2011

                So I started this blog talking about how disappointing 2011 was, musically.  And 50-odd years of renewed perspective haven’t really changed that much.  I will say that my view of 2011 is somewhat more positive than it was back in January, driven I guess primarily by three factors.  First (and least), I’ve obtained a few more pretty good albums (chiefly the Noel Gallagher & Foo Fighters).  Secondly, I’ve had a bit more time to absorb some of these albums.  And thirdly, and most importantly, I’ve come to accept that the thoroughly mediocre 2011, while the worst year in my collection since at least the pre-punk nadir of 1974, doesn’t mean a) pop music is in a terminal decline or b) I’ve aged out of listening to it, but rather most probably c) that this is just a bad lull, but not unprecedented.  (although I’ll freely admit that, for reasons I’ll talk about more next time, you never can love new bands in your thirties as much as you can in your teens or twenties).  Still, this is not a good year.  A big year for roots-rock, but an uneven one, and not a particularly big year for any other genre.

                It’s the kind of year where one of my favorite albums of the year is actually a tribute-record, the Buddy Holly meets several generations of alt-rockers Rave On.  Tribute records are almost always uneven, but this one is at least more hits than misses, largely because almost all of these artists opt for the reinterpretation approach rather than the karaoke cover approach.  So it’s neat to hear Modest Mouse turn “That’ll Be The Day” into a Modest Mouse song, Cee-Lo turn “You’re So Square” into a Cee-Lo song, and (most surprisingly) Kid Rock turn “Well Alright” into a Memphis-soul song.  Still, while it’s fun, these projects are almost by definition non-essential.  Also non-essential (but pleasant enough) is AV Club Album of the Year 2011 Civilian by Wye Oak, an album that pretty much defines 2011.  It’s pleasant enough (in that ‘stately-indie’ sound that so dominated 2010), but hardly mind-blowingly great or anything (better than the National, worse than the Walkmen, if you’re keeping score, though the female vocals put me in the mind of old alt-rock favs Mazzy Star). 

                Also just solid but not blowing me away are the Roots, who of course are one of my favorite bands of the 21^st century, but kinda spend 2011 in an inferior echo of 2010.  Their proper album has conceptual ambition (being another of the surprisingly rare hip-hopera genre), but (like Fucked Up) they substitute lyrical/conceptual ambition for sonic innovation.  Not a bad album, but not a great one to my ears either.  (also that, plus some stuff from Talib Kweli is shockingly all the hip-hop I have from this year).  The Roots also collaborate/are the backing band for a soul act again this year, for veteran Betty White, which is fine, but just ok (sot of how a lot of stuff goes this year).

                Like I said in the intro, though, what 2011 really is for me is a big year for roots-rock/Americana.  Some of this is veteran stuff, like the extremely consistent Willie Nelson (who does have a very nice cover of Coldplay’s “The Scientist,” but otherwise doesn’t really stand out from his (admittedly high-quality) career to date.  You also get Steve Martin making a surprisingly straight bluegrass/banjo album (it’s not that it isn’t funny, because it can be (and there’s a remake of “King Tut”), but it’s primarily focused on the music, with lighthearted lyrics, rather than being a comedy album). 

                The indie-rockers too are largely playing it straight this year.  The Fleet Foxes have always been traditionalists at heart, and while they do expand their sound a little bit, there’s nothing radically new here (or anything that wouldn’t sound out-of-place in early 70s LA country-rock).  So more pleasant but unremarkable stuff.  The Decemberists do change up their sound considerably, abandoning their prog-rock ambitions (boo!) for a simpler folk-rock sound, but this isn’t a return to their theatrical early sound either.  Rather, this sounds like 80s R.E.M. at their folkiest, all jangly guitars and lilting melodies (and some Peter Buck guest appearances).  I like it better than their early sound (as it feels less arch, which I’m sure is why some people prefer the early stuff), but like the Fleet Foxes, they wouldn’t sound at all out of place in an earlier folk-rock scene (for the Decemberists, this means the 80s alt-rock folk, though).

                Blitzen Trapper, like the Fleet Foxes, are also looking back to the ‘70s, though they’re more interested in harder classic-rock sounds than the folk-rocking Foxes.  This has always been a part of their sound, as they started out with a Pavement-meets-Faces/Mountain hard rock sound, then moved toward being a modernist take on classic roots-rock.  By now, though, the ambition that made them compelling has largely disappeared, and this is basically just regressive Faces revivalism (and yes, by Faces-like, I do mean Stones-y but not as good).  This can be fun, and I’d probably judge it less harshly if I didn’t expect more from this band.  Still, they’re hardly the only ones working a 70s hard rock revival sound (not that there haven’t been some kind of 70s hard rock revivalists since at least the late 80s).  For a considerably better take on that kind of revivalism, though, the Black Keys continue to be one of the best rock bands active.  It’s almost a shame that one of the best rock bands active is so nakedly backward-looking, but their willingness to synthesize a lot of elements keeps this from being rote revivalism (esp. adding glam-rock swagger to organ-&-distorted guitar blues rock).  Plus, they’re one of the only active bands with any swagger at all this year, so I hold them in higher regard than I may have in other years. (so like the Ramones in 1976, when they were one of the few bands that remembered how to make really rockin’ rock & roll, and similarly backward-looking but modern, though unlikely to start a new punk-rock, primarily by virtue of having been doing this for too long to really spark a new movement).

                Amid all this 70s revivalism, though, is a return from a number of 90s roots-rockers, specifically the alt-country bands.  Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers aren’t strictly alt-country, but close enough, and have one of their more solid records this year, even if not breaking new ground.  The Old 97s similarly have been plying their alt-country wares for a while, but this year’s double album (released as two separate volumes) got them a bit more high-profile attention.  But in addition to these touring workhorses, the originators of alt-country are also back.  The Jayhawks reunite and basically split the difference between their early alt-country and later more pop sounds, so picking up without missing a beat.  Good, but really sounding like more of the same.  Wilco, on the other hand (not originators, but heirs to Uncle Tupelo), are probably the most exciting of this lot.  After 2-3 albums (counting the live one) of retreating into a mellow safe groove, Wilco have remembered how to push the envelope a little.  This isn’t a return to Yankee Hotel/Ghost heights, but they do seem to finally have regained a bit of their hunger to try something new.  This has the effect of making even the more traditionalist stuff sound a bit more lively.  We’ll see if this is a one-off, but hopefully means that Wilco are going to care again.

                But the most exciting of the alt-countriers are relative newcomers My Morning Jacket, who put out what to me is probably the album of their career to date.  The early stuff was more promising than good, Z dragged a bit, and Evil Urges was uneven at best, but Circuital sounds like a band that have figured out how to successfully press the envelope.  Even the radically non-roots stuff sounds much more natural (esp. the goofy but fun “Holding On to Black Metal”).  For some reason, no one else seemed all that impressed, though, suggesting the critics had stopped caring.  This confuses me, as this sounds to me like a band improving its sound, rather than just spinning its wheels.  A similar (to me inexplicable) lack of interest surrounded the new TV on the Radio, which is not so clearly their best, but nevertheless is at least as worthy as their last two (and similar in its art-soul direction).  Maybe the faddish interest of critics had simply passed them by, but this to me is one of the better albums of the year, being experimental, clever, and highly listenable.  Passé?  Perhaps, but better than a lot of what’s out there.

                I certainly don’t understand why TV on the Radio were slept on when other art-soul acts attracted so much attention.  Frank Ocean is understandable, since his debut clearly suggests a man with the potential to be a major talent.  Even his Hammer-sized sampling is tweaked enough to sound deliberate and innovative, rather than just lazy.  Overall, very much following from TV on the Radio, combining the experimental bent of modern art-rock with soul, but a soul far more grounded in contemporary stuff.  Similarly contemporary but far less interesting are the Weeknd, who like Frank Ocean made waves with free mixtapes rather than proper albums.  As freebies, I judge these Weeknd things more or less favorably, but I don’t understand why people love them so much.  Mildly forward-thinking contemporary R&B, but worth noting only because so much modern R&B is unlistenable, and not because this is especially worthy on its own terms.  Certainly I get people caring more about Ocean (who doesn’t have the best album, but certainly has the best debut of the year), but the Weeknd seem to be more hype than greatness (so the opposite of where TV on the Radio are at this point).

                Also not nearly as good as the waves of hype may suggest is the new Radiohead album.  They’ve been gone for awhile, and it’s always exciting to hear new stuff from them, plus this stuff is so obtuse and hard to immediately grok that it’s easy to see why first impulses would be to assume it’s a grower and future listening will show King of Limbs to be as great as their previous greats.  But a few months on, this sounds more and more like a stumble, not a grower.  There’s some interesting ideas here, and it’s certainly worth hearing, but I still think this might be their weakest since Pablo Honey (though admittedly, that Bends to In Rainbows run is one of the greatest in rock history).  Everyone stumbles, it’s just too bad that Radiohead make us wait years then stumble.

                Gorillaz are similarly less-than-inspired this year, but though it’s not  a b-sides comp, The Fall is probably more fairly considered a peer of G-Sides and D-Sides than the proper albums, as another follow-up piece of ephemera rather than a major statement (and anyway Plastic Beach’s b-sides were all remixes and no new originals).    What this really is is confirmation of my theory that Albarn, like Clapton, is the kind of artist who only rises to greatness when he’s got collaborators pushing him, as this basically Albarn-only Gorillaz album is far less interesting than the other, more collaborative stuff.  (though Albarn gets the edge over Clapton because he actively seeks out collaborators, while Clapton spent large portions of his career happily working in lazy isolation). 

                A much better beat-happy British act this year is Cornershop, who continue their return from exile with more stuff that sounds both experimental and somewhat out of time.  That they sound out of time this year is not surprising, as this album’s been many years in the making (first single “Topknot” debuted in 2004, after all).  But it’s the band returning to more ambitious sonics after the trad-rock groove of the last two; this one is much more a soul-based album, all horn charts & dance beats, topped off with a new Punjabi lead singer.  Colorful in that very late-90s kind of world-beat way. 

                And the alt-rock mini-revival continues apace elsewhere this year.  Oasis are done, but both Gallagher brothers have new solo albums.  I didn’t bother with Liam’s Beady Eye, but Noel’s solo debut is worthy enough, returning to the low-key craftsman mode of Don’t Believe the Truth, but a bit less rocking & swaggering without a proper band (though he’s at least as good a signer as his brother at this point).  Worth, solid trad/Kinksy songwriting, but like a lot of this year, good without being great.  Fellow alt-rock craftsmen the Foo Fighters do a bit better this year, abandoning their pleasant-but-somewhat-dull more acoustic ambitions to return to surging guitar-rock.  This is probably as energetic as the band’s sounded since at least One By One, at times sounding almost metallic, and it’s energizing even if lacking the effortless hooks that made 90s Foos so engaging.  If Noel has hooks without energy, the Foos have more energy & drive, but not quite the soaring Sugar-like hooks on which they made their name.  Fellow grunge-surivivors Pearl Jam are in a similar place, with their current live act.  They’ve got the energy & drive, but while they used to be the boundary-pushing experimentalists of grunge, they’ve decidedly settled into a more workhorse role in their long late period.

                And so to close out the yearly-listening portion of this project (next up is a retrospective/listening to the best-of-years), I’ll turn to the punk rockers.  The Gaslights make time with a mostly-covers EP, but while this is fun, it’s also not exactly exciting.  The covers sound like you’d expect, and there are no originals.  It’s fun, but not as exciting as this band can be.  On the other hand, Fucked UP manage to easily drop the best Important Album of the Year (like Arcade Fire last year).  Like the Roots, they’ve traded sonic ambition for lyrical ambition, with a twisty metatextual rock opera (i.e. the narrator becomes a character at some point).  So pretty dense intellectually, but they’ve traded their prog-core instrumental attack for something closer to straight-up hardcore.  Pretty powerful, like Zen Arcade with better production and a more coherent story.  Definitely a worthy way to close out the project, with a really solid album.

Song of the Year:  Trent Reznor & Karen O. – “Immigrant Song.”  I feel a little odd picking a cover as my song of the year, but 1) it really wasn’t a year with any other contenders for standout song, and 2) it’s really good.  Unlike the Beatles or Stones, Zeppelin (and the Who) are apparently mystifyingly hard to cover in a way that’s more than just karaoke.  I really can’t think of any other Zeppelin covers that come close (compare, for instance, the competent but achingly inessential & rote Stone Temple Pilots “Dancing Days.”)  But Reznor really finds a way to both keep the spirit & intensity of the song, and to update it in a way that sounds both fresh and respectful of the original.  Plus, it made the opening credits of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo a better James Bond opening credit sequence than any actual Bond opening credits sequence in years.

Album of the Year:  The Black Keys – El Camino.  Fucked Up’s David Comes to Life is the only other real contender, and while that one had more ambition, I’d be lying if I pretended any other album came close to El Camino in terms of how much I’ve played and cherished it.  Possibly just because they’re just about the only real rock & roll band in my collection this year.  But regardless, an excellent piece of glammy, grungy blues-rock.

Artist Most Benefiting from Reevaluation:  Probably Fucked Up, who have become one of my favorite bands of the last few years, and certainly one of the most consistently artistically ambitious.  TV on the Radio get a special mention, though, for being a band where I overlooked how good their last one was.

Artist Most Diminished in Reevaluation:  Hard to pick this close to the year itself.  Maybe the Fleet Foxes, who I listened to a lot last year, but in review are pretty solidly unremarkable. 

Album List

Andrew Mitchell - 2011

Andrew Mitchell - All Asia July 29 2011

Andrew Mitchell - Covers

Betty Wright & the Roots - Betty Wright: The Movie

Blitzen Trapper - American Goldwing

Cornershop - & The Double 'O' Groove Of

Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues

Foo Fighters - Wasting Light

Frank Ocean - Nostalgia, Ultra.

Fucked Up - David Comes To Life

Gang Of Four - Content

Gorillaz - The Fall

Movits! - Out Of My Head

My Morning Jacket - Circuital

Nine Inch Nails - The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

Noel Gallagher - High Flying Birds

Old 97's - The Grand Theatre, Vol. 1

Old 97's - The Grand Theatre, Vol. 2

Pearl Jam - Toronto 9.11.11

Radiohead - The Daily Mail & Staircase

Radiohead - The King Of Limbs

Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers - Unida Cantina

Steve Martin - Rare Bird Alert

Talib Kweli - Gutter Rainbows

The Baseball Project - Vol. 2: High And Inside

The Black Keys - El Camino

The Decemberists - Long Live The King

The Decemberists - The King Is Dead

The Gaslight Anthem - iTunes Session

The Jayhawks - Mockingbird Time

The Mountain Goats - All Eternals Deck

The Othership - Aug 11 2011

The Othership - August 18 2011

The Roots - Undun

The Self-Proclaimed Rockstars - Postcards From Purgatory

The Weeknd - House of Balloons

The Weeknd - Thursday

TV On The Radio - Nine Types of Light

V/A - Rave On Buddy Holly

Wilco - The Whole Love

Willie Nelson - Remember Me, Vol. 1

Willie Nelson - The Scientist - Single

Wye Oak - Civilian