Last year, I didn't listen to enough albums to make anything more than a top five list. That was not the case this year. Here are my ten favorite albums of 2011. These are the ones that I spent the most time with because they sounded good and, more importantly, because they spoke to me.
Eric & Magill – Fields
Our pals Eric & Magill have magically released a new album despite being continents apart. Kick The Covers Vol.1 is the first in a series of cover albums they're completing of songs originally written by collaborators and friends like The Snake The Cross The Crown and Shearwater. It's a perfect thank you gift and hearing the Eric & Magill spacey, heartfelt spin on each song is awesome. Head over to their Bandcamp page to download the EP for free!
The lads also just released a great video for the song "You Make It So Good" from their lovely first album, All Those I Know.
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I've seen a lot of people complaining about this being a sub-par year for releases. I call bullshit on that. I can't remember there ever being a year where there weren't at least 20 albums I loved. This year was certainly no exception.
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It is hard to believe 2011 is almost over, but here we are. This has been a year full of exciting musical discoveries. Here are ten of my favorite songs.
John Statz – Distance
Some more beautiful, down-tempo midwestern folk coming at you. John Statz is a songwriter who has traveled all over the world to write, record, and perform and lucky for us he returned home to cut Old Fashioned which is due out January 24.
It's hard to be wholly unique when working in such a time-worn genre as folk but the best new folk artists have learned that creating a singular sound is about subtlety and precision songwriting, not experimentation. You can hear from Old Fashioned's first single "Distance" that Statz knows what he's doing. The lovely harmonics and layered guitar work create a glass case of emotion that complement Statz's unhurried vocals.
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I've always been a big fan of music videos, and while they don't seem to be as popular nowadays, I was happy to discover plenty of great ones throughout 2011. Here are some of my favorites.
2011 was quite a year. It was my first full year as a music blogger and personally, I made some big life changes. Here's an overview of some highlights in case you missed anything.
It's been a minute since we've heard from the gentlemen of Chicago's Fort Frances but the wait was worth it. "The Lowlands" is a lovely, acoustic, down-tempo number featuing sparse instrumentation that leaves a nice focus on the lyricism and vocal perfomance. The rootsy sound fits the band well and David McMillin's voice is gentle enough to convey the downtrodden country emotion.
Be sure to check out Fort Frances' Facebook page for more information on the lads.
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I love year-end list making, it's awesome. However, it does bother me that I inevitably miss things or come to love certain albums later on that revealed themselves slowly, which means I don't get a chance to honor them because it's a new year and I have to make a new list. But since I have this blog, I do have a chance to revisit my 2010 albums list and share how it looks after another year of listening. So that's what I'm going to do right now.
December for a music blog means sharing our picks for the "best" of the year. As TWD's first full year in action, 2011 was certainly memorable. We have some exciting stuff planned for our year-end coverage, and it starts tonight with a call to make a new Collaborative Playlist. We want to know what YOU dug this year!
The idea is this: share with us one or more of your favorite 2011 songs and we will compile all of the submissions into a playlist that will potentially be enlightening and definitely be enjoyable. You can leave your pick(s) in the comment section below, send them via twitter (@ThseWhoDig), or hit us up on our Facebook page. We'll unveil the playlist on Spotify the first week of January. We're excited to hear from you!
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