Archive for category Charts
Caribou Conquers The Loop With ‘Odessa’.
Caribou’s latest track ‘Odessa’ is the new number one in our loop. The first taster of the band’s new album “Swim” has climbed its way to the top after four weeks, beating up competition from the likes of Yeasayer and Pantha Du Prince.
New entries of the week include Goldfrapp’s poptastic ‘Believer’; Los Planetas new single featuring Spanish indie singer La Bien Querida and electronica sensation Gonjasufi, sampling an obscure number by Spanish achilifunk duo from the seventies Las Grecas on his ‘Kowboyz and Indians’.
Check the full loop here.
Surfer Blood Swim To Reach The Top Of The Loop
Fresh from their UK live debut last week -we managed to catch them at Club NME last Friday -, these lo-fi surfers from Palm Beach in Florida have climbed all the way to the top of our loop with their catchy “Swim (To Reach The End)”. Surfer Blood’s first album “Astro Coast” is shaping itself as one of the finest debuts of 2010.
New entries from Four Tet; Joanna Newsom; Pantha Du Prince with Noah Lennox; etc. come to challenge their peak position in following weeks.
You can check this week’s loop in full here.
In The Loop: Beach House on top of the loop.
Baltimore’s dream-pop duo Beach House are this week’s number one among Rober Awards’ favourite tracks. “A walk in the park”, one of the highlights in the couple’s excellent new album “Teen Dream”, got to the top facing tight competition from Surfer Blood and Lindstrøm & Christabelle.
Entries include new tracks by Charlotte Gainsbourg & Beck; Caribou; The Strange Boys; The Magnetic Fields; etc.
You can check this week’s loop here.
In The Loop: Avi Buffalo is our first Number One
New sections keep on coming. Now introducing a brand new weekly Top 25 packed our favorite new tracks; all compiled separating the wheat from the chaff in the current music crop offered non-stop by the blogosphere.
In our pilot edition we’ve looked back in order to gather all those tracks most at risk to be forgotten due their release in between years. Most promising new artist nominee Avi Buffalo reaches top position, followed by Neon Indian and Yeasayer. Elsewhere, we find long awaited returns by Sade; Vampire Weekend; Dominique A and Massive Attack; interesting discoveries courtesy of Rita Indiana y Los Misterios; Surfer Blood; Rainbow Bridge and a hidden treasure from the vaults of Elliot Smith.
Best Of 2009: Mixes and Soundtracks
1-DJ/RUPTURE-K-K-Kumbia (Mixtape- Download here)
MIXED ALBUMS & MIXTAPES Read the rest of this entry »
Best Of 2009: Reissues
1-KRAFTWERK-12345678 The Catalogue (EMI)
Full list after the jump.. Read the rest of this entry »
Best Of 2009: Compilations-Anthologies & Live Albums
1-PIXIES-Minotaur (4ad)
Full list after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »
Best Of 2009: Compilations – Various Artists
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1-DARK WAS THE NIGHT (4ad)
Two various artists’ compilations stood up far above the rest: The veteran Red Hot organization – a charity that specialized in collecting funds for the fight against AIDS through the release of records- offered what’s probably its best effort since the beginning of the series with the Rober award winner “Red Hot & Blue”. Produced by Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National, the pair got together the cream of the contemporary crop (Arcade Fire, Bon Iver, Grizzly Bear, Sufjan Stevens…)curating an excellent collection of unreleased material for the cause. The year’s second heavyweight was the Hyperdub label’s fifth anniversary CD. The imprint that brought dubstep to the world, one of the few groundbreaking genre’s this decade has produced, called all the pioneers (Burial, Joker, etc.)and celebrated in style.
Many other label’s partied for their anniversary with noteworthy releases -Warp; Topic; Ze; Daptone; Luaka Bop and Warners among others-; The Numero Group kept on exploring the darkest corners of retro soul and tried and tested vault digging specialist such as Rhino, Soul Jazz and Ace kept on delivering the right goods. Full list after the jump Read the rest of this entry »
Top 30 Albums 2009: 1-ANIMAL COLLECTIVE-Merriweather Post Pavilion
Since the second week of January we all knew nobody could beat the unbelievable record Animal Collective had offered us. The Brooklyn Combo that began with the decade in the shadows of the freak-folk movement, after many inflection points in their career –Sung Tongs; Feels-, amazed both the converted and the unconvinced, even flirting with the charts thanks to that classic – halfway between the Beach and the Junior Boys – called “My Girl”. The exhilarating chants and loops of “Merriweather Post Pavilion” were dazzling from beginning to end. It multiplied the many achievements of a band that embodies most of the best things popular music has offered in the noughties. Deakin, the band’s guitar player, took a break and the remaining trio decided to record their new project without guitars, revisiting the electronic part of their former opus “Strawberry Jam” and mixing it with Panda Bear’s brand of luminous psychedelia from his acclaimed solo album . The fusion produced the only 10 out of 10 we’ve been able to give to a record for a long, long time.
Released on Domino. Available to listen in Spotify.
2-GRIZZLY BEAR-Veckatimest
With their third full album, Ed Droste’s original solo project turned four-member band has produced a near-perfect album full of pop gems. Grizzly Bear have become the masters of contention, perfecting their musicianship; attention to fine detail and superbly crafted songs without ever abandoning the boundaries of mid tempo. Their keenness for vocal harmonies and sonic landscapes has been complemented with a classicism that has ended with the fourtet playing alongside Symphonic Orchestras, furthering the beauty and complexity of their songs. The second biggest success story of the year in leftfield circles, they were the only artist capable to come close to our almighty number one.
Released on Warp. Listen to some samples here.
3-RAEKWON-Only Built For Cuban Lynx Part II
14 years after his classic first solo album, Raekwon released the long-awaited second part. Four years in the making; a multitude of producers –from Busta Rhymes to Dr. Dre; J. Dilla to RZA-; as many internal frictions and delays; nearly the whole Wu-Tang Clan and many other stars throwing their verses in; all of it shaping another epic album that survived any comparisons with the original, sharing most of its trademark elements –from kung fu excepts to crime-related subject. It also managed to inject a shot of much needed energy in today hip-hop’s veins, revitalizing the way of the Clan in the process. Saluted as the best solo effort from a Wu member since Ghostface Killah’s “Supreme Clientele”, Raekwon showed once again the reason why he’s called “The Chef”.
Released by ICEAL. Listen to some tracks at MySpace.
4-PHOENIX-Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Another huge surprise in 2009: French combo Phoenix finally producing an album worthy of the hype that has always surrounded them. Even the title’s ironic classical references indicated their confidence in the masterful final result. Since “1901” exploded in the waves before the summer, shortly followed by “Lisztomania”, no one could doubt the famous Gallic act had produced an irresistible collection of pop tunes. Closer to the jaunty new-wave infused rock of The Strokes than to their former forays into blue-eyed soul from the eighties, “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix” was the most easily enjoyable record of the last ten months.
Released on V2. Available To Listen in Spotify.
5-DIRTY PROJECTORS-Bitte Orca
From the heart of Brooklyn, in that hipster’s Mecca that is Williamsburg, Dave Longstreth’ collective recovered the finest art-rock spirit and offered an album that totally matched his ambitions, two years after hitting headlines with their peculiar reinterpretation of Black Flag´s hardcore classic “Rise Above”. Dissonant vocal harmonies; finely crafted songs with a wealth of unexpected embellishments, “Bitte Orca” was not easy to classify or describe; instead, it unveiled its many treasures with each listening. Dirty Projectors have been collecting superlatives reviews since it saw the light of day, with many comparing the band with early Talking Heads for its unique sense of innovation.
Released on Domino. Available to listen in Spotify.
6-THE XX-xx
The most astonishing debut of the year was this four-piece –recently turned trio- formed in South London. Their perfect blend of unusual sonic references, taking the dust off some not particularly trendy ones, gave them an extremely personal style. Borrowing elements from the first batch of indie acts in the early 80´s such as Marine Girls or Young Marble Giants; Angelo Badalamenti´s atmospheric productions; current R&B; and stripping them down to a minimal dream-pop skeleton that underlined the vocal warmth of their singing members, The XX left everyone open mouthed.
Released on Young Turks. Available to listen in Spotify.
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