20. Best Coast

20. Best Coast - Crazy For You

Yet another surf fuzz rock band, this one is out of Los Angeles, CA. The band was formed by songwriter and frontwoman Bethany Cosentino and multi-instrumentalist Bobb Bruno. This has been another great debut this year with lots of chicktastic love songs. I love the video below and their biggest single is under 'Try it'.




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21. Surfer Blood

21. Surfer Blood - Astrocoast

Surfer Blood is a surf rock fuzz band from West Palm Beach, Florida. John Paul Pitts is the frontman and puts forth a dizzying array of fuzzed out, hook-laden, well-written songs. This came out last year about this time and has been in constant rotation since then, for the most part, culminating in seeing them live in San Francisco. I've included a pic from their performance below. Cool sidenote: John Paul got called up on stage during Belle and Sebastian's performance at Treasure Island as a small group of audience dancers. Obviously he had a great weekend....oh to be a rock star.






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22. of Montreal

22. of Montreal - False Priest

of Montreal is the brainchild of Kevin Barnes and is part of the original Elephant 6 collective out of Athens, GA. The name of the band comes from a girl that left Kevin "of Montreal". These guys produce some insanely psychedelic, funk, glam, pop with insanely intricate, intelligent lyrics woven through their songs. Highly creative and artistic, Kevin Barnes and of Montreal have some of the most interesting live performances out there and I highly suggest seeing these guys live at some point in your life, one of his most historic performances was coming on stage mounted on a white horse in a loin cloth and singing. They produce a ton of music (this is their tenth album) and tour constantly. Definitely one of my top ten all time favorite artists.




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23. The Bird And The Bee

23. The Bird And The Bee - Interpreting The Masters Vol. 1 - A Tribute To Daryl Hall & John Oates

I have been with The Bird And The Bee since their inception. Inara George and Greg Kurstin comprise this synthpop duo from Los Angeles. Their music is ultra chill with Inara's lush voice providing the vocal framework. This new album sees them covering about every popular Hall & Oates song there is. I didn't pay this album much mind when it came out, because I shy away from such gimmicks, but after I started listening to it, it became infectious. Perhaps it's because I was raised on these songs that I couldn't put it down, but I prefer to think it is Inara's syrupy vocals and Greg's chill keyboards that keep me coming back for more. While the video below does not capture the sound, you get to see Inara sing while baby-popping pregnant with a special guest. I've included a song below for your listening enjoyment as well.



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24. Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings

24. Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings - I Learned The Hard Way

Sharon Jones fourth effort is a soul/motown masterpiece. The band is from Brooklyn, NY where they are signed to Daptone records, where the Dap Kings are the house band. The band eschews digital recording equipment and modern instruments opting instead for analogue and authentic sixties and seventies instruments in order to recreate an authentic reproduction of the sound. I already love this style of music like no other and this is just a welcome addition to my collection.



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25. The Black Angels

25. The Black Angels - Phosphene Dream

Kings of all that is modern psychedelic rock, The Black Angels are based out of Austin, Texas. They got their name from the Velvet Underground song, The Black Angels' Death Song. They've been around since 2004 and I just love these guys. This album has received a lot of critical acclaim, and for good reason...it's easy to say this is their best effort to date.

Telephone from The Black Angels on Vimeo.

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26. Stornoway

26. Stornoway - Beach-comber's Windowsill

So, this is another random CD purchase that ended really well. Just hearing that song Zorbing the first time at the record store made me buy this CD immediately. The band is named after a Hebridean town on the Isle of Lewis. They are an indie folk band from Oxford, England and are probably my favorite break-out band of the year. Zorbing, which is the video below, is apparently a sport in which you climb inside a Wayne Coyne size ball and roll down a hill. It's my next summer activity.



MP3 removed by request

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27. Dum Dum Girls

27. Dum Dum Girls - I Will Be

A California girl group with noise pop and surfer rock sensibilities, Dum Dum Girls is named after The Vaselines album Dum Dum and Iggy Pop's song Dum Dum Boys. Each girl has Dum Dum tattooed on a finger and on stage they wear fashionable stockings. Dee Dee, the front woman, has a picture of her mother on the front of the album, who was heavily into the Beach Boys.




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28. Sleigh Bells

28. Sleigh Bells - Treats

This is one of those great stories in music that you have to love. Derek Miller was waiting tables on Alexis Krauss and her mother and mentioned to them that he was looking for a female vocalist for his new project he was working on. Alexis' mom volunteered her and we now have the noise-pop duo Sleigh Bells out of Brooklyn, NY. I love the blown out drum beats, the fuzzed guitars, and the layer of pop on top. This is a great album and they have received a lot of attention from this release. I'm dying to see these guys live, they were playing a show just a block away from my hotel room and I couldn't make it back in time to see them.....sooooo close.



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29. Stars

29. Stars - The Five Ghosts

Stars is one of my favorite bands and their new album did not disappoint me in the least. You can download one of my favorite songs off the album below, it would easily make my top 10 songs of the year if I were to put together such a list. They are a Canadian indie electronic pop group who specialize in writing catchy songs with highly emotive lyrics. The band consists of Torquil Campbell (vocals), Chris Seligman (keyboards), Amy Millan (vocals/guitar), Evan Cranley (bassist), and Pat McGee (drums). Torquil, Chris and Amy have all been members of Broken Social Scene (which I mentioned earlier here). Torquil has a side project called Memphis and Amy also has a solo project as well that leans a little to the country/folk side. Her voice is like liquid velvet.



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30. Ra Ra Riot

30. Ra Ra Riot - The Orchard

Ra Ra Riot is a fun, highly orchestrated indie pop band out of Syracuse, New York. They have an electric live performance and the strings in their sound actually come from a violin and a cello, instead of keyboards. The band consists of Wes Miles (vocals, keys), Milo Bonacci (guitar), Matthieu Santos (bass), Alexandra Lawn (cello, vocals, keys), Rebecca Zeller (violin) and Gabriel Duquette (drums). The band’s original drummer, John Pike died in Fairhaven, Massachusetts on June 3, 2007, drowning in Buzzards Bay shortly after a show in Providence, Rhode Island. This new release is just a continuation of their debut album The Rhumb Line.



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31. Beach House

31. Beach House - Teen Dream

Beach House is a shoegaze out of Baltimore, MD. Teen Dream is their third album and they have been to Oklahoma twice in the last year in support of it. They opened for Grizzly Bear last year and made a stop at the Opolis to headline on their way to SXSW and then opened for Vampire Weekend this past October on their way to ACL. They are better live than their album might let on. Their live show has become much more stylized and I look forward to seeing them again to see how they've progressed. This is a must see live band.



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32. The Walkmen

32. The Walkmen - Lisbon

The Walkmen are an indie rock band out of New York and Philadelphia. The band consists of Paul Maroon (guitar, piano), Walter Martin (organ/bass),Matt Barrick (drums, Peter Bauer (bass/organ) and Hamilton Leithauser (vocals, guitar). They prefer to play music on vintage instruments. I saw them live this summer and could not put the CD down. Their dark, brooding rock makes for excellent driving music and I love Hamilton's voice. Very energetic group and one to keep an eye on.







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33. Groove Armada

33. Groove Armada - Black Light

Groove Armada are Andy Cato and Tom Findlay from London, England. They utilize a lot of collaboration in their trip-hop, electronica, laid back, chill band. They called this album Black Light to express the dark side of Groove Armada. It certainly does, because their past efforts have been more rock and reggae influenced. If you have never listened to Groove Aramada and like chill electronica, I highly recommend this or any of their other albums. In addition to the two songs I've left for you below, also check out their song History here. Truly tops.






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34. The Drums

34. The Drums - The Drums

The Drums are essentially Jonathan Pierce and Jacob Graham, childhood friends from, of course, Brooklyn. I just started listening to this album one day for the hell of it and really got into it. It is a synthesis of 80's and surfer rock music. They cite their influences as: The Wake, The Smiths, Joy Division, The Zombies, The Tough Alliance, The Legends, The Shangri-las and Orange Juice. Jacob also mentions that reverb in general has played a major role in their sound: "...If reverb didn´t exist we wouldn´t have bothered trying to start a band." I love the video below, reminds me of PB&J's Young Folks and the rest of their songs seem to have that Cure sounding guitar.



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