Dienstag, 3. Jan 2012, 15:28
Well, it's that time of the year again - the time when I look back on the music I have enjoyed over the past 12 months and distill it down to 60-80 minutes for no real reason aside from weird obsessiveness. Well, weird obsessiveness and hopefully some level of enjoyment on the part of those who download the resulting mix.
2011 was a pretty good year for music, overall. 2010 may have had some heavier hitters, but there were plenty of solid albums released in 2011 as well. My love affair with Scottish music continued, and this is reflected in a high percentage of Scots in the year's mix. There's also a significant chunk of Canadian acts represented, as usual. As for overall favourites, I think Diamond Mine by King Creosote & Jon Hopkins takes the crown this year. It's a beautiful gem of an album which succeeds in transporting the listener to another place entirely - in this case, a Scottish seaside village. Best listened to with headphones, and quite likely on vinyl (though I haven't gotten around to that yet). Also near the top of the list is Everything's Getting Older by Bill Wells & Aidan Moffat (another Scottish duo), which captures the trials and tribulations of the aging process quite beautifully, with enough filth to remind you that Aidan Moffat is involved. Rounding out my top three is Departing by the Rural Alberta Advantage, which is a great follow-up to their fantastic debut, even if I do have some issues with the sequencing of the last few tracks.
In terms of favourite shows, the RAA were probably my favourite, though Okkervil River and Beirut were also great. Upon reflection, I didn't attend a whole lot of concerts, but at least the ones I saw were mostly of high quality.
Buck 65 gets points for being ridiculously productive again this year, but he was surpassed in output by Aidan Moffat, who released somewhere around three albums and two EPs, as well as Damien Jurado who scattered more than an album's worth of material all over the internet.
2012 is shaping up to be a fantastic year for music, with releases from Shearwater, Damien Jurado, Andrew Bird, The Twilight Sad, and Sharon Van Etten all in the first quarter of the year. I don't know what's coming beyond that (hopefully something from Pinback), but I'm definitely excited!
Happy listening!
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1. King Creosote & Jon Hopkins - Honest Words (B-side from Diamond Mine)
2. St. Vincent - Cheerleader (Strange Mercy)
3. The Rural Alberta Advantage - Stamp (Departing)
4. Okkervil River - Rider (I Am Very Far)
5. Rob Crow - Prepare To Be Mined (He Thinks He's People)
6. Buck 65 - Stop (20 Odd Years)
7. Beirut - Santa Fe (The Rip Tide)
8. Malajube - Le Blizzard (La Caverne)
9. FOUND - You're No Vincent Gallo (factorycraft)
10. Handsome Furs - Repatriated (Sound Kapital)
11. Wake The President - Elaine (Zumutung!)
12. The Fruit Tree Foundation - Splinter (First Edition)
13. Bill Wells & Aidan Moffat - The Copper Top (Everything's Getting Older)
14. Florence + The Machine - Shake It Out (Ceremonials)
15. Wye Oak - Civilian (Civilian)
16. The Black Keys - Sister (El Camino)
17. David Bazan - Eating Paper (Strange Negotiations)
18. Chad VanGaalen - Peace On The Rise (Diaper Island)
19. R.E.M. - We All Go Back To Where We Belong (B-side from Collapse Into Now)
20. Rival Schools - Small Doses (Pedals)
21. Eliott Brood - Their Will (Days Into Years)