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<cds>
	<album rank="1">
		<artist>Holy Fuck</artist>
		<title>Latin</title>
		<label>XL</label>
		<origin>Toronto</origin>
		<review><![CDATA[
			Holy Fuck are not too good with names. The band name itself has been the obvious subject of censorship, often showing up as "Holy F*ck" on CD store signs and concert posters (the latter of which got them indirectly mentioned in official Canadian parliament proceedings), while their second, full-length (after the, of course, eponymous debut LP and eponymous follow-up EP) was called simply "LP." Running out of obvious names, Holy Fuck's third full-length comes out, inexplicably, as "Latin." It's probably a good thing that their music has no lyrics.\n
			"Latin" begins with "1MD," a build-up introductory track that merges perfectly into an electronic count-off for "Red Lights" and kicks off the unfettering, unapolegetic intensity that never ceases for the album's duration. Holy Fuck are the sort of instrumental dance party that you wish you could have in your living room during your 21st birthday, if only because EVERYONE would be dancing. For HOURS. It's difficult to not start moving at some point during this album's play, and the shows look (this is one band that I've just barely missed several times in different cities) to be just about the same sort of vibe. It's that sort of intensity found in Ghostland Observatory, but without the charasmatic frontman driving it. Instead, this is solely about the music.\n
			The music is an interesting mix of electronic samples, effects-mangled vocals, synths, guitar, bass and, on almost every track, live drums. The mix of electronic and acoustic instrumentation may be what attracted me personally so much to their music, but there are plenty of other groups doing this (such as Bonobo, below), and I think what's being done with them on this particular release is what warrants particular attention.
"LP" had many stand-out tracks but, as a whole, felt a little improvised and, at times, amateurish. More like a bunch of musicians who had relatively little time together jamming for a few days and recording the resulting sessions than a refined, thought-out effort. "Latin" comes off almost as though someone told the band just that, and they worked hard to overcome it. The majority of the tracks sound like a tremendous amount of work was put into their creation with the sheer number of overlapping and complimenting layers.\n
			Even tracks like "SHT MTN," which could have been a major misstep with its ugly start, comes out just as flashy and intense as the rest of the album, supplemented by an indecipherable, robotic vocal sample in the background and feedback that borders on obnoxious but somehow really works. In almost homage to their last release, "Stilletos" serves as the building and cascading jam of the album, and sounds the most like the previous incarnation of Holy Fuck.\n
			And it's really almost as if this is a different group on this album. They could have gone a lot of ways this release, but the direction they went was a mature one, and the album is only made better because of it.
		]]></review>
		<release>511</release>
		<link>http://holyfuckmusic.com/</link>
		<audio url="08 Lucky">Lucky</audio>
		<video url="DhaRkWfaq10">Red Lights</video>
		<video url="fd5gVwbRlvk">Latin America</video>
	</album>
	
	<album rank="2">
		<artist>Bonobo</artist>
		<title>Black Sands</title>
		<label>Thrill Jockey</label>
		<origin>London</origin>
		<review><![CDATA[
		I don't often put what would be considered "electronic" releases on my lists. I listen to a lot of electronic music but, as a whole, a lot of it fails to reach me the way other more "rock" oriented albums do. Bonobo is considered to be electronic by many but I've come to think that that's a mistake. Bonobo actually features more live instrumentation than many other artists on this list do, from the startling, soulful vocals of Andrea Triyana, to jazz drumming, to clarinets, to saxophones, to guitars, to bass, to organs... And, in their shows, all of this is present.\n
		I was surprised their show in Atlanta on the cold Thursday night wasn't completely sold out. Bonobo played in a rickety old industrial building known as the Masquerade in a gentrified but still somewhat dangerous part of town. Everything about the show amazed me. Firstly that they really did have live instrumentation covering almost everything. Andrea Triyana was particularly amazing, able to pull off those same soulful, inspired vocals that she put into the album.\n
		While the acoustic instrumentation dominates much of the album and vocal-oriented tracks like "Eyesdown" and "Stay the Same" make up much of the balance, there is the more "classic" Bonobo sound in there on some tracks. "We Could Forever" for instance could have easily have been on 2003's much more electronic-oriented "Dial 'M' for Monkey". It offers a nice contrast, possibly working itself in to bring back the electronic fans, who are often turned off completely by any acoustic instrumentation at all.\n
		But it's the instrumental tracks like "El Toro", which listens somewhat like a later Miles Davis tune, that really spell out the broadness and range of the music on this album. This is what I love about this album and what it also makes me excited to see what he's going to do next with his music. It may be that he's outmatched himself with this, but it may be just the start of something fantastic.
		]]></review>
		<release>329</release>
		<link>http://www.bonobomusic.com/</link>
		<audio url="08 All in Forms">All in Forms</audio>
		<video url="ztjmnJs_2ek">Eyesdown (official video)</video>
		<video url="3wxJu-X0zVo">The Keeper (official video)</video>
		<video url="kdj7RlPPQfg">Stay the Same (official live video)</video>
	</album>

	<album rank="3">
		<artist>Broken Social Scene</artist>
		<title>Forgiveness Rock Record</title>
		<label>Arts &amp; Crafts</label>
		<origin>Toronto</origin>
		<review><![CDATA[
			When I mentioned that I was really liking this album to a friend with good music tastes, he responded to the effect of "Oh, well, yeah, they're just really good." And that's BSS' general reputation, particularly in Canada, where they're considered somewhat of a super-group on the lines of The New Pornographers, but with a member count that rivals that of The Polyphonic Spree. In the US, they're less well-known though, and are a good demonstration of the strange disconnect between our popular music culture with that of our neighbor to the north.\n
			But, for whatever reason, I was never into Broken Social Scene. There's something about popular Canadian rock groups in this vein (BSS, Stars, New Pornographers) that have, in the more recent past, really annoyed me. Even albums from these groups that have tracks which I find to be fantastic, also carry tracks that I find obnoxious in one way or another. Take, for instance, Stars' "Set Yourself On Fire," which features the wonderful "Your Ex-Lover is Dead" as an opener, but then goes on later to a trite political tirade against George W. Hey, I'm all about W-bashing, but only when it's well-done. Then there was The New Pornographers' "Challengers," which features great songs like the title track and "All the Things..." but also the unjustifiable "Entering White Cecilia." Even the last release (which I did not mistakenly this year's list) featured the beautiful "Crash Years," but also featured some other, just terrible tracks. It's strange that these groups can take such drastic turns on the same album. Maybe it's an attempt to have variation within it, but it never works. Broken Social Scene has been no different, and that's why I've just never really liked them.\n
			Something is very much more down-to-earth and relaxing about "Forgiveness Rock Record." There's nothing here to really snap at you. Instead, it's fun but, at the same time, very good. It's a background album, meaning that you can sit and work, clean or play it at a party and it won't work to bother you but, rather, enhance the moment. It would be a good album for a retail store to play.\n
			They always seemed like a fun band and seemed to meet my expectations when I was finally able to catch them live in Atlanta just a month or so ago. The singer mentioned that, not only had the drummer gotten food poisoning that morning from a local restaurant (he didn't name it), but the group had also had their jackets stolen from a bar in town the previous night. Atlanta sucks, so that didn't surprise me that much, however they seemed to show no ill-will regarding these problems where any other band would have said "Fuck this place," cancelled the show and never come back. They're an interesting band to watch live but, in all honesty, the recorded material sounds better and works better.\n
			Taken out of context, a lot of these songs seem strange and maybe a little annoying, but within the context of the album, they work. "Forced to Love" (the awful video for this track is linked below) as a single only alienates the album as it feels rushed and unrefined, while "Texico Bitches" could have you laughing a little but, as a single, likely seems annoying and stupid. Inside the album though, these songs make sense. In that respect, the track order is very well put-together.\n
			The singles thus far have missed some of the album's best tracks, such as "Sweetest Kill," which is a lamenting, almost painful, soft reflection on the demise of a relationship. And tracks like these show off the range of this album. It's not just silly pop and tongue-in-cheek rock tracks. Instead, it's a deeper, more heart-felt collection of tracks.\n
			Tongue-in-cheek would likely account for what I think is the album's sole misstep: "Me and My Hand," a song about what you think it's about. At the same time though, in context, the track works as the closer for the album which seems to be focused on relationships and apathetic loneliness. 
		]]></review>
		<release>504</release>
		<link>http://www.arts-crafts.ca/bss/</link>
		<audio url="11 Sweetest Kill">Sweetest Kill</audio>
		<video url="MTfNTzuJTJU">Texico Bitches (official video)</video>
		<video url="1rdMjovLEwc">Forced to Love (official video)</video>
	</album>

	<album rank="4">
		<artist>LCD Soundsystem</artist>
		<title>This is Happening</title>
		<label>Virgin</label>
		<origin>NYC</origin>
		<review><![CDATA[
			The album cover to "This is Happening" features a cropped, rotated profile picture of James Murphy, the effective one-man show in the group, wearing a hipster suit and holding a drink with his arms slightly up as if uncomfortably and drunkenly dancing. To me, nothing could do the vibe on this album, or the vibe of the group, more justice.\n
			2007's "Sound of Silver" was top on my album list, and deservingly so. It's a fantastic album. It was of some surprise to me, with Murphy's newfound success, that this follow-up release was as good as it is.\n
			A note about the videos below: "Home" was filmed in Houston. The inventor's house is at the corner of Leeland & Dowling while the party house is at 1816 Calumet in the Museum District. I used to live a block from the latter and, yes, I'm a loser for figuring this out. Also, "Drunk Girls" is an awful video and I would recommend, honestly, not watching it. I wanted to put it on here though. Also, the "Pow Pow" video features two supporting actors of various ethnic groups from the movie "Training Day".\n
			Concentrate on the music here though, not the visuals. Also feel free to ignore James Murphy's unabashed pretentiousness, which itself often materializes in the lyrical content of his music, but often in a snarky way that lets you ignore it to an extent.\n
			The opening track begins with a soft percussion and vocal solo. It sounds as if three or four of them sat around doing knee slaps and hand claps with yet another occasionally striking a cowbell for contrast while Murphy sings the vocals. This acoustic set is abruptly interrupted by a much louder, fully electronic composition. It follows the same key, time signature, etc. but could basically be a different song. The title "Dance Yrself Clean" likely alludes to the album cover while the lyrics allude to what Murphy's lyrics often go over: the trials and tribulations of young, hip and wealthy white people.\n
			"I Can Change" continues the lyrical and musical trend but offers the album's most catchy and radio-friendly track ("Dance Yrself Clean" could work, but it's almost 9 minutes long) and also features some of Murphy's best vocal work thus far. Where he often borders on screaming or simply talking, here he's almost sweet and serenading.\n
			My personal favorite "Home" closes out the album with another relationship synopsis but, this time, in a more mature manner. As Murphy (who recently announced that he was putting an end to this project) ages, we age with him and the lyrical content changes as such. The Walkmen have worked in the same way, moving from the late 20's-defining "Bows + Arrows" to the often inexplicable - but decidedly more mature - material they produce now. Murphy's next project is likely to a fairly drastic change and will likely alienate those who have come to enjoy LCD.
		]]></review>
		<release>517</release>
		<link>http://www.lcdsoundsystem.com/</link>
		<audio url="05 I Can Change">I Can Change</audio>
		<video url="M5gQidrzojU">Home (unofficial video)</video>
		<video url="xYCV2zybQoI">Pow Pow (official video)</video>
		<video url="1xT6cdfP_cM">Drunk Girls (official video)</video>
	</album>

	<album rank="5">
		<artist>Arcade Fire</artist>
		<title>The Suburbs</title>
		<label>Merge</label>
		<origin>Montreal</origin>
		<review><![CDATA[
		When I heard about this album originally, I had really low expectations for it. Arcade Fire have gotten so huge that I didn't think it was possible that they could match up the hype on "Funeral." And, with "Neon Bible," they didn't. It's not a bad album and has some great songs, but it's missing the emotion and greatness of "Funeral," which screamed out whereas "Neon Bible" simply wrote down grievances and calmly let them be known.
		And grievances are what Arcade Fire seems to be all about. Win Butler first told you he was angry with his family life as a child, then he let you know he was angry with his religious upbringing, and now we get to hear all about the setting for these injustices.\n
		And I think that's what really first drove me to this album, when I heard its title. "The Suburbs" that Butler has previously referred to in his music has always been The Woodlands, where he and I both lived in the mid-90's (although not attending the same schools). Yelling out about life there is something that I can very much identify with. That period, from 1992 to 1995, very clearly and strongly remains the worst time in my life, and a lot of it had to do with not only Southeast Texas and Montgomery County but, very specifically, The Woodlands. It's almost vindicating to hear a lot of the same frustrations I've always felt about the place, but in a more direct and poetic form than I could ever muster. It's easy to write it off as the stereotyped suburban kid whining about their priviledged upbringing, but it really is an awful place or, at least, was at that time.\n
		And maybe that's just why I like this album as much as I do, falling into a daily listening rotation with it after just the first time I listened to it online, in that it has a lot of tracks that I identify with strongly. Stories of oppressive cops letting you know that you weren't welcome in your own community, of hopelessness simply out of suffocating homogeneity, of vast open forests turned into cookie-cutter subdivisions, of cliquishness that kills long-established friendships, of the pressure felt following any sort of social dissent. It may not be all The Woodlands, but it certainly seems like it.\n
		There are some great tracks on this album and, for the most part, it holds its own throughout. But, all in all, it's a little whiney. Arcade Fire was able to supercede that on "Funeral" with clever songwriting about childhood imagination and allusions to dance parties under police lights with cosmonaut canines, but "The Suburbs" is much more direct in relating the message.\n
		This is one of those albums that's very well put-together in such a way that it makes it difficult to pull off any individual track and make it sound good as a single. This hasn't stopped them though, of course, and we now have both "Ready to Start" and "We Used to Wait" on MTV and the radio. "Sprawl II" (linked below) is very much the exception however. Here, Regine Chassagne, who was given some really awful vocal parts on previous releases, is used well, singing lead even.
		]]></review>
		<release>802</release>
		<link>http://www.arcadefire.com/</link>
		<audio url="15 Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)">Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)</audio>
		<video url="9oI27uSzxNQ">Ready to Start (official video)</video>
		<video url="5Euj9f3gdyM">The Suburbs (official video)</video>
		<video url="SYdJAi-BBrs">We Used to Wait (screen cap of 'A Wilderness Downtown' project)</video>
	</album>
	
	<album rank="6">
		<artist>The Octopus Project</artist>
		<title>Hexadecagon</title>
		<label>Peek-a-Boo</label>
		<origin>Austin</origin>
		<review><![CDATA[
		The Octopus Project have a way of maturing that leaves behind some less desirable aspects of their previous recordings but keeps, in tact, a unique style that defines the group. It's almost as though they were cognizant of this gradual transformation, and actually consciously worked to move it formward. Each release from the group has moved their music along enough for it to remain fresh, but not enough to move the group into another territory. To me, they're sort of like Stereolab in that way. But the OP's music always feels fun regardless of where they take it.
Hexadecagon actually diverges from this a bit by bringing the group much further into the slightly more serious psychadeclic territory than they've been on previous releases. Just the imagery in the album artwork - abstract, kaleidoscopic visions - is psychadelic that it maybe makes the album feel that way all the more, taking us back to our own psychadelic experiences. The videos that have been released just work to make this a more solid concept.\n
		My main criticism is of its flow. Often it feels like you're listening to it on shuffle mode. For instance, late in the album, "Glass Jungle" comes in as almost a new introduction, but we're never given a chance to hear much of its strenths past that, as the next track lies down and fades into a haze of smoke, allowing the closer, "Catalog," to breathe it in and out slowly as the album ends with a very psychadelic punch.
		]]></review>
		<release>1026</release>
		<link>http://www.peekaboorecords.com/hexadecagon/</link>
		<audio url="01 Fuguefat">Fuguefat</audio>
		<audio url="06 Glass Jungle">Glass Jungle</audio>
		<video url="vimeo:14833744">Hallucinists (official video)</video>
	</album>

	<album rank="6">
		<artist>Maps &amp; Atlases</artist>
		<title>Perch Patchwork</title>
		<label>Barsuk</label>
		<origin>Chicago</origin>
		<review><![CDATA[
		Maps & Atlases' first full-length with their shiny, new record company, Barsuk, is somewhat of a debut for the group, as this is the first instance they've recorded with money, and it only does wonders for them. Whereas last year's "You, Me and the Mountain" EP was a little disjointed, "Perch Patchwork" is incredibly focused and well-written.\n
		Demos of "Pigeon" and "Israeli Caves" appeared on the group's MySpace last year and became almost daily listens for me. But, in all honesty, the money and big record (releatively) backing ruined these tracks in their album versions. "Israeli Caves" not only features "Nah nah nahs" but also bells (literally). It's way too much, and it was frustrating to me that the nice guitar line in the verses, which really makes the song, is covered in the mix by other, less necessary instrumentation.\n
		But, overall, it's a very good album. "Living Decorations" has become one of my favorite songs from the band and the guitar part that makes that song so likeable is much more present in the mix there. The band also, on this release, consciously began experimenting with different time signatures. Although Maps & Atlases could be called a math rock band, they really never were because they played everything in straight time signatures. "Carrying the Wet Wood" is one of their first forays in to this area and, although it feels a bit forced, it's well executed overall, and sort of the "Daily News" (from "You, Me and the Mountain") of this release, minus the infectious and fan-favorite clapping (I was surprised at the live shows how many people knew when to clap).\n
		I think I'm attracted to them also because they seem like such nice guys, particularly front man Dave Davison, whose fluffy beard and soft-spoken speaking voice make him resemble the cowardly lion more than a hardcore rock and roller. But these are not rock stars. Maps & Atlases will likely never see a worldwide arena tour opening for U2, nor will they likely see airplay on Clear Channel stations. But that may be for the best.
		]]></review>
		<release>629</release>
		<link>http://www.myspace.com/passionpit</link>
		<audio url="03 Living Decorations">Living Decorations</audio>
		<audio url="09 Pigeon">Pigeon</audio>
		<video url="KSlA7x98Yfw">Solid Ground (official video)</video>
		<video url="VWQpFbMgaCw">Living Decorations (recorded by me, live at the Grog Shop in Cleveland)</video>
		<video url="bVk-EdDQY3U">Israeli Caves (recorded by me, live at the Grog Shop in Cleveland)</video>
	</album>

	<album rank="7">
		<artist>Foals</artist>
		<title>Total Life Forever</title>
		<label>Sub-Pop</label>
		<origin>Oxford, UK</origin>
		<review><![CDATA[
		Foals, in spite of being around for several years, never really reached me until this album. Prior to it, they felt more like an unpolished Franz Ferdinand. I don't know what inspired this release, but there are some fantastic tracks and, as a whole, the album works very well.
I divide the album into sides almost, where the first side I call the "singles" side, populated mostly by good songs that don't flow as well as together, while I call the second side the "album" side, where the songs merge more easily. And, as it so happens, the first side has seen all of the singles and videos: "Blue Blood," "Spanish Sahara," "The Orient," and "Miami." In this way and just in general, the album feels very mid-90's to me. Back when artists were still releasing tapes, there was still a tendency to put the album more in to two parts. Nirvana's "Nevermind" was a perfect example of this, where the singles all sit on the first side and, after "Polly," the album takes a slightly more obscure turn into songs that never saw radio play during the album's heyday. Same with Pearl Jam's "Ten," where the longer, almost ballad songs like "Garden" were left to those who would listen to the album in its entirety.\n
		The one knock I would give this album is the lyrical content, which often becomes very much uninspired. Some of it, when you read the lyrics sheet or listen closely enough, becomes uncomfortable because it's just cheesy.
		]]></review>
		<release>510</release>
		<link>http://www.myspace.com/lauragibson</link>
		<video url="g_rnsAASJpc">2 Trees (official video)</video>
		<video url="vQ90LRaEIt0">Miami (official video)</video>
		<video url="YaVE4WVlsDQ">Spanish Sahara (official video)</video>
		<video url="rw6oWkCojpw">Blue Blood (official video)</video>
		<video url="jX7sniIVmtM">The Orient (official video)</video>
	</album>

	<album rank="8">
		<artist>Sia</artist>
		<title>We Are Born</title>
		<label></label>
		<origin>Australia</origin>
		<review><![CDATA[
		At her show in Tucson in 2007, on the tour supporting "Some People Have Real Problems," Sia mentioned that she had created a pop album but that her record company refused to release it because they said she was 'a trip-hop artist'. She played at least two tracks from that release, and I can distinctly recall them being some of my favorite songs during that show.\n
So we find Sia in 2010, separated from that record company (Starbuck's Hear Music) and defying everyone with the upbeat "We Are Born". "Upbeat" is definitely the word here. While the soulful trills and elaborate vocals make occasional appearances, for the most part, they are replaced by more grounded vocal work, exhibiting a much more musical side of Sia.\n
		And the great contrast between the vibe of this release versus her previous, much more somber 2008 album, "Some People Have Real Problems." Gone are the over-indulgent, soulful vocal trills that reminded me always of a spot-on Macy Gray impression by SNL's Maya Rudolph a number of years ago.\n
		What's great is that Sia's music here excels, in a way that makes it seem so much more natural than it had been on some of the awkward tracks from her previous releases.\n
		The first half of "We Are Born" is decidedly upbeat and poppy, with plenty of hand claps, goofy synths and even goofier sing-along sections. The front section of the album culminates with the obvious single for the album, "You've Changed," which really works as the best song on the album. It's comparable in being central to the album as "Some People..." had the unfortunately hidden track "Buttons". But this is better.\n
		Aside from a few remix tracks (including the version of "I'm in Here" that's used in the video), the album begins to close with the much more personal, emotional tracks that Sia seems to be more famous for. With "Big Girl, Little Girl," the goofy sampling used in much of the rest of the album is continued, but features the emotional and soulful solo closing: "You know with every cruel word that you utter that you bury yourself even deeper every day. Oh, little girl, there's enough love in this circle. You can shackle yourself or be free from this pain." This is followed by "Oh Father," a very honest and painful story from Sia about her childhood, but ending with the resolve to not hold grudges and not to hold on to the pain and let it effect her life.\n
		That message is very uplifting and holds a message, and that's the funny thing about this whole album. I could imagine it being the basis for a children's show, with each song used in a "Yo-Gabba-Gabba" sort of way to teach a lesson. Don't steal my idea.
		]]></review>
		<release>618</release>
		<link>http://www.siamusic.net/</link>
		<video url="HLA0ofsu0Qg">Clap Your Hands (official video)</video>
		<video url="Owr4U55WpDs">I'm in Here (official video)</video>
		<video url="mLPPlRDOZx0">You've Changed (official video)</video>
	</album>

	<album rank="9">
		<artist>Damien Jurado</artist>
		<title>Saint Bartlett</title>
		<label>Secretly Canadian</label>
		<origin>Seattle</origin>
		<review><![CDATA[
		At Damien Jurado's show in Atlanta late in 2010, he stated that, in talking with a fan recently at another show, she had said to him, "I'm surprised how happy you are." He didn't seem terribly surprised at this, and I think most would probably be thinking the same as that fan. But went on to state "I'm not a hermit."\n
		If Damien Jurado had lived all of the lives that he relates in his extensive catalog of songs, he would either take the official Dos Equis most interesting man in the world title, or he would be the most depressed man in the world. Possibly both. He's said in interviews that his lyrics are normally based off the experiences of friends, or are just stories that he comes up with while driving. With an imagination such as that, you can only imagine what sort of novelist he'd turn out to be.\n
		Lyrics are Jurado's main strength. They're poignant and relatable, detailing the trials and tribulations of the American middle-class: death, family, love, infidelity, upbringing and loneliness. It's the experiences that we all create for ourselves when we realize how dead-end our own lives really are in order to make those lives seem more interesting than they really are.\n
		Jurado's live performances are always just him, an acoustic guitar and a micraphone. He's seated while playing and talks to the audience only briefly between songs, if at all. That sounds boring, but it's fantastic. There's something about his music that makes you analyze his expressions for the true emotion that inspired the song while he's playing it. Strangely enough, with Jurado's music, it also never feels right to sing along because the song just seems too personal.\n
		But, the fact is, we all have our own "Kansas City," a home we've left and have strived to forget about, or our own "Throwing Your Voice," a self-destructive friend we're forced to confront, or a "Rachel & Cali," close female relationships where we must attempt to balance our shyness and distate for social interaction with the desire for companionship. And that's what makes it so relatable. Unlike Jurado though, most of us do not have the ability to poeticize these experiences the way he does. But that's why he's sitting alone, in that chair on a stage in front of us while we awe at him.
		]]></review>
		<release>525</release>
		<link>http://www.damienjurado.com/</link>
		<audio url="07 Kansas City">Kansas City</audio>
		<!--<audio url="03 Rachel &amp; Cali">Rachel &amp; Cali</audio>-->
		<video url="3kTxUvGakNk">Arkansas (official video)</video>
		<video url="http://vimeo.com/14801179">Pear (from the Dutch 'Canal Sessions')</video>
	</album>

	<album rank="10">
		<artist>Local Natives</artist>
		<title>Gorilla Manor</title>
		<label>French Kiss</label>
		<origin>Los Angeles</origin>
		<review><![CDATA[
		Am I the only one that hates the title of this album? Seriously, it sucks. I realize where it came from, but it still sucks.
After first encountering the group several years ago and then pouring over their self-released CD-R EP for well over a year, it was very much gratifying to finally see a full-length come out. Their show in Phoenix is where I first encountered the non-EP tracks, like "Camera Talk" and "Wide Eyes." I was excited, to say the least.\n
		The release came with mixed feelings though. It features all of the EP tracks as well as "Camera Talk" and "Wide Eyes" but the balance of tracks, at first at least, just didn't do it for me. Later listens made me realize though that it may that I got a little over them. I hit that point after listening to an artist for an extended period that I was far less excited about what they were doing than I should have been.\n
		This is a good album, but not great. The lyrics fail often. The harmonies that define the group are sometimes unnecessary. And it would be nice he would stop hitting the rim of that tom for just a little while. This may all be my opinion though, and you should still pick this one up.
		]]></review>
		<release>216</release>
		<link>http://www.thelocalnatives.com/</link>
		<audio url="10 Stranger Things">Stranger Things</audio>
		<video url="HVt-DZdkOzw">Wide Eyes (official video)</video>
		<video url="vHv_IgOk7Ic">Who Knows Who Cares (official video)</video>
		<video url="8pZkZguPAPs">Airplanes (official video)</video>
		<video url="X7tZMn5dJh8">World News (official video)</video>
		<video url="N0H-TcJrL4k">Airplanes (recorded by me, live at the Gypsy Lounge in Lake Forest, CA on 4-18-09)</video>
		<video url="XdnjfxXpr7g">Cecilia (backyard Simon &amp; Garfunkel cover)</video>
	</album>

	<album rank="11">
		<artist>Vampire Weekend</artist>
		<title>Contra</title>
		<label></label>
		<origin>NYC</origin>
		<review><![CDATA[
		It was no surprise to me that this follow-up release from Vampire Weekend, a group of New York City Jewish kids that plays African-style rock, was decidedly more poppy than their debut. If it wasn't, I would have been really shocked.
So, despite ignoring it for almost the entire year, it kept coming up and, after listening to it many times, I had to admit that it was pretty damn good.\n
		There are the unavoidable pop missteps, such as "Giving Up the Gun" which features an over-produced quality that is more what I would have anticipated from this album. That coupled with that track's very Hollywood music video (includes cameos from RZA, Joe Jonas and Jake Gyllenhaal) put a little bit of a bad taste in my mouth for this one. But if you slog through it, so to speak, you find the non-single gems like "Taxi Cab", a soft, smart track with the same typical progression of a Vampire Weekend song, but sounding a little more thought out. The closing title track also works beautifully.
		]]></review>
		<release>111</release>
		<link>http://vampireweekend.com/</link>
		<video url="1e0u11rgd9Q">Cousins (official video)</video>
		<video url="vraoiVCDdaM">Holiday (official video)</video>
		<video url="bccKotFwzoY">Giving Up the Gun (official video)</video>
	</album>
	
	<album rank="13">
		<artist>Fang Island</artist>
		<title>Fang Island</title>
		<label>Sargent House</label>
		<origin>NYC</origin>
		<review><![CDATA[
		The soft, percussive sounds of distant fireworks open and close Fang Island's debut full-length, introduced with "They are all within my reach. They are free." It sets the tone of an album dedicated to what so many others recently have also been: a quiet, American suburban upbringing lacking a due and proper outlet for adolescent angst. And with so many of us pushed into the suburbs these days, we can't help but relate to it.\n
		Very easily, NYC-by-way-of-Rhode Island's Fang Island could have put themselves into an unfortunate progressive rock hole of undue obscurity, were it not for the group's good sense of humor (evidenced by their music videos as well as the album's cover) and their addition of a keyboardist. Unlike most prog bands, the Fang Island keyboardist does not simply do swells to make the music more full or over-indulgent piano solos that serve no purpose but to show off, but, instead, adds a dynamic to the group's music that really defines them. The keyboard ends up, at many times, being more prominent in the music than the guitar and, the way they're mixed, often the vocals.\n
		The aggression on the album, especially if you don't really like this sort of rock music, can be off-putting or even obnoxious as the album continues. Overall though, it works.
		]]></review>
		<release>223</release>
		<link>http://fangisland.com/</link>
		<video url="EIurAP4yHtQ">Daisy (official video)</video>
		<video url="MCaojIXbsB0">Life Coach (official video)</video>
		<video url="mfiCqYuC4W8">Careful Crossers (official video)</video>
	</album>
	
	<album rank="14">
		<artist>El Guincho</artist>
		<title>Pop Negro</title>
		<label></label>
		<origin>Canary Islands, Spain</origin>
		<review><![CDATA[
		If you would have told me five years ago that I would be listening to and very much liking music with steel drums as its main, driving instrumentation, I wouldn't have believed you. But that's exactly what El Guincho is doing and doing well. His Canary Islands upbringing likely explains much of the album's sound, which has elements of Caribbean, South American and African musical styles. "Pop Negro" is intelligent dance music at its core, moving that genre more into the territory of Calypso than anyone ever thought it would go. But the way it's done, particularly on this album, is hard to push away.\n
		What's really interesting about this album is its groove, which puts itself into the realm of odd time signatures, but still maintaining something danceable. This is a show that I would love to go to, but I would imagine being the sort of show where everyone is dancing.
		]]></review>
		<release>914</release>
		<link>http://theyoungturks.co.uk/el-guincho-pop-negro/</link>
		<video url="XjMQmXAJ3y4">Bombay (official video, NSFW still but safe for YouTube)</video>
	</album>
	
	<album rank="15">
		<artist>My Education</artist>
		<title>Sunrise</title>
		<label></label>
		<origin>Austin</origin>
		<review><![CDATA[
		My Education are one of those groups that have been around for a very long time, have tremendous influence across a wide variety of genres but, generally, are somewhat unknown. This may be a good thing because, if you like them then you're likely in a select population and, when they tour, you're likely one of the few there to see them. That's how my relationship has been with the group for years and has kept me pouring over their releases.\n
		I wasn't enthralled with "Bad Vibrations" but this release, written for the score of a movie, works in a more cohesive and enjoyable manner. Recently, we drove through Oak Creek Canyon in Arizona listening to this, and I don't think there is better music for that drive. And that's where this album works: mood music. Listen to while running errands in the car or put it on in a coffee shop or chop up the tracks, and it's not going to work. But listen to it in its entirety while working or during a drug experience or on a long drive, and it works really well. It's thought-inducing music: not dictating or directing your thoughts but, rather, pushing you to explore your own consciousness.
		]]></review>
		<release>427</release>
		<link>http://www.myeducationmusic.com/</link>
		<audio url="01 Sunset">Sunset</audio>
		<audio url="07 Sunrise">Sunrise</audio>
	</album>
</cds>

