Favorite Albums of 2011 #11 through 6

11: Wire - Red Barked Tree

I've read a lot of complaints about the production on this album but I quite love the way these sounds reach my ears. It's got some really unique guitar sounds, but the this thing is full of terrific pop hooks and that's a winning combination. Some gritty guitar distortion makes for some exciting riffs, which might otherwise feel like standard alt. rock fare in the hands of less creative folks.




10: Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues

I can't think of much that hasn't already been written about Fleet Foxes. I think the vocals are perfect, the lyrics interesting and the guitar playing intricate. To me, Fleet Foxes sound like nature. Their music captures the spirit of glorious countryside scenery about as well as anything I've ever heard. The backing vocals are used to tremendous effect; it's the sort of music that makes me stop what I'm doing and blissfully nod in agreement.

9: Death Cab for Cutie - Codes and Keys

I know a lot of people like Death Cab but I don't actually know many people who do. Their style has become something of a mainstream indie-pop, perhaps best exemplified by Ben Gibbard's vocals which sometimes try a bit too much to sound smart and sensitive. I've always liked them (some albums more than others) and this one is about as consistent throughout as they've been since 2003. It sounds like they're had a bit more fun in the studio, trying different things and sounding quite happy doing it. They branch out just enough to keep things interesting and have recorded some of their most exciting tracks in so doing (see title track, "You Are a Tourist," "Under the Sycamore," "Stay Young, Go Dancing."

8: Bon Iver - Bon Iver, Bon Iver

I'm running out of adjectives that mean the same thing as "beautiful." I was going to use "heavenly" here, but that didn't feel like a natural part of my vocabulary so the reader may pick one: http://thesaurus.com/browse/beautiful. I don't honestly know whether this is a departure from or a continuation of the sounds on his debut; it's kind of both. It's unmistakably Bon Iver (best falsetto ever, for what little that's worth) but it's so intricately crafted that it requires close listens to catch every detail. On one hand the melodies feel a bit more straightforward but they're dressed in such a way that it's hard to catch everything that's happening with one cursory listen. In my mind, I understand how the two differ but I can't find the words. I keep coming back to how [synonym for pretty] these songs are.

7: Katie Costello - Lamplight

It's her personality that I like. I tend not to enjoy stuff that sounds like this, which I'd usually dismiss as "coffee-house music," but something in her voice makes her words so believable. The album really spoke to me, especially the track "The Weirds." She doesn't get bogged down with too many slow songs, fast songs, silly songs or sentimental songs. What ties these tracks together is her gorgeous voice and a general sense of it's-a-crazy-world-but-thing-will-be-ok. As may be evident, I love albums that I can agree with.

6: Noah and the Whale - Last Night on Earth

I'd be the first to admit that I am not an especially gifted music critic. The music I listen to has very distinct flavors and personalities that seem clear to me but I don't always know how to communicate them to other people. Sometimes I like albums that, to most critics, would seem less interesting, less artistically challenging, than others (this is ranked higher than Fleet Foxes, Wire and Bon Iver). I don't really care that much. I want to celebrate the music I like because some albums come to matter so incredibly much to me and there really isn't any set of rules to explain why some albums do and others don't.

Noah and the Whale play 60s/70s flavored pop with, perhaps, slight psychedelic undertones. For some reason, they sound to me like what might happen if you threw The Talking Heads and Tom Petty in a blender (plus a mystery ingredient that I can't put my finger on).

I have this blog because I love music and want to share my feelings about it, but my mind doesn't always work like a critic. That shouldn't matter, since there really are no rules to having a blog. High school teachers often told me it's never enough to simply say "I like this." I disagree. Sometimes songs can just lodge themselves firmly in my heart and tell my brain to go fuck itself (I don't like censorship). This album really lifted my spirits at times throughout the summer and it continues to do so without fail.

The list so far:
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6. Noah and the Whale - Last Night on Earth
7. Katie Costello - Lamplight
8. Bon Iver - Bon Iver, Bon Iver
9. Death Cab for Cutie - Codes and Keys
10. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
11. Wire - Red Barked Tree
12. A.A. Bondy - Believers
13. Russian Circles - Empros
14. Piatcions - Senseless>Sense
15. Mogwai - Hardcore Will Never Die but You Will
16. Thurston Moore - Demolished Thoughts
17. Amebix - Sonic Mass
18. Obits - Moody, Standard and Poor
19. Austra - Feel it Break
20. Maria Taylor - Overlook
21. Old Silver Key - Tales of Wanderings
22. Mates of State - Mountaintops
23. This Will Destroy You - Tunnel Blanket
24. Low - C'mon
25. Weedeater - Jason... the Dragon
26. Little Dragon - Ritual Union
27. Dropkick Murphys - Going Out in Style
28. Indian - Guiltless
29. WU LYF - Go Tell Fire to the Mountain
30. Manchester Orchestra - Simple Math

Favorite Albums of 2011 #16 through 12

16: Thurston Moore - Demolished Thoughts

Thurston Moore is a wizard with the guitar, which shouldn't be surprising to anyone who's heard a few Sonic Youth records, but this acoustic folk album

15: Mogwai - Hardcore Will Never Die but You Will

This is a more direct, more drum-happy Mogwai and it's outstanding. Proof that bands can be great, change, and then be great again. It's a mixed bag of styles but not of quality; some tracks sound like Mogwai circa early 2000s, some sound like fuzzy pop/rock, some are on the heavy end of post-rock. This band keeps proving that they can experiment without totally abandoning the sound that made them so popular in the first place.

14: Piatcions - Senseless>Sense

Alt. rock filtered through masses of heavy echo and reverb (otherwise known as shoegaze). I love the guitar work and I love that this band employs some really nice quieter parts. The fact that it isn't always going for the jugular is a plus as they manage to often obtain a gorgeous crystalline guitar sound.

13: Russian Circles - Empros

Russian Circles never fail to impress. Here's their fourth album of heavy post-rock, post-metal, atmospheric sludge (whatever you want to call it). I love how the production makes the drums thud with a hollow echo and how the low end is crushed into a jumbled mess of distortion. This album is varied to a point where I'd expect people to find it inconsistent, but there's beauty in the heavy crunch of "309", the catchy melody at the beginning of "Mladek" and the dreamy acoustic track, "Praise Be Man."

12: A.A. Bondy - Believers

He left the rustic folk behind here, in favor of lush reverb-laden beds of guitar echo. The album feels delicate and highly personal; his lyrics are uplifting and this is a wonderful guitar record. On his other albums, as on this one, I find the personality so easy to identify with. He's rapidly becoming one of my favorite songwriters.

Favorite Albums of 2011 #21 through 17

21: Old Silver Key - Tales of Wanderings

This mostly-instrumental album, which may be classifiable as blackgaze, incorporates elements of folk music nicely to go with textured layers of guitar noise. It's gloomy but has a good amount of energy to it.

20: Maria Taylor - Overlook

I've written about her before. It's her voice and the warm glow of the guitar feedback that make this album so intimate and its sentiment so heartfelt.

19: Austra - Feel it Break

Debut album from this Canadian synth pop group. I love the synth tones, which have a heavy sort of echo to them. It's sort of dance music but has a chilly atmosphere and outstanding vocals; whereas Maria Taylor's (see above) convey warmth, this album is sung with a strong, almost shrill voice that is nonetheless, disarmingly pretty.

18: Obits - Moody, Standard and Poor

Fast-paced post-punk with a great sense of urgency to it. Also, guitars that sound as hollow as this are always a winner.

17: Amebix - Sonic Mass

Amebix have generally been associated with hardcore punk, but this album (their first in 24 years!) is a blend of punk and metal. There's a rawness to everything, from the barked vocals to the grinding guitars. There's a lot of energy here for a band that formed 33 years ago. Not everything is dialed up to 11 though; the slow songs work really well, perhaps showcasing the powerful guitar sound better than the fast ones.

Favorite Albums of 2011 #26 through 22

I'm just going to breeze through these, quick and simple-like. Don't have the time to go into too much detail on each of these, plus I've already heard my first album of 2012 and am excited for new tunes. Plus, I want to bury that massive "favorite songs" post. What was I thinking? The page takes forever to load.

Anyway, here are more albums that made 2011 as special as it was:

26: Little Dragon - Ritual Union

Third album from this Swedish band whom I had the pleasure of discovering this year. It's a good recipe for hype-machine stuff, spacey electronic textures and vocals that try to be eccentric. Had a very coy attitude throughout; sort of like soul music meets electropop.

25: Weedeater - Jason... The Dragon

I listen to a lot of metal but it's usually the sludge metal albums that capture the most of my attention these days. Weedeater really captured that sound here, on their fourth LP. The guitar is tuned so low, and is so earth-shaking-ly heavy that it becomes a spectacle in and of itself. That's why I listen to this stuff; the title track is especially great. It's like Black Sabbath but darker and heavier.

24: Low - C'mon

This is album number nine for Low, whose first three albums were slow, bleak and atmospheric. They've evolved over the years, experimenting with different tempos (from very slow to slowish) and different sonic textures. C'mon is among their more accessible albums. It's still slow and somber throughout, but it's vocals command attention and there's such depth revealed by close attention (banjo works well on "Witches")! It's amazing how much this band has been able to do within the confines of their subgenre. I'd list them as one of the essential bands of the last twenty years.

23: This Will Destroy You - Tunnel Blanket

These songs evolve slowly, often starting as ambient noise and subtly transitioning into massive, loud waves of pounding guitar noise. I found myself really enjoying the sounds on this album and there's surprising variation among them. Lots of atmosphere to be found here. Blink (or take a bathroom break) while this is playing and you'll miss lots.

22. Mates of State - Mountaintops

This quirky husband/wife duo released their follow-up to one of my favorite albums from 2008. All of their music has a happy-go-lucky charm to it, which is why I like it so much. This is pop music at its best; full of hooks and genuine, earnest emotion. It's a charming and somewhat offbeat album and it's so much fun.

Favorite Albums of 2011 #27: "Going Out in Style" by Dropkick Murphys

Dropkick Murphys could keep releasing the same album every two to four years and I'd be content. That's more or less what they've done since 1998. Some records had a bit more energy and/or showcased stronger songwriting than others, I've thought. My favorites are Do or Die (1998) and Blackout (2003). I thought The Gang's All Here (1999) and The Warrior's Code (2005) were just ok and Sing Loud, Sing Proud (2001) and The Meanest of Times (2007) fell somewhere in between. Album number seven, Going Out in Style, isn't going to become one of my favorites, but it's got everything that has made this band great: singable melodies, spirited energy, and themes of blue-collar solidarity. I am completely uninterested in experimentation or diversity when it comes to these guys. I can't imagine what one could do to celtic punk to "break the mold"; just play it with passion and we'll know if you mean what you say. Many of these tracks are DKM at their best (or thereabouts), especially "Hang 'Em High," "The Hardest Mile" and "Peg 'O My Heart." The ballads are also especially strong (see "Cruel" and "1953") and "Take 'Em Down" is a joyful folk tune for which the percussion, if my ears serve me well, is provided by feet stamping on a wood floor. It's an effective substitute for drums.

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27. Dropkick Murphys - Going Out in Style
28. Indian - Guiltless
29. WU LYF - Go Tell Fire to the Mountain
30. Manchester Orchestra - Simple Math

Pink City - Designing Women (2011)

This is among the darker albums I've heard in a long time. It's massive waves of tension and noise and a bleak, overpowering sense of foreboding. Much of the album is built around amelodic, hyper-distorted chunks of guitar noise, vocals that couldn't possibly have been created by a human being and a massive, rumbling bass sound. It's experimental and the first listen is a trip because you won't have any clue what to expect from one moment to the next. Generally, much of what's on here falls into one of two extremes: it'll pound your ears into oblivion or else slowly envelop you with the sonic equivalent of everything negative in the world. It's a challenging album for those who prefer riffs and melodies but it creates a vivid atmosphere and, in so doing, is massively successful. Music this intense and bleak doesn't come around often. Tracks like "Come Apart" and "Pitcher" are over-the-top in their thunderous pummeling; others, like "Family Therapy" and "Endless Night" use slower tempos and plod along. All are heavy, aided by an unforgiving low end and a mechanistic rhythm (where rhythm can be heard, that is). There are elements of hardcore here, some noise, some post-punk, a touch of electronic stuff here and there. I don't have a clue how to categorize this but it does a fantastic job in churning the contents of my brain into deep, dark mush.

8.5 / 10

Favorite Albums of 2011 #28: "Guiltless" by Indian

I like a lot of the metal I listen to, finding that often it delivers at least some of what I like in the genre: oppressive heaviness, impressive technicality or an especially vivid representation of negative emotions. I don't often fall in love with metal though, perhaps because I find that, in enjoying so much of it, I almost take it for granted that I'll get what I want out of any of the many, many metal albums I listen to with any frequency. Some bands and albums rise above and Indian's Guiltless is one such record. It's sludge metal, with a bit of black metal in the vocal style and is just pummeling and dark beyond much of what I've listened to this year. And so, it's also one of the most interesting heavy albums I've listened to in a while; I particularly enjoyed how well-placed the cymbal crashes are

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28. Indian - Guiltless
29. WU LYF - Go Tell Fire to the Mountain
30. Manchester Orchestra - Simple Math