Los Campesinos!
“Hello Sadness”
Release Number: 4th LP
Hailing From: Cardiff, Wales
Genre: Twee-punk
Label: Witchita/ Arts & Crafts

Los Campesinos! is easily in the league of most productive bands today. Having released 4 albums and 3 EPs in a matter of four years, and starting up a self-made quarterly fanzine and 7” club, the band clearly enjoys its work. In an era of music where it has become incredibly easy for a band to descend into obscurity, this quasi-Welsh septet has channeled staying power through steady productivity combined with hyper-literate lyrics and an eclectic sound that can be superficially described as twee but more specifically has elements of post-rock, shoegaze, noise, punk, and pop. With three new band members, their latest release, Hello Sadness, shows LC! transitioning comfortably with these new musicians, while focusing their arrangements and lyrics into more conventional pop structures. While this can be seen as a step away from what made the band so much fun to listen to in the first place, its execution is a smooth transition from their previous effort, the sprawling Romance is Boring.
Click here to read the full review.

Here are the Top 30 Albums at WTSR for the Week Ending 12/4/2011!
(Listed by Artist then Album Title)

1 BLACK KEYS El Camino
2 M83 Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming
3 BRITE FUTURES Dark Past
4 JUSTICE Audio, Video, Disco
5 HINDI ZAHRA Handmade
6 THE DO Both Ways Open Jaws
7 RUN DAN RUN Normal
8 CAVEMAN CoCo Beware
9 BODY LANGUAGE Social Studies
10 LOS CAMPESINOS! Hello Sadness
Click here to see the full list.

Tune in on Monday, December 12 from 9 am to 5 pm for WTSR’s annual Top 100 Countdown special. Join WTSR’s music directors and listen to WTSR’s 100 most played albums.

What’s number 1? Tune in to find out.

Check back here throughout the show because we’ll be posting the list as we go along.

I'll give you a hint. One of these albums is probably on the list.

Click here to see the list.

Here are the Top 30 Albums at WTSR for the Week Ending 12/4/2011!
(Listed by Artist then Album Title)

1    BODY LANGUAGE    Social Studies
2    JUSTICE    Audio, Video, Disco
3    M83    Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming
4    BRITE FUTURES    Dark Past
5    ATLAS SOUND    Parallax
6    THE DO    Both Ways Open Jaws
7    TOM WAITS    Bad As Me
8    CASIOKIDS    Aabenbaringen Over Aaskammen
9    SHE AND HIM    A Very She And Him Christmas
10    PTERODACTYL    Spills Out
Click here to see the full list.

The Kooks
“Junk of the Heart”
Release Number: 3rd
Hailing From: East Sussex, England
Genre: Indie Rock
Label: Virgin Records

The Kooks began their journey back in 2004 when Luke Pritchard, Hugh Harris, Paul Garred, and Max Rafferty came together while students at Brighton Institute of Modern Music. The band was quickly picked up by Virgin Records, a mere three months after the band’s conception. The group admits they weren’t initially ready for the deal but couldn’t pass up such an opportunity. Following the recording contract, The Kooks released Inside In/Inside Out in early 2006, with favorites like “Naïve”, “She Moves in Her Own Way”, and “Ooh La”. With the release of their second album Konk, the Kooks did not receive as much critical acclaim; “Always Where I Need to Be” was the main successful track of the album. Now we get to Junk of the Heart, which has the potential to be the Kooks most successful album yet.

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