Favorite Albums of 2011

It’s that time again to talk about what I listened to this year. Like last year, this will not be about which albums I think are the best, but those that I enjoyed and listened to constantly. This is why Radiohead, Wilco, and the Decemberists and other talented bands are not on this list. I just could not get into them.

The year started off pretty dismally for me, musically. 2010 was a fantastic year for music, but up until the end of summer, I only heard maybe a handful (or less) albums I really enjoyed and could listen to obsessively. Thank goodness that changed with the seasons or else this would be a very short post!

In no particular order…

1) Adele -21: Ok, let’s just get this one over with. This album should be on everybody’s list. If Adele hasn’t made you cry   at some point, you have no soul. And I know all you tough guys out there have had a tear shed over her powerful voice that just knows your pain. And if you are still shaking your head, then I congratulate you for having a life that has never known sadness. (But this pretty much sums it up!) Oh Adele, if I could have 1/100th of your voice, I could fool everyone into thinking I was an angel.

2) Hercules & Love Affair – Blue Songs: This is a fun band that always manages to get me grooving. Kele (I will never be able to remember his last name) from Bloc Party guest sings on the fun track “Step Up.” Whenever I felt like I needed a to be in a club, (mostly when I’ve been sitting on my butt all day in front of a computer), I knew I could count on this album to get my head bobbing.

3) Cut Copy – Zonoscope: Cut Copy can do no wrong. I remember when I first heard “Take Me Over,” I knew I was going to like this album. It’s not their best album, but it does its job of being a solid electropop album.

4) Girls – Father, Son, Holy Ghost: None of these songs grabbed me like “Lust for Life” and “Hellhole Rat Race” from .. “Album” (haha), but after a few listens, I started to listen to “Vomit” and “Honey Bunny” quite often (not to mention watch the music videos more than once). Girls is such a weird band, but they always make me feel like I should move to LA and dance in the sun all the time.

5) Alabama Shakes EP: So technically not an album, this is one of my new favorite bands of 2011. That girl can SING. What a soulful voice. The first song I heard was “I Found You” and I listened to it like 20 times in a row  immediately afterwards. I felt like I was madly in love with someone and I was listening to this song with him, but in reality, it was Alabama Shakes I was madly in love with, and yes, it’s been going very well. Although it pains me that I only have 4 songs to listen to – the relationship ends too soon each time.

6) Justice – Audio, Video, Disco: This was the album I’ve been waiting for since †, which was four years ago? I was a little disappointed that nothing was as mind blowing as all the songs on †, but I respect their decision to go for more 70′s style rock, or whatever. Because I love Justice so much, and they were pretty my gateway drug into the world of electro-everything, I listened a few more times, and totally dig this album. It’s a different love, but a love all the same. I mean, “Civilization” does make me want to disco, so they’ve done something right.

7) Death Cab for Cutie – Codes and Keys: This album is definitely one of the happiest (if not the happiest) Death Cab albums. Maybe it’s because Ben Gibbard married everyone’s dream girl, but it is infectious, especially this song.
M83 – Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming: Maybe because they’re both French, maybe because they’re both electronica, but this is the album I kind of wish Justice made. Everyone became obsessed once “Midnight City” leaked, and who can blame them? It’s a damn great song that makes you want to do all sorts of crazy dancing. When M83 came to Boston, they had to move him to a bigger venue because the demand was so big. He could have played all 22 songs (epic, I know) off the album all in a row, and I think everyone still would have gone the same amount of crazy.

9) Jay-Z and Kayne – Watch the Throne: I mean, two of rap’s biggest names coming together can never really mean a bad thing. I enjoy Jay-Z and Kayne rapping like I enjoy a good sandwich. They never blow my mind, but I have been bound to ask “Oh nice, what is this?” I dug “Otis” when I heard it, and like “Ni**as in Paris,” but maybe because the word Paris is in the title. Okay, so maybe I enjoy a great sandwich a little bit more than this album, but it’s only because food is like, my favorite thing ever.

10) Alaska in Winter – Suicide Prevention Hotline: I know, I’m cheating. Yet another EP. But that just means it’s just that good. I’m a little fuzzy on the details, but I think Brendan Bettancourt actually was contemplating suicide and writing this album (among other things, I’m sure) helped him through those dark times. (And once again, this may be completely untrue, so don’t be spreading rumors about him.) Regardless of the back story, this EP is so haunting (especially the last track.. ooo I just got chills thinking about it) and uplifting at the same time, you really feel like you’re going through an important life journey when you give this EP a full listen.

11) Battles – Glass Drop: This band is weird, and I can say that because they’re “experimental”. When their video for “Ice Cream” came out, everyone was like “What is this?” but was also drawn into the strangeness. They go through each song and its process in these interviews, and it’s interesting to listen to the breakdowns. I never though I’d like listening to a band like this on repeat, but I can surprise myself sometimes.

12) Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues: It’s strange that an album like this would have staying power with me. I like this kind of music, but I usually am drawn to catchier, more upbeat things. Why this and not, say, Bon Iver or Decemberists, made it on this list is kind of a mystery to me. Maybe it was the mood I was in when I first gave this a listen, but I love the vocals, the harmonies, and the lyrics. Grown Ocean is the track that seals the deal for me.

13) SebastiAn – Total: You all know how excited I was for this, and it did not disappoint. I never really could get into Ross, Ross, Ross because there wasn’t anything so catchy to remember, but Total changed all that. I was hooked when I heard the intro “Hudson River” and was so upset that the track was so short (actually that’s a lie. I was hooked when I heard “Embody” but that was just one song! This is being hooked on the album!). M.I.A. shows up, but most importantly, Mayer Hawthorne! Oh man, what a groovy, great track. SebastiAn made some good decisions on this album, and my ears are happy.

14) Architecture in Helsinki – Moment Bends: This isn’t as quirky as my favorite Architecture album (which would be In Case we Die) but it’s still happy and maybe trying to be more mainstream, which is okay. Everyone agrees that “Contact High” is a great pop song (perhaps the best song on the album). The question is whether or not you think “pop” is a good direction. I think it works for them, and occasionally I’ll indulge in “Desert High” just as often.

15) Mayer Hawthorne – How Do You Do: A good follow up to this first album (which I am still obsessed with). He has Snoop Dogg on one track. He had Dj Jazzy Jeff (yes, from the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, son!) remix another. I feel like Mayer gets more intimate on this album, which doesn’t fully work since he doesn’t have the rich voice of the 70′s crooners. But I think he’s fly and don’t mind his singing. He can sing about long legs and whatever else a fly woman is supposed to have, and I’ll like it (while giving my short legs a good stretch.)

16) Bright Eyes – The People’s Key: I didn’t think Oberst could put out an album as good as Lifted…, but then he did with I’m Wide Awake It’s Mourning (I know, people love Lifted, and I do too, but I’m Wide Awake totally grew on me the more I listened to it). I thought maybe The People’s Key would doubly surprise me, but it didn’t. Maybe when I listen to it enough, it will become my new favorite like I’m Wide Awake did but I’m not so sure. Anyway, this album doesn’t really tell a story like the last two did, and feels a bit disconnected, but it’s just weird enough that I still like it and listen to it a bunch. Maybe I’m just trying to figure it out, but maybe it’s because “Firewall” is so intense.

17) St Vincent – Strange Mercy: Took me a while to get into this one, but I love it. I really liked “Cruel” and its music video but for some reason I didn’t give her other songs a go. It is a very strange album with unexpected turns in each song, but it feels like a dream – a strange one, of course. The album and content is generally very dark, but she makes it very interesting. I mean, “Cruel” is about an abusive relationship but it’s sung in almost a Disney-song way. Creepy! But cool.

18) GROUPLOVE – Never Trust a Happy Song: I guess like last year, I saved a particular album for last, even though this list isn’t in any order. This album was played probably 100 times in its entirety since I first heard it. The first week (more like first two weeks) of hearing it, I only listened to this album and nothing else. I put all my trust in their happy songs. They make me so happy. It’s the first album in a really long time in which I don’t skip a single track (okay, once again, a lie. I skip “Time” now and again because it breaks my flow of happy.) I want to grab my friends’ hands and spin around in a circle in a field under the sun whenever I listen to this album. I want to sing every lyrics to everyone I love. I want this album to be the soundtrack of my life, and of course my life would be just prancing around and laughing every second. I haven’t listened to an album straight through this many times since probably Passion Pit’s EP. And that was like, what? Four or five songs? Less room for error. I understand that the contents of their songs aren’t necessarily happy and that a lot of the happy is drug induced, but I guess that’s the little game they’re playing, right? I need to see this band live where I will proceed to overdose on endorphins.

Bonus) The Muppets Soundtrack: I don’t remember the last time I saw a movie and loved the soundtrack so much I had to download it. (500 days of Summer maybe? I downloaded the soundtrack for Drive, but I have yet to see the movie.) Maybe I’m getting too predictable with loving things that make me smile, but, this is a great soundtrack. Bret McKenzie was the music supervisor, so that gives it major points. And “Life’s a Happy Song” is just a great tune.

Honorable Mentions: Penguin Prison, Lykke Li, Panic at the Disco, CSS, Giraffage, Noah & The Whale, Tycho, and Yelle. Pretty much I can’t stop listening to one or two songs in order to listen to the rest of the album, thus unable to determine whether or not the album actually qualifies as a favorite or if I’m just hung up on certain songs. (Like that run on?)

What were some of your favorite albums?