Favorite 10 Albums of 2011

So it took a while to set up this list but at the end it came up to what I listened to the most this year while enjoying it. Again, this is based on my own opinion and despite Spotify having almost every album worth listening to while also purchasing tons of stuff, I did not get a chance to really listen to everything. So...

10. Gang Gang Dance - Eye Contact

Pretty great album all around. Effortlessly blends all different kinds of sounds (electronic, jam, etc.) into one cohesive unique sound that also translates well live.
 Gang Gang Dance - Glass Jar by rezvanm

9. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues

I gotta be honest, I really thought that these guys were not going to be anywhere close to matching the brilliance from their previous album and EP. I was wrong, they pretty much matched it.
 Fleet Foxes - Montezuma by gypsysphere

8. WU LYF - Go Tell Fire To the Mountain 

What can I say about this album? It pretty much came out of nowhere and I fell in love with it pretty fast. I could hardly understand what the songs were saying, but they were incredibly captivating. A+ you guys!
 Wu Lyf - We Bros by WU LYF

7. Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Unknown Mortal Orchestra

Did you guys hear this? My brother really got into them sometime this summer and I was like "who??" But when I heard them I saw what my brother had been geeking about. Excellent album that's also really fun to hear.
 Unknown Mortal Orchestra-FFunny Frendss by josiahmfilm

6. Girls - Father, Son, Holy Ghost

I REALLY wanted to hate this album. I have a reason. Sirius XMU plays the shit out of these guys, a lot. It came to the point that I was exhausted of listening to stuff from their previous releases. Also it took me a really long time to get used to the guy's voice. This album is different though. It seems more elaborate, while it also sounds like stuff we've all heard before. I ended up really liking this album despite all of what I mentioned earlier.

 Girls - Vomit by artsandcraftsmx

5. St. Vincent - Strange Mercy

I really enjoy St. Vincent despite what others (Hipster Runoff) say about her music. I really liked her previous two albums and I had 'Actor' in my top 10 of 2009 I believe. If not then pretty close to the top 10. This album continues Annie Clark's impressive career by making her strongest album yet in my opinion.
 St. Vincent - Cruel by Posh Magazine

4. M83 - Hurry Up, We're Dreaming

I wasn't crazy about the double-album idea, but I told myself "what the hell, if anybody nowadays could pull it off, it would be M83". Well I didn't exactly say that, but "Midnight City" totally got me onboard for this album. Add the Zola Jesus appearance for "Intro" and I was sold. I went out to my record store, paid the ~$20 for the CD and chilled the rest of the day in my room exploring this album. Did not disappoint.
 M83 - Intro (Feat. Zola Jesus) by edin2sun

3. Wild Flag - Wild Flag

 I thought listening to this album would only make me realize how much I miss Sleater-Kinney, but nope, no way, this album stood on its own and made me realize how talented these women are. Not to mention it always gets me pumped up to see Portlandia clips on Youtube too.

 Wild Flag - Romance by Wichita Recordings

2. Real Estate - Days

I spent a good portion of time looking for one weak track, and did not find it. Highly listenable, it caught me off guard on how good it was after it came out near the same time M83s epic did. Their debut was good, but this was just excellent. Way to go Real Estate guys on such a good album!!
 Real Estate - It's Real by DominoRecordCo



and for #1....


1. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake

When I heard last year that album would be releasing a new album in early 2011 I was super happy, and I remember thinking that its February release was so far away. Well February came around and I heard the album and was blown away. Too good. Listening to lyrics about soldiers falling like lumps of meat to this sort of happy sounding tunes, too good. Sets the standard for what is considered a war album. Easily my number one.
 PJ Harvey - The Words That Maketh Murder by Vagrant Records


Yay good year you guys!! High fives all around and hope you drink tons of eggnog and get the presents you guys want for the Holidays!!

My TOP 10 SONGS of 2011

Wow this list was pretty fucking tough to make. Thankfully I had Spotify to check out as most songs/albums as I could this year which helped in making this list without feeling guilty about not listening to heavy contenders. Regardless, this list was VERY impossible to make considering the year we've had with so many good tracks. People are bound to get pissed about not including certain tracks, just as I have with many lists so far this year. I mean, has anybody seen Rolling Stone's top 10 songs of the year??? Jeez there's only like 2 songs in there that deserved a top 50 spot. Lets start off with some that didn't make it that I heavily considered:

Radiohead - Lotus Flower
Kurt Vile - Jesus Fever
Youth Lagoon - Afternoon
Real Estate - Green Aisles
WU LYF - Dirt
Zola Jesus - Seekir
Purity Ring - Belispeak
Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Ffunny Ffrends
Neon Indian - Polish Girl
Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks - Senator
EMA - California
Tune-Yards - Gangsta
SBTRKT - Wildfire (feat. Yukumi Nagano)
Smith Westerns - Weekend
PJ Harvey - The Words the Maketh Murder 

If I were to have made a longer list I would have included those, but I'm not a pro-blogger so yeah I'll keep my list at Ten.

The next ten songs were my personal favorites throughout the year, I know I'm missing some that were really good but this is a list of MY favorite songs, and in no way does that mean that they're supposed to be the 10 best songs of the year. I'm not a music critic. SO:


10. Lykke Li - I Follow Rivers

Yay, Lykke Li did not disappoint this year with this album. 'I Follow Rivers' was the song that most stood out to me as being the strongest from a strong album. Everything that Lykke Li is good at is highlighted in this song.


9. Wild Flag - Romance

I'm in love with Carrie Brownstein. Seriously though it's a fun song that just sort of kicks ass. Recalls some of Sleater-Kinney's best songs while not treading too much on nostalgia, which is a fancy way of saying, I think, that it also sounds new and original.


8. St. Vincent - Cruel

I did not think I was going to like St. Vincent's album at all. But I did, and this song was my personal favorite from that album. Again Annie Clark demonstrates that she is an absolute monster at guitar and songwriting.


7. Gang Gang Dance - Mindkilla

I told my friend about this band before Pitchfork Music Festival this year, so he saw them when he went and absolutely fell in love with them. I even got my mother to like this song, and she's one of those Frankie Vallie type, 60s pop, listeners. This song had so much going on, yet somehow it all works.

6. Holy Ghost! - Wait and See

Every time I hear this song I want to dance. We lost LCD Soundsystem this year, but we also gained these guys who, while they're not as good as LCD, yet, they bring the same sort of fun atmosphere to the table with this song.

5. Washed Out - Amor Fati

What can I say about Chillwave? Not a big fan when I first hear Neon Indian and Toro y Moi last year, but this year I finally "got it." Neon Indian had a great year but I think Washed Out takes the cake and trophy as the Chillwave artist of the year.


 4. White Denim - Street Joy

I really think this song is pretty underrated. I think Gorilla Vs Bear is the only blog I've seen that loved this track as much as I did. Sounds like the soundtrack to one of my dreams.

3. Battles - Ice Cream

This Battles is not the same Battles that gave us Atlas, but it is still pretty damn good. Ice Cream showed that even without Tyondai Braxton Battles still had some 'Battle' left (sorry for the shitty pun).

2. Girls - Honey Bunny

Near perfect album with this near perfect song.

1. M83 - Midnight City

Perfect song from a perfect album. The saxophone solo? Pretty ridiculous. Loved this song, and I never got tired of hearing it.

My Favorite 10 Albums of 2k10

My final exams are finally done and I now have time so that I can finally post my top 10 albums of 2010. As with the songs, these are not necessarily the "BEST" albums but certainly my favorites. I'm not a music critic, if I was I'd apply to Rolling Stone to remind them its not 1967 anymore, but whatever. I did not get a chance to listen to every album that came out this year, which included high-profile albums like Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti, or Sufjan's new electronic sounding album. It was a pretty difficult decision to rank all the good music that came out this year but I think that this is pretty much how I ended up feeling about the albums. So.... here they are:

          10.  Joanna Newsom - Have One on Me

                                                                      

Much like politics, religion, coffee and Twilight (team Edward vs Jacob) Joanna Newsom tends to divide people. Those who find her voice completely annoying and would prefer to hear a new Justin Bieber song over a minute of her singing, and those who seem to enjoy her voice. I find myself in the latter group. I first discovered Joanna with Y's late last year and didn't know what to make of her at first. Eventually, much like coffee, after repeated listens I begin to appreciate her and her songs. A couple of months later Have One on Me came out and immediately began to like what I heard. Good Intentions Paving Company was completely different from what she had done in Y's. This album feels like a long journey through the woods, finding new stuff every time you make the trip. 

 9. Wavves - Post Acid

The ultimate summer album. The songs are catchy and the lyrics aren't as simple as Best Coast's. Really enjoyed this one this Summer. From the super catchy 'King of the Beach' to the more emotional 'Green Eyes' this album gets number 9 on my list.

8. Warpaint - The Fool



If I had to describe this album in two words I would choose 'hypnotic' and 'beautiful'. I discovered this band late last year with their incredible EP 'Exquisite Corpse' and immediately fell in love with this band. I must have listened to the EP an unnatural amount of times, then I saw them live which exceeded my expectations of a live show, and then this fall they finally released their full length LP. While not as good as their EP, The Fool is still a masterpiece of beauty with hypnotic chants from these fine LA ladies. The album captures the magic of their live shows and can I say enough about how good their drummer is? NME had it right when they went crazy over this album.

   7. Janelle Monáe - The ArchAndroid

Usually I'm not into R&B but holy shit was this album awesome! It was incredible how easily and effortlessly Janelle can change genre in a single CD from the Michael Jacksonish 'Locked Inside'  to the punk 'Cold War' to the funky  'Tight Rope' this album never bores. Not only that but add the nice little 'Clair de Lune' sample at the end and this is a party. Energetic and fun.

      6. Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles (II)



Is there any chick more bad ass than Alice Glass?? Seriously, she's the desktop background in my computer. Crystal Castles expand their music style from the harsh and brutal songs that highlighted their excellent debut, to more of a mellow sound on this one. 'Celestica' (my #1 tune this year) was pure bliss. And they still have a couple of tunes here that will satisfy those who found their first albums brutality awesome. Crystal Castles have adopted beauty and it is awesome.

5. The National - High Violet

I discovered these guys a couple of years ago with their album 'Boxer' which I though was one of the most depressing yet beautiful things ever. A few years later, and here I am giving praise to High Violet. While still depressing, it is a bit happier sounding than their previous releases 'Alligator' and 'Boxer' (haven't gotten my hands on their other albums yet). 'Bloodbuzz Ohio' was the song everyone was talking about while my personal favorite was 'Afraid of Everyone' with its paranoid lyrics. Had a chance to see them twice this year, once in Lollapalooza but I ended up having to go take a break and buy some water after being in the middle of a mosh for nearly four hours so I missed them there (completely regret missing them) and then once again when they came to Indianapolis but I had to attend a class thing that same day.

  

  4. Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest

Yeah possibly the best album to wake up to and to relax to. God this album was incredible, but then again it is Deerhunter so it is expected that this album would be awesome. The hypnotizing melodies to Cox's vocals make this album feel incredibly warm and welcoming. I don't understand why so many Deerhunter albums have dismissed this album as weaker than Microcastle, I feel that this is a better album... but that's just me.

                                                        

                 3. LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening

Ultimate hipster dance album. The brainless 'Drunk Girls' is fun (top 10 tunes) and serves as a nice little single to the otherwise 7minuteish songs on this album. This is supposedly LCDs final album but I really doubt that claim. This album sounds like too much fun for James Murphy to permanently shelf the group. 'I Can Change' is another incredible song on this album that really channels 80s dance music to lyrics about love gone bad. Makes me wish that I'd be as cool as James Murphy when I'm his age.

   2. Arcade Fire - The Suburbs

Nobody does concept albums like Arcade Fire does. This time they have chosen the theme of life in the suburbs, a topic which I'm very well familiar with, living in the conservative northern suburbs of Indianapolis. This album is nostalgic for old days in the suburbs. It also deals with the life and boredom of the suburbs, something I relate to easily. And the actual music is incredible. 'Rococo' 'Sprawl II', amazing. 

     1. Beach House - Teen Dream

No surprise here unless your a Kanye fan. Beach House hands down made my favorite album of the year. The melancholy in this album makes it emotionally heavy. The vocals are haunting and beautiful, while the bending notes make it complete. This was my first exposure to the Baltimore duo and they completely surprised me with their sound and made me question myself as to how I had not heard about them before. Listening to this album is really a lot like being in a dream, a blissful dream that you don't want to wake up from.

So there ya go. My favorite 10 Albums of the year. Honorable mentions include Black Keys, Gorillaz, No Age, Broken Bells (highly underrated everywhere), Yeasayer, and yes... Kanye had a pretty decent album which would have been better without Rhiannah ruining shit. And  I actually liked Best Coast despite the album sounding like a long 30 minute song. Locally Margot and the Nuclear So & So's had a very good album as well.

Disappointed with Blonde Redhead, I was expecting more after '23' and I was also disappointed with MGMT and The New Pornographers.

Cheers for a good 2011!!

                                                                    

MY "Top" 10 Tracks for 2010

Here is a list that I have compiled of what were my favorite 10 tracks this year. This list is not which songs are the best or anything like that, just songs that I enjoyed listening to this year. I wanted to see if there was a way to make some of them downloadable but I'm hopeless with technology and have no idea how to do it. The list itself was pretty difficult to make and I could be forgetting a song or two that I didn't consider but this is as good as I'm gonna get it so here it  is:

1. Crystal Castles - Celestica


2. Beach House - Norway


3. Warpaint - Undertow


4. LCD Soundsystem - Drunk Girls


5. Arcade Fire - Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)


6. Joanna Newsom - Good Intentions Paving Company


7. Menomena - Five Little Rooms


8. Fol Chen - In Ruins


9. Cults - Go Outside


10. Cee Lo - Fuck You