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10 T


Favourite Albums


of2011


hese albums are excellent examples of some of the most evocative and innovative music from the past year. We can’t lie and say we’ve heard everything that’s good this year – frankly my jazz, classical, and hip hop listening this year has been appalling! I’ll rectify this in my own time though. Instead, we’ve tried to give a fairly broad overview of our recent listening. So, here’s 10 albums we


highly recommend that you should listen to but we also suggest that you also go check out the runners up because they’re all in the same league. Enjoy.


THE CAREER-BEST US ROCK ALBUM: Thursday – No Devolución You could call it their Kid A, their Master of Puppets, their Electric Ladyland... I like to call it simply, the Best Rock Album of 2011. Taking a new sonic approach – keyboards, oblique guitars, extraneous noises - and Geoff Rickley taking the mantle of a singer as opposed to merely emoting his lungs out (and boy can the man emote), it’s an emotionally potent record, a vista that’s as glorious as it is twisted and complex. Oh and it also has both their finest quiet and most savage loud moments. An enrapturing, memorable, heart-to-throat breakup album dealing with Geoff’s collapsed marriage. This LP truly defines the sound of one of America’s finest bands growing up. NB: Shame that it is to be their last album. The band announced their split shortly before going to press. But what a way to go out! Best Track– Fast To The End RUNNERS-UP:


Explosions In The Sky – Take Care, Take Care, Take Care, St Vincent – Strange Mercy


THE BEST ALBUM BY A TRUE INNOVATOR: Björk – Biophilia


Biophilia is bound to be overshadowed by the App suite concept, showing that Björk is continually brimming with boundary snapping-ideas. But remove the apps – as beautiful and creative as they are – and this album would not just stand, but fight, eat, sleep, and die on its own merit. It’s a cloud-hopping, multi-faceted record with a deep concept that certainly doesn’t detract from, but definitely expands on, the craft of the record. Playing with touchscreens, Tesla coils, and huge home made pendulums, the outlandish creativity pumped into each song puts every similar artist to shame. Then again, who comes even close to Björk? No one is who. Ever. Recommended Track– Mutual Core RUNNERS-UP: Deerhoof – Deerhoof vs Evil, Tom Vek – Leisure Seizure


THE MERCURY PRIZE WINNER WE CAN ALL AGREE ON: PJ Harvey – Let England Shake In September, Polly Jean became the first musician to win the Mercury Prize twice; her first was for 2000’s Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea. An album about the effect of warfare on a country’s land and peoples, as well as a reminiscence about England of yore, Let England Shake is a wonderfully realised, folk-rooted album. It’s one of three England-related albums on these pages illustrate how music helps define and reflect our nation’s artistry and entertainment. Guitars, military/brass band, even a brief MC sample, PJ has weaved a Bayeux Tapestry telling the war-torn story of our lands with some of the most inspiring melodies and instrumentation heard all year. Recommended Track - All & Everyone SEE ALSO… Metronomy – The English Riviera, Ghostpoet – Peanut Butter Blues and Melancholy Jam


THE NON-DUBSTEP ELECTRONICA ALBUM: 2562 – Fever


Brutal, minimal but explosive, 2562’s throbbing mechanical heart just about out did everything else in another really strong year for electronica. SBTRKT had the emotional punch, and almost came striding in for this one – but it was just a little too close to the dubstep roots. James Blake was also in consideration. But 2562 took bleak, spacious beats, oblique, ominous sounds, and made them march into underground, dimly lit clubs that I would’ve ventured into 12 years ago, nervously, but thrilled to the core. Recommended Track - Xxxxxxxxxxx RUNNERS-UP:


Oneohtrix Point Never - Replica, SBTRKT - SBTRKT 18 3 www.playmusicpickup.co.uk


Our resident professor of all things musical BRAD BARRETT chooses his Top Ten best recommendations from his favourite albums from 2011’


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