The best of 2011- this is a list.

A self-styled contrarian, I've waited until Jan 01 to post my "best of 2011" list.

What follows is a completely arbitrary and subjective list of the 25 best songs from 2011, according only to me.

If i were to recap the state of- and developments within- contemporary music and radio, that would be another post altogether. Rather than do that, I'll share this post from Fred Wilson. I think the first few paragraphs are both tremendously illuminating and indicative of the listening habits of a contemporary music consumer.

I'll also throw this article in for good measure; I think that the implications of this- from a music marketing perspective- could be terrifying. I fear we will see more of this- in a more calculated approach- in 2012. I wonder who the unlucky Rick Santorum artist will be.

25) Serenades- Come Home

This is a Shout Out Louds side project, featuring the dude that looks like Jason Schwartzman. It is appropriate to lead off this list because it is the best Christmas song I've heard in many years.

24) Dutch Uncles- The Ink

I hate this video, but I am a notorious sucker for angular, disjointed indie rock- or anything that sounds vaguely like the Talking Heads or XTC.

23) Scattered Trees- Four Days Straight

This could be a Spoon B-side. And since we didn't have so much as a Spoon A-side this year...

22) Cloud Control- There's Nothing In The Water We Can't Fight

Like Local Natives, except I like them.

21) Cuckoo Chaos- Just Ride It

I'm feeling guilty- this is the only local San Diego band that made the list this year. It's not that the local scene is suffering- I suspect 2012 will be huge year for SD bands- It's just that I was less engaged with local music this year. That said, these gents put on a tremendous live show, and are poised to DBT this year.

20) Tycho- Dive

I refuse to use the term "chillwave". How about "bliss-core"? "Winter-core"?

19 a)Nas- Nasty

Our Underground Hip-Hop programmer on Slacker Radio is always talking to me about "boom bap rap". He gets really excited about anything contemporary that features the sound, and it's clearly starting to rub off on me. 

19 b)The Hilltop Hoods- I Love It

Same thing as above- the boom bap. This track features an assist by Sia.

18) Katie Herzig- Free My Mind (RAC Remix)

RAC was everywhere this year. This is one of several songs that I would not have discovered or engaged with if not for it's remix. Most importantly, it reminds me of one of my favorite bands of all time- Dubstar.

17) Dirty Vegas- Little White Doves

I saw Dirty Vegas live this year- on a weeknight, at a dive bar, in front of an enthusiastic crowd of 40 or so. It's clear that they are more interested in being The Killers than they are being a House Music collective. With that in mind, they've written several incredible pop songs on their latest record, and this song consistently performs in the top 10th percentile of the listener popularity metrics across multiple genres on Slacker Radio. The fact that this song was not a mainstream pop hit speaks volumes about traditional media's methodology in terms of "picking songs".

16) Nada Surf- When I Was Young

It builds, and it builds, and it pays off. Just like all great Nada Surf songs. The new album is due out in 2012, and it's called "The Stars are Indifferent to Astronomy". Radical.

15) Fucked Up- The Other Shoe

There's a good reason that this is a consensus pick amongst the media and taste makers. My only fear is that there is no possible way that Fucked Up could top their epic concept album "David Comes to Life". It's kind of like the thinking man's "American Idiot".

14) Kendrick Lamar- A.D.H.D.

I heard this song for the first time shortly after I had a tremendously depressing encounter with a kid that I grew up with. If not for that, I may have never internalized the profundity of these lyrics.

13) Destroyer- Chinatown

It's been my experience that every song called "Chinatown" is awesome.

12) Little Dragon- Ritual Union

Another completely justified consensus pick.

11) Strange Talk- Climbing Walls

This song is/was absolutely perfect for a commercial sync. That explains the video, which looks like an Old Navy commercial performed by J Crew catalog models.

10) Vetiver- Wonder Why

I'm a sucker for anything jangly; anything that sounds like a vintage Flying Nun release.

9) The Rifles- Tangled Up In Love

I am also a notorious Anglophile, musically speaking. This reminds me of the first time i heard "Babies" by Pulp.

8) Real Estate- It's Real

When she's not on tour with Mates of State, my friend Jen Scaffidi still knows exactly how to call me out. 

7) Roscoe Dash- I Do

So, in the last half of this track, It's clear that K'LA is going to be a big deal in 2012. That's a starmaking verse. Beyond that- I think this song is a perfect flashy, heavily produced hip hop track. 

6) Ha Ha Tonka- Usual Suspects

When all is said and done, I am still a kid from rural Nevada that won 4-H championships, did junior rodeo, and broke horses. Rootsy stuff like this will always appeal to me. Especially when they are so adept at harmonies. I saw these gentlemen out on tour this year with Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin- their live show is something to behold.

5) The Fruit Bats- You're Too Weird

They own their 70's pop sensibilities by recreating a perfect 80's pop video. Respek.

5) Elephant Rifle- Thursday The 12th

So- full disclosure. This is my little brother's latest band. And it's by far my favorite band he's ever been in. I'm very, very proud of him. All of the dudes in this band are incredible, and their live show is as rad and confrontational as I had hoped it would be. Beyond that, I couldn't possibly be objective, so check out what theAV Club had to say about them:

A far younger band that worships at the sticky alter of The Jesus Lizard is Reno’s Elephant Rifle. Listening to the outfit’s new four-song EP, Teenage Lover, feels like jacking off with a jackhammer; amid strangled guitars and amputated rhythms, the group unleashes all manner of demons, psychic and sonic. But it’s done with an underdog abandon and sordid sense of humor—not to mention a proudly acknowledged debt to the eerie, GSL Records sound of the late ’90s and early ’00s—that distances Elephant Rifle from mere AmRep revivalism. They grow ’em sick and strange in Reno. 

Goddamn right they do.

4) Wye Oak- Holy Holy

Another perfect winter record. This fills the spot held by Land Of Talk last year.

3) Black Lips- Modern Art

Because fundamentally, I want my rock and roll to be the soundtrack to motorcycles, whiskey, and fist fights.

2) The Drums- How It Ended

The Drums' 2011 release- Portomento- is far and away the record that I spent the most time with this year as a whole. There's nothing terribly sophisticated going on here, but its the way that they carefully aggregate so many sounds and influences that makes this a perfect pop album. Really perfect.

1) Touché Amoré- ~ (Tilde)

JUST LOOK AT THIS:

This is what made me fall in love with punk rock. Buying records, identifying with the message politically or emotionally, then going to see the band live and singing my lungs out and discovering a community of like-minded kids. The fact that this video was filmed in 2011, in Berlin, only a month after the album was released, speaks volumes about the connection that people have with this band.

Seeing Touché Amoré at the Che Cafe in San Diego this year, I was reminded of seeing At The Drive In on the In/Casino/Out tour. Different message and ethos, but same energy, same confrontational spirit. 

In a way, the fact that this is my favorite record of the year is a nostalgia play. This is the record I was desperately searching for in 1998. The fact that it still resonates in a major way in 2011 tells me that these dudes are on to something. When I first saw Rise Against in 1999, or Modest Mouse in 1997, or At The Drive In in 1999- I was able to predict that these bands would go on to "mainstream" success and critical acclaim. With that in mind, I wouldn't be surprised if Touché Amoré is consistently impacting a much larger audience by the end of 2012. 

Buy the new Touché Amoré record. It's called "Parting the Sea Between Brightness and Me". It's the most urgent and honest record I've heard in years.

HONORABLE MENTION:

Captured Tracks put out more good records and reissues than anyone else this year. They've created the kind of culture around their label that makes you want to drop out of your life and go join them in some sort of intentional community- like K Records in the late 80's or something.

With that in mind, they are releasing this in 2012, and it's already made next year's list for me:

Mac DeMarco- Baby's Wearin Blue Jeans

SXSW 2011 Wrap up

My trip to SXSW 2011- with my place of employ, Slacker Radio- is a wrap, and the music portion was not without it's share of incidents, accidents, and legitimate questions about it's size and purpose. That said, I had a blast, and more importantly, we did some great business and got a ton of work done. I am pretty sure that is the ostensible purpose for members of the "music business" to attend...right? This was my 8th year at SXSW, my 3rd with Scott Riggs and the Slacker Radio crew, and I must say- I found it exponentially more fulfilling to actually create content rather than stumble around from place to place for 4 days.

My primary objective at SXSW this year was creating content for the Austin 2011 radio station that we have curated and programmed in conjunction with FILTER mag and many other fine companies/products. We had an awesome broadcast setup at the Cedar Street Courtyard. Over the course of 4 days, we interviewed ~50 bands there, and that content is making it's way on to this radio station as fast as I can produce and load it.

So- if you didn't make it to SXSW music this year, or you just want to relive the experience, check it out here:

• Music from the bands that made the most noise this year at SXSW and some that you may have missed
• Interviews and commentary from artists like Gayngs, tUnE-yArDs, J Mascis, Surfer Blood, Brother, The Naked and Famous, Royal Bangs, the Airborne Toxic Event, Datarock, and 50+ more.
• Best of all- the station is hosted by Andrew WK- and it features his SXSW Party Tips throughout...

New content is being added daily- please enjoy! And while you have this station and it's free music as a soundtrack, I've put together a brief "best-of" SXSW music 2011 list...

Best planning:

Catching the earliest flight possible out on Sunday morning. In doing so, we dodged the usual hangover-brigade amateur hour, and a bunch of weather-related delays. Easiest post-SXSW flight out yet, highly recommended.

Best sightings:

I happened to be walking by 4th and Colorado when I stumbled upon Jack White playing White Stripes songs acoustic in a parking lot in front of his Third Man mobile record store. After twitter was alerted and that crowd reached critical mass, I went to meet a friend around the corner, where I found him having coffee with Talib Kweli. Also, it seemed like Tyler from Odd Future was everywhere on his skateboard. Only at SXSW.

Best bands:

This is so subjective, I'd be stupid to make a definitive statement here. I really enjoyed Ted Leo solo at the Brooklyn Vegan party. Maps and Atlases and Little Dragon both did several incredible sets as well.

Best San Diego-related encounters:

Far and away, Lesands. They are already gaining a great deal of national admirers, and because they are sequestered in North County, they are blissfully unaware of SD local music politics and happenings. They will break nationally before most of SD even realizes what these gents are up to.

Also, Dynamite Walls. These guys did it right, playing like 30 shows in 3 days at every possible spot, and looked as sharp as ever throughout. SD music dude (and sometime-Slacker Radio contributor) Andrew Rowley was on the road with these guys documenting the entire experience and putting up daily video recaps. Very, very cool, and very, very smart.

The Burning Of Rome came through with Sammi Skolmoski- my former co-host on the 91-ex Morning Show. They had a high-profile showcase at Maggie Mae's, but they did everything DIY style, going so far as to set up a generator-powered street set before the police shut them down.

Finally, Cults. They played the day show for FILTER mag, and even though they are based in Brooklyn now, they come from Hillcrest and La Costa, respectively. Good catching up there.

Honorable mention goes to O-official San Diego ambassador and all around good-dude, who hooked us up with J Mascis, and Tim Pyles, who looked like a 10 year old on Christmas morning every time I saw him. And of course- Fran and the dudes from Spy Optic.

Best food:

Forget the tourist trip to Salt Lick or any other obligitory BBQ-related excursion- Ranch 616 has become an official Slacker Radio tradition. Best food, best desserts, and craft cocktails on par with the best of the Austin mixologist scene. Dude, fried pie? Insane. I watched our SVP eat a huge rib-eye with a fried egg on top and two cheese enchiladas underneath LIKE A BOSS.

Best discovery (non-music)

We found the elusive spot where all the empty cabs queue up, even during the peak of 6th street insanity. If you ask nicely, I'll share this magical spot with you. You'll never be stuck waiting for a cab again...it was like finding a mythical beast in the wild.

Best bait and switch

I interviewed the guys from The Knux on Friday. They were awesome, and I am a fan of what they do. After the interview, they said something to the effect of "that was awesome, do you want a T-shirt, dude?" to which I replied "sure!". Shortly after, one of the dudes from their crew came up and handed me a shirt, to which I said "thanks!". He looked at me funny and said "yeah...for you, 10 bucks. Normally 20 at the show". I had no intention of buying any t-shirts at SXSW, but I ended up with one...

Best "dodged a bullet" moment

When I was 16, I had 300$ and an idea for a tattoo. I went to a tattoo shop and fed them a line about how I had just moved to Tahoe and didn't have my ID yet, but assured them that I was 18 and ready to get a tattoo. They believed me at first- going so far as to set up the machine and stencil out the tattoo. Just before we got started, the dude got cold feet and told me to come back when I got my ID- he even offered to knock 50$ off when I came back for the inconvenience.

Of course, I didn't go back, because I was 16, not 18. If I had received the tattoo that day, it would have looked like this, on my forearm:

Given what happened at the Screeching Weasel show this year, I probably wouldn't have been very popular for a few days. Little did I know how fortuitous that day was.

Special thanks to the peeps at FILTER mag,  Asics/Onitsuka Tiger and Blue Microphones for the good times.

So, see you in Austin next year?

Questions/Comments? Holler at me @matdiablo.

On quarterly musical obsessions (UPDATED)

I have a pretty solid track record of identifying and presenting musical trends, more or less. It was even the foundation on which I made my living for many years. Im not infallible...I have been very wrong in the past, but I have also been very right.

That said, as I get older- I am less inclined to immediately jump up and proclaim every interesting piece of music to be the next big thing. It's more of a quarterly thing... four or five times a year I find my new favorite song, and I subsequently spend the next few weeks feverishly evangelizing for it.

So far this year i've had 3 new favorite songs.

The first was Empire of the Sun- Walking on a Dream

Empire Of The Sun: "Walking On A Dream" @ Yahoo! Video

Then there was Camera Obscura- French Navy

And now... there is Mpho. Her song is called Box N Locks.

Watch video here. (why on earth would you disable embedding with a new artist?)

80's aficionados will immediately recognize the sample from Echo Beach by Martha and the Muffins.

Mpho is one Mpho Skeef...from the UK by way of South Africa. Martha and the Muffins gave Mpho full clearance to use the sample, which is not only unusual, but also very smart. The commercial placement and licensing potential of the new version of this song is limitless. I have to imagine that music supervisors worldwide are currently recognizing the potential in this song.

Additionally, its a total summer banger. Does this mean you'll hear it on your local terrestrial radio outlet? Unlikely, at least in the US. Too hard to categorize. Too edgy for pop radio and too pop for "alternative" radio.

So where does the "trendspotting" tag come in? This song is very good, but its not going to start a revolution. I am predicting a renaissance, however. A renaissance of that sweeeeet 80's flange guitar sound. Seriously. I think that flange is going to be the new keyboard in '10.

That said- I think that I have found my final new favorite song for Q4 of 2009. Ladies and Gentlemen, Brooklyn-by-way-of-Baltimore band Yeasayer. This is the video for their new single- Ambling Alp. It is also NSFW...you have been warned.

Yeasayer - "Ambling Alp" video - Watch more Videos at Vodpod.

Update on 08.2.2009 by Matthew Bates

UPDATE: I've just fallen in love with Mpho even further. Czech out her sweet Kate Bush cover:

On Xavier Rudd...

One of the more memorable live sessions that I have engaged in with an artist...

Xavier Rudd came into the studio on 6.25.09 in anticipation of his show at the House of Blues. He typically plays with a rather elaborate setup, so I was a bit nervous as to what his technical requirements would be.

He showed up with two incredible South African musicians on bass and percussion/vocals, respectively. Turns out they are Tio Moloantoa and Andile Nquebezelo, the late Lucky Dube's rhythm section, so it was a privilege to see them perform in such a scaled-down environment.

He was incredibly gracious, and afterwards I found out that he was grateful that I didn't hype the pro surfer/musician angle too much. The guy just exudes good spirit.

BTW- I didn't know that he was a devoted barefooter.Pretty cool. He played two songs for us:

Messages

Energy Song

Awesome.