Another year, another 365 days of music. What has 2011 bought for music then? Well it has been the year of the underdog. Winding it back to 2010, no one in their right minds would have suspected/predicted the outcome of this year, Adele selling exponential numbers of albums? Gaga, Britney and Beyonce all flopping? It is all weirdly surreal, yet it all weirdly occurred. Besides success, music has had a really good year and it's time to countdown my top 20 singles & albums of the year along with my top 10 'throwbacks' of the year and the worst 3 albums of the year. Without further ado, I present the honorable mentions, those albums that were phenomenal releases but weren't quite good enough.
Beyonce: 4
Starting off our countdown this year is Beyonce's 4. An album about Beyonce's happiness in love and her life, 4 charts Beyonce's admiration for Mr. Z and it is perfectly pieced together. Beyonce belts, writes and 'club-bangs' her way through her relationship. You have your urban powerhouses with Party + Countdown and your soft, pondering ballads with I Was Here + 1+1, it has everything in one package. What then pulls it back? What pulls it back is that there is nothing new in there and ultimately there is nothing Beyonce in there, it pulls (brilliantly) from Prince, Michael Jackson and James Brown yet it misses Beyonce's own spark. However, that doesn't stop it being a stellar record and although it didn't sell it is by far Beyonce's best record yet. Countdown:
SBTRKT: sbtkrt
Next is this gem, a surreal 'bass' album that encapsulates together dubstep, twostep, triphop and all its other derivatives. There is nothing here that is new, experimental or exciting, it sticks to the basics but that is not all bad because it does the basics very well. It doesn't seek any crossover appeal, it simply wants to be accepted for what it is, a great bass album. There are elements of soul, blues and garage within the mix and these are complimented beautifully by the remarkable set of features ranging from Little Dragon to Sampha. One of the best electronic releases this year, and this year has been a good year for electronic music. Wildfire:
Kate Bush: 50 Words For Snow
Proving she is still Ms.Weird, Kate Bush released the oddest Christmas album ever to grace the world. With each song clocking in at longer then 6:00 and compromising of primarily a voice and piano, there is something very haunting about the sonics of this album both in terms of structure and themes. If the sonics are not weird enough then one has to content with a commune with a snowflake, a conversation with a snowman and Stephen Fry repeating 50 words of snow. The most interesting aspect of the whole thing is Kate's voice as it recedes, grows and envelops the listener to simulate everything from the calm sea to a *******ial blizzard. Addressing Nature and treating the human as distant there is a distinct discomfort in the whole thing. However as soon as we realise this we understand why Gaga never will be quite as weird as Kate Bush. Snowflake:
As much as 2011 has spawned some amazing music, it has also been home to frankly some pretty awful music. These albums really are real stinkers and I apologize if you have brought them, you should get a refund.
Lupe Fiasco: Lasers
After presenting himself as an MC with huge potential as a 'skate-boy' on Flood & Liquor and Cool, that was by all measures a rapper that could become huge, he released this abomination. The album is almost like a cage for Lupe, the frenzy of the production crowds in what should be the centrepiece of the album, Lupe's rapping. The features don't help either, the half-arsed attempts at creating singer/rapper duets with strong hooks falls flat on its face. The hooks are rather more irate then anything else. Please pick yourself back up again Lupe. Out Of My Head:
LMFAO: Sorry For Party Rocking
These two goofballs running around waving their lycra studded bodies is bound to suggest anything other then nonsensical dance-pop rubbish. Full of ridiculous nonsense, the album is more of an attack on the ears then anything. Truly awful and that shines in the fact that it hasn't even hit gold even after two massive singles. If you are stupid enough to waste money on their singles in the first place then why not go ahead and buy the damn album; it may save us the grace of radio garbage. Sexy and I Know It:
Justin Bieber: Under The Mistletoe
The cover says it all, a pre-pubescent teen wearing make-up surrounded by glitter. It really wants to make you gag and it gets worse when you listen to the songs. After the blatant rip off of Jason Mraz you get to listen to a kid squeal at the top of his voice over percussion-driven drivel. Let's all hope he doesn't have a pair of balls, maybe then he won't be able to have children. It's almost as bad at his attempt to create a serious video last year with Pray. The angry lesbian is ruining christmas for parents of 10 year old girls everywhere. Mistletoe (I'm Yours):
Lou Reed & Metallica: Lulu
Metal Machine Music was a great experimental album that worked even in clouds of white-noise, however Lulu plain crashes and burns. There is nothing fascinating on this album other then the smart chuckle you get at this '**** you' approach to avant-garde for 'artistry' when in fact there is none of the sort present. Metallica, the most unwieldy of bands, strums chord after metal chord over Lou Reed's quiet voice and it creates wall of horrid noises encasing vocal strain. For 80 odd minutes we sit there listening to absolute nonsense. The View:
Rihanna: Talk That Talk
More at home in a ***** house then anywhere else, Talk That Talk sees Rihanna escalate it 500 times too far. Almost like an already sickly sweet doughnut further covered in icing, Rihanna covers her sexual tones from pervious albums in racy profanity that shouts and screams from vocal chaos. Never mind the fact the production is boring and already-done, the whiny scream of Rihanna's voice is enough to make any person sick. Couple this with the lyrics and I doubt it's the best friend of any parent anywhere in the world. I mean who wants their child burbling about 'sucking cockiness' at the age of 10? You Da One:
Wow, i'm in love with the banner and with your taste. I just have one thing to say concerning SBTRKT. I don't think it's basic. I think it's very experimental to be honest. I don't see any other dubstep producer doing the funky-soul mix he made to the electronic base, the way he did. I can't explain it right, but, considering many albums/bands/artists I've been finding out, this album is the most experimental I've listened to this year.