Albums:
Liars - WIXIW
I bought this album close to when it came out, but only started listening to it about two months ago. Why didn't anyone tell me how great this album is?? Right now I'd say it's my second favourite album of theirs, along with their debut (number one, of course, will always be Drums not dead). I have to admit some songs feel very familiar, in the sense that I swear I heard some of these arrangements before on a Radiohead album. On the other hand, it's still a Liars album through and through. Brats is a great sequel to Scissor and Plaster casts of everything (and has a great video as well), and most other songs just have this typical Liars-ness about them.
I've yet to listen to a Liars album where I don't like at least one track (though I suppose their debut comes close), and this one is no exception. I'm not a fan of the title track for instance, and Flood to flood just sounds overly familiar in that annoying way. On the other hand, there are more tracks I love here than on the previous two albums. Hard to pick one favourite really. His and mine sensations? Who is the hunter? A ring on every finger? No.1 against the rush? All great, and the opener and closer are pretty good as well. So, yes, album of the year. Even though I only bought three albums released in 2012...
Geneva Jacuzzi - Lamaze
A little backstory: I saw Geneva Jacuzzi perform as support act for Yelle a year or two ago. I was impressed, wanted to buy her album, but the merchandising girl already left before I could even reach for my wallet. Anyway, at some point this year I saw some youtube videos of her again, and decided to order the album off her site for my birthday. It arrived - quite late - with a free bonus album of her earlier work.
Anyway, the reason why I like it so much is the deliciously lo-fi 80s electro style of the entire album. It has a certain atmosphere that's hard to describe, it's cheezy and catchy but there's a weird, darker vibe to it as well...a neon-nightmare about a zombie with roller skates and pink leg warmers, maybe. In any case it's something I tremendously enjoy, and people who consider themselves to have good taste should stay far, far away from.
Favourite tracks: Clothes on the bed, Bad moods, Dreamtime, Do I sad, Relay racer.
And I must share some video with you:
Bad Moods
Love Caboose
Bad Moods (live) this video is from around the time I saw her, by the way.
Björk - Biophilia
I finally gave this a proper listen this year, thanks to that awesome gig (see below). I'm still not really a big fan of this, but it's definitely better than Volta. There's just a big feeling of déjà-vu (déjà-entendu?), as this is basically a mix of Volta and Medulla. It flows better as an album than those two, but I would say the individual songs aren't as good this time around. The standout track for me is Thunderbolt, you just can't beat those electro-farts at the end of the song. Hollow is a guilty pleasure of mine, if I'm in a bad mood I might accuse it of being Björk-weird just for the sake of being Björk-weird, but I like it really. But I bet 9/10 people hate it. Mutual Core is, I guess, this album's Pluto, maybe a bit more interesting in terms of song structure. But like I said, when I listen to the album now it's more about the memories of that gig rather than the actual quality of the songs.
Live:
Björk (Pukkelpop)
I already wrote pretty much all I have to say about this here. I have really good memories from this (that Possibly maybe version coupled with that electronic gizmo!), out of the three Björk (festival) gigs I saw this was the best, maybe not in setlist (then again, Possibly maybe!), but definitely in terms of audiovisual...stuff. Oh and also the fact that she was headliner so no bored Muse fans waiting for them to come on while annoying the shit out of me (which happened last time), nope, I was surrounded by Björk-friendly people which certainly added to my overall enjoyment. It was one of those rare gigs where I left surprised at how much I enjoyed it, happy that I was there, and sad knowing that an experience like this only comes along every few years.
Radiohead (Sportpaleis)
My only gig this autumn!!! Never happened before. Well maybe it has but I have a short memory. Anyway, I think this was the fifth time I saw them, and truth to be told, it also felt like that. While they did play a brilliant set, and had an awesome stage set-up (apart from the QR codes between the songs - who still uses that anyway?), all I could think between songs was "ooh, what song will they play next? Will it be one of my favourites? Please let it be one of my favourites!!" So really, Radiohead had sadly turned into a greatest hits band for me. Not that I don't enjoy the new album - I like their latest more than the previous two actually - but you just don't have that emotional resonance with new songs yet. I did enjoy the gig, I really did (they played Kid A, MY Kid A!!), but it's quite possible I'll skip them next time they're in the country. For what used to be my favourite band ever, that's kind of bad. End of an era! (Maybe it's a good thing I don't have a favourite band anymore... )
Looking forward to 2013:
The Knife: (my new-old favourite band ever!) they'll release a new album and do a short tour. I'm curious, and cautious. They can never do something like Silent Shout again, so it'll either suck or be the best thing ever. Hoping for the latter, expecting the former.
Daft Punk: new album and new tour. Maybe. Just like above, I'm not really sure what to expect, although I did like the Tron: Legacy soundtrack. If they do tour "live" I'll make seeing them Priority One.
Goldfrapp: new album and no doubt tour. They haven't released an album I hated yet, so come on, I dare you!
Ladytron: less optimistic about this one, didn't care much for the last album apart from Ace of Hz. Still love the first two albums but the band just isn't really relevant to me anymore. Sadness.
M.I.A.: loved Bad Girls (would be video of the year if it wasn't for Liars - Brats), and I still listen to MAYA regularly, so I'm looking forward to the new album. As always some tracks will annoy the hell out of me, but there some good stuff on all her albums.
That's all the music talk for now!
Oh yeah, my last.fm page if you want to spy on what music I've been listening to lately can be found here.
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