Step away from the keyboard. Nothing to see here...

... but for the largest judicial farce in Swedish history. 6 months ago I wrote the article (one of my most abysmal creations so far) about Peter Sunde and his strifes with the Swedish "law". On February eight this year two-thousand-and-thirteen, the movie TPB AFK: The Pirate Bay Away From Keyboard came out so that you, thankfully, no longer have to read anything I write. I have enclosed the YouTube link below, so that you can watch it in its entireness. Do share, do spread and do contemplate over the situation at hand.

And for heaven's sake, do not miss the epic fail of corrupt District Court Judge Tomas Norström at 46 minutes into the video. His precarious situation is explained very well by the IT expert and Swedish Security Service Agent André Rickardsson at 47 minutes. My take on the matter - if you, as a judge, are incapable of determining whether you acted correctly or not by withholding information about your obvious bias - then you are cataclysmically inept as a judge. Anyone disagrees? Do not miss that highlight.

Long live Rocky as soon as possible

24-year old Harlem cat Rakim Mayers, is better known as A$AP Rocky, ASAP standing for "Always Strive and Prosper", "Assassinating Snitches and Police" and "Acronym Symbolizing Any Purpose" the latter being,  according to Wikipedia, his favourite meaning of the acronym. The style of this album "Long Live A$AP" of 2013, not to be confused with "Long Live A$AP" of 2011 that I downl... I mean heard only today, is that of dark and mystical Hip Hop blended with the hardest of electro.
    The 2011 album featured acceptable tracks like Palace, giving us a taste of what was to come this January. Experimental tracks like Bass, albeit being convincingly old school, remained prototypic of a young and inexperienced talent. Also, Peso made a reappearance in the 2013 compilation. For some reason. However, moving on to more monumental tracks, we land on the 2013 album.
     Heaviest beat is brought in the climactic Wild For The Night with professional electrician/musician Skrillex and professional French people Birdy Nam Nam. More relaxed than that is Fashion Killa - FYI: the first words in this song is "Her pistol go" and not "Herpes-to-go". Taking over the throne of perpetually hella-faded Lil' Wayne as the greatest rapper alive in Ghetto Symphony. The beats extend in F**kin' Problems to that of a crazy twist juxtaposed to the intro. With excellent beat and rap despite both Drake and 2 Chainz being on it. I wonder what A$AP thought when Drake insisted on talking in the song. However, likely the beat belongs to Drake, being typically fantastic (especially compared to the lyrical contribution). Kendrick Lamar Duckworth, aka K-Dot, also makes an appearance, sounding a tad strange but perfect for the tune. Epic track Hell with Santigold shows all non-believer the spectrum that Rakim A$AP Mayers has mastered as his own home turf. Probably the most important Hip Hop album in many years, from that good side of Hip Hop where A$AP and Wiz Khalifa reside for the moment. Under supervision of Kanye and JAY-HOVA and his witnesses, naturally. Can't wait for the A$AP-Khalifa collaboration track.

Dropkick Murphys Signed and Sealed in Blood

Celtic juggernaut rockers Dropkick Murphys who I recently missed in Zürich had their eight album out recently after seventeen years in the business and fourteen members of the band. Allegedly Irish band with a few misfits; lead singer Al Barr - and he is not even Irish, but Scottish and German. And also, according to Wikipedia on the 17th February 2013, also Seth Cohen who we all know from the OC. Their album signed and sealed in blood features the strongest track with Rose Tattoo where we dive into the Irish instruments and accents reeking with sheer four-leaf-clovers. Typical speedy rock Out of Our Heads shows what the civilized savages are capable of when given banjos, pipes and whistles. Count on Ken Casey screaming until red (redder) in the face in Burn. If you cannot get enough of that Irish rock sound, check out Prisoner's Song, with patriotism and history intermingled with hoarse brawling. Hilarious Christmas song released in December, The Season's Upon Us, is essentially a four minute therapy session embodying the season spirits. If you like it more easy, don't miss End of The Night, likely what comes closest to a chilled out Irish rock song.

Claire Boucher's visions

Grimes, pictured to the left is not a 14 year old girl, but a 24 year old Canadian musician who released the hit album Visions last year. The sounds features electronics and shrill voices (I am assuming hers), pioneered by Swedish siblings of The Knife a decade ago, and brought beyond to mysterious lands by this Canuckian lass. Nightmusic does what The Knife were never able to do, framing the sound in classical violins among the heavy bass, more closely resembling that of M83 but inducing hypnosis all through the song. The new-age, alternative, indie, whatever-you-call-it love song Skin (with a messed up unofficial video) deserves recognition for entering spheres that most people of electronics recoil in horror from at the mere thought. Don't miss Symphonia IX (My wait is u) that for some reason got me thinking of Spank by Naked and Famous from New Zealand. Be a body is worth a mention, with the 侘寂 symbols denoting Wabi-sabi - the acceptance of imperfections. Finally, the most massive track Oblivion should not pass unheard, but rather round off the whole sound experience.

Santigold and becoming the master of our make believe

Santi White is a Philly chick that previously called herself Santogold before changing the first "o" for an "i". She is a singer of that great genre known as undefinable music, sometimes referred to as indie or alternative or nu-"something", depending on the reviewer at hand. Master of My Make Believe features a plethora of strong tracks, starting with Fame, that really kicks in at 43 seconds, as a surprise for those patient enough. Ratatatian This isn't our Parade blends the various instruments with the clarity of the deep vocals of Santi. Likely most known Disparate Youth (for obvious reasons) also comes in a Disparate Youth remix by 2 Bears who bring in a dimension of bass that previously was unaccounted for. I correctly identified the presence of Karen Lee Orzolek (Yeah Yeah Yeahs) in Go amidst vocals and composition otherwise reminiscent of MIA. Best video track is for sure The Keepers depicting the crap-ification of America with toxins in the artificial foodstuffs and fashionable chemo-therapy wigs for the collective dying breed. The Riots Gone shows a more mellow side of Santi, for those who like to relax from time to time. Finally, Pirate In The Water with all kinds of crazy sounds - I could swear I heard someone playing Super Mario 64 in the background. This album exemplifies what happens when unabridged imagination meets talent. Check it out.

Local and Native Hummingbirds

The Los Angeles indie rockers Local Natives, also known as Cavil and Rest (cavil means raising a trivial objection) - consist of Taylor Rice, Kelsey Ayer, Ryan Hahn and Matt Frazier - none of which being actual local natives.Most of them are likely to be found in the instagrammed photo to the right.  Their Deluxe album version of Hummingbird has already been reviewed by Jacob Rob AJ Here. This latest album have placed them on the map already dominated by Fleet Foxes, MGMT and King's of Leon - but this has not deterred them entirely from making music. If this is not your cup of music I suggest you blast some Breakers into your ears and try again. All fans of Fleet Foxes, hear ye, and press the link to You And I and tell me there are no influences there. Most tracks have a similar sound to them, but among the hear-worthy sparse variety is Columbia, fighting for the first place in this album, with a clear King's of Leon in them. If you like continuity, then listen to the other tracks but don't expect any surprises or Wow! moments.

Boys and girls and Alabama Shakes

The Athens, Alabama band with singer Brittany Howard and her machine (Fogg, Cockrell and Johnson) released a much appreciated album last year that made it to first place on the UK Record Store and to the birthday of David Letterman in April. Their album Boys & Girls has four tracks making a lasting impression, being the soulful Rise to the Sun that is the resounding favourite of yours truly. Brittany has a nice scream in this song. Then, the equally emotional I Found You with a nice build through-out the song with vocals bringing you back to the 70's without even knowing it. In Heartbreaker we get to experience the potential of Brittany once again. Finally, the more mellow and melancholic You Ain't Alone that strikes those heartstrings you never thought you had. The royal We certainly look forward to hearing more screaming from Howard, accompanied by fine-tuned instruments and timed percussions. Would be great.

Unchaining Django

Eric Marlon Bishop, more commonly known as Jamie Foxx, portraits the hero together with Viennese Christoph Waltz in Quentin's most recent masterpiece/gore fest. You will also see Quentin in this movie, I may add without spoiler tags. Strap yourself in for two and a half hours of great actors with funny lines and, while sometimes ludicrous, still believable plot twists and turns. The movie is brought to higher levels by the all-in performance of 64-year old Samuel Leroy Jackson playing head-slaver for Candy Land manager Calvin played by going-on-forty Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio. You will find the usual Quentinesque touches in the movie such as randomly appearing text over the screen and blood spraying by the bucket-full. Do not miss Jamie's pro-gun stance at 59.51 minutes in to the movie (Link). Should settle today's argument I gather?

Wiz Khalifa is apparently the O.N.I.F.C.

Cameron Jibril Thomaz from North Dakota also goes by the name of Wiz Khalifa and had the album O.N.I.F.C. out last december, which stands for Only Nigga (or Night) In First Class. We all recall him from the massive track Black and Yellow with Juicy J, Snoop (dawgy) Dogg and T-pain equipped with face jewellery hurting the game badly. Now Wiz is back with various collaborations to prove to the world that Hip-Hop-Rap can still sound good despite all of the work of Drake and 2 Chainz to establish the opposite. Strongest track is definitely Medicated, featuring Chevy Woods and Juicy J with Wiz serenading dat reefer yo, whilst wearing tight black and yellow clothes.  Chilled out track The Plan with Juicy J also works, carrying smooth psychedelic touches without ever leaving the gansta-rap arena. Although the lyrics are about the same themes; alcohol, Mary Juana amidst derogatory terms for black people, there is still something to be said for the originality of tracks like Fall Asleep. Furthermore, the Let it Go track with Akon indicates the standard expected already established and washed up collaborators. Finally, be sure to get your hands on the bonus tracks, especially Mary 3x (on the topic of fidelity to cannabis) and Stackin with Juicy J again, about his bank account - and also habits of smoking weed and drinking alcohol. And for future reference, hella faded means being high and drunk and Taylor Gang is his record company from Pittsburgh. In closing, let us hope for more tracks with self-proclaimed bumble-bee Juicy J in the future.

The babel-ing sons and Mumford, of course

The Englanders who sing with an American accent did not surprise anyone when they last year released a unique folk music album with completely and utterly nonsensical lyrics, riddled with cliché after cliché. For some reason the lyrics pierce through as nonsense even more than the best-skilled 21st century rapper, but still, a good track is the Holland Road. The strength of the track Hopeless Wanderer is that it has a mind-blowing banjo-climax that can make anyone forget the emergency-rhyming of Marcus. How about The Boxer with artsy Paul Simon, sounds great. Title track Babel is also noteworthy. And, don't miss Broken Crown if all else has failed you. And, again, try to ignore the lyrics and see that you will like it.

True by sister of Beyoncé

26-year old Solange Piaget Knowles, aka, Solange - better known as "sister of Beyoncé" (both seen partying together here) came out last year with a fresh EP called "True". Although not being as famous as here black-out inducing illuminator sistah, it is likely that we will here more from this one. If you have not already heard and seen Losing You I suggest you give it a chance because everyone else already did and you do not want be the odd one out. A personal favourite is Lovers in the Parking Lot. For an "extended play" I was slightly disappointed by the mere seven tracks, but let us hope there is more to come in the future, and that not all songs sound like Losing You (Bad Girls).