“THE MOST ANTICIPATED ALBUMS OF THE NEXT 12 MONTHS”
To look forward we must first look back…
…Back to 2010. Based on the success and failures, the hype and thus inevitable underwhelm, Pitchfork 10.0s and Internet buzz – we can better understand and predict the coming months ahead. The trends and patterns that dominated 2010 will surely continue into 2011, and will shape the year to come for better or for worse.
Lo-fi is an extremely ambiguous word. By definition lo-fi is “music in which the sound is of a lower quality than the usual standard.” But as of late the term lo-fi has come to mean a whole lot more. It all comes down to authenticity. Free from studio sheen and basically any production whatsoever, lo-fi is considered by some to be the most genuine and pure music – and about as un-mainstream as it gets.
By Lukas Clark-Memler
The 1986 Vancouver World Expo was a magical time. Miles Davis, Johnny Cash and The Beach Boys performed; a Floating McDonalds and the world’s largest ice hockey stick were all on display. This attracted a bevy of global icons including, but not limited to: Princess Diana, Bill Cosby and Jacques Cousteau. Another group of attendees were the then pre-adolescent members of Wolf Parade, who as rumor has it, actually met at the Expo and agreed to meet up some 17 years later to form a band.
By Lukas Clark-Memler
Occasionally a song will come along that is so sonically flawless, that short of the artists responsible declaring their forthright love for Hitler’s policies, committing mass murder, or worse, selling their music to Starbucks – you will forgive them for almost anything. “Spanish Sahara” is such a single. Foals are such a group
And Foals’ sophomore album, Total Life Forever, is a damn good listen.
“The only band we like is Nirvana. The only album we like is Nevermind. The only song we like is “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” No, this is not an obituary for a delusional albeit loyal Nirvana fan that took his own life after realizing that Kurt Cobain was never coming back. And this isn’t even the press release for a Nirvana tribute band that stubbornly refuse to learn, or write any other song, in fear of selling out and dishonoring the aforesaid grunge legends.
The Morning Benders’ vocalist and founder, Christopher Chu, said in a recent interview, that he likes to attack the recording process with a “Phil Spector kind of vibe.” He went on to say that he would just “pile in like 50 people into the studio… and just blow it out.”
What’s the aural version of a punch delivered straight to the face? The auditory equivalent of a shock to the system? The answer is simple; one word, one syllable.
Kong.
Before we start, a word of caution. This album is certainly not for the faint hearted.
Manchester based prog-rockers, Kong, don’t give a fuck about making their listeners feel good. In fact, their abrasive, raucous, atonal beats tend to leave you devoid of any feeling at all; you’re simply numbed by the sonic blow.
“History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce.” Though this Marxist quote was generally referring to something other than the music industry, it can be applied just as accurately to it. Take for instance, the disco movement. Beginning in the 70s, early disco was a glorious albeit gaudy snapshot in musical history. Fast forward a few decades and we have the tragic rebirth of disco. This post-disco period is a time many music historians tend to conveniently forget out of sheer embarrassment. But fortunately, this phase faded rather fast, and now, come the first decade in the 21st century, we see the ghost of disco infiltrate our airwaves again. This time however it is done with ironic intentions in mind so is therefore accepted into society without ridicule. First created, then tragically reinstated, and then satirically born again; history has the tendency to repeat itself.
By: Lukas Clark-Memler
The modern day rock star job description states that, one must look, sound and act like ridiculous, pretentious caricatures of themselves, at all times. Some have a deep, rudimentary understanding of this way of life, and succumb to tabloid wishes by refusing to drive unless thoroughly intoxicated, and living by the maxim of, “this ain’t a party until I get kicked out of the club for either engaging in a vicious brawl, or being in possession of class A narcotics.” Others, like many self-proclaimed rappers, were born ludicrous, and so arrogant, that they had to become famous and widely revered, to avoid imploding in a blaze of impotent self-hatred.
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