Here We Go Magic - Over The Ocean
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“Over the Ocean” by Here We Go Magic // A Different Ship (Out 5.8.12)
Here We Go Magic have released plenty of great music since their start, but they’re about to release something truly special. For their new album they managed to get longtime Radiohead producer, Nigel Godrich, to handle production after Thom Yorke introduced Godrich to the band’s music. The result is a giant leap in experimentation, maturity, and focus. “Over the Ocean” is one of the album highlights (hard to pick one, when the whole thing is a highlight) with it’s slow burning, ghostly atmospherics and haunting vocal delivery. It does have a decidedly “Radiohead” feel running through it’s backbone, but that’s all right. The sound is beautiful, dark, and lush. Highest recommendation for fans of Radiohead, Sun Airway, and Bear in Heaven.
Everything In Its Right Place (One I Love)
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“The One I Love / Everything In It’s Right Place” by Radiohead // Live in Japan (10.5.08)
It’s a slow weekend and I felt like breaking into some of the old tracks that I hadn’t listened to in a while. While doing so, I stumbled across this soundboard recording of Radiohead mixing R.E.M.s “The One I Love” with “Everything in it’s Right Place” and it certainly has been a few years since I laid back and fell in love with this, so why not share it on the main page until I discover something fresh and new to share.
* Interesting side note: Radiohead being my favorite band, the first time I ever saw them live was while they were opening for R.E.M.
Radiohead - Lift
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“Lift” by Radiohead // Live in Portugal (07.22.2002)
While on the subject of unreleased tracks, one of my favorites has to be “Lift” by Radiohead. It’s a track that I’ve had the privilege of seeing live over the years. Originally the band started playing it around the OK Computer years, and did so sporadically up through the rehearsals for Hail to the Thief, but not so much after that. In it’s various incarnations it’s been a jangly ballad and an ethereal dream pop lullaby. I’m picking the latter as my favorite that I wish to have in studio form. Of course, let’s be honest, Radiohead is my favorite band, so i’m excited for anything they do in any form, but I’ve always had a soft spot for this track and I’ve always secretly hoped it would pop up somewhere down the line like some old live favorites that finally found their way onto In Rainbows (“Reckoner” and “Nude”). I beleive this is one of the last times that they played Lift, almost ten years ago in Portugal. I guess I’ll just continue to listen to this until something else comes along.
* apologies for the extended Thom Yorke intro, didn’t have an edited copy handy.
Thom Yorke - Stuck Together
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“Stuck Together” by Thom Yorke // Excerpt from Rag-Bone Fashion Show (2011)
It would appear that Thom Yorke’s work for the Rag & Bone fashion show back in September has started to find it’s way online. Disco Naivete posted the information first and then Pitchfork picked up the story. This is one of the pieces, a pretty, ambient, mostly instrumental (save for some distorted vocal samples here and there) that’s being called “Stuck Together”. The other piece, “Twist” was briefly featured on radio show mixtape done by Yorke back in the fall. Until we get the full piece, enjoy this three minute sample.
perfect|midnight|world - Waves on Frozen Seas
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WAVES ON FROZEN SEAS /// A p|m|w Mixtape
I’ve been meaning to piece together something of a straight up mixtape that leans toward a specific vibe or atmosphere as opposed to the recent podcasts. This is that mixtape. No talking. Just music. I originally intended this to be something of a holiday mix, but then decided instead to set out to compile something more in tune with winter in general. Not necessarily cold, desolate, alienating songs, but something that just flows with the general melancholic nature of the season. Here you will find post rock and post punk, ambient and electronic, instrumental and ethereal. A collection of songs built around a specific vibe for late nights of whatever you need.
PLAYLIST (click the name for band info)
(DOWNLOAD MP3) /// (STREAM OFF SITE)
(previous podcasts/mixtapes) Slow Riot @ P|M|W
Please support the artists that you find and enjoy. Buy their music, merchandise and tickets to see their shows. Supporting them is the only purpose in doing this blog. Contrary to the opinions of some, music blogs are a great way to discover new music, but there will only be so much new music to go around if these artists can’t afford to support themselves through their art and commerce. Only use these mixtapes as a guide to find something to throw your (financial and emotional) support behind.
Radio Slow Riot - Faves of 2011 pt2
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P|M|W’s FAVORITE SONGS OF 2011 /// PT. 2 (#20-1)
Finally, the collection is complete. After a run in with a dying voicebox and multiple microphone issues, here are the final 20 songs in my favorite songs of 2011 collection (previous tracks 40-21 HERE). Once again, i’d like to reiterate that this is simply my favorite songs. I’m not putting my foot down and declaring them “the best”. I’m open to others choices, these are just the songs that grabbed me and held on the hardest.
I’m leaving the explanations for why, I chose what, inside the podcast. I won’t bother wasting your time by putting it here as well, so if something strikes you as particularly strange, feel free to listen. I might explain myself. As usual, you can stream or download the podcast. Please feel free to reblog and share if you like what you here or shoot me a message if you have concerns that i’ve lost my mind. Now, without further ado, here are my top 20 favorite songs of 2011.
THE LIST /// FAVORITE SONGS OF THE YEAR #20 - 1 (the top twenty)
- 20. “Moon Killer” by Small Black
- 19. “Pulse” by I Break Horses
- 18. “Island Answer Anywhere” by Pulseprogramming
- 17. “Give Us the Wind” by Future Islands
- 16. “Green Aisles” by Real Estate
- 15. “Into the Wilderness” by Burning Hearts
- 14. “Stutter” by Yuck
- 13. “Give Up the Ghost” by Radiohead
- 12. “Wicked Games” by The Weeknd
- 11. “The Last Line” by Tammar
- 10. “Mermaid” by Okkervil River
- 9. “Escape” by Richard Buckner
- 8. “Suicide Dream 3 (Orchestral Version)” by How to Dress Well
- 7. “Civilian” by Wye Oak
- 6. “Sara” by Chad Vangaalen
- 5. “Holocen” by Bon Iver
- 4. “Pure Affection (Beach Fossils Remix)” by Eternal Summers
- 3. “Never Mine” by Big Troubles
- 2. “Midnight City” by M83
- 1. “Black Trees” by Hooray For Earth
(download) P|M|W’s Favorite Songs of 2011 Part 2 (#20-1) Podcast
(stream) P|M|W’s Favorite Songs Part 2 (#20-1) (via Soundcloud)
That is that. The last of my favorite jams of 2011. I hope you enjoyed them even a fraction as much as I have this year. Hopefully, you discovered something that’s new and interesting, or hopefully you just enjoyed the countdown. Thanks for listening. I hope to keep things up for another year. If so, I hope you stick around as well. Take care and happy listening.
P|M|W’s FAVORITE ALBUMS OF 2011
This took me a lot longer to finalize than I had planned. Truth be told, last year’s came easier because as a whole, I felt last year had a stronger collection of albums - so much so that I just picked a favorite and had everything else tie for second. This year, I felt that I had some room between some of them that I could play with and in the resulting list, actually pick a top ten favorites.
I use the word “Favorite” because this list was made by me, and I wouldn’t want to pretend that I am capable of knowing what’s “best” for anyone, so what you’re looking at is a list that’s my favorites. Not intended to spark an argument, but mostly hoping to maybe shine a light on an artist or album that perhaps you didn’t catch earlier in the year and when lined up next to some of these others, you might take the time to check them out as well.
So, without further ado, I’m going to list my top ten with short explanations, and then the back ten are the ten most played, most favorite, most-most that didn’t crack the ten (in alphabetical order). Hope you enjoy. The Favorite Songs lists will be up in the next couple of days with accompanying podcast and I promise they’ll be much more thorough and interesting, as they’ll be audible.
THE LIST///TOP TEN FAVORITE ALBUMS (2011)
- “The King of Limbs” by Radiohead :: If you are familiar with my previous top five lists of years past, you know that I have a fondness for Radiohead. More often than not, they make my top spot. So this shouldn’t be as much of a surprise, but to me it really is. When I first heard “TKOL” I was underwhelmed. I enjoyed what I heard but it didn’t stick like previous material. I sat the album aside and moved on. Then, somewhere around the time that Radiohead performed the “From the Basement” sessions, I pulled the album back out and where previously I had felt that I was being challenged, I suddenly felt that familiar warmth. The songs were growing on me and where previously, I had all but dismissed this album as the one where Radiohead got away from me, I was embracing the textures and the layers and melodies and rhythms. I came back to this album more than any other this year and with each listen I discovered more to love. It wasn’t the mindblowing, earth shattering release that I was expecting to top my list, but that album never came. What came was a surprise album by my favorite band that i was not ready for, but luckily was still around when i found my reasons to be ready. I love the album. It’s not their best, but this year it was my favorite.
- “Bon Iver, Bon Iver” by Bon Iver :: You could almost hear the backlash growing before the final notes of the final song played. Yes, it will appear on as many “best of” lists as it will on “most overrated” lists, but that’s just fine. For me, the album works. It’s a reminder of music that I hadn’t thought of in ages, by an artist who’s had hands in dozens of my favorite songs of the past few years. I trusted Justin Vernon to not rely on his simple charms and he didn’t disappoint. The album can be challenging to those expecting twelve more variations on “Skinny Love”, but anyone paying attention could see that this is a direction that he was likely to head from the moment he started touring in support of “For Emma”. I happened to really love the direction. I might not love the next, but that’s just fine. When you love something an artist has done, you’re not signing on for life. You can exit the bus at any stop. I’m happy to stick around and hear some more electric piano and abstract lyrics for the time being. It’s produced some really beautiful, haunting, and in the end welcoming music. No complaints.
- “Burst Apart” by The Antlers :: Talk about low expectations. I had nothing going in to my first listen of “Burst Apart”. “Hospice” was a fine album, but a little dreary and easily forgotten for me at that time. “Burst Apart” felt like a band awakened and challenged to write big, expansive, artistically engaging pop songs and they lived up to the task without fail. Also, the 1-2-3 hit of “Hounds”, “Corsicana”, and “Putting the Dog to Sleep” are the best sequential album run all year.
- “Days” by Real Estate :: At first listen I was afraid everything blended and sounded overly similar, but a couple of more listens and the details started flooding forth. It’s a deceptively simple album loaded with wonderful writing, beautiful melodies and incredible craftsmanship. “Days” just hit on all cylinders for me and reminded me of why I love bands who don’t shy from a well written pop hook.
- “Charade is Gold” by Pulseprogramming :: Sort of what I’d hoped a grown-up version of Postal Service to sound like - only better. It’s a gorgeous, haunting, synth pop masterpiece.
- “Our Blood” by Richard Buckner :: A criminally underrated singer-songwriter turned in his best album in years and again, no one seemed to notice. Some of the best writing I heard all year and Buckner’s vocals is still one of my favorite lived-in, weary instruments in all of music.
- “Yuck” by Yuck :: Smart, nostalgic, indie pop that holds up with some of the greats. “Stutter” is one of the best songs of the year.
- “The Ocean” by Two Bicycles :: While everyone was waiting for the new Teen Daze album to drop, many seemed to fail to notice that he’s already dropped an album one million times better just a couple of months before and it explored more interesting soundscapes by far.
- “Moon Killer” by Small Black :: Had this been a full fleshed out album, it would have been higher. Small Black turned in one of the biggest surprises of the year with a free mixtape that makes me hope and wish that their next studio outing has this kind of sound, and this sort of confidence. Fucking killer songs.
- “Romantic Comedy” by Big Troubles :: Maybe the catchiest, most infectious album that I heard all year. Loaded with dreamy, lo-fi, shoegazer sounds, but as good as they all are, none of them touch the brilliant album closer, “Never Mine”.
There you have my top ten. I could surely go on and on, but I’m sure more of you stopped reading back at Radiohead. For that, I will rush through and just list the back ten. In alphabetical order as I could not choose one over the other. These are simply the albums that I lived in and carried with me the most throughout the year (save for the first ten). Any of these ten would be a great listen. I can’t recommend them enough.
- “You Are All I See” by Active Child
- “The Rip Tide” by Beirut
- “On the Water” by Future Islands
- “Gardens and Villa” by Gardens and Villa
- “Hearts” by I Break Horses
- “Smoke Ring for my Halo” by Kurt Vile
- “Organ Music Not Vibraphone Like I’d Hoped” by Moonface
- ‘“Rare” by Tearjerker
- “House of Balloons” by The Weeknd
- “The Year of Hibernation” by Youth Lagoon
There you have it. The list of Favorite Album of 2011, as decided by me. The Favorite Songs of 2011 list should provide more fun, as there will be accompanying sounds to go with, and the entire collection spreads far and wide. That should be up in the next couple of days. In the meantime, how about them albums? Did i drop the ball or forget anything? Surely, I did. At any rate, thanks for reading, take care, hope you enjoyed any or all of these as much as i have.
Radio Slow Riot - Episode Three
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RADIO SLOW RIOT /// a p|m|w podcast /// Episode Three (11.28.11)
Episode three of the Radio Slow Riot Podcast is finished and ready for listening. This week we’ve got a full two hours of great music to share in an attempt to make up for not releasing a proper show last week. This week we stay within our genre wheelhouse, but things stay a little more upbeat than usual - not to say that we’re more lo-fi indie pop than say shoegaze or dream pop jams, but it’s more an even balance this week. Lot’s of great new tracks as well as a few golden oldies. Definitely a wonderful collection this week. Hands down my favorite so far.
I hope that you enjoy the effort. Please don’t be afraid to share/reblog with others and or support any and all artists that strike your interest. Stream or download as you wish. Thanks for listening to Radio Slow Riot.
Featured Music (click the name for band info):
- Pinback :: True North (01:23)
- Elvis Depressedly :: I’m Never Going to Understand (05:13)
- Fanzine :: My Stupid Brain (06:56)
- Crystal Fighters :: At Home (Acoustic) (11:35)
- Co La :: Turned Twice (16:41)
- COOLRUNNINGS :: Fool Moon (19:27)
- Races :: All For You (25:59)
- Bear Hands :: Crime Pays (29:43)
- Field Music :: From Hide and Seek to Heartache (32:40)
- Vinyl Williams :: Object of the Source (35:25)
- Old Tapes :: Wicked Game (Chris Isaak cover) (39:00)
- Wye Oak :: Mother (Danzig cover) (42:58)
- Chad Vangaalen :: Graveyard (48:32)
- Desertshore :: Randy Quaid (feat. Mark Kozelek) (53:58)
- Radiohead :: Cuttooth (57:30)
- Odonis Odonis :: We are the Left Overs (1:02:46)
- Mint Julep :: Stay (1:06:47)
- Keep Shelly in Athens :: Campus Martius (1:11:46)
- Silversun Pickups :: Ribbons and Detours (1:16:14)
- Eternal Summers :: Safe at Home (1:19:32)
- Dum Dum Girls :: Rest of Our Lives (1:22:58)
- Korallreven :: Keep Your Eyes Shut (1:25:58)
- Boy Friend :: Egyptian Wrinkle (1:29:18)
- Doves :: The Man Who Told Everything (1:35:01)
- White Sea :: Mountaineer (The Naked & Famous remix) (1:40:47)
- Tired Pony :: The Deepest Ocean There Is (1:47:46)
(DOWNLOAD MP3) /// (STREAM OFF SITE)
(previous eps) Slow Riot @ P|M|W /// (photo credit) LittlePretties
Please support the artists that you find and enjoy. Buy their music, merchandise and tickets to see their shows. Supporting them is the only purpose in doing this blog. Contrary to the opinions of some, music blogs are a great way to discover new music, but there will only be so much new music to go around if these artists can’t afford to support themselves through their art and commerce. Only use these mixtapes as a guide to find something to throw your (financial and emotional) support behind.
Radiohead - Everybody Knows (1986 On a Friday Demo)
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“Everybody Knows” by Radiohead // On a Friday Demos (1986)
Pitchfork and a slew of other sites are reporting the finding of two new songs thought to be lost from the On a Friday demos from Radiohead before they were Radiohead and before Jonny Greenwood came to the band. This is one of those songs and it’s the one that probably shows the most relation to the band that they would become. It’s really interesting to hear these demos. I’ve had the other On A Friday demos for as long as they’ve been available, but I have to say that something about this track’s mid 80’s somber, modern rock sound makes me dig it like crazy. Sure, it’s rough as all hell and bares little resemblance to the sounds that my favorite band would go on to create, but everyone starts somewhere and if this is a tossed off demo, then it makes perfect sense that they became one of the most beloved bands of all time, because this is still pretty goddamned great.
Halls - I Am Not Who You Want
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“I Am Not Who You Want” by Halls // Fragile EP (2012)
Danceyrselfclean is absolutely right about this track. Take some Active Child flair-for-the-dramatics and wrap them up in the subtle-electronics of Jame Blake and you’re almost there with Halls. Of course, there’s also that familiar late-era Radiohead sound as well, but that’s more a textural beats thing than anything. Naturally, it’s probably not best to compare a new artist to such indie titans at this point, but the earmarks are there and now, after a song this strong, I’m certainly going to be keeping my ears peeled for more from Halls as this is the strongest release to date. Here’s hoping that the forthcoming EP delivers like “I Am Not Who You Want” does.
(pre-order) “Fragile EP” by Halls (via Bandcamp)
(via danceyrselfclean)
