Half Way Point - Album of the Year Contenders

greg

We are now half way through the year. What are your contenders for the Album of the Year 2011? Just to make it simple upto 10 new releases this year, no specific order, and to make it really easy no images either. Optional are url links to emusic or elsewhere

My list, in alphabetical order off my itunes:

Adele 21

Bon Iver Bon Iver

The Decemberists The King is Dead

Eliza Carthy Neptune http://www.emusic.com/album/Eliza-Carthy-Neptune-MP3-Download/12471958.html

Fleet Foxes Helplessness Blues http://www.emusic.com/album/Fleet-Foxes-Helplessness-Blues-MP3-Download/12521459.html

Jason Parker Quartet Five Leaves Left http://www.emusic.com/album/Jason-Parker-Quartet-Five-Leaves-Left-A-Tribute-To-Nick-Drake-MP3-Download/12467267.html

John Renbourn Palermo Snow http://www.emusic.com/album/John-Renbourn-Palermo-Snow-MP3-Download/12340081.html

Penguin Cafe A Matter of Life http://www.emusic.com/album/Penguin-Caf%C3%A9-A-Matter-Of-Life-MP3-Download/12394055.html

Vieux Farka Toure The Secret http://www.emusic.com/album/Vieux-Farka-Tour%C3%A9-The-Secret-MP3-Download/12519823.html

Zubatto Syndicate Zubatto Syndicate http://www.emusic.com/album/Zubatto-Syndicate-Zubatto-Syndicate-MP3-Download/12370304.html

If the album is not available on emusic in the UK I haven't put a url, as Amazon UK urls are generally different from USA

Plong42

I agree with you on:

Adele 21
Bon Iver Bon Iver
The Decemberists The King is Dead
Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues

And will add:

The Civil Wars - Barton Hollow
Dave Alvin - Eleven Eleven
Bright Eyes - The People's Key
Wye Oak - Civilian
Abigail Washburn - City of Refuge

Honorable Mention:

Greg Allman - Low Country Blues
Paul Simon - So Beautiful, So What
Bruce Cockburn - Small Source of Comfort (Might be higher, but I need to listen to it more)

(And one guilty pleasure - The Cars - Move Like This)

greg

Yes Greg Allman and Bruce Cockburn were close on my list too. I haven't heard the new Paul Simon album yet, so that might make my end of year lists

thomnottom

Iron & Wine's Kiss Each Other Clean is still my clear cut favorite with TV on the Radio coming in pretty close. Wye Oak, The Decemberists, James Blake, DeVotchka, Explosions in the Sky, Fleet Foxes and Destroyer are all also in contention. But there's been a number of release that I either haven't picked up or haven't listened to yet (just got Bon Iver today).

thomnottom

I can't believe I forgot Cut/Copy. 5 listens according to foobar2000, but it was in my car stereo for about a month straight.

Daniel, Esq.

i'll have to give this more thought, but for the moment, these 2011 discs are among my favorites so far:

• p.j. harvey -- let england shake
• hollie cook -- hollie cook
• dirty beaches -- badlands
• ghost -- opus eponymous
• burial -- street halo
• lykke li -- wounded rhymes

maybe more.

Brighternow

-> Deaf Center - Owl Splinters
-> Tied & Tickled Trio and Billy Hart - La Place Demon
-> Julia Kent - Green and Grey
-> Kreng - Grimoire
-> Kuniko Kato - kuniko plays Reich
-> Marsen Jules Trio - Les Fleurs Variations
-> Vultures Quartet & Philippe Petit - Tourbillon d'obscurit

cafreema

My early contenders (I'm sure I'm missing something):

Cut Copy - Zonoscope
David Bazan - Strange Negotiations
Kindest Lines - Covered in Dust
Low - C'mon
Lykke Li - Wounded Rhymes
The Mountain Goats - All Eternals Deck
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Belong
Yuck - s/t

Once I finally get it I have a feeling the Austra album will make the list. I absolutely love the tracks I've heard.

Craig

Daniel, Esq.

guess we're not doing "song of the half-year" nominations, but this one is up there for me, even tho i don't normally like hard-ish rap.

this guy (killer mike) might become an exception for me, like ghostface.

Germanprof

These four stand out:
Over the Rhine - The Long Surrender
Deaf Center - Owl Splinters
Amon Tobin - ISAM
Explosions in the Sky - Take Care, Take Care, Take Care

These two also very enjoyable:
Nice Wings Icarus - s/t
The Seven Mile Journey - Notes for the Synthesis

ETA - I'm going to throw in Double Handsome Dragons - s/t; just listening to it again, and it's fun.

Turns out not too many of the albums I've purchased this year have been 2011 releases...still catching up on older stuff, and I think the emu pricing policy is skewing things too.

I want to add the Cockburn album but it hasn't fully convinced me yet - need more listens.
I also want to add Coast/Range/Arc by loscil but have also not listened to it enough times for a clear judgment yet.
I have high hopes for the new Kangding Ray album and plan to download as soon as I have time...

Brighternow

Bleep's Top 12 Albums of 2011... so far.

jonahpwll

J Mascis - "Several Shades of Why"
Chris Schlarb - "Psychic Temple"
Devotchka - "100 Lovers"
Balmorhea - "Live at Sint-Elisabethkerk"
Colorlist - "The Fastest Way to Become the Ocean"

amclark2

Tiny Mix Tapes's Favorite 25 Albums of 2011 So Far.

I really like all the things I've heard from this list...

jonahpwll

My Jazz Ten:

James Farm - "James Farm"
Steven Lurgerner - "Narratives"
Paul Lieberman - "Ibeji"
Susana Santos Silva - "Devil's Dress"
John Stowell - "Shot Through With Beauty"
Aaron Goldberg & Guillermo Klein - "Bienestan"
Diego Barber - "The Choice"
EYOT - Horizon
Jean Lapouge - "Temporare"
Iro Haarla - "Vespers"

Honorable Mentions:

Tyler Gilmore's 9th & Lincoln - "Static Line"
Park St. Trio - "Goodnight, Daylight"
Chad McCullough - "Imaginary Sketches"
Adam Cruz - "Milestone"
Adam Kolker - "Reflections"
Mike Baggetta & Kris Tiner - "Bridges"
Jeremy Udden - "If the Past Seems So Bright"
Mik Keusen's Blau - "Nalu"


Albums I haven't yet been able to listen to in full, but might crack the top ten if I could:

Tunnel6 - "Tunnel Mountain"
Jacob Karlzon 3 - "The Big Picture"
Bill Frisell - "Sign of Life"
Ocean Sounds Quartet - "Live at Ship's Company Theater"
John Zorn - Nova Express
Harris Eisenstadt - "Canada Day II"
Brad Shepik - "Across the Way"

Label of the (so far) year: Sunnyside
Silver Medal: Origin
(These two could easily switch spots by the end of the year. Both are putting out a ridiculous number of solid albums).


Outstanding Non-Jazz Albums that have Jazz ties:

Chris Schlarb - "Psychic Temple"
Colorlist - "The Fastest Way to Become the Ocean"
Simon Little - "The Knowledge of Things to Come"


I am prepared to slap my forehead the moment after I hit the submit button and exclaim, "How the hell did I forget that one?"

ScissorMan

I have to say, 2011 has not been all that impressive to me so far - it's already mid-July and I haven't heard anything I like better than The Dears' "Degeneration Street," and IMO it's not even their second-best album. Robyn Hitchcock's Tromso, Kaptein is probably the runner-up of the albums I've actually bought, along with The Sunshine Factory's "Sugar" and Wire's "Red Barked Tree," but neither of the latter two would have made my top ten from last year.

The Ringo Deathstarr and Pains of Being Pure At Heart albums are both pretty good, but not hugely so...

Over on Bandcamp, I was definitely impressed with Ask for Joy, Love Culture, Rebecca Peake, and Eric Maskol - all freebies - but none of those are as good as last year's Juliets album, for example. I guess the best thing I've come across there this year is probably The Stargazer Lilies, a shoegaze act who are apparently a side-project of another band called Soundpool.

Hopefully the latter half of the year will be better... there's a new Fountains of Wayne album on the way...

greg

Jonah - I really liked Ocean Sounds Quartet - "Live at Ship's Company Theater". However, it seems to be the only thing by them that emusic (in UK) has. Any other recordings available elsewhere?

jonahpwll

@Greg

It's their first recording. They've been around for awhile, but I don't think they perform regularly as an ensemble. I think they'd play as a unit only at a specific event, but I could be misremembering the facts I dug up a while back.

They'll be an AAJ dotd, probably in the first week of August.

thomnottom

@SM - I somewhat hesitantly agree. I'm not sure how much of it is due to significantly less exposure this year due to time constraints and the lack of Amie, but it still seems like there has been less of interest for me overall. There's been a number of great releases, but I was probably deciding between like 20 at this time last year.

kargatron

I'm not much into list-making these days, but on the pop front, I would be surprised if both of these didn't show up on lots of year-end lists. Both I consider very strong records.

TV On the Radio - Nine Types of Light
Fucked Up - David Comes to Life

Daniel, Esq.

i'd be surprised if the TVOTR disc appeared on a lot of top-10 lists. very lukewarm reviews, and deservedly imo.

btw, TVOTR's two key principals appear on at least one song from the upcoming tienariwen disc. and that disc, i predict, will rule.

kargatron

very lukewarm reviews, and deservedly imo

Of course, there's infinite room in the world for lack of agreement, but I wouldn't say you characterize the consensus accurately: Metacritic score of 82

Daniel, Esq.

hm. okay. maybe i was projecting. i had a lukewarm reaction to it, and maybe i gravitated toward reviews that echoed my view.

jonahpwll

I'm pretty sure that Pitchfork has warned you previously about worshiping false idols.

Daniel, Esq.

p4k and i speak almost every day, and i don't remember that conversation at all.

jonahpwll

Oh man, you are totally asking to be visited upon by a plague of luftballons (99 to be precise).

Daniel, Esq.

bah. i only listen to post 00, darkwave, synchopated german electropop. no nena allowed.

jonahpwll

Your linking privileges have been revoked.

jonahpwll

In fact, you're grounded.

Daniel, Esq.

lol

Daniel, Esq.

hey, i actually like that song. so does my wife, in fact!

she sings the naughty-parts and giggles.

jonahpwll

Now she's grounded, too.