Thanksgiving is always a much-needed break from the stresses of school and the dreaded (yet unbelievably fast approaching) Finals Week. It’s a chance to catch up with family and friends, consume exuberant amounts of food and drink and reflect on the year. The latter is always so intriguing.
In terms of music, this year has been pretty exceptional. From vibrant outdoor music festivals to discovering (and sometimes rediscovering) a new favorite artist, for the most part, the music gods have been good to us. The following is what I’m most thankful for in music so far this year.
What The Festival
Music festivals are in high demand these days, and there were several that popped up in the Northwest this year. Yes, Sasquatch!@@http://sasquatchmusicfestival.blogspot.com@@ is exceptional, however, it was the small festivals that made their mark. What The Festival made the biggest impact by transforming a beautiful Eastern Oregon property into a sprawling musical and cultural playground with some of the most innovative electronic musicians in the business.
Jack White goes solo
The White Stripes are incredible, don’t get me wrong, but with Jack White going solo he’s become an unstoppable rock ‘n’ roll force. His album, “Blunderbuss,”@@http://www.amazon.com/Blunderbuss-Jack-White/dp/B007CKNX28@@ only further reinforces his musical brilliance. So, Jack, keep that guitar jamming.
LMFAO hiatus
It seems that the party rocking duo that was hell-bent to out-party the world was in fact out-partied by their own marketing team. Maybe you can’t “party rock” every night … I’m just happy that popular culture doesn’t have to be subjected to that nonsense until, inevitably (unfortunately), they return. Plus, their appearance at the Super Bowl with Madonna was just awful.
The rise of future bass
Honestly, it was about time someone took that warm, wobble bass and made it enjoyable to listen to and most importantly, dance (like a madman) to. There comes a point where dubstep just goes too far and oversteps the boundary between music and noise. Let’s tone it down a notch and bring back the musicality. I’m not saying it was born in 2012, because it most certainly was not, but it sure made its mark on the electronic world this summer. Taking inspiration from heavyweights like Pretty Lights@@http://prettylightsmusic.com/#/home@@and Bassnectar, young guns like Gramatik@@google search@@ and GRiZ@@http://soundcloud.com/griz@@ are taking the future sound to places where my words will never do it justice.