2011 Music Sampler

Hey there music fans.  Another great year of music is in the books.  Once again, way too many songs to fit on this silly CD format, but once again that was part of the fun in picking this list.  This year is high(er than usual) on energy and retro sounds.  There are some old friends and many new artists on this list.  I hope you enjoy this music as much as I have this past year.  Well wishes and blessings to you all.

Track 1: "Get Fresh With You" by Teddybears
My job making samplers is made easy by these guys.  This Swedish band never disappoints for a few solid options for a high energy lead-off song.  This is off their sophomore release "Devil's Music".  Like their first album it's full of collaborations with huge hitmakers (CeeLo Green, Robyn and The Flaming Lips to name a few).  If you like this song, checkout "Rocket Scientist" as well.  If you don't - stop listening now.

Track 2: "Booty City" by Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears
Sticking with the bear theme is the soulful retro sounding Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears.  This is has a great Detroit garage rock sound reminiscent of some cleaned up MC5 or the Stooges.  They are part of a retro blues and boogie rock revival scene that includes Sharon Jones, Amy Winehouse (RIP), and a few other artists appearing later in this list.

Track 3: "Different" by Ximena Sarinana
This catchy little number comes courtesy of Mexican actress and musician Ximena Sarinana.  This song got pretty heavy rotation on The Current this fall.  She did a great interview while in town where she described the meaning behind this song.  It's about being from a different place and not fitting in or always completely understanding what people are saying to her.  This song was co-written by Tim Armstrong of the old punk band Rancid.

Track 4: "Bad Street" by Twin Sister
I'm a sucker for dream pop.  Must be because it brings me back to the Sundays in college.  Twin Sister is a band from Long Island that makes music in that same mold.  To make things better for me, in some of their songs you can hear the Peter Hook(TM) baseline present.  This is from their debut album, "In Heaven" which is full of several songs that recall a bunch of my favorite late 80's and early 90's music.

Track 5: "A Forest" by Ping Trace
Another year, another Cure cover.  "A Forest" has always been one of my absolute favorite Cure songs.  It's spooky and defines that early 80's underground dance sound.  This remake by Colorado outfit Ping Trace is a fresh update.  Plus, how could I not go for the great geek name of this band.

Track 6: "Up Up Up" by Givers
Another new act from 2011 is Givers, a quintet from Lafayette, LA came out with their debut release, "In Light" in June.  It was met with relatively positive critical reviews.  Their sound is somewhat reminiscent of Vampire Weekend.  They made a big splash at the SXSW music festival in Austin this year being profiled in Time magazine.  This song is featured in FIFA 2012.

Track 7: "Make Some Noise" by The Beastie Boys
My inability to absorb rap and hip hop into my music collection continues this year.  If not for the grace of the old-school hit makers, the Beastie Boys, this list would once again return to being devoid of anything from one of the most popular genres in modern music.  It feels a bit guilty counting this as a rap selection.  Its sort of akin to picking a Johnny Cash tune as a country song.  Alas, it's still a great song and they are still a phenomenal band.  Plus, I'm lovin' them rockin' the cowbell again in this one.  Thank you Beasties.

Track 8: "Don't Gotta Work It Out" by Fitz & The Tantrums
Andy Warner turned me on to this new, old-sounding band.  I'm sorry I didn't join him at The Cabooze to see them this year.  There's something familiar in these songs for sure.  It could be the Daryl Hall sound-alike vocals?  Could it be the retro-soul sounds of the melodies?  This is one of several very tight numbers on their debut release "Pickin' Up the Pieces" to be featured on the Current this year.  Next time they come through, I guarantee I won't pass up the chance to see them.

Track 9: "Go Outside" by Cults
Cults is yet another new band with an outstanding debut release this year. Cults are the duo of Brian Oblivion (great name) and Madeline Follin from Manhattan.  Start to finish, this was one of my favorite albums of the year.  "Abducted" was another big indie hit from this album.  When they came through Minneapolis this fall, they recorded some excellent live tracks at the Current studios.  Check them out at thecurrent.org.

Track 10: "Under Cover Of Darkness" by The Strokes
The Strokes have been one of those bands whose existence I was aware of, but I'd never really taken the time to listen to.  With the release of their fourth LP, "Angles", this year, I finally corrected that.  This is a very strong rock album that highlights the great song-writing and musicianship of these NYC post-punk revivalists.  Now it's time for me to revisit the rest of their back catalog.

Track 11: "Don't Sit Down 'cause I've Moved Your Chair" by Arctic Monkeys
Arctic Monkeys also released their fourth LP this year, "Suck It and See".  Allegedly the tagline of a candy commercial in the UK, it class tongue and cheek innuendo for the Sheffield quartet.  It's another solid release for this guys, marking the third time in four years they've made an appearance on this sampler.  Jonah cracks up every time he hears the title of this one sung.

Track 12: "Techno Fan" by The Wombats
This and the song "1996" were two of the heavy rotation songs by the Liverpudlian Wombats on the Current this year.  I like both, but have a stronger affinity towards this one considering the topic.  It's about a guy who get's dragged to a techno show .  While there he realizes that he truly enjoys the music and doesn't want to leave early like his date (although it sounds like it may simply be out of frugality).  Hearing this song inspired me to go research the term techno as I realized that it was often thrown around to describe a wide range of electronic music.  It was interesting to learn about the true techno movement in Detroit during the early 80's.  I still maintain that second to Manchester, England, Detroit is the home to some of the most interesting and revolutionary music around.  I guess I always new I was a techno fan.

Track 13: "Pumped Up Kicks" by Foster The People
This is, far and away, the biggest hit on this list.  I've got to say that it's very well deserved.  I remember first hearing it on the Current thinking, "man that's one catchy tune". I missed the chance to see them at the Fine Line this summer and of course now they come through as one of the hottest tickets in town.  It's a song that provides a rare case of overlap between my radio station and the kids'.

Track 14: "Lonely Boy" by The Black Keys
Is there a hotter band right now than Ohio's Black Keys?  Released just in time to make the sampler, this was a very last minute add.  Intense pressure from Marc and Amy pushed me over the top on this one.  They've picked up right where they left off on Brothers.  Be sure to catch the video for this one.  For those counting at home, this is track three of the retro blues/garage sound.

Track 15: "Bizness" by Tune-Yards
Four out of Five Current DJs agree - WHOKILL, the new album by Merrill Garbus (AKA tUnE-yArDs) was the best album of the year.  I'd been blissfully unaware of it until reading the Current's year end DJ favorites column.  Within the span of a week I'd listened to it about 2 dozen times and run into some enthusiastic supporters (Bob and Julie) who raved about her performance at First Avenue earlier in the fall.  I agree with the Current DJ's.  The album is outstanding.  She's definitely one to watch out for her next album.  If you like this song, get the album ($5 on Amazon!).

Track 16: "Weekend" by Smith Westerns
The Smith Westerns are a band from Chicago who released their second LP this year, "Dye It Blonde".  They toured opening for the Arctic Monkeys.  Not much else to say other than I really enjoyed this song and album this year.

Track 17: "Get Away" by Yuck
This song by indie newcomers Yuck brings me back to the year 1991 - my sophomore year in college.  Their sound is reminiscent of noise rock pioneers like Sonic Youth and the Pixies.  1991 was such a big year in music that the Current featured an entire weekend profiling the music of that year.  Often labeled as the year punk broke (a documentary with this title chronicles this), it featured music that originated from the punk spirit but due to numerous factors achieved more critical success.  The most obvious success story being Nirvana and Nevermind.  Anyway, Yuck really captures the spirit of this era and was a fun edition to the world of alternative music in 2011.

Track 18: "It's Real" by Real Estate
Real Estate, another band issuing their sophomore release this year, put out what became my favorite album of the year, "Days".  This group has a wonderful jangly dream pop sound that recalls the Smiths, the Sundays, and even early REM.  They are a quartet from New Jersey.  There's a risk with this music that it falls into the background because it's so smooth and soothing.  If you like this song, you should definitely checkout "Days".  You won't be disappointed.

Track 19: "My Mistakes" by Eleanor Friedberger
Eleanor is half of the Fiery Furnaces.  This is from her first solo release, "Last Summer".  It's a collection of songs she wrote about spending the summer of 2010 in her native NYC.  There are some great lines in this song like "he's ignoring me like it's 2001" and "I do my best thinking when I'm flying down the bridge".  I love the subtly driving rhythms in this song as well.  It was my favorite driving song of the summer.  The rest of the album is quite good as well.

Track 20: "Ritual Union" by Little Dragon
Little Dragon is a Swedish group (#2 on this list) who released their third album this year.  I first became acquainted with them on the last Gorillaz album where lead singer, Yukimi Nagano, guest sang on two songs. It's quite the international affair with this band.  They are classified as an electropop band by Rhapsody, but I think this song is good example of Drum N Bass.

Track 21: "Video Games" by Lana Del Rey
Grand finale.  Many of you won't like this song.  I'm sorry for that.  Let this song transport you to another era with it sound and ground you firmly in the present with it's lyrics.  This artist was beginning to be quite a sensation towards the end of the year and I expect her to become even more of a big name in 2012.  Or, your suspicions may be right and no one else will like it either.  Either way, it's not boring.  It's the IT song of the moment for me as I write this up.

Best wishes, happy holidays and the rest.  Thanks for listening.