Album #8: Bon Iver, Bon Iver by Bon Iver
I wasn’t a massive fan of For Emma, Forever Ago so I didn’t have the expectations a lot of people did for Bon Iver’s follow-up. So of course this one clicked with me right away. It’s just so damn pretty. And I’m not quite sure what’s going on during the final song (cheesy 80s keys alert!) but it somehow rings true (don’t spoil it for me with talk of irony). If you like your “folk” music lush and lovely and gorgeous and all sorts of other manly words, than Bon Iver is pretty much your spirit animal.

Download
Bon Iver – Holocene
Bon Iver – Calgary

Song #8: In Your Nature by Zola Jesus
Nika Roza Danilova’s voice slays me. I love the way this one, while being quite short, manages to build and release with such ease.

—> See the rest of the 25 For 2011 List here.

Album #9: Inni by Sigur Rós
Over the past decade, I’ve had the extremely good fortune to experience Sigur Rós live on quite a few occasions and each show has been an intense and memorable experience. From churches to fields to theatres and even in faceless pavilions, Sigur Rós are a powerful energy on stage and with Inni they’ve done a damn fine job of capturing some of the magic of a Sigur Rós show. Even more impressive is that this is the stripped down version of the band: just four guys making a whole lot of beautiful noise. And I still haven’t seen the film!

Song #9: Repatriated by Handsome Furs
When Handsome Furs announced that their upcoming album had been written primarily on keyboards I was a tad nervous. Then I heard Repatriated and I just wanted to dance. The energy in this song is just so incredibly infectious.

Download
Handsome Furs – Repatriated

—> See the rest of the 25 For 2011 List here.

Album #10: Smoke Ring For My Halo by Kurt Vile
Smoke Ring For My Halo is not a showy album. Kurt Vile’s voice does not blow you away; the instrumentation is pretty typical; their isn’t anything groundbreaking here. But Smoke Ring For My Halo is a fantastic album for the most basic reason: these songs are really, really great. And accomplished songwriting trumps spectacle every time. Sleeper album of the year.

Download
Kurt Vile – Jesus Fever

Song #10: Forget That You’re Young by The Raveonettes
When I first wrote about this song back in February I noted that The Raveonettes have a knack for crafting incredibly catchy melodies – the types of melodies typically reserved for saccharine, commercial pop songs. Forget That You’re Young has one of those melodies and reaffirms my belief that The Raveonettes are one of the closest things we have to a 60s Spector girl-group.

Download
The Raveonettes – Forget That You’re Young

—> See the rest of the 25 For 2011 List here.

Album #11: Valhalla Dancehall by British Sea Power
The lyrics are erudite, poignant, funny. The music is bombastic, exhilarating, delicate. And yet British Sea Power’s Valhalla Dancehall went pretty unnoticed in 2011. What more do you need, people?

Download
British Sea Power – Who’s In Control?
British Sea Power – Living Is So Easy

Song #11: Let England Shake by PJ Harvey
Oh, don’t mind PJ Harvey. She’s just opening her album with this song. No biggie.

—> See the rest of the 25 For 2011 List here.

Album #12: Conatus by Zola Jesus
Of all the records on this list, Zola Jesus’s mesmeric Conatus is the one I would really implore people to check out as I feel it has gone a little bit unnoticed. Conatus kind of resists any easy description and, to be honest, I’m finding it hard to describe why I love it so much. It’s adventurous, confident, moody, powerful and definitely needs to be heard by more people. It sounds like music from another planet…but a planet not completely unlike our own.

Download
Zola Jesus – Vessel

Song #12: Baby’s Arms by Kurt Vile
It’s kind of jangly and kind of atmospheric but at its heart Baby’s Arms is a simple acoustic strum that just. kind of. keeps. going. Not that it’s long but in the sense that Kurt Vile has crafted a gentle song that, nonetheless, commands you to keep up with it. Also love those female backing vocals out of nowhere in the song’s final movement.

—> See the rest of the 25 For 2011 List here.

Album #13: Ashes & Fire by Ryan Adams
In which Ryan Adams proves you can be happy AND make a great, acoustic-based record. Sure, it wasn’t the Heartbreaker Part 2 album many were hoping for after hearing the single, but Ashes & Fire is a great little record that stands up quite nicely in Ryan’s immense catalogue. Production-wise, Ashes features Ryan Adams sounding warmer and sunnier than he ever has in his career and he wears it well. Thanks, Mandy Moore! Song-wise, there are a couple of meh moments but overall there is more here that brings you back again than any record since…Cold Roses?

Ryan Adams – Ashes & Fire

Song #13: Crystalline by Björk
Vespertine + Homogenic + Aphex Twin = Crystalline

The best part of this song was hearing it for the first time and having that ending kick my ass.

—> See the rest of the 25 For 2011 List here.

Album #14: Zonoscope by Cut Copy
For a number of years now, Cut Copy have been one of the finest purveyors of sun-drenched electropop anthems and things continue in that vein on Zonoscope. Unlike the packed-with-pure-pop-moments In Ghost Colours, Zonoscope stretches out a bit with longer pieces and an increased focus on rhythm and grooves. Opener Need You Now, however, manages to straddle both worlds – it’s long but its hooks are as infectious as anything I heard this year. And there are a number of other songs here that are nearly as great.

Cut Copy – Take Me Over

Song #14: Eyes Be Closed by Washed Out
HYPE. So yeah, Washed Out’s record didn’t turn out to be super amazing but there are some standout songs on it and this one is my favourite. Just love the whole feel of this song (and it’s a nice match with the Cut Copy record, actually).

Download
Washed Out – Eyes Be Closed

—> See the rest of the 25 For 2011 List here.

Album #15: Helplessness Blues by Fleet Foxes
Helplessness Blues is just packed with incredible sounding acoustic guitars, amazing vocals, and some truly impressive songs. While it’s not a huge jump from their stellar debut, it shows that that record wasn’t a fluke. I’d say more but it’s late and I’m tired…but these songs are great.

Download
Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues
Fleet Foxes – Grown Ocean

Song #15: The Butcher by Radiohead
The b-side of a 12″ released shortly after the release of The King Of Limbs, The Butcher was one of my favourite Radiohead songs of the year. I can see how it might not have fit onto the record (it’s a bit nastier than the rest of TKOL) but it deserves more than b-side status. Here’s hoping the band bust out this one on the road next year because it really is a great song. Especially the last half.

—> See the rest of the 25 For 2011 List here.

Album #16: Metals by Feist
At first I was a bit underwhelmed by Metals but the more time I spend with it the more it’s growing on me. Songs that I barely noticed the first few times through the record have now started to blow me away. The Circle Married The Line, for instance, is filled with gorgeous little musical details while Caught A Long Wind, as its name suggests, floats along effortlessly. Metals on the whole is pretty much an anti-1234 record and Feist should be applauded for bravely resisting the urge to trot out another bunch of hits. Instead she made what might be her best record yet.

Feist – How Come You Never Go There

Song #16: Savage Night At The Opera by Destroyer
I’ve often identified myself as Vancouver’s Worst Indie Music Fan because of my historical lack of enthusiasm for Destroyer, the New Pornographers, and assorted other local musicians. Destroyer’s record Kaputt would have been #26 on my list (honestly, I probably need more time with it) but Savage Night At The Opera jumped out at me right away. I’m a sucker for songs drenched in 80s synths and flourishes and this song delivers both in spades. It’s not what I was expecting from Dan Bejar – which is probably why I love this song. Having a great video featuring a manic ride through the streets of Vancouver doesn’t hurt either.

—> See the rest of the 25 For 2011 List here.

Album #17: Collapse Into Now by REM
It’s still kind of hard to believe this is the last album REM will ever release; they’ve always been there and I’ve loved a LOT of what they’ve done including Collapse Into Now. While Collapse doesn’t reach the peaks of their finest work, it’s not a bad way to go out. Opener Discoverer kicks the record off on a positive note that permeates much of the album – it’s perhaps one of REM’s brightest sounding records. And when the final notes of Blue fade out and the guitar refrain from Discoverer starts again you realize that REM have crafted an infinite loop of a final record. One that never ends. Clever bastards.

REM – Alligator_Aviator_Autopilot_Antimatter

Song #17: Discoverer by REM
Thank you for introducing your final record with that guitar part, Peter Buck. It’s perfect. And Michael Stipe, the lyrics are also brilliant. Mike Mills! (Don’t want to leave you out.)

—> See the rest of the 25 For 2011 List here.