Best Records of the Year 2011

Songs, movies, books, gigs, and finally, the Best Records (EPs included) of the Year. Obviously, a very personal list.

30. Native Speaker- Braids
29. Los Últimos Bañistas- Los Últimos Bañistas
28. Share the Joy- Vivian Girls
27. Strange Mercy- St. Vincent
26. Nihil Obstat- Disco Las Palmeras!
25. Passenger- Lisa Hannigan
24. Hearts- I Break Horses
23. Odio París- Odio París
22. What Did You Expect from the Vaccines?- The Vaccines
21. Cold- Be Forest
20. Clang of the Concrete Swans- Comet Gain
19. Dig On- She Keeps Bees
18. Escapar con el Anticiclón- Manos de Topo
17. Evening Tapestry- Brown Recluse
16. Alela Diane & Wild Divine- Alela Diane & Wild Divine
15. Helplessness Blues- Fleet Foxes
14. Build A Rocket Boys!- Elbow
13. Raven in the Grave- The Raveonettes
12. Creatures of an Hour- Still Corners
11.Cape Dory- Tennis
10. Submarine- Alex Turner
9. The Rip Tide- Beirut
8. Cults- Cults
7. Fuerteventura- Russian Red
6. Belong- The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
5. The King is Dead- The Decemberists
4. Suck It and See- Arctic Monkeys
3. Collapse Into Now- R.E.M.
2. Veronica Falls- Veronica Falls
1. Let England Shake- PJ Harvey

Primavera Sound Festival 2012: the indie sweepstake

Got the tickets for Primavera Sound Festival 2012 a couple of weeks ago, and rumours about bands that would be the first names for the line-up should start spreading the blogosphere soon. On the PS forum there's a classic tradition that has already begun. The line-up sweepstake: 20 groups, in alphabetical order, wins who gets more bands confirmed for the Festival. These are mine, not really with the will of winning, but with the hope the majority of them (and many more) will really be in Barcelona next year!

Ambience Affair, The
Army Navy
Be Forest
Beirut
Brown Recluse
Dum Dum Girls
Fanfarlo
Feist
I Break Horses
Jeff Mangum
Let's Buy Happiness
Mazzy Star 
Moth & The Mirror, The
Radiohead
Shins, The
Stone Roses, The
Summer Camp
Veronica Falls
Very Most, The (pleaseeeeeee)
Wake the President

Best songs of the year 2011... so far

It's middle June, and a good moment for taking a look to what has the year 2011 offered so far in terms of music. Here's a playlist with the best 25 songs (in my opinion, of course) of the year. Some songs have been dropped, because the selection followed two criteria: songs released during 2011, and just 1 song per group/artist, so I could include 25 different proposals. They are not in order of preference, just trying to combine them in a good playlist. Hope you enjoy!

1. Heart in Your Heartbreak- The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
2. Calamity Song- The Decemberists
3. Helplessness Blues- Fleet Foxes
4. It Happened Today- R.E.M.
5. The Words that Maketh Murder- PJ Harvey
6. Black Night- The Dodos
7. Fast Fast- Let's Buy Happiness
8. Lose It- Austra
9. I Hate You But I Love You- Russian Red
10. Alien Girl- The Very Most
11. World Around You- Rubik
12. Impressions from a City Morning- Brown Recluse
13. Take Me Somewhere- Tennis
14. Jesus Came to My Birthday Party- The Middle East
15. Will Do- TV On the Radio
16. Funeral Song- Minks
17. Forget that You're Young- The Raveonettes
18. One Moment- Motorama
19. Even Though I'm a Woman- Seeker Lover Keeper
20. For Jacob with Malaria- Boca Chica
21. Reckless Serenade- Arctic Monkeys
22. Royal Blue- Cold War Kids
23. Exile Vilify- The National
24. Lippy Kids- Elbow
25. Go Outside- Cults

A song that I would definitely include is "Margot", by the great Nat Johnson, but I couldn't find it. And some songs that would have been on the list without the "just one song per artist criteria" are "Bitter Branches", "In the Dark Places" by PJ Harvey, "Überlin", "Oh My Heart" by R.E.M., "Think You Can Wait" by The National and "Down by the Water" by The Decemberists.

Discoverer 4: new indie findings

Let's go with the round of indie suggestions!

The Primitives. Well, The Primitives are not the definition of a new band. Part of the "blonde indiepop" scene (Transvision Vamp, The Darlin Buds), they were formed in 1985, had a huge hit single in 1988 (remember "Crash"?) and split in 1992. But after nearly 18 years, the band reformed for a series of live shows, and went back into the studio, releasing a four track EP, "Never Kill a Secret" this February. Infectious and catchy indiepop.


Armistice. Discovered thanks to the excellent blog Let Me Like It, behind Armistice we have Jay Malinowski, Bedouin Soundclash's frontman, and Beatrice Martin, better known as the successful (600.000 albums sold worldwide) Coeur de Pirate. They first collaborated on Soundclash's latest album, then decided to embark on a special project, with the help of the mariachi band El Bronx, responsible of the unique backdrop for the alternative folk of the duo. The results are superb, like on this "Mission Bells", the first song from the "Armistice EP", out now.

Brown Recluse. Timothy Meskers and Mark Saddlemire formed Brown Recluse in 2006. They released a couple of EPs and had supporting slots for bands like The Pains of Being Pure at Heart or Dirty Projectors, they expanded to a six-piece group and keep writing tunes. So all this process has culminated in "Evening Tapestry" their debut album, a collection of charming pop tunes that recalls the psych pop of The Zombies, Belle and Sebastian and the sounds of the Elephant 6 collective. Complex and rich, subtle and harmonious, the album is full of pop gems, like this wonderful "Impressions of a City Morning".

Brown Recluse - Impressions of a City Morning by Slumberland Records