AAM Best of: 2011

ROBB HAAGSMAN

Top Albums of the Year?

Anna Calvi - Ann Calvi

Jessica Lea Mayfield - Tell Me

Kurt Vile - Smoke Ring For My Halo

Austra - Feel It Break

Smith Westerns - Dye It Blonde

Washed Out - Within and Without

Ryan Adams - Ashes & Fire

Destroyer - Kaputt

Twilight Singers - Dynamite Steps

TV On The Radio -9 Types Of Light

Favorite 15 Jams of 2011?

Dum Dum Girls - “Coming Down”

Jessica Lea Mayfield - “Sometimes At Night”

Dirty Beaches - “Lord Knows Best”

Inc. - “Heart Crimes”

Niki & The Dove - “Mother Protect”

Zoo Kid - “Out Getting Ribs”

Kurt Vile - “Baby's Arms”

JEFF The Brotherhood – “Endless Fire”

Dom – “Happy Birthday Party”

The Kills - “Baby Says”

Rick Ross – “Aston Martin Music”

TV On The Radio – “Will Do”

The Vaccines - “Blow It Up”

Cass McCombs – “County Line”

Soft Kill - “Sea Of Doubt”

Best video of 2011?

Toby Keith – “Red Solo Cup”

Runner Up:

Real Estate – “It's Real”

Best new artist?

Anna Calvi

Best cover?

Dum Dum Girls – “Playing With Fire”

Most listened to non-2011 music?

Primal Scream, The Horrors, The Temptations, & Sam Cooke

Top 3 shows?

Jessica Lea Mayfield @ Bowery

“This show was insane - Jessica's voice was out of this word. Tremendous album + jaw dropping performance! I still don't know why she isn't bigger than she is.”

Lucinda Williams @ Webster

“Epic voice, impeccable set list”

Beady Eye @ Webster Hall / Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds @ Beacon Theater

“LIAAAAAM” / “NOOOOELLLL”

Ryan Adams @ Carnegie Hall

“DRA returned for a more laid back set sans Cardinals, dude's voice is golden.”

John Maus @ Other Music

“Going into this show I had no clue what to expect, John's intensity and dedication was mesmerizing. Seeing him play 'Love Is Real' is always a highlight”

Dum Dum Girls / Dirty Beaches @ Bowery Ballroom

One of my favorite bills of the year, both crushed it. Dirty Beaches was one of the only openers I've seen this year that got called back out for an encore.

Largest disappointment of 2011?

Super stoked for first time seeing Radiohead @ Roseland, but the venue seemed to house every asshat in the Tri-State area. From folks playing noisy slot machine games on their phones during “Codex”, to high school bros holding their cigarettes at giant head level [i.e. me], to old ladies heckling me for having a melon sized dome, they were all in attendance.

Top television shows of the year?

BREAKING BAD!!

Storage Wars

I (Almost) Got Away With It

Movies:

Submarine

Margin Call

Hanna

Best books read?

Confessions Of An Economic Hit Man

Getting High: The Adventures Of Oasis

Other things?

- Visiting West Coast for first time.

- Deep Dish Pizza / Pitchfork Fest / Cooling Buses

- Medieval Times in JERSEY

- Rick Ross not dying.

Artists to look out for in 2012?

Jessica Jalbert

King Krule

Niki & The Dove

Frightened Rabbit

Crocodiles

Devin

Mazzy Star!!!!!!!

RUPAM SOFSKY

Top Albums of the Year?

Destroyer's Kaputt

Anna Calvi's S/T - Domino

Twin Sister's In Heaven - Domino

Thurston Moore's Demolished Thoughts - Matador

Austra's Feel It Break - Domino

Shabazz Palaces' Black Up - Sub Pop

The Drums' Portamento - Frenchkiss

Cass McCombs' Wit's End - Domino

Bill Callahan's Apocalypse - Drag City

Mogwai's Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will - Sub Pop

 

Honorable Mentions:

James Pants' S/T - Stones Throw

Kurt Vile's Smoke Ring For My Halo - Matador

Eleanor Friedberger's Last Summer - Merge

Real Estate's Days - Domino

J Mascis' Several Shades Of Why - Sub Pop

Marissa Nadler's S/T - [self-released]

JEFF The Brotherhood's We Are The Champions - Infinity Cat

Lykke Li's Wounded Rhymes - Atlantic / LL

Beastie Boys' Hot Sauce Committee Part Two - Capitol

La Sera's S/T - Hardly Art

Best EP's & Singles:

Thee Oh Sees' Carrion Crawler / The Dream - In The Red

Dom's Family Of Love - Astralwerks

Beach Fossils' What A Pleasure - Captured Tracks

Mazzy Star's “Common Burn” & “Lay Myself Down” - [self-released]

The Kills' “The Last Goodbye” - Domino

Best New Artist:

Metallica + Lou Reed

Favorite Non-2011 Music:

Broadcast

Sibylle Baier's Colour Green

Arthur Russell

Beck's Sea Change

Outkast's Aquemini

Best Live Shows:

John Maus @ Schuba's

Anna Calvi @ Bowery

Fleet Foxes @ United Palace Theatre

Thee Oh Sees @ Le Poisson Rouge

Best Books Read:

Stephen King's It

Anything by Annie Dillard

Neil Gaiman's Sandman

Anything by H.P. Lovecraft

Aimee Bender's Willful Creatures

Sunday Service Packages I'm Most Proud Of:

Iceage's New Brigade

Tasseomancy's Ulalume

We Were Promised Jetpacks' “Medicine”

Happy New Year's ”Gold Medallion“

Real Estate's Days

Bonnie Prince Billy's Wolfroy Goes To Town

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin's Tape Club

SAM WUNDERL

Top Albums of the Year?

Nostalgia,ULTRA, Frank Ocean

David Comes To Life, Fucked Up

4, Beyoncé

Father, Son, Holy Ghost, Girls

House of Balloons, The Weeknd

Days, Real Estate

Only In Dreams, Dum Dum Girls

w h o k i l l , tUnE-yArDs

Kaputt, Destroyer

Smother, Wild Beasts

Favorite Jams of 2011?

“Blink And You'll Miss A Revolution,” Cut Copy

“Fuck Your Ethnicity,” Kendrick Lamar

“Mother Protect,” Niki & The Dove

“Endless Blue,” The Horrors

“Midnight City,” M83

“Stick Figures In Love,” Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks

“Romance,” Wild Flag

“Over My Dead Body,” Drake

“I Don't Want Love,” Antlers

“Sadness Is A Blessing,” Lykke Li

Best video of 2011?

“Countdown,” Beyoncé

“212,” Azaelia Banks

Best new artist?

Frank Ocean

Best cover?

“Everybody Wants To Rule The World,” Ted Leo (Tears For Fears cover)

“Circle,” J. Mascis (Edie Brickell cover)

Best reissue?

Quadrophenia, The Who

Most listened to non-2011 music?

Prince, Nick Lowe, Orange Juice, Archers Of Loaf

Top 3 shows?

LCD Soundsystem @ Madison Square Garden

Fucked Up playing David Comes To Life in its entirety @ Le Poisson Rouge

Robyn @ South Side Music Hall, Dallas, TX

Largest disappointment of 2011?

Everything Is Boring And Everyone Is A Fucking Liar, Spank Rock (seriously, I was excited for this)

Top television shows of the year?

Game of Thrones

Parks & Recreation

Breaking Bad

Homeland

Louie

Justified

Downton Abbey

Friday Night Lights

The Hour

Treme

Best books read?

A Visit From The Goon Squad, Jennifer Egan

The Marriage Plot, Jeffrey Eugenides

The Art of Fielding, Chad Harbach

Other things?

Best tacos: Dos Toros

Best films: The Descendants, The Skin I Live In, Mysteries of Lisbon, Hugo, Senna

What are you looking forward to in 2012?

3+ new albums by The-Dream, the collapse of the music industry

Artists to look out for in 2012?

Childish Gambino, Childish Gambino, Childish Gambino

In 2012, I will...

Continue truckin', ideally