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"

Streaming/Fondling: The Big Name Drop

The world may be falling apart around us, but that hasn't stopped some beautiful new tunes from arriving at our digital doorsteps. This week's edition of Streaming/Fondling is heavy on big names like the Fleet Foxes, TV On The Radio and blog-sensation turned Columbia Records signees Cults. In the coming weeks and months, I expect we'll also have new tracks from Everybody Taste favorites Vetiver and Bon Iver, who both recently finished up new albums. Here it goes:

White Denim: Last Day of Summer

From out of nowhere, the always excellent White Denim have released a free (although donations are accepted) album, Last Day of Summer, full of some extra tunes the band recorded while working on their third yet-to-be-titled full-length. Grab the album here. If you're not sold yet, check out the swingin' uptempo "New Coat" which shows off a lighter, more carefree side of the band's repertoire.

White Denim - "New Coat" (from Last Day of Summer)

Balls to Rock: A Discerning Ratio

Even independent music goes through states of stylized homogeneity. When Animal Collective got red hot last year, we were flooded with bands every other week worshipping at their experimental altar. The same can be said for sub-genres like freak-folk, chill-wave, and the noisy Jesus & Mary Chain gang. In other words, when everyone is trying to be different and that "difference" is being celebrated, a repetition of style is inevitable. Sometimes "different" means music that is eccentric, weird or groundbreaking and that, of course, should be celebrated; but when "different" or "indie" connotes overly quirky and clever skinny-jean donning bands of the moment, it can become difficult to wade through that abyss of tight denim.

That's when I resort to "balls to rock," a ratio that sifts out the overly stylized and cliched from the blood, sweat and tears. "Balls" is colloquial for bravado or courage and could easily be replaced with terms like "soulful," "bad-ass," or "inspired"—in music, it's that intangible something that hits you in the gut. On a scale, Wavves or the Jo Bros might register a 1:37; Vampire Weekend a respectable 6:13; White Denim, always full of life and energy, a 5:7; a perfect 1:1 for the damaged goods Bon Iver delivered in For Emma, Forever Ago; and lastly, the ratio would spill over with the likes of Janis Joplin and Prince, whose gigantic huevos' size were and are simply impossible to determine.

Here are five groups that bring it balls and ovaries first every song:

The Ettes - "Crown of Age" (from Look At Life Again)

White Denim - "Regina Holding Hands" (from Fits)

Beach House - "Silver Soul" (From Teen Dream)

The Drive By Truckers - "Steve McQueen" (from Alabama Ass Whuppin)

Black Joe Lewis & The Honerybears - "I'm Broke" (Live at WOXY Lounge)

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Best of 2009: The Songs

In our digital day and age, the power of a song has never been greater: a song is a single key tap that can lead into years of spending—from whole album downloads to concert tickets and merchandise—or it can simply be a regrettable 99 cent purchase or more often, free download. Technology has also changed the way we listen to music, with more of an emphasis placed on mixes via iPods and CDs rather than whole albums.

For 2009, I've created two lists: one devoted to songs and another to albums. Many of the songs on this list may belong to excellent records, but they are chosen here because they can also stand alone as wholly conceived works of art. No example is better than my choice for the year's best: the 5:32 pastoral epic "Impressions of the Past" by Megafaun—a song that lazily drifts, grows dark and stormy, and then rips open like a shot of sunlight.

1) Megafaun -"Impressions of the Past" (from Gather, Form and Fly)
2) The Love Language - "Lalita" (from The Love Language)

3) White Denim - "Regina Holding Hands" (from Fits)
4) Brazos - "Day Glo" (from Phosphorescent Blues)

5) A.A. Bondy - "I Can See the Pines are Dancing" (from When The Devil's Loose)

6) Bon Iver - "Blood Bank" (fromBlood Bank EP)

7) Girls - " Hellhole Ratrace" (from Album)

8) Cotton Jones - "Blood Red Sentimental Blues" (from Paranoid Cocoon)

9) The National - "So Far Around The Bend" (from Dark Was The Night)

10) Throw Me The Statue - "Waving At The Shore" (from Creaturesque)

11) Dan Auerbach - "My Last Mistake" (from Keep It Hid)
12) Here We Go Magic - "Tunnelvision" (from Here We Go Magic)

13) Camera Obscura - "French Navy" (from My Maudlin Career)

14) Generationals - "When They Fight, They Fight" (from Con Law)

15) Dirty Projectors - "Stillness Is the Move" (from Bitte Orca)

16) Fanfarlo - "Finish Line" (from Reservoir)
17) JJ - "Things Will Never Be The Same Again" (from JJ N°)

18) YACHT - "Psychic City (Voodoo City)" (from See Mystery Lights)

19) Neon Indian - "Deadbeat Summer" (from Psychic Chasms)

20) Cass McCombs - "You Saved My Life" (from Catacombs)

21) Islands - "Vapours" (from Vapours)

22) Luke Top - "Friends" (from Friends)

23) Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros - "Home" (from Up From Below)

24) Washed Out - "Feel It All Around" (from Life of Leisure EP)

25) Lands & Peoples - "Bad Habits" (from Lands & Peoples)

26) Molina and Johnson - "What You Reckon, What You Breathe" (from Molina and Johnson)

27) The Dutchess and the Duke - "Hands" (from Sunset / Sunrise)

28) Richard Hawley - "Don't Get Hung Up In Your Soul" (from Truelove's Gutter)

29) M. Ward - "Rave On" (from Hold Time)
30) Passion Pit - "Little Secrets" (from Manners)

Best of 2009: The Albums

White Denim - "Syncn"

There are a few new White Denim songs floating around the internets in anticipation of their forthcoming third full-length, Fits, due out in October in the States. The dark and eerily soulful "Syncn" is one of those songs. Sung entirely in falsetto, the song reminds me of the darker, earlier days of the Rolling Stones when they were churning out tracks like "Paint It Black" and "Mother's Little Helper." Add a few "La la la's" from Iggy Pop's "Passenger" and you have one hell of a good song.

White Denim - "Syncn" (from Fits)