A Round of Sound: 2011 Mixtape

January 24, 2012

Finally, it’s time for the annual playlist that caps off my little countdown. Rather than do a ranking of favorite songs, I choose to compile what I think is a good representation for the year in music, all on an 80 minute CD-R. There’s plenty of songs I had to leave off the mix due to their length or lack of fit, so this is by no means my top 19 songs of the year. I do want to give a shout out the bookends of this disc which are from a couple bands who I finally found a way to get on my year end mixtape. Martime is not the kind of band that will ever challenge for high ranking in my albums list, but they are still one of my personal favorites because they write damn good pop-rock songs with “It’s Casual” serving as a great example. Human Hearts was another very good album from them and it’s been long overdue finding a place for one of their tracks on my mixtape. Likewise for The Mountain Goats, who are pretty much a top 25 staple for me when they release an album. John Darnielle is one of the best songwriters in the world today, and “High Hawk Season” is one of the more stunning songs of his career and the easy standout on All Eternals Deck. Also, kudos to Los Campesinos! who make their third appearance on one of my year end mixtapes, breaking a tie with numerous other bands to give them the overall lead.

Other notes: As I said, I managed to squeeze 19 tracks onto this years mix, up one from 2010. The lowest ranked album that has a song appear on the mix comes from the aforementioned Human Hearts by Maritime which was my #40 album of the year. In addition to that track, there are 3 other songs coming from albums outside my top 25. There are six tracks representing my #11-#25 albums, and 9 tracks from my top 10 albums. The only top 10 album not represented on the mix is Burst Apart from The Antlers. And as usual, the order of the Mixtape is not a ranking, but rather just the best order I came up with.

Below, you’ll see the tracklist, and after the jump you can listen to every track if you so choose. If you’re one of those super-cool Spotify users, I’ve also created a Spotify playlist of my Mixtape, which you can link to below. Also included is a link to my Amazon.com list which has my entire top 25 albums of the year, nice and neat in a one page form (as well as access to my lists from the previous 10 (!) years). Last but not least, Amy Boyd has once again stepped up to create some very fine album art for my Mixtape. This is the 4th straight year she’s helped me out, so as gratitude, I’ve included a link to her pop-culture blog as a permanent fixture over under my links section. She likes to call me Don Draper during the design process, which I consider much more of a compliment than I think she’s intending, so it’s the least I could do. You’re welcome.

So, that’s a wrap for 2011, and if you’ll excuse me I’m already behind on the 2012 releases…seriously.

Top Albums of 2011 (Amazon.com link)

2011 Mixtape (Spotify playlist)

1) “It’s Casual” – Maritime :: Human Hearts
2) “Need You Now” – Cut Copy :: Zonoscope
3) “Baby’s Arms” – Kurt Vile :: Smoke Ring For My Halo
4) “Abducted” – Cults :: Cults
5) “Get Away” – Yuck :: Yuck
6) “Ice Cream” – Battles :: Gloss Drop
7) “Midnight City” – M83 :: Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming
8) “Cruel” – St. Vincent :: Strange Mercy
9) “The Wilhelm Scream” – James Blake :: James Blake
10) “It’s Real” – Real Estate :: Days
11) “Hello Sadness” – Los Campesinos! :: Hello Sadness
12) “Amor Fati” – Washed Out :: Within and Without
13) “Holocene” – Bon Iver :: Bon Iver
14) “The Words That Maketh Murder” – PJ Harvey :: Let England Shake
15) “Civilian” – Wye Oak :: Civilian
16) “Vomit” – Girls :: Father, Son, Holy Ghost
17) “Bizness” – tUnE-yArDs :: w h o k i l l
18) “Helplessness Blues” – Fleet Foxes :: Helplessness Blues
19) “High Hawk Season”  – The Mountain Goats :: All Eternals Deck

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#1 Album of 2011

January 23, 2012

Girls – Father, Son, Holy Ghost

[True Panther Sounds; released 9/13/2011]

“Come into my heart.”

“Vomit”

What’s my combination for a great album you ask? Well, it’s simple really: engaging and innovative songwriting, meaningful lyrics, and the sense that the artist is truly passionate about his or her creation. Or to put it another way, just listen to Girls’ sophomore album Father, Son, Holy Ghost. The jump this San Francisco duo made from their rather generic surf-pop debut in 2009 to this masterpiece is pretty remarkable. I found their first release to be a fine album, but was missing something I couldn’t quite put my finger on. It still managed an honorable mention nod from me, but left me so uninterested that I decided to pass on their EP last year. Well, whatever it was that was missing from that debut, they undeniably found on their follow up LP, enough to make Father, Son, Holy Ghost my Top Album of 2011. (Giving hope to all honorable mentions everywhere!)

The opening track (“Honey Bunny”)  from Father, Son, Holy Ghost harkens back to their debut with a fantastic little Beach Boys-esque pop song (but better than any of the surf-pop they tried on their debut), and then departs from that sound into a variety of influences; from a psychedelic glam rocker (“Die”) to Guns N’ Roses tinged anthems (“My Ma”, “Vomit”). All of these departures make this disc the standard bearer for retro albums released in 2011, which for whatever reason seemed to be an ongoing theme for the year. Lead singer/songwriter Chris Owens still exudes his damaged vocals for this release, but they are a huge improvement from the debut as he seems to have made a discernible effort to come off more restrained here, and well, less annoying. Oh, but does the damage in his voice, and honesty in his lyrics, still remain.

His story is a rather tragic one having been raised in the Children of God cult and just as it did on the debut, those experiences have shaped the art he creates. As Owens sings about the girls in the aforementioned “Honey Bunny” who  “don’t like my bony body” (preach it brother) he comes across confident while at the same time somehow conveying a sense of self-pity that make this such an affecting listen. However, it’s in his anthems like album centerpiece, but unfortunately titled, “Vomit” that the album’s heart truly shines through, as Owens employs a backing gospel choir during the song’s final coda. It’s a moment that truly punches you in the gut and displays what this album does best; entertain with moments of fantastic musicianship while remaining soulful. Because despite all the influences scattered throughout, Father, Son, Holy Ghost is best described as a soul album, and it’s Owens who has allowed us a glimpse of that soul.

[“Honey Bunny” – Father, Son, Holy Ghost]

BONUS: I also recommend clicking this link for a live version of “Vomit” (and other Father, Son, Holy Ghost tracks) they did for Pitchfork.tv. It’s pretty life-changing and chills inducing.

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Top Albums of 2011: #2 thru #5

January 23, 2012

#5) Real Estate – Days [Domino; released 10/18/2011]

“All those wasted miles. All those aimless drives through green aisles. Our careless lifestyle, it was not so unwise.”

“Green Aisles”

I wasn’t a huge fan of Real Estate’s self-titled debut album back in 2009. For whatever reason, that album bored me and I just didn’t find much of it very memorable. However, with Days, this Brooklyn based band seems to have mastered their version of dreamy pop-rock without really changing their formula from before, but rather just by improving it in every way. What’s great about Days is that its ideas aren’t big, and that’s what makes it such a relatable album. As Martin Courtney sings about drives through green aisles, its easy to picture yourself with windows rolled down driving through the countryside on a road trip with friends or perhaps a family vacation as a child. It’s in that simplicity and nostalgia that Days finds it’s joy, but by no means does the music match that simplicity. The harmonies are complex, as are the choruses, but it’s still a mellow surf-pop album at it’s core. There’s a lot to Days that is highly enjoyable as a background album, but in those same songs there’s plenty to get lost in with more effort, which I would highly recommend giving a try.

[“Easy” – Days]

#4) PJ Harvey – Let England Shake [Vagrant; 2/15/2011]

“What is the glorious fruit of our land? The fruit is deformed children.”

“The Glorious Land”

“Soldiers fall like lumps of meat” is just one of the many disturbing lines that show up on Let England Shake, the 8th album from English singer-songwriter Polly Jean Harvey. If that’s not an image that causes you some sort of visceral reaction, then you may be the exact audience she’s targeting and perhaps who could benefit the most from a spin of this record. Let England Shake is Harvey’s anti-war album and while that may seem like a rather easy target considering the world’s current condition, Let England Shake is a timeless album discussing the horrors of war long before Iraq. (There’s only one song here that directly references the Iraq War.) It’s safe to say that the current turmoil in the mid-east is what put Harvey over the edge here, but lets not forget her home continent went through two horrible world wars that is still feeling its effects today. But to overlook the musicianship of Harvey would be a shame as she has fused her imagery with wonderful songs full of her guitar/piano driven rock while also employing some unique production techniques. Let England shake is a stunningly poignant protest album first, but one that can be enjoyed for its melodies as much as its poetry.

[“The Last Living Rose” – Let England Shake]

#3) Bon Iver – Bon Iver [Jagjaguwar; released; 6/21/2011]

“At once I knew I was not magnificent.”

“Holocene”

At this point, the story of Justin Vernon is well documented: man’s band breaks up; man’s relationship ends; man retreats into the woods for months to create a cathartic masterpiece album. It’s not like Vernon is the first person to draw inspiration from such things and to create something so beautifully inspired by his isolation. But For Emma, Forever Ago captured that alienation in such an arresting and intimate way that it became maybe the shining example of how to do it best. And it was because of that, that For Emma Forever Ago was my album of the year in 2008 upon it’s re-release. Now here we are with the highly anticipated follow up and Vernon has blown up as an artist with his work in his experimental side project Volcano Choir, his inclusion in soft-rock band Gayngs, numerous compilations, and his budding friendship with Kanye West of all people. (And now a Grammy nomination.) With his sophomore album as Bon Iver, Vernon has expanded from his stripped down folk tunes to something much more ambitious using influences from all his side-projects. But the thing is, even with his expanded scope, Bon Iver is just as intimate, just as arresting, and just as stunning as his debut. He’s moving on from the album that will most likely over-shadow his entire career, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that he chose to self-title this release. This is Justin Vernon’s Bon Iver, one that can stand on its own merit and not just a romanticized backstory.

[“Calgary” – Bon Iver]

#2) M83 – Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming [Mute; released 10/18/2011]

“The city is my church.”

“Midnight City”

I’ve never been to space, and I’m pretty confident that it’s a trip I’ll never be taking in my lifetime. But I’m also pretty confident that there’s few artists that do such a good job of transporting me to the outer reaches of our universe than Anthony Gonzalez does with his album Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming. When Gonzalez announced this new album he promised it would be “very, very, very epic” and upon listening to it, I think he could’ve thrown another “very” into his description. Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming is a double album filled with 22 tracks sitting at 74 minutes, but what makes it so inviting is that despite it’s scope and length, it is hardly an exhausting listen. That is partly thanks to a collection songs that can stand on their own as well as being part of something greater. In no track is this more evident than my song of the year, “Midnight City”, complete with instantly catchy synth-pop and subtly powerful sing along verses climaxing in a freakin’ saxophone solo, all capturing the nostalgic, yet futuristic vibe Gonzalez has mastered with his version of electronic-rock.  The album is such a remarkable accomplishment, something so exhilarating and as close as we’ll get to zipping around in a spaceship throughout the same M83 galaxy for which Gonzalez’s band is named.

[“Midnight City” – Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming]

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Top Albums of 2011: #6 thru #10

January 21, 2012

#10) The Antlers – Burst Apart [Frenchkiss; released 5/10/2011]

“I’m not gonna die alone…I don’t think so.”

“Putting The Dog To Sleep”

It’s impossible to discuss Burst Apart without first mentioning this album’s predecessor Hospice, my #2 Album of 2009. Perhaps that’s a bit unfair, but when you release an album as stunning as Hospice, there’s bound to be some call backs, and well, concerns as to if a follow up release can vindicate all the praise lavished upon this young group. With Burst Apart, The Antlers have proven their music can be just as emotionally resonant without the help of heavy subject matter in highly conceptual form. Part of that is due to Peter Silberman’s falsetto which is still as fragile as ever while remaining inviting. The songs on Burst Apart are more standard in their song structure making this disc an easier listen than Hospice, but it doesn’t give up the haunting atmospherics that makes their music so striking. Now a fully realized band, Burst Apart is their first album written as a whole, not just Silberman, and it’s easy to see how this group has gelled together to form a band that can now stand on their own merits as musicians and not just kings of sorrow.

[“I Don’t Want Love” – Burst Apart]

#9) Cults – Cults [Sony; released 6/7/2011]

“I think I want to live my life and you’re just in my way.”

“Go Outside”

The concern with bands who land a major label deal due to an internet hit in their infancy is pretty obvious. Does this band really have the songwriting chops to produce an entire album of this stuff? Or will they just be another one-hit internet wonder that’s all too common these days? (We’ll soon get that answer about Lana Del Rey.) It’s a question that unfairly sets a band up for failure, with seeming loads of criticism heading their way from the start due to all the skepticism. For Cults, they put any of those concerns to bed immediately on their debut album with opening track “Abducted”, one of the best songs of the year, and followed it up with an album full of potential singles that can all stand right up there with “Go Outside”, the song that catapulted them to the forefront of indie-pop. Cults is an album that displays all the catchiness and hooks of a band sure of themselves, and well, extremely good pop songwriters. Are the songs derivative? Sure. But the use of 60’s girl-pop influences do convey a sense of nostalgia on this record that makes it so charming and deeper than what you hear on the surface. There’s a bit of tragedy and heartbreak in the lyrics and a sense of vulnerability in Madeline Follin’s vocals, but she doesn’t beat you over the head with it like some of her genre peers can’t help but do. Cults is a mature and masterful album, the year’s best debut, from a band that still has a lot of room to go. They’re here to stay.

[“Abducted” – Cults]

#8) Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues [Sub Pop; released 5/3/2011]

“So now I am older than my mother and father when they had their daughter. Now what does that say about me?”

“Montezuma”

The sophomore album from these woodsy harmonizers is one that overcame quite the obstacles to even see the light of day. After their highly successful debut album in 2008 (my #3 album that year), Fleet Foxes began work on their follow up, but a bout with writers block from lead man Robin Pecknold didn’t help things along. Neither did the scrapping of every song after the initial recording, which meant starting from scratch in the studio. This well-documented recording process for Helplessness Blues is a testament to the painstaking efforts put forth by Fleet Foxes in creating their art. But when released, the final product is an album full of lush folk songs that sonically expands on everything these guys were doing with their debut, creating a truly beautiful album. The songs on Helplessness Blues have been polished to perfection, while not sacrificing their intimacy and contain all the majesty that made these guys so endearing in the first place.

[“Grown Ocean” – Helplessness Blues]

#7) St. Vincent – Strange Mercy [4AD; released 9/13/2011]

“Best, finest surgeon, come cut me open.”

“Surgeon”

I’ve always wondered what it would be like if a successful but relatively non-mainstream artist showed up on American Idol in front of the audition panel.  It would kind of be a dream of mine to see the panel have no idea who the artist was, get on their high horse and criticize in their usual condescending way, unaware the whole time that the musician in front of them has already seen loads of success and contains more talent in his or her pinky finger than any of American Idol’s winners in its run. The thing is though, this isn’t what would happen with with Annie Clark, aka St. Vincent. Clark has a gorgeous face, a killer voice, and can absolutely whale on the guitar, all of which is pretty evident right away. That’s why it’s so refreshing to hear such complex yet accessible tunes coming from an artist like St. Vincent. Strange Mercy is her third full-length and contains all her usual sweet yet anxiety filled songs that make her one of the most sophisticated songwriters going today. The formula remains the same on most her songs here: a tender verse/chorus buildup into a freak-out of sorts all the while capturing the introspection of a songstress at the top of her lyrical game. With all due respect to Adele (and others), there isn’t a female artist creating more interesting music in the world today. And it’s getting time that we need to start thinking about dropping the female qualifier.

[“Surgeon” – Strange Mercy]

#6) tUnE-yArDs – w h o k i l l [4AD; released 4/19/2011]

“There’s a freedom in violence that I don’t understand, and like I’ve never felt before.”

“Riotriot”

Let’s get this out of the way: this is a weird album and Merril Garbus is a strange woman. But that’s what makes her tUnE-yArDs project so appealing and intriguing. This is the second album from Garbus following up her breakout debut BiRd-BrAiNs in 2009 which announced her presence as an experimental-pop artist, but limiting her to just a pop musician doesn’t do nearly enough justice to the type of music Garbus is creating here. What she’s done on w h o k i l l is create an “everything but the kitchen sink” album, blending so many genres that it’s really too many to even list. She has a clear knack for songwriting and despite all the bizarre tunes, they really are some damn good pop songs. Garbus carries a confidence on w h o k i l l that is evident throughout, but never once hints at self-indulgence, and dismissing Garbus as another freak-folk musician is to dismiss her talent in some of the simplest ways, most notably her voice. All you have to do is listen to a track like “Powa” with it’s lo-fi production and numerous musical techniques throughout which all leads to an fantastic vocal breakdown where Garbus hits a note that can only be described as Mariah Carey-esque. Weird yes, but when it’s this fascinating, it’s a welcome oddity.

[“Powa” – w h o k i l l]

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Top Albums of 2011: #11 thru #25

January 20, 2012

The Countdown can now begin with my 15 albums that make up #11 through #25. There’s really no logic governing which albums I chose to do a write up for here. I didn’t want to write something about all of them, but felt like a few deserved a little blurb.

#25) Cut Copy – Zonoscope

The first half of Zonoscope is as good as anything released in 2011. That’s not to say the second half is bad, it just can’t quite keep up with the lush synth-pop scattered throughout the first 5 or 6 tracks. Cut Copy’s previous album was a critical darling, and as a follow up some think Zonoscope falls short, but it’s still full of hooks and for me confirms the great songwriting ability from this Australian dance-rock band.   Opening track “Need You Now” is one of the best songs of the year and the kind of song most artists spend their whole career trying to create. For Cut Copy, it’s second nature.

[“Need You Now” – Zonoscope]

#24) The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – Belong

#23) Smith Westerns – Dye It Blonde

#22) EMA – Past Lives Martyred Saints

#21) The Mountain Goats – All Eternals Deck

#20) TV On The Radio – Nine Types of Light

#19) Los Campesinos! – Hello Sadness

#18) The War On Drugs – Slave Ambient

While Kurt Vile may have released a more critically acclaimed album in 2011, what his former band did with Slave Ambient should not be ignored. Slave Ambient is the 2nd album from these guys, and first without Vile (who wasn’t that integral in the band’s sound anyway). It’s an atmospheric album, but one that’s also subtly infectious with song after song of  memorable melodies channeling Americana heroes such as Petty, Dylan, and Springsteen.

[“Baby Missiles” – Slave Ambient]

#17) The Field – Looping State of Mind

#16) Destroyer – Kaputt

I’ve always been quite intrigued by Dan Bejar. As a member of indie-pop super group The New Pornographers, he’s always struck me as the odd man out. To me, that group has been more of an avenue for Carl Newman to flex his power-pop muscles, while Bejar merely sprinkles in his style of avant-garde indie-rock. He seems to save his creativity for his Destroyer project, and Kaputt does nothing to disprove that. You really never know what you’re going to get from a Destroyer album, and a 80’s style soft rock record certainly fits the bill. It’s still a Destroyer record through and through, and with talk that he may be retiring the moniker, it’s a hell of a way to go out.

[“Kaputt” – Kaputt]

#15) Akron/Family – S/T II: The Cosmic Birth and Journey of Shinju TNT

This is an album I expected to get a lot more love when the end of the year lists came out, but for some reason it quietly went into the night and after it’s February release was seemingly forgotten. It’s for that reason that I consider the 5th album from these experimental psych-folk rockers the most underrated album of the year. Akron/Family has never been short on ambition and with this, their second “self-titled” album, they’re showing that they’re always ready to reinvent themselves, yet remain accessible.

[“Another Sky” – S/T II: The Cosmic Birth and Journey of Shinju TNT]

#14) Kurt Vile – Smoke Ring For My Halo

#13) Yuck – Yuck

Oftentimes when wearing your influences on your sleeve you can get buried by them. Not so for these young Brits, as they’ve packed their debut album full of 90’s era grunge and indie rock, but managed to create something of their own as well. And as much as everyone loves to analyze everything about an album, sometimes it’s refreshing to find a record like this that’s  just so damn fun to listen to and conveys such exuberance from the artist that it’s impossible to not sit back and enjoy it for what it is. It can be nostalgic if you want it to be, but Yuck mixes enough modern indie-rock with the old that it’s not a prerequisite for enjoyment.

[“Georgia” – Yuck]

#12) Drake – Take Care

I think what fascinates me the most about hip-hop is that in most genres, self-indulgence is often criticized the most as to what holds an album back from greatness (see Ceremonials from Florence + The Machine), but in hip-hop it’s a characteristic that is to be lauded and what usually allows an album to excel. Take Kanye’s masterful album last year, which will go down as maybe the most over-indulgent album I’ve ever listened to, but it had enough self-deprecation that it was obvious Kanye knew what he was doing by pointing out his own narcissism. Drake’s album Take Care, is the finest hip-hop release of the year, and succeeds largely on it’s own indulgence, but whereas Kanye’s album had an almost satirical self-assuredness, Drake’s is just immensely personal. Self-absorbed, sure. But in the hip-hop world, that’s what drives success.

[“Headlines” – Take Care]

#11) Wye Oak – Civilian

This is one of my biggest surprises of the year. It’s not that I was down on Wye Oak or anything, I just didn’t expect to love this album as much as I did. I specifically remember driving around one day with this album playing on my ipod and thinking to myself “OK, this is really good album.” It was possibly my most listened to album of 2011, thanks in large part to songs that engage with their beautiful yet tension filled melodies. It’s amazing how rich of a sound this Baltimore duo can get out of their scaled-down tunes, while still keeping the intimacy that makes them so pleasing. There’s a depth and darkness to each song on Civilian that took Wye Oak to a new level that most likely surprised everybody but themselves.

[“Holy Holy” – Civilian]

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Top Albums of 2011: Honorable Mentions

January 19, 2012

Honorable Mentions:

Let’s get things started with my Honorable Mentions for 2011. These are not necessarily the next highest ranked albums after my Top 25, but rather just some albums that I wanted to give extra attention to for one reason or another.

———-

Feist – Metals

In 2007, Feist broke out in grand fashion with her fantastic album The Reminder (with a little assist from Apple), and while Metals isn’t quite as immediate as its predecessor, it may actually be a more cohesive and complete album. You won’t find a “1234” on this release, but what you will find is a gorgeous set of songs, beautifully produced, that on repeated listens could very well be more fulfilling than anything in the Leslie Feist catalog.

[“The Bad In Each Other” – Metals]

———-

My Morning Jacket – Circuital

This  is the kind of album My Morning Jacket needed to make after the disaster that was Evil Urges. (Now, let’s never speak of it again.) Jim James and crew got whatever the hell that was out of their system and returned to what they do best. It still doesn’t reach the heights of their best work, most notably 2005’s Z, but I really don’t expect them to ever get to that level again. Instead, we have an album full expansive southern rock tunes with just a hint of their psychedelic tendencies…just like we want them.

[“Victory Dance” – Circuital]

———-

James Blake – James Blake

Quite possibly the year’s hipster darling, James Blake released his debut album in 2011 to a great deal of buzz thanks to his very well received EP’s of 2010. A full album of Blake’s dubstep tunes is quite a lot to take in, but if you’re willing to take an hour with some headphones in, it’s easy to see the ability of this 23 year old Brit. The best description I’ve heard of Blake’s style, and one I like to pass on, is that of a Dubstep version of Bon Iver. He creates some incredibly sparse tunes, that somehow have so much depth beneath the surface. His version of bedroom pop is a divisive one among music lovers, but it’s hard to deny his inventiveness as you listen to his tunes, including a pretty excellent Feist cover.

[“Limit To Your Love” – James Blake]

———-

Wilco – The Whole Love

Much like the My Morning Jacket release, what I’m really praising here is a return to form. It’s not that I’ve hated Wilco’s last few albums, they’ve just been quite boring and pretty great examples of a band mailing it in. However, The Whole Love is Wilco’s finest release since 2005’s A Ghost Is Born, which is not something I was expecting…at all. They seem to be rejuvenated a bit here, offering more of the experimentation that made their early albums so intriguing. A more adventurous Wilco is a more interesting Wilco, and we are all the better for it.

[“Art of Almost” – The Whole Love]

———-

The Felice Brothers – Celebration, Florida

I have to give a shout out to some of my personal favorites, The Felice Brothers, by mentioning just how impressed I was with the direction the group went with their latest album Celebration, Florida. These guys were poised to benefit from the recent success of The Avett Brothers and Mumford & Sons, which I was quite ready for since I believe The Felice Brothers have been creating much more interesting folk music than their peers (especially Mumford), so it was quite a shock to see them depart from their folk roots and experiment with a more electronic dancehall sound. It doesn’t always work, as their ambitions do get the best of them at times, but I’ll be damned if I don’t respect the hell out the effort.

[“Ponzi” – Celebration, Florida]

Dishonorable Mentions

In the last few years, I haven’t really had a need for this category, and this year is no different really, but it’s a tradition so I’ll put something here anyway. Calling these Dishonorable Mentions is pretty harsh as they’re really not that bad. However, I don’t envision it to be quite as controversial as last year.

The Strokes – Angles

This certainly isn’t a bad album. It’s just one that was completely unnecessary. The Strokes released an amazing album in 2001 that ushered in an era of garage band Rock ‘n Roll, then followed it up with basically a carbon copy, and fizzled out with an uninspired third album. For some reason, they thought we really needed them to reunite. I suppose Angles is a bit better than it’s predecessor, but who really cares? It’s evident they don’t. Just call it a day, guys.

[“Under The Cover of Darkness” – Angles]

———-

Tapes ‘n Tapes – Outside

I present these guys as a great example of the hype machine getting a little bit out of control (see also, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah). When Tapes ‘n Tapes released their debut album in 2005 it was for some reason a critical success. I liked it alright, but found it a bit overrated. Their follow up album in 2008 pretty much vindicated my concerns by getting slammed critically and being labeled as a sophomore slump. (Personally, I thought it was on the same level of their debut…but whatever.) Well, with Outside, they’ve done nothing to really disprove that they were a mediocre band all along that for some reason found undeserving success on the internet blogosphere.

[“Freak Out” – Outside]

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Top Albums of 2011: Eligible Albums

January 18, 2012

Yes, I’m fully aware that the last post on this blog was my 2010 Mixtape, meaning it’s been an entire year since I’ve made an update. Hopefully in 2012 I’ll find more time to post, but 2011 was full of traveling for work (Atlanta, Wilmington) and for fun (Europe), as well as buying a house, among other life stuff…so yeah, my time was limited. However, I did still listen to a lot of music, and far be it from me to keep my Top Albums rankings from my multitude dozens of fans. I can only imagine the backlash. So over the next few days I’ll be unveiling my rankings, although I’ll probably keep my writeups a bit shorter than usual and won’t stretch out these posts over a week and a half like I’ve done in the past. I’m only expecting to make about 5 or 6 posts for this years recap. And as usual, I’ll kick it off with a list of the albums I got in 2011, and thus, the albums that are eligible.

This past year I purchased, in some form, 74 albums…70 of which are eligible. I do not include EPs, Soundtracks, Live Albums, Holiday Albums, or B-Side/Rarity type releases as albums eligible for my list. The 70 albums in 2011 is the smallest amount of albums I’ve had eligible in quite some time, although it’s still probably more than I need, but I’m a music junkie and just can’t help myself. Of course, there’s plenty of albums that I never got around to procuring, so yes, there’s going to be very worthy albums that don’t make my list. Get over it. After the jump, you can see the list of all albums I purchased, in order of release date. Also, over to the right, you can see the schedule over the next few days as I continue the countdown. Enjoy, and thanks for indulging my, uhh, indulgence.

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A Round of Sound: 2010 Mixtape

January 21, 2011

The final piece of my countdown puzzle is as always, my annual mixtape. Coming up with a songs of the year list is just too overhwhelming (hell, I have a hard enough time with the albums), so I like to put out a mix of the songs that defined the year in music for me. This year I managed to fit 18 songs into my 80 minute CD-R, but these are not necessarily my favorite 18 songs of the year. As a matter of fact, this was an especially tough year to figure out my mixtape because some of my favorite songs were just way too long and took up too much space. That’s the reason you won’t see any Titus Andronicus, Joanna Newsom, Sufjan, or LCD Soundsystem songs. There’s also some great songs I left off because the band had previously been on a mixtape and I wanted to get some new blood on to the mix this year.

Anyway, to the stats: As I already said, there’s 18 songs on this year’s mix. Only 5 of the songs come from albums that made my top 10, and 6 from 11 thru 25 albums. That means only 11 of the 18 songs come from albums in my top 25. That certainly has something to do with all the great tracks this year, but is also because, as I stated, I wanted to mix it up a little this year. (Pun intended? Yes.) The lowest ranked album with a song on the mix is “July Flame” from Laura Veirs’s album of the same name, which chimed in at #59 in my final rankings. I don’t have any songs from EPs, which is a rarity for my mixes.

So there you go. Below you can find the songs that will be spinning around my car’s cd player for the next few weeks, whenever I forget to bring my ipod with me. As I always remind people, this is not a ranking. The songs are listed in order of how they appeared on their respective albums. If you want to see my entire top 25 albums list in one easy place, head on over to my Amazon.com list and check it out (as well as all my lists for the past 10 years). Last, but not least, for the 3rd year in a row Amy Boyd has created my Mixtape album art for me. I’m taking care of her cat, so, it’s the least she could do. If you know her or ever happen to randomly meet her, tell her what an awesome job she did, once again.

[“World Sick” – Broken Social Scene :: Forgiveness Rock Record]

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[“Floating Vibes” – Surfer Blood :: Astro Coast]

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[“Go do” – Jónsi :: Go]

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[“Excuses” – The Morning Benders :: Big Echo]

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[“July Flame” – Laura Veirs :: July Flame]

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[“Airplanes” – Local Natives :: Gorilla Manor]

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[“Crash Years” – The New Pornographers :: Together]

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[“Ambling Alp” – Yeasayer :: Odd Blood]

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[“Real Love” – Delorean :: Subiza]

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[“Daisy” – Fang Island :: Fang Island]

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[“Norway” – Beach House :: Teen Dream]

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[“The Ghost Inside” – Broken Bells :: Broken Bells]

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[“Round and Round” – Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti :: Before Today]

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[“Lewis Takes Action” – Owen Pallett :: Heartland]

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[“Bloodbuzz Ohio” – The National :: High Violet]

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[“Rill Rill” – Sleigh Bells :: Treats]

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[“Helicopter” – Deerhunter :: Halcyon Digest]

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[“Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)” :: Arcade Fire :: The Suburbs]

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Posted by Hawkins

#1 Album of 2010

January 20, 2011

Titus Andronicus – The Monitor [XL; released 3/9/2010]

“The enemy is everywhere.”

“Titus Andronicus Forever”

Using the American Civil War as a metaphor for personal internal strife is really nothing new. In fact, it’s actually a pretty tired cliche. Generally, if a band tries to pull off something of that caliber, it’s seen as an incredibly overblown attempt at self-importance and quite pretentious. So how then is Titus Andronicus able to pull off a concept album loosely based on events of the Civil War to the point where it seems not only genuine, but also original? Answer: I don’t know exactly. But, with The Monitor, they sure as hell do. And in doing so, they’ve created the best album of 2010.

One thing that certainly doesn’t hurt is the fact that the album absolutely rocks. There is no shortage of riffs one bit, and it contains an abundance of hooks that many rock bands would spend an entire career searching for. Every song is a go-by for sing along anthems, complete with massive choruses that just urge you to belt from the top of your lungs “It’s still us against them!” over and over again as lead singer Patrick Stickles does to close out album centerpiece “Four Score and Seven”.  There’s some Irish jig type sounds in the music, but it’s the Springsteen influence (and the Civil War motif, obviously) that make this a truly great American rock album. For an album that is so intelligent and clearly was labored on in fine detail, it’s amazing how natural and fun the entire thing sounds. The emotion and angst heard in Stickles vocals is that of legends and really is what keeps the album grounded as a personal experience but nothing that ever really comes across as too self-indulgent.

The 10 tracks of The Monitor clock in at 65 minutes thanks to half the tracks passing the 7 minute mark. A release of that length can usually come across as exhausting, but for The Monitor, there really is no better word to describe it other than epic. We hear that term thrown around quite often (hell, I’ve probably used it numerous times during this very countdown), but no offense to any other so called “epic” releases this year, you’ve got nothing on The Monitor; nor does any album released in the past 3 or 4 years. The raw and gritty nature of this album is something you can truly sense throughout its 10 tracks. The tears and sweat put into it are truly palpable, as is the blood spilled on the battlefield. With all that said, it still comes back to the music. In any album I name as my album of the year, there’s often a moment that just gets to me and offers a moment of pure joy that pretty much nails it down as my album of the year. Well, there’s numerous moments of joy on The Monitor, but the one that gets me the most comes about an hour into the disc, during the 14 minute closer “The Battle of Hampton Roads”. After a buildup featuring some incredible lyrics, awesome little guitar solos, and a final breakdown consisting of the simple refrain “Please don’t ever leave,” we reach the climax: an instrumental outro when none other than bagpipes show up to perform a solo. Bagpipes! What an amazingly poignant way to close out not just any album, but this album. It gives me chills every time. The bagpipes eventually come to an end and we’re left with yet another set of guitar riffs that an entire album could be made out of. So when all is said and done, the reasons a band like Titus Andronicus could pull off such an ambitious project like this is actually pretty clear: just put your heart into it and have a blast. It really isn’t all that new of a concept, and if the listener puts in the same effort, he or she will get just as much out of it as Titus Andronicus did.

[“The Battle of Hampton Roads” – The Monitor]

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Posted by Hawkins

#2 Album of 2010

January 19, 2011

Arcade Fire – The Suburbs [Merge; released 8/3/2010]

“These days, my life, I feel it has no purpose. But late at night the feelings swim to the surface.”

“Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)”

I once heard Matthew Weiner state that when he was searching for a house to use as the Draper household on the set of his show Mad Men, one of the characteristics the house had to have was a red door. For some reason that comment stuck with me, because it just seemed like an example of the small details that make that show so incredible and one of the best shows on television the last few years. He never explained his reasoning, but I like to think having a red door on an otherwise perfect “American Dream” looking house symbolizes the tension within its walls. When I first popped in The Suburbs, and the title track opened the album, all I could think about was how simple a song it was, but how much tension lied beneath its straightforward exterior. That Weiner comment came to mind, because The Suburbs is the house of Mad Men and its red door all wrapped into one magnificent album.

Arcade Fire’s first album,  Funeral, was immensely personal and displayed the youthful exuberance, but veteran musicianship that instantly made the Canadian group a fan favorite. (And a perfect fit for their role in the movie Where the Wild Things Are.) Their follow up album, Neon Bible, wasn’t nearly as introspective, focusing its attention much more outward, attacking the usual worldly piñatas of religion and politics among other things. While it was still a great album, it was a much more exhausting listen, and became bogged down by it’s overblown themes. The Suburbs falls more in line with Funeral, actually returning to many of the ideas that made Funeral so stunning, only this time those ideas are from the perspective of people just a little bit older. No longer are they digging tunnels from one house to another; this time they’re choosing sides as part of their “Suburban War”. As a child, you want to get away from it all, but inevitably you return and become what you always hated. It’s a vicious cycle, and one that creates a hell of an album.

It’s hard to say if The Suburbs will have that standout track of anthemic proportions such as “Wake Up” or “No Cars Go” that have become sing-along staples at Arcade Fire shows. Perhaps, in time, “Ready to Start” will rise to that kind of level, or maybe “Rococo”, but it’s hard to imagine an arena full of hipsters singing their hearts out to a song that is criticizing their very lifestyle. The U2 and Coldplay-esque “We Used To Wait” is a candidate, but if there is any decency in this world, the song that will stand above all others on this album is the enchanting “Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)”, my song of the year. As important as they are to the core of Arcade Fire’s sound, Régine Chassangne vocals have never really done it for me. However, “Sprawl II” is easily her best performance and a moment that showcases her vulnerable yet sweetly confident talent. Hearing her defiantly state “They’re screaming at us ‘We don’t need your kind!'” just gets me every time…as does the chorus…and the key change. It’s just so glorious, all the while being infused with a driving pop music rhythm. It’s the most danceable song the band has ever created, and thus, easily one of their most fun. Every Arcade Fire album has been a masterpiece up to this point, and all for different reasons. The Suburbs stands on its own as an incredible work of art; ambitious yet accessible, but finely tuned with so many details that unpacking all it’s layers is nothing that can be done overnight. This is an album not only to enjoy in the moment but also to come back later on for further exploration, an impressive accomplishment indeed. Matthew Weiner would be proud.

[“Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)” – The Suburbs]

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