Best Albums Of 2011: 20-16

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

#20: The Antlers - Burst Apart

Many lesser bands would have crumbled under the pressure to make a follow-up to an album as poignant as the 2009 LP Hospice. The Antlers created a freeing release in Burst Apart that removes the shackles and lets loose with passion and certitude. The simplicity on "Rolled Together", the sexual sirens of "Parentheses" and the urgent "I Don't Want Love" are a watershed and a solid step forward. Although the album wanes a bit in the second half, Burst Apart still reaches new ground while walking the line between emotion and spontaneity.

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The Antlers - Parentheses

#19: EMA - Past Life Martyred Saints

Most of my favorite albums are something I can put on everyday at any time, while some are special moment albums when I am ready to enforce a certain feeling. Past Life Martyred Saints is neither of these. It is contentious and uncomfortable and a struggle to get through. This first effort from Erika M Andersen is a furious display, a scars-and-all confessional that confronts with no chagrin. For me, there has not been an album this caustic since PJ Harvey's Rid Of Me. After hearing her disappointing release this year, I think it is time to pass the torch to this new creative force. Let's hope she never finds a lack of subjects for her fury. If you have not yet heard "California", give it a listen and you will know what I mean.

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EMA - California

#18: The War On Drugs - Slave Ambient

If you are looking for the next indie breakthrough band you have never heard, The War On Drugs may be close to a sure thing. This album is rife with pleasing classic rock signposts that spare no passionate overture. The influences are also apparent and welcome, touching on Arcade Fire as well as Jackson Browne and moving from U2 to a Dylanesque nasal sneer. Slave Ambient is well-constructed as a cohesive unit with each anthem connected by loving instrumental interludes to give the listener an necessary breather before the next powerful moment. See, M83? It isn't so difficult.

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The War On Drugs - Come to the City

#17: Real Estate - Days

Maybe it is the cold weather that takes place at the end of the year, but those LPs that remind of sunny months and good feelings always sound so nostalgic. The warmth on Days is undeniable with the pleasant sounds like pictures in some discovered photo album of summer vacations long ago and fading from memory. The details Real Estate puts forth here seem effortless and deceivingly lazy, with each picked note and hazy lyric coming from last night's pleasant dream. From the opener "Easy", to the highlights "It's Real", "Wonder Years" and "Younger Than Yesterday" to the stretched out finish of "All The Same" each song is a worn page telling that story never to be lost again.

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Real Estate - It's Real

#16: Disappears - Guider


Less of an album and more of a half hour steady hum, Guider is a quick, yet weighty exercise in minimal garage rock where each song, whether under two or over fifteen minutes, is a expression in sonics and reverb that has the listener digging past the noise to reach the pulsing core. Never stopping for a moment, these captured sounds show an urgent need to connect and create. If past indicators are true and the addition of Sonic Youth drummer Steve Shelley is permanent, then the next release will bring the masses as well as the critical acclaim.

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Disappears - Superstition

Album Review: Disappears - Guider

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Chicago's Disappears have already cut their teeth by making a grinder of a debut in Lux. Channeling some incredible noise and drone while blending it with heavy rock star grooves, it sourced lots of what was good and decent in the storied history of indie rock. Within 9 months of Lux, the band must have had some seriously inspired motivation to head back into the studio for Guider. Their are some connections to the previous album, but in general this is a completely new expression of their working theme.

First off, Guider is a full length album in the loosest and the most historical of terms by containing only 6 tracks and clocking in around 30 minutes. However, this band is truly a throwback in it's style and sound. The Disappears always intended Guider to be listened to on vinyl and its songs fit perfectly on that format. "Side A" would be the first five tracks of throbbing basement D.I.Y. that reminds of the experimental churn of no-wave NYC in the early 1980's. Opener "Superstition" sets the tone of Guider with its immediacy. Under two minutes in length, it is the cliffs notes version of their mission, hitting the ground running and even squeezing in a crescendo finish. "Not Romantic" is a more gradual expression that draws in the listener as the muted drone envelops like a void. The next two tracks "Halo" and "Guider" are the album rockers that work in a crisp tempo and intoned chants that never overreach the low production ceiling. Finishing up the first side is the druggy bliss of "New Fast" as an opening act to the epic final track. The near 16-minute expanse of "Revisiting" is the inspired scuzz rollercoaster that was perfected by bands such as Sonic Youth and the now defunct Spacemen 3. There is no beauty or grand guitar solos here, just that aching throb that is best experienced with headphones and some sort of chemical assistance. By the finish, it becomes apparent that Disappears are not about grand gestures but subtle moments that become part of the song's tapestry. Now with Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth fame filling in behind the drumkit, who knows what the future will hold for this constantly evolving band.

Disappears are live at the Empty Bottle February 4. Tickets are available here.

Purchase Guider here.

Disappears - Halo


Disappears - Superstition (plus three tracks from Lux)