December 12, 2011
Do your best to ward off a double-dip recession by going out and spending – and if you’re gonna spend, spend on an industry that needs it, music. Here are QRO’s top-rated reviews from 2011:
Albums:
| Adele : 21 Have you just gone through a horrible break up? Sucks, doesn’t it? Well, fret not; Adele has come to your rescue once again for your bleeding heart. Read more… |
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| Alkaline Trio : Damnesia Alkaline Trio has chosen to celebrate their history of sadistic pop punk with a semi-unplugged reworking of many of the band’s most beloved songs, along with a select few new tracks and a cover thrown in for good measure. Read more… |
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| Arches : Wide Awake Some albums need time, and Arches are worth the wait. Read more… |
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| Robin Bacior : Rest Our Wings With first full-length Rest Our Wings, Robin Bacior stands out even more in the alt-folk scene, to the point of actually doing some new things in the overstuffed genre. Read more… |
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| Beastie Boys : Hot Sauce Committee Part 2 Beastie Boys figured out early in their carrier that avoiding the traps of the hip-hop lifestyle was the only way to survive in the industry and 28 years later, they are the one group that survived. Read more… |
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| Beirut : The Riptide If Zach Condon not being his own man was a problem for Beirut, it seems The Riptide has emphatically addressed it. Read more… |
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| Black Box Revelation : Shiver of Joy EP The United States gets its introduction to the Belgian duo’s leather jacket boot-stomping rock in aggressive fashion. Read more… |
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| The Black Keys : El Camino A redefinition of their sound and style whilst honouring the anti-virtuosity – raw and reckless riffs – that brought them to the forefront of indie rock a decade ago. Read more… |
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| James Blake : James Blake Twenty something London wünderkid producer produces the future of pop music, one soulful electronic track at a time. Read more… |
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| Blink 182 : Neighborhoods It may feel strange for anyone who falls under the Generation Y banner to say “Blink 182’s new album” without thinking that they’ve stepped into some kind of time-quake. Read more… |
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| Bon Iver : Bon Iver Such is the musical density of this album, it is destined to keep revealing more with each listen and become a favorite mood piece of many for years to come. Read more… |
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| A.A. Bondy : Believers With Believers, A.A. Bondy adds depth to make himself more stand out from the alt-folk crowd. Read more… |
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| Born Gold : Bodysongs Your favorite Canadian electro-pop riot squad changed its name a few months back and has been blowing up boomboxes with their debut release Bodysongs. Read more… |
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| The Boxer Rebellion : The Cold Still Anglo-tragedy surges forward with The Boxer Rebellion. Read more… |
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| British Sea Power : Valhalla Dancehall British Sea Power sail out of their epic home waters for other seas, while still flying their Union Jack. Read more… |
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| CHAPPO : Pisces Princess EP The second installment of ‘Plastique Universe’ by Brooklyn-based psych rock troupe CHAPPO has arrived. Read more… |
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| Chemical Brothers : Hanna Soundtrack Chemical Brothers are given a chance to share their musical vision for the action flick Hanna, sticking to what they know best, making this soundtrack one of the best electronic albums so far in 2011. Read more… |
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| Class Actress : Rapprocher Queens of swank beats Class Actress unfurls their latest LP Rapprocher like a pink silk drop cloth over the entire indie scene. But at the same time they are a new band both sonically and artistically.Read more… |
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| Coldplay : Mylo Xyloto With their fifth and latest album, Coldplay are the catchy and romantic group many know and love. But at the same time they are a new band both sonically and artistically.Read more… |
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| Com Truise : Galactic Melt Locating itself some where between dance pop and down tempo, Galactic Melt presents a gratifyingly coherent vision of electronic music. Read more… |
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| Courtesy Tier : The Resolution Brooklyn’s Courtesy Tier bring an alt country crush of feelings on The Resolution. Read more… |
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| Cut Copy : Zonoscope Cut Copy’s third full-length album, Zonoscope, will undoubtedly ignite some sparks on the dance floor, but the free-spirited charm of In Ghost Colours has now been disciplined. Read more… |
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| Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. : It’s a Corporate World It’s a Corporate World is a strong debut, it’s varied but not without direction, it’s happy but not sickly sweet. Read more… |
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| Das Racist : Relax Relax is a triumphant debut album from one of the best, most absurdly talented new rap groups to show up in the past half decade. Read more… |
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| The Dears : Degeneration Street The Dears come back in a big way with the epic Degeneration Street. Read more… |
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| Death Cab for Cutie : Codes and Keys Death Cab make a brighter and indietronic shift for another great record. Read more… |
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| The Decemberists : The King Is Dead Colin Meloy & co. couldn’t match the nineteenth century odyssey that was Hazards, so they’ve followed up by borrowing from probably the greatest alternative music band to successfully break through to the majors. Read more… |
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| Destroyer : Kaputt One thing is very clear: Whatever the lyrical context or the musical content at play here, Dan Bejar’s latest album as Destroyer does anything except go Kaputt.Read more… |
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| The Dodos : No Color What could have been an overrated act is one that actually deserves the praise. Read more… |
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| DOM : Sun Bronzed Greek Gods EP When you flip-off less than ideal circumstances, and turn around and make something pretty awesome, that’s rock ‘n’ roll. Read more… |
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| Elbow : Build a Rocket Boys! Build a Rocket Boys! hews more towards the stripped piano & vox, sometimes too much, but is a successful successor to Elbow’s acclaimed The Seldom Seen Kid. Read more… |
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| Feist : Metals While you can’t predict exactly how Top 10 lists will trend, an educated guess shows that Feist’s effort will certainly be quite the contender. Read more… |
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| Fredrik : Flora Perhaps three is the magic number for Fredrik; Flora is their most cohesive album to date. Read more… |
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| French Horn Rebellion : The Infinite Music of French Horn Rebellion The debut album of the sibling duo French Horn Rebellion is an ensemble of short-fused fireworks that can easily become deliciously confusing. Read more… |
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| Girls : Father, Son, Holy Ghost In the case of Girls, the infatuation with music history is as ambitious as it is endearing. Read more… |
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| Handsome Furs : Sound Kapital The third album from Canadian husband & wife combo Handsome Furs sees them stretching their talent for electro-pop to its limit. Read more… |
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| PJ Harvey : Let England Shake “These are the words / Words that maketh murder.” It is 2011 and PJ Harvey is pissed. She’s at war, and her only weapon is her words. Read more… |
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| Heavy Times : Jacker Make Heavy Times your soundtrack for the apocalypse. Read more… |
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| High Highs : High Highs EP This acoustic Brooklyn trio serves up a tasty appetizer to what could be one of 2012’s most ear-tingling albums. Read more… |
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| Holy Ghost! Holy Ghost! On Holy Ghost!’s debut album, they produce a solid set of energetic dance-pop numbers that are entertaining, but don’t provide a lot of depth. Read more… |
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| Hooray For Earth : True Loves QRO’s vote for the band that should get more interest goes to Hooray For Earth, whose debut full-length True Loves isn’t like anything else, but is both quality and even beauty. Read more… |
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| Joan of Arc : Life Like Life Like is decidedly Joan of Arc’s rock album. Read more… |
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| The Joy Formidable : The Big Roar With The Big Roar, The Joy Formidable deserve the attention they’re getting. Read more… |
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| Lia Ices : Grown Unknown Lia Ices’ voice is a sweet cocktail of fragility and ethereality. That talent shines through on her second album Grown Unknown, along with beautifully pointed lyrics.Read more… |
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| Little Dragon : Ritual Union There is almost nothing disagreeable about the album, begging the question, when does perfection become banal? When does pop loose its zing? Read more… |
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| Liturgy : Aesthetica Tell your kids you were there for the great Black Metal Rush of the early 2010s. You’ll be glad you did. Read more… |
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| Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks : Mirror Traffic If there is a return to origins as Malkmus returns to The Jicks after last year’s Pavement reunion, it’s more to his first solo album from ten years ago. Read more… |
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| Maritime : Human Hearts Adopting the New Wave revival, Human Hearts takes that classic ’80s sound and runs with it.Read more… |
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| J Mascis With a name like Several Shades of Why, the latest installment from Dinosaur Jr.’s prolific frontman could have gone in any number of morose emotional directions. Read more… |
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| Mastodon : The Hunter For metal gods Mastodon, finding a way to top 2009’s epic and perfectly crafted concept album Crack the Skye was no small undertaking. Read more… |
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| M83 : Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming What manner of sorcery is this? The floor seems to fall out, and there you will find yourself, soaring above it all. Strapped into a rocket crafted and controlled by Anthony Gonzalez. The rocket is called Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming. Read more… |
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| Melvins : Sugar Daddy Live The dust in Seattle has long since settled, but the ‘godfathers of grunge’ Melvins are still stirring up the sludge with their latest release Sugar Daddy Live. Read more… |
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| Mice Parade : What It Means To Be Left-Handed What It Means To Be Left Handed is without a doubt Mice Parade’s most focused record to date. Read more… |
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| Mickey : Rock N Roll Dreamer Proto punk greasers Mickey get the Led out on their debut release Rock N Roll Dreamer. Read more… |
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| Moby : Destroyed Let’s face it. The ‘90s are back. Moby, in his own way, takes part of this renaissance with Destroyed. Read more… |
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| Mogwai : Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will The long awaited seventh album has arrived by those experimental post rock Scots, Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will. Read more… |
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| Monta at Odds : Unsuspecting The down tempo, dubbed out melodies and beats found in Unsuspecting are more likely to induce intense cerebration than intense rug-cutting. However, that’s not to say that it’s groove-less. Read more… |
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| My Morning Jacket : Circuital My Morning Jacket have been able to maintain their niche, yet at the same time they consistently explore new territory with each album they put out. Read more… |
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| Napoleon : Napoleon As Napoleon, Simon Mills delivers a complicated, fun, and sophisticated collection of tracks that form one of the year’s most intriguing albums. Read more… |
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| New Animal : New Animal Let QRO refresh your memory on this great album that deserves its share of ‘Best Of’ love. Read more… |
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| Nude Sunrise : Hunks Like Us The Chicago based foursome draws from genres as disparate as psych-jam, kraut-rock, New Wave, and the sweet licks mentality of soulful southern rock. Read more… |
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| The Pains of Being Pure at Heart : Belong The youth of today need their own alt-soundtrack to young romance, and it can be found in The Pains of Being Pure at Heart’s excellent sophomore release, Belong. Read more… |
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| Paley & Francis : Paley & Francis Frank Black Francis has done his best off-angle move so far, pairing with longtime friend & tourmate Reid Paley as Paley & Francis. Read more… |
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| Panda Bear : Tomboy With Tomboy, Noah Lennox’s Panda Bear project has made its most decisive break with the sonic trajectory of Animal Collective. Read more… |
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| Peter Bjorn and John : Gimme Some Gimme Some may be the record where we all remember why we fell in love with Peter Bjorn and John in first place. Read more… |
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| Pursesnatchers : A Pattern Language Remember that fuzzy rock you loved? Read more… |
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| R.E.M. : Lifes Rich Pageant (Deluxe Edition) The deluxe edition releases of R.E.M. original studio albums on their 25th anniversaries continues with fourth LP Lifes Rich Pageant. Read more… |
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| R.E.M. : Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage Some bands I like to name check, and one of them is R.E.M. Read more… |
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| The Radio Dept. : Passive Aggressive (Singles 2002-2010) The Radio Dept. collects their singles & much more on Passive Aggressive. Read more… |
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| Radiohead : The King of Limbs Putting out the new King of Limbs only five days after announcing it (four days if you pre-ordered it), Radiohead has given one more thumb-to-nose to a music industry that is not evolving to meet the audience’s needs. Read more… |
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| The Raveonettes : Raven In the Grave With echoes of The Cure and My Bloody Valentine that resonate through the album, Raven In the Grave sounds like the most instinctual move from The Raveonettes since 2007’s Lust Lust Lust. Read more… |
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| Red Hot Chili Peppers : I’m With You In their first album in over five years, despite the absence of guitarist John Frusciante, Red Hot Chili Peppers’ return is with a vengeance. Read more… |
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| The Rice Cakes : Monster Man EP A strong showing all and all for the hardest working team in the Ocean State. Read more… |
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| Ringo Deathstarr : Colour Trip They appear to be leading us through the who’s-who of the ‘80s shoegaze/psychedelia movement. Read more… |
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| The Rosebuds : Loud Planes Fly Low Loud Planes Fly Low mixed previous Rosebud ways, while tapping into something new, a late night in the city, looking back on loss after the party’s over. Read more… |
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| Rubblebucket : Omega La La Just in time to thwart the summer blues comes the auditory salve of Rubblebucket’s sophomore full-length Omega La La. Read more… |
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| The Rural Alberta Advantage : Departing The Rural Alberta Advantage have managed to piece together the best Canadian album of 2011, and perhaps beyond. Read more… |
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| Scott Pilgrim vs. the World Soundtrack Step aside, Garden State. Your soundtracks successor has arrived. Read more… |
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| The Seedy Seeds : Verb Noun The Cincinnati based trio The Seedy Seeds stay true to the homespun warmth of their folk-tronic legacy while adding some epic turns on their latest Verb Noun. Read more… |
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| Shabazz Palaces : Black Up Black Up is hip-hop from a different time, but it’s unclear whether that time is in the future or the past. . Read more… |
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| Sloan : The Double Cross Despite passing the two decade mark, these guys are still in the heart of their heyday. Read more… |
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| Sondre Lerche : Sondre Lerche On Sondre Lerche, the Swede continues to bring his winsome singer-songwriter fare into new territories. Read more… |
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| Staccato Du Man : Sin Destino It is a bit silly and useless to try and put a specific tag on Staccato du Mal’s Sin Destino. Read more… |
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| Thee Oh Sees : Carrion Crawler/The Dream Carrion Crawler/The Dream may lack some of the inventiveness of its predecessor, but it represents a more cohesive experience. Read more… |
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| Thievery Corporation : Culture of Fear Eric Hilton and Rob Garza takes their messages of love, understanding and strong political opinions and packages them inside smooth beats. Read more… |
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| Timbre Timbre : Creep On Creepin’ On What do you get when you cross old world folk sensibility with pre-Funeral-Arcade Fire-esque instrumentation and a truly sinister charm? The answer is Timber Timbre. Read more… |
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| Times New Viking : Dancer Equired This is the same Times New Viking that made Born Again Revisited, but the cleaner production helps distinguish and strengthens each individual element in their sound. Read more… |
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| tUnE-yArDs : w h o k i l l The bumble bee girl from Blind Melon’s “No Rain” music video grew up and her name is Merril Garbus, a.k.a. tUnE-yArDs. Read more… |
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| TV On the Radio : Nine Types of Light Nine Types of Light isn’t a reaffirmation of TV On the Radio’s talent – it’s a more-than-welcome step back. Read more… |
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| The Vitrolum Republic : For Highbrow Sideshows and Rowboat Serenades Every once in a while, an album comes along that forces you to exclaim, “This is how this entire genre should sound!” Read more… |
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| Washed Out : Within and Without Within and Without is nostalgia for futures passed, the promise of an electronic age now digitized and projected backwards in bits. Yet despite all that, it’s the sound of now. Read more… |
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| We Are Augustines : Rise Ye Sunken Ships Out of the ashes of Pela Rise Ye Sunken Augustines. Read more… |
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| We Were Promised Jetpacks : In the Pit of the Stomach With sophomore release In the Pit of the Stomach, We Were Promised Jetpacks presses further than ever before. Read more… |
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| Kanye West & Jay-Z : Watch The Throne Watch The Throne is quite literally too big to fail. Read more… |
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| Wild Flag : Wild Flag Let’s face it: when we first heard about Wild Flag, we all knew they would come up with something great. Read more… |
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| Wye Oak : Civilian Though it continues the progress made by 2009’s excellent The Knot, with this record Wasner & Stack have crafted their best work to date, proving to have learned a lot during their half-decade career. Read more… |
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| Zola Jesus : Conatus There’s a fine line between intriguing gothic music and over-the-top gothic music, but Zola Jesus has done a fantastic balancing act on Conatus. Read more… |
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| Zomby : Dedication Zomby is making a play to outpace the already expansive posture of electronic dance music, and in turn ascending to electro-indie status. Read more… |
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& more:
| Jello Biafra ‘Throbblehead’
Head bang like Jello with your very own Biafra ‘Throbblehead’. Buy here… |
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| Bob Mould : See a Little Light
Alt-punk icon Bob Mould opens up in See a Little Light: The Trail of Rage and Melody, his autobiography. Read more… |
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| Snoop Dogg Kit in Beige
Wanna look like the D-O-double-G? Then get knitting! Buy here… |
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| Third Man Records iPhone Case
The White Stripes might be no more, but you can keep their spirit alive on your iPhone with this handsome case from Jack White’s label, Third Man Records. Buy here… |
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