Top 25 Albums of the Year
1. The Weeknd, House of Balloons
Abel Tesfaye
introduced a whole new sound and, in my opinion, a whole new genre,
single-handedly. I haven’t heard anything
that’s so original, catchy and encompasses such a particular mood all at the
same time since the xx’s debut.
standout: "Loft Music"
2. Drake, Take Care
This is a terrible hip-hop album and an even worse R&B
album. But if you go into it without a
genre expectation as boundaries, you will be rewarded with musical aesthetics
that are matched perfectly with thematic songs full of emotions from loneliness
to braggadocio, all fighting ferociously against a well-grounded tether. It’s no coincidence that both the Weeknd and
Drake had two of the best albums of the year.
They created a brand (OVOX’O) based on a sound that no-one can resist:
glass-candy-induced sexiness.
standouts: “HYFR”, “Make Me Proud”
With one fell swoop Big K.R.I.T. drops an album that hip-hop heads have been waiting for since '96 and adds some new soul, from an old soul.
standout: “The Vent”
4. Kendrick Lamar, Overly Dedicated (mixtape)
Kendrick Lamar is the emcee I was most excited to discover
in 2011. His range of topics is broader
than any artist I can think of: from the on-going gang violence of Compton to internal
dialogue of choosing a life of drugs to relationships to racial divides...
standouts: “The Heart Pt. 2”, “Cut You Off”, “Ignorance Is Bliss”, “R.O.T.C.”
5. Nikkiya, Speakher (mixtape)
Nikkiya is the protégé of Will “Supahotbeats’’ (Yelawolf’s
main-producer-credited with most of Trunk
Muzik). And boy did he pick the
right woman to work with. At times her
voice sounds like the late Amy Winehouse, but at the same time can ride a beat
with the sing-songy ease of Lauryn Hill.
With an R&B artist, Will is able to expand his production repertoire
into dance and even dubstep-esque tracks.
This mixtape has a little bit of everything and nearly avoids a misstep with
the consistency of the overall sound.
Unfortunately, they squeezed a promo track (“It’s In The Game”) made for
videogame developer, EA Sports. This
mixtape is only one skip away from being the best R&B album I heard all
year.
standout: “Favorite Things”
6. SBTRKT, SBTRKT
It seems like anyone can produce a dubstep and/or
post-dubstep album that people will fawn over.
The ease of production and the lack of discerning taste has created two
polarizing camps of people: love or hate.
I fall in the middle because I can tell the difference between some kid
having fun throwing as many off-kilter drums and random bass wobbles as
possible versus carefully crafted sonic landscapes. And that is exactly what Aaron Jerome has
done on what I’d put a flag in as the standard of the post-dubstep genre.
standout: “Never Never”
7. Lykke Li, Wounded Rhymes
My favorite Swedish import now darker, more grown up and
still sexy as ever... summed up by the
fantastic video for “Sadness Is A Blessing”.
standout: “I Follow Rivers”
8. Low, C'mon
One of the best opening tracks to an album with “Try To
Sleep”. Can you be broody and bad-ass
while a banjo plays in the background?: “All you guys out there trying to act
like Al Green… you’re all WEAK!”
Yes! An incredibly strong album
that runs out of character and whose pace slows around “Majesty/Magic”
standout: “Witches”
9. Girls, Father, Son and Holy Ghost
To follow up 2009’s near-perfect “Album” is quite a
challenge. I think they had the
expectations in mind when they released the “Broken Dreams Club” EP last year
to cleanse our palettes, help to shift the fans’ ears to a slight change in
sound and to hopefully avoid the dreaded ‘sophomore slump’. Master plan or not, they successfully dodged the industry curse and went on to produce an album lyrically and sonically much more mature than the myriad of hipster bands enjoying their fifteen minutes of fame. I see Girls' career lasting many more albums and those albums making many more Best Of lists.
standouts: “Saying I Love You”, “Alex”
10. Adele, 21
5.7 million records (and counting) can’t be wrong. (400k Xmas week!)
standouts: you've heard them all
11. Foster The People, Torches
Definitely the summer anthem… not just “Pumped Up Kicks”,
but the whole album. These guys did what
Free Energy did last summer on an exponential scale. Hook after hook with Mark Foster’s
high-pitched, lo-fi vocals becoming instantly familiar with everybody’s inner
youth. It’s an album that lives up to its
hype.
standout: “Helena Beat”
12. Danger Mouse and Daniele Luppi, Rome
I don’t know much about 1970’s Italian film scores, but this
album transports the listener through time and space to something at once
nostalgic, yet so authentic. Norah Jones
refreshes herself and captures the attention of a completely new generation by
trading in her sterile lab coat for elbow gloves and a boa in a smoke-filled
piano bar. And Jack White does what Jack
White does best. The fact that these two
stellar singer/songwriters aren’t the highlights of the album proves how
well-orchestrated the artists are at painting a picture with classic instruments.
standout: “Two Against One”
13. Hunx & His Punx, Too Young To Be In Love
50’s punk-pop with the tongue-in-cheek flair of gay
lead-singer Seth Bogart. Absolutely
faaabulous fun!
standout: “Too Young To Be In Love”
14. Black Milk, Sean Price and Guilty Simpson, Random Axe
Gutter at its finest.
standout: “Monster Babies”
15. Booker T. Jones, The Road From Memphis
Booker T. Jones + B3 organ + Sharon Jones + Questlove + Lou
Reed = easy
standout: “Representing Memphis”
16. Malcolm and Martin (DJ Revolution presents), Life Doesn't Frighten Me
standout: "Win Or Lose"
17. Prof, King Gampo
standout: "On My Way"
18. Astronautilis, Our Science
standout: "Secrets On Our Lips"
19. Sims, Bad Time Zoo
standout: "LMG"
20. Blood Orange, Coastal Grooves
standout: " Sutphin Boulevard", "S'Cooled"
standout: "Derezzed (The Glitch Mob remix)"
22. Com Truise, Galactic Melt
standout: "Brokendate", "VHS Sex"
23. Layer Divide, Bodice Ripper
standout: "Labrador"
24. oOoOO, oOoOO
standout: "Hearts"
25. Shabazz Palaces, Black Up
standout: "An echo from the hosts that profess infinitum"
*Diamond Rings, Special Affections
*Toro Y Moi, Underneath The Pine
*Danny Brown, XXX
***Common, The Dreamer, The Believer
***Black Keys, El Camino
*of note
***not listened to, but likely have a shot at the Top 25:
*Diamond Rings, Special Affections
*Toro Y Moi, Underneath The Pine
*Danny Brown, XXX
***Common, The Dreamer, The Believer
***Black Keys, El Camino
*of note
***not listened to, but likely have a shot at the Top 25:
Top Album Art of the Year
The 2011 Doe Bay Sessions - Kelli Schaefer from Sound on the Sound on Vimeo.
Lykke Li - Sadness is a Blessing (Director Tarik Saleh) from Lykke Li on Vimeo.
