Middle Brother » Turntablr

Here’s the second part of my Top Ten Songs of 2011 (you can find part one here). I can’t guarantee that you’ll know all the artists listed, as my Top Ten was based solely on my own tastes and preferences. This list is 100% all-natural: no formulas, sales figures, or chemical modifiers were used. These are the songs that defined my 2011.

5. “Head to Toe,” Pokey LaFarge and the South City Three

One of my favorite discoveries of the year was Pokey LaFarge and the South City Three, who imbue a 1930s musical ethos with timeless lyrical themes. This is probably not music for the dubstep set: washboard/bicycle bell percussion and hot bass solos abound, and the reedy, slightly warm timbre of LaFarge’s voice is reminiscent of an alto saxophone. “Head to Toe” manages to evoke early country & western and traditional string bands with a vaguely Django-esque sensibility. It’s unabashedly traditional stuff.

4. “Million Dollar Bill,” Dawes

Taylor Goldsmith can write one hell of a love song: “When it hits me that she’s gone/I think I’ll be an astronaut/Make the moon my home and leave this world behind/So when she steps out to the night and finds the light that makes her pretty/She’ll be facing me every time she shines.” The melancholy and ambiguity bound up in that verse alone seem to encompass the entirety of human relationships. With all their nuanced longing, the lyrics are rightfully the centerpiece of this track, while the acoustic guitar and piano provide just enough support to punctuate Goldsmith’s voice effectively. Lyrically, this is the best song of 2011.

3. “Pumped Up Kicks,” Foster the People

If the first 34 seconds of this song are the best part, what makes me keep listening to the other three and a half minutes? I haven’t been able to figure it out yet, but I think it’s got something to do with the exquisitely layered synths, muted guitar lines, and the spaced-out echo on the vocal. Also, there’s a whistling interlude. Who doesn’t love whistling? Upon closer listen, the seemingly inconsequential lyrics reveal a pretty dark tale, which manages to feel simultaneously like a twisted spaghetti western and a terrible story on the six o’clock news. Although this song was everywhere this summer and fall, it always managed to sound fresh to me. I don’t think we’ll hear anything from Foster the People again—they’re a one hit wonder if I ever heard one. But what a hit, right?

2. “Lonely Boy,” The Black Keys

I occasionally get to believing that rock and roll on the radio really is dead. Then the Black Keys came along. I didn’t immediately like their previous album, Brothers, but I loved “Lonely Boy” from the start. Although the opening riff is great, it’s the squelch of Dan Auerbach’s guitar at 0:29 that restored my faith in modern rock and roll. It’s certainly not classic Keys, but that doesn’t make it bad—this sounds to me like a natural evolution for the band. Pat Carney’s drums have an adrenal pulse, and Auerbach’s vocal delivery sounds causal and tossed-off. He’s reminding everyone that a singer doesn’t have to be Pavoratti (or even Adele) to get the message across—heck, a rock and roll singer should be more Mick Jagger than Freddie Mercury anyway. The video, thankfully, proves that you can in fact dance to something other than the Black Eyed Peas. The Black Keys single-handedly made rock and roll cool again this year, and that’s why they get the number two spot.

1. “Middle Brother,” Middle Brother

When I first wrote about this song in August, I had no idea how completely Middle Brother would control my life for the next four months. Almost every song on their album has gotten heavy rotation on my iPod, on my computer, and in my car. “Middle Brother” is the song that started it all. In August, I said that this song “is what a rock and roll song should be. Relaxed, rollicking; a little boozy, a little crude.” That still holds true four months later. No one sounds like they’re trying too hard (despite the shout of “we did it motherf*ckers!” at the end of the track): the harmonies aren’t mind-blowing, some of the lyrics are incomprehensible (2:24), and a do-it-yourself ethos permeates the whole track. Above all, it is a supremely human and organic piece of music, which is what I love most about this track. If The Black Keys made rock and roll cool again this year, Middle Bother reminded us that it was never uncool.

So that’s it for another year of music. Hopefully you found something you liked, or maybe something you hadn’t heard before. If you did, please go out of your way to buy or download the track legally. Record contracts may not be the fairest thing in the world, but your favorite artists aren’t making any money if you just steal the music, right?

Thanks to everyone who has been following along here on Turntablr over the past few months. See you next year!

Its that time of the year again, when the huge music media firms put out their massive lists of their favorite albums and everybody gets mad about them. Outrage aside, these lists create discussion and help readers discover releases they might have missed out on, while forcing the creators to think critically and be decisive for once. Our lists here on Turntablr are completely subjective and non-quantitative, ignoring any genre restrictions, sales figures, or elaborate voting system. Simply put, these are the albums I like the most and am most likely to keep listening to in the future. Also some of them are EPs instead of LPs, I think its nitpick-y to separate them though.

1. Middle Brother / Middle Brother: Portland

This act won me over at the Newport Folk Festival with their potent blend of vintage country grit, lyrical vulnerability, simple songs and confident vocal harmonies. A supergroup of sorts, this trio of frontmen all bring in unmistakable elements of their own bands (Dawes, Delta Spirit and Deer Tick) and assemble them into a record that truly is greater than the sum of its parts, showing a rare chemistry between these young, like-minded rockers. From the oldies-pop of “Someday” and the barnstorming “Middle Brother” to the charming acoustic ballad “Wilderness” and heartbreaking “Million Dollar Bill,” this album really has something for everyone while maintaining an impressive coherence. Some of the mid-tempo rock burners like “Mom and Dad” and “Blue Eyes” really show all these musicians at their best. Its one of the most memorable, versatile and well-crafted collections of songs I’ve heard in a long time. Giving it the top spot on my list barely demonstrates my respect and gratitude for the album.

2. Nostalgia/ultra / Frank Ocean: Songs For Women

Love or hate them, the controversial hip-hop collective Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All made a huge splash in the musical landscape this year, drawing protesters and huge crowds alike to their festival shows and effectively hijacking the indie media with their brazen, unapologetic attitude. Controversy aside, the crew produced some fantastic releases during their time in the spotlight, my personal favorite being this debut release from smooth-crooning vocalist Frank Ocean. On Nostalgia/ultra, which has since been re-released on Def Jam without some of the more sample-heavy tracks, Ocean plays with radio conventions to craft intelligent, well-written and musically-interesting pop songs that match crazy-catchy hooks with emotionally-substantial lyrics. In many ways this album is exactly what commercial pop has needed of late: a dose of musical creativity and a rejection of lyrical superficiality from an artist working outside of the overly-mediated major label system. Ocean has played a few new songs live recently, I’d love to see his first official LP (this is an EP) get some attention from mainstream audiences

3. Turtleneck and Chain / The Lonely Island: Attracted to Us (feat. Beck)

You may not see this album so high on many other lists, but I refuse to deny how much I enjoy listening to this album for the sake of critical credibility. There are so many tracks that I just don’t seem to get tired of, no matter how much I listen to them or quote them with my friends. It may be a whole different type of artistic expression than the rest of the list, but I can honestly say that I liked this album more than every album below it and just less than the two above it on this list. Go listen to “Rocky,” “Mama,” or the collaborations with Beck, Snoop and Santigold if you object, they’re pure gold.

4. New Kind of House / Typhoon: Kitchen Tile

I discovered Typhoon in the wake of this past spring’s SXSW, and they have quickly become one of my favorite bands ever. In fact, if i were making a list of my favorite bands this year, they would probably end up on top. With 13 members, including 3-piece horn and string sections and a formidable pair of drummers, they have no problem building epic, almost Arcade Fire-esque rock arrangements. More impressively though, they balance their ability to make lots of noise with a surprising sense of restraint, weaving sparse, delicate moments of quiet into almost all of their songs. Vocalist and Songwriter Kyle Morton is one of the most talented and creative frontmen I’ve seen in a long time, writing ambitious sprawling songs bringing them to life with his veritable indie-rock orchestra. They also pack a serious punch live in concert.

5. Watch the Throne / Jay-Z and Kanye West: Made in America

This mysterious, much-anticipated collaboration between the two biggest names in hip-hop today turned out as epic as we all hoped. The tone shifts from sinister to overblown to oddly humble in parts, capturing the range that both artists have in their catalogs. The whole album is essentially a snapshot of what hop-hop looks like in 2011, and in the future it’ll be an interesting part of the time capsules that are all of our iTunes libraries.

6. Inclusions / Ben Sollee

Singer/Songwriter/Cellist Ben Sollee is one of the most unconventional talents out there right now, bringing in folk, pop, soul and R&B influences into his cello-centric compositions. He has an interesting singing voice, ear for melody and a mind for enigmatic but engaging lyrics that really comes out in this release. I first heard him perform “Electrified” on his tour with Daniel Martin Moore and couldn’t wait for an official release, but much to my surprise that gem is outshadowed by a few even better tracks on Inclusions. This is a great introduction to an amazing artist.

7. undun / The Roots

It just came out, but this album really hits hard and shows The Roots at their best. The minimalist, drum-centric production and masterful rhyming from Black Thought and the guests on this album paint a stark, dramatic picture of urban crime. Turning against the “gangsta” conventions of glamorizing drug trafficking and violence, the narrative aspects of this concept album are both effective and affective, playing out like a well-conceived movie plot. More than anything though, it just sounds fantastic, especially the suite of instrumental pieces at the end.

8. Goblin / Tyler, The Creator

Call it shock value, call it horror-core (at your own risk), or call it a fad, but I actually think this album contains some of the most innovative hip-hop production and more raw, honest emotion than any other LP I listened to this year. Tyler Okonma is one of the most interesting characters to break into the public consciousness in a long time, flaunting his demons, obsessing over and condemning his own celebrity and showing both vulnerability and initiative. Maybe it won’t change hip-hop forever and maybe he’s just a crazy fucked-up kid, but I really enjoyed watching the Odd Future phenomenon unfold and I think Goblin is worth repeat listens.

9. All Eternals Deck /The Mountain Goats

I’ve always loved John Darnielle’s songwriting, and this album contains some of his most ambitious and strongest songs to date. The production sounds polished and clear, veering away from the grit of the MG’s “boombox” recordings without losing emotion. The gambles pay off on this album, with the barbershop quartet on “High Hawk Season” making it an unexpected highlight, and Jon Wurster’s subtle drumming brings out interesting textures in many of the tracks.

10. Circuital / My Morning Jacket

By now you’ve heard everyone rave about MMJ as a live act and you should believe the hype, but this album shows their dexterity in the studio as well. The droning, spacey production underscores Jim James’ vocal style perfectly, and their ability to seamlessly shift from epic to intimate between tracks shows their versatility. A very solid album from a great band.