ehem…
it wasn’t the best year for music overall, but with that being said some of my favorite artists released what could arguably be the best work of their career this past year.
so for the sake of copying and biting what other people did,
ill list my 11 favorite records for 2011.
in no proper order:
1. The Yearbook EP Series by Sleeping at Last
what was once a trio of talented musicians is now simply Ryan O’ Neal as Sleeping at Last.
beginning in October of 2010 O’ Neal set on releasing a 3 song EP of new original music every month for 12 months. Call it an “Indie Acoustic Madlib Medicine Show”- but with a way more focused output and goal. The end result was a journey of music and song exploring life, love and purpose on planet earth.
2. James Blake/ Enough Thunder by James Blake
as a sucker for simplicity it was hard to resist the refreshing sparseness of James Blake’s debut. and as one who saw through the hype of urban america’s gushing over dubstep it was also great to see Blake fully embrace his dubstep roots and totally flip it on its head. Blake’s super simple songs (that were sometimes only 4 bars of written lyrics) over super simple production is a testament to the power “less is more”.
3. Undun by The Roots
yes, this very well could be the crown jewel of The Roots’ career. and yes this can be- better yet, this is the prime example that intelligent music can succeed at a pop level. The Roots made an anti-hip-hop hip hop record about a black kid being killed and told the story backwards…and they based (and ended) the record off an obscure Sufjan Stevens song. What makes this even more wild is that they also recorded and released 2 other records this year. and both very very good.
The Roots are in fact the hardest working artists in music today.
4. Charity Starts at Home by Phonte
a record written by a man who is fed up with hip hop;
but can’t seem to pull himself away from it.
‘Tay starts Charity Starts at Home by proclaiming, “I do this all for hip hop!….. im lying… i do this for my mortgage…”
Charity Starts at Home is filled to the brim with honest quotable’s that every indie artist- or should i say human being thinks but is too timid to actually admit. And that is what makes Phonte such a compelling artist; and its what also makes his debut record one that stands head and shoulders above the rest.
……and the handful of 9th Wonder tracks didn’t hurt either.
5. No York by Blu
before you roll your eyes and before you say, “Below The Heavens is waaaay better”-
hear the explanation.
No York is the sound of now. Blu successfully captured the west coast beat scene and put it in a bottle. Flying Lotus, Shafiq Husayn, Madlib, Daedalus and countless others musically assembled No York.
Blu crafted a smokey- hazed out- lazy- future leaning hip hop record.
Was it as emotionally compelling and telling as BTHeavens? No.
Is it his strongest and focused work since? Yes.
Is it still better than %90 of whats out there? Yes.
6. Tomboy by Panda Bear
a writer put it best, Tomboy is a secular hymnal. in Tomboy, Panda Bear took us to choir-like reaching harmonies and a grandness in his vocals and production unlike any other in todays music. songs of hope, friendship and longing result in a slow burner of a record that doesn’t quite hit you at first. its a hard listen, one that takes effort and repeated attempts to fully grasp. but once the record clicks you’ll see why Tomboy is the most underrated record of 2011.
7. Metals by Feist
kudos to Leslie Feist for make the anti-Reminder.
no pop songs. no clear singles. no happy tunes.
Metals is a smoky, bluesy, art-rock record made in a cabin. with sounds and recordings that craft a feel that the album was done in one take. creaks, foot steps and mistakes are sprinkled throughout the record to set a tone of intimacy and honesty that was present in The Reminder- but now at a higher level in Metals.
8. Strange Mercy by St. Vincent
Annie Clark bares all in Strange Mercy. we find her drop everything that made St. Vincent great from the start and gives us the bare bones: fuzz guitar, her voice, drums and a moog bass. the bottom line is that Strange Mercy is Annie Clark in all her glory.
Sharp, telling stories of love and loneliness over fuzzed out guitar solos, electronically freaked drums and synths form a near perfect 3rd record for St. Vincent.
9. Helplessness Blues by Fleet Foxes
a sophomore record that almost never happened. we read stories of Robin Pecknold’s near Brian Wilson type wrestling with this record. never satisfied, recording, scrapping, re-recording then dropping everything, only to deliver an excellent 2nd offering from Fleet Foxes. we hear more picture perfect harmonies yet a more established coming out as a front man for Pecknold. we’re given more great lush americana melodies but more (great!) experimentation on the b side of the record. it seems like all the wrestling and craziness Pecknold went through was worth it.
10. Ghosts Upon the Earth by Gungor
a concept record about the biblical book of Genesis.
yes, you read that correctly.
done to a musical bed that sounds like a more polished and updated Sufjan Stevens, ”Ghosts…” is a quiet yet epic slow build in both music and theme. Understatedly sung by husband and wife team Michael and Lisa Gungor, “Ghosts Upon the Earth” takes the listener through a journey from creation to evil to thankfulness and back to brand new life. an exquisitely well done album. one that honestly got the most repeated listens this year.
11. Wounded Rhymes by Lykke Li
dark. lonely. needy. sad. and hopeful.
all at the same time.
Wounded Rhymes is a lot to deal with, yet Ms. Li makes it all singable and poppy. tons of reverb, tons of cowbells and tons of floor toms- “…Rhymes” is big and hard to ignore. accessible enough for the general public (and Glee) to get, yet still close enough to home that her core fans can get with it. Lykke Li hit a good stride here, heres to hoping album #3 takes this tone a step further.
