#BestOf2011 Top 101 Songs Of The Year

Dear Friends, my family...

This comes with a story:

I started making playlists not for me but for others, someone special, that someone I would like to remember me by, or simply the joy of sharing music with people that has less free time, less ability to find new music or people that has less age and want the little music knowledge one can have in a few years more of active Internet surfing... I kind of liked to see it as my little contribution to people giving them the superficial things that truly matter in life, such little thing like that little love song that tells the story you were eager to hear, or that makes the political statement or that song that's just perfect for right now.

Time passed and I started sharing a little bit more than a mixtape, one of my best friends (with whom I shared, talked, knew new stuff and breathe passion for music) started giving me a purpose: why don't I start reviewing the music I get in one year and sharing it. That was the story behind Subwaywalk and that was the beginning of my little theme mixtapes for my friends and my annual list of the best songs. The only thing I wanted every new years eve was the recognition of this good friend telling me if he loved it, and also all my playlists were directly or indirectly directed to him...This year my friend passed away and he no longer can say if he liked the playlist or not but all the music I listen will always have him in some way awaiting his reply...all music will sound like him and all my playlists will still be dedicated to him forever...one thing he liked to tell people was "Never lose your coolness" and I hope that in time I never lose my cool and keep finding his voice in every feedback and every album I come across every year.

No matter the reasons that made my year sucked, personally I've been through a lot of good things and bad, I mastered my thesis on one hand and got shot by robbers a few months ago on the other hand. For one reason or another all the people I know have been through a lot too, my playlist is full of that feeling of hopelessness or grief, but if one thing I have started to learn is to enjoy the little things, live every day like it can be the last, try to be happy and do things that can take me there and try to be above the situation keeping my cool...It's a hard thing to do, at least for me, but we'll always have music and 2011 was an amazing example of how a terrible year can have the best soundtrack.

One thing I can tell about 2011 is that the harder the year is, the better the music can get, maybe the reason is not because the music itself, but because all that one can project to music in difficult times, I'm the kind of people that tend to rely on music sometimes as an escape, sometimes the opposite, but music is always a safe place, sanctuary. This year my best of 2011 is that soundtrack, sometimes it can get a little sad, but also can have a lot of heart, hope, swag and coolness. I really hope you start 2012 remembering 2011 and all that it gave and took...In the end nature is wise and everything someday will make sense, the exercise of retrospection can be hard sometimes but with "The Best Of 2011" it will always leave a smile on your face (no matter if there's a tear in your eye)...

The cover art tells that story, sometimes life can knock you down, but if you don't get up, might as well convert it to a beautiful picture ;-)

I really wish a very Happy New Year to all of you, blessings, hugs, and remember that good things come for those who wait...

Dedicated to my friend Luis Carlos, I miss him terribly, but I'll keep my cool

DOWNLOAD IT!!!

For more detail on what you're about to download, check out the detailed list...


101. Friendly Fires - Live Those Days Tonight
         Album: Pala
         Video: Live at Jools Holland


100. Lykke Li - I Know Places
         Album: Wounded Rhymes
         Video: Live on the Moon


99.  Ford & Lopatin - Too Much MIDI (Please Forgive Me)
       Album: Channel Pressure
       Audio: Hypem


98. A$AP Rocky - Leaf (Feat. Main Attrakionz) 
      Album: LiveLoveA$AP
      Audio: Hypem

97. King Creosote & Jon Hopkins - Bats In The Attic
       Album: Diamond Mine
       Video: Video Version


96. Air France - It Feels Good To Be Around You
      Album: YOURS172
      Audio: Hypem


95. Keep Shelly In Athens - Hauntin' Me
      Album: Hauntin' Me EP
      Video: Official Music Video


94. The Sandwitches - Summer Of Love
      Album: Mrs. Jones' Cookies
      Video: Live In a Bathroom

93. Stephen Malkmus and The Jinks - Senator
       Album: Mirror Traffic
       Video: Official Music Video


92. Ane Brun - Alfonsina Y El Mar
      Album: It All Starts With One


91. Death Cab For Cutie - You Are a Turist
      Album: Codes and Keys
      Video: Official Music Video


90. The Rosebuds - Go Ahead
       Album: Loud Planes Fly Low
       Audio: Hypem


89. Jan Pawel - Un Paseo Antes De Partir (Con Enrique Alossi)
       Album: Demasiado Viejo Para Morir Joven
       Audio: Bandcamp


88. Blood Orange - Can We Go Inside Now?
       Album: Coastal Grooves
       
87. WhoMadeWho - All That I Am
       Album: Knee Deep


86. White Denim - River to Consider
      Album: D


85. Feist - Comfort Me
       Album: Metals
       Audio: Hypem


84. EMA - California
       Album: Past Life Martyred Saints
       Video: Official Music Video


83. Apparat - Song Of Los
       Album: The Devil's Walk
       Video: Official Music Video


82. Wu Lyf - Concrete Gold
       Album: Go Tell Fire To The Mountain
       Video: Video @OWS


81. Dum Dum Girls - Coming Down
       Album: Only In Dreams
       Audio: Hypem


80. The Throne - No Church In The Wild (Feat. Frank Ocean)
      Album: Watch The Throne
      Video: Official Music Video


79. WIN WIN - Interleave (Feat. Alexis Taylor)
       Album: WIN WIN
       Video: Official Music Video


78. Death Grips - Takyon (Death Yon)
       Album: Exmilitary
       Video: Official Music Video


77, The Streets - Going Through Hell (Diplo Remix)
       Album: Going Through Hell EP
       Video: Official Music Video (Album Version)


76. Deerhoof - No One  Asked To Dance
       Album: Deerhoof vs Evil
       Audio: Hypem


75. Akron/Family - Light Emerges
       Album: S/T II: The Cosmic Birth and Journey of Shinju TNT


74. The War On Drugs - Brothers
       Album: Slave Ambient
       Audio: Hypem


73. Washed Out - Far Away
       Album: Within and Without
       Video: Live For YoursTruly


72. Wale - Ambition (Feat. Meek Mill & Rick Ross)
      Album: Ambition
      Video: Lyric Music Video


71. araabMUZIK - Streetz Tonight
      Album: Electronic Dream
      Video: Official Music Video


70. tUnE-yArDs - Bizness
      Album: W H O K I L L
      Video: Official Music Video


69. Tapes n' Tapes - Freak Out
       Album: Outside
       Video: Official Music Video


68. Craft Spells - After The Moment
      Album: Idle Labor
      Video: Official Music Video


67. Natural Child - Crack Mountain
       Album: Natural Child 7"


66. The Drums - Money
       Album: Portamento
       Video: Official Music Video


65. Cut Copy - Take me Over
       Album: Zonoscope
       Video: Live at KCRW


64. The Strokes - Machu Picchu
       Album: Angles
       Audio: Hypem


63. Theophilus London - I Stand Alone
       Album: Timez Are Weird These Days
       Video: Official Music Video


62. Junior Boys - Banana Riple
       Album: It's All True
       Video: Official Music Video


61. Mogwai - Hound Of Winter
       Album: Earth Division EP
       Video: Fan Video


60. Wilco - One Sunday Morning (Song For Jane Smiley's Boyfriend)
       Album: The Whole Love
       Audio: Hypem


59. Juliana Barwick - Flown
       Album: The Magic Place


58. Beirut - Port Of Call
       Album: The Rip Tide
       Audio: Hypem
       
57. Villagers - Cecilia & Her Selfhood
       Album: Cecilia & Her Selfhood (Single)
       Video: Official Music Video


56. Wavves - I Wanna Be Dave Grohl
      Album: Life Sux EP
      Audio: Hypem


55. Radiohead - Lotus Flower
      Album: King Of Limbs
      Video: Official Music Video


54. King Krule - The Noose Of Jah City
       Album: King Krule EP
       Video: Official Music Video


53. TV On The Radio - Will Do
       Album: Nine Types Of Light
       Video: Official Music Video


52. Fergus & Geronimo - Powerful Lovin'
      Album: Unlearn
      Video: Live For YoursTruly


51. Kate Bush - Snowflake
      Album: 50 Words For Snow
      Audio: Hypem


50. Twin Sister - Stop
       Album: In Heaven
       Video: Live For YoursTruly


49. Neon Indian - Polish Girl
      Album: Era Extraña
      Video: Official Music Video


48. Frank Ocean - Novocane
       Album: Nostalgia / Ultra
       Video: Official Music Video


47. Holy Ghost! - Wait And See
       Album: Holy Ghost!
       Video: Official Music Video


46. Shabazz Palaces - Endeavors For Never (The Last Time We Spoke You Said You Were Not Here. I Saw You Though.)
       Album: Black Up


45. James Blake - A Case Of You
       Album: Enough Thunder EP
       Video: Official Music Video


44. The National - Think You Can Wait
       Album: Win Win OST
       Video: Official Music Video


43. The Weeknd - What You Need
       Album: House Of Balloons
       Video: Official Music Video


42. Tyler, The Creator - Yonkers
       Album: Goblin
       Video: Official Music Video


41. Timber Timbre - Bad Ritual
       Album: Creep On Creepin On
       Video: Official Music Video

40. SebastiAn - Embody
       Album: Total
       Video: Official Music Video


39: Adele - Someone Like You
       Album: 21
       Video: Official Music Video


38. The Black Keys - Gold On The Ceiling
       Album: El Camino
       Video: Live On Letterman


37. Big K.R.I.T. - Another Naive Individual Glorifying Greed and Encouraging Racism
       Album: Return Of 4Eva
       
36. SBTRKT - Wildfire
       Album: SBTRKT
       Video: Official Music Video


35. Wye Oak - Civilian
      Album: Civilian
      Video: Live on a Balcony


34. Young Galaxy - Cover Your Tracks
       Album: Shapeshifting
       Audio: Hypem


33. Battles - Ice Cream (Feat. Matías Aguayo)
       Album: Gloss Drop
       Video: Official Music Video


32. Beastie Boys - Make Some Noise
       Album: Hot Sauce Committee Part Two
       Video: Official Music Video


31. Active Child - Playing House (Feat. How To Dress Well)
       Album: You Are All I See
       Video: Official Music Video


30. KAUF - Relocate
       Album: Relocate (Single)
       Audio: Hypem


29. Little Dragon - Crtystalfilm
       Album: Ritual Union
       Audio: Hypem


28. Zoo Kid - Out Getting Ribs
      Album: Out Getting Ribs (Single)
      Video: Official Music Video


27.  The Mountain Goats - Age Of Kings
        Album: All Eternal Decks
        Audio: Hypem


26. Yuck - Get Away
       Album: Yuck
       Video: Official Music Video


25. Girls - Vomit
       Album: Father, Son, Holy Ghost
       Video: Official Music Video


24. The Antlers - Every Night My Teeth Are Falling Out
       Album: Burst Apart
       Video: Official Music Video


23. The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - My Terrible Friend
       Album: Belong
       Audio: Hypem


22. St. Vincent - Year Of The Tiger
       Album: Strange Mercy
       Video: Live 4AD Session


21. Gotye - Somebody That I Used To Know
       Album: Making Mirrors
       Video: Official Music Video


20. Jens Lekman - An Argument With Myself
       Album: An Argument With Muself EP
       Audio: Hypem


19. Real Estate - It's Real
       Album: Days
       Video: Official Music Video


18. Kurt Vile - Baby's Arms
      Album: Smoke Ring For My Halo
      Video: Official Music Video


17. Atlas Sound - Te Amo
      Album: Parallaz
      Audio: Hypem


16. My Brightest Diamond - I Have Never Loved Sompeone The Way I Love You
      Album: All Things Will Unwind
      Video: A Take Away Show


15. Gang Gang Dance - MindKilla
      Album: Eye Contact
      Video: Official Music Video


14. British Sea Power - Who's In Control
       Album: Valhalla Dancehall
       Video: Official Music Video


13. Mogwai - San Pedro
       Album: Hardcore Will Never Die But You Will
       Video: Official Music Video


12. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
      Album: Helplessness Blues
      Audio: Hypem


11. The Decemberist - June Hymn
       Album: The King Is Dead
       Audio: Hypem


10. Smith Westerns - Weekend
       Album: Dye It Blonde
       Video: Official Music Video


9. PJ Harvey - The Words That Maketh Murder
    Album: Let England Shake
    Video: Official Music Video


8. Nicolas Jaar - Colomb
    Album: Space Is Only Noise
    Audio: Hypem


7. Tom Waits - Talking At The Same Time
    Album: Bad As Me
    Audio: Hypem


6. M83 - Midnight City
    Album: Hurry Up, We're Dreaming
    Video: Official Music Video


5. Metronomy - The Bay
    Album: The English Riviera
    Video: Official Music Video


4. Bon Iver - Holocene
     Album: Bon Iver
     Video: Official Music Video


3. James Blake - Wilhelms Scream
     Album: James Blake
     Video: Official Music Video


2. Destroyer - Suicide Demo For Kara Walker
    Album: Kaputt
    Audio: Hypem


1. Lana Del Rey - Video Games
    Album: Video Games EP
    Video: Official Music Video

#BestOf2011 Top 30 Albums

My selection of Best Albums of 2011 is very diverse, from straight up pop to avant-garde experimental music, I take the opportunity to introduce to you these albums and invite you to take a look and open your mind to the ones that you don't really get, google a little about their history and sit back and enjoy some of the most experimental, sweet, sexiest and reflective albums I came across this year.

As you will see, I go from number one hit billboard dance records, a rock n' roll hall of fame legend and a grammy nominee album, to some other material sometimes simple and sometimes edgy.

This list doesn't necessarily reflect the albums that had the best songs, it's more about the artists that created a well rounded concept (Tim Hecker, PJ Harvey...), that handled well in terms of production (Metronomy, Twin Sister...) or simply the ones that did something no one never did before them (Colin Stetson, Shabazz Palaces...)

Ofcourse there are some albums that are not in the list that define the 2011 sound, such is the case of M83, Adele, EMA, Jamie XX or The Weeknd, and I'll leave these 5 like my honorable mentions, the 30 below still will make your 2011 experience a very complete one.

Enjoy!

30. Twin Sister - In Heaven

29. The Black Keys - El Camino

28. Big K.R.I.T. - Return of 4Eva

27. Battles - Glass Drop

26. SBTRKT - SBTRKT

25. Shabazz Palaces - Black Up

24. Beastie Boys - Hot Sauce Committee Part 2

23. Kate Bush – 50 Words For Snow

22. Little Dragon – Ritual Union

21. The Mountain Goats – All Eternal Decks

20. The Antlers – Burst Apart

19. Young Galaxy – Shapeshifting

18. Atlas Sound - Parallax

17. Real Estate - Days

16. St. Vincent – Strange Mercy

15. Yuck - Yuck

14. Girls - Father, Son, Holy Ghost

13. Kurt Vile - Smoke Ring For My Halo

12. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues

11. Mogwai – Hardcore Will Never Die But You Will

10. Tim Hecker – Rivendeath, 1972

9. Smith Westerns – Dye It Blonde

8. James Blake – James Blake

7. Colin Stetson - New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges

6. Nicolas Jaar – Space Is Only Noise

5. PJ Harvey – Let England Shake

4. Tom Waits – Bad As Me

3. Metronomy – English Riviera

2. Bon Iver – Bon Iver

1. Destroyer – Kaputt

#BestOf2011 Top 10 EP's

10. Philip Selway – Running Blind EP

9. Burial – Street Halo EP

Burial - Stolen Dog by elisaveta

8. Dum Dum Girls - He Gets Me High EP

Dum Dum Girls - He Gets Me High by subpop

7. Robin Pecknold – Three Songs EP

Robin Pecknold - EP by Folk Radio UK

6. Wavves - Life Sux EP

Wavves - "I Wanna Meet Dave Grohl" by rockedition

5. King Krule – King Krule EP / Zoo Kid – Out Getting Ribs 7"

King Krule- The Noose of Jah City by truepanther

4. Colin Stetson – Those Who Didn’t Run EP

Those who didn't run (excerpt) - COLIN STETSON by Constellation Records

3. Nicolas Jaar – Don’t Break My Love EP

NICOLAS JAAR / Don't break my love EP by Clown & Sunset

2. Natural Child – Natural Child 7”

14 - Natural Child - Dogbite by KingQuiet

1. Jens Lekman – An Argument With Myself EP

Jens Lekman - An Argument With Myself by snipelondon

#BestOf2011 Top 15 Videos

See my collection of dramatic, sexy, minimalistic and entertaining videos of 2011. Hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

15. St Vincent - Cruel

14. Battles - My Machines

13. The Sound of Arrows - Magic

12. Memory Tapes - Yes I Know

11. Gruff Rhyss - Shark Ridden Waters

10. Beastie Boys - Fight For Your Right (Revisited) Full Length

9. SebastiAn - Embody

8. James Blake - The Wilhelm Scream

7. Radiohead - Lotus Flower

6. Is Tropical - The Greeks

5. Tyler, The Creator - Yonkers

4. Destroyer - Kaputt

3. Villagers - Cecilia & Her Selfhood

2. Woodkid - Iron

1. WhoMadeWho - Every Minute Alone

Twin Sister - In Heaven

Last year I kind of overlooked at Twin Sister, not because I didn’t knew the band, I certainly had to look what was the buzz about, but the music was all into detail, thing that got me thinking that the haziness of the production and droned soft melodies were kind of toning down the potential that the band really had. Is the same feeling I get when I listen to the Puro Instnct LP. I sure had to wait and see how this band could sound in the LP and I knew that I couldn’t entirely give up on them. In 2010 Twin Sister was all about some hazy songs with an exciting 80’s revival pop tune loved by many, and the home run achieved by “All around and away we go”. Don’t get me wrong, I loved this song as well, and I liked the EP, but even though I overlooked at them in my best of 2010 list I didn’t completely forgot them.

In the wait, between the two past EP’s, Twin Sister had a direction, they just had to follow the path and enjoy the ride; and then came In Heaven, back with all the production and focus to fully take advantage of the bands potential. The LP is less about the haze and more about taking each and every detail and giving them time to shine.

Even though In Heaven takes time to make room for details, this doesn’t mean that’s going to be boring, for example, the first single “Bad Street” takes a lot of references of club disco music, kind of reminding me of Chic’s “Le Freak”, is one of the finest party songs I’ve ever heard from a dream-pop (ish) band, and shows the wide rage of styles and influences Twin Sister can have.

Another difference that twin sister also have distinct to other dreamy bands this time around, is that they don’t compromise the quality of the music in the use of drones and shoegazy sounds that could drown the detail. It still has these sounds, for example, the last song “Eastern Green” or the recent single “Kimmi in a Rice Field”, the first one adding heavy noise guitars and the second one has long sounds and echoes but in both of them the aesthetic doesn’t drown the vocals and is completely intelligible.

Overall the LP was an improved Twin Sister and, for me, one of the best “dram-pop” albums of the year.

Tracklist:

1. Daniel

2. Stop

3. Bad Street

4. Space Babe

5. Kimmi In a Rice Field

6. Luna's Theme

7. Spain

8. Gene Ciampi

9. Saturday Sunday

10. Eastern Green

Rate: 8/10

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Wilco - The Whole Love (2011)

Almost a decade has past since Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, the first Wilco album that granted them media exposure and worldwide success, and its only natural that Wilco, being as North American as they can be, had to earn a place in the worldwide music scene more than being one more American band; in time they’ve delivered a particular sound and the public has been starting to acknowledge that.

Strangely The Whole Love doesn’t go straight forward to this particular sound, thus the consistency in the album is not on sight, but the exploratory sounding on the high end of the spectrum make this a not so typical Wilco album, but for me, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

In The Whole Love we find a comfortable Jeff Tweedy in the front man seat, he’s come a long way since he’s rockabilly and country background since Uncle Tupelo split; but also its notable the very comfortable chemestry of the band rushing to experimentation back and forward, for example, the first song “Art of Almost” starts glitchy and muddy with heavy synths and amazing drumming, it goes building the sound contrasting the bands entire contribution and then a flawless set of strings, it also struggles with constant teasing sounds and false endings of the song, despite this, the best thing about it is a really spectacle between the band unspoken communication and contribution, every single member shine with something new to the table, creating a not typical Wilco vibe but leaving clear the capacity of any of the bands members; special emphasis in the guitar of Nels Cline hitting hard at the end of the song.

The second song and single “I Might” also has the presence of playfulness between the members but leaving to shine keyboardist Mikael Jorgensen and guitarist Nels Cline who play a sort of a jam feel with on and offs, also the muddy bass line of Pat Sansone give the song a deeper tone to the happy melody that goes around with the rest of the band.

“Capitol City” is another song that takes the listener to some new territory not so often seen on Wilco albums, in my opinion, the best vocals of Jeff Tweedy in the album and also a sort of city surfing sentiment on a summer day, it kind of reminds me the Feist feeling, good, cute, sweet and impossible to listen if you’re not having a sentimental journey to some cool big city lifestyle without loosing the small town warm welcoming people.

Ofcourse, this album has also a softer side, after all is called The Whole Love and it comes with songs like “Black Moon” and “Rising Red Lung” or alternative ballads like “Born Alone” or “Open Mind”.

But nothing says Wilco best than a good Wilco song, and probably the best over 10 minute song I’ve heard all year. This year has another artist with extremely long songs and critically acclaimed reviews: Josh T. Pearson’s new album Last of the Country Gentlemen and my point about that album was that the songs are too long, and they would be masterpieces if they were some couple of minutes shorter, just like he’s doing them live. But, returning to Wilco, “One Sunday Morning (Song for Jane Smiley's Boyfriend)” is a very repetitive song that has a lot of subtle transitions but never changes radically, and is 12 minutes of blissful singing about a weekend, and I was listening and thinking “man, this is how you do a 12 minute song”, for sure one of my favourite Wilco songs ever.

Overall the album has ups and downs, not all the songs are great but the album remains good with a fantastic opener and a killer (and I mean killer!) closing track.

Tracklist:

1. Art of Almost

2. I Might

3. Sunloathe

4. Dawned On Me

5. Black Moon

6. Born Alone

7. Open Mind

8. Capitol City

9. Standing O

10. Rising Red Lung

11. Whole Love

12. One Sunday Morning (Song for Jane Smiley's Boyfried)

Rate: 7.9/10

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Bon Iver - Bon Iver (2011)

There's not much I can say about Bon Iver to people that already love them. But for the record: Bon Iver is a band, not a person (that because a lot of people mistake Justin Vernon with Bon Iver). These guys have been working a lot for the last years on separate projects or collaborating with other artists, like the song in the eclipse soundtrack with St. Vincent, the 2010 buzz worthy collaboration with Kanye West in not one but two songs, and also Justin’s electronic side project Vulcano Choir and S. Carey’s solo album; everything showing different faces of the Bon Iver talent.

Talking about Bon Iver self titled release will never be like talking about the previous releases just because the amount of fame and respect they’ve been getting since “For Emma, Forever Ago” make them a different caliber of artistry. That said, is normal that the buzz around this album overshadow everything that was good in “For Emma, Forever Ago” and over appreciate everything that good in “Bon Iver”.

For this album they play with every influence they’ve had in the past, it’s still Bon Iver being Bon Iver, but all the production tweaks inherited of Vulcano Choir adding a little electronic stuff and pumping up the variety in instrumentation. The opener “Perth” for example, it has the same song structure of old familiar Bon Iver songs starting slow, building up and then chilling down, the typical Bon Iver crescendo but this time around with a lot more of horns and instrumentation. And then you take the second song “Minnesota, WI” and do exactly the same but with electronic synths mixing with a banjo and some 80’s sounding sexy saxophone and electric guitars.

“Bon Iver” is bigger in terms of production and sound quality but in the same time some songs miss the intimacy that the acoustic simple songs tend to have in “For Emma, Forever Ago”. I can’t help to be a little bit on the fence in the case of taking the bigger Bon Iver as the better one, it is indeed a good album, I’d never say that is the best of the year (like Pitchfork pretends to be saying up to this point), but it is really a good album. I really loved how they included in every song a little bit of horns and sexy saxophones, this details make the LP more pop oriented and maybe that’s why it loses a little bit of intimacy.

None the less, I’m not resisting to the change and I’m sure it will grow on me, and even though is not the best album of the year it’s up there with the ones that stand out.

Tracklist:

1. Perth

2. Minnesota, WI

3. Holocene

4. Towers

5. Michicant

6. Hinnom, TX

7. Wash.

8. Calgary

9. Lisbon, OH

10. Beth / Rest

Rate: 8.5/10

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