Below are my personal favorite remixes of the year and the ones that I DJ'd out the most in 2012 in descending order. If you like you can listen to a mix I created using them via Mixcloud and by all means feel free to leave feedback and tell me what you thought were the best of the year:
Here's a rundown of my personal favourite albums of the year and what I liked about them:
1. Kendrick Lamar - Good Kid, M.A.A.D City
I can't praise this album enough, and since it's already topped nearly every single 'best of 2012' album chart I don't think I need to say anything more. But I will... this album is genius.
2. The Mountain Goats - Transcendental Youth
I've been an obsessive Mountain Goats supporter for many years now but it's been a while since I've been truly blown away by one of their albums, and with Transcendental Youth not only do I feel they've made one of the best albums of the year, but perhaps of their entire, almost 20-year long, career. Every strength of singer/songwriter John Darnielle comes out in this odyssey of disillusioned youth and hopeful degenerates and lost souls. It harkens back to their 2004 effort We Shall All Be Healed in its depiction of desperate individuals and life on the edge, but Darnielle and his band sound more cohesive than ever and the beautiful brass arrangements lend the album a cinematic nostalgia that frames these harrowing narratives with a sense of wonderment and hope.
3. Menomena - Moms
Having lost a member Memomena came back surprisingly stronger and more assured than ever with Moms, a stunningly produced collection of songs about memory, life and loss filtered through a surreal almost unhinged outlook. Despite the thematic subject matter there is a celebratory approach to the majority of the album, and when the mood dips into darker territory the emotional sentiment is more genuine and moving than any of their past efforts.
4. Dan Deacon - America
Dan Deacon's America is an ambitious, self-indulgent, bloated, frustrating and insanely brilliant work that goes beyond anything he has ever done before and arrived with little notion of what it would entail. Mixing his brand of harsh electronica with grand orchestral arrangements as an exploration of America; the myth and the modern reality, the album features repeated movements and an overarching journey from beginning to end. As a soundtrack to the madness and beauty of our times and the history we carry with us America is a fitting summation and reflection of experience, interpretation and influence that is both engaging and challenging in its sweeping scope and sense of awe.
5. Beach House - Bloom
With Bloom Beach House honed their sound so concisely and assuredly that they could have pretty much written songs about anything and it would have been entirely mesmerizing so the fact that the lyrics are poetically masterful and deeply meaningful mark this as an undeniable entry into 2012's praiseworthy releases. From the lilting arpeggios and haunting beauty of opener Myth to the simple majesty and dense drones of closer Irene the album doesn't contain a single misstep in its existential journey and depiction of human emotion and what it all means, summed up perfectly by lead singer Victoria Grand's repeated conclusion at the end of it all; "it's a strange paradise."
6. Frank Ocean - Channel Orange
Much has been made of Frank Ocean's revealing letter in regards to his sexuality and what this all means in the world of RnB and hip hop. This aside, Frank Ocean has crafted one of the best albums of the year with Channel Orange, including some of the year's best stand-alone tracks Thinking About You and Pyramids.
7. Xiu Xiu - Always
As a life-long fan of Xiu Xiu they are bound to make my top ten in any year they put out an LP, and 2012 was one of those years. At a time when a lot of artists were either diluting their sound or playing it safe, Jamie Stewart as Xiu Xiu returned with one of his most aggressive and disturbing albums yet which also, interestingly, contains some of his most tender moments too, not to mention some of his most anthemic.
8. Dirty Projectors - Swing Lo Magellan
Swing Lo Magellan marked a move into more 'pop friendly' territory for Dirty Projectors, and yet they still retained much of what makes them special as a left-field indie rock outfit with a penchant for twisting jazz and folk influences into something altogether refreshing and spectacular.
9. Animal Collective - Centipede Hz
Centipede Hz was an unexpected album for many, especially considering the mainstream success of the electro pop influence of Merriweather Post Pavillion, as it sees the band retreating to their more organic and chaotic early sound. The album is so dense and schizophrenic you almost expect it to fall apart at any moment, but for those who appreciate the sound they pioneered for years before they achieved notable chart success then this is a bold and welcomed move from the indie experimental veterans.
10. Rihanna - Diamonds
Almost everything that makes this album great is arguably regardless of Rihanna herself, and yet there's finally something engaging at work here as she bares all and embraces the shambolic and nihilistic character that she has come to embody. As a document of fame and fortune in the hands of someone so unlikeable yet so popular it's compelling, with all its drug-referencing, hazy production, dubstep explosions, indie balladry and shameless pilfering, but you do get the sense that the talent behind the album's construction deserve most of the praise.
Honorable mention:
No Doubt - Push & Shove
Titus Andronicus - Local Business
Matthew Dear - Beams
Bloc Party - Four
David Byrne & St. Vincent - Love This Giant
Cloud Nothings - Attack on Memory
Patti Smith - Banga
Flying Lotus - Until the Quiet Comes
Lana Del Rey - Born To Die
As a big fan of David Cronenberg and an even bigger fan of Don DeLillo I was certainly looking forward to this adaptation of DeLillo's lesser known 2003 novel. Deciding to adapt a novel that was released to a lukewarm reception amongst critics is a brave move on the part of Cronenberg, especially when the narrative takes place inside a limousine all on the same day and is mostly made up of dialogue between the protagonist and a cast of supporting characters who he encounters on his way to a barber shop across town.
Robert Pattison plays the protagonist in question, Eric Packer, a 28 year old billionaire whose intelligence is matched only by his equally nurtured ego. Pattison plays the character to chilling perfection, conducting all of his business from the back of his cork-lined soundproof high tech vehichle, with its multiple display panels plotting every second of the global financial market's movements. Trailed closely by his head of security, Torval, Packer meets with a plethora of his advisors, employees and concubines as he is driven through Manhatten to have his hair cut at the same barber shop where his father took him as a child. Packer's journey is hindered by traffic due to a presidential visit, anti-capitalist protests and the funeral procession of an influential rapper. In between all of this he meets repeatedly with his wife, a poet who comes from an excessively wealthy family, whom he still hasn't slept with.
Cronenberg provides the perfect directorial match to DeLillo's material, sinking his claws into the dense and darkly comic satire and transferring to the screen with great care much of the details and observations of DeLillo's examination and parody of greed, wealth and modern America. The films operates as a sociological tragic comedy, focusing on the influence of power and money and the divide between the wealthy and working classes. It's certainly pertinent to the current socio-political climate, DeLillo has been frighteningly prophetic and insightful with a great majority of his material and Cronenberg seems to be completely engrossed with the critique, inserting just the right amount of existential angst to provoke introspective thought without overshadowing the satire. This isn't a film for everyone, the humour is far from broad and the dialogue is very calculated, but for those who like to keep their brains switched on during a film or for any fans of DeLillo or dark American satire this is a must-see.
Last week Christian Lacroix showed their debut menswear collection for SS12, under its new creative director Sacha Walckhoff, at the location of their brand new store under construction in Paris. Check out a video of the show below. I did the official soundtrack for the catwalk, including an original remix of Psycho Killer by Talking Heads and you can stream the soundtrack below the YouTube video and there's also a photo of me wearing my favorite leather jacket from the collection!
I was chosen to do the soundtrack for Romanian designer Ingrid Vlasov's AW 11/12 show for Paris Fashion week. The show took place at the Westin Paris, Vendome, on Tuesday the 8th of March. Vlasov recently garnered an influx of attention when Lady Gaga was photographed wearing the finale dress from the Spring/Summer 2010 collection. Below you can see a video of the AW 11/12 show with my soundtrack and a backstage video from the day, as well as a photo of Lady Gaga wearing the aforementioned dress. For more information and to view previous collections head over to the official Ingrid Vlasov website.
