New Releases


The Black Keys – El Camino
In his review of The Black Keys’ sold-out Minneapolis show in support of Brothers, Star Tribune writer Chris Riemenschneider commented, “The set they did play was tight, masterfully executed and had zero filler. Is 85 minutes of perfection better than two hours of varying quality?” El Camino, The Black Keys’ seventh studio album, answers that question with slightly less than 40 minutes of blistering affirmation. With producer Brian Burton’s featherweight, yet telltale, touches, vocalist and guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney have polished each track to the high standards of “Tighten Up”. Recorded almost immediately after the aforementioned Brothers tour, El Camino distills its predecessor’s high-octane fumes and high-profile influences into very nearly the Platonic ideal of rock and roll. Like the wood-paneled minivan that adorns the album cover, each track is big, brash, and classic. El Camino reminds The Black Keys’ audience that they deserve that extra five minutes to themselves because not a bar, verse, or lyric is wasted: They are all, in fact, “masterfully executed.” Read the full review on consequence of Sound


Amy Winehouse – Lioness: Hidden Treasures
The album opens with Winehouse’s 2002 reggae-tinged version of Ruby & The Romantics‘ 1963 hit “Our Day Will Comes,” and with good reason. It’s the track where Winehouse sounds most coherent. It’s a lively, jaunty remake that showcases Winehouse’s love and connection to the singers from the ‘50s and ‘60s and her uncanny intuitiveness when it comes to capturing the sassiness and longing so prevalent in the female pioneers. Read the full review on Hitfix


The Roots – Undun
The Roots’ latest studio album is an artful melding of experimental jazz, ’70s R&B, guitar rock flourishes, wall-shattering beats and rhymes that take a scalpel to the existential angst of the hip-hop generation. It’s both bleak and unexpectedly beautiful. Read the full review on LA Times

Pure Pop YearEnders: Sarah Moylan

There was a ton of sweet music released this year. Although I couldn’t fit them in the top five (or forgot about them until, like, right now), I’d send props out to Rubblebucket Orchestra’s “Omega La La”, Jeff the Brotherhood’s “We Are the Champions,” Black Lips’ “Arabia Mountain”, J Rocc’s “Some Cold Rock Stuf”, Milk Maid’s “Yucca”, and Son of Salami’s “A Study in Eraserheadless Tape Recording.”

Oh, and I guess I’m supposed to tell you about myself in this space. Hey, guys, I’m Sarah. I work at Pure Pop, so I’m pretty sure I’m not in the running for the gift certificate, but doing a YearEnder seemed like a really good vehicle for avoiding the more important things I have to do. I’m also a senior at UVM, the program director of WRUV-FM, and the music editor for The Water Tower, UVM’s alternative (and coolest newspaper).

Shameless plug: I’ll be playing my favorite 40 songs of 2011 on my radio show next Monday (12/12) @ 6 PM on WRUV-FM 90.1/wruv.org.

Pure Pop YearEnders: Jenny Mudarri

I am a Pure Pop shop girl! I have had the pleasure of listening to tons of new releases this year. These are just a few of the most delicious morsels of albums you probably heard over and over and over again if you happened to be in the store when I was working. This was a pretty darn good year for music, let’s hear it for all the bands and their labels, and I’d also like to thank Pure Pop for feeding my music addiction. Huzzah!

Pure Pop YearEnders: TerryB

I’m a music-moving Dad with little time for live music nowadays, but a two-hour commute that gives a decent amount of listening time. I’m all about low budget hi fi, and I support musicians and producers who care about the sound quality of their releases. In a 24-bit modern world, there’s no good reason for hyper compression, low bitrate downloads, bad streaming audio, and ipod docks as the standard music delivery systems that are so popular these days.

Pure Pop YearEnders: Shawn Beaulieu

Honorable Mentions:

— “You Are All I See” | Active Child
— “Rave Death, 1972” | Tim Hecker
— “House of Balloons” | The Weeknd
— “50 Words For Snow” | Kate Bush
— “Bon Iver, Bon Iver” | Bon Iver

I am currently a Biology student at Clarkson University (which was built in the most unfortunately banal town in existence).

Pure Pop YearEnders: Jordan Adams

A Vermonter and former Burlingtonian, I’ve spent the last 3 years DJing on independent radio stations in San Francisco, and finding new, cool, cutting edge indie music is my favorite thing to do, especially when I get to share it with strangers.

My favorite music trend of 2011 is the pervasive inclusion of saxophones. I love me some sax, and you can hear it on the 2011 albums from M83, Lady Gaga, Planningtorock, Plan B, tUnE-yArDs, Lykke Li, even Washed Out had a sax included in his new full-band live show. Viva le sax!

Some honorable mentions:

Cut Copy- Zonoscope
Wilco- The Whole Love
NewVillager- NewVillager
Active Child- You Are All I See
Plan B- The Defamation of Strickland Banks

Pure Pop YearEnders: Eskay Matthews

My name’s Sarah Katelyn Matthews. I live in Burlington, study at UVM, and I am a reviewer/critic for the webzine Scene Point Blank. Pure Pop is my favourite record store in the area and it gets a disgusting amount of my income so that I can continue to do what I love: listen to and write about music. You can read my full reviews for all of these records, as well as some of my other favourites, at scenepointblank.com m/