My Favorite Albums of 2017

Another year has passed and it’s time for the obligatory year-end album list. I have been thinking a lot about the album as a concept lately. And I feel like it is a poised for a comeback. About 7-12 years ago when iTunes was dominating the digital market, the market felt like we were reverting back to a pre-1960’s era of a singles-driven consumption. Why spend $9.99 for a 12-song album when you can get the two singles you really want for $0.99 each? 

But now I view the iTunes era as a bridge of sorts from the past to the future. From the time that file-sharing sites like Napster made it possible for people to download anything by anyone at any time for free, the industry has been playing catch-up. iTunes offered a short-term solution. “Let’s put the pirates out of business by giving people consistently high-quality downloads for a lower price” was the theory. 

Entire high-quality album downloads for less money than CDs (but of course without the cool artwork and liner notes that physical releases have). And that sort of worked to discourage stealing music anyway, but in the process the industry became more wedded to singles again. Overall album sales started to stabilize in the mid-2000s, but then fell sharply again by the end of the decade. And the industry struck some bad deals with Silicon Valley in the process, always with an eye on next quarter's earnings report and not the next five years of growth and stability. Physical media sales still outpaced digital sales until 2014.

But we're in a weird situation now where album sales (both physical and digital) are only about 40% of what they were 10 years ago. And you can take either your personal music library or nearly every song ever recorded via a streaming service with you on a portable listening device everywhere you go. Music has never been more a part of people's lives.

I still rarely stream anything yet but streaming services have been growing and as of 2016 were the top way people consume music. If you factor in streaming with purchases the industry is experiencing healthy growth. And perhaps partly due to streaming without forcing a purchasing decision – "song or album? If a song, which song?" – albums seem to be making a comeback. A business model where you don't pay to "own" the music could maybe help revive the album.

Of course since Silicon Valley has made itself the new evil middle man and is barely compensating artists through digital sales/plays these days, there really is no financial incentive for most established artists to even release an album unless it was something they were proud of as an artistic statement. 

Back in the heyday of the “album era” (which I'm bracketing as mid-1960s to mid-1990s), there was more pressure on artists to release albums every year or two. That’s why so many artists in those days were cranking out ten-song albums with only two or three good songs and a lot of filler. "Here are a few singles and a new album to go out on tour promoting." Now artists don’t have those same financial incentives. I mean sure Green Day or the Foo Fighters or Taylor Swift or Bruno Mars probably feel some pressure from their labels to keep up the write/record/release/tour cycle every 2-3 years, armed with a few radio-friendly singles. But most established acts with a hardcore set of fans can really just wait until they have 10 or 12 new songs they feel are worthy of releasing. 

In short there are less reasons than ever before for an album to be bad or contain a large amount of filler, at a time when people are listening to albums more often again. It seems like a perfect storm of events to revive the album in the near future.

Anyway, let's get to it. 

20. Gang of Youths - Go Farther in Lightness (Sony).

19. Low Cut Connie - Dirty Pictures (part 1) (Contender Records).

18. Capitalist Kids - Brand Damage (Brassneck).

17. Waxahatchee - Out in the Storm (Merge).

16. The Regrettes - Feel Your Feelings Fool! (Warner Bros).

15. Cayetana - New Kind of Normal (Plum).

14. Ryan Adams - Prisoner (PAX AM/Blue Note).

13. Alvvays - Antisocialites (Polyvinyl).

12. Old 97's - Graveyard Whistling (ATO).

11. Worriers - Survival Pop (SideOneDummy).

10. Deer Tick - Deer Tick Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 (Partisan).

9. Partner - In Search of Lost Time (You've Changed Records).

8. Sheer Mag - Need to Feel Your Love (Wilsuns).

7. Alex Lahey - I Love You Like a Brother (Caroline Music).

6. Rips - Rips (Wharf Cat).

5. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit - The Nashville Sound (Southeastern).

4. Protomartyr - Relatives in Descent (Domino Recordings).

3. The Jesus And Mary Chain - Damage And Joy (Artificial Plastic).

2. Ted Leo & The Pharmacists - The Hanged Man (SuperEgo).

1. The War on Drugs - A Deeper Understanding (Atlantic).

Honorable Mention

Afghan Whigs - In Spades (Sub Pop).

Bash & Pop - Anything Can Happen (Fat Possum).

Benjamin Booker - Witness (ATO).

Billy Bragg - Bridges, Not Walls (Cooking Vinyl).

Bully - Losing (Sub Pop).

Courtney Barnett & Kurt Vile - Lotta Sea Lice (Matador).

Dude York - Sincerely (Hardly Art).

Filthy Friends - Invitation (Kill Rock Stars).

Japandroids - Near To The Wild Heart Of Life (Arts & Crafts).

Juliana Hatfield - Pussycat (American Laundromat).

Julien Baker - Turn Out the Lights (Matador).

Langhorne Slim - Lost at Last (Dualtone).

Margo Price - All American Made (Third Man).

The Mountain Goats - Goths (Merge).

Nothington - In the End (Red Scare).

The Preatures - Girlhood (Universal).

Queens of the Stone Age - Villains (Matador).

Slaughter Beach, Dog - Birdie (Lame-O).

The Stevens - Good (Chapter Music).

Thomas Patrick Maguire - Irish Silence (Weemayk Music).

Wavves - You're Welcome (Ghost Ramp).

2017 Shows

Ty Segall/Purling Hiss at the Trocadero 5/20/17
Mr. T. Experience at Kung Fu Necktie 11/10/17

Deer Tick at the Union Transfer 12/1/17

Year in Music 2011 - Part Four: Albums 11-20

Here are albums 11-20, counted down in descending order:

20. Ryan Adams – Ashes & Fire (Pax Americana).  After a bit of a hiatus for Adams (2 years between albums) after disbanding the Cardinals in 2009, Adams returned in December 2010 with a double album of leftovers from the last Cardinals sessions. And then in fall 2011 he dropped this vastly different solo album. This is probably the most personal-sounding album Adams has released since his solo debut Heartbreaker. Instead of morphing his persona to fit whatever style of record he was making, this is just a collection of very raw acoustic, folky, pop songs. Keyboardist Benmont Tench from Tom Petty and Heartbreakers plays on this album and I think he gives it just the right touch at times, adding a little flavoring to the meat of (mostly) just Adams and his acoustic guitar. Highlights include the title track, “Lucky Now” (this live performance on Letterman is one of the year’s best), “Kindness”, the Grateful Dead-ish “Invisible Riverside”, and “Chains of Love.”

19. Face to Face – Laugh Now….Laugh Later (People Like You). SoCal punk rock legends Face to Face reunited to tour back in 2009, after going on hiatus in 2004. And then they went back into the studio in 2010 and released Laugh in mid-2011, during their 20^th anniversary year. For those expecting early Face to Face, you’ll be disappointed with this album. It lacks a lot of the ferocity and speed that their early to mid 90’s albums had. But it definitely picks up where they left off on their previous studio album, 2002’s How to Ruin Everything. The hard-hitting punk rock songs are still here, along with more melodic stuff, more reminiscent of a combo of old Face to Face and singer/guitarist Trever Keith’s solo projects.  Highlights include “It’s Not All About You” (cool video), "All Or Nothing", "Blood in the Water", "Invisible Hand" (cool live clip from Spain in September), "I Don't Mind and You Don't Matter", and "Should Anything Go Wrong." 

18. Times New Viking – Dancer Equired! (Merge). TNV, a trio hailing from the great state of Ohio, have been around for about 7-8 years now. I was tipped off to them back on their 3rd album, Rip It Off, in 2008 thanks to the Robert Christgau (DaveLikesTapes) of Philadelphia. They had a 60's pop sound mixed with heavy distortion, making them stand out a little among their peers. I always respected their innovative recording techniques, but I wasn't able to appreciate the end result as much until this more straight-forward garage-y indie rock album. This album was actually recorded in a real studio and not through some rigged up speaker/tape recorder thing at home. So they didn't really sacrifice any of the energy or catchy melodies from their previous records, but just made them sound cleaner. Not so much "over-produced" as, well, "produced." The high points are the more upbeat "Fuck Her Tears" and "It's a Culture", but really so many songs are standouts - "Ever Falling in Love" (cool video), "No Room to Live" (cooler video), "Try Harder", "Don't Go to Liverpool", "Ways to Go", etc. 

17. Wye Oak – Civilian (Merge). Hailing from the great state of Maryland, Wye Oak is a 2-piece consisting of Jenn Wasner (guitar, vocals) and Andy Stack (drums). I didn’t care for this album as much when I first heard it, then it rose very high on list, only to fall again as the year ended. For some reason I thought this band was on Vagrant, so I was expecting something totally different and was kind of put off listening to their previous 2 LP’s, prior to checking this out. But after awhile this album of well-crafted indie/pop just grew on me. Compared to their previous albums, the songs on Civilian are just a little tighter, and more produced, and more upbeat. Wasner’s vocals are very unique and for the longest time I thought there were multiple vocalists in the band, since at times her voice sounds very feminine and other times it has a huskier sound, recalling a male vocalist trying to hit a high note. The title track, “Holy Holy” (cool video that's been viewed by DaveLikesTapes several thousand times), “Fish” (video), and “Plains” were really strong tracks and most of the rest of the tracks work well together as a cohesive statement.

16. Deer Tick – Divine Providence (Partisan). I didn’t get this until late in the year and it rose quickly on my list.  This is the Providence, R.I. band’s 4^th studio album already. I had never really listened to Deer Tick much before, even though I had heard good things about them. They combine folk with pub rock and it works pretty well to create a slightly different version of the indie rock sound du jour, sounding at times like Spoon or Cracker or even some of Wilco’s more rocking songs. Even though it has not always shone through on their previous folkier albums, singer/songwriter John McCauley is a big fan of bands like Nirvana (prompting some to call them “Deervana”) and the Replacements. On this album they definitely seem to get their inspiration from the early 70's garage rock of the Stooges and Exile on Main St-era Rolling Stones. Highlights for me are “Funny Word”, "Let's All Go to the Bar", "Clowning Around", "Main Street", "Chevy Express", and "Make Believe."

15.  Wilco – The Whole Love (dBpm). This is probably the lowest a Wilco album has ever been ranked on my list, and I liked this album. After a progression with the same band members in tow from 2007’s Sky Blue Sky to 2009’s Wilco (The Album) to this, expectations were higher for me. Both of those previous records were more straight-ahead rock albums for the band, showing off the band members’ abilities, especially the killer solos of guitarist Nels Cline. This is an experimental album, more similar to 2004’s A Ghost Is Born or 2002’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. But it’s sort of experimental in the same way, which makes it old hat for Jeff Tweedy and company. It follows the same blueprint: Beatles-esque pop/rock melodies, hidden beneath noisy interludes and long jazzy intros. There are some definite highlights like “Standing O”, “I Might” (Live on Letterman), “Dawned on Me”, and “Born Alone” (live on Letterman). The opener, “Art of Almost” (Live on Letterman) is similar to previous album openers in style and sound like “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart” and “At Least That’s You Said”, starting slowly and then building. And the epic 12-minute closer “One Sunday Morning (Song for Jane Smiley’s Boyfriend)”, tells of a fractured relationship between a father and son, and the son’s relief/joy at the death of his religiously judgmental father.  Overall, it was a good album of “Dad Rock”, but at this point I just feel that Wilco has done everything they can do within this framework. What they have been doing since the late 90’s and are still doing now, was considered very edgy stuff 10-12 years ago. But now the edgy has become mainstream and they deserve credit for helping to make that happen. Could you imagine back in the mid 90’s that a band with Wilco’s sound would ever be one of the most consistent-selling and popular bands in the land, among both college kids and elders alike? But they’ll probably spend the rest of their careers releasing mostly good albums that I’ll be looking forward to hearing and will no doubt enjoy, but they will likely never have a great album again. 

14.  Foo Fighters – Wasting Light (RCA). This is probably the album I’m most surprised is in my Top 20. When it first came out, I panned it. But after giving it another chance a few months later, I found myself enjoying it more. And now in retrospect, I’d say it’s arguably their 2^nd best album, and at worst is the band’s 4^th best album behind The Colour and the Shape, S/T, and In Your Honor. It definitely has a more of an immediacy to it, which recalls Colour in both the energy and just how brief and filler-free it is, at a mere 11 songs. Butch Vig (Nevermind) produced the album, pairing Grohl and him for the first time since 1991 I believe, which I guess is fitting in this year of retro-Grunge with 20^th anniversaries of Ten and Nevermind being celebrated.  And even Krist Novoselic has a cameo on bass on “I Should Have Known.” Ex-Germs/Nirvana/Foos guitarist Pat Smear rejoined the band during a tour in 2007 and brought that vibe back. Also, the legendary Bob Mould guests on guitar and backing vocals on “Dear Rosemary.”  Other highlights include, “Rope”, “Back and Forth”, “These Days”, and “White Limo” (with Lemmy in the video!), which sounds like something leftover from Grohl’s collaborations with Josh Homme in Queens of the Stone Age or Them Crooked Vultures. This is the sort of tight, no nonsense, rocking album Foo Fighters fans have been waiting for the band to make since they returned to the studio to make the follow up to Colour. Better late than never.

13. Ryan Adams & the Cardinals – III / IV (Pax Americana). As noted earlier, a 2-year break (excluding his vinyl-only metal album, Orion, in 2010) with no new releases from the prolific Ryan Adams is a lifetime. And he returned at the end of 2010 with this double album of outtakes from his recordings with Cardinals from 2006-2008. Now, normally for most artists when you hear “outtakes” it refers to a bunch of mediocre songs which were not good enough to make the cut the first time around. But for someone like Adams, a lot of his outtakes are golden. He writes so many songs, that within the dozens of outtakes, there is usually enough to make another pretty good album. And here is a 21-song double LP. It’s kind of all over the map, but mostly follows his previous stuff in the Cardinals, but this time delving into alternative as well as alt/country rockers. In both spirit and execution, it actually recalls his 2003 album, Rock N Roll (one of the most underrated releases of the previous decade), where he essentially pays tribute to his many rock influences on the same disc. The standout tracks include “Breakdown Into the Resolve”, “Dear Candy”, “Wasteland”, “Happy Birthday” (“Happy Birthday, I’m your birthday cake \And I’m lit \And I’m late….”), “Stop Playing With My Heart”, “Ultraviolet Light”, “Star Wars”, the Replacements-esque “P.S.”, and “No.” Really there are no clunkers at all.

12. Dum Dum Girls – Only in Dreams (Sub Pop). If I were doing these rankings in September, this would have likely been my favorite album of the year. But it slipped a little as the year wore on. This sophomore follow up to the solid I Will Be was produced by Sune Rose Wagner of the Raveonettes and I think that pushed Kirstin Gundred (Dee Dee) into a "bigger" cleaner sound, recalling the Raveonettes and Best Coast. It definitely is more of a vocals-oriented pop/rock record. With so many girl bands around now who sound like this, for me the difference is really in the quality or uniqueness of the vocals. And Dee Dee really sets a pretty high bar in that area. The first time I heard this, I immediately thought of Chrissie Hynde/The Pretenders and that probably is most fitting comparison.  “Bedroom Eyes” (video), “In My Head”, “Just a Creep”, “Teardrops on My Pillow” (live in Berlin), and “Caught in One” highlight a very tight 10-song LP.

11.  R.E.M. – Collapse into Now (Warner Bros). I guess we should have seen this coming in retrospect. For the first time in their careers, an album cover features a picture of the band, with Michael Stipe sort of waving goodbye. The lyrics for “All the Best” make it pretty clear it's their goodbye song (“I think I’ll sing it and rhyme \I’ll give it one more time \I’ll show the kids how to do it fine, fine, fine……It’s just like me to overstay my welcome…”). And I already paid tribute to them in a blog post a few months ago, without really even mentioning this album, and how they went out on top on their own terms. Collapse Into Now is definitely my favorite record of theirs since 1996’s New Adventures in Hi-Fi, and because it is so similar musically, you could argue it was their best since Out of Time or Automatic For the People. As mentioned “All the Best” (video) is song about the band’s place in the music world and as Stipe noted in his farewell statement, about not becoming the “guests who stayed too long at the party.” Tracks like “Uberlin” (video), “Oh My Heart” (live in studio), “It Happened Today” (video), “That Someone Is You”, “Mine Smells Like Honey” (live in studio), and “Alligator Aviator Autopilot Antimatter” (video) are all worthy additions to the R.E.M. song catalog. Farewell guys, you will be missed. 

Next:  Part Five: Albums 1-10

Year in Music 2011 - Part One

It's that time of year again, in which I attempt the somewhat futile and thankless exercise of trying to rank the top 50 or so new albums I listened to during the year. With music never more disposable and easy to acquire than it is now, these kind of lists at least serve as a useful reminder and a reason to reflect on all that "content" you acquired in the last year. And I guess it helps put some kind of value on it, during a time when it's essentially a value-less commodity to many.  You know that album you downloaded for free somewhere in early March and listened to 3 times, well this is an opportunity and an excuse to go back and listen again.

Part One is below - containing a list of live shows, best EP's/Singles/Compilations/Reissues, etc, and the other albums that didn't make it the final round. Part Two will be the "Honorable Mentions" and albums that just missed the cut. And the final parts will be my Top 25 albums of 2011. So without further ado, let's begin with the usual throat-clearing items.

2011 Shows

Dismemberment Plan – The Starlight Ballroom 1/27/11

Jesse Malin and the St Mark’s Social with Tommy Stinson – The City Winery in Soho NYC 2/19/11

J Mascis with Kurt Vile – World Café Live 3/23/11

Sebadoh – Johnny Brenda’s 3/25/11

Titus Andronicus – the First Unitarian Church 4/28/11

Alejandro Escovedo/Jesse Malin – World Café Live 5/5/11

Face to Face – the Trocadero 5/21/11

Jesse Malin and the St Mark’s Social – Johnny Brenda’s 12/9/11

Best Live, EP, Singles Compilations, Reissues, etc

Ryan Adams - "Wasted Years". Not officially released, but Adams did this great acoustic cover during a BBC radio session of Iron Maiden's "Wasted Years." Worth downloading from You Tube (see above)

Alkaline Trio – Damnesia (Heart and Skull). I found myself liking this more on subsequent listens. This is an album of acoustic re-recordings of some of their best songs. Some of which – “Calling All Skeletons”, “Mercy Me”, “Nose OverTail”, and “Every Thug Needs a Lady” work well in this re-interpretation. Some others don’t. A surprising high point was the Violent Femmes cover “I Held Her inMy Arms.” And “I Remember a Rooftop”, Dan Andriano’s new song included on here (probably a leftover from his solo album), is a keeper.

Best Coast-Wavves – Summer is Forever Split EP (Mexican Summer).  Mostly old songs on here except Best Coast’s gem “When You Wake Up.” Worth seeking out for that.

The Biters – All Chewed Up - EP (Underrated Recordings). The Biters recall Cheap Trick or Thin Lizzy 70's rock so they stand out among their peers.

Dum Dum Girls – He Gets Me High - EP (Sub Pop). This was a nice preview for the LP that would come later in the year.

Frost Watson – S/T - EP (no label). I saw these guys open for Titus Andronicus and was impressed. Solid debut EP that recalls 60’s British invasion pop/rock (Kinks, Beatles) updated to sound fresh with today’s garage rock bands.

Rhett Miller – The Interpreter (Maximum Sunshine). A live solo acoustic covers album from the Old 97’s front man, recorded at Café Largo in West Hollywood at his final show there as a final tribute to the club that closed its original intimate location and moved elsewhere. This was sort of Miller’s local bar where he’d try out new tunes and play lots of solo acoustic shows back when he had an apartment a few blocks away. He covers all of his major influences – David Bowie, the Beatles, the Kinks, Elvis Costello, the Pixies, etc, plus some of his peers like Wilco/Billy Bragg and Elliott Smith. All in all, it was an enjoyable listen, even if it was all covers. But I could listen to Rhett Miller sing the phone book and be o.k. 

Oupa – Forget (Boiled Egg). Solo EP of piano ballads from Yuck’s frontman, Daniel Blumberg.  Sounds like more melodic, but less busy Kid A-era Radiohead.

R.E.M. – Life’s Rich Pageant reissue (Capitol). I listened to this reissue for a solid month this summer, on the 25th anniversary of its release.  The bonus disc is the “Athens demos”, 19 tracks consisting of early versions, outtakes, etc, that were recorded in Athens (duh) before the final less raw recording was made. Among other things, it has the early version of “Bad Day”, plus great outtakes like “Wait”, “Mystery to Me”, and “All the Right Friends” (the first song the band ever wrote together).  If you’re reading this you know who R.E.M. is and you probably know how great this 1986 release was. Go buy it if you don’t have it.

Jay Reatard - You Get No Love/I Am Growing - Single (Shattered). The final recordings of Jay Reatard. RIP. Cover art kind of says it all. 

The Rolling Stones – Some Girls reissue (Universal/Virgin). This was the “last great Stones album” in my opinion and was finally reissued this year, with a 2nd disc full of outtakes that missed the cut. The mid-late 70’s were such a vibrant time in music, where you had punk, rock, funk, country-western honky-tonk (remember Urban Cowboy and the Electric Horseman?), disco, and early hip-hop all percolating, especially in a big diverse city like NY. Some Girls seems to capture the whole late 70’s NY vibe better than most other records at the time, even those made by native New Yorkers.

Toy Soliders – Get Through the Time  EP (Ropeadope Records). Not to be confused with the Martika song. This is a local Philly folk-blues band I’d heard good things about. At times they sound quite a bit like Ryan Adams. I finally checked them out after seeing their really good opening set for Jesse Malin.

U2 – Achtung Baby reissue (Island). This is a reissue of U2’s classic album. For me it was worth getting to hear the alternate take of “Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses”, along with b-sides of the Lou Reed cover “Satellite of Love” and the “Lady With the SpinningHead.” 

Kurt Vile - So Outta Reach - EP (Matador).  Nice supplement to Smoke Ring For My Halo. “Life's a Beach” and the cover of Springsteen’s “Downbound Train” are worth it alone.

Wavves – Life Sux - EP (Ghost Ramp). You'd have thought the highlight of the year for Wavves would have been having bassist Stephen Pope getting kicked out of the MTV awards for drug possession, among other things. But no, this is one of the best EPs of recent memory for me. It includes “Bug” (song of the year?), “I Wanna Meet Dave Grohl”, and "Nodding Off", along with other tracks included on the expanded version like“TV Luv Song”, and “Mickey Mouse." I’m a stickler for separating EPs and LPs, otherwise this would have probably been in my Top 10.

The Rest

The Elected – Bury Me in My Ring (Vagrant). This is the 3^rd album from Rilo Kiley guitarist Blake Sennett’s side project (or now full time project, I guess). Overall these songs could use more punch.

Get Up Kids – There Are Rules (Quality Hill). The Get Up Kids return after hiatus with a new album that sounds a lot more like Death Cab For Cutie. I give them credit for doing something different than Emo meets Squeeze, as their last few albums sounded. A few decent songs and the rest was boring.

Thurston Moore – Demolished Thoughts (Matador). Pretty good 2 or 3 songs on this album and the rest sounds nothing like you’d expect from Thurston Moore, for better or worse. But hey when you’re in a legendary band and you make solo records on the side, might as well make very different records than what you’d make in your regular band. And I assume Sonic Youth is calling it quits considering Moore and Kim Gordon are splitting in real life, so it should be interesting to see what Moore does after this.

Tom Morello (The Nightwatchman) – World Wide Rebel Songs (New West).  You could probably guess from artist and title what this sounds like - more stripped down socio-political folk-blues songs from the former Rage Against the Machine guitarist.

Red Hot Chili Peppers – I’m Without You (Warner Bros).  Without guitar god John Frusciante in the band, the Chili Peppers seem more like a funky Sugar Ray with less catchy songs. Honestly, I never really cared  much for what they've done on the albums without Frusciante. Even when the songs were kind of boring and same-sounding, at least you’d hang in to hear what interesting guitar thing he would add. There probably wasn’t a more high profile album I wanted to hear less than this one in 2011. 

The Strokes – Angles (RCA). While there are some pretty good songs on here, overall this just feels like the result of a band getting back together after a hiatus for the paycheck and mailing it in. Too many of their potential best “Strokes songs” ended up on their various side projects instead. And even though "Under Cover of Darkness" was a really good song, there just weren't enough other worthy songs on here. Ultimately this was the most disappointing album of the year for me, since expectations were so high. For many numerous reasons, I wanted so badly for this album to be great and it was just o.k. 

Thee Oh Sees – Castlemania (In the Red), Carrion Crawler / The Dream (In the Red). I really don’t have much to say about these guys. I gave some of their stuff a listen and it just never grabbed me. I didn’t dislike it, but it just never rated on my radar. And overall just too many releases for me to really dive into any particular one.

Eddie Vedder – Ukulele Songs (Universal). What? Yeah one rock’s greatest frontmen put out an album of songs played on ukulele. You know that Pearl Jam song, “Soon Forget?” It’s the one nobody really ever liked, but occasionally he’d play it in concert during the “solo” part of the encore, while the rest of the band rested? Just imagine 16 songs like that. Oddly, neither of the 2 most famous “rock” ukulele songs – R.E.M.’s “Losing My Religion” or the Who’s “Blue, Red, and Grey” are included among the few covers on here.  Pearl Jam’s “Can’t Keep” however is reinterpreted on ukulele. It’s actually not a terrible album and it puts emphasis on Vedder’s vocals, which is never a bad thing. If you’re a Pearl Jam completist, throw this on a random playlist and you’ll enjoy it more than hearing 16 songs in a row that all kind of sound the same.

Vivian Girls – Share the Joy (Polyvinyl). Not a bad album, but in general I’m just kind of sick of most this retro 60’s garage/psychedelic surf rock/Phil Specter “wall of sound” trend of recent years. And the Vivian Girls are the poster children for it for me. With so many bands like this sounding the same, you have to bring some unique (or just really “good”) vocals to keep my interest. If the vocals sound like the singer is disinterested in the song, I’ll probably be also.

The War on Drugs – Slave Ambient (Secretly Canadian). I really wanted to like this album by a local Philly band. It's not a bad album, just sounds like guys trying too much to sound like Kurt Vile. I just seem to recall Bob Dylan made a few albums (like Empire Burleseque, etc) in the mid 80's with keyboards and synths and such to try to sound more trendy and relevant at the time. That’s what this whole album sounds like to me.

Next: The Top Honorable Mentions of 2011.