We still have plenty of time and music left in 2011, but since we’re at the halfway (or so) mark, we thought it made sense to pause and take stock of the best albums of the year so far. There was some science behind the final tally: Each one of us made a list and assigned points to the records on it; Scott handled the complex mathematics and figured out the exact rankings based on those results. (Not all the bands each one of us voted for made it onto the Top 20, so we’ve also included smaller lists of personal, excluded favorites.)
Things to consider: We didn’t include any albums that haven’t surfaced (aka “leaked”) on any larger scale as of yet (see: Beirut). We also didn’t include deeply underground metal or noise: You’ll notice a couple of metal bands on the Top 20 (and one noise project) — all are groups we believe have crossed over enough into the non-metal/noise dialogue/iPod and make sense for inclusion. (For a more extensive metal-specific list, you’ll have to wait for Haunting The Chapel to get its act together.)
Take a look, and let us know what we missed.
20 Puro Instinct – Headbangers In Ecstasy (Mexican Summer)
19 Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues (Sub Pop)
18 Liturgy – Aesthetica (Thrill Jockey)
17 Toro Y Moi – Underneath The Pine (Carpark)
16 Krallice – Diotima (Profound Lore)
15 Yuck – Yuck (Fat Possum)
14 Destroyer – Kaputt (Merge)
13 Smith Westerns – Dye It Blonde (Fat Possum)
12 Prurient – Bermuda Drain (HydraHead)
11 Pure X – Pleasure (Acephale)
10 Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Unknown Mortal Orchestra (Fat Possum)
09 The Weeknd – House Of Balloons (self-released)
08 PJ Harvey – Let England Shake (Island)
07 Adele – 21 (XL)
06 Pictureplane – Thee Physical (Lovepump United)
05 Fucked Up – David Comes To Life (Matador)
04 Iceage – New Brigade (Dais)
03 Austra – Feel It Break (Domino/Paper Bag)
02 Gang Gang Dance – Eye Contact (4AD)
01 Bon Iver – Bon Iver, Bon Iver (Jagjaguwar)
You can read our original review of Bon Iver, Bon Iver here.
And our favorite EPs of the year so far…
03 Laurel Halo – Hour Logic (Hippos In Tanks)
02 Holy Other – WITH U (Tri Angle)
01 Clams Casino – Rainforest (Tri-Angle)
//
Finally, six albums from each of us that didn’t make the final album list. Unranked…
Scott
Tom Vek – Leisure Seizure (Island)
Ford & Lopatin – Channel Pressure (Software)
Bill Callahan – Apocolypse (Drag City)
tUnE-yArDs – w h o k i l l (4AD)
Beyoncé – 4 (Columbia)
Washed Out – Within And Without (4AD)
Amrit
SBTRKT – SBTRKT (XL)
Beyoncé – 4 (Columbia)
Julianna Barwick – The Magic Place (Asthmatic Kitty)
Cold Cave – Cherish The Light Years (Matador)
The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart – Belong (Slumberland)
Dirty Beaches – Badlands (Zoo)
Brandon
Julianna Barwick – The Magic Place (Asthmatic Kitty)
Tim Hecker – Ravedeath, 1972 (Kranky)
Grouper – A I A (Self-Released)
The Caretaker – An Empty Bliss Beyond This World (History Always Favours The Winners)
Cold Cave – Cherish The Light Years (Matador)
Zomby – Dedication (4AD)
//
Who’s on your list?
You Might Also Like
 Download Stereogum’s Cruel Summer 2011 Mix |  Stereogum’s 40 Best New Bands of 2011 |  The Gummy Awards: Your Top 10 Albums Of 2011 |  Stereogum Monthly Mix: June 2011 |
 |
 |
Leave a Reply
Sign in Sign in with FacebookYou must be logged in to post, reply to, or rate a comment.
Stereogum, Ima let you finish, but Fleet Foxes had one of the best albums of all time. All-time!
Is it just me or does every indie blog pick a few random lo-fi noisy indie pop albums to through in with the good stuff? Is it for indie cred?
Nice list, thank you for including krallice and liturgy.
+
Panda Bear
James Blake
J. Mascis
Radiohead
-
T.V. on the Radio’s new album was worthy of a monogrammed bathrobe.
Cults and Foster the People should be acknowledged as corn syrup, not music.
This list need a serious “Double Take”!!!!!!
Really surprised not to see Tune Yards on there. Also, what the hell is this Adele crap? Shit sounds like Sarah McGlaglahan (pretty sure that’s how you spell it).
F*ckin’ Adele? You guys obviously don’t know jacksh*t.
Yuck should have been a lot higher. Do you actually listen to any of these?
It’s not so much the inclusion of Adele, but more that she’s on this list and Radiohead isn’t.
Can anyone truly say they prefer Adele to Radiohead?
My brother says the Puro Instinct songs sounds like a Debbie Gibson cover. I tend to agree.
Not a very good list…any good links to alternative lists?
Posted mine below. http://auralfood.blogspot.com/
No love for Akron/Family?
Iron and Wine!
I am pleased with this list although I would have liked to see Smother on it.
Also, it makes me a little sad that only like two people mentioned Iron and Wine.
At the risk of sounding repetitive, WHERE IN THE FUCK IS JAMES FUCKING BLAKE????!!!!!!!
1) Eefje De Visser – De Koek
2) James Blake – id.
3) Jamie Woon – Mirrorwriting
4) Bon Iver – Bon Iver
5) Destroyer – Kaputt
Biggest disappointments:
Death Cab for Cutie – Codes and Keyes
Architecture in Helsinki – Moment Bends
Starfucker-reptilians
Blue Scholars-Cinemetropolis
And And And- Life Ruiner
SBTRKT – SBTRKT
Cults-Cults
should all be up thurr
I have to confess that I have listened to a lot of the new music listed here, but here are my top my favorite albums based on the frequency of listens:
1. Smith Westerns – Dye It Blonde
2. Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues
3. Rome – Danger Mouse and Daniele Luppi (Why is there no love for it? It’s amazing and transports you to the world Spaghetti Westerns)
4. James Blake (Stereogum oversight. Lindisfarne alone should put the album in the top 20)
5. Destroyer – Kaputt
Also, have not listened to the Bon Iver album, but I am loving Calgary.
James Blake and tUnE-yArDs
The visual of Justin Vernon’s face is clearly a parody of Tyler The Creator’s album Goblin. WHY isn’t that album on this top 20, or even on the list of those who didn’t quite make the list? SEVERAL of those bands are garbage, but to each their own I suppose? That KID, Tyler, writes his own songs and produces his own beats! Can Beyonce say that, Scott and Amrit,?! GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE!
P.S. Sorry to those cats who can’t see the genius in King of Limbs.
I thought I was into Tyler, the Creator for a while, but Goblin is just the same song after song. I really like Sandwitches and Yonkers, which is to be expected seeing as they are the lead “singles”, but I got tired of the album about halfway through it. Maybe I need to give it another shot, I don’t know.
just because he’s a kid and he writes and produces his own shit doesn’t mean it’s a good album…
i think Dumbo Gets Mad- Elephants at the Door, should be in the top ten, easy. I haven’t heard such awesome lo-fi psychedelic rock in a long time, and for a debut album , it’s even more impressive.
It’s some serious bull that tUnE-yArDs’ W H O K I L L didn’t make it on to this list. Merrill Garbus OWNS!
I’ve listened to twice as many albums from 2011 as I did during 2010, but I’ve loved a lot less this year than last year. Weird. And, while posting my own list in the comments would usually make me feel like a douchebag, but I have no friends I can carry on a meaningful conversation with about mutually enjoyed music in real life, so:
1. PJ Harvey – Let England Shake
2. Bon Iver – Bon Iver, Bon Iver
3. James Blake – s/t
4. TV On The Radio – Nine Types of Light
5. The Strokes – Angles
6. Elbow – Build A Rocket Boys!
7. Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi – Rome
8. Thao & Mirah – Thao & Mirah
9. The Boxer Rebellion – The Cold Still
10. James Vincent McMorrow – Early In The Morning
no Black Lips fans? fuck.
1. bon iver
2. fleet foxes
3. wu lyf
4. smith westerns
5. cults
6. panda bear
7. antlers
though i havent heard 50% of the SG list
Oh man, I haven’t heard the Wu Lyf album yet, but from the songs I’ve heard (“Heavy Pop” which I think is on there in some form and “Dirt”), I can tell that one is going to kill.
Most of these groups just cater to the lowest common denominator . List FAIL>
I’d certainly include Explosions in the Sky’s “Take Care, Take Care, Take Care”.
Where’s Tomboy?
good showing in the top 10 Toronto
1. Big K.R.I.T.
2. James Blake
3. The Strokes
4. Bon Iver
4. Pusha T
5. Radiohead
Number 1 will be the next deerhunter album, i’m sure there’s gotta be one this year.
In the meantime: #1 PJ Harvey – Let England Shake
i’m sorry, but the correct answer is “the rural alberta advantage.”
i also would have accepted “the mountain goats.”
Yeah, I don’t know if Departing is as fire as Hometowns, but that album is still solid all the way through. And I feel like the mountain goats at this point are sort of like the roots where everyone just knows that whatever they release will be brilliant, so people don’t get as excited about their new albums anymore even when they have songs like “high hawk season” and “estate sale sign”
Good list, but Kurt Vile and James Blake are two of my favorites not included. Especially Smoke Ring For My Halo, which has become an album adaptable to pretty much any mood I’m in.
tUnE-yArDs
Battles
the antlers?
Only one other commenter mentioned the latest Dodos album?!? I don’t understand the lukewarm reaction to that album at all — the musicianship is phenomenal, and the vocal melodies are some of the best I’ve heard in years. Neko Case is great on it, too. I think that it blows Visiter away, which in comparison to No Color sounds meandering and demo-ish (except for “Ashley,” which is unbeatable).
Best of the year, and certainly the most listenable, especially when its blasting while you’re driving with the windows down on a gorgeous day.
I have really enjoyed the Holy Ghost! album… I’ve probably given that the most repeated listens. Thanks for the list. There are a few I still haven’t checked out yet.
Good albums. Great recommendations in the comments.
My two cents would be to throw in 13&God’s ‘Own Your Ghost’, which is the standout of the year for me. Great trip hop, psychedelic tunes from the boys in Subtle teamed up with Notwist. The juxtaposition of Oakland avantgarde Hiphop with the German dreamy pop strings of Notwists is just mind blowing from start to finish. Check out “Death Major” if you are interested.
Also, I would recommened the following:
- Sam Roberts Band – Collider (great melodic guitar rock from a Canadian legend)
- Middle Brother – Middle Brother (three singer songwriters getting together to make one of the funnest and most adventurous guitar driven albums I’ve heard in a while)
- Blue Sky Black Death – Noir (Soaring cinematic electronic tracks you can chill to)
- Miracle Fortress – Was I the Wave (Concise Pop brilliance with a heavy Talking Heads influence)
City and Colour’s new album will likely not make anyone’s top anything list but it’s a damn good album and I enjoy it thoroughly.
My top anything list is:
1. Butter Pecan Icecream
2. Puppy Dog Webcams
3. My Family
4. Rollercoasters
5. Sneezing Panda Videos
6. Drop Kicking Bad Guys in Double Dragon
7. City and Colour’s new album
8. Pancakes with Strawberry Syrup
9. Sticker Books
10. Capture the Flag with Water Balloons
So, hey, look at that. Good Job.
Top 5:
1. Helplessness Blues (Fleet Foxes)
2. Bon Iver, Bon Iver
3. Eye Contact (Gang Gang Dance)
4. James Blake
5. Tamer Animals (Other Lives)
“Dracula is Only the Beginning” by COOLRUNNINGS
Indie music fans bitch and moan about how nobody appreciates their new favourite band yet as soon as that band becomes appreciated by too many people they turn their backs and claim said band is too popular and therefore not cool enough anymore. So basically, stop complaining about things being omitted from this list ’cause you secretly know that’s part of the appeal.
The thing I like the most about this list (besides having Bon Iver at #1) is that Tyler the Creator’s album is not here. Thanks!!
The Decembrists should be on here somewhere.
you should all kill yourselves. or I guess you’re all in college and have nothing better to do. Buy a Moondog cd and educate yourselves about how poor all the music you listen to really is.
Thanks dad.
wow aren’t you a unique fucking individual ?
I am quite surprised that the Junior Boys “It’s All True” did not make this list. The album is solid and easily deserves a top 5 position, as does Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.’s “It’s A Corporate World.” These two groups have delivered true album experiences, not just a few singles with a bunch of filler.
Your omission of James Blake was appropriate, as his release was exactly what I just described: a few singles (amazing tracks, granted) with a lot of filler.
Also, where’s Com Truise?!
It takes me so long to figure out what albums are really ones that will stick with me for a while. I think I’m just getting to the point now where I could make an accurate list of what I liked in 2010.
This list looked pretty solid. This is all obviously subjective, but my list would have to be like this so far:
(1.) Chad VanGaalen: “Diaper Island”
(2.) Cults: “Cults”
(3.) Panda Bear: “Tomboy”
(4.) Smith Westerns: “Dye it Blonde”
I’m getting into the Unknown Mortal Orchestra a little bit now. Destroyer’s “Kaputt” was fun for a little while, but I kind of just stopped listening to it pretty quickly. Fleet Foxes and Bon Iver were a bit boring for me. Man Man and Toro y Moi were pleasant diversions for a couple of days each.
I actually could probably make a list of favorite tracks easier than albums at this point in the year, with Cults – “You Know What I Mean”, Panda Bear – “Alsatian Darn”, and Chad VanGaalen – “Replace Me” near the top.
I am sorry but the James Blake attempt was one of the most annoying things I’ve heard this year.
1.The Antlers-Burst Apart
2.Yuck-S/T
3.Panda Bear-Tomboy
4.Dawes-Nothings Wrong
5.The Fling-When the Madhouses Appear
Somewhat diferent listing for me:
1. Destroyer – Kaputt
2. elbow – build a rocket boys!
3. White Denim – D
4. My Morning Jacket – Circuital
5. I’m from Barcelona – Forever Today
6. Radiohead – The King of Limbs
7. Bon Iver – Bon Iver, Bon Iver
8. Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues
9. Iron & Wine – Kiss Each Other Clean
10. Bright Eyes – The People’s Keys
11. The Antlers – Burst Apart
12. Nicolas Jaar – Space Is Only Noise
13. Battles – Gloss Drop
14. TV on the Radio – Nine Types of Light
15. PJ Harvey – Let England Shake
16. Lykke Li – Wounded Rhymes
17. Gang Gang Dance – Eye Contact
18. Black Lips – Arabia Mountain
19. Explosions in the Sky – Take Care, Take Care, Take Care
20. Toro y Moi – Underneath the Pine
21. Digitalism – I Love You Dude
22. Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi present Rome
23. Gruff Rhys – Hotel Shampoo
24. The Strokes – Angles
25. The Kills – Blood Pressures
http://auralfood.blogspot.com/
Three overlooked on the list above: tUnE-yArDs – WHOKILL, James Blake and Panda Bear – Tomboy. Knew this would happen soon as I hit “Post”!
Am I the only one who finds Fucked Up’s album overrated? I mean it is bold and it is fresh, but an 8.? from P4k and a top ten here? The spot should have gone to Burst Apart….
I’d put TVotR over half this overblown hyper-hipster s&#t. I’m down with Unknown Mortal Orchestra but it’s just nowhere near the depth of Nine Types of Light. Same with Yuck, Iceage, etc. Such a confusing list… albeit I do agree, Bon Iver is one helluvan album.
Come on, James Blake is the biggest “balloon” I’ve seen in music for a long time. I ‘m happy, that he and radiohead are not here. Still I miss Lykke Li, Africa Hitech, Andy Stott, Jamie Woon, Gang Gang Dance, Cults, John Maus, Bibio, Metronomy and Desolate
Alright list, but why no hip hop? CunninLynguists – Oneirology is AOTY for me so far.
I agree with the placement with Bon Iver as it is my favorite release of the year thus far but the rest of my list would be pretty different.
20. Washed Out – Within Without
19. Panda Bear – Tomboy
18. Fucked Up – David Come’s To Life
17. Iceage – New Brigade
16. Psychedelic Horseshit – Laced
15. Tim Hecker – Ravendeath, 1972
14. Okkervil River – I Am Very Far
13. Kurt Vile: Smoke Rings Around My Halo
12. Cold Cave: Cherish the Light Years
11. The Antlers: Burst Apart
10. Julianna Barwick – The Magic Place
9. Marissa Nadler – Marissa Nadler
8.Memory Tapes – Player Piano
7. Destroyer – Kaputt
6.Cass McCombs – Wit’s End
5. Gang Gang Dance – Eye Contact
4. John Maus – We are the Pitiless Censors of Ourselves
3. Wild Beasts – Smother
2. Grouper – A.I.A
1. Bon Iver – Bon Iver
With honorable mentions to:
The Soft Metals – The Soft Metals
The Soft Moon – Self-Titled
Six Organs Admittance – Asleep on the Floodplain
Julian Lynch: Terra
Ducktails : III
Man Man: Life Fantastic
Papercuts: Fading Parade
Cut Copy: Zonoscope
The Weekend: House of Balloons
James Blake: James Blake
PJ Harvey: This is England
The Rosebuds: Loud Planes Fly Low
Unknown Mortal Orchestra
Thee Oh Sees: Castlemania
Vetiver: The Errant Charm
Junior Boys: It’s All True
Arctic Monkeys: Suck it And See
Ford & Lopatin: Channel Pressure
My Morning Jacket: Circuital
Thurston Moore: Demolished Thoughts
Chad VanGaalen: Diaper Island
Austra: Feel It Break
TV on the Radio: Nine Types of Light
Low: C’mon
Belong: Common Era
Wye Oak: Civilian
Snowman: Absence
Coma Cinema: Blue Suicide
Pictureplane – Thee Physical
It was a hard list to make that’s for sure, such an abundance of top notch music.
Don’t really have a particular order at the moment but Gang Gang Dance’s Eye Contact is my favourite release of the year so far and James Blake’s S/T in second. The rest of these will likely make the end of year list.
Mogwai – Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will.
Austra – Feel It Break
SebastiAn – Total
Cut Copy – Zonoscope
Battles – Gloss Drop
The Kills – Blood Pressures
Cults – Cults
Bon Iver – Bon Iver
Washed Out – Within and Without
Junior Boys – It’s All True
Burial – Street Halo EP
Lykke Li – Wounded Rhymes
The Antlers – Burst Apart
TV on the Radio – Nine Types of Light
Panda Bear – Tomboy
Metronomy – The English Riviera
Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues
Toro y Moi – Underneath the Pine
Nice idiosyncratic list. I expected nothing less of you, Stereogum. There are some picks in there that leave me cold, but who ever totally agrees with any list at all?
Iceage would also be on my list, along with “Leave Home” by The Men, “In and Out of Youth and Lightness” by Young Widows, “Deep Politics” by Grails, “Peer Amid” by The Skull Defekts, “II” by The Psychic Paramount and “Absence” by Snowman.
my favorite release of the year is the echo tongues ep, which has been ignored by most blogs. go figure…
Below is a link to a list I put together in response to this one. It’s not perfect, but it’s a bit different, worth looking at.
http://your-indie-music.com/2011/06/26/an-in-depth-look-at-this-years-best-albums-so-far/
ARIEL PINK AND KANYE!!! ARIEL PINK N KANYE!!!!! oh right, that was last year’s overhyped shit:D oh yeah way to leave off King of Limbs…OOOH how edgy! i’m more than sure that all 20 of those albums are better, yep, every single one of them (coughhhh).
i personally think Bon Iver’s For Emma was much better than his latest.
so far….
10. tyler the creator
9. smith westerns
8. john maus
7.chad vangaalen
6. wye oak
5. panda bear
4. woods
3.thee oh sees
2.the babies
1.kurt vile
FUCK BON IVER, FLEET FOXES, JAMES BLAKE, THE ANTLERS
Um, can we wait for the year to end first? How arrogant and self-obsessed have alternative music publications become? And btw, this list totally sucks.
R.E.M. Collapse into Now
Uh, what about Wild Beasts?! Smother is definitely one of the best albums so far.
WHERE’S JAMES BLAKE?
Uhhh, where is Kurt Vile? He put out a pretty damn good release this year too, I believe…
WU LYF has to be in there somewhere
It’s the end of the 6th month. It’s nearly a full moon (“No, it’s not,” said Little Nicola). You can download this albums somewhere out, if you pay enough (and are not broke like me). Now, here’s my list that I’ve been working on too long (I’ve been wasted, for sure). Guess, you won’t enjoy. I am not likely to take music as a personal thing, but this thing is personal.
1. “Kaputt”, Destroyer
2. “Bon Iver, Bon Iver”, Bon Iver
3. “James Blake”, James Blake
4. “w h o k i l l”, tUnE-yArDs
5. “Eye Contact”, Gang Gang Dance
6. “Let England Shake”, PJ Harvey
7. “Helplessness Blues”, Fleet Foxes
8. “The Magic Place”, Julianna Barwick
9. “Aesthetica”, Liturgy
10. “House of Balloons”, The Weeknd
11. “An Empty Bliss Beyond This World”, The Caretaker
12. “David Comes to Life”, Fucked Up
13. “Go Tell Fire to the Mountain”, WU LYF
14. “Black Up”, Shabazz Palaces
15. “We Must Become Pitiless Censors of Ourselves”, John Maus
16. “Marissa Nadler”, Marissa Nadler
17. “Salon des Amateurs”, Hauschka
18. “Underneath the Pine”, Toro y Moi
19. “Tomboy”, Panda Bear
20. “New Brigade”, Iceage
21. “Past Life Martyred Saints”, EMA
22. “Ravedeath, 1972”, Tim Hecker
23. “Space Is Only Noise”, Nicolas Jaar
24. “Apocalypse”, Bill Callahan
25. “WIT’S END”, Cass McCombs
26. “II”, The Psychic Paramount
27. “Demolished Thoughts”, Thurston Moore
28. “Smoke Ring for My Halo”, Kurt Vile
29. “Zonoscope”, Cut Copy
30. “The ONE… COHESIVE”, G-Side
31. “Cults”, Cults
32. “Dye It Blonde”, Smith Westerns
33. “All Eternals Deck”, The Mountain Goats
34. “Wounded Rhymes”, Lykke Li
35. “Burst Apart”, The Antlers
36. “The Book of David”, DJ Quik
37. “Yuck”, Yuck
38. “Street Halo”, Burial
39. “Nostalgia/ultra”, Frank Ocean
40. “Unknown Mortal Orchestra”, Unknown Mortal Orchestra
41. “He Gets Me High EP”, Dum Dum Girls
42. “A I A : Alien Observer / A I A : Dream Loss”, Grouper
43. “Civilian”, Wye Oak
44. “The King of Limbs”, Radiohead
45. “The Perfect Lullaby”, Nguzunguzu
46. “Kiss Each Other Clean”, Iron & Wine
47. “Belong”, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
48. “Smother”, Wild Beasts
49. “4”, Beyoncé
50. “Who the Fuck Said Family Ain’t Family Anymore”, Long Long Long
My own top 20.
James Blake – James Blake
Limerence – Young Montana?
Who Kill ? -Tune Yards
Tomboy – Panda Bear
Cults – Cults
Goblin – Tyler The Creator
Shangri La – YACHT
What did you expect from the vaccines – The Vaccines
In Love With The Oblivion – The Crystal Stilts
Gloss Drop – Battles
Rome – Danger Mouse Y Daniel Luppi
Dedication – Zomby
Colour Of The Trap – Miles Kane
Naive To – Is Tropical
Hot Sauce Committee pt.2 – Beastie Boys
93 Million Miles – Africa Hitech
Hyper Nomads – Jazzsteppa
Thee Physical – Picture Plane
Arabia Mountain – The Black Lips
Discodeine – Discodeine
Albums that are missing: Foo Figthers, The Airborne Toxic Event, Death Cab For Cutie, Panda Bear, Cold Cave, The Kills, Cat’s Eyes, The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, Ringo Deathstarr, Radiohead, Holy Ghost!, Telekinesis, Black Lips, Arctic Monkeys, The Strokes, Lykke Li, Bright Eyes, The Dears, British Sea Power,Crystal Stilts, The Antlers, Cults, Mogwai, Trap Them, KEN mode, Rotten Sound
A LOT of those albums should have been mentioned in a TOP 20 list. Iceage and Fucked Up are Def Top 5 worthy.
Ghostpoet ! ——– (give hime the mercury)
Paris Suit Yourself ——(too out-there?)
Nicholas Jaar —- (not even on the 2nd lists!)
EP—
DJ Shadow —–a return to form
Valentin Stip — class
1) The Japanese Popstars: Controlling Your Allegiance
2) Josh Gabriel: Winter Kills
3) Lady Gaga: Born This Way
My review of Born This Way: Imagine you just bought a bag Jolly Ranchers (mixed flavors). Each candy is super sweet and super delicious. Some flavors are your favorite (for me, it is Watermelon). The thing is, you know that these sugar candies have zero nutritional value. None-the-less, you still eat them because they make you happy. Some food snobs would never eat a Jolly Rancher because of how unhealthy they are. Sure, if I made a diet only of Jolly Ranchers, I’d get sick. But adding Jolly Ranchers into my diet as a treat sure makes life more fun. And so goes Lady Gaga’s new album “Born This Way (Bonus Track Version).”
I’ve got four in common with this list and I’m mostly unfamiliar with the remaining group, which means I’ve got some listening to do! There’s only so much time in the day! My “best of so far” is here: http://www.kammentary.com/2011/07/best-albums-of-2011-so-far.html
‘zonoscope’, where is it? it’s sooo much better than ‘in ghost colors’ which got so much love here! TV on the Radio belongs, but I do love that Gang Gang Dance is so high on the list – my fave of the year so far until I can officially buy ‘Skying’. I like the new Washed Out too, waiting to see whether it grows on me more of becomes boring….I like a bunch of the new Junior Boys album too but it has some clunkers. well, at least the foo fighters aren’t on the list!
now I get snobby – I’m perpetually confused by the serial over-rating of Bon Iver. what boring, bland music. Justin Vernon sounds like a muppet on heroin fronting a Christopher Cross cover band. I don’t get it. and I know I’m alone on this one, but the Fucked Up album doesn’t really inspire any reverence in me, it makes me crack up. I think it’s so freakin corny. people raving about the guitars – I like layered guitars but I like the layering to, um, go somewhere….OK I’ll shut up now.
JULIANNA BARWICK
tyler- goblin.
After listening to the new Bon Iver for over a month, I must say that it is a major dissapointment. It tries to do too much and in doing so, does very little. Calgary, Holocene and Perth are the only tracks that grip me like tracks from Emma. For Emma was a far superior record.
My top 5 albums of 2011 so far in no particular order
Gus Gus – Arabian Horse
Chase & Status – No More Idols
Austra – Feel It Break
Washed Out – Washed Out
Benjamin Francis Leftwich – Last Smoke Before the Snowstorm
Hayes Carll – KMAG YOYO
- a powerful tribute to americana with the lyrical phrasings of a Dylan influenced country boy carried with a blues-country twang. Brilliant.
Kurt Vile – Smoke Ring for My Halo
- Simplistic masterpiece
The Strokes – Angles
- Reviving their roots while driving to new hooks that make a song an adventure.
I agree with all the obvious… Bon Iver, Tune-Yards, Fucked Up, Smith Westerns, etc
What about all the music I like?