Saturday, December 17, 2011

The Best of 2011: Music

Mode of distraction: Last-minute online Christmas shopping.
Distracting me from: Injury frustration. 

It's the end of the year, and that means I join every blog in the blogosphere with my second annual year-end countdown. However, what makes my countdown different (I've decided) is that I'm not merely counting down music and movies that were released in 2011, but ones I experienced in 2011. It opens up the list to paint a more accurate picture of what my year was like. And since this is my blog, that's all that matters. No scoffing at how belated I am with certain albums and movies!

First up: MUSIC.

- ALBUMS - 

01. Stronger, Kelly Clarkson - Biased? Maybe a little bit. But it was going to take something special even for Kelly to top Adele's masterful 21, and she delivered. The album is easy enough to shrug off as more or less more of the same, but it only takes a few listens to see that Kelly's focus in this album is herself, not the men (er, man) who did her wrong. She subtly lashes out at label executives and the media, but never without pulling back to herself and pushing herself to the next step, which, for her, is her 30s--real adulthood. With a voice that only continues to become more full and evocative, she soars to new heights here...I just people start to catch on.
02. 21, Adele - There are only a handful of music year-end lists in which Adele's name isn't in the mix, and there's a good reason for that: the simple perfection that is this album. Each melody and lyric demonstrates remarkable, but always effortless, craftsmanship. These aren't songs that were toiled over, forced into creation. The songs flowed, and her voice followed--neither one completely flawlessly, but with complete authenticity.
03. Bon Iver, Bon Iver - Only very recently discovered this and am still sorting my way through it, but the melancholy sound and gripping harmonies give me chills. The lyrics feel original, personal, and poetic, and it's my favorite musical discovery of the year. 
04. Born This Way, Lady Gaga - Now this is a record that sounds toiled over. It's overwrought and overworked, but there's such a strong sense of creation, of effort, of exploration, and even some fun, that its impressiveness lies in its audacity. It's no surprise Gaga hasn't found the same pop radio magic with this darker, twisted album, taking religious and disco influences in near equal amounts. It's energetic and frenzied, occasionally distracting, but never boring.
05. 4, Beyonce - A grower of an album if I ever found one. I only ever gave "Run the World" a chance because of her stellar Billboard performance, but other than the euphoric (and perfect) "Love On Top," I was uninterested. But track by track, the R&B album grew on me, as did Beyonce's voice, which had never been a favorite of mine, but sounds smooth and strong here.
06. Ceremonials, Florence + The Machine - Like Born This Way, this album comes close to suffering from simply too much. Everything--vocals, instrumentals, song construction, lyrics--are pushed to the band's maximum, and begins to weight the album down. Fortunately, the finished product is strong and interesting and different and creative, and, therefore, mostly successful, even if after five complete listens, I still can't pick out a single track beyond "Shake It Out," the lead single. This is one that takes a while to marinate.
07. Only By The Night, Kings of Leon - Yep, it's a few years old, but not to me. I was aware of (how could you not be?) and enjoyed "Use Somebody," but never compelled enough to listen further. And then I heard "Closer" somewhere, and I bought the album without previewing another track. There's something haunting about that track, and while it's still the highlight of the album for me, the album maintains that gritty, dark, intriguing quality throughout.
08. Femme Fatale, Britney Spears - Not everything has to be chalk-full of meaning; sometimes music can just be fun to listen to (and dance to and drink to and sing to), and that's what Britney's seventh studio album it is. It all too often sounds phoned in and fixed up by producers, but that doesn't detract from the sexy power of "Hold It Against Me," "Inside Out," "Criminal," and a handful of other jams sprinkled across this up-tempo album.
09. Mylo Xyloto, Coldplay - I've never been a huge Coldplay fan, so it seems ridiculous that one of their more critically panned albums worked its way into my iTunes. Maybe it really means I need to explore more from them, but there is a strong (perhaps even too strong) cohesion to the record, with ear-pleasing synthy tracks and airy vocals, highlighted by a surprisingly successful duet with Rihanna in "Princess of China."  
10. It's Not Me, It's You, Lily Allen - Another belated find...is there a better album title than this? It perfectly sums up Lily Allens' dry, cynical, middle finger pop attitude, and while this album isn't as slick as her delightfully prickly debut, she's still operating to her strengths: mean-spirited, giggly barbs over sunny pop beats and catchy melodies.

- SONGS - 

01. "Set Fire to the Rain," Adele - No amount of Kelly favoritism was going to top this song this year (unless a certain leaked demo was officially released--then it would have been tight). This has everything I would want in a song. It gives me chills on my 168th listen. It builds to a climax so gratifying, so emotional, that I can't help but get sucked into that last chorus every single time. Adele takes us on a spiraling, vengeful journey that leaves me reeling by the end (and usually pressing repeat). It easily catapults itself to one of my all-time favorite songs.
02. "Dark Side," Kelly Clarkson - If this eventually becomes a single, it will be difficult to leave off my list next year, and there are many songs off Stronger biting at its heels--"Honestly," "You Can't Win," "What Doesn't Kill You (Stronger)," "Breaking Your Own Heart"--but ultimately this haunting, ethereal, almost Twilight Zone-ish sound wins out. Kelly morphs her voice to something almost otherworldly, blending dance-pop and soul in a way that I've never heard from her. The song has a yearning vulnerability to it, but the haunting part is that she's still guarded--the sound of a music box creaks open and she begs for someone to accept her dark side, but her voice fades away at the end of the song and the music box closes; she's not ready yet.
03. "Changing Colours," Great Lake Swimmers - New to me, and one of the most painfully honest relationship songs I've ever heard. Though it's certainly (and thankfully) too tragic to be applicable to my relationship, there's value to digesting, dealing with, and accepting feelings as they come, no matter what the outcome. This feels like it goes beyond just being a song, to me; it's like a work of art.
04. "Love On Top," Beyonce - ...well fuck that, let's have FUN. I'm in love, dammit, and it doesn't always have to be so dreary. This track is energy. It makes me smile, makes me dance, and makes me sing along to every ridiculous key change. Beyonce's never sounded better, and I will mourn the day I don't hear this and immediately start to jam (though that will probably mean I'm just dead).
05. "Princess of China," Coldplay feat. Rihanna - Usually, for me to really connect to a song, I need a strong vocal and/or lyrics. Simply being catchy will get me to like a song, but not really love it. What seems to matter least is the production--not that it doesn't matter, but it's not my priority. However, it's this track's production that gets me going. I'm not knowledgeable enough to say what instruments capture that buzzing, electronic quality, but the sound of this track is nothing short of epic. The distant, tinny vocals here only work to enhance the metallic feeling of the song, and it all comes together really well.
06. "Help Yourself," Sad Brad Smith - This is cheating even under my list parameters, because I technically heard this song when I saw the movie Up in the Air a few years ago, but I didn't buy it until this year, and it hasn't left my playlist. It's just such a...diddy of a song. I don't know, it makes me happy. The harmonies, the simple instrumentation, the I'll-stand-by-you-but-take-your-time lyrics, it's like the sonic version of having a best friend.
07. "4 AM," Melanie Fiona - A criminally underrated R&B songstress, this is one of the sexiest songs of the year, even though the protagonist isn't getting any because it's 4 a.m. and where the fuck is her man? But you could fry an egg on the track of this song it's so smouldering, and if this is a sign of things to come, Melanie's second album will be even better than her first.
08. "Holocene," Bon Iver - Like his album, I haven't completely cracked the code of this song, but the sound stops me in my tracks. The first time I heard it, I wanted to tear up and I didn't even know what he was singing about.
09. "Scarborough Fair," Simon & Garfunkel - Whoops, I'm several decades behind, etc. This song plays in a wonderfully constructed scene in The Graduate, and it had me pulling out Shazaam and cursing my iPhone 3GS for how slow it was acting, because I didn't want to miss the track. There's just such a relaxing quality to the falsetto singing here that I find truly mesmerizing.
10. "The Edge of Glory," Lady Gaga - The dark and sinister "Bloody Mary" and fun, inside-joke-esque "Bad Kids" were close calls to get this Gaga spot, but ultimately "The Edge of Glory" might just be the most successful song on Born This Way. It builds in all the right spots with a killer vocal and lyrics on the right side of the creative and accessible line. And who doesn't love a sax solo?

Stay tuned (or, you know, not) for the next installments on my favorite movies, books, TV shows, and personal events! (I'll give you a hint: rupturing my Achilles won't be on the list.)

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