Government-funded Triple J is Australia's biggest alternative radio station. Triple J is heavily involved in supporting the burgeoning local music scene, as well as bringing the world's best music to its listeners. Beginning broadcasts in 1975, Triple J has helped launched the careers of countless big-name bands. Each year, Triple J holds a countdown of previous year's favorite tracks as voted by the listeners. Broadcasted on Australia Day (January 26), the countdown has become a part of the day's celebrations with countless BBQ's blaring the year's top 100 tracks throughout the day. Here are [...]
Madonna will be performing at the Superbowl this Sunday (as if any of you didn't already know that), so I thought it was the perfect time to submit her discography to the Top Ten treatment. She's an interesting one. While I can appreciate her work and am definitely a fan, I've never felt a connection with her like I have with some other pop divas (ie: Janet Jackson, Kylie Minogue). Still, at seventy-five singles and counting, it goes without saying that I could easily have expanded this list well past ten. [...]
The time of the year between late December and early January always brings back various locals who have decamped from Boston to other scenes and locales over the years. This year was no exception.... Support indie media! Read the rest at thephoenix.com . . .
This past year, I watched over 45 of 2011's movies, which I think is some sort of a personal record. I guess that's why my list is longer than last year's! There are still a couple of limited release films I've yet to see (The Iron Lady, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, Take Shelter and My Week With Marilyn) that could conceivably make their way onto my list, but for now... this is how it looks! 1. Super 8 / Hugo I can't separate these two movies--two of [...]
2. Nightwish - Imaginaerium Sure, it's not 100% perfect, but no other album displayed this much ambition in 2011. The highs on this are amongst the best things recorded this year. Mixing symphonic rock, film soundtracks, goth-rock-pop vocals and more bombast than you can fathom, Nightwish made their strongest album more than a decade into their career. 1. The Sound Of Arrows - Voyage [...]
5. Rihanna - We Found Love Sometimes the most amazing songs are also the simplest. Rihanna's got a lot to thank Calvin Harris for. His production on this is just stunning, but it's the gutsy, battle-cry vocals that put this over the top. Her best single yet? Maybe. 4. Example - Changed The Way You Kissed Me [...]
4. One Direction - Up All Night After the massive success of their first single, the following album could've coasted on labored songwriting and lots of filler. After all, fans of the teen pop genre don't always have the most discerning of taste. What we got instead was an album where every track could be a single. Ranging from power pop to club to old school boyband ballads, I haven't been this [...]
Special Mention: Rebecca Black - Friday Sure, the song's horrible (in all the best ways), but no other track had a better story behind it than this one. I'd be insane if I didn't at least mention it! 10. LMFAO - Party Rock Anthem So right for all the wrong reasons. If you told me a year ago that I'd be putting an LMFAO song in [...]
6. Aqua - Megalomania The comeback of the year. Aqua went from novelty pop band to something more mature and interesting. Yeah, there are still plenty of fun bubblegum tracks, but they're filtered through a band whose experience makes itself known through the laser-targeted songwriting and awesome production. There isn't one track worth skipping. 5. Melody Club - Human Harbour [...]
15. Martin Rolinski - Blame It On A Decent Matter I never had any doubts that this would be brilliant after Rolinski's work with BWO. But it was even better than I'd expected! 14. Studio Killers - Ode To The Bouncer A welcome shot of Danish electro cool in a year without enough of it. The [...]
8. Pnau - Soft Universe More song-oriented than their last album, this was a very pleasant Summer surprise. It's the perfect mix of electronic music and indie rock. More than that, it has an epic scope when it comes to the sounds and structures used. Though it's buoyed by a handful of remarkable tracks, the entire thing is actually pretty consistent, especially in this genre 7. [...]
20. Nero - Crush On You It took me awhile to get into the dubstep bits, but once I did, this song quickly became one of my favorite dance tracks of the year. The sample (cover?) is just brilliant. 19. Caotico & Tove Styrke - Brains Out This just drips cool. From the very first listen, [...]
10. The Sounds - Something To Die For After a disappointing detour from their synth-punk roots, the band came roaring back with their fourth album. It does what the band does best, offering up aggressive, dance-fueled rock with the glossy sheen of radio pop music. It nearly reaches the perfection of their first two releases. 9. Clare Maguire - Light After Dark [...]
25. Erik Hassle - Are You Leaving Working with the guys from Kent was a genius move. The atmosphere, combined with incredible songwriting, make this one of his best. 24. Swingfly - Me & My Drum The most rousing track in this year's Melodifestivalen, I just don't see how anyone couldn't enjoy this. It's [...]
Sondre Lerche es un noruego que está en el mundo de la música hace rato y, en todo este tiempo, lanzó cosas que nos hicieron emocionar mucho. Nos dimos cuenta que sabe hacer las cosas y que lo que hace, con ese toque de tranquilidad, popero y que viene del indie, vale la pena. En esta oportunidad es curioso porque el artista hizo un cover de la canción que más le gustó en todo el año que se trata de un tema de Boyencé . Es curioso porque, particularmente, lo que hace [...]
12. Rhydian - Waves An opera-singing X-Factor runner-up covering obscure 80's tracks? Yes, please. I'm a big proponent of drama in pop music, and Rhydian definitely enhanced the tracks on this album with vocals of epic proportion. The fact that I was only familiar with a couple of the songs in their original format actually helped things. Myspace [...]
30. Short Stack - Heartbreak Made Me A Killer An album highlight and one of their best singles. It's like all of their best sounds thrown together into one song. 29. Olly Murs - Heart Skips A Beat (ft. Rizzle Kicks) Represents his shift from X-Factor runner-up to proper popstar. This was inescapable this Summer, and [...]
Norweigan Sondre Lerche has given his fans a holiday treat in the form of a cover of Beyonce's "Countdown". He takes the party anthem, and chills it way back with his acoustic guitar. Now it's taylor made for snuggling by the fireside.
14. Will Young - Echoes The 2011 version of a George Michael album. It took awhile for this to stick with me, but once it did, I was really enchanted. I've never completely enjoyed a Will Young album before. His music has always been too... well... boring for me. With Echoes , though, he struck the perfect balance between ballad and uptempo, organic and electronic. The best "grown up" [...]
T-Sides
indie shuffle
#1 Hits From Another Planet
On The Download
Cuchara Sónica
Hand Clap Movement
A-Trak - "Round of Applause" / "Where My Money At" (MP3 Download)
Diplo - "Climax" (MP3 Stream)
Gotye – Somebody I Used To Know (Jakob Liedholm Remix) : Must Hear House / Indie Remix [TSIS PREMIERE]
Out This Week 2/14
Skrillex Uses Satanic and Homosexual Influence to Win Grammys
