Record Geek Heaven’s Top 20 of 2011

Yuck

2011 turned out to be a pretty great year for music. Though it started off a bit slow, an impressive amount of new talent as well as seasoned songwriting vets emerged with stellar releases this year. In some cases, bands and artists returned with their strongest material in years. In others, emerging artists have given us some amazing things to look forward to for the future. And in others still, bands who have been kicking ass for a few years now are, well, still kicking ass. Here are Record Geek Heaven’s Top 20 Albums of 2011:

The Best of 2011: Part Five

Rounder Records

The Jayhawks – Mockingbird Time

Firstly, this is not a Jayhawks reunion album. Sure, it’s been eight years since their last one (Rainy Day Music), but so many bands have gone even longer between albums without formally breaking up that it seems counterproductive to call this a reunion. Secondly, this isn’t even a reunion album for original Jayhawks songsmiths Mark Olson and Gary Louris, since they released an acoustic album together last year. So then, what is Mockingbird Time?

Listening Log: February 19th 2010

Polydor 1980

2/19/10

Album of the Day: The Jam Sound Affects

I bought this record on vinyl at Love Garden a couple months ago, and it remained on my turntable for about three weeks straight after that purchase. It is the first Jam record that has really reached out and grabbed me. I know they have a lot of great records—I really like “All Mod Cons” and “This Is the Modern World”, as each album is peppered with obvious classics. But as albums, they are not as cohesive and consistent as “Sound Affects”. “Start!”, “Pretty Green”, and “Monday” are an excellent example of the perfect set of opening songs. And the last two—“Boy About Town” and “Scrape Away”—are two of The Jam’s best songs ever. Lastly, the last song on side one, “That’s Entertainment!”, really hits home with me. It’s more or less about the entertainment industry and the amoral world within it. “They’ll kick you in the balls—I tell ya, that’s entertainment” sings Paul Weller. Isn’t it, though? I know you all watch Jackass!

Record Geek Heaven’s Top 50 Albums of the Decade (part 1)

Note: The original plan was to do a list of 100, but with how whirlwind this last month has been for me, there was just no way to write about that many records. Plus, no one wants to read that much, and in that regard, even 50 is pushing it. So without further adieu, here they are.

50. Brendan Benson—The Alternative to Love (2005)

This enigmatic power-pop songsmith has consistently put out great albums since 1996, and this third in the series is no exception. Though Benson hasn’t really broken through to huge mainstream success, I would bet money you have heard at least two of his songs and don’t even realize it.