Lisztomania - The Top 15 Records of 2011 (So Far)

Because everybody loves lists...
As you've probably read elsewhere, we've reached that just-about halfway mark in the year (and the official start of summer, whoo) so it's time for every music publication to rattle off their favourite records of the the past six months. As is my due blogging diligence, I'm throwing my hat in the ring, keeping my list to a stout 15.

An exercise like this can be a weird one though. A Stereogum commenter put it well when he wrote, "These lists are snapshots in time, snapshots take time to develop. We’ll see what more exposure brings come winter time."

It's hard to accurately rank albums I've spent so little time with and who knows where or if they'll show up on my year-end list--plus, there's that looming issue of albums I haven't even heard yet. Regardless, here are the LPs I've been spinning nonstop since I first got my ears on them...

- 2011's Top 15 Albums (So Far) -
15. Woods - Sun & Shade
14. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
13. SBTRKT - SBTRKT
12. Julian Lynch - Terra
11. Ducktails - Arcade Dynamics

10. Bill Callahan - Apocalypse
09. White Denim - D
08. Julianna Barwick - The Magic Place
07. Zomby - Dedication
06. Wild Beasts - Smother

05. The Weeknd - House of Balloons
04. Tim Hecker - Ravedeath, 1972
03. Bon Iver - Bon Iver, Bon Iver*
02. Pure X - Pleasure
01. James Blake - James Blake

*Includes the album's three bonus tracks.

Like the list? Click on each album title for its respective download link.

Tweet

MP3: Bon Iver - "I Can’t Make You Love Me/Nick of Time"

I haven't been able to comment at-length on the beautiful new Bon Iver record, Bon Iver, Bon Iver, but it seems if you have a pulse and internet access, you've already read about its expansive greatness.

While I'm still putting together my review, people are clamoring for more Justin Vernon and their prayers were answered the other day when "I Can’t Make You Love Me / Nick of Time" popped up online.

The track, a two-part Bonnie Raitt medley/cover, is the b-side to Bon Iver's "Calgary" single. You've probably already heard it on your friend's Tumblr, but now you can take the MP3 with you. EDIT:// The links were broken, but they've been fixed. Download away.

I can't make you love me if you don't / I can't make your heart feel something it won't

Right-Click + Save Link As:

Bon Iver - I Can't Make You Love Me / Nick of Time
Bon Iver - Calgary

Tweet

Is This a New James Blake Track? + The Lindesfarne Single

My adoration of James Blake has been well documented on this blog, even before the musician released his astounding self-titled LP earlier this year. Since I've long devoured everything the wunderkind has produced so far, I'm waiting with eager ears to hear new material and I finally might have it.

The unknown, untitled track is a BBC radio-rip, and while no author has officially been named, it bears so many Blake mainstays, including a sampling of his own voice. Too good to be true or right on the money? Let's hope it's the real deal, not some clever remix.

In related news, Blake's dropping his "Linesfarne" single next week, which includes a singular edit of the Bon Iver-echoing "Linesfarne I & II" from his album, condensing the two songs by a minute. The 7" is a double A-side, with LP-opener "Unluck" on the flip. Download 'em all below.

Right-Click + Save Link As:

James Blake - Untitled
James Blake - Lindesfarne (Single Version)
James Blake - Unluck

Tweet

My Top Five Favourite G.O.O.D. Friday Tracks

For those living without a pulse, Kanye West's forthcoming My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy leaked a fews days ago* and anyone with a clue and a wi-fi connection probably has it.

Since the album's official release is right around the corner (Nov. 22) and the weekend is upon us, I figured I'd post my most listened to tracks from Ye's G.O.O.D. Fridays project.

* The record is as great as Kanye's ego is big (so, amazing). It's really no surprise that two of my selected tracks are also on the LP, ("Monster" and "Devil in a New Dress"). You can grab the album here if you haven't yet, but note all anyone's got so far is the 'clean' version... Your mom will appreciate the no swears.

EDIT:// Grab the unedited ('dirty') version of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by clicking here.

Right-Click + Save Link As:

1. Monster (feat. Jay-Z, Bon Iver, Rick Ross & Nicki Minaj) - Kanye West
2. Take One for the Team (feat. Keri Hilson & Pusha T) - Kanye West
3. Good Friday (feat. Common, Pusha T & Kid Cudi) - Kanye West
4. Devil in a New Dress - Kanye West
5. Looking for Trouble (feat. Pusha T & CyHi Da Prince) - Kanye West

Tweet

Artist Spotlight: James Blake Is All Sorts of Awesome

James Blake, London's 21-year-old wunderkind producer, has released four EPs since 2009 and his latest, Klavierwerke, is a micro-masterpiece. Blake is one of many UK exports touting skills in the dubstep/electronic genres, but while so many of his peers hover around four-on-the-floor rhythms, Blake's jams are much more challenging.

Let's start with the basics: Blake's music is normally rooted in R&B, soul, and avant-jazz. In only four releases, Blake's created his own recognizable style -- his songs are mid-tempo and cut between sampled/manipulated vocals (usually his own) and bass tics, stuttering cymbals, timid handclaps, and other nondescript electronics. The point being, Blake practices minimalism. His goal isn't to get you on the dance-floor; it's a exercise in digital subtly. The CMYK EP, released in May, is the most straigtforward take on Blake's warped R&B sound; think Autechre meets Burial.

His latest, the Klavierwerke EP, was released earlier this month. Each of its four tracks find Blake stripping down his slow-burn sound and relying more heavily on his piano. "Tell Her Safe" recalls the isolation of Bon Iver, while "I Only Know (What I Know Now)" turns electro-convention on its head, playing with silence and irrhythm more than sub-bass and snare-drum.

On top of all that, Blake just dropped "Limit to You Love," a Feist cover and the first we're hearing from his forthcoming debut LP. The track's interesting because A: It's a Feist cover by James Blake and B: We hear Blake's voice, free of any manipulation. The album cut is stirring in it's simplicity, shifting between Blake's voice and piano and skittering bass beats.

It's all headphones music for sure, but a little patience reveals an artist challenging what electronic music can be. Or maybe's he's just a overly-trained classical music major using Ableton as a pallet. That's for you to decide.

Right-Click + Save Link As:

CMYK - James Blake

I Only Know (What I Know Now) - James Blake

Tell Her Safe - James Blake

Limit to Your Love - James Blake

Tweet

Whoa, Kanye West Is All Over the Place These Days

Last night Kanye West tweeted the above image, the proposed (then rejected) cover for his upcoming LP, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. According Mr. West's tweets, the label banned the cover because of its... questionable nudity? ("So Nirvana can have a naked human being on they cover but I can't have a PAINTING of a monster with no arms and a polka dot tail and wings?"). Bummer.

Anyways, if you haven't been paying attention, Kanye's been releasing new cool-jams every Friday. To catch up and download 'em, click this link.

Other than collaborating with everyone on his own site, Ye recently teamed up with La Roux to remix "In for the Kill," a track where he literally ends phrases with moaning: "A little teeth marks / Blood on the collar / That's real love / Mmmm aghhh ahhhhh." Whatever you say Kanye.

Grab the unreleased remix, the La Roux original, and "Lost in the World," the first unofficially leaked track from My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. It features Bon Iver, so that's a clear win. Oh yeah, and "Runaway" is still solid.

Right-Click + Save Link As:

In for the Kill [Remix] (feat. Kanye West) - La Roux

Lost in the World (feat. Bon Iver) - Kanye West

Runaway (feat. Pusha T) - Kanye West

In for the Kill - La Roux

Tweet

Cloak and Cipher Not as Cool as Cloak and Dagger*

I like Land of Talk. I liked their first full-length, Some Are Lakes. Catchier than My Brightest Diamond, not as quaint as Feist, and more straight-forward-rock than St. Vincent, the band places pretty high when ranked in the list of female-fronted indie outfits also associated with greater indie acts.

While the band's leader, Elizabeth Powell, is, in fact, a member of the ever-expanding Broken Social Scene and that whole musical collective, her work with Land of Talk holds it's own against their Canadian contemporaries. Plus, their aforementioned debut LP was produced by Justin Vernon (aka Bon Iver). Yeah, I just indie-folk name-dropped.

Powell and her band have a new record right around the corner, Cloak and Cipher, and "Swift Coin" is our first listen and it only wets my appetite for more songs of the guitar-driven, female-vocalist variety. Fun fact: Powell wrote the album while recuperating from a hemorrhage vocal polyp. Whoa.

Cloak and Cipher is out September 24th via Saddle Creek.

* Cloak and Dagger.

Right-Click + Save Link As:

Swift Coin - Land of Talk

From 2008's Some Are Lakes...

Some Are Lakes - Land of Talk

Tweet