Sounds of 2011 features many of the top songs and artists we’ve written about this year. We can never fit in all the ones we would have liked to, but Crimson and I took on the daunting task of summarizing a year of exceptional music and discovery. Keep yapping at us on Facebook and Twitter if you like what you hear.



Alexander O’Neal Interview
Joe Goddard feat. Valentina – Gabriel
2562 – Winamp Melodrama
Zomby – Natalia’s Song
LOL Boys – Touch Them
Siriusmo – Lass Den Vogel Frei
Young Montana feat. Stainless Steel – Suchbeats
Bullion – Too Right
Letherette – In July Focus
Lone – Orange Tree
Nicolas Jaar – Almost Fell
Five Star Interview
Mount Kimbie – Carbonated
Oriol – Flux
Azealia Banks – 212
Change – You’re My Number One
Prince - Erotic City
Pebbles – Girlfriend
Letherette – Langsette
Ian Pooley – Bony Batucada
Jensen Sportag – Mapquest
Siriusmo – Cuba
ZZT – Lower State of Consciousness (Justice Remix)
Siriusmo – Synthie
Chromeo – Ah Oui Comme Ca
Instant Funk – Slap Slap Lickedy Lap
Carrie Lucas – Show Me Where You’re Coming From
Letherette – No Point
Alan Braxe & Fred Falke – Intro
Detroit Grand Pubahs – Sandwiches
Daft Punk – Technologic
Shalamar – Make That Move
Tepr – Too Too Too
Jamie XX – Far Nearer
Seams – Focus Energy
Gentle Giant – I Lost My Head

Giraffage is Charlie Yin, a 21 year old multi-instrumentalist from San Francisco who produces lush electronic music. Comfort, his stunning debut LP, was released a little over three weeks ago, and has been widely acclaimed the world over. I asked him to throw together anything he’d like for this Substitute Teachers, and he presented us with a sublimely chromatic collection of his contemporaries.



Mount Kimbie – Maybes
NIVA – Dirty Water (Dreams Remix)
Clams Casino – All I Need
Slow Magic – Moon
Coyote Clean Up – AUTUMN WEEKEND NITES
Teams – Lxv Spxll
Giraffage – Moments
Galapagos – Girly

The Branches is an amalgamation of genres, impeccably crafted with crisp polyrhythms and deep progressions that can shift from classical to jazz to deep bass within the same piece of music. Long Arm is the only Russian I know of making music quite like this, and The Branches is a start-to-finish breather that pushes the boundaries of what electronic music can be. Tracks like The Waterfall Inside Me and Dummy showcase this diverse, forward thinking ability, and should strike a chord with anyone who’s into Daedelus, Kuhn, or Mount Kimbie. You’ve got to purchase this record wherever you can find it.

Damu slid slowly onto my radar in the past few weeks. First a tweet, then an XLR8R podcast and before I knew it, I had his debut album Unity on repeat. It starts off with a few mellow bass tracks, only to unexpectedly evolve into some lighthearted tropical-inspired jams. I initially described his sound as Girl Unit meets SBTRKT, but after multiple listens there are also some Mount Kimbie-esque chopped vocal samples as well. The fact that it’s hard to put Damu completely into one box is what I truly love about this album, there are new things to discover with each listen. You can grab the entire album here for $8.99.

8tracks informed us that they will soon be releasing their Android application, and asked us to make a mix in anticipation of that. This was actually my first time using 8tracks (it was ridiculously easy), and I pulled together some of the things I’ve been listening to lately. Some are new, some are old, but I think they all accurately reflect the past month as well as the impending doom that is winter. Hopefully you’ll enjoy it. Tracklist below.

Tracklist:

Made in Heights – “Holla Mears”
SBTRKT – “Sanctuary”
Joe Goddard – “Gabriel” feat. Valentina
Salva – “Obsession” feat. B. Bravo
EVM128 – “The Slow Jam”
Mount Kimbie – “Carbonated”
Two Inch Punch – “LuvLuv”
Little Dragon – “Feather”
DJ Shadow – “Sad and Lonely”
Friends – “I’m His Girl”

Tyrone Lebon‘s work has been everywhere this year, and it’s great to see him return to Mount Kimbie with their video for Carbonated. I love hearing the slow build coalesce into pitch shifted drums when the chopped vocals kick in, and Lebon does a fantastic job of complementing their sound with a chromatic aesthetic. Anyone who thinks post dub is just James Blake needs to check out to their soundcloud.

Mount Kimbie – Carbonated