NMM Top Ten Albums of 2011

I don’t know if you’ve noticed yet, but it was a scintillating year for the album as a whole. While some critics have repeatedly said the album format is dying, that certainly wasn’t true this year, with extraordinary music journeys abounding. Whereas 2010 saw the inclusion of Arcade Fire, Sleigh Bells, The National, and Gaslight Anthem in almost every list (including mine), you’ll be incredibly hard-pressed to find any true consistency this year, which leads me even more to believe the album continues to be, and will continue to be, the defacto format for releasing music well into the future. There is nothing like the epic emotional trip an entire album has the capacity to take you on.

With that preamble, here’s my ten favorite albums of 2011.

#10 Austra – Feel It Break

Austra’s “Feel It Break” is the first of three albums in my top ten that are from Canadian artists. Honestly, I wouldn’t say I’m a huge fan of Austra, I didn’t even go to her show when she was here in Edmonton in late November – but every time I listened to this album it just impressed the hell out of me. I imagine it’ll be in the top ten for a lot of Canadian media and bloggers.

#9 Dreamers Of the Ghetto – Enemy / Lover

Dreamers of the Ghetto, hailing from Bloomington Indiana, released their debut full-length in early October. I honestly don’t even remember where I found out about them (I thought maybe it was Ethan, but I think that was another band), but from the first track of theirs I heard I’ve loved them. In my review, I declared the album “infinitely listenable, evoking an interesting blend of emotions that is at once relaxing, and pure and utter sadness … (Luke) Jones has a tremendous voice, perfectly suited to both the despair and the instrumentation”.

#8 Barn Owl – Lost In the Glare

“Lost In the Glare” was released mid-September, and I played it at one of the #yegmusicclub meetings in the fall. At the time I didn’t expect it to make my top ten list, but thought it was enjoyable and unique. However, during re-listens to whittle my album list down to ten, it just kept making the cut over other albums. Each and every time. There’s a naked savagery to their music, like a hazy escape across a barren landscape surrounded by lo-fi fuzz, combining shoegaze with 70′s guitars – as if the Suuns met Led Zeppelin and created a musical baby. Brilliant.

#7 In Medias Res – It Was Warm And Sunny When We First Set Out

Photographer Aaron Vanimere happened across Vancouver’s In Medias Res at Sled Island, and they quickly became his favorite discovery of the year. I take all of his recommendations to heart, and quickly realized I too was madly in love with their music. Their 2011 album, while it has an awfully awkward title, is anything but. Like Barn Owl, it didn’t make my initial cut either, but just kept climbing through repeated re-listens, landing here in the seventh spot. A diverse range of beautiful songs crafted by a gifted artist, with mind-blowing emotional reverence, and a well-strategized musical journey.

#6 Cults – self-titled

One of the bigger buzz bands of 2011, the Cults released their debut full-length in June. On a whim I reviewed it for my friends at Gig City, and ended up raving about it not only there, but to anyone who would listen to me for the next few months. I was pretty sure it would be in my top ten after listening to it a few times, and I’m betting it’ll appear on a number of other lists as well.

#5 Joy Formidable – Big Roar

Joy Formidable is a band I’ve been touting for over a year now, and was especially pleased that local radio station Sonic 102.9 started playing “Whirring” (though they could really move on to the next song already), and that they brought them in to play their “modern rock festival” in September. For those of us that have been fans previous to the release of their full-length “Big Roar”, we had already heard a number of the songs, so initially I wasn’t sure about it. But without a doubt I’ve listened to this album more this year than any other I own, and as an album on its own, it’s definitely deserving of inclusion in my top five for the year.

#4 Wye Oak – Civilian

This is, to put it simply, a brilliant album, channeling any number of past and current sounds and delicate intricacies into a near picture-perfect album. Wye Oak’s “Civilian” has been near the top of my most-played albums all year, and I don’t expect that to change well into next year. The only band in the top five I didn’t get to see live this year (though four out of five is a PHENOMENAL percentage).

#3 Esben And the Witch – Violet Cries

I discovered Esben And the Witch while at South by Southwest, and they threw down such a frenetic, chaotic, emotionally charged set that I bought the album the second I came home. It’s vastly different from the other albums in the top four, heavier by far, but like both Braids and An Horse the lead vocalist – Rachael Davies – has such an amazing voice, especially when she’s pouring every emotion in her body into them. The reverb they add to the vocals and guitars will leave you breathless; you aren’t going to hear many albums like this anywhere.

#2 Braids – Native Speaker

Braids’ “Native Speaker” gets the nod as my highest-rated Canadian album of the year, and ends up at number two overall. If I talk/email/tweet/facebook with you regularly and I didn’t espouse the extraordinary talents of this band, and in particular this album, to you this year, then I honestly don’t know how I missed you. I only gave two albums over a 9.0 this year when reviewing here on NMM; this was one of them. Braids not only appears on this list, but appeared on my five magical moments of live music list, and will also make an appearance on my favorite songs of the year as well.

#1 An Horse – Walls

An Horse’s sophomore album “Walls” is an emotional roller coaster from start to finish, with not even a mediocre song in its cache of twelve tracks, never mind a weak one. I restricted myself to picking just one of their songs to be included in my top ten of the year (a list I’ll be posting in a couple of days), but honestly I had another two picked out that just barely missed the cut. I had determined by mid-summer this was my “album to beat”, as it set standards in every possible category for others to compare to, and none could quite catch up. Their songs “Brain On A Table” (about a friend in a coma) and “Tiny Skeletons” will leave you breathless and dejected for weeks; other songs will have you air drumming or air guitaring your ass off; and still others will have you singing along at the top of your voice in your car. There are bands I like better, but for 2011, for me, this was THE album. Without a doubt.

Tagged as: best albums, top ten list