The Alternative Tone

Augustine Rampolla of The Little Indians & Hellogoodbye and Andrew Richards of Hellogoodbye have released a Christmas song,"Christmas Time! (A Very Righteous Christmas Time). The track also features Forrest Kline ( Hellogoodbye ) and Rico Vigil (ex- You, Me, and Everyone We Know ). Check it out below!

In no order, my favorite LP's of 2013  1. Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City  2. Foxygen - We Are The 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic   3. Cayucas - Bigfoot  4. Arctic Monkeys - AM 5. Arcade Fire - Reflektor  6. STRFKR - Miracle Mile 7. Camera Obscura - Desire Lines  8. Phoenix - Bankrupt!   9. Unknown Mortal Orchestra - II   10. Kakkmaddafakka - Six Months Is A Long Time   EP'S (because they're not LP's)  1. The Vaccines - Melody Calling EP  2. Divine Fits - Ain't That The Way / Chained To Love  (But I also enjoyed these record very much)  1. The Black Angels - Indigo Meadow   2. Washed Out - Paracosm  3. Mac Demarco - 2 4. Tegan and Sara - Heartthrob   5. The Stepkids - Troubadour  6. The Strokes - Comedown Machine  7. San Cisco - S/T  8. Spinto Band ...

Next up in our industry folk lists is written by Anthony Stano on behalf of The Alternative Tone favourites Haverford !  1. I Can See Mountains – Life On A Houseboat   This band is criminally underrated, and they put out he absolute best album of 2013. It makes me want to go outside and spend some time with my best friends, fall in love, and follow my dreams. This is everything you could ask for from an album and is unbelievably inspiring. Please go take a road trip and listen to this album. 2. Into it. Over it. – Intersections Instrumentally my favorite body of music; the guitars and drum work so well together. 3. A Great Big Pile Of Leaves – You’re Always On My Mind  Some of my favorite bass lines, one of the grooviest albums of 2013 4. Justin Timberlake – The 20/20 Experience  The most insane harmonies ever recorded. Definitely not what I expected to hear from this album. 5. Earl Sweatshirt – Doris  Some of the darkest...

La Dispute  will release their third full-length album, Rooms Of The House,  on Friday 21 March. Check out the album artwork below. 

Our third industry folk list comes from Tyler Chau of Long Island's post-hardcore band Sunning . The five piece released the wonderful Losing Youth EP this November and are set to tour with other The Alternative Tone favourites, Haverford , this December. 1. State Lines - For The Boats I listen to this album while driving all the time. I like that they expanded on the pop/indie/rock aspect of the band, but you can still hear aspects of their older releases shine through. "Water song" is my jam for sure on this album. "Indian Burn" is also a good one.  2. Tiny Moving Parts - This Couch Is Long & Full of Friendship I'd heard this band's name around everywhere for the longest time before I decided to check them out. I don't even remember how it happened, but I came across the song "John P" one day & was immediately drawn in by the string arrangement...

The second in our industry folk albums of the year lists comes from David F Bello of The World Is A Beautiful Place And I Am No Longer Afraid To Die, arguably the biggest success story of 2013 with the mindblowingly good "Whenever, If Ever" winning hearts from all corners of the internet as well as minor success on the Billboard 200.  1. Self Defense Family - Try Me This just came out and made everything else that came out in 2013 feel like garbage.   2. Dawn of MIDI - Dysnomia A long, confusing instrumental groove.  3. Rozwell Kid - Unmacho Imagine a universe where Weezer kept getting better after Pinkerton instead of more and more awful. This is the album that alternate Weezer would release in 2013. 4. Longmont Potion Castle - Volume 10 I want to drape giant sheets of magnet over my lasers. I'm not talking about oysters, here.  5 . Animal Logic - I Hate my Voice and Everything th...

Modern Baseball - Your Graduation from "You're Gonna Miss It All". Run For Cover Records Modern Baseball have relatability down to a fine art. Their debut album, the critically acclaimed and generally amazing Sports, perfectly translated the emotions of your average 17 year old into a set of emo tinged, 90s-esque pop rock tracks. Hearts were won, angst was shared and Modern Baseball found their niche as a band who could cater to all sub-genres - the only listening requirement was a functioning set of human emotions. A year later, the PA band have returned with the announcement of a new album "You're Gonna Miss It All" and a new single, "Your Graduation". Now it's time to see whether Mr Brenden Lukens and his merry men are as talented as it seems or if Sports was just beginners' luck.  Well, if "Your Graduation" is anything to go by, Modern Baseball are keepers. Less than three minutes in length, the lead sing...

Dikembe have announced winter tour dates with Free Throw.  Check out the dates below! Dec 27 - Atlanta, GA 28 - Birmingham, AL 29 - Louisiana  30 - Ft. Worth, TX 31 - Austin, TX Jan  1 - Houston, TX 2 - Jackson, MS

Diamond Youth  have launched pre-orders for their upcoming “Shake” EP, out Feb 4 th  via Topshelf Records. Check out their new single "Can't Shake The Feeling" below!

Defeater , The Wonder Years , Real Friends , Citizen and Modern Baseball have announced one of the most mindblowingly good tours of recent times. If you're living in North America, count your blessings. March  5 Clifton Park, NY @ Upstate Concert Hall * 6 Lancaster, PA @ Chameleon Club * 8 Cleveland, OH @ Agora Ballroom 9 Pontiac, MI @ Crofoot Ballroom 11 Chicago, IL @ House of Blues 12 Burnsville, MN @ Garage Youth Center 14 Moorhead, MN @ Gio's Grill and Bar 16 Calgary, AB @ The Den 17 Edmonton, AB @ The Starlite Room 19 Seattle, WA @ El Corazon 20 Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theater 22 Oakland, CA @ Oakland Metro 23 W. Hollywood, CA @ House of Blues - Sunset Strip 24 Anaheim, CA @ House of Blues - Anaheim 25 San Diego, CA @ Soma 26 Mesa, AZ @ Nile Theater 28 Denver, CO @ Summit Music Hall 29 Oklahoma City, OK @ Diamond Ballroom 30 Dallas, TX @ The Door 31 San Antonio, TX @ White Rabbit April 1 Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live 2 New Orleans, LA @ House of Blues 4 Tampa, FL @ Th...

Touché Amore have announced a tour with mewithoutYou featuring support from Drug Church and Caravels .  TOUCHE AMORE / MEWITHOUTYOU - ON TOUR FEB 06 Denver, CO – Marquis Theater* 07 Salt Lake City, UT – Club Sound* 08 Boise, ID - The Crux* 09 Seattle, WA - Neumos* 10 Portland, OR – Hawthorne Theater* 12 San Francisco, CA - Slims* 13 San Diego, CA - Epicentre* 14 Los Angeles, CA – Ukrainian Culture Center* 15 Phoenix, AZ – Nile Theater* 17 Austin, TX - Mohawk* 18 Houston, TX - Fitzgeralds* 19 Dallas, TX – Prophet Bar* 21 Nashville, TN – Exit/In** 22 Chicago, IL – Bottom Lounge (early doors)** 23 Detroit, MI – Magic Stick** 24 Toronto, ON – Mod Club** 26 New York, NY – (Le) Poisson Rouge** 27 Boston, MA – The Sinclair** MAR 01 Philadelphia, PA – Union Transfer** 02 Washington, DC – Black Cat** 04 Carrboro, NC – Cat's Cradle** ...

Modern Baseball have done a bunch of super awesome things today. They've announced their sophomore album You're Gonna Miss It All , due to be released February 11. They've also revealed the artwork and tracklisting. And they've released a new single called "Your Graduation" which can be heard below. Excuse us while we go and stand in a corner to try and calm down. Tracklisting Fine, Great Broken Cash Machine Rock Bottom Apartment The Old Gospel Choir  Notes Charlie Black Timmy Bowers Going To Bed Now Your Graduation Two Good Things Pothole

As well as finding out what the good folks behind The Alternative Tone rate as the best albums of the year, we've got a bunch of musicians, industry folk and generally cool people to let us know what records pleased their ears in 2013. First off is Robert John Wilcox, member of Topshelf Records' By Surprise , arguably one of the standout small bands of the year. 1. Parquet Courts - Light Up Gold (What's Your Rupture) 2. Superchunk - I Hate Music (Merge) 3. Pity Sex - Feast Of Love (Run For Cover) 4. CHVRCHES - The Bones Of What You Believe (Glassnote) 5. Waxahatchee - Cerulean Salt (Don Giovanni) 6. The Front Bottoms - Talon Of The Hawk (Bar/None) 7. The So So Glos - Blowout (Votiv) 8. California X - California X (Don Giovanni) 9. Arctic Monkeys - AM (Domino) 10. Nona - Through The Head (Mandible Records) Honorable Mention: The Replacements – Songs For Slim (New West)