1. The Decemberists- The King is Dead Made the Cougar Microbes Top Albums of 2011 list here 2. Beirut- The Rip Tide Made the Cougar Microbes Top Albums of 2011 list here 3. Death Cab for Cutie- Codes and Keys I have been a Death Cab super fan since about 2001. 'We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes' is one [...]
Chicago musicians Bob Nanna and Lauren LoPiccolo have united to create simple, but dreamy, acoustic pop ditties under the moniker Jack and Ace . "I'm Sorry That You are the Black Death" pairs delicately plucked guitar melodies with earnest lyrics about, what else, love. Jack and Ace prove that melancholy doesn't need to be so complicated to be effective. Nanna is better known for his work with influential post-hardcore (or emo, if you like) outfit Braid and Hey Mercedes. LoPiccolo previously teamed up with Nanna in the City on Film. [...]

Major Napier - Major Soldier EP I first introduced Australian artist Major Napier to you last November; a time when I was particularly enamoured with his cover of Sharon Van Etten's Lovemore . Almost immediately after I wrote, he released a free download EP of bedroom-recorded songs entitled 'Major Soldier', which I was reminded of via an enthused post on Zen Tapes today. The slow, booming drum-sound prevalent throughout "Crowning Observation" (below) is idiosyncratic of the whole release, Johnny Ross careful to keep the beat sufficiently organic-sounding [...]
1. EMA - Past Life Martyred Saints (Souterrain Transmissions) Listen: Anteroom Martyrs are not victims. There is no self-pity or cool detachment to their pain. Past Life Martyred Saints is an intimate but uncomfortable album, it will make you feel guilty for the hearts you've torn apart and it will make you feel weak for all the times you've been hurt and felt victimized for it. 2. Colin Stetson - New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges [...]

Download link is in the original post Sounds like: Fleet Foxes, Braids, Blitzen Trapper, The Shins Song: Yukon Blonde - Stairway [download here ] What's so good? [...]

Download link is in the original post Sounds like: Blondie, Braids, The Luyas Song: Labyrinth Ear - Humble Bones [download here ] What's so good? Excited [...]
Download link is in the original post Sounds like: Blondie, Braids, The Luyas Song: Slowdance - Sweetness [download here ] What's so good? Mark my words, [...]

I don't mean to be a prude when I do this, but we all had favourite albums last year, you can't deny that, and I had too many. In fact, so many that I loved that it was difficult to decide between them all, and I had been reading endless 'trendy choice' end-of-year lists before the year had even gone out. So I thought I might deliver some kind of personal justice by posting one that people can sneer at all they want, but might actually pick out something they overlooked and think "Hey, I might actually try that now, [...]

Music to Combat Commuting Doldrums 2011 takes the best of the tracks from the Blogophilia series. It's our sayonara to 2011. These tracks spun around in our heads for long periods during the year. We used download information and then feedback to compile the final list. It's hard not to go wrong, there were so many gems from 2011. So download and enjoy! Music to Combat Commuting Doldrums 2011 Best of Blogophilia Edition The best promotional tracks of 2011 from the Blogophilia [...]

11. Youth Lagoon – The Year of Hibernation 10. Cults - Cults 9. SBTRKT - SBTRKT 8. Timber Timbre – Creep On Creepin' On 7. Feist – Metals 6. Bon Iver – Bon Iver, Bon Iver 5. Wilco – The Whole Love 4. Austra – Feel It Break 3. Beirut – The Rip Tide 2. Braids – Native [...]
esto no pretende ser una lista de "lo mejor de 2011". necesitaría tres vidas para escuchar todo lo que se ha publicado este año, así que seguro me pierdo auténticas joyas. son cincuenta canciones presentadas en orden alfabético, escogidas de entre las que más me han gustado este año y que, como ocurre con las del resto del blog, están disponibles en la red en descarga legal y gratuita. pueden bajarse individualmente, pero yo recomiendo pillar las dos carpetas y escucharlas del tirón. ojalá las disfrutéis [...]
There was so much really great music that I heard this year, to the point that putting together these lists was quite difficult and time-consuming. But even so, there are still a lot more albums out there that were recommended to me by others that I simply never got the chance to hear, as well as some that I felt needed more listens for me to fully absorb them, so they sadly won't be showing up on here (Danny Brown, Julianna Barwick, The Weeknd, Fucked Up, PJ Harvey, Main Attrakionz, Tune-yards, Yuck…I could go on and on). I'll [...]

I'll never stop loving the beauty of a physical album; everything from the scent of a new vinyl, to the magic of reading the lyrics and seeing the images inside the insert, to the touch of the glossy, matte or recycled paper, and the most important factor - the cover art of the actual overall masterpiece. Here is some of the best album art of 2011. It's easy to see in all of these artists, that there was an actual thought to the structure of not only their music but how it visually sounds. Enjoy! [...]

We're a little late, but we made it! Here is out top 10 for 2011. We'll be posting our favorite EP's of 2011 as well as the ones to watch for 2012. Take a look at the other 40 albums right here . Thanks for sticking with us these past two years we're looking forward to an amazing new year! 10. Mother Mother Eureka Simply Simple Calm Me Down Soundcloud Amazon [...]
Top 30 Songs 30. Planningtorock – The Breaks 29. Destroyer – Suicide Demo for Kara Walker 28. Cold Cave – The Great Pan Is Dead 27. Lower Dens – Batman 26. Grouper – Water People 25. Prurient – Palm Tree Corpse 24. Kurt Vile – Runner Ups 23. Parenthetical Girls – Sympathy for Spastics 22. Ford & Lopatin – Joey Rogers 21. Burial – Stolen Dog 20. [...]

I rather like Purity Ring. They tick an awful lot of my boxes: dreamy, hip-hop influenced, female vocal pop. What more could a modern metrosexual ask for? They released the Ungirthed 73 around this time last year to much acclaim and followed it up in October with a split 73 (shared with Braids, on Fat Possum) that feature their song Belispeak. It's choppy and ever so slightly sinister while maintaining enough of a pop direction to make it very ear friendly. Megan James' vocals on all of their songs, although very produced, have an innocent quality to them. They're a [...]

Each of our writers who posted this year worked tirelessly to cover bands that normally don't appear on your FM radio stations, and in the true spirit of the season, here are their lists. All albums are linked to iTunes. To play all Soundcloud clips continuously, click on the play button in the bottom right of the screen. TOP 10 ALBUMS 10. Cut Copy - Zonoscope 9. [...]
This Music Wins Review Of The Year 2011 on Resonance FM After writing an albums of the year list longer than probably all my posts across the entire year put together, putting together a 90 minute radio show for Resonance FM seemed like a breeze. So, here it is: 15 or so of my favourite songs of the year in Radio Show format. View the written list here . DOWNLOAD : This Music Wins Review Of The Year 2011 ( MP3 ) To [...]

Here is part two of counting down the singles and music videos of 2011. This time it is counting down from #30 to #11. Most of the singles are compiled from the Singles Chart on my site. There will be some songs that wasn't on the chart but are worthy to be noticed. Check it out. 30. Foster The People - Pumped Up Kicks [...]

Son Lux – We Are Rising The second album from New Yorker Ryan Lott, We Are Rising is an electronic opus that lays claim to a fertile musical landscape that's largely neglected by the mass of modern electronic artists. Created in 28 days as part of National Public Radio's RPM Challenge, We Are Rising is beautifully arranged with heavy doses of classical elements (strings, woodwinds, brass, opera), chorus, and psychedelia artfully combined within an elegant & modern electronic amalgam. 'We Are Rising' (featured below) is atypical [...]