The Best Music of 2011

I haven’t been the most prolific blogger this year but I have listened to a lot of music.  A logical equation I suppose as the adage goes – ‘there are only so many hours in the day after all’.  That music was a constant in my life should come as no surprise to those who know me well though.  The ever present iPod, daily scanning of the tubes, a host of great live shows and darkening the entrance of every record store I find has uniquely prepared me to draft a comprehensive Best of Music List this year.


The Weather Station - Everything I Saw from tamara lindeman on Vimeo.

And what a year it has been...  New records from the heavy hitters like Radiohead, Tom Waits and PJ Harvey; sometimes they make it look so easy.  But this year it was the newcomers that kept the musical fires within me alive.  The gentle Canadiana folk of the Weather Station, James Blake’s nervous dubstep and EMA’s noisy rancor.  The stuff of greatness.  The stuff that keeps me forever seventeen on the inside.  The stuff that makes me look forward to what lies down the road for 2012.

Without further adieu.  Everything is Pop’s Top 25 Albums and Top 50 Songs of the Year for 2011.

Best Albums 2011


01 | PJ Harvey | Let England Shake

02 | Beirut | The Rip Tide

03 | St. Vincent | Strange Mercy

04 | Cass McCombs | Wit’s End

05 | Bon Iver | Bon Iver

06 | Fleet Foxes | Helplessness Blues

07 | Sandro Perri | Impossible Spaces

08 | Girls | Father, Son, Holy Ghost

09 | Atlas Sound | Parallax

10 | Kurt Vile | Smoke Ring for My Halo

11 | Tom Waits | Bad As Me

12 | Dirty Beaches | Badlands

13 | Oneohtrix Point Never | Replica

14 | White Denim | D

15 | Yuck | Yuck

16 | Destroyer | Kaputt

17 | M83 | Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming

18 | Julianna Barwick |The Magic Place

19 | The Weather Station | All of it was Mine

20 | James Blake | James Blake

21 | Tennis | Cape Dory

22 | EMA | Past Life Martyred Saints

23 | Colin Stetson | New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges

24 | Radiohead | The King of Limbs

25 | Tune-Yards | W H O K I L L


Best Songs 2011

50 | Battles | “Sweetie and Shag”
49 | Shabazz Palaces | “Youology”
48 | Tune-Yards | “Bizness”
47 | Panda Bear | “Alsation Darn”
46 | Radiohead | “Lotus Flower”
45 | Colin Stetson | “Judges”
44 | Ty Segal | “Goodbye Bread”
43 | Thurston Moore | “January”
42 | EMA | “California”
41 | Toro Y Moi | “Still Sound”
40 | Tennis | “Pigeon”
39 | Lykke Li | “I Know Places”
38 | Wild Beasts | “Loop the Loop”
37 | James Blake | “The Wilhelm Scream”
36 | The Weather Station | “Nobody”
35 | Adam and the Amethysts | “The Country”
34 | Timber Timbre | “Creep On Creepin’ On”
33 | Anna Calvi | “No More Words”
32 | Bill Callahan | “Riding for the Feeling”
31 | Marissa Nadler | “Alabaster Queen”
30 | Julianna Barwick | “The Magic Place”
29 | M83 | “Intro”
28 | Cut Copy | “Need You Now”
27 | Destroyer | “Savage Night at the Opera”
26 | Dodos | “Don’t Try and Hide It”
25 | Real Estate | “Out of Tune”
24 | Yuck | “Shook Down”
23 | Arctic Monkeys | “Black Treacle”
22 | Gang Gang Dance | “Sacer”
21 | Braids | “Lemonade”
20 | Deerhoof | “No One Asked to Dance”
19 | Wilco | “Black Moon”
18 | Wye Oak | “Civilian”
17 | Low | “Especially Me”
16 | J Mascis | “Not Enough”
15 | White Denim | “Street Joy”
14 | The Oh Sees | “If I Stay Too Long”
13 | The Black Keys | “Lonely Boy”
12 | Dirty Beaches | “Lord Knows Best”
11 | Tom Waits | “Talking at the Same Time”
10 | Kurt Vile | “Baby’s Arms”
09 | Atlas Sound | “Lightworks”
08 | Girls | “Forgiveness”
07 | Sandro Perri | “Changes”
06 | Fleet Foxes | “Bedouin Dress”
05 | Bon Iver | “Helocene”
04 | Cass Mccombs | “County Line”
03 | St. Vincent | “Cruel”
02 | Beirut | “Santa Fe”
01 | PJ Harvey | “The Words the Maketh Murder”

Everything is Pop - Songs of the Year 2008

1. Women – Black Rice

It’s been a tremendous year for several Calgary, AB musicians and Women have been on the vanguard of a creative and thoroughly western wave. This sleepy little ditty is a gem of a song that seems to only get better with every listen. The vibes alone are simply transcendent. If Brian Wilson and Colin Newman were to get together and conceive of a song this could possibly be the result. Chad Van Gaalen produced their CD and his inspired imprint is really felt on this one. "Black Rice" is noisy and melodic, with a killer hook that will grab you from the start. This one is a welcome addition to my ever growing canon of favourite songs. Certainly my favourite of the year.



2. Fleet Foxes - White Winter Hymnal

At the beginning of the year I had not heard of this remarkable Seattle quintet. As the year progressed though, Fleet Foxes turned out to be the proverbial band of the moment, and deservedly so. Their initial success was due in large part to this most enigmatic and intriguing single. In many ways "White Winter Hymnal" is a perfect song; highly mysterious, lyrically ambiguous and musically stunning. I still haven’t truly deciphered the lyrical meaning behind this song but that really doesn’t matter much. There’s no denying its intrinsic appeal is bound by its subtler beauties. Fleet Foxes will no doubt be a huge contender in the music world for years to come. It's kind of nice to be there at the start.



3. Frightened Rabbit - Keep Yourself Warm

I have always enjoyed this song but it was only this week that I realized the true appeal that this song possesses. (I must tell you, I only made this realization after listening at preposterous volume in my car as I drove to work.) The Scots in Frightened Rabbit have created a sing along song that is equal parts anthemic, traditional and very cathartic in its reach. What has become a concert highlight, Frightened Rabbit’s Scott Hutchison's urgent vocals propels this song to classic status in its truest sense. Akin to the Pogue’s Fairytale of New York, a song for the ages. You might want to keep youngster out of the room when listening to this one. Cursing (with Scottish accent) at the top of my lungs has never been so fun.



4. Portishead – The Rip

Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead loved this song so much the two covered it on tour this year. The song also garnered a legion of music fans the world over in 2008 and resulted in much renewed interest for the moody Bristolian trio. "The Rip" is a song that seems as much of the moment as some alien transmission from another universe. Unhesitatingly cool and quite unlike anything else ot there this is pure icy Portishead and it’s a classic. Only Beth Gibbons is capable of conveying the true desolateness that this track possesses. In a brilliant return to form, Bristol’s Portishead have topped even themselves with this dark number. "The Rip" is a near perfect track from a near perfect album.




5. Brian Eno and David Byrne - Strange Overtones

Until this year it had been more than 25 years since this talented musical pairing’s last collaboration on the seminal My Life in the Bush of Ghosts album. Rather than duplicating their successful sampling framework employed in 1981, the two set out to use pure song craft as the essence of Everything That Happens Will Happen Today. The first single and quite possibly the best song on that record, “Strange Overtones” employs the best of both artists creative worlds with the result being their finest work in many years. Byrne’s contagious falsetto and bright guitar are what really set this one apart and perfectly encapsulates the “electronic gospel” themes the two sought to explore with the record. (According to my iTunes database this song is also my most frequently played song this year- A personal testimony of sorts to the appeal and quality of this remarkable piece.)