Top Ten Albums, 2011 – Part I, Introduction

2011 was a fantastic year for music, if you (a.) ask me and (b.) like that sort of thing. Picking a top ten is a very year-endy thing to do and, although a lot of times it can take me some time to warm up to albums I later find amazing, I’m going to do this thing because (c.) it’s fun, and (d.) I can.

Ten isn’t a very big number, so there are a lot of things that I liked quite a bit that, nevertheless, don’t make the cut. Amanda Palmer’s live album in Australia was a lot of fun; Battles’ Gloss Drop was a remarkable recovery for a band that had lost its lead singer; Girls and St. Vincent both put out very interesting albums that I’m still sinking my teeth into. Kay Kay’s second album had some standout tracks. Viva Voce’s The Future Will Destroy You was in my list until I remembered just one more album that I had to fit into the top ten. Agesandages’ excellent Alright You Restless, a fun, upbeat album with swarms of warm vocals, was similarly bumped out for the last-minute number ten entry; I liked it well enough but it still pales a bit in my mind compared to the frontman’s previous band, Pseudosix. And, finally, Jolie Holland’s Pint of Blood is also highly recommended for anyone who likes Jolie Holland which should largely include “people with pulses” (taste being the objective thing that it is).

But there are ten more records that I liked just a bit more. So, onwards to the top ten!

The correct answer in this post was (c.).

Add comment December 28th, 2011

Theme Mix Saturday – The Unsound

The idea for this playlist was kicking around in my head for a long time but I guess I’ve been feeling a little crazier-than-usual as of late, so let’s dive right in to it…

18 songs, 56 minutes, two songs called “Brain Damage”, two songs called “Crazy”, and we’ve got everything from Patsy Cline to Tom Waits to Eminem. It’s a fittingly eccentric list. For all of its insanity, it is largely a mellow playlist. “The Merry Go Round Broke Down” is best known as the theme from the old “Looney Tunes” cartoons. I’ve opted for an early version here from 1937.

I went with a couple of covers as well, to keep things interesting; Chris Isaak does a great job with Queen’s “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” and, although perhaps overexposed due to Donnie Darko and commercials for Gears of War, Gary Jules’ version of the Tears for Fears song is a lot creepier.

Elliott Smith’s “Memory Lane” is about the time friends of his– using the term dubiously and loosely– had him committed to an asylum. He wasn’t incredibly happy about it.

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Nosferatunes 8

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