Sub Pop Archive

Top 30 Albums of 2019

Here are our 30 favorite albums of 2019. It has been definitely hard to pick among the hundreds that we heard and liked last year! Let’s enjoy some of the best in indie rock, indie pop, folk, electro, post-punk, post-rock, hip-hop, experimental, ambient, and modern classical music released this year.

Best albums of the year 2019 - Playlist and collage by GooMorninCaptn, feat. Sasami - Sasami, Matmos - Plastic Anniversary, Hand Habits - Placeholder, Cate Le Bon - Reward, FKA Twigs - Magdalene, Kim Gordon - No Home Record, Vanishing Twin - The Age Of Immunology, Holly Herndon - Proto, Lizzo - Cuz I Love You, Susanna & The Brotherhood Of Our Lady - Garden of Earthly Delights, Big Thief - U.F.O.F., Lafawndah - Ancestor Boy, Jungstötter - Love Is, Anna Meredith - FIBS, Christopher Tignor - A Light Below, Grey McMurray - Stay Up, Julia Jacklin - Crushing, Leafcutter John - Yes! Come Parade With Us, Weyes Blood - Titanic Rising, Jesca Hoop - Stonechild, JPEGMAFIA - All My Heroes Are Cornballs, Bon Iver - i,i, Chelsea Wolfe - Birth of Violence, Glen Hansard - This Wild Willing, The Murder Capital - When I Have Fears, Lower Dens - The Competition, La Féline - Vie future, Lingua Ignota - Caligula, Oiseaux-Tempête - From Somewhere Invisible, Clipping. - There Existed An Addiction To Blood

Top 30 of 2019 - Playlist and collage by GooMorninCaptn

The playlist will be best enjoyed on YouTube, Spotify or Deezer. A couple tracks are missing from Soundcloud and Qobuz.

  1. SasamiSasami (Domino, US)
  2. MatmosPlastic Anniversary (Thrill Jockey, US)
  3. Hand HabitsPlaceholder (Saddle Creek, US)
  4. Cate Le BonReward (Mexican Summer, UK)
  5. FKA TwigsMagdalene (Young Turks, UK)
  6. Kim GordonNo Home Record (Matador, US)
  7. Vanishing TwinThe Age Of Immunology (Fire Records, UK)
  8. Holly HerndonProto (4AD, US)
  9. LizzoCuz I Love You (Deluxe) (Atlantic, US)
  10. Susanna & The Brotherhood Of Our LadyGarden of Earthly Delights (SusannaSonata, NO)
  11. Big ThiefU.F.O.F. (4AD, US)
  12. LafawndahAncestor Boy (Concordia / !K7, EG/IR/FR/UK/US)
  13. JungstötterLove Is (Pias, DE)
  14. Anna MeredithFIBS (Moshi Moshi Records, UK)
  15. Christopher TignorA Light Below (Western Vinyl, US)
  16. Grey McMurrayStay Up (Figureight, US)
  17. Julia JacklinCrushing (Polyvinyl / Transgressive, AUS)
  18. Leafcutter JohnYes! Come Parade With Us (Border Community, UK)
  19. Weyes BloodTitanic Rising (Sub Pop, US)
  20. Jesca HoopStonechild (Memphis Industries, US)
  21. JPEGMAFIAAll My Heroes Are Cornballs (EQT Recordings, US)
  22. Bon Iveri,i (Jagjaguwar, US)
  23. Chelsea WolfeBirth of Violence (Sargent House, US)
  24. Glen HansardThis Wild Willing (Anti-, IE)
  25. The Murder CapitalWhen I Have Fears (Human Season, IE)
  26. Lower DensThe Competition (Ribbon Music, US)
  27. La FélineVie future (Kwaidan Records, FR)
  28. Lingua IgnotaCaligula (Profound Lore Records, US)
  29. Oiseaux-TempêteFrom Somewhere Invisible (Sub Rosa, FR)
  30. Clipping.There Existed An Addiction To Blood (Sub Pop, US)

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18 x 2018

Here’s a playlist with songs from our 18 favorite records of 2018, filled with strong women, sensitive punks, beautiful noise in a troubled world, but also sweetness, nostalgia, sadness, fears, desires, hopes, and maybe a hint of joy.

Apart from our #1, the order doesn’t reflect any particular ranking, other than the inner playlist logic.

Listen via Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, or YouTube directly via the below player.

18x2018 Playlist and collage by GooMorninCaptn

18x2018 Playlist and collage by GooMorninCaptn

1 – Low (US) — “Rome (Always in the Dark)”, from ‘Double Negative’ (Sub Pop Records)
2 – Amen Dunes (US) — “Time”, from ‘Freedom’ (Sacred Bones Records)
3 – Haley Heynderickx (US) — “Oom Sha La La”, from ‘I Need to Start a Garden’ (Mama Bird Recording Co.)
4 – Melody’s Echo Chamber (FR) — “Breathe In, Breathe Out”, from ‘Bon Voyage’ (Domino)
5 – Tangents (AUS) — “Swells Under Trio”, from ‘New Bodies’ (Temporary Residence Ltd.)
6 – Frigs (CA) — “Talking Pictures”, from ‘Basic Behavior’ (Arts & Crafts)
7 – Hilary Woods (IE) — “Sever”, from ‘Colt’ (Sacred Bones)
8 – Loma (US) — “Dark Oscillations”, from ‘Loma’ (Sub Pop)
9 – serpentwithfeet (US) — “mourning song”, from ‘soil’ (Secretly Canadian)
10 – Anenon (US) — “Two For C”, from ‘Tongue’ (Friends of Friends Music)
11 – Beach House (US) — “Black Car”, from ‘7’ (Sub Pop)
12 – Halo Maud (FR) — “Du pouvoir/power”, from ‘Je suis une île’ (Heavenly Recordings)
13 – Idles (UK) — “Samaritans”, from ‘Joy as an Act of Resistance’ (Partisan Records)
14 – Adrianne Lenker (US) — “terminal paradise”, from ‘abysskiss’ (Saddle Creek Records)
15 – Dirty Projectors (US) — “Zombie Conqueror”, from ‘Lamp Lit Prose’ (Domino)
16 – The Breeders (US) — “Nervous Mary”, from ‘All Nerve’ (4AD)
17 – Kathryn Joseph (SCO) — “From When I Wake the Want Is”, from ‘From When I Wake the Want Is’ (Rock Action Records)
18 – Mitski (US) – “Two Slow Dancers”, from ‘Be The Cowboy’ (Dead Oceans)

#indierock #indiepop #folkrock #psychrock #postpunk #shoegaze #postrock #nusoul #ambient

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Turn Around, Little Heart. Wait Slowly, Halfway Home. This Is The Dark Glow.

Here comes some of the best new music from Spring 2018 in indie rock, dream pop, psych fok, singer-songwriter, ambient… Listen to our carefully curated playlist on Spotify, Deezer, or YouTube via the below player.

Turn Around, Little Heart. Wait Slowly, Halfway Home. This Is The Dark Glow. April 2018 digital collage by GoodMornincaptn

Turn Around, Little Heart. Wait Slowly, Halfway Home. This Is The Dark Glow.
April 2018 digital collage by GoodMornincaptn

  1. The Breeders (US) — “Wait in the Car”, from ‘All Nerve’ (4AD, 2018).
  2. Preoccupations (CA) — “Espionage”, from ‘New Material’ (Flemish Eye Records / Jagjaguwar, 2018).
  3. MGMT (US) — “Little Dark Age”, from ‘Little Dark Age’ (Columbia Records, 2018).
  4. tune-yards (US) — “Heart Attack”, from ‘I Can Feel You Creep Into My Private Life’ (4AD, 2018).
  5. Dominique A (FR) — “Toute latitude”, from ‘Toute latitude’ (Cinq7 / Wagram, 2018).
  6. Anenon (US) — “Two For C”, from ‘Tongue’ (FoF Music 2018).
  7. Adrian Crowley (IE) — “Halfway To Andalucia”, from ‘Dark Eyed Messenger’ (Chemikal Underground, 2017).
  8. Son Lux (US) — “Slowly”, from ‘Brighter Wounds’ (City Slang, 2018).
  9. Sylvan Esso (US) — “PARAD(w/m)E” (Loma Vista Recordings, 2018).
  10. Dungen & Woods (SE/US) — “Turn Around”, from ‘Myths 003′ (Mexican Summer, 2018).
  11. Peter Kernel (CH/CA) — “Men Of The Women”, from ‘The Size Of The Night’ (On The Camper Records, 2018).
  12. Amen Dunes (US) — “Miki Dora”, from ‘Freedom’ (Sacred Bones Records, 2018).
  13. Ought (CA) — “Disgraced in America”, from ‘Room Inside the World’ (Merge Records, 2018).
  14. Beach House (US) — “Lemon Glow”, from ‘7′, the duo’s new album coming up May 11th, 2018 on Sub Pop Records / Bella Union.
  15. Lucy Dacus (US) — “Addictions”, from ‘Historian’ (Matador Records, 2018).
  16. Olivia Kaplan (US) — “This Is What I Do”, from ‘At the Seams’ EP (2018).
  17. Nils Frahm (DE) — “Human Range”, from ‘All Melody’ (Erased Tapes, 2018).
  18. Laurence Pike (AUS) — “Life Hacks”, from ‘Distance Early Warning’, 2018 debut solo album of the PVT drummer, on Leaf Label.
  19. Superorganism (UK/JP/AUS/NZ) — “Reflections On The Screen”, from the self-titled 2018 debut album of the young international collective on Domino Recording Company.
  20. Haley Heynderickx (US) — “Untitled God Song”, from ‘I Need to Start a Garden’, her 2018 debut solo LP on Mama Bird Recording Co.
  21. Shannon Lay (US) — “Home”, from ‘Living Water’ (Woodsist Records, 2017).
  22. The Third Eye Foundation (UK) — “I’ve Lost That Loving Feline”, from ‘Little Lost Soul’ (Domino Recording Company, 2000).

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Loud Open Mind, Cry Out For The Cause – January playlist

Melodies collide with melancholy and psychedelia in our January 2018 playlist, featuring some of the finest in indie pop, folk, rock and electronica released in the Fall-Winter 2017/2018.

Loud Open Mind, Cry Out For The Cause - digital collage by GoodMorninCaptn

Loud Open Mind, Cry Out For The Cause - collage by GoodMorninCaptn

  1. Aisha Badru (USA) — “Mind on Fire”, from her upcoming debut full length, due early 2018 on Nettwerk Music Group.
  2. Knightstown (UK) — “Eyes Open Wide”, from his self-titled debut full length , due early 2018 on Fat Cat.
  3. Makeness (GB / SCOT) — “Loud Patterns”, from ‘Loud Patterns‘ expected April 6, 2018 on Secretly Canadian.
  4. Lawrence Rothman (USA) — “Wolves Still Cry”, from ‘The Book Of Law’, out on Downtown Records.
  5. Wolf Parade (CA) — “Valley Boy”, from ‘Cry Cry Cry’, out on Sub Pop.
  6. * Machine Translations (AU) — “Parliament of Spiders”, from ‘Oh’, out on Spunk Records.
  7. Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith (USA) — “To Follow and Lead”, from ‘The Kid’, out on Western Vinyl.
  8. Grooms (USA) — “Turn Your Body”, from ‘Exit Index’, out on Western Vinyl.
  9. Rone (FR) — “Down For The Cause” feat. Kazu Makino (Blonde Redhead), from ‘Mirapolis’, out on InFiné Music.
  10. Baths (USA) — “Out”, from ‘Romaplasm’, out on Anticon.
  11. Forever Pavot (FR) — “La Soupe à la grolle”, from ‘Pantoufle’, out on Born Bad Records.
  12. Palm (USA )— “Dog Milk”, from ‘Rock Island’, out 09/02/2018 on Carpark Records.
  13. Sufis (UK/USA) — “All Knowing (71)”, from ‘After Hours’, out 12/01/2018 on Burger Records.
  14. Loma (aka Jonathan Meiburg of Shearwater, with Cross and Dan Duszynski of Cross Record, USA) — “Black Willow”, from ‘Loma’, out 16/02/2018 on Sub Pop.
  15. * My Brightest Diamond (USA) — “Wish For The Moon” (Amazon Original).
  16. Högni (of Hjaltalín and Gusgus, IS) — “Komdu með”, from hid debut solo LP ‘Two Trains’, out on Erased Tapes.
  17. Jim Ghedi (UK) — “Home For Moss Valley” , from ‘A Hymn for Ancient Land’, out 26/01/2018 on Basin Rock.
  18. Prana Crafter (USA) — “Holy Tempel of Flow”, from ‘Bodhi Cheetah’s Choice’, out 26/01/2018 on Beyond Beyond is Beyond.

* not available on Spotify
Listen on Soundcloud

Listen on Spotify

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Then The Clouds Went Red – Playlist

Then The Clouds Went Red, Fall 2017 playlist and digital collage by GoodMorninCaptn.

Then The Clouds Went Red - animated collage by GoodMorninCaptn

Then The Clouds Went Red - animated collage by GoodMorninCaptn

Tracklist:

  1. Ben Lukas Boysen & Sebastian Plano (Berlin, DE) — “Winding And Unwinding”, from Everything” out on Erased Tapes.
  2. Briana Marela (Olympia, WA, USA) — “Quit”, from Call It Love” out on Jagjaguwar.
  3. Katie Von Schleicher (Brooklyn, NY, USA) — “Life’s A Lie”, from Shitty Hits” out on Ba Da Bing / Full Time Hobby.
  4. Waxahatchee (Philadelphia, PA, USA) — “Silver”, from Out in the Storm” out on Merge Records.
  5. Iron & Wine (USA) — “Call It Dreaming”, from Beast Epic” out on Sub Pop.
  6. Chad VanGaalen (CA) — “Old Heads”, from Light Information” out on Sub Pop.
  7. Balmorhea (Austin, TX, USA) — “Clear Language”, from Clear Language” out on Western Vinyl.
  8. Caroline Says (Austin, TX, USA) — “Winter Is Cold”, from 50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can’t Be Wrong” out on Western Vinyl.
  9. Sylvain Chauveau (FR / BE) — “Find What You Love And Let It Kill You”, from Post-Everything” out on Brocoli.
  10. Vivian Void (DE) — “No Choice Boys”, from Rhododendron” EP out on Woodland Recordings.
  11. Garage Blonde (FR) — “J’me souviens presque“.
  12. Deerhoof (San Francisco, CA, USA) — “Come Down Here and Say That” (feat. Lætitia Sadier), from Mountain Moves” out on Joyful Noise Recordings.
  13. Tera Melos (Sacramento, CA, USA) — “Trash Generator”, from Trash Generator” out on Sargent House.
  14. Zola Jesus (Merrill, WI, USA) — “Exhumed”, from Okovi” out on Sacred Bones Records.
  15. Hundred Waters (Los Angeles, CA, USA) — “Fingers”, from Communicating” out on OWSLA.
  16. Carmen Villain (NO) — “Borders” feat. Jenny Hval, from Infinite Avenue” out on Smalltown Supersound.
  17. Lina Tullgren (ME, USA) — “Asktell”, from Won” out on Captured Tracks.
  18. Chelsea Wolfe (CA, USA) — “16 Psyche”, from Hiss Spun” out on Sargent House.
  19. Bodies Of Water (Los Angeles, CA, USA) — “Here Among You”, from “Spear In The City” out on Thousand Tongues.
  20. Mount Kimbie (London, UK) — “Blue Train Lines” (feat. King Krule), from Love What Survives” out on Warp Records.
  21. Lali Puna (DE) — “Deep Dream”, from Two Windows” out on Morr Music.

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Find Love Here And Now? – Playlist

“Find Love Here And Now?” — March/April 2017 playlist and digital collage by GoodMorninCaptn:

Find Love_Here and Now ? collage by GoodMorninCaptn

Find Love_Here and Now ? collage by GoodMorninCaptn

  1. Nadia Reid (NZ) — “The Arrow & The Aim”, from Preservation“, out on Spunk Records / Basin Rock.
  2. Woods (Brooklyn, NY, USA) — “Love Is Love”, from “Love Is Love“, out on Woodsist.
  3. WHY? (Cincinnati, OH, USA) — “Proactive Evolution”, from Moh Lhean“, out on Joyful Noise Recordings.
  4. Bearcubs (London, UK) — “Underwaterfall”, from “Underwaterfall” EP, out on All Points.
  5. NLF3 (Paris, FR) — “Sandy Path”, from Waves Of Black And White“, out on Prohibited Records.
  6. Damaged Bug (San Francisco, CA, USA) — “Bog Dash”, from Bunker Funk“, out on Castle Face Records.
  7. Alexandra Savior (Portland, OR, USA) — “M.T.M.E.”, from “Belladonna of Sadness“, out on Columbia Records.
  8. Boss Hog (NYC, NY, USA) — “17″, from Brood X“, out on In The Red Records.
  9. Mount Eerie (Anacortes, WA, USA) — “Real Death”, from A Crow Looked At Me“, out on P.W. Elverum & Sun.
  10. Oiseaux-Tempête (Paris, FR) — “Carnaval “, from AL-’AN ! الآن (And your night is your shadow — a fairy-tale piece of land to make our dreams)“, out on Sub Rosa.
  11. Father John Misty (LA, CA, USA) — “Two Wildly Different Perspectives”, from Pure Comedy“, out on Sub Pop / Bella Union.
  12. La Terre Tremble!!! (Rennes, FR) — “The Life Within”, from “Fauxbourdon“, out on Murailles Music.
  13. Colin Stetson (USA) — “Spindrift”, from “All This I Do For Glory“, out on 52Hz.
  14. sir Was (Gothenburg, SE) — “A Minor Life”, from Digging A Tunnel“, out on City Slang.
  15. San Fermin (Brooklyn, NY, USA) — “Open”, from Belong“, out on Downtown/Interscope Records.
  16. Part Chimp (London, UK) — “MapoLeon”, from Iv“, out on Rock Action Records.
  17. Karaocake (Paris, FR) — “Youth Slip”, from Here & Now“, out on Objet Disque.
  18. Laura Marling (London, UK) — “Soothing”, from Semper Femina“, out on More Alarming Records.
  19. Kumisolo (Paris, JP) — “Cha Cha André”, from Kabuki Femme Fatale” (Japanese CD bonus), out on Flau (JP) / Alter-K (FR).
  20. Kelly Lee Owens (London, UK) — “Anxi.” (ft. Jenny Hval), from Kelly Lee Owens“, out on Smalltown Supersound.
  21. Allred & Broderick, aka Peter Broderick and David Allred (OR, USA) — “The Ways”, from Find The Ways“, out on Erased Tapes Records.
  22. Justin Walter (Ann Arbor, MI, USA) — “It’s Not What You Think”, from Unseen Forces“, out on Kranky.
  23. Anjou (USA) — “Soucouyant”, from Epithymía“, out on Kranky.

Passage – February 2017 playlist

Passage“, our new playlist and digital collage, compiling new releases from January and February 2017.

Passage - February 2017 digital collage by GoodMorninCaptn

Passage - February 2017 digital collage by GoodMorninCaptn

Surprisingly, this edition tends to heavily eye California (Foxygen, Ty Segall, Xiu Xiu, Banana, Cherry Glazerr). Hope for a political counterweight? Or is it a mere longing for sun? The latter could be confirmed by the presence of a couple artists from Toulouse in the French South West (Aquaserge, Laure Briard) as well as PVT from Australia. To get us back to the seasonal grayness, let’s welcome a couple Mancunians (Jesca Hoop, Irma Vep), and of course a few brilliant Scandinavians (Rainbrother, Lowly, Linnea Olsson)…

Beyond this reductive geography, let’s notice the first solo adventures of singers breaking away from Ought (Tim Darcy) and The Antlers (Peter Silberman), souls to console (Jesca Hoop, Shannon Wright, Peter Silberman), retro nods (Laure Briard, Molly Burch, Tim Darcy, Foxygen), and joyful or hypnotic loops to fly away (Banana, Aquaserge, Rainbrother, Six Organs Of Admittance, Mind Over Mirrors, PVT, Avec le soleil sortant de sa bouche). Enjoy!

Featuring:

1 — Tim Darcy (Montreal, QC) — “Tall Glass of Water”, from Saturday Night on Jagjaguwar.
2 — Jesca Hoop (Manchester, UK) — “The Lost Sky”, from Memories Are Now on Sub Pop Records.
3 — Xiu Xiu (San Jose, CA, USA) — “Wondering”, from Forget on Polyvinyl Record Company (US) / Teenage Menopause Rds (FR) / Altin Village & Mine (DE) / La Tempesta (IT) / Upset the Rythm (UK, Australia).
4 — Dirty Projectors (Brooklyn, NY, USA) — “Keep Your Name”, from Dirty Projectors on Domino Recording Company.
5 — Foxygen (Westlake Village, CA, USA) — “America”, from Hang on Jagjaguwar.
6 — Banana (Los Angeles, CA, USA) — “Banana C”, from Live on Leaving Records.
7 — Aquaserge (Toulouse / Paris, FR) — “Tour du Monde”, from Laisse ça être on Almost Musique (FR) / Crammed Discs (rest of the world).
8 — Shannon Wright (Atlanta, GA, USA) — “The Thirst”, from Division on Vicious Circle.
9 — Linnea Olsson (SE) — “Weekend”, from For Show EP.
10 — Ty Segall (Los Angeles, CA, USA) — “Orange Color Queen”, from Ty Segall on Drag City Records.
11 — Rainbrother (Copenhagen, DK) — “Riverside”, from Tales From The Drought on General Bird.
12 — Six Organs of Admittance (Holyoke, MA, USA) — “Taken By Ascent”, from Burning The Threshold on Drag City Records.
13 — Mind Over Mirrors (Chicago, IL, USA) — “Restore & Slip”, from Undying Color on Paradise of Bachelors.
14 — PVT (Sydney, AUS & London, UK) — “Another Life”, from New Spirit on Felte / Create/Control.
15 — Avec le Soleil Sortant de sa Bouche (Montreal, QC) — “Alizé et Margaret D. Midi moins le quart. Sur la plage, un palmier ensanglanté II”, from Pas pire pop, I Love You So Much on Constellation Records.
16 — Lowly (Aarhus, DK) — “Mornings”, from Heba on Bella Union.
17 — Cherry Glazerr (Los Angeles, CA, USA) — “Told You I’d Be With The Guys”, from Apocalipstick on Secretly Canadian.
18 — Laure Briard (Toulouse, FR) — “On dit que je ne suis pas sage”, from Sorcellerie EP out on Midnight Special Records.
19 — Molly Burch (Austin, TX, US) — “Wrong For You”, from Please Be Mine on Captured Tracks.
20 — Peter Silberman (Brooklyn, NY, USA) — “Karuna”, from Impermanence on Anti Records / Transgressive.
21 — Irma Vep (Manchester, UK) — “A Woman’s Work is Never Done”, from No Handshake Blues on Faux Discx records.

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December 2015 playlist

Enjoy our December 2015 song selection and digital collage featuring indie pop, ambient, modern classical, folk, rock, and electronic from Scandinavia, Germany, Ukraine, Poland, France, UK, Canada, Venezuela and USA.

December 2015 playlist collage artwork

December 2015 collage by GoodMorninCaptn

1 – Bersarin Quartett (DE) — Sanft verblassen die Geschichten, from III, out now on Denovali Records
2 – Intertwine (NO) — Northern Light, from Goraikoo, out now on Brilliance Records
3 – The Balustrade Ensemble (UK) — Show Us To The Sky, from Renewed Brilliance out now on Serein
4 – Matmos (US) — Ultimate Care II Excerpt Eight, from Ultimate Care II, out February 19, 2016 on Thrill Jockey Records
5 – arca (VE/London) — Front Load, from Mutant, out now on Mute
6 – Anna von Hausswolff (SE) — Evocation, from The Miraculous, out now on City Slang / Other Music
7 – vert (UK/Berlin) — And I Know, from The Days Within, out now on Shitkatapult
8 – Tortoise (US) Gesceap, from The Catastrophist, out January 22, 2016 on Thrill Jockey Records
9 – Sarah Neufeld (CA) — We’ve Got A Lot, from The Ridge, out February 26 2016 on Paper Bag Records
10 – Metz (CA) — Eraser, from Eraser/Pure Auto 7”, out January 22, 2016 on Three One G
11 – Your Friend (US) — Heathering, from Gumption, out Januray 29, 2016 on Domino Record Co.
12 – Lubomyr Melnyk (UA) — Parasol (excerpt), from Rivers and Streams, out now on Erased Tapes Records
13 – Robin Pecknold of Fleet Foxes (US) — Out of Sight, Out of Mind (The Five Keys cover)
14 – Library Tapes (SE) — Feathers, from Escapism, out January 29, 2016 on 1631 Recordings and Auetic
15 – Derek Piotr (PL/USA) — Exchanges, from Bahar, out on Bit-Phalanx Music
16 – GABI (USA) — Falling, from Sympathy, out on Software Recording Co.
17 – Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch (FR/London) — Minnesang, from Like Water Through The Sand, out now on 130701 (Fat Cat Records)

2010 – Top 18

GoodMorninCaptn - Top 2010 Part 2 - feat. Heartland, Innundir Skinni, Cardiac Malformation, Des Larmes..., Rivers, Creatures..., Teen Dream, Learning, My Father...AFTER THE TOP #30 TO #19 RECORDS, LET’S KEEP ASCENDING THE STAIRS OF 2010 WITH THE SECOND PART OF OUR FAVORITE RECORDS, MOSTLY POP AND FOLK, WITH SPARSE JAZZY OR NOISY TOUCHES.

SWANS - My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky (artwork: Beatrice Pediconi)Perfume Genius - LearningBeach House - Teen Dream (Sub Pop/Bella Union, Jan. 2010)
18) SWANS – “My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky” (Young God Records)

12 years after “Swans Are Dead”, Michael Gira’s noble bird turns into a Phoenix and resuscitates with a strikingly powerful album.
Eden Prison by Swans

> Listen to My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky on Spotify.

17) PERFUME GENIUS – “Learning” (Matador / Turnstile)

The sensitive Seattle singer-songwriter delivers a sincere and troubling debut, directly from his bedroom to yours.

Listen to title track “Learning“:

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Perfume Genius – “Look Out, Look Out” directed by Patrick Sher
(Alternative link to watch the video on YouTube)

> Listen to Learning on Deezer or Spotify.

16) BEACH HOUSE – “Teen Dream” (Sub Pop / Bella Union)

Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally have perfected their suave melodies on their 3rd album, enchanting fans and critics alike.

Listen to “Norway“, from “Teen Dream“:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

> Listen to Teen Dream on Deezer or Spotify.

Clogs - The Creatures in the Garden of Lady WaltonWildbirds & Peacedrums - RiversThomas Mery - Des larmes mélangées de poussière
15) CLOGS – “The Creatures in the Garden of Lady Walton” (Brassland)

For the first time, the instrumental quartet has invited some distinguished friends over to sing along: Sufjan Stevens, Matt Berninger (from The National, with whom Clogs share one of their founders and masterminds, Bryce Dessner), and most notably Shara Worden (aka My Brightest Diamond) all take turns and grace the lush and brilliant compositions with their unique vocal presence. Not the least of its qualities, Clogs‘ fifth album is nicely packaged in a beautiful hommage to Douanier Rousseau by Hvass&Hannibal, also known for designing record covers and directing a video for Efterklang.

Listen to “On The Edge“, featuring Shara Worden, from “The Creatures in the Garden of Lady Walton“:

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> Listen to The Creatures in the Garden of Lady Walton on Deezer.

14) WILDBIRDS & PEACEDRUMS – “Rivers” (Leaf Label)

Wildbirds & Peacedrums‘ third album is the reunion of 2 EPs, Iris and Retina, where the Swedish duo mixes its warm, soulful voice and tribal rythms with the Icelandic avant-garde. Rivers indeed was recorded by Ben Frost and mixed by Valgeir Sigurðsson, with an Icelandic chamber choir arranged by Hildur Guðnadóttir.


Wildbirds & Peacedrums – “Bleed Like There Was No Other Flood” directed by Patrik Instedt

13) THOMAS MERY – “Des larmes mélangées de poussière” (Ohayo Records /BS Records)

Thomas is back with a beautiful EP, the poetry of which we love to get immersed and lost into. A nice preamble to his new full-length album to be released in 2011.

Ça by Thomas Mery

> Listen to (and/or buy) the EP on Bandcamp, Soundcloud, Deezer, or Spotify.

> Read our review and listen to 2 songs from Thomas Mery’s live session au salon.

Thus:Owls - Cardiac MalformationsÓlöf Arnalds - Innundir SkinniOwen Palett - Heartland
12) THUS:OWLS – “Cardiac Malformations” (Hoob Records / Almost Musique)
A few more Swedes (and a Canadian) in our top, with Thus:Owls, the dark cabaret pop of which has rocked us the whole year.

Listen to “Climbing The Fjelds Of Norway” from “Cardiac Maformations“:

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> Listen to Cardiac Malformations on Deezer or Spotify.

> Read our Review of Cardiac Malformations.

11) ÓLÖF ARNALDS – “Innundir Skinni” (One Little Indian)

Björk’s protégée and Múm collaborator Ólöf Arnalds releases a lovely new album produced by Kjartan Sveinsson (Sigur Rós), at times heavily orchestrated with uplifting choirs, and at times stripped down to only Ólöf’s high-pitched voice and simple strings.


Ólöf Arnalds – “Surrender” directed by Arni & Kinski

> Listen to Innundir Skinni on Deezer or Spotify.

10) OWEN PALLETT – “Heartland” (Domino)

Owen drops his Final Fantasy stage name but keeps delivering what he does best: light and grandiloquent pop songs for viola and violin loops.

Owen Pallett

> Listen to Heartland directly in the embedded player above, or on Spotify or Deezer.

Read and listen to the first part of our favorite records (top #30 to top #19), and finally (attention, drum roll…) discover our favorite 9 records of 2010

Tiny Vipers’ Life On Earth: The Transfiguration Of Jesy Fortino

Snaking away from the indie pop accents of her debut Hands Across the Void, Jesy Fortino aka Tiny Vipers releases her second full-length album on SubPop and risks her folk inheritance to higher spheres: an immense step up.

Tiny Vipers - Life On EarthThe first play of this sixty-four minutes record will most certainly leave the hearer at a loss to tell one song apart from another, or to even discern any sort of conventional pattern in the composition of the eleven tracks. But if you think this sounds boring, the young viperidae from Seattle may prove you wrong.

Her influences include Townes Van Zandt, Neil Young, Nico, and Micheal Cashmore, and yes, from its mere primitive shape to more experimental ventures, the folk spirit quietly walks through the full length of the record. It is nevertheless difficult to label Life On Earth as a folk album, unless you think of it as a distorted and elongated entanglement of Joni Mitchell’s “Tin Angel” and Melanie Safka’s “Pebbles In The Sand“, remixed by Aidan Baker in a “Green and Cold” fashion. She inherited the almost medieval austerity of the first’s earliest works, the proto-Joanna Newsom-esque vocal figures and untechnical spontaneity of the second, and the surprising neo-classical approach to grimy contemporary pop of the last.

Yet, few comparisons will let you grasp the full horizons of Fortino’s Earth.

Only a long and worthy intimacy with her voice and minimalist guitar will help unravel its uncatchable personae and ever-changing sceneries. From the disarming introduction lyrics, “Do you remember when the world was still young…” in “Eyes Like Ours”, and the airy timelessness of “Dreamer”, to the nihilist sense of emergency and confusion of “Outside”, she ushers you through an imaginary mythology for an imaginary people, a lost volume in-between the Bible and the Verda; she tells you about death and ghosts, about the origins and future of the world, and of otherness, but, at the same time, through some fascinating and unaffected trick, leaves you the serene and immobile witness to the nearly organic attachment to memory, to the doubts and fears, and fascination for the beyond, to the unbearable self-consciousness and isolation of a thousand individuals, whose faces become blurred as centuries are swept by around you. If “Cm” sounds like a recess and is more in the traditional style of her early songs, the darkness and deconstructed frame of the following tracks, and especially the sinuous sine waves of “Twilight Property” will only hit you as a more fatal blow. There is no poison distilled in this nest of vipers though, only a miracle recipe of how to turn casual yet mysterious singing and songwriting into a mesmerising and modern ambient work.

Undoubtedly, Life On Earth is not an easy-to-share experience, but if it has not played a special part in your Summer already, it is high time you gave it a special place in your life, for it is a true and very secret gem.

Listen to “Dreamer” (MP3) on Sub Pop.

Buy Tiny Vipers “Life On Earth” on CD or digital release from Sub Pop Records.

Visit Tiny Vipers’ MySpace.