Chris is pretty noncommittal when it comes to naming his top albums of 2011. To make him more comfortable, we’ll be referring to this list as “Chris Atto’s favorite albums during his lunch break on Tuesday, December 13, 2011 that were released in the past year.” He also mentions Zola Jesus’ elusiveness which might have something to do with how tiny she is. It’s hard to see her. Anyway, check out Chris’s list of mostly electronic gems!
Panda Bear – “Alsatian Darn”
From: Chris Atto
To: Brandon Hall, Chris Mollica, Sarah Braunstein, Ross Angeles
Hey all,
Before I begin, I’d like to state that in last week’s discussion, I completely failed to mention one of my true favorite tracks of the year, that being Panda Bear’s “Alsatian Darn.” I only remembered this when gorilla vs. bear named it as his track of the year this week and I said, “Oh wait, I played that song all the time on turntable.fm and am obsessed with that song too. How could I have forgotten that?” Remember turntable.fm? Anyway, I think I just like songs that have multiple themes that come in and out, and this one wins that award. When that final clappy “say could I make a bad mistake” part comes in, I swoon with musical delight.
Now onto the real reason for the season and I’ll spare you all the corniest of jokes as my uncle is the king of the corny joke (“Why do people wash their clothes in Tide? Because it’s too cold outtide!”…I guess I just made a corny joke anyway), I would first like to echo Ms. Braunstein’s sentiment on the year-end list. My biggest problem is that I have “moments” with many albums. Those few weeks where there is nothing I want to listen to except that one album. But then the next thing comes along and I seemingly forget about it. The past few years I’ve actually kept a list on my phone of all the albums I’ve obtained so that I make sure not to forget anything, and I’ve just looked back on the list and many of the early albums I listened to non-stop and it made me think, “Wait, are you sure that album didn’t come out in 2010?”. Anyway, that being said, I guess these are the albums that, on this very Tuesday on my lunch break that I’ve decided stuck out amongst the rest. But if you were to catch me on a Wednesday lunch break, my selections might be completely different. In fact, on my stupid music blog that I run on the side [ed: it is not a stupid blog, it is quite nice], I chose to completely ignore end-of-the-year anything because, in the Panda Bear example stated above, there’s just so much goodness to choose from and some of the songs/albums we truly adore can still get lost in the shuffle.
SBTRKT – “Hold On”
All that being said, let me start out with a few albums that I mentioned last week in my picks for top tracks. SBTRKT’s SBTRKT was one of the definitive electronic albums of the year for me. The album got me acquainted with a whole new genre that I’m just going to overgeneralize and refer to as British bass and has expanded my horizons beyond belief. Throw in a handful of great vocalists and a memorable live show in Chicago on top of the most plays I logged of any album this year (and the album just came out in July) and this is my hands down number one.
When Saints Go Machine – “Parix”
Another album that somehow got pretty much ignored by everyone this year was When Saints Go Machine’s Konkylie. If you like atmospheric melodies, this is the album for you. The Danish group carved out a really unique sound for themselves through their composition, instrumentation (both real and electronic) and their uniquely sounding vocalist. You should also check out their Fail Forever EP which contains the title track in addition to a wonderful Nicolas Jaar remix. Speaking of Nicolas Jaar, I only just truly listened to his album with full focus a few nights ago and I have a feeling that it would have made its way into this list somehow had I given it more listens (oh wait, it just did).
Little Dragon – “Please Turn”
Now, on to the new stuff. If it were not for Yukimi Nagano’s guest vocals on the 2010 Gorillaz album Plastic Beach, I likely would never have been interested in Sweden’s Little Dragon. I then gave them a shot and was really surprised at what I found. They have this really unique sound that’s all electronic but sort of minimal, and Nagano’s smooth and instantly recognizable vocals are a perfect match. With their 2011 album Ritual Union, the songs just seemed to sound a bit bigger and a bit more full. This band is all about the details and they really shine out in this album. I recommend this album to anyone who thinks electronic music is scary because they make it feel anything but. As a personal bonus for me, someone with a major crush on Nagano, her vocals were also featured on “Wildfire,” a track from SBTRKT’s album.
Com Truise – “Cathode Girls”
As I’m putting these thoughts into words, it’s becoming clear to me that the albums I chose all have something about them that is markedly different from everything else out there, and perhaps that most applies to my next pick, Com Truise’s Galactic Melt. Love or hate his name, it’s all about the beats with Seth Haley, and he can really lay them down. His tunes all have a really old school feel to them – likely because I believe he only uses old school synthesizers – but just like some others I’ve mentioned, you can spot a Com Truise track from a mile away. Aside from the actual music, the beats themselves are so distinct and I can’t think of anyone else putting together beats like his.
Zola Jesus – “Avalanche”
Surely you didn’t think I would forget about my main gal Zola Jesus, did you? Just last night, in fact, as I cooked a delicious soup to soothe my sickly self, I listened to Conatus in full, blaring throughout the house, and I realized that there was not a single track on the album that I didn’t love. Besides her incredibly powerful voice (again, totally distinct and unlike most other voices out there), her music has something about it that’s both cold and warm at the same time. I think it’s that her melodies are typically really warm but the music is generally a bit more industrial sounding. Maybe the word I’m looking for is mysterious. Perhaps it’s the fact that she’s been to Detroit 3 times in the past year and I wasn’t able to go to any show, so she’s this elusive being that I’m not sure actually exists. More likely, her music just hits me in all the right places.
Crystal Stilts – “Flying Into The Sun”
And since you probably all think I only listen to electronic stuff, I would like to prove you ALL wrong with my final pick, a bit of a sleeper in Crystal Stilts’ In Love With Oblivion. You see, when I’m not listening to electronic music, my fallback is lo-fi and Crystal Stilts has no shortage of that. I first heard “Shake The Shackles” last year and fell in love with it instantly. There is something magical about clean, bright electric guitars and this paired with fuzzy, lo-fi vocals just makes perfect sense in my head. This album, like most of their songs I guess, have a clear allusion to 60’s surf rock, and who doesn’t love that? I can’t speak for the 7+ minute brooding “Alien Rivers” which seems almost completely out of place, but all of the other tracks make up for it. They also get a shout-out for the clarinet solo in “Flying Into The Sun”, since I used to play that.
So, yeah, that’s all I got for now. I could write about 2 million other albums (since I know Brandon loves my hyperbole), but I will leave it at that for now. It is very interesting that we can all have this chat and not all be talking about the same albums, which just goes to show you that “best of” lists are sort of pointless since beauty is in the eye of the beholder. They should call these lists “One person’s personal opinion on which album he or she liked the most, which is completely subjective”, but that’s just not as sexy.
“I’m giving in to the rhythm of my feet”
Chris
AudioVole 
Discussion
No comments yet.