Top 5 Albums of 2011 so far

As the year progresses I continually re-think and alter my list of favorite albums of the this year.  Here is where my list stands at the moment.

1.  Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
This is my favorite album of theirs so far.  Although it brings nothing new to folk music, it's fantastically produced with lush sounds and details.

2. Destroyer - Kaputt
Fantastic album that takes inspiration from old soft rock and smooth jazz. What really makes it for me are the Lyrics and the way Dan Bejar sings.

3.PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
One of my favorite albums from PJ Harvey.  She takes less of rock approach this time around than in her previous albums and creates some great music with the use of an autoharp.

4. Tune Yards - W H O K I L L
My favorite Art Rock album to come out so far this year.  Far outdoes their first Album in my opinion.

5. James Blake - James Blake
Although I'm not a fan of your typical dubstep, Minimal Dubstep seems to be right up my ally.  I listened to this album about 10 times in the first week of its release.

Stream Panda Bear's Tomboy!

  You can now stream the entirety of Panda Bears new album, Tomboy, on NPR music.  If you don't know who Panda Bear is, he's a musician in the band "Animal Collective."  If you don't know who Animal Collective is, I would suggest you use wikipedia.  Recomended songs are Last Night At The Jetty and Alsatian Darn

                                                         Album cover

Take a listen: http://www.npr.org/2011/04/04/134987319/first-listen-panda-bear-tomboy

Funniest Video Game Youtube Video Ever

I've never played skate or any skating game for that matter, but I happened to come across this today and thought I should share it with you.

PJ Harvey - The Words That Maketh Murder

Today's track review comes from the new PJ Harvey album Let England Shake.

What I really like about this track off the bat is that it has rather pretty rhythm with the harp and vocals, yet its lyrics are very morbid considering they are about war. The ending of the song shows a sense of helplessness with both singers saying "What if I take my problem to the United Nations."  The answer most likely being nothing.


8/10

Stepdad

I just recently came across this fantastic new synthpop band named Stepdad and thought I would introduce you all to their music.  They released an EP in 2010 titled Ordinaire That went rather unnoticed by many people including myself.  Take a listen.

If you like what you hear, you can download the song for free off of their website and hear more songs from the EP. 
http://www.stepdad.us/

The King of Limbs review

  Considering it's been 4 years since Radiohead last put out an album (In Rainbows), many people including myself were expecting to be blown away by The King of Limbs.  That wishful thinking, however, lead many to be disappointed with the album when it released on the 18.  I can't deny that I was one of those people, but I also can't deny that I really liked the album.

  Yes, It is probably Radiohead's worst album since Pablo Honey, but if that's any indication it's that Radiohead is incapable of producing a bad album.  After the first listen you may feel indifferent about the album and the direction Radiohead chose with it, but after several listens it does really grow.

  Radiohead chose head in the direction of a Dubstep/Avant Garde music for the first half of the album and it really brings artists such as Flying Lotus and Burial to mind, and it makes sense considering Thom Yorke was featured in a song from Flying Lotus' last LP. Although I do appreciate how Radiohead continues to merge influences from several generes into their albums, the songs ultimately falter due to their poor production choices.  Alot of the drum machine beats are pretty much looped throughout the entirety of the songs, and at times sounds like they just used fruity loops.

                            Thome Yorke dancing around like an idiot.

The second half of the album, however, did come off for me as fantastic. Especially the last track, seperator,  which is already one of my favorite Radiohead tracks. You get a feel that the album is progressing from something dark and gloomy to something happy by the end.

Overall score: 7.5/10

Another music video I like

This one is for a song by another IDM artist named "squarepusher."

I believe this video Is directed by Chris Cunningham as well as the other one.  The song comes from squarepushers LP "Big Loada."  I think this may actually top Windowlicker as my favorite music video.