(Ed. note: I am well aware that it is January 16, 2012. I am also aware that most best-of 2011 lists came out at the end of December, 2011. I wanted this list to come out at that time but it took me so fucking long to write this. I wasn't anticipating this post to be this long, but it is...so...yeah. Deal with it.)
Well, another year and all that shit. It's been an OK year for music, in my opinion. I always seem to say this at the end of every year. "Yeah it was decent. Not great, but not terrible". In reality, the true measure of a year's worth of music cannot be calculated until long after December 31. Opinions change. What was good in 2011 may not appear as good in five years. The fact of the matter is that we cannot yet begin to determine what songs sound "dated", or trapped in their time. Some songs will inevitably be associated with one point in the history of popular music, other songs will transcend. That's my criteria for judging the best. Do they retread and regurgitate old tricks? Or do they create a new way of writing and creating that other artists desperately attempt to catch up to?
Though not the greatest for music, 2011 is a year that will be remembered for the continuance of the synthesizer's stranglehold on pop music. Personally, I thought that guitar music was going to take its rightful spot atop the music heap. My inclinations were initially verified by the release of Yuck's self-titled debut in February. Or at least I thought. They released an album full of songs inspired by the early 90s heroes of indie rock - Superchunk, Dinosaur Jr., etc. However, I was wrong in my prognostication. New wave and post-punk continued to dominate the minds of modern rock songwriters. The Horrors, M83 and Handsome Furs released albums that were legitimate nods to the 80s new wave/post-punk sounds. I guess I'm OK with that, but I WAS expecting some change. Leave it to 2012 to give us some new albums that will lead the way. Maybe.
Bernie Trotsky gave his top 30 of 2011 in my last post. One of his rules was that bands could not have more than one entry on the list. I don't agree with this whatsoever. As far as I'm concerned, if the album is good it will have more than one song that is worth considering for the top songs. This is the reality of the ranking system. I'm not going to penalize a song because it was on an artist's great album. If they have more than one great song in 2011 then so be it. Throw it in the ring. These are the best songs, after all. So, what I'm trying to say is that I have no rules. If the song was great, it belongs on the list. After all, as the masthead says, "it's not the scene, it's the song".
So without Freddy Adu, here are my Top 25 songs of 2011:
#25 Foster the People - Helena Beat
2011 was an incredible year for Foster the People. Their colossal single "Pumped Up Kicks" finally broke into America's radios despite being released in mid-2010. So no, "Pumped Up Kicks" doesn't qualify for this list. WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? However, their debut album, Torches, was released eariler this year and featured another infectious single, "Helena Beat". This song is typical FTP - heavy synth and drum machines providing a backdrop for Mark Foster's wimpy but endearing falsetto. While much of the album would prove to be disappointing, "Helena Beat" was a strong single that combined a brilliant hook with unabashed enthusiasm.
#24 Adele - Rumour Has It
If you check out Rolling Stone's Top 50 albums of 2011, you will find Adele's 21 at the top of that heaping pile of dogshit. This isn't to disparage Adele's work this year - 21 is a great album that has every right to be at the top of a "best of 2011" list. It's just that Rolling Stone's Top 10 is about as stupid as the burnt out hippies that still flip through its pages. Regardless, Adele has quickly become the world's leading voice and has established herself as a force. 21 is doing for her what Back to Black did for Amy Winehouse, or the Miseducation of Lauryn Hill did for Lauryn Hill. "Rumour Has It" is a soulful, pounding track that explores the underworld of rumour-mongering in a way that Timex Social Club never could.
#23 Coldplay - Major Minus
Coldplay continues to baffle me. They're going in directions that they, in my humble opinion, should not be going. I'm all for artistic exploration and evolution. If anything, I encourage it and would like to see more bands engage in expanding their soundscape. However, hiring Brian Eno does not automatically push you into the experimental realm. Nor does experimenting with R&B and Pop sounds. If I play in a rock band and I start to borrow things from pop artists like OneRepublic and Rihanna, I am not experimenting. I am pandering. I am pathetic. This is Coldplay, now. While I don't doubt that Chris Martin et al are quite comfortable with what they are doing, I can't see this direction as anything more than "playing down to an opponent". Coldplay used to set the standard in pop rock music (thanks to Radiohead). Now it seems that they are following the standard.
Oh yeah, the song. "Major Minus" was one of the few bright spots on the album. When I heard this song on the flip side of "Every Teardrop is a Waterfall" I figured that this was the direction that Mylo Xyloto was headed. The song featured a funky Madchester-based rhythm with a busy bassline, a soaring, crunchy guitar and a neatly tuned acoustic. The Big Brother theme of the lyrics was also something that enticed me. Holy shit, was I wrong about the album. Great song, though.
#22 Viva Brother - Darling Buds of May
The music hype machine in the UK is about as well-oiled as Victoria Beckham vacationing in Ibiza. Every year the NME or Q picks a couple of bands, slaps one of them on the cover of their rag and works the public into a frenzy. Some of these bands (Arctic Monkeys, The Horrors, The Vaccines) are worth the praise, while others (Gay Dad, Dirty Pretty Things, anything with Pete Doherty) fall flat on substance. After being featured as one of NME's Bands to Watch in 2011, Viva Brother were a band that was thrown on to the Hype Machine assembly line. The question of whether or not they were worth the hype seemed to be answered when they dropped a less than stellar debut album, Famous First Words, in the early summer of 2011. Despite the overall shittyness of the album and the unreasonable brashness and cockiness, Viva Brother still have their moments, most notably on the songs "Still Here" and "Darling Buds of May", the lead single released in early 2011. There was something about "Darling Buds" that led me to believe that this band was destined to be the Next Big Thing. The awesome hook seemed to harken back to the height of mid-90s Britpop, while the working-class snarl was reminiscent of Liam Gallgher and Ian Brown at their brashest. Though the album was a letdown, I wouldn't count this band out in the future, considering they are capable of such great little ditties as "Darling Buds of May".
#21 Yuck - Sunday
As I said at the top, I really thought that this was the year that 90s alternative would start to infiltrate indie rock. What made me believe this was Yuck's self-titled debut album. This album was an unabashed love letter to bands like Superchunk, The Pixies and Sonic Youth. While fuzz and distortion was heavy on the album, the song "Sunday" was one of the more toned-down numbers that made the album so great. Where Yuck can melt your face off with straight ahead ear-ringers, they can also turn down and let their brilliant melodies shine through. "Sunday" is song that was released in 2011 but could have easily been lifted from an early 90s Sloan album.
#20 Beady Eye - The Roller
I don't think anyone feels bad for Liam Gallagher that Beady Eye didn't really dominate the charts like he thought they would. The Noel-less Oasis released a really boring album in early 2011. It sounded like they just recorded all of the non-Noel songs that would end up on the next Oasis album or B-side...WAIT A SECOND, THEY DID? I love Liam, and he takes a fucking pounding from dickhead hipsters in North America, but I don't mind people enjoying a little schadenfreude with the flaming piece of shit that was Different Gear, Still Speeding. Really, the only good thing that came of the album was the song "The Roller", a spirited John Lennon-like romp with a classic growling hook. Liam is at his best in this song that makes me yearn for more Oasis.
#19 The Vaccines - Post Break-Up Sex
Even more hyped than Viva Brother in 2011 were the Vaccines, a group of kids from posh West London that were packing clubs with celebrity fans before they even dropped a single. While the hype may not have been fully deserved (there aren't too many bands that actually live up to the type of expectations these Brits heap on them), the Vaccines did manage to piece together a decent album that combined the earnest baritone vocals of Interpol (via Joy Division) with the Ramones and a sprinkle of early 1960s surf music. Melodies and composition aside, the beauty of "Post Break-Up Sex" is the earnest and quirky lyrics that truly reveal a band of young guys that are having a shitload of fun. That sing-a-long chorus ain't bad either.
#18 The Horrors - You Said
The Horrors first entry on this list is the sparkling "You Said" off Skying, one of the great triumphs of 2011. Of the 80s inspired albums of the past few years, Skying is one of the few that pays homage to the dark post-punk 80s synth rock of Psychedelic Furs and Echo and the Bunnymen while incorporating more modern sounds. "You Said" is the epitome of this style with it's blaring synths and rhythmic baseline combined with a Britpop-styled skip beat. In addition to the 80s synth influence, the song builds to a beautiful coda that builds upon itself like something from My Bloody Valentine's Loveless.
#17 Bombay Bicycle Club - Lights Out, Words Gone
Bombay Bicycle Club's A Different Kind of Fix was an incredibly strong effort that fused BBC's previous albums with some subtle electronic influences. The album also marks a departure from the more guitar-driven songs from the band's past. A prime example of the minimalist guitar approach is most prevalent on the song "Lights Out, Words Gone", where light, muted guitars quietly rise above drone synth voices. The beautiful melody soars over the understated synths and guitars and relatively busy rhythm section. Coming from a band that is rightly labelled as a true art-school band, "Lights Out, Words Gone" is simple, minimal and fantastic.
#16 The Strokes - Taken for a Fool
To say the recording of the Strokes highly anticipated (I guess?) "reunion" album was unorthodox is an understatement. After the band recorded the bed tracks, lead singer Julian Casablancas recorded his vocals in a different studio and sent them back to the band via email with incredibly ambiguous and vague instructions. Casablancas felt like it would be a good way of involving the rest of the band in the creative process. Did it work? Mehhh I don't know. Angles seems to be the greatest departure for the Strokes of all of their albums. That doesn't mean it's great, it just means that it tries. Ironically, the best song on the album is the most Strokes-like - "Taken for a Fool" is the usual jaunt with the dueling guitars of Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond Jr and Casablancas' Lou Reedish "too cool" flair.
In an unrelated note, longtime music critic Chuck Klosterman attempted to quantify a band member's contribution to a band through a bastardized version of the baseball statistic VORP (Value Over Replacement Player). Klosterman uses Albert Hammond of The Strokes as the guinea pig for his fucked up "statistical analysis" which is nothing short of ridiculous. However, applying statistical value to a band is not the most ludicrous act he commits in this article. Klosterman actually says that the Strokes are known for "Casablanca's woozy-sloth vocals and Fab Moretti's precision drumming". Wait, WHAT? That's like saying the Mona Lisa is known for its beautiful frame. What a fucking crock of shit.
#15 WU-LYF - We Bros
Another band of kids! The Manchester-based WU-LYF are a bunch youngins that incorporated elements of indie, world music and indecipherable Tom Waits screaming. The band released their debut album Go Tell Fire to the Mountain in 2011 and it was as impressive a debut as any this past year. Despite the band's young age, WU-LYF writes music like seasoned vets. The impressive rhythm section is complimented by the intricately beautiful guitar work, grand church organ and barking vocals. It sounds like a screwed up combination, but it somehow works. "We Bros" is a stand-out with its reggae-tinged guitar and bassline and the singalong chorus (once you look the lyrics up). Despite going back to the similar chord progressions a little too much, Go Tell Fire to the Mountain is quite good - particularily "We Bros".
#14 The Joy Formidable - Whirring
The Joy Formidable were one of the "buzz bands" from 2011 and they were certainly worth the buzz. Unlike the other bands that were subject to the hype machine, the Welsh band's hype seemed more organic and natural as they weren't pasted on magazine covers or shoved down our throat on NME.com. Their prowess eventually crossed the Atlantic with the release of their self-titled debut album. Their mass appeal is driven by fierce, high octane anthems, but is guided by their charismatic frontwoman Ritzy Bryan. Her vocal prowess is accompanied by fantastic guitar skills and an energetic stage presence. I could have picked any number of songs off of The Joy Formidable, but I figured I'd throw "Whirring" in, since it was the lead single is just a great fucking song.
#13 The Decemberists - Down By The Water
In early 2011, I heard a fantastic rendition of R.E.M.'s "Cuyahoga" by the Decemberists. The folky lyrics and melody seem well suited for lead singer Colin Meloy - a songwriter that creates strange and interesting worlds with his lyrics. So it came as no surprise that the Decemberists' 2011 album The King is Dead had some R.E.M. influences. So much so that Peter Buck lent is jangly Rickenbacker to the lead single "Down By the Water". The result is a beautifully written song that also features bluegrass singer-songwriter Gillian Welch. The rest of the album was not their greatest work, but "Down By the Water" is one of their better songs.
#12 Handsome Furs - Bury Me Standing
I cried a little when Wolf Parade broke up (or indefinite hiatus). The Dan Boeckner and Spencer Krug combination was reminiscent of XTC's Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding or, dare I say Lennon and McCartney. Their songwriting styles seemed to counter each other in such a profound and complimentary way. Krug was the strange, darker one while Boeckner was the outgoing, Springsteen-type (just watch this interview on Q and compare the body language and reactions from Dan and Spencer) . Through this fantastic dichotomous songwriting style, Wolf Parade epitomized clever and smart 21st century modern rock. It was only natural that I would enjoy Boeckner's side project with his wife, Handsome Furs. Their 2011 album Sound Kapital was a super electronic-infused effort resulting from what was probably a 24 hour acid trip in a locked panic room with Kraftwerk blasting through a loudspeaker. "Bury Me Standing" is just one of nine great songs from one of the best albums of 2011.
#11 Noel Gallagher - AKA What a Life!
Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds was one of the more highly anticipated albums of 2011 - at least in my mind. I was excited about the former Oasis backbone's new material as there was a chance for the surly Mancunian to branch out and experiment a little. Unfortunately, most of the album sounded like a bunch of Oasis throwaway songs without Liam's voice. That's not to say that the album wasn't enjoyable, because High Flying Birds was certainly one the better albums of 2011. It's just that I expect more from Noel. What came from Beady Eye was certainly what most people expected - Oasis without any direction. However, the substance was to come from Noel. Despite the album's retreading, the song "AKA...What A Life" was a glimpse into what Noel Gallagher is capable of - an electronic infused song with an incredible hook. I'm also comforted in the fact that Noel has admitted that most of the album were old Oasis songs, and that he will be releasing a second album this year with Amorphous Androgynous that will most likely reveal his true creativity.
#10 The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Belong
These hip Brooklynites took the sound and feel of My Bloody Valentine and the Jesus and Mary Chain and put into a nice little indie-pop package. Riding the critical wave of their 2009 debut, the Pains of Being Pure at Heart (bad name) released Belong this past year to resoundingly positive reviews. Last year's effort is a more concentrated and polished sound than their debut, with bigger hooks and crisper production. They enlisted Melon Collie and the Infinite Sadness producer Flood and the Smashing Pumpkins sound really shows, especially on the album's title track/opener. "Belong" is a mountain of fuzz, earnest vocals and a killer hook. It's good to hear indie bands that aren't afraid to write a straight-ahead chorus. If you're good at it, why not?
#9 Girls - Vomit
I wasn't a huge fan of the San Francisco-based Girls debut album Album (hipster much?), so I was a little apprehensive about their 2011 album Father, Son, Holy Ghost. However, I was pleasantly surprised and impressed with the variety of influences heard on this record. From the Beach Boys (who isn't listening to them these days) to the Beatles to Buddy Holly, Father explores your dad's record collection. And I don't mean that in a derogatory way. The album peaks with the song "Vomit", which makes me want to do anything but. The almost 8 minute epic song is littered with ear candy, including a "Great Gig in the Sky"-styled vocal solo from a back-up singer. The dark and alienating lyrics are just a cherry on the top of modern day indie masterpiece.
#8 Elbow - Lippy Kids
I've never really been into English band Elbow, but I probably should be, considering I really like what little I've heard from them. Build a Rocket Boys! tends to drag in spots, but it's still a solid album that explores a lot of innocence themes. Nowhere is this more evident in the song "Lippy Kids" where lead singer Guy Garvey sings about childhood experiences and memories. The song features minimal musical accompaniment which perfectly frames Garvey's strong and powerful voice.
#7 Radiohead - Lotus Flower
The King of Limbs was not the album I was hoping for, but Radiohead's lesser work is still better than most bands' best work. That The King of Limbs was still one of the best albums of 2011 should tell you something about the quality of music that Radiohead is capable creating. The standout of this album was the song "Lotus Flower", which seemed to garner more attention for its video and subsequent parodies. Thom Yorke is certainly a better dancer than I am, and this song is certainly better than most songs last year.
#6 Real Estate - It's Real
Oh, shit just got real. Yet another surf band. But unlike the sparse minimalism of The Drums, Real Estate features lush guitars and melodic arpeggios. With melodies straight out of a Brian Wilson dream and chiming guitars that would bring Peter Buck to his knees, Real Estate put forth a great sophomore album in 2011 (Days). "It's Real" is a fantastic little ditty that features jangly guitars and sincere lyrics with a simple and effective hook. I figure that the surf music will eventually run it's course (particularly with The Drums having just recently split) but Real Estate is a band that is capable of so much more.
#5 Bon Iver - Holocene
"And at once I knew I was not magnificent". Incredible. These guys (really just Justin Vernon) deserve all of the mainstream success that has and will continue to come to them. This song is so powerful I almost tear up every time I hear it. A song that can evoke so many emotions (at least with me) is worthy of any and all praise. A recent Grammy nomination for Song of the Year may have the hipsters a little upset, but it makes sense that music this good is loved by so many people.
#4 Yuck - Operation
As I said before, Yuck conjures up memories of the alternative slacker rock of the early 90s. "Operation" features slacker lyrics with a fucking face-melting guitar riff that makes me want to punch a wall. Yuck is capable of rehashing 90s rock, but in a good way that sounds fresh and new. This song epitomizes the sound and feel of Yuck.
#3 Bombay Bicycle Club - Shuffle
A rickety parlour piano loop provides the canvas for which Bombay Bicycle Club work their magic. A Different Kind of Fix has everything, and it shows in "Shuffle", as BBC is able to incorporate elements of electronic, funk and rock in one song. Not that bands haven't done this sort of thing before, but BBC seem to do it in their own, interesting way. With the funky bass line and an infectious rhythm, "Shuffle" is a fantastic song from one of the best albums of 2011.
#2 The Horrors - Still Life
On their 2007 debut album Strange House, the Horrors did punk rock pretty well. Somehow, the band has evolved in only four years into something almost completely different. I think that's one reason why 2011's Skying is such an interesting album. The contrast between a song like "Still Life" and a song like "Sheena Is a Parasite" is incredible (honestly, listen to the two songs back to back). The Horrors somehow followed a late 1970s punk rock to early 1980s New Wave narrative in the only four years (think Johnny Rotten from the Pistols to PiL). Performance enhancing drugs, maybe? Whatever it is, the Horrors came into their own in 2011 and created a complete and incredible album that features one of the best songs of 2011 with "Still Life". The Richard Butler styled vocals and the sweeping synths are highlights of this post-punk anthem. Yes, the 80s are still influencing modern songwriters, but with songs like "Still Life" I certainly don't mind if the 80s hang around for a while.
#1 M83 - Midnight City
YES I AM AWARE THAT PITCHFORK RANKED THIS SONG AS THEIR NUMBER ONE SONG OF 2011. But that's not the reason why I picked it as my song of the year, or why Bernie Trotsky picked it as his song of the year. It really was the best song of the year, hands down. Just listen and watch the video:
Unfuckingbelievable. In a year of sax solos (Kenny G with Katy Perry and Clarence Clemons on that Lady Gaga abortion she calls a song) M83 showed the music world how its fucking done. "Midnight City" is nothing short of a modern day classic.
OH MY GOD THAT WAS EXHAUSTING. I AM NEVER DOING THIS AGAIN.
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