Here’s to 2011 – the Best Albums of the Year
So 2011 wasn’t like 2010, when Titus Andronicus worked its way inside my head and wouldn’t leave and LCD Soundsystem continued to be, by a number of measurements, the best band in the world. And it wasn’t like 2009, when Japandroids and Pains of Being Pure at Heart and Telekinesis exploded into the world and Dan Boeckner and Spencer Krug released their finest moments (so far) respectively, as Handsome Furs and Sunset Rubdown. Instead, 2011 had a different kind of satisfaction – mostly steadily great bands releasing solid records, up and down the list. There are notable exceptions (Weekend, Big Troubles, Cloud Nothings), but for the most part, music in 2011 seemed to me a bit like comfort food – nothing to challenge you too much, but it never lets you down.
With that said – here’s Part 1 of Song-o-Matic’s end of year list:
Seam: The Problem With Me (favorite albums of all time, pt. 12)
When I broke up with my girlfriend in 1995 and fell in love with someone else, I needed a soundtrack for driving around late at night feeling elated/sorry for myself/whatever. Because it’s downbeat and beautiful and lonely, but still driving and melodic, that void was filled by Seam’s Am I Driving You Crazy, but that’s not my favorite Seam album. That title belongs to The Problem With Me, about which, I have often thought to myself, “I don’t understand how anyone could not like this album.” Read More…
Various Things About the Mountain Goats, Including a Song
Fact 1: The Mountain Goats are the best.
Fact 2: they will be coming to Orlando in January, and I live there, and this is good news on a number of levels.
Fact 3: their best album, Tallahassee (no arguments entertained) will have been released 10 years ago next year.
Fact 4: the syntax of that last sentence is a little tortured.
Fact 5: I’m not going to fix it. Read More…
The Afghan Whigs: “Mr. Superlove”
It’s completely possible that there is nothing better in the world than this song.
Big Troubles: “Never Mine”
I’m not going to pretend that this new Big Troubles album is particularly original, or that it doesn’t sound a lot like Pains of Being Pure at Heart (though the singer is a LOT better) or anything else on Slumberland. But I will say that I listened to quite a few other Slumberland bands today out of curiosity, and what I learned from that is that it’s a lot easier to ape a style than to write good songs. And this album is packed front to back with GREAT songs – great melodies, great lyrics, great sounds. It’s just a total surprise and delight and you should listen to it.
Weekend: “End Times/Afterimage”
I am a nerd, and the way you can know this is that I keep an excel list of albums I want to check out. The list is sorted into various buckets – things I like enough to rank in some manner, stuff I haven’t heard or haven’t judged yet, stuff that isn’t out yet, and stuff that I’ve listened to and dismissed. This Weekend record, for some reason, fell into that last group when I listened to it early this year, but it is now time to admit, long after all the blogs have already jumped on and off this bandwagon, that this album is amazing. What with this and the Big Troubles record, I’m starting to think I should just pre-order everything Slumberland puts out to save myself some time. Read More…
The Diableros: “Tropical Pets”
I fell in love with this album in 2006 when I didn’t write this blog and so I didn’t share it with you then and for that I’m sorry. The Diableros actually broke up recently, which, although I’m sure it’s sad for them, isn’t really the end of the word considering that the follow-up to this album isn’t too great, and neither is the EP that came after that.
But You Can’t Break the Strings in Our Olympic Hearts is a blast of satisfying pop music that fit nicely into the post-Arcade Fire landscape, and based on the four times I listened to it yesterday, it still holds up nicely. A particular highlight is “Tropical Pets,” which sounds a lot like Interpol or maybe The Ponys, but isn’t nearly as boring as those bands usually are.
Male Bonding: “Bones”
One of my favorite records this year is the Cloud Nothings’ self-titled debut. It’s a scrappy blast of poppy guitars and hooks that’s over almost as soon as it starts, and despite its studied amateurism, it gets by on an almost insane blast of sugar and charisma.
The reason I mention this is that Male Bonding just came out with its second album, and it reads kind of like a more bloated, less hooky version of the Cloud Nothings record. There’s nothing wrong with it – it’s a perfectly pleasant listen, but if Cloud Nothings is an A, the Male Bonding record is a solid B-.
BUT! The lead single (haha) off it is called “Bones,” and, to continue the comparison, it’s better than anything on the Cloud Nothings record other than “Heartbeat,” because almost nothing is better than “Heartbeat.” And I know all the blogs have already blogged this song, but I don’t give a blog. Listen:
