Tag Archives: music

Happy New Year! To ring in 2013, I’m going to address an area of pop culture that gets short shrift on this blog – music! Every year, I make a list of the top five albums I’ve listened to as catalogued by Last.fm (www.last.fm/user/lohgam).  In the past, it’s just been a Facebook post, but as new topics are becoming harder and harder for me to think up I figured I might as well put the list on here.  So, the rules to my list are pretty simple. It doesn’t have to be an album that came out this year, just something I got this year and that I listened to a lot.  That is it.

1. TV On The Radio – Dear Science: Yes, yes, I know I’m late to the party.  For years, I couldn’t escape TV On The Radio. They played at an MTV Canada taping I happened to go to. They opened for Franz Ferdinand at a show I went to. They were on all of these best of lists, but they just weren’t clicking for me. I picked this album up on a whim and it finally happened. It’s so good. A fantastic mix of classic rock with electronic dance music. I couldn’t get enough of it. I ended up getting a few of their other albums, but none worked for me quite as well as this one.

2. Teddybears – Devil’s Music: Obviously, I listened to this album a lot as it’s second on my list. But, I think that was mostly due to how much I liked their last album. This isn’t bad by any stretch, but I don’t find it as memorable. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but for whatever reason it didn’t grab me. Maybe it’s because it’s a bit more subdued than Soft Machine. Anyway, it’s worth checking out, but if this were a list of the best albums I listened to this one probably wouldn’t make the cut.

3. The Hives – Lex Hives: Ah, The Hives. They’ve been one of my favorite bands for years and they put out another great album this year. It’s a little less experimental than their last album, but it’s a solid punk rock record. They also put on a live show that’s second to none. In fact, I think theirs might have been the only live show I went to this year. It takes a lot to drag me out of my house for the privilege of standing around and waiting for a band to grace the stage, but The Hives always make it worth the wait. Highly, highly recommend!

4. Santigold – Master Of My Make-Believe: A few years ago, MIA got a lot of attention as a kind of world music female rapper. And, she is good. But, Santigold is better. To be fair, I’m not a very good judge of rapping or hip hop. But, I find that Santigold’s albums are better musically. I can actually sit back and enjoy them, which I can’t really do with MIA. So, if you like MIA and have never heard of Santigold, prepare to have your mind blown.

5. Die Antwoord – Ten$Ion: It is really hard to describe this album, but I’ll try. It’s bizarre South African techno rap. They’re music is weird and catchy, but it’s really their videos that will suck you in. They’re hypnotic. I found myself watching them over and over again just trying to puzzle them out. What was the thought process that led to that series of images? Give it a shot:

Honorable mentions: Jack White – Blunderbuss, Foster The People – Torches, Gotye – Making Mirrors, Killers – Battle Born, Rilo Kiley – The Execution Of All Things, Elliott Smith – Elliott Smith.

Graham Becksted does not know enough about music to write proper reviews. He is also the author of Graham’s Grumbles the second blog by that name that is listed in Google results when you search for Graham’s Grumbles. If you would like to be his 72nd follower (thank you, bots), he can be followed on Twitter @GrahamBecksted.