2013, Reflections and Commentary

2013 is rapidly coming towards its end, and as this has been a very interesting year for me, I thought I'd take a few minutes for reflection. If you don't feel like reading what is by all accounts a blog post and not a music post, just skip the next few paragraphs and go for the flash players.

I really lost touch with electronic music. I can never be sure whose fault it was, really. Did I change? Did the music? Maybe I just got tired of seeing nothing but dubstep, brostep, chillstep, step step step BLOODY-FRIGGIN-STEP on every genre tag I came across. In truth, this is probably the story of two people who both changed and realized it was time to move on for each other's sake. The music I fell in love with was this happy indie-dance, electro-infused scene where rockers and ravers co-existed. 2007. 2008. Digitalism - Idealism. Klaxons - Myths of the Near Future. Does it Offend You Yeah - You Have No Idea What You're Getting Yourself Into. Justice - Cross. Crystal Castles. The Kitsune Maison compilations gave me tastes of everything going on and I loved it.

#5 was really weird

This is where I'm not sure what changed. 2009 was a huge letdown for me. 2010 was a huge letdown. I just couldn't connect with anything going on culturally at any level. 2011, Justice, Digitalism and SebastiAn dropped albums and I thought it was all coming back, but it wasn't. Culture was looking for that kid I had been in 2007 with a shaggy moptop, boundless enthusiasm and a Deviantart full of Daft Punk fan art, and I just wasn't that kid anymore.

Boba, circa 2008

But now it's 2013. I've spent the last year sitting in game shops playing Magic and D&D, helping friends move and move on, listening to the radio because I'm tired of everything on my player, and becoming a comic book junkie. Somewhere in all this, I began to reconnect. A friend of mine from work was moving out, and living down the street and owning a pickup truck, that left me with the boxes and furniture to transport. Searching for some packing tape behind my seat, I found a mix CD titled simply 'Electro', and popped it into the CD player. It was a collection of tracks from the first few months of Ilictronix (for nostalgia's sake, I plan on posting this list sometime later in the holiday season), and the memories just smacked into me hardcore and I began to regain my appreciation for it all. As we were unloading stuff at her storage unit, my friend mentions that she can bring her own music to her other job, and asked me if I could make some CDs of stuff like what I'd had going in the truck. So I began hunting through my music, putting together collections of all my old favorites. I began googling some artists, happily discovering many had come out with new albums or had them in the works. So far I've seen Klaxons, La Roux, Danger and a few others are slated for probable 2014 releases, and I've heard rumors of others...

To make a long story very short, 2013 is the first year that has supplied music I've been excited about in quite awhile. Granted, I'm not quite the underground-exclusive guy I used to be and Imagine Dragons and Capital Cities are mainstays on my playlists, but it's something. It feels like it felt back in 2008 when I first picked up Idealism and listened to Pogo for the first time.

Insert stock music photgraphy here

Since I've drawled on long enough, I'll skip on excessive commentary and just leave you with some of my favorite tracks of 2013.

HEARTSREVOLUTION · Ride Or Die

HEARTSREVOLUTION · Heart vs The Machine

Capital Cities · I Sold My Bed, But Not My Stereo

Until next time, fellows and girls.

I Got U

Oi.



It's no big news, I always digged what Duke Dumont did.

His latest production was on the Annie Mac show a few days ago and it is brilliant, so brilliant Annie had to rewind it to listen to the beginning twice, haha.

It's such an upbeat song with steal drumbs that will make you travel to the caribbean, you'll feel like it's not freezing outside anymore, but it still is sadly.



I also was pretty happy to hear that he got nominated for a the Best Dance Recording Grammy with his song Need U (100%).

In case you didn't get the chance to hear it yet, here it is.



What else is new this week? Daft Punk released a video for Instant Crush. It's nowhere near as good as the Homework/Discovery era videos, but it's still way better than the Lose Yourself To Dance one.



And I know it's not to everyone's taste around here, but I enjoy hip hop and rap, so I HAD to talk about Childish Gambino that just released his new album called Because The Internet.

Overall the album is very well done, Donald still knows how to write, the production is top notch as usual, it's a bit more conceptual than his former albums though, lots of interludes so I guess some people will find that a bit annoying (if you take out the less than 1:30min long songs you still are left with 13 songs to listen to).

So let's watch the mesmerizing 3005 music video!



Enjoy!

-LRNT

Return Of The Lounge

Edward Hopper - Hotel Lobby

Diggin' through my old posts on a nostalgia trip I saw some stuff I could easy bring back around, so enjoy the return of some lounge vibes! I got around to checking out Little Dragon after a recommendation from a friend and loving their contributions on Gorillaz's Plastic Beach. Their debut starts really strong, tunes like this just grab you from the get go.



Tea swiggin' bloke and fellow countryman Mr. Scruff has pretty much the same story with his album Keep It Unreal. His penchant for tidy basslines really shines through on the album, which fits in perfectly with the jazz-hop style he's got going on.



Something from one of my favourite vocalists to wrap it up, I first heard of Martina from the breakdown on Gorillaz's All Alone and just had to have more of her stuff. Check out her solo albums if you get the chance, they're incredibly well prdued but seem to be really underrated.



-Claude Van Foxbat

Summer Vibes

For those of us not in the northern hemisphere, summer is her. So avoiding all of the crispy-ice tunes, here's my personal soundtrack to summer. I like to spend my summers relaxing and being around those that one would wish to be around with such amazing weather.

That Summer Feeling

First up, some sparkly build up from Van She. I'll admit, I liked the original Walking On A Dream by Empire of The Sun, but I also hated to like it. Van She's whole remix is a build up covered in sunscreen wearing some high fashion shades and swimwear with tropical prints. It just works.


Next is some amazing chunky goodness from Pretty Lights. His first album, A Colour Map of The Sun dropped in early July, and I love it. Combining what can only be described as 'phat' electro lines with pseudo-sampled soul, Pretty Lights has created something beautiful. This track is a clear winner in my book, and just fills me with excitement for summer days.



Seemingly minimalist compared to Yellow Bird, Montreal based CFCF's remix of HEALTH's Good Tigers still slots perfectly into the summer vibes playlist. With an almost reggae base to it, smooth as silk vocal work and a beat that doesn't overpower the delicate nature, CFCF perfects the summer sound with little soundscape.



Released July last year, Purity Ring's debut album Shrines was a modest success, and sat in the U.K polls at #100. A strange mix of hip hop inspired beats, electronic dance anthems and indie, Purity Ring have sparked my interest. I'm rather excited to hear what their next album brings. Until then, Fineshrine is my choice track for the Canadian electro duo, and for beach activities.



My initial plan was to post the entire list, but it just keeps growing. So I'll make this the last one for now. In 2011, the Chemical Brothers crafted the soundtrack to Hanna, a movie that seems to have gone by largely unnoticed. While the movie is a possible 4 stars for me, the soundtrack holds some quality gems, gems that sparkle in the sun.


Slip Slop Slap,
-Sulphites