Just because the tech giants are battling it out over who will win in the cloud music space doesn’t mean the artists are waiting on the sidelines. The releases have come fast and furious this month, with notable records from Wild Beasts, The Antlers, Fleet Foxes, and Okkervil River, among others, along with sneak peaks for new LPs due later this summer. I’m loving this list, and I hope you find something new for your own music rotation.

A ton of new releases (both LPs and EPS) are out as well as a number of early singles for releases coming in May. In particular, I’m excited for the new Fleet foxes record and some of Danger Mouse’s new collaborations. This list is one of my more eclectic collections featuring indie pop, alt folk, indie rock, electronic, and even R&B-influenced artists. I hope you find something new to add to your own listening rotation.

If you ever are given an opportunity to go to SXSW, you should jump at it. For an indie music lover, downtown Austin is heaven for those 5 days in March. There really isn’t quite anything like it, with close to 100 separate venues hosting showcases starting at noon and ending in the wee hours the next day. I tried to take advantage of my trip, managing to see over 40 bands over the festival in venues ranging from a 2500 person amphitheater to a tiny backyard courtyard behind a bar. Needless to say, this list has quite a few tracks that I was able to hear live sprinkled with a few other surprises. I hope you enjoy.

Arcade Fire won the Grammy for Best Album of the Year? Whoa. I’m not sure which I enjoyed more: that one of my favorites actually won the award for the first time or the resulting enraged uproar on the Internet from all of the Lady Gaga fans. Too funny. But back to the task at hand…. Here’s a spanking new list of tracks that I’m listening to now, and I hope you enjoy it. I’m particularly psyched about the new Destroyer album, and there are a bunch of new releases from favorites (Tapes ‘n Tapes, Lykkei Li, Iron & Wine) plus many new surprises, particularly the track from Foster the People, which is already stuck in my head after a few listens.

Looking back at my favorite tracks of the past year is something I always look forward to. It has been another exceptional year for music, which has made it almost impossible to whittle this list down. I had to restrain myself from making this a top 50 list and have pared it down to my favorite 30 that I will most remember 2010 by.

So, without further ado… here are my favorites, .

November is here, and I have a new list for you. Maybe you listen to this at work, or maybe you’ll play this on your headphones during your flight home for Thanksgiving. However you sample this list, I hope you find something you like. This month, I’m excited for the Bear Hands’ debut LP and am diggin’ some bands I’ve only just heard of for the first time (Meg & Dia, Mackintosh Braun, Sun Airway, Winter Gloves) in putting this list together.

Fall is finally here, and I’m back with another playlist of new music for your listening enjoyment. There are a few songs from some familiar faces (Moondoggies, Matt & Kim, Clubfeet), but most of these tracks are from groups that I’ve never featured before (Fences, Dark Dark Dark, The Fresh & Onlys). I hope you find something you’ll add to your own music rotation.

, I have links to the iTunes iMix, Amazon, and Rdio playlists.

Clicking on a song name should bring you to a YouTube or other page where you can listen to the song for free.

-Dave

The list is below….