Category Archives: music

2011, best of 2011, music

Top 10 Albums of 2011

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Here you go, my top 10 albums of 2011.  The top 5 were actually really easy to settle on and went back and forth quite a bit with 6-10, which was somewhat of a surprise.  But no going back now, my picks are official and floating around the world wide web for everyone to scrutinize.  And speaking of scrutiny, I would love some feedback.  Do you agree/disagree with my picks?  What were your favorites this year?  Heck, what were your least favorites?  Leave a comment below and keep the conversation going.

[p.s. see how my final top 10 compared to my favorites back in July]

 

10. Childish Gambino//Camp

Key tracks: Heartbeat. Bonfire. Kids. Backpackers.

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9. Mister Heavenly//Out of Love

Key tracks: Bronx Sniper. Mister Heavenly. Pineapple Girl. Your Girl.

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8. Acid House Kings//Music Sounds Better With You

Key tracks: Are We Lovers Or Are We Friends?. Would You Say Stop?. Under Water. There Is Something Beautiful.

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7. Lykke Li//Wounded Rhymes

Key tracks: Sadness Is A Blessing. I Follow Rivers. Get Some. Youth Knows No Pain.

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6. Girls//Father, Son, Holy Ghost

Key tracks: My Ma. Honey Bunny. Alex. Vomit.

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5. The Antlers//Burst Apart

Key tracks: No Widows. Putting The Dog To Sleep. French Exit. Rolled Together.

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4. Youth Lagoon//The Year Of Hibernation

Key tracks: Montana. 17. Cannons. Daydream.

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3. Future Islands//On The Water

Key tracks: The Great Fire, Balance, Before the Bridge, Give Us the Wind. Where I Found You.

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2. M83//Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming

Key tracks: Midnight City. Intro. Raconte-Moi Une Histoire. My Tears Are Becoming a Sea. Year One, One UFO. Claudia Lewis.

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1. Cults//Cults

Key tracks: Abducted. You Know What I Mean. Rave On. Bad Things. Go Outside. Oh My God.

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2011, 31 days of good, music

(31) Days of Good: Day 15

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Short and sweet today (aka laziness).

Gorgeous, hypnotic new ethereal pop (that still manages to bump) from the amazing Grimes, taken from one of our most anticipated records of 2012, her forthcoming LP Visions. [source]

♪ Grimes – Oblivion (from Visions)

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The Alabama Shakes are going to have a HUGE 2012.  If you don’t believe me, listen to the track below and enjoy that feeling of “I told you so”.

♪ Alabama Shakes – You Aint Alone (from Alabama Shakes EP)

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This last Summer, Pepper Rabbit released their followup to 2010’s Beauregard.  The new LP was a big favorite of mine and on the cusp of being one of my top 10 favorites.  If you’re a fan of experimental dream pop, you definitely need to give Pepper Rabbit a proper listen.

♪ Pepper Rabbit – Rose Mary Stretch (from Red Velvet Snow Ball)

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2011, 31 days of good, music

(31) Days of Good: Day 14

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Until earlier this year, I never would have expected a Latin record would end up being favorite of mine, but then former Elefant frontman, Diego Garcia, released his debut LP, Laura.  The record is full of 70′s-inspired tracks, lush strings, Spanish guitars, some mighty fine cello (courtesy of Mr. Daniel Benson), which all comes together to form some good ol’ fashioned love songs.  The wifey and I both fell in love with this record, especially after we saw him perform live last Summer.  And speaking of seeing him live, I’d like to leave you with the brilliant advice Mr. Garcia left us at the show — “There are three things you can do for a woman: Love her.  Suffer for her.  Turn her into a pop song.”

♪ Diego Garcia – Roses and Wine (from Laura)

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Girls is one of my favorite indie rock/pop bands to surface in the last couple of years.  Hailing from San Francisco, California, the band is made up of two key members, Christopher Owens, main writer and lead singer, and Chet “JR” White who plays bass and produces.  Girls’ sound has been compared to Elvis Costello, Buddy Holly, and The Beach Boys.  I loved the first LP, Album, and loved the follow up, Father, Son, Holy Ghost, even more.  It includes a lot of my favorites and most listened to songs of the year (“Honey Bunny”, “Love Like A River”, “Alex”, to name a few), but since I can only choose one, it has to be “My Ma”.

♪ Girls – My Ma (from Father, Son, Holy Ghost)

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fun. is an indie pop trio based in NY that was formed by Nate Ruess (you may remember him from The Format).  Now I have to admit, this is one of those bands that’s been on my radar for awhile now, but i’ve never really given them a good, honest listen…but then I heard this track and the rest is history.  The track in question is “We Are Young”, is the first single off their upcoming sophomore album, Some Nights (out Feb. 21, 2012), and just happens to feature some vocals from the one and only Janelle Monáe.  Enjoy the track below and be sure to check out the acoustic version in the video.

♪ fun. – We Are Young (feat. Janelle Monáe) (from Some Nights)

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2012, concerts, live music, music, on the road, video

[on the road] Cults

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I got my tickets yesterday, what about you?

Cults are thrilled to announce upcoming tour dates for 2012. Browse the entire schedule below and purchase tickets here. (and be sure to check out their latest video for “Go Outside” after the tour schedule)

3/2 Maxwells, Hoboken, NJ On Sale 12/14
3/3 Ottobar, Baltimore, MD On Sale 12/16
3/4 Cats Cradle, Carrboro, NC On Sale 12/14
3/6 The Earl, Atlanta, GA On Sale Now
3/7 Bottletree, Birmingham, AL On Sale Now
3/9 The Plaza Live, Orlando, FL On Sale 12/16
3/10 Spanish Moon, Baton Rouge, LA
3/11 Fitzgerald’s, Houston, TX On Sale 12/16
3/17 Lowbrow Palace, El Paso , TX On Sale Now
3/18 Club Congress, Tucson, AZ On Sale Now
3/19 Rhythm Room, Phoenix, AZ On Sale Now
3/21 Belly Up Tavern, Solana Beach, CA On Sale 12/16
3/23 The Glass House, Pomona, CA On Sale Now
3/24 Velvet Jones, Santa Barbara, CA On Sale Now
4/3 Constellation Room, Santa Ana, CA On Sale Now
4/4 Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA
4/5 Slims, San Francisco, CA 
4/6 Wonder Ballroom, Portland, OR On Sale 12/16
4/7 Neptune, Seattle, WA On Sale 12/16
4/9 VENUE, Vancouver, BC 
4/11 Urban Lounge, Salt Lake City, UT On Sale Now
4/12 Bluebird Theater, Denver, CO On Sale 12/17
4/13 Fox Theatre, Boulder, CO
4/14 The Granada Theatre, Lawrence, KS
4/16 First Avenue, Minneapolis, MN On Sale 12/16
4/17 Majestic Theatre, Madison, WI On Sale 12/16
4/18 Turner Hall Ballroom, Milwaukee, WI On Sale 12/16
4/20 Metro, Chicago, IL
4/21 Rhinos Bloomington, IN On Sale 12/16
4/22 The Magic Bag, Ferndale, MI On Sale 12/16
4/23 Mohawk Place, Buffalo, NY On Sale 12/16 
4/25 Phoenix Concert Theatre, Toronto, ON On Sale 12/15
4/26 Corona Theatre, Montreal, Quebec 
4/27 Higher Ground, South Burlington, VT On Sale 12/16
4/29 Pearl Street Nightclub, Northampton, MA On Sale Now

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2011, 31 days of good, music

(31) Days of Good: Day 13

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M83’s epic 2-disc LP, Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming, was my most anticipated release of the year and it didn’t let me down one bit.  Anthony Gonzalez is an electronic virtuoso.  From the very start, Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming grabs you and holds you until the very end.  Zola Jesus’ guest vocals on “Intro” makes an already good track great.  The dreamy ballad “My Tears Are Becoming A Sea” gives me goosebumps every time I hear it.  The innocence and fun that swirls throughout “Raconte-Moi Une Histoire” makes me smile and wish I was a kid again.  But since I can only pick one, I have to go with “Midnight City”.  This track is a great representation of the album as a whole, the production is amazing, it makes you want to dance (even if you hate dancing), you can’t help but turning the volume up when this song plays, and it happens to be the year’s best use of saxophone.  I should also add that M83 was the best show I saw this year and “Midnight City” is incredibly good live.

♪ M83 – Midnight City (from Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming)

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Big Black Delta is the solo project of Mellowdrone vocalist/bassist Jonathan Bates.  I was introduced to Big Black Delta earlier this year and was lucky enough to catch one the residency shows at The Satellite in LA (big thanks to Stephanie at the Planetary Group btw).  The debut LP, BBDLP1, was a really cool record and I highly recommend it.  THE CULTURE OF ME puts it best, “Big Black Delta makes some of the noisiest and most fun pop music you’re likely to hear for a long time coming”.

♪ Big Black Delta – Huggin & Kissin (from BBDLP1)

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This last track is actually a combination of the first two.  Last year, Daft Punk put out one of the best (and most overlooked) movie scores in a long time.  This year, a remix album was released and featured a plethora of electronic artists (Moby, Paul Okenfold, Teddybears, The Crystal Method, Pretty Lights…to name a few) and TRON: Legacy R3CONFIGUR3D was born.  One track in particular caught my eye more than the others, as it featured one of my favorites, M83, and then unknown to me, Big Black Delta.

♪ Daft Punk – Fall (M83 vs. Big Black Delta Remix) (from TRON: Legacy R3CONFIGUR3D)

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