1. The Wonder Years - Suburbia, I've Given You All, And Now I'm Nothing 2. Lady Gaga - Born This Way 3. Yellowcard - When You're Through Thinking, Say Yes 4. ASAP Rocky - Live.Love.ASAP. 5. Title Fight - Shed 6. Transit - Listen and Forgive 7. Drake - Take Care 8. The Story So Far - Under Soil and Dirt 9. Algernon Cadwallader - Parrot Flies 10. La Dispute - Wildlife 11. The Hotelier - It Never Goes Out 12. Seahaven - Winter Forever 13. Fireworks - Gospel 14. Pianos Becomes the Teeth - The Long Lack After 15. Polar Bear Club - Clash Battle Guild Pride 16. Merchant Ships - For Cameron 17. Florence and the Machines - Ceremonials 18. Balance and Composure - Separation 19. Basement - I Wish I could Stay Here 20. Spraynard - Funtitled 21. Man Overboard - Man Overboard 22. A Loss For Words - No Sanctuary 23. The Swellers - Good For Me 24. The Devil Wears Prada - Dead Throne 25. Kendrick Lamar - Section 80 2011 was my senior year. This was the year that truly set me into the emo and pop punk world.
Goddamn, just realized I forgot literally my favorite or second favorite album of this year: Bry Webb - Provider, which is unfortunately not on Spotify at the moment. I’ve mentioned in past threads how I feel Constantines are the most unfairly forgotten of the 00s guitar indie bands. A big part of their excellence is how unique and great Bry Webb’s vocals are. This, his first solo album, continues that trend. Tremendous songwriting and some fine supporting production makes this album as good as any proper Constantines album to me. Not the easiest to recommend when YouTube seems to be the only streaming option at the moment, but I highly recommend y’all take it for a spin. First song is magic and you’ll know if it’s for you or not right away.
1. M83 - Hurry up, were dreaming 2. st. Vincent - strange mercy 3. Joyce Manor - S/T 4. Bon Iver 5. FF - Helplessness Blues
Joyce Manor, Title Fight, Balance and Composure, Hotelier, Into It Over It, Fireworks, The Story So Far, La Dispute, Touche Amore, Pianos Become The Teeth ..... a lot of bands that I got into in the mid 10s that were releasing their first few albums in these years and I was totally in a different musical mode at the time. I have a lot of listening to do lol
I also want to defend Lupe Fiasco's Lasers. While that album gets a ton of hate for just being a studio record, its fun as fuck. I've really come around to The Show Goes On. Words I Never Said is still one of my fave Lupe songs. Out of My Head has such a banger of a hook. Album is good. Fuck anyone who says otherwise.
With you on this one. I really liked it at the time too and was very baffled by all of the critical hate. So much so that I think I actually tried to convince myself at the time that I didn't like it as much as I did. Great example of critics/blogs having a negative impact on artists.
Not really among my favourite albums but Sundome by Battles, featuring the great Yamantaka Eye, might well be my favourite song of 2011. It just builds into something absolutely joyous.
I never listened to Lasers before. Skimming through it now makes me think he wanted to go the B.o.B. route.
I think most of that hate stems from Lupe not even liking the record. The label wanted something that was gonna to catch on, making him drastically change his vision. I'm sure the singles wouldn't have been on the record without the studio pressure.
Got it got it. So was Food and Liquor II the album he wanted to make? I like quite a bit of that one too.
Here is his take from wiki: Speaking about the album with the Chicago Sun-Times, Fiasco has stated: "Lasers is a great album. I'm actually happy with the record. I feel I got to say what I wanted even with – It doesn't make up for what it took to get through it. It's still being argued and debated upon. ... The climate of this record was very weird, in some instances surreal. I became very abstract. I had to create this commercial art that appeases the corporate side. I had to acquiesce to certain forces. Hopefully within that I snuck in some things I actually wanted to say any way I can."[16] In an interview with The Guardian, Fiasco has expressed that during the recording process of the album he has dealt with depression and suicidal thoughts: "It was mentally destructive. I say it with a certain laissez-faire now because I'm past it [...]. I was super-depressed, lightly suicidal, at moments medium suicidal – and if not suicidal, willing to just walk away from it all completely."[17]\ He originally wanted to retire after his third album. I'm glad he didn't, becuase he's put out two pretty good records since.
2011 will always be the year of Levels by Avicii for me. I was in college so every social situation I found myself in would have that song in the background at some point
1. All Get Out - The Season 2. The Horrible Crowes - Elsie 3. Mat Kearney – Young Love 4. Mutemath - Odd Soul 5. Needtobreathe - The Reckoning 6. Manchester Orchestra - Simple Math 7. Bon Iver - Bon Iver 8. Thrice - Major/Minor 9. Balance and Composure - Separation 10. Mansions - Dig Up the Dead
1. Bon Iver - Bon Iver, Bon Iver 2. Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds 3. The Dangerous Summer - War Paint 4. Foo Fighters - Wasting Light 5. Drake - Take Care 6. Arctic Monkeys - Suck it and See 7. M83 - Hurry Up, We're Dreaming 8. Thrice - Major/Minor 9. Patrick Stump - Soul Punk + Truant Wave 10. Explosions in the Sky - Take Care, Take Care, Take Care 11. Radiohead - The King of Limbs 12. Coldplay - Mylo Xyloto 13. Death Cab For Cutie - Codes and Keys 14. Kendrick Lamar - Section.80 15. Lights - Siberia 16. The Black Keys - El Camino 17. Jay Z & Kanye West - Watch the Throne 18. Adele - 21 19. The Civil Wars- Barton Hallow 20. City and Colour - Little Hell Honorable Mentions: Foster the People, The Strokes, Feist, St Vincent, Avril Lavigne, Yellowcard, Childish Gambino, Beastie Boys, Lady Gaga, Blink 182 and Lil Wayne. This was basically a year of a lot of good/decent albums, but hardly anything GREAT. My #4-10 can be rearranged any way and it wouldn't make a difference to me. Same with my #11-20.
Extremely hard to pick the best from my top 3, but I'm going with this order: 1. Thrice - Major/minor. Love me some grunge-ish Thrice. 2. City and Colour - Little Hell. Absolutely love this record. We found each other in the dark, Little Hell, Fragile Bird, Weightless, Silver and Gold... lots of great songs. 3. Foo Fighters - Wasting Ligh. My 2nd favorite record from the Foos, only behind The Colour and the Shape. Hit after hit after hit.
Really, really great year 1. Bon Iver - Bon Iver 2. German Error Message - After the Warmth 3. Bomb the Music Industry - Vacation HM: The Hotel Year - It Never Goes Out The Weeknd - House of Balloons Action Bronson - Dr. Lecter Algernon Cadwallader - Parrot Flies Arrange - Plantation Balam Acab - Wander/Wonder Beyonce - 4 Drake - Take Care Guerre - Darker My Love How to Dress Well - Just Once Jay Z x Kanye - Watch the Throne Kendrick Lamar - Section80 Laura Stevenson & The Cans - Sit Resist Los Campesinos - Hello Sadness Lil B - I'm Gay Spraynard - Funtitled Terius Nash - 1977 Shabazz Palaces - Black Up Danny Brown - XXX James Blake - James Blake Tim Hecker - Ravedeath, 1972 Fucked Up - David Comes to Life Rustie - Glass Swords Clams Casino - Instrumentals Gang Gang Dance - Eye Contact Elite Gymnastics - Ruin 1 + 2 Ford and Lopatin - Channel Pressure Araabmuzik - Electronic Dream A$AP ROCKY - LIVELOVEA$AP SBTRKT - SBTRKT Frank Ocean - Nostalgia, Ultra.
somehow missed both Joyce Manor and The Lack Long After. JM would be an honorable mention and TLLA would probably be in the 4-20 list.
1. Bright Eyes - The People's Key 2. MuteMath - Odd Soul 3. I Am The Avalanche - Avalanche United 4. The Throne - Watch The Throne 5. Saves The Day - Daybreak 6. Lykke Li - Wounded Rhymes 7. The Decemberists - The King Is Dead 8. The Wonder Years - Suburbia I've Given You All and Now I'm Nothing 9. Taking Back Sunday - Taking Back Sunday 10. Givers - In Light 11. Big D & The Kids Table - For The Damned, The Dumb & Delirious 12. Portugal. The Man - In The Mountain In The Cloud 13. Feist - Metals 14. The Dear Hunter - The Color Spectrum 15. Does It Offend You, Yeah? - Don't Say We Didn't Warn You 16. Blink-182 - Neighborhoods 17. Drake - Take Care 18. Sum 41 - Screaming Bloody Murder 19. Maniac - Mania 20. Eisley - The Valley
Just re-ranked this one last year, for the 10-year: 1. The Dangerous Summer – War Paint 2. Butch Walker – The Spade 3. Bon Iver – Bon Iver, Bon Iver Tough cuts: The Horrible Crowes – Elsie The Damnwells – No One Listens to the Band Anymore Dawes – Nothing Is Wrong Matt Nathanson – Modern Love Coldplay – Mylo Xyloto Jack’s Mannequin – People & Things Adele – 21 The Civil Wars – Barton Hollow Also love: Foo Fighters – Wasting Light Jason Isbell – Here We Rest Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues M83 - Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming Yellowcard – When You’re Through Thinking, Say Yes Honorables: Eric Church – Chief Transit – Listen and Forgive Augustana – Augustana Charlie Simpson – Young Pilgrim Mat Kearney – Young Love Florence + The Machine – Ceremonials Switchfoot – Vice Verses The Decemberists – The King Is Dead Miranda Lambert – Four the Record Will Hoge – Number Seven Stolen Silver – Stolen Silver The Swellers – Good for Me Iron & Wine – Kiss Each Other Clean Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds The Black Keys - El Camino Hailey, It Happens - Aurora City & Colour - Little Hell Death Cab for Cutie - Codes & Keys Frank Ocean - Nostalgia ULTRA Frank Turner - England Keep My Bones The Script - Science & Faith Mansions - Dig Up The Dead Meg & Dia - Cocoon Mree - Grow The Wonder Years - Suburbia
HTRK - Work (Work, Work) Clams Casino - Instrumentals Nicolas Jaar - Space Is Only Noise There's something about my favourite HTRK material that I find bleakly hypnotic. It's relatively minimalist a lot of the time - 808s, bass, synth, vocals - but the beats and the restrained melodies draw me into the gloomy tone of the songs. Despite the title, a lot of this record seems to be about sex and lust, and Jonnine has a really cool impressionistic element to her lyrics. Instrumentals is a bunch of broadly instrumental reworkings of tracks Casino Clams had worked on with other artists. I often find beats are the best route for me to lock in with the emotion of a track and this satisfies on both sides. Lush, melancholy, gorgeous. Very much a headphone album for me; a record I can easily lose forty minutes to. Space Is Only Noise is really difficult to adequately describe - sort of techno, sort of ambient but not really, sort of electronic but sometimes not, some elements with saturated production, some not. Really diverse, genuinely experimental music where he takes a track exactly where he feels it should go, nothing more, nothing less. Despite how eclectic this album is, it's really easy to listen to. The little melodies, the rhythms, the tones...perfectly restrained and beautiful. Honourable Mentions: Bon Iver - Bon Iver, Bon Iver Nils Frahm - Felt Harold Budd/Robin Guthrie - Bordeaux Eraldo Bernocchi/Harold Budd/Robin Guthrie - Winter Garden James Ferraro - Far Side Virtual Dale Cooper Quartet - Metamanoir Milieu - Eufloria Feels a bit weird not putting that Bon Iver record in my top three, especially given my actual three won't put any dent in the scores, but I don't think I've even listened to it for two or three years. If it ends up second by a point, I'll take the blame.
Ah damn I totally forgot about Jack's Mannequin and Meg & Dia! Neither would've made my top 3, but probably would've ranked both somewhere in the #15-20 range.