CHIRP Radio Best of 2011 (Dan Morgridge) | Blog

Dan Morgridge writesCHIRP Radio Best of 2011 (Dan Morgridge)

Throughout December CHIRP Radio presents its members’ top albums of 2011. The next list is from Dan Morgridge. (Check out his Spotify playlist, too.)

(Click here to get the complete list of CHIRP Radio members’ picks.)

Frank Ocean – Nostalgia, Ultra (Self-Released)
BUY: Insound / iTunes
The usual array of indie-white-kid-friendly rap/pop stars made hits this year – Kanye, Jay-Z, Beyonce dropped two albums between them, each of which were fantastic by anyone’s measure. But the secret ingredient in both of those chart-topping albums is named Frank Ocean. Penning one song for Beyonce and appearing on two for the boys, Ocean’s touch is already in high demand (he’s written for John Legend and Justin Bieber in the past as well). But far from being the next Scott Storch, Ocean is just a 24-year-old kid with a tumblr of gifs, twitter-sized updates, and Sade and Pink Floyd videos.

What he brings to the turntable, is hard to pin down, if not hard to appreciate. The odd storytelling of “Novacane”, the heart-on-sleeve angst of “Swim Good”, the wry send-up of hip-hop love songs on “Songs For Women” – Ocean’s charm is multi-faceted, but always held down by his top-notch production and top-tier R&B croon. Kanye’s clever/confessional rubric is certainly a blueprint for Ocean, but he’s stepped into the shoes without the anger or ego. If people still wonder how much Odd Future is a joke that the boys are in on, they need only look as far as Ocean: he epitomizes the vast knowledge a good student can learn, as well as the earnest naivete needed to attempt – and succeed – at besting your teachers.
Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Unknown Mortal Orchestra (Fat Possum)
BUY: Insound / iTunes
Unknown Mortal Orchestra might be one of many acts with an air of mystery about their origin/identity this year, but they’re probably one of the best. Coming off like a lost-long psych rock artifact, the album finds timeless hooks with a dusting of fuzz on them. While on first glance nothing but sunny and upbeat, the songs also curiously all share a melancholy tone – songs like “Ffunny Friends” and “How Can U Love Me” toe the line between hippie cheer and wistful sadness. Maybe it’s a choice; or maybe they’re sad that they have to settle for making nostalgia from this modern world.
The Weeknd – House of Balloons (XL)
BUY: Insound / iTunes
Canadian Abel Tesfaye stayed almost completely anonymous as he released his debut album this past March. It was easy to picture a famous singer adopting a disguise to release this ode to burnt-out excess – the cold production and lyrics like “he’s what you want, I’m what you need” reeked of such vile, hollowed-out sex talk and an indifference to anything other than the next high, it had to be from someone riddled with years of soul-decaying fame. One can only hope House of Balloons is not purely confessional, but it’s eminently believable. The sparse church-organ beat on opener “High For This” shines a dim spotlight on Tesfaye’s angelic and soulful voice. Of course, that voice is spouting lines like “Drinkin’ Alizé with our cereal for breakfast/Girls calling cabs at dawn, quarter to seven” over Vangelis-meets-R. Kelly production, making this album one of the dirtiest slices of R&B imaginable.
Mesita – Here’s To Nowhere (Self-Released)
BUY: Insound / iTunes
James Cooley is 23 years old, and is a self-taught multi-instrumentalist. He’s not as world-famous as Zach Condon of Beirut yet, but that part of your brain that doles out pure jealousy should probably be kicking in soon. Releasing EPs through his own webpage since 2008, Cooley’s first official LP finds him collecting his acoustic-guitar-driven melodies into a proper package. Opener “A Million Shades of Sky” is at heart a kid strumming his guitar, but the lush production and depth of layers is truly impressive. The bouncy bassline of “Somewhere Else” makes it the standout – robbed of anything else funky to partner with, the bass simply makes the falsetto croon and guitar fingerwork all the more head-bob-worthy.
SBTRKT – SBTRKT (Young Turks)
BUY: Insound / iTunes
Another of London’s up-and-coming producers, Aaron Jerome and his debut are vivid frontiersman of a new sound. SBTRKT’s music employs soca, dem bow riddims, trance, Chicago House and the equally hard-to-define “UK Funky”. (Don’t worry, there’s no witch-house in here). The easiest musical parallel to draw is to Basement Jaxx, whose use of a medley of vocalists is followed here. Little Dragon’s Yukimi Nagano soulful wail elevates the dubstep of “Wildfire” to another level, while the smokey-voiced Sampha adds his accented croon to half of the tracks on the album.
Toro Y Moi – Underneath The Pine (Carpark)
BUY: Insound / iTunes
Chillwave might have been the sound of 2010, but it’s hard to pigeonhole South Carolinean Chaz Bundick into a fad. The tunes of “Causers of This” might have trended towards friend Washed-Out’s blissful vocal washes, but gems like “Low Shoulders” hinted at Bundwick being capable of some good, clean funk. Underneath The Pine doesn’t miss a step, with the wobbly, danceable funk of “New Beat” right at the front of the album. Purpose and percussion are here in plenty, with those chillwave tones taking a back seat but not going away completely. Album standout “Still Sound” is an innocent, funky dream of a love song, with what sounds like a dash of ESG’s “UFO” hiding underneath.
Thundercat – The Golden Age of Apocalypse (Brainfeeder)
BUY: Insound / iTunes
Stephen Bruner – the bassist of Suicidal Tendencies – has a jazz album. Scratch that: Stephen Bruner who has played for Flying Lotus, Erykah Badu, Bilal, Snoop Dogg, and anyone who wants one of the best bassists alive – that guy has a jazz album. Completely devoid of irony, Thundercat simply lays down easy-listening jazz, with his own bass acting as a major anchor. The centerpiece of the album is the tandem of “Is It Love?” and “For Love (I Come Your Friend”. The former is a slow lead-up teaser, and the latter is a cover of George Duke and Frank Zappa’s masterpiece of the same name. While the square-goateed one is not laying down his unstoppable guitar work on this cover, there’s no need for a replacement: the percussion is lock-tight, Bruner’s falsetto soars, and his fingers fly across the bass with such beautiful, nasty funk that even Stevie Wonder would raise his sunglasses and blink.
Moss of Aura – Wading (Friends)
BUY: Insound / iTunes
The devastating and powerful rock of Future Islands is irrevocably stamped with the growling tenor of Samuel Herring. But without his presence (and the firm basslines of William Cashion), what’s left? Gerrit Welmers, AKA Moss of Aura, shows that there is addition in subtraction. Completely instrumental, Wading is a collection of Welmers’ beats made in spare time while not on tour with Future Islands. A vaguely tropical, almost cheesy theme connects the album, with a nostalgic postcard feel to everything (no accident, as the album is packaged with a set of five postcards). Simple, unforced, and in eternal repose, the album elicits and suggests relaxation of the highest order.
Gil Scott-Heron & Jamie xx – We’re New Here (XL)
BUY: Insound / iTunes
A phenomenal story as well as an album, Jamie xx’s debut is a monster effort. Taking the vocals of “I’m New Here”, the young brainchild of The xx handwrote letters to the musical legend, mixing his vocal samples into a dizzying array of dub, dubstep, drum-n’-bass, and a dash of chipmunk soul. Tracks like opener “I’m New Here” demonstrate the full range of Jamie’s production, but the album also holds soft love-letter gems like “My Cloud” in its array. The wobbly and wonky beat of “Ur Soul and Mine” is the prime of several examples where Scott-Heron is almost completely discarded, but finale “I’ll Take Care of U” finds a gorgeous dovetail of the two artist’s unique musical worlds.
Bibio – Mind Bokeh (Warp)
BUY: Insound / iTunes
Always a treasure trove of found sounds, warped cassettes, and general hazy bliss, Bibio’s book has more than a page or two borrowed from Boards of Canada. But his most recent records have revealed a more in-focus production aesthetic, none moreso than Mind Bokeh. Opener “Excuses” rises from a subterranean-sounding atmosphere towards a sparsely-backed, acid-tinged vocal, and finally emerging (inexplicably) gracefully as trunk-rattling beat worthy of any freestyle. The middle of the record can be hit or miss, with kitsch getting applied too heavily at times. But the phenomenal “Saint Christopher” wraps things up in a soft-focus, dreamy 4/4 pastoral dance floor monster – a beautiful paradox.