 Each week we create a Top Ten Songs list that reflects which songs featured on IRC tens of thousands of people from around the world streamed, and downloaded, the most.
While the Top Ten list does highlight the most popular songs, it does not in any way represent all of the terrific music that is published on IRC each week.
Once you start clicking through posts and mixtapes, look for the links at the side and bottom of each page for links to related posts. There is gold in them thar pages, probably even some of your favorite songs you haven’t heard (yet).
In fact, you can stream hours and hours of great songs just by clicking on the first song and letting the built-in Yahoo player play one song after another, uninterrupted and with no commercials.
Also, stream and download hundreds of free MP3s for past years via the Top 10 Songs of 2011 and Top 10 Songs of 2010 pages.
April 17th – April 23rd
Because of our Record Store Day coverage (which contains dozens of awesome free MP3s), it was a bit tricker to extrapolate from the web state data which were the top singles of the week from the Best New Releases for the week of April 17th, but we got it figured out eventually. This week’s No. 1 track, according to listeners’ streams and downloads, goes to Absolute Monarchs‘ new single, “Attack.” Interestingly, the new single “Winters” from Maps & Atlases followed far behind at No. 2. Dry The River‘s first single, “New Ceremony” scored the No. 3 track followed by Horse Feathers‘ “Fit Against The Country” at No. 4. To round out the top five was JD McPherson‘s “North County Gal.”
“Attack” – Absolute Monarchs from 1 via Good To Die Records
“Winters” - Maps & Atlases from Beware and Be Grateful
“New Ceremony” – Dry The River from Shallow Bed
“Fit Against the Country” – Horse Feathers from Cynic’s New Year via Kill Rock Stars
“North Side Gal” – JD McPherson from Signs and Signifiers (+ digital booklet) via Rounder Records
“Maybe I’m The One (For Me)” – Make Out from Maybe I’m The One (For Me) double single
“Nightmares” – Grave Babies from Gothdammit EP via Hardly Art
“Coast” - Dry The River from Shallow Bed
Track via ThePopCop.co.uk
“Anybody Out There” – Mean Jeans from On Mars (CD version)
” Your Graduating Hours” – King Of Prussia from Transmissions From The Grand Strand (self-released)
April 10th – April 16th
They were a huge hit at South By Southwest a couple of weeks earlier, so it’s not a huge surprise that the new single, “Hold On,” from Alabama Shakes debut album was the No. 1 track for the second release week of April. Dinosaur Feathers took the No. 2 spot with the track “Surprise!” – which is full of hooklicious guitar riffs, pop-oriented beats, and grand choruses.
California stoner rock band Sleepy Sun took the No. 3 slot with the new single, “Stivey Pond,” followed by Young Hines, a new relatively unknown artist who opened for The Raconteurs last year, landed the No. 4 position with “Rainy Day.” To round out the top five, Dinosaur Feathers scored their second Top 10 with the track, “Betcha” – so there definitely is strong interest in the relatively unknown band that we think will become more well-known as time goes on.
Starting out the bottom half of the Top 10 is the No. 6 track of the week, “For Years and Years” by It’s A Musical, followed at No. 7 by The Sugarettes‘ awesome “Love In Stereo.” Hoots and Hellmouth, who we added to our radar, caught the No. 8 single of the week, followed by the band Trampled by Turtles’ new single, “Alone,” and No. 9. To close out the Top 10 Songs of the week is the single “Sunshine Blood” by Jennie Gellespie. Also view a Part Two Top 10 list for this week – it’s all explained here.
“Hold On” - Alabama Shakes from Boys and Girls via ATO Records
(track via KEXP)
“Surprise!” - Dinosaur Feathers from Whistle Tips
“Stivey Pond” – Sleepy Sun from Spine Hits on The End Records
“Rainy Day” – Young Hines from Give Me My Change
“Betcha” - Dinosaur Feathers from Whistle Tips
“Love in Stereo” - The Sugarettes from Destroyer of Worlds
“For Years And Years” – It’s A Musical from For Years And Years on Morr Music
“Why Would You Not Want to Go There?” – Hoots and Hellmouth from Salt on sonaBLAST! Records
“Alone” - Trampled by Turtles from Stars and Satellites on Thirty Tigers/RED
“Sunshine Blood” – Jenny Gillespie from Belita EP
April 3rd – April 9th
April 2012 was a pretty good month for new releases, maybe not as much as previous month’s, but still plenty to take notice of. Interestingly enough, the first No. 1 track of the month goes to the relatively new and unknown band, The Lumineers, who’s new single, “Ho Hey” beat out No. 2 single, “Little Talks,” from Of Monsters and Men by one vote. The No. 3 track of the week, according to listeners’ streams/downloads, was “New Wild Everywhere,” the title track of the latest album from the folk rockers Great Lake Swimmers. Another title track, “Destroyer of Worlds,” from The Sugarettes new LP, came in at No. 4. To round out the Top 5 is the new single, “Night,” from the relatively unknown band Ravens & Chimes.
The lower half of the Top Ten Songs for the week of April 3rd to April 9th starts of with the No. 6 song, and second entry, by Of Monsters and Men, with the track “Lakehouse.” Next, another IRC DIY Band to Watch in 2012, Max and the Moon, took the No. 7 spot with their single, “Light House,” which is kind of interesting that it followed right behind “Lakehouse” – a bit of coincidental theme going on there. As with Monsters and Men, new indie band, The Lumineers, also made the Top 10 twice, at No. 7, with the track, “Slow It Down.” Somewhat surprisingly, Bear in Heaven‘s new single only ranked in at No. 8.
Rocky Votolato’s new single, “Little Spring” came in at No. 9 and to close out this Top 10 is the fresh single, “Solid Gold,” from the band AU. These songs came from Best New Releases Vol. One and Two.
“Ho Hey” – The Lumineers from The Lumineers on Dualtone Records
“Little Talks” – Of Monsters and Men from My Head Is an Animal via Record Records
“New Wild Everywhere” - Great Lake Swimmers from New Wild Everywhere on Nettwerk Records
via DirectCurrentMusic.com
“Destroyer of Worlds” – The Sugarettes from Destroyer of Worlds
“Night” - Ravens & Chimes from Holiday Life on Better Looking Records
“Lakehouse” - Of Monsters and Men from My Head Is an Animal
“Light House” – Max and The Moon from The Way I See
“Slow It Down” – The Lumineers from The Lumineers
“Reflection of You” – Bear in Heaven from I Love You It’s Cool
“Little Spring” - Rocky Votolato from Television of Saints (self-released)
“Solid Gold” - AU from Both Lights on Hometapes
March 27th – April 2nd
To close out the month of March, and beginning of April’s, Top 10 Songs playlists, the No. 1 track of the week of March 27th to April 2nd went to the supergroup Poor Moon‘s new single, “People In Her Mind.” The band features members of Fleet Foxes, Crystal Skulls and The Christmas Cards. Some would say Poor Moon is not really a supergroup in terms of what people think of as supergroups like Monsters of Folk and the more recently formed Diamond Rugs.
From Athens, Ohio, the electro shoegaze band, Brothertiger, the moniker of musician John Jagos, sent in his new album, Golden Years, and we were in total agreement with listeners that the lead single, “Lovers,” was worthy of being the No. 2 track of the week. The popular band, La Sera, founded by Katy Goodman, the bassist for the Vivian Girls, had the No. 3 most listened to song, “Please Be My Their Eye,” of the week, followed at No. 4 by the Brooklyn band Oberhofer’s single “Away Frm U,” which we actually featured as a demo back in 2009, when we featured the then relatively unknown one-man band of Brad Oberhofer. The band also took the No. 5 spot with their song, “oOoO” (there has been various versions of the spelling of this track).
The Toronto band, Zeus, one of our favorite new discoveries of 2012, scored the No. 6 spot for the single, “Anything You Want Dear.” One of the best debut albums of 2012 so far is Coco Beware from the band Caveman from which the single, “Old Friend” was the No. 7 song of the week. There were so many great singles for this week that artists that would normally chart higher in a Top 10 Songs playlist were further down the list, including Alcoholic Faith Mission (No. 8 for “Into Pieces”), Young Prisms (No. 9 for “Floating in Blue”) and finally The Retribution Gospel Choir at No. 10 with their single, “The Stone (Revolution).”
“People in Her Mind” – Poor Moon from Illusion on Sub Pop
“Lovers” – Brothertiger from Golden Years on Mush Records
“Please Be My Third Eye” - La Sera from Sees The Light
“Away Frm U” – Oberhofer from Time Capsule II
“oOoO” – Oberhofer from Time Capsule II
“Anything You Want Dear” - Zeus from Busting Visions
“Old Friend” - Caveman from CoCo Beware
“Into Pieces” – Alcoholic Faith Mission from Ask Me This
“Floating In Blue” – Young Prisms from In Between
“The Stone (Revolution!)” - Retribution Gospel Choir from The Revolution EP
 March 20th – March 26th
This was definitely the week of The Shins, and it shows in the results for the Top 10 Songs of the week. We featured three songs from the new album, Port of Morrow, and they easily swept the Top 10. But we were a little surprised that the lead single, “Simple Song,” wasn’t the No. 1 track or the No. 2 song. Rather, IRC listeners chose “It’s Only Life,” as the top track of the week, followed at No. 2 by “September,” and finally, at No. 3, “Simple Song.”
We haven’t seen a featured band sweep the top three in a long time, which goes to show that The Shins are bigger than ever. The No. 4 song of the week, “All of Me,” from the duo Tanlines is an enjoyable dance pop track, so it’s not a surprise it came in the Top 5. The track that completed the Top 5 was the newest single, “Golden Eyelids,” from the new album from Lost in the Trees. The bottom half of the Top 10 include great songs (in order) from Yukon Blonde, Morningbell, The Wedding Present, Daniel Rossen, and Cousins. Listen to all the songs from the Best New Releases for the week of March 20th.
“It’s Only Life” - The Shins from Port of Morrow
“September” - The Shins from Port of Morrow
“Simple Song” – The Shins from Port of Morrow
“All of Me” – Tanlines from Mixed Emotions (Amazon Exclusive Version) via True Panther Sounds
“Golden Eyelids” – Lost In The Trees from A Church That Fits Our Needs on Anti Records – (track via Austin Town Hall)
“Stairway” – Yukon Blonde from Tiger Talk on Dine Alone Records
“You Think I Don’t Know (But I Know)” – Morningbell from Basso Profundo (self-released)
“You Jane” – The Wedding Present from Valentina on Scopitones
“Silent Song” – Daniel Rossen from Silent Hour/Golden Mile EP on Warp
“Jules” – Cousins from The Palm at the End of the Mind on Saved by Vinyl
March 13th – March 19th
This week was the 25th anniversary of the world-famous South by Southwest music festival, marathon and convention in Austin. Therefore, much of the music world was pretty much focused on SXSW. Nevertheless, there were a number of notable new releases for SXSW week. In fact, some of the same artists that were at SXSW released new albums the same week. The latest single from The Ting Tings, “Soul Killing,” topped the list at No. 1, followed closely behind at No. 2 by the CD release single from Delta Spirit, “California.”
The No. 3 track of the week, “Sappho,” was the lead single by the enthralling band Tribes’ anticipated debut, Baby. The band, Tiger! Tiger!, sent in their new album, Cut Them Where They Bleed, from which the lead single, “Perfume of Despair,” took the No. 4 slot. To round out of the Top 5 was the single “Sometimes,” by the band Lucero.
The bottom half of the Top 10 featured, in order, singles from Drowner, Freshkills, Spoek Mathambo, Tacocat, and Say Anything.
“Soul Killing” – The Ting Tings from Sounds From Nowheresville (track via TheBurningEar.com)
“California” - Delta Spirit from Delta Spirit on Rounder Records (track via TheWheelsStillinSpin)
“Sappho” - Tribes from Baby via Fairfax Recordings (song via SafetyFunandLearning.com)
“Perfume of Despair” – Tiger! Tiger! from Cut Them Where They Bleed via Chicken Ranch Records
“Sometimes” – Lucero from Women & Work via ATO Records
“Never Go Away” – Drowner from Drowner
“Positive Vibes” – Freshkills from Raise Up the Sheets via Bat Rabies Alert/The End Records
“Put Some Red on It” - Spoek Mathambo from Father Creeper via Sub Pop
“Spring Break-Up” – Tacocat from Take Me To Your Dealer via Hardly Art
“Burn a Miracle” – Say Anything from Anarchy, My Dear via Vision Records
View and listen to all the songs from the Best New Releases playlist post for the second week of March.
March 6th – March 12th
Andrew Bird easily took the No. 1 spot for first full week of March (in album release terms; since most albums are released on Tuesdays) with his fantastic new single, “Eyeoneye,” from the widely acclaimed new album Break it Yourself. In Part Two of this week’s Best New Releases, the band Ceremony‘s new single, “Hysteria,” captured the No. 2 spot.
At No. 3 for the week is the new track from a band we like a lot, Good Old War, off their new release Come Back As Rain. The Bowerbirds‘ return with a new album that produced the No. 4 song of the week – “Tuck The Darkness In.” To round out the Top 5 songs, White Rabbits‘ “Temporary” came in at No. 5. The lower half of the Top 10 included songs, in order, by Miniature Tigers, The Magnetic Fields, Said The Whale, Bensh and Yellow Ostrich.
“Eyeoneye” – Andrew Bird from Break It Yourself via Mom + Pop
“Hysteria” – Ceremony from Zoo via Matador Records
“Calling Me Names” – Good Old War from Come Back As Rain via Sargent House
“Tuck the Darkness In” – Bowerbirds from The Clearing (+Digital Booklet) via Dead Oceans
“Temporary” - White Rabbits from Milk Famous via TBD Records
“Female Doctor” – Miniature Tigers from Mia Pharaoh via Modern Art
“Andrew In Drag” – The Magnetic Fields from Love at the Bottom of the Sea via Merge Records
“Heavy Ceiling” – Said the Whale from Little Mountain via Hidden Pony
“How Come Nao” – Bensh from Clues on Odd One In Records
“Marathon Runner” – Yellow Ostrich from Strange Land via Barsuk
Feb. 28 – March 4th
IRC listeners and visitors agreed with our pick of a lead single for the first week of March. The song, “The Way That You Are,” from PT Walkley‘s latest album, Thriller – even though we strongly disagree with the choice of any another artist in the world giving their album title ‘Thriller.’ Love or hate MJ’s music, that’s just a line you don’t cross. It really makes us wish we could have been there when the discussion over giving Walkley’s album that title was made. That aside, the track is terrific, and no wonder that it was the No. 1 song of the week.
The lead single, “The Kids Were Wrong,” of the debut album from Toronto‘s dream pop duo, Memoryhouse, took the No. 2 spot followed at No. 3 by the lead single, “Northern Air” off Elliott Brood‘s album, Days Into Years. Checking in at No. 4 is a terrific single from Geographer‘s well received album, Myth, trailed by “Lightshow” at No. 5 by Plants and Animals.
“The Way That You Are” – PT Walkleyfrom Thriller
“The Kids Were Wrong” - Memoryhouse from The Slideshow Effect
“Northern Air” – Elliott Brood from Days into Years
“Life From Crime” - Geographer from Myth
“Lightshow” – Plants and Animals from The End of That
“Love’s Taking Strange Ways” - The Mary Onettes from Love Forever
“Go Away” - PT Walkley from Thriller
“Glow” - Amy Ray from Lung of Love
“Every Little Thing” – Soft Swells from Soft Swells
“On the Radio” – Mind Spiders from Meltdown
Feb. 21st – Feb. 27th
No surprise that the infectious song, “We Are Young,” by the band Fun, with Janelle Monae on vocals – from the February LP, Some Nights – ended up as the No. 1 song of the week. It’s a song that started out months ago as an advanced single, and quickly spread on indie blogs and music sites, and then blew up after it was featured in a car commercial, going on to top the Billboard Top 100 charts. There is a doubtful, non-sourced, claim on the band’s Wikipedia profile, that includes the assertion that the single was “the first rock/alternative song to top the Billboard Hot 100 chart since Coldplay’s “Viva la Vida” in 2008.”
For starters, Fun is more of an indie rock band (but perhaps not as much now with the success of “We Are Young”) than a “rock/alternative” band (that syntax is odd). The same Wikipedia page for Fun doesn’t even list them as an alternative rock band, but instead an indie pop and indie rock band. Secondly, Fun cannot possibly be compared to Coldplay, a band which has been one of the most internationally famous and commercially successful bands of the past 15 years.
To label Coldplay as an alternative rock band is simply a flawed assumption. Many people think of The White Stripes, The Strokes, Cage The Elephant, Band of Skulls, and so on, as alternative rock bands, but Coldplay? Not really; we’d say they are more Britpop, and perhaps too commercial to be seriously called alternative rock. In addition to the fact that this quote from Wikipedia has no reference makes it all the more dubious.
Read about, and listen to/download, all of the Top Ten Songs, and the artists that released them, for the last week of February. Or stream the stripped-down version below.
“We Are Young” – fun. (featuring Janelle Monáe) from Some Nights
“Museum of Flight” - Damien Jurado from Maraqopa
“Oblivion” – Grimes from Visions
“Nowhere” – Wild Nothing from Nowhere 7″
“Remembrance of Things to Come” – Princeton from Remembrance of Things to Come
“Hood” – Perfume Genius from Put Your Back N 2 It (Exclusive Amazon Version)
“Vowels = Space and Time” – Grimes from Visions
“Florida” – Princeton from Remembrance of Things to Come
“Shout It In” – Dirty Ghosts from Metal Moon
“Gone Tomorrow” – Lambchop from Mr. M
 Feb. 14th – Feb. 20th
The new releases for the love week of Feb 14th that garnered the most interest from IRC regulars and visitors were not a big surprise – the No.1 song of the week easily went to newest single, “You As You Were,” from Shearwater‘s highly acclaimed new animal, Animal Joy. It was the most streamed, and downloaded, song in the days following the publishing of the post Best New Releases – Week of Feb. 14th (In the U.S., Tuesdays are the music industry’s official day to release new albums).
Band of Skull‘s new single, “Sweet & Sour” was fairly far behind Shearwater to take the No. 2 spot, which indicates IRC listeners – at least for this Top 10 Songs list – picked one of folk rock’s biggest bands over one of alternative rock’s top bands in recent years. Ranking at No. 3 is the latest single from an IRC Band to Watch (thanks mostly to their new sophomore album, Failure, from which the single was taken) Unicycle Loves You. Shearwater charts twice this week with a No. 4 song and the second official single from Animal Joy, “Breaking The Yearlings.”
To close out the Top 5, another band to watch, Oy Vey, scored with the infectious lead single, “When I Was Young,” off of their new album, Recession Girls, which has garnered considerable critical praise from media sites and blogs across the web. Even though their debut album was released in 2008, it still seems that the band have not broken out to the degree we think their music dictates they should.
Therefore, it just seems and feels appropriate to bend the rules a little (that is that, the rule that bands to watch are usually named before or after their first album) and keep Ov Vey on the band watch list. In fact, we might just feature them in an upcoming installment.
The title of the Oy Vey single, as well as the recent Top 40 and web viral track, “We Are The Young,” by the now-less-indie band, fun. both contain the word young. But, it goes even further, especially in the band names department, including many bands we dig like Young The Giant (even though they’ve been together since ’04, they hit the bigger stage, if you will, during 2010-11), Youth Lagoon, Young Magic, Young Man, Young Knives, The Young Veins, Youth Group.
Just as Shearwater did, Band of Skulls scored in the Top 5 twice, the other time, the second single, “The Devil Takes Care of His Own,” made the No. 5.
According to the web statistics, the seventh most popular song for the Valentines week of 2012 went to the lead track, “Origins” from Tennis’ widely acclaimed album Young and Old. The well-respected All Music Guide wrote: “Tennis are making some of the best pop music around in 2012″ and Prefix Magazine praised “it’s a record that’s hard to turn off once you put it on.” At No. 8 was the new single, “Song of a City,” by the duo Isidore, from Life Somewhere Else, an album that was eight years in the making. If you want an album to “take a chance” with this week, this would be a good pick. And to wrap up the Top 10, a band we like a lot, Young Magic, took No. 9 with their new single, and at No. 10, The Phenomenal Handclap Band.
Note: Whenever you want to buy an album, you know that you can come to IRC, and whether in a post or on this page, you can click the album title and make a purchase directly from Amazon, where the prices are almost always lower than iTunes, they are not protected and you can import them into iTunes and any other MP3 player you have, including smart phones and tablets. People say they like the fact that we include a link to buy the album because it’s convenient and easy way to buy all the albums they want each week in one place.
“You As You Were” – Shearwater from Animal Joy
“Sweet Sour” – Band of Skulls from Sweet Sour
“Wow Wave Cinema” – Unicycle Loves You from Failure
“Breaking The Yearlings” – Shearwater from Animal Joy
“When I Was Young” – Oy Vey from Recession Girls
“The Devil Takes Care of His Own” – Band of Skulls from Sweet Sour
“Origins” – Tennis from Young and Old
“Song of the City” – Isidore from Life Somewhere Else
“Night In The Ocean” - Young Magic from Melt
“The Right One” – Phenomenal Handclap Band from Form and Control
Feb. 7th – Feb. 13th
 Look who took the cake for the second week of February. Indeed it was Philly alternative/indie rock band, Dr. Dog, which listeners voted (through streams and downloads) so enthusiastically that the two tracks we featured from their new album, Be The Void, took both the No. 1 and No. 2 spots in the Top 10 Songs of the Week. The No. 3 track from the indie band Capybara grabbed the No.3 spot with the lead single, “Late Night Bikes” from their new album.
The song that took the No. 4 spot was a head-scratcher. It was a track buried at the end of Part Two (here’s Part One) of the week’s Best New Releases, by the alt. country band Drunkard Prayer. It’s not a particularly good song, and compared with all of the other tracks for the week, we just could not figure out what listeners heard in the song that we didn’t. Anyone who wants to help us understand, please use the Comments section (no, seriously).
To round out the Top 5, the new single, “Mean to Me,” from Go Fly A Kite, singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Ben Kweller‘s new album, almost tied with Drunkard Prayer by one stream/download. But what’s almost as head-scratching as Drunkard Prayer is the No. 6 to No. 10 tracks of the week. Just by looking at the list, you might see why we are puzzled those songs didn’t rank up higher – but still, of the dozens of tracks to choose from that week, they still all made it into the Top 10, including tracks from Blondes, of Montreal, Liz Green, Pretty Good Dance Moves and tying for No. 10 were A Place to Bury Strangers and Sharon Van Etten. You can click on the album title to download the albums from Amazon – we get a tiny bit, not even 5%, for each album sold, but over time, if enough buy, it can add up to a few extra dollars so we can buy more bandwidth because – throughout the entire website – we are hosting hundreds, probably thousands by now, free and legal MP3s.
“That Old Back Hole” – Dr. Dog from Be The Void
“Warrior Man” – Dr. Dog from Be The Void
“Late Night Bikes” – Capybara from Dave Drusky
“Always Sad” – Drunken Prayer from Into the Missionfield
“Mean To Me” – Ben Kweller from Go Fly A Kite
“Wine” – Blondes from Blondes – via MyOldKentuckyBlog
“Wintered Debts” – of Montreal from Paralytic Stalks
“Hey Joe” – Liz Green from O, Devotion!
“I Wonder Why (feat. Sabina Sciubba)” - Pretty Good Dance Moves from Limo
Tie: “Serpents” – Sharon Van Etten from Tramp
Tie: “So Far Away” – A Place To Bury Strangers from Onwards to the Wall EP
Feb. 1st – Feb 6th
 The top singles from the new album releases officially dropped during the first week of February made up a good mix of tracks from a variety of artists. Not totally surprisingly, Imperial Teen‘s much-played track, “Runaway,” was by far the No. 1 track over a distant No. 2 – the newest single, “Darkness,” from Leonard Cohen‘s new album, Old Ideas.
Interestingly, the track, “Festejo” from a band we’d never heard of before, Novalima, ranked in at No. 3 for the week. Not only is it interesting compared to all of the other tracks, but it’s positioned near the bottom of the playlist, not intentionally – usually the first have of the playlist in the Best New Releases posts are positioned according to our favorites, which are usually the favorites of others.
The lead track from the long awaited self-titled, debut album from Hospitality took the No. 4 slot, followed by the groovy track, “Funny Girl” by psych pop band Pacific UV at No. 5 to round out the top five tracks. The other half of the top ten were singles from the following artists – Imperial Teen (2nd single), The Library is On Fire, The Jealous Sound, Hospitality (2nd single), and The Big Sleep.
“Runaway” – Imperial Teen from Feel the Sound
“Darkness” – Leonard Cohen from Old Ideas [+Digital Booklet]
“Festejo” – Novalima from Karimba
“Betty Wang” – Hospitality from Hospitality
“Funny Girl” – Pacific UV from Weekends
“Overtaken” – Imperial Teen from Feel the Sound
“They Don’t Know You (Like I Know You)” – The Library Is On Fire from Works On Paper (self-released)
“Your Eyes Were Shining” – The Jealous Sound from A Gentle Reminder
“Friends of Friends” – Hospitality from Hospitality
“Ace” – The Big Sleep from Nature Experiments
Jan. 24 – Jan. 31
Now that highly anticipated new releases of 2012 are really starting to roll out as February draws nearer to a close, the stacks of new, fantastic singles, EPs and albums are piling up. But this particular week was a huge one, especially for fans of electro psych pop. See the original Best New Releases for full profiles, photos, and more songs from new albums released this week, as well as some flashback tracks, which we don’t include in the Top 10 because they are not new songs. As affirmation to our top picks of the week, regular listeners and new visitors made the new single, “No Future/No Past,” from Cloud Nothings‘ Attack on Memory, as the No. 1 song of the week.
Further affirmation came with the new single from Brooklyn‘s rising Porcelain Raft (Mauro Remiddi). Listeners pushed “Put Me To Sleep” from PR’s debut album to the No. 2 spot. The debut, Strange Weekend, is one of our favorite albums of 2012, so far, and Porcelain Raft a Band to Watch. To round out the top five, Nada Surf took No. 3, and The Big Pink came in at No. 4, with another track, “Stay Useless” from Attack on Memory, rounding out the Top 5. The bottom half of the Top Ten where another track from Cloud Nothings, Big Deal, Laura Gibson, Dana Falconberry, Cheyenne Marie Mize, and Chairlift. Lots of good music; enjoy.
“No Future/No Past “ – Cloud Nothings from Attack on Memory
“Put Me to Sleep” – Porcelain Raft from Strange Weekend
“When I Was Young” – Nada Surf from The Stars Are Indifferent to Astronomy
“Stay Gold” – The Big Pink from Future This
“Stay Useless” – Cloud Nothings from Attack on Memory
“Chair” – Big Deal from Lights Out
“La Grande” – Laura Gibson from La Grande
“Petoskey Stone” – Dana Falconberry from Though I Didn’t Call It Came EP
“Wishing Well “ – Cheyenne Marie Mize from We Don’t Need EP
“Amanaemonesia” – Chairlift from Something
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 By the third week of January, the new music releases start to really flow out, in addition to announcements of other album release dates in the coming months, and on top of that, tour dates and festival news. This week there were new releases from Guided by Voices, Howlers, Paul Brill, Frankie Rose, Old Monk, Buried Beds, Ani DiFranco and more. Despite the stiff competition, the new single, “The Unsinkable Fats Domino,” off of the first album to feature the original line-up of Guided By Voices in 18 years, Let’s Go Eat the Factory, easily grasped the position as the No. 1 song of the week. New songs from the bands to watch Howler and Louden Swain came in No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, followed by Paul Brill and The Duke Spirit to round out the top half of the top ten singles from new albums out this week.
Note: You can buy MP3 downloads of any album from Amazon by clicking on any album title link.
The Unsinkable Fats Domino – Guided By Voices from Let’s Go Eat the Factory
“Back of Your Neck” – Howler from America Give Up (Bonus Track version)
“Eskimo” - Louden Swain from Eskimo
“Sunny Side” – Paul Brill from Breezy
“Don’t Wait” (Live) – The Duke Spirit from Bruiser
“Sacred Birds” – Old Monk from Birds of Belize
“Doughnut For A Snowman” – Guided By Voices from Let’s Go Eat the Factory
“Cigarette” – Louden Swain from Eskimo
“Know Me” – Frankie Rose from Intersellar
“The Royal Oui” – Paul Brill from Breezy
This first Top 10 Songs playlist of 2012 is a bit different than the ordinary top tens of 2011. Because of the holidays, bands and labels did not release very many new albums in the first couple of weeks, and so we ended up having to search our email box for band submissions that were not showing up on any other music sites. And what we found were some DIY gems that started the year with a good kick. The band that rose to the top in our minds, and subsequently with listeners, was a random submission that we received from The Sanctuaries, whose raw lo-fi rock single, “She Got Bit,” from the band’s new album, Anette, shot to the top of the IRC charts to become our first No. 1 track of 2012.
Many of the songs for this Top 10, as is the case for most other Top 10 lists, originate predominantly from the Best New Releases posts, in which we look at which tracks were played and downloaded the most for the week in question to determine the order of the Top 10. In some cases, not so much with this particular Top 10, the songs that come out on top have sometimes been out for weeks as early advance singles. Still, we feel comfortable with that fact, because there are thousands of people who get their favorite new ‘indie’ music from this page, and have been doing so since its inception in 2010 (also check out the 500 MP3s of Top 10 songs for 2011).
Other tracks that make it onto the Top 10 originate from a variety of other posts published during the corresponding week, as long as they are new songs – older songs that appear in a playlist or post for that week are not considered for the Top 10 since the focus is only on new music. Read more and listen to other tracks published this past week in the Best New Releases for early January 2012, and also access the best singles from 2011here.
“She Got Bit” - The Sanctuaries from Annette – Jan. 7th
“Our Love Is On the Line” – Gary Go from Now Was Once The Future
“This Light” - Grand and Noble from Grand and Noble – Jan. 10th
“Tell Me How” – Songs For The Sleepwalkers from Our Rehearsed Spontaneous Reactions
“The Reveal” – Paper Lights from Paper Lights
“Mommy’s Dreaming” - Graham Repulski from My Color Is Red 7″
“Nobody Knows” – The Set from Loretta
“Here is My Heart” – The Set from Loretta
“Hi Time” – Tito Ramsey from Hi Lo EP – Jan. 10th
“Guernica” – Mythologies from Mud Bay – Jan. 12th, 2012 |
Each week we create a Top Ten Songs list that reflects which songs featured on IRC tens of thousands of people from around the world streamed, and downloaded, the most.
I have diligently been tuning in to this site for just over a year now. It has the best selection of music I have found on the internet. Thanks guys, and keep up the good work :)
Hi Gillian: Thanks for that tremendous compliment. We try really hard with limited resources to consistently put out the best new indie music passing our ears, as well as to make room for special mixtapes that celebrate the best of indie and alt rock over the years, while also finding time to include some of our favorite bands and music from 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s rock. Stay tuned – there’s so much more coming.
“I always tune in.. on this site…real good music/artist..”
Thanks X-Kid, glad we have music you like. You could spend the next four months just going through all the past mixtapes, and by the time you’re finished, you’ll probably have a few hundred songs you never had before. Even we go back and listen to mixtapes we made two and three years ago. Enjoy, share us on Facebook, bookmark us, send post links to friends, spread the love – that’s the whole idea of why we do this – to share great, non-mainstream music with as many people as possible.
This is my favorite website! This where i find all my musicc!
Wow,totally digging this site.keep it up,and its really cool so great job: )
great!!!
love this website love it! keep it up guys