2011 Albums of the Year: 40-31

Continuing my countdown of my favorite albums of 2011, here are numbers 40-31:

40. Balam Acab - Wander/Wonder

Balam Acab's debut full length Wander/Wonder retains most of the witch house template exemplified by his EP See Birds (glacial BPMs, icy keyboards and textures, and a reliance on pitch-shifted vocal samples), however, Balam Acab is not as interested in creating a sense of dread as are most of his contemporaries. Instead, we see a studied variation of almost classical tones with Eno-esque ambient leanings. Most of the tracks are also steeped in a liquidy atmosphere, from the album cover art of an ocean fissure to the overall sound quality of the album, sounding like it were recorded deep in a diving bell. Wander/Wonder is an assured debut, and sets the bar high for his future releases.

39. Sully - Carrier

A dark trip through the underbelly of the UK garage scene, Sully's debut cd Carrier hits the highs right of the bat with such driving tracks like "It's Your Love," "2 Hearts," and the brilliant single "In Some Pattern." But just when you think you have the album figured out, it takes a sharp left turn into moodier territory. The back half featuring stark wanderings into grime territory, the synths getting harsher and bolder. Tracks like "Scram" and "I Know" seemingly made from despair. It is a strange album that never fails to get under your skin.

38. Tycho - Dive

Scott Hanson, aka Tycho, is an electronic producer whose obvious touchstones are Boards of Canada, Ulrich Schnauss, and shoegaze artists like Slowdive. His third album Dive is a downtempo gem, full of lush synths, clean beats, and hauntingly atmospheric guitars. Dive is akin to recent releases from M83, Active Child, Neon Indian, and Washed Out, taking the influences of Chillwave and morphing them into some fresh and new. While there is not a lot of dense complexity in these tracks, Hanson keeps the mix perfectly aligned, never stuffing the tracks with extraneous elements, nor making them too minimal. Each track is about the glistening synths and driving rhythm, with no room for dubstep aggression, or IDM moodiness. Dive is the aural equivalent to a blanket on a cool fall evening.

37. Explosions In The Sky - Take Care, Take Care, Take Care

It is virtual impossible to mention Austin, Texas quartet Explosions In The Sky without mentioning Mogwai. Both bands are in complete control of their quiet-loud-slow-fast dynamics, which make them both live show powerhouses. Since Young Team, however, Mogwai has broadened and expanded their sound, making it more pop accessible; shortening song lengths, adding some vocals, and sticking to more formal song structures. Explosions In The Sky have basically stuck with their same template over the years, honing and focusing their sound rather that trying to expand it. Unlike their second album, Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Live Forever, later releases have been less balls to the wall. On that classic album, the songs veered from outright gorgeous to almost painful to listen to in their intensity. Here, Take Care, Take Care, Take Care, is almost hushed, each track slowly building to a catharsis, heightening the emotion and tension through carefully timed ebbs and flows and false endings. It is a collection of tracks whose sheer beauty is nothing short of transcendant.

36. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake

Let England Shake, is a major departure for PJ Harvey, at least lyrically. Instead of her biting and pointed observations of relationships and life of the interior mind, Let England Shake is a song cycle (or concept album, if you prefer) about how war, in the past, present and future, affects England and its people. It is a particularly difficult record to wrap one's heart and mind around, but once you let it in, it is a powerful listen. The lyrics are some of the most brutal and direct Harvey has ever written, frequently focusing on horrible images of war: "soldiers fall like lumps of meat," "flesh quivering in the heat," corpses lying in no-man's land are "unburied ghosts." While this description makes the record sound like a dour polemic, Harvey knows better than to make everything one note. She definitely brings some of her most interesting music to back up her ideas and lyrics; using non-standard instrumentation, off-kilter vocals, and odd time signatures.

35. Duran Duran - All You Need Is Now

After a rather misguided collaboration with Timbaland and Justin Timberlake on Red Carpet Massacre, Duran Duran has teamed up with producer Mark Ronson, who seems to have been a stern taskmaster with the band, forcing them to play to their strengths, the result being their best album since Rio. I was worried at first based on the advanced buzz of the album that the band was going to try and ape their previous sound, but instead of making a carbon copy, they have referenced Rio, but have created something fresh and new, and some of the best pop music of the year.

34. Radiohead - The King of Limbs

This is by far Radiohead's most divisive record. It is short (8 songs under 37 minutes), doesn't have a cohesive sound throughout, is their least "adventurous" album, and doesn't appear to have an overarching theme like most of their releases. Also, what really stands out, or in this case doesn't stand out, is that the album is not very immediate. I began listening to it in my car, and it just faded into the background most of the time. After hearing it a couple of times, I was completely unimpressed. It wasn't until I heard it on headphones that it began to grow on me. The album is a whisper, subtly insinuating itself into your body and soul. After the many listens I have given, has my opinion moved from being unimpressed to something more? Yes and no. I appreciate the album much more, but it is still a transitional record for me. Rumor is this album is the first part of two, which would make some sense, given its brevity and lack of cohesion. But because I don't have an additional part, I will have to judge it solely based on its own merit. As such, I don't love it like I love OK Computer or In Rainbows, but I can't ignore it. There are some lovely moments on The King of Limbs, and for me to listen to a record as much as I have listened to this, there is something more there. I have a feeling this record will make more sense later on; depending on what Radiohead does next, which could be anything.

33. Jamie Woon - Mirrorwriting

Jamie Woon occupies an interesting plot in the dubstep landscape; somewhere in the middle between the silence craving spaces of James Blake (who will be Woon's most obvious comparison) and the more pop leaning spectrum of artists like Katy B and Magnetic Man. Woon began his career as a soul singer, attending the BRIT School where he was a year behind Amy Winehouse, who he has opened for on tour. It was a meeting with UK dubstep/two step enigma Burial that changed Woon's path from traditional R&B, merging his velvety croon with more adventurous sonics. Burial produced his breakout track "Night Air," which made it into my top ten singles of last year, and lends his deft hand to two other tracks on Mirrorwriting. Even though he didn't produce the entire album, his influence seeps in and out of each track. Lots of ghostly samples, and haunting low end sounds push up against the more traditional elements. While not as experimental (and in my opinion lacking in soul) as James Blake's debut nor as willing to mine for pop stardom like Katy B, Woon's Mirrorwriting is a happy medium which, when playing to his strengths, is some of the finest music you will hear all year.

32. Other Lives - Tamer Animals

Channeling Ennio Morricone through a Radiohead filter, Oklahoma five-piece Other Lives creates futuristic dust bowl Americana, whose epic sweep is surprisingly intimate and emotional. Utilizing mostly traditional instrumentation, with the members shuffling between guitars, percussion, horns, and strings, Other Lives' sophomore album Tamer Animals is immediately familiar but also sounding not exactly of its time and place. Gone is the overly fussy production of their debut album, and in its stead, a more strategic focus. Not that Other Lives have gone minimal by any stretch of the imagination, the songs are stuffed with lush instrumentation and haunting harmonies.

31. The Antlers - Burst Apart

The Antlers' debut album Hospice was one of the most intimate, haunting records of 2009, a desperate song cycle about the journey through the illness of a child. The songs were simultaneously hushed and widescreen, the lyrics oblique and impressionistic, frequently blunt and always heartbreaking. It was a difficult album to listen to, but one that was impossible to ignore or forget. Hospice was such a fully formed, almost perfectly paced record, it was difficult to imagine where The Antlers could take their sound. Now a full-fledged trio, their sound still remains shockingly intimate, more due to Peter Silberman's evocative falsetto, however the music is far more urgent and less ambient. Unlike Hospice, here The Antlers aren't afraid for more volume and cacophony. The first song on the album is just a preview of where the band intends to go, featuring a strident beat and twilight guitars and twinkling synths seeking the clouds. "I Don't Want Love," is a shockingly direct song about a masochistic relationship, that sets the tone for this brutally frank record.