Music of 2011
After a promising record of going out in 2010, I "only" got out to see Iron & Wine, John Doe & Jill Sobule, Ron Sexsmith, Marshall Crenshaw, The Bottle Rockets, Bethany & The Guitar, and Olivia Mancini this year. The evening at the 9:30 club for the Iron & Wine show was magic, equaled only by finally getting to see Ron Sexsmith at Jammin' Java. I'm glad I waited because he toured with full band to support his recent "Long Player..." record and a better band you would be hard pressed to see. Ditto for Marshall Crenshaw who was backed up by the Bottle Rockets for his 30th anniversary of making records. I'm also very lucky that I live right down the street from Fire Flies restaurant in Alexandria who have made their space available for shows by promising newcomers like Bethany & The Guitar, and longtime DC musician Olivia Mancini. Olivia it should be noted is a jukebox of music. Her mastery of so many songs is amazing. Still I want to see more shows next year if I can.
I still buy records, and 2011 was a good year for them including Beirut's "Rip Tide," St.Vincent's "Strange Mercy," Paul Simon's "So Beautiful or So What," Kate Bush's "50 Words for Snow," Ron Sexsmith's "Long Player, Late Bloomer," Vinicius Cantuaria & Bill Frisell's "Lagrimas Mexicanas" and the Black Key's "El Camino." I also found out about "Kickstarter" this year and had fun contributing to funding music projects like records by Casseopia and Josh Hayden and movie projects like Joel Stone's upcoming Brasilian 70'-fuzz bio.
2011 was a pretty rich year in songs too. As usual, it helps having a brother who is totally plugged in to new sounds, and to my friends involved in the International Mixtape Project (IMP). Also a big change was to finally have the opportunity to try Spotify after hearing about the streaming service for so long. Cheers to Sven for that.
Beirut put out a great record, The Rip TIde, and my favorite song amongst many is Santa Fe because of the propulsive beat and the horns.
Ron Sexsmith also put out a tremendous record this year, "Long Player, Slow Learner" and the song, "Get In Line" shows of his clever lyrics and gift for melody.
"Drover" by Bill Callahan is just the kind of intense and slow building emotional burner that I look for. It stopped me in my tracks the first time I heard it and still has that effect.
Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter's "Come To Mary" has a similar intensity that I loved too.
St. Vincent put out a great record the year, "Strange Mercy" and "Year of the Tiger" was my favorite track of many.
One of the reasons that I enjoyed the movie "Win-Win" so much this year was the National's collaboration with Sharon Van Etten on "Think You Can Wait" that played through the final credits of the film.
"Animal" by The Kopecky Family Band has a warm and seductive female vocal that I found myself queuing up on my iPod pretty often this year.
Fitz and the Tantrums unashamedly cop Darryl Hall's blue eyed soul shtick but I just kept returning to their recent record and this "Moneygrabber" track.
Bon Iver released a great record this year and "Calgary" caught my attention. But when DJ Cillo took it and remixed it as a dance single with beats, it became sublime and one of my picks for song of the year.
I liked the snaky leaned-into bass line on Fujiya & Miyagi's "Sixteen Shades of Black And Blue."
"Sister" is from the Black Key's outstanding record "El Camino." There's not a misstep on the record, but I heard that AC/DC boogie in "Sister" and was hooked.
The drums on Grouplove's "Colours" create an irresistible stomp that made me fall in love with this song.
Phantogram have sneaked up on me again this year with a very cool record of dark and emotional electronica. The single "Don't Move" is my favorite.
I loved Thunderball's chilly "Enter The Brahmin" for the same reasons.
Crystal Stilts put out this compelling "Shake The Shackles" song that sounds like they're playing underwater and luring you to their depth.
British Sea Power has been on my radar ever since their debut record, but this track "Living Is Easy" from "Valhalla Dancehall" is one of their best.
Clangy rain of guitar noise, Check! Stomping drum track, Check! Sinuous female vocal sung in harmony with the guitar lead, Check! Maritime's "Parahernalia" is a lovely little pop song.
Detroyer's "Chinatown" is another chill pop song that's a pleasure have playing while you're driving in the dark.
I wondered where ex Orange Juice front-man Edwyn Collins had gone off to, and was disturbed to hear of his stroke and relieved to hear that after a two year recovery he's back with a really good new record and this song "Do It Again" is my favorite.
And finally, I got pointed towards the Feelies direction years ago when R.E.M. cited them as a bad they listened to and respected. They reformed this past year to put out their first record in 10 years and "Should Be Gone" is a delight and it's my hope they've got plenty more in the tank.
Any of you heard anything this year that took hold of your lapels and gave you a sound shake? I'd love to hear about it.
posted by gooner71 @ 11:44 PM
3 Comments:
Great list. Kate Bush was a disappointment to me this year, could not connect with any of it.
I like the Beirut.
Here's my list.
http://theblogofmystery.blogspot.com/2011/12/oh-i-dont-know-these-buildings-i-think.html
You're so right to cite the PJ Harvey record SS. It came around so early in the year that I overlooked it when compiling this list. It is outstanding.
I completely agree with the Gooner in that 2011 was the best year in music for quite some time. By March, there were already half a dozen solid albums that had been released.
Sam Beam and co. definitely highlighted my year in music both in terms of the 930 Club show with you and WHR but also in the LP of the Year “Kiss Each Other Clean.”
Here are my other highlights:
* Tom Waits – Tom keeps chugging along and putting out hipper albums than those of his rivals some twenty, thirty, forty or even fifty(!) years his junior. “Bad as Me” was a scorcher with a crack band on board including Marc Ribot, Flea, Keith Richards, Les Claypool and Los Lobos’ David Hidalgo. Tom unleashed his falsetto on the standout track “Talking at the Same Time.”
* Marcin Wasilewski – The Polish ambient jazz pianist put out another superior effort with his trio this year “Taithful,” including a version of the old Rod McKuen folk tune “The Ballad of the Sad Young Men.”
* PJ Harvey – PJ came back strong this year with a scathing and timely critique of British imperialism in “Let England Shake.” “The Glorious Land” sent shivers down my spine.
* Ron Sexmith – I was also captivated by Ron’s new disc; “Believe it When I See It” was the one I most consistently bellowed in the car.
* Bon Iver – I wasn’t as thrilled with Justin Vernon’s new one as I was with “For Emma” in 2009; however, the remix of “Calgary” was an intriguing mix of beardy folk and ambient house.
* DangerMouse and Daniele Luppi – Brian Burton continues to amaze me by turning whatever he works with into gold. This year he was mining the Ennio Morricone spaghetti western soundtracks on his “Rome” collaboration with Luppi. “Black” with Norah Jones on the vocal was the standout.
* Foster the People – Mark Foster smells to me like a one-hit wonder but there was no denying that “Pumped Up Kicks” – with its eerie hook “All the other kids with the pumped up kicks/ you better run, better run, outrun my gun” – was the song of 2011.
* Adele – Yes, Adele. Scoff if you like but the Brit soul singer scored the top selling disc without any Autotuned overproduction. Some of it was schlock, granted, but “Rumor Has It” kicked some major ass.
Other tracks for your downloading pleasure:
* Teddybears (with Robyn) – Cardiac Arrest
* Thievery Corporation – Culture of Fear
* The Drums – Money
* GroupLove – Tongue Tied
* Lykke Li – Love Out of Lust
* Radiohead – Lotus Flower
* Keren Ann – My Name is Trouble
* The Antlers – Every Night My Teeth Fall Out
* Marketa Irglova – Go Back
* Nick Lowe – House for Sale
* Laura Marling – Sophia
* Ryan Adams – Lucky Now
* Charlie Haden and Quartet West – Wahoo
Disappointments –
* Jill Scott – Jill continued to squander her initial promise by releasing another disc full of paint by numbers R&B; most of “Light of the Sun” sounded like cast-offs from mid-90s EnVogue belly rubbing albums.
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