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When I headed off to college, I stopped listening to new music. Whatever the gene that makes old people listen to oldies - it had turned on, and I’d resigned myself to spending the rest of my life listening to Radiohead and The Postal Service. That changed this year. My iTunes library doubled in size (it just broke 10,000 songs). I co-wrote a (short-lived) music blog (more on that at the end of this post). And now, I’m even (belatedly) throwing my hat into the end of year list crowd.
I made a playlist on lala to accompany this list with a song from every band I mention. If you read at about 3 words per minute, the playlist will sync to the post, a la Dark Side of the Rainbow. You might see it embedded below, or if you’re reading this on the dashboard - just go here. (more on lala, below).
Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillion
Abstract and accessible. Overhyped + all that, but still a fucking amazing album.
The Very Best - Warm Heart of Africa
I’m really, really hooked on the indie meets Africa sound. Check out their fantastic mixtape if you haven’t already.
The Low Anthem - Oh My God Charlie Darwin
The most beautiful album I heard all year (and a “Human Evolutionary Biology” reference, to boot!)
Coeur de Pirate - Ensemble
I first heard this song in this youtube video, and quickly became obsessed with the tattoed, dyed-blond, French-Canadian who sings it.
Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros - Home
“Girl, I’ve never loved one like you”
Girls - Lust for Life
Better than Drake’s creepy, spoken word “Lust for Life”? Of course. Better than Iggy Pop’s track that opens Trainspotting? Debatable.
Folk
The Low Anthem, Swell Season & Edward Sharpe have dominated my car’s CD player this year.
Lo-fi
Wavves, Girls, Neon Indian: all great, all made me want to listen to Daydream Nation on repeat.
Mixtape Rap
Is this a genre? That might be a stretch, but I listened to mixtapes by Drake/Kid Cudi/Wale/Lil Wayne far more than any hip hop album this year (favorite non-mixtape hip hop: Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx Pt III).
Monolith Festival - Day 1
The day was all-around ridiculous (meeting Caitlin Rose, observing the spectacle that is Of Montreal, M. Ward, Pains of Being Pure at Heart…).The night ended with all of us on stage for Girl Talk just going crazy. Highlights were a girl asking me if she could have some of the pills I was on (sorry, girl, but pure rock&roll joy don’t come from a pill), and some jailbait hitting on Gillis mercilessly while he did his whole laptop thing.
Ratatat @ Yardfest
Fun? At Yardfest? Unbelievable!
Ladytron, The Faint, Telepathe
I was not wearing enough eye makeup to be in attendance.
lala.com
It’s iTunes in the cloud (and since lala was just bought by Apple, it could very well be the cloud version of iTunes soon!). There’s an uploader to make your iTunes library portable, and you get a free stream of any song they have. Unlimited streams are cheap (10 cents, and you get a bunch for free), and mp3s are comparable in price to the iTunes Music Store + Amazon.
Pitchfork
Half of the music they love is unlistenably avant-garde (i.e. Dirty Projectors). The other half is my list above. For what it’s worth, they also love lala.
Hype Machine
On the one hand, it’s all buzz band remixes, “classic” indie tracks (i.e. Postal Service), and pop rap. On the other hand, I love that shit.
Conor Oberst - Outer South
Made me miss Bright Eyes.
The Boy Least Likely To - The Law of the Playground
Not as innocent & twee the second time around.
Vampire Weekend - Cousins
Okay, so it isn’t out yet. And it hasn’t leaked (surprising!). And “Horchata” is pretty good. But I didn’t really have a third “sophomore slump” and I assume no one has actually read this far.
Flosstradamus - Overnight Star
This post topped Carl Sagan’s list as well.
Savage Garden - I Want You (acoustic)
Nostalgia. A hro reference. And a pretty nifty version of a classic song.
Jets to Brazil - Orange Rhyming Dictionary
Comments from people after I posted this made me realize I’m not the only person in the world who likes Jets to Brazil. Plus, a Widener library reference.
