Album Review - Metric - "Fantasies"

This Canadian Indie Rock quartet's first record in four years has an electrophile slickness, not to mention a set of catchy songs. Fronted by lead singer and resident rock’n roll hottie Emily Haines, this band had a lot to live up to after their critically acclaimed last album “Live It Out”. So the question going into this album was - were they able to live up to the hype they created for themselves as one of most relevant Indie bands around? And the answer is YES and then some.

The album opener “Help I’m Alive” is an excellent kickoff to a three song stretch that reels the listener into the deeper tracks on Fantasies. Emily Haines’ voice is unadulterated ear candy, her raspy whisper threads the verses wrapped around the golden sweet anthemic choruses that fill this record. The obvious choice for second single “Gimmie Sympathy” has Haines begging the question “Who would you rather be? /The Beatles or the Rolling Stones.”

The closer, “Stadium Love”, kicks the shit out of everything I’ve heard so far this year.

Mixed in between some of the lusher tracks like “Twilight Galaxy” and “Collect Call” are heavy hitters like “Gold, Guns, Girls” and “Satellite Mind”.

Everthing on this album is done to perfection. The guitar riffs are in the right spots and never overstay their welcome. The Synths add depth and layers that I haven’t heard in a very long time.

Start to finish, Fantasies will easily make top ten lists in 2009 for its accessibility, incredibly strong writing, and precision production. It is, and I say this without reservation, simply excellent.

Fantasies is a hell of a lot of fun to listen to and is by far my favorite album of the year so far.

Download these – “Gimmie Sympathy”, “Sick Muse”, “Twilight Galaxy”, “Gold Guns Girls”, “Help, I’m Alive”, “Stadium Love”, “Collect Call”, “Blindness”, “Satellite Mind”.

Rating - 9/10

Album Review - Lilly Allen "It's Not Me It's You"

Lily Allen hit the scene at 20 with her debut album “Alright still”. The album was a big success not only because of the music but because of her cheeky lyrics. She is back with her sophomore effort “It's not Me it's You”.

The album doesn’t stray from the formula that worked so well for her on her debut. Present are the cheeky lyrics and pop melodies. Allen seems to have found a nice comfort zone for herself and her music and does nothing to stray outside it.

The album is chalk full of pop gems with catchy melodies and lyrics.

Lyrically the album challenges things such as drugs, sex and love, God.

On the opening track “Everyone’s at it” Allen surmises that everyone is on some sort of drugs. On “Him” she wonders what’s in the mind of the worlds creator declaring Gods favorite band to be “Creedance Clearwater Revival”. Lead single “The Fear” has her worrying about being famous and having to shed pounds for a provocative photo shoot. On "Not Fair" she uses a little country twang to question the sexual inadequacy of men. On it she she sings "Oh, I lie here in the wet patch / in the middle of the bed / I'm feeling pretty hard done by / I spent ages giving head”.

Her best tracks however are the driving tracks “Back to the Start” and the melodic “Chinese" and "I could say".

The album isn’t as good musically as her debut but certainly there is a lot to like here. If you were a fan of her debut you will love this.

8 out of 10

Download these – “The Fear”, “Chinese”, “Back to the Start”, “Not fair”, “Everyone’s At it”, “Him”, "Who'd Have Known", "I Could Say"

2008 Albums of the Year

2008 was a good year for Music.

Here in no particular order is my list of best albums from the past year (also a click of the artist and album title will navigate you to their MYSPACE page for a quick listen):

Best albums of 2008

Coldplay – Viva La Vida or Death and All his friends
Download these – Strawberry Swing, Violet Hill, Viva La Vida, 42, Lost, Lovers in Japan, Death and All his friends

Coldplay - Prospekt March (EP)
Download these – Glass of Water, Life in Technicolor II, Rainy Day , Lost +


Elbow – The Seldom Seen Kid
Download these – Grounds for Divorce, One Day Like This, Mirrorball, Weather to Fly, Some Riot

Jason Mraz – We Sing We Dance We Steal Things
Download these – I’m yours, Details in the Fabric, Lucky, Dynamo of Volition, If it kills me, Beautiful Mess

Death Cab for Cutie – Narrow Stairs
Download these – Cath, Grapevine Fires, Long Division, I will posess your heart, No Sunlight

R.E.M – Accelerate
Download these – Houston, Living well is the Best Revenge, Horse to water, Until the day is done, Mr Richards

Kings of Leon – Only by the night
Download these – Sex on Fire, Revelry, Closer, Use Somebody

Greg Laswell – Three Flights from Alto Nido
Download these – Its been a year, That it moves, Comes and Goes (In Waves), The One I love, Not out, How the day sounds

Cut Copy – In Ghost Colours
Download these – Lights and Music, Far away, So Haunted, Hearts on Fire, Out there on the Ice, Feel the love

Portishead – Third
Download these – The Rip, Machine Gun

Kanye West – 808’s and Heartbreak
Download these – Say you will, Paranoid, Robocop, Street Lights, Love Lockdown, Heartless, Welcome to the Heartbreak

Q-Tip – The Renaissance
Download these – The move, Won’t Trade, Believe

Common – Universal Mind Control
Download these – Universal Mind Control, Announcement, Sex 4 Suga, Gladiator

Lil Wayne – Tha carter III
Download these – Got Money, Lollipop

Nas – Untitled
Download these – Fried Chicken, Project Roach, N.i.-.-.e.r. (The Slave And The Master), Hero

The Roots – Rising Down
Download these - Rising up, Get Busy, Birthday Girl, Here I come, 75 bars, Rising Down

John Mayer – Where the Light is – Live in Los Angelas
Download these – Neon, In your Atmosphere, The heart of life, Good love is on the way, Gonna find another you, Don’t need no Doctor,

Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes
Download these – White Winter Hymnal, Sun it rises, Tiger Mountain Peasant Song

Sia – Some People Have Real Problems
Download these – Soon we’ll be found, Buttons, Academia, Go To sleep

TV on the Radio – Dear Science
Download these – Family Tree, Crying, Dancing Choose, Golden Age, Stork and Owl, Lovers Day

Meiko – Meiko (re-release)
Download these – Reasons to Love you, Boys with Girlfriends, Under my bed, Heard it All before, How Lucky we are

City and Colour – Bring me your love
Download these – The Girl, Waiting, Sleeping Sickness, Body in a box, Constant Knot, What Makes a Man

M83 - Saturdays = Youth
Download these - Kim and Jessie, Skin of the night, couleurs, We own the sky, graveyard girl

Vampire Weekend - Vampire weekend
Download these - The kids don't stand a chance, Mansard Roof, Apunk, Oxford Comma, Cape Code Kwassa Kwassa

Steven Wilson - Insurgentes
Download these - Harmony Korine, Abandoner, Significant Other, Insurgentes

Album Review - Coldplay's Prospekts March EP

A little background to begin.

Prospekts March was born out of studio sessions and material that was cut from the Viva La Vida/or death and all his friends experience. In the Summer of 08' lead singer Chris Martin claimed the tracks weren't quite polished enough in time for inclusion in Viva La Vida, but insists they had always been intended as part of that collection. He then went on to say that the material "might be considered too catchy or too heavy for Coldplay songs." This seemed reason enough for the band not rush and "polish" the material in time for VLV.

After hearing this album there is no denying that it was born out of the VLV creative sessions with producer Brian Eno. Almost like a little Brother to its big Bro Viva La Vida this is as complete an EP as you could ask for. Since there are only 8 tracks (2 of which are basically re-releases fom VLV) I figured I'd review the album track by track.


1. Life in Technicolor II - For those that heard the opener to Viva La vida and thought it would be better with lyrics…..well your wish is granted. It was widely reported during the VLV sessions that the band had written and recorded great lyrics to this song but in the interest of album flow they took the direction of their producer Brian Eno and decided to make it an instrumental. Which, for VLV was ultimately the right decision. You have to respect a bands decision to nix a song as good as this from their album. All that said, "Life in Technicolor II" is hugely satisfying and develops Viva La Vida's addictive intro track with belting and uplifting guitar and vocals. As it was on Viva La Vida this is a Great opener.

2. Postcards from Faraway – A Gorgeous piano piece, which sadly ends at 48 seconds. This brings me to a point a friend of mine made about it "if you're going to write a gorgeous piano piece and you're Chris Martin why not make it a full song". Agreed.

3.Glass of Water - This could be one of the top 5 Coldplay songs of all time. A soaring Rock song in which Martin laments "He heard you could see your future/Inside a glass of water/ the ripples and the rhymes/He asked 'Will I see heaven in mine". The Chorus on this song is as good as any that I have heard all year. I just wish they had played this live when I saw them in July. If this isn't released as a single I'd be shocked. This song alone makes the EP worth buying.

4.Rainy Days – Strange opening to this one. It has a real U2 feel to it and this includes the muffled vocals. That is until the Chorus kicks in and we get Vintage Chris martin over a lovely bed of Strings singing "I love it when you come over the house /I love it when you come over to my house." The guitar work over the Chorus is wonderful as well.

5. Prospekts March/Poppyfields – like a Parachutes track, slow strummed with Martin pensive in mid-register, before opening up into some slowly rising/celestial production and Pink Floyd like guitars. The lyrics while Cheesy (what Chris martin lyrics aren't) are simple and great "don't you wish your life could be as simple/as fish swimming round in a barrel when you've got the gun" you know what Chris Martin…I Do wish that.

6.Lost + - This Track was billed by Martin to be the same Lost track from VLV with a "Guest Experience" from hip hop God Jay Z. That's exactly what it is. Jay Z gives us something to think about when it comes to Success "With the same sword they knight you/ they gon' good night you with" …he goes on to say "So it's tough being Bobby Brown/To be Bobby then, you have to be Bobby now" Good Points J good points. Not right for VLV but right for this release.

7. Lovers In Japan (Osaka Sun Remix) – This is traditionally what an EP from a Band like Coldplay is like. Filler and remixes of songs we've already heard. Nothing special here as this is basically the same track found on VLV. Skip it.

8.Now My Feet Won't Touch The Ground – This is the bow that ties the package together. Similar to "Till Kingdom Comes" from X and Y. This track is an acoustic number with middle eastern influences mixed in and ties the lyrics of Life in Technicolor II in nicely.

So whats the verdict:

There are two types of people in life, those that like coldplay and those that don't. If you like Coldplay you will Love this record. If you don't like Coldplay there isn't anything here that is going to change your mind. Thankfully I consider myself a Coldplay fan.

8.5 out of 10.

Download these – Glass of Water, Rainy Days, Lost +, Life in Technicolor II.

Album Review - Kanye West "808's and Heartbreak"

Let me ask this: Where would music be without Kanye West?

Kanye West does not do Subtle. He does not do humble. He does however give everything he has to his craft….absolutely EVERYTHING.

I say this after seeing his jaw dropping “Glow in the Dark Tour” this summer in Toronto.

Kanye, unlike most artists insisted his performance be just him, on stage showcasing his music. No Band, no backup singers just him….and he pulled it off flawlessly.

There aren’t many artists that I can think of that can pull this off for 1 or 2 songs let alone an entire 1 ½ hour show (save for Lupe Fiasco’s brief appearance onstage at the end of the show). Kanye pulled it off and then some.

So it would be understandable for a someone like Kanye to want to take a break. I mean he is coming off 3 hit records (College Dropout, Late Registration, Graduation) in 4 years AND one of the years most successful tours. Wouldn’t you want to take a break and enjoy life for a bit?

Not Kanye West.

He is motivated, driven and always pushing the boundaries of what he’s capable of and what defines music today. So instead of taking time off to enjoy life, Kanye ventured back into the studio where he is most comfortable and proceeded to write, record and produce an entire album from start to finish in 3 months.

Enter “808’s and heartbreak. Kanye’s latest, and most ambitious effort to date.

Those looking for the traditional Kanye West flash won’t find it here. With the exception of a couple of rhymes on the albums best and most accessible track “Paranoid” Kanye has decided to try his hand at singing, albeit with the assistance of today’s most popular Studio tool the Autotune. And not surprisingly it works.

Sticking to distinctly non-hip-hop rhythms and new-wave-era Synths, Kanye has managed to reinvent himself as a vocalist. It’s also VERY important to note that the production on 808's is the best it has ever been...EVER.



Lyrically Kanye has never been more introspective as evidenced by the albums 2nd track “Welcome to the Heartbreak” where he bemoans: “My friend showed me pictures of his kids/And all I could show him were pictures of my cribs/He said his Daughter got a brand-new report card/And all I got was a brand-new sports car.”

The first 2 singles “Love Lockdown and Heartless” set a nice tone for fans venturing into this album. They set a nice scene for what to expect kind of like dipping your toe in before wading into a pool for the first time.

As mentioned the albums best track (other than the 2 singles) is the bouncy Synth infused “Paranoid” which is one of the only tracks where we’re treated to a traditional Kanye verse.

Another standout is the Drum heavy string enriched club anthem “Robocob” where he sings “'Bout the baddest girl I ever seen /Straight up outta movie scene /Who knew she was a drama queen /That'll turn my life to Stephen King's”

Overall Kanye has managed to reinvent himself even if it is for a short time. There is no way he continues this Autotune progression into a new record. In fact one of the things that for me reduces the impact of this album is that I know there is no way this album sustains itself like his other work will 3 years from now when the Autotune phase of music is long dead and buried.

But again that’s reason enough for Kanye to make this album now. So that when people look back on this time in music he can say he made one of the best albums of its time in that mold.

Bottom line is that as long as we have a guy like Kanye West around who is willing to take chances and push not only his own boundaries but the boundaries of music then I think we’re all going to be ok.

So I ask again: Where would music be without Kanye West? I hope we never need to find that out.

8 out of 10

Download these: Paranoid, Robocop, Heartless, Love Lockdown, Welcome to the heartbreak