November 30th, 2011 
Miami’s Young Circles are excited to release their first video off their recently released debut LP, Jungle Habits for the track “Love Hitch”. The video was directed by band member Adam Badlotto, using more than 7,000 stop motion images—none were generated by a computer—animated on a flat bed scanner, incorporating live footage. The band described the concept as “a psychedelic journey that visualizes the cognitive process of forgetting a lost love; an experience that represents the chemical reactions in our brains.”
Young Circles had a busy year, releasing their debut, Bones EP in January, followed by Jungle Habits in August, and, most recently, the single “Ninety-Nine Percent,” a tribute to the ongoing Occupy Wall Street movement, with all proceeds from the single being donated directly to OccupyWallSt.org.
Young Circles has been working on the follow up to Jungle Habits, as well as plotting a tour for the spring, which will include dates at SXSW.
: Roll up your sleeves and order a few drinks, because this is a soundtrack for the night. If The Presets met The Kinks at a Tom Waits concert, you’d just begin to get an idea of the swagger Mr. Lewis and the Funeral 5 deliver.
: Kyng succeeds where so many other rock bands have failed. They combine classic rock, grunge, and metal into a sound that is wholly unique and incredibly listenable for fans of just about any kind of rock. They call it “California Heavy.” We call it “Fan-f#cking-tastic!”
: Often, the problem with pushing the extremes is that the extremes are almost unlistenable. You can only play it so fast, detuned so far, or in so many odd time signatures before it becomes about catering to the extreme itself and not making a musical statement. Enter Animals As Leaders and their mastermid guitarist, Tosin Abasi, who combines soaring melodies, djent rhythms and odd time signatures in a way that is listenable… in the extreme. Weightless is rewriting the rulebook for progressive metal.
: To call Smooth Danger an eclectic album would be a tremendous understatement. Never has one album combined funk, electronic, hip hop, and avant garde music in a a way that is so completely organic. If you are looking for candy pop, look elsewhere. Smooth Danger is 88 keys and the truth!
: Funny thing about Russian Circles. They’ve proven, record after record, that a great album doesn’t need a vocalist to tell a story. And while SPIN spends countless pages stroking Explosions in the Sky, Russian Circles drops Empros, which reaffirms what music fans already knew: while Explosions in the Sky is good, Russian Circles still rules the realm of post-rock instrumentalism.
: When bands make lineup changes, they instantly put themselves up for criticism. Many diehards were tough on Vaccine for all the ways it wasn’t like its predecessors. What most of them failed to realize was that, judged completely on its own merits, not only was Vaccine a stellar album, it was one of the best from any band in 2011. Vaccine brings together elements of ambient electronica and indie dream pop in a collection of convincing and infectious songs.
: I grew up in the denim and leather generation with Anthrax and Metallica patches on my jean jacket. I say this so we can establish some credentials to remove any hyperbole from this statement: After 30 years, Anthrax released the album of their career with Worship Music. That alone is reason enough for you to have this album in your collection. Period.
: From the rock hotbed of Columbus, Ohio comes Alert New London. Their unique brand of melancholia is visceral and never forced in a way that hasn’t been heard in more than a decade. From lyrics to music, this is the complete package.
: Many reviewers called out the obvious influence of Tori Amos, but Scarlet Season goes further, incorporating elements of minimalist electronica into her beautiful, angst-ridden vocal delivery. Indeed, The Taxidermist exudes a panorama of dynamics not seen since Siouxsie Sioux.
: In an age of singles, many bands are abandoning the concept of an album that contains songs that, together, make a statement. Egypt Central fly directly in the face of convention, then, with White Rabbit. The album follows the story of someone succumbing to his addictions and the perils that come with it. Musically, each song could be a single and a staple of rock radio. Together, these elements bring music fans what they long for most, but are finding in shorter supply each year: an album they can listen to from beginning to end and never want to skip a track. In the end, White Rabbit gets our vote as the top album of 2011 because it was the most accessible album we heard all year that didn’t sacrifice an ounce of integrity, coming out leaps and bounds more mature than its predecessor.
(Dangerbird Records), Hughes’ debut album under the Boots Electric moniker. The album was produced by Tony Hoffer (Beck, Depeche Mode, The Kooks) and co-written with legendary keyboardist Money Mark, best known for his many collaborations with the Beastie Boys.
, this past summer, and hit the road with the HARD Festival Summer Tour in support. The album features 10 tracks, each of which has their own vibrant identity. With amazing tracks like “Forrest Gump,” co-written with Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas, “Circles,” with its Who-ish keyboard and apparently existential lyrics and standout lead single “2 Hearts.”
