101 Reasons Why Not To See A Band That Has Reformed In 2011
101 Reasons why not to see Simply Red
Five years ago in protest directed at people from my school going to see the band Simply Red I constructed 101 reasons from the last year to motivate people to continue their search for new music. Due to a set of anally retentive personality traits which I am not always proud of I have constructed such a list for each year since.
2011 was on interesting year as although I had no problem identifying 101 tracks indicating there was plenty of great music there was no one really important album which stood out which I could easily have taken three or four tracks from. This is confirmed by looking around and seeing the range of albums selected by critics. I too do not have a favourite album of the year but there are several which kept on finding their way onto my headphones or classroom speakers.
Zonoscope by Cutcopy. Just a wonderfully fun dance album that feels refreshingly alive. Here is a link to the Need You Now video
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2xovJyBo-0[/youtube]
Kaputt by Destroyer. A journey back into the 80s returns with only the darkest parts and this then gets put together in such an extraordinary way that it justifies itself as a guilty pleasure of mine and the video for the song Kaputt reflects this guilt so well
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puu3IvKnSb4[/youtube]
Go Tell Fire To The Mountain by Wu Lyf. They are not quite there yet but the sound has the potential to fulfill all that is great about British independent music. Here they are Spitting Blood.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDTEhWO2wyo&feature=related[/youtube]
Kiss Each Other Clean by Iron & Wine. Considering the previous more somber albums this was a very pleasant surprise. Where did the funk come from? Here is a live track Walking Far From Home (Not on my list but still nice)
Boots Met My Face – Admiral Fallow. This band rises from the ashes of the Delgardoes with more tune full stories. Here is a live performance of Taste The Coast.
Then there was the sound track to my west coast of America road trip. From LA to Bellingham the Fleet Foxes and the Decemberists played as the giant trees and big waves passed by. I also caught Bill Callahan live which was where his album Apocalypse was allowed to reach even greater heights than achieved on the record.
Name Artist Album
Dead Against Smoking Admiral Fallow Boots Met My Face
Taste The Coast Admiral Fallow Boots Met My Face
Desire Anna Calvi Anna Calvi
Blackout Anna Calvi Anna Calvi
Every Night My Teeth Are Falling Out The Antlers Burst Apart
Lose It Austra Feel It Break
212 Azealia Banks
Ice Cream (ft. Matias Aguayo) Battles Gloss Drop
Drover Bill Callahan Apocalypse
Riding for the Feeling Bill Callahan Apocalypse
Crystalline Bjork Biophilia
Lonely Boy The Black Keys El Camino
Sister The Black Keys El Camino
Shuffle Bombay Bicycle Club A Different Kind Of Fix
Perth Bon Iver Bon Iver
Till the World Ends (Remix) Britney Spears Femme Fatale
(feat.Kesha & Nicki Minaj)
Street Halo Burial Street Halo
County Line Cass McCombs Wit’s End
Blind Faith Chase And Status No More Idols
Coastin Cities Aviv
There’s Nothing In The Water We Can’t Fight Cloud Control Bliss Release
The Great Pan is Dead Cold Cave
Need You Now Cut Copy Zonoscope
Pharaohs & Pyramids Cut Copy Zonoscope
Muscle Memory Dananananaykroyd There Is a way
You Don’t Know Danny & The Champions Of The World Hearts & Arrows
Thrones The Dears Degeneration Street
Calamity Song The Decemberists The King Is Dead
Down By The Water The Decemberists The King Is Dead
Kaputt Destroyer Kaputt
Chinatown Destroyer Kaputt
Used To Be A Cop Drive-By Truckers Go-Go Boots
Book Of Revelation The Drums Portamento
Wrong Feels Right Dum Dum Girls Only in dreams
The A Team Ed Sheeran +
My Mistakes Eleanor Friedberger Last Summer
California EMA Past Life Martyed Saints
Changed The Way You Kiss Me Example Playing In The Shadows
Helplessness Blues Fleet Foxes Helplessness Blues
Grown Ocean Fleet Foxes Helplessness Blues
Shake It Out Florence And The Machine Ceremonials
Pumped Up Kicks Foster The People
novacane Frank Ocean Nostalgia, ultra
Chimes Friendly Fires Pala
Queen Of Hearts Fucked Up David Comes To Life
Glass Jar Gang Gang Dance Eye Contact
Cash And Carry Me Home Ghostpoet Peanut Butter Blues & Melancholy Jam
Liiines Ghostpoet Peanut Butter Blues & Melancholy Jam
Die Girls Father, Son, Holy Ghost
Sensations In The Dark Gruff Rhys Shampoo Hotel
My House Hercules & Love Affair Blue Songs
Behold The Hurricane The Horrible Crowes Elsie
Still Life The Horrors Skying
Meltdown Ill Blu Meltdown EP
Me And Lazaru Iron & Wine Kiss Each Other Clean
Tree By The River Iron & Wine Kiss Each Other Clean
Another Girl Jacques Greene
Limit To Your Love James Blake James Blake
Lady Luck Jamie Woon Mirrorwriting
I’ll Take Care Of You Jamie xx & Gil Scott-Heron We’re New Here
Otis Jay-Z & Kanye West Watch the Throne
Cradle The Joy Formidable The Big Roar
Banana Ripple Junior Boys
Civilization Justice Audio, Video, Disco
Days Are Forgotten Kasabian Velociraptor!
Broken Record Katy B On A MIssion
Bats In The Attic King Creosote & Jon Hopkins Diamond Mine
Jesus Fever Kurt Vile Smoke Ring For My Halo
Video Games Lana Del Rey
The Beast Laura Marling A Creature I Don’t Know
Ritual Union Little Dragon Ritual Union
Generation Liturgy Aesthetica
Try To Sleep Low C’mon
Midnight City M83 Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming
Bataille The Men
The Look M etronomy The English Riviera
Polish Girl Neon Indian
Waiting for My Chance to Come Noah and the Whale Last Night on Earth
The Glorious Land PJ Harvey Let England Shake
The Words That Maketh Murder PJ Harvey Let England Shake
Lotus Flower Radiohead The King Of Limbs
It’s Real Real Estate Days
Wildfire SBTRKT
Pencil Pimp Sepalcure
Chloe in the Afternoon St. Vincent Strange Mercy
Cruel t. Vincent Strange Mercy
Under Cover Of Darkness The Strokes Angles
The Dream Thee Oh Sees
New Beat Toro Y Moi
Bizness tUnE-yArDs w h o k i l l
If You Wanna The Vaccines What Did You Expect From the Vaccines
Eyes Be Closed Washed Out Within and Without
House Of Balloons – Glass Table Girls The Weeknd House Of Balloons
Holy Ghost White Lies Ritual
Bed Of Nails Wild Beasts Smother
Romance Wild Flag Wild Flag
We Bros Wu Lyf Go Tell Fire To The Mountain
Spitting Blood Wu Lyf Go Tell Fire To The Mountain
Civilian Wye Oak
Get Away Yuck Yuck
Although there are quite a few electronic/ dance tracks on the list this is actually the area where I have been most disappointed. People have spoken about dub-step coming to the fore encompassing other sounds but to me it too often is starting to sound like something I have heard before. However the world of electronic music did provide me with something I had never seen before and so Big Bad Wolf by Duck Sauce became my music video of the year.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKMoVAObbhE&ob=av2e&oref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fresults%3Fsearch_query%3Dduck%2Bsauce%2Bbig%2Bbad%2Bwolf%26oq%3Dduck%2Bsauce%2Bbig%2Bbad%2Bwolf%26aq%3Df%26aqi%3Dg4%26aql%3D%26gs_sm%3De%26gs_upl%3D7065l2[/youtube]
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