2011: A Year In Which I Listened To Music (And Will Now Tell You About It)

Everyone does year-end lists, and some music and music fans live and die by these lists. Bands and record labels time their strongest releases for late summer and early fall to reach the optimum time frame to make in onto these lists. If you don't believe that, take a second and try and remember if King Of Limbs came out this year or late last year. Me too. I completely forgot that that record came out this year. Do you know what I bought next to it, in the same transaction? Adele's 21, that's what.

The point I'm trying to make is that no one will prosper or perish based on my list, but it's fun to put together every year, and I hope it's fun for others to read.

As a musician, people tend to ask me about music I listen to. As a musician, I am moved to answer them whether they've asked that question or not. As a musician, I feel that I am both incredibly qualified and also grossly not qualified to answer that question. What on earth do I know that you don't? The answer: nothing. Music is and will forever be at its root a personal, individualized experience. From Lady Gaga to The Decemberists, from Florence and the Machine to Lou Reed and Metallica; if it's your jam, then jam on. Maybe not the Lou Reed/Metallica fiasco, though. More on that later.

The Sleeper: Panda Bear's Tomboy

Upon first listen, this album didn't jump out at me. I shouldn't have been surprised, no Animal Collective or related album has ever jumped out at me at first. The key is to dig deeply into the record and become washed away in its waves of sheer sound. First and foremost, I am a sound-oriented person. Lyrics, image and even genre seem to be runners-up in what grabs my attention. Tomboy is a gigantic collage of sound, some of it familiar, some of it exciting and new, all of it entrancing and engaging.

The "Welcome Back": The Jayhawks' Mockingbird Time

The sad part about the 90s and its tidal wave of "regional artists getting national notice" is that so many of them fell apart at the height of their creative power. When Mark Olson left the band in '95, and Karen Grotberg left in 2000, it was a sad farewell to greatness. In 2011, the original members reunited to make "the best Jayhawks album that has ever been done" (their words). They succeeded.

This record was such a return to the college radio, rootsy rock n' roll that I loved when I was younger. The songs on this one are some of the best I've ever heard them do, particularly the single "She Walks In So Many Ways". This record made me so unbelievably happy this year, and has been in constant rotation since September.

The Worst Thing I Heard This Year: Lou Reed and Metallica's Lulu

Anyone who has heard me say anything about music this fall has

heard me drag this one over red-hot coals multiple times. And to those who may actually have enjoyed it (please never tell me who you are, I would hate to ruin a current/future friendship), let me say this: this record represents everything that can go wrong in a collaborative project amongst icons. You've got the ego of Lou Reed, clearly coasting on fumes as he has not put out any new material worth a damn in years (I exclude the live album of Berlin that came out last year, but that album was originally released in 1973). You've got pretty much the same situation with Metallica (their Some Kind Of Monster documentary did not rejuvenate them, but rather made us all see them for the megalomaniacs they are). You put them in an expensive studio together, you hire expensive Bob Rock and team of engineers and you get... trash. Nothing even worth admitting to its own existence, much less being released. You pretty much take a few hundred thousand and set it on fire. And then release the ashes.

The worst part of all of this is that no one comes out of this record looking good. Lou's lyrics are trite when they're not downright racist and offensive. Metallica sounds like they're playing themselves in Gu

itar Hero. And yet, I imagine the amount of high-fives, back-slaps and honest-to-God weeping that probably went on during the recording of this... thing. They probably thought they were making something good, even great. The fact that no one involved in this record had a second thought as to its quality is the hugest crime.

How Do They Keep Getting Better?!: Low's C'Mon

Low has never been a flashy band, a hook-filled band or even a very heard-of band. They're name kind of says it all. But when I was introduced to them in college, I immediately connected with them. Their

April release quickly became one of my favorites for the year, from the first chords of "Try To Sleep", the album's opener. This album contains so much power and energy without ever going quicker than a fast crawl. It also provided for one of my personal concert highlights this year, which was seeing them in the sanctuary at the First Unitarian Church. They soared that night, echoing amongst the vaulted ceilings with sustained guitars and steady, almost orchestral percussion. This album still gets me going every time I put it on.

The Nepotism Picks: Tallahassee's Jealous Hands and Katie Barbato's The Millay Tapes

These picks get their own category because I personally know the musicians involved, and some would say that that would make me biased. And it does. If you can't trumpet the talent of your friends to all who will listen, who's going to do it for you when your time comes?

I watched the process of Jealous Hands from the sidelines, anxiously awaiting its completion. It's true that I knew every song that would be on there, but I wanted so badly to here them presented at their best. And the boys of Tallahassee came through in fine color. This album is one of my favorite collections of music I have heard all year, and I would say that even if I had never heard of them before. It is a record of such simple beauty and honest moments. It is both entirely original and pleasantly familiar. It embraces its folk roots without being trendy or derivative, and it highlights all of their musical muscles: the soft and mournful ("Jealous Hands"), the brooding and explosive ("Front Teeth") and the raucous and wild ("Heaven Ain't For Me").

Katie Barbato's record was a fascinating project when she first told me about it. She was in the process of getting the rights to poems by Edna St. Vincent Millay, a New England poet from the early 20th century. Her plan was to make a record of songs with the poems as the lyrics. I was expecting an interesting record, but she knocked it out of the park.

Each one of these songs not only builds itself using the poems as the words, but builds on the very themes of each poem. Set to amazing alt-country arrangements, swirling with harmonies and powerful lead vocals, this record knocked me back when I first listened to it in its entirety. "Alms" starts as a simple acoustic number, but turns into a stomp-and-clap sing-along before you even know it. My favorite cut off the album is hands-down the haunting "The Curse", with its rich melody and harmonies and a cello performance that gave me shivers.

Both these records were made by friends. Both these records stand up to anything else out there, and in many cases, kick the crap out of a lot of music that came out this year. Check them both out. Ending shameless plugs now.

Before I get to my top pick of the year, there's a handful of things that will suffice in list form:

Worst Cover: Nick Cave and Neko Case- She's Not There (The Zombies) from True Blood season premiere

Best Cover: The Decemberists- Begin The Begin (REM) from this video I saw on YouTube. (My apologies for the quality, it is literally the only recording of this.)

Notable Concerts of 2011: Portishead @ The Hammerstein Ballroom, New York City, October. Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears @ The TLA, Philadelphia, June. Trail Of Dead @ First Unitarian Church, Philadelphia, May. Tallahassee @ The Bug Jar, Rochester NY, September.

Honorable 2011 Mentions: Mastodon's The Hunter (one of the only metal records I acquired this year), St. Vincent's Mercy, Wild Flag's Wild Flag, Battles' Gloss Drop, PJ Harvey's Let England Shake, Chris Isaak's Beyond The Sun (an amazing collection of Sun Records' songs), Cold War Kids' Mine Is Yours, tUnE yArDs' whokIll, Nick Lowe's The Old Magic.

Drum roll....

The Best Damn Record I Heard This Year: TV On The Radio's Nine Types Of Light

This record gets the gold start this year not just for being executed flawlessly and having a perfect ratio of flash to substance. This is the record that finally made me an honest to goodness fan of the band. It took me from a casual listener of the group's music to a hungry beast, devouring every track I could get my hands on. This is one of the very few records in a long time that, when it finishes, I press play again without hesitation.

It's so hard to describe the groups music, but it is a sonic assault of electronic and indie-rock. Such a pairing usually makes me steer the other way, but this record tastefully blends the elements into a whole piece of art that speaks for itself. There are aggressive beats on "Repetition" and "Future Shock", there is a slow build in the arrangement of "Second Song" that delivers so well when it hits the first chorus and "Will Do" is one of those rare modern songs that I can actually imagine being done in a dozen different styles and still keeping its essence. All told, this record blew my socks right off and I'm not scampering around trying to put them back on. It's a mature and truly outstanding piece of work that rewards the repeat listener and gives off enough energy to draw you in on the first listen.

Thanks to all the people who made music this year, from the big guys and gals in the fancy studios to my close friends and fellow Philly artists writing songs amidst our daily grind. Feel free to pass this on, check out any of the music, debate me publicly on my selections and generally enjoy the discourse that music provides us. Have a great holiday season and wonderful New Year!

PS- Shameless self plug: My new band The Way Home will be releasing our new record in early 2012. Check out a promo track on the website and share it with your friends. Spread the word, that's how things get done in this business. Thanks!