Tag: Tenderness
Debut: Petra Glynt – Sour Paradise
Here’s something that’s difficult to pigeonhole. It’s kinda like Tenderness, whom we love dearly, and appropriately it’s off of a split digital 7″ she released with Tenderness on Mega Bonus. It shares some similarities with Tune-Yards too, but let’s go out on a limb and say that it’s ITS OWN THING.
Top Songs of 2012: 50-26
2012 has been the strongest year in memory for Canadian electronic pop. Established artists started new electronic projects, amazing new talents appeared seemingly out of nowhere, and one of our shining stars became a superstar recognized the world over. Canada is clearly at the epicenter of the zeitgeist – it’s a testament to the unbelievable talent in this country that we have 100 songs to present to you as the best of the year, and STILL had to exclude so many excellent tracks.
Montreal and Toronto may still have the most representatives of any Canadian city, but dark electro is thriving everywhere, from Halifax to Calgary, Ottawa to Vancouver, and exciting new hotbeds appearing in London, Ontario, and Grande Prairie, Alberta. We’re not too exclusively nationalist here at Silent Shout, so border states (minus NYC) appear too, with artists from Minneapolis, Seattle, and Brattleboro, Vermont making our list.
A huge thank you to all our readers, the folks who attend our events, and the bands that make brilliant music across this land for making 2012 an unforgettable year for us. Here’s to an even bigger 2013 for Canadian electronic music.
Top 100 Songs: 100-76 /// 75-51 /// 50-26 /// 25-1
50. Kashka – Vichada
49. Devan Boomen – Children’s Names
48. Automelodi – Ikabe
47. Silkken Laumann – On The Mend
45. Greggy Clypse – Duh Duh Duh
44. DKMD – Androide
43. Holobody – Ninnyhammer
42. Hot & Cold – Uighur Pop
41. Bazarian – I’s the B’y (Part 1)
40. Gang Signs – Prequel
39. Chrome and the Ice Queen – Stealin’ Hearts (feat. Daniel Lee of Phèdre)
38. Majical Cloudz – Turns Turns Turns
37. Grapes Godly – I Can’t Remember
36. Vague-A-Bonde – Something
34. Piper Davis – Why? (Carly Simon cover)
31. Peter Peter – Une Version Améliorée de la Tristesse
30. Sexy Merlin – Heater
29. Tenderness – Too Wonderful
28. Moon King – Sleeping in My Car
26. Femminielli – Performance Video
Top 100 Songs: 100-76 /// 75-51 /// 50-26 /// 25-1
Previously: Top 20 Albums /// Top 20 Videos /// Top 15 Remixes /// Top 10 EPs
Top 20 Albums of 2012
There has been so much amazing music made this year. Most of these albums have been on constant repeat at the Silent Shout office since we heard them. If you’ve been following the blog all year our love for these records won’t surprise you. If you haven’t, we can’t wait for you to hear them! There shouldn’t be so much damn agreement in the critical world. We don’t need multiple lists of the same 50 albums in a slightly different order.
19. Kashka – Vichada – Bandcamp
18. Walter TV – Appetite – Bandcamp
17. Purity Ring – Shrines – Website
16. Karneef – In Error – Bandcamp
15. Man Made Hill – Intercourses – Bandcamp
14. Ghibli – Rare Pleasures – Bandcamp
13. Cabaal – Emanations – Bandcamp
12. Grimes – Visions – Wikipedia
11. Hot & Cold – Border Area – Bandcamp
10. You’ll Never Get to Heaven – S/T – Bandcamp
9. Mac DeMarco – Rock and Roll Night Club – Label
6. Kontravoid – Silent Visions – Bandcamp
5. Renny Wilson – “Sugarglider” – Bandcamp
3. Blanche Blanche Blanche – Wink with Both Eyes – Stream
2. Tenderness – The Axe is Ready at the Tree – Bandcamp
1. Femminielli – Double Invitation – Stream
Previously: Top 100 Songs /// Top 20 Videos /// Top 15 Remixes /// Top 10 EPs
Video: Tenderness – Too Wonderful (Flush Remix)
Oh my stars, Tenderness! Lord knows we’ve always loved her. Apparently it only gets better. A little bird told me there might be a new full length in the works on Pleasance Records. I can’t wait.
MP3: Tenderness – Cruel as the Grave
Terribly exciting to find out there’s been some new Tenderness stuff released this month! Here’s a great new single, as well as an excellent reimagining of “Too Wonderful”, a standout from one of the best albums of the year. Via Grayowl Point.
Silent Shout Shadow Polaris
So, due to some massive oversight, we were not asked to be judges in this year’s Polaris Prize. That, or the ballot was lost in the mail. We need to ensure that Canadian electro music is properly represented, so in an effort to influence the judges’ decision, we have made our top five albums eligible to win this year.
Handsome Furs – Sound Kaptial
Handsome Furs – Memories of the Future
Chevalier Avant Garde – Heterotopias
Chevalier Avant Garde – Nie Rozumiem
Grimes – Visions
Grimes – Circumambient
Trust – TRST
Trust – Shoom
Phèdre – Phèdre
Phèdre – In Decay
DIGITS
Chevalier Avant Garde – Heterotopias
Chevalier Avant Garde – Young
Tenderness – The Axe is Ready at the Tree
Tenderness – We Lay Our Broken World in Sorrow at Your Feet
Sean Nicholas Savage – Flamingo
Sean Nicholas Savage – My Chances
Phèdre – Phèdre
Phèdre – Aphodite
Mac DeMarco – Rock and Roll Night Club
Mac DeMarco – She’s Really All I Need
FARRAGOES
walter tv – Appetite
walter tv – Africa
Chevalier Avant Garde – Heterotopias
Chevalier Avant Garde – Haircut
Mac DeMarco – Rock n Roll Nightclub
Mac DeMarco – European Vegas
Kontravoid – Kontravoid
Kontravoid – Native State
Cellphone – Cellphone
Cellphone – One Last Shot
And the winner is:
Pile of Best Albums: Tenderness – The Axe Is Ready At The Tree
Toronto newcomers Tenderness have made a really neat album! A sprawling, omnivorous kind of album that covers so many bases, and is so full of ideas it’s almost impossible to take it all in on the first, or even the second listen. The opening track, Below Me, encapsulates the record’s eclecticism, beginning with an extended burst of evolving white noise that gives way to a big reverby 808 clap and a morose vocal that glides over sparse synths and rolling waves of warped samples. The bracing Too Wonderful is another standout, veering into a sort of sedate spastic-jazz punk reminiscent of Linder Sterling and Ludus, driven by the layered saxophone skronking of Brodie West, veteran of Toronto improvisational jazz group Drumheller, and an infectious half-sung vocal melody. It’s the kind of record that demands repeat listens, if only to figure out how they made it work so well in the first place.
The Axe Is Ready At The Tree is available to stream or download on their bandcamp. Here’s hoping we hear more from these guys in the not so distant future.
