Single of the Week: Ellery James Roberts - "Kerou's Lament (犠牲)"

Somehow forgot to do this on Tuesday. Apologies.

The first solo track to be released from Ellery James Roberts, after disbanding his acclaimed group WU LYF last year following just one album, gives off a strong sense that the singer feels emancipated in a way rarely conveyed with such intensity. Borrowing from Lil B/Clams Casino's "I'm God" Roberts chooses his first singular musical statement to be one of world-beating anthemia. The gruff passion in his vocal delivery could easily be compared to that of Bruce Springsteen, punctuating mantras like "You fucked up this world but you won't fuck with me" with a individualised violence, as if speaking for a whole world of sufferers of greed and corruption. A truly singular vision. Perhaps it's time for the masses to sit up and pay attention.

Single of the Week: Deerhunter - "Monomania"

I have a lot of time for Deerhunter. I've been a fan since my first listen of their 2010 album Halcyon Digest, and have spent the 2 1/2 years since working backwards through their discography, and enjoying releases from side projects such as Atlas Sound and Lotus Plaza. Their self-described ambient punk sound reached its pinnacle with their previous LP, but Deerhunter aren't left barren without it. When they decide to scuzz it up, like they do with the title track to their forthcoming album Monomania (and presumably the rest of the album will follow suit), they're still able to craft excellent songs. Follow the details of "Monomania" like you would any other Deerhunter song; the bass, guitars and drums follow excellent, complimentary patterns. And singer Bradford Cox is as much of a personality as ever, as the band's performance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon proves. It's essentially business as usual, only louder.

Album Review: My Bloody Valentine - m b v

Whatever way you look at it, I really don't need to do this review. The Metacritic page for m b v, the new album from shoegaze pioneers and critic/fan faves My Bloody Valentine currently hosts 44 professional reviews, none of which rank the album below 6/10, and there have been innumerable other professional, semi-pro and in particular fan-written and videoed (see YouTube) insights into this critical hallowed ground. My two cents aren't going to be particularly gripping, or notable, or controversial. But here goes.

When the superlative-enticting Loveless, what was thought for years to be the last My Bloody Valentine album there'd ever be, was released on pre-Oasis Creation Records in 1991, I had yet to be born. So I'm not able or willing to approach this review from any substantial point of longing or nostalgia, or weightily fluctuate between belief and doubt in the skills and intentions of one of modern music's least understood reclusive geniuses; in short, no 22-year wait for me. This idea seems to be the first thing many of these reviews contain. Forgive me for deconstructing a little further, but the other main attribute to these pieces is their willingness to tell the reader a story, as the event that happened to them, in many cases less than a day before publication, needs to be framed as a highly significant cultural event. Do these people imagine that when people bring up the questions "where were you when the Twin Towers collapsed?" or "where were you when the Berlin Wall came down?", they'll be able to pipe in with "what do you remember about when that My Bloody Valentine album crashed the internet and we all sat there clicking the Refresh button waiting to get onto the site at midnight?"?

Of course I'm exaggerating. I doubt any of these people actually think that this new release, of limited commercial interest, will translate to a larger group of people. I can't know the minds of every music superfan, especially those who have properly reached the end of the 22-year journey and are shedding tears of joy and relief as their fingers hit the keys, but I do know that the days of a genuine event in music are most likely over (even if there have been a few noble attempts recently). Lord knows what the band themselves think about all this fanfare. You can't blame them for avoiding the spotlight; the discrepancy between the instant gratification-seeking "Now!" culture My Bloody Valentine have hungover into and the slow-burning, treated and re-treated to perfection formula they've worked from since 1988 seems to be massive. It's a relief then that m b v takes absolutely no interest in the 21st Century, or any concept of time but its own. It is simply, "the new record".



And not for humility's sake either. With little background information of the record we have no idea how much of it is recent material, or how much of it was written and recorded in the years immediately following Loveless. But it's of no importance. As an album in three parts of three tracks each (for argument's sake), the first section is the most pigheaded towards the idea of radical evolution. Which isn't to say it's ugly and unrefined; in fact completely the opposite: it serves as a reminder of the beautiful anguish of the previous record. The first track, "she found now", ensures the album begins not with a bang, but with a whimper, albeit a pretty, droney whimper. It makes sense that this song is sung by bandleader and crucial component Kevin Shields, whose studio experiments redefined the possibilities for guitar-based music; a radical change that has yet to be matched since (to those unfamiliar with My Bloody Valentine, this cannot be overstated). It's true that it shares similarities with another track that bears his lead vocals, "Sometimes", but this is far from a bad thing. It means that the album has a disarming yet familiar start, that shies away from controversy and comforts the listener into staying put for the remainder of the experience. What's most impressive about "she found now" is the sense of rhythm given by one delayed guitar. Given that Shields recorded the majority of the album by himself, with the exception of Bilinda Butcher's vocals and Colm Ó Cíosóig's drum parts, the track has an extra personal feel; and the listener can feel the meaning of the several years it may have taken to record and release it. The rest of the band appear on the next two songs, which feels like the true reintroduction. Bilinda sings in her signature indiscernible vowels over the solid rhythm Colm musters up for "only tomorrow"; her voice at times shifting up and swooping over Kevin's many buzzy guitar layers (I'm becoming increasingly aware that describing m b v's guitar sounds with words is an increasingly moot point, but believe me when I say the first guitar break here is truly awe-inspiring). "who sees you" completes this initial triptych, and furthers the idea of repeating and expanding on simple phrases from the previous track. On this one the guitars sound the most aggressive yet, which contradicts the paradisal softness of Kevin's vocal (subtly backed by Bilinda, to powerful effect). And two more incredible guitar breaks! Forget the time this music has taken to surface: when this formula can be executed to perfection over and over, I'm thankful to be able to listen to it at all.



The album then decides to break and do something entirely new for the band with its second act. The following track "is this and yes" has no guitars whatsoever, instead led by organic, astronomic keyboards and Bilinda's unusually forefronted vocals. Colm's bass drum is the only other addition to the song, which sounds like it was recorded inside the moon. It's definitely pretty, but to finally delve into criticism there is an issue with its length. Some reviewers feel as though it goes on for too long, like an unscheduled meander through the galaxy, but I'd say the opposite is actually true: I feel that given a couple minutes more it could stumble across something even more spacious and ultimately worthwhile. "if i am" is a little stronger, bringing Kevin and Colm back to the front; with the former dipping his guitar in gracious amounts of chorus, tremolo and flange, but struggles to make a mark when compared to the high quality of material elsewhere. I'd also say something about Debbie Googe's bass here like everyone else, if only because I've neglected to mention her involvement so far (whatever it was), except it really doesn't make a huge impression on me personally. The next track "new you" is a great improvement, especially because it allows for the return of Colm's heart-stopping drum breaks and those floaty, flute-y keyboards. Again Bilinda takes the trophy home for the sensuous doo doo doo's during the outro. Overall this segment of the album was the one that impressed me the least; the vanilla segment of this most Neapolitan record, but chocolate takes m b v somewhere entirely more adventurous and alien.



The opening guitar squeal of appropriately named "in another way" is so unexpected, uncharacteristic and perhaps a little tasteless that more than one reviewer has mislabelled it as the sound of "bagpipes". Three seconds later all is redeemed however when Colm's thunderous drums break through the clouds and lead a pack of loud, lively guitars onto the ravaged earth. It's maybe the most, well, punk rock-sounding song My Bloody Valentine have released since "You Made Me Realise". Thankfully vocals are kept to a minimum, leaving it to the other instruments to jam it out. It gives the feeling that the rulebook has truly been thrown out, for better or for worse. What follows is essentially a three-and-a-half minute studio experiment, "nothing is"; an exercise in rising intensity created using Kevin's choppy, buzzing guitar and Colm's very loud, booming drums, again using that weird "live looping" technique. It may come off as a little banal or worthless, but really I find it difficult to fault. Up to this point, m b v has been arguably everything that was demanded of it: a continuation of the sounds and experimental, involuted and ethereal (ugh) nature of Loveless, yet simultaneously a progression. Yet unbelievably the bravest, and possibly strongest track of the whole album was saved for last: "wonder 2". "Soon" this ain't; instead it's the heaviest song My Bloody Valentine have put their name to. The drum and bass-inspired rhythm section is a dead giveaway that Kevin at least began working on it during the 90s; only he could have paired it with the sweeping, aeroplane engine flanger effect and other assorted propulsive noise. As ever the structure is simple, the lyrics are a non-starter, but the texture is beyond anything you've ever heard. Imagine if it had been released during the 90s - it would have been copied a hundred times over by now.



This is the thing about My Bloody Valentine as a whole to me. "Texture" is the most important word. If music were texture alone I believe that Loveless would be the greatest album of all time, and I'm not the only person to think that. And certainly on that album its undefined, boundless, androgynously sexual, violently pleasurable multitude of textures were aided immensely by songwriting, structure, timing and above all inventiveness, which essentially when combined with its critical reception, influence and unintentional legendary status makes it the perfect album in this regard (the phrase "painted themselves into a corner" comes up more than once). After rumours of long bouts of depression and creative drought, Kevin Shields didn't ever need to follow Loveless up; it seemed to many to be an impossible task. Above all it shows a dedication to his role as a musician: many of his peers released great albums during their time, but furthered themselves with work that shattered the illusion of unapproachable, godlike craft. In this regard even a terrible album would have sufficed in allowing My Bloody Valentine to continue making music. But that's not what m b v is. It's not Loveless, but it's not weaker than a 6/10. It's a very reflexive listen, and if it succeeds at anything else it will hopefully bury the idea that an important album needs to be exemplary of its time. It's not of this time, or any other. And I enjoyed it very much.



Purchase m b v on a variety of formats from the My Bloody Valentine official webpage.

Single of the Week: Girl Band - "Why They Hide Their Bodies Under My Garage" (Blawan cover)

As brilliant as the original is, there's evidently something about "Why They Hide Their Bodies Under My Garage" that when let loose turns Blawan's most recogniseable tune from dread-y techno into noise-punk assault. Thank Albini that Girl Band found it then. The Irish group originally submitted their cover of  "Garage" as their contribution to Quarter Inch Collective's Quompilation #3, but it's a ferocious piece by itself; all tight, monotone drumming and held-out distortion reaching an inevitable climax and going over the top. With only eight words to work with the vocals rely on both the band's intensity and the inane excellence of the titular phrase; the results are quite spectacular. This isn't dance-punk (at least not in the DFA sense) but Girl Band's "Garage" encounters the possibilities when the doors between the two worlds are broken down.



For a comparison, here's Blawan's original:

Single of the Week: Melt Yourself Down - "Fix My Life" / "We Are Enough"

WARNING: Video contains strong flashing images

This single may appear to be the first attached to Melt Yourself Down, but a look through the band's credits reveals the project as a number of accomplished figures coming together, most notably Kushal Gaya, vocalist of the ever-vibrant Zun Zun Egui and Polar Bear/Acoustic Ladyland saxophonist Pete Wareham. These elements seem to represent the forefront of these two tracks. Kushal brings vigour to the mantras of  "We Are Enough" (a track that has been available since last October), whilst opting for mostly wordless, sporadic grunts and yelps to the superior "Fix My Life". Pete (and Shabaka Hutchings's) sax lines take the opposite approach on each track, being mantraistic and riff-like on "Fix My Life", and knotty and confounding on the b-side. Add to this the excellent contributions from drummer Tom Skinner (Hello Skinny), bassist Ruth Goller (Acoustic Ladyland), and percussionist Satin Singh (Transglobal Underground) and the result is a meeting of minds capable of inventing a new direction to take psychedelic Afrobeat and noisy electronics.

Single of the Week: Iceage - "Ecstasy"

Copenhagen's underground is home to one of the more interesting punk scenes of today. Iceage, who stand amongst the finest of Danish exports thankfully weren't satisfied with releasing only one album, 2011's 24-minute New Brigade, and the current impression of next month's sequel You're Nothing is that they may have raised the bar yet again. "Ecstasy" opens the set as one of Iceage's noisiest and most ferocious tracks so far, and of course the devil is in the details. Elias Bender Ronnefelt's lead vocal presence is positively chilling, not unlike that of a certain Ian MacKaye; and working out the song's message can also lead to some interesting conclusions. The ecstasy of pressure, or the pressure of ecstasy? It sounds like it could be either, or both.

Single of the Week: Golden Teacher - "Dante And Pilgrim"

Golden Teacher are a collaboration between disparate Glasgow groups Ultimate Thrush and Silk Cut, and "Dante And Pilgrim" is everything you'd want a dance track from a group named after a mushroom to sound like. A touched-up live recording that smacks of Arthur Russell, low slung with a bubbly throbbing reminiscent of Matthew Dear's Audion work; the track's most obvious benefit is its manic French vocals. Imagine if Jacques Brel had fronted Einstürzende Neubauten and took a turn for Moroder italo-pop. That's the kind of unique track we're dealing with here.

Single of the Week: Pete Swanson - "Life Ends at 30"

After leaving seminal noise duo Yellow Swans, Pete Swanson has spent the last few years creating his own adventures in high distortion in the techno-tinged project under his own name. And although his solo output so far has been heavy in that department, the broken static textures of "Life Ends at 30", the 13-minute closing track to his upcoming Punk Authority EP looks to have overtaken his other works' previous nastiness. It's the ever-expanding rhythm section underpinning the track that keeps it grounded in the listener's ear; while the tone of the piece is exhillerating, it's these interlocking rhythms that are the real interest here. Be sure to adjust your headphones: 2013 is looking to be very menacing indeed.

Death Grips - "@deathgripz" and video interview

The 13th and final entry into Adult Swim's 2012 Singles Program comes appropriately enough from Death Grips who as promised close the show with a single planned for release between their two 2012 albums The Money Store and the forthcoming NO LOVE DEEP WEB. It's called "@deathgripz" and can be downloaded for free (along with the other twelve entries in the series) here. Below watch a new video interview released in tandem with the single:

Swans - The Seer added to 2012 Recommended Albums

Since there have been a huge number of noteworthy albums released in the last couple of weeks for your average indie blogger (at a rate that looks set to continue), it has become increasingly tough to seperate the great from the good, to predict what records will remain and be returned to long after the dust has settled. This simply isn't the case with The Seer, the second Swans album after bandleader Michael Gira resurrected the moniker in 2009. It seems as if any other review or discussion of The Seer has to include the following quote, and as I believe it to be an important one I'm going to regurgitate that trend. In case you missed it, this is what Gira said of the album in an interview with The Quietus:

"The Seer took 30 years to make. It's the culmination of every previous Swans album as well as any other music I've ever made, been involved in or imagined. But it's unfinished, like the songs themselves. It's one frame in a reel. The frames blur, blend and will eventually fade."

On surface level it isn't difficult to understand just why The Seer stands out. It's a monster, a 2CD/3LP experience that demands two hours of its listeners' misery. Amongst its eleven tracks lie a 32-minute title track and two closing tracks of around 20 minutes each. And not to mention it's by Swans, a group that has spent the best part of the last 30 years destroying people's conceptions of popular music, evolving over the  ages to marry no-wave punk with noise, industrial and post-rock music. But even with these credentials it's something else entirely to produce a two-hour album containing elements that longtime fans are going to be surprised by, and to result in a cohesive statement that deserves to stand next to Gira's towering words.



But it does. One of the album's strongest qualities is that it manages to entertain consistently for that amount of time, albeit entertain a certain type of music listener. There are too many specific moments, instuments and guest musicians to name each one individually, and The Seer is something that needs to be heard to be believed, but likewise there are too many great things going on to neglect a mention. Opener "Lunacy" is a great one. It feels like the doorway into the album's netherworld, with Gira's chant "Your childhood is over" being the signpost pointing the way back for the unadventurous. The first half of the next track "Mother Of The World" is taken up with a two note riff that stutters its way into exhaustion, complete with heavy breathlessness. Of course the majority of the first disc is taken up with "The Seer", which without trying to sell it short (if that's even possible) is most strongly defined by Thor Harris' pummeling drums. "93 Ave. B Blues" builds tension until it breaks into classic Swans cacophony. Even the acoustic ballads on Disc 1 sound twisted; Gira's creaky vocals on "The Wolf" are brought right up close, elongated out of any comfort.

The second disc opens up with a respite, a ballad sung not by Gira but Karen O of Yeah Yeah Yeah's fame. "Song For A Warrior" is perfectly placed; functioning as both a welcome and necessary break but also introducing what I consider to be the strongest three tracks on the album. Firstly "Avatar" skips along church bells andd Gira's monasterial chanting, gaining momentum until finaly breaking into one of the best dramatic turns on the album. It's a small shame it doesn't last longer; alas it moves into the crackling fires of "A Piece Of The Sky", nineteen minutes of sheer beauty, like a Pink Floyd album in microcosm, and as an essential part of the album as the final track. "The Apostate" is like the final boss of a video game: challenging, but if you've managed to get this far you'll see it as your reward. Initially slow, brooding; it takes exactly six minutes to turn unapologetic, and eventually seething.

The Seer is clearly a sprawling, cinematographic album, like Can's Tago Mago and Godspeed You! Black Emperor's Lift Yr Skinny Fists... before it, and not for the casual listener to pick up. But it's not so demanding as to drain you, not so repetitive as to be monotonous. It's length and scope may seem to disguise any faults repeated listening may unsurface, yet returning to it several times reveals few. The Seer is a masterpiece for Swans, that genuinely does draw from all phases of Michael Gira's musical career: the sounds of a lush plethora of acoustic instrumentation, with the massive force of the central band unit. In totality the album's hugeness is likeable to the heights Swans stand over the rest of the world's music makers.

Single of the Week: Swans - "A Piece Of The Sky"

The new Swans record The Seer happens to be two hours long, but it saves one of its best moments for its penultimate act. "A Piece Of The Sky" may not be The Seer's longest track (a brisk 19 minutes compared to the 30 or so of the title track), but it almost certainly is the prettiest. Opening with the sound of crackling flames and a low-end distorted rumble the track slowly evolves into an ambient mood piece highlighed with what resembles the percussive rattling of stringed instruments. At the ten minute mark it changes again into the steady roll of post-rock with slow guitar phrases over bells. In the final minutes Michael Gira reaches over to the microphone to record a solemn vocal over acoustic guitar. Somehow his usually jagged croon becomes the most moving part of the track, especially when almost doo-wop sounding backing vocals emerge. "A Piece Of The Sky" then fades gracefully with the twinkle of xylophone, leaving the memory of one of the most affecting of pieces of orchestrated rock you're probably ever likely to hear.

From The Seer. This track can only currently be heard as part of the album stream which you can find by following this link.

Swans - The Seer and Dan Deacon - America streaming at NPR Music

By now you've hopefully found time to sit down with Animal Collective's Centipede Hz - and reconciled with the fact it's not coming out for another two weeks. If you want to stream albums that are being released next Monday/Tuesday the I would point you in the direction of NPR Music who have both Swans' two-hour odyssey The Seer and the more compact-sized Dan Deacon album America streaming in full. Links:

Dan Deacon - America
Swans - The Seer

Swans - "Mother Of The World"

Here's a ten-minute taster of he new Swans record The Seer (artwork above), out next week on Young God Records. The album features collaborations with Akron/Family, Karen O (Yeah Yeah Yeahs), Grasshopper (Mercury Rev) and Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker (Low) amongst others. "Mother Of The World" is streaming at Pitchfork.

Titus Andronicus announce new album Local Business: release date and tracklist

It didn't look like it for quite a while, but turns out we will have a new Titus Andronicus album by the end of the year. Local Business is the follow-up to 2010's The Monitor, and will be released on the 23rd October on XL Recordings. The album was recorded "primarily live with precious few overdubs, with an elite squad of musicians" (including Owen Pallett).The tracklist reveals that a number of songs featured are ones the New Jersey-loving punks have performed live, including "Upon Viewing Oregon's Landscape With The View Of Detritus", from Titus Andronicus LLC Mixtape Vol 1, a collection of free material from earlier in the year:

1. “Ecce Homo”
2. “Still Life With Hot Deuce And Silver Platter”
3. “Upon Viewing Oregon’s Landscape With The Flood Of Detritus”
4. “Food Fight!”
5. “My Eating Disorder”
6. “Titus Andronicus VS. The Absurd Universe (3rd Round KO)”
7. “In A Big City”
8. “In A Small Body”
9. “(I Am The) Electric Man”
10. “Tried To Quit Smoking”

Track all the info up to the release of Local Business on the Upcoming Releases page.

Sebadoh release new EP on Bandcamp

The Secret EP is the first new music from Sebadoh since 1999. The group features Lou Barlow, whose other major group Dinosaur Jr. are to release an album called Watch The Corners later this year. Stream below, or head to Bandcamp to pick up the EP:

Ty Segall Band - Slaughterhouse added to 2012 Recommended Albums

Ty Segall has released a number of solo albums over the last few years, but Slaughterhouse is the first under Ty Segall Band. The distinction is significant; this album is huge-sounding, and undouubtebly sets a new precedent for Segall's San Fransiscan garage rock peers.

The basic mix for Slaughterhouse consists of Stooges garage rock, the heavy riffing of Sabbath, and just a pinch of the Cramps' weirdness for flavour. This formula makes it essential. The ultimately terrifying doses of acid psychedelia contemporaries like Thee Oh Sees pump into their music is reduced to a minimum: Segall's experiments in these areas are much more the focus of the other album he's released this year, the White Fence collaboration Hair. Slaughterhouse's heaviness is what sets it apart from the rest of his work so far. It's about as dark and sludgy an album of this style could get, and all of its qualities are reflected in its extremely scuzzy low recording quality. The guitars, bass and drums are never short of oversaturated, and as much as Segall's vocals vary - from high range yelps and screams ("Slaughterhouse"), to deep grouchy Howlin' Wolf reminders ("That's The Bag I'm In") - they usually end up indecipherable. Only when strange Beatles-like melodies are employed ("I Bought My Eyes") can Segall's lyrics be clearly heard.

This is unimporrtant for this record. The recording quality of classic proto-punk LP's such as the Stooges' Funhouse is what gives them such a mythic quality. Incidentally Slaughterhouse could be considered a modern reinterpretation of that album: if the similarities in name and sound aren't enough, consider the ten-minute closing instrumental "Fuzz War" and it's similarities to "L.A. Blues", not to mention the guitar riffs that frequently conjure up the tenacity of the late Ron Asheton.

Delights aplenty are to be found elsewhere on Slaughterhouse. "Tell Me What's Inside Your Heart" lasts under four minutes, but its unstoppable breakneck speed make it feel much longer. It backs onto "Wave Goodbye", an impossibly heavy, brooding tune that begins much slower; its opening bass riff dominating the mood of thee next four minutes or so. But the album doesn't skimp on the fun: surf-rock finds its influence on "Muscle Man", as classic rockabilly does on "The Tounge". The band's cover of Bo Diddley's classic single "Diddy Wah Diddy" ends unfinished, with Segall yelling "FUCK THIS FUCKING SONG!", yet this outtake feels spirited enough to just work in the context of the album.

2012 has so far been full of exceptional rock albums, and Slaughterhouse finds itself easily amongst the pick of the best. It's brutal, visceral but above all fun and engaging, and shows a lot to the numerous other records in this style that come out this time of year. It just rocks, plain and simple. Even if that is a phrase I seem to be repeating. Immediate satisfaction calls for immediate responses.

Click here for the rest of the 2012 Recommended Albums list

Album of the Week: Cloud Nothings - Attack on Memory

The second Cloud Nothings album can be called a successor to the band's self-titled debut in name only. By working together with legendary punk and hardcore 'engineer' Steve Albini, Dylan Baldi and crew completely overhauled their previously 'jangly' sound found on last year's Cloud Nothings in favour of a reverb-free 90's lo-fi indie aesthetic for Attack on Memory. In doing so they've created the first great album of 2012: during a 34 minute set Cloud Nothings wade their way through heavy, sludgy tracks ("No Sentiment", the Slint-like opener "No Future/No Past") and still make way for a few short poppier numbers along the way. Baldi's voice ranges between Rivers Cuomo and Kurt Cobain accordingly. All eight tracks feel immediate and catchy, and never come across as similar or repetitive. Stream the album and download three tracks below:



Cloud Nothings - *"No Future/No Past"
Cloud Nothings - *"Stay Useless"
Cloud Nothings - *"No Sentiment"

Top Albums of 2011 so far

Yeah, thought I ought to do something like this to make up for the inactivity over the last few months, not to mention the first couple of months before the blog started. Although I divided the albums into genres as to avoid direct ranking there is definitely some overlap to be had. If you consider yourself to be a fan of a particular genre, I highly recommend checking out each of the albums displayed under the relevant heading. Only albums and EP's from January to June 2011 have been included, and no decision is ever final, more of just an idea of what I think of right now (a few might be the result of being recently passed through my speakers, but hopefully I've eliminated a great deal of bias). I'm bound to have missed a few good ones, so this is a great chance to start leaving me comments. Also apologies if the images are a little small, its the best my creative skills could manage.


Pop

(l-r)Lykke Li - Wounded Rhymes, Gruff Rhys - Hotel Shampoo, The Go! Team - Rolling Blackouts,
Givers - In Light, tUnE-yArDs - w h o k i l l

Rock

(l-r) TV on the Radio - Nine Types of Light, Fucked Up - David Comes to Life, Radiohead -  The King of Limbs

Punk/Post-Punk

(l-r) Times New Viking - Dancer Equired, Iceage - New Brigade, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Belong,
Deerhoof - Deerhoof vs. Evil

Rap/Hip-Hop

(l-r) Death Grips - Exmilitary, Beastie Boys - Hot sauce Committee Pt.2, Big K.R.I.T. - Return of 4Eva,
Shabazz Palaces - Black Up, Tyler, the Creator - Goblin

Dance

(l-r) Cut Copy - Zonoscope, Junior Boys - It's All True, Metronomy - The English Riviera,
Gang Gang Dance - Eye Contact

R&B

(l-r) The Weeknd - House of Balloons, Frank Ocean - Nostalgia, Ultra, Beyoncé -  4

Singer/Songwriter

(l-r) Thurston Moore - Demolished Thoughts, Julian Lynch - Terra, PJ Harvey - Let England Shake,
Kurt Vile - Smoke Ring For My Halo

Electronic

(l-r) Burial - Street Halo EP, Prefuse 73 - The Only She Chapters, James Blake -  James Blake,
Africa HiTech - 93 Million Miles, Panda Bear -  Tomboy

Indie/Folk

(l-r) Bon Iver - Bon Iver, The Antlers - Burst Apart, Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues, Destroyer - Kaputt

Garage/"Lo-Fi"

(l-r) Thee Oh Sees - Castlemania, Black Lips - Arabia Mountain, Dum Dum Girls -  He Gets Me High EP,
Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Unlnown Mortal Orchestra

Instrumental/Other

(l-r) Battles - Gloss Drop, Colin Stetson - New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges,
...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead - Tao of the Dead,
Clams Casino - Instrumental Mixtape/Rainforest EP

Any thoughts?