the dumbing of america

Top Albums of 2011: Artists’ Choice

 

We’re very fortunate to have met a lot of great musicians over the years.  Each December, we reach out to a few of them and ask them to tell us what were their favorite albums of the past year.  This year, we’ve also gotten a few writers and other music industry folks to contribute their lists.  To us, it’s fun to see what music our favorite musicians have been listening to.  While some of the selections were obvious, others had us scrambling to find and listen to.  Some musicians chose to rank the albums, while others asked that they not be listed in a specific order.  Essentially, this is your opportunity to hang out with us and see what inspired those who inspire us with their music.  As with our picks for the best of 2011, we’ve given you an opportunity to listen to some of these records while reading the article, thanks to our friends at Rdio.  Unlike that list, we didn’t make every album available to you, but we’ve picked one album from each list.

 

Tyler Williams- The Head and the Heart

1. Bon Iver – Bon Iver

 

2. Yuck – Yuck

 

3. My Morning Jacket – Circuital

 

4. Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues

 

5. Feist – Metals

 

6. Kurt Vile – Smoke Ring for My Halo

 

7. Destroyer – Kaputt

 

8. Wu Lyf – Go Tell Fire to the Mountain

 

9. Girls – Father, Son, Holy Ghost

 

10. The Antlers – Burst Apart

 

 

Ritzy- The Joy Formidable

(in no particular order)

Telekinesis – 12 Desperate Straight Lines

 

Gillian Welch – The Harrows and the Harvest

 

Wilco – The Whole Love

 

The Antlers – Burst Apart

 

Foo Fighters – Wasting Light

 

Airship – Stuck in the Ocean

 

Dutch Uncles – Cadenza

 

Anna Calvi – Anna Calvi

 

The Jayhawks – Mockingbird Time

 

And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead – Tao of the Dead

 

 

Peter Hook- Joy Division/New Order/Peter Hook and The Light

Labyrinth- Earthquake

 

Example- Kickstart

 

Noah and the Whale- Last Night On Earth

 

Elbow- Build a Rocket Boys

 

Peter Hook and The Light- Pictures in My Mind

 

Foster The People- Pumped Up Kicks

 

P Diddy- Coming Home

 

Master Chef- Buttery Biscuit Base

 

Janes Addiction- Irresistible Force

 

Miles Kane- Come Closer

 

 

Brandon- Crocodiles

Dum Dum Girls – “He Gets Me HIgh” EP/ “Only In Dreams” LP

 

Reading Rainbow – “Cover The Sky” 7″

 

Kurt Vile – “Smoke Ring For My Halo” LP

 

Veronica Falls – “S/T” LP

 

Hollie Cook – “S/T” LP

 

Unknown Mortal Orchestra – “S/T” LP

 

Psychic Dancehall – “Dreamers” LP

 

The Horrors – “Skying” LP

 

Plateaus – “Beach Coma/Suzy” 7″

 

John Maus – “We Must Become The Pitiless Censors Of Ourselves” LP

 

 

Charles Rowell- Crocodiles

1. John Maus – We Must Become…

 

2. Peaking Lights – 936

 

3. Hollie Cook – S/t

 

4. Dum Dum Girls – Only In Dreams

 

5. Maria Minerva – Caberet Cixous

 

6. PJ Harvey – Let England Shake

 

7. White Fence – Is Growing Faith

 

8. Zola Jesus – Conatus

 

9. Colleen Green – Kujo

 

10. Kurt Vile – Smoke Rings

 

 

Courtney Smith- Author- Record Collecting For Girls

Lykke Li- Wounded Rhymes

 

Florence + The Machine- Ceremonials

 

Los Campesinos!- Hello Sadness

 

La Sera- s/t

 

Washed Out- Within and Without

 

The Rosebuds- Loud Planes Fly Low

 

Pistol Annies- s/t

 

Friendly Fires- Pala

 

The Horrors- Skying

 

TV on the Radio- Nine Types of Light

 

 

Libyans- Kevin (guitar)

Times New Viking – Dancer Equired

 

M83 – Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming

 

Yuck – s/t

 

One Happy King – Demo

 

Outdates – Can’t Motivate 7″

 

 

Libyans- Dan (drums)

Ancient Filth – Demo tape

 

Young Offenders/ Hex Depensers – split 7″s

 

Wild Flag – s/t LP

 

Duffy – Endlessly LP

 

Panzram – A New Mental Disorder For Youth In Disapprovally

 

Panzram – Reform 10″

 

Astronauts – Peter Pan Hits the Suburbs (reissue)

 

Diet Cokeheads – Ocular 7″/ Pro CS Tape

 

Brain F≠ – Rough Sleep 12″

 

G.A.S.H./ Cleansing Wave – split 7″

 

 

Diehard

Except for a couple of these albums, we couldn’t agree on the same ten records to fill this list.  After we could no longer agree, we took turns choosing tracks.  It’s shocking how well we get along writing songs together when a fist fight could break out over what to put on the car stereo.

Wye Oak – Civilian (huge band crush action going on here)

 

Radical Dads – Mega Rama (fellow Brooklynites with some sweet ass tunes)

 

St. Vincent – Strange Mercy (Hogging all the talent)

 

Feist – Metals (Hogging the rest of the talent)

 

Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks – Mirror Traffic (Now we all know what to get our favorite Senator for the holidays)

 

Quilty – Strange Matter EP (A Halloween EP from Quilty)

 

Wild Flag – S/T (Ezra)

 

Diehard – The Times We Didn’t Have Fun (Liz)

 

Julianna Barwick – The Magic Place (Evan)

 

Lou Reed & Metallica – Lulu (Zeph)

 

 

Ainara LeGardon

1- PJ Harvey- Let England Shake

 

2- Za!- Megaflow

 

3- Big Sexy Noise- Trust the witch

 

4- Jaap Blonk – The Splinks and  BRAAXTAAL recordings

 

5- Screaming Trees- Last Words: The Final Recordings

 

6- Lisabö . Animalia Lotsatuen Putzua

 

7- Thurston Moore- Demolished Thoughts

 

8- J Mascis- Several shades of why

 

9- Eddie Vedder- Ukulele Songs

 

10- She Keeps Bees- Dig on

 

 

//orangenoise- Talha Wynne

Thurston Moore - Demolished Thoughts

 

Thundercat - The Golden Age of the Apocalypse

 

Com Truise - Cyanide Sisters EP (reissue)

 

Battles - Gloss Drop

 

Incan Abraham - Sunscreen

 

Flaming Lips & Neon Indian  - Flaming Lips & Neon Indian

 

Run DMT/Happy Family - Banana Split

 

Chicago Odense Ensemble - Chicago Odense Ensemble

 

Kneebody - You Can Have Your Moment

 

Shattered Darlings & Liquid Kisses- S/T

 

 

Captain Polaroid

1. Johnny Foreigner – Johnny Foreigner vs Everything

 

2. REM – Collapse Into Now

 

3. The Birthday Suit – The Eleventh Hour

 

4. Bright Eyes – The People’s Key

 

5. The Vaccines – What Did You Expect From The Vaccines?

 

6. The Joy Formidable – The Big Roar

 

7. Death Cab for Cutie – Codes and Keys

 

8. Roddy Woomble – The Impossible Song & Other Songs

 

9. Point Juncture, WA – Handsome Orders

 

10. Los Campesinos! – Hello Sadness

I’d like to point out the Male Bonding miss out because the album was too similar to Nothing Hurts and Yuck because while I like the record, I keep forgetting it exists. Warm Brains might’ve been in there but I didn’t get my mp3s with the vinyl so I’ve only had chance to listen to it a handful of times. Enjoyed the Radiohead album eventually but it’s too short and their worst collection of songs.

 

 

Dirtblonde

1- PJ Harvey, ‘Let England Shake’

 

2- Black Lips, ‘Arabia Mountain’

 

3- Ladytron, ‘Gravity The Seducer’

 

4- Lykke Li, ‘Wounded Rhymes’

 

5- Thee Oh Sees, ‘Carrion Crawler/ the Dream’

 

6- Duke Spirit, ‘Bruiser’

 

7- S.C.U.M., ‘Again Into Eyes’

 

8- John Maus, ‘We Must Become The Pitiless Sensors of Ourselves’

 

9- EMA, ‘Past Life Martyred Saints’

 

10 – Kurt Vile, ‘Smoke Ring For My Halo’

 

 

Ryan Coseboom- Stripmall Architecture

Washed Out – Within and Without

 

Mogwai – Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will

 

Soft Metals – Soft Metals

 

I Break Horses – Hearts

 

David Lynch – Crazy Clown Time

 

Still Corners – Creatures Of An Hour

 

Teeel – Amulet

 

M83 – Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming

 

Widowspeak – Widowspeak

 

Gang Gang Dance – Eye Contact

 

Kjartan Holm- For A Minor Reflection

1. Ceremonials – Florence + The Machine

 

2. Cherish the Light Years – Cold Cave

 

3. David Comes To Life – Fucked Up

 

4. Bon Iver – Bon Iver

 

5. Cloud Nothings – Cloud Nothings

 

6. The Big Roar – The Joy Formidable

 

7. Big Spring – Helgi Jónsson

 

8. Life Sux EP – Wavves

 

9. Strange Mercy – St. Vincent

 

10. Metals – Feist

 

 

The Field (Alex Willner) Favorites Of 2011 (in no particular order/not necessarily released in 2011)

Tame Impala- Innerspeakers

 

Gas- Zauberberg

 

Hans-Joachim Roedelis- Wenn Der Südwind Weht

 

Arthur Russell- World of Echo

 

Ashra- New Age of Earth

 

 

Bolywool

Explosions in the Sky – Take care take care take care

 

The Appleseed Cast – Middle States EP

 

Mogwai – Hardcore will never die

 

Radiohead – King of Limbs

 

The Horrors – Skying

 

The Marshmallow Ghosts- s/t

 

Anna Järvinen – Anna själv Tredje

 

Bon Iver – Bon Iver

 

Woods – Sun and Shades

 

Sigur Rós – Inní

 

 

Home Video

James Blake – James Blake

 

M83 – Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming

 

Other Lives – Tamer Animals

 

Lia Ices – Grown Unknown

 

Austra – Feel It Break

 

Hess Is More – Creation Keeps the Devil Away

 

The Field – Looping State of Mind

 

SBTRKT – SBTRKT

 

Mark E – Stone Breaker

 

Penguin Prison – Penguin Prison

 

 

 

Brooke- East Hundred

1. Bon Iver – Bon Iver

 

2. James Vincent McMorrow – Early in the Morning

 

3. Jessica Lea Mayfield – Tell Me

 

4. The War on Drugs – Slave Ambient

 

5. Other Lives – Tamer Animals

 

6. Feist – Metals

 

7. The Dodos – No Color

 

8. AA Bondy – Believers

 

9. Cults – Cults

 

10. Drive – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

 

 

Letting Up Despite Great Faults

1. Bombay Bicycle Club – A Different Kind Of Fix

 

2. Tycho – Dive

 

3. Korallreven – An Album By Korallreven

 

4. Craft Spells – Idle Labor

 

5. Wild Flag – Wild Flag

 

6. Metronomy – The English Riviera

 

7. Cults – Cults

 

8. Youth Lagoon – Year Of Hibernation

 

9. Papercuts – Fading Parade

 

10. The Drums – Portamento

 

 

Apteka

Kurt Vile- Smoke Rings For My Halo

 

M83- Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming

 

Pure X- Pleasure

 

Mogwai- Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will…

 

Esben and the Witch- Violet Cries

 

Cold Cave- Cherish The Light

 

Explosions in the Sky- Take Care, Take Care, Take Care

 

Little Dragon- Ritual Union

 

Dirty Beaches- Badlands