Before saying anything about this song, I fully realize that “Bandages” was not released in 2011. It was though new to me this year and the video they put out over the summer for it really impressed me. Sure there is another track that probably should have been on this list instead of this one but I could not bring myself to not have it on this list. Sorry for those of you who are offended. I feel the same way when seeing The Head And The Heart on the best album list from so many websites this year… everyone makes exceptions.
Hey Rosetta! are soulful-folk at its best.
“Bandages” remains subtle while simultaneously bringing a somewhat hurtful truth to the surface. The last minute and a half of this song is acoustic perfection which embodies the collective magic that Hey Rosetta! have the ability to create.
Lanterns On The Lake are a gorgeous embracing of spacious sadness whose sound is often at odds with their optimistic, or at the least forward facing, lyrics .
“Under Stars” drags the band’s Explosions In The Sky meets Mazzy Star influences right into the forefront and with complete confidence says “we can do it better”… who can argue with them?
I stumbled over Glowbugwhile sifting through new albums on bandcamp and it was the best random find I’ve made all year. EVERY song on Mr. Plastic is worthy of the Best Songs Of 2011 list.
I’m not much of an Idiot Pilot fan so Daniel Anderson really surprised me with this side-project.
Like a more artist Born Gold or a pop-sensibleAnimal Collective, if you are a fan of electronic music this should be your new favorite band.
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36.Bon Iver – “Calgary”
For Emma, Forever Ago was one of the most haunting albums ever created but where could Bon Iver go from there? Wouldn’t the art he created in the future be a lesser form of brilliance?
This year I finally found the answer to all of the questions I’d had to what Justin Vernon‘s long-term place in indie would be… it was not even close to what I had been expecting.
With his self-titled album Bon Iver unearthed a level of instrumentation that even those who aren’t into the whole chill-acousticness couldn’t help but listen in awe of the conceptualized angelic crafting he has given us.
“Calgary” is one of those rare songs to be so passive and heartfelt that whenever it comes on the entire room settles and we’re flooded with the impression that for the space of a song time has stopped.
Bon Iver has proven he belongs in our future as much as the soundtrack to our past, we should be thankful to have such genius and honesty in our presence.
“Suicide Policeman” is hands-down my favorite Yuck song. It’s like finding a middle ground between the low-key phenomenal “Automatic” and their 90′s garage intensity of “The Wall.” For obvious reasons the lyrics are the staple to this songs infallibility but the way it’s laid out with such structure makes it a very stand alone track calling to be included on any mixtape, especially ones given to a friend whose going through difficult times when no words will suffice for what you need to tell them.
“[Letting Up Despite Great Faults] latest single “Teenage Tide” is electro-pop at its best, with hazy vocals and optimistic lyrics, with an underlying sense of nostalgia. It’s the type of music that acts as the perfect accompaniment to a lazy afternoon lying in the sun and helps to make long hot summer days that much more enjoyable & relaxing.” – Eclectically Challenged
“Teenage Tide” is the epitome of those songs that captured my heart in adolescence where the band eloquently expresses all of those mixed up and unsure feelings we have with our crushes and friends, lines that were so often intwined with each other.
If I were seventeen Letting Up Despite Great Faults would probably be my Dashboard Confessional.
“You know how you search something up on Wikipedia and then you click a link that leads you to another page and so on? Thanks to that concept and Youtube, I stumbled upon this wonderful track after starting with Said the Whale’s “Camilo” and going through several other bands’ videos. Can you imagine listening to music like this all year round? Even though I’m wrapped in blankets because of my cold room, this songs makes me feel like I’m sitting outside on a warm evening. I love how this song grabs you for a little over 3 minutes and takes you to the band’s hometown of Los Angeles. It’s a nice little break from the dark, cold and stormy weather we have been having.
‘It’s hard to measure time in a city without seasons.’ That one simple line really got me thinking. It never crossed my mind what it would be like to be in a city without the contrasting seasons. I just thought I would share this song as we head into our supposedly record breaking winter.” – Fistful Of Sound
Broken Social Scene are another band (like wilco) that I never have been able to fully get into, and believe my I have tried(hard) but I just can’t. There’s something that immediately turns me off about the majority of their songs (although Lovers Spit makes my top 100 of all time). It may be brilliant and leagues above everyone else, it might even be ground breaking and have opened doors for so many other (better) bands, but they just don’t connect with me the way I feel they are hyped up to.
This is why Young Buffalo impress me, not only do they have a sound that’s SO DAMN ADDICTING they somehow have found a way to take a song I didn’t already like and make me LOVE IT. How often do we get to hear a cover that’s better than the original?
This version will be getting played on my headphones for a long time to come. It even makes me appreciate BSS for once… who knows it may someday, by some miracle, make me end up being a fan of them. (Via)
I first heard of Alex Drumm through an Other Music sampler the label emailed to me last spring with this song on it, I’m now a full on Alex Drumm fan.
This expression of remembrance soaked in accepted longing has been a part of so many long nights I’ve had this year when my head was full of questions and a bitterness I desperately wanted to shed. Alex Drumm speaks to my heart, a blessing I’ll never forget.
He put out the fantastic Empty Roomsback in June, I truly hope all of you pick it up.
I love how this band are such a modern reincarnation of The Cure and The Smiths, something I’ve been waiting a very long time to find.
“Every day I’m waiting for the airport bars and the fading shores to clean my heart from all the rust that stayed when nothing ever change.” is my favorite opening line this year.
Being There‘s “Tomorrow” is everything I hope for from music.
Unpretentious nostalgic hope, “Tomorrow” is the ideal sound for a drive through the fall night air with a car full of friends and a pack of American Spirits (unless you’re pro anti-smoking then maybe you would prefer beef jerky or something lame like that).
Being there are out of London and have somehow managed to combine the sound of Yuck and Pavement and bring new life to an early nineties sound. They recently signed with Young And Lost Club and are about to head out on a fall tour with label mates Noah And The Whale. “Tomorrow” is one of three songs on their limited edition (100) album “Being There” which they gave us yesterday to begin promoting the single “The Radio,” which is the title track from there debut album due out on November 14th.
One listen through “The Radio” and it’s easy to see why they are wanting to promote the song. God it’s incredible! INCREDIBLE!
Being There seem aligned for big things. Remember how Best Coast surfaced just at the precise moment that lo-fi was beginning to catch fire which in turn blew our minds, Being There very well could be that for the nineties-shoegaze sound that is gaining momentum and wholeheartedly I believe they will be. – Listen Before You Buy
These Indiana natives are the most likely shining star to bring notice to an incredibly mind-blowing scene that has remained under the radar for far too long.
I first caught Dreamers Of The Ghetto when they opened for Maps And Atlases last January. At the time the only thing I could find from them were a couple of rough demos and a live show with lack-luster quality. In the year that has passed since I’ve followed their launch from obscurity cheering them on the entire way.
If there’s one band I guarantee will be doing big things in the next year it will be Dreamers Of The Ghetto. Each time I play one of their songs for a friend or throw a post up on either of the websites the response is a unified immediate love. “Tether” speaks for itself as to why.
If it hadn’t been for I Am Fuel/ You Are Friends including this song on her fall mix this song never would have made the list.
Sure I have gotten into James Vincent McMorrow before but somehow missed this song completely. “Hear The Noise That Moves So Soft And Low” is a perfect example of the importance of blogs in music today; Where labels only push one or two songs, those with a much better ear are promoting the ones that NEED to be heard.
My heart breaks when I hear those words “nothing breaks your stride like what’s become.”
“Boring Horror” is party music for the anti-mainstream masses… they can have LMFAO, I’ll take Born Gold any day.
These guys are one of the main bands I’m looking forward to catching when I’m calling Austin home, since they seem to skip Indy each time they come state-side, pull up a couple of live tracks if you have any questions as to why they make that list.
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All songs are for promotional use only. If you or an artist you represent would like content removed email me at Heycoolkid@yahoo.com
The Submarines remind me of what Matt and Kim would be like if they weren’t so preoccupied by pretending to be cool or Yacht if they weren’t trying to prove how “completely scene” they are. This song is perfect for anyone wanting to deal with a break-up without having to get all 2003 emo about about it.
If Miike Snow produces a song you can count on two things; the song will be more than worth your time to listen and it will be infectiously catchy. The tone of the vocals with it’s syrupy chillness is what first magnetized me to this song in the first place, they could very possibly be the best sounding vocals this year.
Sometimes it’s good to be heard and Seen. Tarek Musa steps away from his usual role as engineer/producer and leaks a few of his own tracks. Personally I think he should put the day job on hold for a few minutes.
Everything about this song is well placed and even better sounding. It’s got each ingredient of an ideal indie song; a solid hook without being overly repetitive, clap along sections, keys that work as the backbone, and a flow that keeps the song constantly changing. It’s a song that motivates me to get moving not to mention how sing-along-worthy it is, and to finish “It’s Alright, Follow” off it closes with background vocals that are intense and passionate.
I just got an email from Charlie Sheen and all it said was “winning”.
As I promised on Monday, here is Youth Lagoon’s “Cannons.” This and “July” are such great songs, I’m glad he chose to hand them out as a pair because between the two you really get an ideal picture of how great Trevor Powers is and how much talent he is working with.
Also:
Youth Lagoon just put out his new video for “Montana.” I’m surprised by the similarities between it and the Air Review video for “America’s Son” that I’ve been stoked about for a few weeks now. Both will be on my favorite videos of 2011 list and both have very aligned dynamics about them. I realize music videos regularly have shared themes and messages, but for how “out of the box” these two are it’s strange for them to have so much in common.
I first leaked the live audio for this song back in May in the Dear Ryan, We Knew You Couldn’t Stay Gone Long post. I had real concerns about Ryan choosing Glyn Johns to record the upcoming album. Ryan obviously knows more than I do because from what’s leaked so far this album will be his best album of his career. Feel free to argue with me but, and I don’t say this very often, you are wrong. “Lucky Now” sounds better than the best Whiskeytown song and as solid as anything he’s ever put out. He just put up a live video of the title track “Ashes and Fire” which completely sold me on the potential of the new album. Here’s it is:
In reviewing one of the new Megafaun songs I mentioned how we are in the midst of seeing the shift from early to late seventies music happening all over again. As soon as I’d posted the review I realized that I’d forgotten to cite “Little Bit Of Everything” as an example. This song is heavily influenced by Jackson Browne whether Dawes know it or not. Jackson is one of the great songwriters in American history and also one of the most underrated so I’m secretly hoping this new paradigm shift brings about a resurgence of interest. All influences and genres aside this is an amazing song in itself, you really should give this one an undivided listen.
If there were one band that could cover a song and make it better than the original I don’t think any of us would be surprised for it to be Grizzly Bear. Hot chip put down some solid ground work with the original and Grizzly Bear shake the excess and bring their own artistic touch to light, creating an amazing acoustic version of “Boy From School.”
Usually I don’t find it difficult to express why a certain song is my favorite on a playlist, yet I can’t put into words what captures me about “Flight Takes Thought.” It steals my attention whenever it comes on and I can’t do anything other than just sit down and give it my entire focus. There’s magic in the vocals and the emotion is so raw and captured, it’s captivating.
Germany’s A Little Nothing are new to me. This is the first song I’ve heard from them. For as acoustic as “The Start” comes across on first listen when you really dissect what they’ve done in three minutes has a very techno based composition that although subtle is very impressive.
Although “Who Knows Who Knows” is the song I would like everyone to hear, at the same time I’m really just wanting people to experience the abilities that Sunny Pompeii possess. Here’s my write up on the song on its own . Here’s a video to express their range:
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All songs are for promotion use only. If you are/represent an artist on the page and would like it removed I’ll be more than content to do it and at the same time never recommend the music in a positive light again.
Also if there is any music I’m missing or missing the point of let me know.
Time for night drives, passionate crushes, longing breakups, and all-night conversations with the best of friends. Fall is finally here and I can’t help but feel that life just gets better the second i get to zip up a hoody.
I grew up in an exceptionally small town between the edge of suburbia and the middle of nowhere. As far as my memories go when i look back it seems my group of friends will always remain in my memory on endless drives through Podunk (it’s a real town) with the leaves changing and the air cooling off.
If I could go back to one point in time it would be on one of those drives, feeling complete but at the same time fighting back an unspoken worry that with morning would come change, that we would reach the moment called “grown up” and would all say goodbye. Those drives had an undercurrent that whatever we were going to do we had to do it immediately because change was coming, so we drove until the last breathe of night holding on to the moment with the firmest grips and the quietest of hearts.
Never ending conversations with crushes, falling in love through nothing more than words and and the electricity of being so close and talking so quiet, both truly listening. Those first kisses that lit my life on fire, those heartbreaks that destroyed me, and those quiet nights when I’d drive alone and reminisce about it all.
Sitting on the hood of my car next to a close friend, in intense conversations about “what does it all mean,” “is this all that there is to life” and coming to our own conclusions about God and the way everything is broken and pulling apart and yet it all makes sense, it all forms a whole, and how we’re all drawn together by some secret that we couldn’t even begin to understand. How many cigarettes did we smoke in succession on nights like that? How much of anything did we smoke on those nights?
That’s the place I’m at when it comes to making up this playlist. I plan it out all year so that by the time Fall hits and I’m heading down to see my brother in Bloomington or heading back to my hometown to visit family I can pull these songs up on my ipod and feel that fullness once again.
I’m still making memories, I’m growing up but not yet grown up and the friends I have now feel that as well, we’re perpetually in a moment where things are about to change. This fall as with all the ones I’ve known before reminds me to embrace what we have because soon it will be gone, so in a way i guess some things will forever remain the same.
The idea of this playlist is to capture all of that, if there’s one mix other than a solid break-up mix where lyrics carry the entire thing this is it. I really hope you find something on here that makes life better or helps you get through the worse or at the least gives you a friend that understands.
Send me a message or comment with your own playlists I’m interested to see what yours would look like.
“Take a breath just to let it out again
waking up is an excise in trust
that your gonna find something to hold close
in a moonless night i wait for your ghost
oh how we put the days away.”
“We sing with our hero’s thirty three rounds per minute
We’re never going home until the sun says we’re finished
I’ll love you forever if I ever love at all”
“We think of those days while we’re living these ones.
Through highway signs and telephone lines we try and keep in touch.
And I hope you’re in a good place yeah I hope you’re having fun
like so many years ago”
“there’s only three weeks until we reach the great lakes city
when I got the news that that you were with somebody else
and apparently this was going on since before the night I left for you
kissing me wishing me safely”
“Call me a safe bet, I’m betting I’m not
I’m glad that you can forgive, only hoping as time goes, you can forget
…
It’s cold as a tomb, and it’s dark in your room
When I sneak to your bed to pour salt in your wounds”
“I once heard the worse thing
A man can do is draw a hungry crowd.
Tell everyone his name in pride an confidence
But leaving out his doubt.
I’m not sure I bought those words
When I was young I knew most everything.
These words have never meant as much to anyone
As they now mean to me.”
“saw you slip on the icy icy street
and i smiled accidentally
and you swore at the ice and you swore at me
and my heart melted instantly
in the warmth of the strangest thing”
“And maybe blue eyes are more my style.
I don’t know but I’m willing to try.
And maybe I’m dumb, for making you smile.
I don’t knowbut I will in awhile.”
“And I’m afraid to sleep because of what haunts me
Such as living with the uncertainties
That I’ll never find the words to say
Which would completely explain
Just how I’m breaking down”
“Last night I saw the flashing lights I quickly ran outside
neighbor lady told me that Jackie’s youngest boy had died
and I was surprised to see the cops had Jackie handcuffed in the car
until this mornings paper told me that jackie’d gone to far
and now they’re saying Jackie, he aint the only one to blame
because battered children they almost always grow up to do the same
oh you think you know somebody…”
“Well I told him I too had been traveling around
living out of my van from town to town
playing for tips and whatever records I could move
I said I don’t ‘reckin I’ll be making in big
you know it’s hard to get rich off a tour of coffeehouse gigs
he said ‘but yeah ain’t it a blessin’ to do what you want to do’
…andI said I don’t know what I’ve been looking for, maybe me”
“Mother remember the night that that dog had her pups in the pantry
blood on the wall fleas on their paws and you cried til the morning
so may the sunrise bring hope where it once was forgotten
songs are like birds flying always over the mountain”
I realize how ridiculously long this post ended up being. I’d debated breaking it up as i had with the “Trapped In Time, Surrounded By Evil, Low On Gas” playlist but that one was easy to breakdown. Although you may only download one or two tracks in my mind it’ll get listened to as a whole (I may have just truly realized why bands hate downloads instead of listening to an entire album). Either way I hope you can look past the length and enjoy.
As usual all songs are for promotional purposes only. If you or a band you represent would like some content removed leave a comment or send me an email (the address can be found in thesection).
