AUX Top 10: August 2013

by AUX staff

September 3, 2013

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Each month at AUX, our specialists in punk, metal, indie, hip hop, electronic, and pop vouch for their favourite releases of the month and have it out behind the scenes to bring you a trim, alphabetical, genre-representational list of the Top 10 Albums of the Month. Such nice friends, hey?

Here were our favourite releases from August.

By: Chayne Japal (CJ), Jeremy Mersereau (JM), Tyler Munro (TM), Mark Teo (MT), and Aaron Zorgel (AZ)

AlunaGeorge
Body Music
(Vagrant)

AlunaGeorge first made waves in May of last year with a breakout near-perfect pop song in “You Know You Like It.” Glitchy electro/R&B hybrids like Lorde and CHVRCHES have been running things in the icy synthpop sphere all year, and with Body Music, it’s AlunaGeorge’s turn to bring some heat to an austere framework. London duo Aluna Francis (vocals) and George Reid (production) have enough in common with contemporaries such as Purity Ring and CHVRCHES, but the fundamental difference can be traced to an obvious affinity for ‘90s and ‘00s era hip-hop and R&B conventions. Francis’ voice sounds well-trained via Destiny’s Child singalongs, while Reid’s production style takes notes from the Neptunes and Timbaland as much as it does Flying Lotus. Body Music showcases a duo who play to one another’s strengths perfectly, and it just so happens to be the exact right moment for an act like AlunaGeorge to ascend the synthpop throne. (AZ)

A$AP Ferg
Trap Lord
(A$AP Worldwide/Polo Grounds Music)

In hip-hop, the success of an entire crew is too heavy for one de facto crew star’s shoulders. Tyler, The Creator put Odd Future on your radar a few years back, but without Earl and Frank, would we still care? Kendrick was first to fly the flag for Black Hippy, but if ScHoolboy Q, Ab-Soul, and Jay Rock couldn’t back it up, would the hype have swallowed them whole? When A$AP Rocky started the RCA-sponsored vanity label A$AP Worldwide (to the tune of a $3 million advance) with Yams in 2011, the Harlem-based A$AP Mob still had much to prove. Two years later, Rocky is one of the biggest rappers in the world, and Ferg is next on deck for the Mob. There was no questioning whether or not he was the right choice as A$AP’s second-in-line when the behemoth “Work” remix dropped, and the rest of Trap Lord matches the primal, but focused energy Ferg brings to the table. What’s most impressive is the fact that Trap Lord is ignorant rap packaged with finesse. A$AP Mob’s motto is “Lords Never Worry,” and Trap Lord just cemented their crew as a force with very little to worry about. (AZ)

Big Sean
Hall Of Fame
(Def Jam)

For some reason, Big Sean decided to leak a song that didn’t make the cut for this album a couple of weeks before its release. It was a bold move seeing that “Control” featured a 64-bar serving of 100 per cent pure braggadocio from peer Kendrick Lamar that went on to capture the hearts of the drama-loving masses, right when Sean had solidified himself as a scene-stealer in his own right. It showed a level of maturity and suggested that Big Sean has higher aspirations than individual track domination. He’s in a good place right now exemplified by his positivity and playful approach to this second album but it’s the serious moments that balance Hall Of Fame and highlight Sean’s versatility. As much as he’s ready to celebrate his success thus far, his hometown of Detroit is tumbling the other way and this has become a driving force for him. At this point, he won’t necessarily be able to save his city but he’s at least trying to uplift it. He’s gone from being a good rapper to being a good rapper with a purpose. (CJ)

Destruction Unit
Deep Trip
(Sacred Bones)

Destruction Unit are hailed as one of the U.S. Southwest’s top acts, and for good reason: This Arizona hardcore outfit sounds like a bad peyote trip. Despite opening with a song hinting at the altered-state vibe the band courts, Destruction Unit are most accurately a glimpse into the demented psyche of one-time Reatard Ryan Rousseau. And compelling as it is, it’s also a bleak, barren, and frequently disturbing place. Deep Trip is often so hypnotizing, it’s hard to remember that it’s a punk album. Rousseau and co. feel delightfully unhinged, if occasionally unstructured; “Night Loner,” “Holy Ghost,” and “Final” are almost impressionistic slabs of guitar noise. But when Rousseau reins it in with a stern blast of punk—as on the two-minute “Control the Light”—it’s very apparent that Destruction Unit are fully in control. This isn’t mindless exploration, but a willfully experimental wing of hardcore, a genre that so infrequently sees genuine convention-benders. (MT)

DIANA
Perpetual Surrender
(Jagjaguwar)

It’s near-impossible to talk about DIANA without addressing the tsunami of hype around the suave Toronto electro-pop outfit. The quartet, led by immense vocal talent Carmen Elle—who’d previously been known for her work with Army Girls and Donlands and Mortimer—have far surpassed the promise of their debut EP, which established the template for their late-night, Kate Bush-tinged compositions. What’s so impressive about Perpetual Surrender is that it passively demands attention: Pastel-hued soft-rock signifiers meet impressively high-concept pop sensibilities; these choruses have a habit of lingering in your head, but DIANA never delivers empty carbs. Behind a solid shocking amount of sonic diversity—parts sound near-industrial (“Strange Attraction”), soothingly ambient (“Curtains”), and even recall The Immaculate Collection-era pop (“Diana,” or the scintillating choros of “Anna”)—there’s a real sense of longing to Elle’s lyrics, which, when unraveled, serve as contrast to DIANA’s musical soft touch. It’s rare for new bands to live up to their hype, but DIANA have done just that, and Perpetual Surrender is undoubtedly one of 2013’s best. (MT)

Earl Sweatshirt
Doris
(Columbia)

In 2010 while Earl Sweatshirt was in exile, his crew, Odd Future, did a lot for him. The Free Earl slogan helped him maintain relevance and also created an almost legendary mystique for the best rhymer in the collective. On the release of his potent sophomore record, Doris, it doesn’t feel like Earl, now 19, has to prove anything. He just needs to confirm it. His confidence is displayed through his charming nonchalance as he effortlessly raps way across the album’s sparse productions. Earl’s smoothly delivered, impregnable verses don’t require much support from glossy beats or catchy choruses. These songs aren’t built to hook listeners; they’re vehicles for Earl to share his incredible modern poetry. (CJ)

Forest Swords
Engravings
(Tri Angle)

Somewhere, King Tubby’s ghost is smiling. UK producer Matthew Barnes’ follow-up to the incredible Dagger Paths is the dub record of 2013, as much as it might sound more indebted to Stars of the Lid-style drone than Lee Scratch Perry. Dagger Paths’ omnipresent verbed-out guitar is still here, but this time it’s employed in the service of wider sonic manipulation, if not capacity. The ethereal choral snatches on album highlights like “Thor’s Stone” and “The Weight of Gold” add a strange ritualistic atmosphere to material that already sounds like the soundtrack to Stonehenge. The long wait for Engravings was apparently due in part to Barnes dealing with a case of tinnitus; hopefully the next Forest Swords release finds both it and the gap between records reduced. (JM)

Gorguts
Colored Sands
(Season of Mist)

Luc Lemay brings the Gorguts name back after 12 years and the results are spectacular. Divided by the classical  “The Battle of Chamdo,” Colored Sands separates itself into two sides. “Forgotten Arrows” and the masterful title track explore the band’s disorienting sound at its most atmospheric, playing with dynamic changes in pace and rhythm with bewildering efficiency, but it’s “Enemies of Compassion” that finally sees the album hit its apex. Colored Sands is never as brain-breaking as Obscura or as deliberate as From Wisdom to Hate; it’s the edges of both set to stew for more than a decade, then stirred to perfection. A riveting blend of experimentation and brutality, this is death metal at its most uncompromising. (TM)

Revocation
Revocation
(Relapse)

Revocation isn’t self-titled because it signals a change in direction for the band; it’s self-titled because it’s the culmination and solidification of their sound up to this point. Star shredder David Davidson takes the lead once more, reminding modern metal that good guitar work isn’t so much about showing off as it is about context. In the framework of Revocation’s thrashy brand of death metal, his guitar playing is more about driving the songs than his own ego, which if anything adds more credence to the maddening technical heights he hits on this album. Paired with Phil Dubois-Coyne’s hyper-precise drumming, Davidson’s (and Dan Gargiulo’s) riffing makes Revocation a technical marvel. (TM)

Moderat
II
(Monkeytown)

The second collaboration between Sascha Ring (Apparat) and Modeselektor continues the trio’s efforts in forging a bridge between club and pop music, and the results are stunning. “Bad Kingdom” and “Gita” sound like Justin Timberlake on a layover in Berlin, and standout “Let the Light In” is the best track Ellie Goulding never recorded. Elsewhere, “Milk” delivers on the promise of productions that house superhacks like Tiesto have managed to render routine: ten minutes of totally euphoric rising and falling action. If Moderat never released anything else, II would still stand as a definitive statement: Techno and pop were meant for each other, and even as indebted as they already are to EDM, the current crop of pop stars could always stand to take another step inside the club. (JM)

Tags: Music, News, A$AP Ferg, AlunaGeorge, AUX Magazine, AUX Magazine September 2013, big sean, Destruction Unit, Earl Sweatshirt, Forest Swords, Gorguts

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