I also want to have a lead on everyone else's lists (I'm very insecure), though my No. 1 has been forgotten by every outlet the
week after its release.
But no: I won't turn this into a shouting match with
everyone else out there. This is how I feel about the music in my own vacuum. I
also like to eschew the trend of nonetheless-subjective sites labeling these
features as Best Of, like their Best is a definitive best. These are my favorites. Me.
So.
My four most-favorite albums of 2011:
1. Radiohead - The King of Limbs
Current play count: 87
Highlights: "Bloom," "Codex," "Give
Up The Ghost"
The King of Limbs already seems to be the Radiohead album
that time forgot. It's probably as easy to make that conclusion because it
didn't have the brilliant pay-whatever marketing scheme as In Rainbows (a
lesser album that I can deride as Radiohead: Greatest Live Hits, especially
with "Nude" and "Videotape" finally showing up in an album
proper.)
What I like most about the albums is, for the first time
since Kid A, Radiohead has placed far more emphasis on sound
than riffs or hooks. The hypnotic loops that open "Bloom" immediate
state the aural thesis of the album, and through the band's always-fabulous
sequencing, by the time we get to the stripped-down "Give Up The
Ghost," it doesn't seem anywhere out of place.
The opening track and most others feature a rather restless
drumming style from Phil Selway, so much so that their touring lineup includes
a second drummer on his own set. This restlessness points that Radiohead, after
almost twenty years as A Big Thing (if you want to go back to 1993's
"Creep," which any good Radiohead fan hates but begrudgingly admits
allowed the band to record 1995's The Bends), they're still looking for ways to
push forward. One, not many bands have been around that long, and two, if they
have, they most certainly don't have the same lineup as when they started.
Radiohead plays with all its original members, and all songs are attributed to
the entire band. It's an idea that seems rather quaint in today's landscape
where most bands are known by their frontman or -woman. (Hell, even I get
confused with the duo of brothers that comprise the rest of the Matt
Berninger-fronted The National.)
While many point to "Lotus Flower" as the album's
centerpiece - by its track placement, its status as lead single, its unfortune
music video, and the fact that it's the best dance song Radiohead has ever made
- I think "Codex" is the real standout. Thom Yorke's fractured lyrics
and the EQ-shifting, cascading piano create one of the most gorgeous textures
of the year, and it's the only song without a direct narrative that elicited as
strong an emotional response (though quite a different response) as last year's
epic "Four Score And Seven" by Titus Andronicus. "Codex"
paints a vivid, haunting scene: "Sleight of hand / Jump off the end / Into
a clear lake / No one around / Just dragonflies / Flying to the sun / No one
gets hurt / You've done nothing wrong." Later verses end with, "The
water's clear / And innocent." The horns also add a regality to the piece,
and the (I assume?) Johnny Greenwood-arranged strings make it seem tepidly
optimistic, almost a mirror image of the similar-sounding "How To
Disappear Completely" off Kid A.
And "Give Up The Ghost"? The first time I heard
that on the very hour the album came out, I was totally blown away. A lot of
the In Rainbows excitement was that it was a Radiohead-with-guitars album, and
it's fitting that The King of Limbs' penultimate track succeeds brilliantly as
an acoustic piece. It was almost surreal to see Yorke and Greenwood pull it off
so beautifully on Jimmy Fallon with only two guitars, a loop pedal, and a
laptop for the metronomic kick drum. (See it here, which will
probably get pulled.)
Radiohead has been a tease by releasing
"Supercollider," "The Butcher," and a Live From The
Basement cut of "Staircase" separately despite Limbs only running
barely over a half-hour. While the Limbs remix series is absolutely gigantic
(considering all the alternate versions surfacing that didn't make the
12"), the lyric "If you think is over then you're wrong" off
final track "Separator" gave diehards false hope of a second album
lurking around the corner. It's a consolation prize, then, that the band claims
they're going back into the studio early next year. And while they've
acknowledged a desire to move away from concept-based records like OK Computer
and Kid A, if The King of Limbs is indicative of the direction they're moving,
I'm sure to spend a future date awake in the depths of night, waiting for the
downloads to go live in England.
2. James Blake - Self-Titled
Current play count: 40
Highlights: "The Wilhelm Scream," "I Never
Learnt To Share," "Limit To Your Love"
Oh, the strange trajectory of James Blake. His 2010 EPs
showed his crazy genre-hopping range, and while many fell in love with his
self-titled LP because the man revealed he can sing, this is
probably one of the weirdest singer-songwriter albums ever made.
I can admit my own history with Blake's first full-length: I got the leak,
really liked half of it, joined the backlash, was bored to tears during half
his live set (post-show noogies aside), and then discovered how sequencing a
double vinyl can really draw attention to the disparate movements of his music.
I lived so long with the MP3s that it was quite refreshing
to get the "deluxe" vinyl put out by Polydor UK/Universal. While at-the-head bonus track "Tep And The Logic" is utterly forgettable, it lends a lot
of weight to the off-kilter starter "Unluck." The end of side one and
the start of side two is the one-two combo of the layers-added-to-layers
"The Wilhelm Scream" and strangest-song-of-the-year contender "I
Never Learnt To Share," which runs the gamut of Blake's arsenal: his
early-20s croon, harmonic vocal overdubs, short-and-to-the-point lyrics, murky
synths, keyboard runs, guitar (yes, guitar!), dubsteppy bass, and a bass
freakout that, live, is known to shake the foundation of any indoor venue.
And while Feist cover "Limit To Your Love" was
made entirely his own by Blake, just knowing it's a cover
weakens some of its power; but not as the first track on LP2. Given the
delicate nature of the song, it's interesting that Blake decided to unleash the
most dubstep-agreeable bass wobble during "Limit." And given his
propensity for brief, cryptic lyrics, Blake wisely sings a fraction of Feist's
rendition. I'm trying to veer from hyperbole, but it's probably my favorite
cover ever. It's one of the few that surpasses the original, like Hendrix's
take on "All Along The Watchtower" or that one guy who did The
Knife's "Heartbeats" on guitar.
The tail-end of the album looses far too much steam, though,
and Blake mostly sits behind his piano and sings pretty. You can draw a line
from the end of his LP to recent EP Enough Thunder, which doesn't have much of
what originally drew listeners to Blake. The same worry can be projected onto
his upcoming December EP, as well as Blake's own comments in interviews that he
increasingly feels more creative simply sitting down at a piano and singing.
Not to say I'm writing off Blake completely. That was the
thrill of his three EPs leading his self-titled; he's a musical chameleon, and
he can do all sorts of crazy shit all by his lonesome. Maybe he'll get into
dance music. Or pull a Lil Wayne and start playing guitar onstage. That's
what's exciting about a young producer who, with this exposure, has the
bankroll to experiment. Regardless of what happens to Blake, next time I see him
live I expect the same First Avenue-shaking bass, either from an old track or
something new.
3. Battles - Gloss Drop
Current play count: 28
Highlights: "Ice Cream," "Futura,"
"Wall Street"
Yeah, I'm the guy who didn't like Mirrored. For every
"Atlas" or the criminally-short "Leyendecker" or
mind-blowing closer "Race: Out," there was something that went
absolutely nowhere (and took a hell of a long time going there) like "Bad
Trails" or "Tij." Those last two Mirrored cuts seemed like expanded experiments
from their hit-and-miss B and C EPs.
So while the departure of "vocalist" and
multi-instrumentalist Tyondai Braxton left a hole that furthered Battles'
growing pains, Gloss Drop is a far more complete-sounding record than its
predecessor. It might lack the sheer unpredictability of Mirrored - to grossly
oversimplify, Gloss Drop sounds like walking through a carnival midway in the
year 2050… after having dropped acid - and the debate will never end about
whether or not it was a good idea to bring it guest vocalists (especially
considering how it magnifies the logistical considerations of their live show,
which was the best show I saw this year, by the way). But what about the songs?
I can't think of any other album this year that pummels the
listener with not one, nor two, but six sequential tracks
that rightly earn the suspicion that the members of Battles aren't human.
"Africastle" blows up after an austere opening. "Ice Cream"
has the best front-end accelerondo in ages, followed by such joyous delirium
that EA licensed it for their FIFA 12 commercial (and makes the game seem far
more fun than reality). "Futura" might have a 4/4 time signature, but
it turns math rock on its head by seamlessly propelling forward what starts as
a simple jam into a massive, brooding juggernaut of an instrumental; never mind that
legendary drummer John Stainer hits his hi-hat at intervals that may seem
random but totally lock the track into place. It's like there's a very
complicated equation in his head that determines when he strikes.
"Inchworm" is a little slow but by track four we need a breather.
"Wall Street" and "My Machines" zoom forward with a hint of
the darkness that characterized a lot of Mirrored's moments.
And while I don't intend to trash the entire second half of
the record, LP2 doesn't have nearly as much to offer. It took their live
show to convince me that "Sweetie & Shag" is a good song, and
while it served as their encore, closer "Sundome" seems to have been
picked as the last track simply because it's Gloss Drop's longest.
I suppose it's more of a disconnect between the two parts of
the album rather than one being good and the other bad. It's like LP1 contains
all the singles and accessible material, and LP2 has a fair amount of bold experimentation amid
going-nowhere half-songs. Given that "Dominican Fade" runs 1:49, 1:11
for "Toddler," and 2:06 for "Rolls Bayce," it's not a
stretch to think that Battles couldn't really come up with a way to extend
those concepts. "White Electric" is the second-best song out of the
run, and it straddles the line between day-at-the-carnival Gloss Drop and the
intergalactic war of Mirrored. Granted, it takes a hell of a long time to
build; there isn't a cymbal crash until 3:15, and from there it's an
aggressive, moody track that works by itself but seems lost between "Rolls
Bayce" and "Sundome."
Battles' uneasy progression gets the same leeway I'm giving James
Blake. Gloss Drop is a fantastic musical statement, and while it's doesn’t have
the dizzying highs of Mirrored, it's far more on-message about what Battles, as
a band, can achieve musically. And, like Blake, who knows what's next? A new
member who can hand in larynx-melting yelps like Braxton? An emphasis on
guitars? No guitars at all? I think the only solid fact about Battles is John
Stanier, who has the indie kingdom's distinction as being a drummer who's the
most-famous member of a band. And, seeing him smack that six-foot crash live,
he deserves all credit.
(I want to live inside that music video.)
4. Fucked Up - David Comes To Life
Current play count: 7
Highlights: "Queen of Hearts," "The Other
Shoe," "Running On Nothing"
Now here we have the wildcard. I think "weird" is
this year's theme, and David Comes To Life fits that pretty well. You have Pink
Eyes' throat-scalding yells backgrounded by rock-solid instrumentation that
isn't anywhere near the sludgy hardcore you'd expect from the frontman's voice.
And then you have a hardcore punk band apparently telling a very convoluted
story across eighteen tracks that span an hour and seventeen minutes.
That last part is probably why I've only listened to it, in
full, seven times.
And will I ever understand the story concept? Will I even
look up the lyrics? Nope. The music simply rocks so hard there's no need to
look elsewhere for satisfaction.
I guess I sense something about this
album. I know I'll play it well into 2012, whereas a lot of my listed 2010
albums have vanished from my playlists (biggest offender: Arcade Fire's The
Suburbs). There's energy and passion in both David Comes To Life and Fucked Up
(who, unfortunately, might be on the outs after hearing Pink Eyes' comments
about his exhaustion with touring), and in the indiesphere these traits are
usually swapped out for lifeless loops and cynicism.
Bonus point for using motifs. Haven't heard many of those on
solid rock albums in a long time.
(Album version)
(Kids-singing-along version)
Whew.
I'm quite spent, and I still have to tackle my ten
most-favorite songs of the year. Some I already covered above, and for the rest
I'm going to try to limit them to a single sentence.
Ten most-favorite songs of 2011:
1. Battles - Futura
At 2:14 I love how the doom-and-gloom chords cut out and
clear the air before moving onto the next layer of complexity.
2. Radiohead - Codex
Random factoid: When drawing the sketches for Meridien K
chapter headers, I drew about ten that were all "scenes" of what this
song would look like.
3. James Blake - Limit To Your Love
Also random: James Blake somehow looks quite different in
real life than in his music videos. He looks so fragile and brittle in videos
but he's a normal dude.
4. The Rapture - How Deep Is Your Love?
Obligatory left-field choice, but I can't deny a good
four-on-the-floor track.
5. Iceage - White Rune
I just get depressed when I read how young these guys are.
6. TV on the Radio - Killer Crane
"Killer Crane" has the best last nineteen seconds
of any song this year.
7. Dom - Damn
(Couldn't find a non-live vid.)
I'm almost afraid for Dom to make an LP after two awesome
EPs. Is there such a thing as an EP-only band?
8. Yacht - Shangri-La
Great 2011 lyric: "If I can't go to heaven let me go to
LA." Yacht is the most underappreciated band on DFA.
9. Washed Out - A Dedication
Still looking for a slow-dance partner for this track. Love
it when the beat comes it.
10. Tune-Yards - Powa
I fucking hate Tune-Yards, but not this song.
So those are the two big categories to get out of the way.
I'll whip up another post to cover the rest of notable 2011 music say… next
week?
