The 20 Best Albums of 2011

If you interested in buying any of the albums below, click on the album title to go to Amazon and the artist name to download it in iTunes. Also check out my original album reviews in the link under the album where for those I reviewed.

1. Helplessness Blues - Fleet Foxes
In That Dream I'm as Old as the Mountains

2. Stone Rollin' - Raphael Saadiq
Let Love Bring Us Together

3. Barton Hollow - The Civil Wars

4. 21 - Adele
There's a Fire Starting in My Heart

5. El Camino - The Black Keys
I Got a Love That Keeps Me Waiting

6. Watch the Throne - Jay-Z & Kanye West
Jay Is Chillin', 'Ye Is Chillin', What More Can I Say?

7. Ashes & Fire - Ryan Adams
Nobody Has to Cry to Make it Seem Real

8. Collapse into Now - R.E.M.
I Know What I am Chasing, I Know that this Is Changing Me

9. 4 - Beyoncé
You a Bad Girl and You're Friends Bad Too

10. Cocoon - Meg & Dia
I Gave Up on Giving Up on Me

11. Hot Sauce Committee Part 2 - Beastie Boys
We're Gonna Party for the Right to Fight

12. Chesapeake - Rachael Yamagata

13. Lasers - Lupe Fiasco

14. American Goldwing - Blitzen Trapper
You Might Find it Cheap but You're Never Gonna Find it Free

15. Undun - The Roots
If There's a Heaven I Can't Find a Stairway

16. Bells - Laura Jansen
I Have the Motivation to Be a Free Girl Now

17. Camp - Childish Gambino
Why Does Every Black Actor Gotta Rap Some? I Don’t Know, All I Know Is I’m the Best One

18. Mondo Amore - Nicole Atkins
They Call Dawn the Moring and I Wish We Said Goodbye

19. Back To Love - Anthony Hamilton
I'd Be Such and Angel You'd Think Me and Jesus Was Cool Like that

20. Red - Dia Frampton
Have You Ever Felt Like Everybody's Watching

Best of the Week - 12/3/11

Quote of the Week: Jeff you don't need to worry about what foreigners think about you, that's your right as an American. (Shirley – Community)

Song of the Week: Everybody Knows – Leonard Cohan (Homeland)

Scene of the Week:



Big News of the Week: Grammy Nominations Announced: The biggest shock this year is Bon Iver got nominated for three of the big four award (the most shocking of which being Best New Artist considering he released a highly regarded album in 2008 and The Civil Wars deserved a spot). The only big award he did not get nominated foe was Album of the Year which had some head scratching inclusions. Aside from obvious selection of ADELE, there was also the critically mixed inclusions of Lady GaGa (who has yet to have a smash single like her previous album and only sold a million copies thanks to a $.99 sale on Amazon MP3 when released), Foo Fighters (who many people do not even remember released an album in the past year), Rihanna (who fills her albums with a bunch of decent songs but no one has ever said, wow that is a great Rihanna album) and Bruno Mars (who only seems like he released his album around the time Bon Iver released his first one). It seems like about they made too many people say “who” when Arcade Fire walked away with the Best Album trophy by nominated the biggest pop names. Actually only Foo Fighters is not nominated in the Best Pop Album category. It is a bit surprising that they left out actual well received albums by Kanye West, Taylor Swift, Tony Bennett, Wilco, Radiohead, The Civil Wars and Fleet Foxes which were all downgraded to genre specific Album categories. But let’s keep the Grammy’s in perspective: Hilary Clinton and Milli Vanilli have won more Grammy Awards than the Beach Boys and Bob Marley. Here are some other thoughts on the lesser categories:

El DeBarge nominated for Best R&B album. Seriously. In 2011.

Tina Fey vs. Betty White for Best Spoken Word Album.

"Weird Al" Yankovic nominated for Best Short Form Video for Perform This Way; not nominated in the category: Lady Gaga.

Free Download of the Week: O Come Emmanuel - Single of the Week - The Civil Wars – The Civil Wars (iTunes)

Deal of the Week: 100 Albums for $5: A new batch of albums are on sale for $5.00 this month over at Amazon MP3 including The Civil Wars, Sara Bareilles, John Mayer and Jack Johnson.



New Album Release of the Week: El Camino - The Black Keys

New DVD Release of the Week: The Help

Video of the Week: With Friday Night Lights wrapping up its last season there is now a void for best television show on television. Justified is currently in the poll position but with Ma Bennett drinking her own apple pie and Loretta McCreary moving to the suburbs to live with Tim the Toolman Taylor, the show is going to have to refill the bench. Recruiting Carla Gugino to be Raylan’s bosses boss may help. Promos for the third season have started to air before the it returns Tuesday January 17 at 10:00 on FX and here is one of them:

The Hat


Next Week Pick of the Week: The Sing-Off, Monday at 8:00 on NBC: Antoine Merriweather may have unceremoniously denied the championship for the third season of The Sing-Off, but he and all stars from all three seasons will return tomorrow for a holiday special that will for some reason also include Flo Rida singing a non-Christmas song. But then again, when you think acapella Christmas, who does not instantly think Flo Rida?

57 Channels and Only This Is On - 8/27/11

Quote of the Week: I didn’t kill you, God killed you. I just made sure it took. (Nate, Leverage)

Song of the Week: Poison and Wine – The Civil Wars (Pretty Little Liars)

Big News of the Week: A Melancholy Happy Trails to Jerry Leiber and Nick Ashford: We lost two songwriting greats on the same day this week. Nick Ashford wrote some of Motown’s greatest hits including Ain’t No Mountain High Enough which was made famous by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. But Nick may most be famous for the awesomely cheesy song Solid which he recorded with his wife as Ashford and Simpson. Jerry Leiber was also famous as part of a duo, he and Mike Stoller wrote some of the biggest songs of early rock and roll including Jailhouse Rock, Hound Dog and Ben E. King’s Stand by Me, one of the few songs I can play on piano.


The Lying Game: My biggest problem with the Pilot is that there seemed to have all the elements of an underlying conspiracy theory, but there were no clues or hints that there was any. Like I doubt it is a coincidence that the Mercers would adopt just one of the twins but the writers did not throw anything in to back up my suspicions. We finally got some of that this week in spades when the dude from Heroes showed up and mentioned something ambiguously shady with papa Mercer then turned out to be the one that was behind Sutton’s missing laptop. I also like how “The Lying Game” plays into the story. I was so bored after the first episode I did not bother to come up with any theories, but this episode gave me hope that the show may be salvaged. I even came up with a wild conspiracy theory: we learned that that mama Mercer and Char’s mom went to high school together and I bet all the parents go all the way back to school together and they somehow tie into Sutton and Emma’s parents. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download The Lying Game on iTunes.

Weeds: Apparently Silas is as dumb as he looks. I had Dawn Summers as a double agent right when she talked about how unhappy she was. What I did not see coming was her being the big bad or that she would clean him out that quickly.

Pretty Little Liars: I knew I should have put money on head shrinker dieing before she could tell anyone who “A” is. Why is it in every television show or movie whenever somebody calls someone to tell them a deep dark secret, they do not just tell them there so there is time for whoever is hiding the secret to do something to them? The head shrinker could have easily told Emily, “Hey, I know who “A” is, it is Bob the Bus Driver, tell your friends to meet me in my office to discuss. Oh and call the police just in case Bob the Bus Driver kills me before you get here.” You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

Free Download of the Week: Pumped Up Kicks (Chrome Canyon Remix) - Foster the People (Rcrd Lbl): Ever wonder what the summer jam Pumped Up Kicks would sound like if it were reimaged as a early nineties slow jam? Wonder no long, just download this remix.

New Album Release of the Week: I'm With You - Red Hot Chili Peppers

New DVD Release of the Week: Parenthood: Season 2

Video of the Week: When you have George Harrison and Martin Scorcese in the same sentence, you know you are in for something. The former is the subject and the latter is the director of the documentary George Harrison: Living in the Material World which will air in two parts October 5 and 6 on HBO. Check out the trailer below:



Next Week Pick of the Week: George W. Bush: The 9/11 Interview, Sunday at 10:00 on the National Geographic Channel: With 9/11 tributes I full gear, National Geographic Channel has the biggest get, an exclusive interview with former president George W. Bush taking about the day for the first time since he left office. Look for my full preview tomorrow.

The Best of Neo-Folk

Someone recently asked me what kind of music I listen to and I responded, “Hardcore gangsta rap, Taylor Swift, and bands no one has ever heard of.” After realizing I was not kidding, she asked me of those bands no one has ever heard of; sadly I was proven right at least in this case. Later I realized that most of those bands were based in the folksier type of music which has been gaining momentum in recent years and seems to be an evolution of the alt-country of the late nineties and / or Johnny Cash’s Rick Rubin era. So I thought I would make a CD sampler of these bands which I have dubbed Neo-Folk. Hopefully long time readers are familiar with most of these artists because I have been hyping most of them here on the 9th Green, but if not, give them a try.

1. Barton Hollow – The Civil Wars

2. Feeling the Pull – The Swell Season

3. Belated Promise Ring – Iron and Wine

4. Magpie to the Morning – Neko Case

5. White Blank Page – Mumford and Sons

6. Skinny Love – Bon Iver

7. Furr – Blitzen Trapper

8. Lost In My Mind – The Head and the Heart

9. Home – Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros

10. Mykonos – Fleet Foxes

11. If It's the Beaches – The Avett Brothers

12. You Still Hurt Me – William Fitzsimmons

13. Little Lovin' – Lissie

14. No One's Gonna Love You – Band of Horses

15. A Little Bit of Everything – Dawes

16. Art Isn't Real (City of Sin) – Deer Tick

17. Our Life Is Not a Movie or Maybe – Okkervil River

18. Shadow People – Dr. Dog

19. Coney Island – Good Old War

20. The Hazards of Love 1 (The Prettiest Whistles Won't Wrestle the Thistles Undone) – The Decemberists

I Want My Music Television - 5/9/11

There have been a couple of videos that have caught my eye lately so I thought I’d give them some love since the death of Musical Television left a void for a forum on the art form. If you are interested in buying the video through iTunes, click the title link (where available). If you are interested in buying the song, look for a link in the analysis.

Mean - Taylor Swift



One thing that always struck me about this song is how Taylor Swift spends four minutes taking some dude to task for being mean, but then calls the dude a liar and pathetic and alone in life, which is pretty mean spirited itself. And isn’t that the chick from Ramona and Beezus in the video (um, not that I actually saw the movie, um, let’s move onto the next video)?


Sadness Is a Blessing - Lykke Li



It’s videos like this that make me want to sit in on some pitch meetings. “Lykke Li, you are going to be in a swanky restaurant taking shots for two minutes, keep in mind we will not start the song yet, and by the time we start the song, you will spend the rest of the video doing weird music.” “Sure, but how about we throw in a dramatic pause in the middle for no apparent reason.” “Brilliant, let’s start the casting.”


L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N. - Noah and the Whale



This by Noah and the Whale is one of those songs if it was released in the mid-late nineties it would have been heavy rotation on MTV along with Harvey Danger, Marcy’s Playground and Cake until teen girl came along and ruined the channel. I miss those days.


Poison and Wine - The Civil Wars



Last time I posted The Civil Wars' first single and here is their latest which is my favorite off their album because it is just heartbreakingly beautiful.

Best of the Week - 4/29/11

Quote of the Week: Listen to me: I said you need to strive to be better than everyone else. I didn’t say you need to be better than everyone else. But you gotta try. And that’s what character is: it’s in the trying. (Coach Taylor, Friday Night Lights)



Song of the Week: I Kissed a Girl – Katy Perry (as sung by Amy Farrah Fowler, The Big Bang Theory)

Big News of the Week: NFL Back to Work: Just days after a judge ordered the NFL to end their lockout, the offseason officially started with the start of the draft last night. I thought it was going to be an early night for me with the Browns picking at number six but they quickly traded the pick to the tail end of the draft at twenty-seven (with four other draft picks). Thankfully they traded up to twenty-one just in time for my bedtime, so I wouldn’t have to stayup too late. Oddly the Browns traded their pick to the Falcons who picked a wide receiver, which was the Browns biggest need. But when they finally made a pick they addressed their second biggest concern, defensive line. Except they picked a nose tackle the season they switch to the 4-3 defense. Oh well, that is the life of a Browns fan.

Free Download of the Week: Live at Eddie’s Attic – The Civil Wars (thecivilwars.com): Last week I pointed you to a place where you could download a new song from The Civil Wars, if one song by the band is not enough, if you head over to their website you can download a full live album for free. The set includes my favorite of theirs, Poison and Wine as well as a cover of No Ordinary Love originally done by Sade. (Though not on the free album, I also recommend heading over to YouTube to hunt down live performances of Billie Jean, the Smashing Pumpkin’s Disarm, The Romantic’s Talking in Your Sleep, and the Jackson 5’s I Want You Back.)

Deal of the Week: $20 Pre-order Credit with Madden NFL 12: The cover of course is the Cleveland Browns own Peyton Hillis. I love how Browns fans have convinced themselves that the Cleveland curse and Madden curse will cancel each other out.

New Album Release of the Week: Hot Sauce Committee Part 2 - Beastie Boys

Hot Sauce Committee Part Two by Beastie Boys

New DVD Release of the Week: The Dilemma

Video of the Week: I passed on The Voice because I figured much like American Karaoke, it would be mediocre singers singing crappy songs. And judging but one of the contestants who made a “professional” music video, my assumptions look to be right as Kelsey Rey sounds like it came from the people who created Rebecca Black but instead of a random rapper, they randomly cut in Tag Team’s nineties jam Whoop! There it Is for no apparent reason and called it a “remix”. Of course if they bring out Tag Team to perform with Kelsey on the show, I may just have to tune in for that.

Kelsey Rey – Masquerade (Remix) ft. Tag Team


Next Week Pick of the Week: Justified, Wednesday at 10:00 on FX: Last season ended with a bang and it looks like the second will do the same after the writers pulled a quick one on us making us think that Mags was really going to give Raylan a pass on killing her son. At the beginning of the season I predicted that Loretta would exact some sort of revenge for Mags killing her father which I thought wouldn’t come true after they shipped her off to foster care, but considering she continues to randomly pop up since then, that she may still be in play for some revenge.

I Want My Music Television - 4/27/11

There have been a couple of videos that have caught my eye lately so I thought I’d give them some love since the death of Musical Television left a void for a forum on the art form. If you are interested in buying the video through iTunes, click the title link (where available). If you are interested in buying the song, look for a link in the analysis.


Make Some Noise - Beastie Boys



With sequels to decades old movies like Tron and Wall Street becoming in vogue, it was only time for someone to make a sequel to a music video from the eighties. But like every sequel, I am not sure if the Beastie Boys needed to make a thirty minute short film about the events of what happened after Fight for Your Right. But it does feature every funny white dude working today (sorry Zach Galifianakis, unless that is really you selling got dogs). So it has that going for it. Here’s hoping the Beastie Boys make a feature film Sabotage reboot next because who would not want to see more of Cochese and the boys?


The Lazy Song - Bruno Mars



I should hate Bruno Mars but let’s face it, much like the boy bands of the nineties, he is really too bland to dislike. Yet there are signs of an artist in there: he produced The Song Otherwise Known as Forget You and his Grammy performance of Grenade was much better than the radio version. Plus it is hard not to get behind a video featuring dancing monkeys.


Don't Sit Down 'Cause I've Moved Your Chair - Arctic Monkeys



After coming as close to perfecting snotty punk rock as a twenty-first century band can, it looks like the Arctic Monkeys are going to start morphing into a psychedelic sound with this trippy video.


Barton Hollow - The Civil Wars



Every week I highlight something that you can legally download for my Best of the Week posts, and this past week I pointed you to The Civil Wars. Unfortunately 20 Years is no longer available to download for free, but The Civil Wars is definitely a band worth checking out. If there is any justice in the world, they will be this year’s Mumford & Sons, a folksy group that inexplicably stays near the top of the albums chart all year with little mainstream buzz. Fun fact: one of the members (the one that does not look like the Jack White / Jonny Depp lovechild) wrote a song for David Archuleta.

Best of the Week - 4/22/11

Quote of the Week: Wait! I think I hear future Lily sending us a message from her stripper pole. Thanks gay-dad dads; this dance is for you! (Cameron, Modern Family)

Song of the Week: Hard Times Come Again No More – Brett Dennen (Parenthood)

Big News of the Week: Weird Al Has a New Subject: Something fishy went on in the world of "Weird Al" Yankovic this week. Early Wednesday Al posted an extremely lengthy post on his website detailing the run around Lady GaGa gave him as he tried to get her approval to parody her Born This Way (permission by law he does not even need but does out of respect of the artist) only to reject his Perform This Way which Al then uploaded to YouTube for everyone to hear since we would not get it on his next album. Wouldn’t you know after a day of bad press, Gaga throws her manager under the bus saying she never rejected the song and now give full permission for Al to give it a proper release. Alrighty. Although given the song a lesson, it may have been for the best, because Perform This Way is not his strongest parody. Give the song a listen for yourself:



Gratuitous Token Hot Chick Picture of the Week:



Free Download of the Week: 20 Years - The Civil Wars (Amazon MP3): The more I hear from this duo, the more it makes me want to find more. If you liked the Robert Plant & Alison Krauss album but wished they made more music together, you will want to check out The Civil Wars yourself, starting with this free track.

Deal of the Week: Seed Your Cloud: Amazon is continuing to deeply discount great ablums to announce their new Cloud and you can get albums by The Avett Brothers, Drive By Truckers, Jay-Z and The Black Crowes or under four dollars.

New Album Release of the Week: Layla and Other Love Songs [Super Deluxe 4CD, 2LP, DVD] - Derek and the Dominos

New DVD Release of the Week: Growing Pains: Complete Second Season

Video of the Week: I have distaste for crappy talent competitions so I will not be tuning into The Voice this Tuesday at 9:00, but I am intrigued by the competition aspect of the “mentor” picking their singers to compete against the other ones. But at the end of the day it is just dudes singing karaoke. But on the other hand, this happened:



Next Week Pick of the Week: NFL Draft, Thursday at 8; Friday at 6; Saturday at Noon on ESPN: During the Super Bowl, the NFL likes to run a commercial saying everyone is undefeated tomorrow. This gives fans of perennial bad teams a sense of optimism for a couple months. That optimism usually ends draft day when the offseason gets kick started. After a great draft last year and Peyton Hillis on the cusp of being the first player voted onto the Madden cover (EA Sports would not actually let dog killer Michael Vick win right?) things are looking up for my Browns. Of course that is they actually play any games in 2011.