Best Albums Of 2011: 30-26

It has been a while since I wrote anything for Another Dying Artform. That was not such a bad thing as getting a new job and starting down a new career path filled the space that was being patched by being able to write and think critically about the music I enjoy. Even with my new pressures and huge life shift, I still read about music, procured what I could and thought about what words I would be writing, editing and obsessing over before publishing. In 2011, there was still a lot of new discoveries, some disappointments and head scratchers and a few moments of greatness that need to be recognized. Although 2012 will definitely be busy and full of changes, my goal will ideally be to balance work, family and actively write ADA throughout the year, promoting the music that deserves as much attention as can be gathered. I hope you, whether it be friend, fan or someone who stumbled upon ADA by accident discovers something new. For me, that is what it is all about.

30-26 | 25-21 | 20-16 | 15-11 | 10-6 | 5-1

#30: CANT - Dreams Come True

Chris Taylor of Grizzly Bear fame has kept him pretty active since the band's zenith-reaching LP Veckatimest. He has most notably produced last year's Twin Shadow debut and started Terrible Records where his side project CANT can get the loving attention that an indie label can give while stepping firmly always from that Grizzly Bear moniker and all the expectation that goes along with it. Dreams Come True has a real bedroom, one man show feel, thick with layers of humming synth broken up by patches of bass and guitar that are purposely unsettled. Often surprising with new themes, Taylor tries out some creepy melancholia on "Bang",  electronic steel on "Answer" and smooth yacht rock on "The Edge" with equal success. Overall, Dreams Come True is a provocative little experiment that ably captures that excess creativity while keeping one sharp for next year's big triumph from his "other band".

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CANT - Believe

#29: Tapes n' Tapes - Outside

This is your typical "Band makes a great album, band stumbles on the followup, band is forgotten in the shuffle" story. This Twin Cities foursome had to do something big to capture everyone's attention again, and accomplished that with their insistent rocker "Freak Out". The rest of the album is positive and buoyant, playfully teasing with rhythm and mood, shaking and swaying and reminding the listener of why they received comparisons with Pavement on their 2006 debut The Loon. Throughly overlooked and underestimated, Outside is a solid album of established indie (if there is such a thing), rooted in a sensible rock tradition that nudges the boundaries slightly while dealing low risk grooves that are hard to ignore.

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Tapes n' Tapes - Two Tracks

#28: Holy Ghost! - Holy Ghost!

This is the first example of the unintentional yet unavoidable main theme of 2011. The 80's are back! with an apparent abundance of exclamation points! according to duo Holy Ghost! Under the able guidance of Messrs Murphy and Goldsworthy at DFA, they have crafted a party platter of cunning and effective steppers that with get the cool kids dancing all night. For those of us whose reminisce on the early adventures in club beats, whether it was the hot New Order remix, the nuggets of Chicago house groove or the nameless and faceless Euro anthems that you recall only by muscle memory, Holy Ghost! has given reason to blow the dust off those vinyl 12" hidden away in the storage space.

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Holy Ghost! (Full album stream)

#27: We Were Promised Jetpacks - In The Pit Of The Stomach

This 2nd LP for these blokes was woefully overlooked by the tastemakers, including me. Anthemic and incendiary in all ten of the tracks, In The Pit Of The Stomach pushes so many of my music-lover buttons. Machine gun drumrolls and rock riffs for months are heaped plentifully and topped with a Scottish wail that goes off key just to add more punctuation. Not unlike their other countrymen Frightened Rabbit and The Twilight Sad, WWPJ are never light or easy, opting for sprawling sagas where the power in the poetry is obvious, but they bellow the lyrics anyway.

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We Were Promised Jetpacks - Act On Impulse

#26: Wild Flag - Wild Flag

This is a welcome return for me, even though this LP is technically a debut. I guess any band's dream would be to go out on top and that is exactly what Sleater-Kinney did with their swan song The Woods. Some soul searching and fond absence brings Carrie Brownstein and Janet Weiss back, with some old friends, to make a seamless transition into S-K II. They spare no riff nor sneer in making an foundation LP that could extend for as long as the band members hold interest. What I personally enjoy most is that Wild Flag squashes the recent dump truck of indie gals penning their odes to the 60's girl group, doing their damnest to recreate their 21st century version of "Leader of the Pack". Instead they keep blazing their singular trail straddling punk, indie and classic rock while the fact that every member is a female becomes incidental. This album simply rocks, gender notwithstanding.

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Wild Flag - Romance