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RYAN REED

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TEGANSARA-L

Tegan & Sara | Get Along

Warner Bros. (2011)
Trust me — I've searched, but I haven't found a more adorable band than Tegan & Sara: Canadian lesbian twins with squeaky-thin voices and ramshackle skills, banging out earnest pop epics with lyrics ripped straight from their diaries, delivering more heart and sweat in a single track than most bands could muster in two careers.
By: RYAN REED  |  November 22, 2011
CAMPS-L

Los Campesinos! | Hello Sadness

Arts & Crafts (2011)
"I've been digging my grave for quite some time," speak-sings Gareth Campesinos on his band's unrelenting fourth album.
By: RYAN REED  |  November 16, 2011
SIGURROS-LIST

Sigur Ros | Inni

XL (2011)
The Icelandic quartet's last album, Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust, came out three years ago, and besides one new instrumental tacked on at the end, the songs here are nothing we haven't already heard (and obsessed over) for years now.
By: RYAN REED  |  November 08, 2011
FLO-L

Florence + the Machine | Ceremonials

Universal (2011)
Like that awkward yet talented girl in your high school drama class, Florence Welch exploded on the pop scene two years back with her sleeper hit, Lungs , charming as many listeners as she confounded.
By: RYAN REED  |  November 03, 2011
justice-list

Justice | Audio, Video, Disco

Elektra/WEA (2011)
It takes only a second into "Horsepower," the gurgling, raging first track on Justice's second full-length, to realize these nutso French geniuses are operating on another electronic plane: a kingdom ruled by distorted synth-bass and overblown rhythms, a wonderland of carousel keyboards and unstoppable funkiness.
By: RYAN REED  |  October 25, 2011
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Real Estate | Days

Domino (2011)
"Easy," the rousing opener from Real Estate's sophomore studio effort, certainly has an appropriate title.
By: RYAN REED  |  October 18, 2011
list_neon-indian_482

The evolving conceptual sounds of Neon Indian

Heightened Era
Chillwave, a genre that blends bedroom-level production values with glowing synth-based atmospherics and vocals focused more on disconnected drizzle than tangible emotion, is the embodiment of how to disappear completely. At the forefront is Neon Indian's Alan Palomo: an Afro'd, baby-faced 23-year-old with two acclaimed LPs under his belt, including last month's excellent Era Extrana (Mom + Pop).
By: RYAN REED  |  October 12, 2011
m83-list

M83 | Hurry Up, We're Dreaming

Mute (2011)
"City is my church!" sings Anthony Gonzalez, flustered and passionate, engulfed by the head-rush synths and galactic beats of his instant-classic "Midnight City."
By: RYAN REED  |  October 12, 2011
feist-l

Feist | Metals

Cherrytree/Interscope (2011)
Feist should be making perfect albums every time.
By: RYAN REED  |  October 05, 2011
bjork-list

Bjork | Biophilia

Nonesuch (2011)
What the hell is Biophilia ?
By: RYAN REED  |  September 27, 2011
cyhsy-l

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah | Hysterical

Red General Catalog (2011)
Deploying the magic touch of indie producer-superhero John Congleton, these five musicians have never sounded more like a rock band, and these 12 spacious, dreamy excursions benefit from the added muscle.
By: RYAN REED  |  September 20, 2011
mos-list

Mates of State | Mountaintops

Barsuk (2011)
As the sequenced synths and handsome beats unfold, matched in merriment by the husband-and-wife vocals of Jason Hammel and Kori Gardner, your mind is miles away from the raging fires of the underworld.
By: RYAN REED  |  September 13, 2011
ceg-l

Cymbals Eat Guitars | Lenses Alien

Barsuk (2011)
It's the most indie-rock-sounding thing you'll hear all year — which means, briefly, Cymbals Eat Guitars sound kinda-sorta conventional.
By: RYAN REED  |  September 07, 2011
csslist2

CSS | La Liberacion

Downtown Records (2011)
On their third album, Brazilian dance-rock quintet CSS (Cansei de Ser Sexy) make baby steps toward maturation, but old habits die hard.
By: RYAN REED  |  August 23, 2011
GL-l

Gold Leaves | The Ornament

Hardly Art (2011)
Grant Olsen, former strummer for Seattle folk duo Arthur & Yu, took the better part of four years to craft The Ornament, his solo coming out party as Gold Leaves.
By: RYAN REED  |  August 11, 2011
fow-list

Fountains of Wayne | Sky Full of Holes

Yep Roc (2011)
Sky Full of Holes, the first Fountains album in four years, is another reminder of why the band deserve some limelight of their own.
By: RYAN REED  |  August 03, 2011
BT list

Big Talk | Big Talk

Epitaph (2011)
Following in the footsteps of perpetually uncool drummer-turned-solo artists Phil Collins and Don Henley, Killers stick-man Ronnie Vannucci tries his hand at writing '80s arena anthems while his main gig takes a time-out.
By: RYAN REED  |  July 26, 2011
reptar list

Reptar | Oblangle Fizz, Y'all

Vagrant Records (2011)
"Blastoff" (bonus points for perfect song titles) is simply an un-fucking-believable opener — an exercise in demented excess that only gets better the more you peel it apart.
By: RYAN REED  |  July 19, 2011
New album from Little Dragon called Ritual Union

Little Dragon | Ritual Union

Peacefrog Records (2011)
On Ritual Union, the third full-length from these mechanical soul weirdos, Little Dragon have managed to get way catchier and also a great deal stranger.
By: RYAN REED  |  July 12, 2011
jb list

Junior Boys | It's All True

Domino (2011)
With its disco-bass pulse, jet-engine synths, and seductive half-time chorus, "Itchy Fingers" kicks things off by demonstrating the Boys' finesse for tricked-out, ass-shaking programmed grooves.
By: RYAN REED  |  June 22, 2011
Battles, Gloss Drop

Battles | Gloss Drop

Warp (2011)
In an twist of musical irony, the New York nutsos in Battles lose their most prominent member — vocalist/guitarist/sound manipulator Tyondai Braxton — and end up sounding more like an actual band.
By: RYAN REED  |  June 07, 2011
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