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Music to Get You Through the Coldest Winter in Years (2010)
By an Amazon.com customer
ContraContra by Vampire Weekend
Buy new: $11.97 / Used from: $5.83
Smart, catchy, witty, sexy... From privilege (relatively speaking) but not of it.
Francophonic, Vol. 2: 1980-1989Francophonic, Vol. 2: 1980-1989 by Franco & Tpok Jazz
Buy new: $22.00 / Used from: $17.99
One longish cut after another rides the mind-body continuum toward transcendence. Warning: Get either volume and you'll have to have the other.
RealismRealism by The Magnetic Fields
Buy new: $13.99 / Used from: $4.78
I like this third volume of the Fields' "no snyths" trilogy best. Why? Best lyrics and best melodies. Just try not to laugh out loud during "We Are Having a Hootenanny."
Ghostdini the Wizard of PoetryGhostdini the Wizard of Poetry by Ghostface Killah
Buy new: $4.92 / Used from: $2.50
"Stapleton Sex" aside, name me another "gangsta" rapper this unafraid to show his tender side? The man loves women...actually ONE woman, I'm betting. And his music is all the better for it.
There Is Love in YouThere Is Love in You by Four Tet
Buy new: $13.47 / Used from: $8.11
"Laptronica" with beauty, brains, and beats. And SOUL, which is crucial.
SeyaSeya by Oumou Sangare
Buy new: $13.99 / Used from: $7.98
Found this overproduced and fussy at first, but eventually succumbed to the beats and the titanic flow anyway...and, of course, the voice of the greatest living female Afropopo star.
Em Are IEm Are I by Jeffrey Lewis & The Junkyard
Buy new: $14.30 / Used from: $8.78
Yes, you will smile and sing along to a song about a pet pig. And whistle past the graveyard with Jeffrey.
Exploding HeadExploding Head by Place to Bury Strangers
Buy new: $15.93 / Used from: $4.99
Think: Joy Division, Jesus & Mary Chain, and My Bloody Valentine rolled into one brutal onslaught. PLAY LOUD. But not TOO loud as permanent hearing loss may result. (Seriously.)
A Badly Broken CodeA Badly Broken Code by Dessa
Buy new: $14.54 / Used from: $5.95
Because she's female (and white, no less) haters are already arguing about whether this is "true" hip hop. I say she's got warmth, flow, and the kind of carefully observed narratives that are too rare in any genre these days.
She WolfShe Wolf by Shakira
Buy new: $8.86 / Used from: $4.04
Dance de sexy dance. Docked a notch for repeating the same song THREE times.
TransferenceTransference by Spoon
Buy new: $11.97 / Used from: $4.49
Another good, not great, Spoon record... Which is all the more disappointing if you love Britt Daniels' voice as much as I do.
Bitte OrcaBitte Orca by Dirty Projectors
Buy new: $12.99 / Used from: $5.15
A little goes a long way with this band, but for the first half and change they make their shifting time signatures and careening voices signify.
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