A Look Back at 2011 as It Related to Music

Hello again from the staff at Mitchfork. I said, hello again from the staff at Mitchfork. Anyone there?

Well, I guess it makes sense. We followed up a hiatus of almost a year with a hiatus of more than a year. In that time, plenty happened. However, none of it mattered as much as what you're about to read:

Mitchfork's official BEST OF 2011!!.

First, a summation. 2011 was not a good year for music. It was easier coming up with the disappointments than the standouts. 2011 paled especially in comparison to 2010, which was an absolutely fantastic year in music that Mitchfork did justice to with... one post at the end of November that wrapped up the year in music.

This year, in hopes of discovering some final gem, we really waited until the last minute to close the voting on the best albums. The hope was that some overlooked releases might make the cut. They didn't (sorry Yuck). That said, there was still a bunch of solid LPs that deserved a mention, as well as one great EP that made us decide to write ANOTHER post (which will we backdate to June to make it look like we actually were more dedicated to this blog than we were) regarding our favorite EPs of all-time.

But before, we get to our top 10, we'd like to draw some attention to albums who didn't deliver the goods as promised. None of these albums were awful, but we fully expected them to be top 10s and they just didn't impress. A couple of these albums were critically lauded, but we could give a flying fuck what the critics think. We're Mitchfork, and our opinions fly in the face of those made by the hipster tastemakers out there. When we saw that famous Jet review from the other Fork that had a monkey peeing into its mouth, we all bought tickets to a Jet show and loved the ever-loving shit out of it.

Anyways, we forget ourselves. Here are the albums that annoyed us:


Expectations Nowhere Near Met:


TV on the Radio, Nine Types of Light


More like nine types of suck, am I right? Nah, it wasn't that bad, but after their 2008 effort, Dear Science, Mitchfork had the highest expectations for the follow-up. Each album following their debut had been a step above the previous, with the best tracks increasingly overshadowing the art-rock filler found elsewhere. Not so here; no standouts to be found.

Radiohead, The King of Limbs


Radiohead have earned their untouchable status thanks to amazing album after amazing album, but we at Mitchfork can't give them a free pass for this one. The advance word was that Thom and the boys were tired of traditional "albums," and that distaste shows here. It felt like a throwaway, more sound scape than coherent work. Diehards still defended it, but this could have been the album of the year and it wasn't even close.


M83, Hurry Up, We're Dreaming.


Saturdays = Youth was our favorite M83 album yet, so when a double album was announced we already had it penciled in as an album of the year contender. Then came the advance single "Midnight City," which was easily the best track on the album and one of the best songs of 2011. It all went downhill after that. Critics loved this album, Mitchfork's friends loved it, but Mitchfork didn't love it. It was listenable, with a few good tracks, but overall it was forgettable. Anthony Gonzalez's previous work had a rich depth to it, but this felt thin and overblown. Sound vague? Well, we know what we like, and this wasn't it.



Top Albums of 2011:

To be honest, we had a real rough time figuring out exactly how to order these 10 albums. There were only two that stood out as "complete," meaning they didn't have patches of songs that didn't do much for us. Also, these were the two albums we were able to listen to consistently in their entirety (not just a couple great songs) and not grow tired of. They're also very different albums, which just shows to you we appreciate the whole spectrum (of a sub-genre of music called indie rock, whatever the hell that is).

We're not going to say much about each album, because we have very busy lives and we've said enough already, so without further ado here are seven good LPs, one GREAT EP and two very good albums that crossed our radar in 2011:



The Antlers, Burst Apart
Top Track: "Corsicana"



Took some getting used to, but we ended up really liking the new direction they took. Still sporting haunting vocals and atmosphere, but the tunes had a more varied sound to them.


Generationals, Actor-Caster
Top Track: "Please Be It"


Bouncy summertime tunes done right. We've been hearing these guys in commercials and couldn't be happier. Auction off your sonic sunshine to the highest bidder and sell some VWs!


Lykke Li, Wounded Rhymes
Top Track: "I Follow Rivers"


When we brought our car to the mechanic, this album was in our CD player. When he was done fixing it, he asked us what we were listening to. We said Lykke Li and he looked confused, shrugged and said "sounds like some creepy little girl." That may be, but that little lady can craft some catchy tunes.


Pete And The Pirates, One Thousand Pictures
Top Track: "Motorbike"


These Brits get NO love, and we can't understand why. There are some seriously tight tunes on this and their debut album that pack a punch while still having pop appeal. Well, if no one else will give them their due, then we'll be really over the top. Pete And The Pirates, with your help, can SAVE ROCK MUSIC.


Phantogram, Nightlife
Top Track: "16 Years"


Just a killer EP that's following up an already impressive debut last year. Think Stars if Stars weren't sappy pussies (no offense to Torquil and the crew) and could lay down some beats.


Cut Copy, Zonoscope
Top Track: "Blink And You'll Miss A Revolution"


These guys solved the post-punk/synth pop equation in 2008's In Ghost Colours, and here they expand their palate a bit to include some world beats. Overall it fell short of expectations, but was still dynamic enough to merit inclusion. We appreciate ambition at Mitchfork (we're full of it, with 95% currently unrealized), and this had it in spades.


The Drums, Portamento
Top Track: "Book of Revelations"


This one had us from the very start, and when it let us go four tracks later to stumble starry-eyed through a mediocre back 2/3rds we couldn't hold any grudges. These guys, while inconsistent, clearly comprehend what it takes to make a great pop song, which is more than we can say for most of the other fuzzed-out beach comber bands out there.


Washed Out, Within and Without
Top Track: "You and I"


"You and I" might be our favorite song of the year, but beyond that you'll still find enough chillwave (perfect name for a genre by the way) bliss to keep you coming back for more. There's a natural progression from Life of Leisure, their debut, to this album, and that progression hints at greater things yet to come.


and now...

Best Album of 2011 (It's a tie!)

Bon Iver, Bon Iver
Top Track: "Perth"
Mitchfork has a ladyfriend who we'll call KK. KK loves being cozy; it's her raison d'etre. We would describe For Emma, Forever Ago as a cozy album. It made you want to find the Wisconsin cabin where it was recorded, settle down in front of the fire and have some cocoa.

The self-titled follow-up had big shoes to fill, but the hardest thing to recreate from the debut would be its atmosphere. There was a melancholy yearning contained in Justin Vernon's voice, but also in the songs themselves. They oozed it.

Suffice to say, mission accomplished. Without sounding at all like a retread, Bon Iver manages to spirit us away away yet again to a world we never want to leave. Say what you will about the lyrics, but there's a richness to these songs that is compelling in a very distinctive way. Bon Iver's first two albums go a long way to creating a signature sound, and that's a rare thing in today's music world. There are only a few true auteurs out there, and Ke$ha needs some company.


Neon Indian, Era Extrana
Top Track: "Polish Girl"


Huge surprise here. Huge. Neon Indian's debut firmly fell in the chillwave camp for better and for worse. The tunes were laid back and hearkened back to 80's synth nostalgia, but they also felt underdeveloped and largely forgettable. However, like Washed Out, the follow-up was bigger and bolder, showcasing the full talents of one Alan Palomo.

Tracks like "Halogen [I Could Be a Shadow]" and "Fallout" strain at the seams, brimming with wide-eyed wonder that feels both familiar and fresh. The easiest comparison we could come up with was Saturdays=Youth, the M83 album we mentioned earlier as setting the bar too high for Hurry Up, We're Dreaming. We'll see where they go from here, but we'll have our eyes on them. Maybe we'll even have them around for one of our fireside chats. Well, once we settle the lawsuit with Malkmus.


Ok, that's it. Happy New Year from Mitchfork!