Month: January 2016

Songs of the Week 45: January 24 – January 30

~ kbo27

the zolas#5. The Zolas – Get Dark

soundcloud.com/thezolas

They are from Vancouver, and thus are automatically awesome. The fact that they are great at catchy indie-pop is just an added bonus really.

tender#4. TENDER – Lost

soundcloud.com/tender-music

In the same way that certain songs are catered towards clubbing, while others are basically curated specifically to be played on top 40 radio, TENDER have a way about them that just seems to be MADE for the blog scene. I’m not really sure what it is about them, and I don’t mean it as a negative at all. Just is the way that I’ve taken in their sound. Blog friendly… and really we (the blogs) are all that really matter anyway… right?!

missio#3. Missio – I Don’t Even Care About You

soundcloud.com/missiomusic

If you like abrasiveness, this one if for you. I mean, with a title like I Don’t Even Care About You, you kinda know what you are getting into. Lots of anger and hostility here… driven by a pulsing chorus that really sold the song for me. It wasn’t until the third round of chorus that I was hooked… first few rounds I wasn’t quite sure where we were going. But we got there, and I was glad we did.

jorja smith#2. Jorja Smith – Blue Lights

soundcloud.com/jorjasmith

Talk about an impressive debut… Jorja Smith’s first track is a sizzling rnb/hip hop blend of a track. It’s real smooth, and reminds me a lot of early 90’s stuff. Love me some good English hip hop.

 

beirut#1. Beirut – Perth

www.facebook.com/beirutmusic/

Alright major confession time. 1) I have no idea how I missed out on Beirut’s newest album. I mean, we aren’t just talking weeks here. This shit came out in goddamn SEPTEMBER 2015. I am ashamed. 2) Can we take a moment to recognize how awesome that music video is? 3) I had another song planned for #1 this week (that song being Jorja Smith’s Blue Lights above). HOWEVER – and spoiler alert – next week is looking so ridicuously strong I felt that it was better to showcase Perth here than have it (or some other song) buried next week. I mean, i gave this song 4.5 stars. I’ve given maybe 2-3 songs in the last 3 months 4.5 stars (which means next week I have at least 2 more songs coming that are 4.5 stars or better). All this is to say, I have not heard a catchier song this year (which really just begun) or for the latter half of 2015. How can you not tap your feet to that rhythm? That’s right, you can’t. You tap. You tap all goddamn day and you love it. Why? Because it’s Beirut, and Beirut are the best. By now the song should be pretty close to over, so it’s probably best you scroll up a bit and hit play again. Cause that’s how good this song is.

Best of the Rest #17 -The One That Got Away

~ kbo27

Cyril Hahn Feat. Javeon – Breaking

soundcloud.com/cyrilhahn

I went to see Mr. Hahn once. He came to Toronto (which at the time is where I was living) and I was worried. I was worried because, at that time, Cyril Hahn had only released two or three tracks. The rest of his stuff was mixes and DJ sets. I’d been to a DJ set before (Justice, in Oslo… it was fantastic). The thing about DJ sets though is that you have to know what you are getting into. If you go to a DJ set expecting to see your favourite song, your gonna have a bad time. Artists don’t play their originals at DJ sets (at least the ones I’ve been too). They experiment, play remixes… basically pretend that you are going clubbing but instead of some rando up there mixing tunes it’s one of your favourite artists. Cool, right?

When I went to see Cyril Hahn I was in LOVE with Breaking. I played that song all day, every day. I sent it to my friends multiple times if they insisted they didn’t like it. But when he came to Toronto it was very shortly after he had released Breaking… and I bought tickets JUST to see that song. I did like a few of his remixes, but man I wanted to see this shit live. However, in the back of my head I was a little worried it’d be a DJ Set (despite it not being totally clear to me when I bought the tickets). It wasn’t until 1 or 2 am that Cyril took the stage and my fears were realized. His set came and went with no Breaking.

All of this has nothing really to do with how amazing that song is (or how awesome his DJ set was). However, most of the songs on my BOTR list have some sort of story with them, and this one is no different. The one that got away.