Albums That I Love:
I Would Distinguish the Following Five Albums as “Must Listen”:
PJ Harvey: Let England Shake
Let England Shake is (to me) a fascinating record. A meditation on Harvey’s mother nation through its history of conflict, LES is rife with sonic and historical allusions, and haunting imagery. On this album, the execution matches the concept. To my mind, a record like Let England Shake exemplifies the concept of an album being “more than the sum of its parts”.
Radiohead: The King of Limbs
The King of Limbs is a story for any number of reasons. It was long known that Radiohead was to release
a record at some point in 2011, but nobody imagined that they would casually tweet the news of the new album’s release not 24 hours before it hit the internet for download. I found tKoL to be a difficult record to unpack. But for me, the record’s difficulty is a strength. Clocking in at just eight songs and a hair over 37 minutes, and split in half, no less, with “feral”, an “instrumental” track with jerky rhythms and animalesque vocal noises (bringing to mind a similarly jarring mid-album track – “Fitter, Happier” from Radiohead’s own OK Computer), tKoL strikes one as being immediately up to something strange. It sounds jarringly inorganic compared to their last record (In Rainbows) – with the drumming and beats in particular taking a turn for the weird. Take the time to unwrap the record, however, and you will be rewarded with a true gem, a taut, polished, fascinating 37 minutes. If In Rainbows was Radiohead’s return to O.K. Computer, The King of Limbs is their return to Kid A.
tUnE-yArDs: w h o k i l l
I almost felt compelled to avoid Merrill Garbus’ most recent effort due entirely to her band’s heinously stupid typography. Alas, the din around w h o k i l l reached a feverish enough pitch that I couldn’t, in good conscience continue to ignore it. I’m quite glad I ultimately got over judging this particular book by its cover, because w h o k i l l is the single most original record that I have heard all year. Garbus’ protean vocals and her equally broad imagination are the backbone of the record. Garbus bounces through genres and influences on this record, using a stable of unique instruments (she does more with a ukulele than I ever could have personally imagined) and production techniques (magical vocal and drum loops) to astonishing effect. I suspect that this might be a bit sonically extreme for many listeners. For me, personally, this record strikes the perfect balance between the jarring and the melodic.
Fleet Foxes: Helplessness Blues
Robin Pecknold & co. return with their sophomore effort and it is every bit as good as their eponymous debut. Fleet Foxes write beautiful songs and they execute them to near perfection. They haven’t expanded upon their sound much beyond that of their debut record, and they continue to sound like they could be comfortable in a bygone era, but with execution this immaculate, there is little need for sonic expansion. They do what they do extraordinarily well, and to my mind, there is plenty of room in the current musical scene for them to keep doing it.
Bon Iver: Bon Iver
Bon Iver – often accredited as singer/songwriter Justin Vernon – is back with his second full-length since his 2008 debut (as Bon Iver): For Emma, Forever Ago. This time around, Vernon has teamed with a veritable stable of musicians, and has expanded his sound considerably. When I initially listened to for Emma… I didn’t get it. So I was not amongst the fans who had been long awaiting Vernon’s sophomore effort. I actually fell in love with for Emma… after hearing – and loving – this new record. Vernon proves on Bon Iver that his music can stand on its own, needing no romantic backstory of spending a month recording in a cabin. His falsetto is immediately striking. When I first heard it in ’08 it struck me as off-putting; as pretentious and kitschy. Listening to it with new ears, on this record, I can see why others have found it so compelling: it is beautiful. In the intervening years, Vernon has found his way into soundscapes to match. Here he has engineered a beautiful and compelling record that feels to me like basking in an ocean of warm, melancholic nostalgia.
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Albums That I Like:
Raphael Saadiq: Stone Rollin'
Stone Rollin’ is a great record. R&B and Neo-Soul are not generally my bread and butter, but Saadiq here channels the last half-century of African-Americana, and he does it with extraordinary panache and conviction.
Panda Bear: Tomboy
Tomboy is a record that I find boring at times. But it is never the kind of boring I find myself compelled to shy away from. Panda Bear engineers little bathtubs full of noises that I am more than pleased to bathe in. He continues to live up to the mantle of 21st century Brian Wilson (of the Beach Boys, not of the SF Giants). Even when I am bored, I am pleased.
Lykke Li: Wounded Rhymes
Wounded Rhymes is a record that beats hard. That, primarily, is what attracts me to it. First and foremost, this is a fun listen. I love drums, and this album does drums brilliantly. I have seen the criticism leveled that Li does not have a particularly great voice. Compared to the major female releases of the year – Beyoncé, Adele, Lady Gaga – that would be hard to argue, but that is some stiff competition, and where Li perhaps lacks the raw chops, she makes up for by being plenty otherwise compelling. Wounded Rhymes is not a great record. It is not a masterpiece. But it is plenty worth listening to. I find that it has stuck with me.
Cults: Cults
I found myself wanting to dislike this record on principle. It feels to me too self-consciously hip. It comes out with its weird reverb-y production and feels to me like it’s trying to conjure this weird Phil-Specter-y kind of retro vibe. Put those feelings aside, however, and it is plain to see that Cults have put together a compelling debut. It’s solid start to finish, with a great pop sensibility glossing over some creepy undertones (i.e. “I knew right then that I’d been abducted” sung over what feels to me like some nice, happy, sunny-day music.) There is a unique pleasure in this tension.
Beyoncé: 4
Beyoncé might not be “Sasha Fierce” but I’ll be goddamned if she isn’t fierce. The girl can flat sing. I have only made it thru a few spins of this disc, but I’m a huge fan. Perhaps it’s inconsistent and the composition of the disc from start to finish is non-traditional. But Beyoncé slays, and the production is plenty good enough to keep me personally compelled. You can listen to it here for free (at least for the moment).
Paul Simon: So Beautiful or So What
Paul Simon is 70 years old and the dude still kills it. One of the greatest pop-song writers of all time (imo) continues to prove that he deserves his place amongst the greatest of them. I love the textures on this album and on the guitars in particular.
Elbow: Build a Rocket Boys!
I am a huge Elbow fan. This is not my favorite Elbow record. It feels to me a little bloated and inconsistent, particularly in the middle. Nevertheless, it is another solid outing and well worth listening to. It is not without missteps, but its highs are plenty high to warrant a listen. To paraphrase one of my favorite album reviews of the year: “Elbow continue to write songs that feel like they care, very personally.”
Adele: 21
Adele is a powerhouse. 21 is a pop album that doesn’t even need to be a “guilty pleasure”. It’s a pop-album that’s plenty good enough to be appreciated by music fans of all ilk. She backs up her two excellent singles (and two of my very favorite songs of the year) with some other “contemporary standards”. This feels to me like the year of the Pop Diva.
Big K.R.I.T. : The Return of 4eva
Probably my favorite rap record of the year. K.R.I.T. rips it with a conscience and with the production chops to keep things compelling. Oh, and by the way, it alleges to be a “mix-tape”. You can get it free and legal here.
CLDSCP: Niños azules
I feel like my Spanish isn’t good enough to justify me having this record so high on my list. I heard their track “Encanto” on NPR’s Alt-Latino show, and was quite taken. I youtube’d the band and saw that many of their songs had fewer than a hundred plays. I felt like I had stumbled upon a sincerely best kept secret. These two manage to pull off an indie sound that still feels cute and personal and really tickles my own personal fancy. You can download both of their albums free and legal at their site: here.
The Antlers: Burst Apart
The Antlers made a lot of noise with their last record Hospice, with which, if you’re unfamiliar, I’ll let you google the backstory of. Suffice to say it was emotionally and conceptually pretty weighty stuff. I saw them open for the National last year and I was quite impressed. I listened to Hospice, and kind of loved the idea, and hated the production. The production on this record plays much more to my own personal taste. Burst Apart still has a lot of emotional weight, without collapsing under the pressures built up from their last record. Despite my distaste for their drummer, it also has some pretty great noises. A nice little record.
TV on the Radio: Nine Types of Light
Nine Types of Light is TV on the Radio’s most accessible and pop-friendly record to date. To my taste, this isn’t a great thing. If given the choice, I’d take Dear Science, any day of the week. Nevertheless, NToL is a solid outing. One can forgive a band with such a daring sound for pulling closer to the musical center. They still have plenty of good ideas, and hooks to boot.
Saigon: The Greatest Story Never Told
I first encountered this album after I had already written this whole thing about my favorite albums of the year (so far). Fortuitously enough, I hadn’t yet posted the thing, and am now able to sneak this disc onto the list. I haven’t been able to listen to this record a huge amount yet, but I few spins in, I’m really into it. This is right up there with Big K.R.I.T.’s Return of 4eva as my favorite rap/hip-hop album of the year. Big production, and tight flows. It feels conspicuously mainstream, but it’s damn good mainstream rap.
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Albums that I Like (with reservations):
King Creosote & Jon Hopkins: Diamond Mine
Not my own personal favorite record of the year, but more than beautiful enough to warrant mention on this list. It’s short, and it’s damn beautiful. Pastoral and idyllic. This is Bob Boilen (of NPR music)’s favorite record of the year (so far), and I agree with him that it’s a great Sunday morning spin.
Julianna Barwick: The Magic Place
Again (as above), this is not my favorite record of the year from any pure aesthetic perspective. But it is more than interesting enough to merit mention. Barwick evidently does much of her recording with little more than her voice and a recorder which she uses to loop it [her voice]. The result is harrowing and beautiful and fascinating (if sometimes frustrating and genuinely boring (not good- boring i.e.Panda Bear’s Tomboy (though it is often that-boring as well))). The latter half of the record picks up a bit production-wise, and plays more to my own aesthetic preferences (check out track 8: “Prizewinning”). An interesting listen either way.
Lady Gaga: Born This Way
I’m on the fence about Lady Gaga’s latest record. I was genuinely enamored of much of the Fame and the Fame Monster. Here, I can’t help but feel like she’s taking some sort of aesthetic step back. As noted in this excellent article from the New Yorker re: the “three women who run the pop world right now” [Gaga, Beyoncé, Adele], ““Born This Way” is a brick. Examine the sound-wave form of the album on a computer screen, and you will see a solid bar, free of any dynamic spikes or divots. Loud loud loud.” This is what, to me, is the hardest part of the record to stomach. It’s a long, loud album, one that I find personally tiresome to listen to straight through. When it’s good, it’s great. Gaga remains a more-than-capable and interesting musician and figure. I just can’t help but feel like she could have put together a more artfully crafted album.
The Weeknd: House of Balloons
House of Balloons is metacritic’s surprise top-rated album of the year so far. It’s good, but to my mind, it’s not that good. The Weeknd is a talent to keep an eye on. This album certainly evokes the sound of countryman Drake. It’s emotionally compelling. It’s a bit down-tempo and one-note for my own taste. Also technically a mixtape. Free and legal here.
Frank Ocean: Nostalgia, ULTRA
Frank Ocean of the absurdly/stupidly and pretentiously named OFWG KTA who I had yet to encounter (until hearing Ocean himself) has evidently already made a name for himself as a song-writer at the tender age of 23 (this is the kind of thing that makes me deeply jealous, mind you) for Bieber, Beyoncé, Brandy, and John Legend. His chops are on full display here on his debut mixtape. He does his own renditions (with words all his own) of Coldplay’s Strawberry Swing and The Eagles’ Hotel California. Free and legal here.
And So I Watch You from Afar: Gangs
I’m generally not into the guitar-heavy instrumental stuff. I’ll occasionally flirt with electronica or orchestral stuff, but rarely with anything of this nature. Thus, I have little room to offer judgment. I like it enough for what it is.
Diego Garcia: Laura
Haven’t listened to it enough. Sounds a lot to me like the Shins. I feel like there’s a lot of emotional depth on this record, I just haven’t been fully exposed enough yet.
Gang Gang Dance: Eye Contact
This album is weird and cool, but I doubt I’ll ever have the patience to listen to it enough to speak more intelligently to it.
Shabazz Palaces: Black Up
I have listened to this a few times, and I’m not sure I get it. I might never get it. It feels to me like a logical extension of Madvillain’s staple Madvillainy, but caliber-wise, it comes nowhere close. It’s certainly one of the more interesting hip-hop ideas to have come out since Madvillain. Execution-wise, however, I’m still not sold. I’d still recommend you give it a listen if you’re into that sort of thing. It’s certainly garnered a lot of buzz so far. See for yourself if that buzz is warranted.
Iron & Wine: Kiss Each Other Clean
Death Cab For Cutie: Codes and Keys
My Morning Jacket: Circuital
Eisley: The Valley
Bright Eyes: The People's Key
All of the above records are from bands that I have previously had some sort of love affair with. Thus, my context is pretty heavily tainted. I’m not sure if it’s me or if it’s them. Most of these albums are compelling enough. Each has at least a few songs that I like quite a bit. But I can’t point to any of these albums in particular as one that has really caught my ear yet at this point in the year (the same kind of holds for the new Decemberists record which I’m pretty sure I’ve listened to, but can’t even honestly remember – to offer how much it might have penetrated my consciousness).
Rather than creating another, separate note (at least for the moment), I have also created a youtube channel for my favorite songs of the year. You may reach that here: goo.gl/tvsQr
