Metacritic Best New Albums (update 22/3/2011)

This playlist is based on albums scores found on the aggregator Metacritic, a website that "distills the opinions of the most respected critics writing online and in print to a single number". The playlist features all albums that, in the latest 90 days, got a minimum critics score of 70. After three months, as they disappear from Metacritic main page, the albums will disappear from the main playlist, too; anyway, they will be saved in the archive playlist (see below). 

New albums by Keren Ann, Nicole Atkins, The Caribbean, Duran Duran and The Strokes are amongst the varied new entries this week on Metacritic. Enjoy!

METACRITIC BEST NEW ALBUMS
Source: Metacritic
Albums available on Spotify: 114 out of 147 (77,55%)

New entries are in bold.

Broken Records - Let Me Come Home (metacritic score: 71)
Bardo Pond - Bardo Pond (71)
Kudos - Surf City (75)
Joe Lovano Us Five - Bird Songs (86)
Showroom of Compassion - Cake (73)
Wire - Red Barked Tree (77)
Cage The Elephant - Thank You, Happy Birthday (76)
British Sea Power - Valhalla Dancehall (70)
Aurelio - Laru Beya (81)
Aethenor - En Form For Bla (76)
Fergus & Geronimo - Unlearn (71)
Disappears - Guider (79)
White Fence - Is Growing Faith (78)
Pearl Jam - Live On Ten Legs (71)
Tennis - Cape Dory (79)
Social Distortion - Hard Times & Nursery Rhymes (71)
Smith Westerns - Dye It Blonde (83)
Shilpa Ray & Her Happy Hookers - Teenage and Torture (79)
The Greg Allman Band - Low Country Blues (80)
Braids - Native Speaker (76)
The Decemberists - The King Is Dead (77)
William Tyler - Behold the Spirit (84)
LCD Soundsystem - The London Sessions (81)
Thank You - Golden Worry (71)
Willie Wright - Telling the Truth (79)
Say Hi - Um, Uh Oh (75)
John Renbourn - Palermo Snow (74)
The Radio Dept. - Passive Aggressive: Singles 2002-2010 (84)
Tony Cook - Back To Reality (74)
Charles Bradley - No Time For Dreaming (77)
Lori McKenna - Lorraine (70)
My Disco - Little Joy (72)
Apex Manor - The Year of Magical Drinking (77)
Lia Ices - Grown Unknown (74)
Sic Alps - Napa Asylum(73)
Sid Tourè & Friends - Sahel Folk (78)
Corinne Bailey Rae - The Love EP (77)
Delicate Steve - Wondervisions (84)
John Vanderslice - White Wilderness (74)
Minks - By the Hedge (75)
Talib Kweli - Gutter Rainbows (72)
The Ex - Catch My Shoe (72)
Gang of Four - Content (72)
Destroyer - Kaputt (84)
Cloud Nothings - Cloud Nothings (74)
Iron & Wine - Kiss Each Other Clean (79)
Fujiya & Miyagi - Ventriloquizzing (70)
Deerhoof - Deerhoof vs. Evil (77)
Nicolas Jaar - Space Is Only Noise (88)
Hannah Peel - The Broken Wave (78)
Demdike Stare - Tryptych (88)
Jonny - Jonny (72)
Seefeel - Seefeel (71)
The Hot Club of Cowtown - What Makes Bob Holler (81)
Mind Spiders - The Mind Spiders (70)
Faust - Something Dirty (71)
Amanda Palmer - Amanda Palmer Goes Down Under (77)
David Lowery - The Palace Guards (73)
Spokes - Everyone I Ever Met (74)
Todd Snider - Live: The Storyteller (85)
Ricky Martin - Musica + Alma + Sexo (72)
The Dirtbombs - Party Store (77)
George Michael - Faith (Special Edition) (90)
The Go! Team - Rolling Blackouts (74)
Ghostpoet - Peanut Butter Blues and Melancholy Jam (78)
The Streets - Computers & Blues (70)
Crowbar - Sever the Wicked Hand (76)
Kurt Elling - The Gate (74)
Akron/Family - S/T II: The Cosmic Birth and Journey of Shinju TNT (80)
Gruff Rhys - Hotel Shampoo (74)
Jessica Lea Mayfield - Tell Me (74)
Cut Copy - Zonoscope (74)
Nicole Atkins - Mondo Amore (70)
... And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead - Tao of the Dead (74)
The Babies - The Babies (70)
Sims - Bad Time Zoo (79)
Tristen - Charlatans at the Garden Gate (81)
The Skull Defekts - Peer Amid (73)
Shugo Tokumaru - Port Entropy (72)
East River Pipes - We Live In Rented Rooms (76)
Young Galaxy - Shapeshifting (77)
Tim Hecker - Ravedeath, 1972 (88)
Telekinesis - 12 Desperate Straight Lines (71)
Hayes Carll - Kmag Yoyo (& Other American Stories) (79)
Saigon - The Greatest Story Never Told (88)
The Twilight Singers - Dynamite Steps (72)
Sonic Youth - Simon Werner a Disparu (74)
Drive-By Truckers - Go-Go Boots (79)
Beans - End It All (70)
Bright Eyes - The People's Key (70)
Yuck - Yuck (80)
PJ Harvey - Let England Shake (88)
Mogwai - Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will (78)
June Tabor - Ashore (73)
Michael Chapman - Fully Qualified Survivor (92)
The Caribbean - Discontinued Perfume (71)
The Luyas - Too Beautiful To Work (70)
Johnny Cash - Bootleg vol.2, From Memphis To Hollywood (76)
Brad Mehldau - Live in Marciac (80)
DevilDriver - Beast (81)
Darkest Hour - The Human Romance (74)
King Creosote - Thrawn (78)
The Psychic Paramount - II (83)
The Builders and the Butchers - Dead Reckoning (79)
Danielson - The Best of Gloucenter County (71)
Malachai - Return to the Ugly Side (80)
The Low Anthem - Smart Flesh (78)
Bayside - Killing Time (85)
Julianna Barwick - The Magic Place (81)
Toro Y Moi - Underneath the Pine (80)
Six Organs of Admittance - Asleep on the Floodplain (77)
Gil Scott-Heron & Jamie xx - We're New Here (83)
Earth - Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light, vol.1 (82)
Adele - 21 (76)
Stateless - Matilda (71)
Middle Brother - Middle Brother (78)
Dum Dum Girls - He Gets Me High (82)
Buddy Miller - The Majestic Silver Strings (70)
The Baseball Project - Baseball Project vol.2: High and Inside (78)
Papercuts - Fading Parade (70)
Lucinda Williams - Blessed (79)
The Rural Alberta Advantage - Departing (75)
Lykke Li - Wounded Rhymes (83)
Eisley - The Valley (76)
Dropkick Murphys - Going Out In Style (82)
Devotchka - 100 Lovers (75)
Anna Calvi - Anna Calvi (80)
Starfucker - Reptilians (77)
Vijay Iyer - Tirtha (81)
Wires Under Tension - Light Science (71)
Ringo Deathstarr - Colour Trip (70)
Rival Schools - Pedals (78)
Elbow - Build a Rocket Boys! (82)
Wye Oak - Civilian (80)
Kurt Vile - Smoke Ring For My Halo (82)
R.E.M. - Collapse Into Now (73)
Raekwon - Shaolin vs. Wu-Tang (73)
Parts & Labor - Constant Future (78)
Sara Evans - Stronger (72)
The Unthanks - Last (81)
Trap Them - Darker Handcraft (75)
The Naked and Famous - Passive Me Aggressive You (73)
Black Joe Lewis - Scandalous (83)
Eleventh Dream Day - Riot Now (70)
Funeral for a Friend - Welcome Home Armageddon (78)
Screeching Weasel - First World Manifesto (81)
The Dodos - No Color (81)
Rise Against - Endgame (77)
J Mascis - Several Shades of Why (78)
The Death Set - Michel Poiccard (74)
Cornershop - Cornershop & The Double-O Groove Of (79)
Travis Barker - Give The Drummer Some (70)
Caitlin Rose - Own Side Now (75)
The Joy Formidable - The Big Roar (78)
Eulogies - Tear the Fences Down (74)
Protest the Hero - Scurrilous (77)
Yellowcard - When You're Through Thinking, Say Yes (76)
Pharoahe Monch - W.A.R. (We Are Renegades) (79)
Keren Ann - 101 (73)
Jennifer Hudson - I Remember Me (74)
Gucci Mane - The Return of Mr.Zone 6 (70)
Egyptrixx - Bible Eyes (81)
Acid House Kings - Music Sounds Better With You (81)
The Strokes - Angles (71)
James Blake - James Blake (81)
Duran Duran - All You Need Is Now (75)
Edwyn Collins - Losing Sleep (81)

Listen to it on Spotify (latest 90 days albums):
Mammoth (full albums): HTTP, URI. (SR0539)
Lite (3 tracks each album): HTTP, URI. (SR0540)

The Archive (all 2011 albums)
Mammoth (full albums): HTTP, URI. (SR0541)
Lite (3 tracks each album): HTTP, URI. (SR0542)

BBC6 Music Playlist (week 13, commencing 26/3/2011)

Yuck: smartphone camera guys

Strokes, TV On The Radio, Yuck and Young Knives are amongst the most interesting new entries of this end-of-march BBC6 playlist. Enjoy and have a great week!

BBC 6 Music Playlist
Source: BBC6 Music
Songs available on Spotify: 26 out of 30 (86,66%)

British Sea Power - Who's In Control?
Elbow - Open Arms
Foo Fighters - Rope
Grinderman - Palaces of Montezuma
The Jim Jones Revue - Dishonest John
The Kills - Satellite
Radiohead - Tracks from The King of Limbs
Strokes - Machu Picchu
TV On The Radio - Will Do
The Vaccines - If You Wanna
Anna Calvi - Blackout
Cold War Kids - Finally Begins
Cut Copy - Need You Now
Everything Everything - Final Form
Gorillaz - Revolving Doors
Guillemots - The Basket
PJ Harvey - The Glorious Land
Joan As Police Woman - Nervous
Mazes - Most Days
Metronomy - The Look
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Belong
Alex Turner - Tracks from Submarine EP
Warpaint - Warpaint
Young Knives - Love My Name
Yuck - Get Away
Admiral Fallow - Squealing Pigs
Fight Like Apes - Jenny Kelly
The Low Anthem - Boeing 737
tUNE-yARDS - Gangsta
Two Wounded Birds - All We Wanna Do

Listen to it on Spotify: HTTP, URI. (SR0505)

Previously on BBC6:
BBC6 Shortlisted Top 100 Songs of 2010

Mucchio Extra's 100 Fundamental Albums: Rock 1991-2000

The Spotirama/Il Mucchio Classic Rock Series ended some weeks ago, with the playlist collecting best Blues from 1920s to 1960s. A new more gargantuan series starts today!

In 2001, Italian magazine Il Mucchio launched a new quarterly journal: il Mucchio Extra. While the original Il Mucchio was growing a more eclectic identity (less music, more pages about movies, books, news, culture, technologies...), Mucchio Extra was meant to be a Mojo-like magazine, all about music, with long articles, interviews, close examinations. Since the first issue, in spring 2001, it also featured a list of "100 fundamental albums". First one was about the unforgettable and lovely rock music from the nineties (subjectively "unforgettable" & "lovely", yes: it was my high school and university era...). Here you can find it, spotified. With some heavy sounds unusually featured in rock charts like this (Sepultura, Deftones, Rancid...), some surprising choices (Radiohead's The Bends instead of the universally worshipped Ok Computer) and at least one little european 1990s gem that everybody in the galaxy should know (dEUS' Worst Case Scenario). Enjoy!

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The 100 Fundamental Albums of 1990s
Source: Mucchio Extra #1
Songs available on Spotify: 75 out of 100 (75%)

Top 20 (alphabetical order)
Beck - Mellow Gold
Bjork - Debut
Blur - Parklife
Jeff Buckley - Grace
Chemical Brothers - Dig Your Own Hole
Daniel Givens - Age
PJ Harvey - Rid of Me
The Magnetic Fields - 69 Love Songs
Massive Attack - Blue Lines
My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
Nirvana - Nevermind
Pavement - Slanted & Enchanted (partially available)
Pearl Jam - No Code
Primal Scream - Screamadelica
Radiohead - The Bends
Rage Against The Machine - Rage Against The Machine
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magik
Slint - Spiderland
Tortoise - Millions Now Living Will Never Die
Wu-Tang Clan - Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)

30 more (alphabetical order)
Buju Banton - 'til Shiloh
Belle and Sebastian - The Boy With The Arab Strap
Blonde Redhead - Melody Of Certain Damaged Lemons
Cypress Hill - Black Sunday
D'Angelo - Voodoo
DJ Shadow - Endtroducing
Fugazi - In On The Kill Taker
Future Sound of London - Dead Cities
Gastr Del Sol - Upgrade And Afterlife
Jayhawks - Hollywood Town Hall
Khaled - Khaled
Korn - Life Is Peachy (partially available)
Kyuss - Blues For The Red Sun
Mark Lanegan - I'll Take Care Of You
Manu Chao - Clandestino
Mouse on Mars - Glam
New Bomb Turks - Destroy-Oh-Boy!!
Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral
Portishead - Dummy
Prince & The New Power Generation - Prince & The New Power Generation
R.E.M. - Automatic For The People
Royal Trux - Veterans Of Disorder
Shellac - At Action Park
Bim Sherman - Miracle
Roni Size/Reprazent - New Forms
Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream
Stereolab - Transient Random-Noise Bursts With Announcements
Tricky - Maxinquaye
Scott Walker - Tilt
Wyclef Jean - Presents The Carnival

Last 50 (alphabetical order)
Afghan Whigs - Congregation
Air - Moon Safari
American Music Club - Mercury
Aphex Twin - I Care Because You Do (partially available)
Arrested Development - 3 Years, 5 Months And 2 Days In The Life Of
Erykah Badu - Baduizm
Beastie Boys - Ill Communication
The Black Heart Procession - 2
Buena Vista Social Club - Buena Vista Social Club
Calexico - The Black Light
Johnny Cash - American Recordings
Deftones - Around The Fur
dEUS - Worst Case Scenario
Bob Dylan - Time Out Of Mind
Eels - Beautiful Freak
Fatboy Slim - You'll Come A Long Way, Baby
Gang Starr - Step In The Arena
Godspeed You Black Emperor - f#a#oo
Helmet - Meantime
Hellacopters - Payin' The Dues
Hole - Live Through This
Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Now I Got Worry (partially available)
June of 44 - Engine Takes To The Water
K.D. Lang - Ingenue
Leftfield - Leftism
Metallica - Metallica
Ministry - Psalm 69
Moby - Play
Mojave 3 - Excuses For Travellers
Moonshake - The Sound Your Eyes Can Follow
Naked City - Torture Garden
Nirvana - Unplugged In New York
Oasis - Definitely Maybe
Orb - U.F. Orb
Orbital - Snivilisation
Jim O'Rourke - Eureka
Plug - Drum'n'Bass For Papa
Primus - Pork Soda
Rancid - ... And Out Come The Wolves
Sepultura - Roots
Soundgarden - Superunknown
Sparklehorse - Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot
Spiritualized - Ladies And Gentlemen... We Are Floating In Space
Stormandstress - Under Thunder And Fluorescent Lights
Teenage Fanclub - Bandwagonesque
Ali Farka Toure feat. Ry Cooder - Talking Timbuktu
Trans Am - Red Line
The Verve - Urban Hymns
Tom Waits - Mule Variations
Yo La Tengo - And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out

Listen to it on Spotify:

Mammoth (full albums, 1058 tracks, about three days): HTTP, URI. (SR0648)

Graduated (4 tracks each Top 20 album, 3 tracks each 30 More, 2 tracks each Last 50, 204 tracks, about 15 hours): HTTP, URI. (SR0649)

Banzai!!! (a mix of japanese music against quakes, tsunamis and the nuclear drama)

A little, quiet, angry, schizoid, bright mix of Japan in music. 35 tracks. Metal, post-rock, jazz, anime, soundtracks, traditionals, western covers, electronica; from the piano of Ryuichi Sakamoto to the noise of Acid Mothers Temple, from the kindness of Shugo Tokumaru to the rage of Church of Misery... Like Tokyo, it contains everything. Hold on, guys!

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BANZAI!!!
35 tracks, about 2 hours

Boris – LaserBeam
Tomoyasu Hotei – Battle Without Honor Or Humanity
Ryuichi Sakamoto – Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence
Shugo Tokumaru – Lahaha
Pizzicato Five – Mon Amour Tokyo
Yoshida Brothers – Nabbed
Cornelius – Drop
DJ Krush – Song 2
Church Of Misery – El Padrino (Adolpho Constanzo)
Electric Eel Shock – Rock'N'Roll Can Rescue The World
Acid Mothers Temple – Attack From Planet Hattifatteners
Rayzd – Tank ("Cowboy Bebop" theme, here played by an american band).
Akira Yamaoka – Magdelene Tears of...Laura's Theme (from "Silent Hill")
the GazettE – Shiver
D'espairsray – Love Is Dead
Melt Banana – We Will Rock You
Joe Hisaishi – Summer
Lullatone – Bedroom Bossa Band
Piana – something is lost
Toe – Goodbye
Manga Star – "Naruto" Main Theme
Miq – Zankoku Na Tenshi No These ("Neon Genesis Evangelion" Opening Theme)
Guitar Wolf – Fujiyama Attack
Gallhammer – Speed Of Blood
Osamu Kitajima – Yesterday's Child
Meiko Kaji – The Flower Of Carnage
Taku – Yes (Nujabes Tribute)
Nisennenmondai – Ikkkyokume
Battle Royale – Commencement du jeu
Hibari Misora – La Vie En Rose
The 5.6.7.8's – Woo Hoo
Shonen Knife – Twist Barbie
Charlie Kosei – "Lupin 3sei" Ending Theme
Ryota Nozaki – Yumeji II
Mono – Ashes In The Snow

Listen to it on Spotify: HTTP, URI. (SR0647)

BBC6 Music Playlist (week 11, commencing 12/3/2011)

Can you fall in love with an out-of-time reveille trumpet in a rock song? It happened to me. The song is PJ Harvey's The Glorious Land and I'm very happy to hear it in this week playlist based on BBC6 selection. Trumpet aside, here you can find some other interesting new stuff by Guillemots, The Kills, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart and back-to-fight Foo Fighters. Enjoy and have a glorious week!

BBC 6 Music Playlist
Source: BBC6 Music
Songs available on Spotify: 24 out of 30 (80%)

British Sea Power - Who's In Control?
Anna Calvi - Blackout
Elbow - Tracks from Build a Rocket Boys!
Foo Fighters - Rope
Grinderman - Palaces of Montezuma
Iron & Wine - Tree By The River
Radiohead - Tracks from The King of Limbs
Gil Scott-Heron & Jamie xx - I'll Take Care of U
Strokes - Under Cover of Darkness
The Vaccines - If You Wanna
Arcade Fire - City With No Children
Cloud Control - There's Nothing In The Water We Can't Fight
The Decemberists - Don't Carry It All
Everything Everything - Final Form
Guillemots - The Basket
PJ Harvey - The Glorious Land
The Jim Jones Revue - Dishonest John
The Kills - Satellite
Mazes - Most Days
The Naked And Famous – Young Blood
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Belong
Pete & The Pirates - Come To The Bar
R.E.M. - Mine Smell Like Honey
Wye Oak – Civilian
Young Knives - Love My Name
Admiral Fallow - Squealing Pigs
The Crookes - Godless Girl
Fight Like Apes - Jenny Kelly
The Low Anthem - Boeing 737
Metronomy - The Look

Listen to it on Spotify: HTTP, URI. (SR0505)

Previously on BBC6:
BBC6 Shortlisted Top 100 Songs of 2010

The Complete Guide To Downloading #5 - The Golden Age of Hip Hop

These playlists are little, but good.

In 2005, people from Q, Mojo and Kerrang! allied to publish The Complete Guide To Downloading, a 150-pages magazine filled with playlists about... everything. It was a fantastic guide for the downloading era. I think it's definitely worth in the age of streaming, too. 

This time we open the "Fantasy Boxset", a series of genre playlist.
The first one is a two-hours urban journey in the history of classic hip hop.
 Enjoy!

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THE GOLDEN AGE OF HIP HOP

The breaks, beats and scratches that twisted rap into a globe-eating phenomenon.
(28 tracks out of 34, 82,35%, about 2 hours)

LYRICS OF FURY
Eric B. & Rakim – Lyrics Of Fury
Public Enemy – You're Gonna Get Yours
Ice T – I'm Your Pusher/Pusherman
The Jungle Brothers - Black Is Black
N.W.A – Express Yourself
Schoolly D – Saturday Night
LL Cool J – Mama Said Knock You Out
Ultramagnetic MCs – Ease Back
Ice Cube – The Nigga Ya Love To Hate
Slick Rick – Treat Her Like A Prostitute
Boogie Down Productions – I'm Still #1
Gang Starr – Just To Get A Rep
Public Enemy – Bring The Noise

DANCEFLOOR-FILLERS
Eric B. & Rakim – I Know You Got Soul
Digital Underground – Doowutchyalike
Public Enemy – Can't Do Nuttin' For Ya, Man!
Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock – It Takes Two
De La Soul – Me, Myself & I
Kid'N Play - Last Night
Mantronix – Who Is It?
RUN-DMC – Mary, Mary
Salt'N'Pepa - Tramp
Tone-Loc – Funky Cold Medina
MC Lyte – 10% Dis

SAMPLEDELIA FOR THE SOFABOUND
Eric B. & Rakim – Follow The Leader
Beastie Boys – Shake Your Rump
Stetsasonic – Sally
Boogie Down Productions – My Philosophy
Queen Latifah feat. De La Soul - Mama Gave Birth To The Soul Children
A Tribe Called Quest – Bonita Applebum
Jungle Brothers – Tribe Vibes
Caveman - I'm Ready
De La Soul - Tread Water
Gang Starr – Jazz Thing

Listen to it on Spotify: HTTP, URI. (SR0646)

PREVIOUSLY ON "THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO DOWNLOADING SERIES":Times of Day
If You Like...
Locations
Relationships
Boxset Fantasy: The Golden Age of Hip Hop

BBC6 Music Playlist (week 10, commencing 5/3/2011)

Elbow: not smiling is the new loud

New Elbow album Build a Rocket Boys! enters the official weekly BBC6 Music playlist. Everything Everything, The Jim Jones Revue and The Vaccines complete the new entries list. Enjoy and have a roaring weekstart!

BBC 6 Music Playlist
Source: BBC6 Music
Songs available on Spotify: 23 out of 30 (76,66%)

Arcade Fire - City With No Children
Elbow - Tracks from Build a Rocket Boys!
Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
Grinderman - Palaces of Montezuma
Holy Ghost! - Do It Again
Iron & Wine - Tree By The River
R.E.M. - Mine Smell Like Honey
Radiohead - Tracks from The King of Limbs
Gil Scott-Heron & Jamie xx - I'll Take Care of U
Strokes - Under Cover of Darkness
Belle & Sebastian - I Want The World To Stop
British Sea Power - Who's In Control?
Anna Calvi - Blackout
Cloud Control - There's Nothing In The Water We Can't Fight
The Decemberists - Don't Carry It All
Everything Everything - Final Form
Grouplove – Don't Say Oh Well
The Jim Jones Revue - Dishonest John
The Kills - Satellite
Mystery Jets - Serotonin
The Naked And Famous – Young Blood
Noah And The Whale – L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N.
Gruff Rhys – Sensations In The Dark
The Vaccines - If You Wanna (live version)
Wye Oak – Civilian
Admiral Fallow - Squealing Pigs
The Crookes - Godless Girl
The Low Anthem - Boeing 737
Mazes - Most Days
Pete & The Pirates - Come To The Bar

Listen to it on Spotify: HTTP, URI. (SR0505)

Previously on BBC6:
BBC6 Shortlisted Top 100 Songs of 2010

Acclaimed Music Top 20 Songs of 1961

Stand by Ben

This is a kind of "history of music" project, based on aggregated charts found on Acclaimed Music. It features Top 20 playlists for decades 1920s, 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, and yearly Top 20 playlists (both songs and albums) for each year from 1960 to 2010. It's a weekly project.

This week, our Delorean drives us back to 1961. It's the year of the classic Stand By Me, a title that I automatically associate with another King. Ben E. King wrote it and made it famous, but my Stand By Me is essentially Stephen King's story (and Rob Reiner 1986's movie adaptation). 1961 is the year of some other great tunes: from The Marvelettes' Please Mr.Postman to Ray Charles' Hit the Road, Jack, from Henry Mancini's Moon River to The Marcels' Blue Moon. A 60-minute jukebox that gently plays the soundtrack of exactly fifty years ago. Enjoy!

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TOP 20 SONGS OF 1961
Source: Acclaimed Music
(legenda: the number preceding the artist name is the ranking in Acclaimed Music Top 3000 chart)

1 (67) Ben E. King - Stand by Me
2 (77) Del Shannon - Runaway
3 (147) Patsy Cline - Crazy
4 (315) Dion - Runaround Sue
5 (320) Roy Orbison - Crying
6 (424) Patsy Cline - I Fall to Pieces
7 (479) The Marvelettes - Please Mr. Postman
8 (549) Henry Mancini - Moon River
9 (621) Ben E. King - Spanish Harlem
10 (873) Ray Charles - Hit the Road, Jack
11 (1073) Elvis Presley - Little Sister
12 (1122) Roy Orbison - Running Scared
13 (1137) The Marcels - Blue Moon
14 (1175) Gary "U.S." Bonds - Quarter to Three
15 (1366) The Showmen - It Will Stand
16 (1417) Dick Dale - Let's Go Tripping
17 (1435) Jimmy Reed - Big Boss Man
18 (1460) Dion - The Wanderer
19 (1597) John Coltrane - My Favourite Things
20 (1598) Ricky Nelson - Hello Mary Lou

Listen to it on Spotify: HTTP, URI. (SR0620)

The Complete Acclaimed Music Series

SONGS:
- Top 20 Songs of 1920s
- Top 20 Songs of 1930s
- Top 20 Songs of 1940s
- Top 20 Songs of 1950s
- Top 20 Songs of 1960
- Top 20 Songs of 1961

ALBUMS:
- Top 20 Albums of 1950s
- Top 20 Albums of 1960
- Top 20 Albums of 1961

Time's The 25 Best Movie Soundtracks

soundtracks of love and trust

A short time ago, in the Time galaxy, I found this line: "As any serious music fan knows, it's the songs that make good films great. Just in time for the Oscars, TIME runs down the best movie sound tracks ever". And the list of 25 very famous movie soundtracks. If you wanna know something more about them, go to the magazine website. If you wanna listen to them (in full or lite version), here you have the spotiplaylists. Enjoy!

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Time's The 25 Best Movie Soundtracks
Source: Time.
Soundtracks available on Spotify: 20 out of 25 (80%)

Singin' in the Rain, 1952
West Side Story, 1961
A Hard Day's Night, 1964
Mary Poppins, 1964
The Sound of Music, 1965
The Graduate, 1967
2001: A Space Odyssey, 1968
Easy Rider, 1969
Superfly, 1972
American Graffiti, 1973
The Harder They Come, 1973
Saturday Night Fever, 1977
Grease, 1978
The Big Chill, 1983
Flashdance, 1983
Sixteen Candles, 1984
Purple Rain, 1984
This Is Spinal Tap, 1984
Dirty Dancing, 1987
Singles, 1992
Pulp Fiction, 1994
Trainspotting, 1996
Rushmore, 1998
O Brother, Where Art Thou?, 2000
Garden State, 2004

Listen to it on Spotify:
Mammoth (full albums): HTTP, URI. (SR0618)
Lite (3 tracks each album): HTTP, URI (SR0619)


Previously on the Spotirama movie screen:
The Oscars Hall of Fame (Academy Awards Best Original Songs from 1934 to 2010)
105, Sundance Boulevard (105 songs from movies awarded at Sundace Film Festival)
The Greatest Indie Soundtrack of the World (69 original movie soundtracks for indie lovers)
(... and more)

BBC6 Music Playlist (week 9, commencing 26/2/2011)

Little Crookes

Five new entries in this weekly spotimix, based on official BBC6 Music 30-songs-of-the-week playlist: British Sea Power, The Crookes, The Decemberists, Elbow and Pete & The Pirates.  BBC6 is airplaying new Radiohead album, too, but I guess it will take much time for it being available on Spotify (if it will ever be...). Enjoy and have a roaring weekstart!

BBC 6 Music Playlist
Source: BBC6 Music
Songs available on Spotify: 24 out of 30 (80%)

Arcade Fire - City With No Children
Belle & Sebastian - I Want The World To Stop
Elbow - Neat Little Rows
Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
Holy Ghost! - Do It Again
Mystery Jets - Serotonin
R.E.M. - Mine Smell Like Honey
Radiohead - (tracks from) The King of Limbs
Gruff Rhys – Sensations In The Dark
Gil Scott-Heron & Jamie xx - I'll Take Care of U
British Sea Power - Who's In Control?
Anna Calvi - Blackout
Cloud Control - There's Nothing In The Water We Can't Fight
Edwyn Collins – In Your Eyes
The Decemberists - Don't Carry It All
Grinderman - Palaces of Montezuma
Grouplove – Don't Say Oh Well
Iron & Wine - Tree By The River
Manic Street Preachers – Postcards From A Young Man
J Mascis - Not Enough
The Naked And Famous – Young Blood
Noah And The Whale – L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N.
Strokes - Under Cover of Darkness
The Vaccines - If You Wanna
Yuck - Holing Out
James Blake – The Wilhelm Scream
The Crookes - Godless Girl
The Low Anthem - Boeing 737
Pete & The Pirates - Come To The Bar
Wye Oak – Civilian

Listen to it on Spotify: HTTP, URI. (SR0505)

Previously on BBC6:
BBC6 Shortlisted Top 100 Songs of 2010

Pitchfork Best New Music 2011 (february)

Left: Toro. Right: Moi. 

Pitchfork Best New Music 2010 (Spotify link) has been one of the most subscribed Spotirama playlists so far. Now it's time to renew it with albums published in 2011. Main rule remains the same: I will include in it only albums that get at least a 8.0 score in Pitchfork Best New Music page. The news is that I will double the playlist: you can choose a lite version, similar to the 2010 one (three tracks each album), or a full-albums version. 

A lot of new entries, in february! From PJ Harvey to James Blake, from Cut Copy to Toro Y Moi, from Tim Hecker to Nicolas Jaar, 2011 music is taking off. Enjoy!

PITCHFORK BEST NEW MUSIC OF 2011
Source: Pitchfork Best New Music
Albums available on Spotify: 7 (out of 9), 77,77%

(links lead to Pitchfork reviews,  Pitchfork-like votes are Pitchfork votes, new entries/additions are in bold)

Dye It Blonde (Smith Westerns, 8.4)
Kaputt (Destroyer, 8.8)
Zonoscope (Cut Copy, 8.6)
James Blake (James Blake, 9.0)
Let England Shake (PJ Harvey, 8.8)
Space Is Only Noise (Nicolas Jaar, 8.4)
Ravedeath, 1972 (Tim Hecker, 8.6)
The Magic Place (Julianna Barwick, 8.5)
Underneath the Pine (Toro Y Moi, 8.4)

Listen to it on Spotify:
lite (3 tracks each album): HTTP, URI. (SR0576)
mammoth (full albums): HTTP, URI. (SR0577)


Previously about Pitchfork:
Top 100 Tracks of 2010
Top 50 Albums of 2010
Top 200 Tracks of the 1990s
Top 100 Albums of the 1980s
The Pitchfork 500
(and more)