Wintersleep

1. Wintersleep

It’s a late July afternoon, and for the throng of concertgoers gathered in the heart of the Halifax, there is a palpable sense of anticipation in the air. Grey clouds hang threateningly in the sky and for the several hundred in attendance; it’s not a matter of if the clouds are going to break, but when. The backdrop for this particular all-ages festival is an old, British military citadel from the 18th century to protect this port city from attacks from the French. Today, only its weathered walls and cannon – the latter fired daily as a noon chime – still remain. As the band Wintersleep takes to the stage, the crowd erupts in frenzied cheering. As rain drops begin to pelt the ill-dressed crowd, the band launches into their infectious anthem from 2007′s Welcome To The Night Sky, “Weighty Ghost” (only Wintersleep could turn the line “Have you seen my ghost?” into a catchy call-and-response). “Weighty Ghost” fades into the soaring, up-tempo “Oblivion” which causes the mostly teenaged crowd to start swaying, and those who are slightly more inebriated, to attempt to start a mosh-pit.

This enthusiastic response is just continued proof that despite winning New Group of the Year at the 2008 Juno Awards and playing in major festivals such as V-Fest this past autumn in Toronto (which featured a lineup that also included Foo Fighters, Bloc Party and Oasis), Wintersleep still remains the biggest deal in their own province. Ask any Nova Scotian about Wintersleep, and it’s likely that everyone you talk to will have a story about the band. Whether it be the your co-worker whose nephew appeared in the “Weighty Ghost” video, or your friend’s cousin that lives next to one of the band, there is a collective Atlantic Canadian pride in the little Halifax-by way of-Yarmouth band that could. While it took the rest of the country three albums to catch up with the band’s ominous sound, first heard in the band’s breakout 2003 single “Orca” (with lead vocalist Tim D’eon’s menacing growl “I’ll be a monster”), but Wintersleep is finally getting the attention they deserve and are still riding the wave of acclaim that came with Welcome To The Night Sky. Critics and listeners alike were able to agree that with this album, the band has created what a modern rock album should sound like. The album features ten sonically dense tracks, that are heavily atmospheric and proves the band is not afraid from shying away from instrumental experimentation. Wintersleep’s not-so-secret weapon is percussionist Loel Campbell, perhaps one of the most underrated drummers in Canadian rock music today (download “Nerves Normal, Breathe Normal” if you don’t believe me), who provides the throbbing heartbeat driving the band.

As for that Halifax show? A copy of the band’s handwritten set list now sits on my shelf in my dorm room, awaiting a proper frame. Despite being smeared from rain, the songs printed in marker still remain legible; it is a fitting reminder of that brief hour and a half where Wintersleep was the biggest band in the entire world.

2. Hey Rosetta!

When I call the cell phone of Tim Baker, I reach the guitarist and lead vocalist of Hey Rosetta! as he is driving down Bathurst Street, only a few hours after flying in from British Columbia. In the background I can hear the rest of the band talking and laughing, and over the phone, it seems that Baker is also in high spirits. And if there is any band that has the right to be feeling jubilant these days, it’s the six-piece from St. John’s, Newfoundland. Hey Rosetta! are arriving from playing shows out west with Two Hours Traffic and recently finished up a stint in the Atlantic provinces with Montreal’s darlings Stars. This week the band is in Toronto on a stop on their headlining tour to perform a show at The Horseshoe Tavern with openers Toronto’s own Oh No Forest Fires and Halifax’s Museum Pieces.

Hey Rosetta! made their debut with Plan Your Escape, which was released as a full-length in 2006. After chatting with Sonic Records and Halifax, it was rerecorded and put out as an EP for the rest of the country. In 2008, Into Your Lungs (and around in your heart and on through your blood) was released. When asked about the difference and growth made as a band between the two albums, Bakers says that they were “Pretty substantial. We were together for about six months. I had these songs written, and it was a process of the band learning them. We toured a bunch as a band and really pulled together.” Describing recording with iconic folk singer-songwriter Hawksley Workman on Into Your Lungs, Baker said that it was tremendously fun and that the entire band had a good time. “It was rushed – about two weeks – and we were hammering out about two tunes a day. Hawksley definitely brought an awesome energy and awesome vibes to the recording. He’s a great guy and very interesting.” Speaking of Workman, several weeks later, the band is set to open for the singer at a venue as grand as Massey Hall nonetheless.

The band has made their reputation on their well-crafted pop songs, which incorporates elements of folk music and orchestral rock (including a cello and violin) and Baker’s earnest vocals, not to mention their energetic shows. “It’s kind of all we have,” says Baker, when asked about how much importance they place on the band’s live performances, “We haven’t been doing a lot of recording on new songs recently. We try to arrange our shows for that there is a good flow and lots of energy. There’s not too much gimmickry.” Yet despite their newfound success in the rest of Canada, according to Baker the band won’t be leaving Atlantic Canada anytime soon, nor will they be forgetting their Newfoundland roots. “I love touring on the East Coast,” says Baker, “I think it’s [St. John's] a great place to start a band, and it is a city where it’s pretty easy to get noticed and there is a dedicated fan base.”

3. Two Hours Traffic

Prince Edward Island hasn’t exactly been the most fertile breeding grounds for new musical talent over the past few years, but Charlottetown’s Two Hours Traffic have been on a mission to prove that Canada’s smallest province is more than its stereotypes of Anne, Stompin’ Tom Connors and potatoes. The quartet has had a busy year, and if 2008 was any indication, the band should be clearing trophy-space on their mantles for 2009. While awards and accolades doth not make a band great, there may be one nomination in particular that is telling of the Two Hour Traffic’s rising acclaim this year and future expectations, and that would be the Polaris Music Prize. The Polaris is the only award for an album in Canada based solely on artistic merit rather than record sales, is voted on by a panel of judges, and comes with a cash prize of $20,000 for the winner. Past winners have included Final Fantasy and Patrick Watson and this year Two Hours Traffic’s second full-length album Little Jabs was in the company of artists including Toronto’s Holy Fuck, Montreal’s Plants and Animals and Vancouver’s Black Mountain.

I’m working on the assumption that most of you aren’t terribly familiar with the group, so I figure that a brief biography of the band is in order (Perhaps an interview in the near future? I’m certainly looking into it!), culled from various online sources. Two Hours Traffic began in 2003, when Liam Corcoran and Alec O’Hanley recruited fellow University of PEI chemistry students Andrew MacDonald and Derek Ellis to start a band. Contrary to popular belief, the band drew its namesake from a line from Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet, rather than the fact that it takes two hours to travel the province from tip-to-tip. While still in their teens, the band released an EP – which caught the attention of one highly-respected Nova Scotian musician, none other than Joel Plaskett himself. Plaskett offered to produce the band’s self-titled, full-length debut album which was released in 2005. Obviously since then the island has grown to be too small for the band, and they have toured and played across Canada with those such as The Golden Dogs, Arkells, The Danks, Hey Rosetta! and Wintersleep.

While you have to give credit where credit is due to producer and obvious major inspiration for the album, Halifax’s guitar troubadour Plaskett, there is no denying Two Hours Traffic’s unique sound. Little Jabs is the perfect soundtrack to an Atlantic Canadian summer, with the band melding big power pop hooks and folk rock together. “Nighthawks” draws you in with a laid-back sigh of a lazy, sunny afternoon while the rollicking, up-tempo “Stuck For The Summer” is perfect for getting ready to go out for a night out on the town. Finally the gorgeous “Jezebel”, is for when the night is drawing to a close, and you are lying with a girl in the tall grass under the stars and wondering if you should kiss her or not. Pop music like this doesn’t come any catchier or more sincere from here than it does from the rest of Canada.

4. Buck 65

Could anyone have predicted that fifteen years ago, a white rapper from an industrialized suburb of Halifax (Enfield), could have made a name for himself in the Canadian rap scene? Certainly not one Richard Terfry, who performs under the stage name Buck 65 and who grew acclaim first following the release of Talkin’ Honky Blues in 2003. A lyrically-dense album full of off-kilter rhymes about the Blue Jays and his grandfather, not to mention the standout single “Wicked and Weird”, it was arguably singlehandedly responsible for putting Maritimes hip-hop on the map. Nonetheless it lifted Buck’s career to the next level, and inspired other Atlantic Canadian rappers such as Classified to follow in his footsteps.

Last fall Buck put out Situation, which turned out to be one hell of a concept album. Opening with the with the album’s manifesto “1957″; in which the rapper says goodbye to the Brooklyn Dodgers, listens to Buddy Holly and Elvis on the radio of his Chevy Bel Air, while name-checking the Ku Klux Klan and pink flamingos, the rest of Situation is dedicated to the musical, political and social culture of the year. It could have been a disaster of Titanic proportions – but thanks to Buck’s attention to detail and knack for creating memorable characters including crooked cops and ne’er-do-wells, it succeeded. It also proved that the rapper could succeed commercially while maintaining artistic growth. “Way Back When” (which included some of Buck’s sharpest lines, including “Men drew lines, young boys drew knives”) took radio stations by storm, receiving generous airplay, while “Cop Shades” (featuring scratches from album producer Skratch Bastid) was regarded by critics and hip-hop aficionados as Buck’s finest song to date. Not one to lose steam, the rapper rode the positive reception to the album comfortably into 2008. Rolling Stone called Buck, “our favorite Canadian MC”, featuring“Dang” on the magazine’s “Hot List”, and he was given a spot on B.C.’s Pemberton Festival lineup (which also included Jay-Z, Coldplay and Nine Inch Nails). Fans were also given the chance to pull their own MSTRKRFT (the Toronto duo contributed an electronic shine to his 2005 single “Kennedy Killed The Hat”), and remix the aforementioned track, with the winner getting the b-side of the vinyl release of the song. The rapper has also made forays perhaps not typically associated with his genre; in April, he played a show with Symphony Nova Scotia, and recently lent guest vocals to a song by Inuit throat singer Tanya Tagaq.

Lately, it would seem that Terfry is at a crossroads in his career. His love of music of all stripes has translated into a new job – recently it was announced that he would become the new host of the CBC Radio 2 afternoon program Drive. According to his website, this show features “70% Canadian music, mainly released within the past 10 years, not to mention Buck’s signature stories and deadpan jokes!” While it remains to be seen if this will put an end to Buck’s rapping career, everyone that can rest assured that no matter where the future takes him, it’ll always be about the music.

5. Rebekah Higgs

What, you haven’t heard of her? As much as Haligonians would prefer to keep it that way, there is no doubt that this talented songstress can stay a local secret for much longer. Higgs is no doubt on her way to joining the pantheon of great female singer-songwriters born and raised in Nova Scotia, following in the footsteps of Jenn Grant, Jill Barber, Sarah McLaughlan and others, after the debut of her self-titled album in 2007, and a major coming out at Halifax’s inaugural Summer Sonic Festival this past July. While others might have intimidated by the “boy’s club” lineup, which saw opening day performances from Tokyo Police Club, The Weakerthans and Alexisonfire’s Dallas Green (playing his solo material under the alias City & Colour), Higgs was unflappable during her performance and came away with at least a few new fans.

Wearing a floral-patterned top, grey vest, bead necklace and jeans, it was pretty safe to say that the easy-on the-eyes blonde stole a few indie boys’ hearts by the time her set was finished (not mentioning any names…Dave). While the rest of the crowd might not have been as quick to pronounce their wedding proposals, Higgs certainly charmed the entire audience, entertaining the crowd in-between songs with stories about her pet rabbits (who were depicted on her onstage canvas backdrop) and wielding her hefty, dark red Gretsch as if she had been born with the guitar attached to her. And, oh the songs. Her debut album, which was recorded and produced in Toronto and distributed by the label Outside Music, consists of ten, immaculately-crafted pop songs that will pull at the strings of even the most hardened of hearts. Forget about your American divas and British pseudo-soul singers, Rebekah Higgs know how to write a love song. The gorgeous “Love Is” opens with the singer expressing her vulnerability over dialed-down guitars (“Love is a mess on the floor/Love is falling when you’re unsure”), before Higgs paints a tale of falling head over heels for someone against her best intentions. It’s a theme that has been tackled by hundreds of others before her, yet her lack of theatrics and innocence makes it standout. “Parables”, is further proof that listening to Higgs’ music – as described on her MySpace – is like “realizing that cotton candy tastes like unrequited love”.

As for the singer, she recently received a nomination for Best Music Video for “Parables” at the upcoming East Coast Music Awards – Atlantic Canada’s version of the Grammy Awards. Don’t forget her name because it’s not the last you’ve heard of her.

M.I.A.

1. M.I.A. – Paper Planes (Diplo Street Remix feat. Bun B & Rich Boy)
Yes, technically the Sri Lankan songstress’ sophomore album Kala came out last year, but this remix is featured on this year’s Homeland Security Remixes, which I recently purchased on vinyl. Thanks to its use in a little movie by the name of Pineapple Express this summer, everyone and their mothers heard this song. It quickly became the drunken anthem of choice at parties, not to mention being performed on Letterman (even though they made her replace the gunshots in the chorus with a plastic toy gun) and being heavily sampled on the G4 (Kanye, Lil Wayne, Jay-Z and um…T.I.) of rap collaboration Swagga Like Us. Yet while every rapper worth his salt attempted a remix, it was Diplo’s version – featuring some street-heavy verses from Southern rappers Bun B and Rich Boy – that stole the show and stood out from the rest of the pack. Now that she’s pregnant (just imagine the baby clothes that child is going to be wearing), it remains to be seen if Ms. Arulpragasm is done with her recording career as she has stated in interviews, but she can’t quit - the game(not to mention her “proteges”, NYC’s Santogold and Baltimore’s Rye Rye) needs her.

2. Tokyo Police Club – Your English Is Good
I could tell you why this band from Newmarket, Ontario is one of the best pop bands to come out of Canada, and why I think that this infectiously-catchy song (off their debut full-length Elephant Shell) is one of the best they’ve written in the short three years they’ve been together. Or I could just reprint a scene from a recent episode of Desperate Housewives, in which the band competes as Coldsplash in a battle of the bands, and performs “In A Cave”. I choose that one:

Guy #1[as he watches band]: “God, look at those guys. They’re so young.”
Guy #2: “No wonder they went first. They probably have homework.”
Guy #3: “Would you guys relax. Rock and roll’s not just for young people.”
Guy #4 (is it obvious that I don’t watch this show very often?): “Why are they so loud?”
Guy #3: “You’re not helping Carlos.”
Guy #1: “They’re really good. [turns to Guy #3] Ed, we’re really old enough to be their fathers.”
Hilarious.

3. Queens of the Stone Age – Make It Wit Chu (acoustic version)
While Guitar Hero geeks were wetting themselves over the crunchy guitar riffs of “3′s & 7′s” in 2008, Josh Homme and Co. were crafting the perfect song devoted to…um well, you know…”getting” with a lady. On the third single off this summer’s stellar Era Vulgaris, “Make It Wit Chu”, Homme’s promises to get with you “anytime, anywhere” while the rest of the band delivers that trademark QOTSA desert (or “stoner” depending on whose review you are reading) rock groove that we’ve come to know and love. This should be Quagmire from Family Guy’s theme song, or perhaps those dudes from Wedding Crashers. I prefer my Make It Wit Chu with acoustic rather than electric guitars, but both versions are stellar, and for bonus points, see if you can seek out the un-televised hookup with Gnarl Barkley’s Cee-Lo Green on the track during last year’s VMAs (and if you do find it, send it my way please). Funky.

4. The Kills – Sour Cherry
While it remains to be seen if Gossip Girl will be immortalized in television history (don’t front, you know you love it), as far as I’m concerned, the show deserves at least some place in the cultural zeitgeist for including this electro-rock gem in an episode. Of course (and without trying to sound like a pretentious hipster), I had bought my copy of The Kills’ latest album Midnight Boom months before all the G.G. hype, yet the show served to introduce a fantastic band to a wider audience. “Sour Cherry” explodes in a drum machine and Jamie Hince’s sharp guitar riff-filled rush, grabbing you with Allison Mosshart’s breathy yelping (only Mosshart could make the line “I’m the only sour cherry in your fruit stand” sound sexy), and doesn’t let up. Clocking in at just over three minutes, this track drips with seductiveness and kinkiness, just serving as further proof that the duo are at the top of their game. If you’re the type of person that makes make-out mixes, you need this song. Enough said.

5. Flight of the Conchords – Business Time
Upon first listen to the self-titled debut album from these New Zealand upstarts, they don’t seem to be covering any new ground. The songs all tread the same, terribly-worn topics: girls, boredom in everyday life, girls, the pressures of fame, and did I mention girls? On a second listen, you notice that the duo consider it a good day if they spent it drinking tea with their grandmothers, consider the perils of getting diseases from monkeys, and believes that telling a girl that she’s “hot like a curry” is a good pickup line. Okay…so maybe the Kiwi duo of Jemaine Clements and Bret McKenzie is anything but typical. Now that their hilarious TV series has been picked up in Canada, perhaps more people will get to fall in love with their hilarious songs, which range from acoustic ditties to faux disco and rap. If you haven’t heard “Business Time”, I won’t spoil the surprise, but let’s just say it involves a romantic night between two lovers and I’ll let you take it from there. I’d like to also give a special shout out to my neighbour and j-school friend Matt, who enjoys drunkenly reciting this song note-for-note after he has been into the Steamwhistle. Good times indeed…

6. Lil Wayne feat. D. Smith – Shoot Me Down
Tha Carter III? Best hip-hop album of 2008, hands down. However, while everyone was going crazy for “Lollipop” (with its hypnotic vocoder beat, simple yet incredibly catchy chorus and song title and lyrics that had Weezy not even bothering to try to convince everyone that it wasn’t a thinly-disguised metaphor for some type of sexual activity), and everyone else was rapping over the cuckoo rhymes of the droning “A Milli” (check out the A.P.T. version which pays tribute to Barack Obama), this track went criminally under the radar. While he still succumbs to the stereotypical hip-hop cliches; money, violence, drugs and the ladies, the haunting “Shoot Me Down” allows the rapper to expose his demons and question his mortality. In this song, Lil Wayne looks at his reflection in a mirror and asks if his fame is truly worth the sacrifices, over an ominous beat, a mean electric guitar loop and a pleading hook for salvation. There’s more to this song than meets the eye.

7. Noah and the Whale – 5 Years Time
My friend Cindy from Newfoundland has an expression that she likes to use whenever there is something that makes her happy inside. That phrase is “it does the heart good” and I think that’s a pretty apt description of how this song makes you feel. “5 Years Time” is all the elements of a great pop song; horns (I mean seriously, did you hear the last White Stripes album? “Conquest”? It’s all about the horns.), marimbas (really), tongue-in-cheek lyrics (“I no longer feel like I have to be James Dean”), have a positive message (love of course), not to mention the song having its own dance (just call it the Y.M.C.A. for sensitive, indie-pop kids), distilled into one infectiously catchy tune. If you have even a passing interest in the work of Wes Anderson (Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou), you owe it to yourself to check out these Brits, whose music – and music videos – have drawn inspiration from the iconic film director. This is pop music guaranteed to give you a sugar-rush that’ll leave you wanting more.

8. Kings of Leon – Sex On Fire
With their fourth album entitled Only By The Night, Kings of Leon made a pretty solid case for rock album of the year, and found themselves opening for the likes of U2, Pearl Jam and Bob Dylan. The band is apparently massive in the U.K., and while every article I’ve read on them this year has bitched about why their not as popular in North America, love from magazines including Rolling Stone and Spin would suggest otherwise. Not bad for three Tennessee brothers – and one cousin – that spent their childhood touring the country in a car with their Pentecostal preacher daddy, far removed from the Pandora’s box of sex, drugs, alcohol and rock ‘n’ roll that they now embrace in their lyrics. Though it begs the question, “just how does one have sex on fire?”, “Sex On Fire” is gritty, Southern-fried rock at its finest, with lead singer Caleb Followill’s tortured wailing about a tempestuous woman over soaring guitars and crashing drums. Besides this is one of TV personality and host of CBC’s The Hour’s George Stroumboulopoulos’ favourite bands, and who are we to argue with George Strombo?

9. Tricky – Council Estate
During the 1990s, artists from the city of Bristol in southwestern England were largely responsible for introducing the genre known as trip-hop to the rest of the world. Trip-hop, as Wikipedia defines is “downtempo electronic music that grew out of England’s hip hop and house scenes”. Pioneers of this sound included Bristol bands Massive Attack and Portishead, and Washington’s Thievery Corporation. Fast-forward now to the past five years, were there have been a number of uniquely British rappers (including Lady Sovereign, Dizzee Rascal and Mike Skinner of The Streets) that have crossed the pond only to be met with moderate, but not overwhelming, success here in North America. One of those artists is former member of Massive Attack and rapper Tricky, who this year released his eighth solo album Knowle West Boy. The album – a tribute to the hardscrabble neighborhood where he grew up – was largely unheard in Canada and the United States, but it was in no part thanks to standout “single Council Estate”. On the song, Tricky spits dark rhymes over an almost dancehall beat that prove no matter how much of a superstar you are, you can’t forget where you came from.

10. Hercules and Love Affair – Blind
For those getting ready to pen disco’s obituary, this year had many naysayers reconsidering, thanks in large part to a fresh crop of bands that are revitalizing the genre from its deathbed. Brits Hot Chip set fire to the heart of dance-floors from London to Toronto with their sophomore album full of disco-influenced tracks,Italians Do It Better became the record label at the centre of the nouvelle disco movement counting Glass Candy and others among their roster, while countless New York City acts sought something to elevate themselves above the glut of garage-rock bands over-saturating the scene. One band however that rose above the pack was Hercules and Love Affair, which was masterminded by knob-fiddler Andy Butler and featured the trill, androgynous voice of Anthony Hegarty (lead vocalist of Anthony & The Johnsons), who was successfully courted by the forward-thinking label DFA. In fact, “Blind” – with its skittery groove and shimmering vocals – wouldn’t sound out of place next to the label’s head honcho James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem latest effort, the 12-minute Freak Out/Starry Eyes. And that’s a high compliment indeed.

The Rural Alberta Advantage

Every year, there are always the one or two stand-out albums that everyone drools over in November/December as they write their “Best of” lists. Is it just me or are there no stand-outs this year? 2006 was the year of TV on the Radio’s Return to Cookie Mountain, 2007 belonged to M.I.A.’s Kala and Panda Bear’s Person Pitch – the lists of this year seem to be torn and without consensus. Number 1′s have ranged from She & Him’s Volume One to Lil’ Wayne’s Tha Carter III. Have we finally entered a year of diverse taste and differing opinions or was there just nothing too amazing released this year? Either way, my list is no where near the same as NME’s or Blender’s; not even similar to my fellow writers’ – but here’s what I honestly thought were thirteen of the year’s best records (in no particular order – I, too, am very indecisive).

• The Rural Alberta Advantage – Hometowns
• Woodhands – Heart Attack
• Jamie Lidell – Jim
• Land of Talk – Some Are Lakes
• She and Him – Volume One
• Department of Eagles – In Ear Park
• Hooded Fang – E.P.
• Chad Vangaalen – Soft Airplane
• Islands – Arm’s Way
• Laura Barrett – Victory Garden
• Plants and Animals – Parc Avenue
• Winter Gloves – About A Girl
• The Dears – Missiles
• Mother Mother – O My Heart

I thought I’d cut to the chase and just give a simple list as I’ve either talked about the following artists enough throughout the year or you’ve read enough of it elsewhere. So here, this is what I loved.

In addition, here are a thirteen of my favourite singles from the past year (that are not from my top albums, just to be fair)

• Lykke Li – “Breaking it Up”
• Britney Spears – “Womanizer”
• The Bicycles – “Oh No, It’s Love”
• Bon Iver – “Skinny Love”
• Broken Social Scene Presents Brendan Canning – “Churches Under the Stairs”
• The Duke Spirit – “The Step and The Walk”
• Final Fantasy – “The Butcher”
• Flight of the Conchords – “Inner City Pressure”
• Little Boots – “Stuck on Repeat”
• Noah and the Whale – “5 Years Time”
• Of Montreal – “Id Engager”
• Santogold – “Creator”
• Sebastien Grainger & The Mountains – “I Hate My Friends”

If you haven’t listened to any of the following albums or singles, I suggest you get cracking on that right now!

Happy listening in ’09!

Musically,
Melody

Bon Iver

No matter how great this would be, I can’t put on the serious music journalist suit. Maybe it’s because I fail terribly at neutrality, oh well! So here are my music fanatic top 13 (I couldn’t choose only 10) albums of 2008.

• 13. Wolf Parade – At Mount Zoomer (Sub Pop)
• 12. Beach House – Devotion (Carpark)
• 11. Laura Marling – Alas I Cannot Swim (Virgin)
• 10. Martha Wainwright – I Know You’re Married But I’ve Got Feelings Too (Maple)
• 9. Why? – Alopecia (anticon.)
• 8. The Dodos – Visiter (Frenchkiss)
• 7. She and Him – Volume One (Merge)
• 6. My Brightest Diamond – A Thousand Shark’s Teeth (Asthmatic Kitty)
• 5. Sigur Ros – Meo Suo i Eyrum Vio Spilum Endalaust (XL recordings)
• 4. Camille – Music Hole (Virgin)
• 3. Tv On the Radio – Dear Science (Interscope)
• 2. Land of Talk – Some Are Lakes (Secret City)
• 1. Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever ago (Jagjaguwar)

All of these albums successfully got me hooked, made me fall in love with them and then broke my heart. Music is a lover I cheat a lot on with other music. But I can’t help it, it’s vital! Close to the top 13 were Montreal french alt-rockers Karkwa with “Le volume du vent”, Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks with “Real Emotional Trash” and Jenny Lewis’s “Acid Tongue” (even though it was one of the biggest disappointments of 2008).Scarlett Johansson deserves a high five for not completely destroying Tom Waits’ songs. Nice try, but… please don’t do it again. I can’t wait to hear what 2009 has in store! Andrew Bird, Animal Collective, Fiona Apple (PLEASE!), Bon Iver’s Blood Bank, … And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, M. Ward, Neko Case, The Decemberists, Gang Of Four and Roxy Music… Bring it on 2009, bring it on!

Zut alors,
Christine

Dallas Green a.k.a. City and Colour

2008 wasn’t a year where I had a crazy *quantity* of new music, but from what I did get to hear, I’m super happy. It’s also a year where I didn’t shoot as many shows as I had wanted, mainly due to day-job obligations and branching off into other forms of photography. 2009 is going to be a year where a lot of my favourite bands will be releasing new material: there should be releases from the likes of Metric, Magneta Lane, and Stars (maybe?), among others. Bring it on!

TOP ALBUMS:

• 10. Jason Mraz – We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things.
• 9. Duffy – Rockferry
• 8. LIGHTS EP
• 7. Marie Digby – Unfold
• 6. Tokyo Police Club – Elephant Shell
• 5. Kings of Leon – Only By The Night
• 4. Uh Huh Her – Common Reaction
• 3. Stars – Sad Robots EP
• 2. Fleet Foxes (self-titled)
• 1. City and Colour – Bring Me Your Love

In addition, I figure I would also include another list outlining my top listened-to artists for 2008:

TOP PLAYED:

1. City and Colour (1,570 plays)
2. Magneta Lane (1,109 plays)
3. Stars (1,048 plays)
4. A Fine Frenzy (751 plays)
5. Alexisonfire (659 plays)
6. Attack in Black (614 plays)
7. Tokyo Police Club (602 plays)
8. Metric (510 plays)
9. Marie Digby (504 plays)
10. Rilo Kiley (436 plays)

Cheers,
Jerry