The Kids Are Alright (Children's Choir Mix)

Whether it’s Radiohead, Justice or Kanye West, lots of artists have used children’s choirs in their music and it can have the effect of sounding uplifting, cute, anthemic or just plain creepy. The Langley Schools Music Project album, Innocence & Despair showed that’s even possible to maintain the concept for an entire album and still be fascinating. Sigur Rós are the latest to use a children’s choir in their gorgeous track “Varúð” (translation: “Caution”) from their upcoming sixth LP, Valtari, and it inspired me to make a mix of some of my favorite uses of singing kids. Download below or listen to (most of) the mix at Spotify.

MP3 Radiohead – 15 Step
MP3 Gorillaz – Dirty Harry
MP3 Kanye West – We Don’t Care
MP3 The Smiths – Panic
MP3 Sigur Rós – Varúð
MP3 John Lennon – Happy Christmas (War Is Over)
MP3 Passion Pit – Little Secrets
MP3 The Wombats – Let’s Dance to Joy Division
MP3 The Decemberists – The Hazards of Love 3 (Revenge!)
MP3 Justice – D.A.N.C.E.
MP3 The Langley Schools Music Project – Space Oddity
MP3 Fun. – All Alright
MP3 Pink Floyd – Another Brick In The Wall (Part 1)
MP3 Jay-Z – Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)
MP3 Karen O and the Kids – All Is Love

Spotify Mix: The Kids Are Alright (Children’s Choir Mix)

musicforants.com's Best Songs of 2011

(photo by cubagallery)

These are 50 tracks that defined 2011 for us, presented in highly unscientific ordered list form, with Matt’s songs marked with a “-MG” and my choices with a “-TJ” next to them. To better spread the love, there’s only one song per artist. Click the links next to the track to download / listen to the song and go to our Spotify Playlist to hear them all. Enjoy y’all!

50. Austra – Beat and the Pulse MP3

The world Austra inhabits feels familiar. It’s a dark, mysterious place shrouded in shadow, but Austra makes it feel habitable. She welcomes you in where others try to keep their distance. She can be slightly more amiable than her peers, but that black edge is always there. -MG

49. Craft Spells – After The Moment MP3

I got hooked on the incredibly effervescent “After The Moment” after it made it onto Cheryse’s Spring mix. With it’s bouncy bass lines and twinkling synths, it sounds like a long-lost New Order track from the mid-80’s. -TJ

48. Washed Out – Amor Fati MP3

“Amor Fati” may be the most perfect realization of a Washed Out song yet. It has everything we have come to expect: shimmering synths, gauzy vocals, and an uplifting melody. But those familiar building blocks shape up into something that stands above anything else the band has done yet. -MG

47. Summer Camp – Better Off Without You MP3

Retromania was in full swing this year, and Summer Camp were one of the movement’s biggest enthusiasts. “Better Off Without You” is perhaps their most memorable tune yet with ebullient surf-pop instrumentation and a mesmerizing vocal performance from Elizabeth Sankey. -TJ

46. Ty Segall – Make The Sun Fury MP3

What an apt title. Segall’s music can sometimes seem like you’re seeing the world after staring into the sun; everything is overblown and out of focus. But there is an overriding sense of joy to “You Make the Sun Fry”, like it’s the kind of thing Segall can bang out in a lazy afternoon. It’s that kind of nonchalant finesse that makes the song so infectious. -MG

45. The Dodos – Don’t Stop MP3

I said: “Don’t Stop features the type of rapid-paced guitar plucking and spirited drumming that hooked me on [The Dodos] from the beginning, now interjected with twitchy electric guitar stabs and laced with their always-lovely vocal harmonies. An exceptional track from start to finish.” -TJ

44. TV on the Radio – You Y2B

If there were some kind of auditory dictionary, “You” would be the song that played for TV on the Radio’s entry. It has everything we have come to expect from a TVOTR song, but the band manages to make it sound fresh and exciting. The amazing video certainly doesn’t hurt it either. -MG

43. NewVillager – Lighthouse MP3

These art-pop kids from Brooklyn created one of the most exorbitantly catchy earworms of the year with “Lighthouse”. From the vivid orchestration to the jubilant vocals, the track is an absolute delight and did I mention how catchy it is, because HOLY FREAKING CRAP this song is catchy. -TJ

42. The Mountain Goats – High Hawk Season MP3

“High Hawk Season” can feel gimmicky at first. How many other songs in 2011 feature the North Mountain Singers as accompaniment? But using that spars arrangement, The Mountain Goats created one of the most original, affecting songs of the year. -MG

41. Moonface – Fast Peter MP3

Spencer Krug rarely releases anything short of spectacular and “Fast Peter” is no exception. The sprawling, eight-minute track is filled with dizzying organ arpeggios and addicting electronic loops and features a lush, otherworldy ending passage that gives me goosebumps every time I hear it. The track shows that Krug’s distinct, intense vocals and his vivid storytelling abilities are still in top form. -TJ

Follow the jump below to see the rest of the list!

50 Songs of 2009 (2 of 2)

Here is the much-anticipated conclusion to my top 50 songs of 2009 list (if you haven’t already, take a look at the first 25 and read the foreword/ground rules). These are my favorite 25 songs of the year. As before, there’s a link by each song where you can download/hear the song or you can get all the tracks in a handy zip file by clicking this link. Let me know your favorite songs of the year in the comments. Thanks for reading!

25. Harlem Shakes – Sunlight MP3

Harlem Shakes’ Technicolor Health is full of guitar pop gems, but this one is the most magnetic and irresistible. The bright, radiant guitar / keys combo sprinkles on top of a pulsating beat and an absurdly catchy hook. You almost need to make up a new word for this song, because “catchy” just don’t cut it in describing how freakin’ addicting the song is.

24. Passion Pit – Moth’s Wings MP3

Passion Pit have a wealth of booty-shaking dance-pop tunes, but as seen on this track they can be just as potent with emotionally-resonating power pop. I said: “Moth’s Wings shows that Passion Pit aren’t content to just be that band you hear at hipster dance parties. The song is quite ambitious, the opening melody is played on dulcimer before a huge instrumental swell with expansive synths and jubilant piano. By the end of the song you’ve got pounding drums and chorus of “la la las” filling the sonic landscape. The band pulls off anthemic pop very impressively.

23. A.C. Newman – The Heartbreak Rides Y2B

A.C. Newman puts all of his songwriting craft and pop sensibilities built up from his day job (which is being the primary songwriter of New Pornogoraphers) and delivers one of his most devastatingly beautiful songs ever with “The Heartbreak Rides”. This song slowly unveils itself utilizing a dynamic build-and-release, but once that rousing chorus hits, the song shoots towards the stratosphere and doesn’t look back. It’s a gorgeous song and one that’s infinitely rewarding.

22. Slow Club – It Doesn’t Have To Be Beautiful MP3

Slow Club’s whimsical, Southern-fried folk-pop songs are rollickin’ good-natured celebrations, played with enthusiasm and a good dose of youthful vigor. I said of the band’s first single, “It Doesn’t Have To Be Beautiful”: Charles Watson and Rebecca Taylor call-and-response vocals play off each other perfectly and the chorus of this song is one of the most infectious things I’ve heard all year. By the end of the song, the band is in full out old-fashioned hoe-down mode (complete with a choir of yelping vocals) and it’s damn-near impossible not to be caught up in the pure jubilance of their sound.

21. God Help The Girl – God Help The Girl MP3

Stuart Murdoch took a break this year from his main gig as the singer/songwriter force behind Belle & Sebastian and worked on a collection of songs for an imaginary (or possibly real) film all sung by girls that he chose from a talent contest. While in theory, this would be nothing more than a frivolous vanity project, it actually produced quite a few amazing pop songs, most notably the title track which stands among Stuart’s finest pop compositions. Catherine Ireton’s upbeat vocals are delightfully alluring, the lovestruck lyrics are funny and charming (“I’ll play his messages / Analyze his intonation / Please stop me there, I’m even boring myself”) and the soaring strings arrangement is absolutely lovely.