It’s that time of year again when all the music magazines and online press share their ‘best albums of the year’. Not to be outdone, us BR boys would like to share our favorite albums of 2011. Like in our 2010 list, these albums where not necessarily released in 2011 but are the albums we were listening to throughout 2011.
Jonathan – His Albums of 2011
I’m going to start by saying 2011 was no 2010. Last year saw me falling head over heels for certain albums, however this year has been a little bit of a let-down for finding new musical treats. I have spent many hours trawling through Spotify and checking out recommendations from friends but have not really had a big album(s) that has dominated my year like all the four I listed last year. Still, a few albums have made a dent in my iPod playlists and they are
Beirut – The Rip Tide (Click to Hear on Spotify)
It’s a 9 track album and I like 5 songs on it. Not the best way to start I know however, Beirut is a strange beast for me. When I like one of his songs, I LOVE it, I cant stop playing it and want it on constantly. This is his most commercial sounding album and songs like ‘Candle’s Fire’, ‘East Harlem’ & ‘Port of Call’ have been on repeat for the latter part of 2011 and the few songs that I weren’t to bothered about are slowly going up in my estimations.
The Devil Makes Three – The Devil Makes Three (Click to Hear on Spotify)
I stumbled across the Devil Makes Three whilst surfing through Spotify and fell for their blend of blues/country/bluegrass/ragtime. They are a three piece acoustic band and have a great energetic feel to their songs. I like to think that if BR were based in the Deep South then this is how we would sound. The one song I have written since ‘All I Have Is Here’ was inspired by these guys. They have three studio albums out and they all sound pretty similar (not a bad thing in my book) but I have chosen their self-titled effort as it has a few more sing along choruses.
The Milk Carton Kids – Prologue (Click to Hear on Spotify)
A relatively late in the year album as I only started listening to it around the start of November. The Milk Carton kids sound very much like Simon & Garfunkel and although the album is still growing on me, there are some real great folky choruses and sound impressive guitar work.
Editors – An End Has A Start (Click to Hear on Spotify)
So for the second year running the Editors make my ‘best album of . . .’ list. This time it’s their second album. After falling in love with their third album last year, I went back and tried out their debut. I must admit, it didn’t hit me. I then went to ‘An End Has A Start’ and had it on repeat one day at work and all of a sudden these melodies started jumping out at me and the album just clicked. There are a few songs that are fillers but overall it's pretty damn sweet.
To be honest I’m starting to struggle now. There have been plenty of individual songs from many artists that I have loved and annoyed people with by playing them everyday. Some from folky bands, some rock, some Rap and some mainstream pop. I won’t list them all but a few key tunes are:
The Pierces – Love You More
Dry The River – No Rest & New Ceremony ( Their debut album is out next year which I am very much looking forward to)
Dylan LeBlanc – Low & Emily Hartly
Rihanna – Only Girl In The World & Te Amo
Lonely Island – Mother Lover & Captain Jack Sparrow
Michael - His albums of 2011
I pretty much agree with Jonathan regarding the quality of albums I've heard this year however, there is one that was an absolute gem and by far my album of 2011
City and Colour - Little Hell (Spotify link)
A find on Spotify, the song Grand Optimist blinded me by its simple brilliance. The guys voice is very unique and I can't fault a song on it. It's been on my stereo since it was released in the middle of the year.
The next three albums have not had a massive impact unlike my fave's last year, but I still think they are a good listen
A spotify find again. I listened to this because I liked the front cover. I'd never heard of them but put it on and soon found its quirky folk quite pleasant. The song Ghosts is a storming tune and the rest isn't half bad either.
Feist - Metals (Spotify link)
Only recently have I listened to this. Previous Feist songs have left me cold so I don't really know why I even gave this a spin, but I'm glad I did. She seems to have forsaken the artsy side that put me off previously, with a host of great melodies in it's place. It's quite dark and morbid in places, but then suddenly it'll spark into life. I could love this album more in time.
Over the year I've been making a playlist of every song that I've loved in 2011, be it a new dance song or a 60's folk tune. There are about 40 songs in this playlist and I'll be picking my top 10 fave's of the year in a week, with a few surprises in the mix.
So not a vintage year for albums, but that City and Colour album is the bees knees.
So not a vintage year for albums, but that City and Colour album is the bees knees.
M and J
BR
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