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ISLANDS
A Sleep & A Forgetting

It’s said that Phil Collins would never have left Genesis and ventured out on his own if his relationship with his first wife hadn’t crumbled. If Adele’s boyfriend hadn’t smashed her heart, her hit 21 may have never have made its way to the top of the charts. And Beck’s tear-jerking and game-changing Sea Change was recorded after he split with his girlfriend of nine years. For Islands frontman Nick Thorburn, the band’s latest album, A Sleep & A Forgetting, is about more than a breakup: it’s about completely losing a way of life and having to start all over again. He started writing it on Valentine’s Day last year after breaking up with his longtime partner, leaving his New York home and moving to Los Angeles: he started messing around and writing songs on a piano he found in his new abode, and a year later came Islands’ fourth record. But though the subject of A Sleep & A Forgetting is one of the most common human experiences, the album is not a generic tribute to a breakup: it’s an inspired look at the grieving human heart. And one of the best Islands records so far, to boot.

ARTIST: Islands
TITLE: A Sleep & A Forgetting
LABEL: ANTI / Epitaph
RELEASE DATE: February 10, 2012
TIME: 37:43 min.
WEB: http://islandsareforever.com/

01. In a Dream It Seemed Real [03:21]
02. This Is Not a Song [03:56]
03. Never Go Solo [04:45]
04. No Crying [03:05]
05. Hallways [02:54]
06. Can’t Feel My Face [02:46]
07. Lonely Love [03:40]
08. Oh Maria [04:08]
09. Cold Again [03:19]
10. Don’t Love You [03:20]
11. Same Thing [02:32]

Islands – Hallways

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SHEARWATER
Animal Joy

Shearwater‘s Animal Joy is the first band’s album for Sub Pop. Led by Jonathan Meiburg, and featuring drummer Thor Harris, and bassist Kimberly Burke, Shearwater ditch the expansive approach of their recent records (particularly the epic trilogy of Palo Santo, Rook and The Golden Archipelago) to create a record that seems shockingly direct, immediate and intensely personal. Meiburg is no stranger to lush, crafted recordings, but this one sounds like no prior Shearwater incarnation.

ARTIST: Shearwater
TITLE: Animal Joy
LABEL: Sub Pop
RELEASE DATE: February 14, 2012
TIME: 43:10 min.
WEB: http://shearwatermusic.com/

01. Animal Life [03:38]
02. Breaking the Yearlings [03:08]
03. Dread Sovereign [03:51]
04. You As You Were [03:43]
05. Insolence [06:25]
06. Immaculate [02:26]
07. Open Your Houses (basilisk) [03:25]
08. Run the Banner Down [02:50]
09. Pushing the River [04:32]
10. Believing Makes It Easy [04:11]
11. Star of the Age [05:01]

Shearwater – Breaking the Yearlings

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DREW SMITH
The Secret Languages

After the release of two wonderful videos such as Love Teeth and Smoke and Mirrors that hit the YouTube community with thousands of views, Canadian singer-songwriter Drew Smith release his full-length. The Secret Languages is an interesting collection of classic americana pop songs and a dynamic projection of Drew’s simple, efficient songwriting and a genuine depth of artistic delivery. A mix of heartfelt, visually descriptive lyrics and masterful compositions to fall in love with.

ARTIST: Drew Smith
TITLE: The Secret Languages
LABEL: self-released
RELEASE DATE: January 20, 2012
TIME: 36:46 min.
WEB: http://www.drewsmith.ca/

01. Frozen Still [03:07]
02. Bang Bang [03:34]
03. Kachina [03:39]
04. Smoke and Mirrors [03:10]
05. Love Teeth [03:52]
06. Box Me Up [05:53]
07. Mute [03:33]
08. River So Deep [03:18]
09. Old Souls [03:23]
10. Grotesque [03:17]

Drew Smith – Kachina

removed by request

VIDEO OF THE WEEK – #93
as seen on radioSpin

ARTIST: The Rural Alberta Advantage
TITLE: Tornado 87
ALBUM: Departing
WEB: Vimeo

directed by Scott Cudmore

MARK LANEGAN BAND
Blues Funeral

What else do we need to say that hasn’t been alrealdy said about Mark Lanegan? It would be enough to enumerate the bands and artist he has sung with, such as Screaming Trees, Queens Of the Stone Age, The Twilight Singers, The Gutter Twins, Soulsavers and Isobel Campbell. Blues Funeral is the first Mark Lanegan Band album since 2004′s Bubblegum. It was recorded in Hollywood (California) by Alain Johannes at his 11ad studio. The music was played by Johannes himself and Jack Irons with appearances from Greg Dulli, Josh Homme and many others. Enjoy.

ARTIST: Mark Lanegan Band
TITLE: Blues Funeral
LABEL: 4AD
RELEASE DATE: February 7, 2012
TIME: 56:00 min.
WEB: http://marklanegan.com/

01. The Gravedigger’s Song [03:46]
02. Bleeding Muddy Water [06:20]
03. Gray Goes Black [04:14]
04. St. Louis Elegy [04:37]
05. Riot in My House [03:56]
06. Ode to Sad Disco [06:27]
07. Phantasmagoria Blues [03:19]
08. Quiver Syndrome [04:06]
09. Harborview Hospital [04:34]
10. Leviathan [04:25]
11. Deep Black Vanishing Train [03:09]
12. Tiny Grain of Truth [07:07]

Mark Lanegan – The Gravedigger’s Song

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LEONARD COHEN
Old Ideas

From one of the master singer-songwriter, Leonard Cohen, here are ten new songs that mine the heart, shake the body and break the boundaries as everybody knows only Leonard can do. As a signature of our time, these are songs that nobody knows and everyone will treasure. The album was produced with Patrick Leonard, Anjani Thomas, Ed Sanders and Dino Soldo. Complementing Cohen’s wonderful baritone on Old Ideas are the exceptional vocalists Dana Glover, Sharon Robinson, The Webb Sisters and Jennifer Warnes. The album’s cover design and drawings are Cohen’s own.

ARTIST: Leonard Cohen
TITLE: Old Ideas
LABEL: Columbia
RELEASE DATE: January 31, 2012
TIME: 41:27 min.
WEB: http://www.leonardcohen.com/

01. Going Home [03:51]
02. Amen [07:36]
03. Show Me the Place [04:09]
04. Darkness [04:29]
05. Anyhow [03:08]
06. Crazy to Love You [03:06]
07. Come Healing [02:53]
08. Banjo [03:23]
09. Lullaby [04:46]
10. Different Sides [04:06]

Leonard Cohen – Show Me the Place

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GIRLS
Father, Son, Holy Ghost

Girls return with their long awaited second full-length: more spontaneous and stripped-down than either their self-made debut or their lush EP, Father, Son, Holy Ghost is a gorgeous, largely minor-key record, enlivened by flashes of innocent pop and given depth by its wealth of influences and willingness to face sadness.

ARTIST: Girls
TITLE: Father, Son, Holy Ghost
LABEL: True Panther Sound
RELEASE DATE: September 13, 2011
TIME: 52:36 min.
WEB: http://www.myspace.com/girls

01. Honey Bunny [02:33]
02. Alex [04:51]
03. Die [04:50]
04. Saying I Love You [03:58]
05. My Ma [03:57]
06. Vomit [06:23]
07. Just A Song [06:39]
08. Magic [03:27]
09. Forgiveness [07:49]
10. Love Like A River [03:41]
11. Jamie Marie [04:28]

Girls – Honey Bunny

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OF MONTREAL
Paralytic Stalks

This new full-length from of Montreal sees Kevin Barnes writing with a lyrical and musical direction that is infinitely more personal than anything he has written since 2007′s Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? Each track feeds off the last in what seems a singular album-long movement that never allows you to rip your ears away. Paralytic Stalks at times resembles modern classical with its intricate compositions, while at others echoes of neo-prog, pseudo-country, and 60s pop. Hard to define, as usual.

ARTIST: of Montreal
TITLE: Paralytic Stalks
LABEL: Polyvinyl
RELEASE DATE: February 7, 2012
TIME: 57:41 min.
WEB: http://www.ofmontreal.net/

01. Gelid Ascent [04:09]
02. Spiteful Intervention [03:38]
03. Dour Percentage [04:40]
04. We Will Commit Wolf Murder [05:30]
05. Malefic Dowery [02:37]
06. Ye, Renew the Plaintiff [08:47]
07. Wintered Debts [07:34]
08. Exorcism Breeding Knife [07:40]
09. Authentic Pyrrhic Remission [13:16]

of Montreal – Dour Percentage

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THE RURAL ALBERTA ADVANTAGE
Departing

With The Rural Alberta Advantage‘s latest album, Departing, the band further refines the exuberant guitar work: everything-on-the-table singing, songwriting full of conviction and detail, and majestic, keyboard-sprinkled arrangements that have won it so many fans. Departing strings together themes of small towns, Canadian fall and winter, breakup, and redemption and serves as a companion piece to their beloved debut album Hometowns.

ARTIST: The Rural Alberta Advantage
TITLE: Departing
LABEL: Saddle Creek
RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2011
TIME: 32:52 min.
WEB: http://www.theraa.com/

01. Two Lovers [03:23]
02. The Breakup [03:18]
03. Under the Knife [03:35]
04. Music Relaxants [02:55]
05. North Star [03:06]
06. Stamp [03:09]
07. Tornado ’87 [03:48]
08. Barnes’ Yard [02:25]
09. Coldest Days [03:08]
10. Good Night [04:05]

The Rural Alberta Advantage – Coldest Days

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AA.VV.
RS Top50 2011

So here we are: this year is coming to its end and it’s summing-up-time! It has been a really really hard work (but someone’s gotta do it, you know) to select the best albums of 2011. Obviously, no claim to be exahustive round here: it’s a matter of musical taste, and surely we’ve missed some fantastic release (we pre-apologize for that), but we’ve tried, and here are the RS-TOP20 album between the ones featured on radioSpin.
Let us know what you think about it.

01. RADIOHEAD – The King of Limbs
02. THE TWILIGHT SINGERS – Dynamite Steps
03. APPARAT – The Devil’s Walk
04. dEUS – Keep You Close
05. MOGWAI – Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will
06. MODESELEKTOR – Monkeytown
07. BIG CHARLIE – Too Little Too Late
08. ATARI – Can Eating Hot Stars Make Me Sick?
09. AUSTRA – Feel It Break
10. JUSTICE – Audio, Video, Disco
11. THE WOMBATS – This Modern Glitch
12. THE BLACK KEYS – El Camino
13. ZOLA JESUS – Conatus
14. MANCHESTER ORCHESTRA – Simple Math
15. DIGITALISM – I Love You, Dude
16. THE NEW DIVISION – Shadows
17. TYCHO – Dive
18. JANE’S ADDICTION – The Great Escape Artist
19. KING’S DAUGHTERS & SONS – If Then Not When
20. S.C.U.M. – Again Into Eyes

Here below (and, of course, inside the concerning section) a slighlty mixed exclusive podcast (downloadable at the end of the post) with the previous tracks. But that’s not enough: we’ve realized that there are some albums it wouldn’t be fair not to recall back: so this is why we go on with the rest of the chart to complete the RS-TOP50!

21. PJ HARVEY – Let England Shake
22. WILCO – The Whole Love
23. OKKERVIL RIVER – I Am Very Far
24. GOMEZ – Whatever’s On Your Mind
25. KATE WAX – Dust Collision
26. BVDUB – Resistance Is Beautiful
27. 65DAYSOFSTATIC – Silent Running
28. THE DUKE SPIRIT – Bruiser
29. PAUL KALKBRENNER – Icke Wieder
30. DANGER MOUSE & DANIELE LUPPI – Rome
31. FINK – Perfect Darkness
32. ALVA NOTO & RYUICHI SAKAMOTO – Summvs
33. AUTOKRATZ – Self-Help for Beginners
34. J MASCIS – Several Shades of Why
35. LADYTRON – Gravity the Seducer
36. LOW – C’mon
37. THE KILLS – Blood Pressure
38. JAMES BLAKE – James Blake
39. STATELESS – Matilda
40. ERRORS – Come Down With Me
41. RAFALE – Obsessions
42. BYETONE – Symeta
43. JUNIOR BOYS – It’s All True
44. M83 – Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming
45. SOFT METALS – Soft Metals
46. HANDSOME FURS – Sound Kapital
47. GOOSE – Synrise
48. DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE – Codes & Keys
49. ARCTIC MONKEYS – Suck It and See
50. KASABIAN – Velociraptor!

AA.VV. selected by radioSpin – RS TOP20 2011

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SÓLEY
We Sink

Sóley debuts with her first full-length, an album full of rhythmic makeshift creatures, of handclaps hidden in the undergrowth, tempting us to join in. The tracks on We Sink are sometimes incredibly catchy, amazingly quirky at other times: think cardigan-folk from the northern hemisphere, an ocean of stained glasses bopping up and down in the shared apartment’s dishwater, leeward in limbo. Sweetness, in other words.

ARTIST: Sóley
TITLE: We Sink
LABEL: Morr
RELEASE DATE: September 27, 2011
TIME: 46:53 min.
WEB: http://www.myspace.com/ssoolleeyy

01. I’ll Drown [03:35]
02. Smashed Birds [03:45]
03. Pretty Face [04:43]
04. Bad Dream [02:16]
05. Dance [04:05]
06. And Leave [03:33]
07. Blue Leaves [02:52]
08. Kill That Clown [03:45]
09. Fight Them Soft [01:32]
10. About Your Funeral [06:04]
11. The Sun Is Going Down I [01:56]
12. The Sun Is Going Down II [04:52]
13. Theater Island [03:55]

Sóley – I’ll Drown

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KING’S DAUGHTERS & SONS
If Then Not When

Debut album from band featuring various Touch & Go alumni. Hailing from Louisville KY, King’s Daughters & Sons feature members of Rachel’s, Shipping News, The For Carnation and Shannon Wright. Three years in the making If Then Not When was recorded by Kevin Ratterman (California Guitar Trio, My Morning Jacket, Wax Fang) and mastered by Bob Weston (Shellac). King’s Daughters & Sons are informed by, though not beholden to, the history of its respective members: haunting, spare and at times explosively unsettling, they stay surprisingly at ease between William Faulkner and Led Zeppelin.

ARTIST: King’s Daughters & Sons
TITLE: If Then Not When
LABEL: Chemikal Underground
RELEASE DATE: November 21, 2011
TIME: 48:03 min.
WEB: http://www.kingsdaughtersandsons.com/

01. Sleeping Colony [07:05]
02. Arc of the Absentee [04:25]
03. Dead Letter Office [04:13]
04. The Anniversary [08:12]
05. A Storm Kept Them Away [04:23]
06. Volunteer [05:48]
07. Lorelei [08:28]
08. Open Sky [05:31]

King’s Daughters & Sons – Dead Letter Office

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DILLON
This Silence Kills

Please let comparisons (Björk, Camille and so on) aside. The Berlin-based artist Dillon (Dominique Dillon de Byington her full name) has hit the nail on the head with this delightfully different debut album This Silence Kills, which is covered with her astounding voice for starters and the production also happens to be top notch. It has a wintry vibe going on in the best way and we defy you not to have your heart melted to this pleasant listening experience.

ARTIST: Dillon
TITLE: This Silence Kills
LABEL: B-Pitch Control
RELEASE DATE: November 28, 2011
TIME: 42:59 min.
WEB: http://www.dillon-music.com/

01. The Silence Kills [04:18]
02. Tip Tapping [03:07]
03. Thirteen Thirtyfive [03:43]
04. Your Flesh Against Mine [04:30]
05. You Are My Winter [04:22]
06. Undying Need to Scream [02:16]
07. ______________ [04:53]
08. From One to Six Hundred Kilometers [03:39]
09. Hey Beau [02:35]
10. Texture of My Blood [02:34]
11. Gumache [02:57]
12. Abrupt Clarity [04:05]

Dillon – Gumache

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