February 2012
6 posts
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Beat Connection - Surf Noir EP (2010)
Sound: Chillwave, Surf-Pop, Electronic
You won’t know were time went after spinning this gorgeous Extended Play from Seattle’s Beat Connection. Surf Noir is sophisticated and grown-up surf pop. But that’s only half the story. They also set aside the caustic washes, and tremolo for an unabashed move to the 80s dance floor. This is infectious, and generously extended and we...
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Coasting - You're Never Going Back (2011)
This one is from last year, November to be specific, but You’re Never Going Back has started to melt my brainwaves the last few days. Hailing from Brooklyn, Coasting, is just a guitar (Madison Farmer) and a drumset (Fiona Campell) but boy, oh boy do they sound bigger than the minimal mentioning and make as much noise as any quartet or quintet band out there, if not more. With Surf...
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January 2012
32 posts
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Tennis - Young and Old (2012)
Sound: Lo-Fi, Indie Pop,
2nd effort from Tennis. For this album guitarist Patrick Riley, vocalist Aliana Moore and drummer James Barone headed to Nashville to work with The Black Keys’ Patrick Carney. Huge departure. “Origins” might be their best song ever put out. It sounds very grown up - lyrically and musically. Check it out below.
It All Feels The Same
Origins
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Washed Out - Within and Without (2011)
Sound: chillwave, electronic, lo-fi, chillout
Similar: M83, Neon Indian,
Washed Out is Ernest Greene, a young guy from Perry, Georgia, who makes bedroom synthpop that sounds blurred and woozily evocative. This album is just fantastic and really chill. We have already heard three tracks from this album entitled “Eyes Be Closed”, “Echoes”, and “Amor...
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Best of 2011 - #1: The Black Keys - El Camino
We’ll we made it to #1. Yay… This was not an easy decision to make. Plowing through my album reviews for the year, I realised just how much good music there was in 2011. So many didn’t quite make the cut and I regard them as solid albums: Radiohead - King of Limbs // Pains of Being Young at Heart - Belong // Yuck - Yuck // Cage the Elephant - Thank You Happy Birthday...
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Best of 2011 - #2: The Antlers - Burst Apart
I’ll be honest, after Hospice, an unrelentingly bleak yet gorgeous album, I had no idea what to expect from brooklyn based trio, The Antlers, on their follow-up, Burst Apart. They clearly decided to take a different path on it, which was a wise move as the album has a more expansive, wide-ranging feel than Hospice. Burst Apart is true to its name, and when listening to the album...
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Best of 2011 - #3: M83 - Hurry Up, We're Dreaming
I’ve always been a sucker for sprawling double albums. I consider Sonic Youth’s Daydream Nation, Smashing Pumpkins’ Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, The Beatles’ White Album (among others) to be classic unforgettable double LP records. Anthony Gonzalez’s latest, and in fact greatest, effort is right in up my alley. And it does not disappoint. This is a gleaming,...
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Best of 2011 - #4: Metronomy - The English Riviera
This album is probably the most fun out of all on my list. It makes me feel like it’s okay to bust out with the Carlton on the dance floor… and for the record its always acceptable. There was a time when you might have mentioned Metronomy in the same breath as, say, Friendly Fires. Maybe Cut Copy too, for that matter. But from the first moments of The English Riveria, with the sounds of...
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Best of 2011 - #5: The Drums - Portamento
This is a 5 star beach/end of summer record, a giant mix of melancholy and sweetness. Tight, riff-driven, post-punk songs will always find a place in my heart and while there are tons of bands who do a lot of this sort of thing, The Drums seem to capture the best elements of this sort of indie-post-punk movement going on today. Couple that with a sharp pop sensibility that reminds me of...
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Best of 2011 - #6: Thee Oh Sees - Carrion...
I kid you not Carrion Crawler/The Dream (composed of 2 EPs) was at #21 but then i listened to it and it started creeping up higher and higher on the countdown. Without a doubt one of the most productive bands of the year. When many bands struggle to put out a decent EP, Thee Oh Sees put out 2 albums in the same year… and 5 in the past 3 years. Of the 2 albums this year… Carrion...
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Best of 2011 - #7: Fleet Foxes - Helplessness...
Thank goodness for my hipster friends having great taste in music and for having me explore folk like a real musician should. I mean without them, I probably wouldn’t know who this band is and wouldnt know how beautiful folk can be. Now, I could go on and on about how Fleet Foxes almost didn’t release this album and how we’re all lucky to be able to hear it and that’d be true. But...
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Best of 2011 - #8: Beirut - The Rip Tide
Beirut’s The Rip Tide was one of the most anticipated albums of the summer in 2011, and for good reason. One of the main things that I liked about Beirut is the consistency of their sound and their work; rich, textured, full, creative, clever, engaging, and a pillar of influence to other musicians around the world. And while Beirut does have a recognizable sound – the unmistakable brass...
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Best of 2011 - #9: Smith Westerns - Dye it Blonde
This album is a swinging, rollicking good time. Yes i said ‘Rollicking’. These Chicago boys craft catchy hooks, and some surprising well-placed changes in song structure. Think of a Beatles’ final 8-bars, then listen to “All Die Young” or “Dance Away”. You’ll be reminded of the fabulous britpop of the 60’ and early 90s, in a good...
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Best of 2011 - #10: Cults - Cults
And now into the nitty gritty… The Top 10.
Cults are the haunting vocals from Madeline Follin along retro-sounding twee pop/noise of Brian Oblivion, and it was a huge surprise for me. The Manhattan-based duo embrace vintage love with obvious influences ranging from The Supremes, to Phil Spector, to the early sixties and surf rock. Im not gonna lie, I was pretty worried about this...
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Best of 2011 - #10.5: Triptides - Psychic Summer
Yup you read that right. This is number 10.5 and i dont care what you say but i loved this album soooo much and it deserved to be in my “Top 10” but sadly i just couldnt fit it in… So i did the next best thing. (Insert half baked puzzled smile look here)
I picked this one up at the perfect time this summer. The heat was blistering in the west coast, but these tracks...
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Best of 2011 - #11: Seapony - Go With Me
35 minutes in 12 songs following the same indie twee pop format as The Notes and Beach Fossils, Go with Me delivers a quick, lovely and inviting walk through a breezy Summer night with seducing vocals, straightforward guitar riffs, and basic drum lines. I feel like having experienced a time machine and found myself in 1988 with their pure twee indiepop, simple, bright and melodic. The...
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Best of 2011 - #12: Real Estate - Days
Days is fun, accessible and pretty. It is smart, reverb drenched indie pop that sounds effortless and doesn’t reduce the “beach” appeal the New Jersey quartet are known for. With their second album Real Estate have left their fuzzier roots and entered a world of blissful, dreamy, indie pop. Sometimes the change can kill a band, but in this case it’s only made them stronger. At their...
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Best of 2011 - #13: The Vaccines - What Did You...
The Vaccines have a sound equally influenced by 70′s punk and 80′s synth, with lyrics that sometimes dip into the sleazy, dangerous territory of The Raveonettes. These elements meld surprisingly well on their debut release What Did You Expect From The Vaccines? This album has some of the best pop treasures of the year, but even at its short half hour runtime, it seems like we want more...
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Best of 2011 - #14: Algernon Cadwallader - Parrot...
I used to hate Algernon Cadwallader. My friend Hector showed me the album “Some Kind Of Cadwallader” over a year ago and I just couldn’t get over the vocalists’ almost, and I say almost because it is almost, off-key vocal style that didnt sync with the music. After hearing them a few more times over the course of summer roadtrips and beach journeys, I started to...
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Best of 2011 - #15: Crystal Antlers - Two Way...
This album was written in a barn. Seriously. Last February, the Long Beach CA five-piece Crystal Antlers, which includes a percussionist and a set of keys, took off to live in a barn in Baja Mexico, near Ensenada, to record their second full-length, Two-Way Mirror. The album takes a few listens all the way through before songs start to stand out. But it sounds just like the surfer-rock...
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Best of 2011 - #16: Bombay Bicycle Club - A...
A Different Kind Of Fix indeed! After 2010’s acoustic-centered, Flaws, Bombay Bicycle Club return with another fantastic follow-up that threads the dance-pop fusion of Passion Pit with the ambient intonations of Interpol. A bit of a departure for the young brits who in only their early 20’s have completed their 3rd LP for us to enjoy and spin on repeat! This album is just...
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Best of 2011 - #17: Craft Spells - Idle Labor
There’s a lot of chillwave albums that came out in 2011, but Craft Spells Debut album Idle Labor seemed to have left a truly real lasting impression. Californian front man Justin Vallesteros combines bright guitars, warm vocals, and smooth bass lines riffs and it’s hard not to love it. A throwback to the 80s if you will, having a huge post Joy Division/early New...
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Best of 2011 - #18: Wye Oak - Civilian
This was a real pleasure to listen to. Just imagine Beach House went Rocker trading in their Lo-Fi sound for something heavy yet still being able to retain their “dreaminess”. With their third LP, Civilian, the duo composed of Jenn Wasner and Andy Stack have created the most epic-sounding music of any two-person band this side of Japandroids. This really is a versatile album...
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Best of 2011 - #19: By Surprise - Mountain...
When I first heard Mountain Smashers, the debut full-length record by New Jersey’s By Surprise on the increasingly impressive Topshelf Records roster, I could’ve easily labeled them as yet another “90s emo revival” band and dismiss them completely. But after the 2nd spin or so, I couldn’t. So what it is about By Surprise that I feel sets them apart from the rest?...
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Best of 2011 - #20: Summer Camp - Welcome to...
As we continue the countdown id like to stress that i really really hate pretty much everything on the radio and mtv. And so should you. It’s all “pop” with no true flavor. All artificial nonsense. But sometimes there is an exception in this genre that gets a bad rep for trying to be indie. Welcome to Condale is that exception. In fact its the only pop album on my...
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Best of 2011 - #21: Jacuzzi Boys - Glazin'
Lets get this strait, this is my own personal opinion as to what i feel is the best list i can think of from my less than appreciated mind when it comes to Albums that really struck a chord with me. It just reflects my personal favorites of the year. With that said, let me stress that there are waaaaaay too many Albums to mention in a “Top Ten” list. So what shall we do to cover a few...
December 2011
10 posts
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Seapony - Go With Me (2011)
Sound: Shoegaze, Indie-Pop
Similar: Wild Nothing, Will Croucher, Beach Fossils
So even thought this came out in the spring, I just got it this week. Seapony is a band I very quickly came across, and that could be a sign that they’re pretty popular already. I’m posting anyway as I did find their debut album, Go With Me, quite charming. Anyone who reads the blog knows how...
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Watch
Two Wounded Birds - All I wanna do
http://twowoundedbirds.com/
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Will Croucher - I'd Rather Be Dreaming EP (2011)
Sound: Shoegaze, Grunge, Indie
Similar: My Bloody Valentine, Dinosour Jr, Sonic Youth,
Oh man, oh man. Its like we went back to the 90’s and started dreaming again. Will Croucher’s EP “I’d Rather Be Dreaming” from Glowmobile Records is perfectly shoegaze, evoking the sound of bands like The Swirlies and Slowdive. Great music to dream to, if you ask me!
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Sourpatch - Crushin' (2010)
Twee-punk-pop band from San Jose. Sourpatch play in the vein of influences such as Tiger Trap, Rocketship, Velocity Girl, Henry’s Dress, Boyracer, Cub, Heavenly, Go Sailor, Black Tambourine, and so many 90’s west coast bands! Other than that I know very little about this band, but the music is cool and a lot of fun to get down to.
Down: MF // Mirror
Listen:
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Surfer Blood - Tarot Classics (2011)
You might know Surfer Blood because of ‘Swim‘, one of the most anthemic songs of the last two years. You may also have heard their wonderful debut album Astro Coast. Well, the four-piece Surfer Blood, who hail from West Palm Beach, Florida, which, I guess, justifies their name, are returning with a four-track EP in October, Tarot Classics, released on Kanine Records. Dig in!…
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WatchM83: Midnight City on Jimmy Fallon (11/21/11)
- Saxaphone, Man! Saxaphone!
November 2011
13 posts
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The Black Keys - El Camino (2011)
Sound: Blues, Indie Rock, Garage
The Black Keys began recording for their seventh studio album around March 2011. They reportedly recorded in Dan’s new studio in Nashville, Tennessee. Earlier in the year they revealed in an interview with Spin that they had finished work on the album, comparing the sound to influences such as The Clash and The Cramps. Enough said!
Tracklist:
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