EARBUDS & TICKET STUBS: BEST OF 2011
Welcome to part 2 of our year-end retrospective, which includes favourite Canadian albums and live shows from 2011. The albums are broken into two parts to reflect the biggest event in Canadian music, the Polaris Music Prize, which bisects the year and rewards albums from the first half. This list focuses on the albums released in post-Polaris 2011 in order to expose/root for albums which I believe are deserving of nomination in Polaris 2012.
Also, please note that albums are in alphabetical, not ranked order.
Part 2: Top albums 2011, post-Polaris
Kathryn Calder - Bright and Vivid (original review)
“You’ll find a heavy and searching lyrical streak throughout the tracks, propped by Calder’s buoyant, angelic voice. A master of deception, Kathryn Calder spawns dance hits with existential challenges. Bright and Vivid demonstrate her incredible growth as a songwriter in the span of a year and is in a word, breathtaking.”
Feist - Metals
The critically acclaimed pop chanteuse has turned her heels on light, airy melodic tunes of her previous two albums and carved out an album of memorable songs with cacophonous sounds and heavily layered instrumentation. Single “The Bad In Each Other” was playing on the radio before I knew the album well, and I thought to myself, wow, what a pounding and effective intro. Then the unmistakable breathy voice kicked in. Let Metals surprise and grow on you this coming year.
The Weather Station - All Of It Was Mine (original review)
“The sparse whispers of acoustic guitar, of banjo, an occasional snare drum and lilting soft voices accumulated to a warm and intimate collection of ten folk songs. … All Of It Was Mine is an album that will stand the test of time.”
Bry Webb - Provider (original review)
“You’re not going to lay your ears upon a more beautiful noise this year. The vulnerable and ornate solo record by the ex-Constantines frontman is floating quickly to the tops of Best of lists for 2011, mine included. All in all, it’s the autobiographical, whisper-strained quality of Provider that draws in the listener, and the literate and thoughtful lyricism that keeps us here.”
Whitehorse - Whitehorse (original review)
“Whitehorse, the marriage of songbird and falcon, is where McClelland and Doucet take their ample talents and distinct voices and meld them together into something greater than the parts… greater than the sum… into something great. Many clichés about marriage will be thrown around to describe the couple’s project, and they wouldn’t be contrived. “
Check back tomorrow for our favourite live shows of 2011, and don’t forget to check out our favourite albums pre-Polaris in 2011!
My experience seeing The Weather Station live mirrors my experience with their lovely sophomore album All Of It Was Mine. When I saw Tamara Lindeman’s project for the first time, it started out with a single whisper from a friend; “I really want to see this band… I’ve heard great things.” All these separate whispers built up to a packed to capacity theatre with a line-up around back.
Similarly, the sparse whispers of acoustic guitar, of banjo, an occasional snare drum and lilting soft voices accumulated to a warm and intimate collection of ten folk songs. Joined by friends Misha Bower and Lisa Bozikovic in quiet harmonies, recorded and assisted by the incomparable Daniel Romano, All Of It Was Mine is an album that will stand the test of time.
Single “Everything I Saw,” streaming above, can be downloaded here (right click, save as). All Of It Was Mine is available via You’ve Changed Records and can be purchased on Zunior.
The Weather Station tour dates:
August 23 - Peterborough, ON - The Attic w/ Kindness Killers
August 24 - Montreal, PQ - Casa Del Popolo w/ James Irwin
August 25 - Ottawa, ON - Raw Sugar Cafe w/ Rolf Klausener
August 26 - Sherbrooke, PQ - La Petite Boite Noire
August 27 - Eganville, ON - Bonnechere Public Library
September 15 - Guelph, ON - Ebar w/ Bruce Peninsula & Snowblink
