Sounds pretty good. Can't say I'm familiar with either of the tunes, or Justice at all, to really hear the mash-up, but it sounds clean and well-mixed.Quoting Qrazy (view post)
Sounds pretty good. Can't say I'm familiar with either of the tunes, or Justice at all, to really hear the mash-up, but it sounds clean and well-mixed.
#2. Steve Kilbey and Martin Kennedy - White Magic
Steve Kilbey, from the Church, and Martin Kennedy, from All India Radio, deliver the years' best mid-tempo alt-rock. What we have here is a perfect fusing of Kilbey's unique vocal style and whimsical, thought-provoking lyrics, with Kennedy's ability craft perfectly mixed music composed of subtle layers; this is music created by two musicians who have absolutely mastered their craft. This is what I look for in the music that I love. The focus is clearly on the traditional song structure, but these two artists are known for their love of sound, and thus the album is infused with a hint of psychedelia, ambient, and electronica, complete with oodles of odd little effects and nifty moments sprinkled throughout. This is one of my most listened to albums this year, and one that I'll be returning to for many years to come.
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Lol, exactly--got to get my once-a-year quota in! I actually was looking for something else and saw this thread and couldn't resist responding.A Jesse Atiade sighting...it's like a lunar eclipse!How've you been!? I agree about the WKW influence, particularly in "Lord Knows Best"...the fact that Alex looks like a character out of one of his films doesn't hurt either.
That Christmas song is really cool. I hadn't heard it before now, so thanks, I'll have to get that in my IPod ASAP. It actually would play well as a 9th track to Badlands.
Well, I think their basis in SF and that Christopher Owens is queer made them a big hit up here. The video for "Lust for Life" is super SF-hipster queer which helps too. And re: the porn, they just provided ambient background music. It's actually a super good little film--if you're into that kind of thing, of course! :lol:
She just announced her tour (with tUnE-yArDs) and I'm definitely going to see her; a friend who saw her recently says her albums don't do justice to the range of her voice.
I was really excited about this album when Pitchfork's review came out because they referenced Kate Bush, but then it turned out that they use a lot of my least favorite elements from 80's music. But I have to admit that they use them to great effect--there are some beautiful, textural moments of sound that have caught me by surprise. I'm still not at the point where I'd put it on myself, but I don't mind when he does!GGD might be a bit of an acquired taste. Hopefully your boyfriend obsession with it rubs off a bit.
Memories of the Future
"Criticism can be monumentally creative, of course, at times highly artistic, highly personal. But it rarely relates to the work of art being assessed. It is an expression of the critic's own subjectivity." -Joyce Carol Oates, Journals
Annnd another one.
The Princess and the Pilot - B-
Playtime (rewatch) - A
The Hobbit - C-
The Comedy - D+
Kings of the Road - C+
The Odd Couple - B
Red Rock West - C-
The Hunger Games - D-
Prometheus - C
Tangled - C+
2
Destroyer - Kaputt
To call Kaputt the most pleasant surprise of the year is more than an understatement. It completely blindsided me. Aside from Streethawk: A Seduction, I’ve never been much of a fan of Destroyer’s previous album nor those of the band he moonlights with, The New Pornographers, so when I read that his newest effort adopted the sounds of smooth jazz and AM radio, I expected it to be excruciatingly dull. Yet while Kaputt is certainly as relaxing as its influences make it sound, Destroyer takes these sounds – the sax, cheap drum beats, over-produced guitar riffs, synth orchestral loops – and, accepting them as the inevitably cheesy sounds as they are, uses them as the building blocks for 9 incredible songs. The resurgence of 80s new wave over the last few years has led to much ironic reappropriation of the decade’s now uber-hip sounds, most made by young musicians who couldn’t even walk when Reagan left office, so Destroyer who, as he mentions in the album was 20 in 1992, actually has a memory of the decade decides to flip the tables. Rather than following the trend of adapting new wave into chillwave, he uses the truly maligned sounds of the age and, without a hint of irony (a wink perhaps), brings a value, an undeniably grandiose beauty out of what most people, myself included, had always considered a joke. Of course, many people have and will dismiss this as just a lame throwback to easy listening, but although the root of the sonic palette is familiar, the totality of them within this context is possibly the most original musical experiment of the year. I find it a difficult album to defend, since it is admittedly cheesy so I understand where the haters are coming from, but there is an uncommon poetic beauty to the way Destroyer molds these much-maligned genres into a true work of art. That he can do so while also coming off as effortless and breezy as he sounds throughout the album only makes his feat that much more admirable. If no one else in the world thought a great album could come of this concept, it appears Destroyer knew he could from the start.
Favorite Tracks:
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#2! I still have one more, but 1-2 are close to interchangeable.
Oh yeah! Well, still a cool pick. I need to listen to it more.#2! I still have one more, but 1-2 are close to interchangeable.
#1. Devin Townsend Project - Ghost
This isn't just the best album I heard in 2011, it's one of the best albums I've ever heard. While known more for his brutal heavy metal and bizarre prog-metal (Strapping Young Lad, et al.), with Ghost, Devin Townsend has created one of the most sonically dense, lush, and beautiful sounding albums ever.
This is the album I want to listen to on my death bed, during the last hour of my life.
Just get the album, a good pair of headphones, and take an hour out of your day to listen to it uninterrupted. You might dislike it, or it might change your life. Who knows?
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1
The Men - Leave Home
If the smooth, cool sounds of Destroyer's Kaputt were too emasculating or soporific, I give you The Men's Leave Home as the antidote. After the slow 3-minute build to album opener "If You Leave...", The Men grab you by collar and drag you full speed ahead into sonic mayhem, with abusive feedback and menacing, guttural singing/screaming as the norm. Their intense brand of post-hardcore has the energy and meticulousness of the genre’s landmarks, but while this album is all about the collision of precision and chaos, their general fondness for shoegazey guitars engulfs their raw vocals and heavy guitar riffs in a whirlwind of roughhewn, blistering noise. However, this is not noise simply as a filter to make the music more abrasive or aggressive while burying the melodies, but noise as an aesthetic, the feedback and guitar crunches as much a piece of the songwriting as the lyrics and notes themselves. As rough as the album may sound at first, The Men have a particularly brilliant ear for and are adept as using at using noise, not just as attitude or sonic enhancement, but, like My Bloody Valentine and Sonic Youth, almost as an instrument itself. The most obvious examples are the 2 Chris Hansell-sung songs, "Think" and "L.A.D.O.C.H." which may be the heaviest 1-2 combo on any album this year, exploding with frustration and anger, from the fast, heavy guitars to his deep, intense screaming voice, yet tightly controlled, always on the brink of chaos but constantly reigned in just enough to keep it all together. Albums of this type often have a rushed sense about them, as unrefined intensity and rawness have their advantages in bringing fresh and unique results, but Leave Home is meticulously produced - not smoothed over or clean by any means, but its roughness feels shaped and purposeful, the band as interested in sculpting with sound as bringing a feverish intensity to every song. The variety of guitar textures (from shimmering shoegaze to post-hardcore, almost metal at times) and drums (from the whiplash in "L.A.D.O.C.H." to hard rock and post-punk sounds) throughout the album is impressive; their sound always showing signs of surprising new influences while illuminating the talents of every member of the band. It's the rare album that's as fun as it is intense and as sonically varied and dense as it is consistently rewarding. Just an all-around impressive album and unquestionably my favorite of the year.
Favorite Tracks:
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Good #1 choice. Album really grew on me, which is odd for something so bludgeoning and immediate.
I'll check out Devin Townsend cos I like SYL quite a bit, but that cover is a dolphin & a rainbow away from being the greatest prog-album-art parody ever.
The cover kept me away for months, but then I heard the music. It's NOTHING like SYT, or much of Townsend's other music (the first part of the DTP, Ki, is a little similar). It's basically Townsend's take on ambient music, using his unique wall-of-sound technique.
Ghost 2 comes out this year, and from what I've heard it sounds just as good.
Can you post a full list please?
The Princess and the Pilot - B-
Playtime (rewatch) - A
The Hobbit - C-
The Comedy - D+
Kings of the Road - C+
The Odd Couple - B
Red Rock West - C-
The Hunger Games - D-
Prometheus - C
Tangled - C+
Sure:
1) The Men – Leave Home
2) Destroyer – Kaputt
3) Demdike Stare – Triptych
4) L.W.H. – The Tape Hiss Hooligan
5) The Field – Looping State of Mind
6) PJ Harvey – Let England Shake
7) St. Vincent – Strange Mercy
8) Gang Gang Dance – Eye Contact
9) Deerhoof – Deerhoof vs. Evil
10) Chad VanGaalen – Diaper Island
11) Girls - Father, Son, Holy Ghost
12) The Antlers – Burst Apart
13) Dirty Beaches – Badlands
14) The Psychic Paramount – II
15) Tim Hecker – Ravedeath, 1972
16) Thee Oh Sees – Carrion Crawler/The Dream
17) David Kilgour & The Heavy Eights – Left by Soft
18) Jacaszek – Glimmer
19) Panda Bear – Tomboy
20) Deaf Center – Owl Splinters
21) Robag Wruhme – Thora Vukk
22) Andy Stott – We Stay Together
23) Roommate – Guilty Rainbow
24) Tom Waits – Bad As Me
25) Danny Brown – XXX
26) Total Control - Henge Beat
27) Real Estate – Days
28) A Winged Victory for the Sullen – A Winged Victory for the Sullen
29) Radiohead – King of Limbs
30) CunninLynguists – Oneirology
HMs:
Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues
The Necks – Mindset
Snowman – Absence
Colin Stetson – New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges
The War on Drugs - Slave Ambient
30. @peace - s/t
29. Opeth - Heritage
28. Even Abeele - Lineage
27. Hammock w/ Steve Kilbey and timEbandit Powles - Asleep in the Downlights
26. Moby - Destroyed
25. Vishnu - Space Folk
24. Saffron Slumber - Somnogen
23. Jason Sloan - (s)END
22. Scale the Summit - The Collective
21. Robin Guthrie and Harold Budd - Bordeaux
20. Leprous - Bilateral
19. adamned.age - Fragile
18. Brian Eno - The Drums Between the Bells
17. Two Bicycles - The Ocean
16. Animals as Leaders - Weightless
15. Dawes - Nothing is Wrong
14. Big Spider's Back - Memory Man
13. Lullatone - Soundtracks for Everyday Adventures
12. War on Drugs - Slave Ambient
11. Monster Rally - Crystal Ball
10. Tba (Natalie Berizde) - Forget'fulnes
9. SNOWMINE - Pet Laminate
8. Bill Callahan - Apocalypse
7. Cynic - Carbon-Based Anatomy
6. John Foxx and Harold Budd - Nighthawks
5. Tycho - Drive
4. Marconi Union - Beautifully Falling Apart
3. Anathema - We're Here Because We're Here
2. Steve Kilbey and Martin Kennedy - White Magic
1. Devin Townsend Project - Ghost
Very excited to see the DTP place at the top of your list, Daniel. Of the four albums that DTP released in the past year or so, only the all-out metal album sucked and assumed technicality matters more than craftsmanship. Although Addicted is certainly hummable pop, I too thought that Ghost stands out as the clear highlight of those sessions. The repetition on Taxeda and Feather were totally soothing, and I played the hell out of the album this past year. Good stuff, and I too am excited about what direction of ambiance he goes with the second sessions of Ghost.
Derek's #1 will get a purchase from us soon, methinks. We liked a couple of the tracks, and have dug all of the #1s from the past few years.
Thanks for doing all the hard work of the list, guys!
The Boat People - 9
The Power of the Dog - 7.5
The King of Pigs - 7
I'm glad you like Ghost. I'm actually a bit surprised that someone else on MC likes it. Of the other DTP albums, my favorite is Ki.
"Feather" is an amazing track.
I loved the songs you posted and I plan to make that album my next purchase.
Actually, I listened to almost everything you and Derek posted and pretty much liked everything, to varying degrees.
A HUGE thanks to you both for the effort. I think I've already taken care of that pesky rep thing.
"We eventually managed to find them near Biskupin, where demonstrations of prehistoric farming are organized. These oxen couldn't be transported to anywhere else, so we had to built the entire studio around them. A scene that lasted twenty-something seconds took us a year and a half to prepare."
Very cool. I had a feeling you'd be one of the ones to dig it.
It's funny about these two lists. While during the year Derek and I like and talk about liking similar albums, when it comes to us picking our best we have wildly different choices. The only album to make it on both lists was Slave Ambient, and that only made Derek's HM list. We have a similar and common middle ground, but out absolutely favorites are wildly different. Makes for a fun compilation of 60 albums, though.
Thanks for the lists guys. Also, new mash-up. I'm pretty proud of this one. The Kinks & Darkel.
The Princess and the Pilot - B-
Playtime (rewatch) - A
The Hobbit - C-
The Comedy - D+
Kings of the Road - C+
The Odd Couple - B
Red Rock West - C-
The Hunger Games - D-
Prometheus - C
Tangled - C+
Really like the style featured here. I went to Itunes to find something new, and this is what I came away with. Thanks for introducing it to me.
The Boat People - 9
The Power of the Dog - 7.5
The King of Pigs - 7
And the A Winged Victory for the Sullen made its way into a purchase, too. Yay for ambient music to write to!
Always appreciative of this thread, Derek (and Daniel). Thanks for giving me samples to return to later in the year.
The Boat People - 9
The Power of the Dog - 7.5
The King of Pigs - 7
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