V9K's Best Tracks of 2012

Gentlemen:

BEHOLD!  Victor's Best Tracks of 2012 have arrived!  While I hope that 2012 was a good year for you, I can report that it was a solid year for r&b and electronic music, which introduced themselves, had some wine, and made some gorgeous babies. 2012 was also the year of Riff Raff, the single best person making stuff in the world today.  I am advised by several counselors that perhaps the entire world does not share my enjoyment of Rap Game James Franco, and I will admit that he is an acquired taste.  Therefore, I've limited myself to a single Riff track on the top songs list, though I've helpfully created a separate list linking to the 24 best Riff Raff videos and interviews from this year.      

But as the more traditional best music of 2012, download the tracks as a zip file by clicking here. Once downloaded, double click the file and extract the tunes to your computer.

Or hit up the Spotify playlist here. 

Without further ado, here are my top 39 songs of 2012, counting down to number 1...

39.    Diplo ft. Lazerdisk Party Sex - Set It Off

Welcome to Victor’s best-of 2012 list.  To celebrate, I got you this slow build, with some extra bangin’ trappin’ and stuntin’ sauces.

38.    The xx - Fiction
The masters of bedroom music did not disappoint with their 2012 release “Coexist.”

37.    Future - Turn on the Lights
The thing that makes this modern-day Biz Markie jam worthwhile is that the whole song appears to take place in a David Brent-type sad sack’s head as he’s perusing the ladies at a club and imagining how he’s gonna get with them.

36.    Death Grips - I’ve Seen Footage
This is the kind of band that would have played Thunderdome as a warm-up act for the post-apocalyptic battle royale.

35.    Wild Nothing - Nocturne
I’m not over my dream pop phase.

34.    Fidlar - Cheap Beer
The chorus goes: “WE! DRINK! CHEAP! BEER! SO! WHAT! FUCK! YOU!”  Welcome to the best-of list, simple awesome song.

33.    Kanye West, Jay-Z, Big Sean - Clique
Another jam from team H.A.M.

32.    Ty Segall Band - I Bought My Eyes
Psychedelic rock that’s pretty good.

31.    Chairlift - I Belong in Your Arms
This is the song version of the cool older girls I crushed on in the 80s.

30.    Holy Ghost! - It Gets Dark
This song delivers a tense claustrophobic vibe before breaking apart into a wide plain of deliverance.

29.    AlunaGeorge - Your Drums, Your Love
With a dead sexy voice and the ability to craft perfect gems like this one, AlunaGeorge’s ceiling is very very high.

28.    Disclosure and Sam Smith - Latch
This Al Jarreau-sounding crooner hooks up with a fluttery electro beat and a pseudo-Cee-Lo for vocal juxtaposition, creating a hell of a good song.

27.    Miguel - Adorn
I think that R&B has been in a holding pattern for 20 years, waiting for electronic music producers to free them from stagnation.  Miguel’s Adorn is a well-balanced confection made possible by this fusion.
 
26.    Rustie ft. AlunaGeorge - After Light
Beautiful sweet voices + dubstep.  BWAAMP  BWAAMP.

25.    Holy Other - Nothing Here
This is the best song ever made by ghosts.

24.    Major Lazer - Get Free
Slinky and lithe, this song brings the island to the city.

23.    Diiv - How Long Have You Known
This dreamy ditty captures the platonic/romantic bridge in everybody’s inner teenager.  

22.    Die Antwoord - I Fink U Freeky
Zef Jam!

21.    Tanlines - All Of Me
These guys easily make the list for a sophomore appearance.  Just everything a good song should be.

20     TNGHT - Higher Ground
With a martial horn line that powers through, collecting drums along the way, TNGHT deliver a catchy earworm.

19.    Crystal Castles - Transgender
These guys used to be so far ahead of the game, but now a rock solid track like Transgender clocks in at number 19 because music has been converging on Crystal Castles for the last five years.

18.    Majical Cloudz - Turns Turns Turns
Wonderful choral pulses decorate this contemplative dream pop rock song.

17.    Cloud Nothings - Stay Useless
Great song to play really loud with the windows down on the highway.

16.    Killer Mike - Willie Burke Sherwood
A paean to dads and an elegy for Killer Sr.

15.    Kate Boy - Northern Lights
A propulsive beat supports some spacey high pitched ladder melody,

14.    Anna Meredith - Nautilus
This is mad genius music, unhinged classical arrangements with compulsive melodies that seem to drive the other instruments over the edge of sanity until everyone’s given up, and the circus of the absurd becomes accepted destiny.

13.    Chromatics - Back From the Grave
Chromatics keeps producing atmospheric synthy tunes that get filed under your italo disco music genre.  Ethereal vocals and minimalist guitar lines swoop over a languorous bassline that give the song a room to reflect on those we’ve lost.

12.    Diiv - Follow
With a spacey surfer lick to welcome you in, this song feels like a day spent playing outside in the rain.

11.    Baroness - March to the Sea
A good old fashioned rocker.  It seems anachronistic for about five seconds, then you’re like, fuck it, and you dive into the pit.

10.    Benoit & Sergio - New Ships
Electronic music is hitting its stride my friends, carving out a space that’s not pure dance floor and not experimental art.  New Ships carries the flag in 2012.

9.      Jai Paul - Jasmine
Percolating along a syrupy bassline, featuring ambiguous lyrics and a charismatic guitar, Jasmine is entrancing.

8.      Bat for Lashes - All Your Gold
Ethereal voice, tripping guitar riff , subtle strings, epic chorus.

7.      Grimes - Genesis
Excellent composition, thorough builds and scales, and a manic pixie dream girl voice highlight this confident Asian-tinged track.

6.      Mikky Ekko - Pull Me Down (Ryan Hemsworth Remix)
Electric night dream music, with Hemsworth reworking the elite Clams Casino, with a solid  duo of R&B vocalists conveying the high stakes of love.

5.      Japandroids - The House that Heaven Built
I’m jealous of 14 year old kids that get to see this band live at an all ages show, and just absolutely lose it, screaming every single lyric and having the best night of their lives.

4.      Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti - Only In My Dreams
It’s a new Beach Boys song!  This comes from a pure, blanket-forts kind of place, and acts as laser death ray for cynicism.

3.      Kendrick Lamar - Swimming Pools (Drank)
Kendrick is a special talent, and Drank is his masterpiece to date.  It’s metaphorically lush, features multiple narrators, is challenging without being too judgmental, has a sick beat, and Lamar’s flow is top notch.

2.      Riff Raff ft. Action Bronson - Bird on a Wire
Over a felonious horn-based beat by Harry Fraud, Bronson drops syrupy low-range effortless flow and references a leather Jodeci suit, before Riff goes up high with his most technically impressive verse to date.

1.      Usher - Climax
Usher’s falsetto sails over a languorous Diplo beat to create a perfect summation of the state of music in 2012 - R&B’s return to prominence and the mainstreaming of electronic music.  Despite the entendrish title, the song’s subject is the moment that a relationship peaks, when the gravitational pull between two people transforms into a centrifugal force.

Victor’s Top Albums of 2012
9. The xx - Coexist
8. Crystal Castles - III
7. Diiv - Oshin
6. Chromatics - Kill for Love
5. Kendrick Lamar - good kid, m.A.A.d. city
4. Baroness - Yellow and Green
3. Pallbearer - Sorrow and Extinction
2. Grimes - Visions
1. Riff Raff - Birth of an Icon

Victor’s Top Music Videos of 2012
Three Loco - We Are Farmers
Grimes - Oblivion
M.I.A. - Bad Girls
Todd Terje - Inspector Norse

Top 24 Riff Raff Tracks/Videos of 2012
Lil Mama I’m Sorry
Larry Bird
Bird on a Wire
Chop Another Rock
Deion Sandals
Terror Wrist
Now They Mad
Only I Can Cure Your Broken Heart
Jose Canseco
Original Don
Porsche Cayenne
Rap Game King Tut
Peppermint Tint
Obtuse Angle
Dat Dhere
Nightstand (Chorus only)
Cuz My Gear
Time
Summer of Surf
Orion’s Belt
Riff Raff in Bad Bitch Stripper Brazil
Fader Interview
Narduwar Interview
Pitchfork Selector Interview

I hope you enjoy the tunes - Happy New Year!

V9K's Best Tracks of 2011

BEHOLD!  Victor's Best Tracks of 2011 have arrived!  While I hope that 2011 was a good year for you, I can report that it was a solid year for singers and young rappers, and the lines between indie rock, electronica, pop and hip-hop were more blurred than ever, which is to be celebrated.  Unlike years past, this year didn't feature a clear number one song or album that stood out from the moment it was released.  But nonetheless, 2011 saw some great music, and my top seven songs are closely bunched in terms of quality.  

Download the tracks as a zip file here: http://www.sendspace.com/file/rqz18b ; Once downloaded, double click the file and extract the tunes to your computer.

Without further ado, here are my top 30 songs of 2011, counting down to number 1...

30. The Weeknd – House of Balloons/Glass Table Girls

The Weeknd's sound results from the inevitable braiding of indie electronica with hip-hop and R&B, genres that have been borrowing from each other for a while now, but The Weeknd solders together those strains into a unit that gets it done for fans of all three genres. Also, this track marks the first instance of a great 2011 trend – the return and embrace of traditional singing.

29. Kendrick Lamar – HiiiPower

It's obvious that Lamar springs from the Tribe-Mos Def-Kweli hip hop continuum, but with a great flute-like melody and solid wordsmithing on HiiiPower, he's staking a claim to be worthy of his forebears.

28. Odio Paris – Nana Blanca

The only hatin' going on around here is the band's name, which means “I hate Paris” in Spanish. This is music to daydream about flying to.

27. Cocaine 80s – To Tell You the Truth

Cocaine 80s sounds like they kidnapped a crooner from 1974 and forced him to sing over a heavy guitar line at knifepoint, but the tension totally drives the song.

26. Lykke Li – I Follow Rivers

The Swede returned in 2011 with a more confident sound, exemplified by this ethereal but aggressive jam backed up by deep percussion.

25. John Maus – Keep Pushing On

Maus channels a fair amount of New Wave in his synthy compositions, but the Joy Division-esque vocals push this track into powerful faux nostalgia territory, making you wonder how it is a song released in 2011 makes you yearn for the 24 Hour Party People era.

24. A$AP Rocky – Peso

With the best flow among 2011's crop of young rappers, A$AP Rocky is from Harlem by way of Houston, as his rhymes are delivered with the laconic crawl of the South. At 24, he has a good chance of changing the game before he's through.

23. Future Islands – On the Water

Combine one Joy Division melody with one androgynous operatic vocalist, throw in a dash of unexpected growls, and you've got a great song.

22. Das Racist – Power

I don't understand why these guys aren't bigger than cheese. As evidenced once again on Power, Das Racist have M.I.A.-quality beats minus the sanctimony, flows and rhymes that are next level, and deploy their Wesleyan educations to throw the best party they can.

21. Araabmusik – AT2

This is electronic music to think to.

20. Oliver Tank – Last Night I Heard Everything in Slow Motion

Songs like this make me want to thank all those synth-tone-loop experimenters of the last 40 years, as their work created a new platform for Tank and others to mine and harness in the service of producing great new songs like this one.

19. Tyler the Creator – Yonkers

The id speaks.

18. Rebecca Black - Friday

It's the musical version of The Room.  This may be the most important song of 2011, as it unintentionally peeled back the lid on societal assumptions about our judgment of amateurs vs. professionals. Why is it so enjoyable to make fun of this but not of your cousin's bad Britney Spears cover on Youtube?

17. The Weeknd – The Morning

I love how a 21 year old can sound world-weary while singing about the hollowness of sex and money. Also he makes a Scottie Pippin reference.

16. M83 – Midnight City

Though perhaps now forever linked to Wonderbras and supermodels, Midnight City is a high water mark in M83's refinement of their epic sound. Also, watch this amazing Midnight City audition tape.

15. Youth Lagoon – July

This sweet and light concoction slowly grows legs to support a sonic narrative that ends with a climax of conviction.

14. Kendrick Lamar – ADHD

Stretching out from under the shelter of the Mos Def mold, Lamar crafts a darker mood on ADHD and raps about the sadness of addiction and its suppression of human connection.

13. Clams Casino – I'm God

This super-talented producer applies his skills to an Emancipator-type sound in his solo work. More please.

12. A$AP Rocky w/ Clams Casino – Wassup

Oh, two prior Best of 2011 artists collaborated on a track? I'll bet it's good.

11. Das Racist – Booty in the Air

Let me say that I'm surprised a song about booties is the eleventh best song this year, but Das Racist are so damn good, they get right to the musical core of the idea of bootyness, and that's worth recognizing.

10. Jhameel – Bernal Heights

On this track, San Fran's transgender wunderkind pairs an incredible singing voice with raw drums and a lilting melody, and you'll have trouble not liking it.

9. The Weeknd – High For This

This is the kind of song that in the 1940s would have triggered accusations that the singer sold his soul to the devil for the power to seduce pure young girls and make them stray.

8. Nicky Minaj – Super Bass

Minaj wins pop song of the year with this wonderful ditty, though for a song called Super Bass, it surprisingly lacks a low frequency punch.

7. Bon Iver – Perth

I can't believe that this is the first track on the follow up to For Emma, Forever Ago, which is one of the great recent albums. Never have I so quickly stopped mentally comparing a musician's new record to their old one.  That guitar line just emerges from the darkness, willing itself to be born.

6. ACME – Gone
This DC pair have staked out an intersection between the cool and the sincere, musically tapping LCD Soundsystem, Aretha Franklin and Peter Gabriel among others. The result is a huge sound that builds and jumps and spirals upward into the air.

5. Phantogram – Don't Move

This is collage music, assembling assorted genres, samples and references with the singular intention to break down whatever's getting you down and make you smile.

4. Gotye – Somebody That I Used to Know

A last minute entrant to the 2011 pool thanks to a friend's Christmas rec, Gotye is something special. It's one of the best breakup songs ever written and the music subtly brings you in close, but when Gotye opens up his big pipes at 1:35, the piece sears its way into your heart.

3. Fucked Up – The Other Shoe

Apologies to the ladies, who I'm told don't seem to care for this band at the same intensity as the fellas, but holy shit, Fucked Up lays down a helluva track here. With a refrain about dying on the inside, it sets the stakes high from the start. But what makes this track so special is the journey from a couple spare licks and a couple verses through to a full on maelstrom of rock. Throughout the deluge, the band always keeps sight of that perfect little melody as it flits along precariously like a hummingbird over a riot, making sure this pure little nugget of beauty stays safe while everything's out of control and the roof might not hold.

2. Tune-Yards – Gangsta

“What's a boy to do if he'll never be a gangsta?” is the lyric of the year. It's hard to describe this song, but a) it's really great and sounds like nothing you've heard before but also a little like everything you've heard before; b) it makes you work to keep the beat in your head; c) when you want to have your mind blown (after listening to it), google a picture or video of who sings it.

1. Jogger - Nephicide

Okay, so this song didn't come out in 2011, but the video for it dropped in December 2010, and it's so great I can't let the release date keep this from my best of list. So what we have here is an initial guitar lick, then a synthy tune breaks in, but both are quickly usurped by death metal growl, then what ho, a speed beat drops, with each strain fighting and clawing for control of the song.  After tussling with each other for two minutes, there seems to be a cease fire, with a young Tom Petty-esque voice calming the chaos over a funk bass line, reassuring everyone that “it's just a feeling.”  Finally though, let's get everyone in a room together to have their voices heard and sort this damn thing out, shall we?  Fantastic.

The video is one of the best things of 2011, and watching it helps the song work.

Victor's Top Ten Albums of 2011

10.  The Strokes - Angles
9.    Gotye - Making Mirrors
8.    Acme - Why Not?
7.    Odio Paris - Odio Paris
6.    John Maus - We Must Become the Pitiless Censors of Ourselves
5.    Jhameel - The Human Condition
4.    Das Racist - Relax
3.    Bon Iver - Bon Iver
2.    Fucked Up - David Comes to Life
1.    The Weeknd - House of Balloons

He Man Woman Haters Podcast #23

He Men: Never on schedule, always on time.

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He Man Woman Haters Podcast #23



1) Jhameel - Bernal Heights [submitted by Massagio]
2) Bon Iver - Holocene [submitted by Massagio]
3) Alex Winston - Sister Wife [submitted by Massagio]
4) David Bazan - People [submitted by Whatevs]
5) My Morning Jacket - Holdin On To Black Metal [submitted by Whatevs]
6) Unknown Moral Orchestra - How Can You Luv Me [submitted by Whatevs]
7) Cults - Go Outside [submitted by HMZ]
8) Bikini - Acheelaeder [submitted by HMZ]
9) Shabazz Palaces - Youlogy [submitted by HMZ]
10) Recess - The Gentleman [submitted by Ethman]
11) Lyrics Born - Shoulda Coulda Woulda [submitted by Ethman]
12) Shadows on Stars - Now You're Mine [submitted by Ethman]
13) Diamond Rings - You & Me [submitted by Manny]
14) Superchunk - Learned To Surf [submitted by Manny]
15) Tyvek - 4312 [submitted by Manny]
16) Friendly Fires - Hawaiian Air [submitted by Cold4TheStreets]
17) TV On The Radio - Killer Crane [submitted by Cold4TheStreets]
18) Dead Ghosts - When it Comes to You [submitted by HeBoi]
19) Shannon And The Clams - King Of The Sea [submitted by HeBoi]
20) Shabazz Palaces - Swerve ... The Reeping of All That Is Worthwhile (Noir Not Withstanding) [submitted by Heboi]
21) Jhameel - The Human Condition [submitted by Kornlock]
22) Big Krit - R4 Theme Song [submitted by Kornlock]
23) Starlito - Coastin Streetmix [submitted by Kornlock]
24) Youth Lagoon - July [submitted by Victor9000]
25) Jhameel - THC [submitted by Victor9000]
26) James Blake - Lindesfarne [submitted by Victor9000]
27) Grouplove - Colours (Captain Cuts Remix) [submitted by JBell]
28) The Naked And Famous - Young Blood (The Sound of Arrows Remix) [submitted by JBell]
29) Ra Ra Riot - Too Dramatic (The Morning Benders Remix) [submitted by JBell]
30) Generationals - Ten-Twenty-Ten [submitted by JBell]

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Bikini - ACheerlaeder

Bikini - ACheerlaeder from The India Trading Company on Vimeo.

One of my songs for the next podcast. Video not entirely SFW.

Is Tropical - The Greeks.

Wait for it.

Danger Beach - Apache

Apache from oneedo on Vimeo.

SALEM - Lehnt

For you, Mr. 9000.

He Man Woman Haters Podcast #22

He Men: Never on schedule, always on time.

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He Man Woman Haters Podcast #22

1) New Young Pony Club - Dolls
2) Mr Little Jeans - Rescue Song (RAC Remix)
3) The Naked And The Famous - Young Blood
4) Public Enemy - Harder Than You Think
5) Foster The People - Pumped Up Kicks
6) Ninjasonik - Super Power
7) Ringo Deathstarr - So High
8) Hunter Valentine - Barbara Jean
9) Akron / Family - Fuji II (Single Pane)
10) Lil Wayne - Six Foot, Seven Foot feat. Cory Gunz
11) Thee Oh Sees - Crushed Grass
12) The Black Keys - Ohio
13) Yuck - The Wall
14) Of Monsters And Men - Little Talks
15) Carbon Silicon - The News
16) Holy Ghost - Do It Again
17) Dirty Beaches - Lord Knows Best
18) Cut Copy - Need You Now
19) Twin Shadow - At My Heels
20) Rainbow Arabia - Without You (Version)
21) Tyler The Creator - Yonkers
22) Jogger-Gorilla-Meat
23) Davila 666 - Yo Seria Otro
24) Davila 666 - La Que Hay
25) Davila 666 - No Olvido Olvidar
26) James Blake - Limit To Your Love
27) Adele - Rolling In The Deep
28) Teen Daze - Wet Hair (Japandroids Cover)

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Tyler The Creator - Yonkers

I need to take a nap after watching this.

HMZ - Best of 2010 Mixtape

And just like that...

Download tracks here.

Victor9000's Top Albums and Songs of 2010

Victor9000's Top Albums of 2010

1. Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
2. Big Boi - Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty
3. The National - High Violet
4. Crystal Castles - Self Titled (2010)
5. Das Racist - Shut Up, Dude
6. Janelle Monae - The ArchAndroid
7. Peter Gabriel - Scratch My Back
8. Trent Reznor - The Social Network Soundtrack
9. Vampire Weekend - Contra
10. Sleigh Bells - Treats

Victor9000's Top Songs of 2010
Download here: http://www.sendspace.com/file/w1196l 

1. Big Boi - Shutterbug
The best song of 2010 featured Big Boi at the height of his lyrical power over a hook that made soul music proud, but the true star of this cut is the vocoder providing that “buh-buh-buhbuhbuh” sound that vibrates so nice in your ear.
2. Crystal Castles (ft. Robert Smith) - Not in Love
What was a solid track on the album gets elevated by the sonic ancestor to Crystal Castles, Robert Smith. He’s the best person in the world to sing the word “fascination” and his refrain over the climatic section is musical nirvana. If only they would team up for a whole album…
3. Fang Island - Careful Crossers
The guitars on this track launch like a clarion call to assemble at the town square for the good of all things rock, then the melody says “I’m glad you’ve joined us. We are here to do one thing, and it will not be easy, but it is worth doing.” By the time the song climaxes, you’ve signed up for the rock Marines, and you’re wearing camo face paint, blazing away at the forces of boring like Jesse Ventura when he sees the Predator.
4. The Knife - Colouring of Pigeons
Taken from an opera about the theory of evolution, this cut is seductive in a primal, Koyaanisqatsi kinda way. It sounds like the lovechild of the years 1911 and 2549, layering textures and suggestions on top of one another until you’ve lost any sense of what you were doing before.
5. Kanye West - All of the Lights
Rihanna scores again by joining this anthem, and neither Kanye’s subpar lyrics and flow nor Fergie’s embarrassing verse can stop the infectious joy generated by that sick monotone drumline. And I think that’s Elton John going “I tried to tell you, but all I could say is…” at the end - how crazy is that?
6. Keepaway - Yellow Wings
It’s like the side of Animal Collective that believes in melodies.
7. Caribou - Odessa
People don’t use the expression “funky fresh” anymore. This song made that phrase pop back into my head. Best use of the triangle in 2010.
8. Beach House - Norway
A great work in the dream pop genre - the song sounds like both the name of the band and the song title. It’s like a lullaby for adults.
9. Antoine Dodson & The Gregory Brothers - Bed Intruder Song
If you don’t know about this song, you really missed out on a whole lot of internet in 2010. I recommend you begin reading Greg Rutter’s whatevs.net immediately.
10. Cee-Lo - Fuck You
It’s like Cee-Lo is a method actor playing a 1978 soul musician, but who’s all, “We can swear in pop songs now? Cool.”
11. Gauntlet Hair - I Was Thinking…
Points awarded for: best band name of 2010; epic echo effect; great-sounding indecipherable lyrics; an ellipsis in the title.
12. James Blake - CMYK
It’s a jam. Trust me.
13. Tanlines - Real Life
This is my sleeper hit of the year, and even though I’m a sucker for big synths, I’m pretty sure you’ll have trouble not liking it.
14. Peter Gabriel - My Body is a Cage
From an album of surprising covers, this track stands out. Gabriel’s voice has gone all Johnny Cash from “Hurt” and that gem is a perfect analogy to this aging crooner’s lament, which tops the Arcade Fire original in my book. Stay tuned for the strings - they’re remarkable.
15. Mavis Staples - You Are Not Alone
The best Wilco song of the year.
16. Sleigh Bells - Crown on the Ground
Sleigh Bells were the stripped down rock equivalent to Kanye’s indulgence in 2010. Singsongy, in your face, popping up in NFL stadiums for montages - while who knows how it’ll sound in five years, when it dropped, this was the sound of the moment.
17. Zack Demsey - Mind Heist (Inception Trailer)
The greatest bum trick in 2010 cinema was the omission of this perfectly evocative piece of film scoring from the actual movie Inception, after it positively dominated the trailer.
18. Janelle Monae - Tightrope
The album was like a sequel to Andre 3000’s The Love Below, and that’s high praise. It’s classy, creative and sounds like a perfect smirk.
19. Wild Nothing - Chinatown
2010 was a great year for dream pop - there’s a sonic and thematic connection between this music and 1980s new wave that makes me picture it playing in the background of Dream a Little Dream.
20. Delorean - Stay Close
You are now a fan of dream pop. I’m not subtle. Also, how bout that band name?
21. Yeasayer - Ambling Arp
All these guys do is drum hard and make great music.
22. Crystal Castles - Year of Silence
The Castles mix in some Sigur Ros vocals to provide an ethereal complement to their earthy 8-bit composition, and we end up the winners.
23. Ready For The World - How to Dress Well
I wasn’t kidding about the dream pop. It’s great.
24. Kanye West (ft. Nikki Minaj) - Monster
This song features the best verse on the whole album, and it’s by Ms. Minaj, over a positively evil beat for which Yeezy duly gets credit. But really, that verse is like a great film, with compelling characters, dramatic staging, action sequences and a satisfying conclusion (sorry for the clean version).
25. Nas & Damian Marley - As We Enter
This collaboration is very neat. As is the song.
26. Hoodie Allen - You Are Not A Robot
These guys will be huge in 2011, like Gorillaz-big. Maybe as big as wearing hoodies.
27. Das Racist - Chicken & Meat
And the award for best new subgenre of hip-hop goes to Das Racist for their Hype-Nerd-Core-Post-PC-Harold-and-Kumar-Colbert-Wellesley-Rap. Also, their name is based on an internet meme.
28. Arcade Fire - Rococo
While Arcade Fire has lost me over the years, this song reminded me of my initial regard for the band’s command of intimate-feeling rocksplosions.
29. The National - Afraid of Everyone
The second most important band in the world delivered a gem of an album in 2010, but with nary a bona fide single on it. Yet this cut captures the band’s ability to work through a very modern dread with melodies and lyrics that unravel the fear by staring at it and making art.
30. Kanye West - Power
In the future, 30 second montages of the 2010-2019 decade will feature three seconds of this song standing in for 2010.

Sleigh Bell's "Infinity Guitars"

Sleigh Bells "Infinity Guitars" from Phil Pinto on Vimeo.

This should be every video

Japanese Pop Stars - Let Go

The Japanese Popstars Feat. Green Velvet - Let Go from David Wilson Creative on Vimeo.

via jasonunderscorekreher

He Man Woman Haters Podcast #21

He Men: Never on schedule, always on time.

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He Man Woman Haters Podcast #21

1) Cee-Lo Green – Georgia
2) The Hood Internet – Comfortable Up Here (Lil Wayne vs Royksopp)
3) Jukebox The Ghost - The Popular Thing
4) Kos – Beauty is a Loaded Gun
5) Mayer Hawthorne - No Strings
6) Mos Def- Cream Of The Planet
7) FM Belfast - Tropical
8) No Bunny - Blow Dumb
9) Deerhunter - Revival
10) Fresh And Onlys - Waterfall
11) Ducktails - Art Vandelay
12) Ra Ra Riot - Boy
13) Fol Chen - The Holograms
14) How to Dress Well - Ready For The World
15) Women - Eyesore
16) No Age - Life Prowler
17) Bad Brains - Pay To Cum
18) Double Dagger - Camouflage
19) Justin Townes Earle - Harlem River Blues
20) Flying Lotus - PieFace
21) Jenny And Johnny - Switchblade
22) Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros - 40 Day Dream

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Surfin Riddim Mix part 2

Joe Tex - Aint Gonna Bump No More [totp2]

Watch out for the big girls...

Pomp & Clout Mix Series

I don't know what Pomp and Clout is. But they sure do know how to commission a mixtape series, eh? Also, these covers (absent the kerning on Curtis Vodka's...) are beauteous. Go grab 'em.

UPDATE: They fixed the kerning! Eff yeah.

J. Cole - Who Dat

Remember when music videos were great? This should help jog your memory.

Cooking with Ian

He Man Woman Haters Podcast #20: Summer Jamz

He Men: Never on schedule, always on time.

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He Man Woman Haters Podcast #20: Summer Jamz

1) Janelle Monáe - Cold War
2) The Gaslight Anthem - American Slang
3) Drake - Up All Night (Ft. Nicki Minaj)
4) Young Rival - Got What You Need
5) Foals - This Orient
6) Lindstrom & Christabelle - Lovesick
7) Ski Beatz - Taxi f. Mos Def & Whosane
8) William Bell - Every Day Will Be Like A Holiday
9) The Apostles - Don't Huzzle For Love
10) Nas & Damian Marley - As We Enter
11) The Fresh & Onlys - Endless Love
12) User - Oh My Gosh
13) Choir of Young Believers - Action/Reaction
14) Hoodie Allen - You Are Not A Robot (feat. Marina & The Diamonds)
15) Grouplove - Colours
16) Mos Dub - Shroud The Stars
17) Elivis - Fa ku mwana
18) Big Boi - Lookin For Ya f. Andre 3000 & Sleepy Brown
19) Gauntlet Hair - I Was Thinking...
20) James Black - CMYK
21) Wild Nothing - Chinatown
22) MF Borat - Bing Bong Bing
23) Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings - Inspiration Information
24) Janelle Monae ft. B.o.B & Lupe Fiasco - Tightrope (Wondamix)
25) Mark Sultan - I'll Be Loving' You
26) Smith Westerns - Girl In Love
27) Sleigh Bells - Rill Rill

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