North Atlantic Oscillation - Fog Electric. A dew sweet mist of airy guitars, synth woooshery, and high ringing harmonics. Pimples on a goose. Brian Wilson sitting in with The Chameleons.

The Silver Seas - "What's the Drawback." Can't believe I missed this gorgeous jewel from '10. A brilliant 3 minute blast of poprockery. The track name checks ELO and then throw in some Out Of the Blue style strings for good measure. I bought the album Chateau Revenge! instantly, then bought the mp3 so I could put it on my phone and go driving, then bought the just released alternate acoustic version of the album Chateau Revenge! (The Blue Edition).

Jessie Baylin - "Hurry Hurry". More on the throw back tip. This is straight out of the Jackie DeShannon playbook with wall-of sound strings, feathered vocals and big city yearning. Everything old is new again.

Simone Felice - "Stormy Eyed Sarah." From the self-titled debut long player. Bloke out of Felice Brothers and The Duke & The King. Sounds to wander grave yards with a loved one by (Bring flowers).

As before, but more. PTSO!

Ah the joy of a day that a new Lambchop album arrives.

It's been four long lonely years since the last 'chop studio long player. I've tossed, I've turned, I've played and replayed '10's amazing Invariable Heartache from LC's voxist, Kurt Wagner and Cortney Tidwell. Now, finally, I can relax, chill in the knowledge that there are 11 new songs to luxuriate in: My own little aural hot tub of the soul.

Life is good.

Laddies and Gentlewymen, let me introduce to you, the album that is the man: Mr. M.

This spinner is a stunning explosion of lean-against-the-wall-and-sigh grandeur. Two of the 11 songs are gorgeous instrumentals (Make a movie, here's your starter score!), strings abound and tangle like flowering vines, delicate background vocals wander in and out of frame, and there, as always, is the Kentucky bourbon dipped wonder that is Kurt Wagner's voice. He whisper walks his way through the lyric sheet; tender, adroit, bemused, self-conscious. Sinatra for the meat 'n' three set. ...Hank. This is the guy I want to sing me into the next world. Note to self: Need to make a call to his manager and set that up.

For now, I invite/harrangue you to get right with the lord of your choice and listen. Then, natch, you gotta...

PASS THAT SHIT ON!

He was sitting in an A&R guy's office at Sony Music in New York. I was brought in to say hi; wave the semi-cool flag as the Alternative guy at the company. He looked wan, sickly, too thin, but shook hands firmly and smiled. We talked. I dug him and his demo cassette. Well, the dude wasn't signed and I got fired soon enough, but his name (and his songs) stuck with me: Brendan Benson.

Brendan is a classic case of potential mostly unfulfilled in my book (more a pamphlet, really). A clutch of hit 'n' miss solo recordings, one insanely brilliant colab on the first Raconteurs album in "Steady As She Goes", and... a whole lotta just below the radar rocking.

Cut to the present and Brendan's first genuinely brilliant self-made single: "Bad For Me." It refracts early 70's Elton through a broken church window of rural Illinois power pop. Just the right amount of bright with a dash of trite. Hummable instantly, repeatable, certainly. This is clearly the first best song of twentydozen. Here is hoping the long-player, due May 1st, delivers on the promise of this four minute masterpiece.

So nice to write...

PASS THAT SHIT ON!

Here are my bests of 2011 with several wonderful albums and songs hitting my ears just as the year ended. Several of these entries could easily have gone into my 2011 top 10 lists with a bit more listening.

BEST SONGS

1. AnR - "Stay Kids"
2. Kimbra - "Cameo Lover"
3. Cascadeur - "Walker"
4. James Vincent McMorrow - "If I Had A Boat"
5. Lykke Li - "I Follow Rivers"
6. Gomez - "Song In My Heart"
7. Black Keys - "Lonely Boy"
8. Capital Cities - "Safe and Sound"
9. Melanie Laurent - "En T'Attendant"
10. Discodeine - "Synchronize (Featuring Jarvis Cocker)"

And the rest...

Barry Gibb - "Grey Ghost"
Adele - "Rolling In The Deep (Villa Remix)"
Retro Stefson - "Kimba"
The Bees - "Winter Rose"
Sweet Lights - "Related to You"
Puggy - "When You Know"
Metronomy - "She Wants"
Gruff Rhys - "Shark Ridden Waters"
The Shoes - "Stay the Same"
Chilly Gonzales - "You Can Dance"
L'Atra - "Winter Loves Summer Sun"
Bright Eyes - "Shell Games"
MEN - "Who Am I To Feel Free? (Antony Hegarty vocal version)"
Avril Lavigne - "What The Hell"
Oh Land "Son Of A Gun"
Brigette - "Ma Benz"
My Morning Jacket "Wonderful"
St. Vincent "Surgeon"
Rachael Yamagata "Saturday Morning"
Piers Faccini "Tribe"
Smith & Burrows - "As The Snowflakes Fall"
Nick Lowe - "House For Sale"
Natacha Atlas - "Riverman (310 Radio Remix)"
Tassili - "Tenere Taqqim Tossam"
Jonathan Wilson - "Canyon In The Rain"
Cass McCombs - "Wit's End"
Brooke Fraser - "Something In The Water"


BEST ALBUMS

1. Various Artists - 37th State
2. St. Vincent - Strange Mercy
3. K.D. Lang & the Siss Boom Bang - Sing It Loud
4. Buck 65 - 20 Odd Years
5. Bon Iver - Bon Iver
6. Kate Bush - 50 Words For Snow
7. Bill Frisell & Vinicus Cantuaria - Lagrimas Mexicanas
8. The Roots - undun
9. Sophie Barker - Seagull
10. Brigitte - Et Vous, Tu M'Aimes?

And the rest...

Iron & Wine - Kiss Each Other Clean
James Blake - James Blake
Bewitched Hands - Birds & Drums
Calapesce - Calapesce EP
Charles Bradley - No Time For Dreaming
Wire - Red Barked Tree
Gayngs - Relayted
J Mascis - Several Shades of Why
Selah Sue - Selah Sue 
Various Artists - Red Hot + Rio 2
Julia Stone - The Memory Machine
Wilco - The Whole Love
Pugwash - The Olympus Sound
Jean-Claude Vannier - Rose Rouge Sang
Baxter Drury - Happy Soup
Brazzaville - Jetlag Poetry
Smith & Burrows - Funny Looking Angels
Charlotte Gainsbourg - Stage Whisper

..........

And for what it's worth, these were the 2011 albums that rewarded my high (and sometimes years long) expectation with serious disappointment:

Cornershop - And the Double-O Groove of
Friendly Fires - Pala
Ron Sexsmith - Long Player Late Bloomer
Gus Gus - Arabian Horse
Keren Ann - 101
Raphael Saadiq - Stone Rolling
Beastie Boys - Hot Sauce Committee Pt. 2
Brett Anderson - Black Rainbows
Peter Bjorn & John - Gimmie Some
Little Axe - If You Want Loyalty Buy A Dog
Natacha Atlas - Ayeshteni
Ivy - All Hours

Kimbra. Yup, another brilliant popstar from down thataway. Whilst I have recently type/sung the praises of Ladi6, another New Zealand singer, it is clear to me that 21 year old Kimbra (Johnson) will be the first across the finishline of borderless stardom.

Her debut album is called Vows and it was released in NZ and Australia (Where Miss K now resides) on September 2nd. Warner Brothers signed this songstress for the world and it is likely they will devote some energy and money to the proposition that we are all equally entitled to this superfine Pop/Soul/Jazz confection.

Two singles have advanced the cause thus far. The first, "Settle Down" is a skitish, clap-driven marvel that strikes me as a distant cousin to Nellie McKay's ironiclassic "I Wanna Get Married." The second, "Cameo Lover" drops science on the shape of things to come. The song is an intricately contructed, near-perfect partical of Pop. It starts off catchy, simple and mainstream, then leaps into a Mari Wilsonesque two-part chorus that you just don't get in your average aural confection these days. From there it's another verse, then an amazing bridge that recalls early Style Council, chorus repeat and coda. There are by my count, five stand alone hooks packed into this four minute miracle. That, ladies and gents, is value.

Folks have been throwing around the names Nina Simone and Bessie Smith in reference to Miss K, but I'll call woah on that for the time being. There is definitely genre bending ambition at work here. Kimbra lists dozens of idols and influences from Frank Sinatra to Outkast, Animal Collective to Cornelius. Beyond her own work she has been known to cover Prince live and has guested on groovy tracks by Miami Horror and Gotye.

Clearly there is a lot to expect and take in from this newbie and the world needs genuinely ambitious omni-directional pop stars (Curb time for Madame GaGa). Mark your calendars. Kimbra is coming.

Here is the vid for "Cameo Lover"

And the soundcloud for album standout "Good Intent"

  Good Intent by Kimbra

Clearly, it would be wise and true to...

PASS THAT SHIT ON!