The Music of 2011, Part Two (The Top Twenty)

First off, we want to send a shout out to a group of guys and gals with whom we've had the gleeful delight of sharing our thoughts on music. It is a closed email group with a mysterious history but a mighty future. Though there is little point, and even less moderation, to our communiques, the recurrent theme is the music that moves us with a spotlight shown on the why, how, when, and where. Without this gang of oddballs, the majority of music on The Banter of One's lists would not be on The Banter of One's lists. Viva la Geek!


So without further fuss, here is our Top Twenty of Twenty-Eleven.


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1) Girls Father, Son, Holy Ghost
     Nothing on here sounds new, yet nothing on here sounds as if we've ever heard it before. Pink Floyd, Otis Redding, Deep Purple are all represented, yet this album does not sound even remotely like any of their albums, these styles so masterfully weaved in and out of the overlying nap of the album proper. That's a huge credit to the writing and singing styles of head Girl, Christopher Owens.


2) The Rural Alberta Advantage Departing
     We're pretty sure what makes this band so enjoyable is the drumming of Paul Banwatt. When we first heard The RAA, we were taken aback by the fills and attacks, and pure firmness, of his style. But then we saw them in concert, and we couldn't take our eyes off of him. He keeps lead singer Nils Edenloff's lyrics on a path right to your midsection, delivering his message with a pace and urgency that we just don't tire of. Departing contains song after song of well crafted goodness, both lyrically and musically, right up to, but not including that last track, "Good Night." Jeez, it's terrible. 


3) Tom Waits Bad as Me
     We're not gonna lie, we're pretty big Tom Waits fans, so we took to listening to this one a ton, just to make sure it wasn't a biased selection. Then, during all that listening, a funny thing happened. It just kept getting better and better and better still. The Godfather of Simple Grandeur just does what he does so well, it blows our minds. And it's got Keith Richards on it, and we can't really even tell. Meaning to say, Mr. Waits (or, specifically, Mrs. Waits — Kathleen Brennan — who gets the production credit) doesn't need to tip the production to showcase guests who might be more well-known than he, because, well, he just doesn't.


4) Thao and Mirah (Self Titled)
     We've always generally liked Thao Nguyen's offerings (sometimes recording with The Get Down Stay Down), and so knew we'd download this one the second it dropped, even though we had no clue who Mirah was (and really still don't). Boy howdy, are we glad we did. It sounds sparse, even though it's not really sparse. It sounds angelic, yet it's not really angelic.  It comes off with such ease, it just drips into our ear canals like honey, intoxicatingly so, and before we know it, the album's over. So melodic and beautiful.


5) Jolie Holland Pint of Blood
     Her lyrical delivery comes off like some mysterious drug that works unlike any drug yet known to man. It tricks your mind into thinking you know exactly what she's singing about, yet you have not a clue. And it's not synthetic. Nope, totally natural, like something growing indigenously on the only plot of land not yet discovered on this earth. Hers is a sound that sounds brand new everytime we listen to her. Not an easy feat, let us tell you.


6) Iron and Wine Kiss Each Other Clean
    I know, I shouldn't like these guys any more, right, cuz they're all over the Twilight soundtracks? Damn sell-outs. Not so, say we! At least not where I&W are concerned. No one does whisper rock better than Sam Beam. This is one of the earliest releases of the year to make this list, which, to us, says it stood up to the test of time. No question there will be selections on this list that we will wish we had vetted better come this time next year, but this won't be one of them.


7) Lia Ices Grown Unknown
     Not unlike M&Ms, melts in your eardrums, not in your hands, its hard candy shell protecting the sweet goodness inside from getting all over everything. But once the shell comes off, it's pure pleasure, inside and out. Like an old Kate Bush album, it uses musically only what it needs to prop up a seraphic voice just so. So right.


8) Gillian Welch The Harrow and the Harvest
     Like Lucinda Williams' Blessed later on this list, there's nothing new here, in terms of their oeuvre, but when someone does something so well, so consistently, it just gets listened to  a lot. And that can't be discounted. We're not gonna just say, "Well, it's no Time (The Revelator) — or Car Wheels on a Gravel Road, in Lucinda's case — so it doesn't deserve to be on this list." Nope. In fact, we had a damn hard time keeping this out of the Top Five. With Dave Rawlings, her lyrics (first) and picking (OK, also first), just meander out of the speakers and dance around us like happy little devils, joyously so.


9) White Denim D
     The first real rocker on this list and one that we think deserved way more indie cred than it got. What a blast this is to listen to, time and time again. It does so methodically, calculatingly, daringly, and with aplomb.


10) The Black Lips Arabia Mountain
       Hey! It's the second real rocker on this list. Even though they're two totally different albums, just take the above description and replace "with applomb" with "without apology." Yeah. That'll do.


11) Middle Brother (Self Titled)
       They're basically the Dawes lead singer and Deertick's lead singer, and some other guy who we're not familiar with who all got together, pretty much on a whim, we think, and put together an album. In fact, when they introduce themselves on their Daytrotter set, they don't even have a name yet. Regardless, I hope they get together some more in the future. Thoroughly enjoyable.


12) Centro-matic Candidate Waltz
       Thick, groovy, dirty, yet poppy ditties that get into your pores, and stay there.


13) Lucinda Williams Blessed
       See #8


14) Kurt Vile Smoke Ring for My Halo
       Guitar driven, guitar delivered. 


15) Deerhoof Deerhoof vs Evil
        Kinda Cibo Matto-ey, but eschew the pop for the rock.


16) Destroyer Kaputt
        Dan Bejar has always been hit or miss for us, although we will say that a lot of our favorite New Pornographer songs are ones he penned, but on this one, he's consistently delivering the kind of Canadian pop only Bejar can summon.


17) Jessica Lea Mayfield Tell Me
        Only 21 when she released this album in February, there's nothing immature about it. It's country at its core, but not exclusively so. Lick it up.


18) James Blake (Self Titled)
        We don't usually care for albums made without any real instruments. And, to be fair, there's piano on this one, but so much of it, including the vocals, is put through the sonic blender. But what comes out when the blendin's done, is remarkably cohesive. It won't get anyone dancing, but, hell, half the stuff on this list won't either.


19) Agesandages Alright You Restless
       We kept passing this off as something that should get Honorable Mention at best, but it just kept calling our name. "Oh, Bantery," it would beckon. We'd try to pretend we didn't hear it. But it just kept hollering. It's not far off the path beaten by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros or Mumford & Sons, but this one's actually good.


20) The Indelicates David Koresh Superstar
        What business does a little-known British band have putting together a concept album borne of the ATF's 1993 siege on the wacky Branch Davidian cult from Waco? None. None at all. But we're sure as hell glad they did.

The Music of 2011, Part One (The Honorable Mentions)

We here at The Banter of One are kept on our feet by music. It's the thing that keeps all other things in order. It's like breathing, eating, and shelter for us. We've never tried to live without it, and we don't want to. Can't, we suspect.


And so, here we are at the end of another year — a great year. Thusly, we have some lists of music that we want to share. Stuff we thought was extremely satisfying. Herein lies Twenty Honorable Mention albums that we just couldn't fit into our Top Twenty list. Said Top Twenty List will follow in Part Two, and our favorite songs will appear in Part Three. There probably won't be a Part Four.


Off we go, in alphabetical order.


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Army and Navy The Last Place
     Not a big fan of the eighties, but there were some good hooks from that exiguous decade, and this platter takes 'em and bakes 'em. 


The Beastie Boys Hot Sauce Committee Part Two
     Just great to have them back, and in force, too. Plus, the 30 minute "video" for "Make Some Noise" is epicly epic.


Kate Bush 50 Words for Snow
     Probably would crack our Top Twenty if we had a few more weeks to let it sink in, but it's only been out for a short while. Ethereal, textural, and relaxing. Good to hear from one of our all-time faves, especially topnotchually.


Bill Callahan Apocolypse
     You are probably more familiar with his music as Smog. He's not getting any worse, let's just say.


Dawes Nothing is Wrong
     SoCal mellow offerings in the same vein as vintage Jackson Browne, America, or very early Eagles. It makes us feel young again.


Dinosaur Bones My Divider
     Nothing pithy to share; just good, enjoyable pop tuneage.


The Donkeys Born with Stripes
     Pop. Not soda, but music. Through and through. Thoroughly enjoyed every listen of this layered and toe-tappingly good disc.


Eleanor Friedberger Last Summer
     Boy how we fell in love with this album when it came out. It was like nothing we'd ever heard before. Catchy vocals, uniquely and catchily wrapped around sparse compositions. But then we learned that she was the female half of the band The Fiery Furnaces — a band we'd been aware of, but not familiar with. And so we tuned into some of their albums, and fell in love with them, too, but in the end, we couldn't justify her landing on our Top Twenty list because it was more like a brief and torrid love affair, but one where, once the sex stopped being fun and new, we were just better off as friends. And we'll be friends for a long time.


Joe Henry Reverie
     Recorded in a room in his house with all the windows open. So? It makes for a sonic quality that is as dramatic as it is comfortable. Like he's performing it in our own living room.


The Ladybug Transistor Clutching Stems
     Vaguely brings back memories of Lloyd Cole and the Commotions. Nuff said, right?


Megafaun (Self titled)
     Jaunty indie pop music, jauntily popping just the way we like it.


The Poison Control Center Stranger Ballet
     See Megafaun


Portugal. The Man In the Mountain in the Cloud
     See The Poison Control Center, except not indie, cuz it's on Atlantic, but still cool cuz they're from Alaska. Alaska!


The Rapture In the Grace of Your Love
     At the risk of seeming to be getting lazy, see Army Navy.


St. Vincent Strange Mercy
     Just exactly how this missed our Top Twenty list we're not quite sure, and we'll probably look back at this list this time next year and blame it on all the pain meds we're on right now. Edgy, slightly experimental-cum-beautiful music that challenges to grab your attention like a boa constrictor grabs its prey. But, of coure, you don't die.


TV on the Radio Nine Types of Light
     Man, these guys are good. Uniquely, boldly, and purposefully going where no one else goes, not because no one else dares to do so, but because they don't know how.


The War on Drugs Slave Ambient
     Layers of guitars and vocals that weave in and out of our consciousness like birds of prey coasting on the heat vectors high in the sky on a hot, sunny summer day, dipping, then rising, and dipping again, finally fetching their prey tightly in their tallons.


Yellow Ostrich The Mistress
     Contains possibly our favorite song of the year, "Whale." Once it crams itself in your noggin, it stays there, but in a welcome way.


Dengue Fever Cannibal Courtship
     Cambodian pop music? We're in. Infectious as it is incomparable.


The Sea and Cake The Moonlight Butterfly
     Nothing terribly new from Sam Prekop and his Chicago brethren on their ninth album. Opulent pop meets opulent jazz, all jangly and wonderful. But like most of their music, honorably deserves mention.

Physics

Certain laws are non-negotiable. The man-made ones certainly are negotiable. Murder is illegal for obvious reasons, but it's manifest from a sociocultural dogma, and however inconceivable, could actually be legal, if we, as a society and culture, were so inclined. It is, in fact, negotiable.

Laws of physics, however, are another story. No amount of negotiation will cause gravity to work in the other direction, for the mass of an object not to effect its rate of speed, or for Donald Trump's hair to look OK.

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It is due strictly to these non-conciliatory truths that my head and right shoulder met with a slab of concrete. Concrete is hard. Very hard. Bodies, and the bones within them, are not as hard. And bikes will always yield to cars when the two collide.

And so it is that I sit here at my lovely laptop with a broken collar bone and 5 broken ribs. I am typing with both hands for the first time in six days, but in order to do so, I have to grab my right hand with my left hand and rest it on the keyboard, in just the right place. My right arm does not move on its own very well.

But the important bits of me do, and those that don't, will in time. So all is well.