LITS’s Top 10 Tracks Of 2013 – Erik Barns

Over the past year, Lost In The Sound has moved in a new direction covering alternative genres and choosing to add focus on lesser known artists. With this in mind however we also continued to cover prominent outfits that we enjoy listening to and supporting. We added punk, metalcore, folk and ambient to our editorial genres to give us a more diverse array allowing us to promote more of our favorite bands and solo projects. With all of these changes we thought it would be much more reasonable to compile ten tracks from each of us reflecting on our favourites from the last twelve months. So, this year, LITS presents fifty tracks in five separate top ten lists. Our fourth list in this series is from Erik Barns.

10. Idol – Smith Westerns from Soft Will
The Smith Westerns have such a nice feel good sound, as Harri remarked. The whole album flows really well. Gotta show some love for the bois comin out of chi-town, ya dig?

9. Opposite of Afternoon – Unknown Mortal Orchestra from II
Even though they have even more current work than II, Opposite of Afternoon was the song that really turned me onto the rest of their songs. A really mystical and psychadelic sound that always feels really smooth.

8. On Doing An Evil Deed Blues – Lil Ugly Mane from Prelude to Panopticon
The song changes its sound a lot as it progresses but I love the production. I’m a sucker for some nice brass instruments thrown in there for a bit too, you have to love that brass.

7. Sleep Apnea – Beach Fossils from Clash The Truth
Sleep Apnea really turns down the tone of Clash The Truth, but I loved how Beach Fossils used some acoustic guitars and just went with this extremely dreamy melody. There are other favorite tracks off this album but at first listen Sleep Apnea caught my attention and I’ve loved it since.

6. What Drugs Got To Do With It? – Pussy Wizard from What Drugs Got To Do With It?
Pussy Wizard remarks that this is “15 minutes of shits and giggles” but I loved it. Whether or not this compilation of songs is a joke, it has some really sick tunes in it. It tends to be pretty low key but has a few drops in the heavily distorted beat that just hit me like a wall.

5. Dig Deep Enough – Gogol Bordello from Pura Vida Conspiracy
I have to throw some love at Gogol Bordello. Dig Deep Enough reminded me a lot of the song “Ultimate”, a really pleasant song that isn’t afraid to get down and dirty. A lot of fluctuation between punk and softer acoustic sounds.

4. Kill Someone – Cool Serbia from Cool Serbia
Kill Someone has a kind of dark sound but has a lot of jams in it.

3. A Lizard State – King Krule from 6 Feet Beneath the Moon
This song is just really groovy, a really catchy guitar that feels really jazzy to me. I loved the whole album and would have thrown it all up here if I could have. Really stoked to see what else he does in the future.

2. Philadelphia – Mumblr from White Jesus/Black God
I kind of wish I could combine Philadelphia, Cats, Yo Nobody Gives a Feel, and Space God all in one “top track”. These songs are relatively short and are intended to go together on the tape. The combination is just a really fun set of songs for me.

1. Side One – Lil Ugly Mane from Three Sided Tape Volume Two
Side One is probably not a very reasonable choice for a top track. It’s a mixture of short beats often with a few rap verses thrown in there but I love each an every beat on it. They all are just so phat, it makes the 16 minute compilation just kind of fly by.