2011 Music Review

The annual music review is back! This time I actually got the write-up done close to the end of 2011! Thanks to Bman, Deacon, Travis, Ferris, TJ, Ellen, Josh, Joz, and Isaac for sending in their picks. I'm excited to check out some of your discoveries from the past year!


Album of the Year

Fran: Wild Flag, Wild Flag. I loved Sleater-Kinney so I was excited to hear that Carrie Brownstein and Janet Weiss had a new band with Mary Timony and Rebecca Cole. Wild Flag may not have a revolutionary new sound, but it’s a good, fun rock album and I listened to it more than any other album this year.

Some other 2011 albums that I love:

-whokill, tUnE-YarDs
-Helplessness Blues, Fleet Foxes

-Only in Dreams, Dum Dum Girls

-Suck It and See, Arctic Monkeys

-Nine Types of Light, TV on the Radio

-Sineater, Snake Rattle Rattle Snake

-Rome, Danger Mouse & Daniele Luippi

-Sin Sin Sin, Le Butcherettes 

-Ashes & Fire, Ryan Adams
-KMAG YOYO, Hayes Carll
-El Camino, The Black Keys

Bman: Even though it was released with 7 days left in 2010, I'll go with The Brothers of Chico Dusty. It's an appropriate album for almost any setting, and it got me into The Black Keys. I Am Very Far by Okkervil River was good. Really really liked A new kind of house by Typhoon.

Travis Packer: Gillian Welch, The Harrow & The Harvest.

David Ferris: Panda Bear’s Tomboy and PJ Harvey’s Let England Shake

TJ Lehman: Fleet Foxes, Helplessness Blues. Honorable Mention: James Blake, James Blake and Shabazz Palaces, Black Up.

Isaac Kerns: I’m usually pretty decisive about these things, but this year I’m indecisive on all fronts. It's between Dengue Fever, Cannibal Courtship and Mister Heavenly, Out of Love. I also really love the psychedelic Marble Son from Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter.

Ben Deacon: tUnE-YarDs, whokill. The loops are amazing. Watching her live (on TV) made me like her that much more. 

Ellen Black: Goodbye Bread by Ty Segall

Josh Farrell: Peaking Lights, 936.
Katie Jozwik: Watch the Throne, Jay-Z and Kanye West.

Song of the Year

Fran: “Powa,” tUnE-YarDs. The inventiveness of tUnE-YarDs just astounds me. The looping is genius and I love the way “Powa” starts small and builds. I don’t think I’ve ever considered “shredding” something you can do on a ukulele, but that’s just what Merrill Garbus does. While I enjoy whokill for its sonic experimentation, “Powa” is catchy and just plain rocks.

My other favorite songs of the year:

-“Racehorse,” Wild Flag

-“Black Treacle,” Arctic Monkeys

-“You,” TV on the Radio

-“Helplessness Blues,” Fleet Foxes

-“Little Black Submarines,” The Black Keys

 -“Born Alone,” Wilco

-“Most Wanted,” Cults

Isaac: “Pumped Up Kicks.” Not really; that Foster dude is as irritating as Ryan Adams used to be. It might be “Blue Eyes” from Middle Brother or “Family Business” from Dengue Fever. I’m also really into Feist, “Graveyard"; Mister Heavenly, “I Am A Hologram”; and Ryan Adams “Ashes and Fire".

Travis: Fort Lean, “Beach Holiday"
Joz: “Video Games,” Lana Del Rey (sorry Travis, you know this is Adam influenced).

Bman: One of Adele's songs? They're so catchy. "Claws pt. 1" by Typhoon sticks in my head for a while http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zV0nyf2xGc.

Ferris: “Helplessness Blues,” Fleet Foxes

Ellen: "Peso" by A$AP Rocky.

Josh: “Green Aisles,” Real Estate

Deacon: David Wax Museum, “Yes Maria Yes.” While this is not the most original or creative song, it is damn catchy. I just couldn't get enough of it this summer.

Blast from the Past (favorite older album or band that you discovered this year)

Deacon: Sufjan Stevens, Age of Adz. This album fell into oblivion while I was transferring music to my new computer last year. I never listened to it until 2011. It would be the best album of 2011, except it is was made in 2010. Seriously, one of the best albums ever. Seriously.

TJ: “What are They Doing in Heaven Today” by Washington Phillips.

Isaac: It’s not really that old, but the 2010 tune “Los Adolescentes” from Chilean duo Dënver is incredible.

Ellen: Led Zeppelin (Seriously, I skipped that phase in high school).

Josh: Jesus and Mary Chain, John Peel Sessions or Sister Nancy, One, Two.

Travis: Modern Lovers.
Joz: Common circa 2005.

Ferris: Patsy Kline, Sun Ra, and Magnetic Fields.

Bman: Between the Buried and Me, Alaska.

Fran: Siamese Dream, Smashing Pumpkins. Somehow, I was never that into Smashing Pumpkins in high school. Maybe it was hearing “Disarm” on the radio way too many times. I really got into Siamese Dream this year—just in time for the vinyl reissue too. “Cherub Rock” may be one of the best opening tracks ever; the drums are just amazing.

Best Concert

Ellen: The Black Lips and Thee Oh Sees free show at SF Public Works. 

Josh: White Fence at Thee Parkside, San Francisco.

Fran: The Old 97’s with Langhorne Slim at the Boulder Theater. On most nights, the Old 97’s would blow away just about any other band in the country. Add in good company, a good venue, and a surprisingly fun opening act and you’ve got my favorite show of the year.

Travis: Man Man (Black Cat, DC).

Isaac: Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings at the Orange Peel. Neko Case also put on great shows at the Knight Theater (Charlotte) and the Orange Peel.

Ferris: Joanna Newsom.

Bman: This was epic—the Railroad Revival Tour. On the banks of the Mississippi River, we watched Old Crow Medicine Show, then Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, then Mumford & Sons. Amazing. Honorable mention goes to Peter Bjorn and John and The Thermals.
Joz: The Flaming Lips.

Best Moment at a Rock Show

Ferris: PhillyBloco! Playing New Orleans music at the Blockley on Oct 29th. Me dancing as the Log Lady from Twin Peaks.

Travis: Seeing Bradford Cox live.

Deacon: The National’s encore of "Mr. November" while Matt Berninger climbs through the audience and sings 5 feet from me.

Ellen: 25-minute improv jam session with members of Deerhunter/Spoon at the Fox in Oakland (Maybe that was 2010, but it was epic enough to spill over to 2011). 

Isaac: JPP’s delightfully awkward audience interaction while singing “Take it Easy” during Surfer Blood’s opener for the Pixies in Greensboro. I do have to say however, Sharon Jones is the queen of audience participation and live performance in general, and her entire show was a best moment.

Fran: I’ve seen this several times before, but I always love it when Rhett Miller does his solo acoustic set in between the main set and the encore by the Old 97’s. Especially when he covers “Wave of Mutilation” by the Pixies. Gets me every time.
Joz: New Year’s Eve at Maria's with The Chandeliers and the best countdown to midnight!

Josh: Mosh Pit at Ty Segall or the visuals playing behind Gang Gang Dance. 

Bman: Peter, from Peter Bjorn and John, coming out into the crowd to sing "Young Folks.” Old Crow, Edward Sharpe et al, and Mumford & Sons arriving to the outdoor stage via train.

  

Favorite Venue

Travis: Cat's Cradle (Chapel Hill, NC).
Ellen: Great American Music Hall, San Francisco.

Bman: One Eye'd Jacks, New Orleans.

Deacon: As always, The Ryman. Unfortunately I don't live in Nashville anymore and didn't get to see a show there this year, but nothing else compares. 

Josh: Li Po Lounge Chinatown, San Francisco.

Ferris: 3043 Saint Philip St. New Orleans.

Isaac: The Orange Peel Social Aid & Pleasure Club, Asheville, NC. It’s pleasurable.
Joz: The Aragon Ballroom, Chicago.

Fran: Red Rocks. Sadly, I only saw one show there this year—Peter Gabriel’s orchestral tour, thanks to my uncle—but it’s still the best place to see a concert that I’ve ever experienced.