Albums of 2011: 10-1

Hello. These are my top 10 albums of the year. Now I’m taking a week off for Christmas. Happy holidays and enjoy!

(The previous posts: 40-31 | 30-21 | 20-11 )

(Or check out this playlist with one track from each album.)

10. Widowspeak – Widowspeak
09. The Sandwitches – Mrs. Jones’ Cookies
08. Youth Lagoon – The Year of Hibernation
07. tUnE-yArDs – W H O K I L L
06. I Break Horses – Hearts
05. Yuck – Yuck
04. Tommy Guerrero – Lifeboats and Follies
03. John Maus – We Must Become The Pitiless Censors Of Ourselves
02. Wild – Flag – Wild Flag
01. Ringo Deathstarr – Colour Trip

Albums of 2011: 20-11

Hey. The final part will be up tomorrow and then I will take a week off for Christmas. Enjoy!

20. Rubik – Solar
19. Lia Ices – Grown Unknown
18. Skeletons – People
17. Wet Illustrated – 1x1x1
16. PJ Harvey – Let England Shake
15. Smith Westerns – Dye It Blonde
14. The Loom – Teeth
13. Tennis – Cape Dory
12. Ha Ha Tonka – Death of a Decade
11. Girls – Father, Son, Holy Ghost

Albums of 2011: 30-21

Hello. Here we go again. Enjoy!

30. Clive Tanaka y su orquesta – Jet Set Siempre 1°
29. Sandro Perri – Impossible Spaces
28. Eilen Jewell – Queen of the Minor Key
27. Kurt Vile – Smoke Ring For My Halo
26. Implodes – Black Earth
25. Yawn – Open Season
24. The Andersen Tapes – As I Write ‘Today’ Ten Times
23. Emika – Emika
22. Part Time – What Would You Say?
21. EMA – Past Life Martyred Saints

Albums of 2011: 40-31

Hi. Over the next four days I will present my top 40 albums of 2011. Please note that all albums were available in most Spotify countries a couple of months ago, but I haven’t checked them this week. Enjoy!

(And in case you are new around here, just move the mouse over the album cover to see the title and click to open the album in Spotify.)

40. Jonathan Johansson – Klagomuren
39. Real Estate – Days
38. The Mast – Wild Poppies
37. M83 – Hurry Up, We´re Dreaming
36. Papercranes – Let’s Make Babies in the Woods
35. Lykke Li – Wounded Rhymes
34. Jonathan Wilson – Gentle Spirit
33. Puro Instinct – Headbangers in Ecstasy
32. Future Islands – On the Water
31. Moon Duo – Mazes

Top 11 Albums of 2011 (so far)

Howdy folks. In alphabetical order, here you have my top 11 albums of 2011 so far*. It will be interesting to see how many of these releases can make my final top 30 list in December. Enjoy!

(Note that a couple of recently added albums are missing simply because I haven’t been able to give them the amount of listening time they deserve.)

Clive Tanaka y su orquesta – Jet Set Siempre 1°
Ha Ha Tonka – Death of a Decade
Lia Ices – Grown Unknown
Ringo Deathstarr – Colour Trip
Skeletons – People
Smith Westerns – Dye It Blonde
Tennis – Cape Dory
The Sandwitches – Mrs. Jones’ Cookies
Tommy Guerrero – Lifeboats and Follies
Tune-Yards – W H O K I L L
Yuck – Yuck

Four Notable New Releases (week 23)

Hi again. Here are four notable new releases, from various genres, all added to Spotify earlier today. Enjoy!

Depeche Mode – Remixes 2: 81-11
Ford & Lopatin – Channel Pressure
Gomez – Whatever’s On Your Mind
My Morning Jacket – Circuital

Gang Gang Dance – Eye Contact

Hey there. The excellent new album by Gang Gang Dance was added to Spotify earlier this week. Read this review and enjoy!

(Genre: experimental/art/avant-garde electronic/rock or something like that…)

Gang Gang Dance – Eye Contact

Three Recent Additions (week 15)

Hello friends. After five blog posts yesterday I decided it was time to slow down a little bit today. Here are three recent additions to Spotify. Enjoy!

(Genres: Alison Krauss & Union Station = bluegrass, Paul Simon = singer-songwriter and Lisa Ekdahl = jazz)

Alison Krauss & Union Station – Paper Airplane
Lisa Ekdahl – Lisa Ekdahl at the Olympia, Paris
Paul Simon – So Beautiful Or So What

Three Recent Late Additions

Hello friends. Here are three albums that were added for most Spotify regions a couple of weeks ago. However, as of this week they are available for all listeners. If you are a new reader you may not be familiar with my policy of only writing about releases that all Spotify listeners can listen to. Anyhow, enjoy!

(Genres: Acid House Kings = indie pop, Rotten Sound = grindcore and The Naked and Famous = electronic/pop.)

(Music Sounds Better With You for France and the UK here. Cursed for Finland here.)

Acid House Kings – Music Sounds Better With You
Rotten Sound – Cursed
The Naked and Famous – Passive Me, Aggressive You

Four Albums I Forgot (2011)

Hello again. Here you have four albums from 2011 that for different reasons slipped under my radar. Enjoy!

(No time for genres, sorry.)

Akron/Family – S/T II: The Cosmic Birth And Journey Of Shinju TNT
Hanna Turi – Some Old Tapes
MillionYoung – Replicants
Stricken City – Losing Colour

Four Albums I Forgot (2010)

Morning. Here are four albums from 2010 that I must have forgotten about at the time of their release. Usually I just try to save these releases for the slower Spotify periods, but not this time. Enjoy!

(No time for genres, sorry.)

(A post with four 2011 releases should be up shortly.)

Former Ghosts – New Love.
Gustaf Ljunggren – Fractions and Pastures
Sea Of Bees – Songs For The Ravens
The Notes – Wishing Well

Four New Releases (March 28)

Hi. After some listening I’ve selected these four new releases. All albums were added to Spotify earlier today. Enjoy!

(Note: I saved some goodies for tomorrow!)

(Genres: Hatchback = electronic, Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter = folk-rock, Mountaineer = folk/pop and William Fitzsimmons = singer-songwriter)

(UK version for the William Fitzsimmons album here.)

Hatchback – Zeus & Apollo
Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter – Marble Son
Mountaineer – The Real McQueen
William Fitzsimmons – Gold In The Shadow

K Records – part 4

Evening. This is the fourth and final part with selections from American indie label K Records. Enjoy!

(Part 1, 2 and 3.)

(Genres: Electric Sunset = chillwave, Mahjongg = electronic/rock, Tender Forever = pop, The Blow = experimental electronic/pop and The Microphones = experimental lo-fi folk)

Electric Sunset – Electric Sunset
Mahjongg – The Long Shadow of the Paper Tiger
Tender Forever – No Snare
The Blow – The Concussive Caress, Or, Casey Caught Her Mom Singing Along With The Vacuum
The Microphones – The Glow Pt. 2

K Records – part 3

Howdy. Here you have part three (of four) with selections from indie label K Records. Enjoy!

(The genres: Beat Happening = indie rock, Karp = noise/punk rock, Little Wings = folk singer-songwriter, Some Velvet Sidewalk = rock and The Crabs = indie pop/rock)

Beat Happening – You Turn Me On
Karp – Self Titled LP
Little Wings – Light Green Leaves
Some Velvet Sidewalk – Whirlpool
The Crabs – What Were Flames Now Smolder

K Records – part 2

Hello again. Here is part two with selections from American indie label K Records. Recommended listening. Enjoy!

(The genres: Desolation Wilderness = psychedelic dream pop, Mecca Normal and Treepeople = indie rock, Mirah = singer-songwriter and The Pine Hill Haints = alt-country)

(The next two parts will be posted tomorrow.)

Desolation Wilderness – New Universe
Mecca Normal – Dovetail
Mirah – Advisory Committee
The Pine Hill Haints – Ghost Dance
Treepeople – Guilt Regret Embarrassment

Four Recent Swedish Albums

Good evening. Here are four recent* albums by Swedish artists. Check them out and enjoy!

(*Actually all albums were most likely added to Spotify today!)

(Genres: bob hund = rock, John Lindberg Trio = rock’n’roll, Josef & Erika = art pop, Miss Li = pop singer-songwriter)

bob hund – Det överexponerade gömstället
John Lindberg Trio – Made For Rock N Roll
Josef & Erika – Floods
Miss Li – Beats & Bruises

Three New Albums (week 11)

Evening. Here are three very different new albums. All of these releases are naturally very recent additions to Spotify. Enjoy!

(Genres. Anna Hamilton = pop, Heavenwood = doom/gothic metal and Hype Williams = lo-fi electronic.)

(And, yes, one album cover is just plain white.)

Anna Hamilton – Black Keys
Heavenwood – Abyss Masterpiece
Hype Williams – One Nation

Three Notable Late Additions

Hi there. These three albums were available in many places from day one, but the PJ Harvey album was delayed in the UK and both Syket and Those Dancing Days were first only available in Sweden, Norway and Finland. However, since they they are now available for all users I give them all a blog post. Enjoy!

(Note: in an ideal world all albums would be released everywhere in the world on the same day. Sadly that’s not the case yet.)

PJ Harvey – Let England Shake
Syket – With Love
Those Dancing Days – Daydreams & Nightmares

4 Very Good Albums (from last week)

Hey. I have so much listening to do and I’m doing my best to catch up. Here are four albums from last week that made a very good first impression. Much more to come later. Enjoy!

(In case it doesn’t work, click here to get to the non-Nordic version of Wounded Rhymes.)

Alexander – Alexander
DeVotchKa – 100 Lovers
Lykke Li – Wounded Rhymes
Rue Royale – Guide to an Escape

5 Recent Releases

Hi. Here are five recent releases from various genres. All but the Martial Canterel album were added to Spotify this week. Enjoy!

Hotels – On The Casino Floor
Imaginary Cities – Temporary Resident
Loch Lomond – Little Me Will Start A Storm
Martial Canterel – You Today
Det lilla extra – Det lilla extra (single)