One of my favorite releases of the year. I've been going to festivals pretty regularly for the past 4-5 years now. Bonnaroo, Jazzfest, Voodoo, Buku, and others. Of course EDM has seen a huge rise in popularity in the US in that time. I do enjoy some dubstep, and some "progressive" house, but I've been patiently waiting for the kids in America to understand electronic music doesn't have to always be an aggressive violent fuck fest. Which means I've been waiting for house music to come back.
I heard Disclosure's "Latch" somewhere and was like "hell yes, this is happening". The whole album is fantastic, just feel good dance music with flawless production and GREAT vocals and hooks. And this is only their first record. I really wanted to catch them at Bonnaroo this summer, but Bonnaroo in their wisdom schedule them in a tent instead of a stage, so I know it will be insanely overcrowded.
St. Vincent was AWESOME on snl. I hadn't really dug into the new album yet, but I just listened to it today after watching SNL last night. I really enjoy it. The David Byrne influence is obvious and very welcome.
...and this is my #1 favorite record of 2013. Say what you will about his personality, his public antics, and his deplorable lyrics, the guy has vision. To me its as punk rock has popular hip-hop has ever gotten. Kanye took literally everything you could possibly like about his music: catchy hooks, flawless production, and addictive beats, and threw it all away. All that's left is the monster. The end result is exhilarating.
Have never seen Kanye live, will see him at Bonnaroo in a few weeks.
There is a really fascinating interview with Rick Rubin somewhere on the internet about producing this album.
here it is: http://www.newsweek.com/2013/06/26/rick-rubin-crashing-kanyes-album-15-days-237646.html