february

Top 20 Songs of February 2014

Here are my most played, favourite songs of February 2014:

20. ASTR – We Fall Down

 

19. Dum Dum Girls – Rimbaud Eyes

 

18. Elephant – Elusive Youth

 

17. Neon Trees – Sleeping With A Friend

 

16. Broods – Coattails

 

15. Serebro – Mi Mi Mi

Unrivalled preposterousness. Catchy as all hell.

 

14. Tokyo Police Club – Hot Tonight

 

13. Balance & Composure – Enemy

 

12. Lover Lover – The Fire

 

11. Lord Huron – Time To Run

 

10. Bombay Bicycle Club – Luna

Not surprised this was the second single. Rae Morris and Jack Steadman sound fantastic sharing the vocals.

 

9. Cage The Elephant – Spiderhead/Cigarette Daydreams/Telescope

The more I listen to Cage’s latest album, Melophobia, the more I enjoy it. Their sloppy accessibility is alluring. These three tracks are my current favourites.

Spiderhead:

Cigarette Daydreams:

Telescope:

 

8. Vance Joy – Riptide

Wonderful, sunny, joyous, summery pop music.

 

7. Darlia – Queen of Hearts

Embroidered with grunge and pop fabrics. The result is one catchy tune.

 

6. Katy B – Everything

On her latest album, Katy B’s eschewed the synthpop sound that so many of her contemporaries have clung to of late. In its stead, she’s gone (almost) Full House, a considerable achievement as DJ Tanner is nowhere to be found. “Everything” is a stud.

 

5. Against Me! – Fuckmylife666

One of the many fantastic songs on Against Me!’s latest LP. Though I couldn’t stop singing the line, “Don’t wanna live without teeth, don’t wanna die without bite,” the lyric that hits hardest is, “is your mother proud of your eyelashes?” Slaying gender ideals one burn at a time, Against Me! are back and at their fiery best.

 

4. Magic! – Rude

So, so, so, so catchy. I don’t think I’ll be sick of this song for a long time — if ever.

 

3. Bombay Bicycle Club – Feel

The opening eastern rhythm is out-of-this-world sensational. The guitar riff that joins the fray at 2:38 ups the ante even further, making “Feel” one of the best songs they’ve ever done. Bombay Bicycle Club can, quite simply, do whatever they want with songs, sounds, and music, such is their talent. What makes it so thrilling is that it all sounds so effortless. BBC are a one of a kind beauty.

 

2. Maximo Park – Drinking Martinis/Midnight On The Hill/Where We’re Going

Maximo Park are a treasure I hold very dearly in my heart. I wish they were a massive band the world over — it’s what they deserve. I wish they had a big enough fan base in Toronto to tour here so I don’t have to trek to the U.S. to see them. I can’t be greedy with so many wishes though, as they’re the embodiment of what I want my music to be: catchy for days and weeks and years. And that’s exactly what Maximo Park have been, for years: hard-working, staunch melodists, indefatigably likeable. Every album they’ve released is charming and fresh, and their latest, Too Much Information, is no different. Per usual, a handful of unbelievably good tunes comprise the record, with “Leave This Island” and the three tunes below the big winners. One thing that separates Maximo Park from the rest is that there’s something special, something indefinable about their songs that prevents them from getting tired. “Books From Boxes”, “Postcard of a Painting”, “By The Monument”, and “Questing, Not Coasting”, among many others, have not reached a point where I haven’t enjoyed listening to them. I believe these new set of songs will have a likewise affect on me. This is what many people call magic.

Drinking Martinis

Midnight On The Hill

Where We’re Going

 

1. Against Me! – Transgender Dysphoria Blues/Black Me Out/Paralytic States

From the first moment I heard these tunes to now, I’ve been in awe. From a song and melody perspective, these collection of songs are on par with the indomitable “Trash Unreal”, “Borne On The FM Waves Of The Heart”, and “The Ocean” from their seminal New Wave LP. From a personal, lyrical, and culture-commenting perspective, the songs are even better. Lead singer Laura Jane Grace (formerly Tom Gabel) has undoubtedly gone through a lot. But she sounds so invigorated, energetic, chomping at the bit to tell a (her?) story that I’m so bloody thankful Against Me! are still around and adorned with their trademark ferocity. Transgender Dysphoria Blues will assuredly end up being one of the records of the year when 2014 is said and done, and these three tracks, along with lead single “True Trans Soul Rebel”, are the big reasons why. Culturally, it’s an important record, and musically, it’s a beast that bellows loudly and froths with intensity. It already sounds like a classic.

Transgender Dysphoria Blues

Black Me Out

Paralytic States

 

 

My Top 10 Songs of February 2013

Here are the songs (mostly new, a couple from a while back) that I’ve been listening to most this February…

Just missed the cut:

Bastille – Requiem for Blue Jeans

Tegan and Sara – I Was A Fool

Clubfeet – Everything You Wanted

Frightened Rabbit – Nitrous Gas

Wave Machines – Ill Fit

The Top Ten:

10. Torres – Honey

A relatively sparse production, “Honey” hits where it hurts, right in the gut.

9. Feathers – Land Of The Innocent

Fantastic new pop song. Slightly dark, mysterious, and full of hooks.

8. Mother Mother – Bit By Bit

Just as strong as “Let’s Fall In Love”. These Canadian alt-pop-rockers have made a supremely gitchy tune in “Bit By Bit”.

7. The Neighbourhood – A Little Death

Really cool, sultry video accompanies this dynamite alt-pop offering.

6. The Lone Bellow – Bleeding Out

I wish there were a studio version of this tune available on Youtube to showcase how bright and compelling this sing-a-long stomper is. As it stands, this live version does just fine. Brooklyn’s answer to Mumford and Sons and Of Monsters and Men.

5. The Joy Formidable – The Leopard And The Lung

Epic. Monstrous. Gargantuan. “The Leopard And The Lung” is probably the best song on TJF’s new album Wolf’s Law. Its soft moments are sublime and its hard ones thrash through walls like Juggernaut’s metallic egg head.

4. Foals – Inhaler/My Number

“Inhaler” finds Foals rocking out more than they probably ever have — and they sound bloody fantastic doing it. For the life of me, I can’t let “My Number” go. It’s an entire song made up of hooks. Two sensational songs.

3. The Knife – Pass This On/A Lung/You Make Me Like Charity

In anticipation of The Knife’s new album (their first in seven years), I’ve been listening to their older stuff. “A Lung”, from their debut album, The Knife, is probably the most menacing song on the LP, a haunting harbinger of things to come on Silent Shout, and it’s incomprehensibly good. “You Make Me Like Charity” and “Pass This On” are both from The Knife’s second album, “Deep Cuts”. The former is an insane, tax-paying obsessed love letter that’s bathed in innumerable hooks. The latter is possibly the catchiest song The Knife have ever done (“Heartbeats” included — it’s close, who the hell knows). I’ve been obsessed with the video (link below) because it features the King and Queen themselves, Olof being the initial victim/dancer who falls prey to the siren’s song, and Karin, whose stoic gaze appears a few times in the video, most notably at the end in the final shot. I’m pretty sure Olof and Karin are the baddest people on the planet. No biggie.

2. Coheed and Cambria – The Hard Sell/Dark Side Of Me

This is alt-rock, and it’s funking fantastic. For me, Coheed and Cambria have never sounded this urgent, and they haven’t had songs as good as these since “A Favor House Atlantic”. “The Hard Sell” is ferocious yet innately catchy. A tough job, but one they pull off with ease. “The Dark Side Of Me” is slightly less ferocious, but more hopeless, more barren, more affecting. So surprised at the quality of these two songs; Coheed and Cambria have made a statement.

1. Chvrches – Recover

It took a few listens. At first, I thought Chvrches new song, “Recover”, was really good but not quite on par with “Lies” or “The Mother We Share”, two already indomitable tunes. Then around the 4th or 5th listen, it hit me, “Recover” is just as brilliant. It’s a soaring, synth-driven song soaking in melody, hooks and electronic mastery, all while sounding undeniably human, irrefutably warm. Then there’s Lauren Mayberry’s vocals. Pristine, piercing, and potent, they soar above the song and prop it up at the same time. I’m absolutely floored at how good the first 3 releases have been from the Glaswegians. It’s a hit or miss game to try to predict if a band is going to break or not, but I really feel that Chvrches will bust through in a huge way. There’s not better pop being made on planet earth right now. This sound will find ears. It’s already found mine and they can’t let it go.