I realized the other day that I hadn’t downloaded any new music since the beginning of November. Yikes! No wonder my days were feeling stale and uninspired. So here’s what I’ve grabbed as the first batch of new(ish) music for 2006:
- Arcade Fire – Funeral. My cousin Cameron recommended these guys. I’ve listened to the album once so far, and am not sure what to make of it. It might grow.
- Fischerspooner – Odyssey. I’d heard a couple of tracks from this last year. Smart and funky electro.
- KT Tunstall – Eye To The Telescope. The sheer weight of excellent songs from the album meant I had to get the whole thing. Smooth and sweet wrapped around a nugget of rock.
- Mos Def & Talib Kweli – Black Star. Going back to 1998 for this one. Talib Kweli showed up on a bunch of my favourite tunes from last year (collaborating with MF Doom and Kanye West), and according to my sources, Black Star was a good place to start getting some more of him. It’s rich and sumptuous hip-hop–the good stuff.
- Stevie Wonder – A Time To Love. I saw that Spence has listed this as one of his records of 2005. I haven’t listened to much of Stevie Wonder’s recent material, but if this is anything to go by, I’m going to have to dive into that back catalogue. It’s lush.
- System Of A Down – Hypnotize. The second part of their 2005 diptych. It hasn’t caught my ear as quickly as Mezmerize did, though.
- The White Stripes – Get Behind Me Satan. It’s got a lighter touch than Elephant, but offers another excellent helping of stripped-down blues rock.
Mmmm. It’s a great start to the year.
Stick it out with Arcade Fire, it’ll definitely grow on you.
Kev