afterward...

So I finished the list. It was quite hard. I don't ever intend to review albums here, I just want to share my favorite albums and why. I know I'm not the best with words, but I hope I did each of these artists some justice. Quickly, 2011 was a great year for me: love and loss, new work opportunities, new friends and old. Living in Orlando, it's hard to be connected to music, as there is nothing going on here, and good bands rarely stop by. That being said, I was super lucky to see Sebadoh this year, crossing one of my must-see shows before I die off the list. Junior Boys were great, and Yuck was awesome. M83? Not so much. I received The Smile Sessions for Christmas and am currently obsessed. I am seriously hoping to record some tracks this year as I am trying very hard to get back into my music. I would love to share with you guys, but I'm getting ahead of myself. I am so stoked for the new year, and cannot wait to see what new music 2012 has in store for us. Thanks for reading, jason

1. Main Attrakionz - 808's and Dark Grapes II

I got really into the underground hip hop scene this year. I believe 2011 is a triumph for it. Danny Brown's XXX is a game changer. Look at the success of Odd Future. Look at guys like Fashawn and Big K.R.I.T. and SPACEGHOSTPURRP and A$AP Rocky and Curren$y pushing mixtape after mixtape, that just get better and better. I mean, this is incredible. It's almost too much to keep up with. To me, it seems very much like a punk rebellion to the hip hop of mainstream, the Kanye's and the Jay Z's, the Wiz Kalifa's and the Lil Wayne's. Do you realize that this is happening? Do you realize we are a part of it? Do you realize that the boys at GREEN OVA are doing it different than everyone else? Of all the artists mentioned above, I believe that Main Attrakionz have created and are creating something that is far more relevant than all of the other hip hop releases this year. 808's and Dark Grapes II is a statement. It is the blueprint for the future of hip hop. This I believe. Main Attrakionz is the quote on quote, best duo ever, of M.O.N.D.R.E MAN and Squadda B. These are young guys, with a VOICE. It's weird, I DL I Smoke Because I Don't Care About Death, just one of the many mixtapes they dropped this year, (which is fucking amazing (Fakest Year Ever)) after 808's and when they're like "Get Ready for 808's and Dark Grapes II later this year," you have no idea. The first three tracks are, I believe, so perfect, that, had they had just stopped there, I would have hailed it as the greatest ep ever or some outrageous shit. They are so good, I had trouble getting to the rest of the album. I just found myself going back to the beginning, like I was still trying to figure out what I was listening to. Hands down, they use the best beats ever, helped out by Clams Casino, Friendzone, and others. Chutch actually sounds like they stole an Album Leaf hook or something. No one else would dare rap to to this shit. Did I mention their Voice? Some of the most down to earth, most relatable shit ever. Best line ever, I believe, is in Take 1 (which is so good A$AP Rocky used it in his own incredible mixtape, Live, Love ASAP,) "Doubting myself cause I don't think the world can relate, To my surprise everyone does, so have faith... with the tag being, "An artist in the purest form, I live that song." You want weed references disguised as Vegetables? Check. But, " It's not about the weed smoke, it's about the longevity." I mentioned how strong the first half of the album was, the truth is, the whole thing is strong. Chosen and That's Life are endlessly enjoyable, and you will have to find your way through the thick layer of smoke in Perfect Skies, arguably their strongest track. I have heard a few people tag them as "cloudrap." Call it what you want, but I will call it AOTY.

2. The Men - Leave Home

Let's start with this, my hardcore/punk days while short-lived, have been over for a while. When people talk to me about this music, a feel kind of like an idiot. Them. Do you know Dead Kennedys, Operation Ivy, Black Flag? Me. Well kinda, I mean I've heard of them. Them. Misfits? Adolescents? Minor Threat? Me. Sorry dude. I just missed it, that's all. It doesn't do anything for me. On the other side, you got people into Norma Jean, As I Lay Dying, From Autumn To Ashes, etc. You know, that hardcore. Again, not my thing. I was always into the midwest stuff, fucking Usurp Synapse. Jerome's Dream. Orchid. More recently Daughters and The Locust. That's the stuff I'm into. I don't need to be a fucking hardcore, punk rocker or whatever. I have the few bands I like, that I believe did it better than any of the aforementioned bands above, and that is enough. And besides, I got out of it cause because Yo La Tengo and My Bloody Valentine were blowing my then young mind. Indie Rock was way cooler than hardcore and punk. I say all that to say this, I'm 25 and when I listen to The Men's Leave Home, I want to fucking rage. I want to throw a party and play this shit as loud as possible and piss off my neighbors, and drink cheap beer and get into fights and break shit. This rocks that. fucking. hard. At only eight tracks, it's remarkable how much ground they cover. Opener If You Leave... is some serious Brit Rock. Lotus is just loud and fun. I mean they just play the hell out of one note until it bursts apart. Think puts every punk song you ever heard to shame. L.A.D.O.C.H. will leave you cringing. It is sonic laceration. At around the four minute mark, you can hear what sounds like him coughing and spitting up blood because he's shredded his vocal chords screaming into the mic for so long. () - Was that a Spacemen 3 reference they just used?! Yeah. Bataille starts out heavy and fast and gets MORE heavier and MORE faster, like they can't even keep up with the beat anymore. Shittin' With The Shah is a great instrumental track just building and building, and Night Landing is fuuuzzzzed out. Guitars have never sounded better. The appeal of being a part of this scene has never been greater. They are the new pioneers. This album makes me want to throw away any music I'm writing and just make noise. This is powerful stuff.

3. East River Pipe - We Live In Rented Rooms

I listen to a lot of music while driving. That's where a lot of music finds me. I think there is a special connection there, being alone at night, driving, just you, music and The Road. It doesn't matter really, where you're going, you're just in the moment. Well, this is that special album. This guy can write a song. These are stripped down, simple pop songs. Really bittersweet. He's already been on the journey: love, loss, life, death; we are just seeing the snapshots. This album has life, and I believe it actually breathes. I love it, every single second of it. We Live In Rented Rooms has, at least from what I've seen, gone largely unnoticed, which makes me like it even more. This isn't the "blow your mind" album you look for each year. This is actually the complete opposite. This is the reminder that there are some people out there making honest, down to earth GREAT music that receives little to no credit, that demands nothing from anyone, that simply exists. And somehow it found me.

4. Destroyer - Kaputt

One of the only albums on everyone's year end lists that I agree with, Destoyer's Kaputt is I truly believe the AOTY. Released all the way back in January, this one we've had almost a whole year to sit on, and yeah, it more than holds up. The whole thing is its own world. It's one of those "sounds like the cover art looks" albums. Also, it sounds the same the entire album, like, it rarely shifts in tempo or mood (except maybe Savage Night At The Opera.) By the time you get to Downtown, which is towards the end of the album, you realize that's it. Nothing new at that point. BUT, that doesn't mean it's lost its charm or intrigue. This is an album's album, which is awesome considering I feel like bands don't make albums anymore, they just throw songs together and call it one. When you listen to Kaputt, you listen front to back, no skipping, and just let it do its thing. I am personally predicting Kaputt to be in the best of the decade list (2011-2020,) in which some asshole (hey maybe future Jason will be writing it for some snazzy internet music review site!) in the future will sit down and write for some snazzy internet music review site.

5. Death Grips - Exmilitary

A few words about this album. Abrasive. Scathing. Brutal. Evil. GENIUS. This is the most hardcore hip hop mash-up you'll hear all year, maybe ever, at least until he decides he's not done short-circuiting our headphones and shattering any boundaries we thought we knew the limits of music were. I know nothing about Death Grips. The whole project is shrouded in mystery. I THINK, Zach Hill played drums on the album, although I don't think he tours with them. That's it. I caught one sample I recognized, the Beastie Boys one. After Spread Eagle Cross The Block, the single-most unbelievable track, the one that just gets better and better with each listen, the whole thing turns into a fucking metal, space monster from Mars. It kicks the dick out of everything you thought you knew about music, and did I mention that it's so much fun to listen to?

6. Girls - Father, Son, Holy Ghost

Album was my favorite album of 2009. I love it. I still listen to it regularly. Last year they released a little ep called Broken Dreams Club. Having searched the internet far and wide prior to this release, I had already heard Heartbreaker, which I thought the studio version was great. Substance, easily one of their best songs, I had found a live version of and had fallen in love with. The studio version was a lot slower and was kind of ruined. Again that's my fault, not Girls' fault (I still swear it sounds so much better faster.) So that left me with four new Girls songs. I thought it was a decent effort, but I thought it lacked direction. I mean, there was just this new sound they had, even the production was different from that of Album. I was worried that their third album would just be too different, in a bad way. If this all sounds like a bunch of rambling from an asshole or a fairweather fan, you might be half right. I promise, there is a point I'm trying to get to. I have a hard time dealing with change. I don't like it, never have. Now, change is inevitable, like Death (which Girls address.) No matter how hard you hold on to something, eventually you have to let go. It has been my own experience that, for the most part, change has been a good thing, even if I didn't realize it at first. Which brings us to Girls Record 3, I mean check out that cover. That ep was definitely their second album, although it didn't feel like one to me. My first impression? NOT GOOD. What the fuck? Why did they put all their lyrics on the cover? Did you like Vomit the first time you heard it? I didn't. Why are there choir vocals on the track? What the fuck is this?! This is not the Girls I know. Can you decide in your mind that you can not give an album a chance based on one song? Yeah you can, and I've done it (Halocene, by Bon Iver, (sidenote, never cared for them). Really, AOTY?) But we are getting sidetracked. The point of all of this rambling is simply this, I was so completely wrong. I mean, when you listen to Father, Son, Holy Ghost front to back, you realize that you are not listening to 2009 Girls, and this is a very good thing. The sound has matured. The production is different, if not better. Maybe Album was them finding their sound, and THIS is it, I don't know. What I do know is gone are the sun-soaked, jangly pop songs of Album. Gone are the bunch of stand-alone tracks with their own personalities and vibrant life. Girls have, instead, created an ALBUM, one with consistency and purpose. I will tell you this. Vomit, I believe was a hard song to choose as a single. However, in context to the album Father, Son, Holy Ghost, I can finally understand why Chris Owens chose it. It is a turning point: for the songwriter, for the band, for the change in emotion, for the transition of the middle of the album to the end of it, for the listener. And it makes total sense when you hear it in context with the album. Father is the album you didn't know they could make, you didn't think they could make... They have never sounded better; they have successfully made me feel like a dick for doubting them. This is easily one of the best albums of 2011. Repeated listens have only confirmed one thing. You are looking at a Girls fan for life.

7. Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Self-Titled

Oh UMO. How do you single-handedly make me fall in love with music over again? How do you write such an amazingly simple hook, that is so catchy, that seeps it's way so far into my cranium, I find myself humming over and over throughout the day (Ffunny Ffriends)? How do you take sounds and bands we're all familiar with and make them something new and wonderful again (Bycicle)? Was Thought Ballune as fun to make as it sounds like you did? On Nerve Damage!, is that opening guitar intro a real effect, or is that a microphone with some weird effect on it? How do you sound so laid back and that this was all effortless but still sound so fucking good at the same time? (P.s. All this is true. It's a lot of pressure that you guys follow me on twitter. I"M NOBODY. I had already decided in September what my favorite albums were, apologies you weren't higher on the list. LOVE YOU, Jason