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20. Daniel Romano – Sleep Beneath The Willow
Daniel Romano is far from the first indie rocker to go solo and pursue country music, but on his first solo record, he handles it all himself and does so brilliantly. It’s slow, drunk in the middle of the day country, nothing new. But Romano has one of the best new voices in country that I’ve heard in a long time and is able to alternate between this really low baritone on some songs and a lighter, less twangy Gram Parsons sound on others. If you have any kind of affection for American (or Canadian) music, you should give this record a shot – it’s really great.
19. Black Cobain – Young, Gifted & Black
“Young, Gifted & Black” opens with about a minute and a half of a gospel choir looping that phrase over and over, and from that moment, I knew this was going to be a rap album I was going to love. When Black Cobain opens his mouth, he sounds a lot like Common, when Common tries to be “street”, but there is something really fresh in Black Cobain’s delivery – that of a young artist with something to prove. And even though he’s loosely affiliated with Maybach Music Group (he’s Wale’s protegé and in The Board Administration), I wanted to single this mixtape out from the rest, because as a complete work, it’s more fully realized than the rest of the group’s releases. Wale pops up on a few tracks, most notably “The Cookup” (with Stalley, too) and “4AM”, two songs that I’ll go ahead and call future classics. But why this album sits so well with me is because it reminds me of the early years of the 2000′s, when Roc-A-Fella was king and mainstream rap was in a really good place. Check out Black Cobain if you like Common in theory, but are tired of him writing duets. The mixtape is free, just use google. You won’t regret it.
18. A$ap Rocky – LiveLoveA$ap
And the award for most blogged about rapper without an album this year…Listen, you’ve probably heard about ASAP Rocky’s stunning major label deal for him and his crew (ASAP), but even amidst all the hype and the inescapable phrase “I be that pretty muthafucka!”, the long-awaited “LiveLoveA$AP” not only lived up to the hype lots of people bestowed upon it, but far exceeded it for many. The beats are top notch, a veritable who’s who in underground rap this year (led by Clams Casino), the reason that Rocky’s music works for me where a lot of this “cloud rap” stuff doesn’t quite work for me, is because there is still this underlying street sound to it. Even when he is rapping about clothes and the like, there is this gangster swagger to it that I don’t get from lots of the other purveyors of the scene, no matter how hood they actually are. It just sounds tougher (and a lot of that is due to the constant homage to Houston music). He’s not the most skilled rapper, but his crew helps him out and the sound is thoughtfully worked out. PS, I listened to “Wassup” about 400 times this year, if not more.
17. 2562 – Fever
2562′s first two full length albums showed promise that he was one of the few dubstep producers who had a vision beyond whatever was currently “in” with the scene. There was wobble there, but he infused his music with all kinds of glitchiness that took away from the stoned aspect a lot of the music has. They weren’t totally enjoyable records, but they were things you could respect as different. For “Fever”, 2562 has abandoned dubstep altogether and chosen to showcase his ability to use a sampler. The entirety of this record is apparently culled from 70′s and 80′s disco records, every drum, every vocal sample, and everything else comes from this odd records – and what’s more, unless you are some huge disco head, you don’t recognize the samples. It just sounds like a hard-hitting techno album most of the time, which is what it is. It’s a total headfuck of an album, and one of my most listened to electronic records of the year.
16. Scuba – DJ-Kicks
I’ve only been to like one dj night in my life, despite my constant insistence on attempting to stay sort of in the loop of hot dj’s and producers. That being said, it killed me earlier this year when I missed Scuba perform in San Francisco because for the last few years this dude has been consistently putting out amazing mixes, whether through podcasts, radio programs or official releases. For me, DJ mixes are typically a place where I can get ideas on how to blend two totally different tracks and make it work. With Scuba’s mixes, he is so thoughtful about his dance music, that he not only chooses a ton of songs, but he chooses little snippets within those songs, barely letting them breathe, and just overlay on top of each other. His mixes can stretch to the 2-hour mark, be full of high points and yet you’d think it’s just Scuba the entire time rather than 30+ other producers. This is just another great mix in a long line of great mixes in the DJ-Kicks series. If you like techno or dance music, you’d better be on this.
15. Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues
Depending on the time of day and mood I’m in, this record could be found anywhere between the #2 spot and outside the top 20, so I sort of just put it here arbitrarily. Listen, I think this record is way more ambitious and exciting than the first Fleet Foxes record (a record I like), but it also has more specific lyrics and imagery that can be sort of off-putting. And the “experimentalism” aka the way their songs now sound like the latter days of Simon & Garfunkel can be really exciting, but almost masks the songs at time. Whatever, I mean I love music like this and there is no doubt that these guys have great harmonies and are these ridiculous folky romantics, but I’m not in the mood for this music as much as I used to be. I’m getting ornery in my old age!. That being said, this is really good.
14. Pusha T – Fear Of God II: Let Us Pray
I realize that a handful of the tracks on this EP have been out for awhile, but I don’t give a shit, Pusha T is probably my favorite rapper and there is enough new material on here that has kept me real excited this winter. There are a couple classic tracks here, a couple mediocre tracks, nothing that is actually poor. But it’s a lot of Pusha and that’s always a good thing to me, so it has to be high. He doesn’t always sound super inspired and still wish that we could Pharrell to consistently provide some beats like from the first two Clipse albums, but at least we get a couple tracks in that style. It’s just my favorite shit to play driving to and from work, PUSH.
13. James Blake – James Blake
I’ll say outright that as of now, I prefer James Blake’s instrumental/experimental/post-dubstep/electronic stuff more than the music where his vocals are way out front. That being said, I think the music he creates, regardless of the style has been almost all totally original and great (he finally released an EP this year I didn’t care for). My girlfriend recently said she could listen to James Blake all the time, and I sort of have to agree with her on that. His music is dark, but it’s pretty. And it’s slow and you can ignore it, but it has enough small subtleties that it’s really interesting as well. How can something so quiet rumble my speakers so much? It’s cool stuff, something that will stick with me for many years to come.
12. Jamie Woon – Mirrorwriting
Detractors of this album will likely point to the idea that it lacks the inventiveness of James Blake’s debut, but I don’t think that Jamie Woon was going for that. This is a solid pop/r&b record that should have the ability to crossover into American markets if everything was right with the music world. Alas, it’s not. While Blake is certainly putting out more abstract and fragmented music, Woon is taking blue-eyed soul and some of the catchiest hooks of the year and combining them with music that has a heavy low-end and a dance groove, but is also able to slow things down to a crawl. He’s got a great voice, nothing too striking, but really clear and soulful (in the British way). It’s one of my most listened to albums and another case where solid pop music wins out over experimentalism.
11. Motor City Drum Ensemble – DJ-Kicks
This is how you make a fucking mix. There were a handful of mixes I heard this year where I stopped like 3/4 through and was like “well, I’ll never be this good”, but this mix really shattered my world. What MCDE does here is combines techno, house, world music, reggae, 80s r&b, and makes everything so fucking cool…it’s just, yeah. I think a lot of people look at mixes like the DJ-Kicks series and want to hear the year’s best dance tracks used in a unique way. There is a little of that here, but lots of these tracks go way back and that’s what makes it so awesome. I don’t even know how someone gets the idea in their head to cull these things together to mix, but it’s brilliant and every time I listen to it, I want to move it up higher. A total feel good record, played well in the car, at work, at home, all the time.
10. Kendrick Lamar – Section.80
Kendrick Lamar is a year younger than me and sounds like he’s lived like 5x the lifetimes. This is the album that has grown on me more than any other this year and it’s continuing to do so. Kendrick Lamar, hailed by many West Coast greats as the savior of West Coast Rap has this “cool” about him where he just spits his rhymes like he can’t do anything else and it’s nothing to him. Go watch his verse from the BET 2011 Cypher’s to get an idea. The thing is though, he is unbelievably sick. He has a sing-songy thing goin on, he’s got a rapid-fire flow that harkens back to the Good Life scene of the early 90s LA scene, he can sound gangster, political. The album is sort of all over the place as far as themes go, and that’s fine. I think it fits Kendrick’s personality. Whatever the case, things are going to be blowing up for him (and hopefully the rest of his clique, Black Hippy). One of the most creative rap releases of the year for sure.
9. The Rhythmagic Orchestra – The Rhythmagic Orchestra
When you first play The Rhythmagic Orchestra’s debut LP, you get the feeling that all the players involved are having a blast. They are, because the project was born out of the idea of just having fun. Basically a bunch of the best players in modern Latin Jazz & Funk got drunk, talked about collaborating and creating an album featuring some of the most famous latin jazz classics, but in a new, more modern style – and then they did it. We get Gillespie/Pozo, Kenny Dorham, Art Blakey, all these jazz classics when Latin stylings were the shit, just updated. It’s far and away my favorite jazz album of the year and maybe of the last couple years. It sounds like a party, it is a party, it should soundtrack your next party.
8. Gillian Welch – The Harrow & The Harvest
I think it’s safe to say by now that Gillian Welch has my favorite voice in all of music. Her and Dave Rawlings just about write the best songs in all of music and each one of her albums are among my favorite albums in whichever year or decade they come out. They’re musician’s musicians and are almost treated like royalty with the reverence people like me and other country/americana fans bestow upon them. It’s been 8 damn years since the last Gillian Welch album and I’ve been lucky enough to see her live a few times in between, touring the same songs that I know and love. And well…even though apparently the album took a long time to come out because they weren’t happy with the songs they kept trying to write, the 10 they’ve chosen here are just note for note beautiful. It’s another classic Gillian Welch album, and even if it’s at #8 today, just like every one of her albums, expect it to be at #1 before long.
7. The Wronglers with Jimmie Dale Gilmore – Heirloom Music
“His voice would make even Hank Williams cry”, has been said about Jimmie Dale Gilmore. I’ve loved him for the better part of the decade and while I’ve often had a hell of a time tracking down his solo albums, The Flatlanders’ debut/lost album is one of my favorites of all time. When I heard about this record on NPR’s “Fresh Air” and Terry Gross was playing samples, I knew this was going to be a record that would slay me. The Wronglers are one of the best old-timey bands in existence and Jimmie’s voice fits their music absolutely perfectly as they go through classic after classic. It was my album to play this summer when I couldn’t think of anything, has become the album that won’t leave my iPod for the car, is just a ton of fun. If you have any sort of interest in string-band music, this is one you can’t miss. It’s about as perfect as you can get.
6. Big K.R.I.T. – Return Of 4Eva
It only took the last couple years, but that was even too long for Big KRIT to get noticed in the mainstream. Dude is a star producer, an incredible rapper and makes music that balances consciousness and gangster greatly, he’s perfect for the mainstream in the same way that T.I. is…except he’s probably an even better rapper than TIP. When I sat down to make this list, I initially put this release at #2, but after a couple more listens I had to move it down and that’s primarily because it’s too long. I don’t think any album should be 70 minutes, and definitely not rap albums. That’s too long, you might as well split it up into two releases (see: Curren$y), because when you make something that long without a theme, the narrative is lost and KRIT definitely has a narrative to tell. Regardless, his music is smooth as fuck and I can’t wait to see how the industry reacts to him in the next year.
5. Instra:Mental – Resolution 653
No album messed with my head as much as “Resolution 653″ this year. It’s an exhausting album to get through, because I find it really intense – and yet there are moments of beauty here too. I don’t even know what you call Instra:Mental’s music anymore. He was being filed under drum-n-bass for a while, then he moved somewhere into techno, puts out music on his label that is all over the place and this record is somewhere in between everything. It hits hards, it makes you dance, it’s probably awesome as shit on really strong drugs, I just know that this album really excited me this year and is truly the only other record of the year that I thought could wind up being #1.
4. Tom Waits – Bad As Me
I don’t really have anything special to say about Tom Waits. He’s important to a great many people, just like he is to me. I can tell you about the papers I’ve written about him in school, the “speech” I gave about him my freshman year of college. I can talk to you about him being the first musician I’ve ever felt compelled to acquire an entire discography worth of music. About how I have seen all the movies he’s in and hold particular scenes memorable. How the lone times I watch late night talk shows are those when he’s a guest. I don’t know if you remember years ago when he was on The Daily Show, but it was about the only time that Jon Stewart seemed nervous or in awe of the person sitting across his desk. That’s how I’d be. Tom Waits is our treasure, and at age 61 he’s put out one of his best albums in a long career of great ones. This is the Tom Waits I love. Making a conscious effort to make short, more-straightforward songs, “Bad As Me” still sounds like Tom Waits, but for the first time in quite a while, you can actually the music to stuff you actually listen to. I’ve always been a bigger fan of Waits’ piano ballads, where his voice really just sounds like that genius drunk at your favorite dive bar. It sets a scene in your mind without actually trying. He’s amongst the best “crooners” ever, and thankfully there are a few tracks here that in that style. But elsewhere, Waits is helped out by some brilliant musicians, Marc Ribot and Keith Richards on guitar, his son on percussion, Charlie Musselwhite on harmonica (and probably other things). The rockabilly tracks really rock. Through the course of 13 tracks and 45 minutes, Tom Waits basically takes us on a journey through his own brand of twisted America. And I love it.
3. Charles Bradley – No Time For Dreaming
For over a decade now, Daptone records has been putting out modern funk & soul music that tried it’s very best to sound like it was coming out of the 60s. Like most acts that try to sound like a time past, they never quite succeeded. There was always this odd gloss there that made it just sort of emptier than you wanted it to be. So what they did was go out and get a 63 year old man who never quite got his break. What we get has every making of a classic soul album. This actually sounds like it is of the time, Charles Bradley’s voice is one of the most powerful and emotional I’ve ever heard, and this album would be a classic in any decade. You can put this up there with the best soul albums of all time – seriously. And it came out in 2011. It’s insanely good.
2. Feist – Metals
I’ve been smitten with Feist for almost 10 years at this point. I loved the tracks she sung on with Broken Social Scene before knowing she was a solo musician in her own right. I loved “Let It Die” instantly, despite sounding unlike anything else I was listening to at the time (or any time before then). “The Reminder” has this timeless quality about it for me. I’ve written in the past that the record is one of those few records I have that I can put on when nothing else sounds good to me. It’s in the same vein of other “lite” pop records that are nevertheless endlessly entertaining to me: “Graceland”, “Abandoned Luncheonette” and “Rumours”. Against cred (and sounding like my mom), these are records that I go back to time and again, and I’m not ashamed to put Feist in that category.
The strained yet soft voice, the interesting arrangements, the willingness to criss-cross genre lines without sacrificing the root of her songs, she’s just one of my favorite artists working and it means all the more when I continually try to get into other modern female vocalists or “chanteuses” and very rarely find any I can last more than a few songs with.
I’m not going to deny that her music is perfectly suited for commercials (as it obviously has been – which more or less led to her presenting at the Grammys with Snoop Dogg years ago in a totally surreal moment), I’m not going to deny that her music is something you can put on quietly at conservative social gatherings and use as aural wallpaper. It’s perfect for that too. But listening to Feist, and especially listening to “Metals”, you find that her records work best while listening alone, really taking the songs in.
Many of Feist’s songs have these undeniable hooks, so going into “Metals” I expected to be immediately blown away. But after a couple listens I was sorely disappointed with the record. I took a couple weeks off from listening to it, have since listened to it endlessly this week and feel this:
This might very well be Feist’s strongest record.
It’s certainly her most personal. It’s her most stripped down, and it is probably the most cohesive. I won’t go out and say this is her “artistic statement” or anything, because that slights her other work, but this record is really strong and in the future will be one in which we look at her as a singer/songwriter and remember her by.
“The Bad In Each Other” is a fantastic opener, heavy drum percussion, male/female harmonies, horns and strings. It’s the kind of thing that Beck was trying to do with Charlotte Gainsbourg’s last album, but wasn’t able to pull off. It’s an ambitious opening and the close of the track is one of my favorite things in music all year. “Graveyard” is a chilling track with a repeated line that will be stuck in your head for days. “How Come You Never Go There” is the closest thing to a single and a perfect choice for the radio. Yeah, it’s probably being played on your local adult contemporary station right now, but I doubt there’s anything else on that frequency that sounds like it – distorted guitar and all. “A Commotion” has this jarring male shouted chorus that sticks out from the pack but the production and build in the track gives it this feeling of a lost Spoon track. “Bittersweet Melodies” has some corny bird-referencing lyrics, but when Feist sings it – you just believe in what she’s singing and the beauty of the track continues to shine through.
Look, I realize I gush when I review Feist records, but I think they’re complete statements. They seem effortless, without sounding saccharine and Norah Jones-ey. You might still be hesitant to like Feist or find that it’s too soft for your tastes, but I feel bad for you. With “Metals”, she’s cemented herself as one of the few modern musicians that I can’t do without.
1. Nicolas Jaar – Space Is Only Noise
Every year I have a difficult time writing reviews for my #1 album of the year – but I can tell you this. In the 8 years I’ve done this list, there was only 1 year where I didn’t know right away what my #1 album of the year was. When I first heard this record early in the year, it was at that moment the best record I’d ever heard. I went through and got everything else he’d been involved in, and listened to Nico Jaar without ceases for weeks. He’s a kid, but his music is so beyond his years. He uses silence and minimalism and the most bizarre vocal samples and his own voice. It’s electronic music and it’s not far removed from what James Blake was doing on his early LPs, but I just find it so much better. In the way that Four Tet’s early albums are some of my very favorite electronic LPs because they just sound so fucking human and natural – I also feel that way about this one. It’s all kinds of styles and tempos and volumes, yet it works as a whole album. It’s Jaar’s vision and couldn’t be anyone else. I mean, what else is there to say? It’s far and away my favorite album of the year and has been for many months. I’m listening to it now as I write this for about the 100th time this year and just like those other 99, I just catch myself zoning out, totally absorbed into the record. I love it. #1 without a doubt.
