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Hear a new song from Fever Ray called "No Face," from a benefit album called We Are the Works In Progress

Stream it now at Disco Naïveté

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Hey, remember 2009? It was such a great year, wasn't it? I thought so

01. The Crying Light, Antony & the Johnsons
02. Merriweather Post Pavilion, Animal Collective
03. Fits, White Denim
04. Middle Cyclone, Neko Case
05. Fever Ray, Fever Ray
06. Monoliths & Dimensions, Sunn O)))
07. Bitte Orca, Dirty Projectors
08. The Eternal, Sonic Youth
09. BiRd-BrAiNs, tUnE-yArDs
10. Bromst, Dan Deacon
11. Jewllery, Micachu & the Shapes
12. Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, Phoenix
13. Veckatimest, Grizzly Bear
14. Album, Girls
15. Tarot Sport, Fuck Buttons
16. Two Dancers, Wild Beasts
17. jj no 2, jj
18. Two Suns, Bat for Lashes
19. Embryonic, The Flaming Lips
20. xx, The xx
21. Unmap, Volcano Choir
22. The Conformist, Doveman
23. Sisterworld, Liars
24. Born Like This, DOOM
25. Beware, Bonnie "Prince" Billy"
26. Farm, Dinosaur Jr.
27. A Mountain Is a Mouth, Bruce Penninsula
28. Fleurs, Former Ghosts
29. Music for Men, Gossip
30. Guns Don't Kill People... Lazers Do, Major Lazer
31. The Life of the World to Come, The Mountain Goats
32. Only Built 4 Cuban Linx Pt. 2, Raekwon

Also,  The Bachelor by Patrick Wolf- it's got some of 2009s best moments, but also some of its worst. It got a lot of playtime back in the day, and it deserves a shout-out!

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2008, an interesting year: the last time folk was relevant, dance music killed it, Diamanda and Sunn O))) dominated with live albums, and no releases from my Big 7 (save for Antony's Hercules & Love Affair cameos). A fruitful year, though. Oh yeah- some great debuts

01. Third, Portishead
02. Hercules & Love Affair, Hercules & Love Affair
03. For Emma, Forever Ago, Bon Iver
04. Guilty! Guilty! Guilty!, Diamanda Galas
05. In Ghost Colours, Cut Copy
06. Fleet Foxes, Fleet Foxes
07. Microcastle, Deerhunter
08. Safe Inside the Day, Baby Dee
09. Crystal Castles, Crystal Castles
10. Nouns, No Age
11. Dømkirke, Sunn O)))
12. Santogold, Santogold
13. New Amerykah Pt. 1: 4th World War, Erykah Badu
14. Street Horrrsing, Fuck Buttons
15. The Bake Sale, The Cool Kids
16. Dear Science, TV On the Radio
17. Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill, GrouperDear
18. Tha Carter III, Lil Wayne
19. This Is It And I Am It And You Are It And So Is That And He Is It And She Is It And It Is It And That Is That, Marnie Stern
20. Lie Down In the Light, Bonnie "Prince" Billy
21. There Will Be Blood OST, Jonny Greenwood
22. 808s & Heartbreak, Kanye West
23. The Midnight Organ Fight, Frightened Rabbit
24. Heretic Pride, The Mountain Goats
25. Beach House, Devotion
26. Saturdays = Youth, M83
27. Impermanence, Meredith Monk
28. Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust, Sigur Ros

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Motile performing "Blip Drip," a song from his forthcoming album Princess, live in Lisbon. Filmed by Giulia Essyad

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My favorite albums of 2007, including the strongest Top 10 albums to ever appear together- it's always been a bit impossible to rank them

1. The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn, CocoRosie
2. Untrue, Burial
3. Kala, M.I.A.
4. In Rainbows, Radiohead
5. Strawberry Jam, Animal Collective
6. Volta, Bjork
7. White Chalk, PJ Harvey
8. Person Pitch, Panda Bear
9. Graduation, Kanye West
10. Neon Bible, Arcade Fire

11. Robyn, Robyn
12. Spiderman of the Rings, Dan Deacon
13. Sound of Silver, LCD Soundsystem
14. Cryptograms, Deerhunter
15. American Gangster, Jay-Z
16. Silent Shout - An Audio-Visual Experience, The Knife
17. Icky Thump, The White Stripes
18. Back to Black, Amy Winehouse
19. All Hour Cymbals, Yeasayer
20. Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?, of Montreal

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"The Daily Mail" b/w "Staircase"
Radiohead (2011)

Download it here

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Leading up to 2011's lists, I'd like to share with you some old ones for the next few days. Here is 2006
One could argue Ys and Silent Shout have yet to be matched in the 5 years that have followed

1. Silent Shout, The Knife / Ys, Jonna Newsom
2. He Poos Clouds, Final Fantasy
3. The Drift, Scott Walker
4. Desert Doughnuts, Metallic Falcons
5. Fox Confessor Brings the Flood, Neko Case
6. Fur and Gold, Bat for Lashes
7. Yellow House, Grizzly Bear
8. Boys and Girls In America, The Hold Stead
9. Hell Hath No Fury, Clipse
10. Futuresex/Lovesounds, Justin Timberlake
11. Bring Me the Workhorse, My Brightest Diamond
12. The Eraser, Thom Yorke
13. B'Day, Beyonce
14. Fishscale, Ghostface Killah
15. Beach House, Beach House
16. The Letting Go, Bonnie "Prince" Billy
17. Drum's Not Dead, Liars

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As 2012 (alien apocalypse?????????) draws nearer, I've got a handful of posts planned

First up is a playlist featuring my favorite songs of 2011, including short write-ups on the ranked Top 20. My friends Richard & Francisco (Motile) are going to contribute, too

Next up, a ranked list of the year's best albums. I always like to read other year-end posts, like those at Tiny Mix Tapes or The Quietus, before making my own- I can't think of a year when I haven't discovered a great album from a good list. It can be hard to catch each great release as they happen throughout the year, wouldn't you agree?

Please remember that many lists cannot be trusted. Check back next week for some fun reads- and while you're waiting, please feel free to share with me your own favorites or your own lists by commenting this post. That would be so great!

xx

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Hello friends, Sorry I have been MIA. I was hanging out with MIA, hard at work recording some new music. Only one of those clauses is true.

December is always a nice month for music. We can reflect on our past year of listening and look forward to the always-exciting triple punch of January, February, and March releases. While I take some time to compile a list of my favorite albums of 2011, I would like to share with you a few download links.

Also, please check back late tonight for a post on one of my favorite acts of 2011, Hubble. I'll be seeing a Hubble performance tonight, and have written a lengthy post about Ben Greenberg's work on the project and its recent developments. 



Your First Ever River
United Waters (2011)

My friend Richard turned me on to this record a couple days ago, and I'm really enjoying it. You can find a great review of the album over at the ever-thoughtful Tiny Mix Tapes

Download it here


50 Words for Snow
Kate Bush (2011)

 

I assume you might already know how I feel about this album. Sorry to have taken so long with the download link! Princess Jeremy, the ball is in your court now- smoke a j, pretend you're somewhere cold, & enjoy

Download it here