The Top Down

2012-01-24T21:47:00.003-05:00

i have decided to move the top down to a new home. in the future, you can find my photography here.

<< the-top-down.tumblr.com >>

thank you for following along for the past 3 years. it's been a lot of fun, and i look forward to seeing you over on tumblr :)

2012-01-17T13:47:00.005-05:00

2012-01-09T12:01:00.002-05:00

[light leaked film — happy accidents]

2012-01-05T00:41:00.007-05:00

[snapshots taken between 2007 and 2010 that I've never posted before]

2011-12-29T15:14:00.002-05:00

[CREW LOVE: the 512 live at Zemra Lounge. In order of appearance: Double X, Anthony Cadence, The Chronic Kids, J. Frank, Tricky P, and Ray Voodoo Tatom]

2011-12-16T14:57:00.001-05:00

2011-12-10T18:51:00.004-05:00

[the country]

2011-10-17T23:47:00.004-04:00

[the city]

2011-09-11T16:29:00.001-04:00

2011-07-04T16:09:00.011-04:00

[portraits from the gay pride parade, toronto]

2011-04-01T17:53:00.003-04:00

2011-03-17T11:29:00.004-04:00

[mock ad for Kids Help Phone with photography and art direction by the top down]

2011-03-11T14:52:00.009-05:00

[lego ads built by the top down]

2011-02-24T14:37:00.004-05:00

you can see the photos from my trip to india at zacharyvitiello.tumblr.com

2011-02-02T18:30:00.006-05:00

[I spent the weekend catching up on Dexter]

2011-01-28T20:00:00.002-05:00

2011-01-25T18:28:00.009-05:00

[photography & direction by the top down // modeled by brendan rayman]

2011-01-18T18:55:00.007-05:00

[anatomical drawings + military photos = love]

2011-01-11T23:12:00.010-05:00

[a custom-designed geometric typeface by the top down]

2010-11-27T23:25:00.012-05:00

wolf parade at the sound academy. last night.

2010-11-17T16:18:00.002-05:00

i just slept through a 3 hour lecture on modernist design. this is what i learned.

2010-11-05T00:25:00.002-04:00

happy to now be attending a school where my reports look like this. hand-manipulated type.

2010-11-03T21:52:00.003-04:00

i used to carry around a disposable camera at all times. then i stopped. i should start again.

2010-10-08T00:22:00.008-04:00

What happened to coffee dates? I had the idea of making a boutique coffee parlor you could take a date a while back and decided to do some mock ups of what the products and logos might look like. A lipstick smear for the girls. A bushy moos-tash for the boys. Any one want to invest?

2010-09-08T17:46:00.006-04:00

i made this over a year ago out of boredom, but i have a new appreciation for it now. it's a lyric from one of my favourite songs of all time, "i am trying to break your heart" by wilco.

2010-08-16T15:56:00.003-04:00

welcome back!

this is the first photo i decided to edit when i got home from traveling last week. there are many, many more photos coming (in about a month).

akha tribal woman // burma.

2010-03-11T13:53:00.003-05:00

hi everyone,

as some of you may know, i'm off to india TODAY. i fly out in a few hours. that means that the blog will be left unattended to for five long months. i do not plan on posting any photos as i go, but do plan on having a gallery showing/exhibition of some of my favourite shots at the end of august. i would love to see you all there!

wishing you all the best in the coming months,

zack

2010-02-28T15:54:00.007-05:00

[mock advertisement for BMW. i did the photography, direction, copy and layout. im pretty sure this piece is the reason i got accepted to school — sex sells]

2010-02-26T16:40:00.005-05:00

[mock concert poster for bon iver made with a photo i took 3 years ago. i just realized last week that there was a heart in the log]

2010-02-18T15:53:00.014-05:00

[a night at the museum by the top down]

2010-02-15T18:00:00.016-05:00

[laundry day by the top down]

2010-02-10T14:42:00.003-05:00

2010-02-09T20:42:00.008-05:00

2010-02-03T23:52:00.003-05:00

this necklace is all the way in amsterdam now.

2010-01-29T12:02:00.004-05:00

2010-01-21T00:32:00.009-05:00

mackenzie helped me to take a photo of the necklace i made her for christmas. the pieces are antique pocket watch faces i found at a junk store on queen street. more photos to come soon.

2009-12-25T14:13:00.003-05:00

photos // three days grace

2009-12-24T23:37:00.014-05:00

photos // the used

2009-12-24T23:30:00.007-05:00

photos // default

2009-12-24T23:22:00.009-05:00

photos // phoenix

2009-12-14T23:36:00.001-05:00

yeasayer //

2009-12-01T20:16:00.004-05:00

this is one of the most ridiculous music videos i have ever seen, and the song is definitely one of my favourite singles of the year so far // ambling alp by yeasayer, directed by the incredible spy films ///

boredom strikes //

2009-11-24T22:20:00.004-05:00

photos // afi, gallows

2009-11-14T14:34:00.025-05:00

Earlier this week I got the chance to shoot AFI and Gallows at the Sound Academy. I've never been big into either band's music, but I'm so glad I went because this was by far the most fun I've ever had shooting a concert. Gallows opened the set with their incredibly heavy stage jumping antics, and I'm sure if I had known how to use my friend Graham's camera properly I would have come away with some really amazing stuff, just because the frontman is straight up nuts. Thankfully, another photog showed me how to use the camera between sets, and I managed to get the best photos of my career of AFI. Frontman Davey Havok really knows how to command a stage, and his dancing, twirling, jumping, and posing make him a photographers dream. Here's what I came away with //

gallows //

listening to // arctic monkeys

2009-10-22T21:26:00.007-04:00

It's been ages since I've posted a review, and since my camera is in the shop for an indefinite amount of time with a broken focus motor, I thought I'd post up this review of the latest Arctic Monkey's disc that I wrote for Chartattack.com //

In many ways, Arctic Monkey's debut album Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, could be neatly summed up with the potent opening lyric from "Dancing Shoes": "Get on your dancing shoes," shouted singer Alex Turner in his Yorkshire accent.

As a first-go from a group of 20-year-olds, Whatever People Say was, naturally, a highly youthful, rambunctious record and Turner's demand was almost impossible to ignore, so dance we did.

The Monkey's third disc, however, is perhaps better encapsulated by its very title. Humbug is a far darker affair than either of the band's two previous releases. While scathing lyrics are nothing new for Turner, Humbug finds his voice taking on a wickedly sinister quality. Massive, walloping drum lines and heavy, surf rock-tinged guitar riffs (a la Pulp Fiction's opening credits) result in a record that's quietly foreboding at its brightest moments and shockingly hostile at its darkest.

The band's stormy new sound culminates with lead-off single, "Crying Lightning" — "Your past times consisted of the strange, the twisted and deranged," coos Turner eerily during the song's breakdown, seconds before the band kick back in with an assertive vigor.

"Pretty Visitors" is an even heavier affair, using multi-tracked vocals to turn the band members' voices into those of ghostly choir members. The aggression presented on Humbug rarely wavers, and even when it does, Turner's cutting anecdotes are enough to keep the listener on edge.

To say Humbug is Arctic Monkey's "grown-up" record would be inaccurate. It's still full of all the energy and excess the band have come to be known for, but for better or for worse, the energy they're currently channeling is a dark one. Whatever people once said about Arctic Monkeys, they have proven here that's what they're not.

Check out the charmingly simple video for my personal favourite track off Humbug, called "Cornerstone" (it's the only song on the record that strays from the heavy darkness mentioned in the review).

event // nadege patisserie fall cake launch

2009-10-10T16:45:00.020-04:00

Few people would consider cakes a fashion statement, but the chefs/bakers/artists/designers at Nadge Patisserie would have to disagree. And if you're not convinced, check out the last photo of this set — cakes that look more like dresses than edibles are the norm at this ultra-hip Queen Street café.

Much like a seasonal launch for a new clothing line, Nadege will be hosting a bi-annual party to celebrate the release of a new line of cakes. Here are some photos from the launch of their Fall collection //

photos // kings of leon

2009-09-21T02:15:00.020-04:00

Sometimes trekking long distances to see a concert is just worth it. I went out to Hamilton this weekend to shoot and review the Kings Of Leon concert at Copps Coliseum. It's been pretty interesting to see KOL work their way up from being a trashy, down-south rock n' roll band to being the massive, hugely popular stadium band they are now. I've seen them twice before (and shot their show at Kool Haus last year), and, this time around, it was like watching a completely different band on stage. With huge lights, a huge crowd, and their new huge sound, Kings Of Leon proved why they can, and deserve to, sell out a 15,000 person venue.

Here are some of the photos (almost all of them are of Caleb — the photographers were stuck in little sections and couldn't move around, so he was the only one I had a clear shot of), and you can check out the REVIEW and GALLERY, up now on Chartattack.com //

photos // marilyn manson

2009-09-18T15:13:00.011-04:00

Last night I shot the Marilyn Manson concert at the ACC for Chartattack.com (gallery HERE). I have never been so dissappointed with a shoot in my life. The photographers were only given one song to work with, and the lighting was the most challenging setup I've ever seen — either dark reds/blues with impenetrable fog or flashing strobe lights. He spent the majority of the song perched on the end of a catwalk with no light on him except for a strobe. I fired off at least 60 frames and the only one that caught the strobe light was the above photo. The rest were completely black.

The bottom photo is of the opening band, Die Mannequin, who had an even more horrific lighting set-up. The singer apparently doesn't like being seen or something, so there was no spotlight on her, meaning every single shot I took was out of focus.

All in all, epic fail. Here are the photos I managed to salvage from the wreckage //

photos // the cliks, k'naan

2009-09-16T18:01:00.009-04:00

Opening for Girl Talk can't be an easy task... The Cliks and K'naan got the honour at the Ryerson Picnic. I took some photos //

photos // girl talk

2009-09-13T15:03:00.013-04:00

When I first arrived at the University of Western Ontario 4 years ago, I thought it was pretty awesome that all the new students would be treated a free Sam Roberts concert as part of our Frosh Week programming. Ryerson students got something quite a lot better this year — a free Girl Talk show on the Toronto Island.

The crowd was pretty small (the picture above shows pretty much the entire audience) given the fact that Girl Talk has become insanely popular as of late. But those who came got treated to an hour and a half long set featuring confetti, crowd-surfing, and of course, the most ridiculous mash-ups you've ever heard (my personal favourite was Beyonce's "Single Ladies" mixed up with MOP's "Ante Up").

I covered the event for Chartattack.com, and you can read a review of the show HERE. And here are some photos //

photos // still life still cd release party

2009-09-04T18:32:00.012-04:00

Still Life Still put on a show with Dinosaur Bones last weekend to celebrate the release of their first album, the excellent Girls Come Too. I got really drunk and took some photos //

still life still on mtv live //

2009-08-27T11:35:00.005-04:00

Check out the guys from Still Life Still ripping it up on MTV Live, hot on the heels of the release of their excellent debut, Girls Come Too.

Their CD Release Party is this Friday at the Horseshoe with Dino Bones. Be there.

WATCH THE VIDEOS HERE //

with one headlight //

2009-08-23T15:43:00.010-04:00

I saw this old Lincoln Continental while driving up north the other day. Having been inspired by some of the amazing photographers at Westside Studio recently, I decided to try my hand at High Dynamic Range (HDR) photography. Notice the surreal, almost cartoony effect? I think it was definitely worth the effort, and now I'm hooked //

after the storm //

2009-08-21T01:31:00.001-04:00

welcome back //

2009-08-15T00:19:00.003-04:00

This week one of the best people in the world is visiting from Calgary. Tim arrived with quite the beard, so last night before heading out on the town we decided to shave it off for him. He hasn't fully accepted his nearly-bald face yet, but we've assured him it's for the best.

Here are two point-and-shoot portraits that I really like //

august //

2009-08-15T00:17:00.002-04:00

photos // yeah yeah yeahs

2009-08-06T01:59:00.007-04:00

Last night I got to review the Yeah Yeah Yeahs show for Chartattack.com (it was a busy couple of days). As soon as Karen O took the stage I realized how devastating it was not to have a photo pass for this show. This woman is a photographer's dream, but alas I was stuck shooting from the middle of a sweaty dance-pit with a crap camera and waving hands in my way.

I managed to walk out with a few decent, though depressingly flat, photos. Here they are, and you can read my review of the show HERE //

photos // the decemberists

2009-08-04T16:49:00.013-04:00

Last night I covered The Decemberists show at the Kool Haus for Chartattack.com. I didn't have a photo pass for the show because I was just there as a writer, so I thought I'd test my luck using my mom's $200 point-and-shoot camera. I was standing about 30 feet away from the stage, but I still ended up with some pretty decent shots. Here are some of my favourites, and you can read my review of the show HERE //

photos // parlovr // black hat brigade

2009-08-01T19:59:00.009-04:00

So. I was mistaken the other day when I said I was shooting pictures of Brides...I was actually shooting Black Hat Brigade, who sound absolutely nothing like Brides. That being said, they're a whole lot better — fantastically quirky indie rock reminiscent of Wolf Parade, need I say more? A nice surprise was the opening set by Montreal's Parlovr. I'd never had the chance to see Parlovr (said "parlour") before, but by the end of their set I was really getting into their noisy, though hopelessly catchy, pop-rock melodies. Definitely two Canadian bands to keep your eyes (and ears) on. Here are some photos //

BLACK HAT BRIGADE //

PARLOVR //

brides

2009-07-30T19:15:00.006-04:00

Tonight I am going to shoot a band called Brides. I saw them earlier this year on the same day that I got my first flash. I had no idea what I was doing with the flash and the photos turned out horribly, which is a shame because the guitarist cut his finger open at one point and ended up bleeding all over his guitar. It could have made for some cool photos, had I known how to use the thing. Anyways, here is a shot from that night that I've never posted anywhere. I kind of like it after all this time...

photos: fucked up w/ vivian girls and women

2009-07-20T16:19:00.017-04:00

I finally got a chance to shoot photos of Fucked Up a few nights ago. I've wanted to shoot these guys for so long because a) their most recent album, The Chemistry of Common Life, is unbelievably good and b) Pink Eyes, the band's frontman, is a disgusting creature who puts on one of the most incredible performances in rock and roll.

Check out the photos of Pink Eye's climbing speaker rigs, kids stage diving and some face-melting audience interaction (at one point a second mic was circulating through the crowd for people to sing along as they felt like it).

A few bruised ribs after this one, but it was well worth it.

mackenzie vs. marilyn

2009-07-18T19:59:00.009-04:00

perfection. vote mackenzie for the holt renfew contemporary correspondent HERE. It takes two seconds so do it.

photos: rock the bells @ molson amphitheater

2009-07-08T01:01:00.030-04:00

Nas / Damien Marley //

Mos Def //

K'Naan //

Big Boi //

KRS-1 / Supernatural //

RZA //

Talib Kweli //

EPMD //

Tech N9ne //

review: au revoir simone

2009-07-08T00:49:00.007-04:00

I haven't posted anything in a little while, so here's a review I wrote for Chart a few weeks back. I'm not raving about it, but Still Night, Still Light by Au Revoir Simone may be just what you're looking for.

Au Revoir Simone's third album, Still Night, Still Light, is neither thrilling nor tiresome, but occupies a middle ground, both in tempo as well as in the general life outlook presented in the lyrics.

The all-female New York City trio use electronic atmospherics to create moody electro-pop that is at once dense and dark, yet remains rich with the polite naivete of brightly-coloured cupcakes and late-night pillow fights. With three-part vocal harmonies singing sugary-sweet lines like "Only you can make you happy" over a series of la la las, it's surprising that the album rarely, if ever, comes across as discernibly joyful. Instead, keyboards and drum-machines plod along in pretty, though often haunting, melodies, keeping the songs from becoming radiantly buoyant pop ditties.

In that sense, Au Revoir Simone have crafted an album that's just as well-suited for days of breakups as it is for days of new love.

photos: saturday: NXNE 09

2009-06-25T17:02:00.016-04:00

photos: no age & king khan: NXNE 2009

2009-06-25T14:26:00.008-04:00

photos: a&c showcase: NXNE 2009

2009-06-25T12:48:00.010-04:00

photos: broken social scene surprise show: NXNE 2009

2009-06-25T12:40:00.008-04:00

broken social scene likes my photo.

2009-06-23T19:20:00.002-04:00

I'm currently working away on some photos from NXNE, but in the meantime I thought I'd post this screen-capture up — it's of Broken Social Scene's Myspace page, and they're using a photo I took of them this past Thursday at the Courthouse. It's a real honour to have my favourite band repping my work!

my photo featured on pitchfork.com!

2009-06-18T14:49:00.006-04:00

Today Pitchfork.com featured one of the photos I took of Broken Social Scene, Feist, and writer Stuart Berman last night at the Arts&Crafts NXNE showcase. I can't even explain how pumped I am on it. There's a screencapture below, and check back tomorrow for the full set of photos and some highlights from the show.

PHOTOS: do make say think & final fantasy @ dundas square [11.06.09]

2009-06-12T21:15:00.010-04:00

Last night Do Make Say Think and Final Fantasy played a free concert at Yonge & Dundas Square. Yet, this was unlike any concert you're likely to have seen before. Behind the performers was a large projection screen, on which the 1919 cult horror classic, Tales of the Uncanny, was playing in the background. Instead of playing their own songs, the performers, who were backed by Berlin electronica artist Robert Lippok, played live to the film, actually producing a score as they went.

Though at times the material tended to drag on in long, droning electronic atmospherics, at its most interesting moments, the performance would match the tension of the film on screen, with all 10 musicians adding to the sense of dread created by scenes of spooky, pale-faced actors and bizarre, early 20th century filmic techniques. It also didn't hurt that it was pouring rain all night.

Here are some photos from the event — the plastic sheets at the front of the stage are covering up plasma screen TVs that the performers watched as they played along. Neat.

PHOTOS: dinosaur bones / still life still @ the velvet underground [30.5.09]

2009-06-05T16:35:00.013-04:00

Last weekend I got the opportunity to shoot photos of Toronto's two biggest buzz bands, Dinosaur Bones and Still Life Still. I've shot Dino Bones about a half dozen times already, but this was my first time seeing Still Life, who just so happen to be Arts & Crafts newest signing. Needless to say, they were incredible, and far surpassed the hype I've been hearing about them over the past year. Big things are happening for both of these young groups these days, and if any one is going to Edgefest, they'll both be playing there which is huuuuge.

Here are some of the photos from the show.

Dinosaur Bones:

Still Life Still:

LISTENING TO: handsome furs

2009-05-30T11:43:00.007-04:00

Looking at the scandalous press photos of husband/wife duo Handsome Furs and you just know these two have never made love to each other — they fuck like wild animals, full of passion and longing and sticky sweet sweat.

Listening to their second album, Face Control, it’s evident that the same amount of passion and longing and sweat went into the making of these jittery, synth-riddled rockers. Whether pouring over each other’s bodies or a keyboard and drum machine, Dan Boeckner and Alexei Perry put in the effort, and it pays off as nervous tension gives way to the sweet release of a hugely emotive climax.

Coming from the Wolf Parade camp, it’s no surprise that Boeckner’s songwriting is still the utmost bizarre, managing to disturb even if you don’t fully understand what he’s singing about. But here, with Perry’s splashy drum-machine and wavering synthesizers lending Boeckner a sleek polish not afforded by the Parade, he’s making pop songs — or at least as close to a pop song as someone as weird as Boeckner can get.

Instead of prog-rock creepers that take left-turns down all the spookiest corridors of some haunted house, we find Boeckner and Perry offering up big, indelible choruses. “All we want, baby, is everything!” Boeckner shouts over a shimmering guitar line that would, strangely, work in a Bruce Springsteen song. The lyrics are telling in their hedonistic tone — these two do what they want, when they want — and we are left to acknowledge that this is the sound of what they want, and it makes us want it real fucking badly.

When things get slightly darker, it’s Perry’s stuttering electronics that set the tone for Boeckner’s tense energy. The sonic formula is relatively simple — droning synths, clacking drumbeats, searing guitar — but the Furs use simplicity to their advantage, stripping away anything that might distract from the big moments, which works to make the big moments even bigger.

Like the lustful weirdoes they are, Boeckner and Perry have crafted an album that is sexy, passionate and exhilarating, but, importantly, these sensations do not overshadow the peculiar quirks that make Boeckner’s songwriting so damned good. On Face Control, we are given a glimpse into the chemistry that makes this couple tick, and as weird as it is, you can’t help but want to spend a night in their bed. But since that’s out of the question (presumably, who knows what these two are down for), listening to this record will probably help to satisfy your urges.

Check out Handsome Furs on MYSPACE.

LISTENING TO: japandroids

2009-05-29T00:19:00.006-04:00

Life is divided into sections, and whether we want it to or not, each section differs from the section before it. The changes that come with each life transition can be gut-wrenchingly awful and/or awe-inspiringly incredible, and can often spur individuals to write excellent music.

Maybe it’s just because I’ve only recently come home from four years away at school, started a new job, and am barreling down some specific life path at full-speed, but I am seriously digging Japandroids’ new album, Post-Nothing.

Post-Nothing is, generally speaking, an album about growing up. More specifically, it’s an album about moving on, be it from a place (“The Boys Are Leaving Town”) or a person (“I Quit Girls”). Japandroids seem to take on the subject with some ambivalence, and their hesitation to embrace change comes through explicitly in their music.

Lyrically, it seems that the duo is fully aware that youth doesn’t last forever, and that they may have already crossed the threshold into whatever comes next. “We used to dream, now we worry about dying,” they shout in unison on “Young Hearts Spark Fire”, followed by the solemn acknowledgement, “I don’t want to worry about dying, I just want to worry about those Sunshine Girls.”

However, while opening track “The Boys Are Leaving Town” finds Japandroids still on the fence, hesitant to jump into the great unknown (“Will we ever find our way back home?” they ask), by the end of the record they seem to have accepted their fate, and on occasion, even seem happy to embrace it. On “Sovereignty,” Post-Nothing’s second-last song, Brian King resolutely states, “It’s raining in Vancouver, but I don’t give a fuck, cause I’m far from home tonight.” I guess some changes get easier to handle with time.

But Japandroids don’t let their youth slip away without a fight. In what may be an attempt to hold on to an aura of adolescent energy, Japandroids employ fuzzy, screeching guitar and excitable, frantic drum rolls to create a sound that resonates with the youthful scream that can only be possessed by two good friends who make their music without giving one single fuck what anyone thinks of it.

Fortunately, Japandroids have a strong pop sensibility that makes their raw, garage-inspired punk music not only palatable, but outrageously infectious. Unhindered by the fact that there are only two people in the band, Japandroids have managed to craft some of the best hooks I’ve heard all year, while still maintaining the impression that they didn’t do it intentionally.

Post-Nothing is the sound of living in the moment and rolling with the punches — that’s what Japandroids did, and they now have a killer album to show for it. Change doesn't have to be bad.

Check out Japandroids on MYSPACE.

LISTENING TO: dan deacon

2009-04-23T20:17:00.008-04:00

Dan Deacon’s Bromst is one of those incredibly rare albums that leave you wondering just how it was created. It’s telling, however, that watching Pitchfork’s 30-minute sneak-peak into Deacon’s recording process doesn’t do much to solve the mystery.

In many ways, Bromst is an exercise in excess. However, Deacon’s is a very stringently controlled form of excess—one that stacks elements to towering heights but doesn’t get overzealous and cause the whole structure to come tumbling down. Instead, as pulsing electronics, fluttering piano riffs, pounding mallets and chopped-up vocal samples build up and up and up, Deacon asserts himself as a technical, not to mention musical, genius capable of keeping the teeming sonic pot from boiling over. Strangely, he maintains command over his music in a natural, organic fashion, which illustrates his unique talent, given the important fact that the album is based off unnatural and inorganic sounds (take for example the programmable player piano responsible the inhumanly-fast piano lines that form the melodic backbone for so many of the tracks).

With Deacon’s strict control in place, no matter how complex Bromst gets—and believe me, it gets really complex—it remains crystal clear. The excess here is not a method by which to showoff, but is rather a genuine expression of the sentiments that abound on the album, be it freedom, collectivity, energy, youth, or happiness.

And while Bromst is markedly a cohesive set of songs, designed to be listened to from front to back, I have to point out the 8-minute slow-burner, “Snookered.” With choppy vocal samples and punchy drums laying the framework for an onslaught of sounds that traverse between swirling and fluttering, “Snookered” gradually builds into one of the most exciting moments in music so far this year. Most shocking, however, is that this kind of moment is found in abundance across the hour-long album.

Interestingly, Deacon employs many of the same elements found in house and other forms of dance music without actually having created a dance record. While heavy, throbbing electronics, droning synths, high-energy MIDI sequences and pounding drumbeats are found on almost every one of Bromst’s 11 tracks, Deacon has created a sound more closely aligned with a tribal drum circle than a nightclub. Cartoon voices reminiscent of an after-school playground are chopped up, filtered, and replayed to the point of—here’s that word again—excess, creating a sense of collectivity and togetherness while simultaneously resulting in an album that is perhaps best when listened to on headphones with your eyes closed. Indeed, that’s the only way you’ll be able to catch all the fine-tuned intricacies that make Bromst such a rare album.

Check Dan Deacon out on Myspace.

PHOTOS: the magical mystery door

2009-04-23T17:57:00.010-04:00

I found this door in the parking lot of my local grocery store in London a couple of years ago and I've always been fascinated by it. Unfortunately, there's nothing particularly neat on the other side, just some grass. From the outside, though, it looks like it might just be the entrance into some secret, enchanted garden. My beautiful girlfriend Mackenzie was kind enough to lend me her pretty face for the photos.

INTERVIEW: women

2009-03-31T14:50:00.011-04:00

A few days before CMW I got a chance to talk with Patrick Flegel, the lead-singer and guitarist for the band Women. Over the past year, these Calgarian noise-rockers have had a pretty wild ride, recording with indie-veteran Chad VanGaalen, touring around the globe, and signing with Jagjaguwar—one of the most stacked labels in indie music.

Flegel and I had a pretty good chat about the band's climb up the Google ranks, their peculiar recording processes and the value of a good Pitchfork review. Here's the interview in its entirety. To see the condensed feature story, check out my article on Chart Attack.

ZV: Do you guys have any idea how hard it is to find information about your band? Have you ever Googled yourselves?
PF: People always talk about this!

Do you know how many hits come up for the word “Women”? 685 million!
I dunno, promotion has never really been our focal point. As far as using the internet goes, I don’t know what peoples’ problems are, but just put in the band name and the record label name!

Well did you know your Myspace page is actually the 3rd entry from the top of the search if you just put in the word “Women”? Did you have to pay for that real estate?
No, no.

You guys have just sort of become the third most important women?
Ya, I don’t know what the deal with that is. It’s a generic word, man!

Was that what you were going for, just a generic band name?
Ya, we didn’t put that much thought into it. But that was something that appealed to us—that it didn’t stand out at all. You know how sometimes you hear a band name and you’re like ‘Oh God! That’s a dead word!’ Some words you hear so much they don’t really mean anything anymore.

Ya I guess you hear the word ‘women’ enough that it’s not going to lose its appeal. Is there a band called Men?
Oh probably. There’s a band from Toronto called Women, there’s a band from New York called Women, there’s a band from New York called Little Women, there’s Boys And Girls, there’s Dumb Dumb Girls. You can’t win. I mean, what are you gonna do?

It would be interesting if you went on a tour with Man Man or something. The Men and Women tour.
Ya, we’re planning on touring with Skeletons, Health, and Basketballs. And Women. That would be the dream tour.

Can I ask what’s happening on the album? There’s been a lot made of how you guys sort of traverse from catchy pop-hooks into wall-of-noise fuzz-solos. Was that a conscious effort to combine aspects from different musical worlds, or was that just the end outcome?
It’s definitely the end outcome. We all have really short attention spans, and tend to get bored with things really quick, you know? There were just so many things we wanted to do, so we just sort of did everything we wanted to do and didn’t put too much thought into it. Ya—that’s just kind of what happened!

How did you guys meet up with Chad Van Gaalen and what did he contribute through the recording process?
Matt [Matthew Flegel, Pat's brother] met Chad on tour somewhere, and it was wintertime—we didn’t have anything better to do. And Chad was like, “It’s really cold, do you guys need somewhere to record your album? I have a bunch of gear, lets do it.”

He had a bunch of stuff in his basement, right?
Ya, just in his basement. We were going for a while and we just sort of hit a wall. We were just recording straight into a computer, and at a certain point we just really started experimenting, screwing around with different tape machines, different setups. And eventually we started getting what we wanted out of it. I still don’t feel like we totally did what we set out to do, but you know, it was kind of close.

A lot has also been made of the strange places that Chad had you recording. I haven’t seen this in print anywhere, but someone told me that you recorded a song in a cave?
Well we recorded in a wildlife tunnel, like a culvert—an underpass for animals.

So not quite a cave?
No, not a cave, but pretty close to a cave. We went out there one day, and we were kind of freaking out, feeling pretty cagey and then Chad dangled a mic over the end and I was singing into the cave—sorry, I mean the culvert.

And did that result in some of the echoey sound you’ve got going on the album?
Ya, that’s how we did “Black Rice” and another track that we ditched.

Any other cool locations?
Yup, there’s a guerilla solo on the song “Shaking Hand.”

A what?
A guerilla solo—like it was recorded in Anderson Station, which is about six blocks away from the house we were living in at the time. There’s an outlet there, so we just went there in the middle of the night, and just plugged in, laid it down and got out of there. Chad’s got this awesome portable little 4-track so you can go out to a culvert or a train station or something and be kind of discrete.

Recording in these weird spaces, did everything end up sounding different than you envisioned it? I cant even imagine thinking “Oh, I’m going to go record in a wildlife culvert today,” and even know what that’s going to sound like. Did it just come out crazy different than you thought it was going to?
For sure, I mean, I think that’s kind of the whole thing about recording. What you intend to do and what actually ends up happening are usually pretty different. So I guess what we were trying to do was just narrow the gap between the two down so that we were happy with things. A lot of things were kind of an accident.

So do you think it brought a lot to the recording process, in that way then? Things that you weren’t really expecting, and just ending up with all these cool sounds.
Ya, definitely. We wanted to sound kind of haphazard and stuff. I mean, four of the tracks were written the day before they were recorded.

So you guys just sort of pushed it?
Exactly. A lot of the recording techniques, if you even want to call them that, we didn’t really try them out before, we just kind of did it. And then it was like, “Okay, that’s it, that works. Done.”

So your whole attitude as a band, from promotion to recording, is the same—just go with it and see what happens.
Ya! I mean the music, we’re really into it, we’re really excited about it. It’s just, you want it to sound a certain way. In our case, we put a lot thought into it, but at the same time we don’t want it to sound really clean and over-thought. So that’s where really fucking around with things until they sound the way you want them to comes in.

One thing I personally dig about the album is that I don’t think there’s a second of silence on it—even between songs you can hear this nasty tape hiss. It’s a nice change from the polished, Auto-Tuned variety of music that is so popular at this time.
Ya, I dunno, it’s kind of weird coasting for so long on something that we just kind of ‘did,’ you know? But there’s all this amazing stuff happening, and I think we’d like to get working on the next album.

And on the next album, do you think you’re going to go with a similar aesthetic approach? In terms of the way you put it together, and the tape hiss, and the guerilla recording tactics?
Ya, basically we just want it to sound like a Swell Maps record. They’re these two dudes from the UK who put out these really fucking insane records. One of them is Jane From Occupied Europe—that’s one of our favourite albums ever. It’s just really weird and odd sounding. It’s not fucking low-fi, or whatever people always say, I mean it sounds amazing, that’s the thing. Even when we were recording, we didn’t want it to sound like shit, we just wanted it to sound old.

It’s got that late 70s aesthetic—you sort of recaptured it.
Ya, all the bands we love, most of the records were recorded in the late 70s, so that’s basically the sound we were going for.

I guess a lot of that had a lot to do with the different tapes you guys were using?
Ya, probably. I mean it’s hard to say what it sounds like to people who had nothing to do with the recording process. But ya, probably a lot of it can be attributed to using tapes and old gear and things like that.

I was wondering what it was like to sign with Jagjaguwar in the States. I mean, they have one of the most stacked artist rosters in indie-rock right now. Was that an honour? Was it surprising to you?
Absolutely. Ya, for sure. We had no idea. When we were recording, we really weren’t thinking about anything like that even happening or anyone even being remotely interested in what we were doing. We were just trying to make an album that we liked. And when we got word of that, we were kind of freaking out, because ya, it is an honour to be part of such an amazing record label, and people who are so fucking good at what they do.

So from what I gather then, it just happened really fast for you guys? Like it’s just happened way faster for you then you thought it would?
Absolutely, ya. The last year has been totally fucking ridiculous. I’m trying to think—ya, I dunno, just so much crazy shit has happened. Like Colin Newman came to our show in London on our first tour. He’s the frontman of Wire, which is one of our favourite bands ever and one of the most important bands of all time, kind of thing. So shit like that happened, and things like signing with Jagjaguwar, and all these other things have just been kicking our asses. We haven’t even really had that much time to sit back and absorb it. It’s been really crazy, and we’re just enjoying it, you know?

How long have you guys been together as a group?
That’s the thing, it’s been just over a year.

Wow, that’s crazy. A lot have big things have happened in that year.
Totally. I think we played our first show on November 15, 2008.

But you guys have been playing music together for a while before that, right? Just not under the Women moniker?
We played in a band when we were in highschool, and then we went our separate ways. And we just kinda got back together about a year ago.

What’s it like having your brother in the band? Do you guys argue? Are you like Noel and Liam [Gallager of Oasis]? Do you throw chairs at each other?
Oh ya, dude. For sure. Coke fights.

Just fighting over blow?
Nah, it’s totally relaxed. We all get along pretty well. It’s pretty smooth sailing.

One last thing I was curious about—how much do you think a positive Pitchfork plug means for a group of guys from Calgary like you?
I think it’s been made pretty clear that a lot of people go to them for new music. So whatever they approve, I think a lot of people just hop on that. So I guess that’s good for us. I don’t necessarily have anything for it or against it—it’s no different than any other music review thing, it’s just one dude’s opinion really. It’s pretty obvious though—we noticed attendance at shows after that just jumped up. I think they have a pretty huge grip on people, but it’s always been like that.

Ya, there’s always been that one publication.
For sure. But it’s kind of crazy, the effect it has. Because it can kind of make-or-break things for you. But that’s just in the States really. In the UK and Europe, people don’t care as much about that kind of shit, they just go to the shows. But ya, Pitchfork is just a website, and they could have just as easily given us a shitty review.

Do you guys see yourselves sticking around Calgary much longer, now that things are starting to happen for the band?
Not really. Not because of things that have happened, but more because we’ve all been there for about twenty years and it’s just kind of tired. But we’ve been traveling so much and we’ve been getting away, so it doesn’t really matter where we live because we don’t really have homes, you know?

It’s the touring life.
Ya, totally. But ya, it’s kind of cool to be from somewhere that nobody cares about as opposed to somewhere really rad. Like if we were from Brooklyn I’d feel like a douchebag, you know?

Ya there is sort of a douchebag-aura around Brooklyn, I know what you mean.
It’s not like I hate bands from Brooklyn or something like that, I don’t care where anyone is from. I think it’s just nice to be from somewhere where no one else is from.

I mean there aren’t really any big names exploding out of Calgary, ever. But there has to be one at some point, so maybe you guys can take that title.
[modest laughter]

LIVE: bloc party @ centennial hall [15.03.09]

2009-03-22T22:12:00.007-04:00

Hot off the heels of Canadian Music Week came Bloc Party and Holy Fuck's show at Centennial Hall in London. I don't know if I was just exhausted after a long weekend in Toronto, or if the English lads actually sucked as badly as it seemed they did, but something was up. Maybe it was the embarrassingly sparse attendance and the lack of crowd energy? Honestly, how a band as big as Bloc Party only filled half a venue as small as Centennial is completely beyond me...London music fans should probably hang their heads in shame after this one...

Anyways, I reviewed the show and took some pictures for the UWO Gazette. If you're actually interested in what I thought, you can check that out HERE. If not, there are some pictures below for your viewing enjoyment.

Oh, and check back soon for those interviews I promised a while ago!

- Z

Bloc Party:

Holy Fuck:

LIVE: CMW [day three]

2009-03-19T02:10:00.016-04:00

It may not seem that tough, but three long nights standing in a sweaty venue pushed up against a stage taking pictures is harder than it sounds. But the kink in neck was made worth it by the final night of the Chart Attack showcase at the Horseshoe.

I skipped the first few bands since it was Young Galaxy that I really wanted to see. The cosmic space-poppers sounded surprisingly tight seeing as they haven't been playing many live shows recently. But they dished out a bunch of new tracks from what will apparently be on a new LP sometime in the near future, so we can look forward to that.

Young Galaxy:

Next up were East-Coast Pop Gods Two Hours Traffic. No matter how juvenile their songs may sound, THT are so good at what they do it makes you entirely forget about being a snob for the duration of their set. You can't help but smile to songs this catchy.

Two Hours Traffic:

I've been hearing talk about Golden Dogs being the best live band in Toronto for some time now, so I was excited to finally see what all the hype was about. And while some friends informed me that this performance was significantly less ridiculous than some of their previous shows, Golden Dogs still had me considering them for the prestigious title. Frontman Dave Azzolini is exactly what the frontman of a rock band should be—loud, energetic, and perhaps a little bit insane. It was a perfect way to end CMW '09, and all I can say is that I highly suggest checking these guys out as soon as you can.

Golden Dogs:

LIVE: CMW [day two]

2009-03-18T18:25:00.015-04:00

You know your band has a lot of hype behind you when you can draw chronically late Torontonians out to an opening set at 8:30p.m. Dinosaur Bones did just that, and those who made it out were treated to an incredible start to the second night of CMW at the Horseshoe. These guys are the band to watch in Toronto—just a heads up.

Dinosaur Bones:

In between Dino Bones and The Bicycles was some horrid Sublime-sounding three-piece. I didn't bother taking pictures of them. The Bicycles, on the other hand, were great. Unfortunately, this was the last show they will play together as a band, as they are now on an "indefinite hiatus." As happy-go-lucky as their music is, the awkward sadness between them was palpable.

The Bicycles:

Expectations for the night's headliners were mounting in the steaming venue as Human Highway took the stage. I had never heard any of their material before, but I knew two members are also in Islands—naturally, I thought they would make fun music. Unfortunately, they don't—instead, they play drawn out, mid-tempo country-tinged-folk. It made the wait for Handsome Furs unbearable.

Human Highway:

One word: Incredible. This duo of Wolf Parader Dan Boeckner and his wife is a force to be reckoned with. Their synth-and-guitar formula is nasty and violent, and their high energy show mirrors their sound. And on top of that, their performance simply screams "SEX." The night ended with Boeckner on the floor, and I can guarantee that the audience was feeling just as floored.

Handsome Furs:

LIVE: CMW [day one]

2009-03-18T18:15:00.016-04:00

Ah...Canadian Music Week. After shooting NXNE this past summer, I decided that, in the middle of winter, roaming around the city to the copious venues with excellent musical offerings was not what I wanted to do. Instead, I set up shop for three nights at The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern, where Chart Attack was having it's annual showcase. Also, The 'Shoe had by far the best lineups all three nights, as you can probably tell by the pictures.

Thursday night got started off with Lovely Feathers, who have sort of dropped off the radar as of late. But a handful of strange and wonderful new songs has me hopeful for their long-overdue follow-up to Hind Hind Legs.

Lovely Feathers:

With such a strong opening set, the dreamy (read: boring) alt-country of $100 was a nearly excruciating experience as the venue quickly turned into a jam-packed sauna.

$100:

By the time Women took the stage, The 'Shoe was filled to capacity, and the Calgarian noise-rockers made it their mission to have every eardrum in the place ringing by the end of their set. Needless to say, with gnarly feedback and heavy distortion in abundance, they had no problem accomplishing this goal.

Women:

It was clear that many of the night's cramped concert-goers were there to see the local Gentleman Reg. Coming off the release of Jet Black, Reg seems to have secured a new fanbase, hungry for his pristine indie-pop sound. Reg delivered the night's best performance, with enough quirky stage-banter to make up for the lack of it offered by the rest of the night's bands.

Gentleman Reg:

listening to: golden gloves

2009-03-06T12:54:00.009-05:00

In keeping with the electro-tone of this blog so far (I swear I'll be making a transition over to the world of rock soon enough), I thought I might share this little gem with you: Golden Gloves' Death To Bunny mix.

Golden Gloves are a London(ontario)-based DJ duo comprised of Ben Rosenberg (aka Benny Bumpdatsh*t) and Kevin Cowie (aka Cowiebunga). It's pretty nuts—they've been jamming together for under a year, but already Golden Gloves have had the pleasure of spinning with the likes of MSTRKRFT, A-Trak, LA Riots, Felix Cartel, Danger and Kid Cudi, to name but a few.

The Death To Bunny mix is a 39-minute ordeal that bounces through some of the hottest remixes in electro, hip-hop and indie (including Hot Chip, Fake Flood, Katy Perry, and the Black Kids), with surprising finesse. The tracks flow together effortlessly, except in the instances where Golden Gloves build up the tension like Jenga blocks, and when it all comes crashing down it results in some of the mix's most fist-pumping moments.

And the best part? IT'S TOTALLY FREE! Click here to download now, and lets tip our hats to these two young DJs.

I should also mention that Golden Gloves will be spinning with the Bloody Beetroots at Up On Carling in London on April 2nd, so be sure to get out to that!

LIVE: la riots / felix cartel @ up on carling [26.02.09]

2009-03-02T22:13:00.011-05:00

Last Thursday's installment of Dirty Disko was absolutely epic.
Golden Gloves got the ball rolling at breakneck speed before Felix Cartel took over the decks. And if that wasn't enough, LA Riots was up next, and just destroyed it. This was definitely one of my favourite Dirty Disko sets so far this year, but there are still a bunch more coming up soon (like the bloody beetroots on april 2) so be sure to check those out.

Here are some of the pictures from the night—check the Dirty Disko Facebook group for the full set.

Also, a big thanks to Zephyr Magazine for hosting the party.

NEWS: passion pit full-length coming soon!

2009-02-27T17:13:00.009-05:00

I just heard that Passion Pit — a lovely group of dance-rockers from Massachusetts — will be dropping a full-length followup to their Chunk Of Change EP on May 26 via Frenchkiss Records. It's entitled Manners.

Here's a video for their song "Sleepyhead" — it's one of the craziest videos I've seen in a while, and will definitely get you pumped up for the arrival of their LP.

Oh, and Passion Pit will be stopping by Lee's Palace in Toronto on April 3rd, so be sure to check that out.

- Z

listening to: gentleman reg

2009-02-24T18:14:00.007-05:00

Reg Vermue may not be a household name, even in his native Toronto. But if there is any justice in the world of music, the release of Jet Black should have Gentleman Reg coming to mind with any fleeting mention of sleek, infectious indie-pop. A far cry from his previously folk-tinged work, Jet Black kicks off with the hopelessly indelible “Coastlines,” setting the tone with a synthed-out guitar lick and flawless boy-girl harmonies. The formula stays the same through much of the album, cruising through fast-paced foot-tappers like “You Can’t Get It Back” and “How We Exit” with such energy that when Reg dishes out a delicate ballad like “Rewind” or “Oh My God,” you’re left waiting impatiently for the good times to start again. Thankfully, the good times come in abundance, and even the album’s few slow-burners work to showcase Reg’s unique and truly impressive vocals as he croons about love, lust, loss and regret. The result is a near-perfect pop album — one that will get stuck in your heart just as easily as it gets stuck in your head.

Jet Black is available in stores today, and totally worth buying just for the great album art. But it's also streaming on Reg’s Myspace, so you don't really have any excuse not to check it out.

LIVE: danger @ up on carling [05.02.09]

2009-02-12T12:37:00.002-05:00

I'm a week behind posting these photos from the last installment of Dirty Disko, where Hollywood Lines from London and Danger from France tore the club up. Unfortunately, I don't remember much from the night, but judging by the photos, it was a hell of a time.

the top albums of 2008

2009-02-12T11:53:00.004-05:00

It was my intention to get this blog up and running with the turn of the New Year. I wanted to get things underway with a recap of the year in music, but I found myself incredibly overwhelmed when it came time to pick favourites. 2008 was an extraordinary year for music, and I have spent the last month writing my thoughts on some of what I consider to be the best albums of the year. So, from the top down (pun intended), here they are. Enjoy.

- Z

1. CUT COPY In Ghost Colours
In a year marked by a glut of new dance music, Cut Copy made their mark by manipulating the sheen and shimmer of 80s synth-pop into something far more lush and extravagant than anything put out by their peers. In abandoning a sonic landscape populated by vacuous blips and bleeps, Cut Copy have managed to break free from the confines of the nightclub, instead grounding themselves—both lyrically and aesthetically—deep in relatable, youthful preoccupations. The resulting electro-rock blend is breathtakingly optimistic, and Cut Copy have earned themselves an album-of-the-year ranking by offering up fifteen tracks that are as full and gorgeous as they are fun; as haunting and affecting as they are danceable.
Top Tracks: “Lights and Music”, “Hearts on Fire”

2. HERCULES & LOVE AFFAIR Hercules & Love Affair
The result that comes from mixing impeccable disco melodies and the unearthly baritone of Antony Hegarty (of Antony & The Johnsons) is truly something to behold. The debut album from the New York outfit led by producer Andrew Butler is steeped in the history of thousands of sweat-soaked dance floors, but the final product is strikingly original. Cramming in hearty measures of horns, strings and stunning vocal harmonies, the album is decidedly designed for the club, yet the criminally infectious hooks will undoubtedly leave you tapping your feet, regardless of where your feet happen to be.
Top Tracks: “Hercules Theme”, “Blind”

3. FLEET FOXES Fleet Foxes
Fleet Foxes’ debut shows careful attention to both rock and folk history. Yet, through their brilliant use of evocative imagery, rich with depictions of a wild American landscape, the Seattle group has managed to craft a masterful sound that is as much their own as it is beyond the meager two years they have spent together as a band. Over a framework of nearly bare-boned folk tunes, organs and acoustic guitars billow, bringing Robin Pecknold’s whole-heartedly affective songwriting and vocals to the fore. Taken together with harmonies contributed by the entire collective, the resulting sound is wistful and sprightly—the stuff of sunsets and sunrises over distant mountaintops.
Top Tracks: “White Winter Hymnal”, “He Doesn’t Know Why”

4. GIRL TALK Feed The Animals
Greg Gillis seems to be immune to the kinks that generally plague the mash-up genre, which ultimately allows for a seamless flow between the 14 tracks on Feed The Animals. Miraculously, 300-some-odd illicit samples fly by at breakneck speed without becoming abrasive or confusing. Top 40 hits and timeless rock n’ roll anthems that should have no business together (like Soulja Boy's “Crank That” and Thin Lizzy's “Jailbreak”) are completely recontextualized, and the whole is always something much more visceral and exciting than the component parts. Half the fun comes from recognizing a favourite track hidden deep under layers of other favourite tracks, and the other half comes from the dance-party-mood this album is going to put you in.
Top Tracks: it’s meant to be played as one extended track.

5. WOLF PARADE At Mount Zoomer
Driven by pounding keyboard vamps, piercing guitar stings and droning synth fuzz, At Mount Zoomer is full of all the chilling prog-rock masquerades that you would expect to hear on Wolf Parade’s sophomore album. With Dan Boeckner and Spencer Krug (who also front Handsome Furs and Sunset Rubdown, respectively) splitting the songwriting duties, Zoomer takes middle ground, meshing Boeckner’s slinky pop sensibility with Krug’s fantastically esoteric imagery. The resulting nine tracks seem ready to burst at the seams—melodies swing sharply from lingering guitar strums into frantic synth freak-outs as Wolf Parade cram in all the intricacies needed to paint a truly stunning portrayal of the strange and sinister world they inhabit.
Top Tracks: “Call It A Ritual”, “Soldier’s Grin”

6. BON IVER For Emma, Forever Ago
Getting a probing glimpse into the intimate details of someone’s heartaches would often prove to be an awkward experience, but on For Emma, Justin Vernon—who recorded the album over three winter months in a secluded forest cabin—places his fears, doubts and disappointments on center stage, inviting the listener into his isolated fold. As Vernon’s rusty acoustic guitar strums through delicate melodies, his woozy, multi-tracked falsetto transcends the confines of his cabin, eventually settling deep in your head where it drives home his poetic divulgences with striking emotional force. The loneliness that inspired this album does not render it boring or desperate, but rather provides Vernon with an opportunity for personal exorcism through forced introspection—For Emma is the sound of an exceptional songwriter coming to grips.
Top Tracks: “Skinny Love”, “Re: Stacks”

7. BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE PRESENTS: BRENDAN CANNING Something For All Of Us…
It’s not surprising that when it came time for the softspoken co-leader of Broken Social Scene to drop his solo debut it would be significantly more toned down than that put forth by BSS frontman Kevin Drew. Canning’s songs come wrapped in a murky shoegaze envelope; guitars shimmer and reverberate against organs, horns and strings, creating a nearly tactile sonic texture. Deep within this teeming mix we find Canning’s uniquely muddied voice, mumbling through verses and hooks and sounding more like another instrument than an actual vehicle for lyrical delivery. The result is an album that drifts along languidly and dreamily—perfect for a lazy Sunday afternoon.
Top Tracks: “Hit The Wall”, “Churches Under The Stairs”

8. HOT CHIP Made In The Dark
From swaying pop ballads to screeching electronic laser fights, Made In The Dark takes you from the bedroom to the dance floor and back again in 54 minutes. It proves to be a bit of turbulent ride as Hot Chip traverse between divergent genres, tampering with various elements of R&B, gospel and techno, but the end destination is still their trademark electro-soul antics. Ultimately, it’s the sonic fragmentation that shines light on the fact that this album does operate as a cohesive whole. It’s a set of songs full of poignant sentiments, regardless of whether they take on the form of hard-rocking clubhouse anthems or heartfelt teary-eyed confessionals.
Top Tracks: “Ready For The Floor”, “Wrestlers”

9. FUCKED UP Chemistry of Common Life
Opening track “Son the Father” leads off with a cheery flute solo—a strange occurrence on a hardcore punk album. But Chemistry is full of surprises; it’s a far cry from the basement/garage recordings that generally mark the genre. Soaring guitar overdubs and pummeling drum lines are raised to towering heights by 70 some-odd disparate instrumental tracks. Even frontman Pink Eye’s animalistic growl finds home amongst the gentle crooning harmonies of various contributors, including Dallas Green and the Vivian Girls, ultimately turning Chemistry into a musical endeavour that is just as melodic as it is unsympathetic.
Top Tracks: “Son The Father”, “Twice Born”

10. M83 Saturdays = Youth
It’s no coincidence that M83 is also the name of a galaxy that exists some 15 million light-years away. I say this because Saturdays = Youth is largely disconnected from this world, existing instead on a translucent plane tied only to moods and memories. The one thing that keeps the album from bursting through our stratosphere is the lariat around composer Anthony Gonzalez’s neck, fastened tightly by his nostalgia for an adolescence lived in the 80s. Sprawling synthesizer orchestrations ebb and flow like teenage hormones, building with starry-eyed aspirations of invincibility and grandeur before erupting with all the crippling sensations of first heartbreak. But with an earthly connection in place, we are left to explore the closest realms of Gonzalez’s galaxy without floating too far off into oblivion.
Top Tracks: “We Own The Sky”, “Graveyard Girl”