best of 2011

Re: best of 2011

feeds@yuku.com (chrome3D) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 10:29:50 PST

Treefight For Sunlight: Treefight For Sunlight

Now this is more like it. Sunshine pop from Denmark. Yes indeed, there is a genre called sunshine pop. I think your description was really good, Rup. MGMT, Mew and Doves have done some good stuff lately. Especially Doves is easily in my top5 of all time artists and there is a lot of twinkly parts that sound like them. There is a lot of playful MGMT Gongratulations psych pop and the bonkers Mew sound constructions show here and there. Beach Boys is obvious when there is lot of harmonies but that is the least interesting comparison to me, as BB is not something I would listen. I think I have sampled some songs of this during the year but maybe I dismissed it too easily. I think this will stay in my rotation for a while. This definitely makes me happy. Most of the songs are quite samey but this is not that long album, so it's not that big...

Re: best of 2011

feeds@yuku.com (Rup) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 05:23:49 PST

Ha! That's ok!
I really like both artists, but the War On Drugs LP really stands out for me. I think it's something about the feeling and subtle ambience in the songs that lifts the album way above other similar efforts by other bands. I've really liked all their past LPs and EPs, but this one is a work of art, i reckon.
And yes, the lyrics do lean towards a slacker kinda thing, but that doesn't detract from the overall feel at all, (for me, at least!)

Also, the album improves with multiple listens (much like LPs by the crunch!).

So, who knows, maybe you'll grow to love it eventually!

rup

Re: best of 2011

feeds@yuku.com (chrome3D) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 23:47:38 PST

Kurt Vile and War On Drugs.

Two albums which are always mentioned together because there is same guys behind the band and Kurt's solo effort. Drowsy and druggy slacker rockfolk with 70's Springsteen/Dylan /americana esthetics. Sometimes I'm thinking that WOD sounds like Wilco (I Was There). I don't really care about Wilco and midtempo americana or at least it has to be really well done in some crossover way to give me some thrills. Come To The City was probably my fave from WOD-album. Kurt and WOD seem to be competing for the prize who does a song that sounds more like it was completely formed out of weed smoke. Slacker lyrics like these says it all:

I don't want to change but I don't want to stay the same
I don't want to go but I'm running
I don't want to work but I don't want to sit around...

Re: best of 2011

feeds@yuku.com (Rup) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 05:35:19 PST

Hm, i seem to remember putting Buffalo by The Phoenix Foundation down as my Number Two album of 2010!

(maybe it was released a little earlier in the UK?)

Either way, it's a superb album, and they're a very very good band to see live - if you ever get the chance.

Re: best of 2011

feeds@yuku.com (chrome3D) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 23:42:20 PST

I'm going to listen some of these albums mentioned here. First The Phoenix Foundation: Buffalo. Quite smooth, spacy and mellow indie dream pop from New Zealand. Instant fave songs from this album: poppy "Bitte Bitte" and the lovely closer "Golden Ship".

Re: best of 2011

feeds@yuku.com (pangaea) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 12:07:13 PST

Great stuff, Rup. Some of them unknown to me, and real gems!

Re: best of 2011

feeds@yuku.com (Rup) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 03:07:27 PST

"That's a load of stuff, Rup. 40 albums. Are you sure you got enough new albums?"
Ha! No, never enough!
Unfortunately (for my bank balance) i have an insatiable appetite for new music...

"Brick red, magenta, violet..."
That's nothing you should see the contents of my wardrobe!

Re: best of 2011

feeds@yuku.com (chrome3D) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 11:57:48 PST

That's a load of stuff, Rup. 40 albums. Are you sure you got enough new albums? I've tried some, like Washed Out and I Break Horses, but there might be few more good ones to check.

Brick red and magenta text on violet background...I'm going to use that in some strange design. Clients will probably like it!

Re: best of 2011

feeds@yuku.com (fandorin) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 02:26:24 PST

thank you all n esp. RUP whose playlist doubled the quantity of good records in 2010...

Re: best of 2011

feeds@yuku.com (Rup) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 06:19:01 PST

TOP 15 ALBUMS BY BETTER KNOWN BANDS

1 THE ANTLERS - BURST APART

2 MOGWAI – HARDCORE WILL NEVER DIE, BUT YOU WILL

Re: best of 2011

feeds@yuku.com (Rup) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 06:08:43 PST
TEN MORE ALBUMS THAT NEARLY MADE THE TOP FIFTEEN
16 ACTIVE CHILD - YOU ARE ALL I SEE

a bit like GAYNGS / HERE WE GO MAGIC / M83 / 10CC / BON IVER / BLUE NILE

17 DESTROYER - KAPUTT

Hello, here are my Nominations for the Best Albums of 2011...
It was a bumper year, so the selection was pretty difficult and it was kinda hard to keep the quantity down.
As last year, i'm offering a selection of great LPs some of which may have passed under the radar. For those bands that you might not know i've given a very brief, rough comparison, which may (or may not!) help...
Hope you find something of...

Re: best of 2011

feeds@yuku.com (fandorin) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 22:31:03 PST
Hmmm...a few years ago, Mr Chrome sent me some music by a band called (wonderfully) Scandinavian Music Group. That was amazing!!

Re: best of 2011

feeds@yuku.com (chrome3D) — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 10:14:29 PST
^Naah, they are local for a reason. Forget them.

I'm going to save Isidore and Noctorum until next year.

...Howling Bells...mm, I loved it. That's all I want to say.

Re: best of 2011

feeds@yuku.com (timetunnel) — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 04:50:13 PST
@Chrome: please give us the local scandinavian wonders as well! I think the scandinavian music scene has lots of great artists and I'm always eager to get to know more.

Re: best of 2011

feeds@yuku.com (timetunnel) — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 04:47:00 PST
Items in each list appear in no particular order

Top notch albums
Steve Kilbey & Ricky Maymi: David Neil - The Wilderness Years
Mogwai - Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will
Anna Calvi - Anna Calvi
Wye Oak - Civilian
Other Lives - Tamer Animals
Lanterns On The Lake - Gracious Tide, Take Me Home
Susanne Sundfør - The Brothel
All India Radio - The Silent Surf
PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
The Phoenix Foundation - Buffalo

Very good albums
The See See - Late Morning Night
Kate Bush - 50 Words for Snow (this is on the verge of entering the top category)
Widowspeak - Widowspeak
Steve Kilbey & Martin Kennedy - White Magic
Hammock - Asleep In The Downlights
Real Estate - Days
Laura Marling - A Creature I Don't Know
Boy - Mutual Friends (Boy is two girls from Germany and Switzerland who did a surprisingly...

Re: best of 2011

feeds@yuku.com (chrome3D) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 11:07:39 PST
Thanks for starting this. Glad to see MMJ, Bells, Rhys and REM there.

1. Anna Calvi - Anna Calvi
song: Blackout
I got the CD, saw a club gig, got a signed LP, collected all b-sides. Yeah, I'm a fan!

2. Steve Kilbey & Ricky Maymi - David Neil "The Wilderness Years"
song: Hollywood Ending

3. Howling Bells - The Loudest Engine
song: Secrets
I always had faith in them and I still do.

4. My Brightest Diamond - All Things Will Unwind
song: High Low Middle

5. R.E.M. - Collapse Into Now
song: It Happened Today
This was a good enjoyable goodbye-album if I didn't think about it too much.

6. Asobi Seksu - Fluorescence
song: Perfectly Crystal

7. The Mummers - Mink Hollow Road
song: Call Me A Rainbow

8. Tindersticks - 35 Rhums Soundtrack
2008 soundtrack from 5cd...

best of 2011

feeds@yuku.com (daveoto) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 05:45:35 PST
BesT ALBuMs Of 2011: (no re-issues or compilations).

STEVE KILBEY & RICKY MAYMI : "David Neil: The Wilderness Years".
THE PHOENIX FOUNDATION: "Buffalo"
THE DEARS: "Degenaration Street"
J.MASCIS: "Several Shades Of Why"
MY MORNING JACKET: "Circuital"
STEVE KILBEY & MARTIN KENNEDY: "White Magic"
P J HARVEY: "Let England Shake"
STEPHEN MALKMUS & THE LICKS : "Mirror Traffic"
MAGAZINE: "No Thyself"
TV SMITH: "Coming In To Land"
dEUS: "Keep You Close"
WIRE: "Red Barked Tree"
KURT VILE: "Smoke Ring For My Halo"
KASABIEN: "Velicoraptor"
NOEL GALLAGHERS HIGH FLYING BIRDS.
THE STROKES: "Angles"
BRETT ANDERSON: "Black Rainbows"
THE BLACK KEYS: "El Camino"
GRUFF RHYS: "Hotel Shampoo"
HOWLING BELLS: "The Loudest Engine"
FLEET FOXES: "Helplessness Blues"
TOM WAITS: "Bad As Me"
BEADY EYE: ...