nu year ramblings

It's twenny elev yo.
Eleven is a totally spiritual and mystical number. Here are some facts from wikipedia:
-The number eleven is important in numerology, as it is the first of the Master Numbers.
-In Basque, hamaika ("eleven") has the double meaning of "infinite", probably from amaigabe, "endless", as in Hamaika aldiz etortzeko esan dizut! ("I told you infinite/eleven times to come!").
-American Airlines flight 11, a Boston-Los Angeles flight which crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center after being hijacked by terrorists in New York City, New York on September 11, 2001.
-Ocean's Eleven is the name of two American films.

I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT ONE ABOUT AMERICAN FILMS
MIND
BLOWING
STUFF.

Also, it's like that Why? song where he's all "the clock's always tellin' 11:11 or 3:something"

I am jus glad it's 2011 because 2010 was totally shit.

LISTEN TO THESE Y'ALL:

1. Kelis: Flesh Tone. Not to be confused with flesh light. GROSS.
Kelis goes all "club diva" and drops a pop album I managed to somehow overlook until the end of 2010. I don't even know when this came out what. Think of all those shitty David Guetta/Kelly Rowlands "club jams" and remove the shitty, annoying repetition, add some serious euro inspiration, Kelis' sassy pipes and some KILLER choruses to get FLESH TONE, a totally killer pop album. I'm not sure how this got swept under the rug. ON PAR WITH BODY TALK IMO.



2. VICKI LEEKX
Appaz M.I.A. jus dropped a free mixtape/album whenevs. You can get it hurr. And you should. It's probably better than /\/\ /\ Y /\, or at least it's more fun to listen to. And it doesn't have Teqkilla on it. Also it has less-serious M.I.A. that we haven't seen for a while! And it's FREE. Winnings, all round. I'ma listen to it RIGHT NOW. the world th-th-the world

3. DFA
That's right. I'm advising you to listen to an ENTIRE RECORD LABEL'S OUTPUT. jus' kiddin'. Well, only a little. Every act* on DFA is totally solid. *I haven't listened to all of them. But they probably are. DFA artists you have probably heard of and love: LCD Soundsystem, The Juan MacLean, The Rapture, Hercules and Love Affair, YACHT, Hot Chip(!). I'm super psyched for the upcoming Hercules and Love Affair record. BUT the reason I put this here is because for a couple days I was hooked on the DFA 2010 compilation and also the "DFA gets cheap with bleep" compilation. Both are totally winner and I heartily recommend if you like funky beats/disco/music at all. This one was flogged in the early hours of January 1:



So. Fantastic. u doin alrite? yeeeeah we're doin alrite
CAN YOU LISTEN TO THIS WITHOUT TAPPING YR FOOT LIKE AN ASSHOLE

Things I am looking forward to:
1. 2011 not being as shitty as 2010
2. Seeing SUFJAN AND OWEN PALLETT IN THE SPACE OF 5 DAYS *death*
3. LANEWAY FESTIVAL

hope erryone reading had a nice new year etc.
all the best

TWENNY TEN: Puke's Favey Albumseys

OK.
So.
This was hard, and I'm going to tell y'all straight up that I nearly copped out and picked TWO! albums as my favourites of 2010. I know, I know, but I love them both so much for completely different reasons that it was impossible to compare them.
But when hip blog co-author Amy was queried via twitter on which way to go a la "heart versus brain" the response was "go with yr heart :' ("
So, dun dun dunnn,

Owen Pallett's Heartland wins my favourite album of 2010 Awarde.

Here's a wanky instagram photo of it sitting on my shit desk.


See that blurry/lined-up face on the cover? Well, according to both popular urban bible "SongMeanings.com," and Owen Pallett himself, this album is A STORY. About that dude. Who is named "Lewis." This is where it gets a bit confusing. The setting is some fictional kingdom somewhere (complete with place names used here and there, including the titular "Heartland"). And, basically, when we are listening to Owen Pallett sing on this album, we are listening to a dialogue between Owen himself and this fictional Lewis character.
Uhh
So basically I have no fucking idea either. But that doesn't really matter. These songs are insanely. Emotional. Notice up there how I said that I had to pick between a "brain" choice and a "heart" choice. The concept of Heartland may sound complicated but only it's only there if you really want to delve in to it. Since this is fast becoming a bad Pitchfork review where the music isn't actually talked about..
Heartland sounds fantastic. If you've followed Pallett's previous Final Fantasy forays, this is the next logical step from where he was going with the Spectrum EP. Horns, electronics, sometimes a bit kraut, sometimes a bit Yann Tiersen, it's all fantastic. And guess what! NO VIOLINS. Just kidding every fucking song has violin, this is Owen Pallett LOLOLOL.
He's kind of toned his voice down a bit since He Poos Clouds, not so shouty or shrill, but it works. I don't think we've heard that creepy bellow he pulls out on interlude "Mount Alpetine." Every instrument, from that jumped-up bassline in "Tryst with Mephistopheles" to the more-catchy-than-the-vocals horns/woodwinds in "Lewis Takes Action" has been so meticulously and artfully placed and timed. It's fucking fantastic.

My absolute favourite track here though is called "The Great Elsewhere." It's a turning point in the album in terms of both sound and content- shit seems to get heavy. I also think this song has a better slow build than anything Sigur Ros have ever done, so shove it, Jonsi! (Jus kidding, I luv you Jonsi!) There are sparky zinger electronics, haunting violins etc., and then BAM drum machine. Every time Owey P pulls out a drum machine I absolutely lose my shit (see: Don't Stop). And then there are lyrics about some epic battles, pirates, scars, and "face to his face, I put my hand into his" and OH MAN. It's pretty overwhelming. Listen loudly, on headphones. It's like this song is someone running off a cliff, Hyperballad style, on a stormy day. They're going to die, and it's going to be spectacular, and sad. I have it on good authority from nobody whatsoever that Katy Perry was listening to this song on repeat when she wrote "Firework" or whatever it is, take from that whatever you will.
Sorry, I'm trying hard to write about this album without sounding like a huge wanker but I LOVE IT SO MUCH
I guess in a sense I am pretty biased in that this album dropped right in the middle of My Maelstrom of Personal Problems. Long, long walks + this shit on loop = tattooed to my personality forevermore. Uhhh
MAYBE I'LL LEAVE IT AT THAT

If it wasn't for my super emotional attachment to Heartland, this next album would've been at the top of the podium (see: Brain choice)

Matthew Dear's Black City wins runner up a.k.a. #1.5


I have already written a review of this album on this blog THANK FUCK I AM SICK OF TYPING SHIT. But, I will say, this album is still soooo good. I remember when I first fired up opening track "Honey" and I was like "Man this album is going to be pretty shit," but by the the third nine minute epic track I was pretty convinced otherwise. Also I love how deceptive and soothing "Honey" is now. BLACK SITTAYYYY 4 LYF

I'm not going to write anymore blurbs, just three-word-poems for the rest of the runners up. Also, I will leave spacing between the albums to indicate how 'close' they are to each other in terms of 'rankings.' I'm so fucking conceptual.

3. Sam Amidon's I See The Sign: R. Kelly, covered
4. Antony & The Johnsons' Swanlights: "PUNCH HER GHOST!"


5. Wavves' King of The Beach: V is for
6. Deerhunter's Halcyon Digest: Bradford Cox, still!

7. Skream's Outside The Box: Who is she?

8. LCD Soundsystem's This is Happening: Live and livid


9. Sufjan Steven's Age of Adz: HE IS SEXY



10. I can't decide between Joanna Newsom, Warpaint, or Mount Kimbie. So pick your favourite out of these three.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

DON'T WORRY GUYS, Amy's list will be Coming Soon, and I'm sure I will find some other shit to write about before 2011. Comic Foxhole, anyone?
...

Ugh, reading back, this post is basically just a handjob for Owen Pallett. SUCCESS??

sufie

I kind of think this Sufjan Stevens guy might be some sort of crazy genius.

THAT COULD AT LEAST EXPLAIN WHY HE WEARS BIRDWINGS AND SHIT

Anyway,
So he has a new album, called The Age of Adz. As per the title track, this is pronounced more like "odds" than "ads." I have no idea what its meant to mean. Its probably a prophecy that The Sufjan has Seen and we will all find out in harrowing moments of terror.

The album kicks off on Chilligan's Island with a nice lil' not-atypical Sufjy Stevens piano thing called "Futile Devices" and then BAM second track is all "I'M EXPERIMENTAL," drum machines and synthaholler. Sufjan Stevens: electronic genius!? WHO KNEW (A: basically anyone who listened to and appreciated his Year of the Rabbit thing). The third song is the aforementioned title track and it kind of sounds like the Terminator films would sound if they were actually musicals. O shit, gang gang etc. Everything on this album sounds completely not-of-this-planet. It's hella bizzaro.

"I am The Sufjan. hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm"

My personal favourite tracks from THE AAAGE OF AAAADZ are called: I Walked, The Age of Adz, I Want To Be Well (a.k.a. the song where Sufjan repeatedly yells in our faces a reassurance that he is "not fucking around") and Impossible Soul.

It is worth nothing that Impossible Soul, the closing "track" GOES FOR TWENTY-FIVE FUCKEN MINUTES. It is fantastic. In the future, this song will be compulsory listening in The Church of The Sufjan. Contained within the song's lengthy stream are: a terrifying moment where a horrorhouse auto-tuned version of The Sufjan bellows "STUPID MAN IN THE WINDOW", live drums(!), and a 3 minute burnout that is all the more smooth and tasty after 22 minutes of spastic experimental music.

Having said all this, it's pretty heavy listening and I kind of think that some of the tracks in the middle of the album get a bit lost in all the cacophony. But. I'm p sure that they'll reveal themselves with repeated listenings. So it's NBD.

SUFJAN STEVEN'S ALBUM
THE AGE OF ADZ
gets like 8 Lukes out of 10

hit it up