tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38239774151934160792012-01-27T13:11:50.075-05:00Music/Mp3s/News/New York32feethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03296375890718048647noreply@blogger.comBlogger78212532feethttp://feedburner.google.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3823977415193416079.post-57623058342315655502012-01-25T22:05:00.000-05:002012-01-25T22:05:06.493-05:002012-01-25T22:05:06.493-05:00

Loney Dear mastermind Emil Svanagen seems to get a lot of mileage out of his project's name almost sounding like the word "lonely". This was particularly problematic in 2006 when the band's first LP broke into the hearts and minds of listeners with an ear for well-crafted bedroom pop, occasionally mistaking his name in confluence with his sound as "Lonely Dear". On latest promotional single, "

32feethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03296375890718048647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3823977415193416079.post-62828022426954345232012-01-24T06:00:00.000-05:002012-01-24T06:00:09.046-05:002012-01-24T06:00:09.046-05:00

For a second the glittering electronics offer a vivid flashback to Animal Collective's "My Girls". It's a dream, Kishi Bashi stuttering a bit to turn over the engine on the bizarre, colliding pop arrangement of stunning single, "It All Began With A Burst". But what begins with fits and starts - at first, synth loops and hand claps, vocal yelps and melody all tuning against each other like a

32feethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03296375890718048647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3823977415193416079.post-4834062695677192512012-01-21T22:51:00.000-05:002012-01-21T22:51:32.050-05:002012-01-21T22:51:32.050-05:00

It's important to build part of your first single around a falsehood, an adolescent insult. Harriet and slamming first single, "I Slept With All Your Mothers" is neither as graphic nor as illicit as the title and central lyric let on. The song pitches either a tragic brand of anti-heroism ("I'm sorry I let the gas run out") or the weirdest love song in history ("I slept with all your mothers/ I

32feethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03296375890718048647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3823977415193416079.post-35482463245698237142012-01-19T22:43:00.001-05:002012-01-23T17:43:12.064-05:002012-01-23T17:43:12.064-05:00

A suburban ethos proves appropriate for Capybara's "Neighbor Crimes", a certain intimacy mixed with a critical distance. Sounding like a UB40 demo taken out to the garage and then shot up in the sky, ripping guitars erupt over a lullaby, upstroke melody. The song focuses on three big guitar chords, alternately setting them against a glittering arrangement of reverbated pop and pulling them out

32feethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03296375890718048647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3823977415193416079.post-42725276730475385692012-01-18T22:38:00.000-05:002012-01-19T07:39:34.839-05:002012-01-19T07:39:34.839-05:00

There are a few Bradley Oberhofers on the cusp of the release of his debut full length album. There was the college student and label intern, so absurdly precocious that his demo songs demanded attention. The cuts were organized cacophony, colliding time signatures and arrangement shifts all thrown against Oberhofer's trademark, tweaking caterwaul. He had just moved from Tacoma, Washington and

32feethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03296375890718048647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3823977415193416079.post-40164658631763132592012-01-17T07:45:00.005-05:002012-01-17T07:45:54.949-05:002012-01-17T07:45:54.949-05:00

Calls for help have never sounded so good or so insincere. Australia's Jagwar Ma recently released "Come Save Me", an effervescent and crushing treatise on unrequited love, yet managing to never sound totally bent or broken. If the heartbreak remains on-going, "Come Save Me" sounds more like an invitation than a document of surrender. The sound is thrown back in that way that made Cults so

32feethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03296375890718048647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3823977415193416079.post-61137647030439503292012-01-15T19:03:00.002-05:002012-01-15T23:19:51.352-05:002012-01-15T23:19:51.352-05:00

Paying only cursory attention to the Los Angeles music scene has its benefits. The murky resplendence (see what happened there) of Cillie Barnes came to our attention due to her being sandwiched between LESANDS and PAPA, two bands we like a lot who don't care much for lower-case letters, on a bill at the Satellite in Silverlake next Saturday. Barnes is a face that faux-vintage photographs were

32feethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03296375890718048647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3823977415193416079.post-54056742236194973662012-01-12T22:04:00.000-05:002012-01-12T22:04:31.104-05:002012-01-12T22:04:31.104-05:00

Porcelain Raft is sneaking up on everyone and no one with his upcoming album, Strange Weekend. The tiny arrangements and demos released by the band in late 2010, evolved into more spacious, wistful, organ-driven creations. The sonic territory flecks the edges of the reverb-heavy drowned pop of the past few years, but cuts like "Unless You Speak From The Heart" rely on slicing sharp craft and

32feethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03296375890718048647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3823977415193416079.post-13829888288454231742012-01-10T23:07:00.000-05:002012-01-11T07:20:58.626-05:002012-01-11T07:20:58.626-05:00

Tiny Victories self-actualize in the second verse of "Lost Weekend". The arrangement whirrs around them and the snapping rhyme whips, "I know you, you got a stereo heart. You got an ache in your mind, and that's a bad way to start." It's a dreadfully simple way to get kicked in the teeth. The loops and structural architecture call on the recent work of Clock Opera, a simple chiming melody

32feethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03296375890718048647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3823977415193416079.post-80509608292872909622012-01-09T22:43:00.000-05:002012-01-10T07:27:44.778-05:002012-01-10T07:27:44.778-05:00

It is easy to forget at this advanced cultural moment in 2012 that the Garden State soundtrack meant a great deal in 2004. It proved as divisive as it was exciting, an argument for or against its existence boiling down to whether or not you already owned the first Shins LP. It didn't change anyone's life, we hope, but it did change the landscape for independent music. Buried Beds' latest

32feethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03296375890718048647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3823977415193416079.post-52571658549008217232012-01-06T20:38:00.000-05:002012-01-06T20:38:30.670-05:002012-01-06T20:38:30.670-05:00

Riding a year on the heels of La Sera's (nee Katy Goodman) first LP and fun, beachy singles, the part-time member of Vivian Girls is back with "Please Be My Third Eye" from her forthcoming sophomore record. This, considerably scuzzier than previous college radio sway, "Devil's Hearts Grow Gold" and "Never Come Around", features insistent guitars and attention-deficient drums. Goodman finds

32feethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03296375890718048647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3823977415193416079.post-68288586133242452882012-01-05T18:39:00.002-05:002012-01-05T18:39:40.870-05:002012-01-05T18:39:40.870-05:00

 Music for a doom-and-gloom 1950s high school dance that you never attended, The Denzels craft a brand of rock that represents an odd mixture of thrown-back influences and post-punk updates. On "Rae Rae", the chorus breaks on the laissez-faire, "I like you/I want to keep it that way", as an angular guitars rip towards the ceiling and the drums do a Box Step in the center of the dance floor. A

32feethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03296375890718048647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3823977415193416079.post-90363951680126499872012-01-04T06:00:00.000-05:002012-01-04T06:00:01.693-05:002012-01-04T06:00:01.693-05:00

Opening with a group of siren synthesizers, Dozens appear to raise the alarm from the very outset on "Forget Me". What follows listens like one of those emotionally sordid tales full of "too much wine", words that can't be taken back and, of course, mix CDs. The title lyric betrays some of the initial thrust of the chorus, a trampoline trip to the top of the room as synths erupt around the

32feethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03296375890718048647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3823977415193416079.post-75218515426122468622012-01-02T18:45:00.000-05:002012-01-02T18:53:52.373-05:002012-01-02T18:53:52.373-05:00

She's in your ear, you think, or is it your head? Close enough to make you pleasantly claustrophobic, 17-year old sensation, Ottilia and her perfect first single, "Forty Million Light Years" whisper an instantly memorable melody and a vocal so charming you'll struggle against your vocabulary to say anything besides, "precocious" and "phenomenal". A flecking guitar line that recalls the work of

32feethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03296375890718048647noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3823977415193416079.post-53278440368836258362011-12-30T23:08:00.000-05:002012-01-02T13:48:08.445-05:002012-01-02T13:48:08.445-05:00

A recurring feature of music journalism this century is the mindless prediction of who will "blow up" in the following year. This always feels a little odd coming from mainstream outlets like Rolling Stone, Spin and the BBC. A little like Fox News complaining about the "mainstream media", you think, but you are the mainstream media. If these artists are appearing in your pages, Spin Magazine -

32feethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03296375890718048647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3823977415193416079.post-64846138211137177952011-12-29T22:38:00.002-05:002011-12-29T22:38:43.932-05:002011-12-29T22:38:43.932-05:00

We hope you enjoyed our week long feature on the Top 50 Songs of 2011.  In addition, we've put together a group of 2011 rarities, songs that you might have missed as the B-side to a single release, a remix, a radio session, a cover, or a live show that ended up in our iTunes this year. We listened to thousands of individual songs in 2011 and occasionally we came across something not

32feethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03296375890718048647noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3823977415193416079.post-14658505653436327352011-12-29T11:06:00.000-05:002012-01-01T23:43:02.057-05:002012-01-01T23:43:02.057-05:00

All six studio albums by The Decemberists' were released during American involvement in Afghanistan. Five of the six LPs made their debut since the beginning of the Iraq War in 2003. The band grew up as the American empire collapsed. But it was this second conflict - one even hawkish foreign policy experts joined rock bands in calling, at the very least, gratuitous - that singer Colin Meloy

32feethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03296375890718048647noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3823977415193416079.post-45288674637012211132011-12-26T11:35:00.000-05:002011-12-26T11:40:40.870-05:002011-12-26T11:40:40.870-05:00

 Welcome to our annual countdown of the 50 best songs of the calendar year. Songs must be from an EP, LP or demo released during 2011, no band may appear twice. Each post title contains a lyric from one of the ten songs to follow, a hint and a hook that stuck out clearly in this group. Today, we count down 5 to 2. 5. Bon Iver - "Calgary" Justin Vernon risked being punchline after his

32feethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03296375890718048647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3823977415193416079.post-59454038610437346142011-12-23T06:00:00.000-05:002011-12-23T06:00:11.594-05:002011-12-23T06:00:11.594-05:00

Welcome to our annual countdown of the 50 best songs of the calendar year. Songs must be from an EP, LP or demo released during 2011, no band may appear twice. Each post title contains a lyric from one of the ten songs to follow, a hint and a hook that stuck out clearly in this group. Today, we count down 10-6. 10. Florence and the Machine - "Shake It Out"   Florence Welch

32feethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03296375890718048647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3823977415193416079.post-29085453397329558522011-12-22T06:00:00.000-05:002011-12-22T23:35:58.056-05:002011-12-22T23:35:58.056-05:00

Welcome to our annual countdown of the 50 best songs of the calendar year. Songs must be from an EP, LP or demo released during 2011, no band may appear twice. Each post title contains a lyric from one of the ten songs to follow, a hint and a hook that stuck out clearly in this group. Today, we count down 20-11. 20. Kyla La Grange - "Walk Through Walls" In a hospital

32feethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03296375890718048647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3823977415193416079.post-26054644667946916942011-12-21T06:00:00.000-05:002011-12-21T09:58:14.584-05:002011-12-21T09:58:14.584-05:00

Welcome to our annual countdown of the 50 best songs of the calendar year. Songs must be from an EP, LP or demo released during 2011, no band may appear twice. Each post contains a lyric from one of the ten songs to follow, a hint and a hook that stuck out clearly in this group. Today, we count down 30-21. 30. The Jezabels - "Endless Summer" This was the year and the album

32feethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03296375890718048647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3823977415193416079.post-91573517175089968712011-12-20T15:01:00.001-05:002011-12-20T16:12:06.133-05:002011-12-20T16:12:06.133-05:00

 Welcome to our annual countdown of the 50 best songs of the calendar year. Songs must be from an EP, LP or demo released during 2011, no band may appear twice. Each post contains a lyric from one of the ten songs to follow, a hint and a hook that stuck out clearly in this group. Today, we count down 40-31. 40. Milagres - "Glowing Mouth" We make a lot of jokes about modern independent rock

32feethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03296375890718048647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3823977415193416079.post-15802566621114642802011-12-19T22:17:00.000-05:002011-12-20T16:06:16.132-05:002011-12-20T16:06:16.132-05:00

Welcome to our annual countdown of the 50 best songs of the calendar year. Songs must be from an EP, LP or demo released during 2011 and no band may appear twice. Today, we count down 50 to 41. 50. California Wives - "Tokyo"  Nothing felt more neon than California Wives' "Tokyo" in 2011. It was nothing but synths and guitars, a chorus rooted in a geographic tautology, "They're building

32feethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03296375890718048647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3823977415193416079.post-2777276833383772932011-12-16T08:31:00.003-05:002011-12-16T08:31:41.825-05:002011-12-16T08:31:41.825-05:00

Mixing some initial bombast, anxious guitars and a clap track, with an acoustic progression and background vocals cribbed out of the Local Natives notebook, Jethro Fox crafts a shimmering and brilliant first single, "Before". The best moment contained herein lies in the song's the bridge, a stop-gap between the second chorus and the last two. The vocals are pulled out and a Real Estate-y guitar

32feethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03296375890718048647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3823977415193416079.post-41935291328645005312011-12-15T11:55:00.002-05:002011-12-15T16:36:29.445-05:002011-12-15T16:36:29.445-05:00

It was in the winter of my freshman year of college that I saw the broad impact that phamacutical-grade amphetamines were making on my generation. After a night spent cloistered in my dorm having one of those conversations that college freshman so frequently have about nothing and everything, I arrived at breakfast an exhausted and unprepared wreck. It was exam week and I had spent the night

32feethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03296375890718048647noreply@blogger.com1