without anybody really asking, pitchfork once again weighed in on their top 100 tracks of 2011. and like every year, the selections alternately reflect a need to be cool and different and indie, and an immediate knee-jerk compulsion to distance themselves from those lame people who try to be cool and different and indie. and yet here i am, reading, writing about and even linking to the list. i clearly have the same love/hate relationship w/ pitchfork that they have with themselves. and who am i kidding? i bounce between beyonce and bon iver with the best of them. either way, this track topped the 2011 list. good song? of course. best song? of course not. but as a band that personifies that careful balance between indie and pop, for this list, it’s pitchfork perfect. -d

a great great sound from our boy shugo. it’s off the first of a pretty interesting series of EPs called ‘vicious circles’ being released by this canadian record label called hand drawn dracula. basically they take a couple of great bands, and get them to cover the crap out of each other. in volume 1, we get shugo tokumaru covering black moth super rainbow and holy f**k, black moth super rainbow covering holy f**k and shugo, and of course a great shugo cover by holy f**k. this track is the standout for me, but the entire effort is pretty solid. certainly worth the facebook like required to download the EP for free. i mean, f**k. -d

catchy little track off yuksek’s latest EP ‘On A Train’. it’s got warm summer night swims written all over it. well, summer night swims anyway. -d

*full length due out june 23. allegedly. his official site is mysteriously devoid of any reference to this or any other new music. hm. interesting.

from the ‘personal jesus 2011’ remix EP due out next week. full 3 disc album of depeche mode remixes due out june 7. you can’t wait. -d

new friendly fires album released yesterday. not as good as that smashing eponymous album, but still pretty near top of the UK dance game. -d

actually sort of digging the new EP in spite of myself. this is what i wanted the album to sound like. but it didn’t. take 2.

today is cinco de mayo and luce’s birthday. on the same day! it only happens once every 7 years. best to celebrate. probably with a mexican dance party featuring only songs that have the word luz in it. -d

*love these guys.

for some reason lately i’ve been in the mood for really hard hitting instrumental stuff. tho i’m not sure if i started listen to a lot of amon tobin b/c i was in the mood for that kind of music, or if listening to a lot of amon tobin put me in the mood for it. but there is something strangely compelling about his particular brand of trip-hop that makes it rise to the top of an otherwise forgettable genre. -d

haven’t seen the movie yet, but i’ll say one thing: when it comes to movie music, joe wright knows how to pick em. first person to make/find a mind-blowing chemical bros vs. dario marianelli mashup gets 1000 music points, redeemable for my admiration. -d

so rumor has it these guys made the longlist for the BBC’s Sound of 2011 lineup. they also appear to have won another big UK poll, MTV-UK’s Brand New for 2011. so they signed with Island Records and their debut is set to drop in May - but only in the UK. all pretty strange for a band based out of Nashville. and one that, honestly, isn’t that great. (they sound like kings of leon but with even less spine, if that’s possible.) and quite frankly, mr. sitek isn’t having any of it. he uses the remix to yank them out from behind their edgy indie rock facade and present them, on a stage of synths and skips, for the dopey dance popsters they really are. the result is head and shoulders above the original. take the hint, gents. -d

i have been mildly digging on this lord huron ep for a bit now, but i have to say: i think i like the remix better. -d

*it’s a free download from RCRDLBL.com

b/c man cannot live on indie pop alone. have excellent weekends. -d (thanks r.ebs)

it’s yesterday, LA marathon, somewhere in west hollywood, about mile 16 or so. with each passing minute, it somehow manages to rain harder than it did the minute before. we’re all soaked to the skin, muscles cold and cramping, and there’s a long way to go yet. the spectators are trying their best to cheer us up, but orange slices, peanut butter pretzels and vague, disintegrating signs only go so far. then, from a apartment window high above santa monica blvd, this song begins to play. well, not the remix, the original. we all look up, then at one another, and for a second everybody is smiling. it wasn’t much, but in a race as demoralizing as the monsoon marathon was at times, it was a weird moment of grace, endowed by the circumstances with all sorts of power and importance. and just one in a string of connected, utterly essential moments that carried us from mark to mark til we got where we were going. it’s stupid, but i think fewer people would have crossed the finish line without it. music. -d

just a superb day. manic, but excellent. like this song. -d

*this song is also fun b/c if you 1) use a mac, 2) use the default Mail program, and 3) use the default sound set in that program, this song will make you check for new mail every 5 seconds. i don’t know if it’s the exact same as the ‘new mail’ sound, but it’s pretty close.