B&C's Best Albums of 2011

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PhilsFan

PhilsFan

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It's that time of year where I post the Impy Memorial Favorite Albums of the Year Tally and Discussion Thread. This is the jaunt where you say, "Fuck you, critics, I know my shit" and then go ahead and talk about that.

Here's the tally rules:
- You list your top 15 albums.
- You distribute 100 points up among those 15 albums however you see fit. You cannot exceed 15 points for a single album, however.

This is, of course, about more than just making lists. This is about everyone talking about their favorite music. You can make your lists longer than 15 albums while still ranking the top 15. You can post your favorite songs, all that good stuff. Just talk about all the awesome musical shit that went down in 2011 and you'll be good to go.

Now, there's no rush. I don't think I tallied it up last year until towards the end of January, because people are still listening to the things they heard this year (I am too), and are still discovering albums they missed.

Go.
 
I have a top 25 ready to go, but there are about a dozen albums I want to hear before I consider my list comprehensive. I also want to write a paragraph about each, so I'm going to wait for a while.
 
Neon Trees didn't have an album come out this year, so I have no way to give a #1 spot. I guess Lulu will have to do.
 
What if I can't really draw up 15 albums? I mean, I can name 15 albums from 2011, but I really don't see much in terms of music I liked this year. Of course, four years later I'll find stuff from 2011 that was a gold mine staring me in the face.

Sounds like fun though.
 
LuckyNumber7 said:
What if I can't really draw up 15 albums? I mean, I can name 15 albums from 2011, but I really don't see much in terms of music I liked this year. Of course, four years later I'll find stuff from 2011 that was a gold mine staring me in the face.

Sounds like fun though.
Click to expand...
My recommendation would be to wait for some lists to get posted and see what albums are consistently being rated highly that you have not listened to and expedite that gold mine discovery process.
 
PhilsFan said:
But your old handle is.

I could change it to the Shuttlecock Memorial since Shuttlecock is most certainly dead.
Click to expand...

Ah, so it is. Carry on.

Shuttlecock have been creatively dead since 1997, so that ship has sailed. Keep it the way it is.
 
What's wrong with rating songs you know by heart anyway?

I'll do my best to make a list, but like many others I still have a lot to listen to.
 
Danny Boy said:
It does bug the crap out of me that the folks in the other place have reverted to rating Shuttlecock songs from the 80's now that they are on indefinite hiatus.

There's so much more great friggin' music out there to enjoy, folks.
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Why? Lemel, niels, martha, tourist and I have voted here and there. We're certainly not immune to other music. Just a fun, non-shuttlecock way of talking about all of U2's songs :shrug:
 
LemonMelon said:
I have a top 25 ready to go, but there are about a dozen albums I want to hear before I consider my list comprehensive. I also want to write a paragraph about each, so I'm going to wait for a while.
Click to expand...

Same for me. The list of things that I need to hear continues to grow.
 
I'll get the proverbial balls rolling:

Suck It And See - Arctic Monkeys - 15 pts.

- The best young songwriter in the game delivers a collection of his purest pop tunes to date.

Cinderella's Eyes - Nicola Roberts - 12 pts.

- The "ugly one" from Girls Aloud tells everybody to shut the fuck up and take a bite.

The King Of Limbs - Radiohead - 10 pts.

- Cockeyed Englishmen record another beautiful and claustrophobic album while living in a cave.

Watch The Throne - Jay-Z/Kanye West - 9 pts.

- Two funny and talented superstars make a ridiculously entertaining album about how awesome they are.

Collapse Into Now - R.E.M. - 8 pts.

- A lovely swan song that has gained even more significance now that we know it was them waving goodbye.

Ukulele Songs - Eddie Vedder - 6 pts.

- My favorite living human gets stoned as fuck and writes a bunch of chill songs on a tiny guitar in Hawaii.

The King Is Dead - The Decemberists - 6 pts.

- 12-STRING GUITAR! 'ROOTS ROCK'! REALLY GOOD SONGS!

Mylo Xyloto - Coldplay - 5 pts.

- The best glow-in-the-dark rock album of 2011.

Four The Record - Miranda Lambert - 5 pts.

- The baddest bitch in the genre doesn't reinvent herself, but gives us another batch of kickass songs soaked in kerosene, whiskey, and her lovable personality.

Wounded Rhymes - Lykke Li - 4 pts

- #swedishswag

Nine Types of Light - TV On The Radio - 4 pts.

- RIP Gerard Smith

Camp - Childish Gambino - 4 pts.

- One funny and talented TV star makes a ridiculously entertaining album about how awesome he is.

Angles - The Strokes - 4 pts.

- Easily the worst effort of their career, but still enough to make the list. What can I say? I love these guys. Julian elevates some of the weaker material by being (still) one my favorite rock frontmen ever.

Circuital - My Morning Jacket - 4 pts.

- Crazy white dudes with beards still doing enough drugs to be interesting.

The Whole Love - Wilco - 4 pts.

- Dad rock/sell out legends make their best album since they kicked Jay Bennett out of the band.

Honorable Mentions:

Cults - Cults
I Am Very Far - Okkervil River
Mirror Traffic - Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks
Strange Mercy - St. Vincent
Metals - Feist
Femme Fatale - Britney Spears
Born This Way - Lady Gaga
Belong - The Pains of Being Pure At Heart
 
The Black Keys - El Camino [15]

This album was a real surprise after listening to the first single and being thoroughly underwhelmed, this on the heals of Brothers being my favorite album of 2010. But that single made a whole heap of sense when placed at the beginning of an album. The standout tracks are staggering, whether rocking out, balladry, or getting a groove going. Simply marvelous album that I could listen to over and over.

Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues [15]

Not quite as mystical as the debut album, the sophomore album only dips slightly in quality. Where the first album sounds like it should be listened to on vinyl in a cabin in the mountains in the woods in the snow when every day is Christmas, the second album sounds like it should be listened to in the middle of the desert on some mining expedition in the old west. At the end of the day, I just love the harmonies and the massive layers of reverb.

Girls - Father, Son, Holy Ghost [15]

At first, I didn't know what to think of this album. On first listen, I didn't like it as much as the debut, which I found to be pretty flawless. However upon many repeated listens, this album feels more timeless. Parts of it sound like they could have come right off of Let It Be or The White Album if sung differently. This album is less whimsical than the first album, which is part of the charm of the first album - but this album is quite a bit bigger, grander, more epic.

Atlas Sound - Parallax [15]

This ranking may be a little bit high, but I've been listening to this album a ton lately. I've been playing it every night. This album is exactly like my band intended to sound before we had to break up before I moved away. It's a beautiful, wonderful album. Bradford Cox is quite possibly the most prolific artist I've come to recently love. This post was previously held by Starflyer 59, but Jason Martin has backed off a little over the last few years.

Coldplay - Mylo Xyloto [9]

This is a great album full of fun songs. Sure, the lyrics may not always be the best, but going into a Coldplay album expecting something great is like going to Red Robin and expecting the best steak you've ever had. Absolutely love the beats on some of these songs.

Washed Out - Within and Without [9]

Chillwave is a wonderful genre and Washed Out happens to be my favorite chillwave artist. I love that sound of a band putting an album of good songs together that sound like they are on a warped record being played on a system with a dull stylus. And lots of dust.

Bon Iver - Bon Iver [7]

I'm probably prematurely rating this since I've only listened to it 4 times, but parts of this album are staggeringly beautiful.

Lady Gaga - Born This Way [3]

Although I really like this album, I couldn't help being slightly disappointed - but Bad Romance will probably never be topped and I was hoping for an album of Bad Romances. Also, this is the first album on this list where there are songs that I skip (You and I being the main offender, because "Man!, I (don't) feel like a gaga").

My Morning Jacket - Circuital [3]

Again, this was an album I was really looking forward to. I love parts of every My Morning Jacket album. The first half of Z is one of the best halves of an album in the last ten years. This album has some middling parts despite song gold. The beginning of the album are overly long.

Arctic Monkeys - Suck It And See [2]

Nice little whimsical pop songs thrown together. This album is better than Humbug, but I must say I miss the crazy beats of the first couple albums.

Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - ST [2]

Very solid album, consistantly good but never great.

M83 - Hurry Up, We're Dreaming [2]

Far too long. Some great songs mixed in with a lot of mediocrity.

Jay-Z and Kanye West - Watch The Throne [1]

The singles are great, but I can't help but feel it sounds like a Kanye West and Jay-Z b-sides album.

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Belong [1]

I do like this album quite a bit. But I don't like it as much as the debut. Mostly good, a couple songs I don't care about.

Mute Math - Odd Soul [1]

Definitely a different direction from Mute Math, at parts quirky and at other parts it takes itself far too seriously.
 
I disagree about Circuital. Really brilliant start, containing all of the sprawling goodness I expect from MMJ at this point, followed by some fluffy crap I couldn't care less about. Holdin On To Black Metal is insipid and Outta My System is incredibly lame. It ends well though, so overall I thought it was a strong step up from Evil Urges. I don't have it on my list, but Victory Dance and the title track alone are worth the price of admission.

Agreed that the first half of Z is perfect though. :up:
 
LemonMelon said:
I disagree about Circuital. Really brilliant start, containing all of the sprawling goodness I expect from MMJ at this point, followed by some fluffy crap I couldn't care less about. Holdin On To Black Metal is insipid and Outta My System is incredibly lame. It ends well though, so overall I thought it was a strong step up from Evil Urges. I don't have it on my list, but Victory Dance and the title track alone are worth the price of admission.

Agreed that the first half of Z is perfect though. :up:
Click to expand...

The Day Is Coming and Wonderful are my two favorite on Circuital. Agreed on Outta My System and Holding On To Black Metal, though.

Also I just re-read my short blurb and gosh do I hate finding mistakes after I can edit.
 
I'll just list a few of my favourite songs of the year to start with. I won't rank them because that's impossible. Only one song per artist.

I'm bad at describing and discussing music but I've tried to say a few things about each song anyway.

The Antlers - Putting The Dog To Sleep.
Most people, myself included, prefer Hospice over Burst Apart. This one song, however, blows every song on Hospice, and Burst Apart for that matter, out of the water. I love the conviction Silberman puts into his singing. It's just an emotional song with beautiful ambient sounds in the background. Especially the last 2.5 minutes are gorgeous.

Amatorski - Soldier
I didn't want to make this list too predictable and "old" for you guys so putting a few Belgian bands in there won't hurt. This is one of the most talented young bands here. They released their debut album this year. It's a beautiful record full of melancholy that works perfectly in the winter. This is my favourite track from that album. It's difficult to describe their music though. I've seen them being compared to Radiohead, Sigur Ros and Portishead. Portishead is the one that's the most acuurate according to me although that might just be because the lead singer is a woman.

dEUS - Ghost
I'll just follow the last one up with another Belgian band. This band is often seen as Belgium's best rock band. They released their sixth album this year. They developped from a pretty experimental band that made chaotic albums influenced by many different genres to a more traditional rock band. Their last effort is full of great songs and will probably finish highly on my year-end list. Ghost is just a brilliant song. The first part is very radio-friendly with an extremely catchy chorus. The second part of the song is where it's at though. It becomes this bass-heavy monster that ends way too soon (and suddenly).

Radiohead - Codex
I just had to put a Radiohead song in here. This is probably the most Radioheady song on The King Of Limbs. It's also the best track of that album. Thom Yorke has knack for writing beautiful piano parts. This song reminds me a lot of Pyramid Song and in my humble opinion, it's even better. The piano is absolutely beautiful. It's like sunlight glistening in the water. The lyrics paint a beautiful impressionistic picture of being one with nature. The part between the two verses where the horn kicks in is stunning.

Fleet Foxes - The Shrine/An Argument
Helplessness Blues is definitely my favourite album of 2011 and this is my favourite on that album. It's also Fleet Foxes' most ambitious song to date being more than 8 minutes long. And what an 8 minutes. It starts like a normal soundong Fleet Foxes song with beautiful singing. I love the way Pecknold sings Sunlight over me no matter what I do. Then the song picks up speed and it becomes pretty intense. Then the noise dies down and you get a dreamy pause before the finale. The saxophone(?) solo is divisive. Even I don't always like it. When I'm in the right mood it works great. Sometimes I hate that part, but the rest of the song is so great that I don't really mind.

Destroyer - Kaputt
What an amazing song by an amazing artist. I don't know why I love this song so much. I just do. The song makes me feel happy. It's as if you're reminded of some great time you once had despite not knowing what time it was. It also helps that random parts of the song pop into my head frequently.

Spinvis - Oostende
This is actually a song by a Dutch artist. I jut discovered him recently and I've been hooked since. This song is full of wonderful, funny and melancholic lyrics about a certain girl. Normally I don't pay much attention to the lyrics but they add a lot to this song (none of you will understand them of course :wink:) It's a catchy song as well.

M83 - Midnight City
I don't think this song needs more hype. Pure bliss.

Massive Attack & Burial - Four Walls
I fell in love with Burial this year and I quite like the latest Nassive Attack album as well (it's the only one I've heard). I was obviously excited for this collabopration and it didn't disappoint. I'm still waiting for an official digital release. :angry: How do you describe it? Difficult. I saw a certain magazine describing it as folllows: It's like crouching into the deepest, darkest hole on Earth for 12 minutes.
 
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