Ken DiTomaso

Honourable Mentions Grateful Dead – Pacific Northwest '73-'74: Believe It If You Need ItThis is the Grateful Dead at the absolute peak of their powers. If you’re a Dead fan, you need this. If you’re a Dead skeptic, this could be the set that converts you. Sublime performances from start to finish. Albert Hammond Jr. – Francis TroubleA solid album of to-the-point, no-frills rock tunes. He’s best known as the guitar player for The Strokes, but if I’m honest, I think I’ve enjoyed this solo album significantly more than the last few Strokes records. Roger Joseph Manning Jr. – GlampingOne…

In. 10. Lorde – MelodramaI liked Lorde’s debut album a fair bit, but things could have gone either way with this follow-up. Either she could have repeated the same style with weaker songs and fizzled out, or she could have built on her strengths and grown into an even better pop artist than she already was. Thankfully, she picked the second option. The album is a bit inconsistent, but the best songs (especially the ballads) show Lorde developing into a legitimately great songwriter, and I look forward to continuing to follow her career. 9. Neil Cicierega – Mouth MoodsOur good…

It’s been a tumultuous year to say the least. But if you ask me, 2016 has been a pretty great time to be a music fan. I found a ton of records to love, so many in fact that ranking my favorites was much harder for me this time around than in any previous year (it seems like I say that every year, but it's true!) I found something to enjoy at almost every turn, and there were even a solid number of really good records that could have easily made my list in previous years that I had to…

There goes another year! As always, there was plenty of great music to listen to, but ranking favorites isn't always so easy. This year in particular was tricky; while I didn't have any trouble populating my list, putting my favorites in order was actually pretty tough. It was a very even year with few albums I liked significantly more or less than others. Ask me again tomorrow and I might come up with a completely different order for these. 15. Sufjan Stevens – Carrie & LowellA sad, slow and quiet album, Carrie & Lowell is the most raw record Sufjan…

This was probably the toughest best-of list I've made since I started keeping up with new music. Unlike my previous lists, few records immediately jumped out at me as obvious frontrunners for my top spots. But some years are just like that. Nonetheless, I still discovered a lot of great music this year. Here's to 2014! 10. The Flaming Lips – 7 Skies H3 After nearly three years, The Flaming Lips finally succumbed to pressure and edited their infamous 24-hour song “7 Skies H3” down for a standard record release. Unsurprisingly, having 24 hours of material to pull from means that…

The year 2013 is finally at an end so as always it is time for a massive article of year-end shenanigans. I bumped my favourites list up to 20 albums this time around and wrote mini-reviews for all of them. It seems like these lists just get longer every year. Enjoy! 20. The Beach Boys – Made In California Another year, another archival release from The Beach Boys. This box set is kind of a mess. Throwing classic hits alongside obscure rarities ensures that this set as a whole won't fully satisfy both casual and hardcore fans. However, aside from…

The year 2012 was a pretty good one for music if you ask me. So good in fact, that I felt like expanding my usual top 10 into a top 15. So here it is, followed by my thoughts on a bunch of other music I heard this year. Full steam ahead!  15. The Beach Boys – That’s Why God Made The Radio This really shouldn't be on my list. This album is deeply flawed, it’s extremely cheesy, over-produced, and more than a little awkward (those Mike Love lyrics are shudder-worthy to say the least). But I can't deny it,…

Is 2011 over already? Apparently so, and that means it’s time for another top ten. One thing that became immediately apparent to me after assessing this year’s music is how many of its best records are by artists who’ve been around for decades. But hey, if they’ve still got it who am I to discriminate? Here’s my top ten (in the usual descending order) followed by six more albums I liked this year and six that I didn’t as much (in no order). 10. Justice – Audio, Video, Disco The general critical consensus of Justice’s sophomore album seems to be…