a.m.p.m. favourites of 2008

Squeezing as many songs as possible into 80 minutes in order to summarise the best of a whole year of music is a pretty daunting task involving tough decisions and regrettably obligatory omissions. But after much deliberation, here are my favourite tracks from 2008:
01 Why? - Fatalist Palmistry
02 Amadou and Mariam - Sabali
03 Born Ruffians - Kurt Vonnegut
04 TV on the Radio - Family Tree
05 The Walkmen - In the New Year
06 Titus Andronicus - My Time Outside The Womb
07 Islands - Creeper
08 Laura Marling - The Captain And Hourglass
09 Fleet Foxes - He Doesn't Know Why
10 No Age - Eraser
11 Crystal Castles - Courtship Date
12 Lykke Li - Dance Dance Dance
13 Shearwater - Rooks
14 White Denim - I Can Tell
15 Little Joy - Keep Me In Mind
16 Frightened Rabbit - The Twist
17 Foals - Cassius
18 Love Is All - Wishing Well
19 Times New Viking - Drop-Out
20 Ratatat - Falcon Jab
21 Chad VanGaalen - Willow Tree
22 Grand Archives - Sleepdriving
23 Jay Jay Pistolet - Friend

The whole kit and caboodle: ampm2008mix.zip

Thanks to Andy Gilmore for the cover art.

Friday Five

Trying to maintain some order, here are five dope tracks that are on high rotation at the moment.

North America South America (aka N.A.S.A.) are just two guys: a DJ and a skateboarder but they have tonnes of great hook-ups. Like how the one guy is Spike Jonze's brother. And how they have some of the most insane guest features on their forthcoming debut, The Spirit of Apollo.

N.A.S.A. feat. Kanye West, Lykke Li and Santogold - Gifted

It's way to early to call any new album 'Record of the Year', but I'll be damned if this isn't one of Animal Collective's best songs to date.

Animal Collective - My Girls

Baltimore's mad scientist of batshit electronic music, Dan Deacon, has his second full-length set to drop in March. "Get Older" the closer to his forthcoming Bromst, takes it's time to build up to his recognizable layered beats. You might even call it an epic soundscape.

Dan Deacon - Get Older

I don't have cable television, so I miss out on what's being killed over and over again through commericals and Top 40 nonsense. Then I went home at Christmas to find everyone and their mother keeping this one on steady rotation.

Passion Pit - Sleepy Head

Handsome Furs, the husband-wife duo of Dan Boeckner and Alexei Perry, return with their sophomore disc, Face Control, in March. This first track reminds me of Apologies...-era Wolf Parade but without so much going on.

Handsome Furs - I'm Confused

Stay fly.

Remix Sunday: The Next Generation...

So, you're the star of an 80's remake-edu-drama series centred around high school years and your character is closing in on graduation, what do you do?  Apparently, you start a music career.  That is what Degrassi: The Next Generation star, Aubrey Graham has done.  So far, he's caught the attention of Lil' Wayne's label Young Money Records.  Word is that he has signed and currently in the middle of recording.  Maybe it will be out in time for graduation.  In all seriousness, good for him and his remix of Lykke Li's "A little bit" is solid.

Lykke Li is definitely one of the most unique and interesting artists out there and here's a video of her "lo-fi" version of "I'm Good, I'm Gone".  I'm hoping to catch Lykke in Montreal on February 4th at Club Soda.

Lykke Li feat. Drake - A Little Bit

Festival Season: iTunes Live Festival features free performances from CSS, Black Kids, Foals and many more

So here's the deal: iTunes is hosting a month-long festival of free gigs at KOKO, "London's premiere live music venue". Almost every night in July will feature live performances from bands including Foals, Black Kids, CSS, Lykke Li, Ting Tings, Does It Offend You, Yeah?, The Zutons, Death Cab For Cutie, N*E*R*D, Guillemots and Lightspeed Champion. Did I mention that it's FREE? Check out the lineup and enter to win tickets for the rest of the month's acts. All you need is an iTunes account.

XFM is also doing their part in giving away tickets and providing post-gig reviews; visit here for an extra chance to win tickets through these guys.

Generous friends hooked me up with a ticket to Monday night's Foals/Black Kids gig which was surely the festival highlight (pictures below) and also won multiple tickets for several other nights so it seems that the odds of winning are good, which would make sense as KOKO's total capacity is over 1500.



Foals performing 'Cassius':


Foals performing 'Hummer':


Foals - Balloons
Black Kids - Look At Me (When I Rock Wichoo)

- a.m.p.m.

Black Cab Sessions

Fleet Foxes and Sunset Rubdown are just two of many bands to jump on the Black Cab Sessions bandwagon. The premise? Indie artists jump in the back of one of London's iconic black cabs and play a stripped down track while getting a ride around the city. Recent participants have included The National, Bon Iver, Spoon, The New Pornographers, Cave Singers and Lightspeed Champion.

Robin of Fleet Foxes contributing an excellent cover of 'Crayon Angels' while cruising around the streets of Holborn a few weeks ago:


3/5 of Sunset Rubdown performing an unreleased track called 'You Go On Ahead' before their gig at the Luminaire last month:


Lykke Li with 'I'm Good I'm Gone':


- a.m.p.m.

Record Store Day = Free Gigs

For those of you who are unaware, this past Saturday was the first ever Record Store Day. Record Store Day is basically an excuse to celebrate how awesome independent record stores are, and Rough Trade East (possibly London's best independent record shop) did their part by putting on an excellent programme of free in-store shows from artists including Billy Bragg, Jason Molina, Schmidt & Kumo, The Metros and Lykke Li. Check out the video of Lykke Li playing "Dance Dance Dance" at her Rough Trade show below.

Lykke Li - I'm Good, I'm Gone
Lykke Li - Dance Dance Dance



- a.m.p.m.

Join the Club

Slow Club may be just one of the many talented bands on London independent label Moshi Moshi Records, but they happen to be my favourite at the moment. The duo from Sheffield is among good company; the label boasts a list of accomplished internationals including The Mae-Shi, Lykke Li, Tilly and the Wall, Architecture in Helsinki and Mates of State as well as sterling British acts like Hot Chip, The Wave Pictures, Late of the Pier, The Rakes and Kate Nash.

Music Week's description of the band's sound as "sacharine folk-pop that turns your usually miserable scribe into a radiant ray of positivity" is accurate, as are comparisons to Tilly and the Wall. Slow Club's second single Me and You was released back in October and their debut album will likely be available early this summer. Catch them at the Camden Crawl in April with an entourage of their Moshi Moshi labelmates.

Slow Club - Me and You

- a.m.p.m.