Favorite Albums of 2011

My top ten eleven from 2011.  Listed alphabetically by first name.  Top three noted with an *asterisk.

Austin LucasA New Home in the Old World

Austin Lucas: Thunder Rail

*Chris BathgateSalt Year

Chris Bathgate: Levee

Dark Mean: Dark Mean

Dark Mean – Lullaby

The Decemberists: The King is Dead

The Decemberists: Down By The Water

Dolorean: Unfazed

Dolorean: How Is It

*Elliott Brood: Days Into Years

Elliott Brood: If I Get Old

Frank Turner: England Keep My Bones

Frank Turner: One Foot Before The Other

*The Horrible Crowes: Elsie

The Horrible Crowes: Behold The Hurricane

Okkervil River: I Am Very Far

Okkervil River: Rider

Will Phalen: Holy Ghost / Gold Coast

Will Phalen: Candycane Mountain In My Mind

Wye Oak: Civilian

Wye Oak: Civilian

Best of 2011: The Honorable Mentions

The usual internal debating and spreadsheeting has been underway here for several weeks as List Season moves forward. Instead of giving you several dozens of albums this year, I give you this mix of the runners-up and soon, a Top Ten.

You can grab the zip file here. I also made a Spotify mix, because I hear the kids are into that streaming shit.

Each of these albums is worth your time. I’ve presented a favorite track off each album. I’ve linked below to earlier posts on artists I’ve covered. Otherwise, as Jeff Tweedy would say, you can use the internet, I hope.

Track List

1)  “Lost in the Trees” by Richmond Fontaine from The High Country

2)  “Killing Time is Murder” by Whitehorse from Whitehorse

3)  “Haunted Heart” by little hurricane from Homewrecker

4)  “Road to Ruin Woman” by Brett DeTar from Bird in the Tangle

5)  “When We Were Wicked” by Glossary from Long Live All of Us

6)  “Hopeless” by Riviera from Watching Western Skies (EP)

7)  “Tamer Animals” by Other Lives from Tamer Animals

8)  “Resurrection” by Megafaun from Megafaun

9)  “Happy Banjo” by Dark Mean from Dark Mean

10) “Steve Earle” by Lydia Loveless from Indestructible Machine

11) “Outside” by Roadside Graves from We Can Take Care of Ourselves

12) “Hiway/Fevers” by A.A. Bondy from Believers

13) “Blood and Guts” by Middle Brother from Middle Brother

14) “Runner Ups” by Kurt Vile from Smoke Ring For My Halo

15) “Alone in this Together” by Star Anna and the Laughing Dogs from Alone in This Together

December Feel Bad For You

We got it together to get our mix on before the 15th of the month. Enjoy.

You can get full song details here. As always, drunken rambling comments are strongly encouraged.

 

Required Listening: Courtesy Tier

Courtesy Tier is a two-piece, New-York based guitar and drums duo that caught my ear during an inbox sweep recently, and I haven’t been able to stop listening since. They’ve been providing a dreamy rock soundtrack to a lot of fall walks and drives around Northern California these last two months.

Omer and Layton are one of those two-somes who make sounds that sound too full to have been created by just two people.  It’s easy- but somehow inadequate – to describe their sound as blues rock. It’s hooky, addictive and ranges from gritty and foot-stomping to haunting and restrained with some great harmonies and the occasional killer broken-heart lyric.

Turn up the volume. Call me a fan. Just don’t ask what the band name means.

Right now, you can grab their EP, Holy Hot Fire, and LP, The Resolution, for free on their website.

Courtesy Tier: Calling Out

Courtesy Tier: Alright Mama

Below is the video for “Home,” the first in a series by Zoe Hiigli to be released in the coming months.

Looking Towards 2012

I’ve been hemming and hawing over my Best Albums of 2011 for the last few weeks (color-coded spreadsheet included), but not too distracted to notice a handful of new singles from some of my favorite artists on some of the best small labels around.

Here’s a sneak preview of some things to look for in early 2012.

Sharon VanEtten: “Serpents”

Sharon VanEtten: Serpents

Tramp will be released on Jagjaguwar on February 7th.

Heartless Bastards: “Parted Ways”

You can trade your email for a download of the mp3 at their website.

Arrows will be released on Partisan Records February 14th.

Damien Jurado: “Nothing Is The News”

Preview the new track over at HearYa.com.

Maraqopa will be released on Secretly Canadian February 21st.

Justin Townes Earle: “Nothing is Going to Change the Way You Feel About Me Now”

The not-yet-named album will be released on Bloodshot Records in March or April.

Feel Bad For You: November

A collection of songs by a bunch of folks who hang out on the internet talking about music. That may or may not involve me. Enjoy.

 

SF Show Preview: Lydia Loveless

Lydia Loveless is an impossibly precocious 21-year old reminiscent of an early Neko Case — if Neko had been using  amphetamines. Growing up in “a small weird town” outside Columbus, OH, she turned to music as a teenager and hasn’t looked back.

Loveless’s sound is in-you-face-twangy with a punk sensibility, but what really catches your attention is her witty, wry, irreverent songwriting and delivery.  On “More Like Them,” she sings about not fitting in with the other kids because she’s emotionally stunted (I just need to get laid; why can’t I be like them?) . On “Steve Earle” she  hilariously tells a story of being stalked by the country troubadour ( I keep asking Steve, would you please introduce me to your son?).

Loveless is on tour now supporting her album Indestructible Machine and will be at The Hotel Utah Saloon tomorrow, November 4th at 9pm.

You can grab her Daytrotter session here , grab the album from iTunes here, or learn more over at Bloodshot Records.

Keep your eye on this little one.

Lydia Loveless: Can’t Change Me

 

Required Listening: The Horrible Crowes

The Horrible Crowes are the side project of The Gaslight Anthem’s lead singer Brian Fallon. It’s pretty easy to note that as a side project, the new band isn’t standing too far apart from the ground laid by The Gaslight Anthem in the last handful of years.

The Horrible Crowes first album, Elsie,  is more somber, introspective and fuzzy – inspired (per Fallon) by PJ Harvey and The National’s latest outing. Strip away the Springsteen sounds and the punk edge of a Gaslight album and throw in a few more overt references to Fallon’s Christianity and what you have is a lovely, swirling album that tells a story of love lost.

The story of Elise may be about a breakup; it may be about a death – I can’t tell, even after peeking at the lyrics. It beautifully spins a tale that intentionally blurs the lines between love and madness, loss and death.

The album is immensely listenable — dark but ultimately resting on Fallon’s two great talents — storytelling and rock and roll.

Horrible Crowes: Blood Loss

Check out more at their website and grab the album off  iTunes.

Anniversary

 

It’s the anniversary of my birth. It’s my first California birthday. It’s an occasion to be pensive, nostalgic, reflective, optimistic.

I made this mix to capture that. Somewhere between being sad at getting old, being joyful for the moments that I get, and being thankful for still being alive, is this.

Feel Bad For You September

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