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Albums of the Year 2011 – The International Edition (15-1)

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15. Andreas Mattsson – Kick Death’s Ass

It’s certainly wise to listen to old Popsicle records from time to time, because those are some of the best power pop albums ever released, but don’t forget that Andreas Mattsson is still on top form. Nowadays his music is much more peaceful than during the golden Popsicle days, but the quality is still there. Ok, I’m not sure have I ever listened to the first song Jazzmaster in its entirety, but the rest of Andreas Mattsson’s latest solo album Kick Death’s Ass is amazingly beautiful pop music. This is the wonderful first single AA.

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/9605914″]

 

14. Daniel Romano – Sleep Beneath The Willow

Canadian Daniel Romano released one of the best traditional country albums. Sleep Beneath The Willow is a beauty. Some of it sounds a bit like Gram Parsons, almost all of it sounds excellent. Full of great songs like Hard On You, Lost (For As Long As I Live), Louise, There Are Lines in My Face. Daniel Romano is totally mastering this country ballad thing.
 
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZH6Go6llEBs]
 
13. Hezekiah Jones – Have You Seen Our New Fort?

Philly-based folk collective Hezekiah Jones (led by Raphael Cutrufello) has become more and more important during the year. Couple weeks back I bought their back catalogue and my feelings towards this most recent release are also getting stronger and stronger every day. Have You Seen Our New Fort? contains some of the most magical music released during the year. There’s also a couple of songs I’m not too keen on and that’s why I had to be honest and leave it outside top 10 even though it breaks my heart. However, the gentle ones like Lift The Shadow From This Heart, Last Parade on Ann St, Traffic To The Sea.. oh my. Speechless.

 

 

12. Dolorean – The Unfazed

Al James’ Dolorean is climbing towards the top all the time. I enjoyed the previous album, but The Unfazed was the first Dolorean release that completely won my heart over (I haven’t even heard the first two though). I’m especially addicted to the first trio Thinskinned, Country Clutter and The Unfazed. Amazing songs each and every one. The track that first caught my attention was this ultimate break-up song Country Clutter.

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/9438864″]
 
11. Sloan – The Double Cross

As the title of the website shows, Sloan is an important group for me. The new album The Double Cross is once again marvellous. This legendary Canadian band has been around for 20 years and are still going strong. The Double Cross is one of my favourite pop albums of the year. An absolute joy to listen to. This is the first single The Unkind.

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/12313398″]
 
10. Ryan Adams – Ashes & Fire

As a long time Ryan Adams fan, I’m excited about each and every one of his releases, but I couldn’t be happier that he decided to take this slower & beautiful route this time around. I admit that Ashes & Fire felt a little boring for the few first times when I listened to it, but the reasons were that a) I was being an idiot b) I wasn’t paying enough attention, it was just playing on the background. Then one day I just went for a walk, put Ryan on my iPod and he injected all this beauty into my head and I saw the light. Ashes & Fire is a wonderful album and easily in the better half of the fantastic Ryan Adams back catalogue.

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/21742179″]
 
9. Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit – Here We Rest

During the first six songs, this is an album of the year contender. The quality drops just a hint after that, but don’t worry. The rest of this is really good as well. Just not as friggin’ great and magical as the first half of the album. Anyway, Jason Isbell has once again proved that he is one of the best songwriters in the genre (or in general for that matter). Here We Rest always had a cemented place in the top 10.

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/15130395″]
 
8. Patrick Sweany – That Old Southern Drag

Soulful blues rock doesn’t usually rule my year-end lists, but Patrick Sweany’s That Old Southern Drag is a magnificent record. Blues, soul and 50’s rock’n’roll. A perfect combination. I can fully agree with Jorma Kaukonen who said that “If there was any justice in this old world, Patrick Sweany would already be a big star!”.
 

 

7. Chris Bathgate – Salt Year

Chris Bathgate from Ann Arbor, Michigan is another great folk troubadour I found during the year (thanks to Slowcoustic) and I’m also currently working through his back catalogue. A Cork Tale Wake just arrived on my doorstep today. A good reason to get this album of the year list finished, so I can slip that one to the cd player. Anyway, Salt Year is a beautiful work of art. Just listen to this magnificent title track and you will understand it too.

 

6. Small Houses – North

More Michigan-based folk artists. Let’s put these albums one after another, because it’s impossible to say which one I love the most. In the end, Small Houses gets the sixth spot, because it contains my favourite song of the year. Ok, I haven’t really finished that list yet, but during the last weeks I’ve had the feeling that it has to be Late July by Small Houses. I just love every second of it. Well done Small Houses and Jeremy Quentin. And no, Late July is not the only great song on the album. I’m just always focusing on it, because I love it almost too much.

Small Houses – “Late July” from Spencer Wells on Vimeo.

5. Austin Lucas – A New Home in The Old World

Austin Lucas is an older favourite, but he showed some new tricks this time around. More electric Austin sounded equally great as the one I knew before and A New Home in the Old World might be his best record to date (even though it’s pretty hard to top Somebody Loves You). Excellent record with a lot of versatility. I’ve listened to it an awful lot during the year and can’t get tired of it.

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/14728871″]
 
4. Jessica Lea Mayfield – Tell Me

An early favourite that kept me hooked through the whole year and I’m still addicted to Jessica Lea Mayfield’s second album Tell Me. I love that mellow voice and Dan Auerbach has done an excellent job with the production. I never though that me and drum loops could see eye to eye, but apparently we do in this case. The key attraction is of course Jessica and her beautifully written folk songs. Often dark, but always beautiful. This one below is called Somewhere in Your Heart.

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/28016848″]
 
3. Dawes – Nothing Is Wrong

The guy looks a bit like young Bruce Willis and writes songs like Jackson Browne and Eagles did in the 70s. How could a person not love Taylor Goldsmith. The second Dawes album instantly won my heart over. The whole album is gorgeous and the first two songs Time Spent in Los Angeles and If I Wanted Someone are out of this world. The finest 70’s influenced folk rock. This one below is also one of my top 3 songs for the year 2011. If I Wanted Someone by Dawes.

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/14682084″]
 
2. Glossary – Long Live All Of Us

Glossary’s soulful rock found the core of my heart late in the year and their delightful album Long Live All Of Us brought plenty of light and warmness to these dark november/december nights. The whole thing is fantastic and every single track is a winner. Therefore it’s almost pointless to start naming favourite tracks. Everything works.

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/25480105″]
 

1. The Deep Dark Woods – The Place I Left Behind

Well this comes as no surprise to anyone who has been regularly reading this blog. The Place I Left Behind by The Deep Dark Woods is the album of the year 2011 here at onechord.net. These Canadians just released something truly wonderful. “Beautiful lead vocals, rich harmonies and warm sounds gently collide with sad & lonesome thoughts, gloomy & dark stories.. and even old-fashioned murder ballads” I wrote on my short my review back then and that still sums up my thoughts rather nicely. Ryan Boldt and co are my new heroes and The Place I Left Behind is a perfect folk rock album.. And the Album of the Year 2011.

Sugar Mama:

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/28709334″]

West Side Street:

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/18096317″]
 
The Deep Dark Woods discuss their new album The Place I Left Behind.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDDJtQoz6a8]

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International music, Top lists

Albums of the Year 2011 – The International Edition (30-16)

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30. The Disciplines – Virgins of Menace

Ken Stringfellow and his norwegian pals have some serious rock’n’roll action going on. If I have to choose I prefer the first The Disciplines album, but Virgins of Menace is also damn enjoyable.
 
 
 

29. The Jayhawks – Mockingbird Time

I admit that this is shockingly low position for one of my all-time favourite bands. But it wouldn’t be an honest thing to do to lift them to top 10, because I haven’t listened to this as much as I should have. I can’t really even give a proper reason why, because every time I do listen to it, I’m enjoying every minute. Louris & Olson singing together sounds (and feels) so amazing.
 
 
28. Gillian Welch – The Harrow & The Harvest

High quality album from start to finish, but even though I enjoy every moment maybe only Scarlet Town and the stunningly beautiful Way It Will Be really stand up from the crowd. Maybe partly because one tends to expect something divine from Gillian Welch, who still is one of the greatest.
 
 

27. Mike Viola – Electro De Perfecto

The list continues with my big heroes. A great pop singer-songwriter Mike Viola returned with a new album Electro De Perfecto. There’s a couple of “just ok” -tunes in there, which is usually the case with power pop albums, but mostly it’s an excellent pop album.
 
 

26. Fountains of Wayne – The Sky Full of Holes

A welcome return from the pop maestros. Maybe none of the tracks reaches my all-time top 12 FOW songs list, but Sky Full Of Holes was a really strong and consistent album (Unlike Traffic & Weather that had a few songs I didn’t like at all).
 
 
25. Bonnie Prince Billy – Wolfroy Goes To Town

The last addition to the list. I just bought this a couple of weeks ago and haven’t spent enough quality time with it. And Bonnie Prince Billy demands one’s attention. Of course it does work wonderfully also as background music, but to really locate all the beauty & the detail one needs to dig deeper. Given time this might have risen closer to top 10, but I’m already captivated.
 
 
24. Robert Ellis – Photographs

Robert Ellis, a new singer-songwriter from Houston, gave us some traditional country songs and beautiful folk songs. There’s a song or two in here that i’m not a big fan of, but most of them are astoundingly beautiful. I’m especially fond of I’ll Never Give Up On You and Photographs. A couple of great vintage country ballads.
 
 
23. The Red Button – As Far as Yesterday Goes

Seth Swirsky and Mike Ruekberg are blissfully stuck in the past and deliver some of the finest 60’s influence pop music these days. The second Red Button album maybe doesn’t have as mindblowingly brilliant (should-be) hit as Cruel Girl was on the debut, but it’s still a really great album and one of my favourite pop albums of the year.
 
 
22. Wilco – The Whole Love

Ok, so Art of Almost is more like art of crap. Or art of how to kill a great melody with useless shit. But mostly the new Wilco album is extremely good and Wilco is still floating my boat.
 
 
 

21. Jonny – Jonny

Two great pop songwriters behind this album. Jonny is Euros Childs and Norman Blake. Unlike Teenage Fanclub and Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci, Jonny isn’t one of the greatest things in the world. However, Jonny’s debut is still an excellent little pop album and I love listening to it. The song Circling The Sun is a big favourite of mine.
 
 
20. Butcher Boy – Helping Hands

I’m not the biggest Butcher Boy fan in this household, but I like them a lot as well. I’ve kind of lost touch with the indie pop world during the recent years, but thankfully I’m still familiar with the great scottish indie pop group Butcher Boy, because my girlfriend always buy their records. This has been playing a lot around the house during the year and I fell in love with it.
 
 

19. Iron & Wine – Kiss Each Other Clean

Iron & Wine’s latest album Kiss Each Other Clean doesn’t seem to get too much love on these year end lists and I find that somewhat surprising. Ok, I struggled a bit myself, because it does have a song or two that I don’t like that much, but the vocals. Oh my. I could just listen to the vocal tracks all day long. Sam Beam’s voice sounds like the sweetest work of ark. And of course the songs are mostly great. Especially Tree By The River and Rabbit Will Run.
 
 
18. Have Gun, Will Travel – Mergers & Acquisitions

Have Gun Will Travel was one of my big finds last year and I’m still very much into them. The new album Mergers & Acquisitions is again full of great folk/americana songs. Lyric department is also in good shape. Especially Katharine, Don’t Fall Off that Wagon is a really marvellous song.
 
 

17. Brown Bird – Salt for Salt

Brown Bird’s David Lamb would be a big contender in the beard of the year contest, but Brown Bird will do just fine in the album of the year contest as well. Very fond of their new album Salt For Salt even though the darker side of their folk music almost goes out of my comfort zone. The opening trio of Fingers to the Bone, Chairkickers and Bilgewater is truly stunning.
 
 
16. Lauderdale – Moving On

Lauderdale from Muscle Shoals, Alabama released quite a stunning alt.country/americana album that can compete with any of the big boys in the genre. The perfect way to end this first part of the international albums of the year list, is their brilliant song Stars Fell.
 
 

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jvlcLV6Yns]

(Top 1-15 either later today or sometime tomorrow)

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Year 2011 Round-up Part 6: Dolorean, The Deep Dark Woods, Dawes, Glossary, Ryan Adams

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More huge favourites from the year 2011. One of these will also be my album of the year. And at least three of them are in the top 10.

Dolorean – Country Clutter from the album The Unfazed

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGFRPQeMLAU]

The Deep Dark Woods – West Side Street (from the album The Place I Left Behind, not the best track on the album, but amazing nevertheless)

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/18245045″]
 
Dawes – If I Wanted Someone from the album Nothing Is Wrong

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZJWeFU9gA4]

Glossary – A Shoulder To Cry On from the album Long Live All Of Us

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/25480105″]
 
Ryan Adams – Lucky Now (from the album Ashes & Fire)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bp064T7rQSk]

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John K. Samson & John Statz

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JOHN K. SAMSON

I’ll take a small break from selecting the album of the year 2011 and focus on the album of the year 2012. John K. Samson is releasing his first solo album Provincial on january 24th, 2012. This guy is a poet, one of the best songwriters in the world and his band The Weakerthans has released some of the greatest indie rock albums of the past 10-15 years. The last three of them have been top 10 albums at onechord.net and I’m sure the solo album will be equally brilliant. Check out Epitaph’s album sampler below and start counting days. It looks like the Christmas might be a month late and this time it will arrive on the 24th of january.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfqLrWMMPZ4]

And why not post a couple The Weakerthans classics:

Tournament of Hearts (the greatest rock song ever written about curling.. ok the competition probably isn’t very high)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQF5xuLrjpY]

And here’s John K. Samson singing One Great City by The Weakerthans at Songwriting Panel. I recommend checking out other videos from that panel as well. I’ve watched them a few times over the years. Other great songwriters there as well.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eK8x-77GqB0]

John K. Samson at Facebook
The Weakerthans Website

JOHN STATZ

It looks like the singer-songwriter Johns are taking over the world on the january 24th, because also John Statz is releasing a new album on that day. Mr. Statz might not be as household name as Mr. Samson is at this point, but he is also able to craft some really fine songs. I enjoyed the previous album Ghost Towns and really look forward to hearing this new one. It’s his first release on the great Yer Bird records and the label recently gave away the first single Distance as a free download. Sounds great to me. Check it out yourself below.

John Statz Website

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