Patrick Masterson writesCHIRP Radio Best of 2011 (Patrick Masterson)

Throughout December CHIRP Radio presents its members’ top albums of 2011. The next list is from DJ and Music Director Patrick Masterson.

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

1. Disappears – Live at Echo Canyon (Plustapes)
   BUY: Insound / iTunes
   It seemed obvious after listening to Guider that Disappears are, perhaps strangely, at their very best on live cassette. Only their two Plustapes releases in 2008’s Live Over the Rainbo and this relatively short release from New Jersey capture the same sort of ruthless intensity that their live shows always betray. Lower fidelity suits their gritty nature, this the best example yet of why listening to the band is so important. I’m almost wishing the arrival of Pre Language in March wasn’t so soon. Almost.
2. Various Artists – Bangs & Works Vol. 2: The Best of Chicago Footwork (Planet Mu)
   BUY: Insound / iTunes
   Last year’s first Bangs & Works compilation was a revelation I wished I’d heard in full before submitting my 2010 list, but nobody’s perfect, and anyway, this is the more listenable of the two. A few Mortal Kombat samples here, a few R&B/soul samples there (Young Smoke’s “Wouldn’t Get Far” is the standout), and more than a few of the ankle-breaking beats you’ve come to expect from footwork’s birthplace. We’re really lucky to be living this right now.
3. DJ Diamond – Flight Muzik (Planet Mu)
   BUY: Insound / iTunes
   If the Bangs & Works compilations are a good starting point for footwork, I see DJ Diamond’s Flight Muzik as the next logical step beyond the source material, the raw data. There are tons of footwork artists (or people who think they are, anyway), but it’s not always the point that they make it listenable; Diamond’s great feat on Flight Muzik (aside from the coolly understated album cover) is making a footwork LP that actually sounds like it’s suited for the form. Surprisingly listenable for a genre that thrives on confrontational twists and turns more than passive 4/4 head-nodding.
4. blink. – The Architects (Whistler)
   BUY: Insound / iTunes
   This album took up a fair amount of my listening in the early part of the summer. Really enjoyable record front to back, mostly because it went beyond merely cycling through the motions of jazz ages past; this is a thoroughly modern record that suits our city’s famous improv scene. From the the electronic eye winks that kick off “Protect From Light (I)” to the choir of “The Secret Life of Quiz Shows,” this one’s a can’t-miss.
5. Indian – Guiltless (Relapse)
   BUY: Insound / iTunes
   I think I complain about how much I miss the “old” Mastodon pretty much every year as a warm-up for expressing my gratitude to bands like Indian for existing, carrying on Remission’s forgotten promise. Guiltless surpasses the power of their earlier EPs and makes for the most brutishly sludgy album I heard this year. With Sanford Parker’s prowess behind the boards on full display, this LP duly rewarded Relapse’s support with dope-smoking doom par excellence.
6. Mannequin Men – Mannequin Men (Addenda)
   BUY: Insound / iTunes
   This dropped right in the middle of a three- or four-week period of exemplary local records (Netherfriends, Russian Circles, Heavy Times, JC Brooks, on and on it went), so it actually took me more time to get to than I’d originally expected. Maybe I was just saving the best for last, though: Memorable moments like “Cheryl Tiegs” and “Enough” grabbed hold and made me remember what I’ve loved about these guys from the first time I heard them years ago on Fresh Rot. Incredibly addicting rock n’ roll.
7. Implodes – Black Earth (kranky)
   BUY: Insound / iTunes
   One of Chicago’s darkest records this year (in case the silhouette holding a knife on the cover didn’t give it away), my clearest memory is playing the distant, haunting “Oxblood” alone late in the studio late one night and being unable to shake its vibe for the rest of my show. “Oxblood” on loop, that’s all that was going on in my head. But any of these songs could’ve done the same thing to you, such is Black Earth’s trance-like seductiveness. A nice companion to their distinctively separate live show.
8. L.E.P. Bogus Boys – Now or Neva (self-released)
   BUY: Insound / iTunes
   It’s funny to me that these guys opened up for Drake, A$AP Rocky and Kendrick Lamar on a recent Club Paradise tour stop considering how much more experienced they are in the rap game and how much more mature they sound on a mixtape as good as Now or Neva than… any of those kids, really. “Amerikkka’s Worst Nightmare” is a foreboding start without sounding cheesy, and the entirety of the tape supplies a steady stream of serious bass and blow talk. Grittiest mixtape from the City of Win this year.
9. JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound – Want More (Bloodshot)
   BUY: Insound / iTunes
   This band is too good at what they do to be from this decade, but lo, here they are, living and breathing the sounds of Numero Group’s lifeblood. Best part is that you don’t have to do any digging; they’re right here in front of us, delivering the truth one sterling soul gem at a time. The only thing that made it less than convincing was the incredibly crisp recording quality. The implications of needing poorer fidelity to enhance the listening experience reach far beyond what this paragraph is capable of sustaining, but the point is that it’s not the band’s fault. They’re more than holding up their end of the bargain.
10. Heavy Times – Jacker (HoZac)
    BUY: Insound / iTunes
    As any listener can tell you, nasty garage is one of CHIRP’s cornerstones. Few bands excelled at this well-trod path in 2011 quite like Heavy Times. The agitated, occasionally flat-out rancorous Jacker wasted no time getting to the point on “Motionless Drift” – about as inaccurate a song title as you could find this year – then proceeded to burn through 11 more roughened pop diamonds en route to one of the year’s better aural assaults. Don’t miss it.