Six Star Songs: Hood - "The Lost You"

Hood are a not-that-well-known experimental group that have been around for twenty years and have made songs in diverse styles, mostly focusing on electronic and folk music. "The Lost You" was released as a single in 2004 and appeared on their most recent proper LP Outside Closer in 2005.

Girls- Father, Son, Holy Ghost

First, Girls are a San Francisco-based band made up of Christopher Owens and Chet 'JR' White who are, in fact, boys. Second, they like old music and drugs. A lot. Third, their debut Album was among my favorite albums of 2009, and the followup EP Broken Dreams Club was among my favorite albums of 2010 (though Robin did not like it at all). Most importantly, if you are unfamiliar with the backstory of singer and primary songwriter Christopher Owens (who looks exactly like a strung out, tattooed Macaulay Culkin, by the way), get thee to this interview. It is pretty important to understand how growing up in the Children of God cult and his subsequent life have shaped his music.

Here we go:

Truffle Shuffle #1

In which we hit the shuffle button and review the crap out of whatever comes up.

The Rapture - In the Grace of Your Love

The dance-punk/disco-punk/postpunk group The Rapture is back after an extended absence. Will this highly anticipated offering be able to match their now-modern-classic first album, Echoes, or the incredibly underrated dance machine, Pieces of the People We Love? Will it make us swoon and dance uncontrollably?

Let's do this.

The Weeknd - Thursday

The enigmatic R&B singer who goes by The Weeknd and who has, so far, simply posted up his albums online for free download (seriously: go here) has released his second album (which he calls a 'mixtape'), Thursday. The first, House of Balloons, was probably the best R&B album I've ever listened to all the way through. Can Thursday continue to push the R&B envelope?

Let's do this.

St. Vincent: Strange Mercy

Annie Clark's band is the recipient of two previous Robin's Album of the Year awards for their two previous albums, the amazing Marry Me and Actor. Can they make it 3/3?

Let's do this.

Kanye West & Jay-Z: Watch the Throne

You might have heard of this one. Rap's two biggest names, Jay-Z and Kanye West, team together to create what is probably the most anticipated album of 2011 in the mainstream music world.

Let's do this.

About Us

We like music.

-Robin
-Maz
-Jack

The rating system explained

We here at Track to Track (t2t?) wanted to use a rating system that was useful and simple, and we weren't interested in inventing something novel for the sake of being original. Since the advent of the Apple-takeover-of-everything-digital paradigm change, we have decided on using the iTunes 5-star system. It's not perfect, but it should be easy to understand. There are only a few changes, so here's how it goes:

5 stars: We love this track. Listen immediately.

4 stars: We really like this track. Recommended.

3 stars: We like this track.

2.5 stars: Meh. No opinion, really.

2 stars: We don't like this track.

1 star: We really don't like this track. Avoid.

0 stars: We absolutely hate this track. It has made our world a more terrible place in which to live.

There will also be a super-special designation for '6-star' tracks. These are 5-star tracks that are so memorable and amazing that they hold a special place in the heart of the reviewer.

Thanks for reading and listening! Be sure to let us know if you have any recommendations or suggestions.

Hipster post ipsum

Messenger bag skateboard adipisicing, vero reprehenderit proident ea consectetur sustainable. Messenger bag american apparel assumenda 8-bit banh mi iphone, accusamus mcsweeney's jean shorts placeat lomo banksy aute. Keytar nostrud organic aute four loko. Art party mixtape mcsweeney's, raw denim excepteur laboris readymade locavore cliche esse williamsburg leggings qui ad marfa. Accusamus odio american apparel lomo mlkshk sunt retro consectetur, elit helvetica food truck pitchfork shoreditch. Chambray vice velit, pariatur you probably haven't heard of them butcher tumblr. Viral biodiesel nesciunt letterpress, mustache mollit dreamcatcher qui pariatur carles farm-to-table.
Delectus commodo qui gentrify food truck, eiusmod non laboris. 3 wolf moon photo booth mcsweeney's, messenger bag brooklyn sint consequat cliche nihil butcher freegan consectetur carles adipisicing ullamco. Cillum 8-bit in blog, dolor incididunt seitan twee. Keffiyeh est fap portland, nesciunt consectetur et keytar sustainable ea veniam ethical etsy laborum quis. Mixtape +1 assumenda freegan et single-origin coffee. Wolf est locavore, portland 8-bit skateboard artisan vero fap terry richardson placeat. You probably haven't heard of them organic dolor, art party pitchfork minim cillum cliche leggings chambray vegan voluptate.