Best of 2011: The Songs

50. Yelle - "Safari Disco Club"
49. Body Language - "Social Studies"
48. Bleached - "Searching Through The Past"
47. Craft Spells - "After The Moment"
46. Future Islands - "Crish (Javelin Remixxx)"

45. Nurses - "Trying To Reach You"
44. Cheerleader - "Dreamer"
43. Radiation City - "The Color of Industry"
42. Lower Dens - "Deer Knives"

41. Ganglians - "Sleep"
40. Cut Copy - "Alisa"

39. Blouse - "Shadow"

38. FIDLAR - "Wake Bake Skate"
37. Eleanor Friedberger - "My Mistakes"
36. St. Vincent - "Cruel"

Mixtape #17: Snacking On The 7-inch

The latest installment of our mixtape series highlights the 7" vinyl single—a format that was introduced in 1949 by RCA and is still alive and thriving today. The tracklist below features 21 different 7"s put out by some of our favorite artists and labels.*

Best of 2011: The First Half

THE BEST ALBUMS

1) The Sandwitches :: Mrs. Jones' Cookies
"In 2011, there is perhaps no band more aggressively honest and loyal to their distinctive sound than the Sandwitches." Review
The Sandwitches - "Lightfoot"

The Shivers: The sweet soul music of More

The last thing I expected to hear Saturday night at Backspace here in Portland, Oregon was stirring soul music. Yet that's what Queens' Shivers are dishing out these days. You wouldn't know it from the uptempo synth-driven singles "I Want You Back" and "Used To Be" on the band's latest full-length More, but in front of a live audience, Keith Zarriello transforms into the consummate entertainer and frontman. Dancing and flailing about in manic fashion in a navy blue suit, Zarrielo sunk his teeth into his newest batch of love songs with the urgency, confidence, and class of the soul singers of old: your James Browns, Otis Reddings, and Al Greens. In short, the man was feeling it.

The Shivers - "Used To Be"

According to their press release, Queens duo Keith Zarriello and Jo Schornikow of the Shivers spent every last bit of their savings on a trip to Manchester to spend five days recording in an analog studio. While I can't speak for the rest of the album, you can certainly feel the warmth of that recording session on "Used To Be," a track that kicks off with the playful and bright fuzz of an analog synthesizer melody. It's a straightforward track, but in the best kind of way: one that reels you into its warm pop arms from the first sound of Zarriello's raspy and confessional vocals. More, which boasts a fantastically cheerful shot of Schornikow for its album cover, is out on May 10th.

The Shivers - "Used To Be" (from More)