This is a new feature I want to try to talk about new albums through the series of music videos released around them. For many musicians visual flair is important, and by working with their directors they can present their view of how they see their music illustrated, thereby creating a "world" for their album or artist persona to inhabit.
Father John Misty - Fear Fun
Anyone who has seen Fleet Foxes live(or at least seen recorded performances) will probably be aware of the presence of their drummer J. Tillman, who often brought a charm and humour to their set's shadier moments. This large personality, when coupled with the fact Tillman had released several solo albums prior to Fleet Foxes perhaps spelled the inevitability that Tillman would leave the band to focus on his solo work. Fear Fun is the first album to be released post-Fleet Foxes on Sub Pop Records, and also the first under the pseudonym Father John Misty. Let's take a look at the visual side of this reincarnation.
"Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings" (dir. Noel Paul)
Tillman himself is not seen much in this first video. Instead the focus is on Parks & Rec star Aubrey Plaza, who begins mischevious, bored, upset and self-destructive but eventually murders someone out in the open. The video introduces some of the main themes to be found in both the visual style and music of Father John Misty: namely the marriage of rural American iconography with effortless sleeze, cool and excess, shown here by the party scene. Tillman provides his own bare-footed cameo at the end of the video, setting himself up to be the central figure of this Tarantino-esque cool for later videos by slinging Plaza over his shoulder and into the back of his van.
"Nancy From Now On" (dir. Amy Cargill & Josh Tillman)
Powerful images of womanhood are again leading the way in the video for the Bee Gees-flavoured second single "Nancy From Now On". This time a woman in fetish gear leads Tillman though a series of loving punishments including sitting on his face and cutting his hair ("Sim Sala Bim"?), before he gets bored with her and moves onto other women. Use of environment is key here, and a return from the downtown bar to the (open door) bedroom shows the eventual resolution, and matches the song's theme and lyrics perfectly.
"This Is Sally Hatchet"(dir. Grant James)
Easily my favourite of the three videos, "This Is Sally Hatchett" sacrifices the rural elements and pushes forward the underlying noir cinematography of previous videos to the forefront. There's a narrative that makes litle sense, starting with Tillman cutting off his finger with a pizza slicer and then target practicing in the restaurant's basement with a girl with back tape crosses covering her nipples. Every detail contributes to this twisted, noir image: the pentagram cut into the pizza, the poster for Jean-Luc Godard's Breathless, and most of all the closing shot of Tillman, with the shotgun, sunglasses and the cigarette being lit with a gun-shaped lighter.
Thoughts on Fear Fun
It's a really solid album, with a lot of variety in songwriting and themes, and great vocals and personality that's easy for fans of Fleet Foxes and American indie folk and rock to enjoy. Ultimately what lets it down for me is the production; although Phil Ek's mixing has bought Tillman's songs up to a professional quality Fear Fun sounds perhaps too shiny for the majority of the tracks. This worked well for Fleet Foxes previous studio album Helplessness Blues (produced by Ek), but I don't feel compliments the one-man rough-and-ready style of this project. Regardless it's still a very worthwhile listen and can be streamed in full below. It's out now on Sub Pop/Bella Union.
These are the rules I used to qualify my top 50 albums of 2011:
One per artist, as in the tracks list. Fortunately there were quite a few this year who decided to release more than one album.
EP's do not count under any circumstances.
Official mixtapes qualify, provided they aren't classed as EP's.
Reissued albums, compilations and boxsets will also not be considered. Otherwise The SMiLE Sessions would probably be #1, and that hardly seems fair.
Live albums and live mixes do count, but I tend not to listen to them, hence why they aren't here. You'll have to find them elsewhere.
The top 10 albums on the list get an honourary 10/10 from me, now that the year's out.
It's time...
50. Holy Ghost! - Holy Ghost!
49. Thundercat - The Golden Age of Apocalypse
48. Russian Circles - Empros
47. Twin Sister - In Heaven
46. Frank Ocean - Nostalgia, Ultra
45. Radiohead - The King of Limbs
44. Africa Hitech - 93 Million Miles
43. Thurston Moore - Demolished Thoughts
42. Oneohtrix Point Never - Replica
41. The Antlers - Burst Apart
40. Chelsea Wolfe - Ἀποκάλυψις
39. Little Dragon - Ritual Union
38. Tom Waits - Bad as Me
37. Danny Brown - XXX
36. Atlas Sound - Parallax
35. Colin Stetson - New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges
34. Fucked Up - David Comes to Life
33. The Horrors - Skying
32. TV on the Radio - Nine Types of Light
31. Rustie - Glass Swords
30. Julian Lynch - Terra
29. Gang Gang Dance - Eye Contact
28. Bon Iver - Bon Iver, Bon Iver
27. Clams Casino - Instrumental Mixtape
26. The Rapture - In the Grace of Your Love
25. Kendrick Lamar - Section.80
24. Beyoncé - 4
23. Shabazz Palaces - Black Up
22. Battles - Gloss Drop
21. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Belong
20. Nicolas Jaar - Space Is Only Noise
19. Big K.R.I.T. - Return of 4Eva
18. M83 - Hurry Up, We're Dreaming
17. Balam Acab - WANDER / WONDER
16. Girls - Father, Son, Holy Ghost
15. The Field - Looping State of Mind
14. Austra - Feel it Break
13. Iceage - New Brigade
12. Kurt Vile - Smoke Ring for My Halo
11. Thee Oh Sees - Castlemania
10. The Roots - undun
An extremely slick concept album documenting the life of fictional character Redford Stephens, the Roots' 13th studio album undun became 2011's last-minute surprise when it was released earlier in December. The Roots' usual blend of neo-soul hip-hop dominates the album, but every song hits its mark, and plays a valuable part to the bigger picture. Sufjan Stevens is enlisted to play out the incredibly moving coda, with his own "Redford". ?uestlove has called undun the album he has always wanted to make, and the best Roots album so far. From what's on offer it's really tough to disagree with him.
9. SBTRKT - SBTRKT
SBTRKT's debut plays out like a dedication to the last 20 years of UK bass music, filtered through his contemporary "post-dubstep" production style. Whether the music is flavoured with nods to early house ("Pharaohs"), or dark garage ("Right Thing to Do"), the roster of fantastic vocalists under SBTRKT's employment mean that every track feels right on the edge of modern British electronica and dance. Little Dragon's Yukimi Nagano, Roses Gabor and Jessie Ware form the female half of the album, but Sampha's high notes are the most infectious of all, perfectly married to SBTRKT's beats. An extremely strong debut set.
8. Destroyer - Kaputt
A very stylish album, Dan Bejar's Destroyer had a very clear artistic direction for Kaputt. Bejar is often likened to David Bowie; if this is the case Kaputt is Young Americans, a set of meticulously arranged, woodwind-orientated, poetic songs. The feeling of romanticism sweeps through the set, usually causing feelings of sadness and loss. Bejar takes the jazzier side to 80's soft rock with extended instrumental segments, bringing indie rock more "full circle" than ever before. But it's as a lyricist where Bejar excels, breaking your heart through his melted voice.
7. tUnE-yArDs - w h o k i l l
An album that is as philosophical as it is sonically chaotic is hard to come by, and harder still to take seriously. The second tUnE-yArDs LP w h o k i l l is able to manage however, with Merrill Garbus's world music-leaning rhythm and vocal loops expressing postmodern attitudes towards issues of gender, race and violence, and sometimes completely smashing into them. The whole experience is both exhilarating and confusing, and very hard to put down in terms of classification, but stands as a reflection of our modern times: colourful yet irritating, familiar yet deceptive. With w h o k i l l Garbus presents us with today's ever changing face of human nature, in its boldest form.
6. The Weeknd - House of Balloons
The fact that the remainder of 2011 following House of Balloons saw Drake trying his hardest to successfully imitate his protégéThe Weeknd's style speaks volumes of the the golden internet age of music discovery. The first Weeknd mixtape gathered the most hype in such a short space of time because of the conventions it seemed to break in bringing R&B a classier, more artistic end of a spectrum. And it was so fully formed right from the beginning to bring about this artistic change: fantastic production, a mysterious singer, and disturbing, masochistic tales that felt strangely relateable.
5. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake PJ Harvey has a reputation for reinventing herself with every album, and Let England Shake provides her listeners with one of her most consistent messages yet. An historical tribute to her home country, the album is a tight set of songs that serve as a particular temporal statement of the state of England in 2011, and in relation to the rest of the world. The choir of male voices, disillusioned bugles and the ethereal autoharp set the scene for the Great War storytelling, extended metaphors that serve as political foreshadowing to the backdrop of the events of 2011 and, what seems to be the unfortunate case, beyond.
4. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues There are no shortage of reasons as to why Fleet Foxes second album Helplessness Blues ought to be looked back upon as one of 2011's greats. A timeless set of songs that mature with every listen, Robin Pecknold's chamber-folk collective build upon their ambitious 2008 debut and offer a more varied sequel, stretching the boundaries of their unique blend of sounds. Pecknold questions the universe and one person's impact upon it; at times melancholic and others triumphant. Helplessness Blues is a whirlwind of emotions, and brings back into focus questions that have troubled the people of the earth for years.
3. St. Vincent - Strange Mercy Perhaps above all else, one thing Strange Mercy proves is that Annie Clark is one heck of a guitar player. The instrument often sounds ferocious as off -balance phrases bolt out from under her fingertips, and leads a swirling mixture of swelling strings and magical-sounding synths. This art-pop brew serves to demonstrate the extent of how far indie rock has travelled from its roots in hardcore punk and post-punk. Clark's vocals are ever-present, and in equal measures as firey as her guitar lines, and as breathtaking as the synthetic mix. The songs of Strange Mercy are at times unnerving, but always strong and truthful.
2. James Blake - James Blake As stale the hype for new artists may sometimes be, it's also refreshing for such an artist to meet and even surpass expectations their promising previous work was hinting towards. Following James Blake through 2010 to the start of 2011 was such an experience. Blake took an unexpected and ambitious turn when he released his self-titled debut: the amount of space on the album might force you to demand half your money back, if it wasn't for the fact that his tracks resemble traditional singer-songwriter tunes with a cavernous dubstep aesthetic much more than they do the work of an expert producer. Uniquely Blake is both.
1. Death Grips - Exmilitary
For many, 2011 in music began with the spotlight on a young MC called Tyler, the Creator and his collective Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All, whose single "Yonkers" promised to bring forward a new interest in horrorcore and shock-rap. I choose to end 2011 with a sorely overlooked mixtape that did much more to genuinely shock and terrify than Tyler's disappointing Goblin had managed (though I will give it an honourable mention). Even at this stage there is little known about the Death Grips project, except it a collaboration of a rapper known as MC Ride and Zach Hill, who is most famous as the insanely technical drummer of the math-rock duo Hella. Ride has a voice similar in tone to the Wu-Tang Clan's RZA, except he chooses to shout and scream for virtually the entire album, almost to the point of parody and self-parody. The urgency with which he does so makes every lyric as compelling as the last; Exmilitary's lines run like a modern day Inferno or Paradise Lost, and are worth reading just by themself. Instrumentally it feels very much like the same beast; the body to Ride's tounge. Even more experimental than Shabazz Palaces debut album Black Up, which turned up later in the year, Exmilitary uses Hill's hardcore punk and industrial influences searingly. Many of the tracks use electronic noises also: traces of techno, jungle and IDM are spliced into the album's centre especially. And samples as diverse as Link Wray and The Crazy World of Arthur Brown fall somewhere in between, dropped unexpectedly into the stormiest of moments, perhaps as a part of its twisted humour. A unique and unflinching (and free) album, the scariest element of Exmilitary is its ability to makeits listener feel pumped, as if it's relentlessness is pounding through to the brain and controlling the body from within, to become the beast you worship...
This I threw together at the last minute, so no explnations given unfortunately. However a picture paints a thousand words, and these are moving pictures...
Due to the fact I never get to talk about a large amount of music I enjoy on this blog (A bunch of great albums with high scores wouldn't be very interesting) I've decided to compile my favourite albums, singles, EP's, etc. over the past month, mostly to recommend them as they all have something to offer. They're listed in no particular order, from memory if anything else. I might mention these elsewhere, the door isn't closed because I've listed something here. Recommendations would be appreciated. Thanks.
Top 3 albums:
Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues (stream here)
Those who were concerned that Fleet Foxes would be unable to match their astonishing debut album can rest assured. Helplessness Blues is every bit as magnificent as it's predeccessor, on the grand, epic scale ("The Shrine / An Arguement", "Grown Ocean"), as well as the intimate and contemplative ("Blue Spotted Tail", "Helplessness Blues"). Every detail, instrument and vocal sound close to perfection; diverse yet consistently awesome, and a warm and natural progression for Robin Pecknold and co.. Helplessness Blues sounds much more like a journey and an adventure than Fleet Foxes, with many songs taking several turns in volume and tone yet remaining engaging and compelling. A truly great album, earthly yet ethereal, Helplessness Blues demands to be heard for years to come.
tUnE-yArDs - w h o k i l l
The second album from Merril Garbus's unique Afro-pop project expands greatly on the lo-fi recordings of her debut BiRd-BrAiNs, which in retrospect sound sorely limited compared with w h o k i l l. The new album was recorded in the studio with the assistance of bassist Nate Brenner, resulting in an accomplished, mature, powerful yet playful album, integrating hip-hop beats, rock and funk into the mix. Garbus's voice is very striking and dynamic, as she addresses violence, race, gender, sexual desires and parenthood. Nate Brenner's presence is felt most on "Gangsta", complementing aggressive drum beats and distorted vocal loops; the music feels immediate, confrontational and empowering. The single "Bizness" is perhaps the best infusion of all these elements, and although the album as a whole may not be every person's idea of fun, w h o k i l l is a bold, uncompromising statement.
Times New Viking - Dancer Equired
There's no way I should enjoy this album as much as I do. Times New Viking are usually associated with the "shitgaze" genre, attemping to create the poorest recording quality possible, however for Dancer Equired the Ohio three-piece have made at least some effort to clear up their sound. Vocalists Beth Murphy and Adam Elliott are often flat, and sound like a a tuneless Kim Deal and Robert Pollard respectively, but due to the nature of the music that dosen't put me off in the slightest. There are a number of less well-writen songs agreed, and since the album finishes at 31 minutes it would make sense to cut those and relabel Dancer Equired as an EP, but there are many fantastic songs, particularly in the final quarter beginning with "Fuck Her Tears". I would even go as far to call Dancer Equired Times New Viking's Halcyon Digest. Give it a try.
Albums:
Explosions in the Sky - Take Care, Take Care, Take Care
Beastie Boys - Hot Sauce Commitee Pt. 2
The Antlers - Burst Apart
Thao & Mirah - Thao & Mirah
Prefuse 73 - The Only She Chapters
Cut Copy - Zonoscope
Big K.R.I.T. - Return Of 4Eva
Frank Ocean - Nostalgia/Ultra
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Belong
TV on the Radio - Nine Types of Light
Metronomy - The English Riviera
Jamie Woon - Mirrorwriting
Clams Casino - Clams Casino
Bill callahan - Apocalypse
Crystal Stilts - In Love With Oblivion
Burial - Street Halo (EP)
Dum Dum Girls - He Gets Me High (EP)
Mono/Poly - Manifestations (EP)
Tracks/Singles:
Cults - Go Outside/Abducted
Kate Bush - Deeper Understanding
Fucked Up - The Other Shoe/A Little Death/Ship of Fools
My Morning Jacket - Circuital/Holdin on to Black Metal
Radiohead - Supercollider/The Butcher
Brian Eno/Rick Holland - Glitch
Death Cab For Cutie - You Are a Tourist/Home is a Fire/Some Boys
Beyoncé - Run the World (Girls)
Lady Gaga - Born This Way/Judas
Foo Fighters - Rope
The Joy Formidable - Whirring
The Morning Benders - Better in Blue
The Go! Team - Buy Nothing Day (feat. Bethany Consentino)
Kurt Vile - Baby's Arms/Jesus Fever
Cold Cave - The Great Pan is Dead
Bass Drum of Death - Young Pros
Entirely different list from my previous one, this takes us through the officially announced albums which I am looking forward to most during the first half of this year, in order of release date.
Please note release dates are correct at time of writing but my be subject to change if the artist/label feels like it.
The Strokes - Angles
Highly anticipated fourth album from the band hailed as the saviours of rock and roll ten years ago, would you believe it. The Strokes’s reputation is not without merit though, they’re easily one of the great urban storytelling bands of our times, and it seems as if the wider music community will never be able to shake off the magical feeling that comes around the build up to an album release. New tracks "Under Cover of Darkness" and the recently-dropped "You’re So Right" seem to be a return to roots and an interesting new direction respectively ("I had some early R.E.M. vibes for a minute or two", says singer Julian Casablancas). I’ve got that magical feeling over this one, check out "Under Cover of Darkness" below and hopefully experience it for yourself.
Angles is released via Rough Trade on 21/3/11 in the UK and via RCA on 22/3/11 in the US.
Bibio - Mind Bokeh
Bibio is the name given to electronic producer and Boards of Canada protégé Stephen Wilkinson, whose from my neck of the woods actually, Wolverhampton, West Midlands, UK. His signature sound often encompasses guitar and piano amongst bleeps and hazy textures. His work often contains elements of 60’s folk-pop and jazz, and I was both surprised and delighted when I recently heard one of his songs "Lovers’ Carvings" on an ad for Amazon's Kindle, taken from his 2009 album Ambivalence Avenue. However Mind Bokeh’s opening track "Excuses" sounds so far removed from "Lovers’ Carvings" that I’m expecting the album to be quite the ride once it’s released.
Mind Bokeh is released via Warp on 29/3/11 in the US and 4/4/11 in the UK/ROW.
Holy Ghost! - Holy Ghost!
Signed to the legendary DFA Records, Holy Ghost! have already released a ton of singles and high-profile remixes, but we shouldn’t have to wait much longer for their debut album. Like their older brother labelmates LCD Soundsystem they produce New Wave and disco-sounding dance music, only more in keeping with those genres and groups of that time, such as the Human League and Soft Cell. Their 2010 Static on the Wire EP was well received, and produced gems such as "I Will Come Back", the video of which is a near-perfect update of New Order’s "Confusion". If that wasn’t enough to show you how great these guys are, take a listen to new album track “Do It Again” below, or download it here.
Holy Ghost! is released via DFA on iTunes on 5/4/11 and CD/LP on 12/4/11.
TV on the Radio - Nine Types of Light
Like the Strokes, TV on the Radio’s reputation and critical acclaim they gathered over the past decade serves them well as fans await their fifth LP Nine Types of Light. Tunde Adebimpe’s sonically rich and diverse indie rockers stunned both critics and listeners alike with their albums Return to Cookie Mountain and Dear Science, pushing the boundaries of experimentation within the genre to the limit. Adebimpe’s soulful high vocal register and David Sitek’s often raucous distorted guitar lay the foundations, but what follows from track to track is anyone’s guess. The band’s knowledge and range of influences make them truly unique, and new album track "Will Do" is a welcome introduction to the new album, potentially one of the sexiest songs we’ll get to hear this year, and yet another new exploration for the band.
Nine Types of Light is released via Interscope on 12/4/11.
Panda Bear - Tomboy
This album in particular has been a long time coming for many, owing to both the rise in popularity of Animal Collective (reaching it’s current pinnacle in 2009 with the release of Merriweather Post Pavilion), and the huge fanbase of Panda Bear’s previous solo record Person Pitch in 2006. Both albums are milestones in the independent music scene and will likely be remembered as two of our generations finest. Whether Panda Bear’s (or Noah Lennox’s) new album will be comparable to these is anybody’s guess, but music fans of a particular nature have their eyes firmly on this one, and have rabidly been lapping up the stream of 7" singles in anticipation already. Lennox is certainly capable of producing great things, but only when his singles are heard in the album’s context can we really know if Tomboy is another of these.
Tomboy is released via Paw Tracks on 12/4/11.
Explosions in the Sky - Take Care, Take Care, Take Care
Post-rock instrumental Texans Explosions in the Sky create some of the most lush, emotive and grand music of their genre, drawing comparisons from Mogwai to Sigur Rós. They’re a band who seem to amaze and expand their audiences with each album, and this streak will likely continue when Take Care, Take Care, Take Care is released. The range of sounds gained from just drums and guitar are extraordinary in the hands of these guys, and the band are able to fashion album after album of tearjerkers and euphoric soundscapes often using just these. Personally I’m not the biggest post-rock fan but this music seems to work for me a lot better than most of this band’s contemporaries. Fans of the genre or those who like their rock a little more interesting will undoubtedly enjoy this once it’s released.
Take Care, Take Care, Take Care is released via Bella Union on 18/4/11 in the UK and 25/4/11 for the rest of Europe, and via Temporary Residence on 26/4/11 in the US.
Tyler, the Creator - Goblin
Cover for "Yonkers" single
Well any upcoming release from new hype vehicle Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All, really. OFWGKTA are the hot topic of conversation right now for fans of underground hip-hop and the music blogosphere in general. The young LA-based collective have been hailed by some as the new Wu-Tang Clan, a statement undoubtedly with some weight behind it. Odd Future are nothing if not prolific: you can download several albums and mixtapes from each member over at their website if you’re into that sort of thing. Amongst the most prolific members of Odd Future, one that stands out most from the crowd is Tyler, the Creator or Wolf Haley, who wants everyone to believe he’s both a genius and a psychopath. The track "Yonkers" has gathered the most buzz to date, and will feature on Tyler’s second album Goblin, set for release sometime during April.I'll update once we get a better idea.
Goblin is released via XL Recordings circa 4/11.
Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
Chances are you’ve already listened to the songs on Fleet Foxes’ debut album, and if that’s the case you’ll likely want to open your wallet for when their follow-up arrives, Helplessness Blues. The band, led by Robin Pecknold combine traditional and English folk with Brian Wilson’s sense of melody and instrumentation to forge timeless tunes with the richest of harmonies. I will be interested as to whether the new album will be able to match up against the most gorgeous moments of the Sun Giant EP and Fleet Foxes, but the title track tells me that I don’t have much to worry about. Music like this exists out of time, place and fashion, and is something for all to enjoy.
Helplessness Blues is released via Bella Union on 2/5/11 in the UK and via Sub Pop on 3/5/11 in the US.
Gang Gang Dance - Eye Contact
I can think of no better example of the underground sonic experimentations coming from New York right now than those of Gang Gang Dance. Still widely unknown but with the acknowledgement of their peers, and with the potential to release a game-changing album. Overshadowed by some, yet easily identifiable, they are able to synthesise the sounds around their scene and yet achieve uniqueness and gratitude from many of those willing to dig to find them: Percussive dance punk with world, electronic, art-rock and hip-hop textures. The first track to be released from their new album Eye Contact is the opener “Glass Jar”, an eleven minute sprawl that rewards those who are prepared to stick it out. Hopefully the rest of the album follows suit equally as well. I’ll say no more.
Eye Contact is released via 4AD on 9/5/11.
Battles - Gloss Drop
Cover Art TBC
In my opinion, Battles’ debut album Mirrored is a modern classic. It somehow manages to be both nerdy, mathy prog-rock, and yet it’s dynamic brilliance means that to those who are aware of it there is no other substitute for bedroom dancing and freaking out, it wins you over without having to put up too much of a fight. However the group have experienced recent setbacks; after the departure of singer/multi-instrumentalist Tyondai Braxton the remaining three members, each from other renowned bands, decided to scrap their material and work on their follow-up to Mirrored, Gloss Drop as a trio. Unfortunately no new songs have been released as of yet, however looking at the tracklist , the prospects of tracks with guest vocals from none other than synthpop legend Gary Numan and the wildly exciting frontman of Boredoms, Yamantaka Eye are enough to keep my appetite whetted, stretching the limits of what this band can deliver. I’ll end my list of my 10 most anticipated album releases of 2011 with the classic Battles song "Atlas", taken from Mirrored.
Gloss Drop is released via Warp on 7/6/11 in the US and 6/6/11 in the UK/ROW.
What albums are you looking forward to this year? I’ll be interested to see how these albums will compare to my expectations, what I’ll end up talking about at the end of the year, and how the releases of this year compare with 2010 and 2012.
