It gives me great pleasure to declare a new year open for discussion as the first batch of records are trickling through.

I'm digging The Go! Team's new album, got some incredibly strong songs on there.

James Blake's record is a big let-down on first listen. I'll give it more time though.

Anyway here's to a whole new year. Let's hope it's as good as 2010 has been!

Haven't listened to Go Team yet, but i loved their first track featuring Bethany from Best Coast and i'm really excited to listen to the new PJ Harvey record, "Written on the Forehead" is getting heavy rotation over here (Let it burn, let it burn).

The new Smith Westerns album leaked and hell, it is a terrific slice of catchy, fun rock. I can see a very high Pitchfork score on the horizon.

Any hope of the new Go! Team being better than Thunder Lightning Strike? God I love that album, but I haven't listened to any of their other stuff. I didn't really like the single from Proof of Youth.

Buy Nothing Day was EXTREMELY CATCHY. In two days it was my 14th most played song with more than 100 plays If the rest of the album is more varied and great like that song... well it might be as good as that awesome debut! Their follow up was, yes, disappointing, and time didn't make it any better.

There are a number of songs on the album - Buy Nothing Day included - that are up there with the best material they've ever released.

Listened to the Smith Westerns album like 5 times in the last 24 hours. Needless to say it's my favourite album of the year. It is incredibly catchy. Reminds me a bit of the first time I listened to Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. A or A minus so far.

Strangely, I've agreed with everything said so far. Disappointed by James Blake, enjoyed Smith Westerns and The Go! Team. However, I've only heard mediocre mp3s of all three of them, and will refrain from my final judgments until I hear them lossless. I've had total changes of heart in the past after finally hearing a work the way it was intended.

I hope the James Blake album is a grower, cause i'm not enjoying it at all like i thought i'd be. But we all know critics are going to hype him anyway. I need to listen to Go Team and Smith Westerns. Anxiously waiting for PJ Harvey.

New year starting!

Both new albums by The Decemberists and Wire are currently streaming at NPR.

Pitchfork's yearly reader's poll was unveiled and these are the 10 new faces to watch of 2011 as picked by those who took the poll.

01. Cults
02. Tennis
03. Twin Sister
04. Cloud Nothings
05. Memoryhouse
06. Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All
07. Air Waves
08. Yuck
09. Tanlines
10. Balam Acab

to be honest if cults are the best new hope, that doesn't leave me with an abundance of it

James Blake a disappointment? In what universe?

Interesting. I pretty much have the exact opposite opinion. I love the vocals and I think every single song is better than anything he's done before except for maybe CMYK. The build is part of the appeal.

Okay, maybe that track was a bad one to capitalise on.

I just was expecting a real early AOTY contender and while it's (obviously) way too early to say I just feel a palpable dampening of my - perhaps too high? - expectations with a good, not great, auto-tuned singer-songwriter record.

Will be very interesting to see how one of my big other hopes for 2011, Jamie Woon fares

I really like the new Decemberists album. They've stripped away all the bs from their last outing and have kept it simple. Just ten beautiful songs with a folksy and country lilt to them. If Bruce Springsteen released this album, Rolling Stone would give it five stars; but because it's just the Decemberists, it will probably get three-and-a-half.

I'd love Rolling Stone to release a book on every album they've given 3.5 stars to. Bet you'd see some classics with the same rating as a bunch of hasbeen manufactured pop singers. That book would be the size of War and Peace.

Sometimes we forgot how bigger 2010 could have been. There was the Radiohead rumors, PJ Harvey, Fleet Foxes and Panda Bear. Polly is coming in February, Foxes finished their mastering and everything is complete and now Panda Bear announces that Tomboy is coming April 19, hopefully.

2011 albums heard so far:
WOODSMAN-Rare Forms. The bulk of the latest album by this Denver band is quite inaccessible and experimental, however, the ruthless openingstrack Insects sounds just terrific.




Little Machines Inside, a decent album by SHAMBOK. It's certainly not EOY material (more or less half of the tracks are good), but after all the Flying Lotusses and James Blakes here's at least some Electronic Dance music where you actually can DANCE to.

I'm paying rent now so I'm resolved to only buy 20-30 albums this year, as opposed to the 80-100 I bought this year (And the 150-200 the year prior).

Which means stuff on Rhapsody will have a huge advantage, because I'll get to listen to it repeatedly before making the decision.

I haven't heard anything 2011 yet, I'm still sorting through my 2010 stuff.

Earlier this thread I expressed disappointment at James Blake. Since those first few listens I haven't returned to it, but now I've been reading all these great reviews. I'm gonna give it another try. Sometimes it takes some critical urging to appreciate something. Nothing wrong with that, it's like when your teacher espouses a novel you wouldn't otherwise enjoy. They probably know more than you do.

I enjoyed The Decemberists, Smith Westerns, Ghostface Killah, Iron and Wine, and Wire, but none of them have been truly excellent. I guess with 4 of them that'd count as disappointment. Reading great things about Deerhoof and Destroyer.

New Electro-inspired Antlers album coming up soon too.

I have great pleasure to say that come January 25, the first great album of 2011 (for me) will be released: Destroyer's Kaputt. I just gave it a few listens and it is magnificent. And I merely heard a crappy mp3 version. A definite purchase.

Kanye West has a new album coming this summer and the new album by Adele is great, above average pop/soul. Rolling in the Deep is my favorite mainstream track of the year.

the new Pains of Being Pure @ Heart sounds incredible like everything else they've put out. I like how consistant they are putting out EPs in between their debut and second album which only look under two years to come out. All new bands should be this consistant if they want to stay relevant.

The new Gang Of Four is surprisingly good for a band whose classics came thirty years ago.

Rhapsody's taking their sweet time putting the new Destroyer up.

If 2011 is going to be the year of a new album of the following bands
- Radiohead
- Boards of Canada
- Portishead
- TV on the Radio
- Fleet Foxes,
I'm going to be a very happy man. Fleet Foxes seems to be the only definite one at the moment, though.

I've read excellent reviews of the new PJ Harvey in Uncut, Mojo and The Skinny. The Quietus called a masterpiece and Q Magazine gave 5 stars. Looks like the woman can do no wrong. Anxiously waiting for February.

My top two of the year so far are Algorithms by Milkman (which you can get for free on his site) and Behold the Spirit by William Tyler.

New Mogwai coming out sometime in mid February. Most of the tracks are accessible on youtube already though, including this gem -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32rOOzShmPY
if you like music which has layers which build and build and build to a beautiful climax, this band's for you.

The Fleet Foxes are coming... may 3rd. title track sounds awesome so far.

I wonder if bands are settling into a 3 year cycle.

All the bands that release in 2007 release in 2010, then all the bands that release in 2008 release in 2011.

So...new Animal Collective and Dirty Projectors in 2012?

So we have to wait till 2013 for the class of 2010 to reappear?

Except Kanye of course, who's releasing a new album this summer. Always breaking the rules, he is.

Three true statements:

1. The new Iron and Wine is fantastic and better than anything I heard in 2010. Not knocking 2010, I just really love this album.

2. I am really enjoying the Tennis album as well.

3. I made it halfway through the Decemberists on the way to work and am not thrilled with finishing it on the way home. Disappointing as I really enjoyed the direction they went on Hazards of Love. But, I know I was in the minority there.

I wasn't that impressed by the new Iron & Wine or the new Decemberists.

The only one to really stand out so far to me is the new Gang of Four.

I wouldn't exactly say Kanye 'Breaks the rules'. Instead I would say he is the quickest to learn the new rules. But he is definitely 'The institution', not the rebellion.

This year is being... slow. James Blake grew on me, but again, not a masterpiece or album of the year by a large margin. Tennis was great, but again nothing that Wavves or Best Coast haven't done last year. Go! Team was good enough based on what i was expecting. Smith Westerns, Iron & Wine and Decemberists were borderline excellent, but not the best albums by the latter two and not the grower i thought the first would be. Destroyer was the sole superb, best of career album i've heard this year. Then the White Stripes broke up. Then Hercules & Love Affair slumped. Maybe the new PJ Harvey will shake things up a little, the raves are being awesome and she has a hell of a body of work, so a 9/10 from Spin and 5/5 from Q Magazine must mean that it is worthy and it might overtake Blake as the #1 Megacritic album. Haven't listened to Bright Eyes or Cut Copy yet, but i'll sure check them out and when a Adele album manages to be inside your top 10 of the year, you know this ain't 2010 no more. It bothers me that so far we didn't have an unanimously received album like Merriweather or Teen Dream

Hopefully with the returning artists the year will shape into something special. There is Fleet Foxes, Bill Calahan, Radiohead and Pains of Being Pure At Heart already, so let's sit and wait.

In terms of continuing to release good albums, Destroyer is one of the best artists of the past 10 years. Bejar hasn't released one dud in my opinion. But, I don't think Kaputt is his career best. That goes to This Night in a landslide with Thief coming in 2nd.

Polly Jean Harvey... breathtaking.

If you like this as much as i am right now, It's going to be a hell of a birthday gift to you Sean Park

Pretty good indeed. I'm liking "The Glorious Land" in particular.

Let England Shake is a hell of an album.

Tv On The Radio announces new album, set to be released in spring: Nine Types of Light.

And Let England Shake is so good, my favorite album of the year so far and "Last England Rose" is my favorite and her catchiest tune since the 12 tracks from Stories.

I'm listening to Let England Shake right now, and although I'm only just halfway through I can already say that I really like what I hear and that this'll probably be my favorite album of 2011 up until now.

Cut Copy is being poptastic! What an awesome electronica record!

Really looking forward to PJ Harvey's. Although it's funny. Everybody loved White Chalk and I thought it was only okay. Nobody paid attention to A Woman A Man Walked By, and I loved it.

Battles is also returning this summer!

Looks like we'll be getting a new Strokes album this year. The first song sounds like '01 all over again...

I still haven't heard anything from 2011!

I'm sure I'll pick up PJ Harvey, and I'll sample James Blake, Destroyer and Cut Copy to see if I want to buy them.

Looking forward to:

The Strokes
Björk

Might not matter to a lot of people but after the ongoing endless hype i had to check the new Lady Gaga track that is supposed to be the "anthem of our generation" of her upcoming "groundbreaking masterpiece". Born This Way debuted today and is a Cheap and Generic track with lyrics that bring to mind previous "i have a message" pop singles that weren't that good by themselves neither (Firework anyone?) and to complete the epic fail, it sounds like a straight rip-off of Madonna's Express Yourself and i saw that some people also noticed TLC's Waterfalls and Alani's You Oughtta Know in the middle of it. Claps, claps to the so-called most original pop artist of our days (Give Me Robyn and Annie anyday). It's all about her image and crazy outfits, but honestly: Bjork pulled them off before and with much better albums.

From what I'm hearing of Iron & Wine it is a decent album. Never been a huge fan of the guy, but he seems to have found his own sound.

I find the Decemberists ok but their music is deja-vu (somewhere btween REM, Springsteen and Jayhawks) without much personality

With all the big releases from PJ Harvey and Radiohead, nobody's talking about (Yet another) Drive By Truckers release!

It's more polished than their previous records. It's better than The Big To Do (Which I thought was good), not as good as Brighter Than Creation's Dark (Which I think of as their best).

2011 albums I've heard and my scores for them....

1. James Blake- 9.0
2. Let England Shake- 8.5
3. Zonoscope- 8.2

When I first heard James Blake's music on Pitchfork's annual best songs of 2010 list, I wasn't too crazy about him. The songs were nice, but sounded too incomplete for me. Once I made the connection that Antony and the Johnsons plus Burial equals James Blake that made me like him quite a bit more. Then I heard his Feist cover and I was sold on him.

I like PJ Harvey quite a bit, though I don't love her as much as a lot of people around here do. Besides "Let England Shake" I've heard "To Bring You My Love" and "Stories from the City...". I thought that "To Bring You My Love" was a bit overrated, though I still liked it. "Stories" on the other hand is easily her best album, waaaaaaaaay better than "To Bring You My Love". Anyways, my point is that her new album has really given me an incentive to hear some of her other stuff. Also, the horns on the album rule.

As for Cut Copy, "In Ghost Colours" was my number 5 album of 2008, and as soon as I heard it, I was in love with it. "Zonoscope" is really good, but not as good as "In Ghost Colours". "Zonoscope" is a bit frontloaded (as another AM poster pointed out). The first three songs on it are easily the best. Nothing on "Zonoscope" is as good as say, "Hearts on Fire", though that trio of songs in the beginning do come close. Also, I miss the interludes that were abundant on "In Ghost Colours". And the 15 minute closing track "Sun God" is a bit too indulgent and overlong for my tastes. It just couldn't keep my interest up for 15 minutes. It's still a really good album, but these flaws prevent it from being another "In Ghost Colours".

My current top list (Not counting PJ Harvey and DBT who I've only heard once each):

1. The Joy Formidable - The Big Roar
2. Gang of Four - Contest
3. Destroyer - Kaputt
4. Deerhoof - Deerhoof vs Evil
5. Wire - Red Barked Tree
6. Tennis - Cape Dory
7. Cut Copy - Zonoscope
8. Milkman - Algorithms

My very rough, tired scores:

The Smith Westerns - 8.2 (4 listens)
PJ Harvey - 8.0 (1)
James Blake - 7.9 (5)
The Go! Team - 7.8 (5)
The Joy Formidable - 7.6 (2)
Toro Y Moi - 7.5 (3)
Yuck - 7.3 (1)
Cut Copy - 7.2 (2)
Ducktails - 7.0 (2)
The Streets - 6.9 (1)
Cloud Nothings - 6.9 (1)
Starfucker - 6.7 (2)
Beach Fossils EP - 6.6 (2)
Destroyer - 6.4 (3)
British Sea Power - 6.0 (2)
Tennis - 4.4 (1)

Top 10 tracks of the past seven weeks thus far (no order except Tyler no.1):

Tyler, The Creator - Yonkers
Cloud Nothings - All The Time
The Go! Team - Back Like 8 Track
Smith Westerns - Dye The World
??? - Sicko Cell
Toro Y Moi - New Beat
Adele - Rolling In The Deep (Jamie xx Shuffle)
Ducktails f/Panda Bear - Killing The Vibe
James Blake - Measurements
The Strokes - Under Cover Of Darkness

a decent start. nothing anywhere close to my top 25 records of 2010 though.

Lupe Fiasco comes out in March, first single samples "Float On" (Modest Mouse) and is kinda corny although Lupe remains cerebral as ever on the verses.

My top five until now:

1. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
2. Radiohead - The King of Limbs
3. Nicolas Jaar - Space Is Only Noise
4. Iron & Wine - Kiss Each Other Clean
5. Gregg Allman - Low Country Blues

Quite promising...

The albums that have mattered to me so far:
1. Milkman - Algorithms
2. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
3. Radiohead - The King of Limbs
4. Cut Copy - Zonoscope
5. William Tyler - Behold the Spirit
6. Bright Eyes - The People's Key
7. The Hood Internet - The Mixtape Volume Five

From what I've heard from the much hyped Vaccines album I'm enjoying them quite a bit. Hopefully the rest of the album is equally as good as what I've already heard.

Anyone else heard the Akron/Family album? It's probably the best thing I've heard all year, right alongside Wire and PJ Harvey.

I've only heard James Blake and Radiohead once apiece. I assume they're both growers, so I'll listen again soon.

Yes, I like the Akron/Family album.

But, I just heard the new Low Anthem album. It is ROCK. It's like they took everything good they did in their mixed bag previous album, and added in everything good The Tallest Man On Earth and Mumford & Sons do.

I'm also enjoying Nicolas Jaar, thank you for that recommendation Gillingham.

You're very welcome.

I made that post when I was about halfway through it. The second half didn't live up to the first half...

The new Rural Alberta Advantage is really good too.

Just listened to that Tennis album again. Sounds absolutely NOTHING like Best Coast. I don't get the comparisions at all. Maybe because they came out 6 months apart and they're both sunny and cheerful. If that's the case why not compare Best Coast to the New Pornographers? They sound nothing alike. Actually if you compared Tennis to New Pornographers you wouldn't too far off since Tennis' lead singer has that country spirit in her vocals just like Neko Case. Bands like Best Coast and Dum Dum Girls are inspired by the c86 sound of the mid to late 80s and Tennis sounds nothing like any of those bands. So far definitely album of the year.

Yeah, I agree. Tennis doesn't sound anything like Best Coast and if you do want to compare apples and oranges, Tennis is much better.

I don't know... Tennis sounds like a slowed down Best Coast circa 2008. If you listen to Bethanny's demos the sound of BC was much less explosive than on Crazy for You mid-fi noise, more 60s pop flavored and incredibly melodic, like many reviewers used to describe. Best Coast is pure californian sunny pop and it used to be more back in the day and that's why i think Tennis to me is like downbeat sunny Best Coast without the cat and weeds references after replacing them for sailing and stuff. The vocalist also sounds many times during the record like Belle & Sebastian's Isobel circa Boy With The Arab Strap - maybe with more vocal chops. She might lack Bethanny's pipes and attitude, but she is charming. To me the problem of the record is this: sometimes is overly sweet and it really doesn't add anything on the table that stands out completely. It's fun disposable indie pop that when it works is excellent (Marathon, Take Me Somewhere), but when it fails is totally unremarkable. I'd go with Best Coast anyday - even if the lyrics a good amount of times failed to walk the fine line between sincere and cringe worthy.

1. Cut Copy - Zonoscope
2. Treefight for Sunlight - Treefight for Sunlight
3. Cleaners From Venus - English Electric/The Stopping Train
4. Destroyer - Kaputt
5. Smith Westerns - Dye It Blonde

+ special mention for this good compilation :
The Radio Dept. - Passive Aggressive: Singles 2002-2010

I want to mention again the Iron and Wine album, because I've just listened to it. Pretty good on my first listen, and the final song "Your Fake Name Is Good Enough For Me" is really impressive, if perhaps a bit schmaltzy. Still the best of the year for me is Smith Westerns, then PJ and Radiohead. Nothing so far has STRUCK me the way that Sleigh Bells/Deerhunter/Sufjan/Kanye did last year.

The new Kurt Vile album is awesome. I'd never heard of him before, but I checked out his old stuff and was unimpressed - so even if you know the name, it's worth checking out.

Albums that I've consider at least 7/10 this year...

Iron & Wine - Kiss Each Other Clean 9/10
Asteroid No. 4 - Hail to the Clear Figurines 8.5/10
Tennis - Cape Dory 7.5/10
Kurt Vile - Smoke Ring for My Halo 7/10
Smith Westerns - Dye It Blonde 7/10

I missed a couple and listened to a few good albums last night and today...

Iron & Wine - Kiss Each Other Clean 9/10
Asteroid No. 4 - Hail to the Clear Figurines 8.5/10
Akron/Family- ST II 8.5/10
Darwin Deez- ST 8/10
David Lowery- The Palace Guards 7.5/10
Tennis - Cape Dory 7.5/10
R.E.M.- Collapse Into Now 7/10
Kurt Vile - Smoke Ring for My Halo 7/10
Smith Westerns - Dye It Blonde 7/10

Lo-Fi + Male Singer Songwriter= Album of the Year. I already see Pitchfork and all the trendy publications licking their chops at the new Kurt Vile getting ready to put it in their top 3 of the year. It'll probably dethrown PJ Harvey because the poor woman never stays at the top for long. I remember To Bring You My Love being the #5 ranked album of all the 90s and look where it is now. Lauryn Hill was in the top 10 and Liz Phair wasn't far behind in the top 15, I think Sinead 'O Connor was in the top 20 or 25 for best albums of the 90s and all have fallen significantly. Tori and Alanis have dropped. Elastica has taken a major blow as well. They ranked as high in the US as they did in the UK and their just scraping the top 200 (of the 90s). Hole ranked really high at one time too I remember. I remember Cocteau Twins and the Sundays high in the top 150 and yeah My Bloody Valentine ranks high but nobody recognizes Belinda Butcher as the driving force behind the band. It's always been about Kevin Shields. I feel if Cocteau Twins were renamed the Robyn Guthrie band they'd rank in the top 100 albums of the 90s because he would be seen as the big influence amongst all the dreampop bands out there but a woman being considered influencial on bands that don't have a women IN THE BAND I think is kind of looked down upon. Oh except Nirvana because Nirvana sounds just like the Pixies right? Are you forgetting about Kim Deal's vocal contributions to the band? When was the last time you heard Kurt Cobain harmonizing like Kim Deal? She made the band sweet and even twee at times. As influncial as Kim was she still gets overlooked. Last Splash created a big splash at one time and it's drifting away like most female artist on Acclaimed Music. MIA made one bad album and she's gotten tons of negative press ever since. Anyway JAMC, the Spacemen 3 and Galaxy 500 and MAINLY Kevin Sheilds are considered influencial in the dreampop genre despite the fact it's one of the rare genres (along with twee) that has an equal amount of female artists as male. Sorry for rambling but to sum it all up I'm positive PJ Harvey will not have her 1st #1 album of the year which I'm sorry to say. Maybe if she were in her 20s she'd have a shot of making the top 3. I am thankful that Beth Gibbons is so far proving me wrong so I hope I'm wrong again this year :-)

The first great record of 2011 has been made, and its maker is Josh T. Pearson. Incredibly stark and sad record with magnificent lyrics sung by Jeff Buckley reincarnated. Wow!

No more than Zach De La Rocha's. I mentioned my dispise for terrible voices in music. I can understand metal and punk bands not having great vocalist as they can belt out some fierce screaming or wailing or gruting but I just can't stand the guys screeching voice. Plus they take themselves and their politics way too seriously. They remind me of rebelious teenagers at best. I'll take Audioslave over Rage any time.

As someone who genuinely liked First Impressions of Earth and really liked Julian Casablancas's solo album, I had reasonably high expectations for Angles. But it's really, really weak. Machu Picchu is OK, and Two Kinds of Happiness is very good, but those are the only songs I'm keeping.

Kurt Vile isn't even top 3 right now on Pitchfork so I doubt it finishes the year in their top 3.

The two new TV on the Radio songs sound pretty good, but it makes me doubt the album will be as good as their last two. It will definitely be a worthwhile listen though, as basically all of their material is.

Also, anyone with Lasers thoughts? It seems very Recovery to me - a great pop-rap album, which means cracking my Top 200 is about a 50-50 proposition. I like all the songs, but I doubt many of them are still in my rotation a month from now.

Kurt Vile is only improving in my eyes.

So I finally checked out Cults.

You Know What I Mean - holy Jesus Christ. I'll be surprised if I'm calling something else Song of the Year in eight months.

My updated top list:

1. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
(Big gap)
2. The Rural Alberta Advantage - Departing
3. Nicolas Jaar - Space Is Only Noise
4. Radiohead - The King Of Limbs
5. Colin Stetson - New History Warfare Vol 2: Judges
6. The Joy Formidable - The Big Roar
(Big gap)
7. Gang Of Four - Content
8. Rumer - Seasons Of My Soul
9. James Blake - James Blake
10. Wire - Red Barked Tree

I don't bother listing anything below 7.5, so I've only got a top 5:

1. Josh T. Pearson - Last Of The Country Gentlemen
2. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
3. The Low Anthem - Smart Flesh
4. Destroyer - Kaputt
5. James Blake - James Blake

Still have to listen to Nicolas Jaar.

Coming out this month: The Kills, Panda Bear, Foo Fighters, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Tune-Yards, Vivian Girls, TV On The Radio, The Vaccines.

Leaked: Fleet Foxes {it's awesome on first listening}

Album of the Year: PJ Harvey's Let England Shake

I find it rather interesting how Harvey was the only artist to actually build something like a consensus as a top contender for album of the year, so far lock. All the other albums had at least one stinker review or very variated opinions. Hopefully others will help to turn the table for 2011, March has some pretty names coming out and there's Fleet Foxes in April and Cults is coming out soon.