So, it's 13 days into 2011; what records are worth buying / hearing / downloading?

So, what's good so far in the new year? I haven't heard any of these yet, but all are on my current watch-list (due to be released in January 2011 in the US; I think a couple may be out already, for what it's worth):

Bardo Pond - Bardo Pond
Deerhoof - Deerhoof Vs. Evil
Electric Wizard - Black Masses (US release)
Gang of Four - Content
Ghost - Opus Eponymous (US release)
Talib Kweli - Gutter Rainbows
Madlib - Madlib Medicine Show No. 11: Low Budget High Fi Music
The Radio Dept. - Passive Aggressive: Singles 2002-2010
Sonic Youth - SYR9: Simon Werner a Disparu
Wire - Red Barked Tree

Your turn... what else is worth keeping an eye on?

new British Sea Power is pretty good but not for everyone

goddamnit, that's what i get for copy & pasting the 2010 thread title. if a mod wants to change "worth worth" to "worth" -- have at it

Only 2011 release I've heard so far is utterly fantastic:

Earth - Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light 1

caught me in a bored moment so gotcha on the title

My favorite album of 2011 so far is one that I missed in 2010. ;_;

The Humms — Lemonland: hoping it gets picked up by a label or something this year so I can hype it come December.

ilxor if you're into keeping track of upcoming releases maybe you'd like to post the release dates to those on mny thread? :) 2011 album release date index

Nicolar Jaar - Space Is Only Noise

er Nicolas*

the one 2011 release i've heard so far that i'd describe as essential is meteorology by frivolous, out on 21 feb - http://www.clublifeglobal.com/m/articles/view/Cadenza-Records-New-Release-Frivolous-Meteorology

kid sister's kiss kiss kiss mixtape and nicolas jaar's space is only noise also worth hearing

roachy balboa 2, db the general, the jacka

destroyer

if you liked that Death "For The World To See" LP, you'll dig the "new" one (more recordings from the 70s). Not as good as the first one, but a handful of great tracks.

The Jacka?

He put something out already?

Ghost - Opus Eponymous (US release)

this is that OTHER Ghost, right? not the Japanese one

right.

I'm still on 2010 time

also nm deej i already knew about that jacka. it's great.

it's already bonerville status in the rolling punk thread but:

Iceage - New Brigade is fucking amazing

my maybe dumb description is some fusion of homosexuals and early husker du

new British Sea Power is pretty good but not for everyone

― legerndrymayne (acoleuthic)

I just picked this up today, really impressed after my first play. They seem to be one of the most consistently great bands around.

The new Go Team album is pretty incredible, maybe even better than the debut.

Interested to hear the new Joan as a Police Woman and Hercules & Love Affair albums out later this month.

The new Go Team album is pretty incredible, maybe even better than the debut.

Really? The second one was such a disappointment that I pretty much forgot all about them.

I saw a video for the new Joan as Police Woman single and just got sad. Joan Wasser used to kick ass in Dambuilders and Those Bastard Souls, and now she's Starbucks-bait.

Iceage - New Brigade is fucking amazing

― mekka lekka hi mega-hiney hoes (upper mississippi sh@kedown)

Gonna seek this out

^^^

Console - Herself.

Really? The second one was such a disappointment that I pretty much forgot all about them.

― one pretty obvious guy in the obvious (jon /via/ chi 2.0)

I couldn't agree more, I loved the debut but the second album was so rushed and a pale imitation of the first album. I only gave the new one a chance after some people on here bigging it up on one of their threads and I was shocked how good it is. The production is just great and the songs are so strong.

I said this on on The Go Team thread, they've followed the same pattern as Scissor Sisters did. Great debut, hollow sounding follow up then a real return to form after a long time away.

I saw a video for the new Joan as Police Woman single and just got sad. Joan Wasser used to kick ass in Dambuilders and Those Bastard Souls, and now she's Starbucks-bait.

― Dr. (Johnny Fever)

I've never heard any of her other work but I really like her two solo albums. I think I got into her through the people she worked with, David Sylvian, Antony and Rufus Wainwright appear on her albums.

What annoyed me so much about the first Go! Team was the ridiculously tinny production. I had to put all the tracks through an EQ in Soundforge and suddenly it sounded WAY better. Wonder why they did this?

some mates of mine made a record that is really good http://yisyisyis.bandcamp.com/

My four favorite 2011 albums so far:

Stealing Angels – Stealing Angels (Skyville)
The Dirtbombs – Party Store (In The Red)
O.B. Buchana – That Thang Thang (Ecko)
The Ex – Catch My Shoe (Ex)

Like about a half-dozen others I've heard so far, but they're more marginal than the ones above.

Iceage
Dirtbombs
Nicolas Jaar
Six Organs of Admittance
Gruff Rhys
Steffi
Seefeel

only the first three have my confidence that they'll be kicking around my EOY lists but all the others are worth 'hearing' which is what this is about right?

I wanna like the Dirtbombs album as the concept's brilliant, but parts of it don't work very well. Sharivari is great though!

when is it getting released?

Shriekback - Life In The Loading Bay. It came out in mid-December but who knew? Anyway, I'm already enjoying it much, much more than Glory Bumps, Cormorant, or Naked Apes & Pond Life. Carl Marsh is on it!

whoah a new album by The Ex!

thanks xhuxk

Dirtbombs was out on Jan 24 last I checked - in the interests of second opinions I'd say that all of it works, for me, although the 20-minute noizy desruction of 'Bug In the Bassbin' might be a patience-tester

Skull Defekts with Daniel Higgs 'Peer Amid' on Thrill Jockey.

British Sea Power third or fourthed....

and im gonna get eaten up for this, but im digging the Tapes n Tapes.

markers to thread ;)

haha....yeah im waiting.

Fujiya & Miyagi: Ventriloquizzing best i've heard of them in ages. wish they'd get some melody lines instead of the speak-singing they do.

I will not hear a better album this year than Louis C.K.'s Hilarious.

gave up on actual music huh

yes that is it. nice work, encyclopedia.

http://www.mbvmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/iron-and-wine-kiss-each-other-clean-cover-art.jpg

I'm curious to hear that Iron & Wine, but I've heard more than a few hardcore fans saying that its awful.

It's different from his older stuff, but def amazing. But also, never trust hardcore fans. They never like their favorite artist's newest album.

cut copy obv

what singles/trax do ppl like so far?

bubble club - goddess
tyler, the creator - yonkers
horrid red - pink flowers
sic alps - do you want to give $$
mr lucci ft bohannon & twista - bout gone
ducktails - killin the vibe
8ball & mjg ft. slim thug - life goes on
raekwon ft ghostface, rick ross - molasses
rick ross ft meek mill - perfectionist music
avril lavigne - what the hell
shaggy ft pitbull - fired up (fuck the rece$$ion)

I swear 2011 so far is already blowing the last five years out the water for music. Seems like there's at least 3 excellent albums coming out every week, many of which are gamechangers.

I wouldn't normally be able to come up with a list of bona fide excellent releases by this time in a year:

Wolf + Lamb vs Soul Clap - DJ Kicks
Art Department - The Drawing Board
Katy B - On A Mission
Loads of Night Slugs stuff
Panda Bear - Tomboy
Anika - Anika
Benoit & Sergio - Where The Freaks Have No Name
Boxcutter - The Dissolve
Frivolous - Meteorology
Nicolas Jaar - Space Is Only Noise
Kurt Vile - Smoke Ring For MY Halow
The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - Belong
Steffi - Yours & Mine
Kraak & Smaak - Electric Hustle
Radiohead - King Of Limbs

Dunno, I've been thinking 2011 < 2010 recently. Albums that I'm sure will stick with me:

Peaking Lights - 936
Metal Mountains - Golden Trees
Tim Hecker - Ravedeath, 1972
Julianna Barwick - The Magic Place
Vijay Iyer - Tirtha

I'm still not sold on the Nicolas Jaar - sometimes I like it and sometimes it just seems cheesy. Same goes for the Colin Stetson album.

it does help that i'm still catching up with a lot of stuff on the 2010 EOY list which may affect things a bit.

Albums/eps I'm reasonably into in 2011

Rüfüs - s/t ep
Young Prisms - Friends for Now
The Joy Formidable - The Big Roar
Chapel Club - Palace
The Go! Team - Rolling Blackouts
Junk Culture - Summer Friends ep
Stricken City - Losing Colour (r.i.p. you fantastic band!)
PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
Warm Ghost - Uncut Diamond ep
Win Win - s/t
Adele - 21
Dum Dum Girls - He Gets Me High ep
Maria Minerva - Tallinn at Dawn
Lykke Li - Wounded Rhymes
Rainbow Arabia - Boys and Diamonds
Oh Land - s/t
The Vaccines - What Did You Expect From The Vaccines?
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Belong
Those Darlins - Screws Get Loose

Albums/eps I'm still feeling out but seem promising in 2011

Adventure - Lesser Known
Yelle - Safari Disco Club
(Please) Don't Blame Mexico - Concorde
Munk - The Bird and The Beat
Bewilderbeast - Slow it Down ep
The Shoes - Crack My Bones
Wolfram - s/t
We Are Enfant Terrible - Explicit Pictures

Albums that are absolute garbage in 2011

Lupe Fiasco - Lasers
The Strokes - Angles
The Human League - Credo

Albums I'm looking very forward to hearing/liking in 2011

Jens Carelius - The Architect
Jamie Woon - Mirrorwriting
Niki & The Dove - The Fox ep
Lady Gaga - Born This Way
Gang Gang Dance - Eye Contact
Hooray For Earth - True Loves
Tune-Yards - w h o k i l l

Should probably have included Fabric - A Sort of Radiance as well, yet another hazy/drony album...

Also looking forward to hearing the new Gang Gang Dance.

A couple of things I've liked a fair bit that haven't been mentioned much on ILM:

Deaf Center - Owl Splinters (sinister nordic soundtrack music on Type Records)

Fabio Orsi - Stand Before Me, Oh My Soul (terribly-named album full of terribly-named tracks -thank god there's no lyrics on this thing- but basically this is noisy aggro-ambient that reminds me a lot of Ben Frost's guitar-based stuff)

The one thing that has really knocked me off my chair though is an old one and that's the Editions Mego re-release of the Bill Orcutt album (A New Way To Pay Old Debts). Fantastic solo guitar outsider blues-mangling, kinda Jandek, kinda Steffen Basho-Junghans, it just grabs life by the throat and throttles the living shit out of it.

i'm down with Colin Stetson, Tim Hecker, Six Organs of Admittance, Belong, Earth, Julianna Barwick, Low, Liturgy, Rhys Chatham... all really great

standouts for me this year so far:

megaphonic thrift
hannah peel
ringo deathstarr
mirrors
all the captured tracks stuff
seerauber jenny 'avalanche' single
belong
wild palms
gunnar bjerk

A lot of my favourite artists seem to be releasing albums in the next few months.

Art Brut (So excited for this)
Wild Beasts
Guillemots
Bjork
Junior Boys
TV On The Radio
Gang Gang Dance

So far Lykke Li and The Go Team are battling it out for my album of the year. It's already been a stronger year than the last couple for me.

xpost to Johhny Fever. Is the Human League album really that bad? Their last album was really strong, I was hoping this would be more of the same.

sure it's a lol reissue but MAN is this good (if you like this sort of thing, which i do)
http://i1.soundcloud.com/artworks-000004502825-xzlxl5-crop.jpg?3ed651

Love this comp^

And the 20-Years of Planet E techno comp as well.

I really really REALLY dig the Creep EP, like to an unreasonable degree

so far the only full-length album released this year that I've heard which I have full-on adored is one I'm on, lol:

The Mountain Goats - All Eternals Deck

also it isn't out yet (but soon!)

I'm also starting to work my way through Night Slugs releases

So far this year I'm loving

Pitom - Blasphemy and other Serious Crimes
Cut Copy - Zonoscope
Iron & Wine - Kiss Each Other Clean
The Radio Dept - Passive Aggressive (Singles)
and Turisas - Stand Up and Fight

Still waiting for a shitty pop-punk album to sweep me off my feet but Bayside + Funeral for a Friend + Glassjaw + Dropkick Murphys were all too terrible to love

The Willie Wright album on Numero is also brilliant, though it's all rereleased material.

i like the conquering animal sound record, devotchka and jonny too. acid house kings also.

xpost to Johhny Fever. Is the Human League album really that bad? Their last album was really strong, I was hoping this would be more of the same.

― Kitchen Person, Friday, March 18, 2011 12:01 PM (10 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I thought the last HL album (10 years ago?) was reasonably good and appropriately contemporary for its time, but this one is a blatant attempt to sound like "classic" HL and not having any clue about how to do it anymore.

http://sickmouthy.com/2011/05/11/albums-of-2011-so-far/

What am I missing, based on the above?

good write-up nick. i'm with you on a bunch of those (callahan, mountain goats, panda bear, pj harvey) and agree Goblin is worth a listen though flawed, others i still need to hear (LCD, radiohead, jaar, beasties). didn't like the josh pearson record at all though.

best album i've heard this year:

Colin Stetson - New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges - solo saxophone recorded with ~20 mics live in the studio, beautifully mixed, absolutely stunning, runaway #1. given your obsessions with hi-fi sound, good headphones/speakers, vague "audiophile"-ness, you'd love this. totally shines in that setting. cannot recommend it enough.

song-based stuff i'd suggest you check out (off the top of my head):

Julianna Barwick - The Magic Place - looped & hazy vocals, need to give this more time myself, gorgeous though
Belong - Common Era - shoegazy tunes on Kranky
Earth - Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light I - a continuation of their epic gothic Morricone-style country/blues
Low - C'mon - total 180 degree turn from Drums & Guns, mostly airy and light, beautiful production
Moon Duo - Mazes - super catchy psych-pop guitar & organ duo
Gil Scott-Heron & Jamie xx - We're New Here - tunes from the former's excellent latest album, remixed xx style
Six Organs of Admittance - Asleep on the Floodplain - mostly solo acoustic w/ hints of psych/drone

a few abstract/drone/noisy/instrumental things if you care:

Deaf Center - Owl Splinters - piano & cello drone
Tim Hecker - Ravedeath 1972 - recorded on a big pipe organ in Iceland if i recall, one of his best
Rene Hell - The Terminal Symphony - classical influenced semi-noisy stuff
Mark McGuire - A Young Person's Guide to Mark McGuire - solo guitar loops & soundscapes

PJ Harvey – Let England Shake
This is magnificent. Strangely, Americans I know seem not to get it as much as Brits.

totally otm, btw. i like this one well enough (like all PJ) but i think it's miles behind White Chalk.

oh god, also, get Gang Gang Dance - Eye Contact. came back here to say that. get it now. it's fantastic.

Low's new album is my favorite of the year so far.

holy ghost album is a lot of fun

I disagree on the PJ Harvey album (but I'm probably an American outlier). I liked White Chalk, but I think Let England Shake is amazing from end to end and I love it like crazy.

no Liturgy ilxor?

(GGD is the best thing I've heard so far this year)

I banged on a bout it a lot at the very end of last year, but Mouthy I think you could do worse than check out Console's "Herself".

no Liturgy ilxor?

love it, but didn't think it (or metal in general) was to mouthy's tastes. i get the impression he likes his rock british, vaguely arty, with lots of production detail, like elbow. but yes, Liturgy album is wonderful. see also: Krallice, SubRosa, Indian, Weedeater, Trap Them, Winter reissue. most of those are vaguely doom/stoner-y, except for Krallice and Trap Them. as far as metal-related but not really metal on new albums, i'd also recommend Boris, Ulver, Grails. just didn't think mouthy would be into any of those too much.

Right on; I didn't realize the list was tailored for scik, that's all

Gang Gang Dance duly purchased in town this lunchtime. I shall crack it open this evening, possibly.

And yes, I am essentially metal-averse!

i am trying really hard not to be negative but GGD could be one of the worst records i've ever heard in my life :(

GGD "Mindkilla" could be the best single tune i've heard all year

I enjoyed the GGD album, but it feels like they're increasingly digging a niche for themselves. Bit like how Animal Collective started out doing lots of different ideas to eventually settle into their 16bit-psychcrunch stuff from the last couple of albums.

Whereas I think AC have finally stopped fucking around and got a good aesthetic!

sure, I'm not disputing whether one thing is better than the other. Although I'll take Sung Tongs over MPP any day.

I've listened to Eye Contact a couple of times and while it seems more consistent than Saint Dymphna it doesn't have the same highs for me and is a bit one-paced; nothing here matches First Communion or House Jam imo/ime/etc.

I absolutely love the opening track on Eye Contact. Wasn't as keen on "Mindkilla" but I do want to hear the whole record.

feel like there are actually a ton of good indie rock-ish records so far this year! at least indie rock that i like.
david kilgour - left by soft
destroyer - kaputt
moon duo - mazes
bill callahan - apocalypse
bachelorette - s/t
feelies - here before
Mars Classroom - New Theory of Everything
high llamas - talahomi way
six organs of admittance - asleep on the floodplain

here's the records I would whole-heartedly recommend:

Ducktails - Ducktails III: Arcade Dynamics
Iron & Wine - Kiss Each Other Clean
Destroyer - Kaputt
Smith Westerns - Dye It Blonde
Akron/Family - S/T II: The Cosmic Birth and Journey of Shinju TNT
Mogwai - Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will
Gil Scott-Heron & Jamie xx - We're New Here
Nicole Atkins - Mondo Amore
Lykke Li - Wounded Rhymes
The Skull Defekts - Peer Amid
Kurt Vile - Smoke Ring for My Halo
Raekwon - Shaolin vs. Wu-Tang
J Mascis - Several Shades of Why
Britney Spears - Femme Fatale
E-40 - Revenue Retrievin': Overtime/Graveyard Shift
The Mountain Goats - All Eternals Deck
Obits - Moody, Standard & Poor
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Belong
The Joy Formidable - The Big Roar
Moon Duo - Mazes
Panda Bear - Tomboy
Crystal Stitls - In Love with Oblivion
Krallice - Diotima
Times New Viking - Dancer Equired
Pentagram - Last Rites
Primordial - Redemption at the Puritan's Hand
Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
KEN Mode - Venerable
Zombi - Escape Velocity
Liturgy - Aesthetica

I def think Adult Goth is on the same level as First Communion and House Jam

Really want to check out new D Kilgour, Subrosa, Zombi--another one I'm looking forward to checking out (thx to the Quietus) is the new Crowbar album...

off the top of my head, might be forgetting something

1. dj quik - the book of david
2. destroyer - kaputt
3. raekwon - shaolin vs wu-tang
4. the mountain goats - all eternals deck
5. killa kyleon - candy pain and texas plates
6. dawn richard - a tell tale heart
7. e-40 - revenue retrievin: graveyard shift
8. keyshia cole - calling all hearts
9. the pains of being pure at heart - belong
10. mouse on tha track - swagga fresh freddie

Raekwon is definitely up there for me too

need to hear Quik so badly

Gave this a listen this morning while eating boiled eggs and ironing a shirt. I enjoyed it, and look forward to listenign to it more.

By 'this', duh me, I obviously mean Gang Gang Dance.

this is where i was gonna post my belated first quarter reports but forgot

http://alexmacpherson.tumblr.com/post/5068549266/q1-report-2011-part-one-albums
http://alexmacpherson.tumblr.com/post/5157484245/q1-report-2011-part-two-tracks

Colin Stetson, Liturgy, PJ Harvey (favourite), Katy B, The Skull Defekts, Alexander Tucker, Boris (Attention Please), Death Grips, Iceage, EMA, John Foxx And The Maths, Cornershop, Planningtorock, Foster Manganyi (might have come out last year), Battles, Wild Beasts, Tamikrest, Moon Duo, Destroyer, Six Organs Of Admittance, Aethnor, Wire, British Sea Power, The Soft Moon, Bong, Murmurres, Earth, Amon Tobin, Demdike Stare, Jane Weaver, My Disco, Cultus Sabbati, De Magia Veratum.

Thanks for the lists, lex. I look forward to those.

Doran's list is excellent

Stuff I've liked either a little or a lot (or am expecting to like either a little or a lot):
http://rateyourmusic.com/list/mondosalvo/building_2011_%E2%80%94_albums_and_eps

^ Lupe Fiasco was on that list pre-release, but once I heard it I took it off and actually considered making a WORST OF 2011 list starting with that album.

James Blake
Paul Simon
Kurt Vile
Belong
Sic Alps
Andy Stott
Cass McCombs
Tim Hecker
The Sea And Cake
Sonic Youth (SYR9)
Zombi
Scorch Trio
Ohayo

(Late 2010 albums that I'll likely stick on my list anyhow because I first heard them early this year: Anika, Ultralyd)

my top ten for the year so far would be (not in order)
megaphonic thrift
ringo deathstarr
holy ghost!
craft spells
belong
mirrors
slug guts
girls names
jerusalem & the starbaskets
raveonettes

the seerauber jenny album will almost certainly be my favourite when it comes out, based on totally adoring everything she's done so far. and if outrageous cherry put out an album this year all bets are off of course

that craft spells album has a lot going on for a pop record. glad I picked it up.

Hey, what are Holy Ghost like? I saw this feature in Mixmag where they said their favourite albums were "My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts", "Kid A" and something by Gino Soccio. If they sound like these albums they could potentially be my favourite band in the world.

new order + fleetwood mac

by rights they should be the greatest band of all time

think you could equally go for PSB + LCD Soundsystem

basically a mix of lots of old person canon bands they never have a hope of being as good as, which isn't to say they don't have their moments

Have been liking these:

Gang Gang Dance - Eye Contact
Julianna Barwick - The Magic Place
Jenny Hval - Viscera
Panda Bear - Tomboy
Implodes - Black Earth
Tim Hecker - Ravedeath, 1972
Deaf Center - Owl Splinters
Moritz Von Oswald Trio - Horizontal Structures
Andy Stott - Passed Me By
Kode9 & The Spaceape - Black Sun
Fovea Hex - Here Is Where We Used To Sing
Xander Harris - Urban Gothic
Nils Frahm & Anne Muller - 7fingers
Arthur's Landing - Arthur's Landing
Wet Hair - In Vogue Spirit
Zwischenwelt - Paranormale Aktivitat
Maria Minerva - Tallinn At Dawn
Alexander Tucker - Dorwytch

love implodes, maria minerva & wet hair from that list

Patrick Wolf, PJ Harvey, and Wild Beasts are way out in front for me.

NickB, i adore the 1/2 or so of your list that i've heard.. time to check out the others. i've heard v good things about Fovea Hex, Andy Stott, etc. especially. the only thing i'm mixed on is Alex Tucker.. his voice is a dead-ringer for Maynard James Keenan on that album, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but is very distracting. think i like his older stuff better.