Album: The Harrow and the Harvest Artist: Gillian Welch Year: 2011 Gillian Welch is one of those artists who I always like but only occasionally love. With an eight year gap between albums, fans and critics alike had to wonder which Gillian Welch The Harrow and the Harvest would present. Would it be the Gillian… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Best New Music 2011
Tim Hecker, Dropped Pianos : Album Review
Album: Dropped Pianos Artist: Tim Hecker Year: 2011 When an electronic composer is bad, it is very very bad, but when it’s good, it can create something really wonderful, something that music with lyrics just can’t touch. This was my reaction to the new Tim Hecker album of sketches, aptly titled Dropped Pianos. Electronic… Continue Reading
Album Review: tUnE-YaRdS, “WHOKILL”
Album: WHOKILL Artist: tUnE-YaRdS Year: 2011 No it’s not tune-yards. It’s tUnE-YaRdS, and no it’s not indie-rock, it’s some kind of Afro-pop-electronic-soul fusion. And yes, the music is wonderful and new and different and deserves all the the acclaim it is receiving. tUnE-YaRdS is essentially a one-woman band, the work of Merrill Garbus, a young… Continue Reading
Album Review: Balam Acab, “Wander / Wonder”
Album: Wander/Wonder Artist: Balam Acab Year: 2011 The artist known as Balam Acab takes his name from a Mayan myth about a demi-god who shot an arrow into the clouds to relieve a drought. In the version I came across, the arrow pierces the cloud and draws out a rainbow, along with the rain.… Continue Reading
Album Review: Shabazz Palaces, “Black Up”
Album: Black Up Artist: Shabazz Palaces Year: 2011 I’m not an aficionado of hip hop or rap, but from time to time a hip hop album will grab me by the gut and not let go. This was the case with my first listen to the new release from Shabazz Palaces, Black Up. From… Continue Reading
Album Review: Jenny O, “Home EP”
Album: Home EP Artist: Jenny O Year: 2011 Discovering new music is fun, no matter how it happens. In this case, I was watching the bizarre-o black comedy, Wilfred on FX and during a fairly typical montage, this super catchy and charming song came on. I tried to use my iPhone to identify it, but when that… Continue Reading
Album Review: Blitzen Trapper, “American Goldwing”
Album: American Goldwing Artist: Blitzen Trapper Year: 2011 When’s the last time you rocked out to the sound of twanging jew’s harp? Right. It’s been a while for me, too. If this lack of hillbilly goodness is troubling you, get yourself a copy of Blitzen Trapper’s newest release, American Goldwing. It isn’t exactly country… Continue Reading
Album Review: Lykke Li, “Wounded Rhymes”
Album: Wounded Rhymes Artist: Lykke Li Year: 2011 I’ve always had a soft spot for power ballads, those sweeping emotive tracks that make you want to belt out lyrics along with the singer. In my youth, the only real power ballads I knew were, in fact, pretty awful- manipulative drivel about faux female empowerment which usually… Continue Reading
Album Review: Girls “Father, Son and Holy Ghost”
Album: Father, Son and Holy Ghost Artist: Girls Year: 2011 The trick of good music lies in the fact that every new song is built upon some music that already exists. There are only so many notes, so many chords and so many ways to bang a drum. The goal is not to come… Continue Reading
Album Review: CSS, “La Liberación”
Album: La Liberación Artist: CSS Year: 2011 Cansei de Ser Sexy, better known as CSS clearly has a lot of emotion to get out. Their third album, La Liberación comes three years after the somewhat disappointing release of Donkey, an album that received mixed reviews at best and from the sound of La Liberación, CSS took the… Continue Reading