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The 15 Most Underrated Albums of 2012

By Tom Hawking on

It’s December, which means the music industry’s listomania is now in full swing. But wait, if on the off chance you haven’t written your own personal end-of-year list, then have a quick look at this one before you start anointing one of the usual suspects — Grimes, Frank Ocean, Kendrick Lamar, Swans, Fiona Apple, etc. — as the best of 2012. We love all those records, but there are a heap of great albums released in 2012 that we think haven’t gotten anywhere near the amount of end-of-year love they deserve. We profiled some of them in June — read on to find out our selections from the second half of the year, and let us know if you reckon we’ve missed any. … Read More

Music

Album of the Month: Clinic’s Subtle Reinvention, ‘Free Reign’

By Tom Hawking on

The history of music isn’t exactly flush with examples of bands suddenly finding something new within themselves 15 years into a distinguished but ultimately middle-ranking career. Since they emerged at the turn of the millennium with their debut album Internal Wrangler, Clinic have been known a) for making resolutely idiosyncratic music that’s always been admired without ever quite capturing the affection of the great record-buying public and b) for wearing surgical masks. They’ve made six albums that have enjoyed good reviews without ever quite getting raved about, and generally been respected rather than loved. All of which raises the question: where on earth did this come from? … Read More

Music

10 MP3s You Need to Download for Free This Week: Interpol, Hype Williams

By Tom Hawking on

It’s Friday, which means that we still feel ill from eating our body’s weight in turkey yesterday — and also that it’s time for another installment of our regular roundup of downloadable MP3 goodness from around the web. This week the music industry is starting to wind down for the holiday season, but never fear, because there’s still plenty of action worth your bandwidth: a hitherto unreleased Interpol demo, a free track from the excellent new Clinic album, lots of weird atmospheric music, Dave Sitek remixing Norah Jones, classic Gary Numan, and more. Since all this action costs precisely nothing, what are you waiting for? All the download links await after the jump. … Read More

Music

10 MP3s You Need to Download for Free This Week: Mogwai, Lost Animal, Clinic

By Tom Hawking on

It’s Friday, which means that our head hurts after going to the listening session for the amazing new Scott Walker album at the McKittrick Hotel last night — and also that it’s time for another installment of our regular roundup of downloadable MP3 goodness from around the web. This week we are talking very seriously to you about the Lost Animal album, which you need to get hold of ASAP when it’s released in January, and also sharing new tracks by Widowspeak and The Faint, excellent remixes of tracks by Clinic and Mogwai, an entire new Spaceape EP, and plenty more. Since all this action costs precisely nothing, what are you waiting for? All the download links await after the jump. … Read More

Music

10 Great Rock Albums Produced by Electronic Musicians

By Tom Hawking on

It’s nice to be pleasantly surprised once in a while, and Free Reign, the new album by UK band Clinic, has been on high rotation here at Flavorpill of late. We’ve always rather liked Clinic’s work, but we’ll be honest — we didn’t expect to enjoy this record nearly as much as we have been. Perhaps the most notable thing about Free Reign in comparison to Clinic’s other records is just how interesting its production and general sound is, which is perhaps not surprising since Oneohtrix Point Never assumed production duties. There have been plenty of examples of electronic artists producing songs for rock-inclined types over the years, everything from Giorgio Moroder working with Blondie on “Call Me” to Alec Empire collaborating with the John Spencer Blues Explosion and, um, Chris Cornell working with Timbaland on the ill-fated Scream. Here are some of our favorites. Did we miss any? … Read More

Music

The 10 Albums You Need to Hear in November

By Tom Hawking on

There’s a veritable deluge of worthwhile releases due out this month, from sci-fi ambient music and a weird concept record about the end of the world to one very exciting… Read More