CLAPTRAPPED TOP 5 ALBUMS OF 2011

1. Portugal. The Man - In the Mountain In the Cloud (20pts, 5 votes)

2. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues (12pts, 3 votes)

3. (TIE) M83 - Hurry Up We're Dreaming (6pts, 2 votes)

3. (TIE) The Antlers - Burst Apart (6pts, 2 votes)

5. The War on Drugs - Slave Ambient (5pts, 2 votes)

Claptrappers Lists: 

Jeff Totsch

1. Portugal. The Man. - In the Mountain in the Cloud 

2. M83 -Hurry Up We’re Dreaming

3. Girls - Father, Son, Holy Ghost

4. Cut Copy - Zonoscope

5. The War on Drugs – Slave Ambient

John O’Connell

1. The Antlers - Burst Apart

2. Elbow - Build a Rocket Boys!

3. Portugal. The Man - In the Mountain in the Cloud

4. Radiohead - King Of Limbs 

5. Wye Oak – Civilian

Mickey Waszkowski

1. Simple Math - Manchester Orchestra

2. Portugal. The Man - In the Mountain in the Cloud

3. The Black Keys - El Camino

4. Battles - Gloss Drop

5. MMJ - Circuital

Adam Kosecki

1. Paper Angels

2. The Roots – Undun

Bryan O’Donnell

1. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues

2. TuneYards - Whokill

3. Portugal the Man - In the Mountain in the Cloud

4. M83 - Hurry Up We're Dreaming

5. The Antlers - Burst Apart

Chris Berg

1. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues

2. The Decemberists - The King is Dead

3. The Strokes - Angles

4. Mastodon - The Hunter

5. Cake - Showroom of Compassion

Daniel Haas

1. Portugal. The Man – In the Mountain in the Cloud

2. The War on Drugs – Slave Ambient

3. Smith Westerns – Dye It Blonde

4. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues

5. The Black Keys – El Camino

Album of the Week: Handsome Furs -- Sound Kapital

For those who missed the quiet news, the band Wolf Parade decided to call it quits -- at least for the time being -- last year. I can't say I was surprised by the news (the most surprising part was that I heard about it months after it was announced). Their latest album, Expo 86, wasn't very impressive and almost gave the impression that the band was distracted, didn't give it their all. Given the number of Wolf Parade side projects, it's very possible this was the case.

Luckily for me, I enjoy some of these Wolf Parade side bands -- and they should be able to get me my fix during the group's (hopefully not permanent) hiatus.

Handsome Furs consists of Dan Boeckner (Wolf Parade guitar player/singer) and his wife, Alexei Perry. Sound Kapital is the first album of theirs that I've listened to, and I like it a lot. At least on this album, Handsome Furs sounds closer to Wolf Parade than Spencer Krug's band, Sunset Rubdown, and I would consider that a positive thing. Sound Kapital has some electronic pop elements, but still has all the great hooks of a good Boeckner tune.

So if you enjoy Wolf Parade, give this album a listen. I could also see it being enjoyable for the anti-Wolf Parade people, so don't write it off on principle. Check out closing song, "No Feelings."

Album of the Week: Tune-Yards -- W H O K I L L

When I first heard Tune-Yards, I imagined them as an elaborate tribal-type band. But in fact, Tune-Yards is made up of Merill Garbus -- a white hispterish looking woman -- along with a few contributors. Mostly, Tune-Yards is all Garbus laying down vocal loops and African drum beats.

Tune-Yards' latest album, W H O K I L L, is catchy and different. Some people may not be on board with Garbus' vocals -- they're kind of high-pitched and take some getting used to -- but I advise anyone who enjoys building, complex loops to give this album a chance. It's one of my favorites so far this year.

Check out these clips from Sound Opinions on how the group constructs their songs. Watching her build the loop for "Bizness" is really a treat.

Album of the Week: The Antlers -- Burst Apart

My appreciation of The Antlers' 2008 album, Hospice, is pretty well-documented on this site (third favorite album from that year). It was a chilling album that I found myself listening to over and over.

I wouldn't say the group's latest effort, released in May, drew me in as quickly as Hospice did, but I have found it creeping into my music rotation more and more often lately. It has some electronic elements that I really dig, as well as the familiar haunting vocals and background noises.

Highlight tracks for me come back to back. "No Windows" and "Rolled Together" are really cool tunes. This band reminds me of Radiohead at times, and I think these songs are pretty good examples of why (especially the latter).

Give Burst Apart a few listens. I think it gets better the more you hear it. I'll be interested to see if it will measure up to Hospice for me in the long run -- but I wouldn't be surprised if The Antlers make an appearance on my Best Album of the Year list once again.

Album of the Week: Titus Andronicus -- The Monitor

This album was released in 2010, and while I've liked it for a while, I rediscovered it lately. Titus Andronicus gets its name from the Shakespeare tragedy, but don't think this band is a mellow bunch of bookworms. In fact, they're a punk band with a ton of energy.

This album isn't your typical punk rock album, however. I grew up listening to a small sample of punk -- NOFX, Bad Religion, Operation Ivy, etc. I wouldn't call myself a punk rock aficionado by any means, but I know that most punk songs are straight to the point. Usually no more than three minutes long, with a scarce amount of guitar solos. While "The Monitor" has all the attitude of a traditional punk record, it's much more epic. Songs build, there are guitar solos, some of the songs reach 8 minutes long.

And perhaps my favorite aspect of the album is the way the songs flow into each other. This is truly an album, as opposed to a collection of songs. It may not be for everyone. If you don't like punk music, you may not like this album. But give it a chance and maybe it will surprise you.

Album of the Week: Dawes -- Nothing Is Wrong

I downloaded Spotify last week and I've pretty much been hooked ever since. I figured with all this access to free new music, on a weekly basis, I'd highlight an album I've been digging lately. It might be something I recently discovered or an old favorite, but I'll try to put them up on Mondays from now on.

My first pick is Dawes' second album, Nothing Is Wrong. I didn't listen to this band's first record, North Hills, much when it was released a couple years ago, but I remember thinking it was fairly decent. I think I like Nothing Is Wrong more than the band's debut -- it's good to see the group avoid the dreaded "sophomore slump." This album is a solid folk record, with nice harmonies and subtle --but distinctive -- piano accents.

I've had this album on repeat for the past couple days. Pretty great summer album -- check it out.

A first

This year will mark the first year since the inception of this website that no Claptrappers will be attending Lollapalooza. It seems strange, because Lolla has been such a focal point for this site, and has always been the highlight of the summer of music for us.

But Perry Ferrell and Co. really dropped the ball this year with the lineup. I often find myself complaining about the headliners at Lolla (aside from the year we were treated to Radiohead and Rage Against the Machine), and this year was no different. I had been dreading a Coldplay announcement for a while. I have no interest in Eminem. Muse wasn't a headliner a few years ago, and they still aren't a headliner.

But headliners aside, it was the mid-level acts that really fell short this year for me. Usually these mid-tier bands are what make the festival fun. Last year saw such bands as Blitzen Trapper, The New Pornographers, and Spoon hit the stage in early timeslots. This year has a spatter of bands that intrigue me slightly but not enough to make me want to fork over the $200 for a ticket.

However, some people must be OK with the lineup. All three-day passes -- as well as single-day passes -- are sold out. I just think it was a disappointing lineup to feature for the festival's 20th anniversary. Have to wait for next year, I guess.

Can't compare

Last Friday I saw Cut Copy at the Riviera in Chicago. I came away from the show mildly disappointed, wondering if it was because of the performance or if it was because of a concert I had seen less than a week before: LCD Soundsystem's final show ever. I have a feeling that any show after LCD's masterpiece at Madison Square Garden in New York would have been a letdown.

I'll get back to the Cut Copy show, but first, the LCD finale. The first thing I want to mention is how surprised I was with the size of MSG. It was a lot smaller than I had always pictured it in my mind. Definitely smaller than the United Center here in Chicago. I had seats in the 200 level, with a head-on view of the stage. So I basically had a view of all of the fans packed into the venue, and I'll say there weren't too many sitting in their seats.

As for the show itself, it didn't disappoint. I had peeked at setlists from the week leading up to the show, and it was pretty similar. Three sets -- the first starting with "Dance Yrself Clean" and the third starting with "Us v. Them." (Side note: the version of "Us v. Them," complete with gigantic disco ball, was sick, as always.) Sandwiched in between was a second set consisting of LCD's lesser-known 45:33 (with a "Sound of Silver" thrown in the mix). I was unfamiliar with this portion, but still enjoyed it.

A highlight of the show was obviously the appearance of Arcade Fire during "North American Scum." It was a huge surprise, and even though that song is not one of my favorites, I thought it was a really neat moment. After "North American Scum," James Murphy talked about how it was one of their most well-known songs, and that they were going to play a song that probably nobody had heard of before. According to setlists I've seen, it was "Bye Bye Bayou," an Alan Vega cover. After this song, they followed up with "You Wanted A Hit," which I thought ended this string of songs perfectly. It features the line: "You wanted a hit, but that's not what we do."


So after this show, which would probably have to be the best arena show I've ever seen, I took in Cut Copy six days later back home in Chicago. They came out firing, playing a majority of their high-energy songs early in the set. This surprised me, leaving me to wonder what they would save for the end. And it ended up being a legitimate question because the second half of the show tailed off.

I like the group's new album Zonoscope, but it didn't really mesh well with the In Ghost Colours songs on stage. I wasn't shocked by this, as I remember thinking the "new" songs Cut Copy played last year at Lollapalooza were pretty lackluster.

Cut Copy came out for two encores, stating the Chicago crowd was the best crowd of the tour (not sure how genuine it was, although the crowd was going nuts). But even with the extra encore, the show clocked in at just over an hour, which was a bit disappointing.

So now I'm left wondering if I would've liked the show better if I hadn't seen one of my all-time great shows a few days previous. It just couldn't compare.

Why do I like The Walkmen so much?

When The Walkmen's latest album, Lisbon, was released last year, it by no means disappointed me. I liked it, but wasn't drawn to it the way I was to You & Me. Soon after its September release, I kind of lost interest, thinking it was a solid album, but just nothing special. However, six months later, I'm finding myself listening to Lisbon over and over -- front to back.

I can't really put my finger on why I like The Walkmen so much. They don't do anything all that out of the ordinary. But I find the more I listen to them, the more I like what they do. This was especially the case with Lisbon.

They can pack a lifetime of emotion into one 4-minute song better than most bands. I really think this is one of the best bands making music today. Period.

I'd Like to Fly, But My Wings Have Been So Denied

Alice in Chains founding member and original bassist, Mike Starr, passed away from a rumored drug overdose just over a week ago. Mike played with the band from its inception in the mid-'80s until 1993, just before the recording and release of the Jar of Flies EP. Starr's struggle with drug addiction was the rumored cause for his split with AIC, and later in life was well- documented on the VH1 series Celebrity Rehab's 3rd season. During the show, he often spoke of the guilt he felt over AIC's lead singer Layne Staley's death, also blamed on a drug overdose. Recently, Starr appeared on the eighth episode of the fourth season of Celebrity Rehab as an inspiration and testimony of sobriety; at the time of the taping he had been sober sixth months and seven days. On March 8, 2011, Mike Starr was found dead in his Salt Lake City apartment. He was 44.



sinking
draining
drowning
bleeding
dead

AIC - Confusion

Rest in Peace Mike.

I Couldn't Have Said It Better

Myself.

There's just always been something about Elbow, the band from a greater Manchester borough, but I could never accurately describe it. Admittedly, my love for Elbow's albums is only outdone by the pure feeling of joy and wonder you experience when seeing the band live. Having said all that, their music and my feelings for it remained to me largely indescribable. I mean, how do you describe awesomeness more precisely? However, while stumbling around the Internet and reading reviews of their latest album, Build a Rocket Boys! I came across someone who has done it quite well. Alexis Petridis of the Guardian uses three simple but accurate words when describing the music of Elbow "warm, generous, and inventive."

The warm vocals of Guy Garvey, the generous layering and arrangements that give depth, and the inventiveness that makes it all quite unique, that's Elbow. And in their latest effort Build a Rocket Boys! none of that is missing. Although the album isn't as heavy as the Mercury Award winning The Seldom Seen Kid or as traditionally percussion-driven as Leaders of the Free World, the newest album definitely has a place of its own. Described at first as "choirery," the album flows over you highlighted by Garvey's soft vocals and some help from the Halle Youth Choir, but upon further listen the album becomes more. Favorite tracks include "The Birds," "Lippy Kids," "With Love," "High Ideals," and "Open Arms."

I wouldn't suggest starting with Build a Rocket Boys! if you're new to Elbow, but for now, it's a pretty good place to finish.

My take on Radiohead's King Of Limbs

I’ve taken a couple weeks to let it digest a little, but I’m finally ready to put my thoughts on the new Radiohead album, King Of Limbs, down on paper – or on screen. Or whatever.

It seems like most of the people I talked to shortly after Limbs was released (a day early!) had a very similar reaction. First: Um, this sucks. Then, later: OK, this is pretty damn good!

While I didn’t hate the album upon first listen, it did definitely grow on me. At first I found it hard to be completely blown away by any particular songs – there are no all-out rockers that we ate up on In Rainbows (e.g., "Bodysnatchers," "Jigsaw Falling Into Place," etc.). In fact, Limbs features hardly any guitar at all, and most of it (especially the first half) sounds like it could be a Thom Yorke solo project. (Sorry, Ed O’Brien.) So nothing jumps out right away like the group’s masterful previous release.

But dig a little deeper and things come more into focus.

The second half of the album is really where it shines. “Lotus Flower” starts things off with a great Radiohead bass line and eerie feel. “Codex” – my favorite track on the album – is chilling and reminds me a lot of “Pyramid Song” off Amnesiac. Wrapping things up is “Separator,” which to me sounds the most like a full-band Radiohead song on the album.

After admitting to myself that I liked King Of Limbs, I still feel frustrated by it, like many other Radiohead fans. It clocks in under 40 minutes, with only eight tracks. Rumors abound about whether there will be a “part 2” to the album. When purchasing the “Newspaper” version of the album, it’s noted it will come with two vinyls. I’m not a vinyl expert, but it seems like they’d be able to fit this album on one record. And then there’s the final track of the album that repeats “If you think this is over, then you’re wrong.”

I don’t know if Radiohead will release a second part or not, but it would be nice. I enjoy King Of Limbs very much, but it definitely leaves me wanting more!

In relation to other Radiohead albums, I would probably rate Limbs middle-of-the-pack. Read my previous album rankings here. It would probably slide into the fourth or fifth slot for me -- definitely can't crack my top 3. But I don't think it's their worst album, either.