25.          Actress – R.I.P.

24.          Patrick Watson – Adventures in Your Own Back Yard

23.          Olafur Arnalds – Another Happy Day OST

22.          Pomegranates – Heaven

21.          JJ DOOM – Keys to the Kuffs

20.          Flying Lotus – Until the Quiet Comes

19.          John Talabot – Fin

18.          Scuba – Personality

17.          Emay – Adam

16.          Beach House – Bloom

15.          BADBADNOTGOOD – BBNG2

14.          Ty Segall – Slaughterhouse

13.          Dirty Projectors – Swing Low Magellan

12.          Benjamin Damage & Doc Daneeka – They!Live

11.          Fang Island – Major

10.          Moonface with Siinai – Heartbreaking Bravery

9.            Julia Holter – Ekstasis

8.            Tim Hecker & Daniel Lopatin – Instrumental Tourist

7.            Tame Impala – Lonerism

6.            The xx – Coexist

5.            Anthony Drawn – A Beautiful Fragile Balance

4.            Animal Collective – Centipede Hz

3.            Mirroring – Foreign Body

2.            Andy Stott – Luxury Problems

1.            Burial – Kindred EP/Truant EP

Here’s to another great year in 2013 (and hopefully more time spent with this blog with maybe some actual reviews)!

Simple beats and piano chords never combined to make a more delightful song. As the imitated crackles from an old vinyl add in atmosphere, “Lingerwell” plods along in its chill, danceable vibe, and somehow, the crackling actually works in this song. It doesn’t seem like a random ploy to add atmosphere. Rather, it sounds like Throwing Snow uses the effect as another percussive instrument. The track actually almost seems out of place on the Aspera EP, with its retro synths floating and punching their way over the rhythm section, but it still manages to find a way to belong, and that’s a good thing.

I’ve been sitting on this song for a while. Not entirely sure why. It seems like anything Charlotte Loseth, AKA Sea Oleena, touches turns gold. On “Waiting List”, Sursauter (Christopher Cook) accompanies her wistful vocals with atmospheric beeps and boops from varying synths, and a perfectly simple beat that just barely keeps the song moving. It’s another song that takes your consciousness away, allowing you to fall into the clouds and relax.

Many of us have a tendency to dismiss remixes. Too often, they sound the same, do little with the original, or it just seems like there’s an overflow of them for the single to which they’re attached. However, if there’s one thing the likes of Jamie xx and Son Lux have proved over the years, it’s that you should never ignore a remix of either an already great song or one done by a talented artist you know and love. The Lithuanian born producer Brokenchord further proves this on his excellent remix of Caribou’s “She’s the One”. The dark, mysterious edit strips out much of the original. Slowed down with a simple beat driving the way, the track wraps you up in its atmosphere. It’s absolutely something to behold.

Caribou – She’s the One (Brokenchord Edit)

Our consensus favorite album of 2011 just saw its official US Release a week or two ago, so we’re celebrating the occasion by posting what is probably our favorite track from it, “City Girl”. While the album as a whole is explosive, majestic, and all around incredible, perhaps no song captures those feelings more than “City Girl”. From its reverb, delay soaked guitars, to its pounding percussion, the subtle piano touches, and Hayley’s always soaring vocals, the song continually grows and grows and grows with quite possibly one of the best choruses I’ve personally ever heard. By the end of the track, you feel intensely emotionally invested in the story, hanging on every single word Hayley sings so powerfully over the erupting music.

Two new albums are available for streaming online right now, and both are really good.  First off, we have CFCF’s Exercises EP.  Considerably different from his previous releases, Exercises relies primarily on gorgeous piano arrangements that meander through the EP.  Synthesizers do make appearances, but they’re mainly used as a way of adding texture to the piano.  You can listen to it here.

Additionally, Emay dropped a new, free album called Adam featuring more of his fantastic production work and highly enjoyable rhymes.  You can listen to it here or download it here.

[via Indie R&B]

30. Pinch and Shackelton – S/T

29. Big Spider’s Back – Memory Man

28. Summer Camp – Welcome to Condale

27. Sean McCann – The Capital

T25. ::M∆DE:IN:HEIGHTS:: – APORIA: IN THESE §TREETS 

T25. Tom Waits – Bad As Me

24. Nicolas Jaar – Space  is Only Noise

23. Emay – Mind Altering Dynamics 

22. Bill Callahan – Apocalypse

21. BNJMN – Black Square

20. Chelsea Wolfe – Apokalypsis  

19. Youth Lagoon – The Year of Hibernation 

18. Colin Stetson – New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges  

17. Andy Stott – Passed Me By 

16. M83 – Hurry Up We’re Dreaming

15. Sea Oleena – Sleeplessness 

14. The Weeknd – House of Balloons 

T12.  Thee Oh Sees – Carrion Crawler / The Dream 

T12. James Blake – S/T 

11.  John Maus – We Must Become the Pitiless Censors of Ourselves

10. Grouper – AIA 

9. Oneohtrix  Point Never – Replica 

8. The Weeknd – Echoes of Silence 

7. Wild Beasts – Smother 

6. Tim Hecker – Ravedeath, 1972

5. Gang Gang Dance – Eye Contact 

4. Julia Holter – Tragedy 

3. Balam Acab – Wander/Wonder 

2. Shabazz Palaces – Black Up 

1. The Jezabels – Prisoner

This February the increasingly popular trio are releasing a follow up album to their popular debut Aim and Ignite from 2009, and they’ve just posted a new song.  If you’re a fan, check it out! It’s definitely different from their previous endeavors.  They’re obviously experimenting with beats and different sonic methods, which at first I wasn’t sure about given the orchestral arrangements of much of their debut.  But, fun. has once again created a sound that lives up to their name, and after a few listens its beat grows on you.  It will be interesting to where they go with this album, given the two singles they’ve released from it.

Listen here