1. Cut Copy - Zonoscope
2. Treefight for Sunlight - Treefight for Sunlight
3. Cleaners From Venus - English Electric/The Stopping Train
4. Destroyer - Kaputt
5. Smith Westerns - Dye It Blonde

+ special mention for this good compilation :
The Radio Dept. - Passive Aggressive: Singles 2002-2010

I want to mention again the Iron and Wine album, because I've just listened to it. Pretty good on my first listen, and the final song "Your Fake Name Is Good Enough For Me" is really impressive, if perhaps a bit schmaltzy. Still the best of the year for me is Smith Westerns, then PJ and Radiohead. Nothing so far has STRUCK me the way that Sleigh Bells/Deerhunter/Sufjan/Kanye did last year.

The new Kurt Vile album is awesome. I'd never heard of him before, but I checked out his old stuff and was unimpressed - so even if you know the name, it's worth checking out.

Albums that I've consider at least 7/10 this year...

Iron & Wine - Kiss Each Other Clean 9/10
Asteroid No. 4 - Hail to the Clear Figurines 8.5/10
Tennis - Cape Dory 7.5/10
Kurt Vile - Smoke Ring for My Halo 7/10
Smith Westerns - Dye It Blonde 7/10

I missed a couple and listened to a few good albums last night and today...

Iron & Wine - Kiss Each Other Clean 9/10
Asteroid No. 4 - Hail to the Clear Figurines 8.5/10
Akron/Family- ST II 8.5/10
Darwin Deez- ST 8/10
David Lowery- The Palace Guards 7.5/10
Tennis - Cape Dory 7.5/10
R.E.M.- Collapse Into Now 7/10
Kurt Vile - Smoke Ring for My Halo 7/10
Smith Westerns - Dye It Blonde 7/10

Lo-Fi + Male Singer Songwriter= Album of the Year. I already see Pitchfork and all the trendy publications licking their chops at the new Kurt Vile getting ready to put it in their top 3 of the year. It'll probably dethrown PJ Harvey because the poor woman never stays at the top for long. I remember To Bring You My Love being the #5 ranked album of all the 90s and look where it is now. Lauryn Hill was in the top 10 and Liz Phair wasn't far behind in the top 15, I think Sinead 'O Connor was in the top 20 or 25 for best albums of the 90s and all have fallen significantly. Tori and Alanis have dropped. Elastica has taken a major blow as well. They ranked as high in the US as they did in the UK and their just scraping the top 200 (of the 90s). Hole ranked really high at one time too I remember. I remember Cocteau Twins and the Sundays high in the top 150 and yeah My Bloody Valentine ranks high but nobody recognizes Belinda Butcher as the driving force behind the band. It's always been about Kevin Shields. I feel if Cocteau Twins were renamed the Robyn Guthrie band they'd rank in the top 100 albums of the 90s because he would be seen as the big influence amongst all the dreampop bands out there but a woman being considered influencial on bands that don't have a women IN THE BAND I think is kind of looked down upon. Oh except Nirvana because Nirvana sounds just like the Pixies right? Are you forgetting about Kim Deal's vocal contributions to the band? When was the last time you heard Kurt Cobain harmonizing like Kim Deal? She made the band sweet and even twee at times. As influncial as Kim was she still gets overlooked. Last Splash created a big splash at one time and it's drifting away like most female artist on Acclaimed Music. MIA made one bad album and she's gotten tons of negative press ever since. Anyway JAMC, the Spacemen 3 and Galaxy 500 and MAINLY Kevin Sheilds are considered influencial in the dreampop genre despite the fact it's one of the rare genres (along with twee) that has an equal amount of female artists as male. Sorry for rambling but to sum it all up I'm positive PJ Harvey will not have her 1st #1 album of the year which I'm sorry to say. Maybe if she were in her 20s she'd have a shot of making the top 3. I am thankful that Beth Gibbons is so far proving me wrong so I hope I'm wrong again this year :-)

Polly Jean Harvey... breathtaking.

If you like this as much as i am right now, It's going to be a hell of a birthday gift to you Sean Park

Pretty good indeed. I'm liking "The Glorious Land" in particular.

Let England Shake is a hell of an album.

Tv On The Radio announces new album, set to be released in spring: Nine Types of Light.

And Let England Shake is so good, my favorite album of the year so far and "Last England Rose" is my favorite and her catchiest tune since the 12 tracks from Stories.

I'm listening to Let England Shake right now, and although I'm only just halfway through I can already say that I really like what I hear and that this'll probably be my favorite album of 2011 up until now.

Cut Copy is being poptastic! What an awesome electronica record!

Really looking forward to PJ Harvey's. Although it's funny. Everybody loved White Chalk and I thought it was only okay. Nobody paid attention to A Woman A Man Walked By, and I loved it.

Looks like we'll be getting a new Strokes album this year. The first song sounds like '01 all over again...

I still haven't heard anything from 2011!

I'm sure I'll pick up PJ Harvey, and I'll sample James Blake, Destroyer and Cut Copy to see if I want to buy them.

Looking forward to:

The Strokes
Björk

Battles is also returning this summer!

Might not matter to a lot of people but after the ongoing endless hype i had to check the new Lady Gaga track that is supposed to be the "anthem of our generation" of her upcoming "groundbreaking masterpiece". Born This Way debuted today and is a Cheap and Generic track with lyrics that bring to mind previous "i have a message" pop singles that weren't that good by themselves neither (Firework anyone?) and to complete the epic fail, it sounds like a straight rip-off of Madonna's Express Yourself and i saw that some people also noticed TLC's Waterfalls and Alani's You Oughtta Know in the middle of it. Claps, claps to the so-called most original pop artist of our days (Give Me Robyn and Annie anyday). It's all about her image and crazy outfits, but honestly: Bjork pulled them off before and with much better albums.

From what I'm hearing of Iron & Wine it is a decent album. Never been a huge fan of the guy, but he seems to have found his own sound.

I find the Decemberists ok but their music is deja-vu (somewhere btween REM, Springsteen and Jayhawks) without much personality

The first great record of 2011 has been made, and its maker is Josh T. Pearson. Incredibly stark and sad record with magnificent lyrics sung by Jeff Buckley reincarnated. Wow!

No more than Zach De La Rocha's. I mentioned my dispise for terrible voices in music. I can understand metal and punk bands not having great vocalist as they can belt out some fierce screaming or wailing or gruting but I just can't stand the guys screeching voice. Plus they take themselves and their politics way too seriously. They remind me of rebelious teenagers at best. I'll take Audioslave over Rage any time.

As someone who genuinely liked First Impressions of Earth and really liked Julian Casablancas's solo album, I had reasonably high expectations for Angles. But it's really, really weak. Machu Picchu is OK, and Two Kinds of Happiness is very good, but those are the only songs I'm keeping.

Kurt Vile isn't even top 3 right now on Pitchfork so I doubt it finishes the year in their top 3.

The two new TV on the Radio songs sound pretty good, but it makes me doubt the album will be as good as their last two. It will definitely be a worthwhile listen though, as basically all of their material is.

Also, anyone with Lasers thoughts? It seems very Recovery to me - a great pop-rap album, which means cracking my Top 200 is about a 50-50 proposition. I like all the songs, but I doubt many of them are still in my rotation a month from now.

Kurt Vile is only improving in my eyes.

So I finally checked out Cults.

You Know What I Mean - holy Jesus Christ. I'll be surprised if I'm calling something else Song of the Year in eight months.

My updated top list:

1. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
(Big gap)
2. The Rural Alberta Advantage - Departing
3. Nicolas Jaar - Space Is Only Noise
4. Radiohead - The King Of Limbs
5. Colin Stetson - New History Warfare Vol 2: Judges
6. The Joy Formidable - The Big Roar
(Big gap)
7. Gang Of Four - Content
8. Rumer - Seasons Of My Soul
9. James Blake - James Blake
10. Wire - Red Barked Tree

I don't bother listing anything below 7.5, so I've only got a top 5:

1. Josh T. Pearson - Last Of The Country Gentlemen
2. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
3. The Low Anthem - Smart Flesh
4. Destroyer - Kaputt
5. James Blake - James Blake

Still have to listen to Nicolas Jaar.

Coming out this month: The Kills, Panda Bear, Foo Fighters, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Tune-Yards, Vivian Girls, TV On The Radio, The Vaccines.

Leaked: Fleet Foxes {it's awesome on first listening}

Album of the Year: PJ Harvey's Let England Shake

I find it rather interesting how Harvey was the only artist to actually build something like a consensus as a top contender for album of the year, so far lock. All the other albums had at least one stinker review or very variated opinions. Hopefully others will help to turn the table for 2011, March has some pretty names coming out and there's Fleet Foxes in April and Cults is coming out soon.

Oh, and "Second Song" is awesome, and not just for the fact that they put a song called "Second Song" as the first song on the album. Early contender for song of the year.

Tune-Yards' W H O K I L L is sonically mindblowing. Indie music beautifully executed.

For folk fans there's the new Alela Diane out that i need to check out soon :D

Tune-Yards delivered the best album i've heard since Let England Shake hands down. This is something truly special. Pure pop bliss and reminded me of Kala in an awesome way.

Bill Callahan's New record is magnificent. Bill has threatening to make his masterpiece for some time, and with "Apocalypse" he now has his "After the Gold Rush, Blood On The Tracks, Blue, Song of love and hate". Sounds like it was recorded live, giving it a sense of pending doom. At times reminding me oddly of slow grinding Sonic Youth songs. This album will definitely go down as one of the years finest records.

My big hangup with Bill Callahan is his voice. Talk-singing only works for me in a few specific cases. In a lo-fi context I find it extremely offputting.

On first listen I found King Of Limbs boring but it grew on me fast.

Looking forward to listening to both Fleet Foxes and TV on the Radio, but I will prbably wait for their official releases.

I will also look out for Bill Callahan's Apocalypse after your comments.

Now listening to Bibio's Mind Bokeh. Seems a bit uneven until now.

I think Track 10 - The Shrine / An Argument. Is the best piece they've done. Im sure I wont be alone in saying this. I think you guys need to dig a little deeper on this one. For a site that favors crazy music like "Merriweather Post Pavilion, Kid A, The Age Of Adz" I find some of these comments lacking any real interest. Dont sprinkle - drop bombs.

Merriweather Post Pavilion, Age of Adz and Kid A are 'crazy'?

They're quirky, sure, but they're pretty accessible to anyone who's into indie.

I just think the only people who would call those albums 'Crazy' are people who only ever listen to one genre of music. I would rather reserve the term for the really weird stuff. Stuff like Animal Collective is mostly pop melodies with less polish and more distortion, and in some cases a liberal sprinkling of computer effects.

Panda Bear streaming now at NPR for those who are interested and curious about it.

Panda Bear and tUnE-yArDs both feel a bit uneven to me, but whereas Tomboy varies between 4/10 and 7/10 tUnE-yArDs varies between 6/10 and 10/10. I've gotten a little ahead of the Best Moderately Acclaimed album game, so I had some time to listen to new albums. Here's my top 10:

1. Josh T. Pearson - Last Of The Country Gentlemen
2. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
3. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
4. TV On The Radio - Nine Types Of Light
5. tUnE-yArDs - W H O K I L L
6. Bill Callahan - Apocalypse
7. Smith Westerns - Dye It Blonde
8. Timber Timbre - Creep On Creepin' On
9. James Blake - James Blake
10. Destroyer - Kaputt

A handful of the tracks on Tomboy are amazing. The rest I'm sure will sink in.

It's not a huge departure from Person Pitch, but it feels more dense, somehow aquatic and fills the room out. If PP was The Lion King, this is The Little Mermaid soundtrack.

Tomboy was really not the departure that i was expecting. All the "it's not the same sound of before" hype is wrong. It does look like a grower so i'll listen a few more times. The slower moments of W H O K I L L hold the album back in my opinion. So far. Hopefully they simply don't share the immediacy of others and will grow. Still not enough to overshadow the highs like My World, Gangsta, Powa, Killa and Bizzness. There's a lot to be enjoyed here and it's really the best pop album i've heard in a long time and a 2011 AM EOY top 20 top-contender. That's awesome to me. Fleet Foxes and TV On the Radio also growing with more listenings, especially the former.

Hopefully when these albums come out (yeah, they leaked or are being streamed) people will opine about them and post their lists, so far!

Albums I've heard so far-

1. James Blake- James Blake- 9.2
2. Let England Shake- PJ Harvey- 8.7
3. Tomboy- Panda Bear- 8.6
4. The King of Limbs- Radiohead- 8.3
5. Zonoscope- Cut Copy- 8.3
6. Angles- The Strokes- 7.8
7. Kaputt- Destroyer- 7.8

Albums I'm really looking forward to-

TV on the Radio
Fleet Foxes
Coldplay
Kanye West
Battles

I think Radiohead is better than TVOTR but I like TVOTR too much to take objection to any praise directed at them.

I'm getting into Bibio. I'm still trying to hear Josh T Pearson. Even though he's gotten physical release in the US his links aren't working on Rhapsody and he's only got two songs on Grooveshark.

Edit: You're right, Josh T Pearson is awesome.

I'm looking forward mostly to TVOTR and Fleet Foxes. I also have high hopes for Hercules and Love Affair.

That Tune-Yards album is killer! I don't want to turn it off!

New Panda Bear is terrific. One of the best releases in a long time. So mysterious. It'll take months for people to wrap there head around. Can't wait to hear it at the beach!

Heh, PF gave Josh T. Pearson a 4.0.

1. Panda Bear - Tomboy
2. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
3. Fleet Foxes - helplessness Blues
4. Colin Stetson - History of warfare Vol 2.
5. Radiohead - King Of Limbs
6. Julianna Barwick - The Magic Place
7. TV On The Radio - Nine Types Of Light
8. Bill Callahan - Apocalypse
9. OFF! - First 4 EP's
10. Gil Scott Herin/Jamie XX Remix - We're New Here

An Amazing year so far. So much great stuff too listen to.

Time for an updated top 10. "Two Dancers" was my second-favorite album of 2009, so I had high hopes for "Smother" and it certainly does not disappoint. I'm not sure which album is better, but it's damn close. And, to quote BBC: "Lion’s Share is gorgeous, no question about it.". "C'Mon" dropped out of the top 10 was thus slightly disappointing and "Ígéret" was interesting and worth a listen but not top 10 material for me. It does remind me that I have to check out "The Mantle" by Aggaloch though.

1. Josh T. Pearson - Last Of The Country Gentlemen
2. Wild Beasts - Smother
3. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
4. tUnE-yArDs - w h o k i l l
5. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
6. TV On The Radio - Nine Types Of Light
7. Lykke Li - Wounded Rhymes
8. Paul Simon - So Beautiful Or What
9. Bill Callahan - Apocalypse
10. Smith Westerns - Dye It Blonde

My top 5 since yesterday (we have a newcomer on #1):

1 Fleet Foxes
2 PJ Harvey
3 Lykke Li
4 Elbow
5 Radiohead

They've done it again, a new fantastic album, I just love it. With harmonious vocals (that Simon & Garfunkel could have never topped) they reinvent folk. More variety than debut album, although some stealing with integrity and pride from fellow musicians like e.g. Sufjan has happened.

Stephan, my top 3 is in your top 10, and have to confess that I haven't heard the other 7 yet. Work to be done. Also curious about new releases from Feelies and the Antlers.

Antlers. They've done it again. Perhaps less catchy than Hospice, but darker and more compelling. The atmosphere their sound generates (listen to the end of Parantheses, for example) is better than anyones.

Edit: I'm calling it. This is better than Hospice.

I completely agree that they've done it again, but I don't think it's darker or better than Hospice. "I Don't Want Love", "Putting The Dog To Sleep" and the three songs that form the centerpiece of this album: "No Widows" (my new favorite song of the year), "Rolled Together" and "Every Night My Teeth Are Falling Out" are of Hospice quality, but "Tiptoe", "Corsicana" and the fact that Hospice was so much more than the sum of its part means it's not quite as good.

That said, I am probably more likely to listen to this album at any given day, and I don't know how else they could have followed up Hospice. Strong contender for my album of the year. Wow.

New album of the year for me, surpassing PJH:

Gang Gang Dance - Eye Contact

I didn't think they could top Saint Dymphna, but they did. It's fantastic for those that like their grooves all experimenty.

EMA - California

Jesus. Song of the Year leader for me is either this or Cults - You Know What I Mean. Probably this.

The critics must be in heaven this week. It's reminds me of Decemeber when all the "FOR YOU CONSIDERATION" movies come out. Wonder why all the acclaimed indie bands decided to release material this week.

For some reason there always seem to be tons of big indie releases in May.

Last year, Archandroid, High Violet and This Is Happening all came out the same week.

Now, May again.

I picked up Gang Gang Dance, Okkervil River, and Wild Beasts all today. I've been falling behind on my listening just because of the deluge of albums I found from the RYM esoteric charts.

@Romain

Great rec on Cascadeur.

I gave all these records a spin last night so here's first impressions:

Africa Hitech - 93 Million Miles
Encompassing a wide range of electronic/bassy sounds, it sounds out quite weird and clubby and ends up hypnotic and groove-based. Got an 8.2 from P4k, worth checking out.

Austra - Feel It Break
Great synthpop record. Dark in the right places. Really enjoyed it.

Boxcutter - The Dissolve
Halfway between funk and the weirder fringes of UK electronic music, this was good too.

Bon Iver - Bon Iver
I've never been too into the man - enjoyed his stuff, but never really found myself listening to For Emma more than a handful of times - but this was really great. Not so sure on the late 70s pastiche of the closer but otherwise, lovely.

Got new F*cked Up, Junior Boys, Friendly Fires and Arctic Monkeys to listen to in the coming days. My top 15 (unordered) probably stands like this:

The Strokes
Jamie Woon
Battles
Big K.R.I.T.
Gang Gang Dance
Siriusmo
Wild Beasts
The Smith Westerns
PJ Harvey
Tyler, The Creator
Kurt Vile
The Joy Formidable
Panda Bear
Fleet Foxes
James Blake

Bon Iver, Bon Iver is growing on me. Even the last song sounds good now. Arctic Monkeys are balls. Shitballs. That is all.

How do albums leak so early especially albums that don't really receive that much airplay? Doesn't make sense to me. I don't have any beef with downloading but I hate when albums leak. Record releases used be such an exciting event, now most people already have heard the album weeks before it's out.

Mostly they're promos sent to critics for review; you'll notice that the Radiohead album didn't leak just because it was only released online initially. Whenever artists ship albums, be it promos or the actual album to the shop, there are a lot of people who handle that CD. It takes only one.

Like I said though, it's a shame for great albums like this to leak so early because it could cost a small artist like Bon Iver some considerable sales. A week seems like a normal thing nowadays, but a month is a really long time and could convince even someone intent on buying it to download it out of sheer curiosity.

Edit: This instance seems to be an iTunes mistake though, they intended to put it up for pre-order but put it up for download instead. Think Vernon has a case if he sues them?

Heard the new Lady Gaga leak yet? This is some mind-blowing stuff,the pop album of the century without doubt. She has taken the game to a new level.

The Fleet Foxes album is great at first listen, way above the rest

Bill Callahan is the next thing I'll listen too. I don't care much about TVOR

I take a week off to travel and suddenly there are thousands of leaked album to listen to

On first listen, Nine Types of Light was good but not great like their previous two. But TV on the Radio albums always take a few listens to sink in, so I'm sure it will grow on me. This one does seem more consistent but surprisingly lacks a standout track. "Second Song" is probably my favorite.

I like the new TV on the Radio as much as their other albums, which is to say some. "You" is my favorite - I've been walking around with that riff in my head for days.

In on the new Pains of Being Pure at Heart. Surprised it hasn't been brought up.

I still need to give a full listening to Crystal Stilts, Pains of Being Pure at Heart and Low! Hopefully they won't disappoint.

Albums That Matter:
1. Milkman - Algorithms
2. Kurt Vile - Smoke Ring for My Halo
3. Lupe Fiasco - Lasers (almost entirely on the strength of The Show Goes On and Beautiful Lasers (2 Ways))
4. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
5. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
6. Radiohead - The King of Limbs
7. The White Panda - Pandamonium
8. TV on the Radio - Nine Types of Light
9. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Belong
10. Cut Copy - Zonoscope

Top 10 at the moment:

01. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
02. Radiohead - The King of Limbs
03. TV on the Radio - Nine Types of Light
04. Nicolas Jaar - Space Is Only Noise
05. Iron & Wine - Kiss Each Other Clean
06. Raekwon - Shaolin vs. Wu-Tang
07. Josh T Pearson - The Last of the Country Gentlemen
08. Kurt Vile - Smoke Ring for My Halo
09. Toro y Moi - Underneath the Pine
10. Panda Bear - Tomboy

Haven't heard the new Fleet Foxes yet though.

I have not heard much albums yet but what I have heard from the UK and US have been quite disappointing, except for the Dodos (still way behind Visitor though) and Bill Callahan.

French music has been strangely exciting, the most acclaimed (it's sort of a bet given that French critics tend not to give grades) must be Cascadeur, and I have to say it is very good on the first times. I will see if it stands the test of time, given that some acclaimed it quite sounds like did not age well (Cocoon, Aaron...). Midlake appears in 2 songs and it has been compared with Erik Satie and Robert Wyatt.
Be warned, a friend of mine told me that the lyrics are lame enough to be annoying ; my english is not good enough to notice that for now, but yours might be.



Le Prince Miaou and Joseph d'Anvers have received lot of praise too, but the biggest buzz is directed toward La Femme, a band of teenage Parisians. Usually, that's almost an insult given the shitty rock scene (the Brats, Plasticine, Naast, BB Brunes...) which spread in the past years. But here they take their influence from bands like Taxi Girl, Joy Division or Stereolab. The female singer voice can be slightly annoying (like Yelle, who released a rather acclaimed album recently too, or Stereloab) but on this song, Telegraphe (from the name of a parisian subway station), they sound very promising.

Ok, Nine Types of Light has grown on me to the point where I'd consider it about even with Let England Shake for AOTY so far. The chorus of "Second Song" is just the bomb.

I do agree with reviewers that say TVotR decided to make a very good album instead of the great one they could have made, but even a decent effort for them blows away most other bands.

I can see myself listening to this album for a long time.

Yeah, like I mentioned before I also think Second Song is absolutely fantastic.

Gave the new Battles a spin, and it's a slight disappointment. Not bad, by any means, and I didn't expect them to get another song like "Atlas" but it's a bit too muddy compared to "Mirrored" which had a much clearer sound.

Has anyone heard Paul Simon's new album? It's getting excellent reviews.

I've heard it. It's really bland, very similar to Surprise. I love his voice though so I can listen to even the bland stuff, but I'm really surprised to see the good reviews because it's really not that good. There wasn't a song that hooked me but at the same time it's always nice to hear Paul Simon sing a few new songs. I doubt I'll listen to it again though.

Really? I think it's great, certainly the best thing he's done since 1990. I'm a pretty big fan, but I'm really enjoying this more than his last few albums. It's beautifully melancholy with some great lyrics. Dazzling Blue is gorgeous.

I like Simon's new album, especially the first couple of songs. But it's not up there with the best of the year so far, in my opinion.

Furthermore, I like Low's C'mon a lot. Reminds me to get into their back catalogue.

For the past few days I have been listening to the new Foo Fighters "Wasting Light" non-stop. This is a band that put out some good albums in the past, but nothing as dynamic and powerful as this album. I wouldn't be surprised if it ends up in alot of year end lists. I wanted to get some feedback from anyone else that's checked it out so far and see if I am over-hyping this album, or if it's the real deal...