The Best of 2011 So Far: 10 Albums
Written by Tiffiny // July 4, 2011 // Features // No comments
The year is only half over, and already it has been absolutely amazing for music. It is definitely time to update your play list, so check out Melanie and Tiffiny’s picks for the 10 best albums of 2011 (so far).
Ben Marwood – Outside There’s a Curse
I was introduced to Mr. Marwood through the Frank Turner crowd who spoke unbelievably highly of his work. When Outside There’s A Curse I found that everything they said is true. I’ve listened to this album about a billion times and hope that Ben Marwood makes his way west one of these days. [Tiffiny]
Ben Marwood – I Will Breathe You In
Bon Iver – Bon Iver
Every track on Bon Iver is absolute perfection, except for the very last track, which seems oddly out of place, like it was headed for a Michael Bolton album from the early ’90s and took a wrong turn somewhere. It’s not a bad song at all – in fact, it’s lovely – it just doesn’t quite fit. But even that minor oddness adds to the record’s charm. The first three tracks, starting with “Perth” and ending with “Holocene” (which you can listen to below) make up the most sublimely orchestrated opening to any record that I have ever heard. Brilliant. [Melanie]
Bright Eyes – The People’s Key
This album is rooted in faith and a sense of spiritualism that came to me unexpected. This is believed to be the last Bright Eyes album, and i’ts a good note to go out on. [Tiffiny | full review]
Bright Eyes – Approximate Sunlight
Manchester Orchestra – Simple Math
Simple Math is a concept album documenting a two year struggle between frontman Andy Hull, his wife, and God. If you’ve listened closely to Manchester Orchestra for any length of time, it is clear that these subjects are a constant for Hull, though they have never been approached in such a fully realized way before. This album is Hull’s heart laid bare, an excavation of sex, love, marriage, and religion that is so near perfect it could be the band’s magnum opus, if they didn’t have such a promising future ahead of them. [Melanie | full review]
Manchester Orchestra – Pensacola
Frank Turner – England Keep My Bones
We had a whole week celebrating the release of this album and I’m still listening to it. I can’t imagine Frank Turner releasing something that wasn’t brilliant, but England Keep My Bones blew me out of the water nonetheless. [Tiffiny | full review]
Sleepy Vikings – They Will Find You Here
Each track on They Will Find You Here is beautifully arranged, and underscoring all of this are the lyrics; at times stark, often lush, and overall, really, really well written. This is an album that begs to be listened to all the way through, no skipping, as many times as you can handle it. [Melanie | full review]
Sleepy Vikings – Flashlight Tag
Kelli Schaefer – Ghost of the Beast
I saw Kelli Schaefer earlier this year and her live show bowled me over. I bought her record and have been mainlining it; I cannot get enough of Ghost of the Beast. I’ve been quoting it all over the place, putting it on mixtapes, and recommending it to everyone I know. [Tiffiny]
William Fitzsimmons – Gold in the Shadow
Gold In The Shadow is a work of absolute beauty. These are songs that speak to where you live, or where you can live, if you make it to the other side. They are about the peace one experiences when the suffering is over, about beginning to breathe again, and the grace of renewal, all delivered with Fitzsimmons’ signature gentleness, underscored by his breathtakingly beautiful voice, and gorgeous instrumentation. Just stunning. [Melanie | full review]
William Fitzsimmons – The Winter From Her Leaving
Laura Stevenson & the Cans – Sit Resist
I fell head over heels for Laura Stevenson and the Cans’ first album and it was easy to have similar feelings for Sit Resist. It’s beautiful, sad, and generally brilliant. [Tiffiny | full review]
Laura Stevenson & the Cans – The Wait
Death Cab for Cutie – Codes and Keys
Despite the elements of isolation and dislocation that color its songs, Codes and Keys is a warmer, more inviting record than the band have ever produced, and a major departure from the hopelessness of their last album, Narrow Stairs. Guitarist Chris Walla, who recently relocated from Portland to Seattle, says, “we’re struggling with the idea of home”. This is a sentiment reflected deeply in the tracks on Codes, alleluias all, vibrating with promise. [Melanie | full review]
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