2011: Favorite EPs

There were so many good EPs this year that they deserved their own list, although they easily could have competed with my top spots for albums. Bands, especially new bands, blew me away with their three to four flawless songs time and time again. The fact that these songs aren't getting lost in the shuffle of a mediocre 10 song album made a lot of bands shine brighter than more seasoned groups with LPs out this year. Here's what stood out the most for me.

1. Pickwick - Myths [Buy]
I'm letting Myths count for all three volumes (six songs in total) that were released this year, because I don't know how I'd ever choose. Pickwick is my most posted about band of 2011 and for good reason; they're going to be huge in 2012 when their LP is released. That's all you need to know. 

2. Daughter - The Wild Youth EP [Buy]
Both of her EPs left me feeling crippled and overly emotional. Her voice and those lyrics cut through everything, even on the worst of days. I've felt guilty for selfishly wishing she still has a broken heart for her LP because these are the most honest and gut wrenching break up songs I've heard in a long time, maybe ever, and I wouldn't mind hearing some more of those from her.

3. TV Girl - Benny and the Jetts [Buy]
"Lizzy Come Back to Life" paints the laziest of summer pictures: a girl laying poolside, topless, in an indian headdress. It's an impossible image to erase. This was the most constant soundtrack to the late august nights and the most memorable sound of summer.
TV Girl - Lizzy Come Back to Life

4. Alabama Shakes - Alabama Shakes EP [Buy]
What can be said that hasn't been said already?

5. The Wooden Sky - City of Light [Buy]

I've wrote about my penchant for dancing in the dark with a glass of wine to this EP before. This music and that end of day glass of wine is the best recipe for comfort I know.


6. Cotton Jones - Sit Beside Your Vegetables [Buy]
This is the most underrated husband/wife duo of indie rock. This EP gives you smiles for days, weeks, and if you're me, for a year and I'm sure more years to come.
Cotton Jones - Egg On A Sea

7. Milo Greene - The Hello Sessions [Buy]
At first, their bandcamp page only had 1957 and as they slowly added more songs I fell more and more in love with their gorgeous harmonies and every single tambourine jangle.
Milo Greene - 1957

8. Peter & Kerry - Clothes, Friends, Photos EP [Buy]
"It's as much a sigh of relief as it is a breath of fresh air" was what the first review I read of Peter & Kerry and that's what I feel with every listen.
Peter and Kerry - Knees

9. Hip Hatchet - Coward's Luck EP [Buy]
Hip Hatchet played our first house show and was one of the most memorable nights of the year.  I specifically remembered this song and getting goosebumps. So when this EP came out, not only did I listen to it over and over, but I knew it was list worthy.
Hip Hatchet - Just Like An Old Friend

10. High Highs - High Highs EP [Buy]
This is the outlier on the list, it doesn't sound quite like the others. It's a daydream of an EP. I've never felt grounded when I listen and my mind wanders for the entire 13 minutes and often that's just what I want from music.

High Highs - Open Season

11. Big Snow Big Thaw - Winter [Buy]
They've since combined their Winter and Spring EP into one eight song album but these songs are addictive. You'll be stomping and clapping your way back for more.
Big Snow Big Thaw - Damn Allegheny 

Honorable Mention: 
Of Monsters & Men - Into the Woods [Buy]
I had an Icelandic acquaintance ship me their LP which won't be available in the US until the Spring of 2012, but I've included it on my favorite album list anyway because I played the shit out of it and everyone should know about the band. However, on December 20th they released an EP with four of their best tracks from the Icelandic LP release (so no new material), it confused me as to how to fit it on the lists, but deserves to be mentioned here as well since it's now widely available for purchase. Get their song "Little Talks" as the free itunes download of the week.
Of Monsters and Men - Little Talks

**Note on 12/30/11: Took me a few days but I realized I forgot 3 very important EPs. I'm an idiot. This makes a nice round 15 EPs worth buying.

Jens Lekman - An Argument with Myself
Jens Lekman - An Argument With Myself

Frightened Rabbit - Tour EP



Aunt Martha - Bloodshot
Aunt Martha - Bloodshot

My blurbs haven't told you anything of use nor was it eloquent writing about how the music sounds, and I honestly doubt my writing is either ever of those things. I debated about this but decided blurbs were best used to tell a bit about my personal relationship to the music because after all that's why it's a list titled "Favorite EPs". I only hope that through all of that you can find a song or an artist for you to attach yourself to because it's one of the most rewarding experiences for a music listener. The personal connection and musical love affairs I have with these EPs has made an inexplicable difference in the enjoyment of my year. Happy listening.

Cotton Jones - Sit Beside Your Vegetables

This new Cotton Jones EP, Sit Beside Your Vegetables, is a lovable umbrella for four songs. I've always really liked Cotton Jones but I think this EP just solidified a higher status, one a little closer to love and obsession. Their EP can be found and purchased here.

"Down beside em" invites you to sit in their Cumberland garden "for that moment I was no one, nowhere, just sitting in a garden" which sounds delightful and is filled with images of bending bean stalks, you can almost smell the soil as the gentle bass line plods along. The instrumental "Lune chatter" is like a modern take on the Pied Piper calling all the children to follow him and they all march out of town. It's magnetic and you'll be following right along. "Egg On a Sea" is a great duet with the married couple telling a story of girl who is trouble with a capital T, it's charming and sounds like a warm summer night. Then there is "Good In Every Word" with "Been listening to the heart, there's so much good in every word" which is a pleasing song in every sense and comes around with more talk of laying down places which seems to be the theme here. Cotton Jones' music continues to be all of your happiest summer memories encapsulated in songs that shimmer, and I can't help but love them for that. So seriously go buy it for $3.56 it will be far more pleasing than that afternoon coffee you are thinking of buying for the same price.

I did get to see them play last night when they opened for Nicole Atkins at Brighton Music Hall and it kills me when the opener is better than the headlining act. This was the fourth time I've seen them and it was just as good as ever. Their closing song is still the same jubilant version of Somehow to Keep it Going , where the whole band pitches in singing along. I highly recommend seeing them if you can, it seems like they're always touring so hopefully you can.

Cotton Jones play at T.T. the Bear's Place [Review]

100Bands Reviews: Review #18

What’s Left: 322 Days. 83 Bands.

Band #18: Cotton Jones

When/Where: October 7th, T.T. The Bear’s Place, Cambridge, MA

Expectations: I just want to hear “Gone the Bells”, a song I am deeply infatuated with. I’ve read some rave reviews from people who have seen them at festivals, so I expect something special.

Concert: Cotton Jones was playing to a fairly full venue on Thursday night when they took the stage looking like vagabonds coming from a freight train they just hitched cross country, almost like they had time traveled from some simpler time many years ago. Maybe it was the amount of jeans and certain hats that were worn, but all six band members had that “I’m a hardened traveler just playing my music” kind of look to them. Their look was fitting with their timeless music that plays like a hazy daydream with a timeline that spans generations. Their music has a lot of blues, americana, and folk aspects to it but I think it is far better to describe it as warming music steeped in tradition.

I thought they started off rather slow, but lead singer, Michael Nau’s cheeks turned ruby red as he was singing and his voice came on more forcefully than it does on their albums, instantly giving all their songs a new life. By the third song, the audience was spontaneously dancing along. Any band that can get the usually static Boston crowd to dance must be doing something very very right. Each song they played took me a while to recognize because it was like they took the song out of that hazy daydream, eliminating the lo-fi qualities that ensconces their recorded songs, and made those songs exist in a real life. It was a really cool but subtle change that made all the difference. Whitney McGraw’s accompanying vocals were just as soft and dreamy as one could hope, and I watched some of the younger males in the crowd take out their cameras just to capture a few pictures of her.
The highlight was easily the closing song “Somehow To Keep It Going” which starts of slow with a simple kick drum beat, a tambourine, and a guitar and then surprisingly erupted into a full on sing your heart out chorus of “Come on baby let the river roll on” that the whole band sang and carried on for some time with such energy that I never wanted it to end. The band turned into a circle facing one another as they all carried on together letting that final river of sound wash over us all.

Concert Afterglow: Completely impressed. Their music was nothing short of beautiful and that energy they brought to the live show won me over.

Recommendation: This is a band that you must know, I highly suggest digging into their music and if you like it see them live.

Song: “Somehow To Keep It Going” - Cotton Jones