3:07 AM
# ALBUMS OF THE YEAR 2011 #
What a great year 2011 has been for music, fascinating and fast moving as always. No amount of words will do having these top 50 records justice, but I felt that there’s nothing so impersonal as a list with no explanation. At the same time, writing about 50 albums has consumed so many hours of my time. These numberings aren’t infallible, nor are they particularly objective. Look at this post more as a collection of albums which excited me in 2011, and which formed the great part of my music taste for the year. Some of them I got totally absorbed by - lost inside. I hope that you’ll get something out of reading and listening - though I don’t expect anyone to read the whole thing. Opinions, thoughts, etc etc are all welcomed and encouraged.
#50 Walls - Coracle - Sunporch (MP3)
Banjo Or Freakout’s Alessio Natalizia partners with one half of Allez-Allez to createWalls, who released their enchanting debut album ‘Coracle’ on Kompakt records towards the end of 2011, with accompanying tour. Its heated and swirling electronica which retains the gentle organic feel of his BOF solo project, but with an overbearing ambience and driving euphoric dance beat. You can stream the album in full here.
#49 Korallreven - An Album By Korallreven - The Truest Faith (MP3)
The debut full length release from Swedish tropical pop band Korallreven, featuring one half of The Radio Dept. as well as contributions from Taken By Trees’ Victoria Bergsman and American musician Julianna Barwick. Acephale Records released this LP in November, and it was championed all round for its blissful and expansive sound, infused with an icy electronic soundscapes, reggae rhythms and dense instrumentation.
#48 StaG - Rifle Meeker - Tired (MP3)
StaG’s Rifle Meeker, an album recorded in Colorado (though lamenting a move from California), is notable not least for its instrumental use of floating reverb as very much part of the song structure. The melodies drift with a distant spiritual grandeur, evoking at times such a grey and colourless cloud but other times a rich gold and red as these compositions climax. ‘Tired’ pertains to a staccato tremolo for a wrangled and distorted opening, which at its mid-point speaks something of what I described above in its understated and softly spoken summits. Name your price at the StaG bandcamp.
#47 Jessica Jalbert - Brother Loyola - Necromancy (MP3)
Edmonton, Canada presents Jessica Jalbert’s debut record, Brother Loyola - a playful cavort in to the realms of 60s girl groups (Paris Green), crunchy midwestern guitar tones and wallowing keyboard vibes (Any Day Soon). Necromancy is a song sunken in amongst a bed of strings, and picked up a wonderful remix from Born Gold’s Kuhrye-oo, cementing this one of Canada’s finest - presented by prolific local label Old Ugly.
#46 Amen Dunes - Through Donkey Jaw - Christopher (MP3)
Amen Dunes is the project of New York’s Damon McMahon, who on his return to the US after a brief two year spell in China in 2009, has begun to release music again, firstly with 2009’s DIA (on Locust Music), and now with 2011’s Through Donkey Jaw, a limited edition CD/LP release on NYC cult label Sacred Bones Records. Its a blend of distant post-punk music with a fluttering and reverb-soaked ambience, ‘Christopher’ recalling the glistening guitar tones of label-mates Crystal Stilts (who incidentally feature next), or even, perhaps, the visceral and tonal bedroom recording sound of Pure X.
