It’s been a great year of music in 2011. There have been so many great releases this year that summing it all up is going to be a hard job and doing it ourselves would not do it justice – so much so that we have decided to enlist some help!

This is the second installment. Make sure to check out part 1 here, featuring These Kids Wear Crowns, Tonight Alive, Dollarosa, Zebrahead, The Playbook, Luke Logemann of UNFD, and Rebecca Reato of Deathproof PR.

Stay tuned for more guest contributions from various bands and people in the industry as they are added. Part three available soon.

I am Villain (Brisbane) – Guitarist Peter Eckel
 

What were your top ten albums of the year?
The Swellers – Good For Me
The Wonder Years – Suburbia I’ve Given You All And Now I’m Nothing
Polar Bear Club – Clash Battle Guilt Pride
The Horrible Crowes – Elsie
Bayside – Killing Time
Blink 182 – Neighborhoods
A Loss For Words – No Sanctuary
Set Your Goals – Burning At Both Ends
Frenzal Rhomb – Smoko At The Pet Food Factory
Tonight Alive – What Are You So Scared Of?

Favourite song of year?
I Believe Jesus Brought Us Together – The Horrible Crowes

Act you discovered this year you think people should know about?
Traditions from Brisbane

Justin Collier – Guitarist of Man Overboard (NJ, USA) / Label Manager of Lost Tape Collective

What were your top ten albums of the year?
Here are some of my favourite albums of the year… No real order…

1. Polar Bear Club – Clash Battle Guilt Pride
2. Fireworks – Gospel
3. Balance & Composure – Separation
4. Transit – Listen & Forgive
5. Sharks – The Joys of Living
6. David Bazan – Strange Negotiations
7. Basement – I Wish I Could Stay Here
8. True Things – Distractions
9. I really enjoy our new album… [Man Overboard – Man Overboard]
10. Strike Anywhere – Exit English… okay so this record came out in like 2003 BUT I’m re-releasing it on cassette so it has a new life (at least for me)

Act you discovered this year you think people should know about?
Basement had a pretty solid year after releasing ‘I Wish I Could Stay Here’ on Run For Cover and touring the UK with Title Fight and America with Such Gold and Daylight BUT if you haven’t heard them… check them out because their album is amazing.

In 2011…
2011 was a crazy year… I personally spent most of it either on tour or making an album. I saw a ton of cool shit and made a lot of friends.

In 2012…
Man Overboard and Lost Tape Collective will be launching a brand new joint website and webstore in January 2012 so all of our merch, releases, free digital downloads, etc will all be EXTREMELY organized into one cohesive home base… with that being that we will be releasing a bunch of cool shit… cassettes, vinyls, cds, posters, books, zones, etc etc!

Man Overboard will be touring the US, UK, Mainland Europe, Russia/Ukraine and hopefully some more places in 2012! so keep your eyes peeled.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=VY5dhpzBGJM&feature=youtu.be

We are The Emergency (Perth) – Guitarist Matthew Dewson


What were your top ten albums of the year?
Bon Iver- Bon Iver
Coldplay- Mylo Xyloto
Thrice- Major/Minor
Mastodon- The Hunter
Lydia- Paint It Golden
Childish Gambino- Camp
Radiohead- King of Limbs
Foo Fighters- Wasting Light
The Getaway Plan- Requiem
Explosions In The Sky- Take Care, Take Care, Take Care

Favourite song of year?
Bon Iver- Holocene

Act you discovered this year you think people should know about?
Black Birds

In 2011…
Favourite moment: Playing our (hardly) acoustic show at the Civic Hotel in October, hands down. We put in a ridiculous amount of effort to rearrange our songs and put them across in an entirely new light and the crowd really responded to it. It was the most rewarding show we’ve played with the current lineup.

In 2012…
So far, a brand spankin’ 3 track EP early in the year, with an accompanying video clip for the single, more shows in Perth, a bit of touring here and there. We’ll see!

Upcoming tour dates:
25^th January – After Life, Perth : Australia Day Eve with Confession, Make Them Suffer, Cupidfalls

Marines (UK) – Vocalist Tim Hyland

What were your top ten albums of the year?
1 Laura Marling – A Creature I Don’t Know.
2 Alex Turner – Submarines EP.
3 Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds
4 Jessie J – Who You Are.
5 Adele – 21.
6 The Vaccines – What Did You Eexpect.
7 Paul Thomas Saunders – Lilac + Wisteria.
8 Coldplay – Mylo Xyloto.
9. The Horrors – Skying.
10. Holy Show – Get Excited About Hating Everything.

Favourite song of year?
It’s a tough cut between Tribes “We Were Children” & Lana del Rays “Video Games”. Both for entirely different reasons, but both almost on the brink of being huge.

Act you discovered this year you think people should know about?
I’m not entirely sold on 2011 & the talent it has produced. It’s all been camp, frothy, dance music or reality show winners. I rekindled my love for Arctic Monkeys after “Suck it & See”. Tribes have been nice to keep an eye on. Paul Thomas Saunders is also fucking great.

In 2011…
Favourite moment: Marines were about to go on stage in Hasselt, Belgium (supporting YMAS) & prior to walking on stage, [we] just all looked at each other like “How the fuck did us lot get here?”. It was a great feeling & that whole tour was fantastic. We only really started six months ago, so the fact we got to go tour Europe so soon with such a prestigious band was great.

In 2012…
We’ve got a lot of exciting things we’re creating from nothing. We’re going to release some new music & do some tours, as bands bloody do – but I’m feeling positive. You’ll see a lot more from us, that’s for sure. Start believing and be a part of Marines ya boring gits. 

I Call Fives (New Jersey, USA)

What were your top ten albums of the year?
Saves The Day – Daybreak
Fireworks – Gospel
The Hotel Year – It Never Goes Out
Transit – Listen & Forgive
Blink182 – Neighborhoods
The Story So Far – Under Soil And Dirt
The Dangerous Summer – War Paint
We Are The Union – Graveyard Grins
Living With Lions – Holy Shit
Heart To Heart – Deathproof

Favourite song of year?
The Hotel Year – Lonely Hearts Club

Act you discovered this year you think people should know about?
The Hotel Year. I heard about them from a friend of mine in Born Without Bones (great band) and fell in love with their EP, which you can find on my top 10 list.

In 2012…
We’re recording a new full length in March and releasing the record right before the summer starts. We’ll be on tour the rest of the year after the release, come check it out.

Seam Lam – Promotions and Label Manager for UNFD/Aus & NZ Label Manager for Hopeless Records

What were your top ten albums of the year?
1. Drake – Take Care
2. Dream On Dreamer – Heartbound
3. Yellowcard – When You’re Through Thinking, Say Yes
4. Balance and Composure – Separation
5. Ed Sheeran – +
6. Letlive – Fake History
7. Wiz Khalifa – Rolling Papers
8. The Bride – President R d
9. Alkaline Trio – Damnesia”10. Moving Mountains – Waves

Favourite song of year?
According to my iTunes play count, Neon Hitch – What Starry Eyes Know with 7,114 plays, haha.

Act you discovered this year you think people should know about?
I’m going to cheat and list more than one act because I listen to a lot of Hip Hop, Rap and R&B music. So I think people who like it too should check out Frank Ocean, Justice and Kaos.
As for the Alternative, Indie and Rock pool, people should lookout for Neon Hitch, Alex Winston and Francis and the Lights.

In 2012…
Big things expected to come out from the UNFD camp including releases by The Used, Silverstein, Say Anything, The Summer Set, and House Vs Hurricane.

We also cannot wait to sign more new acts both domestically and internationally to develop in Australia; music lovers can stay in the know via the UNFD mailing list