Middle Brother - Middle Brother
(Attached track: “Million Dollar Bill”)

In January of this year, You Ain’t No Picasso shared the song “Me Me Me” from Middle Brother’s debut self-titled album and I was instantly hooked. Middle Brother is one of those powerhouse super groups formed by the frontmen of 3 popular bands, Dawes (Goldsmith), Deer Tick (McCauley), and Delta Spirit (Vasquez). Their names alone could carry the career of this new group, but they are certainly not resting on that alone.

Although all 3 artists write music within the folk genre, their individual styles of musical composition really shines through in Middle Brother. The album truly shows a level of depth that none of their bands have been able to achieve individually. All three artists share lead vocals duties, leading to a different feel among each song. While Goldsmith’s clean country voice harmonizes well with Vasquez, it’s the way that McCauley’s raspy grandpa voice contrasts with the group that really makes these songs so unique.

I could not recommend this album enough to anyone who enjoys anything along the lines of folk, or even country. There isn’t a song on this album that I skip.

Honorable Mention: Both Dawes and Deer Tick put out great new albums this year. Dawes’ Nothing is Wrong is actually one of my favorites of the year, but Middle Brother took the cake.

For the rest of my 2011 top 10 albums, click here.

#2: Bon Iver - Bon Iver, Bon Iver
(Attached track: “Minnesota, WI”)

From start to end — if the end was 1 track shorter — this album is a solid piece of work. I won’t waste my time talking about it. Obviously, Justin Vernon has received enough credit recently, as made evident through his guest appearances on both My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and Watch the Throne.

Honorable Mention: Fleet Foxes put out a great album this year, Helplessness Blues. However, the album did not manage to produce any tracks that just grabbed me in the same, strictly platonic, way that so many other albums did this year.

For the rest of my 2011 top 10 albums, click here.

#3: Red Fang - Murder in the Mountains
(Attached track: “Wires”)

I really don’t listen to a lot of metal anymore, but when I do, there is usually a heavy stoner influence in it. Give me some Melvins, Torche, or Baroness, and a stereo that can handle deep deep bass and I am an incredibly happy man. This year, Red Fang took the cake for my favorite drug influenced metal album. Editor’s note: For someone who doesn’t do drugs anymore, Josh sure likes his music influenced by them.

I have never been good at describing music and I’ve been especially terrible about describing metal in the past. There’s a reason why all my write-ups are analogies and descriptions of feelings obtained from listening to the album, giving you absolutely no fucking clue what it sounds like. So, listen to the song and figure it out for yourself.

Better yet, don’t listen to the song. Instead, watch the music video for this song, as Red Fang makes the best music videos for any metal band ever. Fueled by PBR, Red Fang takes a measly $5,000 budget obtained from Relapse Records and documents the hilarity that ensues. What kind of chaos happens when you give a metal band $5,000? Watch the video and find out.

Honorable Mention: Foo Fighters released the music video for “White Limo” (featuring Lemmy of Motörhead) well before Wasting Light came out. This is possibly my favorite song that Foo Fighters has ever made, and the music video is a top notch 90’s metal video.

For the rest of my 2011 top 10 albums, click here.

#4: Akron/Family - S/T II: The Cosmic Birth and Journey of Shinju TNT
(Attached track: “Silly Bears”)

There really isn’t much in this world that Akron/Family can be compared to. They aren’t music. They are a party. A loud, obnoxious, ironically themed getting-fucking-blasted-with-your-grandmother kind of party. They are the musical equivalent of a kaleidoscope. At first you’re like, “hey, this looks like a telescope,” and then you put it to your virgin eyeball. For the rest of your day, all you want to do is drop acid and look into your kaleidoscope.

Side note: When I moved to NC, I borrowed a local band’s 16 passenger van to move my stuff. My buddy told me that I may have to clean glitter and fake blood out of the back of it because they used it to go to an Akron/Family show a couple nights prior. Akron/Family = a fucking party.

Side-side note: My alarm clock for the better half of last year was Akron’s “A AAA O A WAY”, which is the first half of this music video.

Honorable Mention: More Akron/Family, except this is the only thing that they put out this year. So, nothing.

For the rest of my 2011 top 10 albums, click here.

#6: Childish Gambino - Camp
(Attached track: “Backpackers”)

Forbes picked Donald Glover for this year’s 30 Under 30, and I couldn’t agree more. Glover has had a fulfilling early-start career, previously writing for 30 Rock and The Daily Show prior to now working on Community — oops, I guess “now” was the wrong word — and still making time for a music career in the form of Childish Gambino.

To put it simply, Camp is a hilarious album full of one liners that can only be delivered by someone with such a rich history in comedy. Combine that with an ironically huge (yet self-deprecating) ego, nerdy references to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Sufjan Stevens, rich hooks and deep beats, and an overstated love for Asian girls and you’ve got Camp.

I watch these haters take their shots like they were alcoholics. “What is he wearing? Somebody jack that fool’s steeze.” If I’m a faggot spell it right, I got way more than two G’s.

Honorable Mention: Kanye West & Jay-Z’s Watch the Throne is well worth noting, but they had to let Beyonce sing on a fucking song. Ugh, Beyonce. Someone needs to put a muzzle on that woman.

For the rest of my 2011 top 10 albums, click here.

#7: Owen - Ghost Town
(Attached track: “No Place Like Home”)

This is another case of if you don’t know him (or at least his family) already, you probably wouldn’t like him anyway. Owen’s 6th full length album came out late this year, sporting Mike Kinsella’s time-tested winning formula of intricate acoustics, soothing vocals, and sweet melodies. I will never understand how so much talent can come from one family, but I am certainly happy that the Kinsella family exists.

Side note, I just discovered that Mike played drums on Darling Darling, the debut album from my Canadian crush, Crissi Cochrane. Now to dig up her cute demo from my collection…

Honorable Mention: William Fitzsimmons’ Gold in the Shadow was close to taking Owen’s spot on my list. That bald, yet incredibly bearded, man’s music is so beautiful, but just too depressing to keep in rotation long enough to make my top 10.

For the rest of my 2011 top 10 albums, click here.

#8: Slow Runner - Damage Points
(Attached track: “Devil Moon”)

If you ever get a chance to catch Slow Runner live, I can not stress how much you should take the opportunity. The differences between their live show and their recorded albums are monumental. I will admit that this album may be artificially high on my list due to this, along with the fact that they are from NC.

Damage Points spilts it’s time between 2 very different concepts. On almost every listen, you’re guaranteed to skip nearly half of the tracks. However, the half that you skip will vary depending on your current mood. If you’re in a whiny emo bitch mood or you’re just a simple girl who’s looking to be swooned by a guy with a piano, you’ll find yourself loving “Damage Points”, “It’s Back”, and “Spooky Ghost” through “Devil Moon”. Or maybe you want to bounce up and down in your car, looking like an idiot while the car next to you stares in a combination of shock, horror and intrigue? Well, then you’ll love “Auto-Happy,” “Strange Days” and “Apocalyptic Kiss”. Apparently I’m often in a whiny emo bitch mood, because that’s the half of the album I find myself playing on repeat.

For the rest of my 2011 top 10 albums, click here.

#9: The Get Up Kids - There Are Rules
(Attached track: “Tithe”)

There Are Rules proves that sometimes a band can come back from a 5+ year hiatus and actually do something good. While most of the album seems to take cues from pre-2000 Get Up Kids (prior to the atrocious crap they released in ‘02 and ‘04), the band still manages to mix it up. “Regent’s Court” sounds like a track that would have fit in nicely on Meneguar’s I Was Born at Night, which happens to be one of my favorite albums of this genre in the last 10 years. Anyway, this is only #9, so I’m not going to waste anymore time typing about it. It’s The Get Up Kids. If you don’t know who they are already, you probably won’t like this album anyway.

For the rest of my 2011 top 10 albums, click here.