RIP WHITNEY HOUSTON 1963-2012

Whitney Houston 1963-2012

For a beautiful woman with an incomparable voice. Rest In Peace dearest Whitney. 

Rest well with the legends that preceded you. 

My family, my ENTIRE family, from my grandparents, to my mom to my aunties, and uncles and my father, down to my brother, my sister, our friends, and myself have been Whitney Houston fans for as long as we can remember. You don't even have to own her entire catalogue to know the feelings, the joy that possesses you when you hear and when you think of Whitney Houston's voice and vocal capabilities.

There's something to be said about entertainers, musicians and people who have impeccable talents beyond the wildest dreams of the normal person. The fact that artists such as the legendary Whitney Houston choose to share their special talents with us, to spread their light from within to everyone, and to touch the heart and minds of millions, who in turn, use an artist's music and art to push forward in their own lives is incredible and can never be understated as anything less than inspiring.

I was really trying not to spaz when writing this, but I have to point out that aforementioned fact to everyone who reads this, due to the negativity that I have seen surrounding this beautiful and talented woman's death.

Whitney as an artist is a legend, no matter what anyone has to say. Her personal life, doesn't take away from the talent and gift that she has shared with millions. From those who are alive to those who have left this earth already, she has managed to touch many of us with her voice. Whitney has connected us through music over the decades, and the importance of music on a global scale can NEVER, EVER be understated.

When every legend passes in the future such as Eric Clapton, or Eddie Vedder or Lil Richard, or Keith Richards or Chris Cornell, or whomever, and those that have passed away in the past, such as Kurt Cobain, Amy Winehouse, Elliott Smith, Nick Drake, Etta James, Gil-Scott Heron, Jeff Buckley, whomever - whatever their past story is, they will also and have also deserve(d) respectful tribute. Personal lives aside, as questionable as they may be, they have shared incredible gifts musically with the world, and have enriched our lives in more than we can imagine.

To Whitney Houston, I hope you rest in peace and find solace in the fact that you will never be forgotten.

-Chantel Nouseforaname & the TBR Crew. 



Check out these awesome playlists put together by 8tracks fans in tribute: 
you give good love. for whitney houston. - by retrosoul
tribute to whitney houston - by Letoilliste
Whitney, you're a star. - by domesticats

The Blanket Reviewer is on Hiatus!

What's up everyone! 

theblanketreviewers

So maybe you realized that our posting was becoming sparse and you were like WTF is up with these girls... well, even if you haven't realized - we have been on hiatus! We're burgeoning into a new concert and events season and therefore there may be some posts in the future regarding future shows but for now, we are indefinitely on hiatus y'all. 

Don't forget to check us out on the interwebs in spaces that we update regularly! Yo, also Happy Black History Month &  to everyone going to In Flames on Valentine's Day - have a good ass time, we'll be there head-banging like a motherfu--er.

Check us out on these sites below and yo get at us on TWITTER! 

8tracks.com/cnouseforaname - main 8tracks outpouring!
8tracks.com/marchristen
twitter.com/torontoreviewer
twitter.com/mariethehawc
takingmyselfhostage.tumblr.com
marchristen.tumblr.com
or email us: theblanketreviewer@live.com

and check out some of our other projects, which you can contribute to on TUMBLR!

ghettoshitintoronto.tumblr.com
torontopassengers.tumblr.com



Take it easy people!
Chantel Nouseforaname & the TBR Crew.

RIP ETTA JAMES.

R.I.P. Etta James a true jazz and soul legend. 

(1938-2012) 

One of our favourite tracks by the very outspoken Etta James. 

A Slightly Political Post from the one, the only MARIE THE HAWC!!!

Happy New Year Everybody!

The HAWC rippin shit up! 

I hope that yall had a good holiday season, and thoroughly enjoyed Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, New Year's Eve, Winter Solstice, or whatever celebration of your choice/personal belief system is applicable.


I was fortunate enough to be able to do some traveling, and during the course of my journeys, I ended up in Brooklyn.


I'm going to assume for a minute, that since you're reading this blog, you listen to music. And although we feature a wide variety and array of artists here, you probably listen to some of the same artists that we do. If you're into contemporary R&B or pop, you may listen to Beyonce (she did end up on TBR's Best of 2011 Pop Edition). Anyways, B finally had her baby, in/around the Brooklyn area this week (with Jay releasing a track featuring his daughter entitled "Glory").


Upon hearing this news, the internet lost its shit, partially because half of it believed she was carrying a pillow, and mostly because they were trying to figure out whether she named her daughter after an unreleased X-Men character or the sister of a villain from the Batman comic book series. Twitter almost exploded.

Who named their baby after Mystique from X-men? We did. 

Anyhow, I have my own two cents to pitch in on the subject. Before I get into that, I just want to point out something to anybody who is pregnant right now, or who may potentially have a baby in the future. Research has shown that people who have stereotypically "black sounding" names have a much harder time getting a job, because their resumes basically get thrown away without getting looked at. Now, if you're a celebrity, you can afford to name your child any foolish thing you want, but if you're an everyday plebeian like me, please choose wisely.

Children who die giving birth to children?
- Shit, I ain't one of them HA!

But I digress.


What actually spurred me on to start thumb-typing was that there were a lot of rumours and conjecture about why she named her kid Blue Ivy, to how much was spent on the hospital, to stuff about security, and some noise about the Illuminati too. Believe what you want, I can't speak to the truth or accuracy of what gossip blogs say.



A lot of people are saying things like how she spent $1.3 million to have a personal suite or whatever, but that's proportionately a small sum compared to the $10 000 that a woman without health insurance would have to pay, especially if you consider that her annual income may be $40-50 thousand a year or less. Many of these women don't even get paid maternity leave, and have to be back at work within a few weeks of having a baby or risk losing their job. The other option is that they end up in the emergency room, and in those cases, they haven't had access to any sort of prenatal care, including education of how smoking, drinking or drug use (prescription or non-prescription) can affect the health and development of their baby.

slight over-generalization.

If you think that's bad, consider that in many countries around the world, many women die in childbirth, because they don't have access to a doctor, nurse or trained midwife. They give birth at home, with their next door neighbour's auntie or whoever, who may have helped deliver a kid 5 years ago.


What's even worse, is that in places like India or Afghanistan, young girls are sold into marriages at an extremely young age. This increases their chance of getting pregnant before the age of 15, when the risk of complications and death are highest. There's a post going around bout how Blue stands for "Born Living Under Evil". No. This shit right here is what's fucking evil. Selling girls into marriage is evil. Little boys and girls that will never know their mommy because nobody cared enough to invest in maternal health is evil. In comparison, a girl named Blue? Not so much. Stupid name, yes, but evil? Not fucking really.

Conspiracy theorists love to make noise about how celebrities, especially black celebrities are members of the Illuminati or some secret society or whatever the fuck. But when it comes to enacting any sort of social or political change, or improving the lives of anybody around them, they're nowhere to be found. The excuse? They can't do anything because the Illuminati is in control. Convenient, eh? Or maybe its because doing something would require you to actually get off your ass, get off Youtube, and put in some *shocked face* hard work?

Don't act like you ain't seen this. 

Anyways folks, there you have my take on the situation. They don't call me the Hatin' Ass White Chick for nothing. I understand that TBR is highly focused on music and entertainment, but music and politics have been mixed since the beginning of time. I hope that this year will be both prosperous and meaningful for everybody out there.


Until next time,
Marie the HAWC.


_side note: this is officially the first post of the year. So seriously, shout out to anyone and everyone reppin TBR! Happy new year!

Stay on top of the rage and follow Marie the HAWC on TWITTER!: @mariethehawc

BEST OF 2O11 - THE HIP-HOP/RAP EDITION

Colour Scheme: FUCKING MADNESS  PRETTY DAMN GOOD   REALLY GOOD

Yo so only thing I have to say about hip-hop releases this year is: Watch the Motherfucking Throne. 

That's it.

As for all the other albums that came out this year that I really liked... 

Well... Here's the list. 

1. Jay-Z & Kanye West - Watch The Throne
2. Earthling - Insomniac's Ball
3. 9th Wonder - The Wonder Years
4. Evidence - Cats & Dogs
5. Blu & Exile - Give Me My Flowers While I Can Smell Them
6. Jedi Mind Tricks - Violence Begets Violence
7. Talib Kweli - Gutter Rainbows
8. The Roots - Undun
9. Drake - Take Care
10. Lil Wayne - The Carter IV
11. Tyler the Creator - Goblin

INSANE SINGLES w/ no album : 
- Kreayshawn - Gucci Gucci
- Birdman - Y.U. Mad (feat. Lil Wayne & Nicki Minaj). 

Okay, so yo honestly hands down the best hip-hop album to be released this year is Watch The Throne, no contest and I don't even really have to comment on it, because if you haven't heard it, you need to stop reading this and go listen to it. It's genius and it's Kanye and Jay feeding off each other to deliver some madness in a manner that only they could really pull off.

My second favourite Hip-Hop album is a cheat really because it's really trip-hop, but there's enough rhymes on here for it to classify to me so it's Earthling - Insomniac's Ball. I kept blasting this album on repeat since it came out. I learned all the lyrics to Bobby X in like 1 day because of the fact that I was insanely obsessed with it upon first listening to it. I kept rapping on the bus, on the street, at work, it was nuts.  That album is also bomb and if you haven't heard that - well you know the drill - go listen to that right quick.

Some other comments on the rest of the albums on this list are: I really really like 9th Wonder as a hip-hop producer and rapper and The Wonder Years found him with some insanely good featured artists and I'd recommend that album to any hip-hop head that likes real hip-hop mixed with soul. I was impressed and kinda startled by The Roots new album Undun because they invested so much melody and jazz into it and  toned down their rhymes to suit the atmosphere which is nice, but caught me off guard. The album is bomb tho. I'm really intrigued by the experimentation going into hip-hop nowadays. Hip-Hop artists are really pulling out the stops to put in some new things that I haven't heard on albums. They're all trying a ting. Lil Wayne is singing, Talib is kicking it back to the old school, Drake is being dually soft and hard and Tyler, well Tyler is just staying the young reckless dirtbag that he is generally.

On the Topic of Tyler the Creator; I loved Goblin. It's a good album with fucked up lyrics and great production. However, even though he keeps claiming how he isn't "Horrorcore" I need to say that he needs to shut up and wear that crown properly because yo, when Je album is giving me nightmares and having me think that every young NGH I meet is gonna up and stab me if I don't talk to him, you've achieved Horror Core status. Just saying. The album is great, I bumped it a lot but at the same time it wasn't some shit I could listen to on the regular which is why he's #11!

I'm a HUGE fan of BLU and BLU & Exile. I didn't really start listening to them till this year, but I predict that in the future these dudes are gonna be HUGE! Every album/mixtape that BLU/BLU & Exile has released this year, I really got into, especially their latest: Give Me My Flowers While I Can Smell Them. There is some major talent there.

Jedi Mind Tricks is on a next playing field all together. There's something that I love about their type of descriptive violence. It just gets me on this crazy level. It's funny and stupid yet dope at the same time.  It's not like Tyler the Creator's juvenile punk delivery. Don't get me wrong, the violence is just as gimmicky but it's alternatively psychotic and well crafted in an ignorant adult sort of way. This is something tho that I've always loved about JMT and which has kept me listening to Vinnie Paz, Jus Allah & JMT for years. Sometimes you just need the ignorance. It's like listening to a violent video game being described on full blast. I also love the mysticism that JMT has about them and their beat production is so crazy, another reason I stay listening to Jedi Mind.

Evidence's Cats & Dogs is honestly probably the realest, livest, truest hip-hop album I've heard this year, and he doesn't rely on insane beats to make a statement. He's got intelligent, interesting lyrics and keeps the beat on that old school tip which I love. I'm a sucker for that old school vibe; the head-nodder. I love it.

The hip-hop singles game was on point this summer but no single was as hot as Kreayshawn's Gucci Gucci. White female rappers take cover, Kreayshawn is coming to get you. Too bad she'll probably face the same fate as other white female rappers and eventually fade into obscurity after one hot track. *Ahem, Amanda Blank, others I can't remember at the moment*  Maybe I'm wrong, maybe Kreayshawn will come back hard as a motherfucker in 2012, maybe she'll be dope.  Even though I've seen her two tracks after Gucci Gucci and they both suck, I still have a lil hope for her. Black female rappers usually stay around for minute, so I'm hoping she gets Nicki to share some secrets with her.

Anyway, another dope single that came out this year that I loved was Y.U.Mad by Birdman feat. Nicki Minaj and Lil Wayne. I have been on that track since it came out, I didn't even bootleg that, I bought it cause I loved it so much. The beat is hot, and everyone on the track is on top of their game. I don't usually buy singles cause you'll hear it a million times and I just wait for the album but that song is tough!! I'm glad Bird is coming back strong. Young Money is coming up, even though they at the top already, past members are coming back up and I like that.

Notable Mentions: Nneka - Soul Is Heavy, Saul Williams - Volcanic Sunlight, Common - The Dreamer, The Believer & Beastie Boys - Hot Sauce Committee Pt. 2

What hip-hop albums are you looking forward to in 2012? 

_Any of your fave hip-hop releases of 2012 not on this list? 
Send me a shout-out on twitter @TORONTOREVIEWER and let me know what's up!

Coming Up Tomorrow: Best Jazz Albums of 2011.

BEST OF 2011 - THE RNB/SOUL EDITION

Colour Scheme:  BLEW MY MIND  PRETTY DAMN GOOD  REALLY GOOD


So again, we're gonna do this list a bit different this time around. I'm gonna throw up the basic ass list of Soul & RnB releases that I enjoyed this year and then we're gonna have a little conversation about the ones that really stood out to me.


Then I'm gonna spew out the notable mentions and then the shit that caught my eye and it might have been good but I didn't even really get to listen to, even though I probably should have. This is also gonna be in order of the RNB/Soul albums I liked  the most to the ones that I liked the least of the best.

THE LIST! 

Frank Ocean's debut nostalgia, ULTRA. 

1. Frank Ocean - nostalgia, Ultra.
2. The Weeknd - House of Balloons
3. Mayer Hawthorne - How Do You Do
4. Marsha Ambrosius - Late Nights, Early Mornings
5. Mary J. Blige - My Life II 
6. Jill Scott - The Light of the Sun
7. The Revelations - Concrete Blues (feat. Tre Williams)
8. Hollie Smith & Mara TK - Band of Brothers, Vol. 1
9. Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings - Soul Time! 
10. Lefties Soul Connection - One Punch Pete
11. Raphael Saadiq - Stone Rollin'

Okay, so this year I was really really impressed with Odd Future member Frank Ocean's release, nostalgia, Ultra. I had never even heard about Frank Ocean till I visited a friend's tumblr page and heard We All Try. To say the least, I was completely floored. It was obviously R&B but it was delivered in such a fresh approach that I didn't know what to say. I downloaded it right away from his website and I've loved this album ever since. The songs are so well crafted and some of the samples on the album are songs that I have loved since I was a child, some of them that I've loved since like 2 years ago. Frank's method of telling a story is amazing and as far as 2011 R&B well um, "experimental" R&B releases go, this shit is my favourite.

My second favourite of 2011 is definitely Scarborough native The Weeknd's first release, House of Balloons. It's like "experimental R&B" is on the up and up and I'm so proud to say that one of the year's best R&B albums is from A TORONTO ARTIST! That makes me smile so hard. The atmosphere on House of Balloons is so heavy and beautiful that it's hard to believe it's all the work of one man. The delivery is very experimental as well, sounding almost Indie-ish at times. The Weeknd, whose real name is Abel something, has a gorgeous voice that has so many different registers it's  insane. The lyrics on House of Balloons, much like Frank Ocean's nostalgia, Ultra. crosses the bridge from bullshit bubble gum romanticism to somewhere along the lines of insanely personal at times extremely erotic obsessive yearning and desperation. It's dead sexy. It's so passionate, I can't even describe this shit, you literally just have to hear it. I won't even pretend to describe it, the way House of Balloons makes one feel is nuts. House of Balloons is one of those albums you just put on, turn off the lights and melt to. It's just like that, there's no words. Frank Ocean is a lil more uptempo and fun and tongue-in-cheekish but The Weeknd ain't nothing to play with.

Mayer Hawthorne's, How Do You Do

The rest of the albums on this list are all crazy good and worthy of a listen. I love Hollie Smith and Mara TK because the New Zealand natives are both usually relatively solo artists, at least H. Smith is and their union makes for some beautiful, soulful listening. Jill Scott is typical amazing Jill as is MJB. The Revelations never disappoint and this new release is filled with just as much soul as their previous release,  The Bleeding Edge. Sharon Jones is typical dope funky Sharon Jones and Soul Time is just as epic as anything she's previously released.


One major surprise album that I really really liked, even though I had never heard of him, prior to his album's release, was Mayer Hawthorne and his album How Do You Do. It's super good, especially for a white dude doing soul tunes. His voice proves that even though Soul and R&B are predominantly dominated by black folks, white folks be holding their own, and they hold it well. His voice is sexxxy. If I could marry a record, it'd be How Do You Do; that is after all the hot sex I'd be have with House of Balloons. Not only is How Do You Do a good soulful record, it's also fun, super sweet and uplifting - just like a good husband should be. I could listen to it on repeat. It reminds me of when I heard Josh Kelley's Almost Honest like 6-7 years ago. It's awesome.

Notable Mentions: Robin Thicke - Love After War, Thundercat - The Golden Age of Apocalypse, Kelly Price - Kelly, Joss Stone - LP1 & Ledisi - Pieces of Me. I have to really send major shout outs to Thundercat for The Golden Age of Apocalypse tho; it's a great album but too electronic to be majorly soulful and too soulful to be completely electronic. Where does that leave you Thundercat? - generally in the notable mentions category. Badass album tho.

Artists with new albums that I didn't pay too much attention to but probably should have: Musiq Soulchild, Anthony Hamilton, The Sweet Vandals, & Anthony David. Maybe I'll listen to your new albums in the future and do some future deal on em; but for now you're honourable mentions in the fact that I know y'all generally create good soulful records and y'all deserve some cred cause I love y'all. However, seeing as most of these records how they came out majorly late in the game and I get stuck on proper soul & rnb records for a long ass time without moving on,  y'all didn't get a fair break and I have to acknowledge that. Future times yo, future times.

_ Are there any Soul or R&B albums on here that you LOVE that didn't make the list? 
You know the drill; holla at me on Twitter and tell me about any dope shit you think I should hear. @TORONTOREVIEWER!


Coming Up Tomorrow: Best Hip-Hop & Rap Albums of 2011.

BEST OF 2011 - THE INDIE/ALTERNATIVE EDITION.

Colour Scheme:  FUCKING EPIC  PRETTY DAMN GOOD  IT'S AIIGHT

If I could describe one singular indie release this year that blew my fucking mind, like just knocked my head right off my shoulders, it'd be Kasabian's Velociraptor!. I LOVE that album! However this multi-day best-of 2011 project of mine is not made to highlight just one album. It's meant to highlight a few of the best that I have heard this year. So I will continue with this list.


My previous two editions of the best of 2011 have all been listed in order from albums I liked the least to albums I liked the best, but now I'm gonna switch it up and start from the Indie and Alternative albums I liked the best to the ones that I like the least and then throw on the notable mentions. Cool? Cool. So without further ado, number one.

KASABIAN!!!! - VELOCIRAPTOR!

From the first fucking opening chime on this album, it's badass. It ooooozes cool. It just reeks of awesomeness. Kasabian are a bunch of dudes who I'd really like to get to know cause they just seem really genuinely cool. They have this awesome style that emanates through their music. The first track on the album sounds like they're gearing you up to stumble into drunken madness or a hazy night of insanity of some sort. It's like they're reminiscing with you over past crazy adventures and exploits and trying to trick you to come back out again. I love it. 


The flow of the album feels like you're about to embark on like a crazy middle-of-the-night type mission to some party-city to spend off your life savings on booze, gambling and hookers, it's great! When Velociraptor is slow, it's hazy and sultry like on the track La Fee Verte. Then there are tracks that just make you wanna jump up and dance like Switchblade Smiles. In my mind this could be the soundtrack to a movie like the Hangover, if they cross-bred it with Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and staged it in 2011. This could be the soundtrack. Maybe I'm on crack, but I love this shit. Fave songs on the album include: Re-wired, Days Are Forgotten, Acid Turkish Bath & Switchblade Smiles.

Crosses - Crosses

2. Crosses - Crosses EP | Officially dubbed as the best side-project by Deftones front-man, Chino Moreno; Crosses may be just an EP but it's fucking amazing. When it came to making these best of 2011 lists, I didn't really care if the album was a full LP or just an EP, that didn't really matter much. As long as the album had more than 5 songs over 3 mins each that I could hit the repeat repeat button on, it could make this list. Henceforth, Crosses is number 2 baby!!

This album sounds like an angry, lustful, pseudo-resentful love letter to a psychotic ex-girlfriend. Part ballad on certain tracks (Option, Thhlyghst) and part wistful rant on others (This is a Trict, Bermuda Locket) this album is an emotional roller coaster and I'm totally down for the ride. Fave songs: ALL OF THEM, especially: Option. Hands down favourite song on the album.

3. Tune-Yards - W H O K I  L L | An indietronic blessing. This album is filled with so much sass it hurts. Some of it comes off very alt-downtempo-ish, like for example the song Es-So, which is coated with a dope jazzy feel. That song is almost Bad Plus sounding. The vocals on this album are PHENOMENAL! Yes, PHENOMENAL - that loud - in all caps locks! That's how awesome the vocals are. The whispery, harsh yet soft, broken vocal arrangements are insanely sexy. There are some afro-beat, world-music feeling licks to it as well, and the tribal sounding singing and drumming really enhance the uniqueness of w h o k i l l. When I first heard this album I couldn't stop listening to it and that's why it's numero three. Fave tracks on the album include: Business, Gangsta, Powa & You Yes You. All those tracks are BIG tunes.

4. Lykke Li - Wounded Rhymes | Lykke Li is a monster of a singer. She's got this voice that's almost somewhere between very young woman and old ass woman. It's soft and raspy. This album is dope. It's funny cause I was playing the song I Follow Rivers in the apartment on Christmas and our brother came to visit and was like "yo Chantel WHAT IS THAT? Yo put that on this iPod right now." Her unique voice and the unique and diverse beats of all the songs on Wounded Rhymes is enough to convert anyone who's never heard her music before. This album is yet another positive step in the right direction for the young Swede. It's a beautiful album. Fave songs include: I Follow Rivers, Love Out of Lust, Get Some & Silent My Song.

5. Cold War Kids - Mine Is Yours | My homeboy Marco turned me on to the Cold War Kids awhile back after a series of late insomnia-tic album exchanges. I fucking love Cold War Kids because their music is just really really upbeat and positive. Sometimes you just need that shit. You need the fresh air of people not trying to preach on you, you need the fresh air of people not talking about their insane amounts of artistic, creative, and emotional turmoil. Sometimes you just need a break and you need someone who's gonna talk that good shit in your ear. Someone who'll tell you to get up off your ass and live. Cold War Kids does that & fuck I need that sometimes. I bumped this album so much this year since I was shown the light of Cold War Kids. Definitely one of my indie favourite albums of 2011. Fave tracks: Mine Is Yours, Royal Blue & Sensitive Kid.

6. Blood Orange - Coastal Grooves | There's something underrated about subtlety. This album is subtle in the sense that there are songs on here that are just so sparse sonically but so well crafted. That and I love the singer Dev Hynes' voice. Top Notch. Fave tracks: Forget It, S'Cooled & The Complete Knock.

7.  Laura Marling - A Creature I Don't Know | Laura Marling has a charming and strong, folk filled voice that I just can't get enough of. Her lyrics are cute, funny, real and introspective. It's dope. This year, L. Marling completely outdid Feist for me. A Creature I Don't Know just had something more endearing than Metals. The thing about me is that when I hear albums, for the first or millionth time, I always compare them to other things that I've heard, subconsciously. It's all "..well this person sounds like this..." or "...there's tinges of this that sounds like blah..." - I think we all do it. I heard this album before I heard Feist's Metals (which is also good album), and I thought damn if I'm gonna listen to Metals, I might as well go listen to Laura Marling cause this album is dope. Plus, L. Marley Marl reminds me of Joni Mitchell so yah there's that too. Fave songs on the album: I Was Just A Card, Salinas and My Friends.

8. City and Colour - Little Hell | I have this incredibly weak, weak spot for Dallas Green. As a huge fan of Alexisonfire and a HUGGGGE fan of City and Colour and HUUUUUUUUUUUGE fan of C&C's 2007 album, Bring Me Your Love - which is probably one of the best albums I have ever heard, in my entire life, I have to say that I wasn't as impressed with this album as I was with Bring Me Your Love. However, you cannot EVER go wrong with listening to Dallas sing. His voice is just fucking unbelievable. Poweful, overwhelming, emotional and just... - damn I'm turning into a major pile of mush writing this so imma get to album already. - The lyrical content on this album is nowhere near as good as his previous works but the melodies and the arrangements and just the vocals make this album a stunner. It's sweet, it's continuously loop-able, I could play this shit over and over and swoon and just be like - "yo that's some crazy romantic shit right there." He's got some more uptempo sort of tunes on this album like Natural Disaster and stuff which is cool, but it's not as effective as say a track like As Much As I Ever Could off of Bring Me Your Love, which is just like a completely emotive, soulful, passionate, slow-burner. Anyway, Little Hell is a good album, my fave tracks include: O Sister, We Found Each Other in the Dark, Sorrowing Man and Hope For Now.

9. Liam Finn - FOMO | I loved this album as well this year, but just like Dallas Green, Liam Finn's second solo release wasn't as good as his previous effort. Whereas I'll Be Lightning was a crazy genius musical outpouring, filled with so much insanity, FOMO is just really decent. It's good. That's it. One of the most stand out tracks on the album to me is Real Late, which is also my favourite track on the album and the most exciting because of the fact that it's a step towards the indietronic for Liam. Seeing as how very very little of I'll Be Lightning was even remotely electronic sounding, songs like Real Late seems like a new venture for Liam Finn but it works so damn well. Seeing him preform that song in concert earlier this year was a highlight of all the indie shows that I've seen over the last little while. Other good tracks on the album include: Roll of the Eye, The Struggle and Don't Know Your Name.

10. St. Vincent - Strange Mercy | Some people may think I'm nuts but to me, St. Vincent sounds like a younger, indie-washed, very experimental PJ Harvey, which is why I like her. The way she plays guitar reminds me of PJ Harvey circa - Is This Desire, or Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea. It's dope. Fave tracks include: Dilettante, Surgeon & Northern Lights.

11.  Bombay Bicycle Club - A Different Kind of Fix | I love the airiness on A Different Kind of Fix. Light music with good poetic lyrics is something Bombay Bicycle Club knows how to do well. A Different Kind of Fix reminds me of the 90s for some reason, but that's said in the most positive of ways. Fave tracks include: Bad Timing, Leave It and Still.

Notable Mentions: The Black Keys - El Camino - El Camino was a great record, it just sounds a lot like their previous release Brothers, which means at like nearly 6 albums deep and you're dancing the same dance; you're really just rolling into RHCP territory. Not a bad thing, but it's just meh. I Got You On Tape - Church of the Real - Church of the Real was a great release this year. My only problem with it is, the dude's voice is kinda annoying after a couple of plays. I Got You On Tape's Church of the Real was a great release but dat dude's voice killed it's lasting potential. Wild Beasts - Smother - I been listening to Wild Beasts for the past couple of years and I really like em and Smother was a really good album as well but I just felt like I needed more. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake - This was a badass record. It was emotive and filled with tons of social commentary which is cool. As a PJ Harvey outpouring, I accepted it for what it was and I loved it, but the passionate fire I feel for PJ Harvey's music is all wrapped up in her style prior to White Chalk. Although, I did love A Woman A Man Walked By; that shit was bomb!


Did any indie / alt. albums you love not make it on this list? Let's talk about em. Tell me on Twitter or 8tracks. @torontoreviewer - I always answer back / even if it is with digital spit in your eye. :)


Coming Up Tomorrow: Best R&B & Soul Albums of 2011.