Culture Greyhound

10. A-Trak – Dirty South Dance 2

A-Trak – We Don’t Want No Goblins

Dubstep and Southern rap were meant to be together, or at least they are when A-Trak’s behind the crossfader.  His second foray into mixing the two genres is a dance party like no other; stand by for the ending highlight, a mashup of Joker and Yung L.A.

9. Wavves – King of the Beach

Wavves – Post Acid

Nathan Williams’ 2009 and 2010 were completely different.  The previous year, he was an up-and-comer that crashed and burned publicly; now he is a renewed creative spirit with a diverse, improved sound.

8. Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

Kanye West – Monster (feat. Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Bon Iver & Nicki Minaj)

Believe the hype – Yeezy’s fifth album is quite probably his finest work yet.  His rapping is smart and funny and his production is characteristically slick.  If he keeps making gold, we will continue to put up with his hi-jinks, Internet, interview, or otherwise.

7. One Wolf – One Wolf II: Secret of the Wolf

One Wolf – Backyard

Perhaps the doom and gloom from One Wolf’s self-titled effort has disappeared, but in its place is diverse instrumentation, inescapable pop hooks, and sharp optimism. A sonic collage of indie, Americana, and even metal, this is one that just grows and grows on you.

6. Thrift Store Cowboys – Light Fighter

Thrift Store Cowboys – Regardless

Lubbock’s elder statesmen etch their place in historic alt-country with this, their fourth and finest album.  Daniel Fluitt’s keen storytelling and unmistakable voice lead the listener on a gradual crescendo in under fifty minutes.  Give it one listen and observe the injustice – Deer Tick should be opening for these guys by now.

Continue reading

20. The Hold Steady – Hurricane J

Craig Finn, while less belligerent, is still plenty drunk and emotional and frank on Heaven Is Whenever, and the group delivers one of their poppiest efforts thus far.  “Hurricane J” is a plea to a lost soul he may be care a little too much about, spoken plainly and perfectly alongside a perfect tropical storm metaphor.  We’ve all known someone like the person Finn describes, and we’ve all said the exact same things.

Continue reading

100. Vampire Weekend – White Sky

99. The National – Lemonworld

98. Magic Kids – Superball

97. Drake – Up All Night (feat. Nicki Minaj)

96. Free Energy – Bang Pop

95. Katy Perry – Teenage Dream

94. Evan Voytas – Our Thing

93. DOM – Burn Bridges

92. Games – Strawberry Skies

91. Dominique Young Unique – Show My Ass

Continue reading

150. Toro y Moi – Causers Of This

149. Toadies – Pink

148. Surfer Blood – Take It Easy

147. Local Natives – Warning Sign

146. Dominque Young Unique – War Talk

145. Magic Kids – Good To Be

144. Rihanna – Cheers (Drink To That)

143. Deftones – Royal

142. Wavves – Super Soaker

141. Thrift Store Cowboys – One Gentle Inch To Nine Violent Miles

Continue reading

This year I made the big move from Lubbock to Austin, and the transformation has done wonders for my live music fix.  I should have been writing down all the awesome bands I saw this year (and the years before, for that matter) but alas, hindsight, she is 20/20 once again.  I think this post covers the highlights more or less, however.  There’s plenty of great live music I saw this year that I’m leaving out, but after the jump, in no particular order, are twelve of the best shows I witnessed in 2010, eleven of them right here in the Live Music Capital of the World.

And for the record, I wanted to put the Sleigh Bells show on here, as fun as it was once they finally started playing, but everyone who attended knows Beauty Bar is at fault for that show’s omission.  What a disaster.

Continue reading

Once every three months I list the best of what I heard in albums/songs/remixes for the quarter. I do this to personally keep up with all the awesome music I hear, as it ultimately helps me at the end of the year when I do my overall listing for the previous twelve months. I also do it to introduce you cool cats to tunes you may have missed independently.

Continue reading

Deftones – “Sextape” (Official)

Deftones | MySpace Music Videos

Today the kids over at Fun Fun Fun headquarters announced the lineup for their 2010 festivities.  Of course, with FFF being my favorite fest to attend for four years running, I bought my tickets well in advance of today’s news.  But now that the artists have officially been made known to the public, here are a handful of bands, in no particular order,  I intend to be front and center stage for.  Who are you excited to see?

Continue reading

Panda Bear – Slow-Motion

source/buy

Cut Copy – Where I’m Going

source

Local Natives – Wide Eyes (Fools Gold ft. Aristotle Pop a Bottle Remix)

source

Josh Ritter – Folk Bloodbath

buy

Wavves – King of the Beach

buy