Oh hey 2012

Are you ready to say goodbye to the year that was 2011? Well...you don't really have a choice. I wish I could have held on just a little longer; it was the year of the most concerts, shows, events for me thus far. But all good things must end. Now I'm just hoping that 2012 will be able to compare...

Maybe I should've posted the following just before last year (weird to say that isn't it?) was over, but I decided to postpone, so that I could also put up a portion of Sonic's annual year-in-review songlist created by Rick Lee.

We'll start with mine:

5 Best Albums of 2011 - no particular order- Mother Mother - Eureka
- The Collective West - Things We Do
- Foo Fighters - Wasting Light
- Blind Pilot - We are the Tide
- Black Keys - El Camino
Gigs - in no particular order- Hollerado, Wunderbar
- Sasquatch Festival - The Gorge, Washington (highlights including
White Denim, Chromeo, The Drums, Fitz & the Tantrums, Foster the
People)
- The Black Keys/Cage the Elephant, Rexall
- Christian Hansen and the Autistics, Pawnshop
- Library Voices, Secret House Concert
- Pearl Jam, Rexall
- Collective West, CD Release, the ARTery
- Scenic Route to Alaska, Churchill Square

Top 5 songs - no order...againProblems - Mother Mother
Post War Blues - Dan Mangan
These Days - Foo Fighters
The Prime Minister's Daughter - Library Voices
Royal Blue - Cold War Kids

Honourable Mentions:Tornado '87 - Rural Alberta Advantage
Black History Month - Metric (cover)
Pumped Up Kicks - Foster the People
Young Blood - Naked and Famous
Whirring - The Joy Formidable



Sonic's top 102 list consists of songs only, see full list here:
20. THE DEAD HEART – ALEXISONFIRE
19. HELENA BEAT – FOSTER THE PEOPLE
18. LOUDER THAN EVER – COLD WAR KIDS
17. WHIRRING – THE JOY FORMIDABLE
16. THE CAVE – MUMFORD AND SONS
15. FRAGILE BIRD – CITY AND COLOUR
14. WE USED TO WAIT – ARCADE FIRE
13. WALK – FOO FIGHTERS
12. THE STAND – MOTHER MOTHER
11. SHAKE ME DOWN – CAGE THE ELEPHANT
10. YOU ARE A TOURIST – DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE
9. TORNADO ’87 – THE RURAL ALBERTA ADVANTAGE
8. N/A OK – UBIQUITOUS SYNERGY SEEKER
7. HOWLIN’ FOR YOU – THE BLACK KEYS
6. I FEEL YOU – SAM ROBERTS BAND
5. SAIL – AWOLNATION
4. ROPE – FOO FIGHTERS
3. YOUNG BLOOD – THE NAKED AND FAMOUS
2. MY BODY – YOUNG THE GIANT
1. PUMPED UP KICKS – FOSTER THE PEOPLE


I had a feeling it would be either Pumped Up Kicks, or Young Blood that would be the #1 song of the year. A few surprises pulled through as well. I really can't say much, since most of the songs I figured would be on here, are in fact on....So...enjoy (re)listening!

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On another New Year's note, I spent the majority of my NYE at the ARTery experiencing a flashback to the 1050's rockabilly life. I went to see Michael Rault, along with Scenic Route to Alaska - a show I've been talking about for weeks. Doors were at 8.30pm and the atmosphere was very different there that night than any other night I'd been to the ARTery before. Everyone was more relaxed, especially and including the band members. For the majority of the night everyone was mingling and just hanging out, having a few drinks and waiting for the new year.

At about 10.30 SRtA took to the stage with no tacky announcement, because really, if you were spending your NYE there I'm sure you knew who you were spending it with. They played between 45 minutes-1 hour, with a mix of songs from their first EP, 2nd EP and even a few new songs (from their recently recorded full length album, due out...hopefully this year). It was a great set, as usual,  including all members of the band (bassist Murrary Wood usually lives in Montreal). It was a lot more relaxed than previous show's I've seen with their performances; I'm not sure if it's because they're growing as a band, or the excitemnet and "beverages" were loosening them up, but it was nice to see them really getting into the feel of performing.

Michael Rault, along with his sister, Emily, took to the stage just a few minutes after at about 11.30. Before they began their live set, Rault unveiled his new music video "I want to love you", for the first time. It was a fun party-style, black and white video that really transported the watcher back to the 1950's (a very liberal 50's, but still). Unfortuantley it doesn't seem to be available to the online world just yet, but at least you'll have time to get excited! I stayed for about 20 minutes of the beginning of MR's set, snuck out to watch the fireworks, and caught about the last 45 minutes, as they played until 1am. It was a fun time, with all his band gettting into the dancing spirit, and even getting the audience into it. There was a lot of people doing the Twist that night, let me tell you. It was great that the DJ who spun before/between/and after sets played only 50's throwback music.

The night was a bit bittersweet as it was Rault's last show before moving to eastern Canada (Toronto now, instead of the previously decided Montreal). Hopefully, both he and his sister (who he's moving with), will be around Edmonton again soon enough. I'm really enjoying the duo playing and singing together.
If you happened to be ringing 2012 somewhere, I know it wasn't as great as mine ;)

Hope you all have a great new year, and do everything you've always wanted! It is the end of the world after all.