Month: December 2011

Sometimes radio rewards me with something I actually want to listen to. In a year where songstresses like Adele and Florence Welch are reigning supreme and the indie acts I remember debuting are now six albums deep, there was much to love. I found a handful of albums that I played to death, and while that means I neglected some indie standouts, some of the discs here are guaranteed to be my favorites for years to come. Florence + The Machine – Ceremonials Continuing her reign as one of rock’s coolest, boldest singers, Florence Welch of Florence + The Machine…

So, for about ten years, we've been told that the Internet has fractured popular music to the extent that there would be no more "blockbuster" acts of universal appeal. That theory had to undergo revision this year with the release of Adele's 21. It dropped in January and for the rest of 2011, it stayed in the Top 10. Other artists have accomplished similar feats over the past decade (see Norah Jones or even Adele's most compared peer, the late Amy Winehouse), but Adele managed to lure hip-hop fans into her world as countless remixes of her songs hit clubs…

  10. Adele -- 21 UK singer Adele released her second album in January this year, and to my delight, it bettered her stunning debut (2008’s 19) by a fair margin.  21 is an edgy and powerful statement and the quality of the material was greatly enhanced by Adele’s vocals, which boasted considerable power and a very flexible range.  “Rumour Has It,” “Turning Tables,” and “Set Fire To The Rain” are definite standouts among this stellar collection of songs.  21 has been nominated for Album Of The Year at the 2012 Grammy Awards and would be a very worthy winner indeed. …

Nothing makes you feel old like a year in which you liked more reissues, retrospectives, and restarts than new music.  But frankly, 2011 felt like a year in which the market was flooded with new music that, with a few notable exceptions, didn’t live up to the promise of what came before.  That, of course, doesn’t mean there weren’t high points—it just means they were achieved by bands I was already well aware of when the year started. Best Idea That Shouldn’t Have Worked This Well (But Did) Tedeschi Trucks Band -- Revelator What to do when husband and wife…

Is 2011 over already? Apparently so, and that means it’s time for another top ten. One thing that became immediately apparent to me after assessing this year’s music is how many of its best records are by artists who’ve been around for decades. But hey, if they’ve still got it who am I to discriminate? Here’s my top ten (in the usual descending order) followed by six more albums I liked this year and six that I didn’t as much (in no order). 10. Justice – Audio, Video, Disco The general critical consensus of Justice’s sophomore album seems to be…