Let me just lay it out for you. Music & me really did not have a great 2011. I had to go back to a lot of these albums time and time again while writing this just to make sure I felt confident in my picks. Music being such a wide subject as well this is just my picks. I really can’t say that I feel pride in wanting you to check out all of these albums. However, the ones I do feel that about I have made sure to devote more than just a sentence on what makes that album so great. Basically if you want something new that you may have not checked out, well, here you go.
11. Wye Oak - Civillian
10. Bon Iver - Bon Iver
9. Beirut - The Rip Tide
8. The Throne (Kanye West & Jay-Z) - Watch the Throne
7. Justice - Audio, Video, Disco.
6. Tune Yards - W H O K I L L
5. Wild Flag - Wild Flag
Since Carrie Brownstein re-entered the spotlight with IFC’s & general comedy gold hit Portlandia with Fred Armisen it has been hard not to want to know what other things she has cooking. Thankfully we also had her re-emerge into the music scene with her latest band Wild Flag. An at times more power-charged but also crisper sound than with previous band Sleater-Kinney, Wild Flag charges into a currently overpopulated by ‘cute’ music scene with authority. Guitar licks surf on blues, punk, & psychedlia all while pushing rock power chords & steady drum beats forward. Here’s to Carrie, Rebecca, Mary, & Janet for bringing back that almost forgotten power sound & Portland feel, where I hear the 90’s are still alive.
4. Childish Gambino - Camp
There has been a lot said about Donald Glover’s rap alter ego, Childish Gambino, & most of it has come due to his release of Camp. The thing to really notice is that there has been a lot of talk & all that talk confirms that Donald Glover is a multi-threat as a musician & an actor. The critics can try their best & drag it through mud saying he sounds like he is ripping off Kanye but if you really pay attention to the story that Glover is telling those critics could not be more wrong. Kanye is not the only rapper to talk about a hard childhood & where Childish Gambino differs is explaining how he became an outcast where others like Kanye only went deeper. Dropping names like Chuck English & bragging about writing for 30Rock at 25 is something to be proud of. It’s hard to diversify Glover’s portfolio more than he already has. Already a comedy threat, Glover’s nay Childish Gambino’s Camp marks the next evolution & lengths in where, not only a person but, the tail end of a generation is going to prove that it can rise above its peers.
3. Mister Heavenly - Out of Love
Super groups. A lot can be said about them. What I will say is that Mister Heavenly may be the only super group that has ever & will ever matter to me. Comprised mainly of Honus Honus of Man Man, Nick Thorburn of Unicorns & Islands fame, & Joe Plummer of Modest Mouse & The Shins. Out of Love comes off just as its title suggests, it is an album made out of love to each members respected music backgrounds & their love of music. Branding their own sound as “Doom-Wop”, a darker take on the brighter Doo-Wop melodies that are present throughout the album, is one of the many things that make this album so catchy. If you at the least like one of its members bands there is no real strain in finding something about the album that would please you. Teasing piano licks by Honus Honus, bright & ever-melodic guitar riffs belted by Nick Thorburn, & clever lyrics spouted out by Honus Honus & Thorburn bring you to your knees begging for another slice of “Reggae Pie”.
2. M83 - Hurry Up We’re Dreaming
I fell in love with M83 when I first heard Before The Dawn Heals Us & I became obsessed with its narrative. For a whole year all my short stories revolved on where that story began. What led to those events that I perceived in my mind. In many ways Saturdays = Youth could just not live up to that album. Yeah, ‘Graveyard girl’ is an amazing song but it did not have the sheer power that songs like ‘Moonchild’ did. Hurry Up We’re Dreaming is a whole new beast entirely & surpasses anything by M83 before it. From pulling on old 80’s riffs like huge nostalgic guitar solos, expansive drum rolls, & saxaphone solo’s, every song is so well crafted it is hard to not just let the album take you away & let you float through it. Before you realize it, the album is over & you are left in some sort of sonic auditory bliss.
It’s hard to say that I could be impressed by any other album this year but I am & boy is it & its artist real good.
1. The Weeknd - House of Balloons
It really is hard to choose a specific Weeknd album since Abel Tesfaye, the main man behind The Weekend, dropped 3 different yet still amazing albums throughout the year. House of Balloons however is that clear sort of party album. The thing is, it isn’t where the party begins or where things get really rocking. This album lives in that place where things start to get foggy & people & places start to meld together. Its where you clearly are unabashed to hog the spotlight of the party photographer just so you can have some way of knowing just what happened the next morning. Its the study of the morning after. What exactly did go on & what do I do now. The thing is, Thursday & the recently released Echoes of Silence are just as amazing. Couple that with the fact that Abel is personally releasing these on his site for free digital download & being commissioned by artists like Florence & The Machine and Lady Gaga just to remix their work makes him one of the hottest & most wanted people right now. Start with House of Ballons and just go from there because you should not be disappointed.
