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”

Thank You For Sending Me This DVD

I was very fortunate to be around when the Talking Heads were in their heyday. I remember well their rapid succession of record releases that only got better as they progressed through a career most bands could only dream of.  Save for True Stories perhaps; (I’ve still never truly warmed to that one.)  That being said, the bands rich legacy of music and ground breaking videos still thrill when they pop up on my musical radar.  Good news then this holiday season as the band is set to release some rare video to thrill old and new fans alike.  The DVD, Chronology pulls together live performances from across Talking Heads' career. It starts with their earliest days at CBGB and The Kitchen in New York City in the mid-seventies, through their breakthrough years in the late seventies and on to global success in the eighties. They completed their last tour in 1983 although they would continue to make very successful albums throughout the eighties before officially breaking up in 1991. The DVD concludes with their "reunion" performance of "Life During Wartime" on their induction into the Rock `n' Roll Hall Of Fame in 2002.

 
From David Byrne:

This was very much a live band—at least until the late 80s. The initial recordings emerged out of what we played live, what worked in that context and how we refined our skills playing together. For a lot of musicians in the digital era this is not always the case. These days, the record often comes first and then how it is staged comes later.

A deluxe version of this is packaged in a hardback cover with a 48 page book containing photographs and an unexpurgated Lester Bangs essay written as a review of the Fear Of Music album for The Village Voice in 1979 but only ever published in a heavily edited version.

Track Listing

1) Mic Test (1976)
2) With Our Love (1975)
3) I'm Not In Love (1975)
4) Psycho Killer (1975)
5) Intros Montage (1976)
6) The Girls Want To Be With The Girls (1976)
7) Don't Worry About The Government (1978)
8) Dressing room fan footage: Found A Job (1978)
9) Thank You For Sending Me An Angel (1978)
10) Warning Sign (1978)
11) Artists Only (1979)
12) Take Me To The River (1979)
13) Crosseyed And Painless (1980)
14) Animals (1980)
15) Love → Building On Fire (1982)
16) Cities (1982)
17) Burning Down The House (1983)
18) Life During Wartime (2002)

Bonus Features:
Full audio commentary by David Byrne, Jerry Harrison, Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth.
35 minute South Bank Show feature (1979)
David Byrne interview (1978)

Our Tower of Song

I once asked a friend about the enduring appeal of Leonard Cohen and just what was it that keeps it going.  “It’s his dependability…”, she replied.  “Leonard Cohen is an institution and he never lets me down.”  That comment came to mind last month when it was announced that Cohen would be returning with a new record called Old Ideas. You certainly can’t get any more dependable than those and Cohen’s ‘golden voice’.

Cohen’s press release explains:

“As I grew older, I understood that instructions came with this voice. And the instructions were these...Never to lament casually. And if one is to express the great inevitable defeat that awaits us all, it must be done within the strict confines of dignity & beauty."

Old Ideas is Cohen's 12th album for Columbia Records, and was produced by Patrick Leonard, Anjani Thomas, Ed Sanders and Dino Soldo. The album also features stalwart Cohen guest vocalists Dana Glover, Sharon Robinson, The Webb Sisters (Hattie and Charley Webb) and Jennifer Warnes.

Old Ideas will be available on January 31^st but pre-order on his site today for an instant download of “Show Me the Place”

Tracklisting Old Ideas:

01. Going Home
02. Amen
03. Show Me the Place
04. The Darkness
05. Anyhow
06. Crazy To Love You
07. Come Healing
08. Banjo
09. Lullaby
10. Different Sides

Radiohead Live Dates Announced

News broke a few days ago that Radiohead when Ed O'Brien pronounced the band would be "on the road from the end of February to November"; Alas, sadly no firm dates accompanied the announcement.   Good news then, all of you excited event planners and calendar jugglers the first announcement of the band's live plans has just come out.

The initial announcement is ten US tour dates, which begin at Miami's American Airlines Arena on February 27^th and end at Glendale's Jobing.com Arena on March 15^th. Rest assured, the band are expected to announce more dates in the coming weeks, but have not said when this will be as yet.

Exciting news though, this might be just the excuse you need to break the monotony of winter for a trip to the American south.  Looks like nice sized venues too!

Radiohead Tour 2012 (First Dates):

Miami American Airlines Arena (February 27)
Tampa St. Pete Times Forum (February 29)
Atlanta Philips Arena (March 1)
Houston Toyota Center (March 3)
Dallas American Airlines Center (March 5)
Austin Frank Erwin Center (March 7)
St. Louis Scottrade Center (March 9)
Kansas City Spirit Center (March 11)
Broomfield 1st Bank Center (March 13)
Glendale Jobing.com Arena (March 15)

Skinny Ties and All

Thirty years ago every self respecting “Devoto-ee” knew every word to “The Light Pours Out of Me” and more than likely sported a Magazine button on their skinny tie...  Reunited Manchester post-punkers Magazine have released a new studio album this week so many years later via Wire-Sound. The band's fifth full-length, titled No Thyself, follows up 1981's Magic, Murder and the Weather, and was released in the UK October 24th.  (North American fans will have to wait until November 21^st.)

No Thyself reunites band leader Howard Devoto, who formed the group in 1977 after leaving the Buzzcocks, with early collaborators John Doyle (drums) and Dave Formula (keyboards), as well as John White on bass and Apollo 440's Noko on guitar. Noko replaces guitarist John McGeoch, who passed away in 2004.

The band will also be heading out on a brief UK tour to promote the disc this November.

No Thyself:

1. Do The Meaning
2. Other Thematic Material
3. The Worst Of Progress...
4. Hello Mister Curtis (with apologies)


5. Physics
6. Happening In English
7. Holy Dotage
8. Of Course Howard (1979)
9. Final Analysis Waltz
10. The Burden Of A Song
11. Blisterpack Blues *

* bonus track

When the party lulls, if we fall by the side.

Thanks for the music R.E.M.

The Club is Open (Again)

New Guided By Voices Early Next Year!

It’s been quite a year for the "classic lineup" of Guided by Voices as they just crossed the finishing line of a year-long reunion tour marathon. The mighty GBV played what was supposed to be their last show at this past weekend's Hopscotch Festival in Raleigh, North Carolina and now today news of brand new album in the new year.  

(Via Robert Pollard's website and Mojo) On January 1, 2012, the band will release a brand new album, Let's Go Eat the Factory. Robert Pollard, Tobin Sprout, Greg Demos, Mitch Mitchell, and Kevin Fennell are in the studio working on it right now. It'll be the first GBV album proper since 2004's Half Smiles of the Decomposed, and the first "classic lineup" LP since 1996's Under the, Under the Stars. Check out the track listing below:

Let's Go Eat the Factory:

01 Laundry and Lasers
02 The Head
03 Doughnut for a Snowman
04 Spiderfighter
05 Hang Mr. Kite
06 God Loves Us
07 The Unsinkable Fats Domino
08 Who Invented the Sun
09 The Big Hat and Toy Show
10 Imperial Racehorsing
11 How I Met My Mother
12 Waves
13 My Europa
14 Chocolate Boy
15 The Things That Never Need
16 Either Nelson
17 Cyclone Utilities (Remember Your Birthday)
18 Old Bones
19 Go Rolling Home
20 The Room Taking Shape
21 We Won't Apologize for the Human Race

Logic Prevails and Arcade Fire Win the Polaris Prize

Arcade Fire has won the sixth-annual Polaris Prize with its third album The Suburbs and you know what? Surprisingly I am good with that decision. The Montreal band's much-ballyhooed record has already claimed a Juno, a Grammy, a Brit award (and a Dundee as I recall) -- all for album of the year. Bottom line, the record very much embodies the awards intentions. Recall how it made sense that PJ Harvey took the award for the Barclaycard Mercury Prize recently? Same argument- So kudos to the Polaris jury for making the right decision.

That being said, I still think Olenka and the Autumn Lovers should have won.

The Polaris Prize, which includes $30,000, is handed out to the best Canadian album as chosen by an 11-person jury of music critics. The prizewinners have said the cash would go towards their Montreal studio.

The Suburbs was chosen from a short list of nine other albums. Including Ron Sexsmith's Late Bloomer and The Weeknd's House of Balloons and Austra’s latest-- all were selected by more than two hundred music journalists, bloggers and broadcasters.

Go Handsome Dan in 2012!

Radioheads Alert

Attention music aficionados and purveyors of ‘truthiness’; Do not forget to set your PVRs (or just stay up late) – ‘Oxford pop moppets’ - Radiohead will appear on a special hour-long rendition of The Colbert Report on Monday, September 26th. Says Stephen Colbert in a statement: “I look forward to meeting the Radioheads and leveraging their anti-corporate indie cred to raise brand awareness for my sponsors.”

Oh that Thom Yorke… What a comedian.

New Kate Bush in November

UPDATE: Kate Bush has announced she'll release a new album on November 21st.   Entitled  50 Words For Snow, the LP will be released through her own label Fish People, via EMI.

The disc runs to 65 minutes in length, but features only seven tracks:

Snowflake
Lake Tahoe
Misty
Wildman
Snowed in at Wheeler Street
50 Words For Snow
Among Angels

50 Words for Snow will be Bush's second album of 2011.  It follows May's Director's Cut release.


kate bush - babooshka from alexei glowakz on Vimeo.

More Vile Smoke Rings

Kurt Vile is set to release a new six song EP entitled So Outta Reach on November 8th via Matador Records. The EP is made up of five new tracks as well as a killer version of Bruce Springsteen's "Downbound Train". The five original songs were recorded during the sessions for his most recent album Smoke Ring For My Halo, but were not used on the final record. The songs were reworked with producer John Agnello over the summer for the EP. On the same day there will be a deluxe 2CD edition of Smoke Ring For My Halo with a new color cover. The deluxe package will include the So Outta Reach EP on a second disc, all at the same price as a regular CD.

Download new track “The Creature” here.

So Outta Reach EP track listing:

1. The Creature
2. It’s Alright
3. Life’s A Beach
4. Laughing Stock
5. Downbound Train
6. (so outta reach)

As well, Kurt will hit the road again with his full band starting at Austin City Limits on Friday, September, 16th and then continuing through to the West Coast with Bright Eyes. He then plays Northeast dates with the Flaming Lips in October.

Kurt Vile Tour Dates

9/16 – Austin TX – Austin City Limits
9/17 – Austin TX – Stubb’s – Bright Eyes (ACL aftershow)
9/18 – El Paso TX – Tricky Falls
9/19 – Albuquerque NM – Sunshine Theatre – Bright Eyes
9/21 – San Diego CA – SOMA – Bright Eyes
9/23 – Los Angeles CA – Hollywood Forever – Bright Eyes
9/24 – Las Vegas NV – Boulevard Pool at Cosmopolitan – Bright Eyes
9/25 – Santa Barbara CA – Santa Barbara Bowl – Bright Eyes
9/26 – Reno NV – Knitting Factory – Bright Eyes
9/28 – Seattle WA – Paramount Theatre – Bright Eyes
9/30 – San Francisco CA – Hardly Strictly Bluegrass
10/24 – Portland ME – State Theater – The Flaming Lips
10/25 – Rochester NY – Main Street Armory – The Flaming Lips
10/27 – Norfolk VA – The NorVa – The Flaming Lips
11/11 – New York NY – Webster Hall
11/12 – Philadelphia PA – Union Transfer

Creep On, Creepin’ On and On…

I was a little slow to jump on the Breaking Bad bandwagon but I was thrilled to hear Timber Timbre’s “Magic Arrow” soundtrack an episode from the third season. It meshed perfectly with the show’s forbidding nature and bible black soul. The band continue to earn new fans with their latest full length Creep On Creepin' On (currently shortlisted for the Polaris Music Prize) as the band continue to promote it. Along with releasing an imaginative new music video, the goth-blues-folk outfit have scheduled some new tour dates, (including this city) plus lined up a pair of exciting vinyl reissues.

The group's live schedule now stretches into December with a tour that includes stops in Ontario, Quebec and the Atlantic provinces. They also have a number of European dates. The full tour schedule is listed below. Lastly, fans of Timber Timbre should note they will soon be able to pick up the group's first two independent releases, Cedar Shakes (2005) and Medicinals (2007), on vinyl. These vinyl pressings will be available exclusively at the upcoming tour dates. Both releases dating from when the band was a pseudonym for Taylor Kirk solo. The band have also released a new, appropriately eerie animated video for “Too Old To Die Young” from Creep On Creepin’ On.



Timber Timbre - Too Old To Die Young from Arts & Crafts on Vimeo.

Timber Timbre Tour dates:

8/29 - Frankfurt, Germany - Brotfabrik
9/1 - Brighton, UK - Jam
9/3 - Dorset, UK - End of the Road Festival
10/5 - Joliette, QC - Salle Rolland-Brunelle
10/6 - Quebec, QC - Theatre Petit Champlain
10/7 - Terrebonne, QC - Moulin Neuf
10/8 - Sherbrooke, QC - Theatre Granada
10/9 - Victoriaville, QC - Cinéma Laurier
10/10 - Laval, QC - Maison des Arts De Laval
10/21 - Halifax, NS - Halifax Pop Explosion
10/22 - St. John's , NL - Cochrane United Church
11/1 - London , UK - Union Chapel
11/3 - Paris, France - La Cigale
11/4 - Strasbourg, France - La Laiterie
11/5 - Lyon, France - Le Transbordeur
11/6 - Marseille, France - Cabaret Aléatoire
11/9 - Munich, Germany - Feierwerk
11/10 - Cologne, Germany - Gebaeude 9
11/11 - Hamburg, Germany - Uebel and Gefaehrlich
11/12 - Hannover, Germany - Warenannahme
11/23 - London, ON – The Aeolian
11/25 - Guelph, ON - Dublin Street United Church
11/26 - Toronto, ON - Queen Elizabeth Theatre
11/29 - Buffalo, NY - The Town Ballroom
12/3 - Montreal, QC - St. Jean Baptiste Church

Get out and see this one folks.  The band puts on an unforgettable show.