I thought I’d compile some of my favorite pictures that I took in 2011. It’s been a great year, and I feel very accomplished with a significant amount of my output. These are some finer moments from Nashville and New York.
Deerhoof @ Mercy Lounge, 2/4
Tokyo Police Club @ Exit/In, 2/5
Oberhofer @ Mercy Lounge, 2/12
It’s that time of year. Here are various things I enjoyed on various levels, and I’m going ahead and posting this before I can agonize over the ordering any more.
Top albums
1. Yuksek – Living On the Edge of Time
It’s been a weird year for me, considering that I’ve spent it living in three drastically different places. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to spend as much time with music as I would like to, and I know there’s a lot I still need to catch up on. Out of this year’s new releases that I have given proper attention to, nothing has really affected me the same way Vampire Weekend’s Contra did last year. Still, something has to be #1 on my list, and at this point, I think I am comfortable with putting Living On The Edge of Time by Yuksek in that position.
I was familiar with Yuksek only in name before this year, and stopping by his set at The Creators Project’s festival was more than a pleasant surprise. After that show, I went on to see Yuksek two more times that week during CMJ. (It would have been three, if one of his shows hadn’t been canceled because of technical difficulties.) The French electropop producer, aka Pierre-Alexandre Busson, has a quietly commanding stage presence that is magnetic in its own way. The way he focuses on the performance is cool and detached, but still feels intimate–just like the record.
Living On the Edge of Time comes across as a rather personal album, even though Busson is perhaps distancing himself a little by writing in English rather than his native language. It’s a record to get lost in, a much more cohesive effort than his debut Away From the Sea that still shows off his stylistic range. Awash in synths, the classically-trained Busson still hangs onto his dance sensibilities while also crafting a sound that’s softer and more mature. Songs like “Always On the Run” and “On a Train” see him dealing with the inevitability of change, backed with lush instrumentation; his lyrics speak to escapism, but are ultimately grounded. “White Keys” features Busson’s vocals at their rawest as he gets introspective, as well as a chorus repeating, “White keys or black keys, it’s not so funky/We are restless, just music junkies.” It’s not his most elegant lyric, but that last line sums it up, really–Living On the Edge of Time brings together a sophisticated, versatile album with a voice that’s not ready to settle down yet.
I’m going to acknowledge that I may have been subliminally influenced by the fact that Busson is pictured in a Uniqlo advertisement that I see on the subway pretty much every other day*, but Living On the Edge of Time is truly a lovely album to spend time with.
*By this logic, I should also be eating Momofuku pork buns at every opportunity, which I would totally do if it didn’t require significantly more time and money.
2. Metronomy – The English Riviera
3. Peter Bjorn and John – Gimme Some
4. Friendly Fires – Pala
5. Beirut – The Rip Tide
6. The Rapture – In the Grace of Your Love
7. The Weeknd – House of Balloons
8. Los Campesinos! – Hello Sadness
9. James Blake – James Blake
10. tUnE-yArDs – w h o k i l l
11. St. Vincent – Strange Mercy
12. Eleanor Friedberger – Last Summer
13. Summer Camp – Welcome to Condale
14. Slow Club – Paradise
15. Cut Copy – Zonoscope
16. Smith Westerns – Dye it Blonde
17. The Kills – Blood Pressures
18. Jamie Woon – Mirrorwriting
19. Theophilus London – Timez Are Weird These Days
20. Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues
21. Coeur de Pirate – Blonde
22. Katy B – On a Mission
23. Wild Beasts – Smother
24. Destroyer – Kaputt
25. Sondre Lerche – Sondre Lerche
Top singles
1. Beyoncé – “Countdown”
2. The Rapture – “How Deep Is Your Love?”
3. tUnE-yArDs – “Gangsta”
4. Nicola Roberts – “Beat of My Drum”
5. Friendly Fires – “Live Those Days Tonight”
6. Fleet Foxes – “Helplessness Blues”
7. Metronomy – “The Bay”
8. Jay-Z and Kanye West – “N—-s In Paris”
9. Holy Ghost! – “Do It Again”
10. Los Campesinos! – “By Your Hand”
11. Beirut – “Santa Fe”
12. Girls – “Honey Bunny”
13. Azealia Banks – “212″
14. Yuksek – “Always on the Run”
15. Peter Bjorn and John – “Dig a Little Deeper”
16. James Blake – “The Wilhelm Scream”
17. Das Racist – “Michael Jackson”
18. Beastie Boys – “Make Some Noise”
19. Justice – “Civilization”
20. SBTRKT – “Wildfire”
21. Housse de Racket – “Château”
22. Katy B – “Easy Please Me”
23. Jessica 6 – “Prisoner of Love”
24. The Kills – “Satellite”
25. Cut Copy – “Need You Now”
26. Smith Westerns – “End of the Night”
27. Theophilus London – “Girls Girls $”
28. Washed Out – “Amor Fati”
29. Mayer Hawthorne – “The Walk”
30. Jai Paul – “BTSTU”
31. St. Vincent – “Cruel”
32. Foster the People – “Pumped Up Kicks”
33. Yelle – “Safari Disco Club”
34. Toro y Moi – “How I Know”
35. The Wombats – “Jump Into the Fog”
Miscellaneous non-single songs
Active Child – “Hanging On”
CANT – “Answer”
Live shows
A-Trak & Kid Sister @ Limelight, 4/23
Darwin Deez @ The End, 2/8
Fleet Foxes @ Ryman Auditorium, 5/13
Patrick Wolf @ Le Poisson Rouge, 9/18
Chromeo @ Terminal 5, 11/4
Sondre Lerche @ Music Hall of Williamsburg, 12/2
Yuksek @ Santos Party House, 10/20 (CMJ)
We Are Scientists @ The Studio at Webster Hall, 10/20 (CMJ)
Yelle @ Webster Hall, 12/8
Los Campesinos! @ Music Hall of Williamsburg, 11/17
Jens Lekman @ Music Hall of Williamsburg, 10/7
Movies
Beginners
Midnight In Paris
Shame
Submarine
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows pt. 2
Martha Marcy May Marlene
50/50
Paul
Bridesmaids
Weekend
