While I'm bummed I didn't include 20 albums on the
Best of List this year, I'm stoked to still have more great albums to share that either just missed the cut or didn't get the time and attention they deserved to make it on the list.
So, here are 21 albums you should at the very least check out, all of which played a part in deciding the Best Of list. Included with each is a link to their album on Spotify (the artist and title), a link to at least one song and also a note or two. Also be sure to check out the
Spotify Playlist and the
Best of 2011. Enjoy!
In Alphabetical Order...
Alt-J An Awesome Wave A mixture of unusual percussive vocals with quirky folk, dub-pop and avant garde. Won this year's
Mercury Prize for best album in UK/Ireland.
"
Fitzpleasure"
Fiona Apple The Idler Wheel.... Aside from having possibly the most ridiculous album title ever (
too long to fit here), Apple's 4th studio album is filled with her signature adventuresome vocals and piano work. "
Every Single Night"
Blondes Blondes An excellent debut from this NY duo, filled with glorious Electronic House music, what some now refer to as "Hipster House" or indie house music. "
Wine"
Brian Jonestown Massacre Aufheben Anton Newcombe returns, this time with Matt Hollywood, creating a dreamy album filled with the expected 60's psychedelia, 80's shoegaze, Indian influences and some new sounds as well. Another great, consistent album. "
Illuminomi."
Calexico Algiers The seventh studio album from the Southwestern Folk, Americana, Tex-Mex rockers is as eclectic as the rest, with a few surprises here and there. Might be better geared to mature audiences. "
Splitter."
Chromatics Kill For Love A dreamy, electronic take on post-punk comes from this Portland, Oregon act in their 5th release. Highly regarded by many, I didn't like it as much as some others did, but still a solid album. "
Lady"
Gary Clark Jr. Blak and Blu An excellent collection of modern electric blues-rock and Texas blues. His album opened at #6 on the Billboard chart and he looks to be the new standard bearer for the Austin blues sound. "
When My Train Pulls In"
Bob Dylan Tempest The ubiquitous Dylan is back with a collection of blues, folk and rock written in his classic off-beat style. "
Duquesne Whistle"
Father John Misty Fear Fun Another new band, this one created by former Fleet Foxes drummer Josh Tillman. The album is filled with a great variety of folk, rock, blues and Americana tunes, including one of my favorite tracks this year, "
Hollywood Forever Cemetary Sings."
Hiatus Kaiyote Tawk Tomahawk A jazzy, avant garde approach to soul is what powers this 4 piece from Melbourne, Australia. Classified as "future soul," they invoke modern jazz melodies, acid jazz flourishes and a wide variety of percussive techniques. "
The World It Softly Lulls"
Hot Chip In Our Heads One of the albums I anticipated most this year and likely the one that disappointed me more than any other. There are three or four excellent songs on the album and the rest of it is dancey 80's junk. "
Flutes"
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion Meat and Bone The mad scuzz rockers are back with their first album in 8 years. It's been well received and it's arguably their best since 1998's Acme. "
Black Mold"
The Lumineers The Lumineers This Denver folk trio
struck it big with their first album, driven first and foremost by their chart topping hit "
Ho Hey."
Metz Metz Another debut release, this time from a sludge-hardcore-punk band from Toronto. Not for everyone's palette, but if you like it heavy and loud, this should do the trick. "
Wet Blanket"
Of Monsters and Men My Head is an Animal Another new indie-folk/pop band who's gotten huge in the past year after the release of their first album. From Iceland, the five piece is often compared to
Arcade Fire,
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes and specifically remind me of
Stars. "
Little Talks" "
Dirty Paws"
Poliça Give You the Ghost Minneapolis band
Polica consistently provide an ethereal mood and angelic, stylistically auto-tuned vocals from lead-singer Channy Leagneagh. One of the most unique and challenging albums released this year. "
Lay Your Cards Out"
The Sea and Cake Runner This Chicago bands inhabits the jazzier regions of the indie spectrum, with some ethereal dream-pop in there as well. Really enjoy the production of this album and especially like the unexpected paths the listener is led down. "
Harps"
John Talabot Fin A very spacey collection of electronic indie-house tracks (
Hipster House?). One of the highest rated albums of the year and while there are a few stand out tracks, the whole album has a sonic mood you'll just want to soak in. "
Destiny"
Twin Shadow Confess George Lewis Jr's second album,
Confess, is
an emotional collection of post-punk and synth-pop. A lot of Prince going on here... "
Five Seconds"
The Men Open Your Heart The third album from the Brooklyn punk band,
Open Your Heart infuses a wider variety of sounds this time around, including country and surf rock. Of note are the two longest tracks on the album, both of which have a droning, krautrock jam feel. "
Candy"
Well, that's about it for 2012. Thanks for checking out this year's lists and here's hoping next year's music offerings are as strong as this years.
.jpg/100px-Aufheben_(album).jpg)
.jpg/100px-Algiers_(album).jpg)
