20 Best Albums of 2011
20. Joker - The Vision
Shame on Pitchfork for lambasting this album, although its nothing new for PF to go over-the-top with hating good music that doesn’t meet their elitist aesthetic standards (Dr. Dog, Mumford & Sons, the Grateful Dead—just a few offensive instances). But critics will be critics, while I’ll hope to clear the Prince of Purple’s name—the ground-breaking Hyperdub singles he’s released over the past few years might not quite be matched here (if they were the album would rank much higher) but Joker’s sweeping purple brush strokes color a series of tracks that range from RnB club (including the excellent title-track, reminiscent of Rusko & Amber Coffman's "Hold On") to blissed-out Nintendo/Sega glory and a couple Brit-rappers (these with mixed results).
It may be safe to say that my expectations were not met by this album, but only because I was expecting just about the greatest thing ever, after reading too many interviews and stories about the iPad apps and the recording. But standing alone, without apps or publicity, this album is a beautiful testament to exactly what its title suggests: love of life. The tracks are mostly understated, aside from a rare drum’n’bass explosion or two, and this can bog the album down a little without strong melodies or harmonies to carry you through the quiet parts. The attention instead is placed on the timbre and sound production, utilizing all sorts of incredible instruments that don’t exist outside this album to accompany Björk’s unique voice. Also some of the moments that do have strong melodies find Björk at her best, when her wail and the electronic storm behind it swirl towards perfection.
This is Girls’ second album, and they’ve continued to embrace what makes them great: their ability to take simple pop structures and play their hearts out. Rarely can lyrics and songs this simple sound so good. This is mainly thanks to lead singer and songwriter Christopher Owens, who can take a song that sounds exactly like some early rock ballad from the 50’s (there’s a strong retro current running through this album) with simple lyrics about love and really make it mean something. The album isn’t one-dimensional though, with the long-form Vomit which stretches a simply expressed longing sentiment into a queasy psych-rock epic, and my personal favorite, “Die,” which rocks the eff out like Songs for the Deaf-era Queens of the Stone Age.
Drake is not your typical hip-hop star, and this is not a typical hip-hop album. Sure, there’s the obligatory posturing, threatening and misogyny present, but he doesn’t fully embrace all the typical rap clichés and glorify his situation as most rappers would. In that sense he’s like Kanye was, a young up-and-comer full of angst and talent. The difference is Drake is a better singer and way less annoying. This results in an album that sounds like a confessional, almost a cautionary tale (at least with the fame-related sexcapades), where Drake smoothly switches from fast Lil’ Wayne-style flows to heartfelt RnB hooks. The production is very dub-conscious, with Drakes career partner 40 doing most of the programming and piano, except for the first single, ‘Take Care’, which reworks a track from the Scott-Heron/Jamie XX album (unfortunately, there was no room to improve on it). The guest appearances read like a nomination list from the Grammies, with Rihanna, Stevie Wonder, Rick Ross, Andre 3000, Lil’ Wayne, Nicki Minaj, and The Weeknd all lending their talents.
I am not typically a fan of musicals. My favorites include the Rocky Horror Picture Show and the South Park movie, which maybe explains the perverse joy I get from The Book of Mormon, which was written by Trey Parker of South Park fame. Apparently I’m not alone though, as it won 9 Tony awards including Best Musical. I have yet to see the play itself, but the fact is that the soundtrack stands on its own quite well, including feel-good songs that should never be played in polite company (re: the Hakuna Matata homage ‘Hasa Diga Eebowai’).
15. Xander Harris – Urban Gothic
It sure struck me as odd that this real horrorshow blood-bath of an album was released in the Spring. But after a couple seasons of waiting, I was able to really sink my teeth into this gory romp. Xander takes some disturbing themes and filters them through an atmospheric techno lens with plenty of nods to 80’s VHS gore-fests, and the results are to die for.
14. Zomby - Dedication
Some of us have waited a long time for this album, which seemed like it was going to be the one that encapsulated the bubbling purple bass of recent bass music. All of Zomby’s singles over the last 4 years, along with Joker’s, have become defining hyperdub classics. Zomby’s last album, Where Were U In ’92? was a curveball of 90’s rave tribute, with only a smattering of his trademark bass sounds and his idiosyncratic habits of repetition linking it to his singles. Here he’s digressed even further, with a graceful chilled-out 30-minute work of beauty, evoking Gothic cathedrals and reserved yet inspired micro-landscapes.
13. Mark McGuire - A Young Persons Guide
A dizzying two-disc collection of music by this solo guitarist will carry you from bucolic forests and fields to industrial machines with a thousand moving parts, all by means of six guitar strings with a little help from an army of pedal effects and looping skills. Words are superfluous to these imagistic compositions that highlight the range of this superb guitarist and composer.
12. Africa HiTech - 93 Million Miles
This Australian duo offer a deep and heavy in-your-face album that swings from songs about the sun and the speed of light to the bloody gravel of a streetfight with consummate fluidity. Stand-out track ‘In the Streets’ showcases the blunt force these guys can bring to a classic reggae vocal sample of about three seconds, balanced by meditative 8-bit grooves like ‘Cyclic Sun’ and ‘Our Luv’. Africa Hi-Tech are the most interesting new electronic group of the year.
11. Jamie XX and Gil Scott-Heron – We’re New Here
You might think it strange that the drummer/producer from British indie superstars The XX would make an electronic remix album of the legendary poet Gil Scott-Heron, but really these two have a lot in common. First its important to note that Jamie XX has been making a name for himself as a solo artist for some time now, releasing mixtapes and playing live shows around the world. His sound takes some of the XX’s aesthetic and submerges it in contemporary electronic beat music. The common thread between him and Scott-Heron may be the juxtaposition of the subtle classical beauty he brings to his art (sampling opera, strings, and generally having a great ear for chill-music) and the apparent grittiness that’s front and center. Scott-Heron’s voice is the same way—beneath his smoked-out fricatives he’s uttering poetic expressions of truth.
EF makes a sure-footed solo debut after many memorable albums recorded in the brother/sister duo Fiery Furnaces, where she has explored myriad rich veins of avant-pop music, from the challenging and loquacious Practicing My Choir to the buzzy backwards talk-containing Bitter Tea. Their last release, 2009's I'm Going Away, indicated the direction towards a warmer retro-tinged vibe that dominates Last Summer. Repetition is at the heart of all pop music, but EF's seductive inflection reveals new facets upon each lyrical repetition with nuance rarely seen elsewhere. EF presents her unique personality with such clarity that there is a great feeling of intimacy on this album. The first track, "My Mistakes", stands out as the most energetic and fun, but sets the tone for the confessional and charming gems that follow it up, including the funky two-step of "Roosevelt Island" and the discursive finality of "Owl's Head Park" and "Early Earthquake".
9. Hella - Tripper
Zach Hill is a drum god. Nobody else attacks the skins with such complex ferocity and precision. Imagine Gene Krupa meets Neil Peart on methamphetamine. Mr. Hill has in the last decade participated in a few different projects and taken some creative detours, including a five-piece Hella album with vocals (normally just a duo with Spencer Seim on guitar and programming), a daring yet rocking electronic project with Matmos, and a solo album last year with a punk sensibility. But Hella is best when they are at their rawest; virtuosic athleticism on the drums combined with aggressive yet simple guitar vamps. This is the first full-length Hella album showcasing these elements since 2004, and they definitely deliver the goods, sustaining an energy so far only maintained at EP length. No need for verse-chorus conventions or conceptual threads, this album comes out of the gate at full speed and doesn't let up until your mind is jelly.
8. Iron & Wine – Kiss Each Other Clean
Iron & Wine began as a bedroom solo project, with acoustic guitar and lyrics so soft and soothing they’d put you to sleep if you listened closely enough. Then it became a full band and made a big splash with a still decidedly mellow album in The Shepherd Dog. Kiss Each Other Clean maintains the intimate and almost biblical lyricism of their other albums with a whole leap of style when it comes to instrumentation and songwriting. Even the quietest tunes on this album offer spine-tingling back-up vocals or slide guitar, and there is a greater influence of classic rock and funk on other songs. The final inculcation of ‘Your Fake Name Is Good Enough For Me” goes “we will become, become, become” with dozens of completing phrases, none repeated—proudly announcing the success of the protean metamorphosis that this album undergoes, like an oily black seashell that contains all the colors of the rainbow when you look at it in the right light.
7. The Decemberists – The King Is Dead
There isn’t a lot the Decemberists haven’t sung about in their long and memorable canon, spanning midieval England and modern-day California. The last two albums were concept ones, with the Hazards of Love (2009) being a full rock-opera, but on The King Is Dead they decide to narrow their focus to idyllic agrarian visions that travel in cycle with the seasons over the album’s ten songs. Every song contains skillful arrangements supporting Colin Meloy’s hyperliterate narratives, and there’s even a reference to Infinite Jest. Two of the best songs highlight the seasonal theme of the album: "January Hymn" and "June Hymn"—alternately expressing with éclat the dim desperation of winter and the sun-drenched joy of early summer.
6. Gang Gang Dance – Eye Contact
Gang Gang Dance is a strange band who makes weird music. Maybe not the weirdest strangest stuff you ever heard, Lord knows there’s extremes, but GGD maintain some of the electro-pop catchiness of Passion Pit and combine it with the daring experimental inclinations of Animal Collective and a little ethnic folk thrown in for good measure. So far, its resulted in some very uneven material that wavers between these pop and indulgent extremes, until Eye Contact. This album is quite frankly amazing. They’ve managed to create songs that feel like the best 3 minute singles, but often last 6+ minutes, and it’s not what you might think (Freebird-esque, multi-movement epics, discursive audio-novellas, all absent here). Right off the bat, "Glass Jar" draws on for 11 minutes of glory without ever feeling long or excessive (unlike this list). Lead singer Lizzie Bougatsis’ vocals at times approach revelatory, such as when she lets loose and belts out some opera-class vowels, and Alexis Taylor from Hot Chip lends his feminine side to the sensual smoothness of “Romance Layers". Three short lemniscate-labeled tracks interspersed at about a minute and a half each provide some far-left flavorings and pacing that perfectly round out this heady nosegay.
5. St. Vincent – Strange Mercy
St. Vincent has progressively sharpened her skills over her 3 albums in an almost linear fashion. When she debuted with Marry Me, we learned she could sing and play guitar really well. Then with Actress, she showed she was a serious artist, and with Strange Mercy she takes it one step further, and crteates a modern masterpeice. The strange mercy of the album itself is this: though every song is in a minor key, threatening to come across as pure dirge, Annie Clark infuses each track with such irresistable hooks that we are forced to enjoy the laments and tortures of life. Although not the best song on the album, the song "Dilettante" sums up how the album sounds like it was meant to be a major-key triumph, but has been shot down by reality to a mournful tone. Another high point that illustrates how Clark has developed is the synth solo in "Surgeon". She used to play guitar in an Iron Maiden tribute band, and now the most intense solo on her album is from a synthesizer (which is not to say she doesn’t drive the whole album with her axe).
Full of giddy nonsense, seasonal mood swings, and classic indie-pop love songs, on Mountaintops Mates of State deliver an energy-packed ride through their lives at present. The husband and wife duo’s albums have always been transparently autobiographical, candidly tracing their relationship from young love to parenthood. Here the lyrics’ focus is mostly back on Kori and Jason and their deep codependence (“By now we’ve got a taste of what a double mind can do”) with Kori’s signature organ shimmering with glee. They’ve also added some new synthesizers to their arsenal and are happy to explore new sounds, and they’ve even admitted writing some of the songs to exploit the abilities of their new toys. All the songs, whether about joy or sadness, hope or regret, are sung with conviction and harmony, and add up to the most energetic MOS album since 2003’s Team Boo.
3. Rustie — Glass Swords
After a few promising tracks that outlined Rustie's maximalist style, he releases a powerful statement of arrival with Glass Swords. This album has a very interesting place in the context of the world of the often groaned-over term: "post-dubstep". So lets just call this a giant leap forward in the world of bass music, where the heavy rumble of dubstep has laid a fertile loam for artists such as Rustie.
Utilizing broadly bleeding synths with super tight arpeggios and rich track layering, Rustie paints an almost cloying array of neon psychedelic bangers. This results in nearly every track having enough power to stand alone as a single, especially with the timely use of chipmunkified RnB samples, without becoming redundant and maintaining the cohesive threads of a distinct personality throughout, you might even call it a concept album.
2. Tune-Yards — W H O K I L L
It’s hard to describe in words the multifarious sounds of Tune-Yards, which is basically a one-woman band (okay, and a bassist). Merrill Garbus is the woman behind the magic, using her diva-powerful voice in harmony with looped percussion and guitar. The percussion drives this album, and the strong rhythmic phrasing throughout can be attributed at least in part to tribal west African drums. Like all great artists though, Garbus synthesizes her influences into an expression of individuality that is as powerful as it is quirky.
So many songs on this album work because they sound unique and familiar at the same time, inviting you to sing along if only you knew the words, or could belt it like Garbus does. There’s also a wide range of emotional subjects in the mix, with seemingly straight forward yet subversive anthems in “Gangsta” and “Bizness”, doleful reggae scat in the tragic “Doorstep” and the more playful “You Yes You”, and the sensual and aptly named “Powa” (power). A collection of songs this idiosyncratic that maintains all of the qualities of great pop music will sound fresh for a very long time.
1. The Mountain Goats — All Eternals Deck
Like the above-mentioned Decemberists, John Darnielle (singer/guitarist/creative force of the Mountain Goats) has covered a whole lot of ground in his career, having produced a staggering amount of material. 2002 was a turning point for the band, which up until then consisted mostly of Darnielle singing solo with his acoustic guitar into a boombox tape recorder, during which time he developed a significant following. Since he went into the studio, he has produced success after success, learning and growing and exploring the dynamics of the full band while somehow still writing fresh material the whole time.
All Eternals Deck finds Darnielle’s voice at its best, and he croons with the confidence of a sage and experienced traveler. Some of the subject matter on here is grim or even macabre, from vampires, serpents and Cain, to the absolutely chilling "Autopsy Garland". There is tenderness throughout as well, especially in the vocal ensemble-backed "High Hawk Season" and the comforting counsel of "Never Quite Free", which has just the lightest touch of pedal steel anchored by simple chord figures on the piano. The fact that The Mountain Goats have been making such consistently good songs for so long is a gift we should all be grateful for.
posted by Christopher @ 00:39
1 Comments:
Amazingly written!
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