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Tweet High school was my time for musical discovery. Mostly during late nights, I would search the deep ends of iTunes , looking for new, "obscure" music to add to my library. I stumbled across many bands with more or less staying power (and some ones that had none, but I was intent on finding the "next big thing") but while looking for a band I stumbled upon something better: a genre (or what seemed to be a genre, at least). If you've [...]

T Carl Ives has been gracing our local stages here in Eau Claire for the better part of the last decade. Last Saturday, he took the stage for the last time as the lead singer of Meridene (it was incredible!) but Trevor has new projects upcoming and is by no means disappearing from our local music scene. Phew! So keep an eye out for Trevor's new project(s) as we head further into 2012, and in the meantime, check out Mr. Ives' list of his favorite albums of 2011. Fucked Up [...]

Hat man sein Herz ersteinmal an eine Band verloren, wünscht man sich von dieser Band, dass sie sich möglichst niemalsnie verändert. AC/DC, Motörhead oder die Ramones sind auf dieser Schiene jahrzehntelang unfallfrei gefahren. "Ihr seid nicht die Ramones, denkt euch was neues aus", textet die Trierer Punkrock-Kapelle Love A auf ihrem tollen Debütalbum, ein Appel zu mehr Mut und Kreativität! Eine gravierende musikalische Veränderung geht allerdings selten kritiklos an einer Band vorüber (bestes Beispiel in diesem Jahr: Dredg). Als absolut begrüßenswert empfand ich die Erweiterung des musikalischen Kosmos allerdings bei Iron & Wine und Ghost Of Tom Joad. Dass „Black [...]

Just like Lawrence Tierney's character, Joe Cabot, in the final scene in Reservoir Dogs, we fear that there's a danger of regret as soon as we upload this post. Once that 'publish' button is clicked we're committed to our article and to be honest for the first time in nearly four years of posting, we're going ahead when we're not 100% sure about the band. The reason is that with today's recommendation there's a mixed feeling in Camp Recommender. On the one hand, this band have a striking brilliance that hooks you early on, but once you inspect [...]

Nuestro hábil corresponsal en Europa Jorge Acevedo presenta la segunda parte de su reporte Bilbao dedicado a The Pais of Being Pure at Heart, esta vez comentando su show en Santana 27, Bilbao, el pasado 6 de enero. Texto y fotografías por Jorge Acevedo Como si hubiésemos retrocedido directamente a las fauces de Thatcher y Major. Como si no hubiesen pasado 20 años, de laboristas y concertacionistas, de ingenuidades y desengaños. Ahí estaban nuevamente esas bellas melodías, embadurnadas de ruido, con su candidez intacta. Pero…por las miradas a sus zapatos, los reconoceréis. Donde antes [...]

Eure Band des Jahres: Bon Iver (Foto unter CC-Lizenz von Flickr-Nutzer starbright31 ) Traditionsgemäß gab es auf diesem Blog auch im gerade vergangenen Jahr wieder die Möglichkeit für die Leser, bei unserem Jahresrückblick mitzumachen und uns ihre Meinung zu den besten und schlechtesten Platten des Jahres kundzutun. Die Ergebnisse davon wollen wir euch nicht vorenthalten. Alben des Jahres: Wie sehr sich trotz ähnlich gelagerten Musikgeschmäckern doch die persönlichen Alben des Jahres unterscheiden können, sieht man an dieser Abstimmung. 88 vierschiedene Platten wurden insgesamt [...]

I could've made this list twice as long but I capped it at 50. Most of these are actual singles. The rest should be. Beyond the top ten, ordering is fairly arbitrary. Metronomy - The Look ( MP3 | Video ) I first heard this song back in February and I have yet to tire of it. I wish the keyboard solo outro lasted forever. Exlovers - Blowing Kisses ( MP3 | Video ) Rocking shoegaze pop of the highest order. [...]

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! [...]

Nachdem ich mir inzwischen so viele verschiedene Jahrescharts von so vielen verschiedenen Menschen angeschaut habe, kann ich sie ehrlich gesagt nicht mehr sehen. Wenn man auf ein Jahr zurückblickt, dann kommen einem doch sowieso eher einzelne Momente in den Sinn - oft wild durcheinanderfliegend und höchstens locker verknüpft durch Assoziationen - als irgendwelche Listen. Aber es macht ja doch immer wieder Spaß, seine eigenen Favoriten gegeneinander abzuwägen und zu ordnen, Ranglisten aufzustellen und umzuschmeißen – auch wenn man an dem Kampf dabei beinahe verzweifelt. Ich hoffe jedenfalls ihr habt noch ein offenes Ohr für die Musik, die mich im vergangenen [...]
About a month ago, picked my 10 favs of 2011 for The Elliot Potter Show with Jason Brown . I told him at the time that I could have picked 10 totally different albums and been happy with my list. Here are those 10. Tim Hecker Ravedeath, 1972 Why it didn't make [...]

Tal como lo hizo con Battles y The Horrors, nuestro corresponsal en Europa Jorge Acevedo nos contará los pormenores del próximo concierto que The Pains of Being Pure at Heart ofrecerá en Bilbao. Comentábamos hace unas semanas , debido a las visitas consecutivas de Battles y The Horrors a tierras vascas, que las bandas de este lado del mundo (y las que son de "cruzando el charco", que para eso están la globalización y la escasa venta de discos) están de viaje por el continente, alardeando de sus últimas producciones. A la espera [...]

The same procedure as every year: Kurz vor Silvester sitze ich wie so ziemlich jeder andere Musikblogger, -journalist und fast jeder -fan vor der schweren Aufgabe, meine Jahrescharts zu erstellen. Und wie immer wird mir spätestens morgen noch ein Album oder Song einfallen, den ich entweder hier vergessen habe oder bis heute noch gar nicht kenne. Das gesagt, hier ist mein kleiner Jahresrückblick. (Inhalt: Schlechte Musik | Konzerte des Jahres | Songs des Jahres | Video des Jahres | Alben des Jahres ) [...]
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

So here it is...in no real particular order, my best albums of 2011 list. It was definitely a great year for music. I had many of these albums of repeat for several days, if not weeks, straight. 2011 was also an amazing year for Canadian musicians - check out Spinner Canada's article, " 2011: The Year Canadian Music Broke ." Adele - 21 Adele - Turning Tables Bon Iver - Bon Iver Bon Iver - Michicant [...]

This list was an extremely easy one to do, however, like any lists, I'm sure I've left off more than I care to remember. All I had to do is go to iTunes and click on the songs I played most in 2011. POW! If it were only that easy. Here's a small sampling of my favorite songs of 2011 and I wish the rest of that M83 albums was like "Midnight City." Sigh. C=T Favorite Songs of 2011 Tracklist M83 Midnight City Fred Falke Aurora Cut [...]

I have been so blessed this past year in all aspects of my life. I graduated this past June from the University of Toronto with an Honours B.A. I interned at one of Toronto's most prestigious indie labels, Dine Alone Records. I had the opportunity to attend and provide media coverage for CMF 2011 and NXNE 2011. I created a Casting Call video for Much Music which I am so very proud of. It's been a great year - its truly been eye-opening and has resulted in a lot of personal development. I am so thankful to be surrounded by [...]
Elke dag t/m 31-12-2011 een album uit de lijst met favorieten uit 2011, persoonlijk gekozen door het ASP opperhoofd. Uiteraard in de correcte volgorde.
With shoulders slumped and eyes down, it's the kind of vocal delivery that convincingly captures all the angst of a universe-crumbling teen breakup. "Tell me again what the body's for /'Cos I can't feel it anymore" sighs the Pains of Being Pure at Heart's leading man Kip Berman. With shoulders slumped and eyes down, it's the kind of vocal delivery that convincingly captures all the angst of a universe-crumbling teen breakup. Berman's boy's world is at an end as he longs for an old flame, unable to envision a time when these feelings of heartbreak will lift and...

Cover Stars: Agnes Von Weiss and Pip Gottlieb After much head scratching and tail swishing, Thee Mightee Kittens have chosen our favorite songs of 2011. We hope you have enjoyed them as much as we did. We've only put a smattering of the tracks in this post. So for the full listing of songs and downloads, please visit this special separate page within our site: A Brilliant Career: The Best Songs of 2011. We'll be posting more songs here during the week [...]