Firstly, I'd like to suggest that this year has been really disappointing on some fronts. The Arctic Monkeys created a miserable, cringe-worthy record. We got the last thing we'd ever expect from Turner in some really crass, cringe-worthy lyrics (And now I'm out of place and I'm not getting any wiser/ I feel like the Sundance kid behind a synthesizer) and really average indie music which wouldn't sound out of place on a Pigeon Detectives record. Laura Marling made an album with some wonderful songs on, but as a whole it really lacked the coherency of her predecessors, not a total failure but I expected more. Wild Beasts moved even further away from their wonderfully camp, brash sound, to a minimal (if seductive) record, but I prefer them when they're a little louder. And in Elbow's attempts to cash in on the popularity The Seldom Seen Kid, they made their worst record to date which is too vanilla to love, but at least too bland to hate.
Radiohead's latest might not have been one of their best, especially coming after their masterpiece In Rainbows. Yet the sound contained on The King of Limbs, their B-sides and worked through the remixes might just be the sound of 2011. TKOL RMXs provided some of the most stunning reworks of the year, Caribou's Little By Little plays with rhythm and atmosphere so beautifully, and Jamie xx's Bloom really blew me away. It all fits in with Four Tet's remix of The xx which I've posted on here before, and Jamie xx's Gil Scott-Heron's (RIP) remix album which worked itself into the mainstream by becoming heavily sampled in a hit for Drake and Rhianna.
As far as pop comes, it's ranged from the instantly forgettable (The Vaccines, whose name I remember purely because of all the press - but c'mon Radio 1 and NME, you're not fooling anyone, these kids don't seem to be catching on); to the mildly irritating but undoubtedly good such as Adele; to the utter repulsiveness of Jessie J; and to more of the same brash, irritating wails of Florence & her fucking machine. Rhianna's put out some good tunes, and despite myself, I'm really loving the pop dub-step scene with SBTRKT, James Blake and Katy B artists I've frequently been putting on.
There's been loads of records I've liked, but only a few I've loved, which makes it hard to make a top ten. In trying to make a list, I've realised it's totally dependent on my mood. So for tonight I'm going to leave off some records which I've listened to loads this year which I do have a lot of time for. After seconds of deliberation, I've settled on a top eleven. So, a quick shout out for Guillemots (lush), Braids (check them out if you like the sound of a female-fronted Animal Collective), St. Vincent (as bold as ever), tune-yards (the most divisive record of the year, full of jazz-infused killer tunes), Tom Waits (back on form), M83 (the most ambitious record of the year), Girls (an inconsistent but brilliant record) and Metronomy (possibly my most listened to). All of whom would have made it on a different day.
#11. Virtue, Emmy the Great
Emmy the Great moved away from her hilarious vignettes contained on First Love to a more sophisticated sound focused on various characters which all seem to draw on personal issues. This isn't to say she's lost her wit, rather, she's cutting whilst having a greater emotional punch. She punctuates the album with references to literary figures, references to dreams, places, and most interestingly winds. The sound throughout the whole record sticks to the singer-songwriter formula established in her debut, but moves away from the lo-fi recording to something infused with 60's girl group melodies, and moody electric guitars. Musically, it's much more inventive than her debut, and creates a really beautiful tone. The album was written as her fiancee left her to join a monastery, and the heartache builds up throughout the album. By the end you have her asking really personal questions such as 'is there room on your piece of heaven? or would you turn me away again?' And the final track, Trellick Tower is so evocative to that stage in lost-love where you're moving towards bitterness, but the whole thing is still tinged with sadness. It's quite literary and a lot quieter than the rest of the album, but it is a really moving song. Her Christmas album with her current boyfriend Tim (Ash) Wheeler is also so much fun, even if it may be far too twee/fun for some.
#10. Beer In the Breakers, The Wave Pictures
Instant Coffee Baby is one of my favourite albums of all time. It can't help but put a smile on my face. Whilst this isn't quite as loveable, it contains everything I love about The Wave Pictures. Namely some of the most brilliant lyrics, cracking stories and some brilliant guitar solos. Right from the off, you have some rollicking guitars, and loveable pop rhythyms all working to catch the atmosphere of some guys wasting time, pissing in the sea, leading up to a killer instrumental at the end. All of it has a wonderful Summer evening vibe, as you can imagine everyone telling stories about their summer's past. I love Two Lemons, One Lime, in which the chorus recounts how you 'wanted a white wine in red wine weather,' which is hilarious, yet somehow really sad and silly. Some of its so jingly-jangly indie-pop, some of it just so unashamedly indie, but I can't imagine anyone simply liking The Wave Pictures. They're a band to cherish. After writing this and listening to it again, I could see myself loving it nearly as much as the predecessor, definitely an album that slipped under my radar this year, it definitely should be on my stereo more.
#9. James Blake, James Blake.
This got a bit of stick when it came out. His original followers seemed to hate that he was breaking away from his dub-step roots and going to something with more of a pop sound, some complaining of it being Coffee Table/Radio 2 material. I could see where they're coming from but I have no problem with this, rather the opposite. I admire a man who is willing to make (and continue to produce) some outstanding genre EPs, and making an album which may have wider appeal. James Blake has continued to work in different spheres, and all the power to him. I like this album more for his fragile, soulful voice more than anything else. It's also really beautifully textured, really bluesy as well as sounding fresh at the same time. Personally, I heard Limit To Your Love in November 2010, and when the bass kicked in I was just blown away. This really beautiful, piano-led, fragile soulful song, suddenly meshed perfectly with this rich, heavy bass. It was something so unexpected and orginal, and there are loads more albums like it on the album. For all its inventiveness, and sleek stylish sound, what I love most about the record is the soulfulness which Blake creates.
#8. Badlands, Dirty Beaches
Obviously I love this. Whilst relistening to him today, I had a quick Google, and he cites Wong Kar-Wai as his biggest influence. What a guy. And you can tell. It just sounds like Chungking Express would if it were a record. The only problem with both, though, is that they are too short. And like Chungking Express, one of the points of it is its slightness. Badlands comes in at less than 30 minutes, and maybe if it were longer it wouldn't be quite as magaical, as part of its success, I feel, is in its brevity. It leaves you wanting more, so much that you replay it endlessly until you've listened to the album so many times that all the songs kind of bleed into each other. Its the most nostalgic record of the year, an emotion which Wong captures so powerfully in film, and an emotion which always affects me. It's lo-fi sound means you keep returning to it until you've tried to uncover new things, another moment to cherish. It's also an album that's had little press, even if it has found a following, the rest of the albums on my list are all relatively popular.
#7. Smoke Ring for My Halo, Kurt Vile & Slave Ambient, The War on Drugs
I'm cheating a bit here, but these albums are of such similar quality, both have a similar style, and Kurt used to be in The War on Drugs, so I feel this pairing is justified in some way. Smoke Ring is one of my most listened to of the year. It has a certain grungy quality, and sounds a little like a stoner road movie. Slave Ambient, sounds a bit more sentimental, but also has wider scope and a little more going on, I feel. Both have really catchy melodies, and they do kind of drift on to the background while your listening, but I quite like that quality, you start listening to it then slip into your own thoughts. They're albums for long journeys, to tune into and out of when you're walking. Though this isn't to say there's no substance to them, both are musically interesting (if not diverse), both are really cohesive and often moving. In essence, they're both easy listens, full of sonic qualities and with a lot to love.
#6. 50 Words for Snow, Kate Bush
When I first heard this, I kept thinking, this is gonna be amazing when it snows over Christmas. It never did. anyway, this is a really challenging listen, but it really has the power to sweep you away. The first time I listened, I was so distracted by it, I just had to lie on my bed for an hour before I got up. It was a magical experience. Misty left me haunted for days, a song about a woman who has an affair with a snowman sounds quite silly, but when you reach the conclusion, as he is melting in her arms, it's something really, really special. The whole album is characterized by a really sparse, minimal piano, and Bush's vocals are in quite a high tone. It's certainly not easy, but once you sink your teeth into this, it's really moving, beautiful stuff. It all hangs on the concept of snow, almost like a collection of short stories might. The tracks are over 10 minutes long, and it's really ambitious. And she really pulls it off.
#5. We're New Here, Jamie xx & Gil Scott-Heron
Gil Scott-Heron is often viewed as inventing rap music, as on his early recordings he infused typical, brilliant funk with the spoken word. On his comeback album I'm New Here, which was to be his swansong having died earlier this year, he recounts in spoken word biographical details of his life. Through tracking his career, and noting all the performers (particularly rappers) that reference Scott-Heron as an influence, its important to note how much impact he's had on urban music. Enter Jamie xx, whose popularity with The xx, and with a slightly more underground club-culture, has led him to a certain star status. He pits Scott-Heron's final album against modern urban club-sounds, morphing Scott-Heron's heartbreaking songs into something modern. Jamie xx uses sampling (in a way that Scott-Heron influenced), garage beats, a bit of house samples, dub-step and texturing Scott-Heron's vocals to dizzyingly postmodern results. Not only is he reworking Scott-Heron's work, but he's pitching it against this quickly evolving UK urban scene, creating a dialogue between the origins of urban, black music against the new, predominantly white UK scene. All this is something Scott-Heron would surely approve of.
#4. Paradise, Slow Club
I discovered Slow Club only this month, but the album quickly became a favourite. It sounds somewhat bland on first listen, it's certainly not the most interesting record on this list. Their music might be described as 'lovely' or 'nice,' it's not really exciting or new. But what it does have, more so than any other album this year, is bags and bags of charm. It really appeals to my folk-pop sensibilities, its almost like listening to Young Love by The Mystery Jets, but the magic lasts for an entire album. Like all the best pop music since Motown, Slow Club understand how to contrast tender sad moments with those of pure euphoria, of love and heartbreak. The harmonies on the album are impeccable, and I can't think of a time where male and female vocalists have gelled so well together. The songs almost intuitively know when to mix things up, as they all build up to some exciting conclusion.
#3. Burst Apart, The Antlers
It's not hard to see why Burst Apart is a masterpiece. It does this wonderful thing of being really epic yet intimate at the same time. It's bookended by two of the most achingly beautiful songs of the year: I Don't Want Love and Putting the Dog To Sleep. The former is about a situation one guy has of letting a lover in purely for sexual activity, even if his feelings are more, causing rejection. The latter is a song about reconciliation and putting the past behind you ('unstitch that shit I've sewn' - such a wonderful lyric). It recalls the painful situations of Hospice, yet its more direct and personal. Whereas Hospice involved the listener as it kept using the word 'you' as if we were the patient, Burst Apart uses 'I,' portraying situations just as personal, if a little more ambiguous. The more you listen to it, the more you figure out what Silberman is saying through his falsetto, the more heartbreaking it becomes. The more you get used to the really beautiful sonic qualities, putting some beautiful minimal guitars against a haze of noise, occasionally exploding, but always remaining intimate, the more you begin to live with Burst Apart. It's so addictive, the sound of it is simply magnificent, and most importantly it's endlessly moving.
#2. Bon Iver, Bon Iver
To choose between my top two albums is nigh on impossible. Both are, by quite a distance, my two records of the year. They are albums I have to stop and listen to, yet albums I do this for all the time. Both are by true artists, breaking away from anything they've dune before with such success, with such gusto. I saw both artists live, and they were two of the best gigs I've ever been to.
Bon Iver's debut was so intimate, so tense, so beautifully quiet. He's moved away from this creating an album with lush sonic soundscapes to match his singular voice. The album is about place and time, their universality and specificity, their significance and insignificance. He pits archaic references, with the new, all the while learning that 'at once I knew, i was not magnificent' but at the same time learning that 'he could see for miles and miles and miles.' He incorporates loads of musical styles, most apparent on Beth/Rest, a really nostalgic song in the style of 80s music, complete with synth and sax but also using auto-tune, showing how even musical styles are a part of this thematic of change and insignificance. The album's lyrics are quite ambiguous, and probably mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people. His popularity in America is somewhat astonishing, but greatly deserved, he really does sound like the most 'American' artist working today.
#1. Let England Shake, PJ Harvey
A bit predictable, yeah. That's because it is the best album of the year. There's a reason why PJ Harvey is running away with all the 'Best Album of the Year' titles from such a broad array of publications. It's not because Let England Shake is a 'serious' album, rather it's the opposite. It's amazing how an album with such aspirations to cover the themes of war and nation across time can not sound pretentious. Yet her passion really shines through. Her lyrics are endlessly evocative, matching the very best War poets, as she inabits a soldier witnessing soldiers falling 'like lumps of meat.' Even in the songs which sound insginifcant at first become more powerful each time you listen to them. The most immediate songs like England, still grab me the way they did on first listen, the moment at the beginning when Harvey's voice matches the Iranian woman's, showing how universal to the human condition war is, is really a masterstroke. Songs like Bitter Branches, which at first simply sounds like a rock track about the devestating effects of nature upon soldiers become sadder with each listen. The soliders who 'hold their rifles high/holding their wives/who wave goodbye' is incredible, and the repetition of waving goodbye at the end of the song, indicates so powerfully how the wives to a lot of these men have said goodbye forever. I watched her when she debuted Let England Shake on the Andrew Marr show as she hilariously performed in front of Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister clearly not grasping quite what PJ was saying, working perfectly to show how what she's writing about is about the past, but will be eternally about the present. All this isn't to mention the music, Harvey hasn't fogotten how to write a melody, and this may be one of her most diverse works to date. She incorporates reggae, rock and folk so effortlessly that her musical greatness may escape you whilst you tune into the bigger themes that are present on the album. I could talk about it for days, but I won't, just give it a listen if you haven't already.
