Welcome to Beats Per Minute’s new weekend feature, the Top 10 Tracks of the Week. In this weekly feature we’ll compile our top 10 most viewed pieces of new music from the week preceding. These can be anything from completely new songs to live versions of new songs to new remixes of slightly older songs to covers that have just surfaced. As long as it’s new music that we’re hearing for the first time this week, it’s eligible.
The idea of this feature is two fold. On the one hand it’s an easy way to make sure you’re up to date with the week’s most talked about new music (particularly useful for those who are too busy in the week to stay up to date). On the other hand you may have already heard/seen all of these, but we feel it’s interesting to see these listed in order of views both for more transparency between us and the readers, and also so that you can get an idea of what truly is the most popular and talked about new music this week. Is the Odd Future trend still strong? Are remixes still a big deal? Oh, people still care about this old band that brought out a new song this week? You’ll be completely up to date with what’s popular if you keep coming back on a weekly basis.
So without further ado, we present the top 10 Tracks of the Week, 02/25/12
10.
Sun Kil Moon
“Sunshine In Chicago”
[Caldo Verde]
Mark Kozelek is something of an anomale. The most radical change he has made in his music over the last two decades is that of his moniker – which switched from Red House Painters to Sun Kil Moon in 2002. Even when he did an album of Modest Mouse covers he didn’t change his sound but rather brought theirs into his. But, even still, there is excitement around his new album because devoted fans of his know that he is always good at delivering exactly what they want from him: simple acoustic songs with fantastic imagery and some wry humor. Among The Leaves promises to show a more “playful” and “relaxed” side to the man, and you certainly get an idea of that with “Sunshine in Chicago.”
MP3: Sun Kil Moon – “Sunshine in Chicago”
09.
Spiritualized
“Hey Jane”
[Double Six]
I’m not sure that anyone can properly listen to anything by Spiritualized and not have an impression left on them by it. That’s why, four years on from Songs in A&E, people are still feverish for anything new from them. The fact that the album has been delayed by a month is a pain, but on the other hand we get to hear this gigantic nine minute track, which makes it alright. Wait, actually it doesn’t, we just want to hear the album even more badly now…
08.
Ryan Adams
“Holy Diver” (Dio Cover)
[Live Performance]
Last week we were lucky enough to see Ryan Adams live at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in LA. For his single-song encore Ryan Adams decided to cover Dio’s “Holy Diver,” and fortunately someone flagrantly disregarded the no cameras policy to capture the moment. This song probably attracted a lot of people because everyone has a soft spot for the original of this song and in Dio’s absence who better to perform it than the extremely talented, metal-loving goof-off that is Ryan Adams?
Original post (watch the video here)
07.
Princeton
“Remembrance of Things to Come” (Camera Obscura Remix)
[Hit City U.S.A.]
This week we had the pleasure of both interviewing Princeton and premiering this fantastic remix of the title track from their new album. It’s probably the fact that this has Camera Obscura’s name attached to it that has attracted most people, since we’re all pining for anything new whatsoever from the Scottish band. But, hopefully people have been turned onto Princeton too in listening to this. The remix does everything a good remix should do – almost entirely overhauls the song, but leaving it with a tangible connection to the original. Camera Obscura’s take on this song turns it into another beast entirely, almost like the soft spoken, quiet but more interesting brother of the original.
Original post | Princeton Interview | Album Review: Princeton – Remembrance of Things to Come
06.
Robin Pecknold
“Olivia, In A Separate Bed”
[Live and self-released]
At this point everyone and their mother has heard of Fleet Foxes, and the vast majority absolutely love them. So when we hear that singer Robin Pecknold has a new song, and this time it’s about something we can tangibly relate to – the breakup with his girlfriend – then we’re certainly interested to check it out. The result is perhaps the greatest evidence yet that Pecknold is one of the most talented young songwriters in the world. Even without the instrumentation or harmonies from his band, Pecknold carries the song with magnificent vocals and deeply honest lyrical content. Whether the final recording of this ends up a Fleet Foxes song or a Pecknold solo joint, we hope it doesn’t lose the intimacy of this performance.
