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Monday, January 9, 2012

2011... The Year of the Rabbit


So each year we can always count on one thing: new musical releases from establish, new or upcoming artists. 2011 was no stranger to the imbedded trend of musical output coming in high volumes. The variable in this audible equation is the quality of the music, and thus overall the quality of the musical year. There are definitely years in history which can be partially definied by their musical output, and what was happening was so engrained in the culture that it is hard to separate. There are certain musical years which were lambasted at the time by critics, and hindsight has shown us that things change. Artists who were praised become riducled, and artists who people thought would fade out have remained in the spotlight.

So what kind of year did we have here in 2011? Was it a year of monumental releases, genre defining outputs or was it forgettable and underwhelming? It all depends on who you ask, and what they are into. While I would not say there were any milestone releases, or genre defining albums that came out, there was plenty of albums that deserve more than just a few spins and hopefully will be celebrated in the future as well. There was definitely a lot of fluff, garbage, and unmemorable hits of the moments that hopefully will be forgotten over the years to come, but we wont let that stop us from finding the sounds we love.

Over this past month I have been debating what my top releases of the 2011 calendar year were, and then narrowing that into my top 20 to write about. I have been debating on whether or not there were any new artists that just blew me away and had a breakout release (in my opinion). Were there any bands that just crushed it live and made a lasting impression? I think that one right there s the biggest thing for me. In my younger years I would see a live act once to twice a week, and these days it seems it is more along the lines of once a month. That being said I am still enthralled by live music, and a band that can translate the recorded sound to a live show, and also one that can convert the energy of live music to a recording are hard to find. To start out this best of segment we will look at what was my personal favorite show of the year.

Best Live Show:

10/08/2011 - Acid King, Premonition 13, Witch Mountain and Tomb Stalker

So I had been waiting to see Acid King for years, if you have read my Women of Doom post, you know that I have quite the affinity for their spacey take on doom metal. What made this show even more exciting was the amazing supporting cast that was put together for this event.

Tomb Stalker is a local Portland all female doom band. They changed their name to something else not quite as good, so I will stick to calling them TombStalker for now. This band opened the show just right, and set the mood for the evening. You can tell they are a young band, and have some areas to improve, but the potential
Witch Mountain is another band that I have been excited to see live. Their 2011 release South of Salem has been one of my favorite, and being a local Portland band I really enjoy seeing what this city is offering these days. Needless to say they did not disappoint. Uta Plotkin has such a lovely voice, and that translates live perfectly. As a singer, she has a kind of awkward whit girl dance stage presence that is all too adorable and fitting with the music, and is just as cute as can be. Music was heavy, sound was great, and the Elton John cover was spectacular. I am happy they are a local band and hope to see them in the new year soon!

Premonition 13 was touring with Witch Mountain and I just heard about this band due to this tour, but all I needed to know about them was one thing: Wino. The man has a solid resume, and so I trust most anything that he is a part of. Premonition 13 was overall solid and played very tight. Not my favorite Wino project, but still a great listen. Wino’s voice is so refined, and you can tell that he has been at this for years and perfected the 70’s metal voice. You probably wont find anyone who does it better now that Dio has passed. Overall a great performance!

Then the band of the evening came up, Acid King! As I stated, I have been waiting a long while to see this band perform. The crowd also seemed to wait in anticipation, and the moment that first note was struck the crowd helped to keep the energy flowing. Acid King was better than I could have asked them to be. I had pretty high expectations and they definitely surpassed it. Like Premonition 13, they just sound tight and polished. Not a note was missed or played incorrectly, the guitars and bass were heavy and feedback laden, and Lori’s vocals were hypnotic and just made you fall into a trance in which the bobbing of the head was inescapable. Overall the best set of the evening, from my favorite show of the year!



Runner Up: Youth of Today (reunion), Mouthpiece (reunion with Frosty guest spot) in Pomona, CA
There were some other great shows this past year, and one of my current resolutions is to get out and see some more live music, but I am at the mercy of what my town throws at me. That being said there are a lot of great local acts in Portland these days, and I unfortunately do not get to see them enough. We have Grails (who rarely ever plays in Portland), Witch Mountain, Tragedy, Rabbits, From Ashes Rise, Call of the Yeti, and a lot of other indie and folk bands but it’s the metal and punk rock that I have enjoyed finding out more so about from the area, and that brings me to my next acknowledgement.

Best up and coming and new(to me) band:  Rabbits

This is a local Portland punk/metal act that takes a lot of influence from the noiser and grindier aspects of the crusty/powerviolence sound, and some good heavy early neurosis influence. They released a new full length this year “ “ and it was a good listen, but live they put on a hell of a show. They are loud and on point, and full of energy. Each time I have seen them they nailed each of their songs, and even played a nice Black Flag cover to please. I am excited to see what they put out next, and to continue to get to see them locally a bit.


Favorite Song: "Lets Do Something Impossible" - William Elliot Whitmore

A beautiful and inspirational song, and each time I hear it my heart lifts up and a smile starts to form. W.E.W's voice is so comforting that when he speaks to you of triumph, of being able to reach your dreams, and having life throw you all the obstacles it can and it not slow you down, you cant help but believe him and feel there is some truth in what he is saying. This song prepares me to get through the heat of each day, and know things will be ok and it is what I make of it.


Favorite Movie: Red Dog (Australia)
So I just saw this movie pretty recently, and it was just an overall moving film. I did not see a lot of movies this past year, so maybe I cant speak as well on films, but I can tell you that Red Dog was a great one. It had character building, emotional hooks, and it had me tearing up throughout. I am also a sucker for dog movies, so if you are too then you should check it out. Acting was well done, and Australia is a very underrated film making country. One of the other great things about his movie was the soundtrack choice. It featured some good ole classic Australian tunes, namely a great singalong to The Dingoes "Way out West", which is one of the catchiest country rock songs of all time. That album is a very underrated one outside of Australia. Anyways Red Dog has a great cast, a great dog, great music, and just some fun stories.


So returning to the music talk, we were asking what kind of year 2011 was musically. Well, it was a full year and had a lot of sift through, but I dont think it was one for the running in greatest musical years. That being said there were a lot of great records released that should stand the test of time, and the year itself just seemed consistent without being overtly anticipatory or mind boggling. With the advancements in musical media, it has become much easier to obtain albums, hear about what is coming out, so it makes it much harder to check out everything, but easier to find more to check out. Puzzling aint it? Anyways I listened to a lot of new music this year, and my preference is always going to lean a little bit more to the heavy side of things, but here is a list of my top 50 with a more detailed look at the top 20. The mix included will include a song from each of the top 20.

Top 50 Records:

50-21 

50. 40 Watt Sun - The Inside Room
49. Gillian Welch -  The Harrow and the Harvest
48 The Jezabels - Prisoner
47. Touche Amore - Parting the Sea Between Brightness and Me
46. The Might Could - The Might Could
45. Cormorant - Dwellings
44. Drugs of Faith - Corroded
43. Defeater - Empty Days and Sleepless Nights
42. Trap Them - Darker Handcraft
41. Girls - Father, Son, Holy Ghost
40. Cunninglynguists - Oneirology
39. Weird Owl - Build Your Beast a Fire
38. The Feelies - Here Before
37. Blood Ceremony - Living with the Ancients
36. Pianos Become the Teeth - The Lack Longafter
35. Deafheaven - Roads to Judah
34. Graveyard - Hisingen Blues
33. Girant Squid - Cenotes
32. Sigur Ros - Inni
31. Dark Castle - Surrender to all Life Beyond Form
30. Wolves in the Throneroom - Celestial Lineage
29. Rwake - Rest
28. Tombs - Paths of Totality
27. Jesu - Ascension
26. A Storm of Light - As the Valley of Death Becomes Us, Our Silver memories Fade
25. Cults - Cults
24. Mastadon - The Hunter
23. Wilco -  The Whole Love
22. Fucked Up - David Comes to Life
21. Rabbits - Lower Forms

20 - 01

20. Subrosa - No Help for the Mighty One - So I was introduced to Subrosa this year, and this release has been one of my favorite metal albums. It is hypnotizing, doomy, and spiritual sounding. The eastern melodies that are laced throughout this album are catchy and help to create a vision of metal belly dancing and snake charming, while the opium pipe is being passed around. This has been a great year for female fronted metal, and Subrosa's No Help for the Mighty One is a solid reason for that.

19. Earth - Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light - Another well-established band performing pretty consistently, and Earth's new LP is definitely consistent. It has all of the classic elements of any Earth release, combined with a little bit more structure than some past releases. It has the classic minimalist aspects, with simple riffs being repeated throughout with a lot of accent and focus helping to characterize song development. Nothing groundbreaking on Earth's part, but they dot know how to compose a solid piece of post-rock heaven. 

             18. Kurt Vile – Smoke Ring for My Halo - What a wonderfully written record this is. It has a simple heartland feel to it, and is a great example of a singer songwriter combining tradition with modernity. Kurt Vile brings a lot of influences to mind, but none of them encompass all he has to offer. Smoke Ring for My Halo is the first of Vile’s albums that I have listened to and it made me curious to hear more from him, always a sign of a decent album. There is something ethereal at times about the songs, and the imagery that it brings to mind is thick and comforting.

      17. Wire - Red Barked Tree - Wire is a band that I am happy to see releasing an album in 2011. They were a huge influence on the punk rock, art punk, dance punk, post-punk, and alternative scene, and many bands over the years have capitalized on a formula they helped to create. Here we have Red Barked Tree being released and showing that Wire is still a relevant force. I admit I have not heard their other releases since their return back to the scene in the past 10 years, and was caught by surprise by Red Barked Tree. It takes cues from their earlier releases, and blends it with the post punk sound of their later catalog and then shakes it all up with a touch of modern indie pop. The combination is an albums worth of cohesive, catchy, electronic tinged pop music that still captures the emotional energy of their punk days.

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1.      16. Bon Iver – Bon Iver – So this album has definitely been hyped and probably every hipster-esque brand of young people has been fondling this guys junk since this album dropped. That being said, it is still a great album through and through. Bon Iver leaves behind some of the minimalist aspects of their debut in favor of a more orchestrated and fuller sound. It is an album that is solid as an album. No songs necessarily stand out to me, but they all flow very well together making it easy to listen all the way through. A lot of times I find myself hating on things just to hate, but this album definitely has done well in thwarting my efforts. 


 
1.      15. Altar of Plagues – Mammal – So Altar of Plagues is a black metal band that at times doesn’t really sound like black metal. I guess they would fit in somewhere in between Wolves in the Throneroom and Alcest, or in the “Blackgaze” scene or whatever this new wave of bands that are trying to combine shoegaze aspects with the imagery and bleakness of black metal. Whether or not you are a fan of the impurities in this line of music, Altar of Plagues is a band that actually does it really well.


1.      14. Shabazz Palaces – Black Up - Who doesn’t love Digable Planets? Well probably a lot of people. One of the originators of the alternative/jazz laden hip hop sound has come back with a new group to continue to show their own evolution of hip hop. Most people have been super hyped on Drake ( if you haven’t read Big Ghost’s reviews of Drake then check it here) and that Kanye/Jay-Z album, but somehow a true gem tends to get overlooked in Shabazz Palaces Black Up. I guess its understandable, this album has some pretty out there beats that may slow down things on the dancefloor, but the composition and the rhymes are all solid. It is a fun album that shows a little more creativity and exploration than a lot of hip hop. There is definitely a little bit of that woooooooooomp woooooooooomp sound in at times, but it is creatively mixed to create a soundtrack to robots dancing on cough syrup or something like that.


1.      13. The Decemberists -  The King is Dead- A back to basics album made the Decemberists become that much more palatable for my own tastes. I cannot say I have thoroughly listened to much of their earlier material, but hearing Gillian Welch was a part of this album seemed to lower my hesistancy to get this album. I cant say why I have been iffy on decemberists before, but this album has helped me to continue to breakdown preconceived notions. Alterna-Country has continued to grow and expand, and The King id Dead continues to help that movement remain important. The combination of the indie rock imagery, the honky tonk feel, and more roots based instruments allows The Decemberists to create an album that brings images of Tom Petty and John Cougar hanging out with Townes and Doc Watson. A fun and enjoyable listen all the way through


      12. Explosions in the Sky - Take Care, Take Care, Take Care- Explosions in the Sky prove that they continue to be the kings of the post-rock scene (along with Mogwai) with the release of Take Care, Take Care, Take Care. So many bands have emerged over the past 10 years trying to recreate, capitalize on, or just join in on the fun of what Explosions in the Sky have been doing, and none of them though have quite the ingenuity of this band. If you have heard Explosions in the Sky then you know what to expect at this point. Take Care x3 is not groundbreaking, but it is consistent and still extremely well done.


1.      11. Amebix – Sonic Mass – This album has already been touched on recently, and it ended up making its way on to this list. This album is definitely a Sonic Mass that crashes through your ear canal and saturates your brain with an intense wave of crust layered metal. I did not know what to expect a new Amebix record to sound like, but for their return record they have done a great job of continuing with a classic sound and not being archaic, and sound relevatnt to whats happening without losing your basis.

1.      10. YOB – Atma – I hadn’t heard YOB before their 2009 comeback release  The Great Cessation, but since that album graced my ears I have made sure to keep in touch with what this band was doing. That being said 2011’s Atma was an album I was excited to hear from the local Oregon Doom band and it definitely did not diassapoint. YOB returned with heavy doom laden riffs, ethereal sounds, and songs of epic proportions… pretty much what we have come to expect from YOB. They do a great job of not sounding stale and repetitive, but continue to take what can be a formulaic genre and build upon it to create a soundtrack for the post-apocalyptic wasteland. 

1.      09. Moonface - Organ Music Not Vibraphone Like I'd Hoped – This somehow made its way into my rotation over this past year, and pops back into the listening rotation here and there enough to have made it on to this list. I don’t know much about Moonfaces single songwriter Spencer Krug, but I do know he has done a great job creating catchy hooks on this album. At first listen I kinda just passed through a lot of the songs, but eventually when it was shuffled in with a few albums and songs came on as I was driving here and there I found myself checking to see who it was and Moonface kept coming up. They songs are long in construction and take a bit of building at times, but altogether it makes sense. The hooks start out basic, and build upon each other and finally are accented by Krug’s voice which brings an 80’s electro-pop feel reminiscent of Ian McCulloch. It was my surpise album of the year in that I didn’t think I would enjoy it as much as I do now.


1.      08. Grayceon – All We Destroy – Progressive Metal has come quite a ways since the 70’s and one of my personal favorite front runners for this genre is Grayceon. When looking at this album we see that there are songs of epic lengths, classical elements, and beautifully sung vocals, all ingredients when combined together make a great prog record. Singer/Celloist Jackie Gratz has been making great guest appearances over the years, made some great music with Giant Squid, but Grayceon is where I feel her style really shines. The hypnotic electronic cello arrangements are haunting and create a delightful visual sensation through the mind.


1.      07. Boris - Heavy Rocks II/New Album - This is a band that does not relent, and continues to bust out with new projects one after the other. Boris released three full lengths, a split with Merzbow and maybe even more for all I know. With all that time in the studio and energy spread through so many projects, one may feel that the output would suffer. After listening through all of these Boris albums, I would say they did a great job of creating solid products whose sound could not all be described in one paragraph. Boris has always done a great job of mixing and mashing sounds together to not become pidgeonholed, but what they all have in common is that they should be played loud! You will get doses of experimental rock, doom metal, Japanese pop, and indie rock and all it sounds just right. 


1.      06. Horrible Crowes -  Elsie – So this is an album that was put out as a sideproject by the dude from Gaslight Anthem, I still have not heard Gaslight Anthem so I can’t really compare, but it is said to be a departure. The album caught me off guard. I had heard one song and thought it was ok, and then checked out the full thing and it easily became one of my favorites. The lyrics and dark and brooding with the music being soulful and catchy, and they pull off that combination well. Dude definitely has a Bruce Springsteen sounding voice, and also similar to Chuck Ragan at times, and that is definitely not a bad thing. I am sad this is only a side project, and am hoping to hear more!


1.      05. Witch Mountain – South of Salem - Witch Mountain has been featured on the Mixtape Collections in a few different articles, and their full lenth South of Salem has definitely made its way into my routine listening since coming out this past summer. I have to say seeing them live definitely helped bolster this release, as they play the songs with precision and lead Singer Uta Plotkin’s voice sounds crisp and soulful. Crooning through _ tracks of classic doom, we are given a delightful journey from this Portland band. What separates Witch Mountain from the bolster of female fronted doom bands is the power of Uta’s voice, and the hark it gives to singers such as Ronnie James, and Grace Slick.


1.      04. Grails -  Deep Politics - Grails played at one of the Northwest Music Fest shows with Neurosis and YOB and kinda blew me away. The fluidity of the sound, the imagery each song creates, and the solidity of the musicians makes Grails one of my current favorite bands. They have been hard at work since their arrival on the Portland music scene in 1999, and have released a slew of albums proving to be one of the harder working bands out there. Deep Politics is a find addition to an expansive catalog. It is an album that needs to be listened to as an album, each song duitifully builds upon the other, and none is complete with out its predecessor or successor. Grails takes cues from other experimental, post-rock bands but has a distinct gloominess. A highly recommended adventure.


03. Chuck Ragan - Covering Ground -  Chuck Ragan’s latest full length solo release is another gem of emotionally driven alternative country. This man has been writing sings with catchy melodies, and hooks layered throughout since his time in Hot Water Music. Covering Ground is nothing less than an excellent follow-up to a so far distinguished catalog. I think Gold Country is probably still my favorite, but this may be a close second. The album as a whole is a solid listen and there is not a song that needs to be skipped. The lyrics are touching, emotional, and feel sincere. Too many artists of the past 10 years have turned emotional music into a caricature of itself, too many are late 20 year olds stuck in adolescence and writing lyrics found in the spiral notebook of a tortured high school freshman. Chuck Ragan communicates a genuine relatable feeling expressed in an adult manner, in a way that shows his experience and maturity in self-reflection.


1.      02. Nightbirds – Otherside of Darkness- The Nightbirds caught my attention with the release of their EP Midnight at the Movies, so when I heard they were releasing a full length this year I got pretty stoked. This is arguably my favorite punk release of the year and does a great job capturing that late 70’s-early 80’s OC sound reminiscent of bands like The Adolescents and Agent Orange, and other early Cali bands The Dead Kennedy’s. Throughout the album you will find furious down-picked verses, gnarly back up vocals, dick-dale style solo’s and a heavily surfy drumbeat. It will make you want to grab your board(of any kind), vans, and beach gear. Rik Agnew would be pleased I feel if he heard this. A simply fun and enjoyable album that should easily please the purists and youngin’s alike.


1.      01. William Elliot Whitmore – Field Songs - And finally we end with Mr. Whitmore, whom I enjoy featuring. There is just something wholesome about a guy who tours his butt off, and in between he spends his time helping out on the farm he grew up on while continuing to write songs about the life lessons that are being presented and experienced. This is a man whose entire catalog I have enjoyed thus far, and Field Songs is a great new addition to it. Whitmore keeps a fresh theme of life on the farm running throughout the album, a change from the more politically minded Animals in the Dark. That being said it is the song and words of a genuine farm worker, someone who has toiled in the fields on a hot summer’s day and knows the joys and struggles it takes. There doesn’t seem to be a phoney bone in Mr. Whitemores entire body which helps to make his albums that much more enjoyable.



 
 So there ya have it, the best of for 2011. Hope ya enjoy, and remember I did not check out everything, so if your favorite was not on my list I may have not heard it. Cheers to 2012 being a great year for music, and that it is a year to remember!



Li


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