Merry Christmau5

In the season of giving, nothing is better than getting free mp3s to replace any of those old Christmas tunes that get overplayed to death.
Gorillaz are releasing a Christmas album for free on the 25th.
Kanye, Beach House, Coldplay, Mayer Hawthorne and Los Campesinos! all did tracks as well.

deadmau5 agreed 'tis the season and provided this new trancey monster called "Limit Break."
In typical prog-house fashion he infiltrates the synapses and raises the tension throughout but never quite releases it, making for a good filler in a DJ set and an interesting look at a style he has moved away from in recent material.

[Download: deadmau5 - Limit Break]

Bonus Christmas magic from Sufjy:
"Christmas In The Room"
[Download - Sufjan Stevens - Christmas In The Room]

My Top 10 of 2k10

Photo: Karmabum

Top 10. Top 10 LPs & EPs of 2010. There was plenty of good music this year, much more out there than the 10 posted here, but these are my top 10 favorite LPs & EPs of 2010. We saw the ebb and flow of Chillwave [link]. Nostalgia hit it's peak then stayed up there and I don't see it dying in 2011 [link].

This was my first year I really followed music, seeking out that new 'relevant' tune of the week. I went to so many concerts and festivals this year (like <30). Saw some truly moving shows[The xx] and some annoying ones [MGMT]. This year I really fell in love with new music and I could name the new/hip trend in music for any month. Without further ado, here are the LPs & EPs that I felt a real/emotional connection with and can't ever see myself from stop listening to or enjoying!

Covered in Nostalgia: Gold Panda's Debut, 'Lucky Shiner'

It's that feeling when you first walk outside and feel the fresh fall air breezes across your face. When you think of home. When you get in your car and play that old '90s song that you used to hear in the van on the way to swim practice… The subject of nostalgia has been a hit all year, it's all over Vampire Weekend's second LP, it's even where they got the name for it: Contra -- an old video game the band used to play. James Blake's CMKY is built off of 90s R&B sampling, and he doesn't even try to hide it. It's right there in our face, it's what his songs are built by. Kanye West's first single off his upcoming album, "Power", the Chi-town rapper, samples from King Crimson's "21st Century Schiziod Man." And again, he's not trying to hide it. The Texas-based blog, Gorilla vs Bear's web design is from old Polaroid pictures. Our obsession with nostalgia is us trying to capture the past. It's so relevant in music because music is struggling to find a new path. There are hundreds of genres as opposed to 60 years ago when you could could count the amount of genres with your hands and still have enough fingers to snap to the very new rock 'n' roll sound.

Now the debut from the British electronic producer, Gold Panda, is covered with it. The album's opening track "You" begins with the sound of putting a cassette in a vintage tape player over the quiet atmospheric synth beats no doubt sampled from a once beloved 80's electronic track. He repeats a sample of any beat over and over again throughout the album. This is especially prevalent in "Vanilla Minus," "Same Dream China" and "Snow & Taxes" where you can just picture the producer playing his AkaiMPC2000XL like Chris Martin playing the same rift for "Clocks." In an interview with Pitchfork, Gold Panda said this about sampling songs, "If I'm ripping off something that's already brilliant, what's the point?" Sampling is the nostalgic feeling in music. It's old, but there's something fresh about it. Here the feeling reminds you of a quiet night. Nothing new. Nothing special.

The night's darkness surrounds everyone. Gold Panda's music is surrounding. The music feels like it's made in a bedroom. It's the 'bedroom beat' genre, the autumn/winter version of 'chillwave.' With Nighttime sounds of planes flying above while you're trying to sleep. The beat, however, keeps you up and moving, asking for more. The beat is on repeat. Over and over. Spinning it's ambiance of night. "I'm With you but I'm Lonely" is exactly what it says. The music is there, echoing, but there's something missing. The album has this sense of loneliness around it. A sense of your daily routines, what you do every night before bed. You brush your teeth. Wash your face. Read a few pages of that book you can't really get it into. Lay in bed. Watch the fan circle over and over again. You feel lonely. The album hits it's high point with this statement.

The track, "Parents" seems to stand out. It's sound resembles a live recording of any acoustic guitar set. It's a universal sound. The track's opening words, (the only words you can ((barely)) make out in the album) is that of the producer's grandmother after whom Lucky Shiner is named. Nostalgic for the British producer. Nostalgic acoustic reverb for the listener.

The opening track, "You' has the same name as the closing track although the sound is different. It's much happier. It's processes an engulfing rhythm. As if 'you' have changed, for the better or worse, it's hard to say. The sun will rise bringing a new day either way.

Fucking Crushing It. A Rhodes Music Story.

I'm the newest writer on the HNW team. Fucking deal with it. I'm crushing it. I go by Rhodes. Only because that's my middle name and I'm already not playing by the 'rules'. [via rules RLLY contain my creativity, like bars do when you're in jail]
Back 2 Basics. I'm a college student majoring in the arts. I listen to music a solid 16 hours a day. I'll cut STRGHT to the good stuff: Top 5 favorite albums by artist who are still writing good music: 1) Animal Collective 'Feels' 2) Animal Collective 'Strawberry Jam' 3) Animal Collective 'Merriweather Post Pavilion' 4) Animal Collective 'Sung Tungs' and 5) Panda Bear 'Person Pitch'. I kidd. But I am a huge 'AnCo' fan. Hands down best band around today, and it's scary how close you can compare them to The Beatles. Also, side note, really looking forward to the new Avey Tare album.
In all reality we're all fans of the Radioheads and we live in a Radiohead-ruled world. ((If you don't believe me just wait for them to drop their next LP, they'll change the music world yet again.)) And Daft Punk of course… [via didn't want 2 break 2many rules on my first post/throwing Daft Punk in here will always win some votes w/the readers].
Right now I'm still riding the 'chillwaves' provided by the 'chill-trio' of Washed Out, Toro y Moi, and Neon Indian. But I'm also getting into the 'bedroom beats' of 2k10 with Gold Panda, Beat Connection, and maybe Small Black. It'll be interesting to see how this Brooklyn-based band fare on their debut LP 'New Chain' out 10/26.
Alright heres what you want:

My Top 5 Singles of 2k10 (So Far):
5) 'You and I' Washed Out (feat. Caroline Polachek)
4) 'Marathon' Tennis
3) 'Slow Motion' Panda Bear
2) 'Monster' Kanye West (feat. Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Bon Iver & Nicki Minaj)
1) 'Runaway' Kanye West (feat. Pusha T)

My 'Top 10' albums (LP or EP) of 2k10 (So Far):
Honorable Mention:
- Matthew Dear 'Black City'
- MGMT 'Congratulations'
- Black Keys 'Brothers'
- The Radio Dept. 'Clinging to a Scheme'
10) Liars 'Sisterworld'
9) Titus Andronicus 'The Monitor'
8) Sleigh Bells 'Treats'
7) Vampire Weekend 'Contra'
6) Gold Panda 'Lucky Shiner'
5) Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti 'Before Today'
4) Sufjan Stevens 'The Age of Adz'
3) LCD Soundsystem 'This is Happening'
2) James Blake 'CMKY - EP'
1) Beat Connection 'Surf Noir - EP'

///////Thanks 4 Reading