Top Albums of 2011: The King in Yellow, Eureka, Secret Rituals, The Valley, Night of Hunters, Forever Today, The Belle Brigade, Mountaintops, Giving and Receiving, The People's Key, The Golem, Deerhoof vs. Evil, The Errant Charm, Moment Bends, and Join Us

Whether it is Pitchfork, Under the Radar, or KEXP, I am not liking most of what have been picked as the top albums of the year. So, to counter-act the poor choices of the hipster mainstream, here are my favorite albums of 2011:

1. The Dead Milkmen: The King in Yellow

Caitlin Childs



2. Mother Mother: Eureka

Baby Don’t Dance



3. The Grates: Secret Rituals

Sweet Dreams



4. Eisley: The Valley

Smarter



5. Tori Amos: Night of Hunters

Carry



6. I’m From Barcelona: Forever Today

Come On



7. The Belle Brigade: The Belle Brigade

Losers



8. Mates of State: Mountaintops

Sway

Mates Of State "Sway" from Barsuk Records on Vimeo.

9. Lake: Giving and Receiving

Within/Without



10. Bright Eyes: The People’s Key

Shell Games



11. Black Francis: The Golem

The Obedient Servant



12. Deerhoof: Deerhoof vs. Evil

Secret Mobilization



13. Vetiver: The Errant Charm

Wonder Why



14. Architecture in Helsinki: Moment Bends

W.O.W.



15. They Might Be Giants: Join Us

Cloisonné

Wild Flag, Cloud Nothings, and Gardens & Villa

This is "Romance," the first single off Wild Flag's new album. It is a fun video of the team causing havoc everywhere they go:



Here is another chaotic video, "Understand at All" from Cloud Nothings. What is it about? It almost goes without saying, you won't understand at all.



Instead of "more cowbell," you'll be screaming "more flute" after hearing "Orange Blossom" from Gardens & Villa:

Times New Viking and Yo La Tengo

This is the stop-motion video for "Ever Falling in Love" by Times New Viking off their album "Dancer Equired." Very nice:



Here is a fun video of Times New Viking pretending to be Yo La Tengo for Yo La Tengo's song "Something to Hide" off the album "Popular Songs":

That Dog Concert at the Troubadour, West Hollywood, August 28, 2011

Mime Crime opened. This troupe of mimes and a jester acted out performances of hard rock and heavy metal songs. Whenever anyone tried to sing along or clap, they shooshed the offenders. It was somewhat amusing. Let's leave it at that.

Next Maya Rudolph's Prince cover band Princess played a few songs.

That Dog (Anna Waronker, Petra Haden, Rachel Haden, and Tony Maxwell) played a mix of songs off all three of their albums. Here are a couple of favorites off their final album "Retreat From the Sun," one of the best albums of the 1990's in my humble opinion. Although it sounds like no widespread tour is planned, let's hope they work on some new material for the future!

"Never Say Never"



"Minneapolis"



Here are a couple of videos of Anna Waronker's solo work:

"Beautiful" off Anna from 2002:



"How Am I Doing" off California Fade from 2011:

Aimee Mann Concert at Burton Chace Park, Marina Del Rey, August 13, 2011

Aimee Mann put on a great show at Burton Chace Park for the Marina Del Rey Summer Concert Series on August 13, 2011. Here are a few of the highlights from the performance:

Aimee Mann performing a new song "Daisy" that is sure to make you cry:



Aimee Mann performing the beautiful song "Wise Up" off the Magnolia soundtrack:

Dead Milkmen and Art Brut

The new album "The King in Yellow" by the Dead Milkmen is probably going to be my favorite album of the year with catchy melodies, interesting instrumentation, and humorous lyrics. Here is a clip of them playing "Meaningless Upbeat Happy Song" off the new album along with "The Woman Who Was Also a Mongoose." You can get their new album at http://www.deadmilkmen.com/thekinginyellow/



I recently discovered Art Brut and I like what I am hearing. Black Francis from the Pixies has been producing their albums and the influence is clear. Here is "Alcoholics Unanimous" from their album Art Brut vs. Satan.

Wild Flag Concert at Spaceland in Silver Lake, Los Angeles on November 19, 2010

This was one of the first live performances by Wild Flag in November 2010 at Spaceland in Silver Lake, Los Angeles. They are Mary Timony, formerly of Helium and the Mary Timony Band, Carrie Brownstein and Janet Weiss, former members of Sleater-Kinney, and Rebecca Cole, formerly of the Minders.

Mary Timony and Carrie Brownstein worked together previously on an EP called "The Age of Backwards" in 1999 as The Spells. Their new material is a great mix of their musical styles. Fans of Helium and Sleater-Kinney will be pleased when their new album comes out September 13, 2011.

This was an exciting concert because it was a small venue (holds about 250 people) and you really had no idea what they would play. They had no recorded material available and had only played a couple of shows in the preceding days. They did not disappoint and put on a show filled with energy.

"Electric Band"



"Future Crimes"



"Arabesque"



Jam session from "Racehorse"



"Beast of Burden"