I've opted to just include my 10 most enjoyed albums without regard for any 1-10 rankings. What can I say, I've grown lazy in my old age. The albums are in alphabetical order to ensure I don't show any favoritism.
Army Navy - The Last Place A pop album for the US Weekly crowd about a supposed affair with a supposedly married and famous Hollywood actress (supposedly). This is the first time I have seen the music videobut now I can no longer unsee it.
Beastie Boys - Hot Sauce Committee Part 2 Their best album since my all-time favorite Hello Nasty (yes it is even better than Hot Sauce Committee Part One, there I said it) keeps it fun and even rips off Splinaz with the "Cellular Destruction"-esque "Ok". Imitation is the highest form of flattery, they say.
The Black Keys - El Camino This selection might be suffering from recency bias but all their love seems to have disappeared. I think this album is pretty front-loaded but when the front half is as strong as this one is well then who cares? "Little Black Submarines" makes me miss the White Stripes :(
The Decemberists - The King is Dead Finally Colin Meloy figured out a way to stop writing masturbatory concept albums and write some good old fashioned generic country-pop songs. Now if only he could figure out a way to stop working the words "dirigible" and "sinew" into every fourth song.
Fountains of Wayne - Sky Full of Holes What? I'm the only person who still listens to Fountains of Wayne you say? Well screw you, this album is their best since the self-titled debut. Yes I know that isn't saying that much. Who invited you anyways? "A Dip in the Ocean" deserves to be twice the infectious Top 40 hit that "Stacy's Mom" was.
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Belong This album is suffering from the opposite of recency bias (I can't come up with a good made-up term). Their second album might not have the pure hits of the first album but is more consistently good throughout.
Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks - Mirror Traffic It sounds like Stephen Malkmus hated touring with Pavement so much that he is starting to enjoy life with the Jicks a bit more. Gone are the painful noodling sessions of the past two albums to be replaced with some great songwriting. Beck produced this album and did a great job making it sound just like every other Stephen Malkmus album.
Surfer Blood - Tarot Classics EP The Decemberists - Long Live the King EP I'm gonna cheat here and smash these two EPs together into one "album" even though they sound nothing alike and have nothing in common. But they are both worthy of making this list aside from being about 50% too short. Surfer Blood continue to be my favorite new band.
The War on Drugs - Slave Ambient If you've always wanted to hear a Bob Dylan impersonator sing over some vaguely drone-y music than I can't recommend SlaveAmbient strongly enough. For everybody else, it's still a damn good album!
Yuck - Yuck This is another great album. I don't know, I'm running out of stuff to say.
BONUS!!! My favorite songs not on the above albums Peter Bjorn and John - "May Seem Macabre" This is a straight-up 80s jam about two corpses (I think). Or maybe one of them is actually a necrophiliac. Either way it's fuckin cool and weird.
I'm lucky enough that I can turn my computer on most days - let alone link video or pictures in this list - so here's my "just the facts" Top 10 of 2011. Judge away - I'm doing the same to you!
Jorna’s Top 10 of '11
10. Real Estate – Days – I think given more time with
this album, it would find itself higher on the list. But I really like their
happy, upbeat sound, they are like my Jaill of 2011. “Out of Tune” is on heavy rotation
these days, but the whole production is a hidden gem of this year.
9. Coldplay – Mylo Xyloto – I’m pretty sure they
take away your hipster-cool kid card if you admit to liking Coldplay. That’s
okay, I don’t own skinny jeans anyway. But then again, I’m also the girl who
brought an entire Top 10 list of country albums a few years back.I digress. I thoroughly enjoy listening
to this album. My pick is “Paradise.” The beauty of the interwebs is that you
can download the album from iTunes or order it from Amazon so no one will catch
you actually purchasing the CD.
8. Ryan Adams – Ashes & Fire– After the debacle
of Orion in 2010, a split from the Cardinals, and well, the marriage to Mandy
Moore still standing, I was starting to believe Ryan might no longer be capable
of producing something that could restore my faith. Ashes & Fire is a great
reunion of his old sound. “Lucky Now” is a solid first single off the album,
lyrically a cross between “Two” and Come Pick Me Up” and musically one part “La
Cienega Just Smiled.”
7. Adele – 21– It must suck to be so depressed at 23. But it makes for a
terrific release. “Set Fire to the Rain” and of course, “Someone Like You” top
the list. If you are going through a break up do not listen to this album.
6. Danger Mouse &
Daniel Luppi – Rome– A brilliant collaboration! Although I
feel like there are two camps on this performance – you either love it or think
it is ridiculous. Maybe it is my love of classical. Or perhaps an extension of
my ongoing love affair with Broken Bells. Whatever the reason, I dig the
concept and flow of this album while applauding the effort of producing a
cinematic feature without the accompanying pictures.
5. Feist – Metals- This Canadian stole my heart (the 2nd to do so
in a year). Her smoky-bluesy voice makes me want to sit in a dark club sipping
dirty martinis and smoking cloves.But since I like neither of those things, I’ll stick to the album on
repeat.I suggest checking out
“Graveyard”.
4. jamie xx & Gil
Scott-Heron – We’re New Here –
Dear jamie xx, I love you. You are amazing. Please create/record/remix more
tracks as soon as you can.And an
enthusiastic thumbs up for the genius of combining your ethereal electronic
sound with the funky vibe of Gil Scott-Heron. Sincerely, Me. PS – a new record
from the xx would be terrific as well, but I’ll take what I can get. Check out
– “I’ll Take Care of U”
3. The Weeknd – House of Balloons– Love. This.
Album. Reminiscent for me of a Mark Farina Mushroom
Jazz joint only with a fuller, darker, more lush sound mixed with some sort
of neo-soul stylings. Moves along impassively without being boring or caring
about building up to a self-imposed apex. This would have been the perfect
soundtrack to my younger years, just out of college while I was living in
Madison working for the student movement – chillin’ on my friends’ couch any
given night, a pack of busted up Swisher Sweets on the coffee table and Famous
Dave’s on speed dial… J
2. Wilco – The Whole Love– We were lucky
enough to fall in to last minute tickets to the Vic show in Chicago and I’ll
forever be a fan because of it! I remember the first time I saw I Am Trying to Break Your Heart in the
summer of 2003 when my taste in music was much more La Cage and less Turner
Hall. Over the years I’ve grown to appreciate Wilco and in particular, Jeff
Tweedy. His guidance last year on Mavis Staples’ album was beyond reproach.For me it was always about Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and I was hopeful
the new album would live up to that fame. “I Might” is catchy and most fans
will tell you that the 7+ minutes of “Art of Almost” is the best part but I’m
going with “Born Again” for the win. Or “Capitol City.” Maybe “Whole Love”…
it’s all pretty great.
1.James Vincent McMorrow – Early in the Morning – Melancholy
and moody and romantic and heartbreaking all that the same time. He is a
phenomenal storyteller taking the listener on a very personal self reflective
journey. McMorrow’s like a more effusive folksy version of The National – dark
and brooding lyrically with sweet guitar and piano chords to accompany his soft
almost-whispery tenor voice. This album gets my top pick of the year because it
drew me in from the first listen and hasn’t let go yet. Highly recommend “We
Don’t Eat” and “If I Had a Boat”.
Honorable Mentions –
Scars on 45 – Give Me Something EP (only bc it’s an EP it
didn’t make the Top 10)
The Weeknd - Thursday
They Might Be Giants – Join Us
Thurston Moore – Demolished Thoughts
Cold War Kids – Mine Is Yours
Shows of the Year –
1. Ray LaMontagne/Brandi Carlile -Theatre St. Denis, Montreal
(not only amazing, but also my birthday present)
2.The National
– Aragon Ballroom, Chicago&
Riverside Theater, Milwaukee
1. The Weeknd - House of Balloons / Thursday / Echoes of Silence
Most of the time, there is a choice that is made between quality and quantity. So many artists have fallen in the trap of oversaturating the market with substandard songs. Other artists release albums deemed too brief for their fans or take years between releases, leaving fans begging for more. What The Weeknd accomplished over the past 9 months by releasing a trilogy of self-released albums of this high of quality is nothing short of impressive. No record label. No pre-announced release dates. Fans would cling to rumors and each album was unassumingly introduced via a download link on The Weeknd's twitter account. But The Weeknd's mysterious release method is just about the only thing 'unassuming' when it comes to this music project. House of Balloons' opening song, "High For This" sets the tone for the 26 songs that follow it - intoxicating, predatory R&B that details a hedonistic nightlife of sex, drugs and more sex and drugs. Abel Tesfaye sings over fantastically nocturnal production that adds an uneasy atmosphere to these seedy tales of passion and indulgence.
2. Smith Westerns - Dye It Blonde
I didn't take much notice of The Smith Westerns' debut album, but after hearing the lead-off single for Dye It Blonde ("Weekend") and seeing them perform at Club Garibaldi in late 2010, I knew this album was going to be something on my radar for 2011. What I didn't know is how the band would systematically pull at each of my heart strings by recording an album flush with influences from some of my favorite musicians. Early 1970s Glam? Check. Double Fantasy-era John Lennon? Check. 1990s Brit Rock? Check. The Smith Westerns wear these familiar influences on their sleeve, but do not let the influences wear them - a very fine line to walk for a ban, with failure to do so leading to a dated or cliche sound. I think the highest compliment I can pay this album is to say that despite being released in January, Dye It Blonde still is in regular rotation for me, as opposed to other early 2011 albums that I listened to heavily when initially released and have not picked back up (See: Blake, James).
3. Arctic Monkeys - Suck It and See
I've been a big fan of Arctic Monkeys since they hit the scene with "I Bet You Look Good On The Dance Floor" and they consistently fail to disappoint me. A superb Brit rock album with a good combination of ballads and rockers, Suck It and See carries on from where their previous album, Humbug, left off. The psychedelic rock influences may be a bit toned down on this collection of songs, but you can see the increasing influence of The Smiths and David Bowie on the groups songwriting, especially on tracks like "Piledriver Waltz". There's not a band in England doing it better than Arctic Monkeys and hopefully an upcoming tour with The Black Keys will provide them with the stateside success that is long overdue.
4. Frank Ocean - nostalgia/Ultra
I cannot remember the last time I was truly excited and impressed by a contemporary R&B artist. The music sounded the same and the singers were interchangeable. Frank Ocean's nostalgia/Ultra changed that for me. Seemingly lost in the antics and controversy surrounding Odd Future, Frank Ocean released this free collection of songs that combines great story telling with some interesting musical choices for an R&B artist, such as re-making songs by MGMT, Coldplay, and The Eagles. The standout track is the "Novacane", which very well be the best song released in 2011 that is not titled "Midnight City". The strength of nostalgia/Ultra has paved the way for Ocean's opportunity to be the only artist featured on Jay Z and Kanye West's Watch The Throne album and has everyone looking to 2012 for his debut album.
5. Jay-Z and Kanye West - Watch The Throne
Watch the Throne is everything you would expect from two hip hop titans collaborating on an album called "Watch the Throne" would sound like - epic production so lush and rich that it sounds like something only artists the stature of these two could get away with rapping over. While there is expected bravado and ultra high-end fashion name checking, these songs see Jay Z and Kanye West rapping with much more substance than critics who label this the "Album For The 1%" would care to admit. Sometimes overshadowed by the huge production are songs about black-on-black crime, fatherhood, depression, and their humble beginnings. Its not to say there aren't any over-the-top, bravado-heavy songs, in fact, highlights like "Otis" and "Ni**as In Paris" have the duo sounding like they're having fun and the excitement is infectious. Collaborations (whether it be a single song or an entire album) can often leave fans disappointed, but Watch The Throne delivers exactly what fans would expect from a Kanye West and Jay Z collaboration, love it or leave it. I, for one, love it.
