What are your favoriite albums of 2011 so far?

[mvd]

By this, I mean your favorites that were released this year. I'm not going to try to list them all because that's for my year-end list. But here are some of my favorites. A nice relaxing music thread is good right now.

Favorite albums of 2011 include:

Vanessa Carlton - Rabbits On The Run
Kina Grannis - Stairwells
The Cars - Move Like This
Kate Voegele - Gravity Happens
Laura Stevenson & The Cans - Sit Resist
The Civil Wars - Barton Hollow
Christina Parri - lovestrong.
Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
Foo Fighters - Wasting Light
Eisley - The Valley
Lykke Li - Wounded Rhymes
Tristen - Charlatans At The Garden Gate
R.E.M. - Collapse Into Now
Stevie Nicks - In Your Dreams
The Stinkin' Pinkos - Songs to Offend Everyone
The Decemberists - The King Is Dead

[Forkboy]

1. Some standouts, in no order yet.

Altar of Plagues - Mammal
Sir Richard Bishop - Graviton Polarity Generator
Anaal Nathrakh - Passion
Yob - Atma (this will be very high on my list come the end of the year...#1 so far)
Autopsy - The Tomb Within (old school death metal, dank and nasty)
Endstille - Infektion 1813
Burzum - Fallen
Enslaved - Axioma Ethica Odini
Caina - Hands That Pluck
Crippled Black Phoenix - I, Vigilante
The Fucking Wrath - Season of Evil
Gnaw Their Tongues - L'arrivée De La Terne Mort Triomphante (that's a mouthful!)
Jello Biafra And The Guantanamo School Of Medicine - Enhanced Methods Of Questioning
Sewer Goddess - Verdigris
Tweak Bird - Lights In Lines (another that will be high on my list)


Still some big releases to come (namely the new Monolith Deathcult and Wolves in the Throne Room CDs), so some of these won't make the cut. And not all of these are from 2011. I just go by the first year I become aware of the CD, not the year it was released (sorry to not follow directions ;) ).

And this isn't exactly relaxing either. :D

:hi:

[mvd]

2. Definitely some big names coming out

I'm super anxious to hear the new Michelle Branch album as "Loud Music" is a return to her roots. The Fountains of Wayne album should be good. And others of course. Have a good day and enjoy your music. :hi:

[Forkboy]

3. "...and enjoy your music."

I always do. :)

Good to see a music thread again!

[OriginalGeek]

17. Yeah I am REALLY looking forward to the new WITTR

And I hope they tour because their live show is intense. I didn't even know Anaal Nathrakh had a new one out - gotta go shopping!

Rotten Sound has a new out or coming out very soon - I haven't heard it yet but want it.

But I'd have to do a lot of thinking on what my faves are that were released this year - I hear a lot and get a lot but I don't always pay attention to when something was released - when I find a band I like it could be from a 20 year old song or a 20 day old song...

[Forkboy]

24. Tour dates for WITTR...

8/28 Olympia, WA @ TBA
8/31 Minneapolis, MN @ The Medusa
9/1 Chicago, IL @ Reggie's Rock Club
9/2 Louisville, KY @ Rudyard Kippling
9/3 Cincinnati, OH @ The Mockbee
9/5 Saginaw, MI @ Jamestowne Hall
9/6 Toronto, ON @ Soybomb HQ
9/8 Montreal, QC @ Death Church
9/10 Bucksport, ME @ The Kave
9/11 Providence, RI @ TBA
9/12 Brooklyn, NY @ The Bell House
9/14 Washington, DC @ TBA
9/15 Philadelphia, PA @ Broad Street Ministries
9/16 Bethlehem, PA @ TBA
9/17 Richmond, VA @ Strange Matter
9/18 Greensboro NC @ Legitimate Business
9/20 Sheffield, AL @ JD's
9/21 Nashville, TN @ The Little Hamilton
9/22 Atlanta, GA @ Magnetic Theater
9/23 St. Petersburg, FL @ The Chop Shop
9/24 Tallahassee, FL @ The Farside Collective
9/25 New Orleans, LA @ TBA
9/27 Austin, TX @ TBA

I will be at the Providence show. Saw them in Boston on the Black Cascade tour and they smoked.

I'm like you, I don't go by actual release date. If I hear something for the first time this year I include it in my list. :)

[OriginalGeek]

38. Awesome!

I'll be hitting that St Pete show. They were fantastic the one time I saw them.

Thanks for the heads up!

[Brickbat]

4. Hot Sauce Committe Pt. 2, from the Beastie Boys.

[SteppingRazor]

7. Like I said in my post below, this mioght be my album of the year pick n/t

[Forkboy]

11. I didn't even know that was out until last week when someone told me about it.

Love the Beastie Boys, so I'll be getting it soon. How would you say it compares to their other stuff?

[Brickbat]

16. I find it excellent -- it recalls some of their classics, but also sounds more mature.

It makes me feel 22 again. :)

[Forkboy]

19. Well, I'll listen to anything that makes me feel 22 again lol.

I'll have to pick it up this week. :)

[LynneSin]

20. Their opening song is like a tribute to their early years but a reminder of their age

I mean the Beasties are probably about the same age as me (in the 40s).

They have Elijah Woods, Danny McBride and Seth Rogan play the Beasties Boys at age 20. During a trip they run into themselves at age 40, played by (in the same order) Will Ferrell, Jack Black and John C. Reilly.

Oh and there is a cowbell solo by Gene Frenkle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdgLMslbDuY

BTW if you go to the Beastie Boy's homepage there is a 30 minute video of this with a killer dance off between 20-something Beasties and 40-something Beasties.

[Forkboy]

21. That 30 minute video is how I found out this was even out.

A friend on Facebook posted it.

More cowbell! :rofl:

Can't wait to hear the whole CD, and will be picking it up this week for sure. :)

[bif]

5. The debut releases by Austra and Braids.

[SteppingRazor]

6. Here's a few:

Raphael Saadiq, Ston Rollin' (about as good as 21st century Motown-cribbing retro-soul is going to get)

Paul Simon, So Beautiful or So What (his best album since...)

Okkervil River, I Am Very Far (With this album, I'm convinced these guys could shit in a bucket and it would sound good)

Fleet Foxes, Helplessness Blues (And they dodge the sophomore slump!)

Beastie Boys, Hot Sauce Committee Part 2 (could be my early pick for album of the year)

Gillian Welch, The Harrow and the Harvest (she'd be my unhealthy, restraining-order-filing obsession, were it not for Neko Case)

Dye it Blond, Smith Westerns (another sophomore slump bullet dodged)

Going Out in Style, Dropkick Murphys (An Irish boy's boozy wake for his dad)

Neil Diamond, The Bang Years (NEIL!)

PJ Harvey, Let England Shake

Drive-By Truckers, Go-Go Boots (the band that should be my generation's Skynyrd ... instead, it's Kid Rock)

My Morning Jacket, Circuital (not MMJ's best album, but for them, that doesn't mean much. It's still great.)

Old 97's, The Grand Theatre Vol. 2 (My alt-country fixation begins to reveal itself...)

Dolly Parton, Better Day (seriously, it's really good.)

Steve Earle, I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive (... and the fixation continues ...

Social Distortion, Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes

Bright Eyes, The People's Key (Brimming over with Oberstian imagery)

Emmylou Harris, Hard Bargain (...and continues)

The Cars, Move Like This (whoa! New one from the Cars! And they're still fun! Except for the maudlin ballads, of which there are a couple)

Bob Dylan, Brandeis '63 (Cause, you know, it's Dylan)



on edit: Also, it's not out yet, but the Miami-based band Afrobeta issues Under the Streets next week. It's awesome.

[mvd]

8. Some of those I still want to get. Like the Paul Simon, Dolly Parton,

Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle, and the Raphael Saadiq also sounds like a style I'd like. I like the ballad "Soon" on Move Like This by The Cars - think it matches up with "Drive." I guess "Take Another Look" is filler, though. I think the hooks are just as good as always - fun album. :hi:

[alarimer]

32. I agree with 90% of those.

Only because I haven't heard the rest.

[musette_sf]

9. Smithereens 2011

As I listen more and more to it, I like it as much as I liked Smithereens 11.

[Kat45]

10. Here are a few I can think of offhand:

Joe Bonamassa - Dust Bowl
Black Country Communion - 2
Foo Fighters - Wasting Light
Rival Sons - Pressure and Time

[Broken_Hero]

12. So far,

Foo Fighters-Wasting Light.

I'm thinking of trying out the new 3 Doors Down, just haven't gotten to the point of looking up the songs on their new cd.

[bigwillq]

13. Lady Gaga "Born This Way"

Haven't heard a lot of albums in full that we're released in 2011.

[blue_onyx]

30. My biggest disappointment

It wasn't even worth buying for .99 cents on Amazon. I loved her first 2 CDs though.

[Bryan]

14. I'm behind this year, but so far I like

PJ Harvey, Let England Shake.
Elbow, build a rocket boys!. Nobody else writes ballads like these guys ("I miss your stupid face/I miss your bad advice")
British Sea Power, Valhalla Dancehall.
Duran Duran, All You Need Is Now. Mark Ronson meets up with the band he was born to work with.
The Decemberists, The King is Dead.
The Go! Team, Rolling Blackouts.
Basement Jaxx, Basement Jaxx vs. Metropole Orkest. You haven't lived until you've heard a 52-piece orchestra tearing through "Where's Your Head At".

[Bladian]

15. Lemme see...

Suicide Silence-The Black Crown
Winds of Plague-Against the World
The Black Dahlia Murder-Ritual

Think that's all I got...

[LynneSin]

18. Beastie Boys - Hot Tub Committee, Part #2

#1

End of discussion

[flvegan]

39. Hot Tub?

[mvd]

22. BTW, would add Fountains of Wayne's Sky Full Of Holes

It's at the AOL listening party right now. It's nothing much different from them, but there's not too much of a great thing. It has plenty of faster songs for those wondering.

[stuntcat]

23. Bill Callahan - 'Apocalypse'

I need to check out the others listed here too!

[Initech]

25. My list:

Foo Fighters - Wasting Loght
Graveyard - Hsingen Blues
The Lonely Island - Turtleneck & Chain
TV On The Radio - Nine Types Of Light
Symphony X - Iconoclast
Rise Against - Endgame
The Decemberists - The King Is Dead
The Strokes - Angles
Weird Al Yankovic - Alpocalypse
Blackfield - Welcome To My DNA
Beastie Boys - Hot Sauce Committee Pt. 2
Talib Kweli - Gutter Rainbows

[mvd]

27. Hi - how does the TV On The Radio CD compare with their others?

I enjoy the two previous ones.

[Initech]

28. It's good - I like it. If you like the previous ones you'll like this one.

Some good tracks for sure, but Dear Science is still their best.

[watercolors]

26. My list;

Adele 21
Il Volo
Common Eyes- Vilifi
You I Wind Land And Sea-Justin Nozuka

[blue_onyx]

29. "Femme Fatale" Britney Spears

[mvd]

33. I like that one the most of her CDs

ALMOST made my list. It just slightly drops in favor the more I listen. It's good pop, miles above Rebecca Black.

[alarimer]

31. I agree on the Fleet Foxes and The Decemberists

I would add

Gillian Welch, The Harrow and the Harvest
Jeffrey Foucault, The Horse Latitudes
The Low Anthem, Smart Flesh
Raphael Saadiq, Stone Rollin

I am sort of behind on my listening right now.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

34. Black Country Communion 2 (It's basically Led Zeppelin).

Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple, Trapeze, Black Sabbath) on bass & vocals,

Joe Bonamassa on guitar & vocals,

Jason Bonham on drums,

Derek Sherinian (Dream Theater) on keyboards.

They pretty much take all of their cues from the recorded works of Led Zeppelin. Rocks like a mother. Easily one of the best albums of this year, or any year.

:toast:

[WinkyDink]

35. Waiting for Adam Lambert's this Fall.

[Inspired]

36. Me too! I adore Adam Lambert.

I went to 6 of his shows last year. He is quite the entertainer.

[WinkyDink]

37. Did you catch VH-1's "Behind the Music"? Very complimentary!

[flvegan]

40. Rise Against - Endgame and Beastie Boys - HSCPT

which will always be Tadlock's Glasses to me.

[nickgutierrez]

41. I totally forgot about the Lykke Li album, until I read this

The only thing I've heard is "Get Some", which is awesome. Can't wait to hear the rest.

I'll give you a second on the Fleet Foxes, though.