The Best of 2011

So here it goes. My chance to share my very own inflated opinion regarding the best musical releases of 2011,  just like the rest of the internet. I'll break it down by category sort of like your yearbook did however many years back you weren't "most likely to succeed." It is ranked and so you can find the best at the bottom. Despite the state of things in America and the collective world's strife,  2011 was a great year for music.

Best Dark Ambient/Noise record: Roly Portner, Aftertime

If you notice the song titles as Dune references you can start to make sense of this record. And I only mean start, I don't think I have reached a full understanding yet of what is to be heard here. This is part of what I enjoy so much about it. Aftertime lingers, burns, aches, scratches on glass, and traps you until your done listening and I love it for that. 

Roly Porter - Tleilax by Subtext Recordings

Best Jazz record: Austin Peralta, Endless Planets 

Peralta is the son of legendary Dogtown pro skater, Stacy Peralta. He is also a great maker of jazz. Flying Lotus's Brainfeeder imprint released Endless Planets back in February and I've been listening to it on and off ever since. It's the perfect, "I'm in the mood for jazz but don't really know where to start" sort of record.

Most likely to induce nostalgia: Youth Lagoon, The Year of Hibernation

I was a tad bit hesitant to include on the list but feel as though he is one of the years best surprises. He fills part of a void that 2011 seems to hold. That void is a good post-angsty dream pop record. Really the whole thing is rather good. on Trevor Powers is certainly a master of composing an absolutely gut-wrenching crescendo. Listen to "Montana" below if you don't understand yet. 

The ultimate Bandcamp find: Chrome Sparks,  My <3

This album is perhaps a great indicator of our times with a title built of characters and tracks that blip electronically and the whole thing was available for a name your own price download via the young talent's Bandcamp page. The many featured guest vocals from Steffalloo here really helped make the record as rich as it is. 

Best Rock record: St. Vincent, Strange Mercy

Annie Clark is fucking talented and it really shows on Strange Mercy.  The songs are well written, the girl can sing and murder on the guitar. "Surgeon" has the coolest breakdown of any song all year. Much needed female talent in the year.

The Moodiest of mood: Washed out, Within and Without

Talk about a mood! Ernest Greene was shredding at the crest of the "chill wave" for the past couple of years and then he released out Within and Without. My first listens were tough because I was still in the swells of his notable Life of Leisure EP. But the soft beauty of Within and Without slowly revealed itself and every track became a more distinct chapter in what feels like an oddly nostalgic and often dark record. What Greene did this year was define his sound and made a record, not an EP of catchy reverberated tracks. 

Most likely to be played by every god damn dj this year: Hudson Mohawke, Satin Panthers

As if the dj/producer right before their set didn't just play cbat or Thunder Bay, everyone has been digging on those two tunes from Hudmo's Satin Panthers EP. No matter how many times you listen there is nothing quite like when the beat drops on Thunder Bay. Making everyone on the dance floor want to be crawl inside the subwoffer for even more.  It's a solid romp through heavy bass.

Best Metal record: Ulcerate, The Destroyers of All

This is a fantastic death metal release from New Zealand. As an added bonus it was also released on the always decent Willowtip Records. It's the sort of record that will leave you in an introspective state while and after listening. I might add that it is also highly addictive.

Thorough listen hybrid Alt-Pop: John Maus, We Must Become the Pitiless Censors of Ourselves

In my humble opinion the man puts his counterpart Ariel Pink to shame. This album is exciting from start to finish. Maus takes pop to a new reality. Every damn song is great. Tracks like "Hey Moon," "Head for the Country"...soild all the way through!

Most misunderstood album because they aint nevah seen him live! James Blake, James Blake LP

I didn't stop listening to this album until I saw the man live, twice. Boy can he perform.  Frankly, the bass on the record shouldn't be heard in any context other than his live set. It's a really solid release at the forefront of the post-dubstep, indie-r&b, whatever you will call it movement going on right now.  The LP has had Mr. Blake at the mercy of critics since it's arrival, they are unsure of whether they should shun or bless his work since. Blake seems to be torn at the moment, pulled from his roots at R&S records putting out the dance floor worthy Love What Happened Here EP all while still coming off the release of  the Enough Thunder  nap time piece that came after his debut. 

James Blake - Unluck from AB on Vimeo.

Release containing the best song of the year: Burial, Street Halo

The bass legend released one of the year's best tracks in a single format bringing with it an additional two new Burial songs. Like all of his work the Street Halo EP is an extremely atmospheric 20 minutes. As for "Street Halo," the track, it's about as infectious, mood building and great as music gets folks.

Burial - Street Halo by ListenBeforeYouBuy

Best release from the best record label of the year: Triangle Records' Holy Other, With U

Triangle records had a great year with releases from Clams Casino, Water Borders, Balam Acab and that's just to name a few. What I really like about Holy Other is that his sound is great at EP length. Dark, heavy, engaging and yet very ethereal. 

Best thing to come from the "Industry:" Drake, Take Care

This is top 40 music that deserves to be at the top. Drake come out at his most honest in Take Care. I think it was hard for some to come to terms with the fact that they heard half the record before it was released, dulling the experience a little. Dull not!! At first the album felt a bit too long but after 10 or so listens all of the tracks sort of parade in one at a time leaving you thinking "forgot about this one, but damn this is good." It's an incredible dose of the times that truly satisfies. Every damn song!




Best R&B album(s): The Weeknd, House of Balloons & Thursday

This probably comes as no surprise. When Thursday hit in August I started to really ponder the question of whether I liked it or House of Balloons more. House of Balloons felt pretty novel at the time for the musical climate we were in. It has been the year of indie R&B and House of Balloons sort of felt like a tangible turning point we would not forget. The familiarity of Beach House and Siouxsie and the Banshees samples mixed with the sexy singing guy telling us how he's going to fuck us on pills all night seemed sort of irresistible. However, Thursday felt more like an album than the mixtape it is declared. There is a bit of atmosphere there and some really good music in between i.e.  "Life of the Party" and "Rolling Stone." This is the man to watch.

Best must listen from start to finish record: Julia Holter, Tragedy

Holter takes you deep into a black hole for 50 minutes and has you feeling like you might never leave. It's synthy, ambient, speckled with moments of true melody. This is not a pick-a-track and listen record. In fact, the album will make little sense unless you start from the beginning and follow all the way through to the end. There are moments of despair and moments of crystalline beauty throughout this Tragedy.  

Julia Holter - Goddess Eyes by frontpsych

#2: Rustie, Glass Swords

This album is an electronic dream! Rustie maintains a pretty consistent sound throughout. It's a good one to take one track at a time or all in one big dose. Glass Swords thizzles and sizzles in all the right ways. As the album cover might suggest, listening to this LP may induce the urge to go spelunking in a cave of crystals. The future of dance music is right here ladies and gents, listen to it loud! Not that skrillex deadmau5 trash flavored trash.

Album of the year: Nicolas Jaar, Space is Only Noise

The guy is 22 and a certified genius by my standards . Perhaps the fact that Space is Only Noise came out so early in the year helped bring it to the top of my list. But honestly there were parts of it that made so much sense even after just a few listens. Call it what you like, minimal tech, minimal house, space jams, or whatever. It is a work of excellence. It's an album that you can learn and that will not tire you out in the process. If this is Jaar's first big thing, we've got a lot to look forward to. He also put out two other extremely notable releases this year; one single, Don't Break My Love EP and a three song work under the side project Darkside.

Unofficial yet awesome video for one of the album's many standout tracks: