So, 2011 has just about ended and I inevitably made up a mix of some stuff I liked this year. I tried to keep it short, but it just ended up ballooning into what it is now, 50 tracks that clock in at 3+ hours. I actually started working on this in September; tweaking, tweaking, tweaking.
A few random thoughts:
I don't apologize for dropping two Kate Bush tracks into the mix. It's rare, these days, to coax an album out of her, let alone the two she gave us this year. Yes, the first one is a reworking of older material, but that new version of This Woman's Work is stunning and instantly rocketed into my most-played list.
Julianna Barwick's The Magic Place was a nice surprise. I saw her at Bottom of the Hill (supporting Esben & The Witch) not knowing who she was at all. Her set slowly unfolded and it was mesmerizing.
Like everyone else, I went crazy for Lana Del Rey's Video Games. When she showed up on Jools Holland's show, I thought that performance was even better. If you watch the video, you can kinda tell that she's nervous but she still pulls it off. I don't care about the whole authenticity angle. Is she a record label creation? A fake persona? Big deal, it's been happening for ages. Eventually, it all comes down to the music and Video Games is simply a fantastic song.
Someone on Twitter turned me onto Ringo Deathstarr. I had seen the name around before but had dismissed them because of the novelty band name. Imagine my surprise when I finally listened to them. I love their sound and I'd love to see them play live.
That PJ Harvey album is magnificent. Seriously, if I wasn't such a Kate Bush fanboy, I'd definitely be proclaiming Let England Shake the best album of the year.
I listened to a Foo Fighters album for the first time in many moons. Walking around in Barcelona amidst a sea of indie bands, a few people talked up the new album, got me interested and it turned out to be a pleasant surprise. Sometimes, you just need some good old fashioned rock n' roll.
I've been liking more and more dance-y electro type stuff, hence the Kimbra and Florrie tracks. I came across those randomly, some blog posting or whatever. I especially love the Kimbra track; the whole ba-ba-ba-ba-ba ba-ba-ba-ba-ba ba bit towards the end. I don't know why, but it just kills me. Open up your heart!
It was a good year for old favorites (Kate Bush, Tom Waits, PJ Harvey) and new hopefuls (Youth Lagoon, Ringo Deathstarr, EMA). I remember in March or April, complaining to myself that it seemed like 2011 was gonna be a slow/down year, but things really came around and I know that there's a ton of stuff I've missed or overlooked. I guess it's the same for any year, really, and it's pretty much all I can do just to keep up even though I feel like I'm falling further and further behind.
In any case, here's the tracklist. As I mentioned, there's plenty that I've missed; this is just the stuff I've come across and enjoyed. I'm always open to recommendations if you feel like dropping a note via comments/email/Twitter/FB/whatever. These aren't in any particular order, I only tried to arrange them for flow. The download is in three parts; for that, I do apologize. Enjoy, and happy new year!
Tracklist:
1. Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross - Immigrant Song
2.Cults - Oh My God
3.Coeur de pirate - Ava
4.Mayer Hawthorne - The Walk
5.Ringo Deathstarr - So High
6.The Strokes - Under Cover Of Darkness
7.Shonen Knife - Rock 'N' Roll High School
8.Those Darlins - Boy
9.Atlas Sound - Mona Lisa
10.Real Estate - It's Real
11.M83 - Midnight City
12.The Joy Formidable - A Heavy Abacus
13.Foo Fighters - Arlandria
14.Morpheme - Infection
15.The Chain Gang Of 1974 - Hold On
16.Phantogram - Don't Move
17.PJ Harvey - The Glorious Land
18.Chrysta Bell - This Train
19.Kate Bush - Snowflake
20.Lana Del Rey - 20 Video Games (Live on Jools Holland)
21.St. Vincent - Champagne Year
22.Girls - Vomit
23.The Twilight Singers - Get Lucky
24.Radiohead - Morning Mr Magpie
25.Charlotte Gainsbourg - Paradisco
26.Asobi Seksu - Sighs
27.danceroid - Girls be Ambitious!
28.Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi - Season's Trees (feat. Norah Jones)
29.Wye Oak - Civilian
30.Esben and The Witch - Marching Song
31.Panda Bear - Afterburner
32.Explosions In The Sky - Postcard From 1952
33.Jessica Lea Mayfield - Sleepless
34.Kate Bush - This Womans Work
35.Gillian Welch - Hard Times
36.Julianna Barwick - Envelop
37.Kathryn Calder - Turn a Light On
38.Youth Lagoon - Seventeen
39.EMA - Marked
40.Lykke Li - Sadness Is A Blessing
41.The Great Book of John - Ashes Over Manhattan
42.Tom Waits - Satisfied
43.Wild Flag - Romance
44.Mogwai - San Pedro
45.Battles - Ice Cream (Featuring Matias Aguayo)
46.Kimbra - Cameo Lover
47.Florrie - I Took a Little Something
48.Perfume - GLITTER (Album Mix)
49.Tennis - Marathon
50.The Raveonettes - Forget That You're Young
*EDIT
I received an email stating that this post was violating copyright laws, so I've deleted all links contained herein. Cheers and apologies for the inconvenience.
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