Dylan's Top 10 of 2011

It seems like we spent an inordinate amount of time in 2011 talking about 1991, and I think that hurt our view of 2011 music offerings. 1991 was a true watershed year in music -- not just Nirvana bringing the world Nevermind but Achtung Baby, Loveless, The Low End Theory, Bandwagonesque, Green Mind, Blue Lines... all immense influences on music in 2011. I think it's part of what drove the popularity of Yuck's self-titled debut this year -- a certain nostalgia for the days when flannel shirts and swirling guitars ruled music.

2011, on the other hand, is just another year in transition for music. There were some high points, some low points, but meanwhile record sales keep right on declining in the face of a global recession and online music.

So when you look at the two years side-by-side, you start asking what has become of modern music. Where's the innovation? Where's the new and different? It's still there. It's just waiting to bubble up into the mainstream, just as we all waiting for the moment college/indie rock would finally break through and be seen as legitimate, and then came these kids from the Northwest with the album with the baby in the pool on the cover.

Here's my best of list for 2011.

1. Let England Shake, PJ Harvey. I get the sense I'm going to be one of the few who rates Let England Shake as highly as I do (much less even put it on their top 10 list), and yes, it is a very British record from a mercurial woman who would make an entire album played on spoons and a washboard if she could. But like a good, old single malt, you have to know what you're drinking to appreciate, and if you know what you're drinking, you're going to know what's great and what's brown liquor. And you have to tolerate a certain amount of peat and smoke to understand what's great. Polly Jean Harvey makes albums about being British. And being British means confronting their recent wars, the grief over what was lost in the Great War and what has been lost in Iraq and Afghanistan, and really, what does being British mean? Her words are at times grotesque (Soliders falling like lumps of meat, e.g.), but every word is sincere. Much as how The Suburbs was less about "here's what's wrong with the suburbs" and more about "these are stories from the suburbs," this is an album about being British, not about how horrible the British are. And in the hands of one of the greatest women rockers in history, it's a beautiful declaration of ugly, lovely love for England. 
2. Strange Mercy, St. Vincent. Strange Mercy marks the moment when Annie Clark transitioned from being an ingenue singer/songwriter/guitarist into the best singer/songwriter/guitarist in indie rock, period. The songs are confessional, the guitar playing aggressive and soulful, and the singing, well, she still has one of the prettiest voices in hipsterdom. I was transfixed by this record from the first play.
3. Bon Iver, Bon Iver. One of the interesting notes about Bon Iver is that while it got the most votes of all the reviewers, it failed to garner a single first place vote. It didn't finish first on my ballot (settling for third) because I felt the two albums ahead of it were better technically and more daring. That said... this is miles ahead of For Emma. I've gone back to Bon Iver over and over again all year long and found something new every time amid the melancholy. It's about the only album that makes me stop what I'm doing just to listen to it. Yes, "Beth/Rest" is the Howard Jones/Kenny G collaboration that thankfully never really happened, but the rest of the album is quiet genius.
4. Helplessness Blues, Fleet Foxes. Right after Fleet Foxes' eponymous album came out, I was at a Seattle bloggers event and talking music to, among many, folk music writer Kim Ruehl. "I think Fleet Foxes sounds like the second coming of Fairport Convention," I said. Kim gave me this look like I'd just suggested that George W. Bush was the second coming of Abraham Lincoln. But Helplessness Blues, I think, reinforces that idea -- it really does sound like a throwback to those heady, glorious days of British folk in the early 70s, but with their own American twists. They're better than Mumford and Sons. I just wish the rest of the world would finally acknowledge it.
5. The King Is Dead, Decemberists. R.E.M. (on their way to breaking up) made their best album in years. The Decemberists, though, made the best R.E.M. album in years.
6. Civilian, Wye Oak. Jenn Wasner is a great songwriter, a great singer, and a great guitarist. The result is almost magical.  I cannot say enough about how talented Jenn Wasner is and how much "Holy Holy" makes me stop and listen every time it comes on.
7. House of Balloons, The Weeknd. This was a rap mixtape that floated around earlier this year from an Ethiopian-Canadian singer named Abel Tesfaye, and I think it's the best piece of hip-hop I've heard all year. It's downtempo stuff, strangely weary for a kid who's barely 21, but it's poignant and quiet -- things you don't often hear about modern R&B. 
8. WHOKILL, tUnE-yArDs. Honestly, this is the funnest music I've heard all year. Merrill Garbus creates a great mashup of musical styles -- Afrobeat, R&B, indie rock -- that transcends the usual "white kid thinks he's Paul Simon with Warby Parker glasses" sound to something, well, fun. Intensely soulful. Yes, there's a message, but unlike some heavy folk singer hammering the point home, she mixes it into the music.
9. Go Tell Fire To The Mountain, Wu Lyf. Who are these guys? Where did they come from? Are they a bunch of guys from Manchester who recorded this album in a church, or are they space aliens who heard Dave Mathews and thought, "Oh, we can do better than THAT" and broadcast it back to us? Regardless, this album is equally parts strange and beautiful. "We Bros" sounds like a frat anthem... if the frat you were in was Sigma Alpha Fleet Foxes.
10. Cults, Cults. I can't get enough of Madeline Follin's voice, personally.

The next ten: James Blake, James Blake; A Creature I Don't Know, Laura Marling; Father Son Holy Ghost, Girls; Wild Flag, Wild Flag; The Whole Love, Wilco; Torches, Foster The People; Metals, Feist; Era Extrana, Neon Indian; Hurry Up We're Dreaming, M83; Watch The Throne, Kanye West/Jay-Z.

I usually list a top ten favorite songs of 2011, but I don't know if I can get up the motivation to rank them (it took me two weeks to do the albums!) So, here's a list of some of my favorite songs of 2011 in alphabetical order (with Spotify links -- here's the whole playlist):

Tune-Yards – Bizness
The Go! Team – Buy Nothing Day
The Decemberists – Calamity Song
St. Vincent – Cruel
The National – Exile Vilify (From the Game Portal 2)
WILD FLAG – Future Crimes
The Kills – Future Starts Slow
Tune-Yards – Gangsta
Yuck – Georgia
Fleet Foxes – Grown Ocean
Foster The People – Helena Beat
Bon Iver – Holocene
Wye Oak – Holy Holy
Girls – Honey Bunny
Real Estate – It's Real
Fleet Foxes – Lorelai
M83 – Midnight City
PJ Harvey – On Battleship Hill
Jessica Lea Mayfield – Our Hearts Are Wrong
Little Dragon – Ritual Union
Adele – Rolling In The Deep
Beirut – Santa Fe
Florence + The Machine – Shake It Out
James Blake – The Wilhelm Scream

Worst Album of the Year: Lulu, Metallica and Lou Reed. Heck, I think we can go ahead and close the competition for Worst Of The Decade right now. This is so unlistenable I'm not even sure if this is real or just some elaborate joke they're playing on us. Imagine if you took Reed's Metal Machine Music and Metallica's St. Anger and put them in a blender. That sound -- of the blender ripping the two albums to pieces -- would be more melodic and listenable than Lulu.

One More Thing: I've become a junkie for the AV Undercover series, where the AV Club asks bands to cover songs from a reader-selected list. (Admittedly, I'm just a junkie for covers.) It can be a big crap shoot -- just stay away from the Hold Steady's abysmal cover of "The Power Of Love" -- but when the stars align, it's glorious stuff. For example, Scandinavian hipster rockers Peter, Bjorn, and John just tearing up the Otis Redding classic "Try A Little Tenderness."


Peter Bjorn And John cover "Try A Little Tenderness" by Otis Redding

Tim Nekritz offers a Sweet 16.

Once again, friend and fellow music fan Andrew Careaga asked me to participate in his HigherEd Music Critics combined countdown this year. From my perspective, 2011 brought too many good albums for a Top 10, so I did a Sweet 16 instead.

16. Rachel Yamagata, "Chesapeake." I keep waiting for Yamagata's material to catch up with her voice, which is warm and sweet as honey. Still waiting, but it's not the worst wait in the world.

15. Death Cab for Cutie, "Codes and Keys." This is a comfortable and tidy record, which is to say fairly uninteresting in Death Cab for Cutie terms. Is it wrong to muse that Ben Gibbard's breakup with Zooey Deschanel may bring DCfC back to better material?

14, The Rural Alberta Advantage, "Departing." I generally liken them to a Canadian version of Neutral Milk Hotel, and while the RAA's second full-length album isn't as good as their debut "Hometowns," it's an intriguingly offbeat effort.

13. Drive-By Truckers, "Go Go Boots." Any album by the Athens, Ga. roots rockers is bound to contain wonderfully twisted storylines, cheating lovers and dead bodies. In that context, this album does not disappoint.

12. Ryan Adams, "Ashes and Fire." It takes some getting used to, this happier and mellower Ryan Adams, but the outstanding songwriting and songcraft remain. "Lucky Now" is easily one of the top singles of the year.

11. City and Colour, "Little Hell." With gems like "We Found Each Other in the Dark," "Grand Optimist" and "Northern Wind," singer/songwriter Dallas Green continues to excel.

10. Feist, "Metals." Her follow-up can't match the sterling standard set by "The Reminder," but listening to her voice deliciously treat words like cherished lovers is always a pleasure.

9. Mother Mother, "Eureka." This album from the quirky Canadian band features two superlative tracks -- "The Stand" and "Baby Don't Dance" -- plus enough other good songs to warrant attention.

8. Dum Dum Girls, "Only In Dreams." OK, I'm a sucker for the retro-girl-band-rock sound, and few acts do it better. The Dum Dum Girls deliver the goods with "Bedroom Eyes," "In My Head," "Coming Down" and other tracks that shake, shimmer and shine.

7. Big Talk, "Big Talk." As much as I love Brandon Flowers, this album by Killers drummer Ronnie Vannucci Jr. shows talent runs deep in the band. Big Talk delivers relentlessly Killeresque catchy riffs drawing influences ranging from Big Star to the Cars, pulsing through top tracks like "Katzenjammer," "Replica" and "Girl at Sunrise."

6. Colin Devlin, "Democracy of One." Whether in the Devlins or on his own, Colin Devlin offers lightly tinged Irish vocals and often deceptively dark lyrics over cinematic backdrops. "The Heart Won't Be Denied," "Raise the Dead" and the title track show this combination in fine form.

5. Matthew Good, "Lights of Endangered Species." One of Canada's best singer-songwriters never stands still, as this album injects strings and horn sections into his brooding, captivating material. He's done better albums, but songs like "Zero Orchestra," "Extraordinary Fades" and "Non Populus" lead a strong lineup.

4. The Damnwells, "No One Listens to the Band Anymore." I have a bias with this album, since I supported it via their Pledge Music fund drive, but the results speak for themselves. Not a bad track here, and in a fairer world, marvelous melodies like "Feast of Hearts," "Werewolves" and "The Monster" would easily merit plenty of radio airplay.

3. The Wiyos, "Twist." How can you NOT love a rocking retro-jazz/blues/Vaudeville album nodding to "The Wizard of Oz" and beginning with the lines "Last night my house came down on the witch/Now Munchkinland round here's got one less b*tch." The songwriting, musicality and atmosphere on this whole effort just deserve so much attention, and even admiration.

2. Florence + The Machines, "Ceremonials." The combination of Florence Welch's tour-de-force vocals and the imaginative arrangements on this set can be breathtaking. Captivating tracks such as "Only If For A Night," "Shake It Out" and "Never Let Me Go," among many others, show that Flo has leapt to the top ranks of female singer-songwriters on today's scene.

1. Frank Turner, "England Keep My Bones." My favorite discovery of the year also released what I consider 2011's best record. Could be best described as a young Billy Bragg with a better voice. The simple-wisdom set opener "Eulogy," hometown paean "Wessex Boy" and rousing "I Still Believe" are among many standouts. The version with a half-dozen bonus tracks is worth it for the stunning "Balthazar, Impresario" alone.

Alaina's Top 10 of 2011

When I was invited to be a part of the "Best Albums of 2011," I was excited. And honored. And immediately aware of how little I'd ventured out musically this year.

In early 2011, I was introduced to something Joel Goodman has classified for me as "beard folk." I spent the year immersed in the Avett Brothers, the Civil Wars, Mumford and Sons, the Decemberists—almost none of which offered albums in 2011. Initially I thought compiling a "best of" list for the year would be nearly impossible. Instead, the challenge led me to listen to new music and find some new favorites.

My personal list of Top 10 Albums took some soul searching to finalize. If left to my own devices I'd likely reorder and edit it a few more times before 2012.

10. "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn" - Various Artists

I am prepared for the inevitable flack for this choice, but let me say this: Love or hate the "Twilight Saga," you can always count on the movies' soundtracks to expose little-known artists to the world of mainstream music. Some of my favorite artists of the moment were introduced to me on previous Twilight soundtracks (Mutemath included). This album is a little more heavy on the popular artists and a little lighter on indie/moody/melancholic tracks that I've come to expect from the franchise, but I'm still going to endorse it.

9. "The Best Imitation of Myself: A Retrospective" - Ben Folds

I'm not sure how to describe the experience you get at a Ben Folds live show. He has an energy and a joy that's contagious, and a way of improvising composition that's nothing short of magical. This retrospective offers a glimpse into the fun and the storytelling, and gives longtime fans a few new Ben Folds Five recordings.

8. "21" - Adele

What a voice. On "21," it's a heartbroken, soulful, and haunting voice. I do wish there was a little more variety in the mood and story, but I have to respect that she had a very clear message here.

7. "Mylo Xyloto" - Coldplay

I'm always skeptical of a new Coldplay album. The singles are often overplayed and then the world becomes collectively sick of Coldplay all over again. But, with each new album, I remember that at the root of it all, Coldplay is good. At least I think so. And say what you will, but I've yet to own a Coldplay album that doesn't make me feel good to listen to.

6. "Codes and Keys" - Deathcab for Cutie

Deathcab is one of those bands whose albums always grow on me. "Codes and Keys" is no exception. Also—and I feel it's okay to share this considering the audience here—I love the cover. What Twitter nerd doesn't get excited about a giant hash mark?

5. "Ceremonials" - Florence + The Machine

Florence means business. Always. "Ceremonials" followed "Lungs," which is a hard act to follow. It didn't disappoint. The music of Florence + The Machine just feels epic. Big. Amazing vocals with background choirs and symphonies (or at least what feels like it to me).

4. "Odd Soul" - Mutemath

When music is described as "synth-dance," I don't expect to like it immediately. "Odd Soul" is more diverse than what I expected, and I absolutely did like it immediately.

3. "Torches" - Foster the People

I'm not even sure why I first listened to "Torches." The single "Pumped Up Kicks" has been everywhere this year and, to be honest, I got pretty sick of it. I'm glad I gave this album a chance, though. While the single is good, the rest of the album is better. It's fun, it's energetic, and it's interesting.

2. "The King is Dead" - The Decemberists

Oh, how I fought listening to this album. And then I fought liking this album. Something about your husband listening to it over and over makes it feel annoying. He was right to push it on me, though. I've heard some say (Tim Nekritz) that the album is overrated and others say that it's amazing. For me, it's got just enough of a folky feel for the musical mood I've been in this year. It just feels good.

1. "Barton Hollow" - The Civil Wars

Beautiful, powerful, and absorbing. This album is great from start to finish. No matter how much time has passed since I listened to it last, "Barton Hollow" draws me in every time. Each song can stand on its own, but as a whole this album is amazing.

Andy's top 10 albums of 2011 (with playlist)

As we prepare to post our collective list of the year's top 50 albums, some of us are posting our personal favorites. Below is the top 10 list from Andrew Careaga.

I spent a lot of 2011 isolated from the world of pop culture. I read fewer books and watched fewer movies than I have in ages. Thankfully, I wasn’t cut off from the world of music. With the U.S. launch of Spotify last June and Google’s launch of a new cloud music service soon thereafter, I had access to new music (and, thanks to the Google service, favorites from my own library) during a hectic summer. With much of my time spent shuttling between home, work and hospitals, the ability to access music on the go helped keep me sane.

2011 turned out to be a good year for the kind of music I like, which is a mix power pop, some standard rock'n'roll, and a brand of indie I would classify as folk- or Americana-inspired. I downloaded several decent albums (it’s OK to still call them “albums,” right?) and even broadened my listening a bit. Thanks to @amazonmp3’s big promo last spring, I even purchased my first Lady Gaga album, Born This Way, for the stupid low price of 99 cents. That promotion had a downside for Amazon, though, as demand from all Gaga’s little monsters choked the company’s servers.

A handful of works from 2011 may stand the test of time and make it to a future best-of-decade list. We’ll see about that in another 9 years or so. For now, let’s take on 2011.

As for my criteria, the albums that I can keep on repeat for extended periods make it to the top of my list. Since I also listen to much of my music on the go, while running or at the office, as opposed to quietly sitting somewhere with headphones on, like a true audiophile, I also take into consideration the adaptability of music to my default environments. These days, most of my music is in mp3 format. What can I say? I've become more utilitarian in my old age.

Here are my picks (accompanying Spotify playlist linked at the bottom):

10. John Hiatt - Dirty Jeans and Mudslide Hymns

I was thrilled to find out that Mr. Hiatt was releasing an album this year. As raw and bluesy as the title implies, troubador Hiatt tells tales about hard luckers, down-and-outers and ex-cons but balances the blues with paeans to fast cars and undying love. His ode to New York after 9/11 is powerful and heartbreaking.

9. Wanda Jackson - The Party Ain’t Over

The 70-something rockabilly songstress was once known as the female Elvis. But decades after the King’s departure, Ms. Jackson shows no sign of leaving the party as this Jack White-produced album gives testament. In her gritty, whiskey-drenched style, she brings new life to hard-country standards (“I’m Busted”), rockabilly classics (“Nervous Breakdown,” “Shakin’ All Over”) and even Bob Dylan (“Thunder on the Mountain”). White’s influence breaks through on nearly every track, and he performs on several. This is as much Jack White’s album as it is Wanda’s.

8. Gillian Welch - The Harrow and the Harvest

Mellow and melodic, with that old-timey influence that Gillian Welch brings to all of her recordings.

7. Peter Bjorn and John - Gimme Some

Nothing sophisticated here. Just good, harmonic, jangly power pop from this trio. Three thumbs up.

6. Florence + The Machine - Ceremonials

Florence Welch may have the most amazing pipes in the business today, as demonstrated on Florence + The Machine’s previous release, appropriately named Lungs. Florence can belt it out with the best of them (read: Adele) but can tone it down to a smooth, luxurious honeydripper voice, channeling Annie Lennox. On Ceremonials, she not only benefits from the backing of great musicians, but also from slick production. An outstanding album.

5. Bon Iver - Bon Iver

Gotta admit, I wasn’t even planning to listen to this at first. I was so disappointed with Bon Iver’s For Emma, Forever Ago, even though it was the darling of most music critics, that I had abandoned hope. But I gave it a shot, and found this self-titled release to be the most majestic thing I’ve heard in a while. The ghost of Aaron Copland must have been guiding singer-songwriter Justin Vernon as he envisioned tracks like “Calgary” and “Holocene.” Bon Iver is a big album. This is not a disappointment.

4. M83 - Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming

This band, named for a galaxy (Messier 83), certainly produced one of the most out-of-this-world concept albums that I heard this year. The dreamscape mixes a range of influences, form the stylings of Peter Gabriel’s So to School of Seven Bells to classic Pink Floyd. And you never quite know where the dreamscape is going. For example, track 5 -- “Wait” -- starts off like a commercial for Cialis but ends up sounding like it should have been on Dark Side of the Moon. This album is uneven but beautiful.

3. Foster the People - Torches

An album full of catchy tunes that just kept growing and growing on me, despite my best efforts to ignore it. The L.A. band’s “Pumped Up Kicks” has to be the earworm of the year. Every track on this album is catchy, and if you can get past the poppiness to tune in to the message of the lyrics, so much more the better.

2. The Decemberists - The King Is Dead

Finally! The Decemberists drop the sea shanties (for the most part) and create a roots-rock album I can appreciate. Lots of Neil Young influence, and with R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck contributing his distinctive style to some of the best tracks (“Calamity Song,” “Rox in the Box”), The King Is Dead stands strong as the year’s runner-up album.

1. R.E.M. - Collapse Into Now

Even before R.E.M. announced that they were breaking up for good, I had more or less christened this as my album of the year. But the band’s announcement cinched it. R.E.M. has always been masterful at articulating self-aware alienation and putting it to music. With their previous release, 2008’s Accelerate, the band wavered a bit. But they returned to form with Collapse Into Now, their strongest release since Automatic for the People. There isn’t a weak track on the album. Favorite tracks: “Oh My Heart” (about post-Katrina New Orleans), “UBerlin” and “Every Day Is Yours To Win.”

Playlist on Spotify

Top music news of 2011

Thinking back on the big music-related happenings of this year, five stories and trends seemed to take center-stage, at least from my perspective.

5. Amy Winehouse, RIP. The troubled “Rehab” singer’s death at age 27 (July 23, 2011) brought immediate comparisons to Janice Joplin, another soulful femme who died of a drug overdose at the same age. Whether the comparisons are fair or not, the news of another talented but troubled musician who left the stage too soon was tragic news for many music fans. But her music lives on, as a new album of unreleased material is coming out just in time for the holidays.



4. Enter the new divas. While Amy Winehouse’s death may have left a void for some music fans, 2011 saw many other female acts step up. Most visible was Adele, a crooner who drew inspiration from Winehouse’s jazzy style. Rihanna never left, and showed up in the oddest places, including a Coldplay track. Lykke Li brought a fresh new voice from Scandinavia, Fiest made a comeback and Florence Welch (Florence + The Machine) came on strong toward the end of the year.



3. R.E.M. calls it quits. “You mean they were still around?” So asked one Facebook friend in her status update upon hearing the news that, after 30 years, one of the greatest rock bands of my generation announced they were breaking up. Unlike many bands, however, Michael Stipe and company left on a high note, on the heels of one of the group’s strongest albums in years, Collapse Into Now.



2. Going Gaga -- for 99 cents. When Amazon decided to offer an mp3 version of Lady Gaga’s latest album, Born This Way, for 99 cents, they discovered that even their servers couldn’t handle the demand of Gaga’s little monsters. And curiosity seekers, like me, who decided it was worth a buck to download the album. But was it really worth the buck?



1. Get on my cloud. But which one? Cloud music services burgeoned in 2011. Amazon’s cloud music service, digital streaming service Spotify opening to the U.S. and the public launch of Google Music all could change the music game. Both Amazon and Google Music allow users to upload their own tunes to the cloud, while Spotify lets you play tunes from your hard drive while also accessing music from the cloudstream. Is cloud music the wave of the future? Some in the music business aren’t enamored of streaming services. One distributor, STHoldings, which represents 200 (mostly small) labels, recently announced it was withdrawing its entire catalog from Spotify, Napster, Rdio and similar services. But that may not mean much to Spotify, which announced today that it was launching a platform for third-party apps. That could be the biggest news of the year for the music business, and could also impact publishing and other sectors.

Oldies but Goodies: Five Albums You (Might) Have Missed The First Time

While I've been preening my list and checking it twice getting ready for this year's installment of Higher Ed Music Critics, I can honestly say I've spent more of 2011 listening to stuff released well before it than any other year in the past. There's no real rhyme or reason for this, it's just worked out that way.

I've decided to whet the thistle of your playlist appetite by digging into my virtual vault to pull out a few notable pieces that have gotten some playing time in the past year or so.

Black Tambourine (2010)

Black Tambourine were a twee-pop act that hailed from Maryland of all places, at a time when most indie pop acts were coming over from the UK. Slumberland Records released a compilation of their complete records with six more songs last year (hence the 2010) but these guys were a blip on the screen in the early 90s. Despite having a very short lifespan, they're considered one of the major influencers of a dozen or so major indie rock acts that you can hear today ranging from Vivian Girls to Frankie Rose & The Outs and one of my favorites of this year, Crystal Stilts.  

If you like indie pop, there are no words for me to describe how great this LP is. Just play it and it'll fill in the blanks for you.

The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds (1966)

I have a wistful memory of "oldies" music, because it reminds me of fishing trips with my grandfather growing up. He always had the oldies station playing and a few songs stayed in my memory over the years, most notable among these The Beach Boys tracks. I had no idea how good this album was or how "ahead of its time" it was when it released. Pet Sounds holds up extremely well over forty-five years later.

Madrugada - Industrial Silence (1999)

I don't know when I first ran into Madrugada, but I have to say they've lept to the top of my favorite bands list after spending some quality time over the past year with their catalog. Their debut LP, Industrial Silence is what I like to call "the best alternative album no one's ever heard." A band from Norway, these guys slipped under the radar in the pre-MP3 era and faded into obscurity before they could develop anything other than a underground fan base. But their sound is a kind of proto-grunge that sounds great.

Blacktop - I've Got A Baaad Feeling About This (The Complete Records) (2003)

Mick Collins is a Detroit scenester who has been putting out music for well over two decades with a bevy of bands most notably The Dirtbombs. Blacktop is one of his many short-lived side projects, but in my opinion is the absolute best. It's garage rock at its finest, recorded from 1994-96 during the band's short lifespan. It's upbeat, shake the sand out of your feet from the beach rock and roll that you don't hear people making much anymore. Much less from fifteen years ago never to be heard from. This stuff is the goods, no doubt.

Ultimate Spinach (1967)

I like contemporary psychedelic bands like Dead Meadow, The Black Angels, Tame Impala and Dungen, so it made sense at some point to go back and listen to older bands that I might have enjoyed from the actual era. I'm pretty sure that Ultimate Spinach was recommended to me by last.fm sometime last year and I dove in head first. It's not my favorite band of that era and it's a real headtrip, but it's pretty good stuff anyway.

So there you go. None of these were released in 2011, but they're all worth adding to your musical buffet of delights. Enjoy!

Ron Bronson has been in a perpetual state of redesign. He is currently the webmaster at Eastern Wyoming College. He blogs less frequently these days at edustir.com.

New year, new countdown, new critics

It's time once again for the people who post on this her blog, the self-proclaimed Higher Ed Music Critics, to share our collective and individual thoughts about the year's best music. This marks the third year of a project that began with an ambitious ranking and countdown of the top 100 albums of the first decade of the 2000s. (Technically, it was a ranking of the best albums released between 2000 and 2009, which wasn't the first decade of the 2000s, since the year 2000 actually marked the end of the '90s. But tell that to the hundreds of other music bloggers who did the same thing a year early.)

In year two, we scaled back our approach and focused on the top 50 albums of that year only.

Now, for year three, we're taking the same approach as year two and preparing our rankings of the top 50 albums of 2011. We do so with a slight change in the lineup.

New to the Higher Ed Music Critics collective this year are Joel Goodman, Mark Greenfield, Gordon Ryan, Alaina Wiens and Dylan Wilbanks. Joel and Dylan both shared guest posts last year (Dylan's is here and Joel's here), but Mark, Gordon and Alaina are complete newcomers to the effort. We're excited to add their perspectives to the effort.

Also this year, a few past contributors are taking this year off. Georgy Cohen, who was one of the original bloggers at this site, is focusing on her new business and other projects this year. Jenna Spinelle and Mike Petroff, who contributed to last year's effort, are also sitting this one out. Their insight with past projects has been highly valuable, as each brought a slightly different perspective to the effort. We hope they'll be able to rejoin us in 2012.

You can read a bit more about current and past contributors in the sidebar titled "The Monsters of List." There you'll also find our Twitter handles so you can connect with us via that network and harangue us about our suspect taste. In the meantime, we have lists to make. But we'll see you soon.