2011 has been a strange year for music. I can't think of another year that has seen so many "good" albums, yet so few albums that are truly remarkable, that truly extend above and beyond the call of duty. Looking at last years list, the top five would all comfortably have made it into this years top ten, and I daresay they'd have had a good chance of doing it in exactly the same positions.
Not every year has to have a classic album, of course. Or some albums just take their time to manifest and become true greats - look at Pinkerton, or Boxer. Neither of which were widely tipped for great things upon release - indeed the former was roundly slated for not being Weezer (The Blue Album) II.
The one album critics are agreeing on as being this years classic is Let England Shake by PJ Harvey; an album which, for my money, isn't even in her top three. It's good; standing up after multiple listens is tricky in this age of instant gratification, yet I can't see this album having the sort of lasting effect in a few years time that the constant critical acclaim would have you think.
I could write for pages about albums that narrowly missed the cut (Battles, Ringo Deathstarr, Beirut, M83, St. Vincent, Wild Flag, Los Campesinos, Mogwai and Explosions in the Sky to name just a few), however in reality we're here for the cream of the crop, and I will digress no further.
5. Girls - Father, Son, Holy Ghost
This would have been the album of my summer if only it had been launched sooner. Making an album that sounds familiar yet new is far from an easy process, but it cannot be argued that few bands of the moment are producing anything with the same consistency of quality as Girls, with FSHG following up a superb debut album and in-between EP. Stand-out track Die brings a metal edge to sounds of summer, while the rest of the album will stand up for many a July & August to come.
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4. The Horrors - Skying
When writing the equivalent piece two years ago I exclaimed surprise at just how far The Horrors had come in a small amount of time, and even further surprise at myself that I included their second album Primary Colours in my end-of-decade list (as well as naming it my favourite of 2009). A weak ending is, for my money, the only reason The Horrors haven't claimed the title in 2011, with a run of five tracks in the middle third of Skying proving as good as anything I've heard, well, ever (I Can See Through You through to Wild Eyed).
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3. Johnny Foreigner - vs. Everything
Prior to 2011 I hadn't given JoFo all that much attention. Little did I think going into even October that they would end the year one of my "all-time" favourite bands, with a back catalogue finally clicking as well as their somewhat brilliant 2011 effort entitled Johnny Foreigner vs. Everything. If the purpose of music is to entertain and excite, then JoFo deliver - in truckloads. Standing tall at 17 tracks long and weighing in at something just over the hour mark, brevity clearly wasn't the central word when going in to record JFvE.
Truth is, the length is probably the only reason this isn't higher; despite listening to segments of this album again and again, I don't think I've listened to it as an entire entity enough times to require the use of a second hand in the counting process (while you would need several hands to count the number of hands needed to count the number of times I've played the two albums finishing above this one, if you will); there are numerous tracks on JFvE that will live with me for a long time however, none more so than the storming penultimate effort The Swell/like Neverwhere. Wonderful.
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2. The Joy Formidable - The Big Roar
When compiling the longlist (and then shortlist) for this list, it quickly became apparent that there were only ever two real contenders for the number one spot. Released all the way back in January, The Big Roar is easily my most played album of the year, the sound of a band finally realizing their immense potential. There is something about the raw sound of The Joy Formidable that I am incredibly in love with, combining noise with melody, powerful and potentially overbearing guitars with easy-on-the-ear evocative vocals.
The album is packed to the near-brim with a series of incredible tracks. Centrepiece Whirring builds up to a double-bass drum crescendo easily equaling any other moment in music, while pieces such as Cradle, The Greatest Light Is The Greatest Shade and epic opener The Everchanging Spectrum Of A Lie are as good as any seen in 2011. But - and yes, there's a but - there's still enough flab to prevent The Big Roar from achieving the truly great status that the paring back of a few tracks (I'm looking at you, Llaw = Wall and Maruyama) would perhaps have given it. It is for this excess and this excess alone that it's been pipped to the post by an early contender for one of the albums of the decade.
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1. EMA - Past Life Martyred Saints
Let me begin this brief defence of my choice with the following; Past Life Martyred Saints is a fucking sensational album. No other album in 2011 delivers the combination of raw power, raw emotion and brooding songwriting as penned by Erika M. Anderson, who has surely made one of the finest albums of her generation.
Opener The Grey Ship (pretty much my stand out track of the year) starts off slowly with Anderson's visceral tones taking the listener to a place far away, before gradually building up to a crescendo as forceful as any; the dynamics may not be as sudden or loud as Mogwai, but they're easily as effective. The tone never lets up, with California (a vehement rant about alienation set to a simply perfect musical backing), Milkman and the gritty Butterfly Knife providing an exhibition in understated yet varied songwriting. Finale Red Star soars to a climax worthy of the most challenging, emotionally connected and frankly near-perfect album of 2011. A worthy winner.
Spotify
Pedestrians
Pedestrians are absolute morons. As are most drivers. And cyclists, for that fact. Fin.
tmbrntt.com is the many words, ramblings and witticisms of Tom Barnett, an MA Student/Freelance Web Designer/Music Obsessive/Politically Intrigued/Radio Geek type currently based at Cardiff University. You can find out more here or read more over at our archives sect. You can also even follow him, er, me over at twitter.