09/01/2012
The Top 10 Albums of 2011
10. Jay-Z & Kanye West - Watch the Throne
Jay-Z and Kanye West don’t give a fuck what I think about their album—they are busy having a fucking blast being Jay-Z and Kanye West. This album was not for critics, or fans, or money, or art. This album was for two friends: an inside joke with great production values. Their gaudy bravado was a welcome burst of energy in modest times and an enjoyable venture into the world of maybachs and racks and stacks.
The most amazing thing about Bon Iver to me is the sense of intimacy his sound generates. Some of these songs are huge, but I feel like I’m the only one in the world listening to them, like he’s opening up only to me. These are private moments.
And it might sound sad to some of you, but sometimes I just like to be alone with music.
- Brady
8. Troika - Two Worlds
Troika is music in motion.
I mean that in a few ways.
The music itself never settles. It’s aways headed in some direction. It’s never stuck, and if it stays in a spot for very long, it’s because it found something for which it is worth lingering. It is beautiful moments visited, revisited, and left in the dust only to discover new moments.
Two Worlds arouses a sense of urgency within you. There’s more out there to discover, and these sounds are here to inspire you to do such. There’s purpose.
Finally, Troika the band itself is in motion. These guys are too talented not to move up and up and up. I expect big things from them in the future.
- Brady
7. Typhoon - A New Kind of House
Campfires everywhere will rejoice at these new classics to shout into the night’s sky. A New Kind of House may only be five songs long, but it is a fully realized, huge sounding, five songs. Typhoon is a band to watch for big things in the future if these rustic, brassy, barreling songs are any indication.
“I feel connected to something strange and strong.”
Yep. You guys nailed it right in the first song. I connected with this album more than any other this year.
It is emotionally rich and aesthetically diverse. It is perfect.
TV on the Radio is the definition of consistency. They haven’t released a bad album. They haven’t made a bad song. Their albums may not be as anticipated as they once were, but they are certainly as appreciated. Flawless doesn’t mean perfect, but it’s a hell of a lot closer than anything else out there.
- Brady
4. The Strokes - Angles
I like this album!
- Ian
3. The Drums - Portamento
Youth! What a glorious, complicated youth! The Drums accept mortality, poverty, and the struggles of romance with the same nonchalance one gives to the tides and choose instead to party on the beach. Lo-fi and loving it, The Drums capture a brave naivety that is reinvigorating to a listener in a cynical world.
- Matt
2. Tycho - Dive
Every sound, every echo, every silence is deliberate. Everything is in order. Music is math is science.
But there’s soul here as well.
I’ve always admired musicians who can take something so obviously robotic and elicit humanity. There’s frivolity in its attention to detail.
- Brady
1. M83 - Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming
We’re obsessed with M83, you get it.
But how can you not be obsessed? Their releases are well thought out, meticulously produced, hyped into oblivion, and never lose feeling.
Which is pretty incredible for as ambitious a project as this was. Double album. Promises to be “dark” and “epic.” A culmination of all of his previous sounds.
Dammit, Anthony, never stop.
- Brady
Text posted at 17:15
