Special thanks to the FoCoMA and the Ramskeller!

KCSU will be featuring many of these bands in-studio this week for live performances and interviews. Exact times will be announced on KCSU’s Facebook fan page. The list of bands and days will go as follows:

Tuesday April 6^th: Jon Snodgrass performance - 4:00 p.m.

Wednesday April 7^th: Common Anomaly - 2:00 p.m.

Pep Squad interview - 4:00 p.m.

Thursday April 8^th: John Magnie - 11:00 a.m.

Danielle Ate the Sandwich - 2:00 p.m.

Oldtown lowdown - 4:00 p.m.

Dovekins - 7:00 p.m.

Saturday April 10^th: Motorhome - 11:00 a.m.

*All times subject to change

For more information about FoCoMX visit: www.focomx.org.

For more information about KCSU or to listen to these amazing performances and interviews visit: http://www.kcsufm.com

http://qtrial.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_838yxCVK5a5eYVm&SVID=Prod

10. Vampire Weekend - Contra

9. Los Campesinos! - Romance Is Boring

8. Animal Kingdom - Signs And Wonders

7. Editors - In This Light And On This Evening

6. Postdata - Postdata

5. Owen Pallett - Heartland

4. Album Leaf - A Chorus Of Storytellers

3. Beach House - Teen Dream

2. Oh No Ono - Eggs

1. Surfer Blood - Astro Coast

10. Owen Pallett (Final Fantasy) - Heartland

9. K-OS - Yes!

8. Tom Waits - Glitter And Doom Live

7. Editors - In This Light And On This Evening

6. Raekwon - Only Built

5. Oh No Ono - Eggs

4. Animal Collective - Fall Be Kind EP

3. Cold Cave - Love Comes Close

2. Vampire Weekend - Contra

1. Real Estate - Real Estate

Friday, January 22, 2010. KCSU Presents: Epilogues/Photo Atlas CD release show w/Common Anomaly! $5, 9PM, 21+

10. Taylor Hollingsworth - Life With A Slow Ear

9. Seven Saturdays - Seven Saturdays

8. Cfcf - Continent

7. Head For The Hills - Head For The Hills

6. Computer Perfection - Wish You Well On Your Way To Hell

5. Editors - In This and On This Evening

4. The Epilogues - The Friendship EP (split w/The Photo Atlas)

3. Real Estate - Real Estate

2. Cold Cave - Loves Come Close

1. Animal Collective - Fall Be Kind

We look forward to next season, go Rams!

This list was compiled by Erik Myers and Trent Wahlfeldt with the help of Stephanie Sullivan, Nate Prewitt, Dylan Wray and some members of the KCSU staff.

25. Sunn O))) - Monoliths and Dimensions

When the earth finally cracks open, we’re wagering the deep churning drone of Sunn O))) is belting from within. Failing that, at least something similar. Monoliths & Dimensions is unlike anything you’ve ever heard (not counting the Seattle duo’s previous six full-lengths), a swell of bottom-rung chords extended and arranged with a calculated precision. Beginners beware; this is not an album for entry-level “alts.” But if you’re up for the challenge, buy the album, equip yourself with some supreme noise-canceling headphones, kill the lights and have at it. Enjoy the flight.

24. La Roux - Self Titled

This duo emerged from UK’s pop undergound scene during 2009 with their debut self-titled album. The hard synth playing and the smooth female voice blends together to make a swirly, angsty beat. Songs only contain the surface of how deep this singer’s words are for her emotions.

23. Speakeasy Tiger - The Public

Speakeasy Tiger’s debut album titled The Public is one of the best releases to come out of Colorado in 2009. With several tracks that prove to be worthy of single-status, The Public is sure to gain the attention of listeners. Denver has been waiting for a band like this.

22. Mew - No More Stories/ Are Told Today/ I’m Sorry/ They Washed Away

Alternative rock has recently gotten somewhat of a bad reputation in today’s college radio world. Mew put this bad reputation to rest. The 5th studio album put out by Mew is arguably their best yet and proves that the Danish band is still producing quality work.

21. Bibio - Ambivalence Avenue

Ambivalence Avenue is an album that finds itself dealing with identity issues - in a good way. Hints of hip hop, funk, acoustics, and some sampling puts Bibio in a very rare category of authenticity. “Sugarette”, “Fire Ant”, and “Lovers’ Carvings” are a few standout singles.

20. Metric - Fantasies

Metric’s newest album showcases the best of what they have to offer. “Help I’m Alive” and “Gold Guns Girls” let the band spread their wings and play catchy and yet dark songs. With being whored in the movie Zombieland, Metric is getting so much love it’s hard to bare it.

19. Neon Indian - Psychic Chasms

Stocked with penny synths and “good vibrations,” the debut album of Austin-based Neon Indian not only evokes the timeless ease of teenage summers (“Deadbeat Summer”, “Should Have Taken Acid With You”), but the inevitable comedown as well (“6669 (I don’t know if you know)”). And this review wouldn’t be complete without a mention of the irresistible “Laughing Gas”, a dazzling dance track made addictive by its brevity. On a final note, KCSU Music Office taste-ti-neers recently determined that “chillwave” is a better genre title than “glo-fi.” This is not a topic open to debate.

18. Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca

Is Dave Longstreth the very best Williamsburg had to offer this year? Or is he just a douche? (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/07/arts/music/07sisa.html?_r=3&pagewanted=1)

The answer to both is no. Another gang of Williamsburgers beat him out this year (see #5), and while setting himself next to John Coltrane and Richard Wagner is fairly douchey, Bitte Orca makes for a convincing soapbox. The tracks of his group’s second full-length sound composed with a precision typically reserved for building impossible bottles, but nowhere here do we find ourselves wishing we had something more productive to do. “Cannibal Resource” ripples and purrs, “Useful Chamber” ascends into orchestrated explosion, “No Intention” playfully scratches and “Stillness Is the Move” prompts sing-alongs.

17. Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Self Titled

Shoegaze and dream pop can’t be mixed together much better than in this self-titled album. Pains of Being Pure at Heart was released in February of 2009 and followed by the “Higher Than the Stars” EP in September. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart have everything going right for them.

16. Royksopp - Junior

Royksopp has been building a name for themselves since forming in 2001. They didn’t go wrong their third album Junior. With only being a production duo, making an album can be a difficult task, luckily the synthpop prevailed. They proved to be that downtempo dance music can still get people moving.

15. Health - Get Color

In a recent interview with untitled magazine, HEALTH frontman Jake Duzsik put it plainly: “Noise is the new punk.” No arguing that. The Los Angeles foursome’s second studio album is loud, relentless and, in many ways, unsettling. The wretched buzzsaw guitar of “Eat Flesh” vibrates the ethos of an abrupt robot uprising, suggesting though a far crueler scenario than anything James Cameron could ever dream up. GET COLOR is at its best when the singer has his breathing room; nothing this year, for example, quite matches the creepiness of “Die Slow”, in which Duzsik inquires with a sinister softness: “If you market yourself for blood, how do you come back?”

14. Pictureplane - Dark Rift

Denver’s own Travis Egedy proves that postmodernity is here. Dark Rift mixes old songs together but puts a new twist on them that is hard ignore. This is a perfect album to get any dance party going, from beginning to end. “Dark Rift” proves to be one of the best albums of 2009.

13. Ramona Falls - Intuit

Ramona Falls is one of those bands that is difficult to put into just one category. There are hints of indie rock with an experimental warp. Ramona Falls proves that they are very deserving of praise. Intuit constantly changes leaving the listener unsure about what is coming next; and the music video for “I Say Fever” is one of the best of the year.

Romona Falls - I Say Fever Video

12. Cass Mccombs - Catacombs

Cass McCombs is a perfect example of what folk has developed into. Catacombs is a trip through the often depressed mind of McCombs, but remains to keep the listener enticed throughout the album. The California born singer/songwriter features Academy Award-nominated actress Karen Black on the album’s first track titled “Dreams-Come-True-Girl.”

11. Fuck Buttons - Tarot Sport

Any long-time, every-day listener of KCSU would notice an uptick of techno and electronica in the primetime rotation since the beginning of this semester. Credit that to the tireless efforts of RPM director Stephanie Sullivan, but be aware too of a new movement in all genres of music towards a ground rule of both genres: repetition. Plenty of the albums on our list tend towards this dynamic (including #1), but no one does it quite like British duo Fuck Buttons. Tarot Sport could awaken you to the wonder of sounds capable of driving small animals insane. Fuck Buttons were the grand marshals of the year’s Repeat-Beat parade, and “The Lisbon Maru” was their grand anthem, the drum lines pounding in perfect unison.

10. Phoenix -  Wolfgang Amadeus

“1901″ is probably the best single of the year in some critic’s eyes. But what about the rest of the album? Phoenix struck gold with their 4th full length, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. This album is 36 minutes of gut-wrenching pop with songs that get stuck in the head for days.

9. Candy Claws - In The Dream Of The Sea Life

Listening to Candy Claws is like jumping off a Caribbean cruse into crystal clear water that soothes your ears, and eases your mind. The three piece band from Fort Collins wanted In the Dream of the Sea Life to emulate the dreamy oceans of Rachel Carson’s oceanographic bestseller The Sea Around Us. It is rumored that Candy Claw’s next album project is to attempt to emulate the sounds of the forest.

8. Mos Def - The Ecstatic

Like an aged Texas Ranger left for dead UNDER (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQkyi1_l6po) an unforgiving desert, Mos Def reemerged in stunning fashion with The Ecstatic, kicking more ass than anyone thought possible. The Brooklyn rapper-actor’s fifth full-length wasn’t just the best hip-hop album of the year, it was a comeback for the ages. Granted, much of his production was exported material; the bread-and-butter beat of “Supermagic” is actually Oh No’s “Heavy”. But Def’s rhythmic consistency quieted the complaints of all but the most finicky of hip-hop elitists.

7. Matt & Kim - Grand

No, it’s not very “indie” to position this album so high on our list, considering “Daylight” has surpassed three million YouTube views. We realize that, but we don’t care. Hell, maybe it’s even more “indie” to defy expectations and go with some of the most obvious ear candy to come through the station this year, pervasive pop with an unusual focus on the drum beat. “Daylight” is quite worthy of the attention, but “Lessons Learned” and “Good Ol’ Fashion Nightmare”, with their earnest punk underscore, deserve to break the million view mark.

6. Passion Pit - Manners

Passion Pit is owner of one of the best success stories of any group in 2009. With the promising release of the Chunk of Change EP in 2008, Passion Pit followed it up with outstanding Manners in May. “Sleepyhead” is one of those timeless tracks and “The Reeling” is sure to gain fans. Passion Pit will have high expectations for them in the future.

5. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest

Whereas their fellow Brooklyners Dirty Projectors provided the summer soundtrack for fixed-gear riding, Grizzly Bear’s Veckatimest is better geared for summer strolls. Less enthusiastic than Bitte Orca but far more resounding, Veckatimest was awash in huge captivating melodies of all different blends, light (“About Face”) and dark (“Cheerleader”) and light-dark (“Ready, Able”). While the album tended a bit more toward a glass-half-empty attitude, it’s moments of warmth are unforgettable. We guar-run-tee that having “Two Weeks” played during the slideshow at your funereal will have mourners convinced of a bright and meaningful life.

4. Japandroids - Post-Nothing

Over the last year, there have been very few albums that have been as raw and powerful as Post-Nothing. Guitarist Brian King and drummer David Prowse make up the 2-peice from Vancouver. Post-Nothing is proof that garage rock is still relevant in today’s music world.

3. The XX - XX

Not very often is a band’s debut album as polished as The XX’s self titled record. The XX, who released their debut in August, formed in London in 2005 as four bright eyed 20-year-olds. Their “chillwave” (see no. 19) sound brings ghostly effects and pop hooks together flawlessly. The album went No. 1 on KCSU for two weeks.

2. Antlers - Hospice

The story of Hospice centers around experiences and broad ranging emotions people face while attending hospitals or hospices. The musical journey of the album will take you through experiences of sickness, frailty, morality, guilt, and hope in the face of oncoming death. Needless to say, there is no humor or warmth to be found here. However the dreamy ambient music combined with Hospice’s hastened and emotionally driven lyrics hits home for anyone that can say that they have waited on a loved one in a hospital.

1. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion

Is the choice too obvious? Not really. In fact, most “Top Of 2009” lists thus far have neglected to put Animal Collective’s crowning achievement at the top of their lists. We’re surprised that the one album everyone was proclaiming to be 2009’s best in the early weeks of January have now all but rescinded their statements, figuring putting AnCo at number one is just too easy.

Not us; we cannot dismiss Merriweather Post Pavilion to ranking besides numero uno, simply because it is the likely zenith for a band responsible for defining the sounds of a post-millennial generation, the curious, teeming lot we are. MPP is lush (“Bluish”) and huge (“My Girls”) and bizarre (“Lion In A Coma”) and wonderful (“Summertime Clothes”) and so on (“Taste”) and so forth (“Brothersport”). It’s been said that no one over the age of 25 likes AnCo, so let that be reason enough for us to proclaim them as the new generation’s sonic saviors, bringing forth sounds never heard before (please, drop the Beach Boys comparisons, its getting tired.)

Finally, consider one particular interpretation of MPP offered up by a KCSU hero: the enigmatic Carles, of Hipster Runoff fame, via instant messenger to Rob Havilla of The Village Voice: They sing about family values and their kids, but I just don’t see why that is so “identifiable” to who I would generalize as their target market. But maybe that’s “what we all want inside,” and they have tapped into something that we don’t even “realize is inside of us.”

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