C76 Top 10 Albums of 2011
December 27, 2011
Mixtapes. That’s what I listened to quite a bit this year. I wasn’t feeling a lot of the major (or minor) label releases, so I ended up going straight to the source—the artists themselves—thanks to the middleman-crushing power of the Internet. A full forty percent of the albums found on this list were free downloads that felt fresher and more interesting than almost anything I heard from PR-machined-and-polished album releases. So here are my Top 10 choices for the end of Eleven.
10. Curren$y, Covert Coup (Mixtape)
Weed rap with some great lines delivered in a laid-back lazy flow over nice beats via The Alchemist, with few missteps to kill the mood in a short album. Better than Jet Life or Weekend at Burnie’s for consistency, and just edging out Verde Terrace because DJ Drama’s not shouting all over every beat.
09. Cults, Cults
Woozy psychadelic melodies and dreamy female vocals weaved into hummable spaced-out fuzz rock.
08. The Antlers, Burst Apart
Medatative, soaring arrangments are made all the more spectacular when built up from spare, electronic foundations and genuine songcraft.
07. Hooray For Earth, True Loves
Synthy hook-rich electroharmonies with a lot of great moments and fantastical, arena-filling sound.
06. Red Fang, Murder The Mountains
Sludgy, down-tuned blue-collar workmanlike metal in the tradition of Kyuss, Melvins, Baroness, and Sabbath.
05. Get Busy Committee, Opening Ceremony (Mixtape)
Jay-Z’s in-house DJ mixes a preview for the only LA drug rap outfit with political prisoner party anthems (“Kim Jong Illin’/Stealin all the women/Throwin em in prison”), and some of the best production you’ve never heard.
04. Shabazz Palaces, Black Up
Tangential stream-of-consciousness lyrics over live soul and electronic rhythms made for one of the most interesting listens of the year, hip-hop or otherwise.
03. The Weeknd, House Of Balloons
Finally someone did something interesting with R&B. Air-sucking, tense piano lines reminiscent of Massive Attack and a haunting falsetto tell stories of damaged post-party guilt and shame. Followed by the similarly interesting “Thursday” and “Echoes Of Silence” mixtapes.
02. Iceage, New Brigade
Most promising new punk outfit comprised of three youngsters out of Denmark. The album has a dark, moody, don’t-give-a-fuck attitude and appropriately ADD-shortened running time that immediately stands out in a crowd of punk-by-numbers mediocrity.
01. Death Grips, Exmilitary
By far the most intense album of the year, Death Grips practically caught the sound of post-traumatic stress on tape. The beats and textures perfectly set the mood for the lyrics about mental illness, crooked cops, and guillotines. Shock rappers of the moment only wish they sounded this scary and anarchist.
Wire, Red Barked Tree
Mastodon, The Hunter
Alela Diane and the Wild Divine, Alela Diane
The Horrors, Skying
The Kills, Blood Pressures
Bad Meets Evil, Hell (The Sequel)
Curren$y, Verde Terrace (Mixtape)
Curren$y, Weekend at Burnie’s (Mixtape)
Lupe Fiasco, Friend of the People: I Fight Evil (Mixtape)
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