I like Canada but I humbly suggest moving exclusively for the chance to use Spotify Premium. Which is exactly where this playlist is going right now.

The versatility in Karen O’s vocal performances is awesome. At the beginning I was hearing sounds that reminded me of the Cardigan’s Gran Turismo. Which featured similar percussion against similarly mellow vocals. But the ending blew my mind. Whatever tone she goes for, it feels effortless but worthy of the term “rock”. I am all about this song.

Nice review and I don’t not agree. I’ll say this. Before Holy Fire launched, the band wrote on their Facebook that they were to have a album release party in New York where they’d play the whole record. “No RSVP needed, just show up!” Being a pretty big fan, obviously I jumped on the chance. Unfortunately, the band didn’t realize that their party was invite-only so the line outside the event space was initially not getting in. Which was annoying. Their rep/manager said that eventually they’d let us in one by one as space filled up. Most people left but the die-hards/losers waited for an hour or two before gaining admittance.

A group of four people ahead of me were let in one by one, except one girl, who was denied because she was under 21. So she was almost crying outside while her friends went inside. A few minutes later, out comes the other three along with Yannis, the lead singer. He took pictures with the now giddy girl and her friends and casually chatted with them. He didn’t seen entirely engaged or charismatic but definitely gave them all a lot more time than I would have expected. Even if he was just trying to get a smoke in, I thought it was pretty cool of him to do.

I guess I mention this story because, while I’ve always thought the members of Foals could star in a remake of a Clockwork Orange or be in Misfits, I liked seeing Yannis accept his role of band leader, which includes meeting sobbing girls on Delancy St. As the band progresses and gets more popular, they are making steps to act, sound, record and perform their songs like a band that matters. Which I respect. There is a Bloc Party/Coldplayesque quality to Holy Fire that takes away some of the fun they had with Antidotes or Total Life Forever. But I’m glad they believe in their skills and their sound enough to try to make the leap from indie act to headliner.

This is the kind of song every band needs to release with spring and summer approaching. Upbeat, catchy, easy to dissect with a few listens. It’ll get on some commercials, it’ll be a hit at festivals. It’s a good opener for what will be a great album. Really enjoyed this song.

I agree a lot with your assessment of where Holy Fire stands in relation to their other releases but am willing to give Foals the benefit of the doubt for a few reasons. Foals become too critically acclaimed and/or popular in the UK for this release to be anything other than an Event. Most bands in that situation make the kind of record that’s bigger in sound while trying to be Important. Foals did too, to varying degrees of success. I love Coldplay’s music and while their ambitions for X&Y were noble, it played outside of their strengths and didn’t really work. Keane’s another easy example of a popular British band’s 3rd LP that went absolutely flat. They’ve still never recovered their appeal from their genuinely well-regarded Under the Iron Sea. Maybe these bands are shooting for their personal OK Computer and just failing. But even putting that kind of expectation on any band is going to cause bands to make “gorgeous, shiny” music that sacrifices some of their humor and charm in the process.

Here’s why I think Holy Fire easily works better than the other two examples I used. I think they captured the bigness of their live show on record for the first time, which is important. I respect when band’s don’t shy away from the expectations or coronation of becoming the Next Great Band. Everyone could create their own version of MGMT’s Congratulations, which was a big middle finger to their new fans and pop sensibilities. (I’m not debating the album’s quality, just saying it’s a bit cowardly to make a great album and not try to follow it up for the reasons that made said LP great.) So I respect Foals for not fearing that label. Plus, some songs ought be considered some of their best. My Number is great. Inhaler is great. Everytime and Out of the Woods are interesting enough for me to put them on repeat. This album fits comfortably in their discography, drawing comparisons, influences and ideas from both in a way that feels like a balancing of two, rather different, forces. So I like it.

Having the album for only a day, there are enough solid songs after my initial listens to ensure I’m going to dedicate more time to this album and get excited to see them again on tour.

My problem with Mumford and Sons isn’t their music per se. I have a problem when band’s bastardize an established genre of music to the point that listeners feel no interest in discovering that genre deeper. For example, the world is jumping onto electronic music, but if your level of interest starts and stays with David Guetta or Avicii, you haven’t exposed yourself to the nuances of that genre. In the same way, Mumford (or the Lumineers for the matter) don’t encourage me as a listener to discover more folk. Whereas, when I first heard the Low Anthem for example, I got more excited about hearing more of that kind of music.

As the biggest representatives of folk music, Mumford should feel a responsibility to educate their listeners in a more complex way about what folk can be. They haven’t yet.

I think the emergence of Calvin Harris beyond We Found Love is one of the biggest musical stories of 2012. Sweet Nothing with Florence Welch will be a hit. I Need Your Love with Ellie Goulding could be a hit. Let’s Go worked. He’s gone from producer to a main attraction. Which he deserves kudos for.

The biggest omission for me is Zedd’s Clarity, which featured one of the best vocal performances in electronic music. Well produced. Epic without being corny. Great, great track. I’m sure Interscope is waiting to drop it on America at the right time. But that’ll be a hit for sure.

lol you’re making my point. “Tebow sucks” is a nonsense statement. But because people say it so much, it causes Tebow disciples have a freakout when he does anything good. If rational people simply said, “Tebow is average. His problem isn’t that he can’t ever win, it’s just that he can’t win enough”, he could be a backup in peace. In the same way, Taylor Swift does not suck. But when enough people say she does, the backlash causes some to believe she made the 19th best album in 2012. Which is equally farfetched.

Defending Taylor Swift is like defending Tim Tebow. They both have too many fans and too much recognition to need any individual’s profound analysis or praise. Still, I consider praising Taylor Swift like celebrating Tim Tebow for throwing a touchdown pass. Perhaps our expectations of them were too low to begin with and we’re compensating with shock and surprise. Taylor Swift is a fine writer and performer. She’s always been those things. But we don’t need to dedicate SportsCenter or the Grammys to either one.

I’d love to get a breakdown of where people think The Idler Wheel fits into Fiona Apple’s discography. Personally, I wasn’t comfortable overpraising an album I don’t consider to be one of her two best collections. Obviously, ranking an artist’s albums against previous ones can be silly, considering every work has its own set of objectives and goals. But if When the Pawn was released in 2012, would it be the #1 album of 2012 too?

I’ll use one last sports analogy before I shut up. Some people have a problem with Major League Baseball including a player from every team at the All Star Game. I don’t. It might give some attention to random players having good seasons instead of having all Red Sox, Yankees and Phillies selections. As a fan, I know their rosters. They have great players that always make the All Star Team. That’s fine but that’s boring. Unless Texierra or Pujols is having a monster years on their great standard, they don’t really need recognition. Yes, their numbers are always good. Its just that they’re not worth talking about. I want to see Mike Trout or Josh Reddick or Adam Jones. Does that mean the All Star Team is going to have all of the best performers from that season? Not always. But it’s worth giving new players exposure for the benefit of the game. I didn’t need NME to tell me Fiona Apple was great. I knew that already. Was she great on her standard of greatness? I don’t think so. So she doesn’t need NME’s ink. These lists can be a great tool to expose fans to other artists who are worth listening to. Which I think is more important than getting a list “right” or “wrong”.

I think just out of respect for their history, everyone should relisten to Bloc Party’s album. How they failed to get any traction from Four is stunning. Is it their best work? Maybe not. But they’re too talented to be as forgotten as I fear they will be this End of Year season.

And between their LP and EP, Schol of Seven Bells had a very good year. If they released the best tracks from those two releases into one collection, they’d be receiving a lot more recognition. They deserve it too.

In terms of artists getting paid, ease of access doesn’t matter as much as our lack of personal ownership toward musicians we like. The motivation to drink from a local brewery surely involves its superior taste. But it also involves feeling personally invested in a brand’s success. Buying local produce or buying from local bookstores might be (irritatingly) trendy but more so it’s a commitment to supporting institutions we value. Music shouldn’t be so different. Country fans take ownership of their artists. Country artists get paid. Rihanna’s Navy and Little Monsters take ownership of their artists. Rihanna and Gaga get paid. Even Christian hiphop’s Lecrae sells 100K of his releases because Christian culture understands that ministers have to be supported by their constituents. So much of independent music’s culture is based on hearing an albums just long enough to have an opinion of whether or not they belong on end-of-the-year Best-of lists. It’s a fun conversation to have every December. But that’s not a motivation artists can bank on.