02/Arcade Fire/Reflektor
They say Heaven is a place on Earth. They say this because all of life's pleasures are constantly at our disposal or within arms reach manifesting themselves in various forms, including that of a physical being who takes our breath away or makes life worth living. Heaven equaling you. Heaven equaling us. Real love. But before one resides within this golden palace, it must first be reached; Sought after and found. If you're lucky, the path to this dreamworld oasis will be smooth sailing. More often than not though, obstacles or impediments present themselves along the way, and you wonder if this Heaven will ever be reached. Just ask Arcade Fire, constant investors in the fires we make via our interactions with each other, who have returned only to discover that the fires, for the most part, have been put out or don't shine as brightly as they used to ("If this is Heaven? I don't know what it's for."). We're trapped in "prisms of light", "staring at screens", connected, but in what sense? Reflektor tackles all this and, like the majority of Arcade Fire's work, is in search of real love in a digital age. A digital age full of distractions and things that appear to bring us together while keeping us alone in the darkness and further apart. This time around, the themes and sentiments are the same but the melody has changed, as the band gets up and gets down in a broodingly rhythmic manner to help cope with these uncertainties. With the help of James Murphy, Arcade Fire addresses these concerns for seven plus minutes, rocking to the beat of a more hip swiveling, toe tapping drum, finding comfort in the groove. This Heaven we/you/I/and them speak of on earth may not be within arms reach presently, but it's definitely there in this music. Sought after and found (Even David Bowie is there!). It's the only place Arcade Fire knows they'll find salvation. And in a world of distractions and reflectors, this comfort in the sound will have to do (for now) until those connectors are found.
03/Daft Punk featuring Nile Rodgers & Pharrell Williams/Get Lucky
04/James Blake/Retrograde
05/Ciara/Body Party
06/Robin Thicke featuring T.I. & Pharrell/Blurred Lines
07/Drake/Started From the Bottom
08/Pusha T & Kendrick Lamar/Nosetalgia
09/David Bowie/Where Are We Now?
10/Miley Cyrus/We Can't Stop
11/Alicia Keys & Maxwell/Fire We Make
12/Blood Orange/Chamakay
13/Danny Brown/Dope Song
14/Iggy Azalea/Work
15/Holy Ghost!/Dumb Disco Ideas
16/Chance the Rapper/Juice
17/Charli XCX/Take My Hand
18/A$AP Rocky feat. Drake, 2 Chainz, & Kendrick Lamar/F**kin' Problems
19/Britney Spears/Work B**ch!
20/Deerhunter/Monomania
21/Sky Ferreira/You're Not the One
22/Janelle Monae/Dance Apocalyptic
23/Justin Timberlake featuring Jay Z/Suit & Tie
24/The Dream/IV Play
25/Queens of the Stone Age/My God is the Sun
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