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This year, Beck released an album called Song Reader.

The really ****ed up thing about it? He didn't release it by CD. Or vinyl. Or even mp3.

He didn't release any performance of the album. He only released its sheet music and asked the world to play it themselves.

The result was a brilliant explosion of covers from every genre you can name, re-imagining Beck's original sheet music into their style.

My favorite is probably this gypsy band slinking through "Do We? We Do."

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Huh. That was good.

The Night Beds were a pleasant discovery this year. If you really loved Bon Iver last year, the Night Beds are a great place to go next.

I'm also a pretty big fan of Joey Bada$$ -- I've never liked gangsta rap or any kind of abrasive rap. I like the rhythms of talking too much and Bada$$ is one of the better ones going around right now, like in "Wendy N Becky."

I don't know how much anybody gets into chamber music, but if you listen to one piece of chamber music this year, make sure it's Portland Cello Project's "Denmark." It is one of the most stunning pieces of music I've heard in a couple years.

The PCP is more of a gimmick than anything -- 8 cellos, and they usually cover pop songs like Outkast and shit. But they do have originals, and they are usually very good.

But... "Denmark" is just another world of quality.

I like this little flow


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This one's more for SR. I konw you like more old school techno, but here's some extremely good big-bass techno that pulses with just some extremely good energy.

In the same vein am also a huge fan of Ratatat, and "Party With Children" is one of their best songs. An undeniable hook, and the entire video is just a parrot sitting around. I mean, what the hell.

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Mucca Pazza is basically a silly live show that also features some amusing original music.

It's a 20-piece member of marching band members playing goofy songs, wearing ridiculous outfits, with their own cheerleaders and choreographed moves.

I saw them in St. Louis. A phenomenal show to see if you get a chance. This performance of "Bump" is perfectly representative of these ridiculous people. Very, very fun.

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