Pop Headwound

Pop Headwound Has Moved!

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 05:34:00 +0000

So go ahead and update your links. Go to: http://www.popheadwound.com/.

Check it out and let me know what you think. See you over there...

-------------------------------

[mp3] Dirty Beaches - "Lord Knows Best"

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 04:56:00 +0000

“Lord Knows Best” is distant, decaying soul music by way of Montreal’s Dirty Beaches, the recording project of Alex Zhang Hungtai. The song made its way around the blogs earlier this week, but tonight I’m finally falling under its haunting spell as it just repeats in my headphones over and over (and over and over). It comes from Badlands, a mini-LP to be released by Zoo Music in March that is suddenly something I desperately want to hear more of.

MP3 :: Lord Knows Best

(from Badlands. Info here)

----------------------------------------------

[video] Pandit - "Pack Your Bags"

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 04:53:00 +0000

Pandit - Pack Your Bags from Tyler T Williams on Vimeo.

Here’s a new video, which made its debut today over at Stereogum, for Pandit’s heartbroken “Pack Your Bags”. The track leads off their upcoming full length debut, Eternity Spin, and this appropriately somber string of visuals was directed by Tyler T. Williams. Just in case you missed it a few weeks ago, check out the shimmering dream-pop of “Artichoke” below, also from Eternity Spin.

MP3 :: Artichoke

(from Eternity Spin. Info here)

--------------------------------------------

[mp3] Kurt Vile - "Jesus Fever"

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 02:59:00 +0000

After we got the breezy, West Coast indie-folk flavored “In My Time” last year, Matador has released another teaser mp3 from Kurt Vile’s upcoming Smoke Ring For My Halo. After the sharp sonic contrasts that marked Vile’s last full length, 2009’s excellent Childish Prodigy, I thought the next new Vile track to surface would either find him rocking out behind a wall of guitar noise or stripping things down to a back to basics lo-fi folk song – try to show another side to the man’s talent. Instead “Jesus Fever” surprises because of its similar melodic and sonic structure to “In My Time” – it’s practically a dead ringer actually. And that’s fine – Vile proves quite adept at this kind of laid back, chiming sound that would have fit right in on AM radio in the early 70’s. And by the way, that’s the updated album art up there. Neil Young anyone?

MP3 :: Jesus Fever

(from Smoke Ring For My Halo. Info here)

Previously:

MP3 :: Kurt Vile – “In My Time”

-------------------------------------------------------------------

[mp3] Tape Deck Mountain - "It Goes Down"

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 03:39:00 +0000

Lefse Records has had a handful of interesting releases over the past few months - from Love Remains, the spellbinding debut from How to Dress Well, to RIP JDS, the addictive dance/pop EP from Bikini. Add a new EP from San Diego’s Tape Deck Mountain to the list. Secret Serf will contain four new songs and drops next week. Take a listen to the surging lo-fi psyche of “It Goes Down” below, and keep an ear out for more from these guys this year.

MP3 :: It Goes Down

(from Secret Serf. Buy here)

---------------------------------------------------------

[mp3] Beach Fossils - "Calyer"

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 03:29:00 +0000

Happy New Year everyone. Beach Fossils will release a new EP on January 11 through Captured Tracks with the full length follow up to last year’s excellent self-titled debut coming this spring. Hear “Calyer”, the jangly, reverb-laden lead single from the EP, below.

MP3 :: Calyer

(from the What A Pleasure EP. Info here)

-----------------------------------------------------------

PHW - The December 2010 Playlist

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 04:12:00 +0000

MP3 :: On the Inside / Britches

MP3 :: Girlfriend / Ty Segall

MP3 :: Decisions (ft. Yuksel Arslan)

MP3 :: Bow Echo / Great Elk

MP3 :: Never Follow Suit / The Radio Dept.

MP3 :: Still Sound / Toro Y Moi

MP3 :: Artichoke / Pandit

MP3 :: Stamp / The Rural Alberta Advantage

MP3 :: Swim Club / The Cave Singers

MP3 :: Eating An Ocean / Wynn Walent

MP3 :: Little Brown Haired Girls / Frankie Rose & the Outs

MP3 :: Artificial Snow (Bedroom Version) / Atlas Sound

MP3 :: I Do Not Care For The Winter Sun / Beach House

------------------------------------------------

[video] Kanye West - "Monster" (ft. Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj, & Bon Iver)

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 02:20:00 +0000

Here’s the official video for the supernatural, star-studded My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy jam.

------------------------------------

[Catching Up w/ 2010] Frog Eyes - Paul's Tomb: A Triumph

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 05:16:00 +0000

As 2010 draws to a close, I’m still playing catch up with some of the records that I missed or slept on over the past 12 months. The fact that I’m only now getting into Frog Eyes’ Paul’s Tomb: A Triumph is one that I have no excuse for. I posted both of the songs Dead Oceans made available as free downloads back in February and March, and one of which, “Flower In A Glove”, made such an impression and stuck around enough to earn a place in my Top 20 of the Year. Their last album, 2007’s Tears of the Valedictorian, was a personal favorite that year. How I never picked up the rest of Paul’s Tomb until last week is beyond me. But am I ever glad I did.

Anyone who’s listened to Carey Mercer, either in Frog Eyes, as part of his Swan Lake side project with Dan Bejar and Spencer Krug, or in his quieter solo project Blackout Beach, is probably well aware of the intensity with which Mercer attacks each syllable he sings. He’s known to roar, howl, and yelp like a lunatic, and on Paul’s Tomb: A Triumph he holds nothing back. It’s a 45 minute vocal death charge – raw, manic, reckless, and utterly unnerving. The fact that his band plays every note with such a distinct and disarming volatility only elevates the whole thing.

I love what Coke Machine Glow had to say recently on the supposed difficulty of this record (which, in all honesty, most likely kept me away for so long), in their “Albums of the Year” list (#5, btw) - But once you’ve an ear in the door, listening—just try and turn it off. Every song. Every goddamn song. It’s a fucking miracle, the way Mercer, in the hands of Frog Eyes, takes something so raw and unattractive and executes it with such blissful, unapologetic beauty. So here it is, easily one of the year’s best rock albums, finally getting the props I should have given it months ago.

MP3 :: Flower In A Glove

MP3 :: Lear In Love

(from Paul’s Tomb: A Triumph. Buy here)

-------------------------------------------------

Introducing: Britches

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 05:14:00 +0000

Hailing from St. Louis, Britches is a 3-piece act (with mad photoshopping skills) who play a screechingly loud, cacophonous brand of hard rock that I don’t usually associate with the Midwest these days. (Though that’s probably more my being under-informed than any reflection on the current Midwest scene). The songs on Demo, their new free EP available on bandcamp, draw as much, if not more, from noise/experimental bands like Liars or even This Heat as much as straight up indie-rock. “White Noise” fucks with the delicate electric guitars of Radiohead’s “No Surprises” and “---‘s Trash Can” is flat out menacing. My favorite though is “On the Inside”, which opens the record and positively soars, finding the band using their noisier tendencies and strong melodic sense in equal measure.

MP3 :: On the Inside

(from Demo. Download here)

--------------------------------------------------------------

[Catching up w/ 2010] Ty Segall - Melted

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 04:24:00 +0000

Ty Segall’s Melted is one of the 2010 releases that I missed out on completely when it dropped back in the summer. I’ve only caught up with it recently after seeing it on various year end lists over the past few weeks. Melted has some of the most primal, ferocious rock & roll you’ve heard all year over its 30 blistering minutes. It’s almost as ugly as the cover art would suggest. Yet Segall never lets the noise overpower the hooks - Melted is full of sparkling and gritty garage-rock melodies. “Girlfriend” is the perfect place to start – walls of fuzzy guitar, handclaps, snarling vocals, and the most amazing one-note piano solo ever.

MP3 :: Girlfriend

(from Melted. Buy here)

----------------------------------------------------

[Catching Up w/ 2010] How To Dress Well - Love Remains

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 04:56:00 +0000

I’ve spent the past two weeks catching up with some of the records that I either slept on this year or missed entirely. How to Dress Well’s debut Love Remains falls into the former group – it’s one I’ve had for a few months but have only recently devoted some time to. HtDW is the solo project of Tom Krell, a guy with a sick falsetto (clearly reminiscent of Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon) who writes lithe R&B slow jams and records them on the cheap – full of crackling clicks and hisses. But where some bands use lo-fi recording as a gimmick, the lack of sonic clarity is perhaps the most vital component on Love Remains, allowing the music to come across, as intended, as if they were being drawn out of the deepest corners of childhood memory. The result is a ghostly, highly intimate listening experience and unquestionably one of the most unique albums I’ve heard in ages.

MP3 :: Decisions (feat. Yuksel Arslan)

(from Love Remains. Buy here)

-------------------------------------------------

[video] The Sweetbriars - "Virginia, This Christmas"

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 03:45:00 +0000

Continuing the theme of the day, here’s another atypical Christmas song. This one is courtesy of The Sweetbriars and is one that I’ve posted before, but now it’s got a new, perhaps Cee-Lo Green inspired video. So I hope you’re not illiterate. “Virginia, This Christmas” may sound like a direct descendent of a handful of your favorite clean cut holiday classics, but lyrically, it takes some left turns. Pick it up over at iTunes and play it for your grandma.

-------------------------------------------

[mp3] Atlas Sound - "Artificial Snow"

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 03:13:00 +0000

Since it’s been so long since we’ve heard anything new from Bradford Cox, the prolific Deerhunter/Atlas Sound front man decided the time was right to drop 5 different versions of an original holiday themed song on his blog. “Artificial Snow” mines some pretty bleak childhood memories though, not your typical carefree Christmas jingle. Here’s one of the versions, check the others out here.

MP3 :: Artificial Snow (Bedroom version)

----------------------------------------------

[video] PJ Harvey - "The Last Living Rose"

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 03:12:00 +0000

PJ Harvey’s Let England Shake drops February 15 through Vagrant.

-------------------------------------------

[video] Girls - "Heartbreaker"

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 00:58:00 +0000

Girls - "Heartbreaker" from The Tearist on Vimeo.

It’s doubtful that this one is an “official” video (seems a bit too “SFW” for Girls!), but it sure does the trick. It comes via Weekly Tape Deck and features scenes from “Chelsea Girls” by Paul Morissey and Andy Warhol. The achingly wistful “Heartbreaker” is from Girls’ new Broken Dreams Club EP, one of my favorite releases of the year. After you watch, head over to WTD for the MP3.

----------------------------------------------------------

[mp3] Bright Eyes - "Shell Games"

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 00:43:00 +0000

Saddle Creek released “Shell Games”, a cut from Bright Eye’s upcoming The People’s Key, today, as well as giving us a look at the fiery artwork. The new album drops 2/15/11.

-------------------------------------------------------

[guest post] 2010 in Review, Vol. 9 - Great Elk

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 03:22:00 +0000

(Paul, right. Photo cred)

Paul Basile is one half of the creative team behind Brooklyn (by way of Alaska, by way of Long Island) indie/folk/rock band Great Elk. I’ve been friends with Paul since he was about 16, collectively obsessing over most of the same bands ever since. But that’s neither here nor there. If Paul was a complete stranger I’d still blast Great Elk’s incredible 5-song EP for anyone who’d listen. After playing around NYC for a few years, first by himself and later as part of the short lived but much loved Here Lies Pa, Basile and guitarist Patrick Hay formed Great Elk. Their first full year together was quite eventful. They dropped the EP last spring, got some nice attention from Paste and Magnet, packed Mercury Lounge a handful of times, and toured all over the Northeast. Check out two seriously great songs from the EP, and then read what Paul had to say about the music he loved (and didn’t love) this year:

MP3 :: Bow Echo

MP3 :: Vibrations

(from the Great Elk EP. Buy here)

--------------------------------------------------

Paul:

Traditionally, I've avoided contributing to year end music lists of any sort because the fact is, for a guy who purportedly loves music, I really don't listen to it that much. I did, once, for a long time. But these days I find that I have little hunger for new music. I don’t really know why that is. I know musicians who actively avoid music for fear it will influence their ‘pure inner voice’ or something but I don’t buy that. Maybe I’m just content to continue ripping off the same artists I was 5 years ago.

Anyway, I not-so-gracefully dodged contributing to this series last year so I decided to put some real thought into 2010 and me and music. Not surprisingly, I don’t have much to say about music that came out this year (not much that’s positive, anyway) but I’ll say as much as I can about what I have been listening to, whether it’s of this 365 days or not.

I’ll start on a negative note with the obvious things that did come out in 2010 which are some of the records that I assume a lot of people will be talking about in these sort of things. In fact, I’m just going to lump a few albums together - The Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs, The National’s High Violet and Band of Horses’ Infinite Arms are the three records I was excited about at the start of this year, before they were released. These are three bands that came to my attention somewhere between 2004 and 2006 and seem to have held my attention pretty well since. As I watched them move from Funeral to Neon Bible, Alligator to Boxer and Everything all of the Time to Cease to Begin, I think I believed I was witnessing three bands at the beginnings of important legacies in rock music. Certainly, that may still be true but all three of them left me disappointed me this year. In all fairness, I didn’t even try to like BOH’s newest effort. It was obvious to me after a couple listens that them boys have lost their balls. Was he serious with that Bartles and James shit? Shouldn’t that be a line from an early Gin Blossoms song or something?

The thing is, with Arcade Fire and The National I really did try. Damn, I can even hear myself defending them before friends who were hating a few months ago. But despite serious and honest efforts, those records just never sank in with me. I don’t dislike them, but knowing that I’m going to see them all over “Top Ten” lists in a few weeks bugs me. Both records sound good and sound distinctly like Arcade Fire and The National, respectively. The Suburbs sounds to me like filler from an earlier, superior, Arcade Fire album. Every song on High Violet makes me wish I were listening to Boxer, or even better, Alligator. I think it’s just that the songs aren’t as good.

The funny thing is that if I had to pick a “Top Ten” from this year those two albums would be at or near the top. As I said earlier, I’m not paying a whole lot of attention these days.

So what do I like that was released this year? I’m pretty into The Tallest Man on Earth. The Wild Hunt has probably gotten nearly as much play as anything in my house in 2010. My wife and I both love Beach House’s Teen Dream too.

If we were still playing cassette tapes at home the one we would have worn out this year is Blind Pilot’s 3 Rounds and a Sound. While this Portland, OR folk outfit’s debut was released in 2008 it’s only in the last 10 or 12 months that I found it. In some ways I think my love of this record marks a reversion to some younger version of my self as a music listener. Blind Pilot sounds much more like something I’d have listened to when I was a Birkenstock wearing 18 yr old in the 90’s (Jim knew me then) than anything else that gets frequent play on my iPod. At first, I only begrudgingly liked it, in spite of all my 21^st century indie-rock pretenses. Sonically, the album’s foundation is a nylon string guitar and brushes on a snare drum. Add bass for a song here, some horns for a chorus there and some occasional coloring from strings, a banjo or an accordion and you’ve basically got it. The strength of 3 Rounds and a Sound is its consistently strong melodies. The genius of it is that there’s nothing to get in the way of them. This is by no means ground-breaking stuff but at a time when so much of the music I’ve listened to in the last few years seems to be getting tired (or sounding like variations on the same few themes) it’s been refreshing to soak up some well done, completely unpretentious folk rock.

My other favorite album of 2010 is even older. Neil Young’s On the Beach came out in 1974 and was the highly anticipated follow-up to Harvest. When it hit it seems that folks were pretty shocked by its rawness in comparison to its beautifully produced predecessor. It received rave reviews and die hard fans loved it but it never had the commercial success of Harvest. The record was taken out of print in the early 80’s, appeared on cassette only briefly and then wasn’t released on CD until 2003. Its rarity made it a highly sought-after, all but forgotten nugget from what were undeniably Young’s best years. I stumbled upon On the Beach a few years ago but it’s only in the last six months that I’ve really dug into it. This is an album best listened to from top to bottom but highlights include “See the Sky about to Rain”, “Motion Pictures” and “Ambulance Blues”.

Some other things I like that I think you should listen to (most of which came out this year)… Secondstar – Teeth, Wynn Walent – Eating an Ocean, Casey Shea – Love is Here to Stay, Jessi Robertson’s single, “Half Moon”, Matt Singer – Live at The Warehouse, Monuments – Monuments.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

photo cred

------------------------------------------------------------------------

[mp3] Cut Copy - "Take Me Away (Thee Loving Hand remix)"

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 01:08:00 +0000

Australian electro-pop pioneers Cut Copy are releasing the follow up to their acclaimed In Ghost Colours this February. Zonoscope, along with its very cool artwork, drops in the U.S. on 2/8, and you can get a free download of bouncy first single “Where I’m Going” below. Today the band made Thee Loving Hand’s (Tim Goldsworthy, producer of In Ghost Colours) extended, hypnotic remix of album cut “Take Me Over” available as another free download. Follow the link to Cut Copy’s website to check it out:

MP3 :: Take Me Over (Thee Loving Hand remix)

------------------

--------------------

SONGS of the YEAR - 2010

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 03:10:00 +0000

Here’s a list of my favorite songs of 2010, with no artist appearing more than once. Otherwise Titus Andronicus would have 3 songs in the top ten. Hope you like the same music as me in the exact same order:

1. Titus Andronicus

“A More Perfect Union” (mp3)

---------------------------------------------------

2. The Tallest Man on Earth

“Love is All”

---------------------------------------------------

3. Sleigh Bells

“Rill Rill”

---------------------------------------------------

4. LCD Soundsystem

“All I Want”

LCD Soundsystem - All I Want (Live) from Big Ass Lens on Vimeo.

---------------------------------------------------

5. Kanye West

“Runaway (ft. Pusha T)”

---------------------------------------------------

6. Arcade Fire

“The Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)”

---------------------------------------------------

7. The Radio Dept.

“Heaven’s On Fire” (mp3)

The Radio Dept. - Heaven's On Fire from Thal on Vimeo.

---------------------------------------------------

8. Four Tet x The xx

“VCR (Four Tet remix)”

The xx - VCR (Four Tet remix) by Four Tet

---------------------------------------------------

9. French Kissing

“Oh Suzanne” (mp3) (Year in Review guest post)

---------------------------------------------------

10. Broken Social Scene

“Meet Me in The Basement”

---------------------------------------------------

11. Deerhunter

“Helicopter”

---------------------------------------------------

12. Tennis

“Marathon” (mp3)

TENNIS - MARATHON from Chocolate Bobka on Vimeo.

---------------------------------------------------

13. Botany

“Feeling Today” (mp3) (Year in Review guest post)

---------------------------------------------------

14. The Walkmen

“Angela/Surf City”

The Walkmen Angela Surf City [1 of 3] from Ray Concepcion on Vimeo.

---------------------------------------------------

15. Japandroids

“Younger Us” (mp3)

---------------------------------------------------

16. Joanna Newsom

“Baby Birch”

---------------------------------------------------

17. Janelle Monae

“Tightrope (ft. Big Boi)”

---------------------------------------------------

18. Great Elk

“Bow Echo” (mp3)

---------------------------------------------------

19. Weekend

“Coma Summer” (mp3)

---------------------------------------------------

20. Frog Eyes

“A Flower in a Glove” (mp3)

---------------------------------------------------

21. The Black Keys / “She’s Long Gone”

22. Beach House / “Walk In the Park” (video)

23. Cee-Lo Green / “Fuck You” (video)

24. No Age / “Glitter” (mp3)

25. Why Write? / “Burning Holes” (mp3)

26. Women / “Eyesore” (mp3)

27. The War on Drugs / “The History of Plastic” (mp3)

28. Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti / “Round and Round” (mp3)

29. The National / “Terrible Love” (video)

30. Phosphorescent / “The Mermaid Parade” (mp3)

31. Justin Townes Earle / “Harlem River Blues” (mp3)

32. Vampire Weekend / “Taxi Cab”

33. Ted Leo & The Pharmacists / “The Mighty Sparrow” (mp3)

34. Spoon / “Trouble Comes Running”

35. Big Boi / “Shutterbug (ft. Cutty)” (video)

36. Shearwater / “Castaways” (mp3)

37. Best Coast / “The End”

38. Marah / “Within the Spirit Sagging” (video)

39. Sam Amidon / “Relief” (mp3)

40. The New Pornographers / “The Crash Years”

41. Earl Pickens & Family / “True Too”

42. Soft Black / “We Scatter Light” (mp3)

43. Suuns / “Organ Blues”

44. Millionyoung / “Calrissian” (mp3 – follow link)

45. Crystal Castles / “Not in Love (ft. Robert Smith)”

46. La Sera / “Never Come Around” (mp3) (video)

47. James Blake / “CMYK”

48. Here We Go Magic / “Collector” (mp3)

49. Seapony / “Dreaming” (mp3)

50. David Shane Smith / “Creatures” (mp3)

51. Girls / “Heartbreaker” (mp3)

52. Evenings / “Still Young” (mp3)

53. The Roadside Graves / “Liv Tyler” (mp3)

54. David Dondero / “Wherever You Go” (mp3)

55. Wild Nothing / “Summer Holiday” (mp3)

56. Cotton Jones / “Glorylight & Christie” (mp3)

57. How to Dress Well / “Decisions (ft. Yuksel Arslan)” (mp3)

58. Neon Indian “ “Sleep Paralysist” (mp3)

59. The Drums / “Let’s Go Surfing” (mp3)

60. ceo / “Come With Me” (mp3)

61. The Spend / “Gills (Dry)” (mp3) (Year in Review guest post)

62. The Vaccines / “Wreckin’ Bar (Ra Ra Ra)” (video)

63. Frankie Rose & The Outs / “Little Brown Haired Girls” (mp3)

64. Sharon Van Etten / “Love More” (mp3)

65. Pantha du Prince / “Lay In A Shimmer”

66. Disappears / “Magics”

67. Banjo or Freakout / “Left it Alone” (mp3)

68. Das Rascist / “hahahaha jk?” (mp3)

69. Magic Kids / “Summer” (mp3)

70. Wakey! Wakey! / “Got It All Wrong”

71. Delorean – “Stay Close” (mp3)

72. Perfume Genius / “Learning” (mp3)

73. M.I.A. – “It Takes A Muscle”

74. Beach Fossils / “Youth” (mp3)

75. Coma Cinema / “Her Sinking Sun” (mp3)

76. Harlem / “Friendly Ghost” (mp3)

77. Reading Rainbow / “Wasting Time” (mp3)

78. Tokyo Police Club / “Breakneck Speed”

79. Wynn Walent / “Eating an Ocean” (mp3)

80. The Capstan Shafts / “Quiet Wars” (mp3)

81. Free Energy / “Bang Pop” (video)

82. Meursault / “Crank Resolutions” (mp3)

83. Male Bonding / “Year’s Not Long” (mp3)

84. Secret Knives / “Black Hole” (mp3)

85. Bikini / “American Mourning” (mp3)

86. Damien Jurado / “Arkansas” (mp3)

87. Dum Dum Girls / “Jail La La” (mp3)

88. jj / “Let Go” (mp3)

89. Toro Y Moi / “Leave Everywhere” (mp3)

90. The Hold Steady / “The Sweet Part of the City”

91. J. Tillman / “Diamondback” (mp3)

92. Out Like Lambs / Bred to Bug (mp3)

93. Kurt Vile / “In My Time” (mp3)

94. Los Campesinos! / “Romance is Boring”

95. The Acorn / “Restoration” (mp3)

96. Memoryhouse / “Lately (Deuxieme)”

97. Quiet Ligts / “Twice Today” (mp3)

98. Slow Animal / “theFUNsun” (mp3)

99. Paper the Operator / “The Pendulum” (mp3)

100. Stars / “Fixed”

101. Grant Gilman – “Homewrecker” (mp3)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Banjo Or Freakout Release FREE Holiday Album

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 21:50:00 +0000

2009 and ‘10 have seen a handful of goodies from Italian multi-instrumentalist Alessio Natalizia, better known as Banjo or Freakout, with a self-titled debut album coming in February on Memphis Industries. Not to be outdone by all the other emerging talents who are in the holiday spirit though, today came word of a free (for the first 1000 downloads) full length holiday album called XA2010. You can get it over at the Banjo or Freakout bandcamp page.

MP3 :: Frosty the Snowman

Previously:

MP3 :: 105

(from Banjo or Freakout. Info here)

-----------------------------------------------------

[mp3] Beach House - "I Do Not Care for the Winter Sun"

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 01:27:00 +0000

Ending their amazing 2010 with a gift for fans, Beach House released a free holiday original today via their Twitter. “I Do Not Care for the Winter Sun” is another apparitional, low key addition to the Beach House canon, not so much a teen dream as the Ghost of Christmas Past’s.

MP3 :: I Do Not Care for the Winter Sun

---------------------------------

[video] The Radio Dept. - "Never Follow Suit"

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 01:05:00 +0000

The Radio Dept. "Never follow suit" from Labrador Records on Vimeo.

“Never Follow Suit” is from one of my favorite albums of the year, Clinging to a Scheme, but it’s also from The Radio Dept.’s forthcoming retrospective Passive Aggressive: Singles 2002-2010. This new video is by Malmo based artist Jens Henricson.

MP3 :: Never Follow Suit

(Info here)

And while you’re at it, check out this acoustic version of “Heaven’s On Fire” recorded live recently for KEXP:

MP3 :: Heaven’s On Fire (acoustic)

Previously:

MP3 :: Heaven’s On Fire

MP3 :: David

(from Clinging to a Scheme. Buy here)

--------------------------------------------

ALBUMS of the YEAR - 2010

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 02:07:00 +0000

I guess I should preface this list in some way. 2010 saw a constant stream of great new music, and this list captures the records that stand out to me most at its conclusion, and the ones I anticipate will continue to do so for years to come. But looking over the final draft, I’m struck by a few things.

First of all, I’m somewhat surprised more at what’s not here more than what is. I just didn't connect to what Spoon, The National, Band of Horses, The Hold Steady, Phosphorescent, Wolf Parade, and Frightened Rabbit, all long time favorites of mine, had to say this year. Some decent songs scattered throughout their labums of course, but overall, in my opinion, each album was a considerable drop in quality from what I’ve come to expect from them.

That being said, it was still an excellent year for other long-time favorites of mine. The Black Keys made their best album to date, and Ted Leo, Broken Social Scene, Arcade Fire, Joanna Newsom, The Walkmen, and Marah all made really compelling albums this year as well.

It was also a great year for EPs. Before 2010 I never felt the urge to include EPs on my favorite albums list, but the fact is that the ones included here were records I listened to as much or more than anything else over the past twelve months. There are eight EPs covering six spots included, and each is unique and amazing.

And at the top of the list is an album that’s probably my favorite since 2002’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. If you take a close look at the picture that leads off this post you might be able to figure out what it is before scrolling all the way down. In my opinion, it’s the best album of the year by a long, long way.

I’ll shut up now. Thanks for reading and for visiting Pop Headwound. Enjoy:

30. Future Weather – The War on Drugs

A late addition to this list, The War on Drugs’ follow up to their excellent 2008 debut is actually comprised of songs culled from sessions for an abandoned full length. Regardless, Future Weather is still 8 songs long (the last record was 9) and holds together beautifully as an artistic statement in its own right, with some of Adam Granduciel’s prettiest songs surrounded by one or two of his weirdest. And by weird, I’m referring to the brilliant 8 minutes of warped psyche-folk that is “The History of Plastic”.

MP3 :: Comin’ Through

MP3 :: The History of Plastic

---------------------------------------

29. The Brutalist Bricks - Ted Leo & the Pharmacists

Ted Leo is the most underappreciated punk I (don’t) know. The Brutalist Bricks is utterly fantastic – his strongest work since Hearts of Oak – and was completely slept on for the majority of the year by too many. It captures everything great about one of New Jersey’s most exciting artists.

MP3 :: Bottled in Cork

MP3 :: The Mighty Sparrow

---------------------------------------

28. All Creatures Will Make Merry – Meursault

Like their impressive 2008 debut, Pissing on Bonfires/Kissing with Tongues, the latest record from these Scottish hellraisers mixes gut-wrenching acoustics, programmed and sampled percussion, lo-fi hiss, buzzing electronics, and the highly impassioned vocal presence of Neil Pennycook. It’s an intimate record without borders.

MP3 :: Crank Resolutions

MP3 :: Sleet

---------------------------------------

27. North Dorm – Evenings

MP3 :: Still Young

An addictive set of soft-beat, ambient, electronic instrumentals that still manage to feel completely natural, like music made on a laptop in the middle of a forest. Download the North Dorm EP free of charge at Evenings’ Bandcamp page.

---------------------------------------

26. LUX – Disappears

Disappears don’t go in the direction of most of their Kranky contemporaries, a label known predominantly for electronic, ambient, and experimental artists. Instead they bring tension and minimalism to their badass hard rock approach that owes a clear debt to the stoned, pre-punk scuzz of bands like The Velvet Underground and The Stooges.

---------------------------------------

25. Harlem River Blues – Justin Townes Earle

It’s been a trying year for Earle to say the least, but that shouldn’t take away from this inspired collection of country, soul, blues, folk, and rockabilly that continues to show growth from one of the best young roots musicians working today.

MP3 :: Harlem River Blues

---------------------------------------

24. Broken Dreams Club – Girls

Like last year’s Album, this 30 minute EP of all new material is filled with slow-building, self-pitying anthems that sort of demand you feel a strange affinity towards them. Damaged, utterly gorgeous pop songs.

---------------------------------------

23. Tall Hours in the Glowstream – Cotton Jones

The second record from Cotton Jones (featuring Michael Nau, formerly of Page France), Tall Hours in the Glowstream might just be the most perfectly named album I’ve heard all year. On it Nau trades in the carnival-like folk rock of his former band for a melodic, soulful dream-pop/country hybrid that, props to An American Drunkard, sounds like what Gram Parsons probably had in mind when he coined the term “Cosmic American Music”.

MP3 :: Glorylight & Christie

---------------------------------------

22. CMYK / Klavierwerke - James Blake

Promising, incredibly hypnotic music from this 22 year old U.K. phenom. Look for big things in the very near future as Blake prepares his full length debut for early 2011.

Video :: Limit to Your Love (from his upcoming album)

---------------------------------------

21. Before Today – Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti

The gloriously unhinged indie-pop of Before Today was a real grower for me – gradually becoming something I considered for this list over the past month or two. If I revisit this list next year, I bet it would be in a much higher spot.

MP3 :: Round and Round

---------------------------------------

20. Have One on Me – Joanna Newsom

Listening to Have One on Me was pretty much the year’s greatest endurance test. It’s also a staggeringly ambitious album that succeeds overwhelmingly more than it falters. Ironically, the two songs I skip most often come first and second – after that it’s pretty much classic after classic for an hour and 45 minutes.

---------------------------------------

19. Contra – Vampire Weekend

I tried to be a hater. I wanted to so bad. Pretty little boys with their catchy little songs and their Cape Cod and their sweaters draped over their privileged shoulders. Fine, I have no evidence of the guys in Vampire Weekend wearing sweaters over their shoulders, and my uncle has a house in Orleans that I’ve been to a half dozen times. It’s lovely. I had no real reason to dislike this band, but I did. Then I listened to Contra. And had no choice but to give in. It says something about a band when most of the big time year-end lists have all chosen a different song from this album as their favorite – I’ve seen “I Think UR A Contra”, “Holiday”, “White Sky”, “Run”, “Cousins”, and “Giving Up the Gun” on various lists I’d consider reliable. Personally though, I’d go with “Taxi Cab”. While drinking horchata in December.

Video :: Holiday

Video :: Cousins

--------------------------------------

18. This is Happening – LCD Soundsystem

James Murphy continues to make intelligent dance music for people who also like to rock the heck out.

Video :: Drunk Girls

---------------------------------------

17. Cosmogramma – Flying Lotus

This was the year’s biggest grower for me, and one of the few artists on this list that I don’t think I’ve posted about before. As Spencer from Botany (scroll down) said earlier this week, Cosmogramma is “a sprawling masterpiece of an album.” It took me a while, but yeah.

Video :: MmmHmm

---------------------------------------

16. Great Elk EP – Great Elk

On which my friends Paul Basile and Patrick Hay arrive in the world fully formed as Great Elk, armed with superb songs and ready for a Mercury Lounge battle of the bands with Okkervil River, Band of Horses, and Whiskeytown.

MP3 :: Bow Echo

MP3 :: Vibrations

---------------------------------------

15. Forgiveness Rock Record – Broken Social Scene

Forgiveness Rock Record was a welcome return from one of indie-rock’s most consistently thrilling bands. An enormously fun album that’s worth it solely for “Meet Me In the Basement”, which might actually be theme music for catching a joyride on a comet.

Video :: Forced to Love (live on Letterman)

---------------------------------------

14. Everything In Between – No Age

After one album and one singles compilation of sonically daring fuzz-punk and lo-fi noise experiments, California duo No Age have drastically broadened their sonic approach on their brilliant third album, Everything In Between. No doubt the new songs still assault with a distinct noise/punk sneer, but the band has brightened its corners with more songwriting focus, tighter melodies, and just about the greatest use of noise effects on a rock record that I can think of.

MP3 :: Fever Dreaming

MP3 :: Glitter

---------------------------------------

13. Feeling Today EP – Botany

The 5 songs that comprise the debut EP from Spencer Stephenson’s recording project are straight up found-sound electro/pop gems whose incandescent melodies promise nothing but continued greatness.

MP3 :: Feeling Today

MP3 :: Waterparker

MP3 :: Agave

---------------------------------------

12. Public Strain – Women

Women blur the line between noise and melody on Public Strain until the two are so inextricably linked that there’s just no difference between the two extremes. As the cover art suggests, listening to this record is like being caught in a blizzard, a near claustrophobic experience that’s both terrifying and wonderfully cathartic.

MP3 :: Eyesore

MP3 :: Narrow With the Hall

---------------------------------------

11. There is Love in You – Four Tet

It was a banner year for Kieran Hebden, releasing a string of the year’s best remixes after his shimmering, gorgeous There Is Love in You.

The xx - VCR (Four Tet remix) by Four Tet

---------------------------------------

10. Clinging To A Scheme – The Radio Dept.

When The Radio Dept released Clinging to a Scheme last spring, I barely noticed. I enjoyed “Heaven’s On Fire” enough to pick up the rest of the album, but for a long stretch of the summer it sat on my hard drive untouched, save one or two cursory listens. But based on that single’s Jackson 5-by-way-of-Slumberland Records brilliance, I went back to the album this fall out of curiosity, and gradually allowed the slightly out-of-focus Swedish indie-pop of the other 9 songs to reveal itself to me. Once it clicked, it did so in a big way, shooting into my top 10 and easily becoming one of my favorites of the year.

MP3 :: Heaven’s On Fire

MP3 :: David

---------------------------------------

9. Life is a Problem – Marah

After a tumultuous couple of years, 2010 saw the Philly underdogs in Marah return with their finest collection of battered folk & roll anthems in a decade. Life is a Problem borrows its title from a collection of obscure religious country blues music that lead singer Dave Bielanko found in a Williamsburg record shop in 2008, providing him with some degree of comfort after his band more or less imploded on the eve of the world tour to support Angels of Destruction!. With the musical inspiration covered for a new start, Bielanko and keyboardist/vocalist Christine Smith soon discovered an old farmhouse deep in Pennsylvania’s Amish country that became a refuge to write, rehearse, and record new material. The resulting album captures the audacious, ramshackle spirit that has always marked Marah at their very best. It’s their best and most consistent collection since 2000’s seminal Kids in Philly.

MP3 :: Valley Farm Song

---------------------------------------

8. Lisbon – The Walkmen

Contrary to how most of the internet reacted to this record, The Walkmen have always been a “mature” band. They were among the first wave of indie-rock bands to have a song played in a car commercial; they were using toy pianos all over their 2002 debut and New Orleans-styled horn sections by 2006. They released a Harry Nilsson cover album for crying out loud. Needless to say, this was never a band that was ever tied to some punk mindset or limited themselves to one-dimensional fast/loud song structures. Lisbon simply continues The Walkmen’s string of consistently excellent “mature” rock records. The boozy New Orleans horn sections (“Stranded”), bouncy pop songs (“Woe Is Me”), skeletal ballads (“Lisbon”, “All My Great Designs”), and, of course, anthemic indie-rock jams (“Juveniles”, “Victory”, “Angela/Surf City”) all suggest this band is riding the peak started with 2008’s You & Me.

MP3 :: Stranded

-----------------------------------

7. The Suburbs – Arcade Fire

Win Butler and co. don’t quite have the weight of the world concerns on their minds here as they did on Neon Bible, but The Suburbs is every bit as grand and sweeping as we’ve come to expect from the Canadian rock heroes. Nostalgia, innocence lost, and suburban sprawl inform these 16 songs, and Butler handles everything with more intimacy than a band that’s played MSG has any right using. Did I mention that he gives the records' best song to Regine?

Video :: Ready to Start

Video :: The Suburbs

-----------------------------------

6. Brothers – The Black Keys

The Akron duo of Patrick Carney and Dan Auerbach just keep getting better with every record they make. Brothers is their most fully realized music yet – a rough and tumble trip through blues, soul, and some fiercely gritty rock & roll.

Video :: Tighten Up

Video :: Next Girl

-----------------------------------

5. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy – Kanye West

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is Ye’s magnum opus, darker and denser than his previous high watermark, Late Registration, and a rarity in hip-hop in that it’s crafted as a big picture artistic statement rather than few hot singles and some filler. Every redickuhlus verse, every perfectly orchestrated note, every mind-blowing guest spot, every minute of vain self-absorption, the occasional moment of guarded vulnerability, and every dark twisted fantasy make the genius behind the jackass all the more obvious.

Video :: Runaway (ft. Pusha T)

-----------------------------------

4. The Wild Hunt / Sometimes the Blues is Just a Passing Bird EP – The Tallest Man on Earth

Perhaps more so than any other artist today, The Tallest Man on Earth knows his strengths and plays to them perfectly on his latest album. The bare-bones, weirdly evocative confessionals that Swedish singer-songwriter Kristian Mattson gives us on The Wild Hunt and its equally impressive follow up EP hardly ever contain more than a violently strummed or delicately-picked acoustic guitar and Mattson desperately yelping away. Nothing else is needed.

MP3 :: Burden of Tomorrow

MP3 :: King of Spain

MP3 :: Like the Wheel

-----------------------------------

3. Teen Dream – Beach House

Teen Dream is a lush, starry-eyed masterpiece from this enigmatic Baltimore duo who have now delivered three records of increasingly rich textures and confident arrangements. Victoria LeGrand has become one of indie-rock’s defining vocalists, showing both more self-assuredness and nuance here than ever before. Teen Dream was hanging around the top of this list before 2010 even started, and never lost its lofty perch over the past 12 months.

MP3 :: Zebra (UK radio edit)

MP3 :: Norway

-----------------------------------

2. Halcyon Digest – Deerhunter

Deerhunter’s best album to date is a stripped-down, narcotic meditation on nostalgia and how closely intertwined music becomes with memory. Bandleader Bradford Cox has evolved from one of indie-rock’s most divisive figures to one of its most compelling in a matter of about 2 years, and there just doesn’t seem to be a ceiling on how great this band can become.

MP3 :: Helicopter (Star Slinger remix)

MP3 :: Helicopter (Diplo & Lunice remix)

-----------------------------------

1. The Monitor – Titus Andronicus

When Patrick Stickles sings “this is a war we can’t win, after 10,000 years it’s still us against them” the real theme of The Monitor comes into sharp focus. While shrouded in Civil War imagery and blood and guts male bravado, The Monitor is simply another great rock record about girls. Its grand statement: after 10,000 years of human evolution, men still haven’t figured out the fairer sex. These 10 anthems burst at the seams with angst and pain and truth, and are made even more timeless with spoken interludes from the words of Abe Lincoln, Walt Whitman, Jefferson Davis, and William Lloyd Garrison. The constant historical and cultural references provide the thematic glue between the songs, but it’s Stickles monumental despondency, and the way he makes us all rally around his gloom, that makes the songs so memorable. You’ll pump your fist, play air guitar, and go hoarse shouting along, and if you’re not completely swept away by the “it’s still us against them” climax of “Four Score and Seven”, shouted over and over like a soldier going off to his certain fate, then I’m not sure you should read this blog anymore. And it’s only my second favorite song on the album. The Monitor is the best rock album in years. Maybe 10,000 of them.

MP3 :: A More Perfect Union

MP3 :: Four Score and Seven (pt 1)

MP3 :: Four Score and Seven (pt 2)

-------------------------------------

[guest post] 2010 in Review, Vol. 8 - Evenings

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 03:24:00 +0000

Evenings is the solo work of Charlottesville college student Nathan Broaddas, and his North Dorm EP has gotten a lot of play around here over the past 2 or 3 months. It’s comprised of scratchy, ambient, soft-beat electronic instrumentals that manage to still sound natural, almost folksy. But it’s the subtly hypnotic melodies that stand out on repeat listens, and suggest a promising future for this emerging talent. Here’s a top ten of 2010 from Evenings:

10. The Books: The Way Out — Maybe my favorite couple of musicians today. The Way Out is amazing. I've always been addicted to 'Thought for Food'. But after this came out, it spun for a good 3 months.

9. Flying Lotus: Cosmogramma — Legend

8. HGTV—I don't watch a lot of TV but yeah, when it's on I'll watch House Hunters International. Why lie?

7. Antoine Dodson—You can't not like the bedroom intruder song. This guy is so animate and candid in his response to someone breaking into his sister’s apartment. I wish every time something shitty happened that he was around to get upset on other's behalf...because he's really good at it.

6. Coma Cinema: Blissed — I can't remember how I stumbled upon Coma Cinema, but I'm glad I did.

5. Ghostly International—Shigeto, Gold Panda, Com Truise... An amazing year for this amazing label.

4. Wild Nothing: Gemini — This is one of my favorite records right now. I'm not one of those people who goes through too many records in a year. One of my friends turned my on to Wild Nothing as he's from Virginia too, and he knew the guy. I like to listen to things over and over. I'll probably be listening to this for a few years to come.

3. Back to the Future—rediscover it, if you haven't watched it lately. You won't be disappointed.

2. Finishing an EP and playing shows—I really never imagined that any of my music was going to be taken to the level it has. Since I put the EP out I've been given a lot of opportunities which I otherwise wouldn't have, and people have be very generous. I wanna say thanks to everyone again.

1. Teebs: Ardour —I was at a party a little while ago, and as we were setting up someone put on some music through the PA. I was really taken aback. I had never listened to Teebs despite stalking Brainfeeder. The next day I got Ardour. I've been listening since. Love.

--------------------------------------------

MP3 :: Still Young

(from North Dorm. Download the whole EP here)

--------------------------------------------