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Perhaps you’ve heard the first single, “Pumped Up Kicks,” from Foster the People‘s debut album, Torches. The punchy bass line and catchy melody of “Pumped Up Kicks” are characteristic of Torches, which will appeal to fans of Peter Bjorn and John or Franz Ferdinand. This will be your guilty pop pleasure of 2011.

Here’s another great track, “Helena Beat,” from Torches:

Fitz and the Tantrums’ debut LP, Pickin’ Up the Pieces, errs on the funkier side of things. Combining equal parts rock and  soul influences, Pickin’ Up the Pieces is 36 minutes of breathless, uptempo groovy fun. Fans of Sharon Jones and the  Dap Kings or Wanda Jackson will dig this album.

While Pickin’ Up the Pieces’ first track, “Breakin’ the Chains of Love”, has received the most attention over the airwaves, “Don’t Gotta Work It Out” is just as good. Check it out in this awesome live performance:

Rookie of the Year Award

Twin Shadow – Forget
I really like everything about this album. George Lewis Jr has a beautiful voice and write terrific songs. Forget features a thrilling production that recalls ENO’s early albums and 80′s Indie Rock. Let’s hope the next one is even better!

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyO7P6LE7nA

Old-Timer Award

Paul Weller – Wake Up the Nation

Paul Weller is a dinosaur. He recorded his first album on a fucking pterodactyl. Nonetheless, Wake Up the Nation isn’t merely 2010′s best album from an elder-statesman of music, it’s one of the year’s best hands-down. Just listen to this gem, featuring production from My Bloody Valentine’s Kevin Shields.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0i6L1Q9kzU

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Our good friend and Pure Pop compatriot Herb has left the building – and though he is gone, the emotional trauma he inflicted his memory lives on, namely in the music he played instore – and a faint mildewy odor that still lingers on around the bathroom. Below is a list of songs that that have that watery smack of herb we’ve all come to love, albeit in that way you love a retarded child.

Richard Harris – McArthur Park

This is a great example of herb’s ability to look past schmaltzy production staight to the emotional sentiment of a song. Where a lesser music appreciator would only see an obscure reference to mid 20th century poet W. H. Auden’s musings on a long life irrevocably lived – Herb looked deeper stating “Dude, it’s not about a cake. It’s about a girl. Who left his cake out in the rain.”

Sparks – Equator

Herb loved his joke bands. If you wore a hitler mustache and used puns in your album titles Herb’s probably commented on your youtube videos.

Husker Du – Eight Miles High

Any time we’ve ever done lists here on Pure Pop Online herb will inevitably sneak in a Husker Du song. Don’t ask me why. I think he had his first kiss while listening to Zen Arcade, when he was 25.

Guided By Voices – My Valuable Hunting Knife

Herb may be alot of things, but one thing he is not not is a Rob Pollard apologist… Give it a second.

Prefab Sprout – When Love Breaks down

As i said previously, herb has an uncanny knack for seeing right through the trappings of a particular period or genre and right to it’s frosted tip’ed, tear stained, incredibly self indulgently over-emotional core. And his introduction of Prefab Sprout to my life finally allowed me to listen to something other than Kate Bush, for about a week.

Pulp – Common People

Herb: “See lecherous, bitter misanthropes CAN make great music!”

Daft Punk – One More Time

There’s this dance that herb does – it’s sort of like the Carlton Banks but whiter. Sorta like this:

New Order – The Perfect Kiss

Though i may never forgive herb for making me listen to ol’ Berny’s side project Bad Lieutenant, i can never thank him enough to for finally opening my eyes back in the mid aughts to this band. These guys changed my perspective on what “Electronic” and “Punk” and “Dance” meant and much like Herb, introduced me to a whole world of excellent and under appreciated artists.

Thanks buddy, you’ll be missed.

Glo-Fi is all the rage in the hip indie circles of late. Hazy, nostalgia drenched & easy pleasy – it’s a genre that invites plenty of criticism and outside a handful of acts, that criticism (half-assed, insipid, too safe) is well founded. Glo-fi is shaping up to be the late 00/early 10′s answer (bastard child?) to the Loggins & Messina spearheaded Yaht Rock sound of the 70′s.

That being said there are a few acts working on the edges of the genre that are turning out interesting sounds. One i’ve been keeping my eyes on has been Australia’s “Witch House” scene, acts like OOoOooo, Salem, and ///▲▲▲\\\ combine a much lighter touch of that AM radio vibe, but blur and stretch it in their creepy funhouse mirrors, adding layers of heavy distortion, church organs, garbled vocals, echo and delay, ending up at the end with something in my opinion, much more interesting, and while still detached and sedated, managing to be so much more creative, edgy and engaging.

Outside of even this left field genre, exists Tonstartssbandht. Don’t even ask me how to pronounce it. Not even technically related to glo-fi or witch house, this one man (maybe more?) show located somewhere between Montreal & NYC, seems to be aware of what’s going on in contemporary music culture and then actively subverting it. I heard his most recent EP while looking for for used vinyl at Montreal’s Cheap Thrills. Not for everyone, Tonstartssbandht seems to revel in obscuring its own brilliant pop hooks. Heavy heavy blown out drums and grinding guitars matched up to shrieking and yelping guy/girl vocals thrash and threaten to completely disintegrate the tracks (not to mention your headphones) but once you’ve got over the initial shock value, it’s the pop hooks that will keep you coming back to listen and relisten. These songs are nerviously anthemic in a way that will having you trying to dig up the lyrics so you can shout along at the top of you lungs.

If you’re into glo-fi, if you’re into music that challenges, and then rewards, check this guy out his most recent EP is available for free download.

Hi!  i’m josh riggs and most of this stuff was invented, conceived, produced etc before the 09, but in this the year of our lord eco=-crash (and/or) recovery year of 2009 i was clumsy enough in all the right ways to stumble over these(my) annual choice pleasures!

1.Urs Fischer: Marguerite de Ponty @ New Museum (NYC) – 3 floors of rot, wood, eats, blobs, sheetrock, chains, surreal installations by an artist that is my big time in the 09! Made me feel like peeing on something inanimate.

http://www.newmuseum.org/exhibitions/417/urs_fischermarguerite_de_ponty

2.Sun Araw – Horse Steppin’ on YouTube – hazed out sleep junkie surfs up! YouTube has replaced the MTV basshead in all of us…even though it was released in the 08′ – i’m a late bloomer!

3.Jack Daniels Tennessee Whiskey – In 7th grade I chugged a bottle of this stuff with some of my degenerate friends. It seemed like a good idea at the time and made my high as a georgia pine until I puked my guts out and vowed never to touch the stuff again. 15ish years later 1 sip changed my direction in adult libations-will be sippin’ for many years to come!

4.Men With No IQ’s – 80′s BLACK metal 4 realz ya’ll! Insane Mississippi brutal rock afro-oddball scene I wish I was a part of. Obscure-only thing I have found is 2 songs on this Myspace site. Oh Myspace…what happened to you in 2009???????????

http://www.myspace.com/menwithnoiqs

5.Hotel Gault/Chez L’Epicier/Zone Orange – 3 choice spots on my annual Montreal tour de force! Made my 2009 trip one of the best ever! Lux!

http://www.hotelgault.com/
http://www.chezlepicier.com/
http://www.galeriezoneorange.com/

6.Dylan Nyoukis Live @ No Fun Stockholm 2009 – vox art to the fucking maximum voltage! Wish I could have seen it in the flesh…mope…

7.Richard Kern – I’m not sure why it took me this long to find him considering I am such a huge Terry Richardson fan? In my opinion his work is better and it makes me tingle-ROAR!Patrick Tsai runner up!!!!!(PHOTO DUDES!)

http://www.richardkern.com/
http://www.hellopatpat.com/mldd_e.html

8.Eating sushi for hours alone at Sakura in BVT = Pure Bliss!

9.The Sinful Dwarf (1973) – Orlof, the creepy dwarf in the skuzz pit slum of London keeps kidnapped girls in the basement nice an high on smack for his mommies pimp rough trade! GRINDHAUS shit with a killer soundtrack and somewhat watchable if yr into that kinda thang!(sorry JOSH i saw it 1st!) I also saw Daisies and that totally blew my noggin”! Sedmikrasky!

10.Black Beauty – My band w/ amigo Josh! We can clear a room in 1/2 a song! Gives me yet another excuse to drink beer on Thursday night! THIS IS GOING TO BE SUCKS! – a hopeful 2010 release (avail @ Pure Pop!) maybe’zzzzzzz~! shameless self promo’!

11.Listening to Oneohtrix Point Never, Blood Stereo, Omar Soulyman, Areski & Brigitte Fontaine, Endless Boogie, WaVVes, The JACK Quartet/Iannis Xenakis, The Clash, Brainbombs, Sensational, A&E, The Legendary Stardust Cowboy, Kito Mizukumi Rouber, Mozart, The Beatles, GAS, Preggy Peggy & the Lonely Babymakers, Borful Tang and of course Justin Bieber! (I prob left out about 70 others but…)