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[2016 Recap] A Few Of My Favorite Things
bless Topsters for assembling this graphic infinitely easier than prior years
Surpriiiiseee!! I'm going to do my year end wrap up differently than most of the ones I've seen. Mostly because I have so many to share, but mostly because I like to let the music do the talking and help you get better connected to the artists themselves. Instead of recaps of each record, I'm going to point you to my favorite tracks so if any of these are new to your ears you'll have the best starting point I can give you.
Personal Observations for 2016
This was a weird year for me in terms of listening/discovery habits. Instead of fighting against music consumption trends, I decided to play along. I dove head first into my Discover Weekly playlist. I even followed some of my friends' in order to see what I would find and set up an IFTTT recipe to archive everything recommended to me so I could go back and reference it later if I wanted. I barely touched my SKOA inbox, which probably upset a lot of publicists. Anyway, according to Last.FM's data (since Spotify never ended up sending me mine), I listened to 1,919 new artists this year, which is ABSOLUTELY INSANE. But really when you think about how much music Discover Weekly puts in front of you, it's really less than what everyone had the potential to check out (which is 1,560 if you figure we get 30 new tracks a week for a year). I am in the 98th percentile in music listening per Last.FM (meaning I listen to more music than 98% of people who still scrobble to Last.FM) and I found myself panicky and overwhelmed by the sheer volume of music that Spotify thinks I can get through on TOP of the music I already love and want to enjoy, or the random rabbit holes I end up falling into that typically bring me great new baby bands. I guess most people approach Discover Weekly differently than I do, letting artists come and go as they please, but knowing the transformative power that music possesses, I'm always wary of passing on an opportunity to be affected and share those experiences with others.
It's crazy to think that 20% of what stuck with me this year was randomly generated by The Algorithm and not delivered to me by humans. I almost said that the human delivery was through cosmic forces, but really, if music finds its way to your ears/hearts by friend or by Algorithm, both are cosmic in a way, no?
This is my struggle at present. I value the connection that happens when a humans experience music together, whether it be by recommendation or attending shows together. I worry this experience will continue to be diminished the more we silo ourselves into our algorithm-based echo chambers. I really hope I'm just out of touch and someone will point me to where this is the opposite, but I can't ignore how self-serving shows feel now every time I treat myself to a Night Out. This has been on my heart/mind too much lately to ignore it, so expect some changes to how things go down on the site (starting with making more time for this now that my new job isn't crazy busy for awhile).
What music moved you this year? Did you like some of these records but different tracks? I'd honestly love to know so please drop me a comment. Also if you want more than favorite tracks out of me for these records, feel free to bug me on Twitter I am happy to share!
My Favorite Things Of 2016
[Listen] P.O.S. - 'We Don't Even Live Here' (Full Album Stream)
We are a week away from the release of one of the best, if not the best album of 2012 so far, the new album We Don't Even Live Here by Doomtree/Rhymesayers rhymespitter P.O.S. Yesterday, Pitchfork debuted the 3rd single from the album "Get Down" featuring Mike Mictlan but today thanks to the good folks at MPLS radio station The Current, you can here the album in it's entirity. Peep this amazing LP below which features guest spots from Bon Iver, Astronautalis, Marijuana Deathsquads and more. And if you haven't already pre-ordered the album you should do so NOW.
We Don't Even Live Here drops next Tuesday 10/16. Stay tuned into SKoA and peep our review for the album coming soooooon.
[Download] Marijuana Deathsquads - 'Tamper. Disable. Destroy' (Mixtape)
It's been nearly a year since the release of Marijuana Deathsquad's debut EP Crazy Master Now the crew consisting of GAYNGS mastermind Ryan Olson, Doomtree/Rhymesayers' emcee/producer P.O.S. along with his former Building Better Bombs bandmate now video director Isaac Gale, Freddy Votel of Cows and Ben Ivascu of Stnnng and Total Fucking Blood fame are back with their latest mixtape, Tamper. Disable. Destroy.
Tamper. Disable. Destroy kicks off right where Crazy Master left off giving you 10 dope new tracks of loud, bass dropping beats and guest features from the crew's extended fam like Astronautalis, Poliça's Channy Leaneagh, Doomtree's Mike Mictlan and more including some rhymes from P.O.S. himself. So if you love GAYNGS, Digitata, Doomtree, Mel Gibson and The Pants or Poliça, MDS' Tamper. Disable. Destroy and Crazy Master will fit right in with your musicial tendencies.
Take a listen for yourself with the track "Top Down" featuring Astronautalis and Poliça's Channy Leaneagh and download the full mixtape below.
Download Tamper. Disable. Destroy (64.2MB)
[Watch] Astronautalis - "The River, The Woods" (Official Video)
Astronautalis takes to the studio for the new video for his This Is Our Science cut "The River, The Woods". Filmed by Dan Huiting at tpt's Studio A, the video focuses on a live performance of the song juxtaposed with high definition imagery. It's a simple yet powerful approach, aided by Astronautalis' high energy delivery. Watch it above.
[News] Astronautalis and Bon Iver Form Band, Recording Collaborative Album
This morning, Minneapolis music blog Gimme Noise revealed that Minneapolis rapper Astronautalis, aka Andy Bothwell, and close neighbor and Bon Iver frontman Justin Vernon turned a whiskey-fueled weekend into a series of intense, creative recording sessions. With the help of Bon Iver member and multi-instrumentalist S. Carey as well as producer Ryan Olson, the group took to Vernon's April Base recording studio and got to work.
When speaking on the process of recording at April Base, Bothwell said, "[b]y the time I got there, they had about eight pieces of music done, or roughed out into song form. Then I just got down there and freestyled for eight hours over everything. When I work with Ryan, it's the exact opposite of how I work on my own records. I just give him tons and tons of material. He takes it back to his house, and dangles a cigarette out of his mouth, and works for hours on end." He went further to say, "[w]hat sparked this was that he and I are obsessive and lose our minds working on albums. Stressing out over lyric choices, and getting one word right and worrying about it for weeks on end. Whereas, Ryan is this amazing personality who motivates people to enjoy the process of making music. You just do it, and if it doesn't work, it'll get cut out."
For those who are fans of either Bon Iver or Astronautalis separately, Bothwell teased what the album will sound like, saying, "[a] lot of my fans are like, 'Oh this is going to be amazing: Astronautalis rapping and Justin singing choruses.' It's not going to be that. I'm sure that all of Justin's fans are going to be like 'Oh, it's a new Bon Iver record and there's these other guys.' Everyone's fans respectively are going to expect certain things." In regards to the album's sound and possible release date, Bothwell went into greater detail, saying, "I think you'll hear it sooner than you think, and I kinda just wanna leave it at that. It's such a far stretch for a lot of us musically. I think everyone should abandon their expectations of what it's going to be, because it's probably going to be very far off."
Expect to hear more regarding the Astronautalis and Bon Iver collaboration in the coming months.
[SXSW 2012] Party Party Party: Events You Should Check Out On Wednesday, March 14
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14TH
Gary Clark Jr.
Dr. John
Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.
Kimbra
Ed Sheeran
Punch Brothers
LP
CLICK FOR RSVPSET TIMES:
12:00 Elliot & The Ghost
12:30 Nightlife
1:00 AmericanRoyalty
1:30 Stepdad
2:00 1,2,3
2:30 Santah
3:00 Luster
3:30 Vanaprasta
4:00 Bleeding Knees Club
4:30 Stamps
5:00 Deleted Scenes
5:30 Saint Motel
6:00 The Chain Gang of 1974
6:30 PaperRoute
6:50 Ume
7:30 Harriet
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14TH
Gary Clark Jr.
Dr. John
Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.
Kimbra
Ed Sheeran
Punch Brothers
LP
CLICK FOR RSVPSET TIMES:
12:00 Elliot & The Ghost
12:30 Nightlife
1:00 AmericanRoyalty
1:30 Stepdad
2:00 1,2,3
2:30 Santah
3:00 Luster
3:30 Vanaprasta
4:00 Bleeding Knees Club
4:30 Stamps
5:00 Deleted Scenes
5:30 Saint Motel
6:00 The Chain Gang of 1974
6:30 PaperRoute
6:50 Ume
7:30 Harriet
SET TIMES
11:30 am – Doors
12:00 – Future Unlimited (I)
12:30 – Princeton (O)
01:00 – The Henry Clay People (I)
01:30 – Mikal Cronin (0)
02:00 – Bleached (I)
02:30 – Mr. Dream (O)
03:00 – The Men (I)
03:30 – Screaming Females (O)
04:00 – Titus Andronicus (I)
04:45 – Cloud Nothings (O)
I = Indoor Stage O = Outdoor stage
click on flyer to RSVP
[Watch] Astronautalis - "This Is Our Science" (Official Video)
Ever wondered what it'd be like to be Astronautalis? Well look no further than the new official video for his great sounding track from the album of the same name, "This Is Our Science". The video sees him going about his daily business and is put together from footage of his time on the road from the past year. Unload the van and load it back up again, night in night out. Grind this hard and you're going to get results and as you can see, Astro has. Up at the top you can live a year in the life of the young talented Minneapolis rapper courtesy of the folks over at CoS.
[SKOA Presents] The 50 Best Albums Of 2011: 30 - 26
30. Little Dragon - Ritual Union [Amazon] [iTunes] [Insound]
29. Gruff Rhys - Hotel Shampoo [Amazon] [iTunes] [Insound]
Gruff Rhys - 'Xenodocheionology' by nmemagazine
28. The Strokes - Angels [Amazon] [iTunes] [Insound]
27. Astronautalis - This Is Our Science [Amazon] [iTunes] [Insound]
Astronautalis - "Dimitri Mendeleev" (Prod By Alias) by Some Kind of Awesome
26. Manchester Orchestra - Simple Math [Amazon] [iTunes] [Insound]
