Name: Andreas Babiolakis
City: Richmond Hill
Title: Film Editor, podcast cohost, film reviewer, album reviewer, concert reviewer, attempt-to-be-concert photographer
How long have you been with Live in Limbo?
2 years
Three favourite albums of 2014 (best to worst):
1. Swans-To Be Kind
2. Caribou-Our Love
3. Ariel Pink-Pom Pom
Explanations will be with complete lists =]
Three favourite songs of 2014:
1. Return-Brian Eno and Karl Hyde
2. Cant Do Without You-Caribou
3. Red Eyes-The War On Drugs
Which artist or band won 2014?
St Vincent
After years of being the weird indie child in the corner, St Vincent took on the world as a reincarnation of Ziggy Stardust. She performed with Nirvana, took over SNL, topped many critical lists and became a go-to performer live. Congrats on you, Annie Clark!
Your favourite new/breakout artist of the year:
Pharmakon
Her career is young and is already highly disturbing. Pharmakon has the capabilities of so much greatness ahead of her. This years release of Bestial Burden is proof that she has the ability to affect people immediately in such a young stage of her career. Lets see whats next!
How many shows did you go to this year?
Between 60-70
Three best concerts of 2014:
1. St Vincent and Swans: yds, june at nxne
Such a contrast between charming and alienating and all in between. This combination was fierce, engaging and surreal.
2. Beach House: lees palace, october
With such an intimate and dreamy set, Beach House played nothing but their best work and the entire evening was like the feelong of falling in love all over again.
3. Television: the Phoenix, may at cmw
Veteran rockers Television know damn well how to affect us after all of these years. Every guitar note was crisp, intense and connective. Not a single mistake with such a high sense of articulation.
Favourite festival of 2014:
Canadian Music Week (CMW)
Between the shows, interviews and presentations, cmw quickly became a highlight week for me.
Favourite venue this year:
Lee’s palace
Small enough to be attacked by any band on stage but big enough to house many adoring fans.
What was the biggest music news story you remember from 2014?
Jian ghomeshi being a punk. Enough said.
Is there anything else you want to say about music this year?
It was pretty good. Weve had better this decade but with enough standout releases and events to be memorable, it still was a success
What artist should/will we all be paying attention to for 2015
Chromatics. With a new album in February and the rise of electronic dreampop still happening, this generarion-topping band are more relevant than ever.
