GROOVER CLEVELAND

I reviewed Toro Y Moi’s ‘Anything in Return’ for Earmilk. Check it out.

I’m now contributing to one of my favorite music sites, Earmilk. Heres’s my first feature: http://www.earmilk.com/2013/02/01/toro-y-moi-anything-in-return-album-review/

It’s a killer record. Check it out. 

MY 25 FAVORITE ALBUMS OF 2012

As I’ve stated before, each year seems to have more and more great music to listen to as the ease of recording and distributing art is increasing exponentially. The industry as a whole is hurting, but listeners have a pretty sweet deal going. This year is no exception whatsoever. The amount of fantastic new releases was almost overwhelming.

These are my favorite albums of the year. This is not a list of the best albums, as, in the words of Jeff Ament, “An award for art is ridiculous.” 

You’ll also find honorable mentions, my favorite EPs from this year, and what I’m looking forward to next year at the bottom of this post.

As per usual, I do not include descriptions or reviews with my year-end lists. One reason is that I think when looking back on a list like this, it’s best to let the music speak for itself and encourage unbiased listening. Another is that it would simply be a daunting task to do so. 

Enjoy and Happy New Year!

25. P.O.S. - We Don’t Even Live Here

24. Passion Pit - Gossamer

23. The Shins - Port of Morrow

22. Breakbot - By Your Side

21. The Men - Open Your Heart

20. Macklemore - The Heist

19. First Aid Kit - The Lion’s Roar

18. Big Boi - Vicious Lies & Dangerous Rumors

17. Wild Nothing - Nocturne

16. Chairlift - Amanaemonesia

15. Chad Valley - Young Hunger

14. Jessie Ware - Devotion

13. DIIV - Oshin

12. California Wives - Art History

11. Purity Ring - Shrines

10. Niki & The Dove - Instinct

9. Michael Kiwanuka - Home Again

8. fun. - Some Nights

7. Cloud Nothings - Attack on Memory

6. School of Seven Bells - Ghostory

5. Hot Chip - In Our Heads

4. Union - Analogtronics

3. Frank Ocean - Channel ORANGE

2. Tame Impala - Lonerism

1. Japandroids - Celebration Rock

Honorable Mentions

Beach House - Bloom

Poolside - Pacific Standard Time

Two Door Cinema Club - Beacon

Kendrick Lamar - Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City

Sigur Ros - Valtari

Cody ChesnuTT - Landing on a Hundred

Jack White - Blunderbuss

Santigold - Master of My Make-Believe

Birthmark - Antibodies

Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs - Trouble 

My Favorite EPs of 2012

The Antlers - Undersea

St. Lucia - St. Lucia

The Neighbourhood - I’m Sorry…

Wildlife Control - Spin

School of Seven Bells - Put Your Sad Down

Most Anticipated Albums for 2013

Foals, Free Energy, Ra Ra Riot, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Local Natives, Sound City Soundtrack (Dave Grohl & Friends), Sun Kil Moon+The Album Leaf

I’m DJing the 24th Annual Rock For Kids Rock & Roll Auction Next Friday!

Plain and simple: this event and cause are awesome. You need to be there. I’ll be providing the jams.

-GC

Virgin Magnetic Material = Nostalgia Heaven

If you’re familiar at all with my music taste and approach to DJing, you know that I seek a perfect balance of new trends and nostalgic classics. My favorite remixes and edits are tastefully updated classics - all the old songs we love but retrofitted for modern consumption. Enter Virgin Magnetic Material, my newest favorite DJ collective, out of Tel Aviv, Israel. A quick scan of their repertoire is like digging through my personal iTunes collection. This brilliant Living Colour remix is the supreme example. They don’t simply turn every song into a hacky electro-house jam, they capture a completely new feel for each song. These mixes are tasteful and classy takes on nostalgic jams. 

You will definitely be hearing these jams in my live sets. Enjoy and stay cool.

-GC 

1625 Mixtape by B-Deck of RSC

Friend-of-a-friend and frequent dude-I-talk-music-with Ben Decker of mash-up kings Ridgewood Social Club out of NYC and Tel Aviv just released a killer new mixtape for Concrete Jungle. Their current efforts are to bring back How To Make it in America. In tandem with this mission, they are raising awareness for The Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship, an organization who helps show disadvantaged kids that they should stay in school and that there are career options and opportunities for them. Concrete Jungle created a T-Shirt representing these efforts, and 100% of the proceeds go to NFTE. Check it out here.

In Ben’s own words:

“To help celebrate the launch of this campaign, I’m releasing the first in a series of many monthly mixes with Concrete Jungle, to honor the New Yorkers, who, with unrelenting and contagious passion, rise above, no matter how competitive their environment may be. As an homage to the city that never sleeps, we’re calling this one ‘1625’, the year our great city was established.”

Listen. Support. Spread the word.

-GC

CELEBRATE.

The homies The Knocks have gone and mashed themselves with Kool & the Gang, and it RULES. Play it all weekend as you celebrate not engaging in labor. 

-GC