To recap, in case you missed part one, here's what has made my list of best albums of 2011 so far:
10. Zola Jesus - Conatus
9. Cut Copy - Zonoscope
8. EMA - Past Life Martyred Saints
7. Beirut - The Rip Tide
6. Feist - Metals
Not bad, but it's about to get a whole lot better. My top five is an eclectic bunch - comprising three male and two female artists; two Brits, a Canadian, an American and an Australian; one artist's debut album and another's ninth; and genres ranging from indie folk to electro to quirky pop or a mixture of each.
Interestingly it was quite difficult to get the order right for numbers ten through two, but number one has been a clear standout for a long time now. Anyway, enough dragging it out - here is part two of my favourite albums of the year: the top five!
5. Patrick Wolf - Lupercalia [Mercury Records]
Most people I know have chastised Patrick Wolf for this, his fifth album. They say it’s too cheery; that they want the doom and gloom, the darkness and mystique of the Patrick Wolf of old. Well, newsflash everybody: people change and so too do the things that inspire them to write. Turns out Wolf is loving life, having recently become engaged to his fiancé William, and Lupercalia, named after an ancient pre-Roman festival celebrating fertility and love, is basically one giant love letter to him. Perhaps I can relate because my own relationship has mirrored Wolf’s to a certain extent over the last few years, but where others perceive cliché, I find beauty and sincerity. All the best to you Patrick, keep it up.
4. Bon Iver - Bon Iver [Jagjaguwar/Inertia]
It was always going to be a tough ask for Justin Vernon to follow up his debut record as Bon Iver. For Emma, Forever Ago claimed the top position in my year end list in the year of its Australian release (2008) and originally I found its self-titled successor to be somewhat of a slow burner. But as the album began to gain increasing momentum on air and online, its haunting tracks and the true beauty of Bon Iver became apparent.
To my relief Vernon’s recent collaboration with hip-hop icon Kanye West hasn’t influenced the direction on album number two at all. That detour appears to have been more an exercise in gaining wider exposure for his own music as opposed to unearthing new musical inspiration. Bon Iver builds on the delicate acoustic style of Vernon’s first record and occasionally ventures into smooth ‘80s pop territory with the inclusion of horns and lush synths (see closer Beth / Rest).
To date Vernon’s lyrics have been fairly obscure and difficult to unravel. Though in a moment of heartbreaking clarity found in one of the album’s many highlights, Holocene (and if ever there was an effective ad campaign for Icelandic tourism, the song’s video clip is it), Vernon cries “At once I knew I was not magnificent”. I beg to differ, Justin.
3. Austra - Feel It Break [Domino Records]
The second debut record to place in my top ten this year, Austra (not pronounced how you might think – ‘ow-stra’) came to me via a friend who enthused the Canadian group were like “a more pop version of Fever Ray”. That description is apt, particularly for opening track Darken Her Horse, whose eerie vocals and slowly building electronica wouldn’t feel out of place on an album by the enigmatic Swedish singer.
But forget their peers, Feel It Break succeeds in carving Austra a path of their very own. Held together by singer Katie Stelmanis’ unique coo, the songs on this album are simply jam-packed full of hooks. Lose It’s repeated refrain of “Don’t wanna lose ya, don’t wanna looooose..." is one such indisputable earworm and the same could be said for just about every other song on the record.
2. Gotye - Making Mirrors [Eleven/UMA]
To say Making Mirrors was one of the most anticipated releases of 2011 would be a massive understatement. Ever since he hit the big time with second album Like Drawing Blood and its stunning lead single Heart’s A Mess, the pressure has been on for Wally De Backer to produce a follow up. He took his time – five years, in fact – and has returned with an outstanding collection of tunes.
Making Mirrors stays true to the Gotye formula, using a mixture of recorded samples and original instrumentation to piece together its content. By now you’d be aware of the two big singles; Eyes Wide Open samples an outback musical fence for its bass-line and laments our collective apathy and inaction when it comes to solving environmental issues, while Somebody That I Used To Know, De Backer’s musing on a failed relationship which features additional vocals from rising Kiwi songstress Kimbra, is destined to top charts and year end lists alike.
But the singles aren’t the only thing going for this album. Highlights also come in the form of the infectious Motown soul-inspired I Feel Better, the vocally warped ode to an antique musical organ State of the Art and a heart-warming letter to his girlfriend in Save Me.
My main criticism of Making Mirrors also stands for its forebear Like Drawing Blood. Both are essentially eclectic collections of strong to outstanding individual songs, but lack a common thread to bind them together and make them work as albums from start to finish. De Backer’s incredibly versatile voice and talent for writing moving and catchy pop songs are both unquestionable, but when the day comes that he puts together a truly cohesive set of songs, then there’ll be something to really celebrate.
1. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake [Island/Universal]
Perhaps it appeals to my inner history buff, but the prospect of one of my all-time favourite artists choosing to write a war-inspired concept album – and a World War I-inspired concept album at that – was always going to be an incredibly exciting proposition. Turns out, she nailed it.
Let England Shake continues its predecessor’s foray away from Harvey’s traditional instrument of choice, the guitar, this time to the autoharp. There’s also an interesting selection of samples, with the dreamy Written On The Forehead lifting its chorus from a reggae classic by Niney the Observer and The Glorious Land, one of the album’s most polarising inclusions, works in a section of military staple The Last Post.
The album is musically quite pleasant and catchy, but it’s only when one delves deeper into the lyrical content that the true darkness of the songs is revealed. Harvey undertook extensive research on the subject of personal accounts of war, both from WWI and from more recent conflicts, and her hard work has paid off big time. She manages to beautifully articulate the destruction and pointlessness of war – On Battleship Hill describes the landscape faced by unknown soldiers as “Jagged mountains jutting out / Cracked like teeth in a rotten mouth”, while The Words That Maketh Murder spouts grotesquely “I’ve seen soldiers fall like lumps of meat / Blown and shot out beyond belief / Arms and legs were in the trees.”
While this album is distinctly English in its focus, there are also direct references to Australia’s contributions to WWI; Harvey’s research including a strong focus on the doomed Gallipoli campaign in particular. In the exceedingly bleak All And Everyone she cries with a tangible sense of urgency “Death hung in the smoke and clung / To 400 acres of useless beachfront / A bank of red earth, dripping down / Death was now, and now, and now.” The album comes to a close with a somewhat more upbeat campfire-type sing-along (The Colour of the Earth) in which resident Aussie in Harvey’s backing band and former Bad Seed Mick Harvey (no relation) leads a ballad that commences with “Louie was my dearest friend / Fighting in the ANZAC trench.” References to Australia aren’t reason enough to listen to an album but they are an added bonus for anyone who was touched by or is interested in this particularly dark period in our nation’s history.
An outstanding album both in concept and execution, whose message is only too relevant in this era of protracted terrorism-inspired conflict. A classic of our time.
* * *
So there we have it, my favourite ten albums of 2011. What do you think? Did I get it right? Not enough Kanye/Lady Gaga for you, eh? No matter. I also plan on writing an entry on the five albums that almost did but not quite make the cut, plus what I'd like to dub five 'false starts': records that unfortunately didn't quite live up to their hype/potential. Plus there's also the pressing matter of the top ten SONGS of the year, though I think I might just cheat and include eleven. 'Cause, y'know, I can and also it matches the year (yeah, you see what I did there huh). So never fear, plenty more 2011 musical review goodness to come.
10. Zola Jesus - Conatus
9. Cut Copy - Zonoscope
8. EMA - Past Life Martyred Saints
7. Beirut - The Rip Tide
6. Feist - Metals
Not bad, but it's about to get a whole lot better. My top five is an eclectic bunch - comprising three male and two female artists; two Brits, a Canadian, an American and an Australian; one artist's debut album and another's ninth; and genres ranging from indie folk to electro to quirky pop or a mixture of each.
Interestingly it was quite difficult to get the order right for numbers ten through two, but number one has been a clear standout for a long time now. Anyway, enough dragging it out - here is part two of my favourite albums of the year: the top five!
5. Patrick Wolf - Lupercalia [Mercury Records]Most people I know have chastised Patrick Wolf for this, his fifth album. They say it’s too cheery; that they want the doom and gloom, the darkness and mystique of the Patrick Wolf of old. Well, newsflash everybody: people change and so too do the things that inspire them to write. Turns out Wolf is loving life, having recently become engaged to his fiancé William, and Lupercalia, named after an ancient pre-Roman festival celebrating fertility and love, is basically one giant love letter to him. Perhaps I can relate because my own relationship has mirrored Wolf’s to a certain extent over the last few years, but where others perceive cliché, I find beauty and sincerity. All the best to you Patrick, keep it up.
It was always going to be a tough ask for Justin Vernon to follow up his debut record as Bon Iver. For Emma, Forever Ago claimed the top position in my year end list in the year of its Australian release (2008) and originally I found its self-titled successor to be somewhat of a slow burner. But as the album began to gain increasing momentum on air and online, its haunting tracks and the true beauty of Bon Iver became apparent.
To my relief Vernon’s recent collaboration with hip-hop icon Kanye West hasn’t influenced the direction on album number two at all. That detour appears to have been more an exercise in gaining wider exposure for his own music as opposed to unearthing new musical inspiration. Bon Iver builds on the delicate acoustic style of Vernon’s first record and occasionally ventures into smooth ‘80s pop territory with the inclusion of horns and lush synths (see closer Beth / Rest).
To date Vernon’s lyrics have been fairly obscure and difficult to unravel. Though in a moment of heartbreaking clarity found in one of the album’s many highlights, Holocene (and if ever there was an effective ad campaign for Icelandic tourism, the song’s video clip is it), Vernon cries “At once I knew I was not magnificent”. I beg to differ, Justin.
The second debut record to place in my top ten this year, Austra (not pronounced how you might think – ‘ow-stra’) came to me via a friend who enthused the Canadian group were like “a more pop version of Fever Ray”. That description is apt, particularly for opening track Darken Her Horse, whose eerie vocals and slowly building electronica wouldn’t feel out of place on an album by the enigmatic Swedish singer.
But forget their peers, Feel It Break succeeds in carving Austra a path of their very own. Held together by singer Katie Stelmanis’ unique coo, the songs on this album are simply jam-packed full of hooks. Lose It’s repeated refrain of “Don’t wanna lose ya, don’t wanna looooose..." is one such indisputable earworm and the same could be said for just about every other song on the record.
To say Making Mirrors was one of the most anticipated releases of 2011 would be a massive understatement. Ever since he hit the big time with second album Like Drawing Blood and its stunning lead single Heart’s A Mess, the pressure has been on for Wally De Backer to produce a follow up. He took his time – five years, in fact – and has returned with an outstanding collection of tunes.
Making Mirrors stays true to the Gotye formula, using a mixture of recorded samples and original instrumentation to piece together its content. By now you’d be aware of the two big singles; Eyes Wide Open samples an outback musical fence for its bass-line and laments our collective apathy and inaction when it comes to solving environmental issues, while Somebody That I Used To Know, De Backer’s musing on a failed relationship which features additional vocals from rising Kiwi songstress Kimbra, is destined to top charts and year end lists alike.
But the singles aren’t the only thing going for this album. Highlights also come in the form of the infectious Motown soul-inspired I Feel Better, the vocally warped ode to an antique musical organ State of the Art and a heart-warming letter to his girlfriend in Save Me.
My main criticism of Making Mirrors also stands for its forebear Like Drawing Blood. Both are essentially eclectic collections of strong to outstanding individual songs, but lack a common thread to bind them together and make them work as albums from start to finish. De Backer’s incredibly versatile voice and talent for writing moving and catchy pop songs are both unquestionable, but when the day comes that he puts together a truly cohesive set of songs, then there’ll be something to really celebrate.
Perhaps it appeals to my inner history buff, but the prospect of one of my all-time favourite artists choosing to write a war-inspired concept album – and a World War I-inspired concept album at that – was always going to be an incredibly exciting proposition. Turns out, she nailed it.
Let England Shake continues its predecessor’s foray away from Harvey’s traditional instrument of choice, the guitar, this time to the autoharp. There’s also an interesting selection of samples, with the dreamy Written On The Forehead lifting its chorus from a reggae classic by Niney the Observer and The Glorious Land, one of the album’s most polarising inclusions, works in a section of military staple The Last Post.
The album is musically quite pleasant and catchy, but it’s only when one delves deeper into the lyrical content that the true darkness of the songs is revealed. Harvey undertook extensive research on the subject of personal accounts of war, both from WWI and from more recent conflicts, and her hard work has paid off big time. She manages to beautifully articulate the destruction and pointlessness of war – On Battleship Hill describes the landscape faced by unknown soldiers as “Jagged mountains jutting out / Cracked like teeth in a rotten mouth”, while The Words That Maketh Murder spouts grotesquely “I’ve seen soldiers fall like lumps of meat / Blown and shot out beyond belief / Arms and legs were in the trees.”
While this album is distinctly English in its focus, there are also direct references to Australia’s contributions to WWI; Harvey’s research including a strong focus on the doomed Gallipoli campaign in particular. In the exceedingly bleak All And Everyone she cries with a tangible sense of urgency “Death hung in the smoke and clung / To 400 acres of useless beachfront / A bank of red earth, dripping down / Death was now, and now, and now.” The album comes to a close with a somewhat more upbeat campfire-type sing-along (The Colour of the Earth) in which resident Aussie in Harvey’s backing band and former Bad Seed Mick Harvey (no relation) leads a ballad that commences with “Louie was my dearest friend / Fighting in the ANZAC trench.” References to Australia aren’t reason enough to listen to an album but they are an added bonus for anyone who was touched by or is interested in this particularly dark period in our nation’s history.
An outstanding album both in concept and execution, whose message is only too relevant in this era of protracted terrorism-inspired conflict. A classic of our time.
So there we have it, my favourite ten albums of 2011. What do you think? Did I get it right? Not enough Kanye/Lady Gaga for you, eh? No matter. I also plan on writing an entry on the five albums that almost did but not quite make the cut, plus what I'd like to dub five 'false starts': records that unfortunately didn't quite live up to their hype/potential. Plus there's also the pressing matter of the top ten SONGS of the year, though I think I might just cheat and include eleven. 'Cause, y'know, I can and also it matches the year (yeah, you see what I did there huh). So never fear, plenty more 2011 musical review goodness to come.
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