As you get older, you get more set in your ways and it’s hard to keep up, seek out and absorb new music and much easier to just flip on Pandora (or the radio, if you’re 100), and just go with the flow. Keeping up with your favorites is easy but generally your favorites tend to disappoint just an album or two after they’re anointed with the distinction. Albums by The Strokes and Radiohead fell short this year which left room for some discoveries. The music I listened to most in 2011 was a mix of my favorite bands (Okkervil River, Handsome Furs), newer artists (Smith Westerns, Lykke Li), bands I’d already written off (Fountains of Wayne, Wilco) and a few artists that had been around for decades but had never clicked with me until now (PJ Harvey, Stephen Malkmus).
In case you were wondering what my favorite album of 2011 is (so far), it’s without a doubt Okkervil River’s “I Am Very Far,” which I’ve been playing nonstop for about a week and comes out officially in another week (May 10). I got my first taste of the album early this year when they released the noisy stomper “Wake And Be Fine.” The album is a few shades darker than their last real LP (and one of my favorites of the decade/all time) “The Stage Names” and though they may never top that one, this somehow isn’t a disappointment.
I think by releasing the b-sides collection “The Stand-Ins” in-between helped bridge the gap of disappointment and totally cleared all expectations for whatever they did next. “The Valley” is the first song on the album and the one that most closely resembles their previous single. Both songs were recorded live in a room with a litany of musicians (two drummers, two pianists, two bassists, and seven guitarists) and the result is a cacophony of sound. Listen now. Or you can stream the entire album at NPR.
I love Okkervil River. In addition to being one of my current favorite bands, their last proper LP “The Stage Names” was one of my favorite albums of the decade (which probably means all time). I wasn’t as in love with their leftovers album “The Stand-Ins” though it had some good songs it just didn’t seem as fully thought-out as their other work (probably because it was an album of outtakes). However I am truly excited for their new album “I Am Very Far” out May 10th and this new song sounds pretty great. They first premiered “Wake And Be Fine” on Late Night with (my karaoke buddy) Jimmy Fallon 2 months ago and have just released the studio version. Instrumentally the song has a cool Elliott Smith “Waltz #2 (XO)” vibe and doesn’t really sound like anything they’ve done before.
Unlike films which you have an initial reaction to and move on, music is something you can absorb over and over and over for days, weeks, months at a time. This makes compiling a list of favorite albums much easier (than one for films), the ones you listened to the most were the ones you loved. There really is no other merit to award them. Some of these albums were a surprise, while a few had been eagerly anticipated, some I loved instantly, while many took multiple listens (sometimes even months) to love, but each brings me back to a particular period in time where I could only listen to that album. This is the music that meant the most to me released in the last decade, in order of preference.
1. THE STROKES - IS THIS IT? (2001)
2. ARCADE FIRE - FUNERAL (2004)
3. ELLIOTT SMITH - FIGURE 8 (2000)
4. WILCO - YANKEE HOTEL FOXTROT (2002)
5. RADIOHEAD - KID A (2000)
6. OKKERVIL RIVER - THE STAGE NAMES (2007)
7. THE NATIONAL - BOXER (2007)
8. HANDSOME FURS - PLAGUE PARK (2007)
9. WOLF PARADE - APOLOGIES TO THE QUEEN MARY (2005)
1. Girl Talk - Feed The Animals favorite tracks: Play Your Part (Pt. 1), Shut The Club Down, Play Your Part (Pt. 2) 2. TV On The Radio - Dear, Science favorite tracks: Dancing Choose, Family Tree, Love Dog 3. The Walkmen - You & Me favorite tracks: Seven Years of Holidays (for Stretch), Four Provinces, I Lost You
4. Kanye West - 808’s & Heartbreak favorite tracks: Amazing, Paranoid, Coldest Winter 5. Nada Surf - Lucky favorite tracks: See These Bones, Are You Lightning?, Ice On The Wing 6. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! favorite tracks: Today’s Lesson, Albert Goes West, Lie Down Here (And Be My Girl) 7. Wolf Parade - At Mount Zoomer favorite tracks: Soldier’s Grin, Language City, Fine Young Cannibals
8. Okkervil River - The Stand-In’s favorite tracks: Lost Coastlines, Blue Tulip, Calling And Not Calling My Ex 9. Jay Reatard - Matador Singles ‘08 favorite tracks: See Saw, Screaming Hand, You Mean Nothing To Me 10. Beck - Modern Guilt favorite tracks: Orphans, Gamma Ray, Profanity Prayers 11. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend favorite tracks: Oxford Comma, M79, I Stand Corrected
12. Port O’Brien - All We Could Do Was Sing favorite tracks: I Woke Up Today, Stuck On A Boat, Fisherman’s Son 13. Coldplay - Viva La Vida favorite tracks: Lost!, Lovers In Japan / Reign Of Love, Death And All His Friends 14. The Hold Steady - Stay Positive favorite tracks: Constructive Summer, Stay Positive, Slapped Actress 15. Deerhunter - Microcastle favorite tracks: Never Stops, Little Kids, Nothing Ever Happened
