Each week I will listen to and review/preview a handful of the more interesting music albums released that week. The genres I will mainly focus on are Rock, Pop, Indie, Hip-Hop, Rap, and Electronic.
Happy New Year! My apologies for the tardiness of this posting but this week we continue our countdown of the best and worst from the world of music from 2011. Next week we return with more new album reviews including the latest from Snow Patrol!
Best Hip-Hop, Rap or R&B Album
Honorable Mentions:
Kanye West & Jay-Z - Watch The Throne
The Roots - Undun
Winner:
Raphael Saadiq - Stone Rollin' - The former member of Tony! Toni! Tone!'s album of old school R&B jams is a blast to listen to. He borrows from past greats but he is able to create new gems that Motown wishes it could still create.
Best Electronica Album
Honorable Mentions:
Shine 2009 - Realism
Thievery Corporation - Culture of Fear
Winner:
Mocean Worker - Candygram For MoWo! - Mocean Worker eschews his reliable heavy drum and bass sound instead adding the Acid to more traditional jazz melodies that is highly danceable and extremely enjoyable. Think the catchiest songs of St. Germain mixed with the best of Zero 7 and you have the music given to us on this superb album.
Best Pop, Rock or Indie Album
Honorable Mentions:
Starfucker - Reptilians
Clive Tanaka Y Su Orquesta - Jet Set Siempre 1°
Oh Land - Oh Land
Radiohead - The King of Limbs
Foster the People - Torches
Winner:
Danger Mouse & Daniel Luppi - Rome - This absolutely stunning soundtrack to a non-existent Western movie is both moving and beautiful. The sound is only elevated by the sublime vocal work of Jack White and Norah Jones on the tracks featuring lyrics. I could listen to this album endlessly.
Worst Album of 2011
"Honorable" Mention:
Mitch Winehouse - Rush of Love
"Winner":
Kate Bush - 50 Words For Snow - Mitch Winehouse's album could definitely be sitting in this spot but I already picked it last week for Worst Cover Song of the year so I'm spreading the wealth with the very disappointing, puts-you-to-sleep-in-under-five-minutes release from Kate Bush. If you need a nap, watch and listen to the video below.
Lykke Li Wounded Rhymes - Sweden's own indie/electropop singer releases her 10-track sophomore album. Like her debut album, this one is produced by Bjorn Yttling of Peter Bjorn and John. Li spent six months in L.A. writing and recording this album creating songs she called in a recent interview "hypnotic, psychotic and more primal." Lykke Li turns 25 this week, so happy birthday Ms. Li. Now let's see how timeless her new album is.
"Youth Knows No Pain" leads off the album with rousing drum and synthesizer work but relatively restrained vocals. It's an interesting and inviting opening track that's part progrock and part electropop. Next up is the jaunty "I Follow Rivers" which was the song most reminiscent of the tracks found on her debut album with its quirky melody and transcendent-sounding vocals. "Unrequited Love" is a slower song with a simple acoustic guitar backing and a country twang melody. "Get Some" is a rollicking track with clever lyrics, an immediately catchy beat and hook, and some subtle but extremely effective vocal work from Li that's reminiscent of Miss Kitten at her best that is a real standout track on first and repeated listens.
In addition to the "hypnotic, psychotic, and... primal" sounding music Li was aiming for, this album is darker and more somber than her quirky and more bouncy first album. The tracks given to us on this release definitely have more depth but that depth comes at the cost of some of the fun that the whimsicality of the first album was able to provide. In many ways, this is a better album than her first with superior production work, more elaborate songwriting, and definite growth over the passing years but I definitely missed the capriciousness she exhibited on her debut album. It's a more competent and complex album but one I ultimately found to be less fun to listen to.
Score: 7/10 Song(s) to Sample: "Get Some" [sample it below] and "I Follow Rivers"
Noah & The WhaleLast Night On Earth - The four-person indie folk/chamber pop band from Twickenham, England release their third album. This album was actually released in the U.K. last week but it doesn't drop in the States until today. In the U.K., Last Night On Earth debuted in the #8 spot for BBC Radio's Top 40 Albums chart last week. Let's see if the album is destined to make a big splash in the U.S. as well.
This 10-song album begins with "Life is Life" which I found to be a relatively bland pop song with a generic-sounding melody, boring lead and backing vocals, and stale percussion work. Fortunately the album slowly picks up steam after that. "Tonight's the Kind of Night" is a more lively turn with a more optimistic message and energetic tempo. It's not what I would consider a great song but it is more enjoyable than the opener. Next up is their first single from the album "L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N." which has a fun, bubblegum pop feel and optimistic lyrics to create an enjoyable summertime song. "Waiting for My Chance to Come" is another song with clever lyrics but a more interesting chamber pop melody that credibly layers both string and keyboard playing.
There are some decent songs on Last Night on Earth with lyrics that are very thoughtful and well written. Unfortunately, most of the melodies that accompany the lyrics don't have the same imagination and seem monotonous or uninspired at times, especially on the tracks that don't feature any keyboard work to help add an extra layer to their music. In many regards it is a better overall album than their 2009 release The First Days of Spring with greater consistency over the entire album its just that there weren't any spectacular songs that make you want to come back and listen to the album more than once. However, the music is very similar in style and feel to the music on their last album so, if you were a fan of that album, you will probably like this album just as much (if not more).
Score: 6/10 Song(s) to Sample: "L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N." [sample it below]
Oh LandOh Land - The daughter of an opera singer and an organist, Danish musician Nanna Oland Fabricius (aka Oh Land) releases her debut LP in the States. A former dancer of the Royal Swedish Ballet, she turned her attention towards creating music after an unfortunate accident where she ruptured a disk in her spine. She could be most recently be heard as the opening act for OMD on their latest tour and appeared on Letterman two weeks ago.
Oh Land's music is best described as electropop on this 11-track release. It opens with "Perfection" which has a downtempo beat, delicately layered synthesizers and horns, and angelic vocals to create a track that immediately draws you in. "Sun of a Gun" is more fun pop influenced song that starts slowly and builds to a crescendo over the bridge that will have you tapping your toe by the chorus. "Voodoo" has a faster, more uptempo sound with a lot of electronic sounds and loops like a Scissor Sister song but with a more restrained singing style. "White Nights" is another song with its footing firm in pop music that has an extremely catchy hook that instantly attracts your attention even if you are just listening to the album quietly as background music.
Overall, Oh Land is one impressive debut album that never seems to get lost nor feel the need to include any throwaway songs on the extremely concise album. There is a very rich and layered sound prominent over the entire disc both due to the songwriting and the post-production work. A lot of that probably has to do with her production team of Dan Carey (Franz Ferdinand & Hot Chip) and Dave McCracken (Depeche Mode & Beyoncé) who both continue to show they know how to create lush and lavish tracks no matter who they are working with. Oh Land's vocal work is also quite impressive sounding like a mixture of Siouxsie Sioux and Esthero, with a touch of Bjork on a handful of tracks. Truthfully, this release makes me sad that I skipped out on the OMD show when they were in town a few weeks ago because I now know I would have loved to hear Oh Land open for them in-person to see if she can recreate in a live performance the ample amounts of magic evident on this album.
Score: 9.5/10 Song(s) to Sample: "White Nights" and "Sun of a Gun" [sample it below]
