2011 Review: Top 50 Songs (50-41)

The 2011 year in review continues with the top 50 songs. Over the next 5 days I will be revealing my top 50 songs of this year 10 at a time. In making this list I only followed one real rule; one song per artist. When I started making it, I had over 200 songs in contention and in a painstaking process (actually it was kind of enjoyable revisiting all the songs) whittled it down to the 50 you will see over the next few days. Now without further ado, here are numbers 50-41.

2011 Review: 25 Great "Rock" Releases (The Honorable Mention)

This year had so many great albums that a singular top 10 was just not quite enough; too many other albums deserved at least a mention. There was the Top 10 hiphop/R&B list posted earlier this week and this here is essentially an extended honorable mention for the other rock albums this year. An overall top 10 is coming later this month with proper write ups and in an effort to preserve the suspense, none of those albums will be included. In the meantime, enjoy this list and give a listen to some of these excellent albums if you haven't already.

Northside Music Festival: Review Part 2

Photo Courtesy of Brooklyn Vegan

Luke Rathborne started off the 3rd (and longest) day of the Northside Music Festival with a quick but excellent set over at Spike Hill. The singer-songwriter is self-deprecating and witty and his live band provides the perfect accent to the furious garage rock he plays live. His live set is completely different from his recorded material and while his EPs are both good, the hard rocking live show he puts on is definitely preferable.

Northside Music Festival: Review Part 1

Photos: Courtesy of Brooklyn Vegan

My own personal Northside Music Festival was kicked off by Atlas Sound at St. Cecila's church in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. The venue, as you can see above, is an absolutely gorgeous chapel where the pews acts as the seating. The chapel provided the perfect space for Bradford Cox's beautifully, haunting drone. The set was almost exclusively new songs as Cox told the crowd he had forgotten how the old ones go. There were still some old songs sprinkled in like "Sheila" and a folked out version of "Walkabout" featuring some excellent harmonica. Throughout the set, I felt like I was in a trance as Cox layered each different part of the song on top of one another creating a dense and enveloping combination of vocals, guitars and ambient noise. Jessica Amaya of Brooklyn Vegan took some really beautiful photos of the show. Check them out.

Northside Music Festival: Saturday Preview

The Northside Music Festival is all about discovering the music and art that Brooklyn has to offer; Saturday is going to be the day that I do mostly that. I fully intend on seeing the Guided By Voices, Waaves & Surfer Blood (yeah I'm going to see them twice in one weekend!) but before and after that there is no real band I feel like I "HAVE" to see. Honestly, I've never really listened to many of the acts playing that day and I'm just going to be a sponge; taking in all that the festival presents. After the jump is a list of lesser-known artists that I'd like to look into on Saturday and I think you should do the same. Even if you're not able to see them live, give them a listen and see what you think!

Northside Music Festival: Friday Preview

Friday at the L Magazine's Northside Music Festival is jampacked with shows aplenty. The live music starts around 6 o'clock in Williamsburg and in most venues it won't be stopping until well after midnight (late night DJ sets until 4 in the morning at Cameo Gallery and Public Assembly!) The day kicks off with Worcester based electo-rockers DOM at Brooklyn Bowl. Their EP Sun Bronzed Greek Gods was a highly touted release and I anticipate an awesome show. Check out their song "Burn Bridges" after the jump as well as all the rest of Friday's fun!