12.26.11
eMusic Members’ Favorite Albums of 2011
#20 Panda Bear, Tomboy
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more »Panda Bear has made another beautiful and complex record. His songs are overflowing with detail. -- davis957@umn.edu
Sonic boom put his hands on tomboy and its an incredible listening experience. -- juju23
#19 WU LYF, Go Tell Fire To The Mountain
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more »"Such a mysterious and glorious debut album. I still have no idea what the hell I am listening too but I just love it anyways." – jbrim_77
""'Go tell fire to the mountain' is a strange and beautiful flower. You might find the vocals annoying, but they are part of what forces you to listen to the complete album." – Psychedelia
"Brilliant, innovative, exuberant and exciting," – Stephen B.
#18 Low, C’mon
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more »"Underrated. It's not a move toward ballads or soft music. The tension and beauty are all there. ""Especially Me"" is a favorite. ""Witches"" is dark and comical." – wallbanger7
"Nothing. But. Heart." – thepencilrain
#17 Explosions In The Sky, Take Care, Take Care, Take Care
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more »"These guys just make the most beautiful music this side of the pond and aren't as dark and alienating as godspeed you! black emperor. This is the album i don't mind sharing with people older than me. And I'm 38." – soulthrum
"Maybe I was late to the party for these guys, especially since I was a religious viewer of ""Friday Night Lights"", but I just can't get enough of this album and their entire back catalogue." – Stafford
"True brilliance -- sonic heaven." - mynameisyves
#16 Dawes, Nothing is Wrong
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more »"The first half of this album is an incredible combination of the incredible songwriting they demonstrated on their first album and the power of their live performances." – Jeremy A.
"Dawes, on just their 2nd CD, Nothing is Wrong, have achieved what takes most artists years to accomplish. They display uncanny vocals, arangements, production and harmony. Their selection of songs reflects their enormous talent. Big things will come to this group. Every song on this CD is a gem. Awesome collection. If you like the Eagles, CSN and just plain great music, buy this. It will become a classic if not already one. -- tx1950
"Dawes, on just their 2nd CD, Nothing is Wrong, have achieved what takes most artists years to accomplish. They display uncanny vocals, arangements, production and harmony. Their selection of songs reflects their enormous talent. Big things will come to this group. Every song on this CD is a gem. Awesome collection. If you like the Eagles, CSN and just plain great music, buy this. It will become a classic if not already one. -- tx1950
#15 The Rural Alberta Advantage, Departing
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more »"Some may describe this music as dirge. I happen live for soulful dirge. This music manages to combine pain and pleasure to an extraordinary degree. Minor keys are worked to their very limit. Muscle Relaxants and especially Tornado '87 draw me so far in to the music that it leaves me feeling exhausted, but in a good way." – Caph
"With Departing, RRA has tuned in on their own, unique sound. Prior to this album, while still brilliant, their "roots" , or influences (NMH,The Tragically Hip, etc), were showing loud and clear from song to song. Well no more. These guys have matured and Departing shows it. All the tracks are bursting with any energy all their own and all are good. Start with track #2, "The Breakup" if you are sampling for the first time. You'll be back for the rest shortly though." -- ThrowingThings
#14 Bjork, Biophilia
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more »"Bjork has moved from the dance floor to experimental music that explores whole-tone scales and unusual instrument timbres, without sacrificing her keen sense of melody and her deeply emotional music core. Her music has matured even as she has. You can't dance to the new album -- this music is really meant for listening, and it is worth the time to do so. Listen quietly and closely, and be rewarded." – music
"Bjork, known for pushing musical boundaries, continues to find ways to be surprising with Biophilia by changing the way her music is experienced in a revolutionary release strategy centered around apps. Many comparisons can be drawn to fellow game-changers Radiohead, and their controversial pay-what-you-want release of In Rainbows. Thankfully, like In Rainbows, the music of Biophilia is as strong as ever." – a.t. pane
"Bjork keeps on pushing boundaries and finding new sounds and moods. ""Virus"", ""Moon"", ""Cosmology"" and ""Mutual Core"" even offer singalong choruses that match any of her previous songs." – ijkidd1975
#13 Okkervil River, I Am Very Far
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more »"The killer piano crescendos on 'Rider' cap a great album" - thomaus
"A sense of histrionic urgency that trumps even Arcade Fire, yet these guys know how to grab you with an anthem and not let go." – jackbugs
"Will Sheff does it again. Full of brilliant turns of phrase, propulsive melodies, and Sheff's trademark epic wail." – joslynm
"Beautiful Retro-Indie Rock with that extra touch of the West Coast that makes you feel like 1967 while listening to it... Their best record so far!" - Psychedelia
#12 Battles, Gloss Drop
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more »"Finally, hippies and hiptsers have something to agree on.- helltruk
"Great, creative, sonically deep and visceral." - soulthrum
"No one plays like this band - most 'math rock' bands should really just stop. Just kiddin' guys! Do yer multiplication tables already!" – Nathan W.
#11 Mogwai, Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will
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more »"I've followed them from the very beginning, and they'll always be on my lifetime playlist. This record just hit me from first listen and grows bigger and bigger. Their best record. Ever!" – mikkeljulmadsen
"Not just the best instrumental band but one of the best bands, full stop! These guys get better and better and braver with each new LP. Also, the best album title of 2011, hands down." – moshbug
#10 EMA, Past Life Martyred Saints
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more »"Amazingly deep and awesome" - christof
"Scary" – Turgenev
#9 Cut Copy, Zonoscope
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more »"Electro-pop with an awesome 80's vibe? yes, please" – wonderboy
"Dance pop by guys who really understand the importance of tension and release." – davis957
#8 The Antlers Burst Apart
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more »"Sublime." -- graemeandrewfraser@gmail.com
"Dark and beautiful." -- sandibullen@aol.com
#7 The Civil Wars, Barton Hollow
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more »"I think more than anything with The Civil Wars, it's the dual male/female vocals that does it for me. The songs are nearly all incredibly dark, but are crafted with such whimsical beauty that makes this record hard not to put at the top of my list. The Civil Wars also possess an earnest innocence in their songwriting, seeking to represent reality without trying to impress anyone." – Aaron P.
This album is a contender. And it should be. The Civil Wars are destined for greatness. Let's hope Lee doesn't surrender and end The Civil Wars anytime soon. --palomides2@yahoo.com
"Timeless testament to the power of two talented people and the incredible redemptive music that can be made. Magic." – Bill C
#6 The War On Drugs, Slave Ambient
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more »"I'm just drifting," Adam Granduciel sings through the reverb on "Come to the City," which arrives halfway through the War on Drugs' first new album in almost four years. He's only telling half the truth. The Philadelphia-based creators of ambient roots-rock took a long time following up their 2008 debut LP Wagonwheel Blues, but it wasn't because they were listless; it was because co-founder Kurt Vile struck out on his own, recruiting Granduciel for his backing band, the Violators. While the 12 songs on Slave Ambient indeed have droning, meandering qualities, the hypnotic effects merely soften the album's working-class muscle and sharp hooks.
Much like Deerhunter's 2007 Cryptograms, Slave Ambient oscillates between sun-burnt psych-pop bliss-outs and disorienting instrumental interludes. Unlike most bands in the avant-garde mold, however, the War on Drugs have in Granduciel a vocalist whose throaty burr rambles casually in the all-American tradition of Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen. Songs like "Baby Missiles," re-recorded here after an appearance on last year's Future Weather EP, boast the bombastic organs, stirring drums and passionate shouts of potential live show-stoppers, but they're cut nicely with the mellow reverb and uncanny production textures. Vile may be gone, but his former band is hardly directionless. As Granduciel observes on jangling road anthem "Brothers", "I'm rising in to the top of the line."
#5 Beirut, The Rip Tide
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more »Five years ago Beirut's Zach Condon released Gulag Orkestrar, a debut that was both world-weary and precociously wise. It was an impressive feat for the 19-year-old, who recorded the album's lush arrangements alone inside his bedroom in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Gulag Orkestrar proudly displayed its Eastern European influences, and the records that followed flaunted his passport as well: 2007's The Flying Club Cup looked to French vocal pop, while Mexican wedding and funeral music inspired 2009's March of the Zapotec EP.
But if Condon's past albums were expressions of worldliness, The Rip Tide wants to shut the world out. "This is the house where I can be alone/ Be unknown now," he sings on the title track. Where once, on songs like "Postcards from Italy" or "A Sunday Smile," his instruments of choice — violins, horns, ukulele — were bright and gliding, choreographed like dancers rather than arranged, here they sway and drift. Only the final song "Port of Call" demonstrates the same urgency of discovery (of a new sound, new location) that his songwriting once betrayed. Despite the continental references, Condon's melodies always felt familiar. Now they feel like they're at their purest; if he sounds less excited, it's likely because he's comfortable.
He's also never seemed as wise as he does now. The rising horns and snares of "Goshen" soundtrack his lyrical self-criticism, and the soft sarcasm of "Payne's Bay" ("Today, I've been headstrong") wraps wry humor in a mock-stately arrangement. Many of The Rip Tide's songs are, in typical Beirut fashion, named for places Condon is connected to, or that he's recently explored. It takes a seasoned traveler to realize that world-weariness isn't as appealing as it once looked from a teenager's bedroom in Santa Fe.
#4 M83, Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming
#3 Tom Waits, Bad As Me
#2 Radiohead, The King of Limbs
#1 Fleet Foxes, Helplessness Blues
Read more: http://www.emusic.com/music-news/list-hub/emusic-members-favorite-albums-of-2011-2/#ixzz1i6GTuu9Q
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