10. Thundercat- Golden Age of the Apocalypse
There was a period towards the end of my time in high school where I got really into 70’s jazz and fusion, most notably Herbie Hancock and bass god Jaco Pastorius and his work with Weather Report. I liked the funky vibes, and especially with Weather Report there was a very cheery mood that somehow managed to stay cool without getting stupid and sounding like elevator music. Now, in 2011 I was graced to hear Suicidal Tendencies’ bassist Stephen Bruner, under the stage name Thundercat, release an LP in the same line of that 70’s fusion, this time interjected with some 00’s flare. And the end result is a surprisingly tight and unique brand of bass lead electronically injected fusion. It’s surprising a hardcore punk bassist would decide to make a jazz LP, and perhaps more surprising that it is not only good, but great. Cheers!
NOTABLE TRACKS: Fleer Ultra, For Love I Come, Jamboree
9. J. Cole- Cole World: The Sideline Story
Signed by the great Jay-Z, there was a lot of hype behind German born and North Carolina rasied J. Cole. After a handful of mixtapes and a few years paying dues, Cole released his first full length LP in Cole World: The Sideline Story. And I must admit, at first I was put off to the LP, as the pun-based album name is really, really corny. But when I finally decided it was time to push play on The Sideline Story I felt as though my early judgments on the corniness of the albums name were only keeping me from hearing the awesome tunes on the LP. Now, Cole isn’t the best at what he does, but the way he presents his work is his strong point. This LP is unique, original, and really ambitious. A lot of people said Wale was going to be the ‘rookie’ of 2011, but Cole swiftly knocked Wale off his throne with incredible ease. And he proves a point that all hip-hoppers need smart lyrics and catchy beats to really hook in audiences. Cole is the full package and this album is proof.
NOTABLE TRACKS: Can’t Get Enough, Mr. Nice Watch, Work Out
8. Foo Fighters- Wasting Light
I’ve never been a huge Foo Fighters fan. I’ve always dug their classics, songs like “My Hero”, “Learn to Fly”, “Monkey Wrench” and more recently “The Pretender” are all jams that get spun pretty frequently for me. But I’ve never gotten really into their albums, and when I saw them live I was really disappointed. So, when I heard Wasting Light was not an overproduced, grandiose album filled with symphonies and such I was a bit taken aback. As the Fighters have gotten more and more mainstream, they’ve seemingly taken a lot of cliche steps. They lost their punk edge, they made an entirely acoustic LP, and got so overexposed everyone and their mother knows their lyrics. But back to the point, I doubted Dave Grohl and company could actually execute an album of fun jams, and oh was I wrong. Wasting Light is chock full of awesome, foot tapping arena rock tracks. And while that’s not the punky edge they had in their youth, it’s certainly several steps above what they were doing before. I feel as though Dave’s time in Them Crooked Vultures alongside John Paul Jones and Josh Homme really sharpened him up, and this album really feels awesome. I never thought it’d be a 2011 album that would turn me into a full fledged fan of this band, but here I am, finally waving the Foo Fighters flag.
NOTABLE TRACKS: White Limo, Rope, These Days
7. The Roots- undun
The Roots are easily one of, if not the, hardest working groups in music. Between their day job as house band on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, extensive touring, Questlove’s side jobs DJ’ing and constantly tweeting and even throwing a giant concert for their hometown every year, it’s weird thinking that they have time to release new music. And I’ve found their last few albums to be a bit lackluster, 2008’s Rising Down felt like a poor retread of the bands 2006 classic Game Theory, then in 2010 they released the more rock-based How I Got Over and a quickly thrown together collaboration LP with John Legend Wake Up! Now granted, none of these albums are bad by any stretch, but they really lacked that passion and raw emotion present in both Game Theory and their prior classics like Things Fall Apart. But undun is a different beast altogether. It has a bit of the edge that made How I Got Over different, with all the emotion of Game Theory, and it has a story, a narrative. Which to me is just downright amazing. The band has been around since 1987, and now fifteen years later, they decide to make a concept album, and not just make one, craft one that’s breathtaking. The album tells the story of fictional Redford Stephens and his life...in reverse. Sort of like the serious How I Met Your Mother of hip-hop. And the topics touched upon, the energy in both the music and Blackthought’s lyrics, and the overall vibe of the album is top notch. This album is easily the bands most ambitious work, and sits atop the list of their best.
NOTABLE TRACKS: One Time, Tip the Scale, Lighthouse
6. Jay-Z and Kanye West- Watch The Throne
This album may be the most talked about album of the past year. The hype behind it was astronomical, and many feel that it didn’t deliver upon being released. There was a lot of people saying that Jay and Kanye are wealthy, powerful people just rapping about their wealth and power. And you know what? I agree. And I love it. While this album isn’t perfect, the good parts are great, and they come frequently. Also, Jay-Z hasn’t been this strong lyrically since The Black Album dropped in 2003. Not to mention this album touts party jam after party jam after party jam, and they are all songs that aren’t going anywhere. “Niggas in Paris” is going to be a staple of awesomeness for quite some time. And Kanye West’s production on this LP is near flawless. He has a very strong command of how to handle beats, as we’ve seen on his solo work and production work for others, but on this album he takes it to a new extreme. And it works. With this album the idea of high risk high reward comes into mind. These two bragged for 50 minutes while they sampled iconic artists and spmgs, things could’ve gone sour very easily, but instead these two men secure even moreso that they do deserve the throne that we are watching.
NOTABLE TRACKS: No Church in the Wild, Niggas in Paris, Who Gon Stop Me
5. Battles- Gloss Drop
Friends of mine had been recommending Battles debut LP Mirrored for years, and I’d always said “Yeah sure!” and never gave it the time of day. So when Gloss Drop came out, and the same comments started coming out, I figured it was time to give the band their due. And this album is really good! The mostly instrumental, sort of progressive, and always fun and funky Gloss Drop is a reminder that happy music doesn’t always have to have the Andrew W.K. style that so many people assume. This album is intricate and really musical and sounds really unique, but at the same time it always had me smiling and every time I listen to it I get pumped up. The way the trio play their instruments is really cool, and they weave within each others grooves and loops and create this just fun, and kind of schizophrenic listening experience. And the cover of this album is so weird. That deserves kudos too right?
NOTABLE TRACKS: Futura, My Machines, Rolls Bayce
4. Beastie Boys- Hot Sauce Committee Part Two
I wrote a lengthy review of this LP on this blog before, so I will keep this short: I didn’t expect the Beastie Boys to make a good album following the innovation-less To The 5 Boroughs and the instrumental The Mix-Up, but alas! They’ve proven me wrong. I love this album. A great LP from a great group. Listen to it and read my full review if you want to know my real in depth thoughts!
NOTABLE TRACKS: Make Some Noise, Tadlock’s Glasses, Say It
3. TV on the Radio- Nine Types Of Light
First and foremost, when writing this, I need to say rest in peace Gerard Smith, the man responsible for the bass guitar on this album. Now, in the past few months I’ve fallen in love with this band. I’ve had their prior two LP’s Return to Cookie Mountain and Dear Science gathering digital dust in my iTunes, so I decided to give them spins and I found all of these things I missed in them when I first heard them. And Nine Types Of Light fits perfectly into the groups discography. Everything this band does is great. The unique voices, harmonies, the atmospheric guitar and thumping bass, the saxophone lines...I could go on and on. At the end of the day this group knows how to craft a solid LP of great songs. All the pieces fit together on this vast LP, and while the band is not for everyone, I am glad to have them click for me after all this time.
NOTABLE TRACKS: Second Song, No Future Shock, New Cannonball Blues
2. Danny Brown- XXX
While Odd Future may have cornered the mainstream market of hip-hop fans who want to hear obscene topics covered, they did so with a constant sigh of disappointment from me. Everything they did was pretty good and had great moments, and then fell flat on it’s face for being so dumb and repetitive. So where did I turn when I wanted to hear a vulgar, filthy, emcee who has no restraint rap over really strong beats? Well I turn to Danny Brown’s FREE LP XXX. The title of the album comes from the fact that he hit the big 3-0 in 2011 and because he is an abuser of illegal substances. And with both of those facts we have more life experience that the teens of Odd Future, and with the substance abuse we have credibility when talking about doing drugs and the highs and lows that ensue, whereas Tyler, The Creator has admitted publicly that he's straight edge. And the end result with this album is just extreme everything. The beats hit hard, the lyrics are clever and sometimes hilarious and super crude and violent. This just hits the nail on the head for what it’s trying to do. It’s tongue in cheek in a sense that everything is over the top, but it’s honest in a sense that it shows the listener a man who is absolutely absorbed in a life controlled by substances. Download XXX because it’s FREE.
NOTABLE TRACKS: XXX, Die Like a Rockstar, Monopoly
1. Grieves- Together/Apart
I knew nothing about Grieves and his production partner Budo going into this album. I saw a bunch of mini-video podcasts on the Rhymesayers Youtube channel, so when I saw it at FYE, I decided it was worth a gift card swipe. And sure enough this album blew my mind. If Atmosphere dominated the late 90’s and the 00’s with their brand of honest and gripping hip-hop, then I think they are passing the torch to these two. Grieves is a phenomenal lyricist. He throws references to corny 90’s things like tamagatchi’s without coming off like a Chris Webby or a Mac Miller, and then lines later he’ll be talking about losing loved ones. Being a recovering addict whose relapsed certainly helps Grieves in the credibility department, as his words hold a bit more poignancy knowing that they aren’t falsified. And he also manages to entertain while spilling his guts on the track. He can spin issues to being about him overcoming, and how life is worth living, instead of simply wallowing. And while his name isn’t on the album, the production from Budo is amazing as well. His use of live instruments that he plays most of the time (keyboard, trumpet, guitar, and percussion) really give the beats a natural feel, unlike some mainstream artists who have beats that feel as though they came off a conveyor belt. The passion and delivery on this album make it a standout LP among the lengthy and iconic Rhymesayers catalogue, and it is without question my favorite album of 2011.
NOTABLE TRACKS: Bloody Poetry, Tragic, Prize Fighter
That’s that. Hopefully I’ll post more on this blog in 2012. Who knows?
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