FIRST RATE PEOPLE

The amount of times I've played this lovely Toronto band since I met them in the beginning of October is grossly disproportionate to the number of times I've written on them here. The situation begs to be rectified, so here we are with one of their fantastic new tracks, Funny Games.


A bit of R+B, a bit of electro, a bit of pop and catchy as hell.
Grab a free download above or here.

This shouldn't go without mentioning their equally awesome EP It's Never Not Happening, which follows in a similar stylistic vein as Funny Games, but manages to successfully reach across a range of genres as well.
The EP is also available for free over at last.fm.

myspace.com/firstratepeople

10's 10

UC's 10 of 2010 list!
Caribou and Kanye are tied for first, the rest follow in a loose order.

Swim Caribou

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy Kanye West
Say It Born Ruffians
Clinging to a Scheme The Radio Dept.
Contra Vampire Weekend
Champ Tokyo Police Club
Astro Coast Surfer Blood
Congratulations MGMT
The Drums The Drums
Hippies Harlem

Honorable Mentions (not LPs):

It's Never Not Happening EP, Gentleman's Club; Funny Games
First Rate People

If You Wanna, Wrecking Bar (Ra Ra Ra), Blow it Up; Post Break Up Sex
The Vaccines

Ra Ra Ra!

UK upstarts The Vaccines seem to be taking the scene by storm lately, thanks to lots of NME press. Get this: they've got virtually no internet presence, only three songs available and have been booked to headline Bowery Ballroom in New York next month. Not too bad for a couple of underground lo-fi rock & rollers from London!

Surely a group to watch in 2011.

mp3s
Great New Demo: If You Wanna
First Single: Wreckin' Bar (Ra Ra Ra)
b/w Blow it Up

BIG

I think it would be pointless to throw in more than a few thoughts on Kayne West's new album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, since it's been receiving perfect scores across the board. Even the super critical, hard to please Pitchfork gave it a perfect 10 - last time that happened was with Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.

The only way to describe this album would be big. It's just...big. It sounds big. It's got big samples. And it's got big name contributors - most notably Bon Iver, Nicki Manaj, Rick Ross and Jay-Z.

I don't think it deserves the absolute perfect scores its been getting, but there's no doubt it's a fantastic album. Standout tracks: All of the Lights, Devil in a New Dress (this one's got a Smokey Robinson sample) and the biggest sounding of all - Lost in the World (ft. Bon Iver's Woods!) / Who Will Survive in America. Really. It sounds like there are 100 people playing on the Bon Iver track, and combined with Gil Scott Heron chanting "who will survive in America?" on the latter half makes for a perfect and somewhat chilling way to end the album.

Rap fan or not, everyone should hear this.

Official Video: Young Rival - "The Ocean"

Here's the official video for Young Rival's lovely second single The Ocean from their debut LP (aptly titled LP).

They call it a "DIY 8mm video". It was filmed in Moose Jaw, SK, Canada.

myspace.com/youngrival

Lo-Fi Pairings

Lo-fi couple Best Coast & Wavves have been very busy lately. For starters, they'll be touring together early next year (dates TBA - check your local promoters).

Additionally, they've released a holiday collaboration for Target called Got Something for You. The song is cute, poppy and catchy, lending itself much more to the style of Best Coast rather than Wavves.

Listen to it here, along with other Target-approved holiday jams by groups including Bishop Allen and Guster.

STROKES IV

More huge news! As confirmed by frontman Julian Casablancas on twitter, The Strokes' infamous fourth album is finally finished.

It could be a long, long time before any piece of this album package officially surfaces, but we can all sleep easy now knowing that the tracking has been completed.

Stay tuned!

Apple on Apple

Some very big news surfaced this morning - The Beatles are now on iTunes!

After decades of trademark debacle between The Beatles' label Apple and Apple Computers, the quartet's entire discography is now available legally in the digital realm.

apple.com/the-beatles

Let it Die or Be Caught Dead

I thought I'd give a heads up on some new Ruby Coast, since (1)we've basically (d)evolved into a Canadian Music Appreciation blog and (2) it's been at least a year since I last wrote on them.

Simply put, Ruby Coast is the pop version of Tokyo Police Club, all because their '08 EP Projectable Collections was produced by floppy haired Toronto king Dave Monks of said Club band.

They've put out a new 7" - Whatever This Is / Creep Me Out. The b-side's real good.

Grab it for free on Facebook and watch this space for my review of their live show. I'll be seeing them play at the Meligrove Band's CD release party in Toronto this Friday.

Top Five!

Newmarketers Tokyo Police Club stopped into Daytrotter recently in support of their sophomore record Champ. All and all it's a good session - the mix is clearly off and the playing feels a bit rushed, but TPC's undeniable live talent makes up for production issues.

The session includes an interesting, unreleased song called Top Five!.
I'm undecided about this track. It's a just composite of the many stylistic faces of Tokyo. Same synthy garage instrumentals, same simple structure...it just doesn't feel like anything special or progressive. Despite this criticism, it's still a very likable song.

TPC DTS