If you haven't heard my new website/portfolio is UP!
http://toothfeather.com
ALSO. I have 2 NEW blogs which have become my primary ways of communicating stuff art-related on the internet.
That means I will pretty much no longer be using this one.
(at least I don't think i will...)
Check them out & follow as well!
http://blog.toothfeather.com
&
http://blogg.toothfeather.com
Yes, I realize how similar they may seem ...but let me explain:
The first one is dedicated SOLELY to my personal work. That'll be the first place after my website that you'll be able to receive updates concerning that.
The second is pretty much everything else. Mainly stuff like: inspiration, what i'm listening too and other kewl things.
I just couldn't commit to combining all of that stuff into one blog (due to clutter...) so I went with two.
I've also been thinking about doing a doodle blog as well but only time will tell.
Anyway, thanks for listening/looking and thanks for your support!
This year I listened to more pop and hip-hop/rap music than I have in my entire lifetime. Whether or not that was a "good" thing is your opinion I suppose. It's funny though because it was just 4-5 years ago that the thought of listening to either genre was absolutely appalling..
Also, I'm not gonna try to convince you that you need to love these albums as much as I do (like I feel I might have tried in the past). But instead i'll just say what I feel needs to be said and leave the rest to you. That's what these are about anyway right? Just fun times.
That being said, here we go.
p.s. This list has no rank or order other than the first.
--- Kendrick Lamar :: Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City ---
This is the first album on my list simply because it is my all time favorite album of the year. If not my favorite hip hop album. Ever.
It goes without saying, that the music industry (and the rap/hip hop genre specifically) has long become about making hits. Hit single after hit single. Money, money, money... Therefore many artists have lost sight of how to create a great album from the first track to the last. In that regard, Kendrick Lamar is a deep breath of fresh air.
Storytelling is clearly one of Kendrick Lamar's strengths (see also Section.80) and this concept album is the extremely powerful and moving. One who hasn't listened to him before might make the mistake of thinking he is no different than any other ("ignant" style) rapper they've heard on the radio when listening to "Backseat Freestyle". Especially with his lines and hook of the song ("All my life I want money and power/Respect my mind or die from lead shower/I pray my dick get big as the Eiffle Tower/So i can fuck the world for 72hrs") when really in the context of the album "it marks the moment in the narrative when young Kendrick's character first begins rapping, egged on by a friend who plugs in a beat CD. Framed this way, his "damn, I got bitches" chant gets turned inside out: This isn't an alpha male's boast. It's a pipsqueak's first pass at a chest-puff. It's also a monster of a radio-ready single, with Kendrick rapping in three voices (in double- and triple-time, no less) over an insane Hit-Boy beat." (-Pitchfork)
The same could be said for his track "Swimming Pools (Drank)". Rather than it being an anthem for getting drunk with your friends as some might interpret, its really about the struggle that he, if not all of us, have had with alcohol and the peer pressure associated with it. (Peer pressure being a heavily addressed topic on this album)
The most beautiful part of the album is, in the narrative, after one of his closest friends dies he's able to take a step back and look at the life he's been living. On the second half of the longest (12min) track "Sing About Me, I'm Dying Of Thirst" he says: "Im tired of running/I'm tired of hunting/my own kind.." and "How many sins?/I've lost count.." "Somebody send me a well for the drought" "I'm dying of thirst, I'm dying of thirst". Followed by a woman, which happens to be Maya Angelou, leading Kendrick and his friends in the "Sinners Prayer".
Kendrick is an underground rapper making his way into the mainstream who has found that perfect balance between making himself just a little more available to a broader audience yet staying true to himself. Though this album is not a perfect album, from front to back, Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City is the most well crafted and artistic pieces i've heard in a long time and will forever be a classic hip hop masterpiece.
--- Beach House :: Bloom ---
Yup. Good stuff.
--- Clams Casino :: Instrumentals 2 ---
This was actually not even a full length album but instead just a free mixtape of twelve instrumentals and two remixes (Washed Out & Lana Del Rey) to follow up his mixtape release of instrumentals in 2011. Yet the decision to add it to this list was very clear due to the amount of times I listened to each track earlier in the year. I don't think there has been a producer in the hip hop scene that i have been more into than Clams Casino. Thanks to him, i've steadily grown more interested in the producers behind the music that is now released.
The ability Clams Casino has to not only make the most unique tracks for artists such as A$AP Rocky, Lil B, Soulja Boy, Main Attrakionz & The Weeknd to work over but also create tracks that are just as good, if not better, by themselves (instrumentally) blows my mind. Which is why this mixtape was on HEAVY rotation this year and is on my list of favorites.
--- Paper Route :: The Peace Of Wild Things ---
About a year after the single "Better Life" released, The Peace Of Wild Things was finally released. Paper Route took me by surprise. At first it was more of a disappointed surprise like "Really? You're making pop radio jams now..?" But after giving myself a little more time to digest it I quickly realized how great it was.
There's really not much else to say than I think they got close to pop rock perfection with this album and I can't wait to see what they do next, not to mention, see them live again.
This is also probably the most underrated album of the year.
--- Lana del Rey :: Born To Die + Paradise Edition ---
After discussing it a bit with a good friend I almost did not add this album to the list. There are definitely some songs i'm not as into as others. BUT I think the strengths the album has make up for its weaknesses and I was glad to hear the extra "Paradise Edition" tracks later in the year. (Although an entire re-release of the album in the same year might've been overkill.) Overall, i'm a sucker for the sexy sounds Lana has to offer and i'm anxious to see where her career takes her.
--- Lecrae :: Gravity ---
Hands down, Gravity is the best Lecrae album he's ever released. And had Kendrick Lamar's Good Kid, M.A.A.D City not dropped this year it would have easily taken the cake for favorite hip hop album. It's hard for me to pinpoint exactly what it is with this album opposed to his previous releases that makes it so much more notable to me..but it is incredibly powerful.
--- Ellie Goulding :: Halcyon ---
This album came completely out of nowhere. Before this year I had never heard the name Ellie Goulding and I had no idea she was the artist behind the huge radio single "Lights". But lo and behold, as i was lurking one of the album leak blogs i frequent, Halcyon was there and (even though i am getting better at buying more and illegally downloading albums less) I'm sure glad i downloaded the leak since i probably would not have listened to it much otherwise. Not only is Halcyon one of my favorites of the year, it's also safe to say that Ellie is now definitely on my list of favorite female vocalists alongside Adele, Taylor Swift, Lana Del Rey and Beyonce.
--- Converge :: All We Love We Leave Behind ---
It took me a really really really long time to get into Converge. I think the raw intensity of their music was just too much for me to handle to be honest... I dont think i could call myself a "true fan" either since i still havent listened to most of their older albums.. It wasn't until 2010 - a year after their Axe To Fall full length released that I was able to really appreciate their sound and it is still growing on me. But All We Love We Leave Behind is a essential album to the hardcore genre if i've ever heard one.
The production of this album is incredible and the art and packaging is quite possibly my favorite of the year which by now is the norm for both Kurt Ballou & Jacob Bannon. It blows my mind that this group of four 30+ year olds are still able to make music this genuinely angry and stay true to who they've always been.
--- Taylor Swift :: Red ---
I feel like i've already exhausted the whole "I love Taylor Swift and I dont care what anyone thinks" thing so i'll keep this short and sweet.
I love Taylor Swift and I don't care what anyone thinks.
She is a great writer (who writes nearly every word she sings) and her voice is angelic. (on most songs)
My least favorite track is "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" though i can still listen to and appreciate it.
My most favorite track is all the songs on the album.
Taylor Swift. Red. Listen to it. Love it. Yes.
--- Balmorhea :: Stranger ---
Balmorhea never fail to amaze and Stranger is no exception. Quite possibly one of the best "instrumental" bands right now.
----------- (Very) Honorable Mentions -----------
Lupe Fiasco - Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album Pt.1
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!
L’esprit de escalier: (French) The feeling you get after leaving a conversation, when you think of all the things you should have said. Translated it means “the spirit of the staircase.”
Waldeinsamkeit: (German) The feeling of being alone in the woods.
Meraki: (Greek) Doing something with soul, creativity, or love.
Forelsket: (Norwegian) The euphoria you experience when you are first falling in love.
Gheegle: (Filipino) The urge to pinch or squeeze something that is unbearably cute.
Pochemuchka: (Russian) A person who asks a lot of questions.
Pena ajena: (Mexican Spanish) The embarrassment you feel watching someone else’s humiliation.
Cualacino: (Italian) The mark left on a table by a cold glass.
Ilunga: (Tshiluba, Congo) A person who is ready to forgive any abuse for the first time, to tolerate it a second time, but never a third time.
