not in any order but i thought i should mention my favorite records of this year:

- ONCE soundtrack: glen and marketa make such sweet sounds together and it was probably my favorite concert of the year.

- Tegan and Sara “The Con”- The Quin Twins made a record that surpassed “So Jealous” sound and writing wise and completely knocked me off my feet.

- Bat For Lashes “Fur and Gold”: she was robbed of the Mercury music prize! This record throws you into a dreamland with bats, horses and seals.

- Emily Haines “Knives Don’t Have Your Back”: The Metric frontwoman writes a record on piano and it is in a completely different direction than any Metric record. Emily’s songs are heartfelt and more raw than anything she has done with Metric. Her lyrical style really shines throughout the record.

- IAMX “The Alternative”: this record is sex- sensual, dark, and rythmically lush. chris corner embodies everything that IAMX is through his stage personality.

- Arcade Fire “Neon Bible”- i found this record haunting and musically rich. Their style is so different from anything else ive heard.

- Lily Allen “Alright, Still”- introduced Lily to the word. The tabloids may talk about how she likes to party but rarely do they mention she has the talent to back up her attitude.

- Sigur Ros- Hvarf/Heim i have no idea what they are singing about but i feel like im floating when i listen to this record.

- PJ Harvey “White Chalk”- PJ makes a 30 min. concept record on piano and autoharp and the result is a hypnotic gothic pit of despair.

- Maps “We Can Create”- A mix of electronics, pop and psychedelia. This record is what the humming of my brain sounds like.

Honorable mentions:

- KT Tunstall “Drastic Fantastic”

- Rilo Kiley “Under the Blacklight”

- Sahara Hotnights “What if leaving is a loving thing”

- Midnight Movies “Lion The Girl”

- Tori Amos “American Doll Posse”

- Feist “The Reminder”

- The Long Blondes “Someone to Drive You Home”

I first discovered Stars when i heard “Going Going Gone” off of their record Nightsongs. The track featured Emily Haines from Metric doing vocals. This was the moment i discovered Canadian Indie Pop/ Rock and I have been love with it ever since. I went to my first Stars show in 2005 when “Set Yourself On Fire” came out. It was a magical experience and ive been waiting to see them again.

The only way i can describe Stars is that they makes music that sounds like love. Torque and Amy harmonize off each other and they take on the personality of the characters they create. Their live show is much in the same. They decorate the stage with dozens of fresh flowers and hand them out to the crowd during their set.

The Setlist from what i can remember and not in order:

The Beginning After THe End (intro)
Ageless Beauty
Calendar Girl
Reunion
Book
Bitches in Tokyo
On Peak Hill
Night Starts Here
Take Me To the Riot
The War Is Over
Elevator Love Letter
One More Night
Look Up
the ghost of genova heights (light up suit)
personal
window bird
Life 2: The Unhappy Ending
The Aspidistra Flies/ Umbrellas

The band played a nice mix of songs from all their records. I really wanted to hear “Tonight” but no luck. At least they played “umbrellas” though because i haven’t heard them play anything off the Comeback EP. The crowd went nuts when they played songs off of “Set Yourself On Fire” (its a tie for my fav. stars record along with Heart). I guess it was because it was the most popular of their records and the one that put them on the map. I really forgot how fun Torque is to watch- he is just so charismatic and emotes every word. Plus, his voice is so beautiful live that most of the time it sounds better than it does on the records. I love Amy but some of the songs that featured just her were lacking something (it may just because i didn’t like some of the songs she did for the latest record, In Our Bedroom After the War). The hilight was when Torque wore this light up suit for “Ghost of Genova Heights” and danced around the stage. For this tour, alot of the older songs sounded drastically different, it was like they changed the tempo of the older stuff to make it more rock. Usually i recognize songs by their intros or right in the beginning but it took the band to introduce the songs before i could recognize them.

The house of blues itself had great sound but i really didn’t like the crowd that night. Probably because all the people that really love stars are under 21 and they were stuck upstairs in the balcony area while the crowd that was in front of the stage was too cool to rock out to Stars and i think it really took away from the band’s performance. During a stars live show, the band interacts a lot with the crowd and when the crowd is dead, it affects the performance. I tried to push my way to the front but got stuck behind some couples that don’t understand proper concert etiquette. (READ AS: no booty dancing or dry humping please! this is Stars for godsake!)

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Now playing: Sahara Hotnights - Cheek To Cheek
via FoxyTunes

for neglecting this blog for the last few weeks. A lot has been going on with the holidays, shows, and i celebrated my 23rd birthday last week. So, look for reviews on the new Killers disc “Sawdust” and Goldfrapp’s “Seventh Tree” along with the backlogged show reviews that i mentioned last time along with another 8mm gig. I’m hoping to have all these reviews done before i see Tori Amos on the 12th. Thanks for being patient!

~AT

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Now playing: Goldfrapp - Caravan Girl
via FoxyTunes