Top 33 Albums Of 2011: 5 - 1

These are my five favorite albums of 2011.  These are the songs that moved me and shook me more severely than anything else did all year.

Numbers 5 and 2 originated in Toronto, so maybe I've developed a Canadian bias.

Numbers 4, 2, and 1 are screamers, so maybe I've retained my heavy music bias.

Numbers 4, 3, 2, and 1 all rely on Christian imagery and metaphors, so maybe I should have prayed about this list longer.

At last... So long, 2011!  You were kind of a weird one.

5: Feel It Break by Austra

I'm a sucker for synthpop. I can't really explain it. Perhaps I had a particularly impressionable experience with The Human League as a small child. I don't know. But when somebody gets it right, when they music is served without frills, when it SOUNDS like how the original Tron movie LOOKED, I'm all about it. And Austra absolutely gets it right.

The songs of Feel It Break are bleak but not depressingly so. Dark-ish without being, you know, dark dark. The bouncy synthesizers prevents any of these songs from becoming dirges. We've got song titles like "The Choke" and "Hate Crime" and "The Villain," but I can bop my head to each of them. And I do.

"Beat And The Pulse"

4: Aesthetica by Liturgy

Listening to Aesthetica is like watching a thousand tortured souls play with the spirograph set each one got for Christmas. It's hypnotizing, wholly consuming, slightly terrifying, and so, so good. And maybe there are mathematical principles involved, but who knows/cares? Even though Liturgy pours out the metal (the blackest kind of metal), Aesthetica is surprisingly accessible. Obviously this isn't for everybody, but despite the brutal exploration of auditory concepts and the nightmarish imagery each song conjures up, this album is quite listenable and, more than that, very enjoyable. The kids will love it.

3: Strange Negotiations by David Bazan

Bazan does it again! Which is what everybody says every time David Bazan does it again. But, dang it, Bazan does it again! More semi-autobiographical stories of clumsy sin. More soul-searching lyrics. More painted pictures of conflicted humanity. More truth the way Bazan sees truth, which may not be truth at all, but he's doing the best he can, okay?

He's back with a full band, collaborating with Pedro The Lion pal T.W. Walsh among others. Strange Negotiations is in fact very Pedro-esque in sound, but less so lyrically as his spiritual beliefs have altered over time. The songs are still sung with God as a context, but the context of God Himself has changed. And Bazan's lyrical straightforwardness, still searing as ever, is deceptive because it carries so much baggage. There's the spiritual weight (the kind that gets heavier the more you know what you don't know), and there's the weight inherent in this business of being human. And this is why I love the man. He provokes and challenges, and he won't judge you for whatever conclusions you draw from his music. He'll just release another album to mess with your personal philosophy.

"People"

"Strange Negotiations"

2: David Comes To Life by Fucked Up

For a myriad of reasons, none of which were very good, I avoided making any serious effort with these guys. So as I listened to David (more as a courtesy than anything else) I had one of those rare musical revelatory experiences, the kind that shifts your perception of music six inches to the left. It happens all the time when people finally decide to see what's so great about Johann Bach. I never expected it to happen with stupid old Fucked Up. And I guess that's the point of a revelation. You don't see these things coming.

David is anthemic, and it's melodic, and it's aggressive, and it's a booty-shaker. And somehow it is ambitious and epic without coming off as pretentious. Individually each of the 18 songs are fantastic, but all together they tell a serious 4-part story with characters and plot twists and warped narrative arcs.  It's all very fun in a Vonnegut kind of way, and if that's your thing then you'll have a dumb smile on your face while rocking out.

 

"Queen of Hearts" .mp3 (via official website)

"A Little Death" .mp3 (via official website)

1: Kingdoms by Life In Your Way

There are about 100 amazing things about this band and album, few of which I'm capable of succinctly explaining. Kingdoms is divided into three parts, each with their own theme, but each a specific part of a bigger picture (that picture being the love God has for his sinful creation, which is a pretty dang big picture).  The lyrics are honest and human, gritty real, and presented with brotherly love.  This stuff changes lives.  For your consideration, a snippet from the declarative track "Induction":

"The Kingdom of God is for the burnouts, the broken, and the broke, the drug addicts, the divorced, the HIV-positive, the herpes-ridden, the hopeless, for the outcasts that have been created by the church, and for the outcasts of our society that have been created by us."

I can think of a handful of high-profile purveyors of the Faith who would sooner shoot themselves in the face than honestly recite those words. Anyway, the music itself is passionate melodic post-hardcore gloriousness. It SOUNDS good, which is important because if it didn't then all that other stuff wouldn't matter.

For all of the time and effort the band put into this high-quality product, it is completely baffling that Kingdoms is legally free to download in its entirety. Do so at:

http://www.lifeinyourway.net/kingdoms

Top 33 Albums Of 2011: 10 - 6

I WILL finish this thing.

Again and always, sorry about updation gaps.  Life happens.

Just a reminder, we are counting down my 33 favorite albums (including long EPs and Internet-only releases) of 2011, despite the fact that we are now 1/6th of the way through 2012.

Let's go ahead and crack that top 10.

10: Dark Times Tape by Dark Times

Dark Times Tape could very well have been recorded on tape. Like, scotch tape or electrical tape. But what this lacks in quality Dark Times more than makes up for in sheer earnestness. It would be so easy for a Scandinavian female-fronted goth-punk band like this to self-parody or mail in some sort of schtick or gimmick. Instead we get raw rock delivered without irony or pretension.

I strongly recommend checking out the 5-song "Tape," especially since you can do so for free.  Thanks, Bandcamp!

9: Soita Mulle by Regina

There are only two things I can tell you about Finland with any certainty. 1) It's located up there by Norway and Sweden. 2) I don't understand their Finny language. I was very quick to dismiss Regina due to point number two, but I decided to give Soita Mulle a proper listen before disregarding them for good. And (obviously) I'm glad I did. The more I listened the more I liked. Sit back and enjoy the breathy lady vocals, the mellow 60's-ish twee, and if you can't understand the lyrics the songs can be about anything you want, right?

"Unessa"

 

"Jos et sä soita"

8: Father, Son, Holy Ghost by Girls

Father, Son, Holy Ghost is heavy, heavy, heavy. But it's a sneaky weight you only realize you're carrying after it's too late, after you're smashed into the mud. The first few songs are innocuous enough as Girls groove about casually, dropping hints of rockabilly and surf and other 1960s goodness.  The song "Die" even has a good deal of rock 'n' roll swagger.  But midway through the album you'll find yourself laden with the singer's emotional baggage.  And then a sweet little tune called "Vomit" swings by like a slow-motion wrecking ball and devastates your day.  This is what happens when you use Biblical themes as metaphors for the complicated relationships between you, your ex-girlfriends, and your mother.

"Die"

7: Past Life Martyred Saints by EMA

Whatever expectations you had about this album based solely on promo photos and what you know about singer-songwriter chicks are wrong like a gunshot wound to the face is wrong. EMA (moniker of Erika M. Anderson) is gritty and noisy and raw and upset. Lyrically she toes the angst line, but the music itself compliments and accentuates the self-destruction. It's all very nice.

The music video for "Milkman," by the way, is a hypnotizing Geocities nightmare.

6: Marissa Nadler by Marissa Nadler

I always forget Nadler is American, a New Englander in fact. Her voice and music house that bittersweet cold warmth the Scandinavian Indie-Folk folks have pegged so well.  And while I have a whole slew of songs recommended for the wee hours of the night, Nadler is one of the few who could provide the soft soundtrack to those headache-addled sun-risen mornings better spent dead.  Additionally, this self-titled album is recommended for those who still jam to Mazzy Star or, more generally, to those whose soul needs a time-out.

Thanks to her Bandcamp site, you can stream the entire album.

Top 33 Albums Of 2011: 15 - 11

One thing should be apparent by now: I love the ladies. I don't really have much to add to this, so with that in mind...


15: C'mon by Low

More dudes and chicks taking vocal turns! Once again (and likely always) I favor the soft female voice. Dude takes most of the singing duties, but Chick provides some wonderful harmonizing and background vocals. Also, I should really learn these people's names. Anyway, the music is pretty chill, though not necessarily in the relaxing way. There are a couple stellar gold nuggets in here, and "Especially Me" could be my favorite song of the year.




14: Don't Rock The Boat by Des Ark

For an album so full of tongue-in-cheek anger swears (this is not the full album title, by the way) there is a surprising amount of soft vulnerability in the music. Not to say that the ride isn't uneasy, but whatever you thought Don't Rock The Boat was going to be, it isn't. And featuring only eight tracks, the one thing it definitely IS is far too short.

"Ashley's Song"

"Two Hearts Are Better Than One"



13: Strange Mercy by St. Vincent

I love me some St. Vincent, and each new album takes the goodness from the previous release and adds ample awesomeness to it. Strange Mercy takes the patented Annie Clark angularity she has perfected on her previous two albums and boosts up the groove while somehow also boosting up the aggro. There are soft moments (and Annie in a soft moment will make you drip), but it is mostly about the chunky rhythms dropping on your head like a magical snowplow at the end of a steady yo-yo.




12: Civilian by Wye Oak

2011 could have been described as the year of the fuzzy dense wispy-voiced alt-folk scene. Everybody wanted to be Grizzly Bear, and frankly a lot of it sounds the same to me. But Wye Oak does it right or -- at the very least -- differently. The music is not too ambient, the guitars drive in discernible directions, and the ladyvocals are firm and focused. Yet the atmosphere is not lost, and as you coast along track-by-track you're transported to that very specific and indescribable audio world that each great album creates.




11: The Ones Who Wait by Denison Witmer

Denison Witmer is a sneaky one. He is so unassuming in his music, his voice, his appearance... everything. And on the surface his music seems nice (like how a potted plant is nice) but not terribly special. But then you listen, and you learn the words, and Witmer's music eventually endears itself to you. The Ones Who Wait is more dour than his previous albums as it explores his feelings following the death of his father. The songs are not depressing or bleak, but merely grayishly hued. Death is a context, and these songs are about life.

"Cursing" .mp3

"Hold On"



20 - 16
25 - 21
30 - 26
33 - 31

Top 33 Albums Of 2011: 20 - 16

Sorry for the hiatus. Christmas happened. I'm also moving into a new house, so that will delay things further. Also, I'm a terrific procrastinator.

I'm not getting paid for this anyway, so really I am not at all obliged to finish this list.

Onward!

20: Ceremonials by Florence + The Machine

Hat nod to Beth who a few months ago got me hyped for the new Florence album. Ceremonials met and exceeded (and continues to meet, and continues to exceed) expectations. Though there is a brooding undercurrent flowing throughout the album, Florence maintains the balance between pop and eclecticism like fellow countrywoman Kate Bush. Bush, however, never had pipes like these. Also, REDHEAD ALERT.





19: Faces by Chris Staples

The songs of Faces are soft, mellow, catchy, and, like everything Chris Staples has recorded, solidly written. Listening to these five songs is like drifting down a quiet creek. It's just NICE, you know? Simple without being dumb, and sad for no discernible reason.

Go to Staples' Bandcamp site to stream or download these songs for free.



18: På Engelska by Säkert!

Annika Norlin is, lyrically and musically, a clever little thing. Listening to her is like eating candy. Check out her English-singing project Hello Saferide for proof. But until now language barriers have prevented me from enjoying the lyrical nuances of her Swedish project Säkert! På Engelska is Säkert! songs redone with English lyrics. Even though I'm sure amusing Swedish subtleties were likely lost in translation, the resulting work is still a lot of fun.

"Weak Is The Flesh"

"Can I"



17: Color The Trees by Firefox AK

More female-fronted Swedish goodness. And if it's Swedish, and it's not metal or meatballs, then it's smooth and chill and a little desolate. Maybe you could label this electropop, though it's not electro enough to be called electro and not pop enough to file under straight pop. Whatever. It's stuff like this that makes me forgo labels and just enjoy the jams. Recommended for cruising through empty cities at three in the morning.

"Boom Boom Boom"




16: Metals by Feist

It has been four years since The Reminder came out, so IT'S ABOUT DANG TIME. Despite the darker tone and the lower accessibility of the album (nothing here for iTunes to commandeer for their boppy commercials) you will still feel ultracool if you spin this disc while hosting an ultracool party or while sitting on an ultracool porch drinking some ultracool lemonade. Even if you don't dig it at first trust me when I say Metals is a grower not a show-er.

"How Come You Never Go There"



25 - 21
30 - 26
33 - 31

Top 33 Albums Of 2011: 25 - 21

I wanted to include Lady Gaga somewhere in this countdown because I thought it would make me cool in an ironic sort of way, like how Pitchfork always rates crappy pseudo-hip-hop way higher than deserved. But I couldn't make it all the way through Born This Way. Don't get me wrong. I like The Fame and The Fame Monster. But by the time I got to "Hair" I realized I wasn't enjoying this anymore. Maybe the album just wasn't dark enough. Maybe everything was too poppy. Maybe I'm old enough to remember when Madonna sang these songs twenty years ago.

That being said, "Judas" is freaking awesome and one of my favorite songs of the year.

On with the countdown!

25: Gravity The Seducer by Ladytron

Do you know how fun it is to wait three years for a new album? Not that fun. But with Ladytron the payoff is always fantastic. Not as explosive or dynamic as Witching Hour or Velocifero, the songs of Gravity are instead more in tune with the atmospheric concept of the album. What do I mean by this? I mean you get a good steady vibe. I mean you get sweet consistency. I mean the music takes you by the hand and guides you places instead of shooting you over the moon. Under "genres" Wikipedia has labeled this album synthpop, dream pop, chillwave, baroque pop, and new wave. All apply equally.




24: Lives and Treasure by Acrylics

It is always somewhat interesting when a guy/girl duo split time at lead vocals. What you sometimes end up with is two different albums mingled into one. In Lives and Treasure the chick tracks are groovy and positive, while the dude tracks are more grounded and folksy. In fact, dude does his best to channel his inner Conor Oberst, and when I was first giving this a spin I thought I had stumbled across another Conor side-project. Anyway, despite the variation between the songs you can still hear and feel Acrylics' overarching sound. It is a very good sound.

"Nightwatch"

"Tortoise Shell Shades"



23: Street Of The Love Of Days by Amor de Días

Another awesome guy/girl turn-taking band. This one is a supergroup of sorts (as super as two people can get) featuring Alasdair MacLean from The Clientele and Lupe Núñez-Fernández from Pipas. The music is gentle, slight, a little bit dreamy, and meanders along with a faint Iberian vibe. Lupe's voice is hushed and perfect and occasionally comes at you en Español. With MacLean at the vocal helm some songs do sound like Clientele tracks that never came to be, but that's not even close to being a bad thing. Street of the Love of Days pairs well with a cool quiet evening, a back patio, and a bottle of wine.

"Bunhill Fields"




22: The World Is Just A Shape To Fill The Night by Case Studies

Case Studies is Jesse Lortz, and maybe some other people, but sometimes not. A lot of these songs were recorded in a cabin in Washington state and there is a good rustic vibe that permeates these songs. The lyrics are honest, a little bit clever, and delivered like a resurrected and nearly-sober Townes Van Zandt. These are the kind of songs you should learn and sing around a dying campfire, even if there is nobody else around.

"The Eagle or the Serpent"



21: Wild One by North Highlands

Wild One is an album full of contradictions. Brenda Malvini's vocals are brittle and ethereal, but they hold everything together. The music itself is lazy but not boring. Several songs are uptempo, but none of them feel very fast. And the album as a whole is unassuming yet will still hold your attention. File under 'late-night driving.' The song "Benefits" alone is worth the price of admission.



"Steady Steady"

Top 33 Albums Of 2011: 30 - 26

From here to the top I'm going to post these in increments of five. Sweet goodness, this is going to take forever. Hopefully I can finish up by next Christmas.

Things to note about this set:
- Trail of Dead's cover art is comically bad
- I hate it when music videos have children in them
- I don't hate children
- Yokola is so perfectly out of place
- Austin, Texas, doubly represented

Enjoy, and if you don't, remember that things will only get better. I mean, it IS a countdown.

30: Bandcamper by Yokola

I don't know who or what Yokola is. There is precious little information about Yokola out there in Internetland, save for Bandcamp where a handful of outstanding tracks are free to download. I don't even know if Bandcamper can be classified as a proper release as it was obviously made exclusively for the purpose of existing on Bandcamp. I WANT ANSWERS. I do know Yokola is based in Sweden and the chill Nordic ambiance and attitude that permeates the work of so many other Swedish musicians also does so here. And chill is a good way to describe the music. Dude is so chill it sounds like he doesn't care about life's problems (even as he acknowledges them), and this is so completely at odds with the jangly jazzy music. Yet it works, and it works well. In addition to downloading Bandcamper, I highly recommend downloading the six-song Hello, especially if you're looking for a good summer jam.

Yokola on Bandcamp.


29: The King Is Dead by The Decemberists

I am so glad the Decemberists have moved away from the proggyness of The Hazards of Love and put together an album full of nice hooky folkish rock music. It is what they do best, and, upon my strongest recommendation, they shouldn't do anything else. There is a lot to like about The King is Dead, such as the ample use of accordion, the backing vocals of Gillian Welch, and Peter Buck lending some instrumental support. And of course there is Colin Meloy's thin warbling voice that gives each song a nuanced delicateness.




28: The Tao Of The Dead by ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead

The curse of creating one of the best rock albums of all time is that every follow-up release, no matter how awesome it is, will be somewhat disappointing. And while nothing Trail of Dead can do will ever compare with Source Tags & Codes, the band is still capable of delivering solid rock and roll. Tao of the Dead is, from start to finish, nice and consistent. The tracks, in fact, flow right into each other and this album, more so than most others, forms a complete and cohesive body. When you pop in Tao of the Dead you must be ready for an extended listening experience. Recommended as the soundtrack to a long aggravated drive.




27: I Am Very Far by Okkervil River

I Am Very Far is different than prior Okkervil River projects. It is noisier, busier, more in-your-face, and if it is louder it is because I am cranking the volume up up up. There are quieter tracks to be sure, and nothing squeezes the soul quite like a soft Okkervil River song, but the album was meant to be an experimental departure and that's where the focus lies. But even all the studio mish-mash can't detract from the fact that Will Sheff is one of music's best songwriters and every track -- be it loud, soft, frantic, or grounded -- sounds like a personal note scribbled directly for you.

Okkervil River - "Wake And Be Fine" via Jagjaguwar Records
"Your Past Life As A Blast" video.



26: Minnesota by Mason Jennings

Just over half-an-hour long, Minnesota is short and sweet. Jennings still touches on his familiar topics of love, religion, and booze -- and does so with that smooth crooning voice of his -- but he does well not to duplicate past releases. More piano-centric than his previous albums, each song tells an individual story, some more abstract than others, some more resolved than others. Jennings mood feels a little more dour than usual, and the very last track is a lyrical killjoy, but ultimately he can't restrain the optimist within himself. Minnesota, through its mini-journeys full of downward twists and turns, is a feel-good album, but only in the way that existence, despite its wretched plot-twists, is ultimately a feel-good experience.

#33 - #31

Top 33 Albums Of 2011: 33 - 31

I don't have a lot to say about the past twelve months' worth of music as a whole. It was overwhelming in capacity, underwhelming in quality. Still, there was a substantial amount of music I did (and continue to) thoroughly enjoy. What follows for the next several days is a large slab of that music.

It will appear as though I'm omitting a lot of good stuff, and I am, but only because I never got around to listening to it all. There was that Social Distortion album released in January, Cold War Kids, Get Up Kids (!!), another self-released Radiohead album (forgive me, Thom Yorke), Lykke Li (who I've grown quite fond of, but not fond enough apparently), Foo Fighters, Death Cab For Cutie, Britney Spears, etc. Goodness, it seems like I didn't listen to anything this year.

Anyway, here are my top thirty-three albums of 2011 fed to you in bite-sized chunks. Why thirty-three? No reason, honestly. I could say it was chosen as an homage to the 33⅓ rpm full-length record, but then I would be lying to your face.

33: The Sun Will Rise and Lead Me Home by Gates

I recently decided that 2001 was my favorite musical year. This was a decision based mostly on nostalgia, but the soundtrack to my life that year was exquisite. The Sun Will Rise, in all of its six-song'd glory, reminds me of those tracks. Maybe we would have called this "emo" back then (only after a six-hour argument over what does and does not constitute emoness). And maybe this is proof that rock music, in the stagnant state it is in, has not come so far in ten years. But Gates connects, and they hit all the right notes, and sometimes that's all I really ask for. The Sun Will Rise is for fans of Appleseed Cast, which should be everybody.

OH BY THE WAY, you can freely stream/download a digital copy of The Sun Will Rise over at their bandcamp site.
http://gates.bandcamp.com/album/the-sun-will-rise-and-lead-me-home


32: Fluorescence by Asobi Seksu

Speaking of sub-genres popular a semi-long while ago... shoegaze! There is something comforting about all of that chaotic fuzz and distortion, especially if the barely audible wispy vocals are sung by a female. And Asobi Seksu, once again, churns out the smaze. Fluorescence is reminiscent of late-80s/early-90s dreampop, and some songs are triumphant while others are seductive. Some are just genre-huggingly dreampoppy. But there is just enough pop and just enough rock (and maybe just a touch of weirdness) in each tune to keep things interesting.




31: Deerhoof Vs. Evil by Deerhoof

Hey, guys, Deerhoof is back! And they're glitchier than ever! D vs. E is the band's first full-length release since 2008 and, like everything they've recorded, the album is full of short, punchy, calculatedly insane music. Deerhoof is an acquired taste, and if you're checking them out for the first time this album may not be the way to go. But for longtime fans and/or those with an open mind, D vs. E is a whimsical adventure that will bend the way you approach music.

OH BY THE WAY, Polyvinyl Records is letting you download the entire album as a .zip file.
So get on that.