THE ANTI-HIT LIST
AN ALTERNATIVE TOP 10
10. SAMUEL L. JACKSON “We Are Never Ever Ever Getting Back Together” In your head, you already know what this sounds like, right? However, if you’re still not sure, imagine what Taylor Swift’s vocals would be like if they were two or three octaves lower, then insert the word “dumbass” between “your” and “friends” in the chorus. ( bit.ly/S48u7B) 9. TO KILL A KING “Cold Skin” After a pair of acclaimed EPs (you can download the first one, legally, here: bit.ly/R8eTg5), these Londonbased newcomers have finally wrapped their debut album. If this assured single is any indication, they won’t have any trouble holding their own with Michael Kiwanuka, Ben Howard and the rest of the artists on Communion, the label co-founded by Mumford & Sons’ Ben Lovett. (From
Cannibals With Cutlery, out Feb. 14, bit.ly/VrEhPu) 8. ALUNAGEORGE/ATLAS “Thinking About You” On which not one but two rising U.K. acts try to borrow some cred by taking a run at the Frank Ocean ballad (bit.ly/J9n0RS), with very different results. The former, composed of vocalist Aluna Francis and producer George Reid, made the short list of both the BRIT Critics’ Choice Award and the BBC’s Sound of 2013, and their swirling, upbeat take (bit.ly/ URqWQi) shows why: It makes Ocean’s ballad danceable without obscuring the longing at the song’s heart. The latter, another male-female duo, opts for a glitchy, atmospheric approach ( bit.ly/UtNELz). 7. TEGAN & SARA “Now I’m All Messed Up”/“Fool to Cry” Unlike the previous evidence of the Quin twins’ embrace of dance pop, “I Was a Fool” is clearly designed for sitting or, at most, swaying. It is, however, no less skilled at winding itself around your memory circuits than either “Closer” (bit.ly/Vf2QRV) or “I’m Not Your Hero” (bit.ly/ VrFS7Y). By comparison, their cover of the Stones’ Black and Blue ballad “Fool to Cry” is notable mostly for being produced by Andre Allen Anjos of RAC, the artist collective behind electro-tinged remixes for Kings Of Leon, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Lana Del Rey. The result is the kind of interesting curiosity that could serve duty as a B-side. (“Now I’m All Messed Up” from Heartthrob, out Jan. 29, bit.ly/10crbK3; “Fool to Cry” from Girls — Volume 1, bit.ly/SitZCO). 6. MISFIT MOD “Queen Love Zero” This amalgam of overlapping vocals, bedroom beats and lyrics that convey the kind of epiphany you have in the middle of the night is the product of one woman, New Zealander Sarah Ann Kelleher. The songs have their roots in “a string of sh---y events that Kelleher would rather not talk about.” That urge to communicate without being explicit informs every second of this hypnotic work. (From Islands & Islands, out Feb. 19, bit.ly/V6pOeC) 5. GOLDFRAPP VS. MASSIVE ATTACK “Time Out From Teardrops” This sublime concoction heralds the return to action of mash-up master Phil RetroSpector, who has taken the former’s “Time Out From the World” (bit.ly/TBDaeF) and the latter’s “Teardrops” (bit.ly/QKxdL) and created an impossibly lush bit of disconsolation. ( bit.ly/XBH6x4) 4. JOHN FULLBRIGHT “Gawd Above” A presence on a surprising number of year-end lists, the first studio fulllength by this relatively obscure 24-year-old Oklahoman is up for a Grammy next month for Best Americana Album. This leadoff track sounds like James McMurtry at his most sardonic crossed with Steve Earle during his loud-mouthed Copperhead Road days. (From From the Ground Up, johnfullbrightmusic.com/music) 3. BOB WISEMAN “Neil Young at the Junos” A dozen albums into a defiantly idiosyncratic solo career, Wiseman has become so adept at a kind of casual brilliance that listening to any one of his new songs will make you feel guilty for not having paid more attention to him. Thanks to the unfailingly righteous Mendelson Joe for sending this our way. (Wiseman plays a record-release show Jan. 24 at The Tranzac.) (From Giulietta Masina at the Oscars Crying, out Jan. 24, bobwiseman.ca/ newRecord.php) 2. MINOTAURS f. SARAH HARMER “Open the Doors” This dark, churning rumination on the calamity of Toronto’s G20 summit is both a call for political engagement and an irresistible, minor-key funk track. (From New Believers, bit.ly/11oAuXq) 1. BASSEKOU KOUYATE “Jama Ko” Translated as “big gathering of people,” this title track to the third album by Mali’s master of the ngoni, a distinctive stringed instrument with a long history in West Africa, should be accessible to the indie crowd that embraces World Music yet doesn’t betray any obvious attempt to court that constituency. That’s a testament to the savvy production by former Arcade Fire drummer Howard Bilerman. Given the deadly, escalating turmoil in Mali this month, the song’s call for tolerance feels both inspiring and desperate. (From Jama Ko, out Jan. 28, bit.ly/VDYkdS)