Volume 12… I suppose The Musical Box is now one year old! Here are some fab tunes to celebrate.
Many thanks to Chris Dahlen for linking me to TV on the Radio‘s latest album Dear Science, because it’s one of the loudest, freshest, funkiest records I’ve heard this year. His review over at Pitchfork says it better than I ever could, but it you like to think and dance (possibly at the same time) I wholeheartedly recommend checking it out. You can stream high quality versions of the album’s singles on their website.
I’m likewise indebted to Chris Furniss for introducing me to the music of Shugo Tokumaru. Fortunately I made this discovery early enough in the month for me to catch his show at Pop Montreal last Friday. He’s a virtuoso guitarist, and managed to coax such a rich sound out of six strings that you could have sworn he had an entire band backing him up. His latest album EXIT has been on repeat at my place for the last few weeks, it falls delightfully somewhere between Sufjan Stevens and the Katamari Damacy soundtrack. Another unconditional recommendation, pick it up and tell your friends.
Earlier this month I was browsing through Talib Kweli‘s back albums on Sven’s recommendation and I stumbled upon this gem, a 1998 collaboration with Mos Def called Black Star. It has everything you’d expect from a great hip-hop album: biting social commentary, fat beats and tight flow. Sadly this is the only album they’ve ever collaborated on, so you’ll have to check out their respective discographies if you want more.
Now if you excuse me, I believe I hear Mega Man 9 calling my name.
