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Strong Odors: Favorite Albums 2011

Rather than publishing my annual boring list of music that I like and think everyone else should (but probably doesn’t), this year I’ve just set up a Spotify playlist of my favorite albums from 2011. So you can just listen & decide for yourself.

A few times I’ve caught myself saying how 2010 was such a huge amazing year for new music and this year had a few gems, but nothing life-changing. (a justifiable statement considering 2010 provided classics from Sufjan, Arcade Fire and a Kanye West opus)

Maybe I was distracted by the fact that my by-far favorite album to listen to this year actually was released late December 2010.

But as I was throwing this playlist together I’m realizing I was wrong. (see list below for obvious reasons why)

In fact, even in the past couple weeks I’ve discovered new stuff that I didn’t even know existed that is totally making me double-take.

So spend your afternoon listening and let me know what you dig.

PLUS: There’s so much great stuff out there… check out other lists like IGIF and NPR

So listen along and enjoy some great tunes and let me know if you’ve been obsessed with that I missed! (i.e. The Antlers, Atlas Sound, Caveman, Wilco?) Read more

Cymbals Eat Guitars: Lenses Alien

Cymbals Eat Guitars - Lenses Alien

Both lyrically & sonically reminiscent of early Smashing Pumpkins (only without Billy Corgan’s voice) — Cymbals Eat Guitars manage to channel a number of different but familiar sounds while somehow maintaining their very own.

I love how they get creative with rhythms without falling into “experimental” category and have the guts to tread dangerously close to the “emo” cliff without falling into that dark, sad abyss.

Pretty much anything actually contemporary that sounds like 1991 I’m going to be freak out about.

I can totally see myself cranking this all day and then crashing on the couch for some Twin Peaks.

Oh wait. That’s what I’ve done every day this week…

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Four New Albums from Progressive Ladies

[NOTE: If you're on Spotify, listen along to these albums while you read. I put them in a handy playlist for you. You can also catch highlights from these artists & all the others featured here by subscribing to the Strong Odors playlist]

Right now, maybe more than any other time in my life, my regularly rotating playlist is filled with females.

With awesome releases from bands like Joy Formidable, Wye Oak, Wild Flag so far this year, I’ve rarely heard a hint of testosterone from my earbuds in the past 6 months (except for maybe Radiohead)

“Accessibility” is kind of a difficult trait to determine in a recording. It seems to be the factor by which most consider an album or song to be “good.” If it’s accessible, if it has a great beat and makes you want to dance or drink coffee or whatever—if it’s got a catchy hook that sticks in your head or helps you sell cars or kleenex or insurance.

But I like to be challenged a little. Sometimes when you find something less accessible, it just means it is (like all the most wonderful things in life) an acquired taste. Here are a few fantastic brand new releases in order of how accessible they may be.. so if you haven’t the stomach for tUnE-yArDs, you may have to stick to Feist… but it’ll be a delight either way. Read more

WILD FLAG: WILD FLAG

I’ve got a predilection for music recorded the old-fashioned way—live in the studio.

There’s some fugitive quality that comes along with recording a group of artists playing as a team that you just can’t capture mixing each individually recorded part on a computer or whatever.

And when it comes to punk rock, the thought of recording parts just smells funny—like when you see a basketball game scene on TV… no matter how accurate they make it it still feels wrong.

Punk should not be sterilized. It can’t be, really…

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The Joy Formidable: The Big Roar

I’ve been wanting to blog about this all year… but unfortunately (at least for you readers) I’ve been far to busy working on my art show and my new project—Maker’s Market—to have any time to devote to unleashing various odors upon thee.

However… I can’t put this off for any longer.

I’ve got a handful of new albums on rotation that have become my playlist for the summer (even though I’m way behind on writing about them), but this one by The Joy Formidable has firmly taken it’s place as my default go-to album whenever I’m scrolling up-and-down the list trying to make a listening decision.

The songs seem to be written from that rare but intensely kinetic place between heartache and resolution.

It is the moment when you realize you can’t continue living a zombie life.. crying yourself to sleep or avoiding human contact or binging on junk food… The moment you slap yourself across the face and stand up.

And the accompanying music to the tales somehow manages to harness the energy required to shake off the chains of loss and take your first step back into independence.

It’s been a long time since I’ve heard anything with the energy of The Big Roar.

Fleet Foxes: Helplessness Blues

Helplessness Blues

I’m going to do my best here not to insult this record with a lot of words.

It’s just good… great actually.

Not the kind of great where the first listen knocks your socks off, but rather the kind of great where you should consider getting this on vinyl because 100 years from now your grandchildren’s grandchildren are gonna dig it.

(and you know there won’t be digital music post apocalypse)

Simple and timeless..

Album art is by Seattle illustrator Toby Liebowitz. Check out a cool interview with her on Impose.

Raphael Saadiq: Stone Rollin

Even my most casual readers know that i’ve got indie-rock tendencies when it comes my musical orientation.

I’d say probably 50% of my collection is artists whose fractured subgenre falls into a sound that we’d more broadly consider “indie.”

Then I’ve got a chunk of my heart devoted to those who fall somewhat beyond the blurry edges of the indie genre… sometimes because they’ve “made it big” and other times just because their sound has.

Beside that there’s geek rock and classic folk rock, residual comfort food from high school and college, respectively.

None of this is surprising of course.

But what you may not know is that if you were to boil me down deep down inside the innermost recesses of my spirit the fragrance that would rise would absolutely smell like Motown.

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