Music :: 2011

1. Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks’ Mirror Traffic
I’ve never been a fan of the Lifer Pick. Ya know, the Johns who think they’re the biggest Beatles (or Stones, or whatever) fans ever, and have nothing else to say about new music until Sir Paul (or Mick, or whomever) releases a new mediocre record or over-produced rewrites, at which time John wants to tell you all about the best new record since Ram (did somebody just think the words “Goddess In the Doorway” aloud or what?). Well, those are the guys whom I don’t buy beers for, no matter how much I adore Ram or Mick or people named Davies. And so, when my all-time favorite musician, Stephen Malkmus, released a great new record this year, I did everything I could to convince myself that there were albums I liked more in 2011. And sure, there were some contenders who kept my denial alive through Novemeber, but Mirror Traffic, the fifth Jicks record, is Malkmus’ best batch of songs since … since … since … maybe Crooked Fucking Rain, Crooked Fucking Rain. In addition to the new vulnerability us uber-fans get to hear in his voice (and even in his semi-serious lyrics here and there), we also get the man’s best produced and most accessible album yet – thanks in part to producer/Pavement Fan Beck “Loser” Hansen. The more I listen to these tunes, the more I’ve picked up on both the endless hidden Malkmus-isms and Beck’s carefully placed studio fingerprints (french horn?! F’real?!). In 2011, following the 2010 Pavement Reunion mess, the Malk came correct, offering up what was my most-listened-to and favorite record of the year. Also one of the best albums ever from two of my all-time favorite shaggy slacker dudes, Beck and Malk. A new indie rock opus that, had it been released when jangle was hot and beats/keys were not, would’ve been widely celebrated. Favorite tracks include “Tigers,” “Senator,” “Forever 28,” “Gorgeous Georgie,” “No One Is (As I Are Be)” and the Grateful Dead-influenced “All Over Gently.” OUR REVIEW

2. Tom Waits’ Bad As Me
Is Mirror Traffic a better record than Bad As Me? Who could say. Both are masterworks that find their makers shamelessly tapping in to what they do best – and somehow making it look easy. Like Malkmus, Tom Waits is another stranger I love like family; also similar to Malkmus, Waits doesn’t really release bad records. (I’d be lying if I said I thought there were other members of this consistency club.) There wasn’t an album released in 2011 that I dissected more than this late-era masterpiece from one of the all-time great American songwriters. No, I probably don’t like Bad As Me more than Rain Dogs itself (that’s one of my Desert Island Discs), but I’ve been describing it as “Rain Dogs good” since my first spin. It really is that good – not a mediocre track in sight. Possibly even Waits’ second best album in a career full of classics. Favorite tracks? Too many to list. A top-to-bottom record. OUR REVIEW

3. Ty Segall’s Goodbye Bread
I liked Ty’s breakthrough record, Melted, enough to take on the big needle and sell a little vile of my precious plasma back in June, when I was too broke to buy his follow-up, Goodbye Bread. At first, I have to admit, the album underwhelmed me, feeling almost like it was playing in slow motion during those first few spins. But, since I was so broke at the time, I was unable to buy any new music for weeks, and thus kept spinning the Bread through the fall, louder and louder each time. Daily. Admittedly, I think my girlfriend – who only heard the record when I played it – attached herself to Bread before I did. But, by the end of August, this noisy-but-oddly-mellow garage pop record had floored me more times than I could count. I even wrote a friend a lengthy e-mail about how, if there ever was a “New Cobain” (gag), it was Ty Segall. What a cool dude; Jack White, sans the Zeppelin complex and too-grand aspirations. The tunes, for the most part, are simple; but the imagination is endless. My pick for the “coolest” record of 2011. Favorite tracks include “Goodbye Bread,” “You Make the Sun Fry,” “Fine,” stoner jam “Where Your Head Goes” and the properly named (i.e. explosive) “My Head Explodes.” OUR REVIEW

4. M83′s Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming
Here’s where the OK Computer generation’s ongoing interest in all-things-nostalgic and retro blows up. To the listeners who love the words “progressive,” “hipster,” “essentially,” “craft” and “pretentious,” talk about how they wanted to be an astronaut while growing up, and just plain ol’ love the idea of there being something more to everything, this is your record. If you want records that sound like they were recorded in a dance club on Mars, for a John Hughes flick, this is it. This is the one. Where Radiohead’s otherworldly/progressive aesthetic meet the precious love of nostalgia of today’s young listener. M83′s sprawling, uber-produced double LP is an impressive, if exhaustive, spin. And the spirit of grandness – oh that spirit. That ambition. Despite all the talk of Mars and nostalgia, Hurry Up is a super solid record that just might go down as a modern classic. But yes, before you type it out in the comments section, this album could’ve easily been whittled down to a single, 12- or 13-song disc. Big. Bold. Dorky. Brilliant. Words. OUR REVIEW

5. Jon Keller’s Deceiver
Jon Keller used to live down the street from me. He used to play me unfinished songs and tell me weird stories. Being around someone who is, in my opinion, a young master of his craft, was a great trip while it lasted (Keller now lives in Nashville, where he’s trying to break through as a solo artist). Getting to spy a bit as Keller recorded his beautifully ornamented singer/songwriter opus was something I’ll never forget – an invaluable memory of a firsthand experience. With his sophomore record, Deceiver, Keller is taking huge steps away from his primary influence, off towards a sound and style all his own. We at the ZeCat castle can’t wait to see what this incredibly creative weirdo does next. We really believe in this record and in Jon Keller, and you should to. Favorite tracks include “Deceiver,” “A Bottle Tonight,” “The First Thing,” “Coaxed” and “The Things That I Did.” Listen to and purchase the record HERE.  OUR REVIEW

6. Beirut’s The Rip Tide
Finally, after years of releasing exploratory – and overstuffed – records that featured maybe three worthwhile songs apiece, Beirut’s still-very-young leader Zach Condon has reigned in the ideas – and youthful ambition – and made the brilliant record his fans all knew he was capable of. In an era where many listeners live song to song, Condon and crew have offered up a nine-track album with no holes. No lost moments. No failed wandering or extraneous experiments. Most years, The Rip Tide would take the top spot; 2011 just happens to be an abnormally great years for solid albums.  OUR REVIEW

7. Wilco’s The Whole Love
It’s a little soft, and it’s a little sweet, and it’s a lot slick. Typically we at the Ze Cat Tower don’t like any of these things – we like dark and complex and sad and gritty. Or, I should say, that’s the stuff we tend to love the most. Wilco’s own Yankee Hotel Foxtrot is a good example. But The Whole Love feels about as musically masterful as any record we’ve heard over the last few years. Sure, we miss the production wasn’t so slick, but the band is still far away from a midlife (think Dire Straits) slide into the land of Cozy, Sweet and Clean. Mostly, this record’s appeal is the classic songwriter pop fare – which makes up about half of the record. Tweedy is in top form, cuddling his way through soft, sweet, reflective tracks that are every bit as masterfully written as his countless other classics. And then, of course, there’s that ridiculously great opening cut. DANG.

8. Yuck’s Yuck
Maybe the first great record we heard of the year (and certainly one of the ones we listened to most), Yuck’s eponymous debut record arrived as the new standard for young bands who start out doing really great imitations of their heroes. All the 90s greats are here, especially Yo La Tengo, Dinosaur Jr., Sonic Youth, Teenage Fanclub, My Bloody Valentine and even a bit of Chavez for good measure. And they have that white kid with the fro! And they’ve already reissued the record, making it six solid tracks longer. The most promising proper first album since This Is It. Yuck, I’m in love.  OUR REVIEW

9. Black Lips’ Arabia Mountain
For the first time in their already lengthy – and incredibly busy – career, this quartet has finally put up a complete work to be taken seriously by music fans, young and old. There’s variety and cohesion here that no one expected from a band that was, before now, known more as pleasantly sloppy noisemakers than as nostalgic album-makers. Make no mistake, with Arabia Mountain Atlanta’s Black Lips prove once and for all that they’re the real deal. Rather than hide behind kitsch-y style and punk-rock poseur moves, they’ve whipped up a highly satisfying batch of songs that pays tribute to the 60s in a fun, youthful way. The closest we have to a modern Stones equivalent.  OUR REVIEW

10. Mannequin Men’s Mannequin Men
The easiest point of reference when talking about the Mannequin Men’s sound is, I suppose, The Black Lips (who also released one of last year’s best records), even if the two bands don’t sound all that much alike. The Men are focused on melody, jangle, power hooks and male-plight lyrics (i.e. “You should get a hobby girl / Or find somebody else to talk to”). They sound like a crew of basement dwelling, classic rock loving manchild-types who moved from Neil Young to Big Star to Sonic Youth to Paul Westerberg without flinching – and without much time spent listening to studio-made bands like local Chicago heroes The Smashing Pumpkins. Along the way they’ve written a dozen or so great, great, great songs. Songs like “Flying Blind,” “Hobby Girl” and “Dark Sunglasses” (all of the new record) that everyone should know by heart. Should-be-hit tracks that, for some reason, seem to be stuck in Chicago, hidden below the national spotlight Wilco proudly – and deservingly – tend to hog. OUR REVIEW

11. Radiohead’s The King of Limbs (tie)
Today, at the end of 2011, albums aren’t really celebrated at all, and especially not so by the downloading crowd (which is almost everyone). So to release such an amazing piece of work in the by-the-way manner in which The King of Limbs was released is a real bummer for anyone who holds dear the beauty of music history. Will The King of Limbs stand up in the books (err, on the websites) as a classic record that was celebrated upon its release? No, it won’t. Will it ever get its due as a great Fourtet-inspired chillout album full of incredible nuance? Not with how the ears of today take in music. Does it deserve to? Yes, it does. And that’s the shame of this modern era of hastily devoured art. Work this good deserves to be celebrated and held high, no matter the times. The King sounds like Radiohead, but more subtle, more relaxed. A work of understated complexity. And, as always, beautiful production.  OUR REVIEW

12. Jacuzzi Boys’ Glazin’ (tie)
In the context of rock n’ roll records, some lisps are cool. And Jacuzzi frontman Gabriel Alcala’s “S” sound is damn fine. Maybe even as good as anyone since Isaac Brock – or even as far back as Daniel Johnston. The songs on Glazin’ are simple and, well, plain. The Boys are a garage-y, surf-y band that tries to write the best pop music on the planet. The production is thick and grated, like most classic rock records, and the general modus is one perfect for hangout pop. Truth be told, I just bought this album today. All the other records in our Top 10 are full of songs we’ve been listening to for months, but damn did Glazin’ hit hard. Straight up “Repeat All” hard. The Indie Wimp Era’s version of The Ramones?

13. Common’s The Dreamer / The Believer OUR REVIEW
14. Ryan Adams’ Ashes & Fire  OUR REVIEW
15. Kurt Vile’s Smoke Ring for My Halo
16. Lee Miles’ The Leaving
17. Youth Lagoon’s The Year of Hibernation
18. Bon Iver’s Bon Iver OUR REVIEW
19. St. Vincent’s Strange Mercy
20. Cults’ Cults  OUR REVIEW

21. J Mascis’ Several Shades of Why  OUR REVIEW
22. Mikal Cronin’s Mikal Cronin
23. John Vanderslice’s White Wilderness  OUR REVIEW
24. Middle Brother’s Middle Brother  OUR REVIEW
25. tUnE-yArDs’ W H O K I L L  OUR REVIEW
26. Feist’s Metals
27. The Roots’ undun  OUR REVIEW
28. EMA’s Past Life Martyred Saints  OUR REVIEW
29. Luke Temple’s Don’t Act Like You Don’t Care  OUR REVIEW
30. The Decemberists’ The King is Dead  OUR REVIEW

31. Real Estate’s Days
32. Boston Spaceships’ Let It Beard  OUR REVIEW
33. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart’s Belong  OUR REVIEW
34. Toro Y Moi’s Underneath the Pine
35. Trent Reznor + Atticus Ross’ The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
36. Panda Bear’s Tomboy
37. Raphael Saadiq’s Stone Rollin’
38. My Morning Jacket’s Circuital  OUR REVIEW
39. Bonnie “Prince” Billy’s Wolfroy Goes to Town
40. Qwazaar & Batsauce’s Bat Meets Blaine

41. Fleet Foxes’ Helplessness Blues 
42. Mark Hutchins’ Liar’s Gift  OUR REVIEW
43. Explosions In the Sky’s Take Care
44. Bill Callahan’s Apocalypse  OUR REVIEW
45. PJ Harvey’s Let England Shake  OUR REVIEW
46. TV On the Radio’s Nine Types of Light  OUR REVIEW
47. Eddie Vedder’s Ukulele Songs  OUR REVIEW
48. Mazes’ A Thousand Heys
49. Beady Eye’s Different Gear, Still Speeding
50. Beastie Boys’ Hot Sauce Committee Part Two  OUR REVIEW

Also: David Bazan’s Strange Negotiations; Destroyer’s Kaputt OUR REVIEW; Colin Stetson – New History Warfare, Vol. 2; Sic Alps’ Napa Asylum; Church Shoes’ Church Shoes OUR REVIEW; Thurston Moore’s Demolished Thoughts; The Antlers’ Burst Apart OUR REVIEW; The Strokes’ Angles OUR REVIEW; Okkervil River’s I Am Very Far; Jessica Lea Mayfield’s Tell Me; James Blake’s James Blake OUR REVIEW; Smith Westerns’ Dye It Blonde; Sarabeth Tucek’s Get Well Soon; Saigon’s The Greatest Story Never Told OUR REVIEW; Let’s Wrestle’s Nursing Home; The Silversmiths’ A Tandem of Giants OUR REVIEW; Those Darlins’ Screws Get Loose OUR REVIEW; Bright Eyes’ The People’s Key OUR REVIEW; Iron and WIne’s Kiss Each Other Clean OUR REVIEW; G. Love’s Fixin’ to Die OUR REVIEW; Foo Fighters’ Wasting Light; The Shivers’ More; Wooden Satellites’ Let’s Make Crimes OUR REVIEW; The Head and the Heart’s S/T; Cat’s Eyes’ Cat’s Eyes; R.E.M.’s Collapse Into Now; Hayes Carll’s KMAG YOYO; Steve Earle’s I’ll Never Get Out of this World Alive; The Baseball Project’s Volume 2; Lia Ices’ Grown Unknown OUR REVIEW; Bonfire John and the Majestic Springs Band’s Making the Most  OUR REVIEW.

Favorite New Artists
1. Yuck
2. Youth Lagoon
3. Cults
4. Mikal Cronin
5. Bonfire John

Favorite Hip-Hop Records
1. Common’s The Dreamer / The Believer
2. The Roots’ undun
3. Qwazaar & Batsauce’s Bat Meets Blaine
4. Beastie Boys’ Hot Sauce Committee Part Two
5. The Silversmiths’ A Tandem of Giants (tie)
5. Saigon’s The Greatest Story Never Told (tie)

Favorite Album Covers See the Full List
1. Stephen Malkmus’ Mirror Traffic
2. J Mascis’ Several Shades of Why
3. Lykke Li’s Wounded Rhymes
4. Youth Lagoon’s The Year of Hibernation
5. Feist’s Metals

Favorite Songs See the Full List
1. “You Make the Sun Fry,” Ty Segall
2. “Distorted Cymbals,” Mount Eerie
3. “Tigers,” Stephen Malkmus
4. “Holocene,” Bon Iver
5. “Deceiver,” Jon Keller

Favorite Soundtracks
1. The Tree of Life
2. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
3. Drive
4. Submarine
5. The Art of Getting By

Favorite Music Video: Beyonce’s “Countdown”
Favorite Reissue: Sebadoh’s Bakesale OUR REVIEW
Comeback Award: Common
Most Overrated Album: Bon Iver’s Bon Iver
Most Underrated Album: J Mascis’ Several Shades of Why

Check out some lists from past years: 2010  2009  2008  2007  2006  2005  2004  2003  2002  2001  2000  1999  1998  1997  1996  1995  1994  1993  1992  1991  1990  1989  1988  1987  1986  1985  1984  1983  1982  1981  1980  1979  1978  1977  1976

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