After last year’s bumper crop of albums, 2011 has again been a mighty strong year for alternative music, with a mixture of old favourites and feisty new pretenders to the throne releasing a sensational string of albums, from PJ Harvey’s Mercury winning “Let England Shake” to EMA’s bleak and heavy post-grunge debut. But in the interests of brevity we have whittled down all the good and great albums of the year to a manageable twenty five, and finally decided on Lazy Brighton’s album of the year. So after last year’s winner, Caitlin Rose’s inspired debut “Own Side Now”, here follows our top twenty five albums of 2011…
1. Destroyer “Kaputt”
No-one saw it coming. What sounds on paper like a deeply unfashionable trawl through soft-sax soul rock, is by dint of its superb songwriting, a triumph of slinky moods, sexy grooves and wide-eyed, late night reflections. Dan Bejar’s album is ostensibly a love letter to ’80s British pop a la Roxy Music, abounding with references to New Order, Sounds, Smash Hits and NME. That it feels contemporary, and more importantly, that it rewards repeat listens with enough slow revealing flourishes to make the listener crack into a goofy smile multiple times through any play through, is testament to its quality and makes it our album of the year.
2. Wye Oak “Civilian”
After developing their sound across 2007’s “If Children” and 2009’s “The Knot”, this year’s “Civilian” lifted the Baltimore duo to another level. With an indie rock sound built around Jenn Wasner’s startlingly diverse vocal style – she goes from dark and affected on album opener “Two Small Deaths” to haunting and ethereal on the title track via a uniquely appealing slurry drawl. In between those songs is the magically woozy-dark rock of “Holy Holy”, a hypnotic example of the band’s ouevre . The duo are a shining example of contemporary, intelligent indie rock, straddling the mainstream and alternative musical landscapes with grace and oodles of class.
3. Fionn Regan “100 Acres of Sycamore”
How good is Fionn Regan? On the basis of this album, very, very, good and still getting better. Eschewing the electrics of his sophomore album, this is back to the simple, primarily acoustic nature of his “The End of History” debut album. Highlights abound, not least the pastoral, richly evocative “The Horses Are Asleep” and cunningly brief and touching lullaby “1st Day of May”. An album both rich and lyrical, dappled with delicate touches of beauty.
4. Wilco “The Whole Love”
With the release of “The Whole Love” Tweedy and the boys seemed to blend elements of both the elemental “Sky Blue Sky” and the more diverse “Wilco (The Album)” to make a coherent, yet multi-faceted piece of work. Incorporating both the pseudo-experimental (sensational album opener “The Art of Almost”) and delicately ethereal (“Black Moon”), the album also finds time for trademark retrospective jaunty (“Capitol City”). All-in-all an on the money highlight reel from one of America’s finest bands.
5. PJ Harvey “Let England Shake”
The hype was wholly merited on Polly Harvey’s no-holds-barred, bellicose-baiting anti-paean to our nation’s bloodthirsty past and present. You really have to marvel at the details that lift this ostensibly straightforward album into the realms of brilliance. That reveille on “The Glorious Land”, the chanting, echoey, dank mood in the butcher’s yard revelations of “The Words that Maketh Murder”, the Eddie Cochran fade out of the same song. This is an album which presses down on the listener with a strange sense of historical weight and guilt, yet factors in an underlying and deep sense of love, matched by musical inspiration and precision.
6. AA Bondy “Believers”
Broader range and fuller instrumentation lend a moody swoon to AA Bondy’s third album, which leans more heavily on a reverb-y sound, making the dark folk preacher of previous releases sound more like a detached, world-weary sage looking down over a Cormac McCarthy designed universe. Listen to the likes of “Surfer King” and “Down in the Fire (Lost Sea)” and lose yourself in one of the most enigmatic, beautifully soulful singers around.
7. St Vincent “Strange Mercy”
Like Lykke Li’s “Wounded Rhymes”, Annie Clark’s new album skitters along above a hard edged foundation, but finds room for an innovation and quirky beauty that recalls Kate Bush’s finer moments. Take “Cruel” a tour-de-force featuring a sensational, unlikely choral hook, childlike guitar lick to die for, and a tone that somehow conjures thoughts of MGM musicals. Maybe that last bit’s just us. Playful, broad of scope, startlingly original, St Vincent goes from strength to strength.
8. Israel Nash Gripka “Barn Doors and Concrete Floors”
With a name that conjures biblical Russians living in an Amish community somewhere near Dubrovnik, some readers may have missed out on this big-voiced American country-infused singer. Channeling everything from Creedence to Bob Seger and Ryan Adams, “Barn Doors…” is, appropriately, a potentially hit-filled barnstormer. Any sense of familiarity is outweighed by the exuberance, quality playing and on-the-money sound, courtesy of Steve Shelley’s production.
9. Ryan Adams “Ashes and Fire”
Touted generally as something of a comeback, “Ashes and Fire” actually just builds on 2007’s very fine and quality-controlled “Easy Tiger”. Softer than that album but again showing an admirable restraint, Adams has rarely sounded better thanks to some on-the-money production from veteran dial twiddler Glyn Johns. A certain uniformity of pace leads to little mid-album sag, but this remains a testament to Adams remarkable quality as songwriter and singer.
10. Richmond Fontaine “The High Country”
Willy Vlautin, sometime novelist, sometime singer with Richmond Fontaine, has long impressed with his tales of blue-collar woe set against a musical landscape of an evocative alt-country sound, but “The High Country” brings his two art forms closer together, forging a crazed gothic love story set against a backdrop of speed freaks and logging woods. Part crazy, part brilliant, and somewhat difficult to follow, may Vlautin and Co remain always on the ride.
11. Bon Iver “Bon Iver”
Presented with the impossible job of following up the near perfect word-of-mouth triumph of “For Emma, Forever Ago”, Justin Vernon made it all look easy on this self-titled follow up. Those ghostly, wintry chorals are back, but this time there is a swathe of wider instrumentation that adds further layers to the band’s sound, while the big man finds time to honour ’80s/’90s ivory twinkler Bruce Hornsby on album closer, and one of our favourite songs of the year, “Beth/Rest”
12. Gillian Welch “The Harrow and the Harvest”
Being alt-country royalty comes with responsibilities, and Gillian Welch’s “The Harrow and the Harvest” lets precisely no-one down. It helps to have a smoky old country voice to die for, of course, but it’s the authenticity of her records that makes Welch so beguiling. Simple, traditional songs, perfectly played, with long time partner David Rawlings’ inventive, fascinating guitar work and harmonies embellishing the songs with such simple lustre that it entirely underplays the duo’s sheer class. Oh, and mostly they record in one take. Easy.
13. Lykke Li “Wounded Rhymes”
Like some gothic temptress, Lykke Li tends to stand on stage in a slightly spooky black dress. The beauty and the bleakness are slightly disconcerting, but on her second album the Swedish singer seems to be channeling higher powers. Industrial, dark synths give the album a certain menace, while melodically the songs are every bit as strong as on debut album “Youth Novels”. Stark, strong and unmissably classy, the album only serves to enhance the singer’s burgeoning reputation.
14. Okkervil River “I Am Very Far”
Will Sheff and his boys (and girl) seem happy in their skin these days, perhaps as a result of long deserved wider acclaim – and it can’t hurt to have a series of very fine albums under your collective belt. “I Am Very Far” is, on that basis, a brave album, perhaps the band’s least accessible and least giving, Sheff seemingly wanting to push the boundaries of his songwriting, and perhaps the expectations upon his songwriting. Tough but admirable.
15. Megafaun “Megafaun”
Perhaps better known as former Justin Vernon bandmates, like his recent release Megafaun’s new album also features an eponymous title and does an equally good job of delivering its delicious rootsy payload. It’s actually the fourth album by the band (comprising brothers Brad and Phil Cook and Joe Westerlund) and continues the trio’s experimental psych-folk sound, while exploring some traditional Southern Americana (lush harmonies, largely simple, acoustic song foundations). In the same way that Wilco write simple songs and then chop them up and add textures and sonic diversions and experiments, Megafaun might be the most accessible experimental band you listen to this year.
16. Beirut “The Rip Tide”
Like Conor Oberst, Zach Condon is a poster boy for Generation 2000 indie Americana, and like Oberst’s Bright Eyes direction on “The People’s Key”, Condon took his Beirut project in a more mainstream direction on “The Rip Tide”. Still unmistakably Beirut, the ethnic folk influences remain but are overshadowed by a more uniform songwriting quality and a more trad-pop keyboard led feel on tracks like the standout “Santa Fe”. A crowd pleaser.
17. Kurt Vile “Smoke Ring For My Halo”
The cover says it all. A long haired man crouched over a guitar in a concentrated pose of studied intensity. Separately from his previous day job in the War on Drugs, Vile made his best solo work yet with “Smoke Ring For My Halo”. Like the War on Drugs, primarily these songs are noodling, technical things seeking some higher realm without resorting to too much of a traditional song structure. Every now and then, just because he can, Vile tosses out an insouciant melody to die for, like on “Jesus Fever”. Super.
18. The Decemberists “The King is Dead”
Faced with following up the fan-dividing rock opera of “Hazards of Love” against a backdrop of band illness, Colin Melloy returned to simpler, sunnier themes on “The King is Dead”. More country instrumentation than on previous albums serves the songs well here. Simpler, poppier and a US number one album, it’s a record which marks the exact point where the populist songwriting gift of Melloy, meets the more thoughtful instincts of good independent music, and everyone goes home happy.
19. The War on Drugs “Slave Ambient”
Long awaited, the War on Drugs second album certainly didn’t disappoint, building on the Springsteen-on-pot groove-mining “Wagonwheel Blues”. Minus Kurt Vile, the songs remain temples to a kind of thoroughly American blissed out stoner-rock, occasionally treating us to a gold standard hook, but most of these songs work as mantra like repetitive cycles of pleasure, sucking listeners into an enjoyable, glossy eyed sense of reverie.
20. British Sea Power “Valhalla Dancehall”
Sea Power delivered another fine album with their fourth long player. Recorded largely out on the Sussex Downs, this is an album loaded with big hitters at the top of the order, including the quintessentially BSP “Stunde Null” and sensational Krautrock surge of “Mongk II”. An easy band to take for granted, this confirms once again that no-one does thoughtful art-rock better.
21. Yuck “Yuck”
Who’d have thought that the kids from Cajun Dance Party would one day reappear with a faultless homage to ’90s yank alt-rock? Well, no-one likes a naysayer and this debut album from the trio perfectly captures those late ’80s and ’90s days of melodic grunge-tinged rock’n'roll. The quality of the songwriting and those searing lead licks make it one of the surprise albums of the year.
22. Jonathan Wilson “Gentle Spirit”
Analog-loving singer, songwriter and producer Wilson has been kicking around the American scene for years, jamming with a who’s who list of musicians and bands including Wilco and the Jayhawks, producing Dawes, and finally releasing his own solo album “Gentle Spirit”. A shameless throwback, the Laurel Canyon loving singer has created an atmospheric, dusky beauty of an album, that could easily be a ’70s original. Like some holy mix of Dennis Wilson’s solo work, with shades of Jackson Browne and Crosby, Stills and Nash, it’s a slow, loving album that unfurls delicately over its hour-plus running time. If you buy it, buy it on vinyl – you owe it to yourself.
23. tUnE-yArDs “w h o k i l l”
Merrill Garbus’s tUnE-yArDs caused a sensation with sophomore album “w h o k i l l”, an album which – at the very least – is the missing link between indigenous tribal music, r’n’b, pop and doo-wop. The step up in sound clarity from her debut on this sophomore album makes it a headphone full-volume delight, an explosion of colourful, indecently infectious musical joy, while a lyrical disquiet bubbles underneath for those willing to dig deeper. Either way, this is one of the unexpected pleasures of 2011.
24. Lanterns on the Lake “Gracious Tide, Take Me Home”
Slapping Newcastle back on the musical map in no uncertain terms, the Bella Union-signed sextet hit the ambient cinematic rock nail slap bang on the head on debut album “Gracious Tide, Take Me Home”. Hazel Wilde’s vocals distill the very essence of the words soft and plaintive. Like fellow north of Englanders, I Like Trains, the band makes music which swells and rolls, capturing something of the land and seascapes of its origins, origins matched by the local history infused lyrics.
25. EMA “Past Life Martyred Saints”
Erika M Anderson arrived in 2011 like a steel toe-capped boot up the music industry’s backside. It helps being about 6 feet tall and having a shock of blonde hair and pouting bubblegum lips of course, but it goes further than that. Her music is spacious as well as being dark, there’s lots of prescient distorted guitars, but also a lot of open ground, a lot of room for Anderson’s voice to hold court. Perhaps its the Dakota vibe, but EMA’s songs often feature an endless-horizon hopelessness. A nothing-ever-happens hopelessness in fact, with the singer’s vocals strong but vulnerable all at the same time.
