Favorited ex.fm Songs

Sunday, July 29, 2012

This week in music (week of 7/24/2012)

I've gotten into a pretty good rhythm and pattern of writing my "This week in music posts." Usually there are two, three, maybe four albums that come out in any given week that I'm interested in hearing. I'll listen to them each once, decide which ones I want to hear more, and then listen to those a few more times before writing this post (usually on Fridays). This week there were about five or six albums I REALLY wanted to hear and another five or so that I was curious to check out. What this all means is that I was unable (or unwilling) to choose just one (or two, or three, or four...) albums as my album of the week. Therefore, this marks the first time there have been five co-albums of the week. To further prevent having to make any sort of ranking choices, they'll be presented alphabetically by artist. Also because this is so much music for me to process, I'll highlight reviews of these albums by other publications. This will help focus on what's being said by those who I'm sure have had much more time to listen to these albums than I have.

New release of the week #1 - Undersea EP by The Antlers

While this album is only four tracks long and clocks in at under 25 minutes, it makes the most out of it. A few months ago, I discovered the blog Listen Before You Buy, and they quickly became my favorite of the music blogs I read. Their take on the EP:

Frontman Peter Silberman uses his voice less to tell a story, and more to provide a feeling, creating an organic atmosphere that penetrates boundaries that aren’t usually associated with EPs. It’s this freedom that not only makes Undersea an exciting turn for the band, but complements their staggeringly impressive catalogue.
Another point (although not a musical one) in Undersea's favor is how amazing the vinyl for the album looks (here is a pic). I don't even own a record player (although I really hope to get one soon), and I still couldn't resist pre-ordering the vinyl because it just looked so awesome.


New release of the week #2 - Major by Fang Island

This is Fang Island's second release. I really enjoyed the track "Daisy" from their debut, but the whole album never really clicked for me. With that said, their followup Major seems to have built on that promising debut really well. The album is basically non-stop energy. This is largely due to relentlessly catchy guitar hooks and just exuberant singing / shouting of the vocals. The whole album sounds like it was made to soundtrack a group of people's zany summer adventures in a movie. As Paste Magazine puts it in their review:

Major knocks aside other similar solo-heavy endeavors with its honesty. Packed with simple, poignant lyrics, the record keeps things awesome without falling prey to its own overindulgent qualities.
Honestly, "awesome" is about the best way to describe the music. This may not end up being my favorite album of the bunch, but right now it's the only one I can't get through without constantly nodding my head, tapping my foot, or drumming on something nearby. The energy is just really something else. Here is a track from the album, but I think it is really best experienced as a whole.




New release of the week #3 - Handwritten by The Gaslight Anthem

The Gaslight Anthem are back with their fourth album. Just like the previous three, they've churned out another album of unabashed Springsteen-esque rock. Their previous album "American Slang" was good, but after the bar was set so high by "The '59 Sound," it left me a little disappointed. However, after a few listens of "Handwritten," I can see myself really getting into this new one. Stereogum seems to agree, and they gave it their album of the week designation, saying:

They’ve slowed things even further on Handwritten, washing away nearly ever trace of their basement-hardcore past. Handwritten is an unflinching, unapologetic arena-rock record, with all the blazing solos and grunge-derived riffery that the term implies. And it works. The band hammers away at that style with the same grand, severe sincerity that they brought to their old hearty bashcore. Their old Jersey punk connection lives on in the whoa-oh-ohs that they love injecting into their songs — the single most classically commercial thing that the Misfits gave punk rock. But they’re aiming for bigger targets: Road-trip playlists, sports-highlight-reel soundtracks. And amazingly enough, they never overreach
Here is "45", the lead track from the album:





New release of the week #4 - Gossamer by Passion Pit

Pitchfork ruled the news coverage surrounding the release of "Gossamer." A week or so before the release of the album, they posted an in depth interview with lead singer Michael Angelakos. The interview is exceptionally well done and gives a peek into the many struggles that he has dealt with including his bipolar diagnosis when he was 18 and suicide attempts since then. He speaks frankly throughout and adds insight to their music that was missing before this interview. If you're at all interested in their music or a very personal interview about those issues, I highly recommend reading the whole interview. When the album was released, they gave it their coveted best new music designation in their review. While, Pitchfork may not be the most unbiased reviewer after having scored an exclusive interviewer, that shouldn't take away from this album. Even without getting into the lyrics or the man behind the music, the album is still just an undeniably catchy, dancy, pop album. Fans of previous Passion Pit music shouldn't be disappointed by the newest addition to their discography. Here is "Take A Walk" from the album:





New release of the week #5 - Shrines by Purity Ring

And finally we arrive at the final new release of the week. Purity Ring has been generating a lot of buzz for quite some time by slowly releasing track after track ahead of their debut album. Because of that, some fans may be disappointed to not be hearing new material. But for anyone like me who hadn't been paying attention, there is a lot to like here. The album is an electronic based bit of dream pop. In Consequence of Sound's review, they call it "legitimately one of the only albums that I can both sleep and run to." There's certainly something to be said for making music that can be enjoyed in different ways. If you like The xx, I would recommend checking out Purity Ring. You can click here to download one of my favorite tracks "Fineshrine" courtesy of the band's label 4AD.



If you're looking for more about new releases, KEXP rules the weekly roundup coverage by listing a whole ton of new releases with either videos, mp3 streams, or mp3 downloads for almost every release. It is usually the first place I look when deciding what to listen to each week. Check out this week's here.

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

A Tribute to Baseball Music

Besides music, my other big hobby that I waste my free time on (as well as plenty of time that probably shouldn't be free time) is watching/reading about/discussing baseball. Thus, when the two worlds collide, it seems only natural that I should highlight that collision.

On Monday, longtime Seattle Mariner Ichiro Suzuki was traded to the Yankees, seemingly out of nowhere. If you're a baseball fan, you know how big of a deal this was as he had been the face of the franchise for the last 12 years (even if his skills had declined in recent years). If you aren't a baseball fan, maybe Death Cab for Cutie / The Postal Service singer Ben Gibbard can help explain his significance:


The song that he mentions, embedded below, is an ode to Ichiro Suzuki and his strong arm, baserunning skills, hitting prowess, and overall awesomeness.


Just last week, in my post about the new Macklemore & Ryan Lewis song supporting same sex marriage, I included their ode to the late Seattle announcer Dave Niehaus. Baseball themed musical supergroup The Baseball Project also recorded an Ichiro themed song, "Ichiro Goes To The Moon" for their most recent album.


While you may be thinking that the Mariners hold a monopoly on being the target of baseball themed songs, there are plenty of others too. Craig Finn of The Hold Steady is an unabashed Twins fan (and even gave a shoutout to Twins' manager Ron Gardenhire who had just recently won manager of the year when I saw the band perform in Iowa). Last March, I posted his ode to Twins teams past and present, "Please Don't Call Them Twinkies."

My parents named me after former Cubs second baseman (and Hall of Famer) Ryne Sandberg, and I grew up a Cubs fan (although I have since reformed). One of the songs I recall listening to on car rides growing up was "A Dying Cubs Fan's Last Request" by Steve Goodman. The song is about a Cubs fan on his death bed (who would have thought from the title?) who can't help but be a diehard Cubs fan despite their years and years of failure. Cubs fans can get a bad rap sometimes, but it takes a lot to stick with a team after all those years of coming up short.


Yesterday, Stereogum had a post about 6 indie songs inspired by baseball featuring Eddie Vedder, Belle & Sebastian, The Mountain Goats, Dropkick Murphys, Todd Snider, and the Craig Finn song I mentioned above. Click the link to check out those along with their write up.

The music at baseball games has always been of interest to me as I'm sure it is for similar baseball / music nerds. Fortunately now, there is a website called Designated Hits that allows you to look up most current player's batting / pitching music. The website is complete with links to sample or buy the music as well. While my musical tastes don't mesh with those of most ballplayers (lots of hip hop, country, classic rock, hard rock, and metal), it's fun to look through and there are some hidden gems. Some highlights include Nationals pitching phenom Stephen Strasburg using "Seven Nation Army" by The White Stripes, Royals pitcher Greg Holland using MGMT's "Electric Feel," and Rockies OF/1B Tyler Colvin coming out to bat to "Holdin On To Black Metal" by My Morning Jacket. The site is still in the early stages, but the creator appears active on Twitter (@designatedhits) and seems intent on keeping it up to date.

I'm sure I could find plenty more baseball / music tie-ins to ramble on and on about, but I should probably stop before I get even more carried away. If you have any favorites I'm missing, I'd love to hear about them in the comments.

Friday, July 20, 2012

This week in music (week of 7/17/2012)

First things first, if you use Twitter and are interested in following my music thoughts or getting links when new posts are written, I've started a Twitter account for the blog @MoonNotRomantic. I'm still pretty mad at Twitter for cutting me off one character too short for @MoonAintRomantic, but I suppose I'll get over it. Last week's album of the week by Dirty Projectors is still in constant rotation and is definitely one of my favorite albums of the year. Beyond that, after a bit of a new music lull the last few weeks, things are certainly starting to heat up again.

New release of the week - Something for the Weakened by Meursault

This week's album of the week is from Scottish indie folk band Meursault. I like the band plenty
on its own merits, but they also get bonus points for being named after the main character of the Camus novel, The Stranger. As for their music, it is most easily placed in the indie folk genre, but that classification by itself doesn't really do their uniqueness justice. The songs usually have a very lo-fi sound while still managing to build up to something epic at times. Some of that is likely attributable to lead singer Neil Pennycock, who can insert a sense of urgency to a song with his howling vocals. Beyond just your standard guitar, bass, and drums, the band also employs electronic elements and various other instrumentation, which helps to spice up the music. I don't recall when I first stumbled upon the band, but I've been a fan for a while, and Something for the Weakened is an excellent addition to their previous material. Below is my favorite track from the album, "Dull Spark." The track has pretty driving drums behind it for most of the duration and is a bit more rockin' than some of the rest of the album.


My favorite Meursault track from previous albums is the cover of Withered Hands' track "Red Candle Bulb" on the band's Nothing Broke EP. Below is a live version recorded with fellow Scottish artist (and one of my favorites) Scott Hutchison of Frightened Rabbit. Those Scots certainly know their music.



Other notable releases

Also out this week, Old Crow Medicine show released a new album called Carry Me Back that is a fun listen. I know close to nothing about Icelandic band Múm, but they released a compilation of rare and unreleased tracks called Early Birds that seemed pretty good. The music is ambient sounding electronic stuff, which is way out of my knowledge base, and I have no idea what the title of this track is, but here is a song I enjoyed:


Miscellaneous Links, News, and Notes

* The Polaris Prize is a yearly award for Canadian musicians that "celebrates and rewards creativity and diversity in recorded Canadian music" according to the award's website. This week, they narrowed the nominees down to 10 albums including two of my favorites from this year "I Predict a Graceful Expulsion" by Cold Specks and "Voyageur" by Kathleen Edwards. Last year, Arcade Fire's "The Suburbs" took home the award.

* If you're looking for some new music, several of next week's releases are streaming for free online including Purity Ring's debut "Shrines," Passion Pit's "Gossamer," Gaslight Anthem's "Handwritten," Fang Island's "Major," and The Antlers' EP "Undersea" (in exchange for liking their Facebook page). Lots to be excited about there!

* Also, Bob Dylan announced is 543rd (approximation) studio album, Tempest, due out 9/11. I actually enjoyed his last one, so I'm looking forward to hearing this one.

* While Ben Gibbard has been making music as Death Cab for Cutie, The Postal Service, and All-Time Quarterback (not sure if I'm missing any), he has yet to release a solo album under his own name. That will change on October 16 with the release of "Former Lives"

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Music for Marriage Equality / Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

In Washington state, a bill that would have legalized same sex marriage was signed into law last February. However, before that could become reality, opponents gathered signatures to force a referendum on the issue in this coming election. Since many of my favorite artists hail from the Northwest, I've seen quite a bit from a group called Music for Marriage Equality. A few weeks ago, Ben Gibbard (lead singer of Death Cab for Cutie / The Postal Service) filmed a short ad voicing his support of marriage equality. This set off the people of Westboro Baptist Church who chose to protest outside one of his shows and claimed that he was wearying "God’s servants at the WBC with his hateful words and hard speeches." That's not exactly how I would think to describe Ben Gibbard or Death Cab for Cutie, but I'm pretty sure I disagree with Westboro Baptist on just about everything, so oh well.

Where am I going with all of this? Well first off, I think this is an extremely important issue, and I'm glad to see all of the support Pacific Northwest musicians are throwing behind it and how respectfully they are doing it. I know that it's a tricky issue for some people because they see it as so closely tied to their religious beliefs, but it seems like gay marriage must go beyond that somehow. There are plenty of things that people are legally allowed to do that various religions may see as being disapproved of by a god. If you believe a god doesn't want people to marry someone of the same sex, then you shouldn't marry someone of the same sex. But just as any straight couple's marriage doesn't really affect anyone other than themselves, neither should a gay couple's marriage. Tens of millions of people watch shows like Joe Millionaire, people are married seven or eight times, and adultery occurs all over the place. Preventing two people who care about each other from marrying just because they happen to be the same sex seems like such an arbitrary place to draw a line "defending marriage".

Onto the music though. Just a couple days ago, Seattle based rappers Macklemore and Ryan Lewis posted a new song called "Same Love." I don't listen to a ton of hip hop, but I really enjoy some of it. In this case, it obviously helps that I support their message, but the song is really solid too. On their website, discussing the song they say:

Unfortunately, intolerance of the gay community in hip hop is widespread. The best rappers will use homophobic language on albums that critics rave about, making hip hop and homophobia inextricably linked. We have sidestepped the issue entirely, become numb to the language that we use, and are increasingly blinded to our own prejudice.

...

As somebody that believes in equal rights for all humans, you can only watch poison regurgitated for so long.

I am not saying that intolerance is exclusive to hip hop. Hip hop culture is a part of American culture, and America can be scared, fearful, and prejudiced against its own. My intent is not to scrutinize or single out hip hop. It happens to be the culture that has profoundly shaped me, and the one I feel most accountable to.

I don't want to just block quote the whole thing, but there is plenty more good stuff there, and I recommend clicking through to his website and reading the whole thing. Here is the song:

Kids are walking around the hallway
plagued by pain in their heart,
a world so hateful some would rather die
than be who they are.
And a certificate on paper isn't gonna solve it all,
but it's a damn good place to start.



As an added bonus for anyone who may enjoy the first song and/or baseball, here's a song that Macklemore and Ryan Lewis recorded a couple years ago when legendary Mariners broadcaster Dave Niehaus passed away. It's an amazing tribute to what baseball and Niehaus meant to Macklemore. The duo also has their first full length album coming out in October. Given how much I've enjoyed these two tracks of theirs, I'll be sure to check it out.

Saturday, July 14, 2012

This week in music (week of 7/10/2012)

I haven't written one of these "this week in music" posts in a while. Part of that has been other things on my plate, but it has also been due to a lack of exciting new releases. While July is still pretty slow on that front, there was one release this week that blew me away. Thanks to the previously mentioned drip.fm subscription service through Domino Records, I had the new Dirty Projectors delivered right to my inbox.

New release of the Week - Swing Lo Magellan by Dirty Projectors

I really don't know where to start with discussing this album. I've seen the album described as "interesting." That can be a bit of a loaded word, but it's actually a pretty good description of this album. Oftentimes "interesting" may imply that there aren't nicer descriptions, but that isn't the case here. Some of the Dirty Projectors' old stuff can be pretty experimental, but several reviews also call this their most accessible album to date. That combination seems to be what makes this such a great record. The album really is accessible just to listen to without actively engaging it too much, but it is also an "interesting" album that lends itself to closer (and many, many repeated) listens. An interview on Consequence of Sound seems to hit the nail right on the head when they say that Dirty Projectors do a great job of realizing that the voice can be an instrument too. Ultimately, anything I can say won't do it justice, but since this is a blog and all I better try. I highly recommend just finding the album (for $3.99 on Amazon!) and giving it a listen all the way through.

The first track, "Offspring Are Blank," does a good job showcasing some of the shifting of styles and genres that the album goes through. The song starts out with clapping percussion adding one of the constants across the album, beautiful harmonies by the trio of female singers accompanying lead singer David Longstreth. Before you can get too comfortable, the track transitions into a pretty rocking part only to switch back again. Throughout the album there are elements of pop, rock, folk, soul, and plenty more.

"Gun Has No Trigger" was the first single released from the album, and it is a really good track, but I think I may actually prefer the second single "Dance For You" (another track that goes through some stylistic shifts throughout) or the penultimate track "Unto Caesar" (which features the exchange "Down the line did the martyrs morbid poetry"/"uh, that doesn't make any sense what you just said" that never fails to makes me smile when I hear it). There really isn't a weak track on the album though and there is a really good chance that this album ends up one of my top five or so this year.

I had listened to the Dirty Projectors' previous album "Bitte Orca" a little bit when it came out three years ago, but it didn't leave much of an impression on me. I'll definitely have to go back now and listen to that (as well as some of their older albums), but for now I plan to just play the heck out of "Swing Lo Magellan."

And for a taste of what I've been rambling on about, here is the track "Dance for You"



And because I'm having a hard time committing to just one song and the video is neat (and pretty clearly inspired by iPod commercials), here is the lead single "Gun Has No Trigger" as well.

Friday, July 6, 2012

The History of Rock in 100 Guitar Riffs

I thought this video was too cool not to post. I saw this on another blog, so I really don't know anything about the guy or company/store that made this video, but it is pretty neat. He created a medley of 100 rock & roll guitar riffs that progress chronologically from 1953 up through 2011. It's pretty cool hearing the music from the different decades and genre changes as the video progresses. There were several songs that I didn't know by name but that I definitely recognized when he played them. There were also some great songs that I had all but forgotten about. Anyhow, check it out:



The Chicago Music Exchange website here has a neat list of all the songs along with year they came out, key they are in, and time stamp in the video. There is also some info about the gear he used if that's your sort of thing.

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

New Releases from April - June 2012

Back in April, I recapped my favorite releases from the first three months of 2012. At the time, I mentioned how much good music had already been released already. I had a ridiculously hard time narrowing down my list for the second quarter of the year. Combine that with an insanely long list of albums I'm looking forward to in the next few months, and 2012 shows no signs of slowing down. Onto the music though. In parentheses after the albums is a link to the Amazon page to download, with especially good prices listed.

My Favorite Albums released April – June 2012

1) M. Ward - A Wasteland Companion (only $5)

This album may not be at the top of everyone's list, but it's more of M. Ward doing what M. Ward is great at doing. This album didn't hook me immediately. However, after buying the CD, I popped it into my car stereo and left it there for a while. Apparently that did the trick because when I went back to listen to all of these albums before writing this blog post, I couldn't find any fault with this record. It is just a really solid listen from beginning to end.

2) Of Monsters and Men - My Head Is An Animal (Amazon)

This is another album that the more I listened to it, the more I realized I enjoyed the whole thing quite a bit. "Little Talks," which I wrote about back in February, is still probably my favorite song of the year, but basically every track from "Dirty Paws" to "Yellow Light" is really solid. I don't know what it is about Iceland that lends itself to such beautiful music, but Of Monsters and Men carry the torch well with their indie pop sound.

3) Father John Misty - Fear Fun (only $5.99)

Father John Misty is the new moniker of Joshua Tillman, former drummer of Fleet Foxes. He had previously recorded music under the name J. Tillman as well, but this project was enough of a departure from previous releases that he wanted a new name for it. I was first introduced to this new project by the video for the single "Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings," which featured Aubrey Plaza of Parks and Recreation (and the awesome new movie Safety Not Guaranteed). I wasn't a huge fan of the song though, and I almost didn't bother listening to this album because of that. I'm glad I gave it a try though because the rest of the album has a pretty cool old school country type sound that is absent on that track and which I very much enjoy.

4) The Tallest Man On Earth - There's No Leaving Now (Amazon)

I've made my love of The Tallest Man On Earth well known. Before this album, I had remarked that I wasn't sure he was capable of writing a bad track because everything else he had released was so incredibly good. He received comparisons to Bob Dylan when he was first starting, but he's done a good job of crafting a sound that is his own. This album, which has seen him expanding his sound a bit beyond just guitar and vocals, hasn't immediately grabbed me. That being said, neither did "The Wild Hunt," which is one of my all time favorites now. Regardless, I've enjoyed this album more each time I listen to it, and it could still shoot up my end of the year list with some more time to listen to it.

5) Alabama Shakes - Boys and Girls (Amazon)

A few weeks ago, I wrote about seeing Alabama Shakes perform at Sasquatch. The band garnered a lot of buzz over the past year or so for their live show and the EP they released in 2011. Because of that, expectations for their full-length were sky high. Since "Boys and Girls" contains all the songs on the EP, it seems that people who had spent a lot of time listening to the EP were disappointed and rated the album lower than if it was new to them (although it still got pretty good reviews). That's understandable (and also just speculation on my part), but coming from someone who hadn't listened to them much, this was a phenomenal album. Lead singer Brittany Howard has a great voice backed by some strong bluesy-rocky-souly music. "Hold On" is another song of the year contender for me, and the whole album is worthy of many listens. Beyond that though, this is a band that is still young and their potential seems worthy of the massive internet buzz they created months ago.

6) The Lumineers - The Lumineers (Amazon)

You may recognize Denver based folk-rock group The Lumineers from a Bing commercial that used their song "Ho Hey." Amusingly, the top comment on the YouTube page for their music video is someone claiming they heard the song on the Bing commercial and looked up who it was with Google. Microsoft may have an uphill battle to get more people using Bing... While "Ho Hey" is a great song, fortunately the rest of the album is also filled out with great tracks. One of the other highlights is album opener "Flowers In Your Hair," which gets all of its goodness taken care of in less than two minutes. The short song seems to be a lost art, but they pull it off well there.

7) Joe Pug - The Great Despiser (Amazon)

Joe Pug is another favorite artist of mine who puts out excellent folk music that deserves to be heard by way more people. I've talked before how much I admire the way he goes about connecting with his fans and spreading his music, so I'll just direct you here if you're interested. This is another album that I haven't listened to as much as I'd like to (mostly due to being busy and being addicted to Diablo III in my spare time), so I could see it moving up in my rankings too with more time.

8) Cold Specks - I Predict A Graceful Expulsion (only $5.99)

Cold Specks is 24 year old Canadian born, London based, singer Al Spx. She is a bit of a wildcard here because I just heard her music about a week ago. I haven't had much time to process her album (just a couple listens), but I am in love with the song "Blank Maps," and the rest of the album seems pretty fantastic too. She describes her music as doom-soul. I read that she doesn't want to be compared to Adele, but because I just don't know much about the genre, that's the closest comparison I can make. While I find Adele enjoyable here and there, I never got too into her music. I've already listened to Cold Specks about as much as I ever listened to Adele, and I plan to sail way past that amount. I can only hope Cold Specks finds even a fraction of the success Adele has found because her music is certainly worthy of it. Since I haven't talked about her before, here's "Blank Maps" for you to check out:



9) Julia Stone - By The Horns (Amazon)

I wrote about Julia Stone just a couple weeks ago, so I won't rehash all of that here. However, since then I have also checked out some of her work with her brother in Angus & Julia Stone and found that to be really enjoyable too. It looks like her brother also has a solo album coming out July 17 called Broken Brights, so I'll have to check that out too. Based on what I've heard so far, there's no reason to think it won't be a good listen.

10) Walk The Moon - Walk The Moon (only $5)

This album sort of snuck on here at the end. I saw Walk The Moon at Sasquatch and they put on a really fun show, but I wasn't sure how that would translate to a full-length album. Well... I suppose it shouldn't surprise me that they released a really fun album as well. It's not really my typical fare, but the energy is just infectious and it's hard to just sit still while listening to it. It may not be something that I'll listen to all the time, but it does a great job fitting a need whenever I want something to get me energized. "Anna Sun" and "Tightrope" are two of my favorite tracks.

Albums that just missed the cut

Reptar - Body Faucet
JD McPherson - Signs & Signifiers
The Mynabirds - GENERALS
Rocky Votolato - Television of Saints
Nick Waterhouse - Time's All Gone
Marching Donald - Marching Donald


Albums that need more listens and could move up

Jack White - Blunderbuss
Beach House - Bloom
Port St. Willow - Holiday
Sigur Ros - Valtari
Fiona Apple - The Idler Wheel...


Upcoming Releases for July through September

7/10 - Dirty Projectors - Swing Lo, Magellan

7/16 - Meursault - Something For The Weakened

7/24 - Passion Pit - Gossamer

7/24 - Fang Island - Major

7/24 - The Antlers - Undersea EP

7/24 - The Gaslight Anthem - Handwritten

8/21 - Yeasayer - Fragrant World

8/28 - A Thing Called The Divine Fits

9/4 - Animal Collective - Centipede Hz

9/4 - Stars - The North

9/4 - The Vaccines - The Vaccines Come Of Age

9/11 - The xx - Coexist

9/11 - Field Report - Field Report

9/11 - The Helio Sequence - Negotiations

9/11 - The Avett Brothers - The Carpenter

9/11 - The Raveonettes - Observator

9/18 - Grizzly Bear - TBD

9/?? - Band of Horses - TBD


April Through June Mixtapes!

As I've done before, there are two possible ways to listen to a mix of songs from the past three months. If you use Spotify, you can use the playlist below.



If you don't use Spotify, you can play a mix through 8tracks.com below. This mix is a bit shorter because they require you to upload tracks you have purchased, whereas Spotify allows you any tracks they have made available.

My favorite tracks from April to June 2012 from rynestonecowboy on 8tracks.