The war for the Best Film of 2012 wraps-up today with our Drama picks. Many thoroughly engrossing dramas were released theatrically in North America throughout 2012 but only a select few could make our year-end Top 10 (or 12) list. ...Read More
The war for the Best Film of 2012 continues today with our Foreign Language picks. Many touching and engaging foreign films were released theatrically in North America throughout 2012 but only a select few could make our year-end Top 10 list. ...Read More
The war for the Best Film of 2012 continues today with our Documentary picks. Many compelling documentaries were released theatrically in North America throughout 2012 but only a select few could make our year-end Top 10 list. ...Read More
The war for the Best Film of 2012 continues today with our Genre picks. Many thrilling movies were released theatrically in North America throughout 2012 but only a select few could make our year-end Top 10 list. ...Read More
The war for the Best Film of 2012 starts today with our Comedy picks. Many hilarious movies were released theatrically in North America throughout 2012 but only a select few could make our year-end Top 10 list. ...Read More
Throughout the month of December, Exclaim! has been rolling out our coverage of the best albums of the year, divided into seven different genre sections: pop and rock, electronic, soul, R&B and world, folk and country, metal, hip-hop and experimental and avant-garde. With one exception (avant-garde), these lists are built by consensus by the entire pool of Exclaim! contributors, who all submit their "best of the year" lists, organized by genre. They are then ranked via a points system that's been developed at Exclaim! HQ over a number of years; the resulting tally is how we determine our best albums of the year. ...Read More
Flipping the Wu-Tang Clan's model for success, the four-headed beast that is South Central L.A.'s Black Hippy wants to establish each of its members' solo careers first. The idea of a full-length supergroup project, hinted at but unpromised, has fans salivating. Kendrick Lamar, Schoolboy Q, Jay Rock, Ab-Soul are all signed to emerging indie powerhouse Top Dawg Ent. Tied by geography more than rhyme style, mind-set more than appearance, the members of Black Hippy share studio time and tour dates — including this summer's Rock the Bells — and appear on each other's remixes...
Overall, 2012 was good to hip-hop: the artists that had the greatest successes proved that the genre has matured beyond a binary old school versus new school equation. There's enough distance from the genre's golden age to where new works can be seen as building from a foundation, rather than imitating it. Hip-hop canon fodder The early '90s was a good time for hip-hop. And as a number of classic albums reach the quarter-century milestone (Maestro Fresh Wes' (pictured above) Symphony in Effect, Public Enemy's Fear of a Black Planet) hip-hop is effectively entering...
Separated by musical backgrounds and international borders, a phalanx of young bucks were united in 2012 by a common purpose: the hard and fast delivery of decibels by the tankload. Leading the vanguard are Cloud Nothings. Plucked from the nowheresville of Cleveland, OH, the trio possess a whip-smart angst that belies songwriter Dylan Baldi's 20 years. For all its knee-jerk cynicism, Attack on Memory is a statement record, saying that despite the ubiquitous hyperbole of advertisers, politicians and reality shows, not all young people can make a difference all the time. "I thought!...
One of 2012's undeniable breakout stars was Montreal's Grimes (pictured above) and her Polaris-nominated album, Visions. The label behind her, Arbutus Records, experienced a similar breakthrough. Founded in 2009 by Sebastian Cowan — following a stint working out of the XL and Beggars office in London, UK — the Vancouver transplant set up shop in Montreal to take advantage of the city's rich arts community. Through the art collective Lab Synthese, Cowan began putting on loft parties and, through Arbutus, began releasing records by friends like Grimes, Sean Nicholas Savage...
Once upon a time, there was no internet, and as a result no blogs, no YouTube, no Tumblr. Not even MP3s! Musicians had to leave their homes to go out and play in order to be heard. Touring came before recording, and definitely before music was released into the world. Since blogs and social networking became the go-to source for discovering music, an artists haven't had to leave bedrooms to be heard or even become minor stars. However, demand can become so overwhelming that the artist has no choice but to hit the road — for better or worse. In 2012, artists like How To Dress Well...
Given the diversity and depth of the improv and avant-garde scene, instead of ranking and rating releases, we've asked regular contributors to discuss their favourite 2011 albums from the far corners of the scene. Enjoy the last list of our best albums below, and stay tuned for our list of Most Unappreciated Albums of 2012 to come. ...Read More
Assuming you already picked up our 2012 year-end issue, you already know our number one album here, not that Kendrick Lamar's poignant debut taking the cake should surprise you. But the talent this year in hip-hop ran deep otherwise— dig in below. ...Read More
Our Exclaim! Best of 2012 lists have been posted for Dance and Electronic, Metal and Hardcore, Folk and Country, and, as of this morning, our complete Pop and Rock. Last Thursday, we unveiled our favourite albums in Groove, but a list is never enough; we also examined the course that R&B and World music took in 2012. ...Read More
Owner of perhaps this year's most unique backstory, R&B artist Frank Ocean's ascendance into the mainstream was a perfect storm of promotion, guile and authenticity that ultimately delivered a few industry lessons....
Nobody could have predicted that a cherubic thirty-something rapper from South Korea would record the most popular song of 2012. However, just about every year features some celebrity grasping at a more worldly reincarnation. The dual case of PSY and Snoop Lion is a crossroads moment for the embattled term "world music." PSY glorifies the universality of synth presets; Snoop grasps at some definition of authenticity that may or may not have ever existed. North America is a little more familiar with watered down Caribbean influences, whereas K-pop revels in pop sterility wrenched far away from its Euro/North American architects. These two artists may represent nothing less than the 20th and 21st century iterations of the concept of "world music." ...
We left you hanging on Friday (December 14) with 30 through 16 on the Pop and Rock list. Now, we're unveiling the rest of our top 30, from 15 all the way to our number one album. Let the arguing begin! ...Read More
Now that we've sorted out the Exclaim! Best of 2012 in Dance and Electronic, it's time to take a closer look at what trends defined this year in the genre. ...Read More
If there's any song that summed up electronic music's renewed infatuation with hip-hop and R&B this year, it was Ryan Hemsworth's remix of Grimes' "Genesis." Featuring a looped Lil Wayne sample, and released unofficially on the Halifax producer's SoundCloud page, the rapper's distinct Southern drawl echoes in the background like a ghost. After Claire Boucher herself tweeted about the song, Hemsworth found himself in the spotlight, producing for underground rappers, releasing a barrage of remixes, high-profile mixes, and an EP of original material through taste-making collective Wedidit....
In recent years, a slew of Canadian electronic music producers have relocated to London, UK or to electronic mecca Berlin. Here are five rising producers who are helping build the healthier-than-ever Canadian electronic music ecosystem....
BONNAROO: Kendrick Lamar What Stage, Manchester TN, June 16
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