2011: Matt's 50 Favorite Tracks
Written by Matt Adler
So...I suppose I'm a tad bit late to the year-end-best-of-lists party but oh well. Josh already offered up his favorite tracks in the year-end best-of playlist and, while our lists have a lot of crossover, I thought I'd offer up my favorite 50 tracks from the past year. I've struggled with the idea of trying to put a 'best-of' stamp on anything I listen to based solely on the fact that I'm not all that comfortable with the idea of ranking all the tracks I love. This is more a representation of all my favorite tracks from the past year than it is what I deem to be the "best music" out there. Does that make sense? Probably not. Whatever.
My other issue with compiling a list is I'm extremely indecisive and also feel a top 50 doesn't accurately represent the albums that I loved as whole pieces. I'll do a list for those in the coming days just so I don't feel like I'm leaving out some of my favorites in Onehotrix Point Never, Grouper, Ricky Eat Acid, Balam Acab and others.
My indecisiveness also made it nearly impossible to rank 50 tracks. Depending on my mood, the time of day, where I am at any given moment, any number of songs on this list could change drastically in reference to ranking or spot. The first 40 are not in any particular order where as I did end up ranking a top 10.
I know I've likely forgot and overlooked a handful of tracks but oh well. Check out 50 of my favorite tracks from the past year down below.
Keep + Animal Collective
(Keep)
Blue Suicide
(Fork and Spoon/Summertime in Hell/Wonderbeard Tapes)
Doug Hoyer - "Oh, The Wind Will Blow (feat. Jessica Jalbert)"
Walks With The Tender and Growing Night
(Old Ugly Recording Company)
Winter Creatures
(Porchlight Records)
Romantic Comedy
(Slumberland)
TV Girl - "Lizzy Come Back To Life"
Benny and the Jetts
(self-released)
Shapeshifting
(Paper Bag)
3EP
(4AD)
Raleigh Moncrief - "Lament for Morning"
Watered Lawn
(Anticon)
Big Spider's Back - "Black Chow"
Memory Man
(Circle Into Square)
Hooray For Earth - "Realize It's Not The Sun"
True Loves
(Dovecote)
Lotus Plaza/Odonis Odonis split
(Palmist)
Rainforest EP
(Tri Angle)
Abadabad - "Park Slope (I'm Sorry)"
single release/Stoner Showers + Abadabad split
(self release/Chill Mega Chill)
Wild Palms/Symphony No. 2 7''
(Dead Oceans)
Blood Diamonds - "Move the Stars"
Grins 7''
(Transparent)
Iconography
(Remote Control)
Young Black Preachers - "Especial"
Lunch Special III
(Ounce.)
Peaking Lights - "Hey Sparrow"
936
(Not Not Fun)
Dracula
(Dead Oceans)
With U
(Tri Angle)
Wise Blood - "Darlin' You're Sweet"
These Wings
(Dovecote)
Serengeti - "PMDD (feat. Owen Ashworth)"
Family and Friends
(Anticon)
The Joy Formidable - "Cradle (Fang Island remix)"
The Big Roar remixes
(Canvasback/Atlantic)
Julianna Barwick - "Bob In Your Gait"
The Magic Place
(Asthmatic Kitty)
Days
(Domino)
Born Gold - "Decimate Everything"
Bodysongs
(Crash Symbols)
Sean Nicholas Savage - "Can't Get My Mind Off You"
Trippple Midnight Karma
(Arbutus)
The Luyas - "Too Beautiful To Work"
Too Beautiful To Work
(Dead Oceans)
Native Speaker
(Kanine)
Bad Vibes
(Friends of Friends)
Open Season
(Feel Trip/Englophile)
Fruit of the Spirit
(Partisan)
Groundislava - "Animal (Young Montana? remix)"
Groundislava
(Friends of Friends)
Goodbye Bread
(Drag City)
Future Songs
(Constellation)
Dreams
(Culture Dealer)
Ricky Eat Acid + Arrange - "P.S.L.W."
single release
(self-release)
Since Forever
(AMDISCS)
Mutual Benefit - "Auburn Epitaphs"
Mutual Benefit/Philip Seymour Hoffman split
(Kassette Klub)
You could make a case when compiling a best of list to include the solo and original work from 80% of the contributors on this remix --- but that is exactly what makes it so easy to love this song; this track acts like an aggregate of all things good currently circulating in hip hop. The only thing I'm left to ponder is what I love more; El-P's itemized jawdropping verse or the direct nod to Chappelle at the beginning.
I had 3 different Pure X songs in this slot before eventually settling on Dream Over. While it speaks to the love I have for Pleasure --- easily one of my picks for favorite album of the year, it's also a testament to the type of album they've created. While it's easy to get lost in the lo-fi haziness of Pleasure's encompassing sound, tracks like Dream Over help bring their songwriting to light and really make you appreciate their ability to craft these amazing short pop interjections.
8. Son Lux - All The Right Things
Ryan Lott aka Son Lux had perhaps one of the more painfully underrated albums this year with his sophomore effort We Are Rising. On All The Right Things, Lott forgoes the oft-relied upon medium of sampling and, instead, uses his wealth of classical training to craft a near-flawless piece of material. He's always attempted to bring the concert hall composer and the bedroom beat-maker closer together and, on this track, he's painted a beautiful world for those two to co-exist in.
Ah, you don't need to feel sorry for Trevor Powers. In less than a year he's had a virtual bidding war of labels over his talents based upon unmastered demos, an eventual signing with Fat Possum that lead to critical acclaim and mass distribution of his album, a major hand in helping shine a much deserved light on an amazing Boise scene, a national headlining tour and now a slew of accolades on high profile year end lists. July may be the ultimate representation of The Year of Hibernation; a slow burning crescendo built around his chidlike vocals that keeps building up to the exact climax that you hope it does.
To be honest, Purity Ring could have riddled this list with every single, b-side and remix they've released in 2011. However, despite all the appeal and allure of their growing catalog of amazing singles, I find myself constantly going back to Ungirthed; the track they first broke out with back in January.
5. TV Girl - Benny and the Jetts
I sincerely mean it when I say this spot is occupied by really anything TV Girl has released to date. To say their material has been consistently amazing would be a gross understatement. When wrestling with the notion of condensing a years worth of music down to 50 tracks, I had kept rotating between Benny and the Jetts and Lizzy Come Back To Life for this spot. For me, their music wasn't dependent upon a season or a feeling of nostalgia; it is just pure pop heaven. Their ability to interweave a sprawling myriad of samples into their own creations was really second-to-none for me in 2011. They are a piece of aural hope for my mounting cynacism towards some avenues of music. On top of all that, they recently announced a mixtape of all new and original material coming out in early 2012.
There was this surreal what-the-fuck-am-I-listening-to moment when I first heard Black Up some 6 months ago. I was familiar with Butler's past work and multiple incarnations. I also understood that defying the normal hip-hop conventions we've come to accept as commonplace was one of his most appealing qualities. And while I was initially lost in the fragmented verse/chrous structure and polarizing beats, I always knew I was listening to something special. Something that would take multiple listens to truly appreciate as a whole entity. With saying all that, I suppose it goes against the grain to go and pick Youlogy; one of the more accessible songs off Black Up but, from the moment I hit play half a year ago, this is the track that always stuck out. It highlights Butler's ability to command such power with the simplest of repetitions. It's the marriage of the abstract breakdowns and buildups with the more familiar commentary on commercialism and capatalism. Butler, like with most of his work, does his best to camouflage his target audience and, in the case of Youlogy, it really doesn't matter....the lyrics are so on-point that the subject is really interchangeable. Caked up on fake love to get you high.
Christopher Barnes, along with cellist Kristen Drymala and vocalist Ieve Berberian crafted one of the more visceral and raw releases of 2011 with their breakout LP Breakers. It's the absolute portrait of what beauty negative space can provide in audio. The power of Breakers really doesn't translate to one singular track --- it's better exposed in entire sittings where you can enjoy each piece of the entire picture. However, I would be remiss if I didn't include one track from Breakers on my top 10 and, with that, I'm left to pick 252. Earlier on in the summer, my car broke down in a parking lot outside of the city. Without my ipod or any working CDs in my car, I dug through my console until I found a copy of Breakers that I had sitting in there almost serendipitously. While waiting for a tow, I managed to go from start to finish on the album three times and, with each time, I can still remember feeling like 252 helped sum up my year to that exact moment. From Barnes naked lyrics and delivery, it truly felt like one of those rare moments where you're afforded the opportunity to feel like you were the only one in the room while they recorded this song. It's one of those feelings that still stick with me every time this track comes on.
It's so easy for me to relate to Cass McCombs. If it's not his ability to craft some of the best albums post-2000, it's his extremely nomadic approach to his craft. If Catacombs was his coming out party, Wit's End was Cass cementing his legend. There is a marked maturity across the lineage of his work and nowhere is that more apparent than on County Line --- perhaps the most complete we've ever heard him be. It's a pitch-perfect portrait of heartbreak and despair. Unrequited love may not be the most original backdrop for songs, but it only gravitates with the listener as much as the artist is willing to bare their own self. County Line is potentially the most apt representation that there is power in combining ambiguity and explicitness.
Dear Liz Harris,
Please sing more often.
Sincerely, me.
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