Bears and Bullets Top 25 Songs of 2011: Part II

We''ll continue our countdown today with songs #20 through #16.

#20: Rustie - Ultra Thizz
Glass Swords, Scottish producer Rustie's first full-length debut, is full of songs like "Ultra Thizz," which takes a smart man's look in between dubstep and electro pop. In that regard, however, it rarely sounds like either of those genre's take collective footing in Rustie's underrated technique. "Ultra Thizz" simply does what Glass Swords does best; putting together recognizable pieces into something completely different. 

Rustie - Ultra Thizz by Bears and Bullets

#19: Real Estate - It's Real
There's nothing demonstratively complex about "It's Real," Real Estate's most endearing and memorable take to date. The band sounds, if anything, lush here, breezing through soft guitar and "Ohh" choruses, it makes the more unnecessarily produced tracks of the year seem somewhat preposterous in comparison, taking a page from Kurt Vile's book. There's nothing a song needs sometimes than a memorable hook, solid timing, and the ability to take itself less seriously.



#18: The Weeknd - The Knowing
The finale to The Weeknd's pretty fucking good debut House of Balloons, "The Knowing" is Abel Tesfaye's six-minute epic to clearly being cheated on. For all of memorable moments on House of Balloons, or even Thursday or Echoes of Silence, the two follow-up albums, none are nearly as personal or as easily to relate to as "The Knowing." But there's nothing tedious or petty that comes through, regardless of however Tesfaye really dealt with it.



#17: Bon Iver - Perth
Bon Iver's emphatic opener, "Perth" sets the unreal pace for the rest of the album that, for the most part, does its best to match it. Justin Vernon and the rest of Bon Iver sound deceivingly huge, backed by multiple drums, horns, and a rhythm section, but still manage to keep the quiet allure of the group and Vernon's intimate vocal style close at hand. It speaks volume for the rest of the album, the band keeping itself in tact with its large world sensibilities and small world sounds.  



#16: Mastodon - Spectrelight
The Hunter, Mastodon's latest effort, wasn't what most fans wanted from the group. The idea of the Atlanta metal band becoming too radio-friendly can't be good for their image, regardless of whether that notion has any true merit. Maybe songs like "Curl of the Burl" were a bit too soft for the Leviathan fans at heart, but "Spectrelight" sounds like prime Mastodon any way you shape it. The song burst through the opening like every crash of thunder cliche you can call it, drums and guitar roaring, almost unstoppable, making you forget any of the album's lighter moments. 



We'll continue tomorrow with songs #15 - #11 ...

Bears and Bullets Albums of the Year: Pt. I

With only two weeks remaining in 2011, it's that time of the year where all the music sites and publications dole out their annual 'Best Of' lists. Likewise, Bears and Bullets has stuck with that tradition as well, with an annual 'Top 25 Songs of the Year' list. But with the addition of the Albums of the Month feature on the site this year, I thought it wouldn't be fair to just stick with songs from here on out.

So, I present to you Bears and Bullets first ever Albums of the Year edition.

#25: The Horrors - Skying
Most people were somewhat uncomfortably introduced to The Horrors four years ago with their "Sheena is a Parasite" video; a minute and a half jumpy, barely in English audible that grew their reputation fairly well in England. And while the band's name grew within the NME crowd, fanfare was mull in the states. Skying, however, was the unsuspected breakthrough that pushed them over, full of inspiring and mature crafted songs that, Hell, most of us never saw coming. 

#24: Julianna Barwick - The Magic Place
At some point in the past few years, Julianna Barwick has come to own the genre of atmospheric music. The majority of The Magic Place, a largely wordless drift of beautiful, if not cavernous sprawls, that would do well in most movie trailers, makes the serenity of distant sounds all the more important. Aptly titled, The Magic Place seems to present itself in a world that would only disappoint the real one

#23: Ty Segall - Goodbye Bread

Ty Segall, up until Goobye Bread, has been slightly controlled noise, full of static and fuzzy bumps in the road, rarely concerned with feel or pace. But with his major label debut, the moves are tighter, and the songs don't just stream through a similar jumble. Take "The Floor," a song that wouldn't be confused with The Violent Femmes at certain points, as the clearest most of us have heard Segall. Juxtaposed against quick-minute stomps like "California Commercial," and the San Francisco-native has learned where his pace fits best - everywhere.

#22: Mastodon - The Hunter
Maybe I'm too big of a Mastodon fan. After all, The Hunter, next to the band's previous work like Crack The Skye and Blood Mountain, is regarded as one of their weaker efforts. That isn't to say that it's a poor outing or anything, just falling short of the aforementioned achievements. Fan response aside, The Hunter still provides some of the year's stand-out efforts, like "Spectrelight," a track that would fit anywhere in the Mastodon catalog. Maybe I'm just still in awe how these guys don't put anything bad out.

#21: I Break Horses - Hearts
Breaking through like M83 did in the early 2000s, I Break Hoses' Hearts is an incredibly lush, broad, and detailed album, covered in dense layers of drippy and heroic synths charging through the backdrop. It's not hard to gets a sense of unreal beauty in Hearts, only seconds into the opening track "Winter Beats," in what feels like plunging into one of those metaphorical lakes that everything seems to come together in. It's hard to describe.



We'll continue the countdown tomorrow with albums #20-#16 ...

Thursday Bears: Everything you missed on late night TV last night

Like the title said, you missed a lot.

Mastodon, Portishead, and Black Star (!) all performed on late night TV last night. Mos Def (now Yasiin Bey) and Talib Kweli performed the new "Fix Up," alongside Black Star standout "Astronomy (8th Light)." Watch them all below.

Mastodon - Curl of the Burl (Live on Letterman)



Portishead - Chase the Tear (Live on Fallon)



Portishead - Mysterons (Live on Fallon - Web Exclusive)



Black Star - Fix It (Live on The Colbert Report)

Black Star - Astronomy (8th Light) (Live on The Colbert Report - Web Exclusive)

Monday Bears: Albums of the Month - September 2011

Albums of the Month - September 2011

New segment!

At the end of every month forever until I inevitably die - maybe - Bears and Bullets will run an Albums of the Month column. Right now, we'll take it easy early on with three top albums, but hopefully the list will continually expand.

September 2011 marked the release of a handful of anticipated releases, many of which collided on the same day; September 13, including: A.A. Bondy, Cymbals Eat Guitars, Das Racist, Mates of State, Memoryhouse, St. Vincent, and Wild Flag. That being said, the month was marred by disappointing releases as well. So, after all, what were this months standouts?

3. Four Tet - Fabriclive 59
Kieren Hebden, better known under his Four Tet moniker, released Fabriclive not as a studio set, but as part of the Fabric series, that will conclude at the end of this year. It begins as a generally mum post-90s trip-hop push colliding with the soft undertone of crowd noise, which to my knowledge has some sort of purpose. After the easy play-in, it courses through modern-Euro house and then seamlessly through more crowd loops into pure Four Tet-sound. It's that endearing core of the mix that sticks out further than many of September's other notable outputs.

Fabriclive 59 Stream

2. Girls - Father, Son, Holy Ghost
What are Girls? The super-hyped San Francisco buzzband don't fit into the 2011 mold quite as well as their acclaim would seem. Upon the release of Father, Son, Holy Ghost's first single "Vomit," it would seem that they were wedged into some hybrid Beach Boys that are much more sensible to the Jesus and Mary Chain crowd. Confusing? It should be.

Regardless, there's something incredibly endearing about Father, Son, Holy Ghost that doesn't seem like faux-wave lo-fi that frequents the Pacific coastline. Those surf-sensibilities are there, but aren't juxtaposed as an overwhelming theme - letting Christopher Owens' songwriting take the necessary lead.

Father, Son, Holy Ghost Stream

1. Mastodon - The Hunter
The metal band I simply hype more so than any other marked the end of September with the release of The Hunter, an album which was received by some to be too far off a departure of the band's hard-nailed previous works. And, well, they aren't wrong. Tracks like "Curl of the Burl" and "The Hunter" are easily the most accessible in the band's catalog. For some, though, that as a detraction is in hindsight. The Hunter jabs through blinding, clenching numbers like "Spectrelight" while allowing itself to web a different pattern. For me, that puts in on top.

The Hunter Stream

Mastodon - Spectrelight

Thursday Bears: New videos from Mastodon and Wavves

I've been doing my fair share of Mastodon-related posts recently what with The Hunter about to hit it's 9/27 release in the U.S. Plus, as I've said before, I like Wavves more than most do. Check out both group's new videos below.

Wavves Life Sux EP is available now via Ghost Ramp.

Mastodon - Curl of the Burl



Wavves - Life Sux EP

Steam Mastodon's "The Hunter"

The opportunity was far too good to pass up. Mastodon's The Hunter, which is set for release next Tuesday, is up in its entirety on Youtube. Watch the whole thing below.



Tracklist:

Black Tongue
Curl of the Burl
Blasteroid
Stargasm
Octopus Has no Friends
All the Heavy Lifting
The Hunter
Dry Bone Valley
Thickening
Creature Lives
Spectrelight
Bedazzled Fingernails
The Sparrow

Tuesday Bears: More new Mastodon - Spectrelight

It seems like every other week Atlanta metal group Mastodon releases something new from their upcoming, and hugely anticipated album The Hunter. There's an accompanying video for the blitzing metal blast, but it's mostly just kaleidoscopic light spheres.

Neurosis frontman Scott Kelly also helps out with "Spectrelight," but your guess is good as mine where he is on the track.

Grab The Hunter September 27 via Reprise Records.

Mastodon - Spectrelight

Tuesday Bears: New Mastodon video - Curl of the Burl

In a continued push for the Atlanta band's heavily anticipated upcoming fifth studio album, Mastodon have released another video from September's The Hunter. The new Aaron Hymes-directed video isn't as "jump into your veins" as the previous ones for the album, but it's a solid follow of "Black Tongue."

The band has also started a new competition where fans can download "Curl of the Burl" without either the lead guitar or drums and add their own. The contest will end September 9. Enter here.

The Hunter is due out September 27, via Reprise Records

Mastodon - Curl of the Burl

New Mastodon video - Black Tongue

The second track off of Mastodon's upcoming September release The Hunter (the first one was released with Adult Swim's Singles Program a few weeks ago) isn't quite as insane as "Death Bound," but is still relatively speaking, fucking insane.

Check out the video below and pre-order the September 27 album (via Reprise) here.

Mastodon - Black Tongue

Tuesday Bears: New Mastodon video - Deathbound

A couple weeks ago, Adult Swim started their summer Singles Program with Ford & Lopatin and this video from Best Coast. Earlier today, the fourth selection in the singles series premiered, with Mastodon's "Deathbound," an insane take on Mr. Rodger's Neighborhood, the solar eclipse, and puppets.

Mastodon - Deathbound

Friday Bears: New Best Coast video - Gone Again

Daniel Garcia's new video for Best Coast's "Gone Again" is the second in Adult Swim's Singles Program, running since early June to August, with new videos from Mastodon, the Tallest Man on Earth, and more.

Yeah, the slow-motion and army scenario makes it seem somewhat ominous, but once the Snacks masks go on, no one should be worried.

Best Coast - Gone Again

New Mastodon Video - Oblivion

Mastodon's newest obscure video adventure for their single "Oblivion" off the band's album Crack the Skye takes the four-piece metal behemoth's into the empty reaches of space and the sprawling lands between mountains. The songs and scenes in this band's videos makes me more and more aware that I'm as far away from a metal mentality than I really thought.

Mastodon - Oblivion


- Here's the band's live performance of "Oblivion" on Letterman from a couple weeks ago.

Mastodon on Letterman and Kings of Leon on Leno

Mastodon made their first Late Show appearance last Thursday supporting their most recent and most earth shattering album yet, Crack the Skye. As for the song choice, I'm guessing "Divinations" didn't fit the talk show bill too well.

The band, who are currently supporting Metallica on the leg of their massive Summer tour, will be appearing at this year's Outside Lands Festival in San Fransisco, August 28-30.

Mastodon - Oblivion (Live on Letterman)

Kings of Leon, one of the headliners at this year's Lollapalooza, stopped by The Tonight Show last Friday, performing their surprisingly well-made single "Use Somebody" off of their 2008 album Only By the Night.

Local readers note - the band will be performing at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, NJ on September 12.

Kings of Leon - Use Somebody (Live on Leno)