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.
Kicking myself for not having included Agesandages or Centro-matic on my year-end list.
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