Author: Faronheit Page 100 of 192

Listmas 2013: The Top 50 Albums of the Year [#10-1]

On 01/06/2014

In best albums 2013, class of 2013, listmas, listmas 2013, lists, mp3, music

And just like that, we’ve reached the end of our Top 50 Albums countdown journey. It’s been interesting and a whole lot of fun to put together, and I sincerely hope that you’ve enjoyed this and the other Listmas entries that have helped to wrap up 2013 and start 2014. This has extended far later than I wanted it to go, and all the delays are due to a variety of factors that I don’t care to get into, but at this point I’m just glad we made it. Thank you for bearing with me, and I hope we can still be friends after this. In case you missed anything from this year’s Listmas, let me give you a quick rundown and direct links to the many posts that took over the site in December and this early part of January.

Previously on the Top 50 Albums of 2013:
Part I [#50-41]
Part II [#40-31]
Part III [#30-21]
Part IV [#20-11]

The Top 50 Songs of 2013:
Part I [#50-41]
Part II [#40-31]
Part III [#30-21]
Part IV [#20-11]
Part V [#10-1]

So here they are, my Top 10 Albums of 2013. I genuinely love each and every one of the records listed below, and strongly recommend that you give them a listen or buy copies of them should you have the chance. These albums also make up a great snapshot of 2013, featuring a wide variety of music styles and genres that I don’t want to hint at. Just take it all in after the jump, and by all means enjoy to the fullest extent allowed. Thanks! Drumroll please…

Pick Your Poison: Week of 12-30-13

By Faronheit

On 01/03/2014

In mp3, music, pick your poison

Happy 2014! So the site is still on “break” for the holidays, and I’m continuing to crank out the final posts of Listmas 2013 (now bleeding into 2014). Thanks for your patience with the Listmas stuff, by the way. It’s been a stressful month, and there’s been much more going on than I anticipated. Anyways, if you’d like to catch up on all of the Listmas posts from this year, including the lists of Top 50 Songs of 2013 and Top 50 Albums of 2013, it’s as simple as clicking this link. That will give you all the Listmas you can handle. The daily edition of Pick Your Poison is still on break too, at least for this week. Every Friday though I have been posting songs for you to download and stream, because believe it or not the music doesn’t stop coming just because of things like Christmas and New Year’s. So enjoy today’s extended version of Pick Your Poison to wrap up the week, and we should be getting back into the daily Pick Your Poison editions starting this upcoming Monday! Highlights this week come from Bypassers, David Bronson, Germany Germany, The Neighbourhood, Purples, Savaging Spires and Supervisor. In the Soundcloud section after the jump, stream songs from Britt Daniel (of Spoon/Divine Fits), FIckle Friends, Morgan Delt, SBTRKT and William Steffey, among others.

Avicii – Wake Me Up (SPRKZRZ Remix)

Bypassers – Cold Feet

David Bronson – The Lost

FRNKROK – WJW2R (Original Mix)

Germany Germany – On Your Own
Germany Germany – Run (ft. Brothertiger)

Gorgeous Bully – Sinking Feeling

Haunted Disco – Backseat Driver

High Rule – ET

Lana Del Rey – Summertime Sadness (Wolf Catcher Remix)

Lyriciss – The Reflection (Shot You Down Freestyle)

The Neighbourhood – Unfair

Nsolo – Breathe

Purples – Nancy

Savaging Spires – We Could Be Dead (Together)

Slippertails – Hip New Jerk
Slippertails – I Will Peel You Open

Steve Benjamins – Strangeness

Supervisor – City Lights

Tim Larson – 6

Listmas 2013: The Top 50 Albums of the Year [#20-11]

By Faronheit

On 01/02/2014

In best albums 2013, class of 2013, listmas, listmas 2013, lists, mp3, music

We’ve hit the home stretch, my friends. Time to count your blessings and prepare for the end…of this countdown, which will be coming soon. In the meantime though, here’s the next set of ten albums in this Top 50 Albums of 2013 countdown. In case you missed the first few entries, let me help you out with links to those:
Part I [#50-41]
Part II [#40-31]
Part III [#30-21]

It’s been a lot of fun so far, and there’s a lot more fun still on the way. In today’s set, you’ll find a few psychedelic and experimental pop records, along with small touches of electronica and hip hop. Join me after the jump for #20-11. I hope you enjoy them!

Listmas 2013: The Top 50 Albums of the Year [#30-21]

By Faronheit

On 12/30/2013

In best albums 2013, listmas, listmas 2013, lists, mp3, music

We’ve now reached the halfway point of this Top 50 Albums of 2013 countdown. In case you missed them, here are links to Part I [#50-41] and Part II [#40-31]. Let me just say that this third part may be the most interesting section of the entire list. I don’t mean to put any other of the sets of ten to shame, but there are just so many oddities and flight of fancy records here that I suspect you may have missed at least a couple of them this year. There’s a lot more obvious stuff as we get towards the finish line, and some relatively popular indie records came before this, so this is the gooey middle where anything goes. We’re talking weird electronica, neo-classical post-rock and gothic drones among the fare you’ll find below. It wasn’t planned this way, I just wrote the Top 50 list and it worked out like this. So please enjoy this bit of strange after the jump, as we continue to forge onward chronicling the year’s best records!

Listmas 2013: The Top 50 Albums of the Year [#40-31]

By Faronheit

On 12/30/2013

In best albums 2013, listmas, listmas 2013, lists, mp3, music

My life is a comedy or errors sometimes. You set aside 10 hours to write most of your Top 50 Albums entries, and then somehow come down with food poisoning, which eliminates that window entirely. What are the chances, right? Well, excuses aside, I’m pleased to bring you this second installment in my Top 50 Albums of 2013 series. In case you missed Part 1, which covered #50-41, you absolutely should check that out here. Today’s set of ten albums covers a pretty good variety of genres, from garage rock to folk to electronica to funk, pop and post-rock. The main thing I’d say about these records? Almost all of them are really fun to listen to. So let’s get right on it, and join me after the jump for #40-31!

Pick Your Poison: Week of 12-23-13

By Faronheit

On 12/27/2013

In mp3, music, pick your poison

Hey friends! Pick Your Poison is on a bit of a break for the holidays, but fear not, for this week and next I’ll still have one post a week for you to stream and download fresh new music. This week there are a few leftover Christmas songs, so if you’re still in the mood for some, enjoy those. I’d also like to encourage you to check out what’s happening with Listmas, since the Top 50 Songs of 2013 countdown is complete and the Top 50 Albums of 2013 countdown is ongoing. It’s great stuff as we wrap up the year and get ready for 2014! Highlights in this extended set of downloads this week come from Black Bear/Brown Bear, Chevy Heston, colourwaves, East Edwards, Labstract, Nero, My Panda, Painted Palms, Sadie Dupuis (of Speedy Ortiz), Sampha and Savage Sister. Not much in the Soundcloud section, but How to Dress Well’s cover of Smog’s “Teenage Spaceship” is more than worth your time. Hope your holidays went well, and we’ll catch up some more shortly after New Year’s!

Aashton – All U Need

Black Bear/Brown Bear – I Don’t Know

Camille Mai Trio – Pathological Doubt

Chevy Heston – You Don’t Look Right

colourwaves – You Sold Your Life for Pixels

East Edwards – Dawn

Flight Mode – Somebodies (ft. Greta Stanley)

HJMS – Solace

Labstract – The Backyard

Lane 8 – How I Feel

The Neighbourhood – Afraid (Twice As Nice Remix)

Nero, My Panda – (I Just Wanna) Sleep in My Own Bed

Painted Palms – Here It Comes

Paul Valentin ft. Veronique – Aurore (Beatless Version)

Sadie Dupuis – X Actually (Demo)

Sampha – Too Much (Loston Rework)

Satellite Stories – White Christmas

Savage Sister – Champagne Panthers

Semedo – I’ll Be There

Snir Yamin – Winter Song (Sarah Bareilles & Ingrid Michaelson cover)

Tiger! Shit! Tiger! Tiger! – Golden Age

Victory – Merry Christmas, Baby (Beach Boys cover)
Victory – Just Want You Here at Christmas Time

SOUNDCLOUD

Hannah & Maggie – Morning Star

How to Dress Well – Teenage Spaceship (Smog cover)

Listmas 2013: The Top 50 Albums of the Year [#50-41]

By Faronheit

On 12/27/2013

In best albums 2013, BNM, class of 2013, listmas, listmas 2013, lists, music

This is the big one. Welcome to Faronheit’s Top 50 Albums of 2013 countdown! Over the next few days, I’ll be revealing my unveiling the full list, 10 albums at a time. We do this every year, and it’s always an adventure. Things are running just a little bit behind schedule at the moment, as I’d hoped to have this up before Christmas, but I appreciate your patience and promise to have everything posted before the end of the year. Did you happen to catch my Top 50 Songs of 2013 list from earlier this month? In case you missed it, all of those posts can be found simply by clicking this link. While I’m always excited to share tracks with you, as evidenced by the daily Pick Your Poison posts, albums hold a special place in my heart. This site was started with the intention of writing long form album reviews, and unfortunately in 2013 strayed further away from that than ever. A combination of factors, from having a really busy schedule to endless amounts of writing and rewriting to bouts of writer’s block prevented me from cranking out more than a few album reviews each month. It’s something I have a strong desire to get back to however, so that’s going to be a primary goal for 2014. As things stand now, all 50 of the albums in this countdown have short paragraph mini reviews to go along with them, so in a sense I’m packing a year’s worth into just a few entries. I hope you enjoy them, and maybe even discover some great records that you missed from this past year. Let’s get started then, shall we? Follow me after the jump for the first set of ten albums, with #50-41!

Pick Your Poison: Thursday 12-19-13

By Faronheit

On 12/19/2013

In mp3, music, pick your poison

It’s Thursday, which means it’s time for another weekly dip into the pool of music news, interviews and videos that I like to call This Week In Music! Yes, in addition to the normal Pick Your Poison mp3s and Soundcloud streams, I like to toss out links to a bunch of other music-related content that I’ve found interesting or worthwhile over the course of the week. I encourage you to check some, if not all of these things out, particularly if you’re looking to waste some time. There’s plenty to see, read and hear:

YouTube Audio Stream: The Dead Weather – Open Up (That’s Enough)

Music Video: Phantogram – Black Out Days

Watch Haim perform “The Wire” on Jimmy Kimmel Live

Music Video: ceo – WHOREHOUSE

Daft Punk and Kendrick Lamar will be performing (separately) at the Grammys

Free Download: Clams Casino’s “Instrumentals Vol. 3” mixtape

Music Video: Mas Ysa – Why

Watch a holiday episode of Zach Galifinakis’ “Between Two Ferns” with special guests Arcade Fire

Watch a commercial for Megadeth’s “holiday album” featuring a guest appearance from Jenny Lewis

Music Video: Yuck – Lose My Breath

Once you’re done with that set of distractions, let me offer up another set via some song downloads and streams. Don’t miss tracks from Beecher’s Fault, Let the Machines Do the Work, The Neighbourhood, Royale, Stone Jack Jones and Wild Ones (covering Drake). In the Soundcloud section after the jump, stream cuts from Against Me!, Caveman, Mountain Man (covering John Denver), Rick Ross (ft. Jay Z) and Sisyphus (Sufjan Stevens, Son Lux & Serengeti). Have a great Christmas! The next edition of Pick Your Poison will be posted on Friday, December 27th.

Beat Culture – Drifter (Ricky Eat Acid Remix)

Beecher’s Fault – Matchstick Kings

The Blood Arm – A Dog Named Jackie (Sweet Christmas)

Ducky – Two Over Ten (Natasha Kmeto Remix)

Keith TOTP – I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas

Let the Machines Do the Work – Give It Up (VIP Mix)

The Lunchtime Sardine Club – Santa Lives in Texas

The Neighbourhood – Silver

Pincers – Noam Chomsky is the Real Santa

Royale – Robots With Guns

Ruth Koleva – What Am I Suppose To

Sir Doggy – Blazers and Vans

Stone Jack Jones – State I’m In

Thief – Broken Boy (DC’s Manic Computer Remix)

Wild Ones – Hold On, We’re Going Home (Drake cover)

Pick Your Poison: Wednesday 12-18-13

By Faronheit

On 12/18/2013

In mp3, music, pick your poison

Confession time: I’m running behind on Listmas. If you’re an avid reader of the site you’ve probably noticed already, but for those that haven’t, let’s just say things aren’t going according to plan. At this point in time I was hoping to be mid-way through my Top 50 Albums of 2013 countdown, with an eye on finishing it up on Friday. Currently however, I’m just getting started with that list. With any luck, I’ll finish it off and have the full thing up on the site before Christmas. No promises though. There are multiple reasons for the delays, including technical problems, general holiday insanity, and just a touch of writer’s block. The goal is to make everything perfect for you, and that includes the most user-friendly presentation method possible, which I’m working out now. Basically hang tight, and thanks for your patience in this holiday/year-end Listmas season. I love you all. Now let’s tackle the final Wednesday edition of Pick Your Poison for 2013. Today’s highlights include tracks from Cooper, Germany Germany, Life, Longfellow, Mode Moderne, Through the Sparks and Waterstrider. In the Soundcloud section after the jump, stream songs from Black Lips, CYMBALS, London Grammar, Tears For Fears and Tony Molina.

Amp Live – Brass Knuckles (ft. Dom of Big Gigantic)

Cooper – Flood

Fulgeance – Square (Oknai Remix)

Germany Germany – All of Your Love (ft. Kotomi)

KASHKA – Prophet

Leon Else – Protocol (WoodysProduce Remix)

Life – Crawling

Longfellow – Christmas Love Song

Lots of Love – Lover Man for Christmas

Mode Moderne – Baby Bunny

Pearls Negras – Biggie Apple

Saint + G-Buck – Jelly

Through the Sparks – Rome

Waterstrider – Twice (Little Dragon cover)

Pick Your Poison: Tuesday 12-17-13

By Faronheit

On 12/17/2013

In mp3, music, pick your poison

We’ve hit another Tuesday, where I’m once again pleased to bring you a quick rundown of artists with brand new music coming out this week. The hope is to either inform you about what’s out there, but also to maybe even remind you if one of your favorite artists is putting out something new and you simply forgot about it. Since we’re in December and the holidays are dead ahead, new releases pretty much fall by the wayside, though as you’ll see there are a few non-Beyonce albums that are coming out. So without further ado, here’s your list for this week: Burial, Hieroglyphics, The Lonely Forest, Sallie Ford and the Sound Outside and Tiger Waves. If you’re interested in any of these artists or albums, make some purchases via your favorite digital or physical retailer! Now let’s get to today’s Pick Your Poison, where you can discover even more hot new music. Some key tracks you’ll want to give attention to today come from Algernon Doll, J Quilles, Message to Bears, Dave Sitek remixing Run the Jewels, Shark? and Sidewalk Chalk. In the Soundcloud section after the jump, stream new songs from Angel Haze, AraabMuzik, Bombay Bicycle Club, Pop. 1280 and Yellow Ostrich.

Algernon Doll – Lights and Buzz

Aziza and the Cure – Release Me

Bobby Nourmand – Deep

Carlotek & Raisingtheroof – Donna

Holy Ghost! – Okay (a/just/ted Remix)

J Quilles – Orgullo

Message to Bears – I Know You Love to Fall

Rue Royale – Deck the Halls

Run the Jewels – Sea Legs (Dave Sitek Remix)

Shark? – Fingers

Sidewalk Chalk – There She Goes

TriBeCaStan – God Rest Ye 3 Kings

Yellerkin – Solar Laws (Teen Daze Remix)

Yuzima – White Christmas

Pick Your Poison: Monday 12-16-13

By Faronheit

On 12/16/2013

In mp3, music, pick your poison

This is the last full week for Faronheit operations in the year 2013! Yes, after this Friday, the site will be on a holiday break for somewhere around two weeks, though we won’t be completely devoid of new content. Beyond the Top 50 Songs and Top 50 Albums lists, which have been counting down since last week, there will be at least one more “odds and sods” Listmas post between Christmas and New Year’s. Pick Your Poison will be going on a break too, away from the daily downloads and condensed into a singular weekly download post. So that will be nice, at least from my perspective, to get away from site business for a little and just be able to put my feet up and spend some time on other pursuits. Don’t worry, the site will be back and fully operational in 2014, with what I hope will be some exciting new content and features to inspire you. Meanwhile, just enjoy this final week of normalcy amid the holiday madness. Key tracks in today’s Pick Your Poison come from The Basement Tapes, Black Twig, The Echo Friendly (covering Jay Reatard), THe Hotelier, Hundreds, LIZ, New Lands, and Sidney York. In the Soundcloud section after the jump, stream songs from The Flaming Lips, Hibou, The Hidden Cameras, Shocking Pinks and Stay Positive.

The Basement Tapes – Hard to Show

Black Twig – Pastel Blue

The Echo Friendly – Nightmares (Jay Reatard cover)

Gramatik – Obviously (ft. Cherub and Exmag)

The Hotelier – The Scope of All This Rebuilding

Hundreds – Beehive (Prelude)

LIZ – All Them Boys

MusicByJam – Andromeda 2297

New Lands – Last Christmas

Sidney York – Hearts

Tony Tokyo – Kage

Ventury – Friday the 13th

Victory – Soothing Me So (Enso Remix)

Wired to Follow – As the Earth Spins

Listmas 2013: The Top 50 Songs of the Year [#10-1]

By Faronheit

On 12/13/2013

In best songs 2013, class of 2013, listmas, listmas 2013, lists, mp3, music

We’ve finally made it to the grand finale of this Top 50 Songs list for 2013. It’s been a wild and fun ride, and I hope you’ve had the chance to go through this full list and discover some songs you may not have heard before. A few shopkeeping notes I’d like to take care of as we wrap this list up. First, next week will mark the beginning of the Top 50 Albums of 2013 list, which is something I promise you won’t want to miss. Secondly, there will be an addendum post that will be up on the site sometime between Christmas and New Year’s which will be called “The Best of the Rest.” In a nutshell, that will contain 50 more songs that I loved from 2013 that failed to make this list, plus a few other small lists dealing with other music-related topics. So call that a Listmas bonus. Lastly, in case you missed any of the other parts of this Top 50 Songs countdown, let me point you in the right direction with some links:

Part I [#50-41]
Part II [#40-31]
Part III [#30-21]
Part IV [#20-11]

A couple of quick stats about the songs featured below. It’s a 50-50 split between male and female vocalists. There is one hip hop track, two tracks by electronica artists, three tracks featuring guest vocalists (if you count David Bowie), and a wbole lot of incredibly addictive hooks. Now if you’ll join me after the jump, here are my 10 favorite songs that appeared on records released in 2013.

Listmas 2013: The Top 50 Songs of the Year [#20-11]

By Faronheit

On 12/12/2013

In best songs 2013, class of 2013, listmas, listmas 2013, lists, mp3, music

At this point in the Top 50 Songs countdown, we’re getting into the real meat and potatoes of 2013 music. Looking at the choices that were made below and really across the entirety of this list, what surprises me the most is how different it is compared to my Top 50 Albums list (coming next week!). In the past that’s typically not been the case, however those lists were largely drawn up from memory. This year, I decided to keep track of all the notable songs and singles I heard, and there are two Spotify playlists to help prove it. The first playlist covers the first six months of the year, while the second playlist covers the second six months. Most of the songs that appear on this list were also on those playlists. By being proactive and keeping up with the tracks I really loved, it was far easier to decide on my Top 50 Songs. So I sincerely hope you’re enjoying the countdown so far, and the eclectic mix of styles and genres that come along with it. In case you missed the earlier parts of this list, just go straight to these links:
Part I [#50-41]
Part II [#40-31]
Part III [#30-21]

And now let’s get into Part IV. This set of ten tracks features a handful of rock bands, a genuine pop superstar, and light brushes of R&B and synth pop. If you think that’s eclectic, just wait until the final ten songs, which will be up tomorrow! Until then, please enjoy #20-11.

Pick Your Poison: Thursday 12-12-13

By Faronheit

On 12/12/2013

In mp3, music, pick your poison

You can bid on an auction to have Jens Lekman write a song about you.

Watch a 15 minute video about Maculay Culkin’s Velvet Underground cover band The Pizza Underground

Watch Iron & Wine, Calexico, Kathleen Edwards and Glen Hansard perform The Pogues holiday classic “Fairytale of New York”

Watch Morrissey perform at the Nobel Peace Prize concert

Damon Albarn has posted a short teaser of his forthcoming solo record

Ex-Pixies bassist Kim Shattuck talks about how she was fired by the band

YouTube Audio Stream: EMA – Satellite

Download a Flying Lotus outtakes compilation

There’s a whole lot of famous guest stars on the upcoming season of “Portlandia”

YouTube Audio Stream: Arctic Monkeys – You’re So Dark

Once you’re done with that set of distractions, let me offer up another set via some song downloads and streams. Don’t miss tracks from The Backyard Committee, Barzin, Champagne Jerry, The Dead Heads, Gina Chavez, Honeymilk, NTNT, The Slowdown and Young Girls. In the Soundcloud section after the jump, stream cuts from Blood Orange, Baio’s remix of Cults, Dropkick Murphys, James vincent McMorrow, The Mast and Sleepy Sun.

The Backyard Committee – Festival

Barzin – All the While

Champagne Jerry – Yo Kev! (ft. Ad-Rock)

The Dead Heads – Edge of the Apocalypse

Dreamend – Magnesium Light

Echo Bloom – The Returning of the Doves

Gina Chavez – Gotta Get (ft. Grupo Fantasma)

Honeymilk – Sea to Shining Sea

Lorde – Glory & Gore (Unlike Pluto Remix)

NTNT – The List

Preston Lovinggood – Shipwrecked

Scott Barkan – Leaving Here

The Slowdown – Digital Gold

Young Girls – Caroline

Listmas 2013: The Top 50 Songs of the Year [#30-21]

By Faronheit

On 12/11/2013

In best songs 2013, listmas, listmas 2013, lists, mp3, music

Day number three of this Top 50 Songs countdown, and you could say that we’re really starting to hit a stride. There’s a lot of really great songs that have been covered so far on this list, and a whole lot more still to come. I’m excited to reveal everything to you, even if it is at a rate of 10 songs at a time. For those that are just jumping into this list right now, let me make sure you’re aware of Part I and Part II. Stay tuned over the next couple days for the final two installments! In the meantime, please enjoy the official middle portion of this list, with songs 30-21!

Hello, and welcome to Faronheit! I hope you enjoy your stay. Before you read onwards, let me quickly explain a couple things.

All mp3s hosted on this site are for sampling purposes only. If you are an artist or record label or somebody representing said artists or copyrights, I would appreciate it if you'd send me an email should you need me to remove any content.

If you would like to send me any music, links, press materials, and the like via the web, please email me with any attachments or links to where I can find out more. Please note that if you send me mp3 attachments as well as Bandcamp or YouTube links, I will not be able to post them on my site. I will still listen to the songs and watch the videos, just don't expect them to appear in a post. Soundcloud or direct download mp3 links only please and thank you,

Contact information: faronheit@gmail.com

Hello, and welcome to Faronheit! I hope you enjoy your stay. Before you read onwards, let me quickly explain a couple things.

Contact information: faronheit@gmail.com