Pick Your Poison: Monday 12-2-13

…And we’re back. I hope you had a great Thanksgiving weekend, if you’re American and celebrated, of course. If not, I hope your weekend was grand anyways. We’re now fully into the holiday season, and that means year end list-making time. I’m excited, because it means I get to put together my annual weeks of Listmas, counting down my favorite songs and albums of 2013. I’ve done some preliminary ranking and writing on those already, but won’t be officially unveiling anything until next week. Until then, we’ve got plenty of other ground to cover. Let me take a quick moment to point out a great show that’s happening in Chicago a little later this week. Poliça will be coming through town, playing an 18+ show at Metro on Thursday night (Dec. 5th) with hip hop artist Lizzo also on the bill. They’re touring in support of their latest album Shulamith, which came out at the end of October. If you haven’t heard the album, it’s a nice extension and forward progression from what they did on their 2012 debut album Give You the Ghost. Unlike that last album, which had some intense grooves, dark lyrics and a very muddy mix, this new one offers bigger and better hooks, slightly brighter lyrics, and a crisper, clearer mix. You can actually make out all of the individual instruments this time, which is nice. One thing that hasn’t changed are the vocal stylings of Channy Leaneagh, which are often so doused in reverb and Auto-Tune that it can be a bit challenging to make out all the lyrics, though the unique qualities it brings forth sound much less like a gimmick the second time around. Have a listen to a song like “Tiff,” which features guest vocals from Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, or single “Chain My Name” for something really groove and hook-oriented. Anyways, I’ve heard nothing but raves from people who have gone to see Poliça’s live show over the last couple months, and apparently it’s a great bass-heavy dance party. Sounds like a fun Thursday night to me, so I hope you’ll come out to the show if you’re in Chicago. Tickets are $17 in advance and can be purchased here. Now let’s take care of today’s Pick Your Poison. Don’t miss downloads below from Ben Hood, Candice Gordon, Hello World, Jem Stone, Keep On Dancin’s, Pink Mexico and Vladimir. In the Soundcloud section after the jump, stream songs from Chrome Sparks, Lolawolf, New Bums, Sam Smith, YOUTH, and Haerts remixing MSMR.