
photo by Brittney Bollay 2011 was a fantastic year for New Jersey natives Big Troubles . They brought their laid back tweed pop sound to the masses opening up for and playing alongside the similar sounds of Real Estate , Dom , Young Prisms , Starfucker , and Ducktails . In addition, they released the fantastic LP Romantic Comedy on Slumberland Records in September, and did more touring in support of it. They even had a bit of time last month to stop by Daytrotter and [...]

I waited till 2011 to finalize my albums list - all my lists - partially due to laziness, being busy, the holidays... but mainly because I'm not sure what the hurry is. I don't do this for the web traffic (clearly), so I gave myself a little more time to decide than usual. (And as long as this goes up before the Village Voice' s Pazz n' Jop, I don't feel delinquent.) So here's my list, the top five or so have been a lock for almost half a year, but the rest were in flux right till I [...]

A year end albums list is kind of a strange thing, especially when it's one person compiling it. Since this blog is a committe of one, it can become quite capricious. In all likelyhood I wrote about some records this past year that I was overtly enthusiastic about at the time. Now the end of the year rolls around and some of those records are not on the list. "What gives?" you might ask. It's hard to remember which label flew me to Tahiti and which one comp'd my CMJ this year, so I may have forgotten to include a [...]
Como habitual, fica por cá o resumo do que de mais importante se passou na minha página alternativa do Facebook. A semana não trouxe muita actividade a esta página e continuou a ser preenchida com algumas músicas constam da minha lista pessoal das 40 músicas que mais curti em 2011. Refiro no entanto alguns temas extra que poderiam eventualmente ter sido incluídos na lista mencionada e que
This year in music has been quite impressive. While 2010 gave us clear-cut, stand alone winners, it was much harder to determine which album was Top Ten worthy, let alone the best of 2011. Most sites have published their lists already, and while many albums appear on the same lists, the top ten varies greatly from list to list. Don't expect us to be any different. Read more » http://rpc.blogcatalog.com/ http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ ping

1. How to Dress Well - Suicide Dream 1 (Orchestral Version) from Just Once EP ( Love Letters Ink ) I've kept coming back to this song again and again over the past few months and each time I'm still awestruck at how disarmingly beautiful and sincere it is. Stripping back the murky noises from the original, Tom Krell ramps up his angelic falsetto with soul-baring harmonies and an elegantly restrained string quartet - a perfect marriage of R n' B-informed tenderness and classical formalism. Feel like this [...]

So...I suppose I'm a tad bit late to the year-end-best-of-lists party but oh well. Josh already offered up his favorite tracks in the year-end best-of playlist and, while our lists have a lot of crossover, I thought I'd offer up my favorite 50 tracks from the past year. I've struggled with the idea of trying to put a 'best-of' stamp on anything I listen to based solely on the fact that I'm not all that comfortable with the idea of ranking all the tracks I love. This is more a representation of all my favorite tracks from [...]

After presenting you our 10 favorite videos , EP's and 50 favourite albums of this year, it's now time for our forth and last round-up. So, here is the first half of our 100 favourite songs of 2011! Next to come: December 21 | Best Songs Of 2011 #50-01 December 24 | Christmas mixtape #100 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. | Skeletons #99 The [...]
1. Balloons - A Grave With No Name 2. We'll Be Fine - Drake 3. We Found Love - Rihanna 4. Bass - ASAP Rocky 5. Marker - Implodes 6. Engine - Big Troubles 7. Baby's Arms - Kurt Vile 8. Superbass - Nicki Minaj 9. Video Games - Lana Del Ray 10. Natural - Clams Casino 11. Blood Red and True - Leviathan 12. Sleep Dealer - Oneohtrix Point Never 13. Forever Dolphin Love - Connan Mockasin 14. Start it

photos by Erik Erikson ; words by Bill Pearis One night after James Murphy and other DFA peeps occupied the Kent Ave space , Friday night was the BV Presents evening of programming at the Brooklyn Night Bazaar , a ridiculously huge warehouse space that was home to holiday shopping, food vendors and rock music. I was taken aback by how big the performance space was, which had room for at least a dozen picnic tables, [...]

Things were different this year, there is no clear cut "best record" as there have been in the past. Instead, this year a handful of records blew us away. Ranging from a collection of beats that somehow sounded better free of the vocals to an Austin trio hell-bent on reverb-ing your brain out of its capsule. Without trying, I somehow ended up with exactly 20 albums, check it out below. 20) Death Grips - Ex Military Mixtape [Self-Released] [...]
BEST OF 2011 : Songs | Albums (soon) | EPs/Singles | Discoveries/Heavy Rotation | Photos A really good year! The first 40 or so are mega-jams and the latter 38 (Rawkblog loves you, baby) are still jams. I purposefully left out songs by Destroyer because I couldn't decide, so consider Kaputt represented. You can play the entire page with the handy Ex.fm player in the bottom right corner, stream the playlist on Spotify and Rdio , and download everything after the jump. [...]

by Bill Pearis strong>Fucked Up at House of Vans in July ( more by Chris La Putt ) BrooklynVegan is really in the holiday spirit this year. In addition to the BV holiday party with Anna Calvi and Eleanor Friedberger at Music Hall of Williamsburg on December 13 and the Twin Sister/Widowspeak/Ava Luna show at Bowery Ballroom on December 13 , we've added a third BV Presents show to the holiday themed mix. [...]
Romentic Comedy von Big Troubles zählt definitiv zu meinen Lieblingsalben 2011. Über Slumberland erschienen vereint vor allem der Track "Minor Keys" alle Qualitäten der Band. Sowohl verträumt als auch tanzbar gibt es auf Romantic Comedy 10 tolle Tracks die total hängen bleiben und mich auch noch im nächsten Sommer begleiten werden. Minor Keys rockt zum [...]

Welcome to another extreme and nicely fitting HOTT Mix . As you may have guessed at one point or another, we MFRers are from a cold-ass part of these United States. However, tundra-like reputation aside, for some reason the snow is two months late up in here. This mix dares to ask the question: What's the deal nature? With a heavy accent on wildlife. Hope you enjoy it. Spread the word and be sure to support the artists you enjoy. Sharon Van Etten - "Serpents" [...]

Ah Black Friday... the day when the 1% tells the 99% to go save the economy. But if you're not in the mood to stab a bitch for a flatscreen today, why not browse around ViolentSuccess to see what sort of music is new and awesome lately... A.A. Bondy: Believers - Although I'm not familiar with his earlier work, hearing an album like this certainly warrants a closer examination. After being the frontman for Verbena [...]

We were able to get in a brief interview with New Jersey's Big Troubles about a month or so back, and then just to guild that lily, Earbuddy was able to catch the band opening for fellow Jerseyites, Real Estate, in Portland. Photos courtesy of Paul Mattson. Read more » http://rpc.blogcatalog.com/ http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ ping
![M83, THE JEZABELS, REAL ESTATE [SUGGESTED NYC CONCERTS]](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/3877137_lg.jpg)
Though it's not a very busy week for live music here in New York City, the artists visiting are all pretty big names. In fact, all three of our pre-Thanksgiving picks are sold out shows, so you'll have to click on the link to Craigslist and try your luck there. Have a great week, enjoy the beautiful autumn weather, and stuff your faces full of delicious turkey, stuffing/dressing, and sweet potatoes covered with marshmallows. M83 , Active Child @ Webster Hall (Sold Out // Craigslist ) [...]

Big Troubles are Ian Drennan, Alex Craig, Luka Usmiani, Samuel Franklin from New Jersey, and this is from their second release, the album Romantic Comedy on Slumberland Records . Download Misery Free Music, Every Day. Subscribe to the Daily Dose. Big Troubles Links [...]
Real Estate @ Pittsburgh's Garfield Artworks w/ The Big Troubles on Sunday 11/20/11 New Jerey's Real Estate combine bass and guitar riffs with interesting chord progressions, ryhtymic sways, and hooks that pull you into a jangly laid back calm. The dream pop act is touring in support of their sophomore release "Days". Real Estate on MySpace SAMPLE MP3's BY [...]