End of Year Review 2011

End of Year Review – 2011

Hello again,

 All year I look forward to writing this and coming up with this list.  It is something I always enjoy writing and thinking about.  I expanded my list of songs to 50 this year.  I always find that part easier than judging an album.  I felt myself liking albums that gave me immediate satisfaction.  That might be due to how busy my year has been.  That is why you will notice slow moving albums sort of missing from the list when in prior years I think I would have liked them.  Just not enough time to enjoy them.  Remember this is my list and I don’t claim to know everything.  I haven’t heard many many albums.  Help me.  As always, if I made any omissions, help.  I would love to see what you really liked this year and then we can hold hands and listen…together.

Top 15 Albums:

  1. Smith Westerns –Dye It Blonde
  2. The Roots –Undun
  3. Lykke Li –Wound Rhymes
  4. Doomtree –No Kings
  5. Feist –Metals
  6. tUnE-YarDs –w h o k i l l
  7. Hail Mary Mallon –Are You Gonna Eat That
  8. Wild Beasts –Smother
  9. Tyler, The Creator –Goblin
  10. Florence + The Machine –Ceremonials
  11. The Decemberists –The King is Dead
  12. St. Vincent –Strange Mercy
  13. Flash Bang Granada –10 Haters
  14. ASAP Rocky –LiveLoveA$AP
  15. Open Mike Eagle –Rappers Will Die of Natural Causes

Smith Westerns – Dye It Blonde – My #1 album of the year comes from the Smith Westerns.  They are young twenty-something Chicago natives. Dye It Blonde is their sophomore release.  I picked this as my favorite album of the year because it can be listened to over and over without growing bored.  I have had five or six different favorite songs from this album.  It makes me feel happy.

Top 50 Songs:

  1. Smith Westerns – “All Die Young”
  2. Lykee Li – “I Follow Rivers”
  3. Florence and the Machine – “No Light No Light”
  4. Okkervil River – “Wake and Be Fine”
  5. Smith Westerns – “Weekend”
  6. TV on the Radio – “Will Do”
  7. Cults – “Go Outside”
  8. Foster The People – “Pumped Up Kicks”
  9. Tyler, The Creator – “Yonkers”
  10. tUnE-yArDs – “Bizness”
  11. The Roots – “Make My”
  12. Wild Beasts – “Bed of Nails”
  13. Doomtree – “Bangarang”
  14. The Roots – “Lighthouse”
  15. Smith Westerns – “End of the Night”
  16. A$AP Rocky – “Peso”
  17. Feist – “How Come You Never Go There”
  18. Open Mike Eagle – “Nightmares”
  19. Hail Mary Mallon – “Garfield”
  20. St. Vincent – “Cruel”
  21. M83 – “Midnight City”
  22. Doomtree – “ Fresh New Trash”
  23. Ghostpoet – “Cash and Carry Me Home”
  24. The Decemberists – “Rox in the Box”
  25. Doomtree – “Gimmie the Go”
  26. Flash Bang Grenada – “Bad Cop, Good Cop”
  27. Destroyer – “Kaputt”
  28. Lykke Li – “Get Some”
  29. Bon Iver – “Calgary”
  30. Lykke Li – “Unrequited Love”
  31. Danny Brown – “Monopoly”
  32. Florence and the Machine – “Shake It Out”
  33. Shabazz Palaces – “Swerve…”
  34. Azealia Banks –“212”
  35. Toro y Moi – “Still Sound”
  36. Open Mike Eagle – “The Processional”
  37. Feist – “Bad in Each Other”
  38. tUnE-yArDs – “Gangsta”
  39. The Strokes – “Taken for a Fool”
  40. Jay-Z and Kanye West – “Gotta Have It”
  41. Adele – “Rolling in the Deep”
  42. Yelawolf – “Growin’ up in the Gutter”
  43. Hail Mary Mallon – “Church Pants”
  44. Death Cab for Cutie – “You are a Tourist”
  45. Adele – “Someone Like You”
  46. Wild Beasts – “Lion’s Share”
  47. PJ Harvey – “Let London Shake”
  48. Lana Del Rey – “Video Games”
  49. Gil-Scott Heron and Jamie xx – “I’ll Take Care of You”
  50. Tyler, The Creator – “Tron Cat”

Biggest Pleasant Surprises:

Smith Westerns – Dye It Blonde

tUnE – yArDs – w h o k i l l

A$AP Rocky – LiveLoveA$AP

Biggest Disappoint(s):

The Strokes – Angles

Lupe Fiasco – Lasers

Yelawolf – Radioactive

Atmosphere – The Family Sign

Albums that didn’t come out in 2010 but I listened to a lot:

Yelawolf – Trunk Muzik (2010)

Big Boi – Sir Lucious Left Foot : The Son of Chico Dusty (2010)

Cecil Otter – Rebel Yellow (2008)

Overrated Albums:

Shabazz Palaces – Black Up

Das Racist – Relax

Lupe Fiasco- Lasers

Albums to look forward to in 2011 with fingers crossed:

Santigold – TBA

Miike Snow – TBA

Yeasayer – TBA

Blackstar – ??? (Supposedly going to happen)

Dr. Dre.-Detox…Keep peddling your headphones homie. You have officially lost a fan.

Thank you for reading and I hope you have a wonderful holiday season filled with prosperity, love, and happiness.

Your friend and colleague,

Bojan Jovanovic