Let me make something clear. I do not consider myself a fan of hip-hop, rap or R&B. I don't hate it or even dislike most of it. It is just not one of my first listening choices. That is, until I heard The Weeknd. To say the feel of House Of Balloons is beyond R&B would belittle the genre. This album sounds like music from another century, another planet, another plane of existence. The topics addressed, however, are graphically present and real. The obsession with women, parties, sex and drugs is a well trod road. However, the lost, distant cries of how everything goes horribly wrong is an intriguing mystery. If any album this year indicates the future of music, House Of Balloons is it.
Download all albums for free at http://the-weeknd.com/.
The Weeknd - House Of Balloons Mixtape
Chillwave's greatest achievement in 2011 is from one of its founders in Alan Palomo. The lush and accessible grooves on Era Extrana are the next progression for this often indiscernible genre. Here, Neon Indian borrows heavily from shoegaze purposeful blurs and new wave pop beats to cobble together moments that are equally exciting and soothing. From the simplicity of his most accessible tracks "Polish Girl" and "Fallout" to the cacophony that blankets "Hex Girlfriend" and "Halogen (I Could Be A Shadow)", this is the less popular, yet much cooler version of M83's Hurry Up, We're Dreaming. Hopefully, the rest of the world will catch on to this better made and edited effort.
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Neon Indian - Fallout
The most hyped album of the year was a disappointment before anyone had heard it. Maybe it was the fact that it was preceded by arguably their best album, but Radiohead's The King Of Limbs by comparison to all of the fanfare (which was not self-marketed) was uneventful. People even invented stories about a second half to the album thinking that there had to be MORE. Alas, this album was a retreat by comparison, an anti-album from the World's Greatest Band. Ignoring the blather, this is simply a collection of eight loosely connected songs addressing the themes of loss and disconnection. Even a middle-of-the-road Radiohead album is better than most in my mind. I guess others feel differently. Or maybe they just did not want to pay for it this time around.
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Radiohead - Lotus Flower
Watching an avant-garde band like TV On The Radio move closer to the mainstream in sound and popularity brings mixed emotions. As you hear each musician become more refined and focused on Nine Types Of Light, you realize that those tightrope moments will be fewer and less likely. Still, on tracks like the slow dance of "Will Do", the doo-wop intensity of "Repetition" and lamenting soul of "Forgotten", they are pushing the establishment into the future, rather than succumbing to those dated and stagnant rules.
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TV On The Radio - Will Do
When I first started making my end of the year list, Annie Clark's latest as St. Vincent started as a mere consideration. After each listen, the quirky, experimental sounds and words that tumble from Strange Mercy kept winning me over. This album is a collection of awkward stories and confrontational confessions that simply fascinate. The dichotomy of tempo and theme on "Cruel", for example, takes beautiful sweeping synths and her angelic voice and stabs it playfully with that artfully maddening guitar. Look to the creepy "Cheerleader", the seductive "Surgeon" and the boiling intensity of "Hysterical Strength" to hear the full range of this amazing effort.
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St. Vincent - Cruel
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