Everyone has a list of their fav records of the year, and people seem to be pretty evenly split on whether or not this is annoying, but I enjoy them so here are mine. Feel free to write me and tell me I’m deaf or what have you.

20. Azita – Disturbing the Air . Piano and vocals, a beautiful record. Not one you’d put on to liven up a party though.

19. Austra – Feel it Break. A guy at Amoeba Records recommended this to me because I was buying a Zola Jesus record. It’s a dancey, gothy, new wavey sort of affair. I like to think of this as Florence and the Machine without the major label money.

18. The Low Anthem – Smart Flesh. This was my after hours chill down record. It reminds me a lot of Bob Dylan’s The Basement Tapes and The Byrd’s Sweetheart of the Rodeo.

17. Wye Oak – Civilian. I believe this is their best record and I love all their records. We listened to this a lot on the drive to SXSW. The song “Fish” is my fav on the record. This one also got a lot of spins as the afterhours chill down record. I think it didn’t leave the turntable for almost a month.

16. The Black Belles – S/T. Goth Garage Rock, you say? I say, I”m in. I love this band. Great, simple, dark songs. Tongue in cheek. The single they did with Colbert is work checking out too!!

15. Bjork – Biophilia. This would probably be higher on the list if it had come out sooner. This record is incredible. I was worried that the lyrics would be a bit hard to swallow, but she doesn’t beat you over the head with any sort of “message”. Plus the Ipad/Iphone app that accompanies the records is incredible. Bjork, still consistently putting out great records.

14. The Dodos – No Color. The writer Kent Wolgamott told me about how great this record was and I picked it up. Fantastic drums, vocals, guitars, etc… Neko Case is all over it, which is a big plus. Even if she wasn’t, it’s still an amazing record. I played this record a lot at work, while driving from jobsite to jobsite, mostly to keep me awake. ha ha ha.

13. Eleventh Dream Day – Riot Now! They are one of the best bands to ever come out of Chicago. Hands down. A huge influence on me. I still listen to El Moodio at least once a month. I missed their Millennium Park show because I had to work. I’ve been kicking myself ever since.

12. Other Lives – Tamer Animals. Incredible record. Has elements of Radiohead, Wilco, but is very unique. This was the record that keeped me from freaking out on the person next to me on a flight to L.A. Whoever that person was, they thank you Other Lives. ha ha ha.

11. Radiohead – The King of Limbs. Yeah, yeah, yeah, say what you want. I’ve heard so many people moan about this record. Whatever. I love it. Jarod and I talked about it in excess. I love the way it sounds. Organic yet Electronic. I’m a fan.

10. The Horrors – Skying. This is my favorite record by them. Mikey Peterson says the last one was his. I believe we talked about four or five times, me trying to convince him. It’s rockin’, spacious, reverb drenched goodness, plus I think the songwriting is really great on this one.

9. Lykke Li – Wounded Rhymes. I love this record. I loved her last one. I really was into the way the vocal melodies floated over the syncopated drums. Missed her live, but I sure the hell won’t next time she comes through town, or is playing in some city I’m in.

8. Grooms – Prom. This record is dark, loud, energetic, and to me, and I could be wrong about this, sounds like they spent a lot of time working on the arrangements, cause they move around a lot and do it well. damn it’s fine.

7. Sigur Ros – Inni. I know a best of live record. Whatever, it’s insane. This record expands on their greatness I think. The video is also equally as amazing. I’d give my right arm to be in this band. My left leg maybe.

6. Still Corners – Creatures of an Hour. Sub Pop is seriously the new 4AD. I feel like all the records they put out this year sound like records I bought years ago. This being one of them. I love this record. Great songwriting and sort of laid back performances have put this to the top of the pile of winter chillout records.

5. Indian – Guiltless. Yeah, yeah. Dylan and Ronnie are my friends. Their record is f*ckin’ incredible. It’s more than the doom metal tag they get. The lyrics are some of the best I’ve ever heard. It will take repeated listens to get them, ha ha ha. The song ” The Fate Before Fate” might possibly be the best song of the year. I intend to cover it solo acoustic in 2012

4. Chelsea Wolfe – Apokalypsis. This would be the only record that I would say is as dark as ours. Cinematic at times, minimal, rocking and brooding at others. It’s a terrifying listen. Seriously, it is nightmare inducing. This is the record everyone was hoping P.J. Harvey was gonna put out.

3. Zola Jesus – Conatus. Different from her other records. I hate to say it sounds slicker, cause that has negative implications of over production and 80′s excess reverb on snare drums. But it sounds clearer, than her other records. Maybe they got better gear, or had a little more money to spend. Who knows. It took me a little longer to get into this than her previous records, but seeing her live and hearing the songs in that context really drove home what a powerful record this is.

2. Dum Dum Girls – Only in Dreams. A perfect record. Great songwriting, great sounds, great playing. I am a fan of her band Grand Ol’ Party too, but this is incredible. Bedroom Eyes, would be my other pick for song of the year. Ha ha ha, this and Indian. No wonder my neighbor knocks on my door all the time.

1. The War on Drugs – Slave Ambient. My favorite record of the year. Everything I love about music is on this record. It’s a little dark, a little bright, a little dream poppy, a little folky, great songwriting, great performances, not pretentious. I recommend this to people constantly. It sounds so triumphant sometimes. Come to The City, Best Night, Black Water Falls. So, so amazing. Buy it now!!!

Plus 1. Feist – Metals. I went back and forth between this one and St. Vincent’s Strange Mercy, and I like this one better. It’s dark and minimal with tons of space. Great vocal melodies, and amazing lyrics. The opening track alone is worth the $12.99 (vinyl kids).

Here’s a few E.P.s I thought are worth mentioning too.
Weekend – Red
Dum Dum Girls – He Gets Me High
True Widow – I.N.O.

I’m probably forgetting like another 20 records, and to be honest, if you asked me tomorrow the list would probably change. The ladies dominated my stereo this year and some really amazing sounds were had.
honorable mentions to the following for putting out great records: Ume, J Mascis, Cults, Marissa Nadler, Blouse, Anna Calvi, Emmylou Harris, The Men, Cult of Youth, Crystal Stilts, Psychic Ills, Darkness Falls, Richard Buckner, M83, Male Bonding, The Mynabirds, The Jezabels, Pterodactyl, Radiation City, Soft Moon, Widowspeak, Young Widows, Wild Flag and Waters.
The cool kids were really digging on the EMA and the Eleanor Friedberger records, but I had trouble getting into those. Maybe i’ll give them another listen.
What are your’s?

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Tags: Best of 2011, Best of Indie List, The Owner/Operators, Tim Larson

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 27th, 2011 at 2:42 PM by Tim and is filed under Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.