Friday, January 31, 2020

Testiculo Y Uno - "Wasabi Terraces"

Honestly, the entirety of Two, by Testiculo Y Uno is worth a listen, but if you need a taste of the beat-tape before you consume the entire thing, start with "Wasabi Terraces." It's from the first half of the album, produced by Twit One.

Wednesday, January 29, 2020

The Immaculate Beings - "Come In (Space Control)"

I'm not sure which of The Immaculate Beings - Trevor, Griffin, Joe, Christian, Casey, Staurie or Michael is the one singing this song, but what a great showcase for their voice. Particularly when they ascend on "I'm an extra-terrestrial human" and during the scoop and drop on "come in space control / is there anybody there." It's a gymnastic line they hit like Simone Biles.

The entirety of Mental Space is worth a listen as the band "promote the importance of self-love, self-care, and self-validation through their music" and "create a safe space that reuminds you how much you matter in this world. You are so loved."

As I post this, the day happens to be a corporate-sponsored national discussion of mental health in Canada, but as I am learning, every day is the right day to talk about these things and this record might help.


Thursday, January 9, 2020

Veronica Fusaro - "Rollercoaster"

The nice thing about taking a break over the holidays is coming back to the station and finding some great new tunes in my inbox as I play catch-up.

Swiss songwriter Veronica Fusaro's Sunkissed EP is pretty solid front-to-back, but lead off track "Rollercoaster" is an inside-the-park homer. It's just so ebullient and speeds along at a pace that will take your breath away.

It's a contemporary recording that draws on the classic sound of soul music in a way that Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse have achieved and you can practically hear the smile on Fusaro's face as she belts her way through the song.

Tuesday, January 7, 2020

Top 20 of 2019

So....

about the longlist.
Normally I do several posts detailing the entirety of the longlist of albums I considered for my year-end Top 20, but I'll be honest, the demands on my time over the holidays was just too much to carve out time for the entire 180 that were great but not-quite greatest. I did post about the ones that were cut last (and clearly from the title, hoped to chronicle the rest).

I was also away over New Years' so I failed to post my Top 20 in concert with the countdown show on UMFM, so here now is the rundown/recap:


20. Hania Rani - Esja [Gondwana]

19. Ryan Dugre - The Humors [Birdwatcher]

18. The Quiet Temple - The Quiet Temple [Point of Departure]

17. Carlton Jumel Smith - 1634 Lexington Avenue [Timmion]

16. Men I Trust - Oncle Jazz [Self-Released]

15. Aldous Harding - Designer [4AD]

14. Moonchild - Little Ghost [Tru Thoughts]

13. Ryan Porter - Force For Good [World Galaxy]

12. Bedouine - Bird Songs Of A Killjoy [Spacebomb]

11. Theo Croker - Star People Nation [Sony Masterworks]

10. Helado Negro - This Is How You Smile [RVNG Intl]

09. Jamila Woods - Legacy! Legacy! [Jagjaguwar]

08. The Comet Is Coming - Trust In The Lifeforce of The Great Mystery [Impulse]

07. Sharon Van Etten - Remind Me Tomorrow [Jagjaguwar]

06. Andrew Bird - My Finest Work Yet [Loma Vista]

05. American Football - LP3 [Polyvinyl]

04. Royal Canoe - Waver [Paper Bag]

03. Julia Jacklin - Crushing [Polyvinyl]

02. Resavoir - Resavoir [International Anthem]

01. Maggie Rogers - Heard It In A Past Life [Capitol]



*** IMPORTANT UPDATE ***
I shared my longlist with longtime friend Donna Lowe and she created a Spotify playlist so even though there's no blog entries for the entirety of the albums I considered, you can (provided you use Spotify) listen to selections from all the titles that are available within their service.