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Serenity Now: 2012's Most Relaxing Albums to Get You Through Christmas

By Tom Hawking on

This time of the year can be a strain, to say the least — between finding last-minute presents, the ensuing financial headaches, most likely traveling out of wherever you are to wherever it is you’re from, and dealing with your family when you get there, the festive season can feel less festive than stressful as fuck. But wait, we’re here to help! This has been a fine year for music that’s designed to relax you and soothe a troubled soul, so we thought we’d put together a playlist of the finest such records of 2012 for your tranquility-inducing enjoyment. Click through to listen, and by all means thank us later. If you like. No pressure. No stress. We promise. … Read More

Music

The 10 Albums You Need to Hear in December

By Tom Hawking on

December is traditionally a pretty dire month for album releases, and this year is no exception — but still, having said that, there’s enough noteworthy records dropping over the next four weeks to at least make our regular monthly “Albums You Need to Hear” post worth writing. It’s not just box sets and fancy reissues, either! The headline attraction this month is clearly the new Scott Walker record, which stands as one of the most remarkable things anyone’s released in 2012 and also a testament to the danger of starting your end-of-year-lists in November, but we’ve also tracked down a bunch of other releases that will do a fine job of bulking out your Christmas stocking. As ever, do let us know in the comments section what’s on your shopping list this month. … Read More

Music

10 MP3s You Need to Download for Free This Week: Thee Oh Sees, Prince Rama

By Tom Hawking on

It’s Friday, which means a) we survived the apocalypse and b) it’s time for another installment of our regular roundup of downloadable MP3 goodness from around the web. This week we have Prince Rama welcoming in the post-apocalyptic age, along with Thee Oh Sees covering the Velvet Underground, another beautiful home recording from Marissa Nadler, melancholy songsmithery from Willy Mason and El Perro del Mar, retro-futurism from Chrome Canyon and Ital Tek, and various other goodness for your downloading delectation. Since all this action costs precisely nothing, what are you waiting for? All the download links await after the jump. … Read More