MAC DEMARCO
Salad Days (Captured Tracks)
DeMarco could not be a better man to name his album Salad Days, a phrase originally coined by Shakespeare to describe the wild and inexperienced days of youth. With gentle chorus guitars swooning over lo-fi beats and hi-fi melodies, this Harry Nilsson Jr. proves that he knows how to balance lovesick ballads with laissez-faire bedroom rock. He’s not a boy, not yet a grown man.
SHARON VAN ETTEN
Are We There (Jagjaguwar)
I’ve always avoided using “hauntingly beautiful” in a review, but I really can’t think of a better way to describe this record. Her recurring muse of heartbreak still runs rampant, but takes a more subdued, controlled turn with a focus on piano and organ over guitars and grit. Etten produced Are We There herself, employing drum machines, darker sonic textures and of course, her crushed velvet voice, to create one of this years best.
NATIVE NORTH AMERICA (VARIOUS ARTISTS)
Aboriginal Folk, Rock, and Country 1966-1985 (Vol. 1) (Light in the Attic)
An absolute diamond of a collection, chock-full of criminally overlooked songs by some of North America’s finest Aboriginal musicians. Just try listening to the late Willie Dunn’s “I Pity The Country” without feeling transcendental empathy.
THE WAR ON DRUGS
Lost In The Dream (Secretly Canadian)
You know that feeling when you’re driving down a highway in the middle of a hot summer afternoon with nowhere to go, nowhere to be and not a single care in the world? That’s how this album makes you feel. Like you are surrendering to the universe and letting the zen-like blue collar Springsteen mysticism guide you into a brighter future. Yeah. Something like that.
RUN THE JEWELS
Run The Jewels 2 (Mass Appeal)
In Blockbuster Night Part 1, Killer Mike sums up why they’re this year’s best-in-class when he states “Run The Jewels is/murder, mayhem, melodic music”. By utilizing sharp, poignant lyrics and unrivalled production, Killer Mike and El-P have made a modern classic for the modern skeptic.
