What To Shop For : 2010

<div> <a href="features/features/what_to_shop_for_:_2010/"><img src="http://www.qromag.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/whattoshopfor10.jpg" alt="What To Shop For : 2010" /></a> <br /> </div> <p> After this year's Black Friday & Cyber Monday, the lamestream media says that people...
What To Shop For : 2010

Albums:

Admiral Radley : I Heart California
Grandaddy + Earlimart = you knew it was going to be good. Read more…
 
Annuals : Sweet Sister EP
Annuals do the EP two-step again, with the sweet Sweet Sister. Read more…  
 
Arcade Fire : The Suburbs
The Arcade Fire return to The Suburbs, and find that you can’t go home again. Read more…
 
Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti : Before Today
Ariel Pink, the self-revered Godfather of the chillwave genre, is our first post-modern rock star. Read more…
 
ArpLine : Travel Book
ArpLine’s debut full-length Travel Book traffics in both grand club dance-press and stripped, affecting procession. Read more…
 
Autolux : Transit Transit
Six years before a new album is a long time to wait, but for Autolux, it was worth it. Read more…
 
Beach House : Teen Dream
It doesn’t get much smoother than this. Read more…
 
Bear Hands : Burning Bush Supper Club
Bear Hands’ Burning Bush Supper Club stands out just the right amount. Read more…
 
Bear In Heaven : Beast Rest Forth Mouth
Someone should take a Polaroid of the U.K. music scene now, because after Brooklyn’s Bear In Heaven drops Beast Rest Forth Mouth, it’s not going to be the same. Read more…  
 
Bear In Heaven : Beast Rest Forth Mouth Remixed
Taking a well deserved victory lap, Bear In Heaven lend out the keys to Daddy’s sports car for a follow-up of remixes ot Beast Rest Forth Mouth. Read more… 
 
The Besnard Lakes : The Besnard Lakes Are The Roaring Night
The feeling of both intimately sparse surroundings and elusive euphoria is a concept very much central to The Besnard Lakes Are Roaring The Night. Read more…  
 
Black Angels : Phosphene Dream
By resisting the urge to charge head first into their stock psychedelic and cut down the excess, the Black Angels have broadened their scope of influence. Read more…
 
The Black Keys : Brothers
Self producing their sixth studio LP, the blues-rock duo from Akron, Ohio mines the spirit of Muscle Shoals, the Mississippi Delta and the American garage. Read more…
 
Blonde Redhead : Penny Sparkle
With Penny Sparkle, Blonde Redhead fully join their indie-beauty brethren – though something is lost in the process, as well. Read more…
 
Brasstronaut : Mt. Chimaera
Much like the myth that inspired its name, Brasstronaut’s debut full length possesses a fantastical nature. Read more…
 
Broken Social Scene : Forgiveness Rock Record
Broken Social Scene brought their indie-collective sound to the wider world, and they’re still doing it best. Read more…
 
Basia Bulat : Heart of My Own
What better to name a dozen songs of unwavering love, desperate longing and heartfelt emotion? Read more…
 
Kathryn Calder : Are You My Mother?
The poignant question at the heart of one of the year’s most interesting albums is merely a prelude to a barrage of emotionality, both vivid and genuine. Read more…
 
Carney : Mr. Green, Vol. 1
L.A. band Carney released their epic, vaudevillian rock sound to the world on their debut album entitled Mr. Green, Vol. 1. Read more…
 
The Choir : Burning Like the Midnight Sun
On Burning Like the Midnight Sun, The Choir soars with two Byrds. Read more…
 
CocoRosie : Grey Oceans
Grey Oceans is full of pretty melodies, interesting arrangements, and lyrics whose poetic depth is stronger than most in popular music of any kind. Read more…
 
Jason Collett : Rat A Tat Tat
Returning with his signature twang, Jason Collett’s solo project shows its continued evolution with the release of his fourth album, Rat A Tat Tat. Read more…
 
Daft Punk : Tron Legacy Soundtrack
We already knew that DP wasn’t daft but now we are sure that they’re not young punks anymore.  And they may even be human after all. Read more…
 
The Dead Weather : Sea of Cowards
"Knock, knock."  "Who’s there?"  "Jack White." Read more…
 
Die Antwoord : 5 EP
Die Antwoord’s rap delivery blithely slurs between their native tongue of Afrikaans and English, sometimes in a single breath. Read more…
 
The Dig : Electric Toys
The Dig are the kind of outfit that make being an NYC rock critic, discovering new bands, worth it. Read more…
 
Dinowalrus : %
% is a conceptually difficult title to wrap your head around and Dinowalrus can be a conceptually difficult band to wrap your ears around. Read more…
 
Drink Up Buttercup : Born and Thrown On a Hook
These songs that are made to be enjoyed around the campfire, as much as in the club. Read more…
 
Eels : End Times
The Man (once) Called E brings a sad grit to lo-fi alt-folk on his latest, End Times. Read more…  
 
Electric President : The Violent Blue
Electric President raise America from sweet slumber with the awakening The Violent Blue. Read more…
 
Electric Six : Zodiac
Electric Six go funky as Dick Valentine ups his lyrical humor to its best level in years. Read more…
 
Foals : Total Life Forever
‘Buzz band’ Foals’ sophomore album, Total Life Forever, is a damn good listen. Read more…
 
Fredrik : Trilogi
If you’re looking for an antithesis to today’s conformed and predictable independent music, you’ll be in for a treat. Read more…  
 
Frightened Rabbit : The Winter of Mixed Drinks
The skies of Scotland get clearer as Frightened Rabbit brighten their signature sound. Read more…
 
The Go Find : Everybody Knows It’s Gonna Happen Only Not Tonight
Calling this album "charming" barely scratches the surface. Read more…  
 
Gorillaz : The Fall
Damon Albarn’s Gorillaz, 20 iPad Apps and a handful of guests take us on an intimate journey across America. Read more…  
 
Cee Lo Green : The Ladykiller
The Ladykiller is a rich, dynamic album that will both succeed commercially and kill it in the critical acclaim department. Read more…
 
Grinderman : Grinderman 2
Grinderman 2 is as much a tour de force as anything in Nick Cave et. al.’s collective and singular catalog. Read more…
 
Hooray For Earth : Momo EP (re-release)
Hooray For Earth’s Momo EP gets an expanded physical release. Read more…
 
Hot Chip : One Life Stand
The wizards of electro-pop emphatically wave their wands again. Read more…
 
Jack Johnson : To the Sea
To The Sea is not a great leap forward in any direction, but it shows Johnson at his most comfortable and at ease. Read more…
 
Jonsi : Go
Go embraces the instrumental elements that make up Sigur Rós’ intricate and ethereal sound while removing itself from post-rock status and taking more of an indie pop direction. Read more…
 
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings : I Learned The Hard Way
With their fourth and mostly charmed studio release, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings have transcended homage, revival, parody and sub-categorization. Read more…  
 
Steve Kilbey & Martin Kennedy : Live at the Toff in Town DVD
Aren’t you curious to see four top-notch musicians in tuxedoes, perform under a disco ball? Read more…
 
Kid Cudi : Man On the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager
As most artists experience on their encore album, Kid Cudi’s Man On the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager isn’t as superior as his first. Read more…
 
La Strada : New Home
It’s awfully hard to write anything negative about a band that makes the accordion seem cool again. Read more…
 
Land of Talk : Cloak and Cipher
Second LP Cloak and Cipher sees Elizabeth Powell & co. culminate an airy rise in her effectively touching indie-rock. Read more…
 
Dawn Landes : Sweet Heart Rodeo
Dawn Landes ups her alt-country & anti-folk ride on Sweet Heart Rodeo. Read more… 
 
LCD Soundsystem : This Is Happening
Can LCD return to the now crowded disco pit, especially with a record that they have said will be their last?  Yes, This Is Happening. Read more…
 
Los Campesinos! : Romance Is Boring
Los Campesinos’ development has been anything but Boring. Read more…  
 
The Magnetic Fields : Realism
The mad genius that is Magnetic Fields (né Stephin Merritt) has returned to complete the last installment in a trilogy of synthesizer-free albums. Read more…
 
Male Bonding : Nothing Hurts
So far the vast majority of lo-fi groups have come from America, but now along come Male Bonding and put England’s name on the lo-fi map. Read more…
 
Dan Mangan : Nice, Nice, Very Nice
Repeat listening of Mangan’s Nice, Nice, Very Nice proves to be not only beneficial, but also therapeutic. Read more…
 
Matt & Kim : Sidewalks
You can’t say Matt & Kim are making the same song again. Read more…
 
MGMT : Congratulations
MGMT’s second album may be the classic sophomore slump, but it’s only one mediocre issue from a band that will live to fight another day. Read more…  
 
MMOSS : i
Granite Staters finally have an indie darling to call their own. Read more…
 
Motel Motel : The Big Island
There is such a thing as ‘alt-jam’, and Motel Motel do it well on The Big Island. Read more…
 
Mr. Fish : School For the Schizophrenic "Crazy Machine"
There’s a healthy amount of syzzurp coursing through the lyrical lanes of Mr. Fish’s latest project, and that’s a good thing. Read more…
 
Murder By Death : Good Morning, Magpie
Murder By Death’s latest album, about nature, drinking, growing old, the life of the poor, and even shaving invites the listener into a gothic, western American fiction. Read more…
 
The National : High Violet
The National have put together an epic tragedy with epic greatness.  Again. Read more…
 
The National : High Violet (Expanded Edition)
"The way that we work, we make so many songs, we try so many different things, and we edit ourselves so heavily – and sometimes I think too much – that a lot of things get thrown away." Read more…
 
The New Pornographers : Together
Not only have they returned to their earlier glory, but The New Pornographers may have in fact surpassed it. Read more…
 
Joanna Newsom : Have One On Me
The epic two-hour Have One On Me accomplishs one of the most difficult tasks that a rising indie musician can face: welcoming new (mainstream) fans without alienating the old (indie) ones. Read more…
 
Old Man Luedecke : My Hands Are On Fire, And Other Love Songs
With friends at his side, Juno Award-winning Old Man Luedecke returns to deliver eleven brand-new banjo-based ballads. Read more…
 
Owen Pallett : Heartland
The artist formerly known as Final Fantasy follows up his Polaris Prize-winning He Poos Clouds with a full 50-person orchestra. Read more…  
 
Pavement : Quarantine the Past (The Best of Pavement)
Some bands I like to name-check, and one of them is Pavement. Read more…
 
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers : Mojo
Mojo, whose title speaks of vitality, contains a genuine vain of heartfelt emotions, but it doesn’t demand your attention. Read more…
 
The Prids : Chronosynclastic
The Prids should have their own Behind The Music episode. Read more…
 
R.E.M. : Fables of the Reconstruction (Deluxe Edition)
The R.E.M. record most in need of a re-discovery gets its deluxe edition release. Read more…
 
Ra Ra Riot : The Orchard
Ra Ra Riot’s head is in the clouds more than their feet are on the ground as they embrace the high & orchestral on The Orchard. Read more…
 
The Radio Dept. : Clinging to a Scheme
Every track on Clinging to a Scheme sounds effortless and natural, in spite of heavy use of synths and filters.  It’s the pathos and indifference intermingled for you to pry apart and to take away what you will. Read more…
 
Salli Lunn : Heresy & Rite
Remember the name Salli Lunn, for this Danish quartet is here to stay. Read more…
 
Walter Schreifels : An Open Letter To the Scene
Rival Schools frontman Walter Schreifels acoustically writes An Open Letter To the Scene. Read more…
 
Seabear : We Built a Fire
The second album from the Icelandic collective is even cozier than their first. Read more…
 
Shout Out Louds : Work
Sweden at its finest, Merge at its finest, indie-pop at its finest. Read more…
 
Spoon : Transference
What do you do after you’ve had the one of the best albums of 2007?  As The Tick would say, "SPOON!" Read more…  
 
Stars : The Five Ghosts
The feeling of pure happiness is indeed a fleeting sentiment in The Five Ghosts, but the overall magnitude outweighs the barrage of angst along the way. Read more…
 
Superchunk : Majesty Shredding
Pre-sub-genres, pre-prefix indie rock returns as nineties alt-rockers Superchunk put out Majesty Shredding, their first original LP in almost a decade. Read more…
 
Tokyo Police Club : Champ
More ‘enjoyable’ than it is ‘indie’ – but it’s ‘enjoyable’, and that’s what matters. Read more…
 
Toro Y Moi : Causers of This
Toro Y Moi’s latest full-length release, Causers of This, is one of the more spectacular entries into a growing movement that is occasionally referred to as ‘psych-(choose your subgenre)’. Read more…  
 
Truman Peyote : Light-Lightning
The 21st century is beautiful and its name is Truman Peyote. Read more…
 
Twin Sister : Color Your Life
Color Your Life continues to develop the remarkably mature hybrid post-rock sound that’s a little this, a little that, and a whole lotta awesome. Read more…
 
Leif Vollebekk : Inland
The debut LP from Montreal newcomer Leif Vollebekk presents us with an interesting medley of mementos. Read more…
 
Washed Out : Life of Leisure EP
You have to give it to Washed Out for trying damn hard to create a new sound that is not confined to any past era or post-genre. Read more… 
 
Wavves : King of the Beach
Wavves drops his praised grimy guitar rebellion, opting instead for a Beach Boys-style lightness that softens the band’s still-heavy beach-punk. Read more… 
 
Weezer : Pinkerton (Deluxe Edition)
We all liked Weezer’s old stuff better, like Pinkerton. Read more…
 
The Wilderness of Manitoba : When You Left the Fire
Despite their relative inexperience as a collective, The Wilderness of Manitoba toil in a sound arguably as lush as their namesake. Read more…
 
Wintersleep : New Inheritors
With New Inheritors, Wintersleep neither surpasses nor fades, and instead forges an enviable new third path through the sonic wilderness. Read more…
 
Woodpigeon : Die Stadt Muzikanten
Die Stadt Muzikanten explores a heavier side of Woodpigeon, both in sound and subject matter. Read more…
 
Yeasayer : Odd Blood
On their triumphant sophomore album Odd Blood, Yeasayer ‘do it again’ and more. Read more…
 
You Can Be A Wesley : Heard Like Us
You Can Be A Wesley revisits a time when indie rock was still feeling its way through the post-punk landscape, while introducing their own instinctive innovations. Read more…
 
Zeus : Say Us
Say Us breathes a fresh air of vintage over a brilliant foundation of pop and roll. Read more…
 

 

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