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I

• Midlake – Young Bride
  The Trails of Van Occupanther (Bella Union, 2006)
• Samamidon – Saro
  All is Well (Bedroom Community, 2008)
• Jolie Holland – Old-fashioned Morphine
  Escondida (Anti, 2004)
• Vetiver – You May Be Blue
  To Find Me Gone (FatCat, 2006)
• Devendra Banhart – Hey Mama Wolf
  Cripple Crow (XL, 2005)

II

• The Clientele – Reflections after Jane
  Suburban Light (Merge, 2000)
• Death Cab For Cutie – Photobooth
  Forbidden Love e.p. (Barsuk, 2000)
• Yo La Tengo – Season of the Shark
  Summer Sun (Matador, 2003)
• Kings Of Convenience - Failure
  Quiet is the New Loud (Astralwerks, 2001)
• The Coral - Pass It On
  Pass It On (Deltasonic, 2003)

III

• Iron & Wine – Naked As We Came
  Our Endless Numbered Days (Sub Pop, 2004)
• Innocence Mission – Tomorrow On The Runway
  Befriended (Badman Recording Co., 2003)
• Bright Eyes – Lua
  I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning (Saddle Creek, 2005)
• Miracle Fortress – Next Train
  Five Roses (Secret City, 2007)
• Fleet Foxes – Mykonos
  Sun Giant Ep (Bella Union, 2008)

IV

• Lambchop – Is a Woman
  Is a Woman (City Slang, 2002)
• Sun Kil Moon – Duk Koo Kim
  Ghosts of the Great Highway (JetSet, 2003)
• Songs: Ohia – Hold On Magnolia
  The Magnolia Electric Co. (Secretly Canadian, 2003)
• Antony & the Johnsons – You Are My Sister
  I Am a Bird Now (Rough Trade, 2000)
• Low – Laser Beam
  Things We Lost in the Fire (Tugboat, 2001)

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Hope is the thing with feathers.
- Emily Dickinson.

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I

• Sascha Funke – Mango
  Mango (Bpitch Control, 2008)
• Dominik Eulberg – Adler
  Heimische Gefilde (Traum, 2007)
• Gui Boratto – Atol
  Division Ep (Harthouse Mannheim, 2006)
• The MFA – The Difference it Makes
  The Difference it Makes (Border Community, 2001)
• Popnoname – The Movement
  Surrounded by Weather (Italic, 2008)

II

• Booka Shade – Charlotte
  The Sun & the Neon Light (Get Physical, 2008)
• Lifelike – So Electric
  So Electric (Different, 2008)
• The Honeydrips – Fall from a Height
  Here Comes the Future (Sincerely Yours, 2007)
• Junior Boys – In the Morning
  In the Morning 12″ (Domino, 2006)
• Ratatat – Wildcat
  Classics (XL, 2006)

III

• TV on the Radio – Staring at the Sun
  Young Liars Ep (Touch & Go, 2003)
• M83 – Don’t Save Us from the Flames
  Before the Dawn Heals Us (Mute, 2005)
• School of Seven Bells - Half Asleep
  Alpinisms (Ghostly International / 2008)
• Ulrich Schnauss – On My Own
  A Strangely Isolated Place (City Centre Offices, 2003)
• Fuck Buttons – Lisbon Maru
  Tarot Sport (ATP, 2009)

IV

• Soulwax – NY Excuse
  Any Minute Now (PIAS, 2004)
• Yo Majesty – Club Action
  Club Action 12″ (Domino, 2008)
• Metro Area – Miura
  Metro Area (Environ Records, 2002)
• M.I.A. – Galang
  Arular (XL, 2005)
• Jimmy Edgar – I wanna be your STD
  Color Strip (Warp, 2006)

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I. Rich, melodic technopop tunes that sit halfway between club fare and home listening. It seems these are pleasant enough for almost every type of audience to enjoy.
II. Highlights from out electropop collection. Very likely they were designed to appeal a very specific niche with all those requisite sharp-edged, Casio-based noises and 80′s samples that make them feel like good old friends to us in the mid-twenties demographic.
III. It’s hard to think clearly when exposed to any sort of saturation of the senses. You’re being forced to trust your animal instincts. How could anyone avoid thinking about steaming sex while  there’s a hazy, ethereal, swooping, swirling wall of sound coming out of the speakers? Maybe you were distracted. Try again.
IV. Yet another playlist filled with patches. After giving it some thought I think that the one thing these songs do have in common is that they incursioned in sounds which eventually became cliché; the pan-global influence, grime, electro, disco revival, hip-house. Regardless of fatigue I still remember them with fondness and it will be hard for me not to look back in a few years and realize how much these sort of songs helped define the promiscous musical environment in which I lived in for the better part of the decade.

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I

• The XX – Islands
  XX (Young Turks, 2009)
• Röyksopp – Remind Me
  Melody A.M. (Wall of Sound, 2001)
• King Biscuit Time - I Walk the Earth
  No Style EP (Astralwerks, 2000)
• Phoenix – If I Ever Feel Better
  United (Astralwerks, 2000)
• Fujiya & Miyagi – Collarbone
  Transparent Things (Grönland, 2006)

II

• Paavoharju – Valo Tihkuu Kaiken Läpi
  Yhä Hämärää (Fonal, 2005)
• Dntel – (This is) The dream of Evan and Chan
  Life is full of possibilities (Plug Research, 2001)
• Capitol K – Pillow
  Island Row (XL, 2002)
• Manitoba – Hendrix with KO
  Up in flames (Domino, 2003)
• Max Tundra – Cakes
  Cakes (Domino, 2000)

III

• Looper - These Things
  The Geometrid (Sub pop, 2000)
• Whitey - Can’t Go Out, Can’t Stay In
  The Light at the End of the Tunnel Is a Train (Dim Mak, 2005)
• Gogi.Ge.Org – Post Industrial Boys
  Post Industrial Boys (Max Ernst, 2004)
• Barbara Morgenstern – Kleiner Ausschnitt
  Nichts Muss (Monika, 2003)
• Lali Puna – Together in Electric Dreams
  I Thought I Was Over That: Rare, Remixed & B-sides (Morr, 2005)

IV

• Other’s People Children – On a Clear Day
  On a Clear Day 7″ (A number of small things, 2001)
• The Notwist – Consequence
  Neon Golden (City Slang, 2002)
• Broadcast - Black Cat
  Tender Buttons (Warp, 2005)
  Stereolab – Captain Easychord
  Sound-dust (Duophonic, 2001)
• The Fiery Furnaces – Waiting to Know You
  Bitter Tea (Fat Possum, 2006)

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I. Some of our favorite slices of pop music this decade. They sway with sensuous delight, get stuck in our brain for days and bring us big stupid smiles on our faces whenever we listen to them.
II. Probably my favorite segment on this post. These five artists share a love for deep and engaging textures, but never sacrifice melody or structure for it, as many other IDM acts tend to do.
III. We proceed to cool things off with a segment of what could be defined as electronic chamber pop. Songs which seem like they were specifically designed to be played in small home speakers at the laziest hours of the day. Most of the time this is how I imagine perfection in pop music; Antiseptic, calculated, bright, colorful. Like a brand new toy or a clean apartment.
IV. In a similar note to the past segment, only less cool and cynical, more infatuated and naïve. I admit the playlist feels a tad sketchy in construction – the vibrant psychedelia of the last three songs against the detached, melancholic vibe of the first two – but let’s just pretend it’s supposed to reflect on the confused eagerness and crushing desire within the music. A story of love lost and found… or something something.

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I

• Mount Kimbie - Maybes
  Maybes (Hotflush, 2009)
• Mikkel Metal – Victimizer
  Victimizer (Kompakt, 2006)
• Flying Lotus – Tea Leaf Dancers
  Reset (Warp, 2007)
• Four Tet & Burial – Moth
  Moth/Wolf Cub (Text, 2009)
• Justus Köhncke -  Timecode
  Zwei Photonen 12″ (Kompakt, 2004)

II

• Boards of Canada – In a Beautiful Place Out in the Country
  In a Beautiful Place Out in the Country (Warp, 2000)
• Closer Musik – Maria
  You Don’t Know Me 12″ (Kompakt, 2002)
• Pantha du Prince – Saturn Strobe
  This Bliss (Dial, 2007)
  Invisible Conga People – Cable Dazed
  Cable Dazed 12″ (Italians do it better, 2008)
• Fever Ray – When I Grow Up
  Fever Ray (Mute, 2009)

III

• Minilogue – The Girl from Botany Bay
  The Girl from Botany Bay (WIR, 2006)
• John Tejada – The End of it All
  The End of it All 12″ (Palette, 2006)
• Shed – Estrange
  Shedding the Past (Ostgut Ton, 2008)
• Ellen Allien & Apparat – Do Not Break
  Orchestra of Bubbles (Bpitch, 2006)
  
• Paul Kalkbrenner – Gebrünn Gebrünn
  Tatü-Tata (Bpitch Control, 2005)

IV

• Shackleton – Death Is Not Final
  Death is not final (Skull Disco / 2008)
• Burial – Unite
  Box of Dub (Soul Jazz, 2007)
• Joy Orbison – Hyph Mngo
  Hyph Mngo (Hotflush, 2009)
• Milanese – Caramel Cognac
  Extend (Planet Mu, 2006)
• Deepchord present Echospace – Empyrean
  The Coldest Season 2 (Modern Love, 2007)

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I. Dub-tinged minimalism. A common love for subtle pop hooks, codeine-charged rhythms and textural detail. Aural blankets that infuse everything around them with a comforting warmth.
II. In a beautiful place out in the country, which gets increasingly melancholic and withdrawn as the day goes by.
III. Addictive mandarine techno as made popular by the Germans.
IV. The polar counterpart for the first section. The sky is a darker gray in here. The warm, smokey haze replaced by menacing beats and frozen columns of bass. Quite pertinent at this time of year for all of us northern hemisphereans doing winter miles.

(There have been several readers experiencing problems due to server overload. At the end of this post you’ll find a link to download the whole set via mediafire as well as a link to hypem to stream the songs. Please help us save some bandwith.)

I

• Little Dragon – Twice
  Little Dragon (Peacefrog, 2007)
• Darkel – At the End of the Sky
  At the End of the Sky 7″ (Source Etc, 2006)
• Sebastien Tellier – La Ritournelle
  La Ritournelle (Lucky Number, 2004)
• Amadou & Mariam – Sabali
  Welcome to Mali (Because, 2008)

II

• Coralie Clément – Samba de Mon Coeur Qui Bat
  Salle des Pas Perdus (Nettwerk, 2002)
• Sara Tavares – Lisboa Kuya
  Balancê (Times Square Records, 2006)
• Cibelle – Green Grass
  The Shine of Dried Electric Leaves (Six Degrees, 2006)
• Smokey & Miho – Blue Glasses
  Smokey & Miho Ep (Os Afro Sambas, 2002)

III

• Amon Tobin – Deo
  Supermodified (Ninja tune, 2000)
• Shrift – Snow Samba
  Lost in a moment (Six Degrees,  2006)
• Wax Tailor - Seize the Day
  Paris OST (101, 2008)
• Thievery Corporation – Until the Morning
  The Richest Man in Babylon (ESL, 2002)

IV

• Laika – Badtimes
  Good Looking Blues (Too Pure, 2000)
• Goldfrapp – Pilots
  Felt Mountain (Mute, 2000)
• José James – Visions of Violet
  Park Bench People (Brownswood, 2008)
• Madvillain – ALL CAPS
  Madvillainy (Stones Throw, 2004)

V

• Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings – How Long Do I Have to Wait for You?
  Naturally (Daptone, 2005)
• Menahan Street Band – Make the Road by Walking
  Make the Road by Walking (Daptone, 2008)
• St Germain – Rose Rouge
  Tourist (2000)
• Quantic Soul Orchestra – Terrapin
  Stamped (Tru Thoughts, 2003)

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I. Sophisticated pop bordering on the erotic. All so mellow and sexy: Velvet plush synths, wispy, romantic vocals and a vaguely psychedelic haze.
II. It’s quite difficult not to imagine yourself chilling on a exotic, tropical paradise when listening to these ones. A bit on the verge of the cliché perhaps, but I’m never one to argue against music that sounds so full of warmth and joy. It’d be like kicking a puppy.
III. Highlights from our ‘chillout’ collection. We like to think these ones somehow stand above the rest, but listening to them now I realize that they haven’t aged too well. It’s really not their fault. I blame the thousands of wallpaper chillout compilations that have been released in the past 12 years that exploited their best traits beyond recognition. I have faith that someday we’ll look back and they’ll sound as good and new as they did back then.
IV. I like to think of this segment as some sort of soundtrack to a noir short.  A dark city street bathed in shadows. A winding road along the ocean cliffs. The cynical, hard boiled hero. The Snazzy femme fatale. The awkward love story. You’ve seen the same film reenacted thousands of times and you wouldnt mind seeing it a thousand times more.
V. Now we’re sipping rum and dancing on the terrace… I feel like I haven’t gone out in a while and this particular playlist makes me long deeply for the summer. Save them for a warm night.