Frank Ocean/Tame Impala

We're a week + 1 day into the new year and I hope everyone still feeling fresh and new! Never mind if the weather's kinda crazy these days. (It never behaves the way we want it anyway, no?)

As we move further and further away from the beloved 2012, the cool quotient of things discovered in 2012 plummets faster than you can say 'last year' and fades into a dark oblivion, until someone else points it out and make you realize, oh, I really did miss out on some really good things in 2012 huh? This lag normally takes a good 6 months to culminate but I'm feeling it right now, 8 days into the new year. 

I first heard Frank Ocean's Channel Orange someday in  2012 and didn't thought much of it. When it came out tops in many of the "Album of the Year" lists, I gave the album a second spin and finally understood why it's good. Channel Orange sounds like a more subdued and minimalistic version of Neptune's sleek jams and riches that once dominated airwaves circa 2003-2004. If the R&B of those years were an endless MTV of luxurious lifestyle of champagne and candy girls, the first half of Channel Orange exists as an honest introspection to the vanity and emptiness of the obscenely rich (Sweet Life, Super Rich Kids, Sierra Leone) while the second half laces the usual drugs, sex and a stinging heart with references to really spiritual stuff (Monk, Bad Religion, White). Whoa pretty deep there isn't it. Impressive or what? Great story-telling matched with a great, great voice. 

Tame Impala's Lonerism ranks high in 2012's lists and I'd recommend "Elephant". I'm not a big fan of the rest of their songs but Elephant gets my feet tapping all the time! Forgive me for saying this but I think the lead singer sounds like John Lennon. I always imagine the Beatles jamming to this tune in their preppy suits, which is funny, 'cos unless the Beatles are floating in space, the image really doesn't go with Lonerism's psychedelic soundscapes. 

Listen to Channel Orange here and Lonerism here.

Tiffany♫