2011:
Top 10 Albums:
1. Father, Son, Holy Ghost- Girls
’60s rock’n’roll, San Franciscan style; earnest, melodic and beautiful. Girls brings the sun and the shade on their amazing second full-length record.
2.New-new wave pop, inspired by heartbreak, ’80s goth synths and the art of making catchy melodies. Its honesty is exposed through melancholy lyrics and vivid imagery.
3. Yuck- Yuck
If Sonic Youth decided not to suck and make pure noise, they would sound like Yuck. Grungy, angsty, pretty. Yuck does not suck, and they’re far from it.
4. The Year of Hibernation- Youth Lagoon (note: will be at The Jackpot on March 12)
Echoic, climactic, Boise’s Youth Lagoon seems to approach songs as if each one were a three-minute composition, and the results is sheer beauty; echoic, climactic, awesome.
5.What Did You Expect From The Vaccines?- The Vaccines
Loud, boisterous, surf-tinged, reverb-drenched indie rock from Britain’s most popular new rock act since the Arctic Monkeys. The Vaccines uses punk rock simplicity with soaring vocals to produce a marvelous result.
6. Suck It And See- Arctic Monkeys
Britain’s golden boys follow up ’09’s dark, drudging, romantic LP with their sunniest, rocking album yet, sticking the landing. From their provocative album title to their beautifully distorted Fenders, the Arctics craft their best record since their debut.
7. Cults- Cults (note: will be at Granada on April 14)
World, meet Cults. Immaculately modernizing ’60s girl-group doo-wop, their debut album is flawless in its ability to make listeners dance, bop, jump around and sing along to. “Cults” is the best sparkling, shimmering doo-wop-sounding record since, well, the ’60s.
8. Leading listeners on a journey through shady lanes, lush meadows and childhood memories, Real Estate creates music gold, striking a vein rich with nostalgic lyrics, swooping guitars, smooth-sailing rhythms and lovely melodies.
9. Jangly, arpeggiated guitars blanketed over soft, crooning vocals creates Seapony’s dreamy, wavy debut album, dishing out song after song of pure, Morrissey-influenced joy.
10. ’80s goth/new wave revivalists Craft Spells channel their inner Cure on their lavishly dark and angsty record, complete with Smiths guitar twang and haunting drums and synths.
Favorite Video:
Best Up-and-Comng Artists of 2011:
The Apache Relay- “American Nomad”
King Krule- “King Krule EP”
French Films- “Imaginary Future”
S.C.U.M.- “Again Into Eyes”
Top 20 Songs:
1. Santa Fe- Beirut (pictured)
3. L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N.- Noah and the Whale
5. M83- Midnight City (note: will be at Granada on May 1; pictured)
6. You Know What I Mean- Cults
8. After the Moment- Craft Spells
11. If You Wanna- The Vaccines (pictured)
12. I’m Not Ready- Surfer Blood
13. The Wilhelm Scream- James Blake
14. Lonely Boy- The Black Keys
15. Shuffle- Bombay Bicycle Club
16. Bigger Than Us- White Lies
17. Me And You- The Strange Boys (pictured)
18. Taken For A Fool- The Strokes
19. Helplessness Blues- Fleet Foxes
20. Time Spent In Los Angeles- Dawes
Top 10 Radio Songs:
1. Rolling in the Deep- Adele (Surprisingly, this song is very hard to find and link due to copyright issues)
3. Pumped Up Kicks- Foster The People (pictured)
5. Yonkers- Tyler, the Creator
6. Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)- Katy Perry
7. N****s in Paris- Jay-z and Kanye (pictured)
10. Headlines- Drake (will be at the Sprint Center on March 1)
Best Concert:
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin @ The Wonder Fair; Lawrence, KS Nov. 29
2012:
Artists to Look Out For:
Dog Is Dead (single “Hands Down” out now)
Supporting acts like OK Go, Cajun Dance Party and Bombay Bicycle Club, this jangly indie-pop five-piece has developed ample buzz and created a dedicated fan base, even earning them a musical appearance on the highly-popular British television “Skins.” The fun, danceable, teen-angsty English band makes high-quality pop music that sonically soothes the ears, creating a groovy dance party inside listeners’ heads — which is actually what causes people to bop their heads around. Their sound resembles the likes of The Wombats, Bombay Bicycle Club, and The Maccabees, yet hints at ska and jazz with syncopated beats and saxophone serenades. Dog Is Dead stands on the brink of becoming big in the indie-music world; picture them as the next Wombats or Arctic Monkeys.
Howler (debut album “American Give Up” is due on Jan. 17)
Ambitious, taunting, daring and ever-so cool, Howler’s debut album is one for the record books — that is, if record books measured how awesomely wicked indie guitar bands sound. For all intensive purposes, let’s assume that’s how record books work: Howler would own every single page in said book. The Minneapolis natives have garnished incredibly high praise from British music sources like BBC, NME, and The Guardian, and the acclaim is bound to keep coming. With every song being three minutes or less, Howler holds a healthy musical prowess for loud, lovely, well-crafted pop/racket. (Or maybe it should be called ROCKet). Bands of the early ‘00s such as The Strokes and The Libertines would be proud to see the torch of dirty garage-rock still burning strong and being passed on, especially since Howler sounds so similar to the aforementioned groups. “America Give Up” is gritty, fuzzy, vintage and everything one looks for in a rocking indie album.
Dry the River (debut album “Shallow Bed” out on Feb. 27)
After Mumford and Sons took America (and the entire world) by storm, it was clear that similar folky, down-to-earth, Americana roots bands would rise above the fog of the indie underground. Although Dry the River is still ranked at a hipster-level indie, expect them to become much bigger, especially in Britain. Dry the River’s tunes carry themselves with a delicate grace–apparent in the fragile lyrics– but also with a gritty, no-holds-barred, powerful instrumentation–presented with tightly-distorted guitars and unabashed drumming. Although they have obvious influences– Fleet Foxes being one– Dry the River stands on their own with their more percussive sound and broader, louder choruses. Dry the River is the next big folk group.
Albums to Look Out For:
Port of Morrow- The Shins (March 20)
Be the Void- Dr. Dog (Feb. 7) (note: will be at Granada on Feb. 2)
Given to the Wild- The Maccabees (released on Jan. 6)
Visions- Grimes (Feb. 21)
