PJ Harvey has contributed two new songs to an upcoming documentary about Irish film critic Mark Cousins. According to Harvey’s Facebook (via Exclaim), “Horse” and “Bobby Don’t Steal”, as well as the title track to her 1995 album Bring You My Love, will appear on the soundtrack to What Is This Film Called Love?.

An unfinished version of the film will be previewed at All Tomorrow’s Parties in London on May 27th. Additional info can be found on the film’s Facebook page.

I worship at the church of karaoke. The parishoners and I are there to confess and meditate, to feel welcomed by a community, to hear a good sermon or two, to perchance see someone speak in tongues and have the words of the Lord Bon Jovi be channeled through a mere mortal. And, of course, to have some drinks and venture to make complete fools out of ourselves.

Karaoke exists in a vacuum of taste, where anomalies and exceptions always seem to arise and mess with my preconceptions. Maybe, like me, this is the only time you can really tolerate a Billy Joel song. Maybe those two dudes doing Sum 41′s “Fat Lip” actually sound kinda good, or that girl who’s really giving it the old college try on “Since U Been Gone” elicits all this empathy, and dammit you can’t be mad because she’s having fun!

This list — boiled down, mind you, from literally hundreds of runner-ups — is an extension of that feeling that happens when you flip through the entire karaoke book and you don’t see one song you want to sing. After polling the staff and consulting some of my long-time karaoke buddies, these are the songs we all wish would be added to the karaoke canon that we personally have never seen before (we are excluding the deep cuts in Austin’s Karaoke Underground book).

And if it’s one thing most of these songs have in common, they’re totally depressing. Sorry. To make up for that, and in contrast to a lot of karaoke standards, a whole grip of these songs don’t require you to have a good voice. In fact, you could be totally tone-deaf and still do an absolutely kick-ass version of  The Fall’s “Totally Wired” because the song isn’t about impressing Cee-Lo and Adam Levine with pitch and tone, it’s about the performance. There’s plenty more like that on the list that I felt would always be fun — songs that don’t focus on notes as much as they do putting on a great show.

Don’t fret, choir nerds, it’s not all post-punk pogo-dance chant standards. There’s plenty of new vocal challenges all over the list, from tUnE-yArDs to Jeff Buckley to Dirty Projectors to Hasil Adkins. There’s a lot more. Who knows, there may even be another list further down the road. What songs would you like to sing at Karaoke that are never in the books? Let us know in the comments.

You can access the entire list on Spotify. Enjoy!

-Jeremy D. Larson
Managing Editor

Andrew Bird – “Fake Palindromes”

When to sing:  After a couple glasses of wine to keep the voice nice and velvety. It’s a short one.

Make sure to:  “Monsters?”

Animal Collective – “For Reverend Green”

When to sing: Get this out of the way early, but don’t lead with it. Avey Tare’s vocals on this are daunting, histrionic, and require full commitment or else you will be laughed off stage for singing Animal Collective at karaoke. No guarantees for that not happening anyway.

Make sure to: Differentiate between the two “Lucky child don’t know how lucky she is” parts.

Arcade Fire – “Keep The Car Running”

When to sing: Great lead-off song — not too difficult to sing, short and sweet, not too obscure, speaks for itself.

Make sure to: Totally go for it on the “Ohhhh ohhh” and punch the air on that final snare hit like a hero.

Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti – “Can’t Hear My Eyes”

When to sing: When you want to sing  “Brandi” by Looking Glass, but you can’t quite remember how the bridge goes, or even if there is a bridge to the song.

Make sure to: Not have a catastrophic meltdown, but you should really be laying down on the ground and arching your back over the monitors.

Azealia Banks – “212″

When to sing: After midnight, after your confidence level has peaked,  after you contemplate that Azealia Banks isn’t even old enough to do Karaoke and put this song out.

Make sure to: Have this shit well-rehearsed, because the cadence of “Bet you do like to slumber, don’t you?” is not going to come to you when you’re reading it off the teleprompter. Good luck deciding on whether or not to drop the C-bomb. That’s on you.

Beat Happening – “Cast A Shadow”

When to sing: When the eyelids are heavy, and the 500 yard stare can be trained on not just anyone, but definitely someone.

Make sure to: Study/mimic Ted Leo’s performance of it at Underground Karaoke at Matador 21.

Best Coast – “When I’m With You”

When to sing: Right after you get back inside from smoking a joint in the ally and you tell that cute guy that “this next song’s for you.”

Make sure to: Ask the DJ if he can turn up that reverb.

The Black Keys – “10 A.M. Automatic”

When to sing: When you can’t quite put into feelings that guy’s t-shirt with a bald eagle on it.

Make sure to:  Put a little extra spit on those vocals like they used to do.

Black Lips – “Bad Kids”

When to sing: After a round of Jager, or Car Bombs, or Liquid Cocaine, and after you tell them you’re absolutely not going to sing “Bohemian Rhapsody”.

Make sure to: Get, like, seven people on the stage.

Bon Iver – “Skinny Love”

When to sing: When you roll up to Karaoke solo, after several drinks isolated in a cold corner of the bar, and only when the weight of the world is on your heart.

Make sure to: Sulk back to your chair when it’s all over, back to your “cabin,” as it were.

The Breeders – “One Divine Hammer”

When to sing: Directly before or after someone sings Pixies – “Hey”.

Make sure to: Remember that this song is wicked filthy — direct eye contact with crowd is at your own risk. (Dudes, ask if they have the Clockcleaner version — it’s arguably better.)

Bright Eyes – “The Calendar Hung Itself”

When to sing: There’s no real bad time to sing this, the preeminent emo song of them all, but it’s more about when you have wherewithal to sing Oberst’s lyrics.

Make sure to: Render everyone so awestruck they all want to buy you a drink at the end of it — you’re clearly not in a good place right now.

Built To Spill – “Car”

When to sing: A great opener, before you’re even finished with your first drink.

Make sure to: Close your eyes by the third “I want to see, movies of my dreams,” or you’re not doing it right.

Cibo Matto – “Birthday Cake”

When to sing: In the environment where this song is an option, everyone’s going to be OK with it any time, but it’s definitely one of those songs to play if your equilibrium’s altered to the point where pitch is “optional”.

Make sure to: Get all of Miho Hatori’s eccentricities and dialect, especially the way she says “birthssday cake.”

CYHSY – “The Skin of my Yellow Country Teeth”

When to sing: When you are sure that this song will burrow into the soul of everyone watching – so, late in the night.

Make sure to: Slur each and every word, purposefully or not.

College & Electric Youth – “A Real Hero”

When to sing: After (or during) a big knife fight in the back of a bar. I don’t know if this song will ever escape its role as the soundtrack to Ryan Gosling driving off into the sunset.

Make sure to: Channel Bill Murray singing “More Than This” and you’ll be on the right track.

Das Racist – “Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell”

When to sing: When you want to comment on consumptive corporate consumerism to a bar full of drunk people.

Make sure to: Replace “Jamaica Ave.” with a local thoroughfare in your city to try to get the message to resonate with your audience.

The Decemberists – “Don’t Carry It All”

When to sing: When you don’t want to sing “You Don’t Know How It Feels”, but you actually kinda do. Here’s something that sounds almost exactly the same.

Make sure to: Partake in the same kind of theatrics that The Decemberists do on stage and pretend that you’re a whale and try to eat the audience. This will go over well.

Dent May – “Eastover Wives”

When to sing: When you want to sing “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling” but you’re never sure which of the 12 versions they’ll put on.

Make sure to:  Dance your white ass off while you’re up there.

Destroyer – “Your Blues”

When to sing: When the idea of singing another Bob Dylan song seems completely “repulsive,” but you’re still not of the inclination to “sing exact notes.”

Make sure to: BYO condenser mic and hold it delicately between your thumb and index finger.

Dirty Projectors – “Stillness Is The Move”

When to sing:  Get this one done early in your set – that little run up to that really high note in the pre-chorus can’t be easy after 3+ drinks. Nailing this song will win the affections of the boy in the Owen Pallett tee.

Make sure to: Remember those quiet riffs Angel Deradoorian does at the end. If you bring those out, Owen Pallett guy will definitely buy you another glass of merlot.

Dismemberment Plan – “You Are Invited”

When to sing: When you feel the tenor of the evening has taken a turn for the worse and want to relay a message of acceptance, positivity, and sing one of the greatest damn songs ever.

Make sure to: Work the crowd and tell the story – be the light at the end of all of these barfly’s nights, especially the guy who just sang “Hurt” seemingly without irony.

Elliott Smith – “Waltz #2 (XO)”

When to sing: It’s not as huge of a bummer as, say, “Needle in the Hay” or “Twilight”, but for those who like bumming people out at karaoke, this should be your go-to bummer jam. Bonus points if you bring your mother along.

Make sure to: Nail the “and on and on and on” perfectly or Howard Sims will be there with his shepherd’s crook so fast.

The Fall – “Totally Wired”

When to sing: The obvious time is after you just did some coke in the bathroom but feel free to make it a joke song — change lyric to “tired”!

Make sure to:  Respect Mark E. Smith and add a supurflous “uh” after every phrase (“I’m totally weird-uh, to be wired-uh”).

The Flaming Lips – “Do You Realize??”

When to sing: Late enough and drunk enough so that you consider Wayne Coyne’s questions about universe. The precise moment this can happen varies greatly from person to person.

Make sure to: Really ask the question, every time. It’s not a rhetorical question, it’s incredulous! Grapple with reality up there.

Free Energy – “Dream City”

When to sing: When you want to sing “The Boys Are Back In Town” but the last time you did you got kicked off stage for trying to sing all three lines of the guitar solo by yourself.

Make sure to: Wear a leather jacket.

Frightened Rabbit – “The Modern Leper”

When to sing: After an unstable amount of whiskey, and after you overheard someone talk about Mumford.

Make sure to: Think about the Scottish accent, but man, don’t go all Groundskeeper Willie on it. Let it alone if you have doubts.

Fugazi – “Waiting Room”

When to sing: When you have two people who can do both Guy Piccatio’s and Ian McKay’s parts. Then, and only then, should you do “Waiting Room”.

Make sure to: Sing when you feel like the fever of the room is about at this level.

Girls – “Lust for Life”

When to sing: It’s such a short song (only a minute and 30 seconds of singing) that it needs to be early on when people might still be paying a bit of attention. No flare, just a great song.

Make sure to: Figure out how Christopher Owens does the half pouty/half whiney thing before you step up.

Gogol Bordello – “Start Wearing Purple”

When to sing: After your fifth shot of Stolichnaya, and only if you’re wearing suspenders.

Make sure to: Take off your shirt but keep your suspenders on. Also buy a round of vodka for everyone pre-song and toast the audience during the high note and you will be crowned King Gypsy-Punk for the rest of the night.

Grinderman – “No Pussy Blues”

When to sing:  When you’ve squeezed the last ounce of pathos out of  ”Just a Gigolo”, and you’ve just gotta lay down some real talk with the bar.

Make sure to: Never unclench your teeth throughout the whole song — that’s part one of the Nick Cave impression. This is part two.

Guided By Voices – “Tractor Rape Chain”

When to sing: When you think you’re as drunk as Robert Pollard would be.

Make sure to: Elucidate to the DJ (and audience) that the word in questions is (probably) referring to parallel lines made by a tractor in a rapeseed field. Or not — your call.

Hasil Adkins – “She Said”

When to sing: After some rye whiskey, moonshine, or corn liquor.

Make sure to: Not memorize the lyrics, but memorize how Adkins says the words, which will be no where near how they are supposed to sound. The whole thing will work better if you pronounce “head” like “hayee.”

Hunx and His Punx – “U Don’t Like Rock N Roll”

When to sing: Immediately after some group of moms sings “I Love Rock  Roll”. That would be great.

Make sure to:  Wear a bedazzled leather jacket. Pants optional.

Interpol – “Obstacle #1″

When to sing: When you’re wearing black suit, shirt and tie, and you’re totally ready to make the same note that spans over 50% of the song interesting.

Make sure to: Import Carlos D’s New York Doesn’t Really Care swagger.

Islands – “Rough Gem”

When to sing: After someone sings Whitesnake or Dokken or Aerosmith — when things are decidedly un-twee.

Make sure to: Play air piano on those three timeless piano plunks on the chorus.

Jamie Lidell – “Multiply”

When to sing: When you want to sing  Jamiroquai’s “Canned Heat” but don’t want to hear anyone say “Why didn’t you do the Napolean Dynamite dance?”

Make sure to: Right after you fling your leopard-print suit-jacket on and take one last sip of your dirty martini. Study up on Lidell’s dance moves.

Janelle Monáe feat. Big Boi – “Tightrope”

When to sing: Two or three times a night is totally acceptable.

Make sure to:  Put in the version with the rap in it. I’m sure they have it, but you don’t want to get all “Waterfalls (No Rap)” on the mic. Also, put some voodoo on it, yeah?

Jay Reatard  - “It Ain’t Gonna Save Me”

When to sing: If you’re feeling like Jay, or if you’re feeling like a tribute to Jay.

Make sure to: Have a lot of fun singing a really, really dismal, depressing song.

Jeff Buckley – “Grace”

When to sing: On a night where you truly think that you can sing this. Which means you’re a ringer and you don’t really belong at the karaoke joint, or your liquid courage has overcome your actual talent. Also acceptable: on a $50 dare.

Make sure to: If nothing else, if you punt the riffing or that high G and make Buckley roll over in his grave, just make sure you hit the last little vocal riff — it’s just too perfect.

Jens Lekman – “The Opposite of Hallelujah”

When to sing: After a glass of champagne or two, when those bubbles start to go to your head and put a spring in your step. You’ll need it for those tambourines and handclaps.

Make sure to: Mime picking up a seashell to illustrate your homelessness. You can be the crab, too, if you feel so inclined.

The Jesus Lizard – “Seasick”

When to sing: Preferably after someone sings “Piano Man”, or something really just bad. Show them what bad really means.

Make sure to: Bow/curtsey gracefully when you’re done. Expect it to go something like this. If it’s not going like that, you’re doing it wrong.

Joanna Newsom – “Inflammatory Writ”

When to sing: When you’re wearing a flowery dress and want to be the first person to sing the words “poetaster” and “ululate” in a bar.

Make sure to: It’s got the swagger of a great drinking song, so hoist your stein and rock to and fro, and sing heartily about mollusks’ weddings and writers’ block.

Joy Division – “Transmission”

When to sing:  Because it’s not really a participation song and, depending on where you take it, more of a performance, doing this early in the night is advisable, odd as it may seem.

Make sure to: Not mimic Ian Curtis’ dance moves. You can’t do them, and may god help you if you get laughs. Totally cool to be inspired by Curtis, though.

The Knife – “Heartbeats”

When to sing: After everyone’s had enough clear, expensive drinks to get down to this sultry slow burner.

Make sure to: Not pick the Jose Gonzalez version and get all “Blower’s Daughter” on everyone.

Kurt Vile – “Freak Train”

When to sing: When you want to transfer your drunken ramblings from the bar to the mic. In fact, you could have never heard this song and as long as you’re all-in on the lyrics, it will be fantastic.

Make sure to:  Just walk right into a cab when you’re done singing because you shouldn’t be fit to drink anymore.

Lana Del Ray – “Video Games”

When to sing: It’s you, it’s you, it’s all for you.

Make sure to: Everything you do, you tell me all the time.

LCD Soundsystem – “Drunk Girls”

When to sing: When you hear someone of any sex go, “Oh my god where did Chrissy even go?” and when you got a posse behind you to to shout “drunk girls” and “drunk boys.”

Make sure to: BYO Sennheiser 509.

Lush – “Ciao! (feat. Jarvis Cocker)”

When to sing:  When you’re sick of duets that only serve to profess two people’s Endless Love for one another and you want one that’s just full of bile and vitriol.

Make sure to: If you want, play the opposite emotion, like the audition scene from Mulholland Dr!

M.O.P. – “Ante Up”

When to sing: When the “Scenario” call-and-response just doesn’t seem hard enough.

Make sure to: Go so hard. If you’re not aggro-rapping like Billy Danze and Lil’ Fame, you will fall into another terrible hip-hop karaoke performance so ante up.

Mclusky – “Lightsabre Cocksucking Blues”

When to sing:  When no one can see, or hear, and it’s the end of the world and you’re ushering everyone to their graves with the karaoke version of “Nearer My God To Thee”.

Make sure to:  Intone “sell me to wonderluuust” like Andy Falkous does.

Misfits – “Where Eagles Dare”

When to sing: After doing a “waterfall” with your group because you signed them up for this and they’re all going to…

Make sure to:  Huddle around the mic, arms around each other, and show everyone what a drunken group shout song really sounds like.

Mission of Burma – “That’s When I Reached For My Revolver”

When to sing:  Since it doesn’t have the bite that some of these other post-punk numbers do, you can sing it early and embrace that final chorus in arena-karaoke fashion.

Make sure to:  Not pick the Moby version. Ahh, that’s not a half-bad version.

The Mountain Goats – “This Year”

When to sing: When the taste of scotch is rich on your tongue, naturally.

Make sure to:  To do that little “ahha” thing before “listen to the engine whine.” And, make it through this night, if it kills you.

My Morning Jacket – “Gideon”

When to sing: Probably one of the hardest songs on this list, so you could really bring the place down if you’re aligned for it. If you got that high note, go for it anytime, and show that dude who just did “With Or Without You” what the deal is.

Make sure to:  Remember that you can hit the super high note like Jim James does live  – just scream that sawngun out.

The National – “Mr. November”

When to sing: This fall seems to be another perfect time, no?

Make sure to: Amble through the crowd really slowly, steadily stepping on tables and chairs, and if you run into a tiny girl in the bar, do this.

Neutral Milk Hotel – “Song Against Sex”

When to sing: When you want to sing “Too Drunk To Fuck” but you don’t have the drugs to take to soothe  your mind — you’re always sober.

Make sure to: To preface your performance by alerting the audience that there will be strictly be no video recording or photography of any kind. In fact, you should probably be doing that before every song anyway.

The New Pornographers – “Bleeding Heart Show”

When to sing: When you have a cast of at least A.C. Newman, Neko Case, Kathryn Calder, and Dan Bejar to join up for the “Hey la’s”, a crucial moment that cannot be left to the karaoke track.

Make sure to: Just give the guy who’s playing Dan Bejar a tambourine and a drink. He doesn’t need to be on stage the whole time.

Nick Lowe – “I Love The Sound Of Breaking Glass”

When to sing: Such a great lead-off song, or you could win the night if you can get the DJ to give you a fast pass to the mic right after someone breaks a pint glass.

Make sure to: Bring your drink up there and then either pretend to drop it and laugh it off and wink, or throw it to the ground and stare directly at the audience and stand perfectly still until you are escorted from the stage.

Of Montreal – “Gronlandic Edit”

When to sing: To make an entrance upon arriving at the bar, as the beat is conducive to Night at the Roxbury-style head-bobbing and/or your own personalized moonwalk. With moves like those, you’ll get mic priority in no time.

Make sure to: Bring some friends in a boys’ choir to sing the high falsetto.

Okkervil River – “Lost Coastlines”

When to sing:  At the peak of the night — only because I think this is one of the better karaoke songs. It’s got the makings of one of those “gather ’round, we’re doing ‘Lost Coastlines’” vibes.

Make sure to: Use the little instrumental break that everyone in the bar has to sing the “La, la, la la la la,” part that’s coming up. It’s such a perfect place to explain it.

Patti Smith – “Free Money”

When to sing: Be true to Patti and do it sober!

Make sure to: Not go all Natalie Merchant/10,000 Maniacs on this one — your melody rides the feeling.

Pavement – “Unfair”

When to sing: When you’re at a place on the Sunset Strip and you don’t want to sing “AEnima” again because no one really got it the first time.

Make sure to: Bring out those Malkmus histrionics and also let the DJ know that there really should be like every Pavement song in this book.

Peaches – “Fuck the Pain Away”

When to sing:  When the idea of singing “Closer” seems too dominant and chauvinistic, and you want something a little more coquettish and submissive, yet just as fucking graphic.

Make sure to: Go in knowing that you’re about to say “Fuck the Pain Away” 24 times, and pray for semantic satiation.

The Pharcyde – “Oh Shit”

When to sing: When you want to sing “Things That Make You Go Hmmmm” but you’ve got a team of tenors with you.

Make sure to: Just get a lady to sing Slimkid3′s verse because come on.

Pixies – “Hey”

When to sing: Directly before or after someone sings The Breeders – ”One Divine Hammer”.

Make Sure To: Interact with the singer of “One Divine Hammer”. This is your future wife, or at the very least you should start a band together.

PJ Harvey – “Words that Maketh Murder”

When to sing: When you’re pretty sure everyone’s either ready to go get eggs at the local diner, or you’re desperately seeking the attention of the guy or girl wearing brown and black in the corner next to The Addams Family pinball game.

Make sure to: Start loud, get soft, and then just sort of decide whether you want to finish loud or just repeat the harmonies or pass out.

Portishead – “All Mine”

When to sing: It’s such a James Bond-y torch song – the one that can bring you glory and fame – depending on your skill set.  After midnight, to be sure, and after you’ve told seven different men your seven different names.

Make sure to:  Ask if, just this once, you can smoke in here.

R. Kelly – “Trapped In The Closet”

When to sing: This for the KJ. If you’re ever a KJ, what you do is you learn the first 10 or so parts to this magnum opus and interpolate them throughout the night. This really is the best thing a KJ could do.

Make sure to: Pull out your beretta when things get heated.

The Rapture – “Out Of The Races And Onto The Tracks”

When to sing: After the idea of impressing people with your voice has long since faded, and you believe you can entertain the masses by doing one simple thing:

Make sure to: Shake shake shake shake shake shake shake shake shake shake.

Regina Spektor – “Your Honor”

When to sing: Trying to explain to the bouncer that your belligerently drunk friend is just “fighting for your honor” and/or distract the bouncer by creating the first Regina Spektor-inspired mosh pit ever.

Make sure to: Grab an unsuspecting audience member to forcefully air-kiss.

The Replacements – “Bastards of Young”

When to sing: Right after a heated argument about what you’re doing with your life, or HBO’s Girls. The kind of performance you give will hang on how drunk you are — but that’s kind of the point with The Mats.

Make sure to: Tell the DJ that he should have literally every Replacements song in the book.

Rilo Kiley – “Silver Lining”

When to sing: You’ve been politely shot down by the fourth cute guy you’ve approached at the bar- is it your fault they’re all “seeing someone”?- and you want to show all those guys what they’re missing.

Make sure to: Not confuse it with “Dreams”. Trust me, those chord changes really sound the same, especially after one drink too many.

Rufus Wainwright — “14th Street”

When to sing: After a bottle of wine, and when you’re in any city with a gridded downtown, doesn’t matter how big.

Make sure to: Play up Wainwright’s slur if you have to and find that perfect three-glasses-of-wine legato.

Ryan Adams – “Halloweenhead”

When to sing: It doesn’t have to be October to chant this one across the bar. Be ironic, or find your inner Jack Skellington, and belt this out at Christmas shindigs everywhere.

Make sure to: ”Guitar solo!”

Scott Walker – “Jackie”

When to sing: When you can see the bottom of your first elderflower cocktail, and after you place a mint leaf behind your ear.

Make sure to: Indicate just as much, if not more, than Walker does in the above video. “My beard so very long and flowing” being one example of a shining moment for pantomime.

The Shins – “Gone For Good”

When to sing: A perfect song for an afternoon karaoke session, or one of your first songs.

Make sure to: Bring a friend who can do those harmonies cause they’re so breezy.

Silver Jews – “Punks In The Beerlight”

When to sing: Right before you propose to your burnout girlfriend.

Make sure to: Bring your punk up there with you.

Sleater-Kinney – “Dig Me Out”

When to sing: After you’ve grown tired of the same polite rebuffs you’ve been giving all night and want to transform your face into a giant “back the hell up off” sign.

Make sure to:  Furrow the brow, clench the mic, and curtsy at the end.

Sleigh Bells – “Rill Rill”

When to sing: When you want everyone to get up and sway together without singing “Time of Your Life”. Once that Funkadelic sample kicks in, it’s only natural.

Make sure to: Wear just one fingerless glove and a string of bullets, if you’ve got ‘em.

Spoon – “The Underdog”

When to sing: You’re sloppy, stained with kisses, and your high school girlfriend you haven’t spoken to in over a decade has just walked through the door.

Make sure to: Take a page or two from Tom Jones – dance, dance, dance with the horns!

The Strokes – “15 Minutes”

When to sing: That one night you decide to be bold and wear the leather jacket, despite the fact that your friends all joke around and call you “The Fonz.”

Make sure to: Stay focused, despite that dreamy guitar solo, watch for the changes, and try to keep up at the end.

Sufjan Stevens – “John Wayne Gacy, Jr.”

When to sing:  When you’re sure that you can come back from it. This is for advanced artists only.

Make sure to:  …I don’t even know. I just kind of want to hear someone sing it and just live in whatever weird moment that it manifests forever.

Supergrass – “Alright”

When to sing: Someone’s brought up at least one reference to Alicia Silverstone, Brittany Murphy, Jeremy Sisto, or anything having to do with 1995′s Clueless.

Make sure to: Really belt out “But we are young!”, especially if it’s your 30th birthday.

Tapes ‘n’ Tapes – “Insistor”

When to sing:  When you want to sing Violent Femmes, but you’d rather sing a song about being a badger. The song has a great arc to it, so it should take care of itself.

Make sure to: Add that big scream in the final chorus.

Television – “See No Evil”

When to sing:  Right after the girl who sang Patti Smith asked you, “So, what are you singing?”

Make sure to:  Turn in your best Tom Verlaine impression (sing everything just a little behind the beat), and bring a beer to drink during that killer guitar solo.

The-Dream – “Yamaha”

When to sing:  When you want to branch out from your Prince standards, and “Darling Nikki”.

Make sure to:  Wear your motorcycle jacket, and take some names, lil’ mama.

The Thermals – “Here’s Your Future”

When to sing: On the eve of any Catholic-related holiday.

Make sure to: Keep the nasal passages clear; otherwise, you’ll have everyone asking what Springsteen song this is.

Titus Andronicus – “No Future Part Three: Escape From No Future”

When to sing:  After a three-Jameson rocks, and you get the idea that the only way anyone will like you tonight is if you bring everyone down to your level.

Make sure to:  Plant some ringers in the audience for the “You will always be a loser” part, and if you get everyone singing at the end you’ll be a karaoke loser forever.

Tom Waits – “I Hope That I Don’t Fall In Love With You”

When to sing: When the night is squinting back at you, and there’s only about five people in the bar, and the bartender is wiping down the bar half-interested in what you’re doing.

Make sure to:  At the end, tell everyone to tip their bartenders.

tUnE-yArDs – “Bizness”

When to sing: Like “Tightrope”, as often as possible.  

Make sure to: BYO face paint, and see if you can find a way to do that vibrato thing Merril does at the start of the second verse.

TV On The Radio – “Wolf Like Me”

When to sing: After a spirited conversation about what, ultimately, is the best TV On The Radio song.

Make sure to: Put in a good argument for “Wolf Like Me”.

The Velvet Underground – “Beginning To See The Light”

When to sing: When your night is striking a nice balance somewhere between Loaded and White Light/White Heat.

Make sure to: Just make up whatever melody/words you want during the verse.

The Weeknd – “Wicked Games”

When to sing: When you want to bring the sexual tension from “girl look at that cute guy” to “this is unbearable and I have to leave.”

Make sure to:  Not even attempt this if you can’t hit those high notes. Consult friends before singing and listen to them if they laugh at you.

Whiskeytown – “Excuse Me While I Break My Own Heart Tonight”

When to sing: When you’re drunk enough that your country roots start to show, but are still aware that you’re singing Ryan Adams.

Make sure to: Add that twang that Ryan Adams used to do.

Why? – “The Hallows”

When to sing: When you want to get back to the proto-hipster, and drop some fantastic white-boy rhymes on the mic.

Make sure to: Preface this song by “You’ve probably never heard of these guys” just for old-time’s sake.

Wilco – “Monday”

When to sing: After a couple of PBRs and after someone asks you if you know any country songs other than that Ryan Adams guy.

Make sure to: Infer that you do know more country songs, but few are as great as “Monday”.

Wild Flag – “Romance”

When to sing: I know it’s a new song in the canon, but really, when is there not a good time to sing this song?

Make sure to: Air-guitar throughout and slyly note to passersby that you saw Sleater-Kinney live before they split. Like, during the song.

Wire – “Ex Lion Tamer”

When to sing:  After you get done complaining about HBO’s Girls for the last hour and just want to grab everyone by the collars, and scream some metaphors in their faces. This is not an uncommon emotion.

Make sure to: Bring up a hype-man for the extra punch off from the mic when you sing the echo lines in the verse.

Wolf Parade – “This Heart’s On Fire”

When to sing: After about a pack of cigarettes into the night.

Make sure to: Leave absolutely all of it on stage.

At this year’s Record Store Day – the April one, not the November shindig – I felt something that hadn’t occurred to me in probably 10 years. I felt excited to hold a record. Standing in line, clutching the inside of my far-too-thin hoodie (thanks, Chicago wind), I paced back and forth in my mind, thinking, God, I hope I get this album. The item in question? Big Star’s unreleased Third.

Of course, I didn’t get it. Nobody did. The store didn’t even receive a copy. So, instead, I spent a couple bucks on some singles, bit my lip, and went home somewhat satiated. But, for the 45 minutes prior to that moment, it was something slightly alien, but moreover familiar. There used to be a time when you couldn’t get an album.

Not everyone can remember that feeling, but they should. Prior to the digital revolution, music was somewhat of a privilege. As a child, you might spend weeks saving up money for something that takes less than two clicks to grab now. Don’t get me wrong — it’s liberating. But value gets partly tossed aside now. It really shouldn’t.

The album is by far the most integral facet of the music industry. People throw out EPs, toss in singles, but albums really mean something. If it’s even halfway decent, it’s essentially then a collection of perfected thoughts, emotions, and creations that are meant to be consumed, examined, and experienced. This year, we had far too many experiences – seemingly overloaded by an open-door policy of music thanks to Spotify.

That didn’t stop us, however, from finding 50 albums we thoroughly enjoyed.

-Michael Roffman
President/Editor-in-Chief

50. Ryan Adams – Ashes & Fire

In 2011, a record like this with precise craft, honest and bare songwriting, and gorgeous, subtle polish seldom gets made. Ashes & Fire is a mainstay because of its demeanor: authentic, exposed, and sublime. It’s a departure from the soaring years with the Cardinals and the rowdy solo work of yesteryear. Instead, Ryan Adams is mellow and content; his voice gleams from artfully sparse production (see: “Dirty Rain”). A tightly focused survey of the remaining ashes of his past, the album subtly questions what to do with all that history in light of a different self and becomes a modern classic in the process. -Liz Lane

49. The Joy Formidable – The Big Roar

The Joy Formidable may very well be the most appropriately named band to make their full-length debut this year. On The Big Roar, the Welsh trio’s brand of hook-laden guitar pop is a delight to behold as Ritzy Bryan’s urgent delivery transforms song after song into something anthemic. Their swirling layers of guitars and rapid-fire percussion pack enough of a forceful punch to live up to the other half of the band’s name. Full of catchy choruses and relentlessly energetic guitar crunches, The Big Roar is a stadium-sized album amidst a sea of clubs. -Frank Mojica

48. Astronautalis – This Is Our Science

On This Is Our Science, Astronautalis, aka Charles Andrew Bothwell, sounds as convincing singing about a turbulent relationship on “Secrets on Our Lips” as he does spitting verses on cryogenic experimenter Robert Nelson on “Midday Moon”. But it’s not just for intellectuals: Bothwell duets with Tegan Quinn on “Contrails” and features rapper P.O.S. on the album’s title track, gaining both indie and hip-hop street cred. This diversity catapulted Astronautalis’ fourth album into the iTunes top 10 downloads when it was released. In addition, producer John Congleton’s signature desperate, moody arrangements add emotional depth to This Is Our Science’s largely intellectual material. -Harley Brown

47. Ty Segall – Goodbye Bread

At just 24 years old, Goodbye Bread is Ty Segall’s fifth full-length, and again he plays every instrument. The stats are impressive, but this spotless collection of West coast garage tunes handily earns this spot. Less howl-y and punky than previous releases, Segall varies his influences from John Lennon (“I Can’t Feel It”) to smokey blues rock (“The Floor”), all loaded with warm, fuzzy reverb. Songs like “Comfortable Home (A True Story)” show the young artist’s growth into a more personal songwriter, his half-languid falsetto more revealing than ever. It’s mellower, sure, but it’s also some of his most carefully considered output yet, leading to some of his best. And there’s still plenty of stomp and roll. -Benjamin Kaye

46. Summer Camp – Welcome to Condale

The cover of Summer Camp’s Welcome to Condale features a woman in a bathing suit doing a keg stand. So appropriate for an album that tempts the imagination, concocting this place called “Condale” where the kids are hot, the music spacey and romantic. The album is jaded Americana (even though the band is from England), conjuring images of the boardwalk, $2 beer specials, and sand in your hair. Their foreign nature only makes their fascination with American culture that much more apparent. This is an album for losing your virginity in the backseat (“Last American Virgin”), getting sunburned by the lake (“Summer Camp”), and smoking your first joint (“I Want You”). It doesn’t attempt to hide the fact that it relishes in the cliché while embracing a nostalgic beauty that makes the frivolity of youth so universal. -Summer Dunsmore

45. Jay-Z & Kanye West – Watch the Throne

Watch the Throne, likely the most widely anticipated album of the current decade thus far, sounds exactly like what it is: Two of hip-hop’s most powerful overlords reveling in knowing that they’re just that. In barely 45 minutes, Yeezy and Hov plow through the likes of bionic pop-rap (“Lift Off“), borderline-dubstep (“Who Gon‘ Stop Me“), exotic grandeur (“Murder to Excellence“), and bare-bones soul (“Otis”), all of which is – this cannot be overstated – immaculately produced. Plus, with these two guys constantly playing verbal ping-pong, the whole album is indubitably and nearly incessantly fun. And that’s really all it ever needed to be. -Mike Madden

44. Yuck – Yuck

Admittedly, every sound on Yuck’s self-titled debut is one we’ve all heard before. Rather than embracing one particular influence, Yuck seamlessly pays tribute to nearly all of indie rock’s greatest legends from song to song (e.g. Pavement, My Bloody Valentine, and Dinosaur Jr.). Sure, there is a revitalization of the fuzzed-out sounds of the late 80’s and 90’s here, but Yuck also taps into the spirit and emotional highs and lows that made those bands so intriguing in the first place. Sometimes, it’s not what you do but how you do it that matters. -Frank Mojica

43. Mikal Cronin – Mikal Cronin

A few months back, our own Jeremy D. Larson wrote that the tone of Mikal Cronin’s self-titled debut falls “somewhere between Velvet Underground’s Loaded and The White Stripes’ White Blood Cells.” For one, he’s right. Yet moreover, the album exudes this sentimental presence that recalls ’60s mainstays like The Byrds or Jefferson Airplane. It’s a hazy experience that’s quite addicting, like a 151-glazed night in your college heartbreaker’s dorm room. (What? Stay with me, folks.) Check into Cronin’s living room stunner “Hold On Me”, a track that frolics with mousy percussion and cyclical acoustics. It’s a moody think piece. Not moody in the sense that you’re out to scratch the world’s eyes out, but sort of like that welcoming isolation you pine for from time to time. Fact: Sometimes being alone feels better. With a voice and ear like Cronin’s, it’ll always sound better. -Michael Roffman

42. Kendrick Lamar – Section .80

Twenty-four-year-old rapper Kendrick Lamar is a native of Compton, CA, but you’re not likely to figure that out while listening to Section.80. Its beats bear almost nil resemblance to the storied G-funk of the city’s past. Rather, the album is built around electro-tinged, blurry near-boom-bap that gives Lamar more than enough room to do whatever he chooses on the mic, something he takes full advantage of. Plus, his finest verses (found on “A.D.H.D.” and “Fuck Your Ethnicity”) occasionally evoke 2Pac at his least thuggish. No small feat there. -Mike Madden

41. Washed Out – Within & Without

Two years ago, Ernest Greene was just beginning to take Washed Out beyond a childhood bedroom side project. After a year of Sub Pop signage and this full-length debut, Within and Without, Greene is headed beyond being another chillwave act with synths. This album is devastatingly gorgeous, submerging listeners in Washed Out’s world of dense, warm vocals (“Eyes Be Closed”),  gloomy love songs with strings (“Far Away”), and jaunty pop  (“Before”). Within and Without is a kaleidoscope of discovery, uncovering directions Greene’s counterparts have yet to explore. -Lauren Rearick

40. The Mountain Goats – All Eternals Deck

All Eternals Deck is a marvel, overflowing by turns with apathy, cheerful quirk, barely contained rage, and quiet wistfulness. And that’s just the first four tracks. John Darnielle’s vocal range is on full display here, laid over desperately driving guitars on 13 tracks as varied as they are meaningful. There are so many juicy pockets of lyrical cleverness here (see: “Estate Sale Sign”, “Prowl Great Cain”, and “For Charles Bronson”) that the album requires repeat listens to soak them all in. Fortunately, we’ve had most of 2011 to do just that. -Megan Ritt

39. Danny Brown – XXX

The greatest treasure of Detroit rapper Danny Brown’s breakthrough mixtape, XXX (an acronym that alludes to sex, drugs, and Brown’s age), is that it delivers as many ridiculous and hilariously clever lines as any other release this year. A brief sampling: “Sorta like Squidward and his clarinet/I’m in ya bitch mouth,” “You softer than Flanders’ son/Don’t make me put hands on son,“ “I‘m higher than Swizz Beatz’s hairline.” Oh, and the oft-dissonant, largely trimmed-down production has its moments, too (“Blunt After Blunt”, “EWNESW”, “DNA”). -Mike Madden

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38. Oneohtrix Point Never – Replica

Daniel Lopatin has been making progressively bigger waves with each release since 2008’s Russian Minds, but Replica is easily his best, most accessible full-length to date. Rather than the swirling analog haze that colored his previous work, the album sees Lopatin mine the discarded junk culture of yesteryear for a singular, strangely dystopian vision of the future more akin to that of a science fiction author than a musician. From the piano-laden “Power of Persuasion” to the meditative ambiance of “Submersible”, Replica is remarkable music unlike anything else on Earth, or anywhere else for that matter. -Möhammad Choudhery

37. Real Estate – Days

Ben Folds chronicled the suburbs with white boy angst. Arcade Fire did it with melancholia. Real Estate takes a more laid-back approach, shrouding their simple, yet relatable, lyrics about suburban New Jersey (the songs have straightforward titles like “It’s Real” and “Wonder Years”) in a fog of hazy guitar solos and precise rhythm that could take place anywhere in the nation, as long as it’s not a city. Like a high school summer, it feels relaxed and alluringly repetitious. And isn’t that the point? -Dan Caffrey

36. Bill Callahan – Apocalypse

For anyone who thought Bon Iver was the definitive impressionistic album of the year, Bill Callahan’s latest proves to be its strictly Americana counterpart. Hell, just look at the cover art. With Apocalypse, Callahan turns the Americana landscape into an ocean of sounds. Over a fiddle, an organ, a pedal steel, and reverb swells, Callahan becomes America’s most forward thinking country/folk singer still making music rooted in those old-time standards. “DC-4-5-0,” Callahan laments in the last moments of Apocalypse.  It’s an interesting sentiment, a powerful statement made without any real words. It’s the record’s Drag City serial number. As Callahan closes the door on yet another chapter in his demented world of horses, gunslingers, and cattle prodding, he is well aware that he’s doing so. It’s the question of where he’ll head next that makes the current state of his affairs all the more fascinating. In the meantime, we’re glad he’s leaving off here. -Drew Litowitz

35. Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Unknown Mortal Orchestra

Anonymity and avoiding press in the hyper-mediated blogosphere turns out to be a pretty effective tactic for getting some attention – especially for Unknown Mortal Orchestra, whose music turned out to be as difficult to place on the genre spectrum as it is to put a face on their online presence. With the release of their self-titled debut, the heavy hooks of Bandcamp viral “Ffunny Ffriends” find a home in a tightly performed but cheaply produced space odyssey – an intricate mix of psychedelics, speedy guitar riffs, and otherworldly vocals. Frontman Ruban Nielson’s knack for melody (who can resist “How Can U Luv Me?”) and treating the voice as an instrument proves to be the icing on the cake, validating the weird internet hype and translating the buzz into legitimacy. -Caitlin Meyer

34. Adele – 21

A lot of people may roll their eyes at the inclusion of Adele’s 21 to year-end lists, but you can’t deny the staying power and grip the album has had on popular music. Love her or hate her, you couldn’t walk past a stereo or TV that wasn’t playing Adele this year. Being a pop music juggernaut doesn’t mean the album shouldn’t be respected, however. From the infectious “Rolling in the Deep” to the heart-wrenching “Someone Like You” to the vengeful “Set Fire to the Rain”, the album is solid front-to-back. Adele’s voice is a one-of-a-kind, jazzy, smoky, emotional powerhouse, and the fact that she is still topping charts months after the album was released shows she has a complete right to be on everyone’s year-end list. -Nick Freed

33. Cut Copy – Zonoscope

Leaner, meaner, and with more percussion. That’s the gist of Cut Copy’s excellent (and Grammy-nominated) follow-up to In Ghost Colours. Zonoscope sprawls into epic, tribal sounds and Beach Boys vocal harmonies, retaining its New Order moodiness and evoking sounds of native Australian ’80s new wave. If you went to a festival this summer, chances are you heard one of these hip-shaking beats wafting across a simmering summer vista. Do yourself a favor and listen to them again. Re-live your summer. -Paul de Revere

32. Gotye – Making Mirrors

One-by-one the countries of the world are falling in love with Gotye. The Austrailian multi-instrumentalist’s third album, Making Mirrors, has found its way into U.S. playlists in the wake of his video for “Somebody that I Used to Know” featuring Kimba. In it we see Gotye, with the charming anarchistic boyishness of Sting, singing with the heartrending honesty of Phil Collins. Ultimately it’s Collins’ bandmate Peter Gabriel that Gotye gets compared to the most, and for an obvious reason – the album is a musical wonderland of deeply layered and sophisticated pop sounds the likes of which we haven’t heard since So. From the Miracle Mile-like nuclear romance of “Eyes Wide Open”, to the lavish electro-reggae of “State of the Art”, Making Mirrors is sonically diverse, and with Gotye’s disarmingly genuine lyrics, it pulls madly at our heartstrings. -Cap Blackard

31. Kate Bush – 50 Words for Snow

The most precious thing Kate Bush possesses is a rather magical way of thinking, and her latest record reflects this through utilizing an array of idiosyncratic collaborators (Elton John, Stephen Fry, her son Albert “Bertie” McIntosh) and characters ranging from a romantic snowman to a Yeti. Snow is a perfect inspirational touchstone for Bush, because when it falls, it makes everything seem more clear and yet retains a dreamlike quality. 50 Words for Snow is the musical equivalent of a long, yearning sigh, with songs like “Wild Man” and (almost 14-minute-long) “Misty” inhabiting a half-lit world that at different turns takes in driving beats, haunting piano, and spoken word to create the kind of unusual, inventive, and expansive sound Bush has become synonymous with, and she remains a sensual metronome of sorts (especially her voice, so unwavering and true) -  comforting and necessary in this increasingly confusing world. -Siobhán Kane

30. The War on Drugs – Slave Ambient

Despite the subtraction of Kurt Vile, The War on Drugs keep chugging along with their latest effort. Slave Ambient is a 12-track wallop filled with Dylan-esque vocals, instrumentals, and, yes, ambience. Singer/guitarist Adam Granduciel takes us through the rough-and-tumble landscape where we find the catchy, constant stream of “Best Night”, the steady thumping of “Your Love Is Calling My Name”, and the acoustic-driven coda of the elegiac “Black Water Falls”. The guitar play between Granduciel and Dave Hartley is second to no one this year. -Justin Gerber

29. The Men – Leave Home

The Men nailed their demands to the door of the Church of Punk/Hardcore and peaced-out for greener pastures. The melting pot that resulted on Leave Home is an alarm call for purists and tourists alike. It plays like a record-collector’s wet dream with obvious hat-tips to Spaceman 3, Joy Division, The Wipers, and whatever else is in The Men’s milk crates. But there’s no prerequisite to feel the primal churning squalor of  ”L.A.D.O.C.H.”, a song specializing in blunt trauma force to the guts-bag. The cocaine-surf instrumentals, relentless noise punk, and post-punk kraut-rock tunes that quake with the words, “Can you push them away?” over and over are all hurled into a storm of angular guitars, walls of drums, knives, fists, and sweat that doesn’t ever let up. This album’s so far from pure that if you snorted it you’d land straight in the ER. Man, that’s what’s so great about it, though. -Jeremy D. Larson

28. Kurt Vile – Smoke Ring for My Halo

Smoke Ring for My Halo is probably the easiest album to digest in 2011. That is, if you enjoy a good daydream. With his spidery guitar scales, sunset-staring vocals, and uber-melancholic lyrics, Kurt Vile sucks you in. It’s so easy to get lost here. Right off the bat, “Baby’s Arms” acts as a wormhole, to which you’re sliding into repetition and soul-seeking rhythms. From there it’s pure moonshine. Down quick, hard-hitting. Producer John Agnello keeps things at home, as well, which is where Vile belongs. We like our singer-songwriters close to us, and it doesn’t get any more intimate than this. Looking for a friend? Consider this album your new roommate. Just don’t expect him to do the dishes. Though, he’ll certainly keep you company. Always. -Michael Roffman

27. Childish Gambino – Camp

If Drake is the MC who made it cool to rap and emote, then Childish Gambino (aka actor/comedian Donald Glover) helped evolve the style into something far more nuanced and outlandish. Thanks to his comedic background, Gambino peppers his tracks with catchy rhymes and clever quips galore (like the line from “Sunrise”: “I’ve seen it all, like I’m John Mayer’s penis hole”). He’s an MC who understands the power of beats and an appealing production style, which he demonstrates on cuts like the menacing “Bonfire” and the electro-heavy “Heartbeat”. But it’s his wide-open emotional sentiments that make the LP shine outside the confines of its genre. Whether he’s confessing his detachment from the black community in “Backpackers” or sharing the pain of his childhood heartache with “That Power”, Gambino wears his heart on his pink polo shirt, readily rubbing into listeners’ faces at any given moment. Looks like the joke’s on us after all. -Chris Coplan

26. Wild Flag – Wild Flag

Wild Flag aren’t Sleater-Kinney 2.0, and that wound up being a good thing. The highly anticipated debut from the Sleater/Helium/Minders supergroup is a new beast entirely, harder rocking than anything they’ve done before. While Carrie Brownstein and Mary Timony’s voices will stir up a few warm, familiar memories, the overdriven guitars and psychedelic keyboard breakdowns make an outstanding case towards a new era for these musicians. Wild Flag stands as an impressive debut, with or without the band members’ all-star pedigrees. -Austin Trunick

25. Panda Bear – Tomboy

The journey of Panda Bear’s latest LP, Tomboy, was more akin to that of a hip-hop album than an indie solo record. After the first single dropped in the summer of 2010, Panda Bear announced a late fourth quarter release for his follow-up to the critically acclaimed, Person Pitch. Like countless rappers before him, Noah Lennox delayed his album again and again, finally releasing it on April 12th. The album is sonically smaller than Person Pitch but not any less ambitious. While wholly longer than its predecessor, the individual songs are short and to the point, resulting in fantastic, succinct blasts of space-age pop like “Last Night at the Jetty” and “Surfer’s Hymn”. -Carson O’Shoney

24. SBTRKT – SBTRKT

London artist SBTRKT has swept the world this year with his self-titled debut LP, rocking festivals and small venues alike. A leading proponent of post-dubstep sprinkled with a tad of R & B soul, his sound provides something astoundingly unique for the music scene: pure, unbridled novelty. “Wildfire” is the album’s standout track, its main synth bass line too infectious to ignore on the dance floor. “Living Like I Do” is stylistically different, evidencing more trance-like influences, and it shows the diversity of the album. Singing about love and heartbreak, with beats sometimes dizzying, sometimes morose, the album is an emotional exposition of SBTRKT’s affinity for the music medium. -Summer Dunsmore

23. The Weeknd – House of Balloons

The Weeknd really took this year by storm, in case you hadn’t been paying attention. It’s been a hurricane of success – the 21-year-old Toronto native is seemingly unstoppable. But it all started with the twisted allure of House of Balloons. From heavy hitting single fodder like “Wicked Games” and “High For This” to unsung heroes like the mellow “Coming Down”, or the Beach House-sampling “The Party & The After Party”, The Weeknd created a cohesive album equal parts grime and glamor. Multiply some of the tightest production this year by Abel’s pure upper register and you’ve got a winner. Now multiply that sum by uber-enticing lyrics of grotesquely beautiful over-indulgence, and what’s the outcome? An album that goes down smooth, but also leaves your esophagus battered, bleeding, and hurting oh so good. -Winston Robbins

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22. Thundercat – The Golden Age of Apocalypse

Super-bassist Stephen Bruner, aka Thundercat, is only 27, but he already has the sort of resume most only dream of, logging performance credits with everyone from Snoop Dogg to Erykah Badu, along with a full-time gig as bassist for thrash-fusion legends Suicidal Tendencies. Someone this good could only play sideman for so long, though. After lending his virtuosic talents last year to Flying Lotus’ magnificent beat odyssey Cosmogramma, Lotus returned the favor by producing Bruner’s stellar debut, The Golden Age of Apocalypse. But make no mistake. This is Thundercat’s Golden Age, his smooth bass runs and smoother falsetto starring throughout. The beat-heavy “Daylight” and dreamy rework of George Duke’s “For Love I Come” are obvious highlights, though Thundercat’s distinctly cosmic presence and unparalleled skill make for essential listening from start to finish. -Möhammad Choudhery

21. Girls – Father, Son, Holy Ghost

Christopher Owens’ sweet, puppy dog eyes timbre convinces just about anyone that despite substance problems, scars of a former religious cult, heartache, and anxiety, everything is just alright in the present. Father, Son, Holy Ghost harnesses music’s spiritual characteristics in a conspicuous manor, as Owens and his band mates cleverly balance yearning gospel pangs with snotty, west coast retro rock. There’s paranoia (“Die”), choir loft church organ soul (“Vomit”, “My Ma”, and “Love Like a River”), and an overall smart execution of style no matter what Girls’ carefree fuck-it-all style says (see: “Just a Song”). Their sophomore album shows that Girls have honed in on a truly distinct sound that pulls from past influences, but manages to sound wholly original and really, really good. From poppy, riff-heavy opener “Honey Bunny” to the emotional apexes of the final three tracks, Father, Son, Holy Ghost plays as a complete and fantastic album. -Liz Lane

20. Tom Waits – Bad As Me

How fitting that in the same year as his Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, Tom Waits released an album that reminds us precisely why we love and still need the old rain dog. In crisp, vibrant bursts, Bad As Me revisits and revitalizes numerous styles and sounds from across Waits’ nearly 40-year career. But this record is much more than an old beatboxing junkman’s recycling project. Whether it be the tender frankness of lover’s plea “Back in the Crowd”, the cool chill of life’s autumn felt on “Last Leaf”, or the jarring nightmare of wartime romp “Hell Broke Luce”, Waits’ finest songs still shine a brief light upon those who often go unseen and unheard, which is precisely why we need him. Yes, we like to “stomp, whistle, and scream” and “dance with a soldier’s glee” (whatever that entails exactly), but Waits also knows that we need to cry in our beer, howl at the moon, and occasionally have our lives dignified by a stranger sparing a moment to listen to our sad stories. The fact that Bad As Me somehow manages to make it all so goddamn fun is what makes him Tom Waits. -Matt Melis 

19. Fucked Up – David Comes to Life

From a deceptively quiet beginning roars Fucked Up’s epic punk opera, David Comes to Life. Composed of 18 tracks that form four acts, the eponymous David rises and falls through love, loss, and ultimate redemption, which might not be as notable a project if the entire thing wasn’t screamed into your headphones by Fucked Up’s own Damian Abraham. Fortunately, Abraham and his backing guitars manage to ratchet out many levels of emotion amidst the chaos (and if that’s not the sound of heartbreak, then nothing is), turning David into not just another noisy punk album but a meaningful, moving journey through that most universal of emotions – love. -Megan Ritt

18. Atlas Sound – Parallax

Bradford Cox has never been one for compromises, in performance or on record. Every single release under the Atlas Sound moniker or in collaboration with his fellow Deerhunter bandmates has been a thorough representation of his tenacious artistic vision at the current time. Parallax, though in part an homage to the Neil Young and Patti Smith singer-songwriters of yore, is no exception to this trend, replete with Cox’s trademark creative guitar inventions, alien soundscapes, and queer punk attitude. Dealing with neglect, personal perception, and, yes, romance, the album shelters some of the catchiest (“Mona Lisa”), starkest (“Flagstaff”), and most intricate (“Amplifiers”) songs in Cox’s body of work thus far. It is this exact contrast of the candidly sweet with the unabashedly weird and unexpected – the acoustic noise with the controlled studio work – that makes Parallax and Cox’s music in total the unique gift to modern music that it is. -David DiLillo

17. The Horrors – Skying

Skying is a paragon of how to face the pressures of matching initial critical success with a follow-up: Nut up, evolve, and do something people might not expect. The Horrors lock their goth-outlined, post-punk gaze down on their pop-laced shoes and dive into ’80s influences to put together an album encapsulating their progression as a band. Faris Badwan’s vocals have been raised and fleshed out; everything is subtler, tighter, and more atmospheric than 09’s Primary Colours, all of which works to this album’s favor. From the insanely absorbing rumblings and synths of “Changing the Rain” to the spellbinding repetitions of “Moving Further Away”, each track could soundtrack a John Hughes film as easily as a hazy dance scene. By being brave enough to vary their sound, The Horrors are proving to be a band capable of understanding and managing growth – something not every act can accomplish. -Benjamin Kaye

16. EMA – Past Life Martyred Saints

The songs feel more captured than recorded, like the studio just happened to be in the right place at the right time to catch the drones, the noise, the insipidness, and the catharsis. The connection between each of the nine tracks is loose; some howl with feedback and noise, while others play at a grunge revival, and then there’s the cantillation of “California”, a homily so raw it has the congregation squirming in the pews. But the wide palate of Erika M. Anderson is the prize of the record. Her knife is sharp and knows who to cut and where and how and can do it in a hundred different ways to leave someone just as marked as she is. Couple that with the cool breeze of a west coast girl who knows how to write a catchy melody, and the masochism of Past Life Martyred Saints really becomes something very real and addictive. -Jeremy D. Larson

15. Radiohead – The King of Limbs

Radiohead has attained a status such that every album it releases is expected to reach groundbreaking heights, introducing the world to some new luminous idea that will set the bar for all pop and rock music yet to come. It’s understandable, because Radiohead has done that a couple of times. But while The King of Limbs doesn’t do that, it does nothing to earn unwarranted hostility either. There are several gems that have etched a permanent place in Radiohead’s oeuvre, including the invigorating “Bloom”, the wordless wonder “Feral”, and, of course, “Lotus Flower”. If Radiohead is finished making instant classics, it will be no tragedy if The King of Limbs is a sign of things to come. -J. Harry Painter

14. Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues

Over 12 spiritually emotional tracks, Robin Pecknold marries his flawless vocals to harmonies and expertly woven instrumentals, all in a rich and satisfying circle. The songs are charged with memorable, soaring melodies, and Pecknold’s observational, first-person lyrics are teasingly profound. On the title track, Pecknold sings, “If I know only one thing, it’s that everything I see/of the world outside is so inconceivable/that often, I barely can speak.” Fortunately, he still does. A hallmark is usually pretty small to the naked eye. When this record is dusted off in 30 or 40 years, you will surely find the word classic etched somewhere discreet. -Tony Hardy

13. Beyoncé – 4

Born from bits and pieces of Fela Kuti, Broadway musicals, and Lionel Richie, 4 is simultaneously one of Beyoncé’s most musically diverse and personal records. It’s a master class, of sorts, of pop music over the last 40 years. From the mega-sized R&B/show tune/love anthem of “Countdown” to the old-school swag of “Party” featuring André 3000, 4 is a hit factory extravaganza – only with more substance. It’s incredibly personal; far deeper than anything else in her otherwise emotionally available career. Yet it’s also quite compact, doing away with some fluff and filler that plagued her past LPs. Already, we’re bubbling over with joyous anticipation for what 5 has to offer. -Chris Coplan

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

This year, bass saxophonist Colin Stetson went from little-known indie symphony stalwart (having backed everyone from LCD Soundsystem to Tom Waits) to a solo force in his own right. Nothing could encapsulate his stratospheric shot to prominence better than his second long-player, a formative mesh of free jazz, thrumming drone, and beautifully structured songwriting. Even more impressive is that the disc is composed solely of single takes without any overdubbing or looping. That’s right. Other than vocal contributions from Laurie Anderson and My Brightest Diamond’s Shara Worden, the alternately cacophonic and startling, beautiful noises are coming straight from Stetson’s sax, proving his instrumental mastery and writing genius. -Adam Kivel

11. The Antlers – Burst Apart

Burst Apart couldn’t have been more appropriately titled, as it signifies the complete departure from the moving darkness of Hospice, the adherence to genre norms, and, most importantly for the band, The Antlers’ status as a one-man show. The creative talents of Peter Silberman, Darby Cicci, and Michael Lerner seamlessly fuse together throughout Burst Apart‘s 10 tracks to create everything experienced in their live show and, more markedly, a mesmerizing collaborative vision. Dynamism becomes the key word as the record progresses. The shifts from “Rolled Together”‘s hypnotic groove to straightforward rocker “Every Night My Teeth Are Falling Out” are executed without pause, without the emotive lyrics suffering in the least – proving anew that maybe, as long as you’re The Antlers, you really can have it all. -Caitlin Meyer

10. Drake – Take Care

Hip-hop’s a jungle full of bloodthirsty lions decked out in diamonds and looking for their next target. But suddenly a young lion emerges into a clearing: Drake. While his counterparts are all about pure thuggery and bragging ad infinitum, Drake’s sophomore LP changes the landscape with heartfelt, emotional confessions of lost love and personal inadequacies.

From the baller anthem of “Headlines” to the drunken loneliness and outbursts in “Marvin’s Room”, Take Care is Drizzy’s declaration of his own shortcomings in the middle of a white-hot ride up the charts, a spellbinding narrative if there ever was one. Drake has taken the work of his first, slightly disappointing record and shown himself to now fully understand the delicate balancing act he must endeavor. In essence, Drake has rewritten the rules of the rap game, adding much-needed depth to the swagger contest of modern verse slangin’. All hail the new king of the jungle. -Chris Coplan

9. Destroyer – Kaputt

According to Destroyer frontman Dan Bejar, Kaputt‘s coke rock aesthetic was never intentional. There was no irony, no hidden homage to Roxy Music and latter-day Steely Dan as many music fans and critics thought. It was just how he heard the songs. Whether you believe that insistence or not, the album’s enchanting mood and charismatic weirdness are undeniable. Bejar’s time-traveling tales of cryptic romance and doomed nightlife are laced with electronic drums, smooth jazz flute, and dreamy saxophone, the sonic equivalent to a Thomas Pynchon novel viewed through the glitzy fracture of a disco ball.

Opener “Chinatown” wraps the listener in the record’s world of slowly dying neon, the title track flits back and forth between what’s more appealing, cocaine or women (the band never bothers to decide), and album centerpiece “Suicide Demo for Kara Walker” escorts us through 400 years of the American party scene by way of a brown paper bag. The lyrics are impenetrable, and none of it probably ever happened, but that doesn’t keep us from feeling like we were there. -Dan Caffrey

8. tUnE-yArDs – w h o k i l l

It’s rare to make music that people have never heard before; but on w h o k i l l, tUnE-yArDs have done just that, combining ancient African musical traditions like polyrhythms with looping and other modern technologies. More importantly, with songs like the irresistibly anthemic “Bizness”, Merrill Garbus has expanded from a blog-cherished eccentricity to a universal must-see. Her arrangement of two saxophonists, a bassist, and her own vocal and percussive instrumentation has rarely, if ever, been seen in music history. Not only that, her husky, yet lilting, squawk—which veers from eerie on “Wooly Wolly Gong” to famously siren-imitating on “Gangsta”—demonstrates noteworthy versatility.

With w h o k i l l, Garbus has ascended to the ranks of groundbreaking female artists like Lauryn Hill and MC Lyte, whom she emulates on “Doorstep” and “Killa”, respectively. Like other female artistic idol Bjork, she uses her voice nontraditionally, at times to convey a political message (i.e. call-and-response loops that sound like monkeys, singing the lyrics to “America”, on “My Country). Despite all this ground she’s covered, Garbus continues to challenge herself like on “You Yes You”, when she asks, “What’s that about?” when she starts to sing about personal satisfaction and, thus, perhaps complacency. Songs like the atonal, stop-and-start “Es-so” exemplify w h o k i l l’s aural challenge because it sounds more pleasing with each listen, challenging the listener to meet Garbus on her level instead of vice versa. And, ultimately, the effort is worth it. -Harley Brown

7. M83 – Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming

With Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming, M83 set out to capture the stuff that dreams are made of – and succeed. This is nothing new in the world of dream pop and electronica, but M83′s ability to distil childhood longing and teenage nostalgia into spirit lifting, anthemic, synth opuses is second to none. He captures it. If you were a dreamy kid, adventuring at night, and trying to live out your dreams in the day – these songs crystallize that special feeling, that certain time, that tragic, beautiful, ever-fleeing youth. It’s an incredible thing to put on some headphones, curl up in bed, and go back.

Picking up where Saturdays = Youth left off, Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming‘s sound matures while its subject matter remains in the same vein. That said, this is not a repeat performance. Anchored by far more analog instruments, and a thematic concept that spans two discs, M83 uses the space he’s created to its fullest with both gripping singles like “Midnight City” and affecting, transcendental instrumentals and interludes. “Claudia Lewis” recaptures the lavish art pop production of the ’80s and lovingly reinstates it as the ideal sound for rooftop dancefloors. “New Map” couples epic modern synth tracks with a smooth 70′s flute and sax arrangement for an exciting new sonic experience. With Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming, M83 has proven himself as the most exciting electropop act of the current age – a musical mind inevitably looking back, but always pushing forward. -Cap Blackard

6. James Blake – James Blake

It’s almost hard to remember the pre-Bon Iver owl hoot collaboration days of James Blake, but believe it or not the debut album that took the blogwaves by storm is less than a year old. James Blake is the London post-dubstep singer-songwriter at his most consistent and most focused, with not a misstep to be found through 11 tracks. It’s easy to write Blake off as a one-trick pony if one merely samples a song or two, but this album is so far above that that the criticism is criminally uncalled for.

James Blake isn’t a conceptual journey, but, sonically, each track offers something not heard in the track preceding it. Whether it’s full-on dubstep throbbing as on “I Never Learnt to Share”, straightforward, soulful piano balladry as on “Give Me My Month”, or vocal manipulation and sampling as on “To Care (Like You)”, Blake’s first and so far only full-length album holds the listener’s attention despite being chock-full of unabashed minimalism. It’s not just an extended experiment in fun new sounds, however. There are sing-along moments aplenty, from the Feist cover “Limit to Your Love” to the hook-heavy “The Wilhelm Scream” and sentimental album closer “Measurements”. If Blake has set the bar so high here that he never matches it, that’s one thing, but it cannot be justly denied that the bar is nonetheless high and worthy of all the shameless imitation it will inspire. -J. Harry Painter

5. Foo Fighters – Wasting Light

Badass pop-rock is back, and Dave Grohl is driving the truck. Two things (other than being led by a Nirvana alum) have made Foo Fighters wildly successful for almost 20 years: an acute pop sensibility and a goofy sense of humor. They’re both present on Wasting Light, but there’s something even more important: a thrashing, hard rock attitude and sound that kicks you in the face and makes you want more. Part of this is due to the much lauded return to analog recording on this album, and the garage band sound is quite literal, since it was recorded in Grohl’s garage-cum-studio.

Grohl’s expertly crafted melodies are much more lyrical than a typical hard rock song, but from the opening dissonant strumming of “Bridge Burning”, it’s clear that the Foo Fighters are returning to some of the grungy-ness of that early ’90s alternative sound. Amidst the tight vocal harmonies of “Dear Rosemary” or the power ballad “I Should Have Known” or the über-poppy “Arlandria”, Foo Fighters deliver a bona fide metal track in “White Limo”, with Grohl’s screaming vocals and a heavy chromatic guitar riff. No wonder they put Lemmy in the video. When Grohl said, “never lose faith in real rock and roll music” at this year’s VMAs, this was the sound he meant. -Jake Cohen

4. PJ Harvey – Let England Shake

On her ambitious eighth album, PJ Harvey crafts a lush ode to her homeland that is brutal and uplifting, admonitory and exalting. Through evocations of The Great War (WWI) and other conflicts, Let England Shake paints an achingly beautiful picture of a country built on the lives of young soldiers and broken promises, simultaneously praising its glory while lamenting its modern stagnation and bloody history. A polarity of sentiment, grandiose without the pretense, explores the conflict of patriotic love (“The Last Living Rose”) with sociopolitical dissatisfaction (“England”).

The poetic resonance is breathtaking, and Harvey makes you feel it. Her voice, flooded with emotion, soars and swirls amidst autoharps and horns, creating a sonic landscape unlike anything she’s done before. It’s strikingly passionate, with a hauntingly marching momentum that pulls you in to her tales of war and hope. The sound is bolstered by recording in a repurposed church, adding a hallowed echo perfectly suited to the subject. Its success is immutable; the album nabbed this year’s Mercury Prize, making PJ Harvey the first artist ever to receive the distinction twice. Though the music and lyrics give strong grounds to call this album an all-time great, the honors bestowed on it cement its place in the annals of musical, nay, artistic masterpieces. -Benjamin Kaye

3. Shabazz Palaces – Black Up

2. Bon Iver – Bon Iver

Justin Vernon is out of the cabin. With Bon Iver he begins his return to civilization, now accompanied by throngs of sensitive fans and new street-cred courtesy of Kanye West. On this journey, Vernon could have followed the blueprint of For Emma, Forever Ago: churn out new songs dominated by an acoustic guitar and stripped-down production. However, he opted to go in a new direction with a fleshed-out, proper band and Bruce Hornsby as a muse.

Bon Iver needs to be heard in order from beginning to end, as most great albums do. The deceiving hush in the opening moments of “Perth” begins the journey to “Beth/Rest”, a synth-driven, kitchen-sink track with a guitar solo straight out of A Momentary Lapse of Reason that still polarizes fans months after its release. But that’s the beauty of Vernon’s risk-taking throughout the album. He didn’t rest on his laurels and create For Emma: Vol. 2. If anything, he created Bon Iver Mach 2, now with saxophones. The inclusion of the best song of the year, the gorgeous acceptance found within “Holocene”, didn’t hurt the album’s placing as our second-favorite album of the year, either. -Justin Gerber

1. St. Vincent – Strange Mercy

“He thought there was going to be so much—more than he had ever dreamed possible… instead there was absolutely nothing.” It’s a line that sounds stripped from the best of Annie Clark’s songs; except that it isn’t. It belongs to Marilyn Monroe, in one of her diaries that dates back to April 1955. But how tragic, and how intimate, is that? Here’s Monroe, one of the most widely sought after figures in the history of pop culture, digressing on the fear of disappointment, especially to a loved one. It’s a recurring element in much of her personal writings. It’s also one of the driving motivations for Clark’s best work to date, Strange Mercy.

“Oh America, can I owe you one,” Clark laments by album’s end on “Year of the Tiger”. It’s one of the most poignant and culturally relevant tracks of the year–a bombastic herald to the States’ end times, when capitalistic whores die at the hands of coffee makers. What bitter, insightful precision. Look to your town squares, your universities, your banks, and your financial districts. It’s a mercurial year for Americans. The track’s sort of wavy, lazy distortion exemplifies that. We’re wary of the errors, we’re indignant of our culture, and we’re starting to wake up.

But there’s a deeper sense of self-awareness that Clark exhibits here. It goes back to Monroe. She hints that, despite the culture’s pre-conceived notion that all is equal, it’s anything but that. People scoff at the misogynistic, heavily racial days of Mad Men every Sunday (y’know, when it returns), but it’s not too far off today. It’s still, in many ways, a man’s world, and Clark underscores this error. On “Surgeon”, she cries out how she “spent another summer on [her] back” and of things that let her “get along, get along,” and later on the title track, she insists she’ll remain by her “lost boys.” This idea couldn’t be any more boldly stated than on “Cheerleader”, where she calls members in her family “honest thieves,” chalking it up to an America “with no clothes on.” So, why stay? As she suggests later into the album on “Champagne Year”, “it’s not the perfect plan, but it’s the one we got.”

It’s dense, morose stuff, though you wouldn’t really notice. Clark has spent far too much time etching out adventurous rhythms, crossbreeding genres in each track; you’d be remiss to even acknowledge some of its lyrical madness. It’s a delightful listen with a foreboding underbelly, if you will. Take the transition from funky treading to its synth-laden baths at the end of “Dilettante”, for instance. That’s the sort of stuff a guru carves out. But, Clark proves worthy of that title earlier on (if she hadn’t via 2009′s Actor) with “Cruel”, this year’s most attractive pop song with the most invaluable question of ‘em all: “How could they be casually cruel?” Is she being rhetorical, or does she desire an answer? Hopefully the former, because quite pathetically nobody has the answer. Christ, what does that say about us? -Michael Roffman

50. Ryan Adams – Ashes & Fire
49. The Joy Formidable – The Big Roar
48. Astronautalis – This is Our Science
47. Ty Segall – Goodbye Bread
46. Summer Camp – Welcome to Condale
45. Jay-Z & Kanye West – Watch the Throne
44. Yuck – Yuck
43. Mikal Cronin – Mikal Cronin
42. Kendrick Lamar – Section .80
41. Washed Out – Within & Without
40. The Mountain Goats – All Eternals Deck
39. Danny Brown – XXX
38. Oneohtrix Point Never – Replica
37. Real Estate – Days
36. Bill Callahan – Apocalypse
35. Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Unknown Mortal Orchestra
34. Adele – 21
33. Cut Copy – Zonoscope
32. Gotye – Making Mirrors
31. Kate Bush – 50 Words For Snow
30. The War On Drugs – Slave Ambient
29. The Men – Leave Home
28. Kurt Vile – Smoke Ring For My Halo
27. Childish Gambino – Camp
26. Wild Flag – Wild Flag
25. Panda Bear – Tomboy
24. SBTRKT – SBTRKT
23. The Weeknd – House Of Balloons
22. Thundercat – The Golden Age of Apocalypse
21. Girls – Father, Son, Holy Ghost
20. Tom Waits – Bad As Me
19. Fucked Up – David Comes to Life
18. Atlas Sound – Parallax
17. The Horrors – Skying
16. EMA - Past Life Martyred Saints
15. Radiohead – The King of Limbs
14. Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues
13. Beyoncé – 4
12. Colin Stetson – New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges
11. The Antlers – Burst Apart
10. Drake – Take Care
09. Destroyer – Kaputt
08. tUnE-yArDs – w h o k i l l
07. M83 – Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming
06. James Blake – James Blake
05. Foo Fighters – Wasting Light
04. PJ Harvey – Let England Shake
03. Shabazz Palaces – Black Up
02. Bon Iver – Bon Iver
01. St. Vincent – Strange Mercy

Yesterday, PJ Harvey became the first musician to win the Mercury Prize twice. Several videos from the ceremony have since hit the web, and here’s what it looked like when her latest LP, Let England Shake, was crowned the best album in all of the UK and Ireland:

Harvey also performed the album track, “The Words That Maketh Murder”:

James Blake didn’t win, but he did deliver a performance of “The Wilhelm Scream”:

Elbow, also nominated, played “Lippy Kids”:

PJ Harvey has won this year’s Mercury Prize for her latest album, the CoS Top Star-earning Let England Shake. The annual prize, which honors the best album from the UK and Ireland, is selected by a panel of musicians, executives, journalists, and other industry figures.

Harvey previously won in 2001 for Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea), and she now becomes the first-ever artist to capture the honors twice. This time around, she beat out such formidable candidates as Adele, James Blake, King Creosote & Jon Hopkins, and Elbow.

Along with bragging rights, Harvey receives £20,000 in cold, hard cash. Below, check out the video for “The Words That Maketh Murder”, from Let England Shake.

At the beginning of this month, we asked you — the ever-enchanting reader — to tell us your favorite album and song of 2011. Well, we listened. We also collated all the results into a tight, easy-to-read list for your leisure. Why are we so good to you? Who knows!

Despite such an eclectic readership — c’mon, we have fans of 311, Skrillex, and Eleanor Friedberger co-existing together — you collectively assembled quite a knock out of a list. If there’s one thing we learned, however, it’s that Bon Iver wins in any party. Justin Vernon’s latest LP took off with this list, quickly claiming the throne with many votes to spare. And despite all the complaints over Radiohead’s latest effort, it still managed to squeeze in the top three, and also reign over the top songs with, of all tracks, the very Thom Yorke-heavy “Lotus Flower”.

Not too many surprises, either. In fact, most of the entries in the top 10 albums were all CoS Top Star winners, with the exception of Radiohead, TV on the Radio, and Arctic Monkeys. What does that tell us? Nothing really, but something intriguing to note. We were a little surprised to see Panda Bear so low and The Strokes so high — how did that happen? Perhaps those comments on the reviews aren’t always telling. Hmm.

Anyways, it’s a pretty nifty list. Hard to argue too considering, well, you put it together. Ah, it feels good to take the proverbial “weight” off our back. Enjoy.

Best Albums:

01. Bon Iver – Bon Iver
02. Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues
03. Radiohead – The King of Limbs
04. Foo Fighters – Wasting Light
05. James Blake – James Blake
06. Arctic Monkeys – Suck It and See
07. TV on the Radio – Nine Types of Light
08. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
09. The Antlers – Burst Apart
10. Cut Copy – Zonoscope
11. Yuck – Yuck
12. Cults – Cults
13. The Strokes – Angles
14. The Decemberists – The King is Dead
15. Panda Bear – Tomboy
16. Tyler the Creator – Goblin
17. Destroyer – Kaputt
18. Beastie Boys – Hot Sauce Committee Pt 2
19. Wild Beasts – Smother
20. Shabazz Palaces – Black Up

Best Songs:

01. Radiohead – “Lotus Flower”
02. Fleet Foxes – “Helplessness Blues”
03. Tyler the Creator – “Yonkers”
04. Bon Iver – “Holocene”
05. Foo Fighters – “Walk”
06. Foster the People – “Pumped Up Kicks”
07. Battles – “Ice Cream”
08. Panda Bear – “Last Night at the Jetty”
09. Radiohead – “Separator”
10. The Strokes – “Under Cover of Darkness”
11. Adele – “Rolling in the Deep”
12. Fleet Foxes – “The Shrine/An Argument”
13. My Morning Jacket – “Circuital”
14. Bon Iver – “Towers”
15. My Morning Jacket – “Holdin’ on to Black Metal”
16. Toro Y Moi – “Still Sound”
17. TV on the Radio – “Will Do”
18. Beirut – “East Harlem”
19. Cults – “Abducted”
20. Bon Iver – “Perth”

The nominees for 2011 were announced earlier this morning and notables include Adele’s 21, PJ Harvey’s Let England Shake (she previously won in 2001 for Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea), James Blake’s self-titled debut, and Tinie Tempah’s Disc-Overy. You can check out the complete list of nominees below.

The winner will be announced on September 6th and along with bragging rights, the prize includes £20,000.

Also, per At Ease, an interesting tidbit: Though Radiohead has never won the Mercury Prize, The King of Limbs is the band’s first album since Kid A to not receive a nomination.

Mercury Prize 2011 Nominees:
Adele – 21
Ana Calvi – Ana Calvi
Elbow – Build A Rocket Boys!
Everything Everything – Man Alive
Ghost Poet – Peanutbutter and Melancholy Blues
Gwilym Simcock – Good Days At Schloss Elmau
James Blake – James Blake
Katy B – On A Mission
King Creosote & Jon Hopkins – Diamond Mines
Metronomy – The English Riviera
PJ Harvey – Let England Shake
Tinie Tempah – Disc-Overy

With several of the most acclaimed albums of Generation Y, Oxfordshire quintet Radiohead have intrigued, inspired, and influenced fans and musicians for over two decades. Everything Radiohead does is viewed under a microscope with the brightest spotlight. With such unprecedented adoration and credentials, the band and its members are at liberty to pick and choose who they collaborate with whether it be scoring a soundtrack for a high profile Hollywood director or dueting with an Icelandic songbird, hoping one doesn’t show up to the studio with the same swan outfit.

Because of this “power”, for lack of a better word, we carved out an easy-to-read collective history of the team-ups between Radiohead alumni and their music peers. Some of them have yielded commercial success while others are more obscure, simmering in our collections for a rainy day. While we patiently wait for a world tour, check out the many collaborations the British aural power has accomplished, and from there, let your imagination run wild with any ideal pairings for the future. But, let us know, of course.

-Daniel Torres
News Writer

Feature artwork by Cap Blackard.

Radiohead and Nigel Godrich – 1994

As Radiohead’s informal sixth member, Nigel Godrich is George Martin with computer access. Having produced every one of the band’s records since The Bends, the dude’s knack for hazy, haunting, impossibly dense atmospherics and his cutthroat recording methods are more or less responsible for extracting the genius out of the Oxford Five. From listening to any non-Radiohead record Godrich has produced, it becomes frighteningly clear just how much he contributes to the band’s sound. Listen to Beck’s Sea Change, for instance, and you realize OK Computer was conceived by Radiohead, but raised and brought up to live in Godrich’s world. Seriously, listen to “Lost Cause” while you read the rest of this list. Or just wipe the tears from your eyes as you witness the perfection of “Let Down”. Either way, you’ll hear Godrich’s perfection first-hand. -Drew Litowitz

Radiohead and Stanley Donwood – 1995

But as much as Godrich nurtures the band’s sonic aesthetic, credit for the group’s visual style mostly goes to one man: Dan Rickwood AKA Stanley Donwood. From the Caspar David Friedrich inspired post-apocalyptic landscapes of Kid A to the band’s unofficial logo, the bear, Donwood has defined much of Radiohead’s unique and specifically peculiar visual brand, lots of times with Thom Yorke putting his hands in, too (billed as Dr. Tchock for his visual contributions). Donwood translates the band’s paranoid, possessed themes so beautifully, it’s as if his artwork spilled out from a sound system and onto a canvas (maybe it has something to do with his studio’s location: in a room parallel to the band’s practice/writing space, with speakers sending all those sounds his way). But moreover, the cryptic writings that fill CD inserts, the removed, minimal, eerie phraseology so closely associated with Thom Yorke and co. are in part Donwood’s, too. Good thing Yorke met Donwood at the University of Exeter, or our King of Limbs newspaper album would probably be lacking in the perforated acid tabs department. -Drew Litowitz

Radiohead and Michael Stipe – 1998

Anyone who has seen the very depressing documentary Meeting People is Easy has a bit of an idea of how dark a time the OK Computer tour was for Radiohead, and its famously offish front man. Michael Stipe, the face of R.E.M., could be credited with helping Thom Yorke through that era, suggesting the mantra “I’m not here, this isn’t happening” to weather the stresses and pressures of the road. The line ended up forming the chorus to Kid A‘s “How to Disappear Completely”, one of the band’s most moving works to date. A big influence on their early guitar-driven sound, Stipe has remained tight with the guys in Radiohead over the years, even joining them on-stage a couple of times over the years. Here, we find him and the band in the midst of the aforementioned OK Computer tour, at 1998′s Tibetan Freedom Concert in D.C., sharing the stage for a spirited take on album highpoint “Lucky”. Dig Thom Yorke’s geeked-out boyish grin as Stipe rocks out on the second verse, further proof that he really is human after all. -Möhammad Choudhery

Thom Yorke and U.N.K.L.E. – 1998

If you didn’t know any better, you might think that “Rabbit in Your Headlights” was simply a Radiohead song. It opens slowly, somberly, with Yorke’s voice only accompanied by piano. But, as the song rolls on, the samples keep coming, and it becomes more like an excellent U.N.K.L.E. track. “Rabbit in Your Headlights” was a touchstone tune on their 1998 debut, Psyence Fiction. The song itself is a fantastic slow build that is guided by Yorke’s soaring and haunting vocals, and is perhaps U.N.K.L.E.’s greatest song. The track reached legendary status, though, with the John Glazer-directed music video that is widely regarded as one of the greatest of all time. This might be the most effective use of a Thom Yorke guest spot out there. The song just wouldn’t be the same without him. -Carson O’Shoney

Venus in Furs – 1998

For Todd Haynes’ David Bowie-inspired glam rock movie, 1998′s Velvet Goldmine, Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood teamed up with Suede’s Bernard Butler, Paul Kimble of Grant Lee Buffalo, and Andy Mackay of Roxy Music to form Venus in Furs. In total, this Radiohead-infused incarnation of that group recorded three songs for the Velvet Goldmine soundtrack, all of which were Roxy Music covers: “2HB”, “Ladytron”, and “Bitter-Sweet”. A band also appears in the film under the name Venus in Furs performing Brian Eno’s “Baby’s On Fire” and “Tumbling Down” by Cockney Rebel, but the on-screen version doesn’t include Yorke or Greenwood. -Austin Trunick

Thom Yorke and Sparklehorse – 1998

Radiohead has long had a connection to Sparklehorse. Mark Linkous and his band opened for Radiohead in Europe during their OK Computer tour in 1996. Shortly after that string of dates, Linkous recorded a haunting cover of Pink Floyd’s classic “Wish You Were Here”, while Thom Yorke literally phoned in some subdued, but beautiful backing vocals. Obviously more Sparklehorse than Radiohead, the result nonetheless ended up being one of the most gorgeous Pink Floyd covers out there. First appearing on the 1998 EMI compilation album Come Again, the cover gained popularity after being chosen to play over the closing credits of the 2005 Heath Ledger skating flick, Lords of Dogtown. Today, the cover is even more poignant than ever, after Linkous’s tragic suicide in 2010. -Carson O’Shoney

Jonny Greenwood/Nigel Godrich and Pavement – 1999

Pavement’s final album, 1999′s Terror Twilight, was riddled with cliché tales of a band falling apart, and diverting from their normal recording path wasn’t exactly helping the situation. For the first time in their career, Pavement brought in an outside hire to produce the album, long-time Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich. While the end result was somewhat of a mixed bag, it undeniably had that Radiohead feel to it (just compare the opening lines of “Spit on a Stranger” with “My Iron Lung” or “No Suprises”). And if that’s not enough of a Radiohead connection for you, Jonny Greenwood, a long-time Pavement fan, added harmonica to “Platform Blues”. With OK Computer and Beck’s Mutations under Godrich’s belt, Terror Twilight would prove to to be a lovely mess, and probably wouldn’t exist in its current state without the seven degrees of Radiohead. -Jeremy D. Larson

Thom Yorke and PJ Harvey – 2000

In 2000, two particular artists had watershed years in which they released critically-acclaimed albums that were drastically different from their previous sound. Radiohead dropped the alternative rock vibe that was spread throughout the ’90s, opting for the electronic and eccentric stylings of Kid A. Less than a month later, PJ Harvey released Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea. Rather than the unsettling, dark sounds that surrounded 1995′s To Bring You Me Love and 1998′s Is This Desire?, this album was full of beautiful melodies and lush layers.

Right in the middle of the record is Thom Yorke’s appearance on “This Mess We’re In”. Unlike the distorted, masked vocals he favored on Kid A, his voice is crystal clear here as it alternates between emotional pleas and passionate falsettos. It counters Harvey’s soft-sung lines in the chorus and doesn’t feel like an intrusion, which famous guest spots can occasionally become. Instead, the song and appearance slid right into the flow of the tracklisting. With chemistry like this, we’d love to see another collaboration, even if it’s just the length of a song. -Joe Marvilli

Thom Yorke and Björk – 2000, 2008

Originators each in their own right, Thom Yorke and Icelandic songstress Björk have collaborated on more than one occasion. The pair first worked together in 2000, on an album version of the song “I’ve Seen it All”, for the soundtrack to the Björk-starring film Dancer in the Dark. Listeners received their first taste of the potential of this dynamic duo, with Yorke’s vocals lent to Björk’s playful ideas as a songwriter. The two would later reunite in 2008, only this time through file-sharing. Björk was responsible for the production on “Náttúra”, adding Yorke’s backing vocals to the charity single for Iceland’s Náttúra Foundation. -Lauren Rearick

Radiohead and Humphrey Littleton – 2001

The only song on Amnesiac to not come from the Kid A recording sessions, “Life in a Glass House” is arguably Radiohead’s most shocking track. Radiohead doing a New Orleans style funereal tune?  Shit, that’d be like Radiohead doing a New Orleans style funereal tune! But it happened, and it remains one of the band’s strongest and most affecting songs to date. And the idea came from the guy whose band literally jazzes the eerie song up, Humphrey Lyttleton. Radiohead enlisted the former radio personality and British New Orleans Jazz revivalist to help flesh the song out in studio, with little idea of what they were looking for. Lyttleton described arriving at the idea in an interview (via Ateaseweb): “We had a meeting up at the BBC and I said, sort of half jokingly, ‘Sounds to me as though the sort of thing that might go would be New Orleans funeral music’ because as you know, it’s not ‘Happy Days Are Here Again’ when they perform. And [Jonny Greenwood] said ‘Yeah, great idea’.” In Lyttelton’s own words, spoken after the band had spent over seven hours recording those additional parts, “That’s it, it’s not going to get any better than that.” -Drew Litowitz

Thom Yorke and Space Ghost – 2001

Thom Yorke’s frustration with the shallowness of late ’90s music journalism is famously chronicled in the film Meeting People Is Easy. It’s that frustration that makes Yorke’s appearance on Space Ghost Coast to Coast in September of 2001 a special treat. Faced with caricatures of the self involved, preening, MTV style talking heads that haunted him, Yorke finally got to show fans what he saw. Met with increasing indignities, from the host blatantly burning 100 copies of Amnesiac, to being challenged to a knife fight with Moltar, he plays along. The knowing smile that crosses his face as the interview spirals hopelessly out of control seems to be laughing at every “reporter” who wasted his time. Only this time Yorke got to be in on the joke. -John-Michael Bond

Thom Yorke and Beck – 2002

The line-up for 2002′s Concert for Artists Rights at LA’s Wiltern Theatre seemed promising enough. Eddie Vedder, Mike Ness, and Beck were all set to perform for a benefit for the Recording Artists Coalition (RAC), and their interest in protecting the rights of recording artists. While the show was surprisingly intimate considering the multiple big name headliners, the true surprise of the evening came at the end of Beck’s set, when he invited his close friend on stage, who turned out to be none other than Thom Yorke. What followed was a beautiful, acoustic duet on a cover of The Velvet Underground’s “I’m Set Free”, which resounded beautifully with the benefit’s theme, and gave the friends a chance to share their serene musicianship with one lucky audience. -Karina Halle

The Weird Sisters – 2005

“Please welcome the band that needs no introduction!” shouts the diminutive Professor Flitwick, before shooting a beam from his magic wand that brings up the house lights on The Weird Sisters, one of the biggest bands of the wizard world. Booked by Dumbledore to play the Yule Ball at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the band sets the soundtrack for the young Harry Potter and Ron Weasley’s evening of adolescent pining.

In the film version of 2005′s Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood and Phil Selway appear as two members of the fictional band, along with fellow English musicians Jarvis Cocker and Steve Mackey of Pulp, Jacon Buckle of All Seeing I, and Steven Claydon of Add N to (X). A full music video for the band’s performance of “Do the Hippogriff” is included on the DVD releases of the film, while the group recorded a total of three songs for the film’s soundtrack. -Austin Trunick

Thom Yorke and Modeselektor – 2007

When Yorke speaks openly of his favorite bands, it’s likely many will heed his recommendation. Not only did Yorke give Modeselektor his approval, but he added his own vocals to a track from the band’s full length, 2007′s Happy Birthday. For Yorke’s work on “The White Flash”, he seems to have taken inspiration from his solo work on 2006′s The Eraser. His familiar vocals are distorted, echoing amongst the blips and beeps expected of Modeselektor. In interviews and handcrafted playlists, Yorke has spoken candidly of his appreciation for the band. Since then, during his surprise DJ sets, Yorke has even been known to drop Modeselektor’s “Kill Bill 4″. -Lauren Rearick

Jonny Greenwood and Paul Thomas Anderson – 2007

Scathing strings, open spaces, lingering keys, bouncing plucks, the click clacking of drumsticks on wood. Jonny Greenwood’s truly epic soundtrack to Paul Thomas Anderson’s masterful There Will Be Blood isn’t just a soundtrack, it’s just about the only music that could accompany a film of TWBB‘s magnitude. Only Greenwood, with his insane, near-impossible alignment of classical sensibilities with Radiohead’s engrossing, avant-garde leanings, could have created a soundtrack so utterly in tune with its subject and entirely self-sustaining. The music prompts audiences to analyze each hair-raising movement, all without distracting from the action onscreen. With portions from Greenwood’s “Popcorn Superhet Receiver” and his previous soundtrack for Bodysong, in addition to some nods to Arvo Part and Johannes Brahms, the soundtrack may have been disqualified from the Oscar race, but it’s surely one of film’s most memorable accompaniments in a while. -Drew Litowitz

7 Worlds Collide – 2008

Ed O’Brien and Phil Selway have been a part of Neil Finn’s music project, 7 Worlds Collide, going on over a decade. The collaboration, with a host of different musicians, came together most recently in late 2008 to record a new album and prep for a few live shows in the following year. Perhaps the most memorable team-up during these performances came courtesy of the aforementioned O’Brien and Selway, along with most of Wilco, The Smiths’ Johnny Marr, and Finn’s son, Liam. With Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy on vocals, the all-star group braved ahead with a cover of “Fake Plastic Trees”, which sent indie kids and their cool uncles into a frenzy. Members of three of the best bands of the past 30 years together? Check. A big bear hug between O’Brien and Tweedy at the song’s conclusion? Heartwarming check. -Justin Gerber

Atoms for Peace – 2009

When people heard Thom Yorke’s The Eraser, many argued that it was the most logical step for the Radiohead frontman to take. On the other hand, some expressed confusion and were torn on the effort. What most agreed upon is what he ended up doing with the material – live, that is.  Towards the end of 2009, Yorke informed the world that he had formed a band with Flea and Nigel Godrich, saying that they’d been jamming, only they hadn’t thought of a name yet. Only a few months later, Thom Yorke’s name appeared on the Coachella 2010 poster with four question marks next to it. Yorke and company would go on to call this project Atoms for Peace, and they were the kind of live show that people needed in absence of Radiohead. They went on the road to play The Eraser in its entirety, plus a few other gems, but this wasn’t the slow piano album of yesteryear. With Flea involved, they kicked up the funk (quite a bit), and turned the somber tunes into a dance party. In hindsight, Atoms for Peace put on some of the coolest shows in 2010, and showed that Thom Yorke is pretty much capable of anything. -Ted Maider

Thom York and Mark Mulcahy… and Andy Yorke – 2009

This cover track is a double collaboration, in a sense. Not only is the song founded on the friendship/mutual admiration of Thom Yorke and Mark Mulcahy, former lead singer of the now defunct alt-rock band Miracle Legion, but it marks the first time Thom Yorke has ever recorded with his younger brother, Andy Yorke, also a musician. The cover stays dramatically true to the original recording, right down to the vocal inflections and buzzing guitar solos, yet, somehow, Thom Yorke still manages to plant his somber seeds. What was once a fairly upbeat song, musically, is now given the proper textures to match the haunting lyricism that drives the song. The track is part of a very heartfelt tribute album that was an attempt to raise money for Mulcahy, who lost his wife unexpectedly, leaving him to raise his twin daughters on his own. -Winston Robbins

Thom Yorke and Flying Lotus – 2010

As Flying Lotus and Thom Yorke have crossed paths, every interaction has pushed the former’s career to greater levels of exposure and success. First, Mr. Ellison dropped a pretty sweet remix of “Reckoner”, raising Yorke’s voice above crackling drums. Soon after, “…And the World Laughs with You” put an immense amount of warranted focus on the excellent Cosmogramma. Yorke’s otherworldly guest spot puts a spine-tingling spin on the spacey song. The looped and distorted vocals bring to mind his own work on Kid A and The Eraser. But Lotus’ style adds a dance-y touch of warmth that fits right into the musical landscape he’s built throughout the album.

On top of this release came his opening slot with Atoms for Peace. If you were lucky enough to see Yorke’s supergroup play through The Eraser along with a few other numbers, Flying Lotus was a major bonus. The audience was dancing, jumping around, and positively freaked out at the “Reckoner” and “Idioteque” samples. Let’s hope Lotus and Yorke keep close, just for the positive effects it seems to have on his career. One of the most innovative upcoming artists today deserves the attention. -Joe Marvilli

Thom Yorke and Burial and Four Tet – 2011

The most recent of Thom Yorke’s solo collaborations comes in the form of his avid interest in glitch/IDM music. Teaming up with UK producers Burial and Four Tet, Yorke released a 12” comprised of two tracks, “Ego” and “Mirror”. The result? A subtle, wonderfully textured pair of songs that not only showcase the impeccable skill of Four Tet and Burial, but reveal a side of Thom Yorke scarcely seen in so large a dose. It’s not a secret that Yorke has a tendency to lean towards the electronic when on his own, but never has he delved this deep into the genre. Let this not deter you, however; Yorke sounds his finest next to the blips and chirps Four Tet and Burial have so deftly founded a career on. -Winston Robbins

Radiohead and Clive Deamer – 2011

After a new LP and surprise Glastonbury performance left fans and critics polarized, Radiohead needed to hit an RBI, or do something, to quell the internet chatter. Instead of releasing another B-side or remix, they simply went downstairs to jam in the basement. Last week, Radiohead – The King of Limbs: Live From The Basement surfaced on the ‘net after appearing on television in Spain. In just under an hour, Radiohead tore through their new material, revealing how the quintet (and not just Mr. Yorke) really did have quite a role in the latest effort. They weren’t alone, either. Session musician Clive Deamer, who has worked with everyone from Jeff Beck to Portishead, joined in on drums, pummeling alongside the group to produce what everyone ultimately agrees upon was a tight, intimate set. No telling where his future lies with the band, but if this is his only contribution, he certainly proved his worth. After all, they didn’t just hit an RBI here, they stole home – err, the basement. -Michael Roffman

Primavera Sound has expanded from a small gathering at the intimate Poble Espanyol to a world-class event and the 11th edition was bigger than ever. The average attendance of its three main days at the Parc del Forum exceeded 40,000 attendees from across the globe, with two additional days at the original festival site, and intimate pre and post-parties scattered throughout the city. Despite the unavoidable presence of sponsorship, Primavera never comes across as a corporate cash grab thanks to a lineup that remains decidedly left-of-center. Yes, there are plenty of proven, reliable acts such as The Flaming Lips, Fleet Foxes, and The National, but it’s the more adventurous and less universal bookings of odd and obscure acts and cult bands performing their seminal albums that set Primavera apart from the average corporate affair. Primavera Sound is living proof that the likes of Einstürzende Neubauten and Suicide need not be restricted to ATP events.

Primavera’s eight stages include ones curated by Pitchfork and All Tomorrow’s Parties, and a limited capacity, indoor seated theater. The Rockdelux Auditori offers a relaxed atmosphere for the likes of John Cale and Mercury Rev and makes it possible for the festival to have performances that cannot be done outdoors, such as the intricate Sufjan Stevens production. Camping is nonexistent, with everyone staying in apartments and hostels throughout Barcelona, but the availability of beds and showers does not guarantee a full night’s sleep. The party never stops in Barcelona, with the main festivities beginning at 4:00 p.m. and ending at 6:00 a.m. every day, plus daytime performances in a nearby park and all the irresistible sightseeing the city has to offer.

Photo by Frank Mojica

New in 2011 was the Primavera Portal, a system that allowed the festival’s access card to double as a debit card that can be recharged online or at booths situated by the main concession area. Unfortunately, the problem with the digitalization of festival commerce is that things often go wrong, and in this case, something did and the whole system crashed. After waiting in hour-long queues for recharges on Thursday, because the Primavera Portal site crashed, attendees found that all the drink vendors could not sell any water or alcohol because they did not have the necessary scanning devices. Food stands accepted cash, but only the drink vendors could sell alcohol or water, and the festival was without any sort of liquid refreshment available for purchase for several hours, and the street vendors offering cheap beer and water outside the gates only appeared at night. A major hiccup in an otherwise smooth festival experience, yes, but when seeing the likes of Grinderman and Sufjan Stevens, a day of stress and dehydration was a price well worth paying.

-Frank Mojica
Staff Writer

Wednesday, May 25th

Nisennenmondai - Poble Espanyol - 5:00 p.m.

Photo by Frank Mojica

Primavera Sound’s choice of Nisennenmondai to open their main festivities says quite a lot about the heart of the festival. In the festival world, the instrumental Japanese noise band has only performed at smaller fests and the 2010 edition of Roskilde, but their experimental sound was a perfect match for the discriminating tastes of Primavera goers. As the sun scorched the crowd that left the refuge of the shade to get a closer look, Nisennenmondai unleashed unrelentingly pulsating bass lines, and a pummeling rhythm so frantic that some casual observers debated if drummer Sayaka Himeno was possessed by a demon. Spinning together traces of Krautrock, no wave, and math rock, Nisennenmondai proved to be a captivating festival opener as they turned their repetitions into something strangely danceable that won over a largely unfamiliar crowd. American festival promoters would do well to introduce their audiences to this inventive, thrilling trio next year.

Echo & the Bunnymen - Poble Espanyol - 8:45 p.m.

Photo by Frank Mojica

Watching a band perform a favorite album in its entirety is a special treat, but two albums back to back? That’s what Echo & the Bunnymen brought to Poble Espanyol, performing Crocodiles and Heaven Up Here along with an encore of a few more recent favorites, although a gander at “The Killing Moon” was not on the agenda for this trip down memory lane. While seemingly in good spirits, the post-punk legends sounded more and more as if they were merely going through the motions as the set progressed.

Thursday, May 26th

Sufjan Stevens - Auditori - 8:30 p.m. (5:00 p.m. on Friday)

Photo by Frank Mojica

If Harold Camping had not been wrong yet again about the impending rapture, then it would have surely played out like a Sufjan Stevens performance. Specifically, set opener “Seven Swans” was the sound of the end of days commencing, as heavenly as it was commanding, and the winged Stevens and company served as the rapture’s archangels. Next, the ultimate ironic dance party to ring in the forthcoming apocalypse came in the form of “Too Much”, leading into a journey through the madness of Armageddon during “Age of Adz”. After the destruction of all existence, what followed was a 100 minute journey through the rebuilding of reality and its various ups and downs and creations and destructions. Along the way, Sufjan Stevens took a break from cosmic folk and performed a rare cover of R.E.M.’s “The One I Love” at the Thursday performance and treated the Friday crowd to “Sister”, with valuable singing lessons preceding the latter. Existence finally rebuilt itself back to normal during the rejuvenating 25-minute set climax “Impossible Soul”, where fans rushed the stage at both shows after Stevens asked, “Do you want to dance?”

Photo by Frank Mojica

Throughout what was more of an experience than a concert, Sufjan Stevens donned feathered wings, chimp masks, space capes, and a spinning disco ball chest piece, backup singers twirled ribbons and performed choreographed dance numbers, while animated imagery inspired by the prophetic visions of Royal Robertson flashed on the screen and an extra layer of visuals appeared occasionally on a scrim in front of the stage. But are the costumes, confetti, and multi-screen visuals excessive, if not unnecessary? Yes, he does not need an elaborate display and his songs are powerful enough to stand on their own, but this Knife-meets-Flaming Lips live spectacle makes the playful voyage through the end of the world all the more powerful.

Grinderman - San Miguel - 11:00 p.m.

Photo by Frank Mojica

Let’s just get this out of the way now: Nick Cave is currently rock & roll’s number one devil. At Primavera, Cave’s Grinderman exhilarated a large festival crowd with their darkly humored brand of sleazy, feral rock that put all those garage revivalists with a fetish for the blues to shame. Ever the magnetic frontman, Nick Cave didn’t walk across the stage so much as he swaggered and thrusted, and spent much of the set in the photo pit cavorting with fans that desperately grabbed at their idol and surfed to get closer. For an hour that passed far too quickly, Grinderman dementedly tore into tracks from both albums with the sort of furor that consumed the songs and spat them back out with new layers of filth and extended jams.

Suicide - Ray-Ban - 12:45 a.m.

Photo by Frank Mojica

Less than an hour before show time, Nick Cave implored the Grinderman crowd to watch Suicide, and quite a few punters took his words to heart. Suicide is definitely not a crowd-pleasing band that appeals to everybody, not even when performing their first LP, and not even at Primavera, but such challenging acts are what make the festival and its lineup so refreshing. Perhaps the ear-splitting and unsettling nature of the duo’s discordant beats and noise was too much to bear, or maybe people just wanted to hear “Ghost Rider” and call it a night, but the surprisingly sizable crowd left in droves. Fans that were up to the challenge were rewarded with a set that contained the crucial element missing from most of those “so and so performing some album” gigs: surprise. Despite the age of their debut album, Suicide transformed it into something fresh by applying new ways to confound and deafen.

The Flaming Lips - San Miguel - 2:15 a.m.

Photo by Colin Athens

At one point during the set, Wayne Coyne expressed his love for Primavera, declaring it to be one of his best festival days ever. Coyne sure has had a lot of them, considering their years of festival ubiquity, so it’s no empty platitude. Giant hamster balls, confetti cannons, costumed dancers, laser hands, and the rest of The Flaming Lips’ bag of tricks have been getting a lot usage over the years, but considering the crowd’s ecstatic reception, it might as well have been the first time. It was impossible to feel anything but the purest bliss during a life-affirming set full of sing-alongs accompanied by one hell of a spectacle.

Friday, May 27th

M. Ward - San Miguel - 8:00 p.m.

Photo by Colin Athens

Performing on the same stage as the long awaited Pulp reunion is unenviable in the sense that for the fans camped along the front of the stage, watching M. Ward was just something to watch during a painfully long wait. Luckily Matt Ward and his band proved to be capable of capturing even the most distant and distracted Pulp fans with an hour of jaunty rock, blues, and country revivalism. The setlist favored the boisterous over the heartbreaking, most memorably a romping cover of Chuck Berry’s “Roll Over Beethoven”.

Belle & Sebastian - San Miguel - 10:45pm

Photo by Frank Mojica

After “Stars of Track and Field”, Belle & Sebastian frontman Stuart Murdoch realized the lyrical link shared between his song and the next band’s biggest hit, and acknowledged that it would not be the first time we heard “college” and “knowledge” within the same sentence that night and expressed his own anticipation of the reunion. As Murdoch later went to the crowd in search of dancers during “Legal Man”, Stevie Jackson performed a brief cover of “Common People”, giving all in attendance an opportunity to warm up for the imminent sing-along of the year. The dancers remained for crowd pleaser “The Boy with the Arab Strap”, after which they were awarded medals for their efforts. Putting forth a solid mix of new material and old favorites from their extensive back catalog with an infectious charisma, Belle and Sebastian were nothing less than charming at Primavera.

Pulp - San Miguel - 1:45 a.m.

Photo by Colin Athens

Half an hour before show time, the hardcore fans crowding the San Miguel stage were treated to some pre-show entertainment consisting of laser projections across a curtain obscuring the San Miguel stage asking questions from the official website such as “Do you remember the first time?” and “Is this a hoax” in both English and Catalan and always in the Different Class font. Most randomly, green lasers inquired “Do you want to see a dolphin?” before a green dolphin of light appeared and swam across a sea of black. The laser show increased the excitement and tension to unbearable levels, and just as the anticipation became too much to bear, the lights went out, and a neon pink and blue P was illuminated, followed by the rest of the letters in their name one by one as the B.A.N.D.C.A.DOUBLE L.E.D.P.U.L.P. finally took the stage.

Pulp’s headlining set at Primavera was the first reunion performance announced, which was a chief factor in the decision to attend for many in the considerably international crowd, so anything less than a rapturous response to the band would have been a surprising letdown. As the curtain finally dropped during the first chorus of opener “Do You Remember the First Time?”, the crowd responded to the unveiling by screaming along to all the words at the top of their lungs and jumping along to the beat as if their lives depended on it. This level of energetic enthusiasm persisted throughout the entire set and peaked, predictably, during “Common People”, which Jarvis Cocker dedicated to the protesters in Plaça de Catalunya.

Photo by Frank Mojica

It may have been a Pulp reunion, but Jarvis Cocker was still the star of the show, delighting the crowd with his all-over-the-stage trademark dances, climbing, leaps, suggestive gesturing, and general refusal to stand still, while the rest of the band stayed in the back and on the sidelines. The peerless showmanship exhibited in his recent solo tours was retained, as was the bookish look of a professor that has seduced many a coed during office hours. After what might have been the sleaziest rendition of “I Spy” yet, Cocker stepped down to the photo pit, where he asked a couple from Athens, GA to introduce themselves and then told the woman that her boyfriend had something to ask her, setting the stage for a marriage proposal and then commenting on the niceness of the ring. Cynicism and biting spitefulness are often found in Pulp lyrics, but the source of them just might be a romantic at heart.

The setlist focused almost entirely on the era of the band’s commercial peak, with nine songs from Different Class, three from His & Hers, plus encore “Razzmatazz”, with “This Is Hardcore” and “Sunrise” as the only songs released after Russell Senior’s departure to be performed. Why does Pulp get a pass for churning out the hits at their reunion, while other bands get derided as shameless panderers? For starters, they were performed as if it were still 1995; it was as if the band had not abandoned us for nine years. More importantly, the music of Pulp has survived the ravages of time remarkably well, because they were never a true Britpop band in the first place. “Common People” has achieved a new identity as a vitriolic anthem against hipsterism, and at Primavera it was appropriated as a rallying cry for the local protestors, or at least the ones in the crowd that waved a giant banner stating “#Spanish Revolution Sing Along with the Common People”. The Primavera comeback was an explosive set that cemented Pulp’s status as the essential festival band of 2011 and will be remembered as fondly and regarded as definitive as their Glastonbury 1995 performance.

Saturday, May 28th

Yuck - ATP - 6:00 p.m.

Photo by Colin Athens

Ideally, every festival would start out with a bang by having a great set early in the day to reward attendees that stumbled out of bed in time to attend the full schedule, with these early birds catching a quite special worm. Only at Primavera is 6:00 p.m. widely considered not just early but excessively so, but the ATP area still managed to fill just in time for recent indie darlings Yuck. The London-based quartet loudly revisited the sounds of the late 80’s and early 90’s indie greats, but made them sound fresh. Their performance revealed a genuine excitement to be playing the festival, and guitarist/vocalist Max Bloom gave shoutouts to both Pulp and Shellac before tearing into a new song entitled “Milkshake”. Yuck hasn’t even been around for two years yet, but their live sound implies a band that’s been going at it for far longer.

Warpaint - Llevant - 6:45 p.m.

Photo by Colin Athens

Sometimes the stars align and a band gets a festival timeslot so perfect that the setting actually enhances the performance. After witnessing Warpaint perform on the beach of the new Llevant stage as the day finally began to cool, it’s difficult to imagine watching the Los Angeles band in any other setting. As clouds obscured the sun and the cool Mediterranean breeze rolled in, the charismatic all-girl quartet appeared confident before the large crowd as they intricately layered vocals and guitars to dreamy effect, peaking with the gorgeously transcendent pop of “Undertow”. Ubiquitous buzz bands are a dime a dozen nowadays, but Warpaint proved to be one that fully lives up to the hype surrounding them.

Gang Gang Dance - Pitchfork - 9:45 p.m.

Photo by Colin Athens

Eye Contact, the latest album from Gang Gang Dance, is their most danceable release to date, and its tribal beats and psychedelic synth freak-outs gained an extra degree of intensity on the Pitchfork stage. Accompanying the band were an interpretive dancer and a flag waver throughout the set. The band sounded more urgently fantastic than ever, and frontwoman Lizzi Bougatsos hypnotized with her dances and soaring yelps, so leaving early enough to make the steep uphill climb to the San Miguel stage in time for the start of PJ Harvey was one of the biggest challenges of the weekend.

PJ Harvey - San Miguel - 10:30 p.m.

Photo by Colin Athens

Clad in a white dress and feathered headdress and surrounded by near-total darkness, Polly Jean Harvey looked as angelic as she sounded. Half of her 20 song set consisted of songs from the stellar Let England Shake that favored the jangly strum of the Autoharp over the guitar, with older favorites getting a subdued makeover. As stunning of an album as Let England Shake is and despite sounding especially gorgeous live, the noise of the massive crowd often overpowered the delicate beauty of the music. The new PJ Harvey tour is a delight, but is ideally enjoyed in a more intimate environment.

Animal Collective - San Miguel - 2:00 a.m.

Photo by Frank Mojica

Neo-psychedelic weirdsters Animal Collective have jumped from mid-tier to headliner since their last batch of festival touring three years ago thanks to the success of their latest and greatest full length, 2009′s Merriweather Post Pavillion. In contrast to the two previous headliners, Animal Collective was far less of a crowd pleaser, only performing a handful of “hits” in a set filled with almost entirely unreleased material. Evolving new music in a live setting is how their albums have always developed, so it’s refreshing to see a band that stays true to their roots despite a sudden surge in popularity. Typically atypical Animal Collective sets might seem like an awkward match for a festival’s main stage, since the crowd is guaranteed not to be full of fans that know what to expect, and at Primavera, some in the crowd declared the performance too self-indulgent and without “proper songs” and left early. However, the majority remained, and they were treated to some new songs that not just showed a lot of promise and even outshone the older selections. In contrast to the light cubes and Creators Project collaboration at Coachella, the visual element of Animal Collective’s set at Primavera was more mysterious and less elaborate, with only moderate usage of house lights and some trippy, colorful animations projected on the screens that never flashed any footage of the band or crowd. If their Primavera headlining set is any indication, their polarizing nature will not lose all the Merriweather Post Pavillion bandwagon-jumpers and continue to draw more followers because of it.

Gallery by Colin Athens

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Gallery by Frank Mojica

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]]> Photo by Frank Mojica New in 2011 was the Primavera Portal, a system that allowed the festival’s access card to double as a debit card that can be recharged online or at booths situated by the main concession area. Unfortunately, the problem with the digitalization of festival commerce is that things often go wrong, and in this case, something did and the whole system crashed. After waiting in hour-long queues for recharges on Thursday, because the Primavera Portal site crashed, attendees found that all the drink vendors could not sell any water or alcohol because they did not have the necessary scanning devices. Food stands accepted cash, but only the drink vendors could sell alcohol or water, and the festival was without any sort of liquid refreshment available for purchase for several hours, and the street vendors offering cheap beer and water outside the gates only appeared at night. A major hiccup in an otherwise smooth festival experience, yes, but when seeing the likes of Grinderman and Sufjan Stevens, a day of stress and dehydration was a price well worth paying. -Frank Mojica Staff Writer Wednesday, May 25th Nisennenmondai - Poble Espanyol - 5:00 p.m. Photo by Frank Mojica Primavera Sound’s choice of Nisennenmondai to open their main festivities says quite a lot about the heart of the festival. In the festival world, the instrumental Japanese noise band has only performed at smaller fests and the 2010 edition of Roskilde, but their experimental sound was a perfect match for the discriminating tastes of Primavera goers. As the sun scorched the crowd that left the refuge of the shade to get a closer look, Nisennenmondai unleashed unrelentingly pulsating bass lines, and a pummeling rhythm so frantic that some casual observers debated if drummer Sayaka Himeno was possessed by a demon. Spinning together traces of Krautrock, no wave, and math rock, Nisennenmondai proved to be a captivating festival opener as they turned their repetitions into something strangely danceable that won over a largely unfamiliar crowd. American festival promoters would do well to introduce their audiences to this inventive, thrilling trio next year. Echo & the Bunnymen - Poble Espanyol - 8:45 p.m. Photo by Frank Mojica Watching a band perform a favorite album in its entirety is a special treat, but two albums back to back? That’s what Echo & the Bunnymen brought to Poble Espanyol, performing Crocodiles and Heaven Up Here along with an encore of a few more recent favorites, although a gander at “The Killing Moon” was not on the agenda for this trip down memory lane. While seemingly in good spirits, the post-punk legends sounded more and more as if they were merely going through the motions as the set progressed. Thursday, May 26th Sufjan Stevens - Auditori - 8:30 p.m. (5:00 p.m. on Friday) Photo by Frank Mojica If Harold Camping had not been wrong yet again about the impending rapture, then it would have surely played out like a Sufjan Stevens performance. Specifically, set opener “Seven Swans” was the sound of the end of days commencing, as heavenly as it was commanding, and the winged Stevens and company served as the rapture’s archangels. Next, the ultimate ironic dance party to ring in the forthcoming apocalypse came in the form of “Too Much”, leading into a journey through the madness of Armageddon during “Age of Adz”. After the destruction of all existence, what followed was a 100 minute journey through the rebuilding of reality and its various ups and downs and creations and destructions. Along the way, Sufjan Stevens took a break from cosmic folk and performed a rare cover of R.E.M.’s “The One I Love” at the Thursday performance and treated the Friday crowd to “Sister”, with valuable singing lessons preceding the latter. Existence finally rebuilt itself back to normal during the rejuvenating 25-minute set climax “Impossible Soul”, where fans rushed the stage at both shows after Stevens asked, “Do you want to dance?” Photo by Frank Mojica Throughout what was more of an experience than a concert, Sufjan Stevens donned feathered wings, chimp masks, space capes, and a spinning disco ball chest piece, backup singers twirled ribbons and performed choreographed dance numbers, while animated imagery inspired by the prophetic visions of Royal Robertson flashed on the screen and an extra layer of visuals appeared occasionally on a scrim in front of the stage. But are the costumes, confetti, and multi-screen visuals excessive, if not unnecessary? Yes, he does not need an elaborate display and his songs are powerful enough to stand on their own, but this Knife-meets-Flaming Lips live spectacle makes the playful voyage through the end of the world all the more powerful. Grinderman - San Miguel - 11:00 p.m. Photo by Frank Mojica Let’s just get this out of the way now: Nick Cave is currently rock & roll’s number one devil. At Primavera, Cave’s Grinderman exhilarated a large festival crowd with their darkly humored brand of sleazy, feral rock that put all those garage revivalists with a fetish for the blues to shame. Ever the magnetic frontman, Nick Cave didn’t walk across the stage so much as he swaggered and thrusted, and spent much of the set in the photo pit cavorting with fans that desperately grabbed at their idol and surfed to get closer. For an hour that passed far too quickly, Grinderman dementedly tore into tracks from both albums with the sort of furor that consumed the songs and spat them back out with new layers of filth and extended jams. Suicide - Ray-Ban - 12:45 a.m. Photo by Frank Mojica Less than an hour before show time, Nick Cave implored the Grinderman crowd to watch Suicide, and quite a few punters took his words to heart. Suicide is definitely not a crowd-pleasing band that appeals to everybody, not even when performing their first LP, and not even at Primavera, but such challenging acts are what make the festival and its lineup so refreshing. Perhaps the ear-splitting and unsettling nature of the duo’s discordant beats and noise was too much to bear, or maybe people just wanted to hear “Ghost Rider” and call it a night, but the surprisingly sizable crowd left in droves. Fans that were up to the challenge were rewarded with a set that contained the crucial element missing from most of those “so and so performing some album” gigs: surprise. Despite the age of their debut album, Suicide transformed it into something fresh by applying new ways to confound and deafen. The Flaming Lips - San Miguel - 2:15 a.m. Photo by Colin Athens At one point during the set, Wayne Coyne expressed his love for Primavera, declaring it to be one of his best festival days ever. Coyne sure has had a lot of them, considering their years of festival ubiquity, so it’s no empty platitude. Giant hamster balls, confetti cannons, costumed dancers, laser hands, and the rest of The Flaming Lips’ bag of tricks have been getting a lot usage over the years, but considering the crowd’s ecstatic reception, it might as well have been the first time. It was impossible to feel anything but the purest bliss during a life-affirming set full of sing-alongs accompanied by one hell of a spectacle. Friday, May 27th M. Ward - San Miguel - 8:00 p.m. Photo by Colin Athens Performing on the same stage as the long awaited Pulp reunion is unenviable in the sense that for the fans camped along the front of the stage, watching M. Ward was just something to watch during a painfully long wait. Luckily Matt Ward and his band proved to be capable of capturing even the most distant and distracted Pulp fans with an hour of jaunty rock, blues, and country revivalism. The setlist favored the boisterous over the heartbreaking, most memorably a romping cover of Chuck Berry’s “Roll Over Beethoven”. Belle & Sebastian - San Miguel - 10:45pm Photo by Frank Mojica After “Stars of Track and Field”, Belle & Sebastian frontman Stuart Murdoch realized the lyrical link shared between his song and the next band’s biggest hit, and acknowledged that it would not be the first time we heard “college” and “knowledge” within the same sentence that night and expressed his own anticipation of the reunion. As Murdoch later went to the crowd in search of dancers during “Legal Man”, Stevie Jackson performed a brief cover of “Common People”, giving all in attendance an opportunity to warm up for the imminent sing-along of the year. The dancers remained for crowd pleaser “The Boy with the Arab Strap”, after which they were awarded medals for their efforts. Putting forth a solid mix of new material and old favorites from their extensive back catalog with an infectious charisma, Belle and Sebastian were nothing less than charming at Primavera. Pulp - San Miguel - 1:45 a.m. Photo by Colin Athens Half an hour before show time, the hardcore fans crowding the San Miguel stage were treated to some pre-show entertainment consisting of laser projections across a curtain obscuring the San Miguel stage asking questions from the official website such as “Do you remember the first time?” and “Is this a hoax” in both English and Catalan and always in the Different Class font. Most randomly, green lasers inquired “Do you want to see a dolphin?” before a green dolphin of light appeared and swam across a sea of black. The laser show increased the excitement and tension to unbearable levels, and just as the anticipation became too much to bear, the lights went out, and a neon pink and blue P was illuminated, followed by the rest of the letters in their name one by one as the B.A.N.D.C.A.DOUBLE L.E.D.P.U.L.P. finally took the stage. Pulp’s headlining set at Primavera was the first reunion performance announced, which was a chief factor in the decision to attend for many in the considerably international crowd, so anything less than a rapturous response to the band would have been a surprising letdown. As the curtain finally dropped during the first chorus of opener “Do You Remember the First Time?”, the crowd responded to the unveiling by screaming along to all the words at the top of their lungs and jumping along to the beat as if their lives depended on it. This level of energetic enthusiasm persisted throughout the entire set and peaked, predictably, during “Common People”, which Jarvis Cocker dedicated to the protesters in Plaça de Catalunya. Photo by Frank Mojica It may have been a Pulp reunion, but Jarvis Cocker was still the star of the show, delighting the crowd with his all-over-the-stage trademark dances, climbing, leaps, suggestive gesturing, and general refusal to stand still, while the rest of the band stayed in the back and on the sidelines. The peerless showmanship exhibited in his recent solo tours was retained, as was the bookish look of a professor that has seduced many a coed during office hours. After what might have been the sleaziest rendition of “I Spy” yet, Cocker stepped down to the photo pit, where he asked a couple from Athens, GA to introduce themselves and then told the woman that her boyfriend had something to ask her, setting the stage for a marriage proposal and then commenting on the niceness of the ring. Cynicism and biting spitefulness are often found in Pulp lyrics, but the source of them just might be a romantic at heart. The setlist focused almost entirely on the era of the band’s commercial peak, with nine songs from Different Class, three from His & Hers, plus encore “Razzmatazz”, with “This Is Hardcore” and “Sunrise” as the only songs released after Russell Senior’s departure to be performed. Why does Pulp get a pass for churning out the hits at their reunion, while other bands get derided as shameless panderers? For starters, they were performed as if it were still 1995; it was as if the band had not abandoned us for nine years. More importantly, the music of Pulp has survived the ravages of time remarkably well, because they were never a true Britpop band in the first place. “Common People” has achieved a new identity as a vitriolic anthem against hipsterism, and at Primavera it was appropriated as a rallying cry for the local protestors, or at least the ones in the crowd that waved a giant banner stating “#Spanish Revolution Sing Along with the Common People”. The Primavera comeback was an explosive set that cemented Pulp’s status as the essential festival band of 2011 and will be remembered as fondly and regarded as definitive as their Glastonbury 1995 performance. Saturday, May 28th Yuck - ATP - 6:00 p.m. Photo by Colin Athens Ideally, every festival would start out with a bang by having a great set early in the day to reward attendees that stumbled out of bed in time to attend the full schedule, with these early birds catching a quite special worm. Only at Primavera is 6:00 p.m. widely considered not just early but excessively so, but the ATP area still managed to fill just in time for recent indie darlings Yuck. The London-based quartet loudly revisited the sounds of the late 80’s and early 90’s indie greats, but made them sound fresh. Their performance revealed a genuine excitement to be playing the festival, and guitarist/vocalist Max Bloom gave shoutouts to both Pulp and Shellac before tearing into a new song entitled “Milkshake”. Yuck hasn’t even been around for two years yet, but their live sound implies a band that’s been going at it for far longer. Warpaint - Llevant - 6:45 p.m. Photo by Colin Athens Sometimes the stars align and a band gets a festival timeslot so perfect that the setting actually enhances the performance. After witnessing Warpaint perform on the beach of the new Llevant stage as the day finally began to cool, it’s difficult to imagine watching the Los Angeles band in any other setting. As clouds obscured the sun and the cool Mediterranean breeze rolled in, the charismatic all-girl quartet appeared confident before the large crowd as they intricately layered vocals and guitars to dreamy effect, peaking with the gorgeously transcendent pop of “Undertow”. Ubiquitous buzz bands are a dime a dozen nowadays, but Warpaint proved to be one that fully lives up to the hype surrounding them. Gang Gang Dance - Pitchfork - 9:45 p.m. Photo by Colin Athens Eye Contact, the latest album from Gang Gang Dance, is their most danceable release to date, and its tribal beats and psychedelic synth freak-outs gained an extra degree of intensity on the Pitchfork stage. Accompanying the band were an interpretive dancer and a flag waver throughout the set. The band sounded more urgently fantastic than ever, and frontwoman Lizzi Bougatsos hypnotized with her dances and soaring yelps, so leaving early enough to make the steep uphill climb to the San Miguel stage in time for the start of PJ Harvey was one of the biggest challenges of the weekend. PJ Harvey - San Miguel - 10:30 p.m. Photo by Colin Athens Clad in a white dress and feathered headdress and surrounded by near-total darkness, Polly Jean Harvey looked as angelic as she sounded. Half of her 20 song set consisted of songs from the stellar Let England Shake that favored the jangly strum of the Autoharp over the guitar, with older favorites getting a subdued makeover. As stunning of an album as Let England Shake is and despite sounding especially gorgeous live, the noise of the massive crowd often overpowered the delicate beauty of the music. The new PJ Harvey tour is a delight, but is ideally enjoyed in a more intimate environment. Animal Collective - San Miguel - 2:00 a.m. Photo by Frank Mojica Neo-psychedelic weirdsters Animal Collective have jumped from mid-tier to headliner since their last batch of festival touring three years ago thanks to the success of their latest and greatest full length, 2009's Merriweather Post Pavillion. In contrast to the two previous headliners, Animal Collective was far less of a crowd pleaser, only performing a handful of “hits” in a set filled with almost entirely unreleased material. Evolving new music in a live setting is how their albums have always developed, so it’s refreshing to see a band that stays true to their roots despite a sudden surge in popularity. Typically atypical Animal Collective sets might seem like an awkward match for a festival’s main stage, since the crowd is guaranteed not to be full of fans that know what to expect, and at Primavera, some in the crowd declared the performance too self-indulgent and without “proper songs” and left early. However, the majority remained, and they were treated to some new songs that not just showed a lot of promise and even outshone the older selections. In contrast to the light cubes and Creators Project collaboration at Coachella, the visual element of Animal Collective’s set at Primavera was more mysterious and less elaborate, with only moderate usage of house lights and some trippy, colorful animations projected on the screens that never flashed any footage of the band or crowd. If their Primavera headlining set is any indication, their polarizing nature will not lose all the Merriweather Post Pavillion bandwagon-jumpers and continue to draw more followers because of it. Gallery by Colin Athens [nggallery id=216] Gallery by Frank Mojica [nggallery id=217] ]]> http://consequenceofsound.net/2011/05/festival-review-cos-at-primavera-sound-11/feed/ 2 http://consequenceofsound.net/2011/04/festival-review-cos-at-coachella-2011/ http://consequenceofsound.net/2011/04/festival-review-cos-at-coachella-2011/#comments http://c438342.r42.cf2.rackcdn.com//wp-content/uploads/2011/04/coachella-2011.jpg Wed, 20 Apr 2011 16:52:57 +0000 Harry Painter http://consequenceofsound.net/?p=115390 It certainly seems like a time of change in the world of Coachella Music & Arts Festival. The premiere SoCal festival, well known for its perfect lineups, beautiful venue, and amazing atmosphere is in the adolescent stage of existence, and with it, like people, come new developments. Coachella completely switched things up this year, bringing in a whole different generation of headliners (Kings of Leon, the Strokes, Kanye West, and the Arcade Fire), a series of interesting reunions (London Suede, Duran Duran, DFA1979), several popular acts (Animal Collective, The Black Keys, Interpol), and several young, new faces on the scene of modern music (OFWGKTA, Tallest Man on Earth, Best Coast). All the music, paired up with a new artistic approach to the festival, yielded some interesting results.

It was almost a sensory overload this year. It’s safe to say there was too much to do. I can honestly say it didn’t help much adding a sixth stage to the schedule, and turning the Do-Lab from Smurf Village to a more practical stage. Friday was this year’s “Conflictchella” in which around the hours of two and five p.m. involved so many good acts playing simultaneously on various stages that it damn near caused aneurysms (OFWGKTA vs. Warpaint vs. the Drums vs. you get the idea). Saturday will forever go down as one of the most well-planned days in the history of the festival because, let’s face it, Bright Eyes -> Mumford and Sons -> Animal Collective -> Arcade Fire is modern music’s wet dream. And Sunday was a mixed bag of goodies (the Strokes murdered) and definitely some odd moments (Kanye, where were all your fellow rappers?).

And then there was the artwork…which took a whole new step up. This year, Coachella partnered with The Creators Project, adding a game-changing visual element to certain shows, as well as an in-between stage show that literally lit people up. There was the Spiritualized exhibit, which from the outside was a large silver cube in the back near the main stage, as well as the various usual oddities spread out all over the grounds. The stages themselves received massive upgrades — each tent, including the small Oasis Dome, now had screens on either side of the performers. Brazilian designer Muti Randolph upgraded the Sahara tent with a roof-spanning light installation, and the main stage underwent some awe-inspiring if unnecessary transformations before the top acts each night. In terms of the Coachella design, they took a step up, and in terms of the music, they just confused the shit out of everyone.

Photo by Matt Gainty

What matters here though isn’t the band selection, or the weird things scattered on the Polo Fields, but it’s the experience. People were skeptical this year with some of the choices, but you can’t get Radiohead to headline every year, and Coachella has already billed the biggest bands of the previous generation multiple times (do you all want Tool and the Peppers again?). The people at Coachella certainly know what they’re doing, and will always be able to deliver the public a fantastic weekend. It’s those who have had unwavering devotion to the festival that have to worry though. Times are changing, people, and so is Coachella…accept it.

-Ted Maider
Media Specialist

Friday, April 15th

The Rural Alberta Advantage – Outdoor Theatre – 1:15 p.m.

Fun fact: The Rural Alberta Advantage are not from Alberta at all, let alone rural Alberta. They’re actually from Toronto, Ontario, and they rock some. The singer has a bit of a Billy Corgan thing going, which is good or bad depending on whether you’re a Corgan fan. One member alternates between keys and a floor tom, while the third member annihilates the drums. As festival openers go, you can’t ask for more. -Harry Painter

!!! – Outdoor Theatre –  2:20 p.m.

Photo by Debi Del Grande

Disco-punk is taking over the world whether you want to acknowledge it or not. Despite the Friday afternoon heat, !!! vocalist and mascot Nic Offer was able to get the crowd on its feet and thrash about in the sun. Nic and company were no slouches themselves as they rocked through numbers like “Heart of Hearts” and “Must Be the Moon” to get everyone in a dance frenzy. Heat, good music, and lots of dancing can always get the party going, and this was a worthy start to the weekend. -Ted Maider

Brandt Brauer Frick – Gobi – 2:05 p.m.

These guys sometimes perform with an ensemble, but it was just the three of them (Brandt, Brauer, and Frick) at Coachella. The setup was one member manning the electronic drums while the other two toyed with synths. It got a little samey after a while, but Brandt Brauer Frick‘s original and hands-on take on techno was a delight at two in the afternoon. -Harry Painter

Cold Cave – Mojave – 3:00 p.m.

It seemed strange to have a band like Cold Cave playing in the middle of the day, but their dark mystique and catchy electro tunes sure had a place at Coachella. People bobbed their heads and grooved (somehow, to such dark music), while vocalist Wesley Eisold belted out his cynical and twisted lyrics. Even after all these years, and a total genre swap, the guy still knows how to channel his anger through a musical performance. Plus, he got people to rock out in the heat to “Confetti”, easily one of the band’s most badass tracks. -Ted Maider

Photo by Ted Maider

Omar Rodríguez-López – Gobi- 3:15 p.m.

Titus Andronicus conflicting with Omar Rodríguez-López so early in the day was a crime. Especially since he brought out The Mars Volta bandmate Cedric Bixler-Zavala to accompany him on vocals. You got basically the same thing you’d get from a Mars Volta show, at about half speed — much easier on the ears, actually. It would be nice to hear the guitarist without Bixler-Zavala one of these days, but no one is complaining about an unadvertised Mars Volta appearance. -Harry Painter

Skrillex – Sahara – 3:30 p.m.

The things one has to put up with to watch a damn hip-hop show at Coachella; with Odd Future coming on next, getting to the tent during Skrillex was a must. The former From First to Last frontman has some bangers, but whoever told him bringing out a nu-metal band was a good idea was yanking his chain. Yes, Jonathan Davis and Munky of Korn came out to do whatever it was they did, and helped Skrillex become the first in a long series of catastrophic Friday acts. Didn’t this used to be the dance tent? Wait, scratch that. Korn at Coachella? Really? -Harry Painter

Titus Andronicus – Outdoor Theatre – 3:30 p.m.

Photo by Debi Del Grande

When I learned Titus Andronicus was going to play the Outdoor, at three in the afternoon, I thought the Coachella planning team had just about lost their fucking minds. Civil war punk rock songs in sweltering heat are enough to take you back to the feelings of the soldiers alone, but Titus did what they do best…they shredded. Opening with “A More Perfect Union”, people embraced the punk and heat, kicking up dust and a flesh storm that sort of went out of control. Regardless, the band marched on, rocking out tracks like “No Future Part III: Escape From No Future”, “Richard II” and, of course, “Titus Andronicus” (complete with harmonica). Yes, it was hot, but lead singer Patrick Stickles encouraged us to drink our electrolytes, so we could rock as hard as he. -Ted Maider

Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All – Sahara – 4:30 p.m.

Photo by Ted Maider

Despite Odd Future‘s lack of danceability, it was the only tent that was going to be able to hold the flow of people. Still, if you’re going to take over the beloved Sahara, you’d better bring it — and Tyler and crew were not up to the challenge. Odd Future has put out some promising material, but you wouldn’t be able to tell if Coachella was your first experience with the group. OFWGKTA came out late in a burst of energy, but forgot to rap. Those who lament Wu-Tang’s live show don’t know how bad it can get; Odd Future’s formula was to scream lines, ignore the beat, and if one guy accidentally spoke over another, curse loudly to save face. Wu-Tang Clan? Please, at this point Odd Future’s live show is an unfunny, low-production Insane Clown Posse show. -Harry Painter

Cee-Lo Green – Coachella Stage – 4:50 p.m.

At Coachella, there are five stages, and if one act disappoints, there are always other options. Unfortunately, leaving Odd Future for the main stage was like moving from Port-au-Prince to Tokyo. Cee-Lo Green was even tardier than Odd Future, and by the time he came on at 5:30 p.m., the crowd had already let out several loud waves of boos. Cee-Lo apologized, offering the excuse that he had “just landed.”

Photo by Debi Del Grande

Okay, fair’s fair. However, Cee-Lo, who arrived not in a flamboyant peacock outfit or a Star Wars getup but a white tee, made things worse by bitching about his set time, then waiting two minutes for his Josie and the Pussycats knockoff backing band to play an uncoordinated “Iron Man” riff before finally singing a note. His set was half-assed, and his bassist was truly a disaster; she was off-key the whole afternoon, ruining both “Crazy” and the set closer, a comically mailed-in “Fuck You”. To his credit, Cee-Lo apologized and took the blame, before inciting a short-lived “Don’t Stop Believing” sing-along. Still, it’s going to take repeat views of that Grammy performance to wash off the stink. -Harry Painter

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart –  Mojave – 5:20 p.m.

Photo by Debi Del Grande

“Oh my God, can I just say I am having the best time at Coachella right now?” – Peggy Wang (keys)

With a great new album, and a true appreciation for the Coachella vibe, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart had no reason to be as depressed as their music makes them out to be. Sparking the early evening rays, the band came out looking hip yet excited. It wasn’t necessarily the show to catch if you wanted to jump-start your weekend, as most people sat longingly and watched their (beautiful) distortion wail, but it worked. When the band dished out a couple new tracks off their latest effort, Belong, including the new single “Heart in your Heartbreak”, people shuffled their feet and danced like playful children. It was happy, but that’s all. -Ted Maider

Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti – Gobi – 5:45 p.m.

Did I mention Friday didn’t work out so well? Ariel Pink and his band, but mostly just Ariel Pink, contributed to a hell of an afternoon with one of the funniest meltdowns in memory. Was it a joke? It appeared so. The show was going rather well, but Pink inexplicably stormed off stage after cutting off a song with, “I know you all hate me, but we’re going to stop playing now, so, sorry.” He shortly rejoined his Haunted Graffiti, all smiles, and finished the set — but half of the time, he stood there dancing awkwardly and let the band do the work. The chorus of “Round and Round” is actually rather soothing without a lead vocal part. -Harry Painter

Lauryn Hill – Coachella Stage – 6:05 p.m.

Photo by Debi Del Grande

Considering the train wrecks, you’d think watching Lauryn Hill, the reigning queen of unapologetic derailments, had zero chance of making the day any better. Then again, she wrote “Doo Wop”. Hill’s set worked out for a little bit; “Everything Is Everything” sounded okay. Then Hill proceeded to ruin “Lost Ones” beyond all recognition — okay, one more chance. Hill’s backup singers handled all the hard-to-reach notes on “Ex Factor”, which Hill sang with none of the passion that made it great over a decade ago. That was it for me; I like “Doo Wop” just the way it is, thank you. -Harry Painter

YACHT – Mojave – 6:25 p.m.

YACHT was a band many people were talking about prior to the festival. When it came time to see them though, it was quite surreal. They gave shout outs to disco-punk gods LCD Soundsystem, asked us if we believed in aliens, and played their brand of atmospheric dance tunes that went over quite well with the tent crowd. Tracks like “Dystopia” had the crowd chanting “The Earth is on fire,” and when they performed their hit, “Psychic City”, the whole place went bananas. -Ted Maider

Interpol – Coachella Stage – 7:25 p.m.

Photo by Debi Del Grande

In 2007, it was Interpol, not Kings of Leon or even Arcade Fire, that everyone thought would be headlining next time around. Instead, Interpol was demoted for Coachella 2011, having lost a bassist (or two) and popular momentum. New bassist Brad Truax filled in okay, although a timing slip-up during “Evil” was a drag; it didn’t help that the bass was way too high in the mix. Otherwise, Interpol went through the motions on hits like “Slow Hands”, “The Heinrich Maneuver”, and “Obstacle 1″, but never acted like they belonged at night on a big stage. New song “Lights”, backed up by some animation from David Lynch, was the surprise highlight. -Harry Painter

Cut Copy – Mojave – 8:35 p.m.

Cut Copy‘s popularity this year is reminiscent of Hot Chip’s popularity the first year they played Coachella. It’s only getting bigger from here. Cut Copy wasn’t in the Sahara, but the band turned that audience into a Sahara crowd. Dan Whitford’s vocals aren’t very flexible, so you have to really like that sort of thing to get into it. -Harry Painter

The Black Keys – Coachella Stage – 8:40 p.m.

Photo by Debi Del Grande

It was drummer Patrick Carney’s birthday, so the surrounding members of the now non-duo The Black Keys made note to rock extra hard. To kick off the set, older numbers like “Thickfreakness” took precedence, but soon enough newer material off of last year’s Brothers – “Tighten Up” and “Next Girl”, namely – rolled out. Carney celebrated his birthday in style, as the band thrashed about like dying sharks, absolutely annihilating their instruments in the process. The problem? The sound was unnecessarily low, causing the crowd to engage in a “Turn it up!” chant. This performance had gold all over it, but sadly, it was reduced to silver. -Ted Maider

Beardyman – Oasis Dome – 9:00 p.m.

I knew he was a beatboxer, I came to watch him beatbox, and when I got there I didn’t know he was beatboxing. Beardyman is pretty good. -Harry Painter

The Aquabats – Mojave –  9:45 p.m.

Photo by Ted Maider

Oh! The fury of The Aquabats! For a while now, Coachella attendees have wanted the famous ska team, known for their comic book gimmicks, to grace to Polo Fields with a show. Finally, they obliged, by delivering the goods complete with giant inflatable enemies, a superhero video intro, and evil cavemen. And it helped that they played jams like “BFF”, “Pizza Day”, and “The Cat with 2 Heads” to cause a dedicated, partly costumed crowd to rock out. Not to mention an on-stage appearance from Danny DeVito, as well as two members of the Kings of Leon, who claimed to “love the Aquabats” before rushing off. -Ted Maider

Kings of Leon – Coachella Stage – 9:55 p.m.

Unlike Muse, who took about as long as Kings of Leon to finally hit it big in America, the Followills don’t care much for relying on impressive visuals. There was smoke and there were lights, but beyond that, Kings of Leon put on a bare-bones rock (okay, soft-rock) show. There’s certainly something admirable about that; however, people expect something from a headline act, whether it’s visuals, unbelievable musicianship, or just an outstanding physical performance. The band has been through this fest-headlining routine in both Europe and America now, but none of these traits were evident at Coachella. 

They didn’t feel like Kings of anything, but they delivered a well-constructed set friendly to longtime fans. Caleb declared the band was “tired of playing the new stuff,” just before diving into a one-two punch of hits “Molly’s Chambers” and “The Bucket”. There was a healthy selection off Aha Shake Heartbreak and Youth and Young Manhood, but all the new songs that you’re sick of made appearances as well. Predictably, Kings of Leon saved “Sex on Fire” and “Use Somebody” for the end, before closing with Because of the Times track “Black Thumbnail”.

The first of two headliners who weren’t really headliners put on a better show than the indie crowd will admit. Plus, they came out to “Bitches Ain’t Shit”, which is a truly unhateable move. Still, Kings of Leon deserve some of that hate — even with plenty of old songs, those new ballads are just too much. Now that they’re officially rock stars with a bunch of American hits, maybe it’s time to rock again so that next time the Followills play Coachella, the fellas can have some fun, too. -Harry Painter

The Chemical Brothers – Coachella Stage – 11:40 p.m.

Photo by Harry Painter

Goldenvoice had to do this…a main stage Chemical Brothers show to wrap up day one. The “brothers” were 45 minutes late (thus the brothers never truly got to “work it out”), and the candy crowd certainly hates to wait. But, as soon as the opening of “Galvanize” came over the speakers, everybody in the crowd went absolutely ape shit. Nobody stopped dancing for the entire hour and 20 minutes they played. Everyone was treated to their favorite gems like “Star Guitar”, “Hey Boy Hey Girl,”  and the new hit, “Swoon”. When the plug was pulled on them around 1:20 a.m., everyone begged them to play one more song, but instead Ed and Tom waved good night, and day one was officially over. Maybe next year, we’ll get Daft Punk. -Ted Maider

Saturday, April 16th

EE – Gobi – 11:50 a.m.

EE was one of the artists collaborating with The Creators Project, which to almost everyone watching meant nothing. To the layperson, it meant the first act in the Gobi was a Korean indie pop group with a DJ and b-boys, and lots of colorful, crazy outfits and good photos. Swag? -Harry Painter

Photo by Ted Maider

The Joy Formidable – Gobi – 12:55 p.m.

Every year at Coachella, there’s at least one band that comes on before three in the afternoon and turns out to be one of the best acts at the festival. The Joy Formidable was that band this year. The three-piece from Wales plays blistering, crunchy, indie rock with a hint of shoegaze, and boasts a winner in frontwoman Ritzy Bryan (winning name too). After demolishing the tent and inciting way too much applause for the time slot, the band went old school and broke its equipment. It seemed kind of out of place, but that’s because rock and roll is dead, right? -Harry Painter

The Twelves – Sahara – 1:30 p.m.

The Brazilian duo that is The Twelves has garnered praise for its remixes, some of which the duo showed off early Friday in the Sahara. Many a dance was to be had to versions of Metric’s “Help, I’m Alive”, Daft Punk’s “Aerodynamic”, and the infectious “I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance with You” by The Black Kids. -Harry Painter

The Tallest Man on Earth – Gobi – 3:00 p.m.

Photo by Debi Del Grande

It was pretty hot at this point in the day, and the music of Kristian Matsson was the perfect cure for everyone’s exhaustion. The solo performer arrived on stage for sound check, and jammed the whole time, making up songs on the spot just to tease the crowd. When it finally came time for his set to begin, he had already been playing for 10 minutes. People in the crowd squirted water at one another, as he soothed us with tracks like “King of Spain”, “Troubles Will Be Gone” (afterward, he assured us they would), and “You’re Going Back”. All by himself, he hypnotized that crowd to the point that despite how hot and sweaty they may have been, they really didn’t want to leave. -Ted Maider

Foals – Mojave – 3:15 p.m.

Several text messages and a packed-to-capacity Mojave tent indicated that Foals clearly had something radical going on for their set. Upon my arrival, the entire tent was bouncing furiously as the U.K. export banged their instruments in a fit of dance-punk fury. They had the entire tent on its feet jumping in unison to gnarly cuts of “Spanish Sahara” and “Two Steps, Twice”, all while expelling loads of energy. Exciting. -Ted Maider

Gogol Bordello – Coachella Stage- 3:35 p.m.

Photo by Debi Del Grande

Everyone’s favorite gypsy punks concentrated mostly on Trans-Continental Hustle material, but it never really makes a difference what Gogol Bordello plays. Every time, you are going to get a) a Sean Connery-looking fellow with a fiddle, b) accordion solos, and c) approximately nine people on stage looking to give you the best show of the year, if not your life. Eugene Hutz, one of the best frontmen in rock, shirtless with red wine dripping down his chest, succeeded in getting all the Erykah Badu fans to scream “Break the Spell” like they meant it. That’s how you do a show. -Harry Painter

Delta Spirit – Outdoor Theatre – 4:05 p.m.

Talk about a wrong stage at the wrong time. Delta Spirit were giving it their all at the Outdoor Theatre, but this did not coincide with what other people were feeling. Songs were met with dull cheers, as the crowd lay around sluggishly watching the band play fairly new material. If this show had been going on in a tent, they might have received a better reaction. As it was, people looked too fatigued to enjoy the Long Beach quintet. -Ted Maider

Photo by Harry Painter

Cage the Elephant – Outdoor Theatre – 5:20 p.m.

As the sun started to wither, and people began to rehydrate, Cage the Elephant called to arms. Immediately upon hitting the first notes of “In One Ear”, the audience rushed the stage like a rogue wave. This set the tone for the whole performance. Singer Matthew Shultz arrived sporting a red sundress, and ran around the stage, periodically jumping into the crowd (this clearly pissed off security, but hey, he’s there to put on a show). The band rocked through a number of its songs, and got a crowd sing-along for its gem, “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked”.  To finalize everything, Shultz brought loads of patrons on stage to dance with him as they knocked out “Sabertooth Tiger”. Random note: Throughout the duration of the show, fighter jets above wrote Lady Gaga lyrics in the sky. -Ted Maider

Broken Social Scene – Coachella Stage – 6:05 p.m.

Photo by Debi Del Grande

Canada’s second most-popular indie rock band cued the setting of Friday’s Coachella sun with some of the fan favorites which have become standard in Broken Social Scene‘s sets: “Texico Bitches”, “7/4 Shoreline”, “Anthems for a 17-Year-Old Girl”, and “Meet Me in the Basement”. Lisa Lobsinger came to help out beginning with “Anthems”. It was low-key in the way only BSS can do low-key and it was spectacular as always. And those horns on set closer “Meet Me in the Basement”, the horns from heaven that erupted for an extended finale, they never get old. -Harry Painter

Elbow – Mojave – 7:00 p.m.

Photo by Debi Del Grande

I’ve never been one to rationalize a band’s status here by pointing out that they headline arenas in the U.K. — what terrible logic — but Elbow really deserves more exposure here. That they can only fill up a quarter of the Mojave is a sign of the direction of Coachella’s fanbase; bands like Elbow, Wire, and The London Suede would’ve filled their tents three years ago. Still, as empty as it was, Elbow was not taken aback and performed to high standards. Frontman Guy Garvey led the crowd in clap-alongs for nearly every song, and displayed multi-instrumental capabilities to complement his vocal talents. The band, which has previously performed its 2009 album The Seldom Seen Kid with the BBC Concert Orchestra, was accompanied by a string section for Coachella. -Harry Painter

Bright Eyes – Coachella Stage – 7:20 p.m.

Photo by Debi Del Grande

Conor Oberst returned to Coachella. This time, he brought his famed unit, Bright Eyes. Nevertheless, the crowd spent the hour buzzing about. What moved them even more was how hard Oberst actually rocked some of his finest tracks. He dedicated “We Are Nowhere and It’s Now” to all those who randomly came to Coachella, just as the sun dipped behind the mountains for a quick, eye-soothing natural occurrence. Soon after, the stage turned into a trippy light show for everyone, which highlighted tracks like “Approximate Sunlight” and “Old Soul Song”, the latter of which might have been the most beautiful moment on the Polo Field that day. In their 50-minute set, Bright Eyes captured the spirit of Coachella perfectly, as music and nature aligned with one another for one amazing set. -Ted Maider

Shpongle – Sahara – 7:50 p.m.

Photo by Harry Painter

I’m not sure the Sahara tent has ever been so empty at night; but then, One Day as a Lion was sparsely attended in the Mojave, and Elbow filled the Mojave to about 25 percent capacity at best. Welcome to the emerging career of Mumford and Sons, ladies and gentlemen. It’s a shame, though; The Shpongletron Experience is not something that people will be able to see whenever they like, and it’s worth seeing. Especially if mushrooms are involved. Shpongle deejays atop a giant, glowing, psychedelic fixture, complete with lights and Eastern religious imagery, and there are dancing girls and psychedelic trance. What’s not to like? -Harry Painter

One Day as a Lion – Mojave – 8:15 p.m.

After Zack de la Rocha showed up to the Empire Polo Field with Rage Against the Machine four years ago, people were expecting big things for the band’s future. When big things didn’t happen, out came a little five-song EP by One Day as a Lion. Nothing happened again, and now we’re here. And really, it’s not so bad. Along with Death from Above 1979, De La Rocha and Jon Theodore (still incredible behind the kit) may be the only bands ever to incite mosh pits with a dinky keyboard — and they were both at the same festival! De La Rocha doesn’t seem to rap anymore, which would be okay if he didn’t overuse that reverb effect on every song. Still, it’s such a relief to see De La Rocha can branch out and do something that doesn’t suck, unlike certain other Rage Against the Machine members. -Harry Painter

Big Audio Dynamite – Outdoor Theatre – 9:05 p.m.

Photo by Debi Del Grande

Mick Jones’ other band — not Gorillaz; his other other band — sounds awfully dated in 2011, just as dated as Duran Duran. But damned if they aren’t a riot. Big Audio Dynamite played songs your mother won’t remember like “E=MC2″, the BAD theme song “BAD”, and what Jones described as a “country western hip-hop ballad” (not far off), “The Battle of All Saints Road”. It’s not mandatory viewing, but any big fan of The Clash would get something out of a BAD set. -Harry Painter

Animal Collective – Coachella Stage – 9:45 p.m.

And the award for Best Visual Performance goes to….

The thing about Coachella that truly sets it apart from other festivals is the ability to watch bands grow. When Animal Collective played three years ago, they performed at one of the smallest stages…at the same time as Portishead. When they returned this year, with several new tracks and some classic cuts (“Summertime Clothes” finale, “Did You See the Words”), they brought with them the most spectacular visual show to grace the main stage this year. Flashes of color, creepy worm-like animations, and several large cubes loomed above their heads, making for one of the most unique sets of the weekend. This is the new age of psychedelic….and they are the leaders behind it. -Ted Maider

The London Suede – Mojave – 10:40 p.m.

Photo by Debi Del Grande

Coachella wasn’t able to pick up Pulp, but it got the next best thing — the band known back home as Suede. Only when you surround a Britpop mainstay like Suede with a bunch of 2010s indie bands do you realize how long it’s been since the ’90s. Suede got right back on the horse for its first U.S. show since reuniting, playing its heart out on favorites like “Animal Nitrate” and “Trash”, and closing with “Metal Mickey” and “Beautiful Ones”. Even without Bernard Butler, it wouldn’t be the worst thing if these guys stuck around for a while and made some green. They deserve it. -Harry Painter

Arcade Fire – Coachella Stage – 11:20 p.m.

“If you had told me in 2002 we’d be headlining Coachella with Animal Collective playing before us, I’d have told you that you were full of shit.” –Win Butler

In a career defining performance, the Arcade Fire proved via the Coachella ladder of success that they are officially one of the most important bands of our time. People furiously rushed the stage during set break, and camped out ruthlessly to wait for the band. Moments prior to their arrival, a series of odd Grindhouse trailers played, before the “feature presentation”. A timely female began singing about May, and I muttered “Month of May” under my breath. A split second later I was proven right, as the band vigorously launched into that one-chord intro, and immediately pulled the rug out from everybody’s feet.

Everyone sang, everyone danced, everyone screamed, and everyone was reduced to rubble by the show Arcade Fire put on. The band’s live performance has come so far, and this performance proved it. Win, Régine, and co. followed the hectic opener with “Rebellion (Lies)” that tugged at everyone to join in, various cuts from The Suburbs accompanied by imagery from their new film, and the most kickass version of “Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)” that resulted in crowd surfing and head-banging. Prior to their encore, they launched into “Wake Up”, which ended with several hundred white inflatable balls containing colored lights inside to fall from the stage. The crowd was covered to the point where they could no longer see.

To bring us back to life, the band returned for an encore of three more tracks, including the most epic finale version of “Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)”, wrapping up one of Coachella’s most well-planned days to date. Arcade Fire has come so far, from playing an afternoon slot on the Outdoor Theatre to headlining, and showing 60,000 people that it is the best band on the planet right now. This is their apex; enjoy it as much as they do. -Ted Maider

Sunday, April 17th

Delorean – Gobi – 2:00 p.m.

The Ibiza revival band from Spain, Delorean, is always a fun catch. Ekhi Lopetegi and co. are top-notch performers, and turned a half-empty tent into a full tent within the span of 40 minutes. Lopetegi’s vocals are weak live, however, and sound nothing like the recordings. Delorean would be a must-see event if he could work on that aspect of Delorean’s shows. Until then, they’re a see-it-if-you-know-what’s-good-for-you event. -Harry Painter

MEN – Mojave – 2:20 p.m.

Le Tigre member JD Samson is a hell of a frontwoman/man/whatever and makes for 90 percent of MEN‘s stage presence. The other 10? A combination of the trio of interconnected helmets, Bret “The Hitman” Hart pink and black jumpsuits, and lyrics like “I’m gonna fuck my friends.” MEN covered Bikini Kill’s (that would be, of course, Kathleen Hanna of Le Tigre’s old band) “Double Dare Ya” to end a raucous, fun set. However, let the “Are We Not Devo” jokes commence. -Harry Painter

Wiz Khalifa – Coachella Stage – 3:45 p.m.

Photo by Debi Del Grande

Wiz Khalifa‘s song “When I’m Gone” begins with “They say all I rap about is bitches and champagne.” Not true — his lyrics unsubtly cover the always-popular territory of cannabis as well, don’t you know. As a matter of fact, Khalifa spent as much time talking about weed as performing Sunday. At Coachella, on the main stage at 4 p.m., that is a problem. It’s too damn hot to pay mind to a guy who lip-syncs to uninspired Empire of the Sun samples, has his DJ cue up extended Nate Dogg tributes, and whose hype man finishes most of his lines for him. And he must have burned five minutes of his 50 allotted advertising Chuck Taylor shoes and his new album Rolling Papers (it’s out now in stores and on iTunes, by the way).

He had some moments, though. He played a few solid cuts off Rolling Papers in addition to the older stuff, and an a capella performance of his verse from his Snoop Dogg collaboration “That Good” was probably the best 30 seconds of hip-hop at Coachella. -Harry Painter

Nas and Damian Marley – Coachella Stage – 5:00 p.m.

Photo by Debi Del Grande

Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley was no rookie to the Polo Field, but with Nas, they brought a whole new kind of heat. As the Rasta flag was waved high, Nas spit fire, while Damian Marley and his band pulled the crowd to their feet and thus a dance party ensued. Of course, no Marley show is complete without a cover of his father’s work (“Could You Be Loved”) which sparked good vibes and several joints. But at the same time, the hip-hop crowd’s needs were met while Nas performed cuts like “One Mic”, and a (for some reason) no-Lauryn Hill version of “If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)”. What really rocked though was when Marley and Nas worked together on duets “Nah Mean” and “As We Enter”, as it brought on a whole new kind of party to the main stage on Sunday. -Ted Maider

Death from Above 1979 – Coachella Stage – 6:10 p.m.

Photo by Debi Del Grande

As excited as the crowd appeared, there was a lingering fear to this potentially riotous set. As soon as Death from Above 1979 started with “Turn it Out”, however, the fears became reality, and a huge hole for moshing ripped open amidst the crowd. It was difficult to breathe, several were pushed around violently, yet everyone screamed the lyrics. While people were hoping they’d be on a smaller stage for more mayhem, the crowd didn’t seem to have a problem stomping the crap out of each other on the biggest stage for one of the most intense shows of the weekend. The Toronto duo roared through “Romantic Rights”, a terrifying version of “Pull Out”, and even a sing-along of “Little Girl” to make it the deadliest show of the whole weekend. Blood was certainly spilled; it’s just that this time it was that of the fans, and not a police horse. -Ted Maider

Trentemøller – Mojave – 7:10 p.m.

Backed by a live band — and fronted at the beginning by a cage of, well, ribbons — Danish producer Trentemøller laid out an onslaught of arpeggios and downtempo ambient music to an early Sunday night crowd. Trentemøller was followed in the Mojave Sunday by Ratatat, Leftfield, and The Presets, all of which we missed. And that’s why we hate Coachella. -Harry Painter

The National – Outdoor Theatre – 7:25 p.m.

Photo by Debi Del Grande

The National is so appropriate to close the Outdoor Theatre at sundown it would almost be an insult to give them the exposure of a later Coachella Stage slot. Flawless as usual, The National played through the festival set it has been touring with since High Violet came out (two off Alligator, two or three off Boxer, the rest off High Violet). It would be nice to get an old song here and there, and “Abel” does not count, Mr. Dessner. The National invited Justin Vernon of Bon Iver and fellow Coachella band Gayngs to play guitar on “Terrible Love”. -Harry Painter

Duran Duran – Coachella Stage – 7:25 p.m.

Photo by Debi Del Grande

Frontman Simon Le Bon made it clear that he, along with his legendary unit Duran Duran, were more excited about playing Coachella than anyone else. While there wasn’t a whole lot of talk about the Polo Field of them, they sure rounded up a large crowd on Sunday, proving to the world that after 30-something years the ’80s still prove cool. Every soul found rhythm during a spot-on rendition of “Hungry Like the Wolf”, including the drunken fans at the nearby beer garden, who chugged along as they danced about madly. In addition to the nightclub anthem, the band also dusted off classics like “Notorious”, dedicated “A View to Kill” (yes, the Bond song) to the late John Barry, and keyboardist Nick Rhodes took photos of the audience as they finally brought the house down with “Girls on Film”. Apparently, Coachella will always have a home for the ’80s. -Ted Maider

The Strokes – Coachella Stage – 8:55 p.m.

Sure, The Strokes shared the headlining slot on the bill with Kanye West, but everyone knew who the real headliner was, regardless of personal taste. The Strokes were second banana, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t earn their top billing. Playing a career-spanning set as well as five new songs, The Strokes continued their bid to re-endear themselves to the world at Coachella.

Plus some newcomers, as well. There were throngs of kids in the pit who couldn’t have been older than five or six when Is This It came out, waiting eagerly next to the 20-somethings who grew up on the likes of The Strokes and The White Stripes. It doesn’t feel like it’s been that long, but hey, five years of inactivity can make you into a legend these days.

Photo by Debi Del Grande

Anyway, young Strokes fans, old Strokes fans, and Kanye fans alike were all bouncing by the time the opening riff of “I Can’t Win” tore into the field. The Strokes play the songs people want to hear, so outside of the Angles cuts, it was all hits from there. The sing-alongs manifested throughout the whole set, but were most prominent for “Last Nite”, “Reptilia”, and “Under Cover of Darkness”. The only slow moments were the new wave revival tune “Games” and fellow Angles track “Gratisfaction”.

Julian Casablancas was uncharacteristically chipper; the random trucker hat he was wearing along with his leather jacket and shades might have had something to do with it. He made fun of Duran Duran (“Was that a flute solo I heard? Just checking.”) and more energetic rock frontmen (“Generic lead singer-speak: You motherfuckers ready?!”). This kind of humor lasted throughout the night and it was nice to see all of them in good spirits. -Harry Painter

Bloody Beetroots Death Crew 77 –  Sahara – 9:35 p.m.

The techno-metal masters of insanity played Sunday night to a very rowdy and visually nutty Sahara tent. The noise that the Bloody Beetroots Death Crew 77 call music was accompanied by a light show that really took things to a whole other level. But it was the Beetroot’s craziness that was getting this crowd hopped up. While I only was able to catch the end of their set, what I saw totally freaked me out…and now I fear the assault the Death Crew 77 could possibly do to our ears. -Ted Maider

PJ Harvey – Outdoor Theatre – 9:45 p.m.

Photo by Harry Painter

It was very hard to leave PJ Harvey‘s set for Kanye West, which was obviously the point, those evil bastard schedule monkeys. It’s a tragedy that there’s ever something more important than PJ Harvey going on at the same time, but such is Conflictchella. She was scheduled to leave her stage around the time he took his, but Harvey’s Outdoor Theatre-closing set ran well into the third or fourth Kanye song, which was disastrous for the stage conflict but awesome for Harvey fans. Harvey played mostly songs off Let England Shake, but gave oldies like “Meet Ze Monsta” and “Down by the Water” some life. -Harry Painter

Kanye West – Coachella Stage – 10:30 p.m.

Mr. West claimed his Coachella closing set, something of a redemption show after Swiftgate and a year of gay fish jokes, was his “most important show since [his] mom died,” and he backed up this claim by dedicating it to her and even closing with “Hey Mama”.

So how’d he do?

Mama should be proud. Sure, he didn’t bring out Rihanna or Jay-Z or Nas or Ludacris or Talib Kweli or Die Antwoord. Sure, there were some ups and downs and some kinks that need to be worked out. But by and large, Kanye West proved Sunday he deserves and can handle a major headlining spot.

West landed a first at Coachella, dare I say a one-up on Prince — he was delivered to the Coachella Stage on a giant crane as he carefully spit out the words to My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy opener “Dark Fantasy”, accompanied by Justin Vernon, who had a busy weekend. When he finally touched ground, he quickly broke out “Power” (a song he claimed he thought about performing at Coachella as soon as he wrote it) and early hit “Jesus Walks”. His set, as expected, was made up almost entirely of hits, from “Diamonds from Sierra Leone”, “All Falls Down”, and “Through the Wire” to later singles like “Stronger”, “Heartless”, and last fall’s omnipresent banger “Monster” (fucking hands were seen at the concert). The climactic combination of “Runaway”, with guest Pusha-T, and “Lost in the World”, with Vernon again, was simply stunning.

The show was as much performance art as music; West won the more-people-on-stage-than-Arcade-Fire award by having on the whole team of ballerinas from the “Runaway” video back for a live rendition of that creepy choreography. There were costume changes, props, and most importantly, lots and lots of pyro. He overdid it on that front; by the middle of the show, there had been so much pyro it had long since shed its intended effect.

Photo by Debi Del Grande

Let’s face it: As West admitted during his little speech about 808s and Heartbreak, he can’t sing for shit. Which is why it was a good call to throw the three cuts off that album in the middle, so as not to detract from the flow. Still, he can’t sing for shit, and he made it worse by attempting these bizarre diva vocal breaks as if he were Christina Aguilera. “Love Lockdown” sounded more like a poetry reading at open mic night than a hip-hop concert. The night ended with more embarrassment for everyone except Kanye as he left us hanging with that whole “mamamam-m-mama” bit from “Hey Mama”, and no encore even when the crowd demanded one.

Still, he’s pretty good at hiding the weaknesses and highlighting the strengths. He has surprisingly good breath control, especially after a show just under two hours; he knows how to pace himself. He’s a born entertainer, as everyone knows, and for better or for worse concentrated on performing first and rapping second. Sure, there had to be some lingering disappointment after West closed such a high-energy, hit-filled set with an ode to his dead mother. But the two hours leading up to it earned him an excuse to play that song, and who are we kidding, Kanye will do whatever the hell he wants anyway. He’ll do it at Coachella and he’ll do it at Wrigley Field. -Harry Painter

Did you like the videos? Feel like you could do it yourself? You can! With a Sony Bloggie Touch HD, the festival’s yours for the keeping! Then again, you could always try and win one, too.

Gallery by Debi Del Grande

Our writers couldn’t make it everywhere, but photographer Debi Del Grande sure did. Her eyes went all over Polo Field, and now you, the reader, get to benefit from them.

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The countdown to Coachella 2011 is just three days, and while attendees are still waiting for set times to be revealed, those unfortunate people without tickets (or who have fake clasps) can begin planning their weekend. As it has been for the last several years, Coachella will be streaming a portion of this year’s festivities on the web. Update: The webcast schedule has been revealed! Among the many scheduled highlights: Kanye West, Arcade Fire, The Strokes, Death From Above 1979, PJ Harvey, The Black Keys, The National, Big Audio Dynamite, Duran Duran, The New Pornographers, The Kills, Empire of the Sun, Lauryn Hill, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, Erykah Badu, Broken Social Scene, Chromeo, Titus Andronicus, Ratatat, and The Pains of Being Pure at Heart.

The whole thing will be streamed at Coachella’s YouTube channel, and you can check out the schedule below. (All times are PDT.)

Sunday
Channel 1
04:00PM – Wiz Khalifa
05:00PM – Nas & Damian Marley
06:10PM – Death from Above 1979
07:25PM – The National
08:30PM – Ratatat
08:55PM – The Strokes
10:30PM – Kanye West

Channel 2
04:00PM – Fun.
05:55PM – Fistful of Mercy
07:25PM – Duran Duran
08:35PM – Chromeo
09:45PM – PJ Harvey
11:10PM – She Wants Revenge

Channel 3
02:20PM – MEN
03:50PM – Angus & Julia Stone
04:45PM – HEALTH
06:05PM – Best Coast
06:55PM – Foster the People

On February 18th, CoS’s own Nick Freed went out on a limb and labeled PJ Harvey‘s newest release Let England Shake the “best album for 2011″– brave considering what else dropped from across the pond on that date. Fans of the multi-faceted singer songwriter resoundingly agreed, quickly snatching up every seat of her ongoing tour.

For U.S. fans that aren’t fortunate enough to witness Harvey’s live show surrounded by a few thousand new best friends, Polly Jean and company stopped by Conan last night to perform “The Last Living Rose” before heading off into the California desert. Like the wedding-esque dress Harvey donned for the performance, fitting given the album was recorded in a 19th century English church, the beauty of “The Last Living Rose” is in its simplicity. Accompanied by a stripped down melody and brief keyed-out trumpet arrangement, Harvey’s sentimental lyrics left those comfortably nestled into bed hanging on to her final quiver.

Watch the performance in the video above, via The Audio Perv.

PJ Harvey 2011 Tour Dates:
04/14 – San Francisco, CA @ Warfield Theater (Sold Out)
04/17 – Indio, CA @ Coachella Music Festival
04/19 – New York, NY @ Terminal 5 (Sold Out)
04/20 – New York, NY @ Terminal 5 (Sold Out)
05/25 – Lisbon, PT @ Aula Magna (Sold Out)
05/26 – Lisbon, PT @ Aula Magna (Sold Out)
05/28 – Barcelona, ES @ Primavera Sound
05/30 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso (Sold Out)
05/31 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso (Sold Out)
06/30 – Roskilde, DK @ Roskilde Festival
07/02 – Werchter, BE @ Rock Werchter
07/03 – Arras, FR @ Main Square Festival
07/06 – Ferrara, IT @ Piazza Castello
07/15 – Aix-Les-Bain, FR @ Musilac Festival
07/23 – London, UK @ ATP’s I’ll Be Your Mirror
09/02 – Stradbally, IE @ Electric Picnic
09/10 – Isle of Wight, UK @ Bestival

The 11-track set features longtime Stones producer (and current Ryan Adams pal) Glynn Johns at the mixing board and finds Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, Ronnie Wood, and ex-Stones bassis Bill Wyman coming together to record a version of Bob Dylan’s “Watchin’ The River Flow”. The lineup doesn’t completely collaborate together for any other tracks, but Boogie does feature Richards, Watts, and Woods playing on versions of classics like Amos Milburn’s “Rooming House Boogie” and Big Maceo’s “Worried Life Blues”, the latter of which sees Richards on vocals.

Also contributing to the cause are Jools Holland and none other than Ms. Polly Jean Harvey who contributes her unique warble to a version of Ray Charles’ 1956 hit, “Lonely Avenue”. Eagle Records is handling the distribution, but pre-orders are happening at Amazon.com, and a complete tracklist is available below.

Boogie 4 Stu Tracklist:
01. Boogie Woogie Stomp
02. Rooming House Boogie
03. Worried Life Blues
04. Boogie For Stu
05. Make Me A Pallet On Your Floor
06. Midnight Blues
07. Lonely Avenue
08. Watching The River Flow
09. Roll Em’ Pete
10. Suitcase Blues
11. Bring It On Home To Me

And how do I know this?  They’ll be too busy obsessing over that new Radiohead record.

Come to think of it, what I am doing here? I should be listening to that record myself. Like right now.

Excuse me…

Oh, and feel free to skim the following recap. That is, if you haven’t already come to your senses like I have.

See you next week, same time and place.

– Download the Radiohead new record. And watch this video while you’re at it.

– Arcade Fire won album of the year at the Grammys. That’s right. ALBUM OF THE FREAKING YEAR.

– Win Butler and co. are also going on tour!

– Bonnaroo 2011‘s lineup is finally here!! (note the double exclamation points)

– What do U2, Coldplay, and, um, Beyonce have in common? They’re slated to headline this year’s installment of Glastonbury.

– South By Southwest made even more additions to its already stacked 2011 bill.

– LCD Soundsystem made their final television appearance on — you guessed it — The Colbert Report.

– The Strokes announced a date at Madison Square Garden.

– Jeff Mangum came out of hiding to schedule a small tour and curate an ATP Festival.

– Soundgarden revealed that they’ve been writing some “cool” new music, too.

– Blur followed suit. However, they insist that we won’t hear any of that  material for a very, very long time.

– Phoenix discussed their yet-to-be-recorded fifth LP, the follow-up the massively popular Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix.

– Death Cab for Cutie confirmed the release date for their forthcoming album, Codes and Keys.

– Foo Fighters‘ forthcoming album now has a title.

– Jim Morrison rose from the dead… kind of.

– Rammstein will tour North America for the first time in a long time.

– Prince added even more dates to his Welcome 2 America tour.

– MTV detailed the pending resurrection of Beavis and Butt-Head.

– Odd Future tore it up on Fallon.

– The Cars are back… for the first time in 24 years.

– What would week  here at CoS be without one of our trademark giveaways? Click here to find out more.

– Nick Freed reviewed the best non-Radiohead album of 2011 (so far): PJ Harvey‘s Let England Shake.

– Swedish pop starlet Robyn played Chicago’s Riveria on Valentine’s Day. Jeremy D. Larson was there.

– Larson also found time to interview Wild Nothing‘s Jack Tatum this week.

– Don’t forget to check out Cluster 1 either.

My exposure to Harvey is somewhat limited to her Mercury Prize-winning Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea—which is a bluesy, more straightforward affair that many called her greatest album when it came out in 2000—and a few tracks from 2007’s White Chalk. Harvey’s new album is a complete turnaround from Stories’ more alternative-rock style and White Chalk’s moody introspective lyrics. Harvey has let her natural accent come through strong and exaggerated, added some skiffle influences in the music, and her use of strings and horns create a sound that is similar to Radiohead’s use on recent albums. It all combines together to give Let England Shake a very, for want of a better word, English sound. It isn’t bluesy, or dark and brooding. It is strong, angry, powerful, bitter, but still churning and, at times, upbeat.

Harvey made sure to pick the perfect place to record this fantastic English album. She traveled to an old church in the countryside of England. The 19^th Century church on a cliff-top in Dorset is the perfect setting for the songs on Let England Shake. The music benefits from the natural echo of the church and gives it an almost sanctified quality, especially in “All and Everyone” and “Hanging in the Wire”. Harvey’s auto-harp rings for days in what seems like the natural reverb of the space. Her voice has a shaky, almost Bjork-like quality to it that sounds absolutely incredible on songs like opener “Let England Shake”. The producer, Flood, allows her voice to ring and drift throughout the album—letting the church halls soak in and shoot out her beautiful tone—but he also knows when to bring it right to the listener’s ears. Her vocal tone fits the jingle of the auto-harp and lush strings perfectly. Harvey also utilizes a couple samples from other songs—including some lines from “Summer Time Blues” by Eddie Cochran in “The Words that Maketh Murder”, and the perfectly placed sample from “Blood and Fire” by Niney the Observer in “Written on the Forehead”. The latter sample is tucked back and soaked in just enough reverb to sound almost like a ghost moving in and out of the room.

Harvey’s lyrics have always been something to marvel at, but on this album they are nothing short of incredible. Album stand outs “Bitter Branches”, “Let England Shake”, “All and Everyone”, “The Words that Maketh Murder”, and “The Glorious Land” are incredibly poetic songs about England at war. The songs are filled with brutal images of fallen soldiers, presumably, from World Wars I and II. In the driving “Bitter Branches”, Harvey paints a wonderfully poignant picture of soldiers leaving home for the war, and “Holding up their rifles high/holding their young wives/who wave goodbye.” By the end, the soldiers are twisted in the earth in death and the wives’ arms are “bitter branches” that are “spreading into the world” as they “wave good-bye”. Harvey delivers the lines with venom and grace while the drums and guitars chug along underneath. The last note of “wave goodbye” lingers and rings on beautifully.

“All and Everyone” is an unflinching, straightforward description of what was awaiting those soldiers in the field: certain death. Right from the start, Harvey personifies Death and lays the lines “Death was everywhere/in the air/and in the sounds/coming off the mounds/on Bolton’s Ridge” on top of sparse and echoing autoharp. Her voice echoes all around you as the percussion builds and booms like bombs as she moves from the beaches to the forts where Death was “waiting in the copses/with hearts that threatened to pop their boxes” and “Death was all and everyone.” Harvey moves back to the beaches where “death hung in the smoke/and clung to 400 acres of useless beachfront”. Death returns in the “staring sun” to rattle the “bones of the Light Horsemen still lying out there in the open.” Harvey follows this with one of the best lines on the album: “as we, advancing in the sun, sing ‘Death to all and everyone.’”

The first verse of “The Words that Maketh Murder” is another perfect example of Harvey’s heartbreaking and vivid images. She smokes out: “I’ve seen and done things I want to forget/I’ve seen soldiers fall like lumps of meat/Blown and shot out beyond belief/Arms and legs were in the trees.” That vision of soldiers falling like “lumps of meat”, and “arms and legs” in the trees, has been hanging in my head for days. She goes on to added “flies swarming everyone” and “flesh quivering in the heat” to the mix, before ending the song on a driving beat and the refrain of the Cochran song being chanted in the background. It’s a moving song that refuses to leave your head, and lyrics that not only let me picture a WW I battle scene but also ties to modern war images.

This is one thing that I was also amazed by—the timeless quality the album has already. All the war images, and the graphic deaths, not only are tied closely to World War trench war fare, but also invoke modern images and battle footage of Vietnam, the Middle East, riots in the streets, any conflict of humans killing humans. Harvey has spot-on nailed the hopeless expanse of war and death in the name of progress. As she says in “On Battleship Hill”: “Cruel nature has won again.” It’s a theme that runs throughout the albums more battle-centered songs, and she has put it forward with deft skill and genius artistry.

There are also songs focused more on England as a whole. Harvey paints her usual dark and bleak picture of things in “Last Living Rose”:

Let me walk through the stinking alleys
to the music of drunken beatings
past the Thames River, glistening like gold
hastily sold for nothing.

But she then follows later in the song with a loving touch to England:

Let me watch nightfall on the river,
the moon rises up and turn to silver,
the sky move,
the ocean shimmer,
the hedge shake,
the last living rose quiver.

In “The Glorious Land”, she combines the England view with a peppering of war imagery in a call and response of “How is our glorious country ploughed?” and the answer of “Our land is ploughed by tanks and feet, feet marching.” The song ends with a haunting couplet asking “What is the glorious fruit of our land?” and having a chorus of children’s voices responding with “deformed children” and “orphaned children”—all with a military-like drum roll underneath. It’s an icy wind that blows right into the listener’s ear that will make you shift in your seat and just say, “wow.”

I have never given a full five stars to any album I’ve reviewed on this site—not even albums by some of my heroes—but this is one of the best albums I have heard in a while. It took me a few listens to fully appreciate it, and comprehend all that is going on with the lyrics and music, but I’m incredibly glad I did. It’s an awe-inspiring, challenging album in all the best ways. PJ Harvey has created an album that will be at the top of everyone’s “Best of” list come December. If this album doesn’t get rewarded and praised all year and for years to come it’s going to be an incredible disservice. The way Harvey has crafted not only a musically forceful, but a lyrically complex and powerful album is arresting and magnetic. It’s near impossible to write lyrics as descriptive and brutal as Harvey has and not weigh the album down with an overbearing morosity, but she has crafted the music to overcome all of it. This is the best album for 2011, and not just the last two months.

You’re going to be trapped in your cubicle for two more hours, and you’re already sick of merely streaming PJ Harvey’s new album over and over again. Luckily, Ms. Polly Jean is about to give you a reason to push whatever you have left to do completely aside.

The 41-year-old Autoharp aficionado will give anyone with an internet connection (that’s you) a chance to actually see what one of our most important albums of the year looks like. The best part is that it’s all about to happen right now. That’s right. At precisely 3 p.m. EST she’ll be performing Let England Shake in its entirety via webcast. Update: You can now watch the entire performance in the video below.

Interested parties can tune into either Harvey’s official website, the French music site Deezer, or a cultural channel called ARTE to watch it all go down, and if you still can’t get enough of the woman, then pick up the album tomorrow and catch her at one of the tour dates listed below. (She recently added a second NYC date for 4/19.) Tickets for select shows are available at SeatGeek.

PJ Harvey 2011 Tour Dates:
02/18 – Brussels, BE @ Cirque Royale (Sold Out)
02/19 – Brussels, BE @ Cirque Royale (Sold Out)
02/21 – Berlin, DE @ Admiralspalast (Sold Out)
02/22 – Berlin, DE @ Admiralspalast
02/24 – Paris, FR @ Olympia (Sold Out)
02/27 – London, UK @ Troxy (Sold Out)
02/28 – London, UK @ Troxy (Sold Out)
04/14 – San Francisco, CA @ Warfield Theater
04/17 – Indio, CA @ Coachella Music Festival (Sold Out)
04/19 – New York, NY @ Terminal 5
04/20 – New York, NY @ Terminal 5 (Sold Out)
05/25 – Lisbon, PT @ Aula Magna (Sold Out)
05/26 – Lisbon, PT @ Aula Magna (Sold Out)
05/27-28 – Barcelona, ES @ Primavera Sound Music Festival
05/30 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso
05/31 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso
07/03 – Arras, FR @ Main Square Festival
07/23 – London, UK @ ATP’s I’ll Be Your Mirror

For one, Primavera has brought Sufjan Stevens out of his long-perceived anti-music festival shell. They’ve also added the equally stellar likes of PJ Harvey, Interpol, Big Boi, Battles, Public Image, LTD, Simian Mobile Disco, of Montreal, and The Tallest Man on Earth.

Set to run from May 26-28, the festival will also feature Explosions in the Sky, Girl Talk, The Black Angels, The Monochrome Set, DJ Shadow, Kurt Vile, M. Ward, James Blake, Smith Westerns, Warpaint, Matthew Dear, Avi Buffalo, and Odd Future. Plus, London DJ Kode9 will play two sets, including one with the acclaimed Burial. For a full list of all Primavera’s confirmed acts, click here.

Festival passes are priced at 155 €, but will rise to 170 € on February 5th. Visit the festival’s website for complete details.

If you had hoped on seeing PJ Harvey at Coachella but now can’t cause, you know, it sold out so damn quick, then cheer up. The singer-songwriter has scheduled dates on either side of her Coachella gig: on April 14th at San Francisco’s Warfield Theater and on April 20th at NYC’s Terminal 5. Tickets for the SF show are on sale now, while tickets for the NYC gig are available beginning February 4th. If you just can’t make it to any of these shows, Harvey’s upcoming LP Let England Shake hits stores February 15th via Vagrant Records.

PJ Harvey 2011 Tour Dates:
02/18 – Brussels, BE @ Cirque Royale
02/19 – Brussels, BE @ Cirque Royale
02/21 – Berlin, DE @ Admiralspalast
02/22 – Berlin, DE @ Admiralspalast
02/24 – Paris, FR @ Olympia
02/27 – London, UK @ Troxy
02/28 – London, UK @ Troxy
04/14 – San Francisco, CA @ Warfield Theater
04/17 – Indio, CA @ Coachella Music Festival
04/20 – New York, NY @ Terminal 5
05/25 – Lisbon, PT @ Aula Magna
05/26 – Lisbon, PT @ Aula Magna
05/30 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso
05/31 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso
07/03 – Arras, FR @ Main Square Festival
07/23 – London, UK @ ATP’s I’ll Be Your Mirror

So here we are. A little more then 15 hours after the 2011 lineup for the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival was released. How’d you sleep? At least that four hour nap kicked off the right way, what with a Strokes album title? Anyhow, this is the part of the show/day when we evaluate the lineup that woke us out of bed at 12:02 AM EST on the east coast and had us pause American Idol out west. By now, you’ve fully digested it, combed your way through each day, and checked and doubled checked to make sure Daft Punk really isn’t playing. Now’s the part where we accept what we got, analyze the shit out of it, and then officially declare what we like, what surprised us, what they forgot, and who we should learn more about. FYI, Coachella is 86 days away.

The 5 Biggest Highlights

The Strokes

Unlike when they headlined Lolla and Outside Lands in 2010, Casablancas and co. will come armed with new material. And according to Rolling Stone, the forthcoming Angles is “the best album the Strokes have made since Is This It.” Anticipation in every which way.

Kanye West

You don’t have to like Kanye West to enjoy a Kanye West performance. Especially one that marks his first North American public performance in support of the CoS Top Star-earned My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Expect “seventies-centric pantsuits, cutaway coats, and gilded jeans,” plus loads of guests.

PJ Harvey

Dude, it’s PJ fucking Harvey. Need we say more?

Duran Duran

Excuse the pun, but we’re hungry like the wolf for this one. No, we’re not screaming to hear their new material, but you can’t argue they don’t have quite the back catalog. Take the setting into consideration, too. Nothing screams decadent like skinny Silver Lake hipsters, all dancing to “Rio”. Could you imagine hearing “Come Undone” or “Ordinary World” as the raging desert turns to night? Too much to pass up.

The Chemical Brothers

It’s not Daft Punk, but the acclaimed UK duo of Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons is obviously the next best thing. They’ll also serve as an amazing alternative when Kings of Leon hit the stage.

The 5 Biggest Surprises

Death From Above 1979

Okay, so we’re still licking our wounds that Pulp wasn’t on the bill. But, what a surprise this was. Yes, the Toronto outfit only have a handful of EPs and a studio album, but isn’t that enough for a solid hour? Let’s just say this was the necessary left jab that every Coachella lineup should have. Kudos to them for striking us once more.

Big Audio Dynamite

Mick Jones must love the stage… or Coachella. After last year’s stint with Gorillaz, he returns again. We’re pretty stoked about this one. It might not appeal to the younger crowd, but veterans should be pleasantly thrilled. If anything, it’ll be nice to hear “E=MC^2″ live. That’s for sure.

Lauryn Hill

She’s getting around these days. We should have expected this, but we didn’t. Whatever. Friday’s a bit cluttered, but Hill makes for a pleasant “must see”. Then again, what if she’s this year’s Sly Stone?

The London Suede

Remember The Chase? The pre-hooker days of Charlie Sheen? (Who are we kidding?) Well, The London Suede had a killer song in it (“The Next Life”). Actually, so killer that our writer David Buchanan wants it played at his funeral. Maybe if he’s lucky, he can catch it on a webcast. Bottom line: Want to see something rare? See this band.

The Swell Season

Aren’t they supposed to be retired on hiatus?

The 5 Biggest Omissions

Daft Punk

According to Billboard, Daft Punk had an offer on the table, but chose to pass on Coachella 2011 “because the group was simply not ready from a production standpoint to return to live performance.” An understandable excuse for sure, but it still hurts to think what could have been if Yeezy and Daft Punk were on the same bill.

The Cars

They were just what we needed. Okay, we’re done with the puns. Or, are we?

Pulp

Maybe they were miffed at the potential crowd? Definitely no “Common People” there.

Queens of the Stone Age

A QOSTA appearance at Coachella 2011 made all the sense in the world. The band is already set to play festivals in Australia, which means Josh Homme and co. could have easily crossed the street to play their hometown fest. Plus, they’re recording a new studio album. As G.O.B. would say, c’mon!

A Perfect Circle

I doubt we were the only ones who saw the band’s short west coast swing late last year as a rehearsal ahead of a major comeback at Coachella. Thank god for YouTube!

The 5 Names You Should Know

Lil B

Do an Urban Dictionary search for “Based God.”

OFWGKTA (Odd Future)

Aside from Lil B, this is the hottest new act in hip hop. The LA collective consists of members ranging in age from 16-23 and only recently did they begin performing outside of their hometown. However, rumors suggest the group is close to signing a record contract and Coachella should serve as a launching pad for a huge 2k11. Take Mos Def’s word for it.

Mary Anne Hobbs

The former BBC broadcaster and current college professor is also a pretty stellar DJ.

Ellie Goulding

We told you the North American invasion was coming.

Mount Kimbie

For those upset by James Blake’s absence.

Arcade Fire, Kanye West, Kings of Leon, and The Strokes will head this year’s edition, set to take place from April 15-17. Other confirmed acts include The Chemical Brothers, PJ Harvey, Lauryn Hill, Duran Duran, Bright Eyes, The Black Keys, Animal Collective, The National, Interpol, Big Audio Dynamite, Death From Above 1979, and Killers frontman Brandon Flowers.

Also on the bill are Broken Social Scene, Leftfield, Erykah Badu, Robyn, Cee-Lo Green, Nas & Damian Marley, Chromeo, Cut Copy, Elbow, Mumford & Sons, Neon Trees, Jimmy Eat World, Wire, One Day As A Lion, Wiz Khalifa, Best Coast, The Swell Season, Gogol Bordello, Fistful of Mercy, Menomena, Titus Andronicus, Cage the Elephant, Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, Ratatat, OFF!, CSS, Crystal Castles, Klaxons, and The Kills.

Even more: Empire of the Sun, Jenny and Johnny, GAYNGS, The New Pornographers, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, The Tallest Man on Earth, Yelle, A-Trak, The Twelves, Caifanes, Magnetic Man, Paul van Dyk, Raphael Saadiq, Ellie Goulding, Boys Noize, The Presets, Warpaint, Flogging Molly, Omar Rodriguez Lopez, Lil B, The Drums, and Odd Future.

Three-day passes ($269.00), along with camping passes ($75.00) will be available Friday, January 21st at 10:00AM PST. VIP and layaway packages are also available. Visit coachella.com for more details.

Think about it. In a single week a hotly anticipated album can drop, festival rumors, no matter how legit or just plain entertaining, can begin to circulate, and a larger-than-life band can announce a string of tour dates. Then there the more unfortunate events. It seems like each loss we lose someone or something that means a great deal to us.

As usual, the list below illustrates this idea better than I ever could. It speaks for itself.

It’s only January, and we’ve already got a lot to look forward to. Stay tuned.

– Cluster 1 finally made its debut. Check out the first broadcast here.

– We published our list of the “50 Most Important Albums 2011″ to help you sort through the scores of new titles that will come out this year.

– The Strokes‘ fourth LP has an official release date.

– Panda Bear‘s Tomboy is slated for an April release.

– The first single from Kanye West and Jay-Z‘s fortchoming collaborative effort dropped. It’s called “H.A.M.” That’s reason enough to listen to it.

– Can’t wait for for PJ Harvey‘s new record to come out. Well, you’re in luck. Three tracks from Let England Shake surfaced this week.

– Broadcast vocalist Trish Keenan passed away.

– Aretha Franklin denied reports that she has pancreatic cancer.

– To commemorate the untimely death of Jay Reatard, the garage rocker’s Shattered Club said this week that it will offer unreleased material exclusively to its members.

– Bright Eyes announced a string of tour dates.

– Drake revealed a few collaboraters for his forthcoming record.

– Green Day will put out their interestingly titled second live LP soon.

– Remember when we told you that Daft Punk would be The Third Twin at a Spanish music festival? We were wrong.

– The Mountain Goats want to be on Law & Order: SVU, but they can’t do it without your help. Click here to find out what you can do.

– Lil Wayne did…um, okay, he did a lot of stuff. Too much to list in this post.

– Like Kanye, Snoop Dogg will offer fans tracks through a weekly online series, only his is called “Puff Puff Pass Tuesdays.”

– Eminem signed some big names to his record label.

– Basement Jaxx will score a sci-fi film.

– Vampire Weekend and The Black Keys “battled it out” for Stephen Colbert‘s Grammy vote.

– While we’re on the subject, Arcade Fire, Eminem, and Lady Gaga, among others, are set to perform at this year’s ceremony.

– Rothbury may or may not return this year. We’ll see.

– No, Coachella hasn’t revealed its lineup yet. In the meantime, get a load of these fake ones.

– Ask yourself, “At your first Bonnaroo, what was the first thing you witnessed that made you say ‘Wow, I’m actually here’”? Do it and you can win a fabulous prize in the latest CoS Giveaway!

– Be sure to help us win big at the Weblog Awards while you’re at it.

– Chris Coplan posted another thought-provoking edition of Nod Your Head.

– Cap Blackard interviewed Talking Heads/Tom Tom Club mainstay and all-around icon Chris Frantz.

– Karina Halle scored a great interview as well, with the ”‘architect’ of the turntable” himself, DJ Rob Swift.

– Michael Roffman offered his take on Weezer‘s recent nostalgia-heavy Chicago performance.

– The Decemberists are back with a follow-up to 2009′s The Hazards of Love. Read our official review, courtesy of Dan Caffrey, here.

– Did we make our best-of lists too early this time? Winston Robbins thinks so. Check out his review of Ghostface Killah‘s Apollo Kids, and then decide for yourself.

We’ve already seen a clip that featured “The Last Living Rose” but, thanks to TwentyFourBit, you can now feast your eyes on the clip for Shake’s first single, “The Words That Maketh Murder”. Our own Chris Coplan already reported that the song would be available digitally next Monday and physically on February 7th, but the Seamus Murphy-directed clip is something else.

It opens with a shot of our heroine strumming her autoharp in the living room and then interchanges between moving images of dead soldiers, young boys in uniform, and old people ballroom dancing. There are also bees, folks frolicking in the park, and some driving around town.

Check out the video (which is just the second installment of a 12-part video project) below and sit tight for the album’s release, which happens on February 15th via Vagrant Records.

The first Cluster 1 news update focuses on stories about Kanye West & Jay-Z, The Strokes, PJ Harvey and the lineups for the Mountain Jam and Wakarusa festivals.

Hosted and Edited by: Sami Jarroush

New music:

• Kanye & Jay-Z’s new single, “H.A.M.”
• PJ Harvey’s new single, “The Words That Maketh Murder”

& more… always… at Consequence of Sound

And here’s yet another taste from PJ Harvey‘s ninth LP, Let England Shake. Following in the wake of “Written on the Forehead”, “The Last Living Rose”, and this fine trio comes the album’s actual first single, “The Words That Maketh Murder”. BBC’s employee of the month, Zane Lowe, debuted the track last night and thanks to Some Kind of Awesome, you can now stream it below.

The single — b/w “The Guns Called Me Back Again” — will be available digitally on January 17th, with a 7″ physical release to follow on February 7th. Hear the other 2/5 of Let England Shake when hits stores February 15th via Vagrant Records.

As one of the 50 most important albums of 2011, you’d think they’d go ahead and make fans wait for the ninth LP from singer-songwriter PJ Harvey until its actual February 15th release date. However, with two tracks already out there for sampling (“Written On The Forehead” and “The Last Living Rose”), eager fans can now hear three more offerings from Let England Shake, courtesy of Antiquet. Head there now to wrap your ears around “Bitter Branches”, “Hanging In The Wire”, and “Glorious Land”. Guess waiting another month won’t be that bad after all.

Let England Shake hit stores February 15th via Vagrant Records.

We may have picked the Top 100 Albums of last year, but there were countless other efforts that were begging for the attention of your ever-so-precious ears. This year won’t be any different, and there are already loads of artists competing for a listen in the first quarter alone, so we here at CoS have already spent an inhuman amount of time on the interwebs researching and writing about some of the biggest releases of the year 2K+11.

We’ve picked 50 albums slated for release this year, and while some of them already have concrete release dates, others are merely rumored. Nevertheless, every single one of them bring questions and are worthy of your open ears. Will Kanye and Jay-Z score a huge commercial hit with their joint LP, Watch The Throne? Is there anything scarier than a Fame Monster? Did Lupe Fiasco’s Lasers get stale after sitting on a shelf for all these years? We examine those questions in our 2011 Album Preview, but there are a few things that we already know for sure.

PJ Harvey wants to “shake” things up, The Decemberists’ Colin Meloy has stripped it down, and the Get Up Kids aren’t kids anymore. The Cold War Kids, on the other hand, have grown up and might be having kids of their own soon. U2 hooked up with Danger Mouse and have up to four albums in the bank. Dave Grohl un-Vultured and is Foo Fighting again, and a slew of up-and-comers are putting out new music.

There’s also news on possible new ones from Rage Against the Machine, The White Stripes, The Shins, and a John Frusciante-less Red Hot Chili Peppers. Throw in the chances of Daft Punk releasing an album as The Third Twin, and what you’ve got below is required reading. We’ve included audio on more than a few of the albums, so grab a drink, plug in your headphones, and decide whether or not you’ll be tuning in.

-Ray Roa
Senior Staff Writer

Cake – Showroom of Compassion

Cake have already long established themselves as alternative rock giants. But in recent years, even guys who have been playing together since 1991 have found a way to keep things interesting. Showroom of Compassion, their first record since 2004′s Pressure Chief, will be released on the group’s very own Upbeat Records, which also happens to mark the band’s departure from Columbia Records. As if that weren’t momentous enough, lead singer John McCrea said this will also be the first Cake album to feature reverb and acoustic piano. What was that adage about old dogs and new tricks? -Chris Coplan
January 11th via Upbeat Records / Order via Amazon

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The Decemberists – The King Is Dead

What do you get when you combine an homage to The Smiths, recording sessions on a farm, and R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck? The Decemberists’ latest record, The King Is Dead (or a really weird smoothie). While the title of the group’s sixth studio album plays off The Smiths’ 1986 The Queen Is Dead, lead singer Colin Meloy says the sound is much more influenced by early R.E.M. Three of the songs, “Don’t Carry It All”, “Calamity Song”, and “Down by the Water”, even feature Buck on guitar. On top of all of that, the album was recorded entirely on an eight-acre farm outside of Portland, which according to Meloy contributed to a more rustic sound. Maybe that smoothie isn’t so weird after all. -Jack McGrew
January 11th via Capitol Records / Order via Amazon

[wpaudio url="http://c438342.r42.cf2.rackcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/The-Decemberists-Down-By-The-Water.mp3" text="The Decemberists - 'Down by the Water" dl="0"]

Smith Westerns – Dye It Blonde

It appears as if the musical trend for 2011 will undoubtedly be reinvention. For their 2009 self-titled debut, Smith Westerns unleashed an effort of lo-fi garage pop that eats away at your defenses and leaves you smiling through feelings of forlorn. For their sophomore LP, Dye It Blonde, the Chicago outfit are taking that sound and adding a sheen of Brit-pop goodness. In an October 2010 interview with Pitchfork, lead singer Cullen Omori said the songs would be “more involved but are still poppy and still catchy,” with influences ranging from Oasis to T. Rex and Teenage Fanclub. Guess blondes really do have loads more fun than the rest of us. -Chris Coplan
January 18th via Fat Possum Records / Order via Amazon

“Weekend”

Cold War Kids – Mine Is Yours

2011 may be a make-or-break year for Cold War Kids; their sophomore album and subsequent tour were victims of what some industry insiders call a “slump.” The Long Beach natives’ Mine Is Yours seeks to shrug that off. To that end, singer Nathan Willett took a more personal approach to songwriting. “If I really wanted to connect to it,” he told Rolling Stone, “I knew it had to come from me.” Hence, there are tracks like “Sensitive Kid”, about Willett’s parents divorcing during his high school years, and “Louder Than Ever”, reflecting on failed relationships. Despite the subject matter, songs like “Royal Blue” reveal a rosier sound than much of what these Kids have previously released. Can CWK v.3.0’s brighter take on echoey guitar rock enliven a fan base largely dulled by v.2.0? -Ben Kaye
January 25th via Downtown Music / Order via Amazon

Cold War Kids – ‘Royal Blue’

Destroyer – Kaputt

We can finally solve the equation that Destroyer proposed to us with the 2009 EP Bay of Pigs. That x was in the form of a 14-minute “ambient disco” track bearing the same title of the LP, which now closes out Dan Bejar’s latest record, Kaputt. But Bejar’s hands are in many musical pies on Kaputt, as he expands on previous outings with ample new wave textures but the same byzantine Bejarisms. (Is Bejaresque minted yet?) All this excitement about this album recalls the Destroyer drinking game, my absolute love for Destroyer’s Rubies, and Bejar’s loveable soused antics when he played live with The New Pornographers this year. Look, this album is incredible and will end up on arguably everyone’s year-end list. Buy it. Don’t believe me? Read this. -Jeremy D. Larson
January 25th via Merge Records / Order via Amazon

Destroyer – ‘Kaputt’

Gang of Four – Content

UK’s politically charged Gang of Four are back in 2011 with Content, the band’s first new material in 16 years. Original members John King and Andy Gill opted to crowd-fund the release, offering helicopter rides, autographed limited releases, and even vials of their own blood to spur donations. And unlike with Public Enemy, the strategy succeeded, generating over 170% of the original goal. Content was co-written by King and Gill, with Gill serving as producer as the recording progressed in his home studio. With the current turmoil in the global political arena, Gang of Four’s socially aware punk rock is as relevant now as at any time during their 30-plus-year career. -Derek Staples
January 25th via Yep Roc Records / Order via Amazon

Gang of Four – ‘Never Pay For the Farm’

The Get Up Kids – There Are Rules

Mötley Crüe headlining the biggest emo-friendly festival around could be a sign that the genre has seen its heyday. So what happens when a historically pivotal emo band reunites for a new album amidst a wholly different musical climate? The Get Up Kids’ There Are Rules. The Kids spent seven years between records playing in various musical genres, and the maturing influences carpet their fifth full-length. Lead single “Automatic” sounds like an odd, absurdly catchy Devo cut. “Pararelevant” is more synth-heavy than anything else in their catalog. Diehards and purists may take issue with the new sound, but it’s worth an unprejudiced listen. While “Regent’s Court” sounds the most like their older work, it’s evident throughout that these guys haven’t forgotten who they were; they’ve just grown up. It’s what The Get Up Kids would sound like if they formed in 2009 instead of 1995, and it’s all rather intriguing. -Ben Kaye
January 25th via Quality Hill Records / Order via Amazon

The Get Up Kids – ‘Regent’s Court’

Iron & Wine – Kiss Each Other Clean

Iron & Wine, the folk project of musician/beard enthusiast Sam Beam, has made a career of touching the hearts of listeners with emotionally evocative and gentle acoustic numbers. Now, Beam becomes another member of 2011 musical revolution when he leaves his long-time home of Sub Pop Records for the major label sanctuary of Warner Bros. Records. Along with the change in label, Beam and company are reinventing their sound for the act’s fourth record. In an October 2010 interview with SPIN, Beam said the LP would be a pop record focused on the “early-to-mid-’70s FM, radio-friendly music” he grew up with. Awww, just as heartwarming. -Chris Coplan
January 25th via Warner Bros. Records / Order via Amazon

[wpaudio url="http://c438342.r42.cf2.rackcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/01-Walking-Far-From-Home.mp3" text="Iron & Wine - 'Walking Far From Home'" dl="0"]

Monotonix – Not Yet

Monotonix is one of those bands that come along once in a blue moon. They tour relentlessly, make fans a part of the show (literally), and always look like they’re having a ball. Amidst the tireless work ethic on the road, the Tel Aviv-born rockers find time to get in the studio and turn the amps up to eleven. The trio’s sophomore release, Not Yet, the follow-up to 2009′s Where Were You When It Happened?, is more of the balls out, punk-infused garage rock that defines what these guys are all about. The album’s lead single, “Give Me More”, harkens back to late ’60s Detroit and the unabashed raw power of a sound defined by bands like MC5 and The Stooges. If “Give Me More” is any indication of what Monotonix has in store for the new year, let’s hope they keep on giving it. -Megan Caffery
January 25th via Drag City / Order via Amazon

Monotonix – ‘Give Me More’

The Go! Team – Rolling Blackouts

It’s been a long minute since The Go! Team had new material to release. Their last album, Proof of Youth, was back in 2007. That shouldn’t be a surprise, though, given the detailed sampling process that Ian Parton goes through. In an interview with Spinner, the UK outfit’s mastermind mentioned that much time is spent “storing all my favorite bits then filtering it down. It’s not like it’s just picking up an acoustic and writing a song. It’s a drawn-out affair.” But just because they’ve been gone for a few years, don’t think the English sextet have lost their edge. The lead track off the upcoming Rolling Blackouts, “T.O.R.N.A.D.O.”, is an explosive mix of blaring trumpets and Ninja’s energetic, on-beat vocals. The band followed this freebie up with the album’s first single, “Buy Nothing Day” (featuring Bethany Cosentino), which is probably the poppiest melody in the band’s history. Given the quality of the first two songs made available, this may be the first time anyone is looking forward to a rolling blackout. -Joe Marvilli
February 1st via Sub Pop / Order via Amazon

The Go! Team – ‘T.O.R.N.A.D.O.’

The Streets – Computers and Blues/Cyberspace and Reds

Mike Skinner – aka The Streets – has made it very obvious that Computers and Blues has been done for a while. In fact, he’s gone as far as to say, “[The album] doesn’t feel a part of me. It’s a part of my past. It sits in the machine right now waiting to leak into the cloud.” In response to his feeling of disconnect, Skinner has apparently recorded another album – Cyberspace and Reds – that he’s described as “painfully repetitive…chord changes that have never changed in that way before…the lyrics will make no sense.” What does make sense is that we should have both of them before Valentine’s Day, and if that doesn’t make you love him more, then you’re just as coldhearted as he is. -Ray Roa
Computers and Blues due February 7th via 679 Recordings; Cyberspace and Reds TBA

[wpaudio url="http://c438342.r42.cf2.rackcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/The-Streets-Going-Through-Hell.mp3" text="The Streets - 'Going Through Hell'" dl="0"]

Cut Copy – Zonoscope

Rejecting tour offers from Lady Gaga, Nine Inch Nails, and Coldplay might sound asinine, but Cut Copy isn’t your average group. The band who hails from Melbourne, Australia, instead added a member, hit the studio, and is set to release Zonoscope next month. The follow-up to 2008′s excellent In Ghost Colours is only the electro-pop group’s third album, but it’s being anticipated as would a work from a band with three times their discography. Bassist Tim Hoey says that first single “Take Me Over” is one of the more “pop moments” on the record. “We certainly are using all sorts of electronic instruments, more synthesizers, computers, all of that, but contrasted with more organic sounds, more organic percussion,” says Hoey. Better still is the announcement  that the record’s final track, “Sun God”, is a 16-minute epic.  - Jack McGrew
February 8th via Modular / Order via Amazon

Cut Copy – ‘Take Me Over’

Bright Eyes – The People’s Key

It’s been four years since Conor Oberst released music under the Bright Eyes moniker, and while it seemed like the band’s July performance at a Nebraska immigration rally would be a one-off, it looks like the new year is bringing 10 new songs and a two-week tour. Fans of the angsty Oberst from Bright Eyes’ earlier days may have abandoned their hero after the band’s sonic evolution on 2007’s Cassadaga, but those who stayed on the train will be surprised and pleased to hear the synth-laden, new wave vibe on lead single “Shell Games”. -Ray Roa
February 15th via Saddle Creek / Order via Amazon

Bright Eyes – ‘Shell Games’

Mogwai – Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will

We can already assure you that Mogwai’s Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will is going to be an early highlight for 2011. The post-rock mainstays officially release their seventh full-length in February, and the day can’t come soon enough. Young Team producer Paul Savage returns for the LP, and if that means anything to you, you’re going to want to stay tuned. -Harry Painter
February 15th via Sub Pop / Order via Amazon

Mogwai – ‘Rano Pano’

PJ Harvey – Let England Shake

What better valentine could come this year than Let England Shake, the latest from one of England’s and music’s most influential women in rock. For the better part of two decades now, Polly Jean has continued to offer album after album of honest-to-everyone songs grounded in a wide array of sounds from post-feminist grunge to brit-folk. On her 8th proper LP, we may find Harvey putting the onus on us. “I think a lot of my work has often been about the interior, the emotional, what happens inside oneself. This time I’ve just been looking out, so it’s not only to do with taking a look at England, but taking a look at the world and what’s happening in the current day world affairs.” So rarely does Harvey lay a bad egg that the very thought of this album all but guaranteed it a spot on this list. To boot, the first sampling from the album sounds like a gorgeous and haunting collage of her recent works, and it’s one fantastic song. -Jeremy D. Larson
February 15th via Vagrant Records / Order via Amazon

PJ Harvey – ‘Written On The Forehead’

Adele – 21

Looks like British powerhouse Adele is trying to add another award to her shelf. Much like her 2008 debut, 19, the Grammy-winning singer-songwriter’s simply titled sophomore release, 21, showcases the big voice and big sound that turned her into a critical darling at the tender age of—you guessed it—19. The first single from 21, “Rolling in the Deep”, is an incredibly soulful number you can bop your head to, but you can’t mistake the hint of sadness in Adele’s raspy vocals. There’s no denying that the girl has talent beyond her years, and come 2011 Grammy season, we’ll see if the critics still think so, too. -Megan Caffery
February 22 via XL Recordings / Order via Amazon

Adele – ‘Rolling in the Deep’

Toro Y Moi – Underneath the Pine

Toro y Moi’s debut came out just last year, but the man born Chaz Bundick is staying ahead of the pack and releasing a follow-up very early this year. Underneath the Pine arrives next month and will reportedly feature live instrumentation and, if new track “Still Sound” is any indication, less chill, more funk. -Harry Painter
February 22nd via Carpark Records / Order via Amazon

[wpaudio url="http://www.spin.com/audio/download/81526/09_Still_Sound.mp3" text="Toro Y Moi - 'Still Sound'" dl="0"]

Lupe Fiasco – Lasers

Talk of Lupe Fiasco’s third album began back in June 2009; the following two-plus years saw the Chicago MC complete the album only to have its release delayed by Atlantic Records. The label claimed the LP lacked potential singles, but Fiasco’s refusal to sign a 360 deal probably didn’t help. The wait got so intense that fans even held protests outside of various Atlantic offices in order to get the album out. Atlantic finally heard their cries and, deciding that perhaps giving into the demand was a sound business move, announced the album’s March 2011 release. With tracks like “I’m Beamin’”, first single “The Show Goes On”, and “What U Want”, we’re just glad the album’s finally getting its time to shine. -Chris Coplan
March 8th via Atlantic

[wpaudio url="http://c438342.r42.cf2.rackcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Show-Goes-On.mp3" text="Lupe Fiasco - 'The Show Goes On'" dl="0"]

R.E.M. – Collapse Into Now

For Collapse Into Now, R.E.M. took the rulebook they compiled for their last album, 2007′s Accelerate, and threw it out the window. Forget about speed or getting back to a core sound; according to Mike Mills’ interview with Rolling Stone, it’s all about creating the best songs they can. Produced by Jacknife Lee (U2, Snow Patrol, Weezer), the band’s 15th record will feature a bevy of special guests, including Eddie Vedder (on the first single,”It Happened Today“), Joel Gibb, Peaches, and Patti Smith. It was recorded in multiple cities, such as New Orleans and Berlin, with the trio taking breaks in between to edit the material. “The songs go from one type into another really easily, and it all seems to fit as a piece,” Mills says. “It makes sense as a whole the same way that Automatic For The People did.” All that’s left to see is if R.E.M. can back that statement up. -Joe Marvilli
March 8th via Warner Bros. / Order via Amazon

R.E.M. – ‘It Happened Today’ (feat. Eddie Vedder)

The Dodos – No Color

The Dodos have quite an ambitious goal for their fourth album, according to an interview Meric Long did with Pitchfork: “One of the things that we intended to do was to really just make a record that was exciting, almost to the point where it might be unlistenable.” If No Color is half as exciting to listeners as it is to him, that, um, excites us. The San Franciscans have yet to put out a bad album, so any time they do release something, it’s worth keeping an eye out. It helps that Neko Case is involved, too. -Harry Painter
March 15th via Frenchkiss Records

New York Dolls – Dancing Backward in High Heels

Punk pioneers, and some of America’s favorite cross-dressers, the New York Dolls are back in 2011 with the release of Dancing Backward in High Heels. For the band’s fifth studio release, and third since reforming back in 2004, surviving original members David Johansen and Sylvain Sylvain chose to move the recording process to the birthplace of androgynous glam-rock, the UK. The album’s 11 tracks were recorded in Newcastle, England, and produced by Louis XIV’s, and one time Dolls’ touring bassist, Jason Hill. It seems with the passage of time, the Dolls’ sound has grown more “bluesy”, most evident in the cover of the 1962 hit by Patti Labelle and the Bluebelles, “I Sold My Heart to the Junkman”. While the release is still a few months off, samples are available via 429 Records. -Derek Staples
March 15th via 429 Records / Order via Amazon

The Mountain Goats – All Eternals Deck

The Mountain Goats’ donnish and prolific career continues in 2011 with the release of their new death metal album, All Eternals Deck. Well, it’s not a death metal album — at all. To clarify, John Darnielle, the man behind the Goats, hired metal guru Erik Rutan to produce a handful of tracks on the album. Rutan, former guitarist for Morbid Angel who now fronts the three-piece death metal band Hate Eternal, is one of four producers on the album, which was recorded in as many locations across the US. Darnielle likens the album to, well, “…if you have ever watched, say, a 70s occult-scare movie where one of the scenes involves a couple of people visiting a storefront fortune teller, getting their cards read, and then trying to feel super-hopeful about what they hear when what they’re visibly actually feeling is dread” or “the feeling of exultation that comes with having recognized the oncoming train of fate.” Sounds pretty metal to me. -Jeremy D. Larson
March 29th via Merge Records

Kanye West & Jay-Z – Watch the Throne

Critically, Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy was among the best albums put out in 2010. Commercially, however, West’s fifth LP failed to capitalize on the massive publicity campaign embarked on by the Chicago MC in the months leading up to the album’s release. America might still be pissed at Mr. West, but nothing helps heal wounds like teaming up with a rapper that even Oprah champions. Originally set to be released as an EP last fall, West and Jay-Z’s collaborative LP, Watch the Throne, has evolved into a 10-track full-length and is now due out sometime in March. Hopefully. Details-wise, little is known about the album, but heavyweights like Pete Rock, Q-Tip, and Madlib have been mentioned as producers, and Kanye has declared that the LP hears Jay-Z flowing like he did back in the Reasonable Doubt days. It’s hard to imagine this album not living up to the hype. Let’s just hope we hear it before 2012. -Alex Young
March? via Def Jam

[wpaudio url="http://c438342.r42.cf2.rackcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Thats-My-Bitch.mp3" text="Kanye West & Jay-Z - 'That's My Bitch'" dl="0"]

The Strokes – TBA

We all know the story, but here it is one more time: The followup to 2006′s First Impressions of Earth was originally scheduled for release in 2009, but inner band disagreements delayed those plans over… and over… again. Frontman Julian Casablancas further threw us for a loop with the release of his solo debut amidst these supposed recording sessions. But in early 2010, progress on the record moved forward as the band began working with award-winning producer Joe Chicarelli (My Morning Jacket, The Shins) and renowned engineer Gus Oberg. No new songs were offered during the band’s 2010 live performances, but as of November 16th, 2010, the album is finished. Expect 10 songs to be included, and a March 2011 release date is promised. Cross your fingers. -Joe Marvilli
March via RCA

Lady Gaga – Born This Way

With Lady Gaga’s The Fame Monster becoming the world’s biggest-selling record of 2010 (5.8 million units!), its follow-up, Born This Way, is an almost guaranteed success. But what about quality? The conspicuous star has been fanning the anticipatory flames, promising a Polish crowd “the greatest album of this decade” – lofty considering the decade just started. She told BBC the album’s sound blends her usual dance-pop anthems with “metal and rock ‘n’ roll,” a sonic conglomerate sampled in live performances of new track “You And I”. On New Year’s Eve, Gaga revealed that Born This Way drops May 23rd, with the first single/title track (which Elton John calls “the new gay anthem”) landing on Grammy night, February 13th. So while the workhorse pounds the road again with another North American tour starting in February, it’ll be six months before we see how Lady Gaga meets the hype she’s created for herself. -Ben Kaye
May 23rd via Interscope

Beastie Boys - Hot Sauce Committee Pt. 2

When founding member Adam Yauch (MCA) announced that he had cancer in 2009, the Beastie Boys’ upcoming double album was put on hold. A year and a half later, Hot Sauce Committee Pt. 1 is still delayed indefinitely, but the second part will be available in early Spring. The Beasties’ eighth studio album will feature 16 tracks and include collaborations with Nas on “Too Many Rappers” and Santigold on “Don’t Play No Game That I Can’t Win”. Comparing the tracks to previous work, Yauch stated, “It’s a combination of playing and sampling stuff as we’re playing, and also sampling pretty obscure records. There are a lot of songs on the record and there are a lot of short songs and they kind of all run into each other.” Sounds like a good way to end the fight with cancer. – Jack McGrew
Spring via Capitol Records

Beastie Boys – ‘Too Many Rappers’

Death Cab For Cutie – Codes and Keys

Death Cab For Cutie fans who thought that 2008’s Narrow Stairs was a bit of a downer apparently aren’t alone. “There’s a level of self-loathing that I’m embarrassed about, it’s a really dark record,” frontman Ben Gibbard told SPIN. “I didn’t want to make that record again.” He added that the creative process for Codes and Keys entailed the band building songs from singular riffs or vocal lines and that the “achingly gorgeous” title track is a sprawling, seven-minute mostly instrumental number, which includes DCFC’s first string arrangement in over a decade. Throw in songs that originated solely from guitarist/pianist Chris Walla’s demos, and it’s no wonder Gibbard feels “so proud of this album” that he doesn’t really care if people like it or not. -Ray Roa
Spring via Atlantic

Dr. Dre – Detox

It only took a little more than a decade, but hip-hop’s Chinese Democracy is finally coming out. Really, we’re not kidding. Sure, Detox doesn’t have an unofficial release date yet, but it’s hard to ignore the events of the past six months: October found us thinking that Dr. Dre was too busy working out with LeBron to release an album. Then a song leaked, and another one leaked, then we got a video. Three days after Christmas, Eminem and Fiddy finally made us really want to buy Detox. Throw Def Jam’s press release in with news that Dre will promote the album through a Facebook game and what we’ve essentially got here is a promise that can’t be broken. -Ray Roa
Spring via Aftermath/Interscope

Dr. Dre – ‘Kush’ (feat. Snoop Dogg, Akon)

Foo Fighters – TBA

What’s not to love about Dave Grohl? He sings, he plays guitar, he drums, and he smiles. He’s just a downright honest guy. That’s why when he insists that the next Foo Fighters record “sounds big”, we’re apt to believe him. After finishing up his gig in Them Crooked Vultures, Grohl set the ball in motion last September, when production on the Foo’s seventh album began. From what’s been said, fans can expect a celebratory record. Grohl told BBC recently that “there’s not one sleepy ballad” and that there are several familiar faces involved. In addition to having producer Butch Vig at the controls, the album also sports longtime collaborator and now full-time member Pat Smear (of The Germs, but also considered Nirvana’s “fourth” member) and, incidentally, former bandmate Krist Novoselic, who plays accordion and bass on a track titled “I Should Have Known”. Throw in the little fact that the whole thing wasn’t recorded with computers — all on analog tape, actually — and you might see the group carving out their finest record since their debut. But, we’ll see come Spring. -Michael Roffman
Spring via RCA

U2 – Songs of Ascent + three other albums?

U2 may have gotten slightly tangled in the web of utter disaster that has been the Spider-Man musical, but as long as it doesn’t delay their upcoming studio album, we’ll try to forgive ‘em. Though we’ve yet to get an actual track listing or release date, we do know a handful of details about the band’s 13th LP. Originally planned as a companion album for 2009′s No Line on the Horizon, Songs of Ascent will be produced by super producer Danger Mouse (Beck, The Black Keys, Gnarls Barkley). While we’re not entirely sure of what to expect, bassist Adam Clayton does warn us that it’s not “going to sound like familiar U2 territory at all.”

This album isn’t the only unfamiliar territory that the Irish band is going into lately. Songs of Ascent is only one of four albums that they’ve been working on recently, starting with the soundtrack to Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark. Aside from that, U2 also plans on coming out with a dance/club-sounding album produced by will.i.am, David Guetta, and RedOne, as well as a Steve Lillywhite-produced album of unused tracks from their most recent LP, No Line on the Horizon. As of now, there are no official release dates for any of the records. -Dana Grossman
Songs of Ascent due in Spring via Interscope; Other albums TBA via Interscope

Coldplay – TBA

While it wasn’t out in time for Christmas, it’s safe to expect Coldplay’s fifth album at some point this year, though we hope it sounds nothing like the Christmas single the band put out. Coldplay supposedly recorded a load of songs and are weeding it down to album length, which has meant delays. Another reason for delays might be how seriously the group is taking this album. Chris Martin told BBC Radio 1′s Zane Lowe, “We’re going for it. We regard this as our last big shot.” In 2009, The Sun reported Coldplay was recording in a church. So, this could be super serial. Like, Arcade Fire serial. -Harry Painter
2011 via Capitol Records

Also stay tuned for…

– Aphex Twin – LP #6: Something is coming March 12th, 2011.

– Beyoncé – LP#4: — According to producer Sean Garrett, Mrs. Hova’s fourth full-length “[is] going to be her biggest album ever.”

– The Cars – Free: It took 23 years, but the new wave icons will soon return with their seventh LP.

– Daft Punk/The Third Twin – LP#4?: Maybe/hopefully not?

– Fleet Foxes – LP #2: In the works for nearly two years, Fleet Foxes completed their “less upbeat” sophomore LP last September. Most details are still forthcoming, but a Spring 2011 release date is expected.

– How to Destroy Angels – LP #1: Trent Reznor says he’s proud of the band’s debut EP, but it was merely “the results of a couple of months of experimentation and tinkering.” In other words, he’s now ready to kick your ass.

– Jane’s Addiction – LP #4: Featuring TV on the Radio’s Dave Sitek.

– Justin Bieber – LP #2: Featuring Kanye West.

– Lil Wayne – Tha Carter IV: “6’7″ is just the start of Weezy’s 2k11 takeover.

– Queens of the Stone Age – LP #6: Recording begins in January.

– Radiohead – LP #8: A batch of songs has been completed, but Thom Yorke and friends aren’t done quite yet. One way or another, though, we fully expect music’s most important outfit to return at some point in 2k11.

– Rage Against the Machine – LP#5: So says Google Translate.

– Red Hot Chili Peppers – LP #10: Flea plays piano and Josh Klinghoffer replaces John Frusciante on guitar for the Peppers’ long-awaited follow-up to 2006′s Stadium Arcadium. It’s supposedly due in the “beginning of Summer 2011.”

– Rick Ross – God Forgives, I Don’t: The Teflon Don is wasting no time in following up his 2010 masterpiece. The rapper’s fifth album is “60% done,” with the Drake-featuring first single, “Made Men”, already available for streaming.

– Ryan Adams – LP #13/Blackhole: The wifey finally let him skip weekend trips to Ikea.

– The Shins – LP #4: Four years is long enough.

– Tenacious D – The Rise of the Phoenix: The comedy duo’s “R-Rated” third album is due out in late 2011.

– The White Stripes – LP#7: Jack White seems pretty content with his current role as record label/producer extraordinaire, but sooner or later, he’s got to give the people what they want. How else is he going to make money (via eBay)?

– Wilco – LP#8: Work began last October.

Don’t believe it? Well, here are the facts: British piano player Ben Waters is releasing a tribute album for the “Sixth Stone,” aka Ian Stewart. For those who don’t know their Stones history, Stewart was the keyboardist and co-founding member of the outfit before ultimately taking the role of road manager at the request of the band’s management. Despite the demotion, Stewart proved a key figure in the band’s history, as he contributed piano, organ, marimbas and percussion to all Rolling Stones albums released between 1964 and 1986, except for Beggars Banquet, and also toured with the band during that span. Sadly, Stewart passed away on December 12th, 1985 at the age of 47 after suffering a heart attack.

Due for release on March 9th, Waters’ tribute album, Boogie for Stu, will seek to benefit the British Heart Foundation. Already Waters has Watts, Wood, Jools Holland, and PJ Harvey as confirmed contributors and in a recent message on his website, he revealed that he also recorded with Keith Richards, who played on three tracks and added vocals on another while Mick Jagger “played harmonica and sung fantastically on one track.”

The Rolling Stones’ have yet to confirm the report, but we’ll of course let you know if it comes to fruition.

Here’s our second taste off PJ Harvey‘s forthcoming album, Let England Shake, in the form of the album track “The Last Living Rose”. The song comes packaged in a short film, the first in a 12-part series directed by Seamus Murphy to accompany the 12 songs appearing on the record.

According to Harvey’s website, the films feature still and moving images from a 5,000 mile road-trip Murphy undertook around England:

Inspired and developed from themes in Harvey’s new album, the films were made in the manner of classic photographic reportage – recording real & spontaneous situations. They make up a visual diary of Murphy’s journey, travelling light and alone, and his attempt to document England and the English.

Murphy has mixed his observations on England with images from his work in Afghanistan, Iraq and the Middle East – places Polly refers to in her depiction of England. The film soundtrack, the studio recording of the album ‘Let England Shake’, is mixed at times with footage and audio Murphy captured of Harvey in rehearsal and in performance. In addition some of the album lyrics were given a voice by people he encountered on his journey.

There’s no word on when the remaining 11 films will be released, but expect at least a few more to hit the web ahead of Let England Shake‘s February 15th release date.

Let England Shake Tracklist:
01. Let England Shake
02. The Last Living Rose
03. The Glorious Land
04. The Words That Maketh Murder
05. All And Everyone
06. On Battleship Hill
07. England
08. In The Dark Places
09. Bitter Branches
10. Hanging In The Wire
11. Written On The Forehead
12. The Colour Of The Earth

And then one day we found out we’re the best.

We were browsing the internet a couple of days ago when we came across About.com’s picks for the best blogs of 2010. We’re their favorite music site.

It hasn’t quite sunk in yet, but we assure you we’ll do our best not to believe our own hype. We’ll still provide you with consistently, up-to-the-minute coverage of all things music. In the end, it’s not the honor that matters. It’s what we did to deserve it that does.

We plan on keeping it that way.

– The 2011 Grammy nominees were revealed.

– Jeff Mangum caused a bunch of hipsters to commit suicide.

–Bright Eyes announced what may be their final LP, The People’s Key.

– PJ Harvey gave us a taste of what’s to come.

– Jack White insisted that he’s not exploiting anyone.

– Kanye West‘s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy reached #1.

– Yo La Tengo and Jeff Tweedy played some songs together in celebration of Hanukkah.

– Bon Jovi announced a hiatus. So did Wolf Parade.

– Want to pick a song that will be on Patrick Stump‘s forthcoming solo effort? Click here to find out more.

– The Killers put out a holiday single. Coldplay followed suit.

– The Decemberists will release a deluxe box set for their upcoming sixth LP, The King Is Dead.

– The Streets will release a compilation of room recordings.

– On that note, Spoon will put out a collection of outtakes and other bonus material.

– The Clash are producing a film about their seminal 1979 effort, London Calling.

– Michael Cera played with newly formed indie supergroup Mister Heavenly.

– Is vinyl dead? Find out more here.

– Jimmy Tamborello told us not to expect a new Postal Service LP anytime soon.

– Soundgarden divulged some of their plans for the future.

– And just in case you haven’t spent enough money this holiday season, we updated our Holiday Shopping Guide and debuted our online store.

– Michael Roffman interviewed Joy Division/New Order/Freebass bassist and all-around legend Peter Hook.

– Before you check out our Megan Ritt’s review of the Tron:Legacy Soundtrack, be sure to read David Buchanan’s look at the 1982 original’s score in the latest edition of Cinema Sounds.

– Winston Robbins shared his thoughts on Niki Minaj‘s Pink Friday, easily one of the biggest debuts this year.

– Faith No More said goodbye last week with two shows in L.A. Karina Halle was there for both of them.

One week after she officially announced her first album in four years, PJ Harvey offers us our first taste of Let England Shake. Well, actually, it was BBC Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe who just debuted the album track called “Written On The Forehead”. Us non-Brits can stream it in the Soundcloud widget available below (via Some Kind of Awesome). (Premature evaluation: it kicks ass in a dark and mysterious kind of way.)

Let England Shake officially arrives February 15th via new imprint Vagrant Records. Below, you can find the album’s tracklist, as well as all confirmed tour dates.

Let England Shake Tracklist:
01. Let England Shake
02. The Last Living Rose
03. The Glorious Land
04. The Words That Maketh Murder
05. All And Everyone
06. On Battleship Hill
07. England
08. In The Dark Places
09. Bitter Branches
10. Hanging In The Wire
11. Written On The Forehead
12. The Colour Of The Earth

PJ Harvey 2011 Tour Dates:
02/18 – Brussels, BE @ Cirque Royale
02/19 – Brussels, BE @ Cirque Royale
02/21 – Berlin, DE @ Admiralspalast
02/22 – Berlin, DE @ Admiralspalast
02/24 – Paris, FR @ Olympia
02/27 – London, UK @ Troxy
02/28 – London, UK @ Troxy