MUSIC BUZZLIST - TOP 5 ALBUMS OF 2011

From Foster the People to Scroobius Pip, These Albums Will Rock You Into the New Year

By: Team Buzzine

December 26, 2011

2011 was a year of abundance for music releases. Older artists reissued their classics, familiar artists returned with new work, newcomers introduced themselves with some stunning debuts, and contrasts between Indie and Establishment were smudged. In an impossible endeavor to summarize the best offerings of the year, Buzzine elected to simply name the releases that deserve high regard and to sit at the top of the most choice CD piles and playlists. Of course, there are artists who we don't name and albums which should most definitely be checked. However, it's the artists whose work is represented here that genuinely achieved something unforced, unique, and timeless, and for that they are leading the field as being the most notable artists of the year.

Foster the People - Torches (Columbia Records) Sugar-coated hooks, electronically twisted guitar barbs, and hypnotic beats. The debut album that introduced the summer's most contagious track, “Pumped Up Kicks” (actually released as a single in 2010, resurfaced in the spring). Soon everyone was contaminated by the sunshine surface and darkest of subtexts from Mark Foster and company. Remixes sprung up everywhere, festivals were conquered, the radio waves were dominated. Other tracks “Helena Beat,” “Houdini,” and “Call It What You Want” drew references from heroes whilst informing new sounds. Smart without being snarky. Cool without being hip. Everyone was invited to dance. More details in our Buzzine Review.

Elbow - Build a Rocket Boys! (Fiction/Polydor) The follow-up album to 2008's awarding-winning Seldom Seen Kid could have easily fallen short of expectations. Instead, Elbow emerged with a flawless expression of innocence, awe, and reflection. If previous releases had introduced Guy Garvey as a poet of the working-class, Build a Rocket Boys! extended his vision to a universal scale. In Elbow's new mode of transport, they travel from the bedrooms and streets to the stars. From “The Birds” to “Dear Friends,” this is an album of bruising, brilliant, tender beauty that asks as much of listeners as it prescribes emotional response. It's intelligent, well-orchestrated, and it pulls no punches. More details in our Buzzine Interview.

The Naked & Famous - Passive Me, Aggressive You (Somewhat Damaged) The debut album from the New Zealand alternative-electro-dance rockers provided massive-sounding tunes from interestingly intimate perspectives. Wordplay, slightly surreal instrumental passages, and peculiarly organic production values leant a feeling of being born fully grown as a classic. Amped-up singles like “Punching in a Dream” and “Girls Like You” toyed with compulsive beats and lyrical expectation. The band introduced a perfectly uncompromised expression of themselves whilst achieving great commercial appeal. The very definition of pop-culture. More details in our Buzzine Interview.

The Black Keys - El Camino (Nonesuch) Garage rock never spruced up so well as it did in the guise of The Black Keys. The abrasive elements and angular aspects that had rusted up previous releases were stripped away. What was once wonderfully esoteric and earthy became wonderfully easy and accommodating. Opening with the visceral, bluesy lead single “Lonely Boy” every other track adds momentum to the dance, and weight to the compulsive mood. A relatively short album that distinguishes itself as being easier to drive, this is a collection of tunes designed to sneak the crunchier concepts of Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney past the genre police. In El Camino, they're finding new avenues and they're putting their feet down.More details in our Buzzine Review.

Scroobius Pip - Distraction Pieces (Strange Famous) Signing to Sage Francis' indie hip-hop label and going temporarily solo from usual partner Dan Le Sac, Scroobius Pip sharpened focus, took off the gloves, and served the sharpest rhymes of the year. Punk met with hip-hop, met with spoken word, met with unadulterated social confrontation. Here was an album that went beyond category, extended beyond words and music, and arrived like an artifact that really mattered. 2011 was a year of domestic and international social-economic unrest and revolution. There were just wars, illegal wars, and assassinations. There were triumphs and disasters. There were good jokes, bad jokes, and there were sick jokes. Scroobius Pip confronted personal and global responsibilities. He went knuckle to knuckle with every subject and came out on top. Instrumentally loud. Expertly produced. Lyrically the best. By any means necessary. More details in our Buzzine Review.

Honorable Mention:

Max Tannone - Ghostfunk (maxtannone.com) The New York-based producer/DJ/remix maestro has been an underground favorite for some time. Since the release of 2008's Jaydiohead -- a mash-up album combining Jay-Z and Radiohead tracks -- the scene always waits for what's coming next from the perversely shrewd talents of Tannone. In the summer of 2011, the killing-est, most deadly mash-up came in the form of Ghostfunk – vocals from the Wu-Tang Clan's very own Ghostface Killah mixed with early to mid-'70s African Soul, funk, and psych. Tannone pulled off the best trick of his mashing career and released the tunes for free download via his website. The collection is a timeless masterstroke, blending beats and rhymes that speak as much to the music history geek as it does to the gang-bangers. The genius cannot be overstated. More details in our Buzzine Review.