Serpents

Sharon Van Etten - Serpents (buy)


It's self-important like an impending climax or a bridge-crossing-car-scene from a movie. The guitar slides ride above urgent drumming while Van Etten's voice is self-assured as if it were preparing to face difficult obstacles and great waves.

Tramp is out on Jagjaguwar February 7. 

Wicked Game

Widowspeak - Wicked Game (buy)


This song could only be covered with an effortless waif of a voice like this one. Because of its gentle delivery, the words don't ring with the sincerity of the original, but the sound is just perfect.

Finns Det En Så Finns Det Flera

Veronica Maggio - Finns Det En Så Finns Det Flera

This is the pop song I was looking for all year. It's as if Yelle and Casiokids got together to write a chorus to make you say "Mmm... that feels good, let's listen again."

Via Said the Gramophone's Songs of The Year 2011.

Wye Oak Live at The Rock Shop

Albums of the Year 2011

Fall Volume 1: A Mixtape of Hits

A mixtape of hits.

New Tennis, Origins

Whether it's the production of Black Keys drummer, Patrick Carney, or just a more mature songwriter--"Origins" has the best hook I've heard in months. Alaina Moore's vocals are better than you ever thought they could be; they expressively carry the song's evenly-paced melody and just take off in a euphoric chorus.

Au/Palais: Tender Mercy

The deep bass line of "Tender Mercy" drones on much like an Austra track, but that's where the similarities end with AU PALAIS. The chimes that cascade softly blow through the song like a cool breeze, and words are sung in a effortless waft, sounding nonchalant over rushes of synth crescendoes between verses. By not using the vocals to indicate intensity, AU PALAIS lets the rest of the band do the talking.

I Wrote In Blood

The London-based, Still Corners, is not just another shimmery, 60's-pop revival group. The often bare compositions of their debut LP, Creatures of an Hour, can seem slow or inane to impatient ears, but the good is in the detail. It's not just the breathy ooh-and-ahh vocal of Tessa Murray that makes listeners think of Broadcast because the spaced drumming also shows the influence. Still Corners isn't very loud and the vocals seem entirely devoid of emotion, yet they can somehow completely consume you if you let them.