Music Roundup: My Top 10 Albums of 2011

My (Always Subjective) Top 10 List:


Apocalypse - Bill Callahan
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: If Bill Callahan puts out a new record, it will be my favorite record of the year. That's not mere dedication to a songwriter I've favored for two decades, but rather an acknowledgment that he gets better with each passing year. I would argue that Apocalypse, the latest from Callahan, is as evocative and frankly spellbinding as any work in the artist's catalog.
Standout tracks: "Baby's Breath" and "Riding for the Feeling"

Undun - The Roots
A percussive, soulful concept album that somehow, impossibly, improves upon the band's prior successes. By my count, this is the tenth Roots record that is an unequivocal classic. Tenth. Can you name another contemporary group with those credentials? I can't.
Standout tracks: This is such a cohesive work, there's little point in highlighting specific tracks.

Bad as Me - Tom Waits
Arguably less ambitious than your average Tom Waits album (there's no song-cycle or high-concept narrative on this one), Bad as Me still offers just about everything you could possibly want from the artist at this stage of his career: guttural crooning, dusty blues, early R&B, rockabilly, and, yes, Keith Richards and Marc Ribot on guitar.
Standout tracks: "Raised Right Men", "Get Lost", and "Hell Broke Luce"

House of Balloons/Thursday - The Weeknd
House of Balloons is The Weeknd's proper full-length debut, and it justifiably received most of the accolades. But the mix-tape that followed it, Thursday, was a compelling listen in its own right. I'm including both in my top ten list, because I can. The lyrics on these recordings range from amusing to clumsy, but the sound is guaranteed to make you woozy. In a good way. (These two albums are only available as digital downloads from artist's Tumblr page.)
Standout tracks: "What You Need", "The Party and the After Party" and "Lonely Star"

Bon Iver - Bon Iver
This self-titled album is the proper follow-up to Justin Vernon's critically acclaimed debut, For Emma, Forever Ago. Vernon's gentle voice and impressionistic lyrics are still the focal point, but this record features a much fuller sound. I think I favor the intimacy of the earlier album, but Bon Iver has some excellent songs that benefit from the enhanced instrumentation.
Standout tracks: "Calgary" and "Minnesota, WI"

Black Up - Shabazz Palaces
Remember the '90s rap group Digable Planets? Doesn't matter. Even if you were familiar with that group, you'd probably never have guessed that Shabazz Palaces is the current project for former Digable Planets rapper Ishmael Butler. This is an astoundingly relevant and forward-looking album, particularly as it comes from an artist who has been in the business since the Clinton Administration.
Standout tracks: "A Treatease Dedicated to the Avian Airless from North East Nubis"

Demolished Thoughts - Thurston Moore
A solo outing from Sonic Youth singer/guitarist Thurston Moore, Demolished Thoughts is essentially a singer-songwriter album that sounds a lot like Sonic Youth. I find that to be a pretty irresistible combination. The songs are uniformly strong on this record, but they reach greatness thanks to the gorgeous production, courtesy of Beck.
Standout tracks: "Circulation" and "Orchard Street"

W.A.R. (We Are Renegades) - Pharoahe Monch
This may be the most focused, concise Monch album yet. His lyrical delivery is always a thing to behold, and his work on W.A.R. just might be up there with his revered solo debut.
Standout tracks: "W.A.R." and "Black Hand Side"

Hot Sauce Committee, Part 2 - Beastie Boys
I never thought I'd be including a Beastie Boys album in my top ten, but here we are. I've enjoyed Hot Sauce Committee more than any Beasties record since...the '90s? This is a record by a group of guys who know their strengths and actually sound like they're having a good time. Bonus points for collaborating with Nas on "Too Many Rappers". I would endorse an entire of album of Nas rhyming over Beastie Boys beats.
Standout tracks: "Make Some Noise" and "Too Many Rappers"

Father, Son, Holy Ghost - Girls
I'll be honest, the big over-the-top climaxes on Father, Son, Holy Ghost don't always pay off. But when they do... If you can appreciate the idea of a decidedly idiosyncratic songwriter going all out, you owe it to yourself to give this a listen.
Standout tracks: "Honey Bunny" and "Love Like a River"

Runners Up/Honorable Mentions:

The Family Sign - Atmosphere

El Camino - Black Keys

Deerhoof vs. Evil - Deerhoof

The Book of David - DJ Quik

No Kings - Doomtree

I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive - Steve Earle

Ceremonials - Florence + the Machine

Tell Me - Jessica Lea Mayfield

The Only She Chapters - Prefuse 73

Fear of God II: Let Us Pray - Pusha T

Shaolin vs. Wu-Tang - Raekwon

The Whole Love - Wilco

Wild Flag - Wild Flag

My Music Year: 1978

The Onion AV Club’s ongoing series My Music Year is a fairly straightforward concept ("In My Favorite Music Year, A.V. Club music writers choose the years that speak to them most deeply, however fresh in memory or far in the past."), but it's given me a lot to think about. While I’m intrigued by the idea of highlighting a particular year in music that has personal resonance, I'm having trouble committing to a specific year. It seems like every year has its riches and its dross, and I can't help feeling that to choose one year is to overlook another. As a means of bypassing this indecisiveness, I have decided to review my birth-year. I'm not sure how I hit on the idea, but I'm excited about exploring the year I was born for hints at my musical sensibilities. How much of the music released the year I was born would end up being a part of my life in one way or another? We shall see.

Take My Breath Away: Love Songs

I generally prefer my music to be sad, with the occasional twist of bitter, but that doesn't mean I don't occasionally fall for a nice love song. In honor of St. Valentine's Day, below is a list of some of my favorite romantic songs.  This is not a list of the greatest love songs of all time, so don't be offended that I didn't include "Take My Breath Away" or "In Your Eyes."  Also, the author is not responsible for the repercussions of putting any of these songs on a mix tape for your lady friend.

That Teenage Feeling- Neko Case
From: Fox Confessor Brings the Flood (2006).
Find it in the catalog!

This song nicely contrasts a skeptical, but mature outlook on love with a naive, but romantic teenage one:

Now that we've met, we can only laugh at these regrets
Common as a cold, They are telephone poles
They follow each other, one after another,
After another...
But now my heart is green, like weeds
Grown to outlive the season
And nothing comforts me the same
As my brave friend who says:
"I don't care if forever never comes,
Because I'm holding out for that teenage feeling."

Slow Show- The National
From: Boxer (2007). 
Find it in the catalog!

Like any song from the National, it's hard to tell exactly what it's about.  However, there definitely some angst in this song.  I couldn't help myself though, because there is a lot of sweetness in the song too:

I want to hurry home to you
Put on a slow, dumb show for you
and crack you up
So you can put a blue ribbon around my brain
God, I'm very very frightened
I'll over do it
You know I dreamed about you
For 29 years before I saw you
You know I dreamed about you
I missed you for, for 29 years

Johnsburg, Illinois/ Shore Leave- Tom Waits
From: Swordfishtrombones (1983). 
Find it in the catalog!

This is kind of a toss up for me.  Both songs are about his wife and from the same album.  But I'm leaning more towards "Johnsburg, Illinois," because I grew up in the next town over.  And that song is definitely the coolest thing about Johnsburg. 

She's my true love 
She's all that I think of
Look here is my wallet 
That's her 
She grew up on a farm there 
There is a place on my arm
Where I've written her name
Next to mine
(from "Johnsburg, Illinois")

And I wondered how the same moon outside
Over this Chinatown fair
Could look down on Illinois
And find you there
And you know I love you, baby
And I'm so far away from home
And I miss my baby so
And I can't make it by myself
I love you so
(from "Shore Leave")

Higher Power- Jonathan Richman.
From: I, Jonathan (1992). 
Find it in the catalog!

Jonathan may have a childlike outlook on romance and well, pretty much everything else, but he's awesome and this song will give you a case of the awwws...

They say that magic and the science world collide
But Einstein saw me looking at her and he joined my side
And I knew how it would be the way she hated me
And there must be a higher power somewhere

It's magic It's magic the way we got together
It's magic It's freedom, it's fair
It's magic It's magic no not at random
And there must be a higher power somewhere

Song obessions of the moment

Playing a track over and over again isn't that strange of a behavior for me.  Below are five tracks that I just can't seem to get enough of lately:

Katy Song" by the Red House Painters.  Found on: Retrospective (1999) and Lost Verses Live (2009).   I generally prefer to listen to Sun Kil Moon albums than to the Red House Painters, because I like my Mark Kozelek less angsty and more chill.  This song is definitely on the grim side of the spectrum, sample lyrics "glass on the pavement under my shoe/ without you, is all my life amounts to."  Still, I can't resist a good break-up song.  Plus the guitar vaguely reminds of the Smiths and I love the catchy closing melody.

"Mama's Eyes" by Justin Townes Earle.  Found on: Midnight at the Movies (2009).
I don't normally listen to country music, but I checked out Earle's most recent album Harlem River Blues (2010) and I enjoyed it.  So I decided to check out his earlier work too.  As a whole, I prefer Harlem River Blues, but Midnight at the Movies has more stand out tracks.  "Mama's Eyes" will ring true for anyone who has a somewhat complicated relationship with a parent, which is to say almost everyone.


 



 "Dance Yrself Clean" by LCD Soundsystem.  Found on: This is Happening (2010).  Recently, I saw LCD Soundsystem in concert.  Since then, I've been revisiting their albums. This song is a lengthy nine minutes, but it doesn't stop me from playing it at least twice every time I listen to that album.  This track would make a nice addition to any party mix, as it's hard not to dance along to- even while driving.

"Falling Down" by Tom Waits.  Found on: Big Time (1988) and Glitter and Doom Live (2009). I'm more of a casual Waits listener than some of the Media Corner staff (cough, cough).  However, my iTunes Shuffle cannot get enough of Waits; especially if I'm in a bad mood and skipping lots of songs, so this track fits perfectly.  Waits's distinctive, gravelly sounding, whiskey-aged voice improves with time, so I highly recommend the Glitter and Doom-version.

"Cry When You Get Older" by Robyn.  Found on:  Body Talk, Part 1 (2010).  I've been a fan of both the all ready released parts of the Body Talk series by Swedish pop star Robyn.  However, this anthem is my pick for best of song from the series so far.  It's rare for a heartbreak song to also be catchy, upbeat and fun to singalong to (though not for Robyn).

Tom Waits: Selected Highlights, Pt. 2

It's been a while since my initial post on this topic, Tom Waits: Selected Highlights, Pt. 1. Given the breadth of work in the artist's canon, I knew I'd be back for a followup eventually. Here's another five songs that strike me as outstanding examples of the peculiar genius in possession of Tom Waits and his wife and co-writer Kathleen Brennan.

Selected Highlights, continued...

Tom Waits: Selected Highlights, Pt. 1

You can make a pretty strong argument for Tom Waits as one of the superlative lyrical craftsmen in popular music. Along with Bob Dylan, and no more than a handful of other preeminent songwriters, Waits has mined earlier musical forms for inspiration while creating a distinctive lyrical style. No less distinctive is his voice; a whiskey-soaked instrument that can go from a bark to whisper. For some listeners, this voice is a deal-breaker. Admirers of intelligent, literate music who just can't get past the Tom Waits wheeze are encouraged to check out John Hammond's collection of Tom Waits covers, Wicked Grin.

What follows is an overview of songs that emphasize particular strengths of Tom Waits songwriting. They also happen to be personal favorites of mine. Tom Waits has been recording since the early 1970s, so his catalog is pretty extensive. You can expect a follow-up to this selection of highlights.