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Top 11 songs of the year

Unlike the mixtape, this list is set up in order.

11. “Nights Like This” – Icona Pop. I love a chorus that I can belt at the top of my lungs in a moving vehicle, and this dance-pop gem provides. I get shivers just thinking about those euphoric “whoa-oh-oh-OH-oh”s.

10. “I Don’t Want to Go To Sleep Either” – FM Belfast. Goofy, catchy, brilliant electro-pop. The video matches the absurd glee of the tune.

9. “Turbulence” – Of God and Science. Haunting ukelele-fronted indie-rock with a gorgeous vocal melody. The uke doesn’t always have to be cute, yo.

8. “No Silver” – Chris Bathgate. Creaky, world-weary, immediately arresting folk songwriting set in a beautiful arrangement.

7. “Shoeboxes” – David Ramirez. Poignant lyrics, timeless songwriting, effortlessly evocative vocal performance; what more can you ask for in a singer/songwriter tune?

6. “I Wish You Didn’t Feel Like My Home” – Matt the Electrician. Hands down the best lyrical outing of the year, as Matt deftly maneuvers through breakup cliches to the heart of the matter. The delicate songwriting is excellent as well.

5. “Song for You” – Jenny and Tyler. Jenny and Tyler transformed from a Weepies-esque duo to a powerful, churning folk-rock duo, and this song is the best example. I get shivers when the band crashes in.

4. “Norgaard” – The Vaccines. When I turned in my last paper, I put this pop-punk rave-up on repeat and danced all the way home. I’m sure people thought I was nuts. I don’t care – the song is that good.

3. “Kitchen Tile” – Typhoon. I’ve got a book on my stack to read about rock’n’roll and the desire for transcendence; Typhoon has already achieved it in folk with this song. Vocal melody, choirs, horns, strings, This is everything I want in a folk tune.

2. “Sticks & Stones” – Jonsi. The charging rhythm, unique textures and ethereal vocals made this the most infectious song I heard all year. I rocked this one all summer … and fall.

1. “Putting the Dog to Sleep” – The Antlers. Powerful: The most devastating lyrics of the year paired with a raw, stark skeleton of a doo-wop tune.

Top Fifty Songs of the Year Mixtape

I’ve rarely been on-the-ball enough to get my year end lists done by December 31, but this year I made a concerted effort to have all my 2011 reviewing done early. As a result, I was able to put together not just a top 20 albums list, but a top 50 songs mixtape and a top 11 songs list. Here’s the mixtape, organized generally from fast’n’loud to slow’quiet. Hear all of the songs at their links, with one exception of a purchase link (#27). The other lists will come over the next few days.

1. “Nights Like This” – Icona Pop
2. “Bass, Not an 8-track” – Oh Look Out
3. “I Don’t Want to Go To Sleep Either” – FM Belfast
4. “Now That I’m Real (How Does It Feel?)” – Chad Valley
5. “Ten-Twenty-Ten” – Generationals
6. “Sticks & Stones” – Jonsi
7. “Norgaard” – The Vaccines
8. “Just Me and My Canseco Rookie Card” – Banquets
9. “Axiomatic” – Bottle Up and Explode
10. “Yeah (Crass Version)” – LCD Soundsystem (Live at Madison Square Garden)
11. “Good in Green” – Saturday Sirens
12. “A Dream of Water” – Colin Stetson
13. “No Reservation” – Del Bel
14. “Box-Type Love” – Run Dan Run
15. “What Once Ran Wild” – Wild Domestic
16. “Movement” – Dam Mantle
17. “Saw You First” – Givers
18. “Glass Deers” – Braids
19. “Cassette 2012” – Delay Trees
20. “James Franco” – Hoodie Allen
21. “Black and White” – Generationals
22. “Kam” – Oh Look Out
23. “Prowl Great Cain” – The Mountain Goats
24. “Hobo Chili” – Attica! Attica!
25. “Montauk Monster” – Laura Stevenson and the Cans
26. “Down to the River” – Cameron Blake
27. “We Will Never Have Tonight Again” – Sandra McCracken
28. “Turbulence” – Of God and Science
29. “Nothing But Love Can Stay” – Afterlife Parade
30. “Stones” – The Collection
31. “The Region of the Summer Stars” – Come On Pilgrim!
32. “Fever” – The Collection
33. “The Healthy One” – Laura Stevenson and the Cans
34. “Some Boys” – Death Cab for Cutie
35. “Girls Girls Girls” – John Lepine
36. “At the Grindcore Show” – Common Grackle
37. “Simple Girl” – Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.
38. “Dear Annabeth” – The Duke of Norfolk
39. “Kitchen Tile” – Typhoon
40. “Women in the Kitchen” – The Fox and the Bird
41. “Song for You” – Jenny and Tyler
42. “Find You” – Brianna Gaither
43. “Someone Like You” – Adele
44. “Through Your Eyes” – Jenny and Tyler
45. “No Silver” – Chris Bathgate
46. “Shoeboxes” – David Ramirez
47. “Unwed Fathers” – Carrie Rodriguez and Ben Kyle
48. “I Wish You Didn’t Feel Like My Home” – Matt the Electrician
49. “In Parts” – Run Dan Run
50. “Putting the Dog to Sleep” – The Antlers

Vids! Blogs! Rivals!

Since releasing Faint Not earlier this year, everything that Jenny and Tyler touch turns to gold. Or, in the case of this gorgeous music video for one of the album’s best tracks, yellow.

Google, not satisfied with controlling every piece of information ever, has announced a music discovery site (read: blog) called Magnifier. Excuse me while I go weep. All joking aside, it’s well-thought out, just like everything Google does.

The title track off Andrew Belle’s The Ladder gets the hand-drawn treatment.

Kickstarter, still one of the best ideas in a long time, now has some competition. (FREE MARKETS RULZ!1!!1!1?!) PledgeMusic cuts out all those pesky other arts that Kickstarter supports. The twist that makes it different than Kickstarter? You can designate some of the funds you raise to a charity of your choice. That’s pretty cool. Charming songstress Meiko brought this site to my attention. And if nothing else, you can hear “Boys With Girlfriends” at that site, which is hilarious/heartbreaking. And watch the pledge video, which is hilarious (without the heartbreaking).

Here’s your half-year, 2011

Just like IC puts out its year-end best-of list in February, my half-year best-of doesn’t hit until August. This list includes the music I covered while at the Oklahoma Gazette.

If you would like to see this list visually, I’ve created an Independent Clauses Pinterest page that also includes the best artwork that’s crossed IC’s path in 2011 and a list of best books about pop music.

16. Chad Valley – Equatorial Ultravox. ’80s dance-pop revivalism that captures both the playful nonchalance and wistful romanticism of the first disposable music era.

15. Aaron Robinson – A Dying Art EP. The Nashville songwriter comes into his own, creating a set of unforgettable melancholy tunes.

14. James and Evander – Constellating EP + 2. The true heirs to The Postal Service’s throne, at long last.

13. The Antlers – Burst Apart. Song of the year “Putting The Dog To Sleep” caps off a emotional album of indie-fied slow jamz.

12. Adebisi Shank – This Is the Second Album of a Band Called Adebisi Shank. Exuberant O-prog (optimistic prog rock) that makes the very best of a trio by use of some wicked complicated pedalboards.

12. The Low Anthem – Smart Flesh. A gorgeous album of secular hymns. “I’ll Take Out Your Ashes” is the quietest emotional wrecking ball of the year.

10. Cameron Blake – Hide and Go Seek. The album establishes Blake as a songwriter with a unique voice and something to say.

9. Brianna Gaither – Love is Patient. I am still blown away by the power in her voice and assured quality in her piano songwriting. Tough to believe it’s a debut.

8. Jenny and Tyler – Faint Not. They’ve upped their game from charming folk duo to serious songwriters with heart-pounding lyrics and music.

7. Laura Stevenson and the Cans – Sit Resist. One of the most complete albums of the year, as well as the most varied. Stevenson can hit shots from all over the indie court.

6. Typhoon – A New Kind of House. Horns, strings, drums, guitars, choirs: Chamber-folk doesn’t get better than this Portland outfit.

5. LCD Soundsystem – Last Show at Madison Square Garden. Not a true album, or it would be higher. The frantic energy of each tune makes this a can’t-miss for even casual fans of James Murphy’s work.

4. Generationals – Actor-Caster. Perky indie-pop tunes with undeniable charm and indelible melodies. “Ten-Twenty-Ten” is my summer song.

3. Brine Webb – O You, Stone Changeling. If emotional nakedness were the 100-yard-dash, Webb would be Usain Bolt. Dazzling folk beauty and devastating lyrics.

2. Braids – Native Speaker. Mesmerizing, wandering, evocative beauty from the only band to surprise me with a unique take on indie-rock this year.

1. Colin Stetson – New History Warfare, Vol. 2: Judges. Stetson turns a single baritone saxophone into an art-rock band, churning out astonishing post-rock pieces at turns terrifying and rapturous.

You need to watch the Faint Not music video

Guys. Guys, for real. You need to watch this. I haven’t been so blown away by a music video in a long, long time. The song, the cinematography, the concept, the other concept that meshes with the first concept… I sat with my mouth hanging open. Ladies and gentlemen, Jenny and Tyler’s “Faint Not”:

Expect a CD review of the CD, also titled “Faint Not,” very soon.

Christmas!

It’s Christmastime! And if you’re over Sufjan’s Christmas songs (but how could you be??), there are definitely some new options to love this yuletide.

I love Christmas almost as much as I love puns, so Candy Cigarette’s “A Whale’s Christmas in Childress, TX” is endeared to me in multiple ways. (The pun is a reversal of the terms in Dylan Thomas’ “A Child’s Christmas in Wales.”) It’s a chipper acoustic-led indie-pop tune that has a heaping helping of Christmas cheer poured into it (and sleigh bells! always sleigh bells!). The unique direction of the lyrics make it even more fun. Awesome.

SHEL goes for a light-touch approach on “Sleigh Ride,” not deviating too far from the classic approach (because what would it be without sleigh bells?). That makes the warm lead vocals the star here.

IC fave Latifah Phillips (of Moda Spira and Page CXVI) has teamed up with Aaron Strumpel to create an album of vintage-sounding Christmas tunes called Heck Ya the Halls (awesome title, y’all). It’s surprisingly non-kitschy: plenty of jazzy trumpet, staccato piano, and smooth vibes to go around.

Jenny & Tyler, another IC fave, just dropped a Christmas album. Their recent folk-pop/indie-rock output has been pretty magnificent, so I expect this release to be no different.

Andrew Belle’s offering for this holiday season is a dense, moody electro-pop outing called “Back for Christmas” that may not end up sung around the yule log but has a lot of staying power. If you hear me kickin’ this one in July, don’t be surprised. Really tight work here.

Surreal

Before we get to the surreal video clips, here’s an absolutely surreal performance. I will never tire of “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” and Jenny & Tyler (and guests!) do an incredible rendition right here. Jenny & Tyler is one of the most on-fire acts I know of right now.

A lot of artists want to make surreal music videos, but Elliphant’s latest clip is one of the few that succeeds. The visuals are unsettling without being graphic, perfectly fitting the tense electro-pop of “Revolusion.”

Grant Valdes’ “Lord, Don’t Take the Sun” clip gives a herky-jerky, also-surreal take on building a fire. I know it sounds pedestrian, but it’s compelling.

& Yet gives a strong studio performance of a forlorn chamber-pop tune as part of the Fastback Sessions. It’s not surreal, really, but I wanted to include it anyway. It’s my blog, I do what I want.

If you’ve got 11 minutes for three freak-folk songs from Matthew Squires and The Learning Disorders, then you should check out this video. Squires and a cellist perform amidst a half-finished boutique, complete with mannequins. Suitable space for Squires’ fractured, surreal visions.

Spring/Summer MP3 mix

Part two of this seasonal MP3 mix sees me getting antsy with the quietness I usually cover and jonesing for some big, brash rock and pop sounds.

Spring/Summer

1. “Fourth of July” – Zoo Brother. This unabashedly summery indie-pop cut starts off with fireworks blasting.

2. “What Love Looks Like” – Rebecca Roubion. Are you tired of pristine, joyful folk-pop from guy/girl duos like the Weepies and Jenny & Tyler? ME NEITHER.

3. “Sun Models (Feat. Madelyn Grant)” – ODESZA. Even post-dub artsy electronic groups are getting in on the summery vibes. I am thoroughly on board with this upbeat, airy track.

4. “High Times” – Blonde Summer. This one’s just a gimme, you know? Excellent summery pop here, complete with awesome video.

5. “Modern Romance” – The Forty Nineteens. The joke on this one is that this is a ’50s-style rock’n’roll band with heavy surf influences singing about modern things. Modern when? Who cares. Summer on.

6. “I’m a Freak” – Wise Girl. The components of this song are exclusively big guitars, loud drums, a bass guitar (I think?), and female vocals. I love power-pop.

7. “Killing Time” – The Mirror Trap. Big, brash, Killers-esque rock, because nothing says springtime to me like humongous synths. Chase winter away.

8. “Hex X.O.” – North by North. Rock swagger, flamboyant vocals, and dramatic flair (a la My Chemical Romance) make this track total road trip fun.

9. “Alabama Movies” – Skating Polly. If your version of summertime driving includes snarling, female-fronted grunge, Oklahomans Skating Polly need to be on your radar.

10. “Bulash” – Walrus. Ain’t no summer without woozy, off-kilter psych.

Happy New Year!

nevergiveup

2013 is over, but the 10th year of Independent Clauses marches on. It was an amazing year, full of shows and releases and old friends and new friends and more good music than I could possibly cover. It was one of my favorite years of Independent Clauses, as I feel that I’ve finally hit my stride in what I want to be doing here.

Never Give Up: Celebrating 10 Years of the Postal Service was our 10th anniversary, but that was only the beginning, not a swan song. That release ran its time, and is now gone but for the torrents running about on the Internet. You can still hear Jenny & Tyler’s excellent version of “We Will Become Silhouettes” on their charity covers album For Freedom, and I recommend you do that. It was an amazing project, and I’m thankful to the many, many people who helped make it happen, as we raised almost $500 dollars for Hurricane Sandy relief (along with making some really awesome music).

Here’s to many more years of Independent Clauses: more projects, more reviews, and more shows. More friends, especially. More friends.

challenger

And here’s Challenger‘s two-song New Year release, which features a quiet, piano-led original and a version of “Auld Lang Syne.” It’s an unexpectedly chill turn from a big, bold synth-pop project, but both tracks are perfect for sitting back and thinking about the year that was and the year that will be. Christmas gets all the love, but Challenger is sticking up for New Years. In the same way, some bands may get all the love, but Independent Clauses is sticking up for the young, new, and small artists out there.

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