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So here it is, the year that was 2011 is now over. Of course, it would be easy enouh to fall back on cliche and write something like, “Oh what a year it was...” here but, it actually was a pretty incredible year in music – no stage, online and on the proverbial record. This year, the pop spectrum seem to broaden dramatically to include a plethora of new and different sounds but, not only that, a lot of them were actually embraced by the mainstream – instead of remaining underground pleasures for a while. Not only that, but so many of thoser new sounds seemed to have a pretty broad and far-reaching appeal, and Grouns Control's critics' poll really reflects that this year; per usual, the breadth of the music chosen as some of the best this year was large but, fascinatingly, it's possible to note a few acts – like Fucked Up, Tom Waits, Black Lips, Yuck, The Kills, a significant portion of the You've Changed Records roster and a few others – successfully managed to cross over into several different communities of listeners. THAT is the mark of a good year in music and says more than simply paying lip service to a productive year. So check it out and see what we mean; scroll down and be ready to take notes – readers are going to want to know these names and hear what kind of music they're making.
"You've gotta hear this!"
~The Ground Control Staff.
Bill Adams
10. They Had Faces Then – 1977 – self-released. This album just flat-out shocked me. From top to bottom, the music on 1977 is ripped straight out of the Nineties, but not in a contrived or fashionable sort of way; it is the result of a band working outside of the music industry machine and coming up with strokes of genius. If you haven't heard They Had Faces Then yet, don't worry – you will.
09. Sloan - The Double Cross – Outside/Yep Roc. From the moment “Follow The Leader” rolls out to open The Double Cross, long-time fans will be thrilled to learn that Sloan has reverted to the early, poppier songwriting and production styles that initially won fans over on albums like Smeared, Twice Removed and One Chord To Another. The bombastic rock n' roll histrionics that began on Navy Blues and carried all the way through Parallel Play have been abandoned and, in their place, the band has re-discovered the simple joys of modestly produced indie rock. No matter whether longtime fans were happy with the rockier side of Sloan or not, they'll still find themselves heaving a heavy sigh sigh of pleasure; The Double Cross feels like an instant homecoming and it's just great.
08. Man Man - Life Fantastic – ANTI–. Bizarre images and emotional states clash and collide on Man Man's fourth album, and the results just spew forth vibrantly on listeners, leaving them to scramble and clean up the mess, or try to make sense of it. Because of that breakneck drive and the number of directions in which each song on Life Fantastic spins listeners, there's no way to pin down a clear theme which might bind the album's eleven tracks together, but there's no arguing that they sit well as sympathetic entities. The glitter produced by multi-instrumentalists Christopher Powell, Jamey Robinson, Billy Dufala and Jefferson is contrasted by the doom undeniable in singer Ryan Kattner's husky voice, and each of the songs wears that combination as its signature; the result is a bizarre form of experimental rock that borders on – but does not submit to – cabaret. Part of the fun in listening is observing how close the music teeters toward that as well as how far and in which directions it arcs away.
07. Fucked Up – David Comes To Life – Matador. Yeah, yeah, yeah – punk's not dead and has never really come close to it, but that doesn't mean it hadn't become incredibly formalized before Fucked Up came along this year with David Comes To Life. This record proves that punk is honestly and truly at its best when it either ignores form or breathes new life and danger into it; David Comes To Life doesn't just stay the course as so many other punk bands have done, it breathes new energy and new ideas in and that's what makes it great. My first experience with Fucked Up live was watching singer Damian Abraham swing a mic like a bolo whip with a demented grin on his face at a crowd which filled Yonge-Dundas Square in Toronto, and from that moment I was hooked; I discovered David Comes To Life after that and haven't looked back.
06. Red Hot Chili Peppers - I'm With You – Warner Brothers. After taking a few albums to better develop themselves as musical craftsmen, the Red Hot Chili Peppers let down their hair and just have fun for the first time in about a decade. I'm With You is the record which sees the band not bothering to try and show listeners how good they are, and ends up being their best since One Hot Minute.
05. Shilpa Ray and her Happy Hookers - Teenage And Torture – Knitting Factory. One hundred percent pure energy and passion, Teenage And Torture walks a fantastic razor's edge between beautiful croon and barroom brawl. Songs like “Hookers,” “Heaven In Stereo” and “Erotolepsy” drip sex, sweetness, sadomasochism and sickness all at the same time and will have anyone who catches that fever panting for more.
04. Star Fucking Hipsters - From The Dumpster To The Grave – Fat Wreck Chords. It took a couple of false starts, but Star Fucking Hipsters acheive a charmed state of grace as they add a few drops of pop to their stylistic quagmire on From The Dumpster To The Grave. Now with a cleaner, more refined and palatable sound behind him, singer Scott Sturgeon turns up the volume and just blasts out a ska punk slab of genius which wears its social commentary up front (from the very beginning, lines like “From the dumpster to the grave/ We'll never be a system slave/ We'll take our food from garbage cans/While they're starving in a foreign land” jump right out to dance with listeners) and plainly rather than wrapping it up in a sheathe of irony. Because it's a little easier to pick up this time, the message is a little easier to pick up and the ska-core backing that drives it is the key to the hearts of listeners. With a more accessible backdrop, Star Fucking Hipsters get to have their cake and eat it too; there's a message there for those who want it, and good music for those who just want to pogo.
03. Frank Turner - England Keep My Bones – Xtra Mile/Epitaph. Through the run-time of England Keep My Bones, one gets the impression that Frank Turner wasn't sure who he needed to be and if he should have changed after Poetry Of The Deed, so he pushed himself pretty hard and gave listeners the biggest thank-you he could but, in the end, he's just himself again because that's all he could ever really be. On England Keep My Bones, Frank Turner simultaneously reveals his appreciation for the attention he's received and tried to answer it, but also tries to do himself one better. It works – in listening, anyone who hears England Keep My Bones will feel as though they owe the singer a debt of thanks.
02. Shotgun Jimmie - Transistor Sister – and – Marine Dreams – S/T – You've Changed [tie]. A tie for second place? That might seem a little bizarre, but it will make perfect sense if you listen to these two records. On both Transistor Sister and Marine Dreams, the echoes of all the great guitar tones in the Nineties pop underground converge and sing out renewed, fresh and proud. It does need to be said that, while they share a record label, both of these records stand well on their own readers should go buy both because they're just that good.
01.Tom Waits - Bad As Me – ANTI–. What could be called the first post-modernist Tom Waits album, Bad As Me incorporates some of the myriad turns the singer's career has taken (dirty blues, piano bar confessionals, beat-driven barking mania, a half a dozen kinds of jazz) over the years, finds the loopholes in each and knits them together seamlessly to express an all new creature. That brand of earnest work would be enough to get Bad As Me some attention but, even better, the songs recapture the demented brilliance of the singer at his songwriting best; it's the perfect meeting place for many of the singer's songwriting voices.
Honorable mentions which shouldn't be missed:
The Decemberists - The King Is Dead – Capitol.
Low – C'Mon – Sub Pop.
The Kills - Blood Pressures - Domino.
Sick Of Sarah – 2205 – Adamant.
Ohbijou - Metal Meets – Last Gang.
Jeff Martin - The Ground Cries Out – EMI.
Boots Electric – Honkey Kong – Dangerbird.
Five of the best reissues released in 2011 (in no particular order)
Ozzy Osbourne – Diary Of A Madman – Columbia/Legacy. After the release of the remastered reissue of Blizzard Of Ozz earier this year which many fans argued was mismanaged, it was questionable if Diary Of A Madman would be any better. Happily, it certainly is: the reissue shines as the remastered takes of “Flying High Again,” “You Can't Kill Rock N' Roll” and “Believer” pack an updated wallop and will both pound AND wow listeners. Not only that but, while the reissued edition of Diary Of A Madman would have been worth fans hearing on its own, the addition of a second live disc elevates it to essential listening both for longtime fans and new ones alike. Here, they get the Ozzy Osbourne of his early solo career from every possible side, and it gives fans new insight as they hear the music reproduced so faithfully and carefully represented. The Diary Of A Madman reissue is the one that every Ozzy fan should own.
Nirvana – Nevermind (Super Deluxe Edition) – Geffen/Ume. Between the inclusion of the Paramount show, the Smart Sessions demos, the Devonshire mixes, the Nevermind B-sides, an enormous book of photos and a remastered rendering of the album, it can only be said that the Super Deluxe Edition of Nevermind really does capture Nirvana accurately, faithfully and completely. There is no angle not covered or played perfectly here; this is exactly the treatment that this band, this album and the fans of both deserve.
Queens Of The Stone Age – S/T – Rekords Rekords. It might seem difficult to believe, but no other record in recent memory has deserved the reissue treatment more than Queens Of The Stone Age's debut. It's actually possible to smell the desert air as the band sidewinds through the stoned but potent rock riffs of songs like “Regular John,” “Walkin' On The Sidewalks,” “You Would Know” and “You Can't Quit Me Baby,” and Josh Homme's songwriting arrives without any need of improvement here. It doesn't happen often that a band arrives perfectly formed and great from the get-go, but this album is proof that Queens Of The Stone Age did just that.
Yuck – S/T (2CD) – Fat Possum/Ryko. There's no debating the quality of Yuck's self-titled album but, historically, B-sides have been left off of LPs for a reason; be it for quality assurance purposes, or they just didn't fit the vibe of the album. On the two-disc reissue of Yuck though, the six songs on the second disc prove to be interesting because they add a little more depth to the album (read: they express a few more possible influences including The Pixies), and they are pretty strong songs in their own right. The smooth, easy rock of “The Base Of A Dream Is Empty” further enforces the fantastic, fuzzy forms first presented on the regular LP before giving way to the positively poppy “Milkshake” and “Coconut Bible” – the latter of which sounds like a Siamese Dream-era Smashing Pumpkins song would have if the band had been from the UK rather than Chicago. Each of these (as well as “Doctors In My Bed”) are as strong as many of the cuts on Yuck, so it stands to reason that the only reason they were left off the album was due to the time constraints of any physical format full-length. That they were initially forgotten is unfortunate, but that the situation has been remedied here on this two-disc deluxe edition is excellent; fans who hadn't yet purchased the album have an all-new and valid reason to pick up Yuck, and the songs on the second disc are just strong enough to have those who already bought a copy of the album thinking seriously about trading up. Having every reason to purchase the same album twice in one year is not often a claim that any record could make, but the deluxe edition of Yuck's debut does.
OFF! – First Four EPs (CD) – Vice. How often does the same record end up on annual best-of lists for two years running? OFF! pulls that feat off [ahem] not by adding extra frills or more songs, but by adding a 'no waiting' vibe with the CD that the vinyl just couldn't do. It's debatable if the CD is better than the seven-inches or vice versa, but this record deserves mention again because it's just that good; the First Four EPs by OFF has dominated for two years running regardless of format.
Ollie Mikse
10. Mastodon – The Hunter – Reprise. Although the ambition of Crack The Skye was never meant to be topped, Mastodon takes a breather on their follow-up, adds a theremin, and maintains the quality.
09. Beastie Boys – Hot Sauce Committee Pt 2 – Capitol. The crime here is that this album, which performs leaps and bounds over anything Kanye West did last year, will go hardly unrecognized by comparison. Do yourself a savor and get this!
08. Battles – Gloss Drop – Warp. A hard-hitting musical romp that borders on utter chaos. Hardly any vocals and we hardly care!
07. Girls – Father, Son, Holy Ghost – True Panther Sounds. Albums can be fun, good, and/or interesting. But few can be described as beautiful. This album is one of those few though.
06. Mind Spiders – S/T – Dirtnap. More Mark Ryan goodness. Until the Marked Men reunite, this Fifties-sounding buzzpop album will do the trick.
05. Frenzal Rhomb – Smoko at the Pet Food Factory – Fat Wreck Chords. Ah, the Rhomb. Beating the slump of their last album, this one brings them true to form.
04. Something Fierce – Don't Be So Cruel – Dirtnap. I knew I was going to like this album, but not to this extent. The bubblegum punk album of the year.
03. Swingin' Utters – Here Under Protest – Fat Wreck Chords. Eight years in the making and almost worth every minute.
02. High Tension Wires – Welcome New Machine – Dirtnap. For fans of Riverboat Gamblers and the Marked Men. Features members of the Riverboat Gamblers and the Marked Men. The results sound as good or better than fans of those bands could hope.
01. Fucked Up – David Comes To Life – Matador. An epic of epic epicness. Finally an album to bring the punks and hipsters together.
Honorable mentions which shouldn't be missed:
Kurt Vile – Smoke Ring From My Halo – Matador
Future Virgins – Western Problems – Starcleaner
Planet Smashers – Descent Into the Valley of the Planet Smashers – Stomp
Thee Oh Sees – Castlemania – In The Red
TV on The Radio – Nine Types of Light – Interscope
Panda Bear – Tomboy – Paw Tracks
Mariachi El Bronx – II – ATO
Cults – S/T – Columbia Records
Black Lips – Arabia Mountain – Vice
Chixdiggit! – Safeways Here We Come – Fat Wreck Chords
Radiohead – King of Limbs – tba
Mark Ziemke
10. The Boxer Rebellion – The Cold Still – Self-released
09. Bon Iver – S/T – Jagjaguwar.
08. Joan as Police Woman – The Deep Field – PIAS.
07. Black Cobra – Invernal – Southern Lord.
06. Mastodon – The Hunter – Reprise.
05. Holy Ghost! – S/T – DFA.
04. Other Lives – Tamer Animals – TBO Records.
03. Graveyard – Hisingen Blues – Nuclear Blast.
02. U.S. Royalty – Mirrors – Self-released. 01. Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues – Sub Pop.
Tracy Nunnery
10. Plaid – Scintilli – Warp
Compared to their 1999 release, Rest Proof Clockwork, Plaid’s new album Scintillifeels suited for inclusion in their body of soundtrack work. Although the latest effort may seem to be suffering from a ready-for-video identity crisis, that may be the source of its charm. Plaid serves as a perfect alter-ego to the mathematic Autechre, adding a bit of organic matter to the equation.
09. Tycho – Dive – International. Sounding like a sepia-hued mix of Boards of Canada and Massive Attack, Tycho’s Diveis distinctly warm and comforting. Needing a tube amp, some of those wooden audiophile headphones and a turntable to fully appreciate its nuance, Scott Hanson has managed to create music that is anything but ordinary. Staying barely this side of sunset-sweet saccharine, Divebreathes with imaginative textures.
08. Bon Iver – S/T – Jagjaguwar. At first I wasn’t sure. When a band receives such overwhelming critical acclaim I tend to eye them with a hefty dose of cynicism. After routinely listening to their debut album and now their sophomore follow-up as well as seeing the band live several times, I’m starting to get it. The compositions are unconventional, ambitious and despite the hype, create perfect little moments of austere beauty and stirring melancholy.
07. SBTRKT – SBTRKT – Young Turks/XL Recordings. The recipe isn’t a new one but broken jazzy beats have rarely been done so well as those delivered by SBTRKT. Add in some tasty guest vocals by Yukimi of Little Dragon and suddenly Aaron Jerome has a substantial debut album on his hands. With a wide variation in feel, SBTRKTis both lush and sparse and floods the listener with a complex but accessible mix of beats and musical ideas.
06. Andy Stott – Passed Me By – Modern Love. In a year infected with strains of Gaga, Beiber and Katy, the antidote just might be Andy Stott. Music isn’t always pretty and Passed Me Byproves that can be a very good thing. Sounds stretch and warp in a way that washes over you, blurring lines between tempo and melody. It’s a bit reminiscent of to Dress Well’s brilliant 2010 release Love Remains.There’s not a flake of glitter to be found but the atmosphere can be delicate and downright groovy, albeit in an industrial nightmare sort of way.
05. Lindsey Buckingham – Seeds We Sow – Buckingham Records. One of the finest and most-underrated singer-songwriters around, Lindsey Buckingham continues to release exceptionally strong solo records. Seeds We Sowis no different. Buckingham has taken it upon himself to produce, mix, engineer and play most of the instruments on the album and this translates into an album that sounds just that – very personal. Whether it’s his distinctive guitar work or lyrics such as “Sweet things, pretty things are dying in the penny arcade of Edgar Allen Poe,” Seeds We Sowis an excellent listen.
04. Perc – Wicker & Steel – Perc Trax. Wicker & Steel is a genre-bending debut album from Perc aka Ali Wells. It’s an enchanting trip, constructed of minimalist beats, heavy machinery and sooty rhythms. I imagine the Perc studio to have a dizzying array of modern music-making equipment including a rusty winch, a couple of barrels of percolating oil and a plasma cutter. Melodic parts are occasionally released to float and flicker above the droning beats but they are quickly and unceremoniously snuffed out. The album is an addictive, intense, brooding and graceful statement.
03. Fucked Up – David Comes to Life – Matador. Yes, a punk record can sound this good. David Comes to Lifeis an amazingly focused and lyrically impressive piece of work. On this album, the attention is given to the concept itself – a meandering and complicated story that serves as a backdrop to some seriously great music. Standouts on this epic 78-minute journey include “The Queen of Hearts” and “The Other Shoe.”
02. The Decemberists – The King is Dead – Capitol. It’s tough to follow-up after such a magnificent release as 2009’s The Hazards of Love. Their latest album, The King Is Deadis no less well-read, witty or intelligent (Eschaton anyone?) but it is a departure from the dazzling rock-opera of their previous concept album. In a back-to-their-roots effort, R.E.M.’s Peter Buck and Gillian Welch accompany Colin Meloy and The Decemberists on several tracks. The results are meticulously crafted and shimmering refrains of pure Americana.
01. Apparat – Devil’s Walk – Mute. Oh, what it must be like to walk through the world of Apparat. Maybe a dreamscape filled with amorphous, hulking, abstract sculptures and air that shimmers as if it were silky and liquid. There are a few, more edgy environs begging to be explored. The instrumentation and lavish sound palette suggest a Banco de Gaia and Brian Eno collaboration. This time out, Sascha Ring steps from the shadows to deliver Thom Yorke-tinged vocals, perfectly suited to accompany this elegant soundscape.
Top 5 Reissues
05. The Smiths – Complete – Rhino. I’m a little torn by this release. On one hand, it’s a great “Re-issue! Re-package! Re-package!” that contains everything you need in a massive tin box-o’-Smiths. On the other, it feels like it could have included b-sides, studio demos and a tacky badge. If that were the case however, it would probably need to be packaged in a moderately sized shipping container. The albums (all eight of them) are lovingly remastered and reworked by Johnny Marr. I’ll take one of the 3000 limited-edition, numbered ones please.
04. Talk Talk – Laughing Stock – Ba Da Bing. The final 1991 Talk Talk album is back…and on vinyl. That is all. No lost tracks, no video. Well, there is a little more. The LP also includes Mark Hollis’ 1998 self-titled album as well. Both sound fantastic and present a remarkable, warm and nostalgic epilogue.
03. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Let Love In/Murder Ballads/The Boatman’s Call/No More Shall We Part – Mute. Nick Cave reissued a flurry of albums in 2011, each with oodles of extras and bonus material. Along with the remastered album itself, each is accompanied by a DVD with bonus tracks in a 5.1 mix as well as videos and short films. Since spending much of his time devoted to Grinderman, Cave is devoting a little love and attention to his roots.
02. This Mortal Coil – It’ll End in Tears/Filligree & Shadow/Blood HDCD Box Set – 4AD. These albums have deserved some renewed attention for some time now. With this 4AD set they have been reissued, remastered and contain new art, videos and 24bit HD audio goodness. The box also contains another surprise: a fourth disc entitled Dust & Guitars, with singles as well as an unreleased track. The influence of TMC can be heard in current music everywhere from Florence and the Machine to School of Seven Bells and The Chemical Brothers. This box is a perfect example of where musical inspiration comes from.
01. The Jesus and Mary Chain – Psychocandy – Edsel. This is the standard by which all other reissues should be judged. Two CDs and a DVD filled with some of the most influential music of its time. The musical scene without the impact of TJAMC is a bleak place that I don’t want to imagine. In a series that continues with each of their six albums, Psychocandyis remastered and accompanied by singles, b-sides, demos, promo videos, live recordings, television appearances and unreleased songs. There is a heap of reading material as well including band interviews, lyrics sheets and photographs. This is an absolutely essential reissue.
Eryn Warden
10. The Black Keys – El Camino – Nonesuch. I will admit I was annoyed with the popularity of The Black Keys after their last release. I had a weird sense of ownership mixed with a big dose of rock snobbery that clouded my enjoyment of the duo. I’m over that now, and am just happy to have a record to turn up really loud and sing-along to. The Black Keys are on a roll and I am staying on the bandwagon.
09. The Felice Brothers – Celebration, Florida – Fat Possum/Ryko. This album still creeps me out, even after repeated listens. It creeps me out in the same way that Fincher’s Sevendid and I can honestly say I have no interest in ever meeting or seeing these guys. All that said, their creepiness is what makes them unique and Celebration, Florida a great listen.
08. Steve Earle – I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive – New West. There was a time when a Ryan Adams record would have made this list. But, as I have gotten older, I have found that Steve Earle is basically the man version of Ryan Adams. There is nothing wrong with Ashes & Fire, it is RA’s best album in years, but it has nothing on I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive. Earle’s ragged reflections on mortality are some of his best work to date. I’m still waiting for Ryan Adams to lose the Slayer shirt and get back to writing songs as good as Earle’s.
07. The Kills – Blood Pressures – Domino. Blood Pressures is a mean record. I really think it is out to get me. I enjoy it in the same way that I enjoy ripping off a band-aid. Every listen hurts, but leaves me satisfied. “Satellite” is my runner up for song of the year. That groove always makes me grin.
06. Drive By Truckers – Go-Go Boots – ATO. The Drive-By Truckers should get an award for their consistency. They put out a great record, tour, put out a great record, tour again and have been sticking to this formula for well over a decade now. There are few bands that can say the same. Go-Go Boots was no exception and would be a good entry point to their catalogue for anyone looking for a new favorite rock n’ roll band.
05. Dropkick Murphys – Going Out In Style – Born & Bred. The title track of this album is hands down the song of the year for me. I drove the people around me crazy with obsessive repetition. Whenever I needed a “pick me up” this album was there for me and delivered over and over again.
04. Daniel Romano – Sleep Beneath The Willow – You've Changed. Sleep Beneath The Willow caught me off guard, likely because I was unfamiliar with him and consequently had no expectations of him. It is likely the album that I played most this year and highly recommend it to anyone looking for an album of songs reminiscent of Graham Parsons, or George Jones with a dash of Neil Young
03. The Horrible Crowes – Elsie – Side One Dummy. The Horrible Crowes are Brian Fallon of The Gaslight Anthem’s side project. The only thing keeping this from being my favorite record of the year is that it isn’t a Gaslight Anthem record. With the rest of the mighty TGA playing behind these songs, it could easily have topped this list. Brian Fallon can seemingly do no wrong.
02. Lucinda Williams – Blessed – Lost Highway. From the opening notes of “Buttercup,” I knew I liked this album. The last couple of Lucinda records have had great moments, but haven’t been great as a whole, but Blessed is her best and most consistent effort since World Without Tears. Note: it is worth getting the version of the album which includes her kitchen demos, they’re almost as good the versions with the band.
01. Tom Waits – Bad As Me – ANTI–. Bad As Me is a new Tom Waits album AND it features three songs with Keith Richards making a guest appearance. Seriously – if I need to explain this any further, you already don’t get it.
Raymond Ahner
10. Melvins - Sugar Daddy Live - Ipecac Recordings. Consisting mostly of material from their most recent studio releases, Sugar Daddy Live shows that the Melvins just get better and better as they get older. "Eye Flys" is nothing short of epic.
09. Serpent Venom – Carnal Alter – Church Within Records. Fuzzy and Liquid-y Seventies inspired Doom Metal that doesn't come across as a Sabbath rip-off. There is something to be said for that.
08. Saviours – Death's Procession – Kemado Records. A natural progression in sound from one of may favorite Bay Area Bands
07. Black Pyramid – II – Meteor City A bit of a departure from their more doom-y past, but this record has grown on me.
06. Jesu – Ascension – Calo Verde. I say it every time I speak of this band, but it's still hard for me to believe that the soul behind Godflesh is responsible for Jesu. Such epic and sad shimmering, guitar driven beauty.
05. Black Face – “I want to Kill You” b/w “Monster” – Hydra Head Records. If there is one person who could re-capture the manic-ness that was Black Flag, it is Eugene Robinson.
04. Landmine Marathon – Gallows – Prosthetic Records. One of the few metal record released this year that wasn't copying the same old formula that is so common in the genre these days. Landmine really hit their stride with this release, while still proudly displaying their Punk and Grindcore influences.
03. Ghost – Opus Eponymous – Metal Blade. People seem to either love or hate this record, and I fall into the former. I won't get into the hype surrounding it, but it's Mercyful Fate without the falsetto vocals influence has made me a believer in this band.
02. Black Cobra – Invernal – Southern Lord. Two dudes creating one big fucking wall of sound. Enough said.
01. Orchid - Capricorn – Doom Dealer. I cannot say enough good things about this record. It's just absolute perfection.
Scott Homiak
10. Jessica Lea Mayfield – Tell Me – Nonesuch. In twenty-five years someone will make the same remarks about my number nine entry regarding Jessica Lea Mayfield. Guaranteed. Right down to Costello, still rockin’ ass at 82.
09. Lucinda Williams – Blessed – Lost Highway. Older, grittier and allegedly gettin’ all May-December with her current guitarist, this was how listeners found Lucinda on her latest. Her usual odes to heartache made room for a harrowing, if overwrought, account of war both overseas and at home and more than one meditation on suicide, including “Seeing Black”, which sounds like a lost Social Distortion classic and boasts some charbroiled six-string work from Elvis Costello that makes up for his increasingly grating vocal ubiquity.
08. My Morning Jacket – Circuital – ATO. I can’t believe I used to call this band My Boring Jacket. What a tool. I had a stoned debate with a friend over whether the album cover is supposed to be a record player, a robot’s eye, or both. Sticky as that bag was the cover could have been a functioning Maytag dishwasher.
07. Twilight Singers – Dynamite Steps – Sub Pop. As the years tick by and I grow fatter, my regionally famous spastic dance moves may not carry as much stamina as they once did, but I ponder how Greg Dulli is as much an inspiration in how to age gracefully and corpulently as how to craft a record. Hell, this isn’t even his strongest set of songs, but it might be his most fleshed out. He even got me to enjoy Ani DiFranco’s presence on the album, a trick that no one has pulled off since, well, Prince, naturally.
06. Lushlife – No More Golden Days – self-released. Remember everything you thought you liked about Watch The Throne? Give this one a listen and try again. Raj Haldar may as well have called this shit Pass The Crown. Some dude at a party referred to the cassette release of this album as “cute”. I refer to that guy as “jerk-off."
05. Wilco – The Whole Love – dbpm/Epitaph. “We are Wilco and we are here to play some jazz for you.” – Jeff Tweedy at Jazzfest in New Orleans this past May, where none of the songs on this fantastic album were played and the set still managed to kill everyone on the field. There was a tan-skinned beauty in oversized sunglasses and a dress to match letting her breasts applaud for every song as it played. Likewise, she is nowhere to be found on this album.
04. Destroyer – Kaputt – Merge. This album sounds like Steely Dan’s Gaucho filtered through Undercover by the Rolling Stones with all the lyrics written between bouts of blow snorting and poetry slams. I am fully aware how demonized those albums are even by devout fans of the respective bands, but those people must have shit in their ears.
03. Bon Iver – S/T – Jagjaguwar. Justin Vernon looks like he smells really bad. His music, fittingly, makes me want to do things that will, in turn, produce some funky odors. Not since Bob Marley has an artist created a bigger gulf between love makin’ and bath takin’.
02. Kurt Vile – Smoke Ring For My Halo – Matador. I try to avoid spending much time in Philadelphia due to a history there among myself and my friends of nervous breakdowns, carjacking and residing in Fishtown. Kurt Vile touches on all these subjects of discomfort in his backyard and more on this awesome full-length. Take a whiz on the world, indeed.
01. EMA – Past Life Martyred Saints – Redeye. Abusing prescription meds to make music to abuse prescription meds to.
Top Ten Reissues
05. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds – The Boatman’s Call – Mute If the world is a worse place in Grinderman’s absence, as it surely will be, at least there’s no scarcity of highlights in the Nick Cave back catalog. This is one of his best outings, a collection of torch songs giving time to the somber piano troubadour that lurks within Cave’s rambunctious heart.
04. U2 – Achtung Baby – Island. My theory on Bono’s global altruism is that he secretly has AIDS and is desperately seeking to fund a cure for himself. If I were him, however, the knowledge that I’d never again write an album half as good as this one would be enough to make me stop trying. Whether that means not being in U2 or not salvaging his immune system is anyone’s guess.
03. Smashing Pumpkins – Siamese Dream – Virgin. The career trajectory of this band often comes across as if Billy Corgan lost his hair upon reaching adulthood and his mind steadily followed. His creative muse never exactly vanished (evidenced by later successfully indulgent efforts like the one-off Zwan album), but here he is as insecure man-child perfecting a gourmet recipe of sound in a layer cake of guitar with icing hooks slathered on top.
02. Grandaddy – The Sophtware Slump – Universal UK/The Control Group. Even My Morning Jacket couldn’t draw on their formidable powers to pen a song about a dying robot as tearjerking as Jason Lytle and co. pulled off on this album. When their second full-length first saw release, Grandaddy came off as a low rent American answer to Radiohead. The years since may have seen them disband, but unlike their more fiscally sound British counterparts, at least they never converted themselves to pure energy particles.
01. Archers of Loaf – Icky Mettle – Merge. These guys let me down a bit when I finally made good on my high school negligence in catching them live, but a month rarely goes by when this album doesn’t make everything that’s come out since pale in sheer energy, not to mention ingenuity. This reissue includes the follow up EP, which is somehow even better.
Jackson Main
10. Male Bonding - Endless Now - Sub Pop. A total throwback to sloppy 90’s alt punk which is why they are signed to Sub Pop. Another one in the list of lo fi, reverb heavy vocals - they sound like they don’t care, but they do...maybe.
09. Telekinesis - 12 Desperate Straight Lines - Merge. This was the closest comparison to Weezer ‘s Pinkerton in recent years - a big listening criterion for me.
08. Fucked Up – David Comes to Life - Matador. I hate when media only pays attention to lead singers and gives little credit to the band that plays all the instruments. Fucked Up fits this profile with their spotlight whore lead man Damian. But aside from the fact that Damian has no range in the most groundbreaking punk band since The Refused, this record is fantastic.
07. Real Estate – Days - Domino. Charming, lo fi, melodic guitars - I loved their debut and I really like this sophomore follow up.
06. Wild Flag – S/T - Merge. The first all female indie super group? I think so. With two members of Sleater Kinney, (my all time favourite female group) - its current, it’s different, it’s all women, which is everything I look for in new music.
05. Dum Dum Girls – Only in Dreams - Sub Pop. When Dum Dum Girls began a few years ago, they were green but they good. This year they’re rehearsed, they’re playing as a band, and they took time producing their new record. Now, the Pretenders comparisons are truly justified.
04. Stephen Malkmus – Mirror Traffic - Matador. Am I the old guy who won’t let go of his favourite band? Am I the Replacements fan who won’t stop talking about Paul Westerberg albums? Fuck it. I still think Malkmus is relevant and this record is great. What does the Senator want?
03. Joy Formidable - The Big Roar - Atlantic/Canvasback. One of the loudest, most explosive records of the year. I played this a lot on road trips letting the blasting synth hooks keep me excited and awake.
02. Yuck – S/T - Fat Possum. Anyone who knows me knows my affinity for 90’s alt rock, and this record transported me back to my coffee shop slaking days in ’95. A beautifully built record, it leads you up and down with fuzz, pop and the occasional female vocals which make me melt.
01. Black Lips – Arabia Mountain - Vice. This was the first record the Lips didn’t produce themselves and it couldn’t have worked out better. With Mark Ronson behind the board there was more depth behind the songs and every song could have been a potential hit in my opinion. I was surprised this didn’t dominate more “best of” lists, but most people liked Drake instead.
Top Ten Electronic Music Albums by Kamron Ahmed
10. SBTRKT – S/T – Young Turks/XL Recordings. I don’t know if we can call this electronica, but it’s a top 10 album somewhere. Why not here?
09. Borgore – Delicious EP – Sumerian. Borgore is UK music that only the coolest of the cool know about. The world will eventually listen to dubstep, and if you don’t get this album, you won’t be one of the cool kids.
08. The Glitch Mob – Drink the Sea – Glass Air. You don’t know the Glitch mob? You shouldn’t say you listen to EDM then.
07. Daft Punk – Tron: Legacy (soundtrack) – Walt Disney Records. I will never watch an award show ever again. How this album didn’t win any awards baffles my mind.
06. Avicii – Levels (single) – Interscope. FUCKING LEGENDARY.
05. Skrillex – Scary Monsters & Nice Sprites – Big Beat/Atlantic. The world hated EDM. Now they play Aviicii on Ryan Seacrest’s radio show. Now it’s time to hate Dubstep, or buy this album. It’ll ease you into it.
04. Spank Rock – Everything is Borie & Everyone is a F---ing Liar – Bad Blood. Fuck your goddamn boring motherfucking shit iTunes list. This is real shit. You’ll understand that when you listen to the album.
03. LMFAO – Sorry for Party Rocking – Interscope/Universal. No apology necessary, we love you LMFAO. I’m still cleaning champagne out of my hair from your record release party for your first album. True story.
02. Ke$ha – I Am the Dance Commander + I Command You to Dance: The Remix Album – RCA/Sony Music. I know you hate Ke$ha, but so did some other people who remixed her album. They made it awesome.
01. Deadmau5 – 4x4=12 – Ultra Records. This album will go down in history as changing the clubs from hip-hop to EDM. This album told the USA, “Hey, it’s time to follow Europe.”
Top 10 Hip Hop Albums by Kam Ahmed
10. Big Sean – Finally Famous – Def Jam. He’s finally famous, and your iTunes playlist will be too if it includes this album.
09. Jay Z & Kanye West – Watch the Throne – Rock-A-Fella. I hate this album. Everyone else loves it. Hence the spot on this list. This is corporate rap at it’s finest.
08. Lil Wayne – Tha Carter IV – Cash Money I love Weezy F no matter what he puts out. Even that last weird rock album he did.
07. Nicki Minaj – Pink Friday – Cash Money. “I shit’ed on 'em.” You need to have any album where a girl says this.
06. Rihanna – Talk that Talk – Def Jam. This suprised me. It gives me a joker smile.
05. Drake – Take Care – Cash Money. #drakecrieswhen he’s not in my top 10 list.
04. Wiz Khalifa – Rolling Papers – Rostrum/Atlantic. Wiz Khalifa – Roll a J, smoke a J, bump this in your car: become hip-hop.
03. Chris Brown – F.A.M.E. – Jive/Sony Music. I know, I know. Shut up. It’s good. Really good. Just get it.
02. The Weeknd – House of Balloons – self-released. This album was in my car for 6 months, on repeat, with zero complaints from myself or anyone that was in my car. In fact, everyone downloaded it after being in my car.
01. Childish Gambino – Camp – Glass Note. “I’m like a call girl, fuck you. Pay me.”
Joe Cornelisse
10. Foo Fighters - Wasting Light - RCA/Sony Music. Stripped down Rock N' Roll from a band who just likes to rock. No more and no less, that's all that needs to be said about this record.
09. Bjork - Biophilia - Nonesuch. Biophilia was a record that Bjork needed to make, when you take the time to learn it and feel it the music takes you over…much like the artist herself.
08. Sloan - The Double Cross - Outside/Yep Roc. After twenty years, Sloan gives us an album that's as fresh and new as if it was 1991 all over again.
07. Bon Iver - Bon Iver - Jagjaguwar Get it, put it on, and lose yourself, Justin Vernon's voice of beauty and intimacy wins the listener over from the first spin of their self-titled record.
06. Kurt Vile - Smoke Ring for My Halo – Matador. The folksy/bluesy troubadour that is Kurt Vile take you on a journey through his life and back with Smoke ring for My Halo, like a car wreck you just can't look away.
05. Wilco - The Whole Love – dBpm/Epitaph. Jeff Tweedy dug deep into the Brian Wilson catalogue for The Whole Love, the layers of melodies and harmonies throughout will not let you stop listening to it for even just one second.
04. The Roots - Undun – Def Jam. The Roots continue their journey into musical History, Undun brings Hip-Hop back to its roots.
03. D-Sisive – Run With The Creeps – URBnet Communications. Listen to the lyrics and the beats as they're spread across the landscape of this record, it's DIY, it's PUNK, it's HIP-HOP, it's POETRY, Derek Christoff (D-Sisive) has nowhere to go but up.
02. Fucked Up - David Comes To Life – Matador. Thank You Damian, Mike, Ben, Sandy, Josh and Jonah…that's all that needs to be said about David Comes To Life.
01. David's Town - 11 Original Hits From Byrdesdale Spa, UK! – Matador. When I heard this was going to be released I was intrigued, now after more than 8 months of spinning this record over and over again I have to give it my pick for Record of The Year…it just blows everything else away. Guitarist Ben Cook says " its def up there with my fav fu releases. might be my favourite."
Daryl “Darko” Barnett’s Top 10 Albums of 2011
10. Kate Bush - 50 Words For Snow - ANTI-/Epitaph. Probably not nice to refer to her as a “Grand Dame”, but she is a classic in the body of long-term female singers. This work is more complex and emotional, and truthful than I expected to get from her.
09. Thee Oh Sees - Castlemania - In The Red. Reminds me of what members of Sonic Youth and Can may have sounded like if they were teenagers playing in a garage band together. Same kind of energy and excitement but they break the rules of containment that the 70s/80s imposed. Old blood transfusion into new century bodies, whoa!
08. Hull - Beyond The Lightless Sky - The End. Raw, pure energy metal that is not overproduced, yet played with such vibrancy and conviction that it makes you feel like marching to battle in rain and mud. Think of Sleep and High On Fire mixed in with Viking blood.
07. Peter Gabriel - New Blood - Real World/Universal. How is it possible to take old songs and make them sound like new songs without really rewriting them? You probably need to contemplate upon, meditate upon, and listen to your own songs over and over again until you hear how to make them sound better by breathing new spirit into them. Well done Peter!
06. The Kills - Blood Pressures - Domino. Sex. I’d try to say more, but after seeing The Kills perform live, all I ever think about when I listen to their music is of Allison and Jamie having sex together. Their music hypnotizes me. Entrances me. Sends me to another place. And it just keeps getting better.
05. Tom Waits - Bad As Me - ANTI-/Epitaph. You are supposed to slow down and become complacent when you get older, but Tom is getting stronger, louder, wiser, rowdier, and more adamant about growing older and being an ‘old shit kicker’ and not giving a damn about what anyone thinks. Listening to this incites me to be a better ‘shit kicker of an old man’.
04. Thee Oh Sees - Carrion Crawler - In The Red. The rawness of the “garage band” taken into the studio, but they don’t tone it down for the producers. They just make all of the psychotic energy pour into professional sounding containers. It’s just so tightly wound and flawless, like they’ve gotten lessons in composition from the masters.
03. Lou Reed & Metallica - Lulu - Warner Bros. I’ve needed something so off the wall like this to listen to very badly for a long time now. It’s obnoxious, it’s betrayal, it’s perverted, it’s drunken, and it’s “what the fuck” to the max. More power to you, boyos!
02. The Fall - Ersatz G.B. - Cherry Red. This takes me back to the rawness of Pere Ubu, the disrespectfulness of The Stranglers and the suaveness of P.I.L. of in the early Eighties. But this is new music. Childhood revisited, old age revitalized.
01. Opeth - Harvest - Roadrunner. This is the music that soothes the harsh edges of my soul. The metal still roars loud in the glens of Valhalla, but the soothing nectar of Okterfeldt’s voice and lyrics mature in tenor and wisdom.
Reissues:
Can - Tago Mago
U2 - Achtung Baby
Throbbing Gristle - D.O.A. The Third And Final Report Of Throbbing Gristle
Queen - Sheer Heart Attack
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Murder Ballads