THE ANTI-HIT LIST
AN ALTERNATIVE TOP 10
10. CYNTHIA LENNON
“In My Life” The poignancy is almost too much to bear: the former Mrs. John Lennon making her way through one of the late Lennon’s most sentimental songs, written three years before he left her for Yoko Ono. A recitation until the final chorus, the song features piano, celesta, cello and ukulele — the recording is part of a project to perform every Beatles song on a uke — and veritably bursts with stoicism. (From The Beat
les Complete on Ukulele, bit.ly/lennonlife)
9. BETH JEANS HOUGHTON & THE HOOVES OF DESTINY
“Sweet Tooth Bird” The year’s first Next Big Thing From Britain candidate is a twentysomething from Newcastle who looks like she could be another earnest folkie but sounds like an unhinged cross between Gwen Stefani and “Mimi on the Beach”-era Jane Siberry. In short, there is nothing remotely folkie or earnest about her. (From
Yours Truly, Cellophane Nose, bit.ly/bethbird)
8. FOSTER THE PEOPLE VS. BRITNEY SPEARS
“Pumped Up World” Disconnected from the aural throb that constitutes the majority of Britney’s recent output, “Till the World Ends” sounds downright languid when set against the spare backing track for Foster the People’s “Pumped Up Kicks.” On the original, Spears sounds impatient, as though it’s all she can do to stick around till the end of the song. Here, she seems unperturbed, as though she forgot she even had somewhere to be. And that’s before the whistling kicks in. (bit.ly/ fosterbrit)
7. THE BIG PINK
“Somebody That I Used to Know” How odd that a song can inspire two disparate covers in such quick succession without being widely known outside of the originator’s homeland, Australia. First, Burlington’s Walk Off the Earth made the now-famous 10-handed YouTube video that landed them 49 million views and a slot on Ellen. Now, this British electro-pop duo has taken the Sting-like sound of the original by Gotye (Go-tee-yay), plied it with synths and beats, and turned it into a dark, pulsing club tune. We await the inevitable country version with impatience. (bit.ly/pinkknow)
6. FRESH SNOW
“Your Thirst for Magic Has Been Quenched by Death!” Part of the fascination with this new Toronto band is that it bears so little resemblance to the endeavours of its two best-known members: guitarist Brad Davis, formerly of acoustic pop band Lake Holiday, and bassist Andy Lloyd, who played with Caribou and Born Ruffians. (Drummer Jon Maki and Tim Condon, on “electronics & noisemakers,” round out the lineup.) On this track (bit.ly/freshdeath), “BMX Based Tactics” (bit.ly/freshbmx) and especially the 12-minute “Saturation Complete” (bit.ly/freshsat), the influences are closer to krautrock, notably Neu! and Faust, and the ambient music that grew out of it. In fact, listening to those three tracks in reverse order is a little like getting a telescoped view of the evolution of an entire genre.
5. SPOKE MATHAMBO feat. YOLANDA
“Let Them Talk” Like all out-of-the-boxers, Johannesburg’s Nthato Mokgata is as likely to inspire headscratching and even irritation long before appreciation. This preview of his second fulllength flirts with nuttiness in the way that, say, Janelle Monae does, which is to say by keeping one foot in the mainstream and the other casually dangling over the edge of a cliff. (From
Father Creeper, out March 13, bit.ly/spoektalk)
4. HOT GOSSIP
“What Is Love?” Destined to be forever associated with the
Saturday Night Live clip of Will Ferrell, Jim Carrey and Chris Kattan doing that creepy, synchronized head-nodding thing in the car (bit.ly/ snlbros), Haddaway’s one-hit wonder would appear ripe for salvage/subversion. What the song gets at the hands of this Italian indie act is a world-weary-hipster makeover. Alternating between moody accompaniment and furious bursts of electronic noise, it almost succeeds in obliterating that SNL image once and for all. Almost. (bit.ly/hotwhat)
3. EMMA-LEE
“Just Looking” In the three years since this Toronto singersongwriter made an indelible impression with “That Sinking Feeling” (bit.ly/emmafeel), she’s cut a series of home demos, sidewalk performances and backseat sessions that have evolved into superior studio recordings. Case in point: Here’s the home demo of “Just Looking” (bit.ly/emmalook). Here’s the finished product: (bit.ly/emmalook2). The differences are subtle yet telling, and sound like they could only have been made possible by the unhurried passage of time. (From Backseat Heroine)
2. FRANKIE ROSE
“Know Me” A former member of Dum Dum Girls and Vivian Girls, Rose has pulled off a feat that has spelled artistic death for many who came before her: she has upgraded her lo-fi sound without destroying the lo-fi esthetic. The facilitator is Le Chev, a.k.a. Michael Cheever, best known for his work with electropop act Fischerspooner. The result is polished without being the least bit slick. (From Interstellar, out Feb. 21, bit.ly/ roseknow)
1. WILLIS EARL BEAL
“Take Me Away” The backstory here is so good, that one observer has noted it has “the ring of fabrication about it” (bit.ly/willistalk): A beyond-obscure Chicago musician has his heart broken, moves to the desert, writes dozens of songs but refuses to release any of them, instead dropping CD-RS around Albuquerque and leaving it to chance whether anyone will hear them. That’s about to change with a compilation of those songs — many of which should immediately appeal to fans of Tom Waits — through XL Recordings, who’ve released albums by, among others, Vampire Weekend, Radiohead, The White Stripes and Adele. In the meantime, after you’ve listened to “Take Me Away,” check out “Wavering Lines,” Close to Me” and “Same Old Tears” on Youtube. They sound raw and authentic, which, when it comes to recorded music, is what really matters. (From Acoustmat
ic Sorcery, out April 3, bit.ly/willistake) For this and previous Anti-hit Lists, bookmark this link: bit.ly/antihit
jsakamoto@thestar.ca