Oliver Dzuba, Patrick McEachnie, Josh Doyle

Oliver’s Picks

Sleigh Bells- Treats

Chance carries a special meaning to the members of Sleigh Bells. Vocalist Alexis Krauss fatefully met band mate Derek Miller while he was serving food to her and her mother at a local restaurant. And everyone is glad they did meet, as their debut album Treats has been a spectacular effort that is miles different from any other album released this year. Not bound to a single genre, Sleigh Bells creates a completely original sound in songs with brilliant hooks that grab your attention immediately. Sleigh Bells is my pick for best new band of 2010. Recommended Song: Rill Rill

Caribou-Swim

Canadian born PhD holder Dan Snaith has recorded another incredible album this year. His album Swim blends a perfect combination of the psychedelic and dance sound resulting in a near perfect electronic LP. The layering of the production alone is done at great depth, almost as if Snaith is jamming the quality of several songs into one. The melancholies of Snaith’s lyrics are then added, setting the atmospheric tone. Not being able to see Caribou perform live in Guelph this year was a great disappointment, nevertheless his album Swim was one of my favourites from 2010. Recommended Song: Odessa

Beach House- Teen Dream

The music on Teen Dream sounds just like the title suggests; the dream of a 17 year old filled with the hopes and uncertainties of love and happiness. Lush melodies preformed by Victoria Legrand  and Alex Scally give the songs character with unconventional rhythms making it sound almost strange at first, but not one part of these songs seems out of place. Legrand’s ability to evoke emotions in the listener with her soft angelic vocals is a sublime experience. Teen Dream is among the best of 2010. Recommended Song: Used to Be

Patrick’s Picks

Titus Andronicus – The Monitor

Titus Andronicus have done something that most university students could only dream of: take a Shakespeare inspired moniker and turn it into a 65 minute presentation on the American Civil war and make it just as engaging as it is entertaining. The five-piece New Jersey based lo-fi act blew me out of the water when I first checked out The Monitor in the spring, and continues to each and every time I listen. With a sound best described as Bright Eyes covering Bruce Springsteen, you’re wasting your time if you don’t go and listen to it. 

Wayfarer – Our Fathers

With no credit to the Canadian Content law, my contender for top Canadian record of the year had to earn it. Possibly the most local of all, Kitchener/Guelph based Wayfarer have taken my top spot. Our Fathers is 10 songs about growing up, and moving on, taken one obscure reference at a time. While the Attack In Black comparisons are substantiated, I have far better hopes for this local act. They don’t play live all that often, so don’t miss your chance when you’re granted with one. Download Our Fathers and the rest of their discography for free from http://wayfarer.bandcamp.com.

Paul Baribeau – Unbearable

Paul Baribeau is a near-nomadic singer songwriter in all the best qualities of the term. The man behind the beard, while intimidating on the surface, knows exactly how to express his inner self so long as he’s holding a guitar.  His newest full length Unbearable is anything but. It’s 24 minutes of heartbreaking realizations and pessimistic nostalgia. This record was self-released on CD and LP, possibly making it my most obscure choice of these three. Luckily you can download it for free from http://www.ifyoumakeit.com/album/paul-baribeau/unbearable. You won’t regret it.

Josh’s Picks

Scott Dunbar

Philosophies of a Moth Vol. 3

It’s not everyday you hear a man with a raspy voice banging out tunes on a banjo and call it music, at least not today. Yet when Scott Dunbar does it you think, “where has this been in my life?”

The most important part of Dunbar’s double disc album Philosophies of a Moth Vol. 3 is his social critique. He is one of those musicians who show their discontent through song, never once letting us off the hook for our laziness or ignorance. Society is not a ride through the park for Dunbar; it’s an open wound, a bleeding insult that we’ve all become blind too. Dunbar seems fixated on shake rattle and rolling us out of our lull with noisy guitar and bouncy tunes about our embarrassing state.

With controversial lyrics like, ‘you think Obama’s gonna save the world? You don’t understand/ 9/11 inside job, head out of the sand,’ Dunbar’s music will either have you leading a revolution or snapping the album case in disbelief. Fortunately for Dunbar, the albums were all made by his mother out of cloth and fabric; just another unique aspect to this already deserving album. If you consider yourself part of the counter culture, put this on repeat.

Bill Hicks

The Essential Collection

While all of you “inspired” young hipsters have been daydreaming about anti-capitalist states and a world where people speak out against the machine that is consuming us more efficiently each day, you aren’t holding a candle to William Melvin Hicks. Throughout the 80’s and 90’s Hicks brought his satirical, analytical, and comical opinion to American stages, reminding audiences throughout the nation what an assortment of liberty hating, power hungry panderer’ the government and big businesses are. He wasn’t afraid to state his opinion publicly, and his opinion accounted for the big issues in life; like artists selling out to advertisement, the ever-present choice between fear and love, and the benefits of taking acid.

With his ability to play the guitar as a pleasant backdrop to his comedic talent, Bill Hick’s The Essential Collection is first and foremost a stand-up album. Still it will solve your dilemma of wondering what to listen to by filling your ears with a two CD, two DVD dose of the pleasant sounds of Mr. Hicks ripping apart any and all ridiculous aspects of society. It may not have a horn section, but you’ll definitely be glad this collection found it’s way into your jukebox.

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