Top 12 of 2012!

Welcome back, Terriers. I hope you had a wonderful break, just as I did. Let me tell you, I downloaded a large amount of music so I can make some great posts this semester. However, seeing as we have passed into a new year, a new semester, and a new blog post, I would bring together a list of my top 12 favorite tracks from 2012. Some may have shown up on my posts before–which is a good thing, since, you know, I “approve” or whatever–and some are from artists that I didn’t even know I liked. Not all of them were produced (if any) in 2012, but I came across them in the past 12 months. Enjoy the count down, some great music, and a brand new semester for brand new things.

12. Addicted by Amy Winehouse, Back to Black

Amy Winehouse is great. Of course, she was notorious, infamous even, for her drug use and “fuck-it-all” attitude. And that is all fine and good, except her music… is excellent. I love Amy Winehouse more than many other artists because she lived. She did what she wanted to, made the music she wanted to, and lived a (relatively) happy life. This is really superficial and a terrible explanation. This song is great because it may or may not be about weed.

11. Always On Time (Ja Rule & Ashanti Cover) by Town Hall, Town Hall Plays the Hits 

This is a cover, obviously, but it is by this awesome band called Town Hall. They are pretty flippin’ great–I mean listen to their voices and the harmonies and the aaaaaaaaaaah. It’s great! When I first heard the song, I quickly listened to the original and picked my favorite (as you can see, Town Hall won.) The way they move the lyrics to their own melody is pretty spectacular, and see how the artists spit raps back at us!

10. Big Machine by Mark Duplass, Safety Not Guaranteed

I’ve posted about Mark Duplass before here. There isn’t much to say, other than sometimes you get unexpected sounds from unexpected people.

9. Halcyon by Ellie Goulding, Halcyon

Sick.

8. Come Into My Head by Kimbra, Vows

Read more about Kimbra here.

7. Turn It Around by Lucius, Lucius EP

Lucius is so good, it is on this list twice. Turn It Around confirmed my admiration for this girl duo and boy band after seeing them at the Middle East a few weeks ago in Cambridge. They were awesome live, and it turns out, comparably amazing recorded.

6. Happiest Times by Little Big Adventure, The Hateful Eye

This track lurked in my library for some time before I actually listened to it. As soon as I did, I felt calm, collected, and inspired.

5. Shake Hands by Birthmark, Shaking Hands

Much like Happiest Times, this kicked around in my iTunes after countless skips because I simply never took the time to listen to it. Eventually, I did, and as you can see it is pretty high on this list. It is a great track by a great band.

4. 2nd Gun by Volcano, I’m Still Excited!, Volcano, I’m Still Excited!

Read more about Volcano, I’m Still Excited! here.

3. Seven Swans by Sufjan Stevens, Seven Swans

Sufjan always has a special place in my heart. Always.

2. Shenandoah by Lucius, Songs From the Bromley House

Lucius came out with a (hard to locate) album before their EP, which brings us to number 2 with Shenandoah. Amazing.

1. 40k by Pearl and the Beard, Killing the Darlings

Read more about Pearl and the Beard here. Pearl and the Beard will always be number one in my heart, though 40k definitely deserves this spot on our top 12.

Just a friendly update of favorite bands

Because I haven’t written in weeks, and since I know all of you are on the edge of your seat waiting for who I am going to post about next, here is my greatest hits post. A bunch of music videos that didn’t end up in the main posts that you should know about!

Come Into My Head by Kimbra

Talk About by Dear and the Headlights

Warrior by Mark Foster, A-Trak, and Kimbra

Lovins for Fools by Pearl and the Beard

The Lament of Coronado Brown by Pearl and the Beard

Happy Tuesday from BU Central.

Now and then I think of all the times Kimbra’s been screwed over.

 had her believing it was always something that she’d done.

But I don’t wanna live that way, and you shouldn’t either. Kimbra is widely known for her American debut in the Gotye song Somebody That I Used To Know. Now, I am not here to debate whether the song is great or not; I personally love it and it has been on my top 25 played since I first saw the music video. I am here to tell you about why Kimbra is amazing and why you should think that, too.

Kimbra (also known as Kimbra Lee Johnson) is a New Zealand singer-songwriter-guitarist-musician. She is pretty great. She is mostly known for her jazzy, soul-filled sound. Now, first reactions to the word jazz are usually negative. Jazz? Nah, not my scene. But, somehow Kimbra transcends her own genre with her unique sounds and beautiful voice. She utilizes voice looping to literally make her voice the instrument in the background. It is absurdly awesome and sounds so much better than I am describing it here. She is fantastic! And honestly, whenever I hear pop-rock or I hear ear-shattering dubstep, I lose faith in music, and then I listen to artists like Kimbra and it comes right back. I feel as though she is ushering in a new era of beautiful music.

Kimbra hasn’t been screwed over, but I feel as though her American debut should have been her own solo work. She is talented enough and famous enough to be on the radio just as Gotye was. Perhaps this will push radios to play more of her music more. One can only hope!

Hey Dale, I looked ahead and I saw videos. What is up with that?

Kimbra is amazing in herself, but the videos below are an entirely different tale. I’ll let this article speak for itself, but I want to draw attention to some of the film aspects of these videos.

“The trilogy of videos Franklin has created for Kimbra are elaborate vignettes filled with precise choreography and tricky visual elements (burning plastic in Settle Down, confetti canons in Cameo Lover and extensive period costuming and set design in both Good Intent and Settle Down) that many novice directors—and even some with more experience—would try to steer clear of, but Franklin knew they were pivotal for communicating his star’s songs.

“I remember, very specifically, that Kimbra had said that, by the [Cameo Lover] clip’s end, it needed to feel “joyous”. I went away, with this in mind, and came up with a story structure that felt engaging to watch and would allow us to build, bit by bit, to this climactic outro. All I can really say now is thank goodness we used the confetti! I think everyone was a little bit nervous about how the confetti would show up on camera, so we were very hesitant to use it… but, every rehearsal we had, Kimbra would ask, “Have you organised those confetti guns?” She seems to have a sixth sense, that girl…”

Sorry Emily, but these are the new jams of the week.

Comment below on which song is your favorite. Have a great rest of your week!