We gather here today to remember 2011, a year that brought many pleasures and many grievances (musically speaking). The 80’s were apparently in, with everyone dragging out the old synthesizers and drum machines and soaking their baritone voices in digital reverb. The results were mixed: St. Vincent and The Antlers soared with the sounds of yesterdecade, while Cut Copy, Handsome Furs, and Destroyer bogged themselves down in messy nostalgia. And meanwhile in the mainstream: Justin Bieber ruled and REM broke up. Wow. Thank God for indie music amirite? Here are some lists and thoughts on my favorites of the year. Hope you enjoy.
(Keep in mind that the following is comprised only of my own personal opinions formed about my own personal record collection. I do not opine about that which I do not own. Therefore, there may be some omitted albums or tracks or whatnot whose absence you find unforgivable. I’m sorry, but I just don’t have Tomboy or Watch the Throne or whatever.)
THE 35 BEST ALBUMS OF 2011
With some commentary on the first 20.
1. St. Vincent –
Strange Mercy
Strange Mercy
Can this woman make a bad record? The answer, obviously (to those in the know), is “no,” but not-badness in itself wouldn’t guarantee the kind of near-universal acclaim and top-of-year-end-lists position this album, Annie Clark’s third as St. Vincent, has seen. No, Strange Mercy is something truly special. Quite simply, it is a sublime record. Which isn’t to say perfect; there are indeed missteps—the sometimes dull “Champagne Year,” the blaring, repetitive “Northern Lights”—and miscalculations, but those flaws only serve to highlight the great risks Clark is taking here. She’s stripped away some of the most easily recognized touchstones of her earlier output (the ornate arrangements and orchestration, the pixieish delivery and general twee-ness, the chilly, distanced lyrics) and left us with a listening experience that is leaner, meaner, rawer, more emotional, and, to step out on a critical limb here, just plain better. The songs of Strange Mercy are angular, beautiful, menacing, gooey, dreamy, intense, and soothing, sometimes (most times) all at once. And the sonics of the record are as dynamic as the moods: Clark’s oft-spotlit, ever-nimble, and always perfectly placed guitar (Oh God the guitar! The fact that Annie Clark is so very absent from lists like Rolling Stone’s “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time” is an absolute crime!) ranges in tone from blues-smooth and Dire-Straits-cool to self-harmonizing indie joy or sputtering, splatting hell-noise, while the worst synths of the 80’s sleaze and slide pervasively through the tunes, somehow managing to sound revelatory and new, and drums that are pure sex keep everything amazingly accessible and groove-worthy. And let’s not forget Annie’s voice, which here is breathtakingly chameleonic and tuned so fittingly to each song, the perfect vehicle for delivering lyrics that are the most poignant and affecting, not to mention revealing, of her already unfalteringly impressive career. Clark has stated in interviews that—and I’m paraphrasing here—she wanted this record to reflect the passions that first got her into making music: playing guitar and writing songs. I think anyone who listens to this record can agree: she has succeeded transcendently.
KEY TRACK(s): “Cruel,” “Strange Mercy”
2. Bon Iver – Bon Iver
Perhaps the most astounding thing about this record is how it manages to sound at once meticulously constructed and also so utterly organic. A lot has already been said about this record in terms of it shattering the “Myth of Bon Iver” (the cabin, the heartbreak, the guy {Justin Vernon} with a guitar, blah blah blah), so I won’t go into that much here. What I will go into is how much of a consummate musical craftsman Vernon has proven himself to be. Nothing here sounds out of place, not even those bits that seem at first accidental, not even the verses that slip into the realm of the nonsensical. Bon Iver is a study in impressionism; the songs are mostly named after places—real or imagined—but the lyrics are less about visual detail or linear narrative and more about capturing the feeling of a locality and a time. The results are incredible. And this is a record for vinyl and needle and turntable if I’ve ever heard one; as much as each track is a place unto itself, the whole thing plays like one long glimpse into a world of which you once dreamed, populated with its own people, marked by its own names, and ruled by its own logic. Nestled in the ample spaces between über-layered instrumentation, Vernon’s strong, soulful voice (he being the guy that brought back falsetto from the clutches of the cheesy and saccharine) is our tour guide through a country strange and strangely familiar. The harmonies are gorgeous, the lyrics and their phrasing sometimes bizarre, the instruments (especially the pedal steel and saxophone) cliché-busting, the end product consistently captivating.
KEY TRACK: “Michicant”
3. Wilco – The Whole Love
As much as I hate to admit it, the last couple Wilco records were kind of boring. So I’m going to go ahead and agree with a lot of the press around the album in saying that it’s a return to form for the band. And how! This six-piece Wilco lineup, having existed for seven or so years now, is finally making its power felt and its varied talents apparent. Nels Cline’s guitar fireworks aren’t just relegated to wonky solos! Pat Sansone’s breezy 70’s guitar and keyboard tastes are integrated more successfully into each track! Mikael Jorgenson is finally allowed to just play synthesizer like he’s obviously always wanted to, and makes it work! Glenn Kotche no longer has to choose between simple time-keeping and weirdo avant-percussion on a track-by-track basis! John Stirrat’s impressively appropriate basslines are front-and-center for the first time! Jeff Tweedy reaches personal heights as a vocalist and songwriter without sounding like he’s trying too hard! For a record that covers so much musical ground (The Whole Love begins and ends, respectively, with a pulsing Kraut-rock masterpiece and a spacious, 12-minute country-folk heartbreaker), there is very little fat. Every song is tight, deft, and memorable. Welcome back, Wilco.
KEY TRACK: “One Sunday Morning (For Jane Smiley’s Boyfriend)”
4. Wye Oak – Civilian
Two people. That’s how many it took to make the glorious noise found on this disc. These songs are big, passionate pop-indie-rock gems, their relatively short running times overflowing with an infectious kind of earnestness. I think it says a lot about the caliber and character of a band when so many unique, interesting songs can come from so small a personnel reservoir. Jenn Wasner’s guitar is insistent—almost urgent—and skillful, a great foil for her breathy-but-not-wimpy vocals, while Andy Stack provides both the texture/ambience and drive of most of the songs by simultaneously playing keyboards and drums. This album is a shot of tasteful, sometimes muscular, always hook-laden goodness. Not to be missed.
KEY TRACK: “Two Small Deaths”
5. Other Lives – Tamer Animals
I find it very hard to exactly articulate what is so special about this record. There are characteristics and buzzwords I can list--dark, orchestral, melodic, attention-grabbing, affecting, well-crafted—but I could use those same terms to describe about half of the records on this list. I think that what sets Tamer Animals above most of the rest is that it succeeds in being both very cinematic and very intimate. Like it’s the epic score to a movie that stars you and concerns memories you’ve never told anyone. It is an album that uses a kind of dusty, Midwestern grandeur to paint its pictures and form its moods. Listening to it is like standing in a wide open Oklahoma plain (the band is from Stillwater, OK), looking at the awesome beauty of the fields and the clouds, and not feeling freedom but instead a sweet kind of loneliness.
KEY TRACK: “For 12”
6. Low – C’Mon
Low, reluctant standard-bearers of the even reluctant-er slowcore movement, tried to make a pop record once: 2005’s the Great Destroyer, an album of mixed quality. Fans and critics mostly agreed that they should have just stuck to the molasses tempos and heart-crushingly sad harmonies that had won the band its modest fame. I’m not sure I agree. Although Low definitely excels at making quality music living up to their name in terms of Bpm and mood, C’Mon proves that they have more to offer. Sure, there’s plenty of glacially-paced blackness to go around on this record, but there are also some great up-tempo numbers, a few tracks approaching full-out rock’n’roll, and a couple of sincerely sweet acoustic ballads. Moreover, for the first time on a Low record there seems to be evidence of the band having—gasp—fun making all this sad, sad, music.
KEY TRACK: “Nothing But Heart”
7. The Antlers – Burst Apart
There seems to a breed of band these days that really wants us to feel what they feel. Not communicate it to us, but share it with us. The Antlers is one of these bands. From the sexual desperation of “Every Night My Teeth Are Falling Out” to the despair of “Corsicana” and eyes-wide gorgeousness of “Rolled Together,” Burst Apart takes us along with its every twist, peak, and valley. It’s hard not to get involved and invested with this record. Plus The Antlers deserve kudos for using the sounds of the 80’s here in ways that aren’t in any way formulaic or hackneyed.
KEY TRACK: “I Don’t Want Love”
8. Atlas Sound – Parallax
Superficially, Bradford Cox’s solo output under the Atlas Sound moniker seems very similar to that of his band Deerhunter. The sound sets are mostly the same, there are no huge genre differences, it’s his voice and his lyrics (mostly), etc etc. So why both with a solo project? The answer is most satisfactorily answered so far within the grooves of Parallax. The album sees Cox adopting techniques and perspectives unseen within his band, crooning about love, reaching for falsetto zeniths, and generally embracing hardline accessibility and pure enjoyability, two characteristics that have never been seemed necessarily paramount to Deerhunter.
KEY TRACK: “Te Amo”
9. Thurston Moore – Demolished Thoughts
Like most people who heard that Beck was producing Sonic Youth noisenik Thurston Moore’s newest solo record, I expected the resulting product to be something like guitar drones and feedback over plastic beats and funky electronics. What we got, though, is a collection of acoustic chamber folk, with Moore’s conversational voice floating confidently overhead, exhibiting a startlingly acute sense of melody and tune from a man widely known for things like putting metal files under the string of his guitars. Sure, the alternate tunings and lengthy instrumentals Moore is famous for are still here, but they are joined by harp, strings, and a general sense of warm elegance that makes this record fascinating.
KEY TRACK: “Benediction”
10. Girls – Album 3: Father, Son, Holy Ghost
In lesser hands, the tunes on this record would no doubt be written off as derivative. Yes, the influences are obvious—King Crimson on “Die,” Pink Floyd on “Vomit,” vintage California surf-rock on pretty much everything else—but Girls’ expert stylistic adaptation and frontman Christopher Owens’ fragile, tentative delivery elevate Album 3 to intriguing heights of musicality and imagination.
KEY TRACK: “Alex”
11. Kurt Vile – Smoke Ring For My Halo
The music of Mr. Vile too often gets labeled as “slacker rock,” which is a characterization I just don’t understand. Way too much work is way too apparent in all of his oeuvre (but especially this album) for there to be anything “slacker” about it. Granted, there are the mumble-mouth delivery, the ragged fingerpicked guitar, and the hazy arrangements, but each bit of “laziness” is so exactly placed that we can conclude nothing else but that there is a genius at work here. How else can we explain Smoke Ring For My Halo, an album that is so perfectly designed as a continuous piece of art that distinctions between songs become nearly meaningless, and the needle-lift at the end and its signal of a return to regular “non-slacker” life is so jarring?
KEY TRACK: “Jesus Fever”
12. Smith Westerns – Dye It Blonde
This one apparently got lost in the shuffle of year-end lists. Is it because it came out in January of this year that it is so unfairly ignored? In any case, it is a fantastic group of youthful, glam- and psychedelia-infused, gleeful nuggets. The songs have real heart lurking just under the fuzzed-out surface, and real talent apparent in every successive riff and pleading line.
KEY TRACK: “Smile”
13. Radiohead – The King of Limbs
We are all just so jaded about Radiohead, aren’t we? I know I am. I have so much come to expect leaps-and-bounds innovation and experimentation from what is arguably the world’s best band that I originally dismissed this album as a slump instead of what it actually is: a collection of serviceably, reliably great songs. It’s true that not much new ground has been broken here in terms of The State of Rock Music, but there have obviously been plenty of steps forward for the band: extreme emphasis on rhythms (that alternate between dance-y and strange and syncopated, thanks in large part to the addition of second live drummer Clive Deamer), the continued unhinging of Thom Yorke’s vocal delivery, the practical integration/merging of traditional and electronic instruments, the more conspicuous exhibition of prettiness… it’s damn good stuff. Let’s all just be a little easier on Radiohead, okay?
KEY TRACK: “Codex”
14. Lykke Li – Wounded Rhymes
With retro production courtesy of Peter Bjorn and John’s Bjorn Yttling, Lykke Li and Wounded Rhymes is something like Sweden’s answer to the Supremes, Neko Case, and Mirah. Although Li doesn’t necessarily share a whole lot of vocal characteristics with the aforementioned artists, she does embody the same kind of feminist overtones and stylistic flexibility so clear in their work. Wounded Rhymes is consistently satisfying, from hand-clapping, finger-snapping ups to brooding, reverb-heavy downs.
KEY TRACK: “Love Out of Lust”
15. PJ Harvey – Let England Shake
For an album that’s about the terrors of World War I, this record is surprisingly subdued. And that’s what makes it so great. Instead of going for the bombastic, the melodramatic, or the obvious (taking a cue from the Zombie’s WWI nightmarish hymn “The Butcher’s Song,” if you ask me), Harvey weaves quiet moments of horror, singing about the War’s devastating effect on England and its people. She sings often from the collective standpoint of “we,” which makes a group of songs about the most extreme manifestation of othering and animosity into an argument for the shared nature of not only the consequences of war, but also our shared responsibility for atrocity and violence. With hushed production that lets PJ’s strong warble shine, Let England Shake is in turn ominous, probing, heart-wrenching, and beautiful, but is beginning-to-end humbly magnificent.
KEY TRACK: “Hanging on the Wire”
16. Yuck – Yuck
It seems like no review of these international youngsters’ fine debut can escape the obligatory they-are-aping-90’s-indie-rock expository intro, and I guess mine can’t either. However, to write this record off as simply a bunch of kids’ tribute project is plain wrong. Sure, they trade in a brand of guitar-heavy alt-rockage that hasn’t been popular in the mainstream in quite a while. But underneath the Jazzmaster squall are some seriously catchy melodies, a practiced-beyond-their-years tightness, and a heavy dose of sophisticated songcraft.
KEY TRACK: “Get Away”
17. Pajama Club – Pajama Club
Pajama Club is essentially Crowded House mainman Neil Finn, his wife Sharon, and a couple of collaborators. Apparently written while the Finns were literally hanging around their house in pajamas, this batch of songs could hardly sound farther away from its cozy genesis or the usual side-project fare expectations of acoustic soul-baring. No, this album sounds more like if Nine Inch Nails and the Beatles had a baby. Sensuous, dark, well-crafted, wing-spreading electro-pop abounds gleefully and irresistibly.
KEY TRACK: “You Can’t Put It Down Until It Ends”
18. The Kills – Blood Pressures
Remember what I said about the drums on St. Vincent’s record being pure sex? Yeah, apply that sentiment to this whole damn album. The female-male dynamic here makes things extra steamy in unexpected, non-cliché ways, and the sinfully hot blues licks and pounding drum samples don’t hurt either. Allison Mosshart’s voice is sultry and scary. She sounds like the kind of woman you wouldn’t like to meet in a dark alley. Or really, really would.
KEY TRACK: “Future Starts Slow”
19. Cass McCombs – WITS END
Seldom have I heard a record so nocturnal. Channeling Leonard Cohen, McCombs takes us along on his dark night of the soul, through songs seven-plus minutes long, into the shadowy corners of his head. It’s pop-folk minimalism; it reveals the most when you pay close attention to the subtle changes that unfold over long, slow minutes. If you do that, you will be rewarded handsomely.
KEY TRACK: “County Line”
20. True Widow – As High As The Highest Heavens And From The Center To The Circumference Of The Earth
Heavy, man! True story: when I first got this record, after seeing True Widow live, I played it at 33rpm, not realizing it was supposed to be played at 45rpm. Their music is so slow, so low, and so punch-gut, that I didn’t immediately notice anything was wrong as I listened back to it at less than ¾ speed. This album is tuneful, brutal, and way more intense than most “real” Metal I’ve heard. Yeah, that last part was a challenge.
KEY TRACK: “Wither”
21. The Horrors – Skying
22. AA Bondy – Believers
23. Ty Segall – Goodbye Bread
24. Youth Lagoon – The Year of Hibernation
25. The War on Drugs – Slave Ambient
26. The Decemberists – The King is Dead
27. Wild Flag – Wild Flag
28. TV On The Radio – Nine Types of Light
29. Cass McCombs – Humor Risk
30. Bill Callahan – Apocalypse
31. Barn Owl – Lost in the Glare
32. Tom Waits – Bad As Me
33. Julianna Barwick – The Magic Place
34. Drive-By Truckers – Go-Go Boots
35. Woods – Sun and Shade
7 ALBUMS THAT DIDN”T MAKE THE CUT
With a little explanation.
1. AWOLNATION – Megalithic Symphony
What the hell?! “Sail” is an amazing song. Hands-down one of the best of the year. Then why does the rest of this album suck so completely?
2. Death Cab for Cutie – Codes and Keys
Like with Megalithic Symphony above, one good song, even if it’s a really good song (in this case“You Are a Tourist”) isn’t enough to save an intensely mediocre record.
3. Destroyer – Kaputt
Meandering goo, disguised as poetry, with cheesy sax thrown on top.
4. The Rosebuds – Loud Planes Fly Low
Not bad necessarily, but certainly not good. I bought this after seeing the Rosebuds open for Bon Iver in DC, and was disappointed when the great promise of their live show was nowhere on this record.
5. Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues
People fell over themselves to praise this album as a big departure for Fleet Foxes into darker, more complex folk-rock territory. To me, it sounded like more of the same. Sure, the harmonies are pretty, but the songs are boring.
6. Cut Copy – Zonoscope
1980’s ≠ automatically good. Rehashed, regurgitated. Nothing new.
7. Handsome Furs – Sound Kapital
See above.
THE 10 BEST SONGS OF 2011
1. “Art of Almost” – Wilco
2. “Surgeon” – St. Vincent
3. “Holocene” – Bon Iver
4. “Give Up The Ghost” – Radiohead
5. “Witches” – Low
6. “Sail” – AWOLNATION
7. “Holy Holy” – Wye Oak
8. “Black Moon” – Wilco
9. “The Thanksgiving Filter” – Drive-By Truckers
10. “Calamity Song” – The Decemberists
MY 10 FAVORITE RECORD ACQUISITIONS OF 2011
Because I am an insufferable hipster, I only buy vinyl these days. And these are the best of the vinyl I got this year. They are judged and ranked in order of rarity of find, greatness of art and package, level of analog sound quality, and general excitement over acquisition.
1. Wilco – The Whole Love
2. Nirvana – In Utero
3. Deerhoof/The Racoonists – Behold a Racoon in the Darkness split 7”
4. John Fahey – Blind Joe Death (1967 re-release version)
5. Wilco – “I Might” single 7” (clear vinyl Solid Sound Festival edition)
6. Bon Iver – Bon Iver
7. The Horrors - Skying
8. Sonic Youth – Bad Moon Rising (Mostly because I got it signed by Thurston Moore… he was shopping for records in the same store as me!)
9. Hüsker Dü – Zen Arcade
10. The Zombies – Odessey and Oracle
THE 5 BEST 2011 SONGS TO HAVE SEX TO IN 2011
Let's be frank and mature here. In 2011 I had sex. And a lot of that sex was to music. We're all adults. Deal. (Jenna was consulted.)
1. “Endless Blue” – The Horrors
2. “Future Starts Slow” – The Kills
3. “Tell Me What You Want” – Pajama Club
4. “Morning Mr. Magpie” – Radiohead
5. “Get Some” – Lykke Li
THE 5 BEST 2011 SONGS TO LISTEN TO WHILE COMMUTING TO WORK
1. “Second Song” – TV On The Radio
2. “Die” – Girls
3. “The Alter” – Wye Oak
4. “Suicide Policeman” – Yuck
5. “I Was There” – The War on Drugs
THE 5 SONGS FROM 2011 THAT WILL MAKE YOUR LIFE SEEM WAY MORE BADASS THAN IT ACTUALLY IS IF YOU LISTEN TO THEM IN THE CAR, WALKING DOWN THE STREET, OR DOING PRACTICALLY ANYTHING
1. “Parentheses” – The Antlers
2. “Used To Be a Cop” – Drive-By Truckers
3. “DNA” – The Kills
4. “Cheerleader” – St. Vincent
5. “Perth” – Bon Iver
THE 5 BEST 2011 SONGS TO LISTEN TO WHILE STARING THOUGHTFULLY AT SIGNS OF THE APPROACHING WINTER (DEAD TREES, DEAD GRASS, GRAY SKIES, ETC)
1. “I Know Places” – Lykke Li
2. “Putting the Dog to Sleep” – The Antlers
3. “Give Up the Ghost” – Radiohead
4. “Especially Me” – Low
5. “Envelop” – Julianna Barwick
_________________Well, that's it! Here's to another year of musical ups and downs. Happy listening, All!
-SC
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