Santogold - L.E.S. Artistes

I left my home to disappear is all

I'm here for myself, not to know you

As the end of the year approaches, music bloggers race to post their top ranked albums/tracks. For those who have been following any of these, you'll notice Santogold is splashed across the lists. She's definitely struck a chord with a lot of listeners this year with her self-titled debut album. Not to mention all the remixes and songs she's appeared on (i.e. "Gifted" featuring Lykke Li and Kanye West or "Get It Up" with M.I.A.). It's easy to think of her as an M.I.A. knock off but she's far from it. She's more a mix of M.I.A., Gwen Stefani, Janelle Monáe and Nelly Furtado, but with her own touch of course.

Santogold is comprised of Santi White and, usually, former band-mate John Hill. The two were originally part of a ska-punk band known as Stiffed. After some trouble with labels and finding the right producers, their first LP (originally titled Creator) was ready to be released in January 2008. However, the CD didn't hit shelves until April. By then, their first single "Creator" was already getting a lot of attention. "L.E.S. Artistes" is probably what really put her on the map this year though. Check out the awesome video as well.

Favourite Part: The Yeah Yeah Yeahs meets Tegan & Sara like beat.

For those who haven't noticed, I'd like to point out a somewhat new feature to my blog. After each entry you'll find a "Reactions" section where you can vote on how you felt about that days post. It's right after the list of tags. So, uh .. rock the vote?

Tegan & Sara - Are You Ten Years Ago

The pressure of this life is so

You can't be held accountable

If you go, you go

Tegan & Sara are one of those artists I quickly got into. I received The Con (produced by Christopher Walla of Death Cab for Cutie) while interning at Warner Bros. Records during the summer of 2007. At the time I had no clue who they were other than the twins whose faces I kept seeing all around the building. Along with the LP I received a copy of a compilation of their older material--"A Brief History." It was this that I liked more than the album at first. The Con eventually grew on me thanks to listening to "Are You Ten Years Ago" constantly, followed by other random tracks from the album.

What I like about the twins is that they mix pop with elements of punk and folk. As weird as that may sound--it works! For those who have no clue who they are, the girls were born and raised in Canada where they started playing guitar at the age of 15, entered some "garage band competition" and won. Fast forward some 5+ years and they're touring with Neil Young after signing to his label--Vapor Records. They love Bruce Springsteen.

Spinner recently asked them to blog on their site. They took turns writing about one of three themes: laugh, rage or cry. You can read their entries here. You should also check out their sweet live cover of Rihanna's "Umbrella," which seems to be a popular choice for a cover song.