2011 Was an Amazing Year for Music

In a year dominated by women, lo-fi bedroom rap producers, and outsized albums, it makes sense for my favorite album to have aspects of it all. It does. EMA’s Past Life Martyred Saints. The album is only nine songs, and less than 38 minutes, but it feels like gut-wrenching exodus through an arid, wracked life.

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Give A$AP Rocky Another Chance

The point is, ASAP Rocky earned an enormous mindshare in the world of blogs without actually crossing over in any significant way. No "Forever". No "Wonton Soup". No "Yonkers". Not even a "Justin Bieber 'freestyle' over 'Otis' ". Therefore, that Rocky would hardly try to come up with a full set of new songs for his big break really irked me.

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In the Bedroom

Clams Casino will find freely available (in a non-legal sense) sounds and samples by searching for things like “blue” and “cold” on file sharing networks. That’s perhaps the best image for how Clams’ productions work: he makes songs that evoke common nouns, humble but ubiquitous. He makes you realize simple words can be translated into pure sound.

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