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Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros

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This was one of my favorite records from last year. This band has a hazy California desert sound that reverberates through your speakers like an old b-movie coming through on the UHF station that you can’t quite tune in. Remember UHF? All that knob twisting to get the bad local station? That nostalgic, static-laced memory you just dusted off keeps this band going.

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Ambling Alp

Yeasayer

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Rocking a ramshackle assortment of world beats, analog synths, dance pop grooves, a boxing history lesson, and We-are-the-Champions-style underdog motivational verve, this track off Yeasayer’s latest album, “Odd Blood” is irresistible. Throw in the fact that my first son is just over a month old and I’m brimming with plenty of fatherly pride and humility – well, Ambling Alp can’t miss.

Also, be sure to check out their trippy video for O.N.E.

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Vitreous Detachment

Origamibiro

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This is a couple years old, but I’ve been listening to it a lot lately. You might describe Origamibiro as electroacoustic – an oxymoron that makes sense once you give the track a listen. His work is best summed up by a recent twitter post he made: Do we make an unconscious association between the crackle of a vinyl record and the crackle of a wood fire?

Origamibiro on MySpace