“The bands I like they dont’t sell too many records
And the girls I ike they don’t kiss too many boys
The books I read I read will never be beststellers
But come on fellows at least we made our choice.”

(Source: Spotify)

Already for the fifth year in a row, my top 10 in songs. Find it on spotify here, find last years Tumblr here and the older ones here.

On YouTube, I could only find 9 tracks, the somewhat bizarre “radio play” by Paul Heaton never even made it to YouTube. Some of the other tracks feature only a few hundred views. Especially my number one the Anglo-Colombian nu-cumbia collaboration ‘Su Suzy’ deserves so many more listeners/viewers.

As always, I hope you enjoy!

Love it how the national music scene embraces Usain Bolt. Take some time to listen to this, because it’s not easy to decipher.

Lions Roar by First Aid Kit live in the Paradijskerk, Rotterdam.

Live from First Aid Kit the song Wolf at the Paradijskerk in Rotterdam

Great animated video by Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi featuring Jack White & Norah Jones. Huffington Post calls this one of the most underplayed songs of 2011 and NPR explains the whole video, including Pink Floyd references here.

For the fans, there will be a theatrical feature film.

Great piece on the current state of hip-hop, mostly artistically speaking. Claiming the last real buzz was 2003/4 with NERD, Timbaland and Kanye. But the following caught my eye:

The trouble is that even at a time when album sales are falling across the board, hip-hop has been plunging heavier and faster than other genres. At the close of 2010, rock album sales stood at 103.7 million, country at 43.7 million and R&B at 30.5 million. The only mainstream genre rap was beating – and then only just – was Christian/Gospel with sales at 24.2 million.

My first thought is: of course hip-hop sales fell faster than rock, country or gospel. It is the music of the young and the urban. The people most likely not to consume music in the 20th century way (i.e. buy a record), but in the 21st century way (sharing mix tapes online). The advent of social media has only accelerated this trend. So the social sharing of hip-hop should indicate its popularity, not its record sales.

The new hope of hip-hop Ekow Eshun mentions in his articles are just the people that know how to reach the young and urban without records. They are the Tumblr generation: they live the social mix tape.

Following the superb taste of disconaivete I made a spotify playlist of these “hot horses” for 2012. Enjoy!

If the music industry was a horse race, I’d put my money on these horses. You’ll be familiar with some, others may be new to you. They’re all worth your time though, as I think these are the bands and artists you’ll hear a lot more from in 2012. I present you: The Sound of 2012.

Lana Del Rey

My “best of” YouTube playlist tradition is in its fourth year. Last year I made the jump to Spotify and also this year I made a Spotify playlist (and even a long list). This year I make the jump to my Tumblr blog. I put the older lists in a post a few weeks back.

Comments on the songs are in the YouTube playlist, so I will stick to the fact that the number one is surprising, even for me. But it’s a song that hasn’t left my head since I heard it first and never ceases to make me happy and sing along.

Enjoy watching/listening to all of them!