Every year I struggle to come up with a year-end ‘best of’ list. I can never remember what actually came out in the current year, I’m convinced that I’m forgetting something crucial, and I just give up. This year I took a different approach. You see, while I purchase a hefty amount of records, I do most of my listening on my phone at work and I download everything that I purchase a physical copy of. This year I just hooked my phone up to iTunes, synched it, and sorted by most played albums, eliminated those albums that didn’t come out in 2011. These were the results:
A different level:
These are, in my opinion, the best records of 2011. They are 4 (technically 5) examples of artists at the top of their games and executing flawlessly.
In no particular order:
Colin Stetson – New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges [Constellation]I had never heard Colin Stetson’s music before this year; and after revisiting his earlier work after falling in love with this album, I can’t say that I was missing out. Stetson went from making highly competent, but ultimately uninteresting jazz, to combining elements of jazz and electronic music and producing the most exciting contemporary jazz record I’ve heard since Chris Corsano’s The Young Cricketer. But where Corsano experimented with often abrasive excursions into sax and drum solos, Stetson has managed to successfully balance the experimental and accessible. Most artists ultimately fail in their attempts to straddle this delicate line, because they do just that: straddle. Where this album succeeds is not attempting straddle, but rather embrace and indulge both sides of the coin--often in the same arrangement, and to stunning effect.
Total Control – Henge Beat [Iron Lung]In case you didn’t notice, 2011 was the year of Australia in underground music. This had been percolating for a few years now when bands like Naked on the Vague and Fabulous Diamonds starting getting run thanks to the legendary Siltbreeze label, but it came to a head this year. Total Control is a project compromised of members of other current Oz hit makers, such as Eddy Current Suppression Ring and The UV Race. Punk/dark synth/dark synth punk. You never knew what band to expect from Total Control on the handful of singles that they released prior to Henge Beat. Some releases were straight punk affairs, while another may be stone cold synth wave, and another combines elements of both. The pattern hold true on the band’s debut full length, as all 3 sides are prominent. While it must be extremely difficult to put together a cohesive album when exploring these different sides, what makes this record work is that the songs are just straight up great. Let the bidding war begin.
Royal Headache – Royal Headache [RIP Society]Another Australian band. See, I told you! Royal Headache stand out on this list in that of all the other albums listed, this is the one that least covers nay new ground, attempts to challenge, or even expand on an established sound. No, this is a straight pop/garage/punk record in the Rip Off Records mode, not unlike a band like the Marked Men. What makes this album stand out is simply how great the songs are, and frankly, how great the vocalist is. Seriously. He’s like a punk Billy Joel. You have to hear this voice. He often creates the melody of the hook, rather than the guitarist. This is THEE pop record of the year. The mere fact that I can even entertain the thought of including this album with the likes of the other albums listed should tell you how perfect this record is.
Andy Stott – Passed Me By EP / We Stay Together EP [Modern Love]You can call this cheating if you like, but both of these EPs get a nod and even feel like a cohesive album when played consecutively. I had liked Stott’s cold, minimal techno in the past, but he really stepped his game up in 201. He’s become a real master. These records are the aural equivalent of chasing a vicodin with a glass of red wine while lounging on mid century furniture in a dimly lit room. The cover art for booth records contributes to the mood, and while simple, they are two of my favorite example of record art this year. Lose Yourself. These are two records that any non-fan of electronic music needs to hear in 2011.
A notch below:
Austra – Feel It Break [Domino]Kate Bush+goth+synths
Shoppers – Silver Year [Drugged Conscience]Queer positive relentless punk in the Gravity Records mold
Peaking Lights – 936 [Not Not Fun]Hazy, druggy, ethereal bedroom moves with homemade electronics and dub bass lines
John Maus – We Must Become the Pitiless Censors of Ourselves [Ribbon]ec centric, minimal synth pop with fantastic vocals. Hate his interviews.
