Best of 2011 So Far

Holy moly, it's already July! Where did the time go? The year is already halfway over! It also means that I'm just a few weeks away from turning 21 and I'll be able to taste alcohol for the first time ever!!!!

As I'm sure many other bloggers do, I'm going to take this opportunity to reflect on some of the great music that's been released so far this year by picking a favorite album, song, and live act as well as give some props to some of my favorite new discoveries thus far this year. Obviously these are not final because there's still six months to go which will be including Lollapalooza, a new No Doubt album (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), and many other releases and shows. Who knows, by the end of the year these might seem like complete and utter shit... but I doubt that =)

Best Album (So Far)
The first six months have included releases by two of my favorite artists, the Sounds and Lady Gaga. Needless to say I was pretty much giddy for these albums to come out and when they did... I kinda got blue ballsed a bit. They were decent, don't get me wrong, and they both have some great songs on them (From the Sounds Something to Die For album, I recommend "The No-No Song," "Wish You Were Here," and "Better Off Dead." From Gaga's Born This Way, "Americano," "Marry the Night," "Government Hooker," "You and I," "Shei(weird German symbol that looks like a B)e,"and "Edge of Glory" stand out) but as a whole, neither of them was spectacular as far as I'm concerned. Some stronger releases came from Yelle, Cold War Kids, and the Rural Alberta Advantage. In fact, the Rural Alberta Advantage would probably be my favorite album this year if I hadn't spontaneously gone to see a band known as the Head and the Heart at SXSW and become absolutely obsessed.

Seriously, these guys are AMAZING and their self titled debut is one of those rare albums that I like every song on it. They played an acoustic set at the Electric Fetus in Minneapolis last month and it was incredible. I had the chance to talk with them for a minute after and they were incredibly nice and down to earth.

Best Song (So Far)
This one is a bit harder to choose from because there have been a few songs that I've had on repeat. "The Edge of Glory" by Lady Gaga is just... fucking genius. It's like an 80's throwback and, while she gets criticized for that, I personally really enjoy it. Other favorites that didn't quite make the cut include, "The Bay" by Metronomy, "Louder Than Ever" by Cold War Kids, "Cardiac Arrest" by Teddybears feat. Robyn, "Breaking and Entering" by Tonight Alive and "Muscle Relaxants" by the Rural Alberta Advantage but my favorite, which has found a place as one of the few non-Metric songs on my most played list, is "The No-No Song" by the Sounds. It's. So. Damn. Catchy. And best of all it includes my favorite musical element, angry female vocals! Stick it to whoever hurt you, Maja! You can have me. Seriously. I wouldn't say no.

Best Live Act
As I've mentioned in the past, I went to SXSW and that's where I saw my favorite live act so far... twice. Yes, it's the Sounds! They have so much energy and what's there not to love about a group of sexy, sweaty Swedes with a ton of energy? Nothing. I finally got to see Maja's legs up close and in person and THEY ARE EVEN BETTER THAN I IMAGINED. The other thing Maja is semi-known for is her ability to chain smoke through a whole set and, while I normally find cigarettes incredibly disgusting, I was more than a bit turned on. If that's not enough, I randomly ran into them on the street and got this picture with Maja!

Isn't she gorgeous?! She was incredibly nice, too. I always find that makes me like a band that much more because there are some asshole musicians out there.


Some New Favorites
I'm not going to pick just one for this category because there are so many great ones. This list is far from complete but here's a sample:

The Head and the Heart- But I've already talked about them enough.

The Naked and Famous- I discovered them early in the year and I'm just going to attribute it to Merrijoy because she's one of two people I know who understand how AWESOME they are.


Ellie Goulding- HOLY MOTHER OF SHIVA I LOVE HER. How did I not hear about her before?! She might be my favorite Brit. When she sings, she still maintains her British accent but it's not annoying as accents sometimes can be. She does a cover of "Your Song" by Elton John and the video for it on YouTube... Oh man. She's too cute for words.

Dessa- She's another one who I don't know how I missed her before. She's a rapper from Minneapolis and she's just incredible... and that's coming from someone who generally doesn't enjoy rap.


The Book of Mormon- Okay, so this isn't a band, it's a musical. But it's earned a spot as one of the two musicals I actually like (the other being Avenue Q). Hasa Diga Eebowai is... just glorious. Go look it up.

Aaaaand those are my favorites so far. What have been some of yours? Do share! I'm always looking for new music!

The Best of 2010

Last year, for the first time, I made my list of the top 10 albums of the year and it was a really great way for me to reflect on all the great music that came out that year. I decided that this year I'm going to try something different and see which I like better... Instead of doing a list of albums, I'm going to pick a best album, best song, best live act, best new artist, and best flashback album (an album that came out a previous year but I didn't discover until this year). I figure this way I get to mix things up a bit and talk about a variety of different works that deserve credit for their awesomeness. I'm also going to include a short section on what I look forward to most in 2011. So, without further adieu, here's my picks for the best of 2010!

Album of the Year
This year had a lot of strong releases from some of my old favorites including Broken Social Scene, Stars, and Motion City Soundtrack as well some newly discovered artists like Basia Bulat and Woodpigeon. My pick for album of the year is (surprisingly) not from any of these artists, however. It's from an artist that I've listened to in the past and enjoyed but was blown away by the work they put out this year, Land of Talk.

Their release, Cloak and Cipher, is haunting and beautiful and a rocking good time all packaged into one album. Lizzie's distinct vocals are what really carry the album. Her voice is soft but doesn't get too breathy or weak like some female singers' voices can. Also, it's what her voice actually sounds like; I saw them live in September and there's no editing needed to create her unique sound (unlike many artists these days, it seems). If you're going to download just one song, make it Quarry Hymns. It's a truly beautiful song.

Song of the Year
This one gave me more trouble than picking album of the year. I toyed back and forth with a bunch of ideas. For a while I was going to choose "Sentimental X's" by BSS or "Changes" by Stars. "To Die For" by Tonight Alive was a strong contender and, more recently, "Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)" by Arcade Fire was almost going to be chosen. While these songs are great and I strongly recommend all of them, there was one song that blew them all away...

"Black Sheep" by Metric. Yes, this song has existed in some form or another or other for a while but it was this year that the final studio version was released on the soundtrack for Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and let me just say, this song is SICK. It starts out with a lot of sexy, "Awww, yeahs!" and brings on the rock. The real great thing about this song is the guitar solo during the outro. I've always known that Jimmy Shaw was a great guitarist but this solidified his status as a guitar god. Seriously, give it a listen. If you're not mindfucked there's something wrong.

Best Live Act
I go to a lot of shows and 2010 was no exception. This year, I got to see Motion City Soundtrack (twice!), Meg & Dia, Metric, Broken Social Scene, Stars, Land of Talk, and many more artists that I love. They were all fantastic show but none of them compared to the two hour dance-mindfuck-empowerment-sing-along fest that was the Monster Ball put on by Lady Gaga.

This lady proved she's not just another pop star and truly put on a SHOW. As mentioned before, it was almost two hours long. Usually, having a short attention span and all, I'd get bored but Gaga kept it coming and even as she closed with "Bad Romance" I was left wanting more and even considering going to see her again the next night (which didn't happen for monetary reasons). Tickets to see her are expensive but she makes it worth every penny and then some with lights and dancers and a fountain of blood. Probably my favorite moment of the concert was when she was doing Speechless on the flaming piano. How cool is that?!


Best New Artist
I've said this for every category but again, this one was a toughie. There were a lot of great new artists this year but probably my favorite was Tonight Alive.

They're a really awesome band from Australia and have a nice, clean alternative rock sound. They get compared to compared to Paramore a lot and I guess I see the comparison to some extent but Jenna doesn't have the same snarl that Hayley does and I honestly think that the comparison is just made because both bands have female fronts (an unfair comparison if you ask me; just because two bands have female fronts does NOT mean they sound the same). They released their first album, All Shapes and Disguises, in June and it features a cover of "In My Eyes" by Rufio that I actually prefer to the original (which is not a common occurrence for me- I generally don't like covers). I'm definitely looking forward to seeing what this band has in store for us in the future!


Blast From the Past Album
I don't know how I didn't hear about this band earlier but early in 2010 I discovered the Rural Alberta Advantage and their 2008 release, Hometimes. This album is fantastic and one of the rare albums that I actually like all the songs on it. If you want a sample of it, download "Drain the Blood" or "Edmonton."

2011 Excitement
I'm not even gonna lie: 2011 is going to be a great musical year. No Doubt will (more than likely) be coming out with a new album and I have been waiting for this album FOREVER. In addition, the Sounds are apparently done with their new album that should be released sometime this year and the Ting Tings are releasing a new album as well. Metric is headed back to the studio so maybe we'll be getting a new album from them as well. Lady Gaga's new album is due out beginning of the year and I've heard rumors that she'll be releasing her new single soon. Of course, there will also be a ton of other releases that I haven't heard about yet... 2011 should be an exciting year in music!