The 12 CDs of Christmas:
Best of 2011 Year in Music Review
December 24, 2011

Introduction

As 2010 wrapped up I was left with one musical moment in particular to sum up the entire year: Crystal Castle’s cover of the ‘80s song Not In Love featuring Robert Smith. The song was an amazing moment, tweaking a classic sound for the modern age in a most breathtaking manner. 2011 continued that trend with classic bands re-emerging in interesting ways. And where gaps were left in the music scene newcomers were able to slide in pointing the way for other artists to continue forward in this new decade. Here’s a look back at the highs and lows of our modern music scene.

-Mister Marlowe, Seattle, Washington, USA

The Top 12 CDs of 2011

#12 The Strokes - Angles

The best band of the ‘00s continues to evolve. Their fourth album is their most mature yet least rocking. Coincidence? Probably so, but it is a fun listen even if it will inevitably prove more historical than memorable.

Best Songs: Under Cover of Darkness, Machu Picchu, Games, Gratisfaction

#11 The Beastie Boys - Hot Sauce Committe Part 2

The old fogies of hip-hop return from yet another lengthy hiatus to prove that there may be no sleep ‘till Brooklyn but there’s always room for the most unique rappers in the history of rap.

Best Songs: Don’t Play No Game That I Can’t Win, Make Some Noise

#10 The Black Keys - El Camino

The Black Keys continue their mastery of fuzzy classic rock with their seventh full length album, El Camino. Co-opting T. Rex in the best way possible, the duo shuffle through a succession of successful glam rock gems creating yet another cool party rock album that proves less can often times be more in the trendy world of rock n’ roll.

Best Songs: Gold on the Ceiling, Run Right Back

#09 Young the Giant - Young the Giant

Young the Giant is this year’s Neon Trees with a splash of The Killers, which means a band with obvious influences and from whom you’ll never hear again. But you know what… who cares!? The band churns out enjoyable alternative pop rock tunes filling in a modern music void that needs some filling. While that sentence is certainly awkward so are Young’s songs, yet the band’s tunes work as memorable flashes in the pan kind of like Mtv’s buzz bin circa 1993. Know what I mean? Grow up in the early ‘90s, hear this album and you will remember bands like Dig, Candlebox, and Nada Surf, the latter of which continues to get better with each passing year. Will that be Young’s fate? I doubt it, but you never know. Supposedly Morrissey loves these guys so take that as you will.

Best Songs: I Got, My Body, Cough Syrup

#08 British Sea Power - Valhalla Dancehall

In a world of blatant pop trash and semi-ridiculous indie rock presumption, British Sea Power’s sound and attitude stand as the true alternative in the alternative music scene. Valhalla Dancehall is a head phone ready album whose intricacies deserve repeated plays.

Best Songs: Heavy Water, We Are Sound, Living is So Easy

#07 The Cars - Move Like This

The Cars’ first album in two decades is unquestionably the comeback of the year. Classic yet modern the guitar, synthesizer, and voice are perfectly updated for long time fans and exciting in a way that the young crowd can appreciate, too. For a band that is over thirty years old, Move Like This is a really, really good album that stands beside their classic work on equal footing.

Best Songs: Soon, Too Late, Sad Song, Blue Tip

#06 Adele - 21

The shock and awe of hearing Adele’s Rolling in the Deep cannot be diminished - to hear her sing the song for the first time will stop you in your tracks. However, listening to her sophomore album altogether can have a much different initial impact. The voice is certainly there, but the songwriting and arrangements seem generic, pedestrian, common place - no wonder you can find the album at the check out of your local pharmacy. Take a break, though and listen to the album a month later, and then two months after that and the voice soars higher and higher while the production moves to the background. 21 is as good as the hype, the songs almost uniformly great (but definitely skip the silly Cure cover), and the rousing ballads are moving because of one thing in particular: the voice. Indeed, Adele’s voice is a rare gem, indeed, like a reborn Amy Winehouse of a different shade.

Best Songs: Rolling in the Deep, Someone Life You, Take It All

#05 The Naked and Famous - Passive Me, Agressive You

Passive Me, Aggressive You is the second album that MGMT should have released. Instead, it arrives via The Naked and Famous, a New Zealand band that has figured out how to riff on the ‘80s sound without ripping it off. Great singles punctuate this entertaining album.

Best Songs: Young Blood, Punching in a Dream, No Way, Girls Like You, Eyes

#04 M83 - Hurry Up, We're Dreaming

M83 is a movie soundtrack style band with a twist. Where that normally means contemplative instrumental background and soaring riffs on classic favorites, M83 works more like a really great ‘80s soundtrack minus the schmaltz. That means pop hits, instrumental gems, and other worldly nuggets of aural bliss. Think of the best B-sides from your favorite bands rediscovered in the modern day – the kind of songs that remind you why that old favorite’s best songs still play well no matter how long it’s been since your last visit. Sure, nearly two hours of Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming is a bit much but only just barely.

Best Songs: Midnight City, Wait, Raconte, Intro, OK Pal

#03 The Dropkick Murphys - Going Out in Style

For nearly fifteen years Boston’s Dropkick Murphys have torn up Beantown as the unquestionable successors to Boston’s original party rock ska-punk band, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones. And like the Bosstones the Murphys are a New England institution. Personally, I resisted their bagpipe heavy, gruffy voiced anarchy for all the years I lived in the area. That is, until now. Why? I don’t know. Maybe living in Seattle the last four and half years has made me long for some old fashioned Irish houligan shenanigans. Or maybe it’s because they put NOFX’s Fat Mike on the record. Or perhaps it has to do with their cover of the Celtic classic, “Peg O’ My Heart” featuring none other than New Jersey’s own Bruce Springsteen. Whatever the case, Going Out in Style is the band’s best album, a true to form punk album from a band that’s always been nothing if not true. Cruel could bring a tear to your eye and I’ll be damned if this lived in album isn’t nearly the best of the year.

Best Songs: Cruel, Going Out in Style, Peg O’ My Heart, The Hardest Mile

#02 Peter Bjorn and John - Gimme Some

Sometimes great albums are great because they have absolutely nothing to do with awesome singles but instead create an ebb and flow that grows on you with repeated listens. Gimme Some is a nearly perfect post-punk guitar pop album because its flow is impeccable, catchy, and lots of fun. It is also the type of album that gets better with every listen and whose individual songs all have the potential to be your favorite.

Best Songs: Dig a Little Deeper, Down Like Me, Second Chance, May Seem Macabre

#01 The Raveonettes - Raven in the Grave

An awesome atmospheric achievement from a band that has quietly already achieved so much, Raven in the Grave is an outstanding post-punk success and the pinnacle of this amazing band’s career.

Best Songs: Recharge and Revolt, War in Heaven, Apparitions, Forget That You’re Young

Here are my other awards for
the musical scene in 2011:

Single of the Year
Maroon 5 - Moves Like Jagger
With a '70s disco style guitar riff (which is the best musical anecdote of that decade), an absurdly catchy melody, and goofy lyrics Maroon 5's Moves Like Jagger is easily the most fun song of the year. After the track was the accompaniment to Queer Eye for the Straight Guy Carson Kressley's inaugural Dancing with the Stars cha-cha-cha there was no stopping this lightning bolt of good times.

Live Performance of the Year
The Dancing with the Stars Band - Moves Like Jagger (Maroon 5 Cover)
Holy shit this is a hot mess... and I love it!

Runner-Up Single of the Year
Adele - Rolling in the Deep
The best pure singer since Amy Winehouse, Adele's Rolling in the Deep is the kind of song that makes you stop dead in your tracks the first time you hear it. That so many wanna be singers tried their hand at the track throughout the year only proves further just how great a vocalist the UK has given us with this unlikely sensation.

Song You Heard Everywhere in 2011
Cee-Lo Green - Forget You
Cee-Lo was one of the break-out stars of the past two years. After paying his dues he broke out with "Fuck You," an instant classic about being spurned in love. In 2011 he took that success and shined it up for the mainstrem with this less edgy version. And I heard it EVERYWHERE!



Guilty Pleasure of the Year
Britney Spears - Till the World Ends
Britney Spears is incredibly overrated as a pop star. Her resume is pretty thin considering that she gets compared to Madonna and Michael Jackson. But I'll tell you what: I loved her singles, Hit Me Baby One More Time as well as Oops… I Did It Again. Yeah, I tore up college dance floors to those tunes just as I did with her latest, Till the World Ends. There still isn't much to her but this song is pretty damn terrific for busting a move.

Rip-Off of the Year
Lady Gaga - Born This Way rips off Madonna - Express Yourself
While we're on the subject of Madonna, Lady Gaga made it very easy to find this year's obvious rip-off. And I wasn't alone in identifying her "Born This Way" as heavily derivative of Madonna's classic, "Express Yourself." An Internet search for the two songs shows numerous reviews bashing the little monster for getting sloppy with her mimickry, and for good reason: this is as sing song samey as you can get.

Worst Album Cover of the Year
Lady Gaga - Born This Way
Like a bad '70s progressive rock album cover, Lady Gaga's absurd graphics on the back of her album would make Styx blush. Guess which of the two below is the bad one?

Worst Album Title of the Year
Coldplay - Mylo Xyloto
Is there a rumour that Coldplay's latest album is supposed to be less pretentious than their previous efforts? If so, this album title certainly isn't helping that perception. Pretentious is as pretentious does.

Worst Song Title of the Year
Coldplay - Every Teardrop is a Waterfall
Is there a rumour that Coldplay's latest album is supposed to be less pretentious than their previous efforts? If so, the title of their first single certainly isn't helping that perception. Pretentious is as pretentious does.

Biggest Disappointment of the Year
Tom Morello, The Nightwatchman - Worldwide Rebel Songs
Tom Morello is the best guitarist of a generation. But besides reinventing the guitar for a modern audience, providing the chops for one of the best bands of the past twenty years, Rage Against the Machine, and supporting liberal causes with every ounce of his being, Morello comes off as the most genuine, heartfelt person around. So what the hell happened with his Woody Guthrie inspired Worldwide Rebel Songs? Like Cumbaya come to life Morello's simple folk efforts are certainly not the Occupy anthems his pedigree would have a person think he would produce. Even the electric songs fall short with lyrics either way too obvious or just plain clumsy. Oh, well. The album is well meaning but the execution too primitive to make this the Morello statement I'd love to hear and know The Man can create.

Awful Awkward Lyric of the Year
LMFAO - Sexy and You Know It
"I've got a passion in my pants and I'm not afraid to show it
I'm sexy and I know it
Girl, look at that body I work out."
Not only are these lyrics stupid but I think the perspective changes on who is supposed to be saying what throughout the song.

Most Ridiculous Man of All-Time Given Yearly to the One and Only Scott Stapp
Tim Tebow is currently the most ridiculous man in sports. His earnestness is not to be outdone. In the music world, the most earnest man in the business is Scott Stapp. Forget wimps like Chris Martin and bleeding heart egomaniacs like Bono, Scott Stapp is Tim Tebow with a microphone. And I love him for it. Here is Stapp's latest bit of ridiculousness: a "trailer" for the bands latest bit of touring. "Intimate" venues will feature the band playing their two most famous albums, one on the first night, one on the second night, and Scott Stapp on both nights! Woah. Scott Stapp takes his ridiculousness so seriously I can't help but love him.

Most Memorable Moment of 2011 (For Better and Worse)
Bon Iver - Beth - Rest
What can be said about the future of music? With so many artists tweaking the fashions of the past it is very difficult to foresee the next big trend. But what I can tell you is that 2011's most polarizing album of the year was Bon Iver's self-titled second effort, and in particular the closing track, "Beth - Rest." Many critics swore by the album and named it the best of the year (including one of our own critics, Chris Corde). Others thought it was overblown malarchy, and the song, itself a preposterous mess that shows the worst of this decade's pretension and plagiarizing wrapped into a five-minute cheap keyboard travesty. What do I think? I don't know. It's impossible to understand the words that are being sung and even if you read the lyrics they still make no sense. And the overall song is so meandering, so layered, so damn over-the-top silly, smooth '80s adult contemporary that it's either a giant stinking turd like a demented Peter Gabriel meets "Walking in Memphis" or else a modern classic in the vein of "Purple Rain." Whatever the case, I think my or any other critic's words can't do it justice, for better or worse. The rest of the album is pretty boring but this song speaks for itself. What exactly it's saying, you be the judge. See you next year!

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scottmarlowe@undependentmedia.com