TOP 25: The albums I enjoyed the most in 2017 (22 - 20)
Check out 25 - 23: https://steemit.com/music/@johannesburgo/top-25-the-albums-i-enjoyed-the-most-in-2017-25-23
22
Infinite Bisous - W/Love
Paris, France
Artwork by Tasty Morsels
Connan Mockasin and Mac DeMarco are artists I love by default. Their laid back attitude, smooth jazz influences, the pure love in their lyrics and the sensuality (more prominent in Connan than Mac) in their styles/songs. It's a combination that my taste in music can't resist. That's why when I first heard "Confused Porn" I was like... WHAT IS THIS? I was literally floating while listening to those synths. The song appeared to me as a recommendation in Spotify.
The first thing I did after listening to the song was check out the whole album. I was amazed by it, the whole thing is beautiful. Then, I started reading about this guy and I found out he's Rory McCarthy from England, but actually based in Paris. Rory is well-known for being on tour as an instrumentalist for Connan Mockasin and Mac DeMarco. So, I guess he has a big influence from the lo-fi and the 80s jangle as well.
The album is an ode to modern love and at the same time there is a characteristic sensual vibe within the music. One of my favorite songs has to be "Teen Sex". A couple of days ago I was baked listening to this track and I started to remember having sex as a teenager. It totally transported me to those days when life was so easy. I consider this ability in an artist to be pure magic. I mean, bringing back memories and feelings with music is something unique.
The dreamy LP is available for streaming on his Bandcamp: https://infinitebisous.bandcamp.com
21
Tops - Sugar at the Gate
Montreal, Canada
Artwork by (I couldn't find any info on google, they should've credited the artist)
I still remember the first time ever I listened to Tops. I was heading home after class and this dude named Brandon gave me a ride home. He was one of my classmates for music production and as soon as we got into the car he played Tops. He said something like "My brother sent me this band and I am digging it". The first track of their second album "Picture You Staring" is "Way to be love" so of course I was going to fall in love with the project. That song is perfect. Plus, I saw Mac DeMarco showing his balls in the music video so I loved it even more.
Since then I have been listening to their two albums constantly. Something I love about the band is their vintage sound which is reminiscent of something my mom would have listened back in the 80s.
When they released "Sugar at the Gate," I got so excited. Although, so far I can't tell if I prefer their second album over this one. I can say for sure that this is another piece of art from Tops that's going to stick on my playlist for a while. A cool detail about the production of this album is that the band recorded and produced the album in a mini-mansion in California.
My favorite track is "Dayglow Bimbo." I feel the song is different from the rest on the album. I loved their guitars with that unusual distortion filling the whole atmosphere. They don't use distortions that often, but this shoegaze vibes sound pretty cool. It's beautiful the noise in the background. Plus, it's a super short song so I would just repeat it and repeat it again. I would love to listen to more stuff like this on their next productions.
Furthermore, the warm vocals of Jane Penny have always hypnotized me and this album was no exception. Then, the subtle drums, the dreamy guitars, those old fashioned synths and the bass lines create an atmosphere of being 40 years in the past while driving your car, drinking a beer and listening to this band (after listening to a hit from Blondie of course). Actually, I believe that's what really defines this band. The atmospheres they can create. It's something they have had since they started and it has been in all their releases. You can check it out in this one by the next link: https://tops.bandcamp.com/album/sugar-at-the-gate
20
Mac DeMarco - This Old Dog
L.A, California
Artwork by Mac DeMarco
Okay. Let's talk about Mac DeMarco. First of all. If by any chance you know me, then you already know how insane I am for Mac DeMarco. The first time I ever listened to him was when he released the music video for "Viceroy". A friend of mine, that used to play drums in my band, came to my house and told me "check this out you will like it." At the beginning I thought Mac was a project from the 80s because this dude was always showing pure gold from the old times. To my surprise he said like "This guy just released this." And that's how my obsession with this Canadian musician started.
I literally became obssesed with the guy. I heard all his songs including "Makeout Videotape" and his first album "Rock & Roll Nightclub." I saw the Macumentary Pepperoni Playboy like 20 times and read more than 100 interviews about him. The thing I liked the most about Mac was that I could feel he was real. He wasn't pretending to be something else just to get people to like him. He was just being as goofy as he is without giving a frog about what people would say. I thought he was doing what I wanted to do. I wanted to just play music and pay my bills with it. So, believe it or not, Mac influenced me in such a way that I actually left my country to study audio engineering and then I moved to New York following my goals.
Anyways, let's talk now about This Old Dog. Being the crazy fan that I am, I had to listen to the album when it was leaked. It was so funny that the next day Mac was playing in a festival, I was watching the live streaming and he said something like "We are playing now a song from the next album that by the way was leaked yesterday so you can download it illegally, sell it or whatever you wanna do. I don't care."
As a lyricist Mac has the gift. Kiki (his girlfriend) has been the muse of his inspiration for mostly of his music, but for this album Mac took another path. He wrote about his personal growth and other personal stuff. My favorite song by far is "Watching Him Fade Away" because of the track's simplicity. It's gorgeous. It's literally Mac DeMarco playing keys and singing about his relationship with his father. It was a track that really really got stuck in my soul and I repeated it over and over.
This Old Dog is a good album, but definitely not as good as "2" or "Salad Days." Although, the production for "This Old Dog" is way better than those two. This shows us how Mac has been evolving constantly as a producer. However, I think as a musician he can take new ways like the one he took in "Moonlight on the River" where he goes more into the psychedelic vibe instead of sticking with his classic dreamy "Jizz Jazz." I mean, you can still feel his essence, but he's obviously experimenting more now.
I really hope Mac gets more into the psychedelic side because lately I have been seeing how he is jamming more frequently in live shows and these jams are more psych.
If you haven't listened to This Old Dog yet, here is the link to his Bandcamp: https://macdemarco.bandcamp.com/album/this-old-dog