New Laura Marling is her best, yet. Even if the leak has an awful quality. Her last album was much more mature and low-key. She's more playful, yet grounded, now.
New Dum Dum Girls and Girls are also their best, yet.
I liked them before, but this album is the one that establishes them as a top-shelf band. It's instantly my #2 of the year behind PJ Harvey, with a good shot at becoming #1.
I listened to Eye Contact before but didn't think it was particularly great. I'll give it another spin.
Nicolas: I'm surprised you don't like Bon Iver, particularly For Emma, Forever Ago is some of the warmest and most emotional indie rock out there, and I'd argue the new album is als far from cold.
Nicolas: I'm surprised you don't like Bon Iver, particularly For Emma, Forever Ago
Same here. I haven't heard the new Bon Iver yet, but I think For Emma, Forever Ago has real emotional weight to it. It was mostly recorded in a remote cabin in deep winter after a difficult year for Justin Vernon, and whenever I listen to the album there's a warmth like a crackling fire that shines through the isolation and loneliness of the music. But hey, everyone responds to music differently.
Nicolas, I would love to recommend some albums but I haven't listened to many 2011 releases yet.
My problem with Bon Iver (along with a lot of indie acts) is the vocals. That falsetto. I'm very vocal-sensitive. But I'll listen to it again, for the 00's poll. The song "For Emma" is a good memory
My problem with Bon Iver (along with a lot of indie acts) is the vocals. That falsetto. I'm very vocal-sensitive. But I'll listen to it again, for the 00's poll. The song "For Emma" is a good memory
The falsetto? But you love Antony and the Johnsons and Fredo Viola! (not that that is a bad thing, I do quite enjoy them myself)
But these guys have a much richer, wider vocal range and timbre !! Then again, maybe I paid too little attention to Bon Iver, so we'll talk about it again when 2007 comes around in the naughties poll.
F*cked Up's 'David Comes To Life' is going to be widely regarded as one of the albums of the year. Just wait.
One listen and I'm blown away. 78 minutes of accessible, catchy, melodic and yet pounding, visceral punk/hardcore. Doesn't outstay it's welcome at all, either. It's already got a 9 from Spin, a glowing review from BBC and the praise will keep flooding in I'm sure. I'm gonna get on the record now and say Pitchfork are going to score it between 8.9 and 9.2. Seriously, keep an eye out.
I liked them before, but this album is the one that establishes them as a top-shelf band. It's instantly my #2 of the year behind PJ Harvey, with a good shot at becoming #1.
Yeah, it's my AOTY so far. (With PJ #2.) Posted about this a week or so back, and my opinion has not changed.
I liked them before, but this album is the one that establishes them as a top-shelf band. It's instantly my #2 of the year behind PJ Harvey, with a good shot at becoming #1.
Yeah, it's my AOTY so far. (With PJ #2.) Posted about this a week or so back, and my opinion has not changed.
Top 5 for me, probably top 3 in fact, alongside The Smith Westerns, Big K.R.I.T., Kurt Vile and Wild Beasts
1. Cults - Cults
2. Milkman - Algorithms
3. Kurt Vile - Smoke Ring for My Halo
4. Lupe Fiasco - Lasers
5. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
6. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
7. Radiohead - The King of Limbs
8. Smith Westerns - Dye It Blonde
9. The White Panda - Pandamonium
10. TV on the Radio - Nine Types of Light
F*cked Up's 'David Comes To Life' is going to be widely regarded as one of the albums of the year. Just wait.
One listen and I'm blown away. 78 minutes of accessible, catchy, melodic and yet pounding, visceral punk/hardcore. Doesn't outstay it's welcome at all, either. It's already got a 9 from Spin, a glowing review from BBC and the praise will keep flooding in I'm sure. I'm gonna get on the record now and say Pitchfork are going to score it between 8.9 and 9.2. Seriously, keep an eye out.
The music is pretty good but I'm having a lot of trouble with the guy's voice. I love me some visceral punk but he has zero range.
I agree. Most of the songs aren't fast paced enough to be considered punk. If he toned it down a bit it would be a terrific alternative rock album otherwise it just sounds like the Arcade Fire fronted by the Ultimate Warrior
(1) 1 Fleet Foxes
(2) 2 PJ Harvey
(-) 3 The Antlers
(3) 4 Lykke Li
(4) 5 Elbow
(-) 6 Wild Beasts (heard it only twice yet)
(8) 7 The Decemberists
(-) 8 The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart
(5) 9 Radiohead
(6) 10 Anna Calvi
TV on the Radio disappoints me and I did not hear Bon Iver yet.
1. Nicolas Jaar - Space Is Only Noise
2. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
3. Radiohead - The King Of Limbs
4. White Denim - D
5. TV On The Radio - Nine Types Of Light
6. Dalriada - Igeret
7. Cascadeur - The Human Octopus
8. Gang Gang Dance - Eye Contract
9. Wye Oak - Civilian
10. Natural Snow Buildings - Waves Of The Random Sea
11. Gang Of Four - Content
12. The Rural Alberta Advantage - Departing
13. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
14. Stupeflip - The Hypnoflip Invasion
15. Josh T Pearson - Last Of The Country Gentlemen
16. Bibio - Mind Bokeh
17. Beastie Boys - Hot Sauce Committee Part Two
18. Those Darlins - Screws Get Loose
19. Manchester Orchestra - Simple Math
20. Amon Tobin - ISAM
One I couldn't connect with at all is the new Battles. It's like they have good ideas but no idea how to patch them together into something listenable, and no idea how to edit themselves.
Cults are going to make a very high appearance on my list.
1. James Blake- James Blake
2. Let England Shake- PJ Harvey
3. Helplessness Blues- Fleet Foxes
4. Tomboy- Panda Bear
5. The King of Limbs- Radiohead
6. Cults- Cults
7. Zonoscope- Cut Copy
8. Kaputt- Destroyer
9. Nine Types of Light- TV on the Radio
10. Angles- The Strokes
No bad albums, but nothing as strong as my top 5 albums from 2010.
I'm going to be months behind, and just singmypraises for Fleet Foxes. Been a long time coming (3 years!) but I've finally got into both their albums, and I'm absolutely LOVING Helplessness Blues. I can't remember who said it, but i agree with whoever said that "The Shrine/an Argument" was the best thing they've done.
1. Kurt Vile - Smoke ring for my halo
2. smith westerns - dye it blonde
3. fleet foxes - helplessness blues
4. wild beasts - smother
5. radiohead - the king of limbs
6. pj harvey - let england shake
7. bill callahan - apocalypse
8. iron and wine - kiss each other clean
9. tune-yards - whokill
10. the go! team - rolling blackouts
still to listen - TVOTR, Cults, bon iver, James Blake, Tomboy, Zonoscope, kaputt, and many many more...
01. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
02. Radiohead - The King of Limbs
03. The Antlers - Burst Apart
04. Bon Iver - Bon Iver, Bon Iver
05. Low - C'mon
06. Nicolas Jaar - Space Is Only Noise
07. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
08. TV on the Radio - Nine Types of Light
09. Explosions in the Sky - Take Care, Take Care, Take Care
10. Iron & Wine - Kiss Each Other Clean
Cat's Eyes isn't too bad. Cults is perfect. I think I even like them more than Tennis. If you're going to compare Tennis to Best Coast might as well do the same with Cults. They sound more like Best Coast than Tennis do. And neither really sounds that much like Best Coast at all. Tennis sounds like a cross between Neko Case and the Dittybops.
For me, my top 4 are 'potential classic' level. That is, PJ Harvey, Nicolas Jaar, White Denim, and Radiohead. And I think Gang Gang Dance has a shot at reaching that level.
There's also a robust second tier of 'Really good but sub-classic'.
(1) 1 Fleet Foxes
(2) 2 PJ Harvey
(3) 3 The Antlers
(4) 4 Lykke Li
(7) 5 The Decemberists
(5) 6 Elbow
(8) 7 The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart
(6) 8 Wild Beasts
(-) 9 Bon Iver
(10) 10 Anna Calvi
I've just heard a few tracks by a very promising Danish band called Treefight For Sunlight
Their shiny, dreamy brand of classic pop is delicious and impressing for a first album
Laura Marling releasing a new record in September 13. A Creature I Don't Know is the follow up to last year's critically acclaimed and British favorite I Speak Because I Can.
Girls also releasing the follow up to Album the same month.
If you like the Wu-Tang, Fugazi and/or mash-ups, you should lend a hear to the Wugazi's first album "13 chambers".
Quite a few people have released mash-ups of 2 artists since the beginning of the year (including a quite likeable mix of Black Keys's Brothers and Big Boi's Luscious Left Foot) but this one tops them all.
Girls and Dum Dum Girls returning in September. Maybe the latter will experience the acclaim it should've received with last year's I Will Be. And Real Estate also returning. Washed Out has been seen as a disappointment among some reviewers but i'm yet to listen to. The Horrors has been receiving raves and i need to check that one too.
Washed Out has been seen as a disappointment among some reviewers but i'm yet to listen to. The Horrors has been receiving raves and i need to check that one too.
I love the Washed Out record, I like it a lot more than I would have expected in fact. The Horrors is definitely good, I haven't listened to it enough to say for sure, but it seems a tad overrated.
I love the Washed Out record, I like it a lot more than I would have expected in fact. The Horrors is definitely good, I haven't listened to it enough to say for sure, but it seems a tad overrated.
The main criticism is that it sounded cleaner and more limp than previous recordings. I enjoyed it. Still need to give the Horrors a fair spin.
I was wondering whether anyone has listened to the album called "Wolf Notes" by *AR, released in June this year. I guess you can define the album as ambient music BUT don't let this put you off! This is a hidden gem and a masterpiece in my opinion.
This album along with PJ Harvey's Let England Shake are my favourites this year
I think it's okay to post this little url if you care to listen to it
Dum Dum Girls's single Coming Down is excellent. The song bears a-little-too-much resemblance with Fade into You but is still really enjoyable. The biggest surprise is Dee Dee's delivery. A cleaner production really improved the band's sound. It will sure receive more attention than their previous effort from 2010.
Lana Del Rey might become the next big indie chanteuse. Her track "Video Games" is already one of my favorites breakthroughs of 2011. A vocal hybrid of Cat Power, Laura Marling and Fiona Apple.
The Field's new record 'Looping State of Mind' is lovely also, out mid-October so it's seen a v early leak. Thought the Thundercat record was a bit noodly and didn't enjoy it, will try again soon though.
Around two months ago it looked pretty darn bleak for the second half of 2011, but now seems to be a decent amount to look forward to:
Tom Waits - Bad As Me
Girls - Father, Son, Holy Ghost
Zola Jesus - Conatus
The Field - Looping State of Mind
Atlas Sound - Parallax
Lou Reed & Metallica - Lulu
The Weeknd - Echoes Of Silence
Bjork - Biophilia
Oneohtrix Point Never - Replica
Laura Marling- A Creature I Don't Know
St. Vincent - Strange Mercy
Wilco - The Whole Love
Neon Indian - Era Extraña
The Dream - The Love IV
Das Racist - Relax
Mastodon - The Hunter
Ryan Adams - Ashes & Fire
Florence + the Machine (for those that dig her)
Cass McCombs - Humor Risk
Coldplay - Mylo Xyloto
Drake - Take Care
Justice - Audio, Video, Disco
The Drums - Portamento
Tori Amos - Night of Hunters
Feist - Metals
M83 - Hurry Up, We're Dreaming
perhaps new ones from Queens of the Stone Age, Rick Ross, Franz Ferdinand and that long-awaited DOOM/Ghostface Killah collaboration if we're lucky too. And the David Lynch record!
Then into early 2012 there's gonna be new material from Animal Collective, The Knife and The Avalanches
not too shabby a list, we could have a handful of gems from that. I'm optimistic!
I've been listening to Battles' Gloss Drop a lot lately. That one got some acclaim a couple months ago when it came out but still seems somewhat overlooked. "Ice Cream" and "My Machines" are jams. For some reason I still haven't heard Mirrored but that will change come next month when we do the `07 poll.
Also EMA's Past Life Martyred Saints is an excellent album; I enjoyed that one more than I expected to.
I think they've changed a LOT since I Will Be. Songs like Coming Down aren't the noise pop that we saw in I Will Be, they're more measured, the slow drum beat in Coming Down is even somewhat shoegazy (though that may be stretching it). I think they've left the noisy girl power pop behind them. And I certainly won't be complaining, I listened to it like 5 times yesterday.
The new Ry Cooder is.. well.. first and foremost, very odd. However, it's also pretty damn funny and at times incredibly good. Might be his best solo album since Paris, Texas.
AM posters don't really go outside of the "big" releases it seems, do they? Any of the lesser known albums anyone is digging?
Dalriada - Igeret (Hungarian folk metal)
Antonia Font - Lamparates (Spanish indie rock)
Colin Stetson - New History Warfare Vol 2 (Progressive jazz)
Cascadeur - The Human Octopus (French indie pop)
Tyler, The Creator - Goblin (Rap)
Anna Jarvinen - Title I can't remember
Snowman - Absence
White Denim - D
Chelsea Wolfe - Name I can't remember with Greek letters
Check out the 'Esoteric' list on RYM, which can also be filtered by country of origin.
I'd like to add one more release to that list since there is a distinct lack of mentions of him in this thread, and since I saw him live Saturday and he was phenomenal. Josh T. Pearson's Last of the Country Gentlemen is awesome.
He wasn't the highlight of that night because The Tallest Man On Earth was there too and gave a fantastic show, but it was damn close. Pretty cool to have the maker of your favorite 2011 album and the maker of your favorite 2010 album at the same festival performing within 15 minutes of each other.
Stephan, that's quality, good for you! What I wouldn't give to see The Smith Westerns support Kanye, haha
Anyway, I called it about a month back: Girls are getting mad love (from some quarters). 9.3 from Pitchfork! Way too high, putting it on par with In Rainbows and many others. If I had to hazard a (very early and probably silly) guess at their EOY top 10:
1. Bon Iver
2. Girls
3. The Weeknd (3 combined, like James Blake last year)
4. Fleet Foxes
5. Shabazz Palaces
6. James Blake
7. tUnE-yArDs
8. PJ Harvey
9. Destroyer
10. St Vincent
in no order, 11-20: Atlas Sound, The Field, Fucked Up, Panda Bear, Kurt Vile, Das Racist, The Smith Westerns, Gang Gang Dance, Cut Copy, Zola Jesus
who knows though? there might be another Weeknd/Shabazz that is out of leftfield and blindsides everyone
I like playing guessing games. Here's my try at Pitchforks top ten of 2011.
1. Bon Iver- Bon Iver
2. Father, Son, Holy Ghost- Girls
3. James Blake- James Blake
4. The Weeknd- (All 3)
5. Let England Shake- PJ Harvey
6. Whokill- Tune-Yards
7. Helplessness Blues- Fleet Foxes
8. Kaputt- Destroyer
9. David Comes to Life- Fucked Up
10. Black Up- Shabazz Palaces
So yeah, Ddiamondd, you pretty much got it right as far as I'm concerned.
Last Of The Country Gentlemen is an excellent album.
I will also add Vanessa Carlton - Rabbits On The Run to the list of 'Best of the year'.
Also, there is a new St Vincent album coming out soon that seems to be getting no buzz at all except I saw a 9/10 on Popmatters. I'm expecting this to be easy top ten material.
Definitely, one of the best albums of 2011 is Adele's 19!
I'm currently listening to Adele's BEAUTIFUL songs:
1. Someone Like You
2. Rolling in the Deep
3. Make You Feel My Love
These are great, great songs. Poetic and pleasing to the ears aren't to describe their beauty! By the way, I usually download them through Fast-Debrid.Com since I hardly have any problem using this downloading website!
By the way, the Adele's Someone Like You released the crybaby in me!
I'm listening to Laura Marling's new album, and so far it's one of those instant 'holy shit' level albums of the sort that only comes along a few times a year.
It's got the emotion of her previous albums, only she's also doing this folky stringy thing that just works perfectly.
Edit: Ry Cooder's is on the same level. I picked up these two and St Vincent's in one trip to the store. This is like that time last year when High Violet, Archandroid, This Is Happening, and Hadestown all came out within a week of each other. The overall quality of 2011 new releases just skyrocketed instantly.
AM posters don't really go outside of the "big" releases it seems, do they? Any of the lesser known albums anyone is digging?
Raphael Saadiq - Stone Rollin'
Fatoumata Diawara - Fatou
The Field - Looping State of Mind
A Hawk and a Hacksaw - Cervantine
Araab Muzik - Electronic Dream
King Creosote & Jon Hopkins - Diamond Mine
A Winged Victory for the Sullen - A Winged Victory for the Sullen
PS: And Ry Cooder has quietly come out of nowhere to release a strong contender for album of the year with Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down
I know I was mostly alone in my unabashed idolatry of Alexi Murdoch's 2006 Time Without Consequence, my #57 of all time, but I'm not entirely alone in also loving the new album, Towards The Sun, which I only just found despite it being released back in March. It's basically a reissue of an EP in LP form, but it's phenomenal nonetheless. I love the calm and the quiet.
New top 10:
1. Josh T. Pearson - Last Of The Country Gentlemen
2. Alexi Murdoch - Towards The Sun
3. Wild Beasts - Smother
4. The Antlers - Burst Apart
5. Bon Iver - Bon Iver, Bon Iver
6. tUnE-yArDs - w h o k i l l
7. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
8. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
9. TV On The Radio - Nine Types Of Light
10. Ry Cooder - Pull Up Some Dust And Sit Down
Pretty acceptable if it were an EOY-list and we still have more than 3 months to go.
Meital Dohan's "Yummy Boyz" Remix album is my favorite!
Actually, I Just saw this hilarious video of this singer Meital Dohan talking about fitness, so funny… I guess musicians really aren’t the athletic type…
AM posters don't really go outside of the "big" releases it seems, do they? Any of the lesser known albums anyone is digging?
Siriusmo - Mosaik (a scattered collage of electronic sounds)
Male Bonding - Endless Now (fuzzy power-pop)
Hudson Mohawke - Satin Panthers EP (quality grey area between hip-hop and wonky dubstep)
How To Dress Well - Just Once EP (heart-wrenching versions of his best tracks, scrubbed up and with orchestral backing)
Elite Gymnastics - RUIN 1 (like a harsher, sample-based chillwave)
Rozwell Kid - The Rozwell Kid (basically just '94-era Weezer, so much fun)
Machinedrum - Room(s) (Juke, footwork, dub all spliced up like Burial on speed)
Wugazi - 13 Chambers (staggeringly good Wu-Tang Clan and Fugazi mash-up album, extremely well made)
Big K.R.I.T. - Return Of 4Eva (one of the best hip-hop releases in a long time. intelligent, world-weary, varied, fun...free as well!)
Boxcutter - The Dissolve (futuro-funk)
The Psychic Paramount - II / The Men - Leave Home (both ferocious, intense, noisy hard rock records)
Vanilla - High Life (instrumental hip-hop, comparable to Teebs or J Dilla)
Africa Hi-Tech - 93 Million Miles (a veritable smorgasbord of the wide-ranging mutations of UK electronic/bass music - funky, house, dubstep - interspliced with world sounds)
Mariachi El Bronx - Mariachi El Bronx II (another great record from NY hardcore band The Bronx's Mexicano alter egos. Love, life, loss and redemption, with big hooks, guaranteed to put a smile on your face)
So there's 15, all from 2011. don't assume we're all about the big guns. and this is coming from someone who rarely ventures outside of English language music!
Best album of the year. The first one is, by far, better than the others. It's like the MGMT's first album. All the songs are incredibles.
1. Pete and The Pirates - One Thousand Pictures
2. The Kills - Blood Pressure
3. Cults - Cults
4. Metronomy - The English Riviera
5. Danger Mouse and Daniele Luppi - Rome
6. Cascadeur - The Human Octopus
7. Black Lips - Arabia Mountain
8. Keren Ann - 101
9. The Go! Team - Rolling Blackouts
10. Hubert Felix Thiefaine - Suppléments de mensonge
11. Grails - Deep Politics
12. White Denim - D
13. Kasabian - Velociraptor!
14. Kaiser Chiefs - The Future is Medieval
15. Panda Bear - TomBoy
I kind of got lucky. I wasn't even going to pay attention to that one, but they happened to be playing it when I went into a record store. They sound like MBV.
Saw Drive in the cinema yesterday (best film I've seen this year) and some songs on the soundtrack are a ton of fun, although as usually the case with soundtracks the whole thing is not that good on its own. Nightcall and A Real Hero I can particularly recommend to Moonbeam though; they're synth galore!
it's interesting that in the past month discussion has fallen off but we've seen 'big' records from Real Estate, Coldplay, Tom Waits, Florence + the Machine, Justice, M83 and Bjork. no discussion though? (apart from the other threads dedicated to those releases)
some of my favourites of the year have come out in the last 5/6 weeks: as well as some of the above, I would highly recommend:
Kuedo's 'Severant' - a Blade Runner-esque look at the future from the past, combined with juke/footwork and a bit of bass
Mastodon's 'The Hunter' - big, balls-out, crossover metal
BADBADNOTGOOD's 'BBNG' - beautiful jazz reinterpretations of Flying Lotus, Nas, Joy Division, Gang Starr, the Legend of Zelda songs (!!) as well as lovely jams too
Rustie's 'Glass Swords' - a hyperactive wonky/bass album, in thrall to video games and peak-time dance music, it's so glossy and fun. I did a review here: http://www.impactnottingham.com/2011/10/album-review-rustie-–-glass-swords/
This week sees Atlas Sound's gorgeous new record and the astral, cosmic 'Replica' by Oneohtrix Point Never drop. Then next week we have Drake! Can't wait for that!
The discovering of the Week :
Blood Orange (in my top 5 on the end of the year, I'm sure).
Moonbean, I think you can love it a lot.
Sutphin Boulevard - Blood Orange
My 2011 list by far :
1. Portugal.The Man - In The Mountain In The Cloud
1. Pete and The Pirates - One Thousand Pictures
1. Blood Orange - Coastal Grooves
2. The Kills - Blood Pressure
3. Cults - Cults
4. Metronomy - The English Riviera
5. Danger Mouse and Daniele Luppi - Rome
6. Cascadeur - The Human Octopus
7. Black Lips - Arabia Mountain
8. Keren Ann - 101
9. The Go! Team - Rolling Blackouts
10. Hubert Felix Thiefaine - Suppléments de mensonge
11. Cage The Elephants - Thank You, Happy Birthday
12. Grails - Deep Politics
13. TV on the Radio – Nine Types of Light
14. White Denim - D
15. Kasabian - Velociraptor!
16. Kaiser Chiefs - The Future is Medieval
well 3 bands that HAVEN'T been mentioned that deserve more hype are Veronica Falls, the Ettes and Still Corners all led by females so maybe that's why although it has been an excellent year for women especially soloists.
New Kate Bush is her best since The Sensual World/Hounds of Love. I always thought that Mrs. Bartolozzi was the highlight of Aerial because of its piano atmosphere. The album creates such a chilly atmosphere, it sounds so timeless. It's a work of genius.
What else has been released this year in the vein of Yuck or Iceage? I haven't liked many albums this year. Fucked Up's is good too, but I think it's pretty unique when I like an album with those kind of vocals. The songs are just so good that it's easier to get used to the screaming.
Actually, listening to it right now, David Comes to Life is probably my album of the year in a weak year for me. I think 2010 spoiled me.
Childish Gambino's Camp is nice enough, but it really sounds like a Kanye West rip-off. There are good chorus, fun lyrics, very good flow, but you can't help but notice much too many similarities.
I think Donald Glover talked about "indie hip-hop", but in this case his definition of that is making mainstream hip-hop while citing Sufjan Stevens and Radiohead.
On a related note, Community pulled out of NBC mid season lineup is a fridging bad news. It needs a 4th season to go full circle, it's the funniest TV show right now dammit !
On the other hand, Spank Rock's new album is pretty unpredictable, you never know where he is heading and that leads to some awesome moments, though overall it does not seem as brilliant as Yoyoyoyoyo. The rythmic structure of the songs has not changed yet but he has had electronic layers, sometimes with great results.