As I had hinted elsewhere, I'm doing something different this year at the top of the list. Because I didn't have a clear-cut, slam-dunk #1 disc of the year, I've decided not to arbitrarily designate one. So instead I'm presenting my top 10 in alphabetical order. They could each be #1, or they could each be #10. Either way I highly recommend them all and hope you already have all or most of them in your collection.
Phil Angotti-People and Places. Sweet, McCartney-esque pop from a veteran musician whom I belatedly came around to. "Me and Donnie Vie" was one of my favorite tracks of 2011.
Cirrone-Uplands Park Road. An audacious debut for this Italian band, who draw as much from Big Star and Badfinger as they do contemporary power poppers. Perhaps 2011's best "traditional" power pop album.
Marco Joachim-Hidden Symphonies. Joachim's previous rootsy, Wilbury-ish release in no way prepared me for this tour de force which I originally only mentioned on the site in passing. A bright ELO/Beatles melange, it really grew on me.
Steve LaBate-The Dead Art of Letter Writing. LaBate's Replacements-meet-The-Clash solo debut was an impressive achievement for a guy better known as a Paste Magazine writer/editor and a member of a rock-comedy act.
David Mead-Dudes. Reuniting with Adam Schlesinger, Mead got his mojo back and came up with the singer/songwwriter album of the year. "The Smile of Rachael Ray" was named NPR's Song of the Day last week and deservedly so as it might have been the most poignant thing he's written.
Meyerman-Who Do You Think You Are? A rare achievement for this New Jersey band - not only did they craft a power pop album with killer hooks and riffs, they also crafted a power pop album that's a meta-commentary on the state of power pop and being in a rock band. On whichever level you enjoy it, it's definitely a revelation.
Michael Oliver & The Sacred Band-Yin & Yanxiety. Since Cliff Hillis decided not to release an album in 2011, Michael Oliver did it for him. Like the former Ike/Starbelly pop wizard, Oliver has an effortless way with a melody and a hook, and he writes intelligent lyrics to boot. What more can you ask for?
The Red Button-As Far as Yesterday Goes. So they'll probably never top 2007's album-of-the-year-on-this-site She's About to Cross My Mind. So what? If Swirsky & Ruekberg can keep releasing discs as pop-perfect as this folowup, I won't complain. Instead of making Cross My Mind 2, they took a chance and decided to tackle the 70s singer-songwriter milieu. I'm thinking that 80s synth-pop will be a tougher nut to crack, though, should they decide to advance another decade next time.
Brandon Wilde-Hearts in Stereo. And here's the David Grahame/Emmit Rhodes/early solo McCartney album of the year. "Candy Apples" and "Ooh La" would be the near the top of my favorite tracks of 2011 list, were I to make one this year.
Miles Zuniga-These Ghosts Have Bones. At long last my favorite half of the Fastball singing/songwriting team released a proper solo album, and it's a gem. Mature, lyrical, hooky and assured, it's a nice blend of pop styles that reveals Zuniga as the songwriting pro he is.
look forward to seeking out a few of these albums. Thanks for all your work through the year. It would be virtually impossible to keep up with all the music released in a year without blogs such as yours.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much. Michael Oliver
ReplyDeleteA really solid list, and like them all, but would have ranked a few lower and elevated a few others, especially the FoW and Smithereens. But is it true that the Army Navy album isn't on here at all? Not just in my Top 10, but my #1 Power Pop album of the year, and #2 of all albums. Did you really not like it enough to make your Top 75, or did you just somehow miss it altogether? (Or did I miss it somewhere in the list?)
ReplyDeleteGreat list as always, Steve. Not sure if you got my e-mail about it, so here's a link to my own top ten list, in case anyone's interested.
ReplyDeleteNice list. Have to listen to some of them (about half of them I don't know at all)!
ReplyDeleteMy personal list is this:
http://powerpopsquare.blogspot.com/2011/11/top-ten-records-of-2011.html
Andy
I agree with your review of Cirrone's album; it is great! It is one of the best of 2011. Hard to believe they're from Italy.
ReplyDeleteHowever, shteeve is right as well- Army/Navy didn't even make the top 75? I thought it was pretty good- certainly deserving of some recognition.
I read your blog on a pretty regular basis and you have turned me on to some good stuff (thank you for that!). I am a little surprised and disappointed though to see FOW - "Sky Full Of Holes" way down at #52 on your list? Should be Top 10 IMHO... I'll agree to disagree on that.
ReplyDeleteHave a Happy New Year and keep up the good work!
DiRK
Other great album you may not have gotten to yet is Dwight Twilley's SOUNDTRACK, which may be his best album since SINCERELY (in spite of the awful programmed drum sound that's marred his last few albums). It's basically his life in song; ace tunes and very moving.
ReplyDeletePhil Angotti absolutamente cojonudo...
ReplyDeletePhil Angotti es maravilloso
ReplyDeleteI've been a fan/follower of your blog for the past 2 years now. Thank you for turning me onto so many great musicians and music I never would have found without all of your hard work and research! Cheers!
ReplyDeleteI think cirrone's album is fantastic! Is the best album of 2011 and I love all the songs!
ReplyDelete