Greetings and salutations friends and readers, I hope the segue from 2011 to 2012 finds you all in fine fettle. I've got a heaping hot mug of Earl Gray (so 1990s, I know, right?), some left over holiday bakery treats and an uncontrollable avidity to force my will upon your aural require. Why??? I don't know why. Why not, maybe?
With all the year-end BEST OF lists making the rounds on the interweb, I thought I might start a new tradition and pick my personal favorites for the year. Mind you, my personal opinion is infinitesimal and inexpert at best, but perhaps you will find my choices fodder to produce statements of refute and rebut in the comments section below. Plainly put, I'd like your opinions as well. I know this journal is regularly read, and I'd like to hear from all of you Who's out there in Whoville.
Just one thing, and here is where I'll make my disclaimer statement....you know, the catch, the rub, my out clause, etc. I am not going to rank them in the traditional countdown fashion. I mean, truth be told we are up to our eyeballs in countdowns right now and the mother of all countdowns (you know the one that throttles us into the next year?) is just a few hours away. Instead, I am going to list a few of my favorite musical performers of the past year and the songs that made them my favorites, with maybe just a little written opinion as to why they are my favorites.
I consider myself neither prestigious nor pretentious when it comes to my personal selections. It's just my particular taste and as I have a forum to opine, I've decided to leverage that ability this year. I don't make myself out as the great and almighty Oz when it comes to what is meritable and what is not, most certainly. But, having said that, pay no attention to that man behind the curtain as you venture onward.
The 2011 Must-Have Sonic Six-Pack
Before you go any further, go listen to "Until You Remember" by Tedeschi Trucks Band off their 2011 release "Revelator". It's okay to continue reading this while you listen, but you'll have to fight through the goose bumps and the fact that this song will suck the living soul right out of your body. Don't try to fight it, you'll be helpless to stop it. Give in. Surrender. It's okay. To quote Rolling Stone Magazine, "[Tedeschi] glows with fighting desire in the swamp-Stax plea "Until You Remember" like a female Otis Redding armed with the reincarnation of Duane Allman."
That descriptive alone should be enough to convince you to buy the song, but do yourself a favor and get the whole album.
Catch your breath and we'll go over the rest together.
The Black Keys "El Camino" - wow. This is their mainstream breakthrough album and I'll go as far as to compare it to U2's "Joshua Tree" in as much that it's the band's mainstream launching pad. Don't be sad, hipsters, your precious Black Keys have grown up. Though we'll never admit it, we secretly always wanted this just as much as we hate that they are no longer our secret. Honestly, how long did we intend to keep our love for these indie darlings to our uber-pretentious selves? Those of us who have been fans since the release of "The Big Come Up" in 2002 will have to settle for being credited with simply discovering this great band. And you know what? That should be enough. That, and knowing that most of the new fans will probably never listen to anything before 2010's "Brothers".
This album is eleven deep as far as standout songs. But the showstoppers, and my personal favorites, are "Lonely Boy", "Dead And Gone" and "Hell Of A Season". "Little Black Submarines" and "Stop Stop" will weaken your knees as well.
If you don't know Kurt Vile and Chuck Ragan, you should. Or rather, you'd better. My guess is that we will be hearing quite a bit of both in 2012. To listen to Kurt Vile is to hear him in conversation with himself: That can be said of his ultra-wry lyrical observations just as much as the elliptical, brick-by-brick architecture of his songwriting. And he has so much to say. Check out "Jesus Fever".
Chuck Ragan strikes the perfect balance between musicianship and pure poignancy, and in doing so has crafted a landmark record. Even greater, Ragan's musicianship can be bypassed for his potent lyrics and full-fledged passion; That is, he says what needs to be said without any showy overproduction to distract us from the lyrical content. I personally love "Nothing Left To Prove" and "Meet You In The Middle". The harp/string interplay on "Valentine" is sublime.
Taking a short break from the Gaslight Anthem in early 2011, frontman Brian Fallon teamed up with guitar tech Ian Perkins to form the Horrible Crowes, an Americana side project named after the “Twa Corbies” folk ballad, inspired by the likes of Tom Waits, Nick Cave, and Mark Lanegan. "Behold The Hurricane", which would probably kick-off any 2011 mixtape I may make, "I Witnessed A Crime" and "Crush" are my favorites. At some point I am going to buy the rest of this album and will probably love several more songs, but those three will tide you over for the moment.
I laugh when people say that Jeff Tweedy and Wilco are now in "Dad Rocker" territory. Tell Jeff Tweedy that and he may set your car on fire. "The Whole Love" is Wilco's best album, notching slightly ahead of "Yankee Foxtrot Hotel" and is stunning throughout. If I may make a suggestion, listen to the playlist backwards. In most cases, I'd say save the best for last, and "One Sunday Morning (Song For Jane's Boyfriend)" is far and away the best track on this album. In fact, it's so good, you may never get to the rest of the album. But, you won't want to miss "Sunloathe", "Capitol City" and "Whole Love" either.
"The Whole Love" is my personal pick for album of the year. Hands down.
After 30 Years R.E.M. Is Still Sneaky Good
They always sneak up on you don't they? No matter how consistent R.E.M. has been for the better part of the past thirty years, there is always something that seems so unexpectedly good when the band produces new music. Of course, for hard core fans like myself, this is old hat. R.E.M. doesn't make bad music.
But, mainstream success is a double-edged sword. R.E.M., arguably one of the best bands of this generation and in the upper echelons of all-time popularity that is just short of bands like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and U2, has been criticized because their sound has historically evolved. Often, non-knowing fans separate R.E.M. into categories that are basically pre-1994 and post-1994 (when the band released "Monster"). This is an egregious error. A band's sound should evolve. That's how you make gold records for thirty years and R.E.M. has been as consistently good as any band in the history of modern music.
Nevertheless, R.E.M. put out it's final album before dissolving, and "Collapse Into Now" may well be the last of any new material that the band will release. Critics have stated that "Collapse Into Now" is a throwback to the band's beginnings, and you guessed it, a number of those critics panned it and the band for, as one critic put it, "pinching a loaf, musically". Wow. As I said, mainstream success is a double-edged sword. Still, two new singles are among my favorites for 2011.
"Uberlin" is spectacular. It's one of those songs that you love upon initial listen and one that gets better with each subsequent play. A second single released in 2011, "We All Go Back Where We Belong", produced and recorded during the "Collapse" sessions, was placed on the band's career retrospective "Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage" and it is just as good, maybe better. Critics be damned, "Collapse Into Now" was my #4 album for 2011.
Liking These Songs Could Pigeonhole You As Some Hot Chick's Best Guy Friend
And nothing more. In other words, you won't find these songs on Charlie Sheen's playlist but there is a good chance that Zach Braff loves this stuff. Presumably, one would rather be in the end zone than the friend zone, but your love (and mine, too) of these songs will set you squarely in "Best-Guy-Friend-Ville" with no chance of escape.
First of all, and I cannot say this emphatically enough, these aren't the types of songs you'll listen to when you are hanging with the guys in as much as the same way I wouldn't listen to Robert Plant's awful cover version of "Sea Of Love" while hanging with my friends Eric, Joey and Kenny back in the day. The awkwardness would be deadly traumatic.
But these songs still merit consideration because they're, in fact, really good songs, far better than "Sea Of Love" to be certain and I hope that that comparison doesn't taint your opinion. So I've included these songs as my personal favorites based on the incredible musicianship rather than their actual cool factor (or lack of it). Just watch with whom you keep company while you are listening and expect not to get a lot of opposite-sex action. Instead you'll get "You are the BEST guy friend ever! I can't believe how much we both love Future Islands and Washed Out! I hope I find a boyfriend just like you some day!"
But it won't be you. Ouch. Nope - she's gonna like the guys who dig the music in the next section. Thanks for playing. Would you like some Earl Gray?
From Washed Out I totally love "Amor Fati" and "Soft". "Balance" by Future Islands is a great song and "Kaputt" and "Chinatown" by Destroyer are equally good.
Despite What You Think, Music Still Had Balls In 2011
Thanks to Bon Iver and a number of similar styled artists, 2011 will most likely be remembered as the year of cutting edged saccharin, you know, sugary-sweet. But not really sugary. Just sweet. Over sweet. Icky sweet. But it's not. The critics want us to like that stuff and hey, if your mindless, soulless pod that substitutes as a living being wants to blindly follow along, go for it. The world needs lemmings too, if only to give the rest of us reason to say "I told you so" in the not too distant future after you jump off yet another cliff and fall to your impending musical death.
So listen to the following tracks. The exploding crescendo of guitars by The Joy Formidable is so expansive it practically needs a building permit. For the rest, even the song titles have balls. So tug your waist band out for a second, look down and discover that you are only a eunuch, you know, a human Ken doll, if you really want to be. Embrace your manhood for loving these songs. And if you're female, smoke a cigar, drink a bourbon on the rocks or jump on a Harley. Or something.
- Dropkick Murphys -- "Hang 'Em High"
- Black Lips -- "Raw Meat"
- Wild Flag -- "Something Came Over Me", "Black Tiles"
- Broncho - "Try Me Out Sometime", "Record Store"
- The Bloody Hollies -- "Dirty Sex"
- The Joy Formidable -- "The Ever Changing Spectrum Of A Lie", "Whirring"
Better Than Bon Iver (No, That Isn't A Typo)
I don't want to constantly rail on Bon Iver, but really, WTF? Are we forced to like something just because it is a departure from what is/was currently deemed popular? Are we supposed to like it because every critic told us we had to? Please tell me. At what point in the history of music would this album have been as popular as it was this year? Flowery synths, tepid beats, pseudo-jazz sax solos....... why is this considered "must have" music? For lack of a better word, Bon Iver has given us Muzak and most critics have anointed this as "Album Of The Year". It may even win a number of Grammys. Why?
What we have seen surging in popularity in 2011 is an amalgamation of 1970s singer/songwriter types of music and 1980s synth-love. Sadly, in those eras, Bon Iver's second self-titled release would have never seen the light of day. But, I get it, Justin Vernon took a daring leap of faith with this album, so on the surface it may be appropriate to give the guy credit for having some balls. But honestly, when an album is proclaimed "Album Of The Year" before it even drops, doesn't that leap of faith just seem somewhat measured if not incredibly calculated? Even worse, (or better, not sure) there were a number of artists with nearly similar styles that put out better music.
- Iron & Wine
- Josh Garrels
- Grizzly Bear
One Katy That Is Infinitely Better Than The Other Katy
They're both from England and they're both hot as hell. You'll find their music in dance clubs and on pop radio. One Katy sells millions more records than the other. That Katy has hosted SNL and just recently filed for divorce from comedian actor Russell Brand. But the other Katy is infinitely better.
The versatile London, England-based Katy B (aka Baby Katy, Baby Katie), a garage/dubstep vocalist inspired by the likes of Mary J. Blige, Faith Evans, and Gwen Stefani, first gained notice with “Tell Me,” a 2006 single produced by DJ NG. In 2011 she released her first full-length album. "Katy On A Mission" is probably her most widely-known single off the similarly titled album, but "Hard To Get" is the home run and the song that will most make you part with your hard-earned 99-cents to feed your dance/dubstep inner demon. The entire album contains a vast majority of good music.
That's not to say Katy Perry is irrelevant. Though "Teenage Dream" was released in 2010, much of it's success came this past year. "Not Like The Movies" is a tremendous effort. And going back to the concept of sneaky good, do yourself a huge favor and pick up Katy Perry's Unplugged EP from 2009. That is a truly amazing effort and her down-tempo, acoustic version of "I Kissed A Girl" may be the sexiest thing I've ever heard.
All things being equal, however, I like Katy B much better. I hope the other Katy never reads this. I'd like to meet her now that she's single and this may blow my chance. Like I really had one. As if.
Old School Is Still Too Cool For School
There's something to be said for the classics. Sometimes newer bands come along that do the old sound so well you are left to wonder if it's live or Memorex. In this case, Fitz & The Tantrums and Raphael Saadiq definitely pass the Ella Fitzgerald litmus test. For example, Saadiq was born in 1966 but his music sounds like it is right out of that era. His timeline spans the golden era of soul music, a territory well mined in recent vintage by the likes of Amy Winehouse, Adele, Daptone Records, et. al., but few can match his range or talent. The following songs are all favorites of mine for 2011: "Radio", "Stone Rollin'" and "Heart Attack".
Many recent students of old-school soul get the rhythms and vibe right, but what sets Michael Fitzpatrick and his L.A. crew apart is their mastery of Motown-esque melodies. Guitar-less but heavy on the organ, sax, and hands-to-the-heavens claps, this home-recorded debut swings like demos of actual '60s hits. You won't get enough of "Moneygrabber" and "Breakin' The Chains Of Love".
Amy Winehouse's 12-song compilation is slight on new insights — but it's still an amazing retrospective on a past musical era as well as a tribute to a performer who tragically died far too soon. And, as vault-emptying collections go, “Lioness” helps rebut the tabloid qualities of her life and death, and return some of the focus back to what won her such allegiance — her voice. Her version of "Our Day Will Come" is absolutely breathtaking and a sad inference as to what might have been.
In The Team Photo For My Favorites Of 2011
The Clap Your Hands Song by T-Bird & The Breaks
Midnight City by M83
Cough Syrup by Young The Giant
Instant Insanity by Dr. Pants
Come Visit Me by The Rosebuds
My Mistakes by Eleanor Friedberger
Generation Handclap by Library Voices
Traitor by OK Sweetheart
Awkward by San Cisco
He Gets Me High by Dum Dum Girls
Midnight Midnight by The Potbelleez
Human Condition by Joan As Police Woman
Sunglasses by Crown Imperial
Dum Dum Dah Dah by The Nghiems
Barton Hollow by The Civil Wars
Grown Ocean by Fleet Foxes
Grenade by Bruno Mars
The Dream by Thee Oh Sees
Cannibal Queen by Miniature Tigers
No Future Part Three: Escape From No Future by Titus Andronicus
Dear Avery by The Decemberists
Spinning In Circles Is A Gateway Drug by Red City Radio
Never Saw The Point by Cults
If I Wanted Someone by Dawes
Sorry. No Bon Iver.
Happy New Year and if you made it this far, thanks for reading. And thank you for listening to Jivewired Radio.
Mike
