Chris's Top 5 Albums of 2011

Welcome to my preamble! This is the introductory paragraph where I make a weak generalized observation about all five of my Top 5 albums. The third sentence--the one you're currently reading--will tend to have a lame joke. Again, don't blame that joke I just told on my unfunniness; I just know that no one really cares about this part of the post. It's just here to fill space. Here are my Top 5 albums of the year.

5. Julianna Barwick – The Magic Place

2011 was a year of music discoveries for me. I actively sought new acts, sampled unfamiliar genres, and avoided endless playback of personal favorites. My list would have been very different, I believe, had I not treated the industry like this.

Julianna Barwick is new to everyone, not just me, and she is the only near-major act doing what she does. Barwick uses a looper pedal and intense amounts of reverb to create songs with (mostly) just her voice. She sings one line, records a harmony over it, creates a low-end foundation, sings a melody—looping each one—and weaves these threads together to make heavily layered but featherweight tracks.

If you think oohs and aahs reverberating through the sky over and over doesn't really sound like a valuable listen, I don't blame you. Her first LP grew on me quickly, though it was not initially an Album of the Year contender. The texture of her music is wonderful and smooth; the tone melancholy but peaceful. And each song differs from the rest to a surprising extent.

4. Bon Iver – Bon Iver

Justin Vernon's solo project was a backwards discovery for me. I first heard James Blake's music. Only after hearing him compared to Bon Iver did I purchase For Emma, Forever Ago. I enjoyed the creativity Vernon extracted out of a simple setup and familiar song structure.

But his second record rocked my shit.

Songs on this album all seem to fit somewhere in the realm of “rock,” but each one lies somewhere on the fringe, barely acknowledging its coexistence with everyone else in the genre. Sweeping reverb, an awesome horn section (featuring the crazy boss Colin Stetson), and that tender falsetto of Vernon's give this album a beautiful tone. It just sounds good. (Don't hate me for that last sentence.)

The last track, “Beth/Rest,” caused controversy in the music world for being 1. a total departure from For Emma and 2. totally, unabashedly cheesy. You'll hear it immediately upon first listen. However, though I generally hate 80s music, this track is well-constructed (see: upbeat snare hits), and full of floaty echo-y Bon Iver goodness. It's catchy and wonderful. (But “Holocene” wins best track.)

3. tUnE-yArDs: w h o k i l l

This year in music would not have been weird enough without tUnE-yArDs. Another solo act whose sound is way bigger than one person could normally achieve, Merrill Garbus created jittery, bonkers, exciting drum beats and vocal samples (of herself) as the foundation for most of this record. Equipped with a ukulele, scattered drums, synthesizers, and help from other musicians, she produced some truly original sounds this year. And her strong vocals amplify the power of each song.

2. SBTRKT – SBTRKT

In a short time, I went from not knowing how to say this act's name (I say “sub-tracked”; not “subtract”), to ceaselessly rocking this album on my personalPod. I know of no other producer who can produce such fantastic dubstep/dance tracks that never seem to get old.

Upon hearing “dubstep,” my ears hone in on that discussion. Not because I like anything under that banner, but because the subgenre is so vast and broad and...I swear the connection between Skrillex and SBTRKT is hair-thin at best. In other words, when I hear that term, I think, “Yeah, well, you say that, but I'll have to hear this guy and judge for myself.” SBTRKT is classified as “post-dubstep,” another nebulous term which also describes Mount Kimbie. I don't know what it means, but post-dubsteppers are doing great things with their laptops and synthesizers.

Often featuring some noticeably lazy and scratchy vocals from Sampha, this album's strength is still so clearly SBTRKT's Aaron Jerome's skill at producing electronic music. If brostep gets you more hype than this record, or, on the opposite end, James Blake's uniqueness fits you better, it is no fault of SBTRKT. Variety of instruments, tempos, rhythms, tones, and styles make this self-titled LP easily replayable, and easily my number two spot of the year.

1. James Blake – James Blake

I gushed over SBTRKT above, but James Blake, a new laptop-producer from England (and my junior...ugh) is my artist of the year. I have never heard music on the same planet as his. It's clearly strange and maybe even inaccessible to many. But it's smart, inventive, wildly varied, and unstoppably good. Listen to “CMYK,” a track from last year, then his single from 2011, “The Wilhelm Scream,” then a newer track from the fall called “Once We All Agree,” and you'll see that James Blake meant it when he said he quickly gets bored writing the same kinds of songs.

But this isn't about James Blake the artist, it's about this particular album, his first and only LP. Featured on many Best-of-the-Year lists, it deserves the credit for its risks and rewards. Immediately opening the album are the first percussion hits of “Untruth,” prominently spotlighting each little sound, as Blake is wont to do, one of which is a muffled-white-noise-thingy-I-have-no-idea. Seconds later, behind the rest of the song is this wildly syncopated hi-hat rhythm. It's idiosyncratic, and great because I don't know other people who avoid the beat like he does, yet still makes my head bounce in time.

Some of the tracks, like “The Wilhelm Scream” and “Lindisfarne I & II” are relatively normally structured songs between four and six minutes long. Others, like “Give Me My Month” and “Why Don't You Call Me?” are shorter sketches that preserve their value by ending when they ought to. The stars of “I Mind” are a bangin' dub beat and a vocal sample altered beyond recognition as human. These are Blake's specialties. I won't spoil it all if you haven't heard it, but I suggest you listen to this guy. He keeps changing, and succeeding, and that's why I pay such close attention.