#1. St. Vincent’s Strange Mercy
Annie Clark has been my favorite working musician for a while, taking the torch from Deerhoof after they settled into workmanlike, albeit enjoyable, style of approaching each album. But a musician who consistently puts out releases that feel like whole statements, with every detail accounted for and audited, is rare. I like my guitars wonky and my chord progressions cloudy. Noise is beautiful in the right context. Words are the last thing to sink in so I have no idea what she’s singing about except for the excerpt from Marilyn Monroe’s diary. The vowels, rhythms, and timbre are usually enough for me. What am I? A writer? Not quite. Use this list as evidence. St. Vincent’s finest album.
#2 Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s Unknown Mortal Orchestra
I got UMO’s 7-inch in the mail at the turn of the year, making this my most anticipated release of 2011. The EP is basically half the album and I figured the rest of the tracks wouldn’t hold up. They do. They burn slower and cut deeper. It’s exactly what I wanted to like in 2011: smeared lo-fidelity, a seamless mix of samples and recorded instruments, wild guitars, earworm melodies, and funk borrowed from crate-digging compilations. I will party to this right now, actually.
#3 Atlas Sound Parallax
I love when experimental bands go pop. People call this selling out or dumbing down and I guess that can be the case sometimes but I think a lot it has to do with focus. Bradford Cox reigned in the key elements of his sound and made an album full of bona fide songs. After last year’s monster that was Deerhunter’s Halcyon Digest, I was underwhelmed at first but it’s grown on me a lot. Atlas Sound meets Sun Records.
#4. Skeletons People
I never know what to make of a Skeletons album when I first listen but every one is an event. From start to finish, I’m validated, embarrassed, inspired, curious, dumb. It’s as if Matt Mehlan is forever digging through our dumpsters and throwing everything he finds back at our faces. Sometimes I’m ashamed of what I’ve tossed out. This album is more sympathetic though and Matt is working through his own demons, weaving them into our own to find some connections. His best yet.
#5. Ford & Lopatin Channel Pressure
Snuck back into my brain a few days ago after a four-month hiatus. I listened to this non-stop over the summer and into the fall. Strong, convertible-ready pop songs popping out of a retro-futuristic mess is very appealing here and so is the museum of vintage synths making noise all over it.
