are menacing.
We’re happy to report that this lovely gentleman will be playing town, February 28 at Element. Details posted over here...