If you don’t know Jamie Strong, you probably know his label, Innovative Leisure, which is home to Hanni el Khatib, the Allah Las, Nick Waterhouse, and more! He took time out of his schedule to tell us about his top five albums of 2011.

HANNI EL KHATIB- WILL THE GUNS COME OUT

One of the most unique voices and albums I’ve heard in years.

JAMES BLAKE – JAMES BLAKE

The Bon Iver of the beat world. Simple yet stunning.

THE STEPKIDS – THE STEPKIDS

Incredible musicians that sounds like Rotary Connection meets Beck.

SBTRKT – SBTRKT

Modern day UK Garage. The perfect mixture of bounce and soul.

RADIOHEAD – THE KING OF LIMBS

This album was hated on by fans, but I think it’s amazing. It’s like a soundtrack to life.

You probably missed out on Radiohead’s Thom Yorke’s surprise DJ set at Low End Theory last week, so you’ll be happy to know that it was filmed!

“We have a very special guest tonight … act like he’s one of us. He is one of us,” said Daddy Kev, the Low End Theory co-founder. (via Pop & Hiss)

Rumors started that early that afternoon he might show up, but it wasn’t until Flying Lotus texted him photos of the crowd that he was convinced to come out. He spun an hour-and-twenty-minute a set of Kraftwerk, Burial, Modeselektor, Major Lazer, and Squarepusher, and danced adorably.

Filmed by: Theo Jemison, Grace Oh, Arthur Mor, Alter
Editing: Strangeloop

Animal Collective – Sung Tongs

Joanna Newsom – Milk-eyed Mender

Deerhoof – Milkman

Ex Models – Zoo Psychology

Mice Parade - Mokoondi

Radiohead - Kid A

Black Dice - Creature Comforts

Gang Gang Dance - God’s Money

Need New Body – UFO

Comets on Fire - Blue Cathedral

-Kevin Litrow

Portishead – Third: Obviously the greatest.  What’s your problem?  Go listen to it again.

Radiohead – Hail to the Thief: It has “Wolf At The Door” on it.  What more can we say?

Nine Inch Nails – Year Zero:   How dare you judge with only your eyes and your knowledge of genres!  This is a concept record about the war in Iraq, really dealing head on with all sorts of situations, like finding yourself in combat, having PTSD, criticism of George W.  And on top of that, it has the meanest industrial beats ever constructed.  Fuck all y’all, you white pussy indie rockers!

 The Strokes – Is This It? or MGMT – Oracular Spectacular
These are great records made by hunky, young things.  We love them in spite of their inherent boy-band-ism.  This is an instance where our tastes align with 13 year-old girls’ (that, and NIN).

Beck – Sea Change

Quasi – Hot Shit

Sondre Lerche - Faces Down  

Emily Haines & the Soft Skeleton – Knives Don’t Have Your Back or Broadcast – The Noise Made by People

Iron & Wine – Creek Drank the Cradle

Coldplay – A Rush of Blood to the Head

It was way harder than we even expected to put this list together.  Hard in some ways.  Easy in other ways.  As important as the result of the list are, equally important is the process of coming to the result.  The following stuff didn’t quite make it on to this list:

M.I.A. — Arular

Thom Yorke — The Eraser

Blur — Think Tank

Be assured that the titles here in have been heavily listened to repeatedly by The Pity Party, with fervor and grace. 

-The Pity Party

Radiohead will play a surprise show at the Henry Fonda Theater this Sunday and are auctioning off tickets starting tonight at 8 PM to “raise as much money as possible” for Oxfam Haiti. More details From the band themselves:

We’re doing a show this Sunday (24th January) to raise funds for the relief effort in Haiti. The venue is The Music Box Theatre at The Fonda in Los Angeles, doors at 7pm. All proceeds are going to the Oxfam Haiti relief fund. We’re trying to raise as much money as possible, so tickets will be sold by auction at this site from 8pm tonight until 11am Saturday (PST):

http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/09004434FC1C86AC

We’re in the middle of recording at the moment, so you’ll be catching us on the fly…. but if you’re up for it, then we are too.

Just to clarify times for ticket sales

Auction starts Thursday 21st January 08.00 pm PST
Auction ends Saturday 23rd January 11.00 am PST

Well, that’s all clear now….

x
Philip

The following ten records were my favorites during the “aughts” or “O”s or “aughties” or whatever we’re referring to them as now that it’s the “tens” or “teens” or “tweens” or what have you.

 My Morning Jacket – At Dawn

Aimee Mann – Bachelor No. 2, or The Last Remains of the Dodo

Outkast – Speakerboxxx/The Love Below

Benji Hughes – A Love Extreme

Neko Case – Fox Confessor Brings the Flood

Lucinda Williams – World Without Tears

Sun Kil Moon – Ghosts of the Great Highway

Martha Wainwright – Martha Wainwright

Radiohead – Kid A

Gillian Welch – The Revelator Collection DVD

-Leslie Stevens

The Mars Volta – Deloused in the Comatorium

Radiohead – In Rainbows

Sigur Ros – Agaetis Byrjun 

Animal Collective – Sung Tongs

The Shins – Oh, Inverted World

Radiohead – Amnesiac

The Strokes – Is This It?

Radiohead - Hail to the Thief

The Clipse – Lord Willin’

The Mars Volta – Amputechture

-DJ Nobody

PJ Harvey – Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea

Radiohead –  everything

Arcade Fire – Funeral

Fischerspooner – #1

Thom Yorke – The Eraser

Brazilian Girls – Talk to La Bomb

The Kills – No Wow

The Knife – Silent Shout

Fiona Apple – Extraordinary Machine

Aphex Twin – drukqs

-VOICEsVOICEs

Download: Michael Nhat “I Love Bread” Mixtape

Rapper Michael Nhat’s new self-titled album releases Tuesday, Oct. 27, on How To Be A Microwave and his record release show is this Saturday at the House of Vermont. He presents L.A. RECORD with a mixtape—which he titled I Love Bread—and a story to go with every song.

Mozart “Fantasy In F Minor”
One of my girlfriends in 1997 played it live at her school and it made me really appreciate classical music because I didn’t before.

Sonic Youth “Panty Lies”
This song influenced me to start rapping. I had been doing it for fun but this one encouraged me to rap professionally. When people ask me one of my greatest influences, I refer to this—Kim Gordon and Sonic Youth.

Wu-Tang Clan “Can It Be It Was All So Simple”
This is what I was listening to in 1993. I bought my first 4-track and was making music for fun. I played this a lot. The beats and the music inspired me because it was at a time when rap had just finished its MC Hammer era and they were dividing themselves on East and West Coast. And I was East Coast.

Wayne Newton “Danke Schoen”
When I was a kid I heard it in the Ferris Bueller’s Day Off movie. I didn’t know who sang it. But this song started my obsession with hunting down songs I would hear places. This was before the Internet.

Etta James “Trust In Me”
This came on in Chicago at a party on the Southside, and it was my first time encountering her. I immediately liked it. I wish I could sound like Etta James.

PJ Harvey “Is That All There Is?”
I heard it when it first came out in 1996 and maybe a little after that my dad died. This is the first song I played after that so it takes me back there.

Radiohead “Fitter Happier”
The writing of this song is probably the deepest influence in how I write my songs. It changed how I see the writing process. I didn’t get it at first. I just liked it for music’s sake. But as I started paying attention—I would say I emulate this style, as opposed to what everyone else confuses me with. People think I am influenced by Anticon and Busdriver. I am not. I’d never even heard of these people until I moved out here.

Johnny Mathis “It’s Not For Me To Say”
This was when I decided to quit making music as a hobby in 1997. I wanted to be normal and go to school and get a job. I had a daughter and this makes me think of her. I was going to school for film and I made a short and put this song in for her.

Otis Redding “I’ve Got Dreams”
This reminds me of the last time I robbed a house. We were looking up obituaries and found someone who had just died and went to his place. We tried to get as much as we could, but ended up just with his guns and sold them. This was something I’d been doing since I was 16. Also at that time, I got in trouble for storing crack for a friend. My dad found it and flushed it down the toilet. My friends thought I sold it or smoked it.

Sesame Street Kid “Sesame Street”
In Iowa at the parties, DJs would play songs like this at the end of their set. It opened my ears to this type of funny happy song. I started collecting songs like that. Eventually this began to influence my music, which is why my songs are so poppy.

MICHAEL NHAT WITH VOICE ON TAPE, HALLOWEEN SWIM TEAM, NARWHAL PARTY, REDEMER, BLUE TAPE RED TAPE AND LUNA IS HONEY ON SAT., OCT. 24, AT THE RELEASE PARTY FOR MICHAEL NHAT’S SELF-TITLED ALBUM AT THE HOUSE OF VERMONT, 1515 S. VERMONT AVE., LOS ANGELES. 9 PM / DONATIONS / ALL AGES. HOWTOBEAMICROWAVE.COM. MICHAEL NHAT’S SELF-TITLED ALBUM RELEASES TUE., OCT. 27, ON HOW TO BE A MICROWAVE. VISIT MICHAEL NHAT AT MICHAELNHAT.COM OR MYSPACE.COM/MICHAELNHAT.