11 Albums of 2011

Here it is, gang; I made it! Well, almost. It's nearly 1:00 a.m., February 1st -- so technically, its The Year of Colossus -- but who would I be if I weren't fashionably late?

I made some complaints about the state of music in 2011 (what self-avowed critic hasn't), but looking back, it really wasn't that bad. Still, it lacked many familiar names and The Onion AV Club declared it The Year of No Important Albums. Near the end of the year I found myself scavenging the critics lists and downloading everything I hadn't heard that received some fanfare but when finally piecing this together, it came down to my own personal favorites, anyway. Trust your gut.

I took the liberty of numbering the selections, but they've changed daily leading up to "print." So, really, in no particular order:

11 ALBUMS OF 2011

1. Fleet Foxes, Helplessness Blues

Helplessness Blues is the long-awaited follow-up to 2008's critics list-dominating Fleet Foxes. All the familiar elements are here: the elegiac Beach Boys harmonies ("Montezuma") and the pensive neo-folk guitar ballads ("The Shrine/An Argument"), but this time it's all about the title track. "Helplessness Blues" begins as expected -- folk strumming and crunchy philosophical ponderings ("What's my name, what's my station?"). Then, it suddenly elevates into a lush vibrato electric guitar and cascading harmonies until front-man Robin Pecknold finds solace at last in tending an orchard where he'd "work 'til I'm sore." It's all quite inspiring, actually. I think I'll go plant a garden.

2. St. Vincent, Strange Mercy

Strange Mercy continues Actor's formula of unapologetic personal lyrics thrust against Annie Clark's penchant for catchy, fuzzed-out Guitar Anti-hero pop songs. Clark plays the naïve ingénue card a little heavy this time around, from the source material of opener "Chloe in the Afternoon" to the admission "I've spent the summer on my back" ("Surgeon.") Clark's string of heroes covers (Tom Waits, Big Black) paved the way for an irresistible third outing.

3. Shabazz Palaces, Black Up

Palaceer Lazaro (née Ishmael "Butterly" Butler of Digable Planets) and  multi-instrumentalist Tendai Maraire lay down some spaced-out jazzy electro hip-hop ish, channeling Butler's own 90's rap past with cut-and-paste vocal harmonies, exotic instrumentation, and Def Jux beats. But despite its own noir, Black Up is easy, uplifting ("Recollections of the Wraith") and inspiring ("Swerve... The reeping of all that is worthwhile...")

Mobility // Lullaby

Yeah, I'm still doin' this thing. The lack of updates has been due to work and weather; it's just too damn hot in this apartment. I'm posting a test run via the Android Bloggeroid app from the chilly confines of my air conditioned bedroom. [Edit: I had to make a few html corrections. Bloggeroid doesn't take so well to code, apparently.]

Hit me up if you've got this artists' credits

Anyway, electronic artist Flying Lotus has leaked two new jams on his Soundcloud and this is reason to celebrate. FlyLo has been one of my favorite artists since inadvertently listening to his iconic [Adult Swim] bumps back in the day. Since then he's been releasing forward thinking electronic jams that bend the spectrum from J Dilla to Coltrane (he is his nephew, after all) to Radiohead.

The latter's influence is on full display on "Lullaby." With its jazzy hand claps and subtle atmospherics it sounds like a release from the current King of Limbs remix series, which makes total sense since he's been rumored to be releasing a remix of the complete album. Both tracks are a bit of a departure from Cosmogramma 's heavy orchestration and back toward the low end grind of Los Angeles.

Check out both tracks below:

  Flying Lotus - lullaby by Flyinglotus 

  Flying lotus - heave (n) mix2 by Flyinglotus

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