• 32 Plays
  • You Carry The DeedDeradoorian

Yesterday I covered one of my favorite bands Dirty Projectors, and I mentioned that two of their ladies have done additional stuff outside of their band.  Angel Deradoorian releases folk stuff under Deradoorian.  Amber Coffman mostly just appears on other people’s songs, like this one with Rusko.  Both Angel and Amber are influenced by female R&B singers but while Amber sounds like something you might hear on the radio, Angel’s voice and looks are a little better.  Both voices come together and work well in Dirty Projectors, though.

Deradoorian - You Carry The Deed

- Ryan

mc_squared2’s Top 10 Albums of 2010 + Honorable Mentions

And the lists keep coming in…I need more and more…I’m ready to see what the general consensus for the top 10 is. I have 15 lists including me and Trey’s and this one I’m posting now, I think I’ll need at least 20 to get this thing rolling. 

As far as this list goes, it’s strong.  I’m surprised to see How to Dress Well at the top; I like the idea of lo-fi R&B but it’s a little too lo-fi for my tastes.  Can’t argue with the rest of the list, you know it’s quite competitive when Sufjan takes a #7 spot.  - Ryan

http://mc-squared2.tumblr.com/

2010 as a whole has been an extraordinary year for me. One aspect that made it one of the best is all of the different music that I discovered and ended up loving. Here are my ten favorite albums of 2010, as well as a few other great albums that didn’t make the list but should still be mentioned.

1) How to Dress Well - Love Remains

2) Owen Pallett - Heartland

3) Jónsi - Go

4) The National - High Violet

5) Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest

6) Parades - Foreign Tapes

7) Sufjan Stevens - All Delighted People EP / The Age of Adz

8) Beach House - Teen Dream

9) Flying Lotus - Cosmogramma

10) Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

Honorable Mentions:

Analog Rebellion - Ancient Electrons

Two Door Cinema Club - Tourist History

Broken Bells - Broken Bells

Caribou - Swim

Dr. Dog - Shame, Shame

  • 10 Plays
  • songs for womenfrank ocean

Newest Odd Future affiliate. Mixtape Nostalgia, Ultra available for download here.

Frank Ocean - Songs For Women

- Ryan

BEST new artist, and best discovery of 2011 award:  The Weeknd.  What’s not to love about an R&B duo from Toronto that reinvented the R&B wheel, sampling Beach House and Siouxsie and the Banshees, with Abel Tesfaye singing about some very dark subject matter.  This song is called Wicked Games.  OVOXO

Best of 2011

- Ryan

Source: SoundCloud / theweekndovoxo

SOLD OUT: The Weeknd @ The Norva, Norfolk VA June 22, 2012

(source:  http://wherethestarsend.tumblr.com)

Earlier The Weeknd, aka Abel Tesfaye, tweeted:  ”i‘ve got the realest fans in the world. you either fuck with me or you don’t. there is no in between..”

Indeed, there are only two types of people in this world:  Those that get The Weeknd, and those who don’t.  And for us that do, we realize how much he stands out while still appealing very much to the mainstream.  This would mean nothing if he didn’t live up to all the heaps of praise showered upon him, as a performer. But I can objectively say The Weeknd is well worth the hype.

Having debuted just last year, this (first?) tour has an air of modesty to it.  Just a select few dates, no tourmates except Florence Welch (!) who showed up to a few dates, and not even any merch to buy (!!).  Instead, this tour is strictly about his music, and in that respect, he nailed it last night.

He was joined onstage by a touring band of guitar/drums/bass, giving his live music more of an organic feel.  I was a little disappointed that they kept his vocals a little buried beneath the instruments, but at least it wasn’t like he was trying to sell us short or anything.   In fact he was more than capable of hitting all of the same notes that you hear on record (..on MP3?).

Content-wise, we were treated to a pretty even mix of songs from all three mixtapes, as well as his contribution on Drake’s “Crew Love”.  His two-parters (“The Party & The Afterparty, House of Balloons/Glass Table Girls”), “The Morning”, and “Outside” were among the highlights of the night. “Wicked Games” was the last song of the night, performed acoustic which put his vocals front and center.  And he nailed it, showing off his operatic range with all those “whoaa”s and “oohhhh”s that always peppers his songs.  In conclusion, I’d say going to see The Weeknd is well worth the price of admission, and I could easily slot this in my top 5 shows ever seen.

“Crew Love”:

- Ryan


HONORABLE MENTIONS 2012

These are all albums that I liked a lot, not necessarily top 10, but should not be overlooked.  Links to albums included, and a sample song from each

Robb Bank$ - Calendars (Datpiff Download)

Listen:  Fine$t

Dry the River - Shallow Bed

Listen:  New Ceremony

 

Mewithoutyou - Ten Stories

Listen:  Grist For The Malady Mill

 

Joey Bada$$ - 1999 (Datpiff Download)

Listen:  Waves

Ab-Soul - Control System

Listen:  Terrorist Threats (feat. Danny Brown)

Alt-J - An Awesome Wave

Listen:  Breezeblocks

Dirty Projectors - Swing Lo Magellan

Listen:  About To Die

Frank Ocean - channel ORANGE

Listen:  Pyramids (album version)

This is not everything I enjoyed runners-up wise, just a small snapshot. As always, every year I always miss some albums to listen to that could make or break my lists.  I am looking for recommendations; what else was good this year?  Let me know.

- Ryan