Best New Music

[bastard_robo]

ALICE IN CHAINS IS BACK!

They've defied the laws of UNIVERSE its self and have reclaimed their glory once again!

SFG Mod Edit:

Made this the 2009 music thread.

[Hermanator X]

ALICE IN CHAINS IS BACK!

They've defied the laws of UNIVERSE its self and have reclaimed their glory once again!

WITH ELTON JOHN ON GUEST VOCALS AND PIANA!!

haha. Sorry, im just not a fan of the Chain's while my brother loves em. Sent him a link about the EJ duet laughing my head off.
It may turn out a cool song, (havent heard it yet) but the scenario does sound kinda funny.

[Fievel]

ALICE IN CHAINS IS BACK!

They've defied the laws of UNIVERSE its self and have reclaimed their glory once again!

WITH ELTON JOHN ON GUEST VOCALS AND PIANA!!

haha. Sorry, im just not a fan of the Chain's while my brother loves em. Sent him a link about the EJ duet laughing my head off.
It may turn out a cool song, (havent heard it yet) but the scenario does sound kinda funny.

I miss these guys.
New single is decent.

[TonyWilson]

Future Of The Left - Travels With Myself And Another.

Alright guys this 100 percent the best rock album of the entire year, it's possibly even in the top ten of the past 5 years. That's zero hyperbole.

You may know the lead singer as being from the brilliant and crazy McClusky but this is something greater altogether. A mixture of melodic post-hardcore, bitingly satirical or free associative lyrics full of morbid wit, keyboards that would impress even Add N To X and a pitch perfect production that's as raw as your balls on a razorblade when it needs to be and suprisingly, wonderfully epic throughout. With track names like "You Needs Satan More Than He Needs You" about the practicality of being a Satanist, sample lyric "What kind of orgy leaves a sense of deeper love?", songs about the kind of girl who likes a violent man, in your face but funny rants about Nike and weirdly nostalgic images of ASBO type kids on railway lines there's an undeniable political edge to the album but it's more part of the background, foregrounded are awesomely evil riffs, psychotic drumming and the already mentioned fantastic lyrics.
Standout tracks include "You Need Satan...", "Throwing Bricks At Trains" and here's the video for "The Hope That House Built"

[magicmonkey]

Future Of The Left - Travels With Myself And Another.

Alright guys this 100 percent the best rock album of the entire year, it's possibly even in the top ten of the past 5 years. That's zero hyperbole.

You may know the lead singer as being from the brilliant and crazy McClusky but this is something greater altogether. A mixture of melodic post-hardcore, bitingly satirical or free associative lyrics full of morbid wit, keyboards that would impress even Add N To X and a pitch perfect production that's as raw as your balls on a razorblade when it needs to be and suprisingly, wonderfully epic throughout. With track names like "You Needs Satan More Than He Needs You" about the practicality of being a Satanist, sample lyric "What kind of orgy leaves a sense of deeper love?", songs about the kind of girl who likes a violent man, in your face but funny rants about Nike and weirdly nostalgic images of ASBO type kids on railway lines there's an undeniable political edge to the album but it's more part of the background, foregrounded are awesomely evil riffs, psychotic drumming and the already mentioned fantastic lyrics.
Standout tracks include "You Need Satan...", "Throwing Bricks At Trains" and here's the video for "The Hope That House Built"

ASBO kids on railways lines... sold.

[stereosforgeeks]

Future Of The Left - Travels With Myself And Another.

Alright guys this 100 percent the best rock album of the entire year, it's possibly even in the top ten of the past 5 years. That's zero hyperbole.

You may know the lead singer as being from the brilliant and crazy McClusky but this is something greater altogether. A mixture of melodic post-hardcore, bitingly satirical or free associative lyrics full of morbid wit, keyboards that would impress even Add N To X and a pitch perfect production that's as raw as your balls on a razorblade when it needs to be and suprisingly, wonderfully epic throughout. With track names like "You Needs Satan More Than He Needs You" about the practicality of being a Satanist, sample lyric "What kind of orgy leaves a sense of deeper love?", songs about the kind of girl who likes a violent man, in your face but funny rants about Nike and weirdly nostalgic images of ASBO type kids on railway lines there's an undeniable political edge to the album but it's more part of the background, foregrounded are awesomely evil riffs, psychotic drumming and the already mentioned fantastic lyrics.
Standout tracks include "You Need Satan...", "Throwing Bricks At Trains" and here's the video for "The Hope That House Built"

Huge fan as well Tony. Was big Mclusky fan too.

[fireintheskyy]

ALICE IN CHAINS IS BACK!

new singer! must have a new name!!!!

[justcheckin]

Blue October - Approaching Normal

My fav of the year!

http://www.blueoctoberfan.com/approachingnormal/

[Ribbons]

The Passion Pit - "The Reeling"

[stereosforgeeks]

The Passion Pit - "The Reeling"

Been a big fan of them since a friend of mine told me about their EP last yr. The new album has had more rotations than probably any other 2009 album.

Im also a big fan of this new glofi/chillwave thing thats been going round with bands like Washed Out, Memory Tapes/Weird Tapes/Memory Cassette, Neon Indian, Toro Y Moi, Pearl Harbor, etc...

When you add all the garagey lo-fi pop thats going on with Dum Dum Girls, Trailer Trash Tracys, Magic Kids, Best Coast it's been a pretty good summer!

[TonyWilson]

Yeah Neon Indian were the soundtrack to my summer this year, Psychic Chasms is one hell of a lush EP, Beach Boys filtered through disco and New Wave. I like The Reeling as a track but not hugely into the Passion Pit album as a whole, maybe it needs a few more listens.

[stereosforgeeks]

Yeah Neon Indian were the soundtrack to my summer this year, Psychic Chasms is one hell of a lush EP, Beach Boys filtered through disco and New Wave. I like The Reeling as a track but not hugely into the album as a whole, maybe it needs a few more listens.

Yeah Psychic Chasms is great. It feels like the beats decay as you listen to it. It's almost like heroin dance music. If you havent listened to washed out or Memory Tapes give them a chance as well.

[TonyWilson]

I got Feel It All Around which is a cool track, I'll hunt down some others. Have you heard Toro Y Moi? They're doing some cool blissed out heavily filtered dance music too.

[stereosforgeeks]

I got Feel It All Around which is a cool track, I'll hunt down some others. Have you heard Toro Y Moi? They're doing some cool blissed out heavily filtered dance music too.

Look up a couple posts I think you missed it out first time around when you geeked that I mentioned neon indian. But yeah I love their remixes as well. I have been searching for their debut album from last yr but have been unable to find it.

Small Black is really good too.

Weird Tapes/Memory Tapes/ Memory Cassettes are all the smae guy and you can find a bunch of free stuff he's done here.

[TonyWilson]

Hah, sorry, weird.

That's an ace link, dude. I'll try and pay you back with these guys cus I'm sure you didn't mention Rainbow Bridge who are rockier but still got the surf influence thing going on, I bet you have actually heard them already though.

[stereosforgeeks]

Hah, sorry, weird.

That's an ace link, dude. I'll try and pay you back with these guys cus I'm sure you didn't mention Rainbow Bridge who are rockier but still got the surf influence thing going on, I bet you have actually heard them already though.

Pitchfork actually nailed this review today on Memory Tapes sums up everything i love about the album. They seem to be a big fan of this sound as well. I first started getting into it from gorillavsbear.

I hadnt heard of rainbow bridge but after listening to the track the fit right in with the dum dum girls, best cast, etc.. stuff i mentioned. There's this surf/psych/60s thing going on lately.

Even the no-fi stuff like wavves, blank dogs has that sort of feel beneath their noise.

[TonyWilson]

Hah, yes mate, GvsB is absolutely brilliant for new music. Agreed about the stuff like Wavves, I think Woods has a bit of it too, maybe more of country feel to it though as well but like alt-psych-country.
I'm getting Seek Magic from roughtrade as we speak.

[stereosforgeeks]

Hah, yes mate, GvsB is absolutely brilliant for new music. Agreed about the stuff like Wavves, I think Woods has a bit of it too, maybe more of country feel to it though as well but like alt-psych-country.
I'm getting Seek Magic from roughtrade as we speak.

Woods definitely has that psych/country vibe as well. I just imagine them in the Woods as hippies taking mushrooms. 10 years ago if anyone said I would have liked country stuff I wouldve kicked their ass.

The Girls album has the same psych vibe too. I saw them open for Los Campesinos! with Smith Westerns and that was a kick ass show as well. Looking forward to seeing Neon Indian, Japandroids, and Real Estate in 2 weeks!

[TonyWilson]

Daaaammn, I didn't know Neon Indian was touring, just checked it out now and he played his last UK date yesterday.

[Seppuku]

I'm usually at least a year behind the hipsters when it comes to new music, but so far I'd place Oneida's 3-CD album of electro-dub-trance-rock-krautisms Rated O as my favourite album of the year (cut from the album). Along with the ridiculously prolific Finnish band Circle (another cut), they're certainly the best band right now who are plying that neo-Krautrock style of music which takes the hypnotic quality of trance music and blends it with a more human rock sound and creates something truly transcendent in the process. For chronic sonic explorers only, but highly rewarding if it's your cup of noise.

[TonyWilson]

Thanks for the Circle tip, Sepp, some good shit right there yo. I'm liking Onieda but haven't had time to explore it fully really.
What do people think of the new Fuck Buttons album Tarot Sport? I'm really quite ambivalent, on the one hand it's epic textural bliss, on the other, despite what many reviews have said, it's stunningly unoriginal.

[stereosforgeeks]

What do people think of the new Fuck Buttons album Tarot Sport? I'm really quite ambivalent, on the one hand it's epic textural bliss, on the other, despite what many reviews have said, it's stunningly unoriginal.

When it fires on all cylinders it kicks ass though.

[Seppuku]

What do people think of the new Fuck Buttons album Tarot Sport? I'm really quite ambivalent, on the one hand it's epic textural bliss, on the other, despite what many reviews have said, it's stunningly unoriginal.

Yeah, I'll agree with that. It's one of those albums where the production fooled me into thinking it was the best thing ever on the first [headphones] listen, but on the second go around...it didn't. I have way more use for instrumental music of this kind than most other stuff though, so it'll probably get quite a few listens out of me yet. It kinda reminded me of the Boredoms circa Vision Creation Newsun if they'd gone to Ibiza. It beats last year's album by far at least.


Circle have released a fuckton of albums, most of which vary wildly in genre from one another although not in quality, so I'd see if you can find any of these albums (hit me with an email and I'll upload them if necessary): Taantumus (bite-size-kosmiche-tribal-shit), Prospekt (same, but not so bite size), Meronia (grunge-hypno-noise-rock), Zopalki, Pori or, for the kind of thing I wish heavy metal sounded like, give Tulikoira a listen. The Finnish have released some awesome music this decade, but this band have got the jump on them all. I remember reading somewhere that the Finns are the most biologically similar to Neolithic man, and I reckon it really shows in Circle's music...in a good way, of course.

[stereosforgeeks]

Favorite Albums of 2009:

Out of the 1076 albums I listened to this yr. These 100 were played the most.

In No Particular Order:
Edward Sharpe - Up From Below
The Drums - Summertime!
YACHT - See Mystery Lights
The King Khan & BBQ Show - Invisible Girl
Camera Obscura - My Maudlin Career
Wavves - Wavvves
A Place to Bury Strangers - Exploding Head
Dum Dum Girls - Yours Alone
Pearl Harbor - Something About the Chaparral
Vega - Well Known Pleasures
The Very Best - Warm Heart of Africa
Antony and the Johnsons - The Crying Light
Japandroids - Post-Nothing
Neon Indian - Psychic Chasms
St. Vincent - Actor
Here We Go Magic - Here We Go Magic
Javelin - Jamz n Jemz
Julianna Barwick - Florine EP
Junior Boys - Begone Dull Care
Kurt Vile - God Is Saying This to You
Lindstrom and Prins Thomas - II
Maxwell - BLACKsummers'night
Megafaun - Gather, Form & Fly
Morrissey - Years of Refusal
Omar-S - Fabric 45
Oneida - Rated O
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!
Fuck Buttons - Tarot Sport
Girls - Album
Fever Ray - Fever Ray
Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Bat For Lashes - Two Suns
Jim O'Rourke - The Visitor
Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
Major Lazer - Guns Don't Kill People-- Lazers Do
The Antlers - Hospice
Dinosaur Jr. - Farm
jj - jj n° 2
Passion Pit - Manners
Bibio - Ambivalence Avenue
Bear In Heaven - Beast Rest Forth Mouth
Sunn O))) - Monoliths & Dimensions
Röyksopp - Junior
Yo La Tengo - Popular Songs
Health - Get Color
Jay Reatard - Watch Me Fall
The Mayfair Set - Young One
Handsomeboy Technique - Terrestrial Tone Cluster
Ola Podrida - Belly of the Lion
Suckers - Suckers EP
The Boy Least Likely To - The Law Of The Playground
Deastro - Moondagger
Sunset Rubdown - Dragonslayer
Vivian Girls - Everything Goes Wrong
Fibes Oh Fibes - 1987
Volcano Choir - Unmap
Kings Of Convenience - Declaration Of Dependence
Ganglians - monster head room
Wild Beasts - Two Dancers
Neko Case - Middle Cyclone
Real Estate - Real Estate
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart/Higher Than the Stars
Atlas Sound - Logos
Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
Raekwon - Only Built for Cuban Linx... Pt. II
The Flaming Lips - Embryonic
The Mantles - the mantles
Mountain Man - mountain man
Nite Jewel - good evening
The Sandwitches - how to make ambient sadcake
The Clientele - Bonfires on the Heath
Converge - Axe to Fall
Delorean - Aryton Senna EP
The-Dream - Love vs. Money
Emeralds - What Happened
The Field - Yesterday & Today
Fool's Gold - Fool's Gold
Freddie Gibbs - The Miseducation of Freddie Gibbs/ Midwestgangstaboxframecadillacmuzik
Future of the Left - Travels With Myself and Another
The Rural Alberta Advantage - Hometowns
The Smith Westerns - The Smith Westerns
Washed Out - Life of Leisure EP
Woods - Songs of Shame
Cass McCombs - Catacombs
DOOM - Born Like This
Zomby - Where Were U in '92?
Dan Deacon - Bromst
The Mountain Goats - The Life of the World to Come
tUnE-yArDs - BiRd-BrAiNs
Cymbals Eat Guitars - Why There Are Mountains
A Sunny Day in Glasgow - Ashes Grammar
Baroness - Blue Record
Mos Def - The Ecstatic
Micachu and the Shapes - Jewellery
DJ Quik & Kurupt - BlaQKout
Bill Callahan - Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle
Memory Tapes - Seek Magic
The xx - The xx
Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca

[Tyrone_Shoelaces]

Animal Collective, Wilco lead '09 best rock albums
By JAKE COYLE, AP Entertainment Writer – Fri Dec 11, 4:23 pm ET

As a medium, the rock album is so under siege that even Radiohead made noise in 2009 about giving it up for downloadable singles and EPs.

The album can't help but increasingly feel like an afterthought in a year where the big thing in rock seemed to be landing on the soundtrack of "New Moon." But even though 2009 may not have produced a wealth of classic discs, there was still great stuff to be heard. One writer's top 10 of the year:

1. Animal Collective, "Merriweather Post Pavilion": It's a trip, to be sure. The strength of Animal Collective has never been in the lyrics or even in songcraft. But with buzzing, pulsating electronics, they create primal jams for the 21st century. Best here are the songs by Panda Bear, one of the group's two songwriters along with Avey Tare. On songs such as "My Girls" and "Daily Routine," Panda Bear (whose real name is the less silly Noah Lennox) sings simply about young fatherhood while fracturing dazzling, sunny Beach Boys-esque melodies. "Merriweather" is a claustrophobic, dizzying maze that only releases in the final, sky-parting minutes of the album closer, "Brother Sport."

2. Franco, "Francophonic, Vol. 2": 2009 has in many ways been the year of African music. Fela Kuti's music is blaring on Broadway. The Dirty Projects — along with such bands as Vampire Weekend and Fool's Gold — found popularity in adapting Afropop to indie rock. But curious fans should go to the source: the Congo legend Franco Luambo, whose soukous style rumbas earned him the title of James Brown of Africa, a grand label that still underestimates him. Dance to the golden rumbas of this collection and its earlier volume and fall into the musical world of greats like Tabu Ley Rochereau and contemporaries such as Amadou & Mariam, whose "Welcome to Mali" was also one of the year's best.

3. Wilco, "Wilco (The Album)": Having apparently rid himself of his demons, Jeff Tweedy upends the rock 'n' roll convention of the drugged-out, troubled poet: He's better with those days behind him. Darkness (as on spooky "Bull Black Nova") still lingers, but good spirit and Tweedy's top notch songwriting feel utterly unencumbered.

4. The Decemberists, "The Hazards of Love": Pay less attention to the narrative of this "folk opera" than to the excellent drumming and the rousing cameos from My Brightest Diamond's Shara Worden and Lavender Diamond's Becky Stark. Both just about steal the show — and it's quite a show.

5. A.C. Newman, "Get Guilty": One of the most underrated albums of the year is A.C. Newman's second solo album. Newman, whose real name is Carl Newman, is best known as the lead singer and songwriter of the New Pornographers. Without his larger band, Newman's hooks (seemingly in unending supply) are stripped down to their bombastic essence. "We used to throw thunderbolts," Newman reminisces, but he still hurls them.

6. Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse, "Dark Night of the Soul": If this album is unfamiliar, it may be because it doesn't quite exist. When it was released, it included only a photo book by filmmaker David Lynch and a blank CD. Legal troubles held it up, but with a wink-wink, the musicians suggested it be downloaded illegally. "Dark Night of the Soul" has a mysterious quality and not just because of its find-it-somewhere-online release. These two ridiculously named pseudonyms team up to play backing band to a host of guest singers, from Iggy Pop to James Mercer of the Shins.

7. Grizzly Bear, "Veckatimest": Delicate and light, Grizzly Bear's third and finest album has a purity to it. It's filled with sonorous, singsongy melodies that seem to float. It's been a galvanizing force in the indie world, which is increasingly turning to dreamy, catchy tunes sometimes labeled "glo-fi." Though the glo-fi movement is slight and edgeless, Grizzly Bear is more substantive, as in the haunting "Ready, Able."

8. Flaming Lips, "Embryonic": It's inspiring to see a band more than 25 years on make such an experimental, unpredictable album such as the two-disc "Embryonic." The Flaming Lips weren't alone, either in proving their great longevity; Built to Spill and Yo La Tengo — similarly classic acts forged primarily in the 1990s — also released impressively lively albums. High points include the Lips' epic, throbbing "Watching the Planets" and Built to Spill's "Life's a Dream," where they perfectly marry their trademark swirling guitars with horns.

9. Allen Toussaint, "The Bright Mississippi": No, it doesn't rock, but it swings. Always one of the more elegant of the Crescent City's great R&B men, Toussaint tiptoes cleanly and with panache through jazz, with standards by Thelonious Monk, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong and Django Reinhardt. Produced by Joe Henry, the pianist plays with an excellent band of Marc Ribot, Nicholas Payton and Don Byron.

10. Regina Spektor, "Far": There's a danger of underrating Spektor because she makes it seem so easy. The Russian-born, classically trained pianist plays bouncy, infectious pop songs that abruptly turn and soar. Resistance is futile.
___
Honorable Mentions: Dan Auerbach, "Keep It Hid"; White Denim, "Fits"; Kid Cudi, "Man on the Moon: The End of Day"; Tom Waits, "Glitter and Doom Live"; Sunset Rubdown, "Dragonslayer"; Leonard Cohen, "Live in London"; The Antlers, "Hospice"

[Seppuku]

9. Allen Toussaint, "The Bright Mississippi": No, it doesn't rock, but it swings. Always one of the more elegant of the Crescent City's great R&B men, Toussaint tiptoes cleanly and with panache through jazz, with standards by Thelonious Monk, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong and Django Reinhardt. Produced by Joe Henry, the pianist plays with an excellent band of Marc Ribot, Nicholas Payton and Don Byron.

Allen Toussaint released one of my favourite albums of the '70s, Southern Nights, and is the New Orleans musician. He was kind of like the Brian Eno of soul, most famous for producing other people's work, from The Meters and Lee Dorsey to Dr John's I Was in the Right Place at the Right Time (you prob recognise it from Dazed and Confused), but I think his solo stuff is way more meticulously crafted and whole sounding. Not heard this, though I've heard of it- it's more jazz than soul, from what I hear. Anyway...lol, just glad to hear he's still alive and making music. Nice list.

Stereos hinted to me he's gonna whittle down his Top 100 to a Top 10 or so by the way, just in case that list is as daunting to you as it is to me.

[stereosforgeeks]

Stereos hinted to me he's gonna whittle down his Top 100 to a Top 10 or so by the way, just in case that list is as daunting to you as it is to me.

Yeah give me a week or 2 so I can listen to everything again.

[stereosforgeeks]

It took me a little bit longer than anticipated.

Best Music 2009:

100-76:
The King Khan & BBQ Show - Invisible Girl
The Very Best - Warm Heart of Africa
Here We Go Magic - Here We Go Magic
Javelin - Jamz n Jemz
Julianna Barwick - Florine EP
Maxwell - BLACKsummers'night
Morrissey - Years of Refusal
Omar-S - Fabric 45
Major Lazer - Guns Don't Kill People-- Lazers Do
Jay Reatard - Watch Me Fall
The Mayfair Set - Young One
Suckers - Suckers EP
The Mantles - the mantles
The Sandwitches - how to make ambient sadcake
Emeralds - What Happened
The Field - Yesterday & Today
Fool's Gold - Fool's Gold
Freddie Gibbs - The Miseducation of Freddie Gibbs/ Midwestgangstaboxframecadillacmuzik
Lindstrom and Prins Thomas - II
The Rural Alberta Advantage - Hometowns
A Sunny Day in Glasgow - Ashes Grammar
Jim O'Rourke - The Visitor
Pearl Harbor - Something About the Chaparral
Vega - Well Known Pleasures
Dum Dum Girls - Yours Alone

75-51:
DOOM - Born Like This
Coalesce - OX
Small Black - Small Black EP
Dan Deacon - Bromst
YACHT - See Mystery Lights
Röyksopp - Junior
The Mountain Goats - The Life of the World to Come
Baroness - Blue Record
Oneida - Rated O
Ganglians - monster head room
Megafaun - Gather, Form & Fly
Converge - Axe to Fall
Edward Sharpe - Up From Below
The Antlers - Hospice
Fibes Oh Fibes - 1987
Sunn O))) - Monoliths & Dimensions
Neko Case - Middle Cyclone
Wavves - Wavvves
A Place to Bury Strangers - Exploding Head
St. Vincent - Actor
The Clientele - Bonfires on the Heath
The-Dream - Love vs. Money
Ola Podrida - Belly of the Lion
Junior Boys - Begone Dull Care
Kurt Vile - God Is Saying This to You

50-26:
Micachu and the Shapes - Jewellery
DJ Quik & Kurupt - BlaQKout
Cass McCombs - Catacombs
Cymbals Eat Guitars - Why There Are Mountains
The Smith Westerns - The Smith Westerns
Washed Out - Life of Leisure EP
Woods - Songs of Shame
Bibio - Ambivalence Avenue
Bear In Heaven - Beast Rest Forth Mouth
Delorean - Aryton Senna EP
Volcano Choir - Unmap
tUnE-yArDs - BiRd-BrAiNs
Wild Beasts - Two Dancers
The Boy Least Likely To - The Law Of The Playground
Yo La Tengo - Popular Songs
Health - Get Color
Future of the Left - Travels With Myself and Another
Vivian Girls - Everything Goes Wrong
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!
Fuck Buttons - Tarot Sport
Deastro - Moondagger
Bill Callahan - Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart/Higher Than the Stars
Handsomeboy Technique - Terrestrial Tone Cluster
Dinosaur Jr. - Farm

25-1:
The Drums - Summertime! - 60s pop music that is so infectious you just can't stop listening to it.
Antony and the Johnsons - The Crying Light - More of the same from Antony but that5's never a bad thing.
Japandroids - Post-Nothing - Guitar and drums have never made so much awesome teenage punk.
Neon Indian - Psychic Chasms - Ive described this before as heroin dance music. The beats/samples feel like they could fall apart at any minute.
Girls - Album - Wost band name and album title ever but this is probably the best of the 60s rock that dominated this year.
Fever Ray - Fever Ray - The Knife-lite but there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.
Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix - You cannot deny the hooks on this album
Memory Tapes - Seek Magic - I just love this album. New Order to almost postrock this album goes everywhere.
The xx - The xx - Minimalist dance music. These brits totally surprised me.
Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca - It took me awhile to get my head around all the melodies they were putting out.
Mountain Man - mountain man - These girls almost acapella folk hits me at a guttural level.
Nite Jewel - good evening - The pioneer of chillwave?
Real Estate - Real Estate - I saw these guys live before their album dropped and they hadnt quite figured out how to pull everything together live yet but damn does this album rock.
The Flaming Lips - Embryonic - I didnt think Wayne had this album in him. It rocks.
Atlas Sound - Logos - Can Bradford Cox do any wrong?
Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest - The best composed album of the year.
Mos Def - The Ecstatic - Mos Def takes his hip-hop to the world stage and comes back triumphant.
Kings Of Convenience - Declaration Of Dependence - It may sound like Simon and Garfunkel but it
Sunset Rubdown - Dragonslayer - Spencer Krug knows how to make complex rock album sound effortless.
Camera Obscura - My Maudlin Career - Literate Twee. The best lyrics she's ever written.
Bat For Lashes - Two Suns - Take gothic almost rpg sounding folk and make it some you can almost dance to it. The vocals are just sublime.
Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion - They took their experiments and finally made honest to goodness songs.
jj - jj n° 2 - These swedes can mix melodies like no ones buisness. This is a globe hopping synth pop at its best.
Passion Pit - Manners - Super exuberant pop. This one took awhile to grow on me because I loved the lo-fi aesthetic of their debut ep but this album just makes me happy.
Raekwon - Only Built for Cuban Linx... Pt. II - best hip-hop album of the year hand down.

[Jabbadonut]

Nine Black Alps, anyone?

[Ribbons]

How do you guys feel about Miike Snow? I just heard this song and thought it was pretty cool:

[stereosforgeeks]

How do you guys feel about Miike Snow? I just heard this song and thought it was pretty cool:

Well any band taking a name from Takashi Miike is cool by me. They are pretty catchy but overall I think they are just ok.

[Seppuku]

MGMT have their new album available to stream on their website here and it's a real beaut. It sounds nothing like their early work, and it's all the better for it if you ask me. Kinda like Syd Barrett-era Floyd crossed with the Animal Collective, with a little bit of Brian Eno's rock albums thrown in (they even named a track after him). Apparently the fans are all in an uproar because it's not the MGMT they know and love. "Help, if I don't dance sometime in the next 50 seconds my legs will start to atrophy and I'll never be able to walk again!!!" Guess the hipsters aren't ready to incorporate Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy into their list of acceptable influences yet. Fuck 'em.

[DerLanghaarige]

A new, 12 minutes long Chemical Brothers track? Fuck yeah!

[Seppuku]

Any other Janelle Monae fans on the Zone? I think she's pretty awesome, personally. She takes elements of Stevie Wonder, Outkast, D'Angelo and maybe even a couple of prog bands and merges them into her own art pop masterpieces. Her hair does scare me, though. Other albums from this year getting regular plays are Gonjasufi's A Sufi & A Killer, Flying Lotus' Cosmogramma, quite a bit of UK grime and dubstep and Big Boi's new album. The black man is back, man.

[stereosforgeeks]

Any other Janelle Monae fans on the Zone? I think she's pretty awesome, personally. She takes elements of Stevie Wonder, Outkast, D'Angelo and maybe even a couple of prog bands and merges them into her own art pop masterpieces. Her hair does scare me, though. Other albums from this year getting regular plays are Gonjasufi's A Sufi & A Killer, Flying Lotus' Cosmogramma, quite a bit of UK grime and dubstep and Big Boi's new album. The black man is back, man.

Janelle Monae, Big Boi, Big KRIT, and Curren$y have my favorite hiphop albums this yr.

Gonjasufu is totally great and weird.

Flying Lotus is a bit too long. It could trim a couple tracks but still solid.

[Ribbons]

MGMT have their new album available to stream on their website here and it's a real beaut. It sounds nothing like their early work, and it's all the better for it if you ask me. Kinda like Syd Barrett-era Floyd crossed with the Animal Collective, with a little bit of Brian Eno's rock albums thrown in (they even named a track after him). Apparently the fans are all in an uproar because it's not the MGMT they know and love. "Help, if I don't dance sometime in the next 50 seconds my legs will start to atrophy and I'll never be able to walk again!!!" Guess the hipsters aren't ready to incorporate Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy into their list of acceptable influences yet. Fuck 'em.

I do like how MGMT went in a completely different direction for their second album instead of just trying to make a bigger version of the first, especially since they often express fears of 'selling out.' Unfortunately their record label doesn't seem to feel the same way:

http://www.spin.com/articles/mgmt-well-have-less-freedom-third-album

Guess this time around the suits are going to make sure they swallow the handshake and keep it down...

[DaleTremont]

MGMT have their new album available to stream on their website here and it's a real beaut. It sounds nothing like their early work, and it's all the better for it if you ask me. Kinda like Syd Barrett-era Floyd crossed with the Animal Collective, with a little bit of Brian Eno's rock albums thrown in (they even named a track after him). Apparently the fans are all in an uproar because it's not the MGMT they know and love. "Help, if I don't dance sometime in the next 50 seconds my legs will start to atrophy and I'll never be able to walk again!!!" Guess the hipsters aren't ready to incorporate Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy into their list of acceptable influences yet. Fuck 'em.

I do like how MGMT went in a completely different direction for their second album instead of just trying to make a bigger version of the first, especially since they often express fears of 'selling out.' Unfortunately their record label doesn't seem to feel the same way:

http://www.spin.com/articles/mgmt-well-have-less-freedom-third-album

Guess this time around the suits are going to make sure they swallow the handshake and keep it down...

BOOOOOOOOO, I say. BOOOOO!!!!!

I loved that album. Song for song and also as a whole. Over the long run it was far more listenable than tunes like "Kids" anyway. I say stick it to the man, MGMT.

[Seppuku]

Le Noise, Neil Young's new album with Daniel Lanois has been uploaded to Youtube with video (a Shakey film production) here:



I've only heard the first track so far, but I'm digging the dusty Noise Rock vibe. Hopefully the album's as spare and stripped-back as those performances.

EDIT: Apparently that is the actual album. Cool.

[magicmonkey]

Le Noise, Neil Young's new album with Daniel Lanois has been uploaded to Youtube with video (a Shakey film production) here:



I've only heard the first track so far, but I'm digging the dusty Noise Rock vibe. Hopefully the album's as spare and stripped-back as those performances.

EDIT: Apparently that is the actual album. Cool.

I've been a total Neil Young binge of late, and Le Noise made for some darn, darn, good icing.

However, I came here to pimp The Tandoori Knights... badassary.

[Seppuku]

Just listened to that tune. Awesome stuff. Sounds like the lead singer of The Residents scatting over a super-catchy/repetitive Fall riff. Cheers for the heads up, monkey man!

[so sorry]

Sooooo...anybody watch the AMAs last night? I kept flipping over during commercial breaks during my football game. Pretty awful stuff all around.

[stereosforgeeks]

With 2010 almost over, I thought it time to share SFG's favorite albums of the year. I whittled down almost 2k singles, eps, albums to my 100 favorite. Between bandcamp and blogs it was a record year. Im going to try to slow it down next year as it was a complete time sink.

These are not ordered:

1. Beach House - Teen Dream
2. Owen Pallett - Heartland
3. Surfer Blood - Astro Coast
4. Toro Y Moi - Causers of This
5. Four Tet - There Is Love In You
6. Hot Chip - One Life Stand
7. Los Campesinos! - Romance is Boring
8. Fang Island - Fang Island
9. Joanna Newsom - Have One On Me
10. Titus Andronicus - The Monitor
11. Gonjasufi - A Sufi And A Killer
12. Liars - Sisterworld
13. Gorillaz - Plastic Beach
14. Rangers - Suburban Tours
15. oOoOO - No Summr4U CDR / oOoOO
16. Forest Swords - Dagger Paths
17. Dum Dum Girls - I Will Be
18. Delorean - Subiza
19. Twin Sister - Color Your Life
20. Samamidon - I See The Sign
21. Harlem - Hippies
22. Caribou - Swim
23. The Tallest Man On Earth - The Wild Hunt
24. The Radio Dept. - Clinging To A Scheme
25. LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening
26. Dom - Sun Bronzed Greek Gods
27. Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles II
28. Ty Segall - Melted
29. Male Bonding - Nothing Hurts
30. Flying Lotus - Cosmogramma
31. Emeralds - Does It Look Like I'm Here
32. The National - High Violet
33. Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Before Today
34. Free Energy - Stuck On Nothing
35. Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest
36. Zola Jesus - Stridulum 1/2
37. Active Child - Curtis Lane
38. Diamond Rings - Special Affections
39. Robyn - Body Talk
40. Big K.r.i.t. - K.r.i.t. Wuz Here
41. Beach Fossils - Beach Fossils
42. Wild Nothing - Gemini
43. Sleigh Bells - Treats
44. The Samps - The Samps
45. Wavves - King of the Beach
46. Mountain Man - Made The Harbour
47. CEO - White Magic
48. Women - Public Strain
49. Weed Diamond - Carry On + Sweater Kids
50. PS I Love You - Meet Me At The Muster Station
51. Big Boi - Sir Lucious Left Foot...The Son of Chico Dusty
52. The-Dream - Love King
53. Baths - Cerulean
54. Weed - DC Hope
55. Tamaryn - The Waves
56. Lower Dens - Twin-Hand Movement
57. Curren$y - Pilot Talk 1/2
58. Best Coast - Crazy For You
59. Teen Daze - Beach Dreams / Four More Years
60. Coyote Clean Up - Downhill Exxxpress
61. Night Gallery - Constant Struggle
62. Balam Acab - See Birds EP
63. Best Coast - Crazy For You
64. Twin Shadow - Forget
65. Frankie Rose and The Outs - Frankie Rose and The Outs
66. Earl Sweatshirt - EARL
67. Big Troubles - Worry
68. Summer Camp - Young
69. Andrew Cedermark - Moon Deluxe
70. Julian Lynch - Mare
71. Spectrals - A Spectrals Extended Play
72. Glasser - Ring
73. Cloud Nothings - Leave You Forever / Didn't You
74. Marnie Stern - Marnie Stern
75. Grimes - Halfaxa / Geidi Primes
76. The Fresh & Onlys - Play It Strange
77. Games - That We Can Play
78. Girls - Broken Dreams Club
79. Keep Shelly In Athens - In Love With Dusk
80. Autre Ne Veut - Autre Ne Veut
81. Freddie Gibbs – Str8 Killa
82. No Age - Everything In Between
83. The Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
84. How To Dress Well - Love Remains
85. Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
86. Sufjan Stevens - The Age of Adz
87. The Walkmen - Lisbon
88. Tame Impala - Innerspeaker
89. James Blake - CMYK / Klavierwerke / The Bells Sketch
90. Janelle Monae - The ArchAndroid
91. Titus Andronicus - The Monitor
92. Local Natives - Gorilla Manor
93. Sean Nicholas Savage - Movin Up In Society
94. Reading Rainbow - Prism Eyes
95. Mount Kimbie - Crooks and Lovers
96. Abe Vigoda - Crush
97. White Denim - Last Days Of Summer
98. Shabazz Palaces – Shabazz Palaces / Of Light
99. Oneohtrix Point Never - Returnal
100. Woods - At Echo Lake

[Ribbons]

Whoa! I don't think I've even listened to 100 albums this year, let alone ranked them in order of preference. You sir are a beast. Ironically(...? Is that word appropriate in this situation?) the only one of those I've even heard is your #1 pick, Teen Dream by Beach House, which is pretty boffo. Although I do have an unopened copy of Plastic Beach lying around somewhere.

[stereosforgeeks]

Whoa! I don't think I've even listened to 100 albums this year, let alone ranked them in order of preference. You sir are a beast. Ironically(...? Is that word appropriate in this situation?) the only one of those I've even heard is your #1 pick, Teen Dream by Beach House, which is pretty boffo. Although I do have an unopened copy of Plastic Beach lying around somewhere.

Its not actually ranked at this juncture that is going to take a couple more days. Ariel Pink, Beach house, How To Dress Well, and Crystal Castles are definitely some of the top 10 though.

[Ribbons]

D'oh! That's what I get for not reading closely...

[justcheckin]

New to me but I think the most recent studio album came out in 2009... I am digging some Florence + The Machine

[stereosforgeeks]

New to me but I think the most recent studio album came out in 2009... I am digging some Florence + The Machine

The XX remix of the Florence and the Machine song is great.

[justcheckin]

New to me but I think the most recent studio album came out in 2009... I am digging some Florence + The Machine

The XX remix of the Florence and the Machine song is great.

cool... gonna check it out. thx

[stereosforgeeks]

New to me but I think the most recent studio album came out in 2009... I am digging some Florence + The Machine

The XX remix of the Florence and the Machine song is great.

cool... gonna check it out. thx

[Peven]

"Brothers" from The Black Keys.....best fucking album i have heard in some years, i can start at track 1 and let it play all the way through and enjoy every tune, while really cranking it up for most...