As a transitional post between end of year lists (the endless, endless lists) and just regular lists (sweet, sweet regular lists) I’m gonna take one look back at 2011 to close the door on it by breaking down the most obviously important thing of any 12 months: its memes. There sure were a lot of memes this year. Some good. Many terrible. And there are new ones popping up every day.
With every passing year, memes become more interesting as their originators move further and further away from 4chan and into, well, everywhere. The proliferation of meme-ing software for smartphones let even the most unmotivated troller create custom memes within minutes, making things (as idiots like to say) “go viral.” So, without further adieu, let’s look at my favorite memes from 2011.
In a move that surprised exactly zero people, the internet took an image that captured a profound, complex, and deadly serious moment and instantaneously memed it. The rapid spread and unabashed popularity of this meme really became, for me, a big part of the discussion about America’s reaction to the death of Osama Bin Laden. Because, let’s be honest, it wasn’t the instantaneous grief panacea that perhaps we were hoping for.
But what it was was a really funny meme. It was risque enough (considering what they’re watching) that you could feel nicely taboo for looking at it, but not so much so (like the large amount of 9/11 memes) that you truly felt shitty for chuckling. Whether it be the many Obamas, a classic meme-tactic, the Obama w/ Playstation controller, Sad Keanu in the mix, and more, there were many a lolz derived from the situation room.
Already written about on the Bloglin by our quite tickled Elbows, [10] Guy came in at the very tail end of 2011 and charmed us with just its classic meme-ness. It’s just your standard image macro style, with a particularly good picture, a theme that everyone on the internet can relate to, and some pretty above average execution.
This meme didn’t have baggage, required no cultural reference, seemed to pop out of nowhere, and was endlessly digestible en masse. Especially since most people who troll chan and the like smoke a lot of weed, the pleasure of [10] Guy was the triumvirate of laughing at him, laughing with him, and then also laughing at yourself for doing the same shit.
Hands down the creepiest and most nightmare inducing meme of 2011, the “__”-eyes craze started off simply enough: take the beloved Steve Buscemi’s pretty objectively disgusting eyes (sorry Steve!) and throw them onto anyone and everyone. There had been head swaps that got big in the past (people holding babies, etc…) but this shit took off because it’s the most like watching a terrible car wreck. You just can’t look away.
The situation became even more interesting after Newsweek’s pretty fucked up “The Queen Of Rage” Michele Bachmann cover story that featured her impossibly shaped demon eyes. That became a meme two ways, one with the eye switching, the other replacing the headline on the magazine (e.g. “Michele Bachmann Will Fucking Cut You”). Then someone crossed the streams and we got the image above. Thanks internet. Goodbye sleep.
I like this meme for a couple reasons. First, of course, that it was initially funny. For those who haven’t played Skyrim, there’s a repeated speech that many characters in the game will give you about having once been an adventurer like your character, until they “took an arrow in the knee.” Someone noticed that everyone says it, it’s a dumb thing to say, meme is born. Lolz are had. But, much like Skyrim was a crossover “hardcore” video game for a lot of people who quickly found themselves out of their nerdery depth when talking to true blue fantasy fans about the game, “arrow in the knee” got your average internet folk involved too deeply with trolls and /b/-tards.
The rapid expansion and perceived overuse of the meme started a massive flame war that I don’t think either side was ready for. It got to that wonderful level where you can’t even tell who’s trolling and who’s a noob and it kind of ceases to matter. “Arrow In The Knee” is a surprisingly interesting case study in the glorious birth and violent death of a meme.
Oh Officer John Pike, you ignorant fuck. In another case of ostensibly terrible things that are destined for meme-dom, this mustachioed shithead decided to throw on the most casual face possible while laying down a torrent of neon-orange pepper spray on some sitting students. It’s funny for many reasons: It’s bizarre. He looks like the pigs from angry birds.
He was transplanted onto every other meme imaginable. By inadvertently becoming part of the largely internet based #Occupy movement, John Pike and his fat smug face became one of the most enduring and striking images of 2011. And we memed his ass. Go internet. Go America.
I know, I know, there’s been a lot of lists. But in this day and age, we’d be remiss not to bequeath you with a list of our favorite songs from 2011. It’s been said before (Probably by me. A bunch. Don’t judge) but with songs so easily passed around and YouTube digestible, a whole artist’s career can be built off of one track blowing up not on any sort of Billboard chart, but on Twitter overnight (hey Rocky!).
The power of a single song is greater than ever, especially since the advent of Shazam and people just generally being scarily informed and techno-capable, because if someone hears your music odds are they can find out who you are and download your entire ouvre in the same amount of time it would’ve taken someone in the 90′s to run to their friends house, relentlessly humming the song to forgetting it.
Neon Indian
Also, I’m really happy that the climate has, at least in my estimation, moved away from the radio-play centricity of the aughts, as no one seems in the least concerned with making their stuff ready to be payola-d onto the airwaves. Make no mistake, there’s a lot of “weirdness” here, the dissolution of boundaries between genres, and refreshing disregard for any rules about who can do what (hey Dark Sister!).
Not to say that audiences are any less discerning. Quite the opposite, actually. The high amount of specificity we’re generously afforded in our listening experience has certainly put impetus on musicians to stand out. If there’s nothing grabbing us, it’s unlikely that your average listener will delve any deeper than one song. It may be unfortunate at times, but it’s true and it also has it’s upsides.
M83
With the added pressure for artists to put the maximum amount of creativity and into little nuggets, I’d say that the era of the single is back in full force. So we all came together and thought about which songs stuck with us the most this year. The process may not have been as mathematical as the album list, but we’re just as happy with the results.
I wouldn’t necessarily say that there’s a theme to the tracks we picked this year (beyond all of 2011′s leanings towards R&B, which were outlined here by Rue Sauvage much better than I ever could) other than that we really liked them all. So, without further adieu, here is another installment of our top 75 songs list! Why 75? Why not!
Mad lists yo! Lists for days! Stacks on stacks of hot lists! Extreme lists! Listing to the maxxx! A list drinking a four loko and giving you the finger as it makes love to another list who is, in turn, writing a third, smaller list. What you’re reading is just a list of all the words in this article. Whoa!
So we had a lot of lists this year on The Bloglin, in case you didn’t catch my drift. What’s the point of all these lists if you can’t find them tho, amirite? Picture yourself as the black & white section of an infomercial. “Where are all the LISTS?!?” You proceed to knock over everything in your kitchen. Blood flows freely. The horror. The horror. This is where I come in.
“Having some trouble with your lists there reader?” That’s me. At this point you’re clawing your own eyes out, Event Horizon style. “Why, I know exactly the product you need: It’s the List Round Up Article!” And then we crossfade to you reading this article. Right now. There’s a puppy on your lap. You’ve lost weight. All is well.
So here are all our lists (so far), arranged in a handy dandy list, for you to get all your listing pleasure wrung from your listicles. Enjoy!
If hip hop is dead then it has been dead since birth. What I mean is, there is still plenty of amazing rap music to be found. Yes, there was a large amount of awful ringtone rap, pop music under the guise of hip hop, emcees with lyrical talent who fell victim to the industry paradigm, and emcees with no talent who strangely developed mass appeal released this year, but 2011 also saw outstanding work by emcees both new and old.
2011 was the year of the individual song. There were of course quality full albums released (see: The Roots, Undun), but in a year where “Look At Me Now” ruled the radio, who ever listened to the rest of F.A.M.E.? A$AP Rocky signed a three million dollar deal off the hype of two songs, “Marvin’s Room” inspired countless remixes, and need I mention “Yonkers“? Exactly. But Goblin? Not so much. While the DIY scene was exploding, and the magistrates were taking hip hop further than ever (all the way to the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show), the quadruple-time hi-hat (thanks, Lex Luger) and the “(insert deceased rapper’s name here) Back” trends became hip hop phenomena.
Blu
This, however, will not be a list detailing the most popular songs of the year. I initially was going to make a list of my favorite songs from 2011, but that would’ve just read like the tracklist for Section.80. Instead, I’ve compiled a list of the ten songs that best exemplified the preservation and progression of hip hop in 2o11.
“Marvin Gaye and Chardonnay” was a big song, and I definitely watched the video forty-six times, but it did nothing for hip hop as a culture. No, this list will not be based on pop charts or sales, but instead topicality, lyricism, and cultural context. Again, this is not a favorites list. Some of these I don’t even like that much.
So here they are. The ten most important hip hop songs of 2011. Let’s get into it. Disagree with me.
Whoever said, “Don’t believe the hype” should shut up. Not Public Enemy, obviously, though this is a nice instance of things coming full circle. A$AP Rocky put himself and his entire crew on in 2011 through the hype of “Peso.”
What this track represents more than the explosion of DIY rap is the diffusion of regional hip hop. At one point in time every city and state had their own signature sound; L.A. had G-funk, Houston had chopped and screwed. Now, hip hop has gone through enough generations that the sounds of individual cities are being incorporated by artists from all across the country, creating an amalgam of classic rap sounds. “Peso” is a prime indicator of this as A$AP combines Harlem and Houston sounds with a dash of Kanye’s fashion aesthetics.
Lasers was not good. That, in itself, is a testimony to the woes of label involvement in hip hop (following Lupe’s two less-regulated classics) and one explanation for the booming independent rap scene.
“All Black Everything” was one of the songs Atlantic allowed Lupe to leave on Lasers. When I first saw the title I thought, “What, now Lu is jocking Jay-Z too?” He wasn’t. He took Hov’s drab aesthetic and reinterprets it in the form of a lyrical reworking of history. This is hip hop subject matter at its finest.
Considered by many to be the greatest of all time, Nas has admittedly had some missteps throughout his career. “Nasty,” a three verse, no hook lyrical parade serves as the first single off his 2012 LP, Life Is Good, and a return to form.
This joint is an indicator as to the longevity of hip hop, proving that nearly twenty years since Illmatic, Nas can still spit captivating, lyrical raps. He takes one of the oldest topics, the braggadocio rap, and manages to repackage it and present it creatively, addressing other emcees who blatantly exaggerate their earnings and possessions. With hip hop still a relatively young genre, Nas demonstrates that though the position of G.O.A.T. remains undetermined, he, as one of the oldest still in the game, is a worthy contender.
The title says it all. Pusha delivers better lyrics and more quotables in this freestyle than most rappers did on their albums this year. Covert disses abound as he takes subliminal shots at a rapper on his sophomore release (possibly Drake, but likely Consequence) and another who worked with Trey Songz (possibly J. Cole, but likely VA rapper, Ambassador Rick). Along with honorable mention, “Sweet” by Common, Pusha proves that there is still beef in the rap game and that diss rap is alive and well.
Sonically, “Don’t Fuck With Me” takes what Kanye started with 808s & Heartbreak, and what 40 has borrowed for every Drake release following 808s, and completes the experiment. Sans Drake’s R&B influences, Pusha produces pure lyricism over the minimalist beat, simultaneously harking back to the origins of hip hop with his subject matter, and producing sonic progression.
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6. Big K.R.I.T. – “Dreamin” (Produced by Big K.R.I.T.)
Big K.R.I.T. reminds people once again that southern rap and trap music are not synonyms. Clearly raised on a healthy dose of Outkast and UGK, K.R.I.T.’s “Dreamin” is a sample-heavy, introspective record that serves as a guide for the south’s hip hop future.
Southern rap is constantly belittled as ignorant and unintelligible, but with “Dreamin” comes the ever enticing alternative. This is lyrical, timeless rap, in which K.R.I.T. details his personal narrative. This is the future of southern rap.
2011 proved to be the resurrection of one of the rawest UK based genres to surface in this millennium. Grime originates somewhere between the late 90s – early 2000s Dark Garage days. It’s tinged with Jungle and UK Hardcore vibes and is characterized by an alternating 8-bar structure and vocals from street warlords that battle for mic supremacy.
The mid 2000s brought Grime to the US, with Vice pushing the Run The Road mixtapes. It was a time when Wiley and Roll Deep reigned supreme with JME, Skepta and Boy Better Know. Unfortunately, the genre was never properly promoted here and even the UK music industry discredited it, calling any generic hip hop “Grime.”
Most of the original Grime producers are still circulating and some still have Rinse.fm show such as Elijah and Skilliam. Their label, Butterz, has almost single-handedly kicked the scene in its ass. Score 5, Spyro, and Teddy also run weekly shows playing the newest in the genre. Plus you can’t forget Spooky on Deja Vu FM, and one of the originators, Logan Sama, who’s constantly setting the bar high on Kiss FM.
Spooky
Finally, Grime has some star MCs such as P-Money (who alongside Blacks released the best mixtape of the year, P and Blacks) and D Double E, both of whom have proved themselves on many tracks, even dipping into Dubstep and DnB influenced productions, which made making this list all the harder.
Producers and labels have come back in a big way, and if there is one person that has been turning everything to gold, it would have to be Spooky: applying a traditional structure and sound to his productions, he has brought us back to a better time, when music made your spine tingle and maybe even want to punch a guy in the face. The one label that has really made an impact, with their eclectic and forward thinking roster of producers, is Butterz: from the melodic and aggressive sounds of Royal T, to the more dubbed out crossover productions of Swindle.
The task at hand was arduous, and all ten tracks deserve as much recognition as the other. There are also a handfull of tracks that I had to include as honorable mentions, such as Bok Bok‘s “Silo Pass“, Neon Beats‘ “Attack”, DJ Shiftee‘s remix of Ayarcana’s “Allright“, Deset’s “Virus” and the majority of Preditah’sEightsome EP. So enjoy the list, and lets make 2012 the year of Grime worldwide… Pray for Bass!
First we have a release from Brooklyn’s first lady of bass, Star Eyes. This DJ turned editor (XLR8R) turned producer hits a home run with the title track of her grime/house dubbed three track EP, giving us those bouncy basslines, ravey stabs and voodoo interludes.
Star Eyes, along side Drop The Lime and a few others, is one of the reasons Grime and Dubstep exist in NYC, and we all owe her a great deal of gratitude. If you are not convinced, or for some reason you’ve not been living in the same rave cave, then you are in for a treat.
Throughout the year, J-Sweet has turned out copious amounts of really heavy tracks, starting with his collaboration with the legendary Alias on their MarxAlias EP, and the Spartan remixes to “Street Hawk/Tell Them” and “Clash.”
J-Sweet’s tracks sound like rolling thunder, and as this track states, you can’t stop them! Honorable mention also goes to his track “Kerb” but even more so to (Slit Jockey head) Starkey’s remix.
Dexplicit’s Rise of the Centaur would have been in my top 5 EPs of 2011. His track “Futurian” is possibly the more demure of the 6, and yet it stands out here in it’s other incarnation as “Gas Leak” thanks to Big Narstie’s heavy flow that tends to peak at the end of each verse.
“The Centaur” and “Pirate Cave” are definitely heavier tracks that have been circulating the airwaves as well for quite sometime, yet this one is probably the one with the most crossover potential because of its half-time tempo and of course Narstie’s hyper lyricism. Dexplicit has been turning out tunes for quite sometime. After a stint in bassline and hip hop, he is back to his Grime roots, providing some of the heavist instrumentals of the year and standing up to the weight of his classic battle riddim, “Hench.”
I am making an exception for this track as it is actually a forthcoming January release for Hardrive Records, but the fact that it has been spun so much on the radio over the past six months has to speak for the magnitude of the track. This track has all the qualities that you would look for in a great track: old school breaks, soothing melodies, glitchy stabs, and a heavy rolling bassline.
Released earlier this year, the Anger Management EP (Hardrive) is a further example of why you should be watching out for this producer in 2012; keep watch for a second january release on Score Five’s Plain Face label.
This combination made my eyes bleed: Terror Danjah, one of the rulers of the dark and experimental Grime world since the early 2000s, gets remixed by Butterz’s prodigal son Royal-T. The outcome is a lethal track, too hard to even be on the original release, yet worthy of a Butterz monthly mailout. It blends Ruby Lee Ryder’s vocals into a tornado of kicks and melodic breathers that will leave any dancefloor in a frenzy.
Terror Danjah, a household name in Grime after having released for years on the iconic Hyper Dub and Planet Mu imprints, runs the futuristic label Hardrive Records which avails itself of artists such as D.O.K., the man responsible for “Missing Step.” Royal-T has had a big run this year providing the instrumental for P Money and Blacks’ “Boo You” and “Orangeade.”
In 1991, Sonic Youth and Nirvana toured Europe with filmmaker Dave Markey in tow. They documented the rise of a perverted new punk, its fragmented clatter into a mainstream spotlight that had previously left it buried in the dirt and shadow. Nirvana had just released Nevermind on DGC. Sonic Youth were touring on their first Geffen record Goo. They called the documentary 1991: The Year Punk Broke and watched, later, the title become the truth.
In 2011, The Weeknd released House of Balloons. Frank Ocean did Nostalgia, Ultra.Tri Angle Records found permanence in their ghosted beats, and here at the Bloglin we wrote a Top 50 list that ended up over 20% R&B-inflected. The influence was unmistakable, the shock of history repeating itself: Twenty years later, we’re watching another genre break. Except this time, it’s not going through the clouds…it’s digging back into that underground dirt.
From the looping, chilly distance of Balam Acab and Autre Ne Veut to the funky warmth of Toro Y Moi and undulating edits on Nguzunguzu‘s A Perfect Lullabye mix, underground artists are embracing R&B like a long-lost sister, contorting and mashing and paying homage across track after track. On the surface, the coupling seems inevitable: R&B dominates the Top 40, and we’re an underground culture increasingly obsessed with what happens up above. But why did it happen now? How did 2011 end up being, so unequivocally, the year R&B broke?
We’ve got a few ideas.
9. Because It’s (Almost) Happened Before
“I think it’s fascinating how Top 40 sounds are being blended into underground sounds in a way that many underground purists might have thought unthinkable,” says Daniel Jones of Gucci Goth and Electronic Beats, “but in fact it’s not such a new phenomenon.” According to Jones, we’ve been mashing up genres for decades: The Birthday Party and their country/blues punk aggression, Daniel Miller’s pop re-imaginings with Silicon Teens, post-punk’s initial funk/disco influence. It’s just what happens when artists filter familiar sounds, sounds they’ve grown up with, sounds that feel more natural than breathing, through the more disparate influences of their psyches.
And R&B’s popped up in pockets already, albeit less obviously. “When you go back to the 80s,” DJ and producer Mike Textbeak says, “R&B production was bleeding over in scenes too. Check the drums and bass production on Skinny Puppy circa Cleanse Fold & Manipulate and VIVIsectVI.” Then check 90s trip-hop. The influence wasn’t nearly as blatant or pervasive, but R&B did, like now, run a strong parallel with other concepts punctuating bits of the underground: House, techno, Amen breaks, Hallelujah samples. It just took 20 years for the perfect storm of elements to create a full-scale resurgence. After all, if something epitomizes that much of the modern culture, why not re-appropriate it?
8. Because We Had Nothing to Lose
2011: Also The Year of Why Not. From witch house to Rebecca Black, seapunk to post-post-post-dubstep, Scanner Jammer to online raves, so much of art had a “might as well” vibe. If it sounded like a good idea at the time, it was at least worth the shot, especially in situations where neither money nor notoriety were of much concern. The Weeknd initially hid behind a cloak of anonymity, Balam Acab’s Wander/Wonder certainly didn’t have any grand illusions about making a million and even more above-ground artists like Katy B and SBTRKT knew people would give the sound a chance, if only because we’ll give anything a chance, at least once.
R&B this year feels both familiar and fresh to our sensibilities, an exciting puff of air in the onslaught of dark, dark, dark, same, same, same — and if there’s truly nothing new under the sun, then there’s certainly nothing to lose by mashing two or more old sounds together. After all, lots of R&B has been copping from the underground for years; we might as well return the favor. Why not.
7. Because the Technology Was There
And it’s just kept getting better. It’s easier now than ever to create a bedroom R&B project that doesn’t sound like it came from any bedroom at all. Those slick beats and buttery vocals that were previously the province of big studios with even bigger budgets — they’re achievable now with, like, three programs, some technical know-how, a ton of intuition and a little patience.
We’ve unmasked the mystery of solid production in recent years; the natural response this year, especially for artists who’ve toiled in lo-fi out of necessity, is to create some of the sleekest sounds you’ve ever imagined. Oh hello, R&B.
6. Because the Internet Exists
We’ve both blamed and praised this clump of numbers for just about every social circumstance of the past decade, but alas: It’s got a rooster in this fight too. “Kids nowadays are just exposed to way more scenes via the Internet,” Jones says. “It’s harder to be insular than it was in the past.”
While social media pundits love to say the Internet makes simple work of blocking unnecessary information, the opposite is actually true. Thanks to the immediacy of Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Soundcloud, Spotify sharing, et cetera, et al, we’re exposed to piles of foreign information before we even have the chance to create those blocks. We can eventually whittle our worlds down to the barest little vacuum if we choose, but new ideas always get through in fits and starts. You may have started 2011 only peripherally aware of R&B as a major modern touchpoint; you may have not cared or chosen to ignore it; but if you were aware of it, then certainly a trusted blogger/musician/artist/friend was aware of it too. “I think the newer dark scene, myself included,” says Jones, “has played a part in promoting new strains of hip-hop and R&B as being just as artistically valid and interesting as the more linear stuff they might like.” Voila. The vacuum gets less vacuous.
And as social media continues to redefine what it means to interact with other people, artists continue to find support in specialized global communities that encourage experimentation. “What’s going on here is cultural clumping,” Textbeak says. “The underground themes of overlap that were so valiantly destroyed by Clear Channel, grunge, rave and eventually emo have now been allowed through true Internet free-spirited free artistry to bleed back together into some truly creative work.” Which is to say: We have access to everything, whenever we want it. We have no boundaries…and no excuses.
As you’re perusing my list you’ll probably notice the general absence of any mainstream Hip Hop releases. I’m sorry but Watch the Throne just didn’t do it for me outside of a few tracks. But that’s generally how I’ve felt about mainstream Hip Hop for the past decade as it spiraled into “Ringtone Rap.” I’ll make no bones about the fact that I spent much of my teens and early 20s as a so-called “backpack rap” fan. But I’m not all anti mainstream Hip Hop (nor was I ever) because if last year’s Top 100 was solely up to me My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy would have been the #1 album of 2010. But I digress…
So no one was happier than me when, in 2011, many of the artists who maybe would have been boxed in by a designation like that are now thriving in the freedom of the scene. 2011 was really the year that indie rap (and I use that term loosely) came back in a big way, where actual mixtape culture (not just myriad Lil’ Wayne releases) hit the country at large. How pleasant that the weirdo MC is rising, hopefully to make up for the numerous lyrical crimes of the aughts.
Action Bronson
This was also a great year for the rap community writ large, as fire young producers teamed up with all kinds of MCs, and new posses (A$AP Crew, Bruiser Brigade) popped up and flourished overnight. Rappers were encourage to work outside of the box, and seemed more than happy to work without worrying whether a track would fit in at the club. New York indie rap in particular experienced quite a renaissance. All in all, it was a great year for Hip Hop.
You’ll probably notice the Hip Hop albums here vary some from the Bloglin’s general Top 50 abums of 2011 in inclusion, exclusion and placement. That is because (much like Prolly’s metal best of) this is entirely my list of my favorite Hip Hop releases for the year, unlike the Top 50, which was a group effort. So without further ado, here’s the top 20 Hip Hop albums of 2011.
Schoolboy Q seems primed to be whoever you want him to be, with equal lyrical precision on all fronts. The dude hops into all sorts of guises on Setbacks.
Whether it be street proselytizer, hardened thug, or goofy convertible-riding weed smoker, Schoolboy sounds surprisingly good. The dude is ready to blow up, it’s just not clear exactly as what but I’m enjoying the ride so far.
Only a dude who really knows what he’s talking about could make a song about the deep cuts of the Marvel roster and have it turn out not only not embarrassing but also compulsively listenable.
Coming out of the rainy city of Seattle, Nacho Picasso dropped one of the best debuts of the year with For the Glory. Goofy nerdiness really was quite a trend in rap this year, but Picasso’s never seemed put-on, instead a glimpse into the mind of a kid who grew up “writin’ hooks… smokin’, readin’ comic books.”
Death Grips went in on the rap game with a different kind of ferocity than most, forgoing lavish grandeur for brutal intensity, made all the more percussive by the presence of Zach Hill’s drumming.
Exmilitary might not be the easiest listen of the year, but when you’re in the right mood it’s certainly one of the most thrilling. Also proof that hooks can be found in the strangest, most dissonant of places.
While the cover art may make L.W.H. look like either an Ariel Pink affiliate or a witch house Malcolm McLaren, he’s actually a cloud rap (that’s happening now, right?) impresario who’s production has peppered a lot of great releases this year.
Tape Hiss Hooligan is a broadstroke mission statement for the genre, especially considering his recruitment of a bevy of great collaborators to rap over his woozy, hypnotic, experimental beats.
Coming out of Danny Brown’s Bruiser Brigade crew, C.H.I.P.$. is here to have some laffz, probably fuck your bitch, and do it all with a impressively lackadaisical flow.
He’s the kind of rapper who you just really want to hear say words in interesting patterns, and I’m not trying to be glib. There’s not exactly an ocean below the surface, but C.H.I.P.$. is floating on a decked out yacht with a shitload of weed and a grin. Just don’t bring your girlfriend.
Our boys done made it to the big leagues! For their first official album (that, by the way, is crazy) Das Racist continued to prove why they’re one of the most interesting acts in rap. Excuse me, “slacker rock rap.”
Though it may not contain the endless and twisting flows of the mixtapes, Relax still finds the boys in fine form, holding onto their trademark humor and gonzo raps that you’ll find yourself quoting even if you don’t really understand what they’re talking about.
2011 was sort of a vindication year for Lil B, where people’s appreciation for him moved beyond the novelty of songs about Ellen Degeneres and mixtapes with tracklists in the triple digits.
Once mad other rappers tried (and failed) to imitate him, everyone realized B was actually just ahead of the curve. He released a lot of new stuff, but The Silent President was my favorite and what I felt was his most cohesive effort. And if you’re still one of those people scratching your head about Lil B’s appeal and cultist following, listen to “Beat the Cancer,” it’s quintessential Basedgod for me.
Another Bruiser Brigade crewbie (sensing a pattern?) Plaid Palm Trees was another totally solid salvo from a rapidly emerging and shockingly well formed scene.
Though his cadence is similar to ringleader Danny Brown’s Dopehead didn’t put Cali’s favorite softwood in his mixtape title for no reason, adopting a laid back style that fits his blunt fueled storytelling.
Featuring really great production, from the doo-wop pop of “Meet Me on Montrose” to the Steely-Dan powered bounce of “Fuckeverybodyhere” Digital Lows is first off just fun to listen too.
With beats this good, you could almost forgive an MC for just doing his best not to get in the way, but Cities Aviv instead goes in, working his tuchus off to stand out and never blend in.
Another year down and it’s time to sift through the mire of releases and bring you the Bloglin’s top movies of 2011. It was a weird year for movies and if you pay attention to box office grosses, kinda pathetic. More sequels were released in 2011 than any other year in history and seven of those sequels were the highest grossing films of the year. This wasn’t a big shock – Hollywood ran out of original ideas years ago. Not to knock all of the well-funded money makers – Deathly Hallows was fantastic and Fast Five brought the fun back to summer action movies that have been gunning too hard lately to be “gritty” and “intelligent.” But where’s the originality?
It’s all across the ocean, apparently. Four foreign language films made our cut and 11 directors on the list come from overseas. A few of the films on our list that actually were made by U.S. citizens came from directors making their first feature length or scrappy indie kids taking big leaps with their art. Step up your game, America! Smaller distributors kicked major ass this year too. Distributors IFC and Magnet both scored hat tricks below, while the bigger dogs like Sony and Fox have a weaker presence as they continue to hoard their precious money, refusing to drop their nuts and take some goddamn risks.
It’s noteworthy to mention that three of our favorite comedians each appear twice on the list: John C. Reilly, Rainn Wilson, and Tim Heidecker! We know, Tim only had blink-and-you-miss-him roles in both films, but it still counts!
One last thing before we jump into this. I want to say that it was a huge year for the Bloglin’s movie coverage. We got more screener invitations, festival press badges, and DVD/Blu-ray review copies than ever. There are a million other blogs you could waste your time on everyday, so thanks for hanging out with us dorks. It means a lot. Okay enough yammering. Here’s the Bloglin’s favorite films of 2011 with a few honorable mentions for fun. Feel free to tell us how absolutely right we are in the comments.
Honarble Mentions: Werner Herzog showed us some of the cave drawings he did as a child in Cave of Forgotten Dreams, Steven Soderbergh scared the shit out of us with Contagion, we wanted to drink really bad with Brendan Gleeson in The Guard, the second best movie about the discovery of a planet near ours was Another Earth, and Jonathan Levine showed us the funny side of cancer with 50/50.
So join us after the jump as we countdown the Bloglin’s favorite films of 2011.
As the Bloglin’s primary Metal reviewer I was tasked with compiling the Bloglin’s top 10 Metal albums of the year. 2011 was a rough year for metal. Compared to years past, the good albums were few and far between and most of them were immediate follow ups to last year’s releases. New bands came into focus, but their work just wasn’t there. These ups and downs come every few years and while some of the top 10 metal albums aren’t as great as their preceded releases, they’re still better than 90% of the field. Maybe this is just a sign of the end of the world in 2012? Who knows but we can all hope and pray to Oden that things pick up a bit more.
While blackened thrash dominated the 2010 rankings, 2011 saw a pique in black metal acts. While a majority of lo-fi releases were strictly released on cassette, the forefront was manned by some of the longest-standing names in the black metal genre. From Norway to the States, bands brought out some of their best work in years. And then came the new wave of British heavy metal. Bands like Devil, Ghost and Capricorn emulated acts like Sabbath and Saint Vitus. As Cathedral played their last show ever, earlier in December, a slew of new bands picked up the torch and marched onward.
Wolves In the Throne Room
While this list might not be in agreeance with your top 10 picks, keep in mind, I tried to represent some of the more prominent acts of the year. You may notice that my list doesn’t follow how I graded these 10 albums in my original reviews. There are some rank shifts, putting higher graded albums below lower graded albums. I wanted to revisit the rankings for the list because over the course of the year opinions on an album can change. This list was ordered by albums I kept to coming back to time after time over this past year.
You’ll probably notice the Metal albums here vary some from the Bloglin’s general Top 50 abums of 2011 in inclusion, exclusion and placement (No Liturgy this time, sorry folks!). That is because this is entirely my list of the best Metal releases for the year, unlike the Top 50, which was a group effort. So without further ado, here’s the top 10 metal albums of 2011, which still holds nothing on 2010′s list!
Back in 1990, the Plano, Texas trio Absu began compiling a healthy arsenal of death metal tracks which they compiled into five demos. Yes, five demos. When they were pleased with their sound, the dark lords said “It is good” and released Barathrum: V.I.T.R.I.O.L. in 1993.
Now, almost 20 years later, the’ve put out six full lengths, including their newest, Abzu. A lot has changed since their early days. The band has morphed into a blackened thrash act and their sound has achieved numerous accolades. Abzu is one hell of a ride.
San Francisco based Orchid created quite the stir when they released their first EP over a year ago. Now, one of the most anticipated releases of 2011 is upon us and what is my verdict? Pretty solid. While it’s easy to get hung up in the “It sounds like Sabbath” mindset while you’re listening to Capricorn, you have to appreciate their sound craft.
Orchid’s songwriting and production is almost mind-numbingly precise. These guys executed one solid doom album in the time from their first EP to Capricorn‘s release. While it’s easy to capture the sounds of Sabbath, it’s difficult to capture the 70′s in that same breath. Many bands attempt to emulate the sounds of the Ozzy-era Sabbath but finding that delicate balance of context and construct is rare.
Knowing what Steve Albini has done for bands like High on Fire, I was beyond stoked when I received the press-release announcing their new album, Jason… The Dragon. Arik Roper artwork. Check. Kick-ass producer. Check.
I can assure you that this album is still convincing of their “FUCK YOU,” Southern metal mentality.
The Oregon doom metal trio YOB have returned after a successful 2009 release The Great Cessation to unleash Atma, their sixth album on their attention-starved fan base. At just over 50 minutes long, the 5-track album is what we’ve all been waiting for. But what made The Great Cessation so epic is lacking in Atma. Maybe YOB is turning a new leaf in their music. Whatever it is, I am digging it.
Last year, Elder’s S/T awoke the doom metal scene with their familiar sound, filled with youthful energy and optimism. This year, Dead Roots Stirring brings back the return of Elder and it’s a whole new sound. It’s not the same Sleep worship as their self-titled album and it’s got a bit of its own identity.
The band has matured with their sound and this album delivers. Like Sleep and other traditional stoner bands, Elder’s songs are all on the longer side. “Gemini” is the opener and you can tell right off the bat that this is a new Elder. It’s got bite and kick.
In 2011 we were lucky to bring Travis Egedy, who you probably know better as Pictureplane, on as a Bloglin contributor. In between work on his amazing album Thee Physical, Pictureplane wrote about all sorts of interesting things for us, whether it be his best-of for Psychic TV or his updates on the burgeoning #Seapunk movement.
For the end of the year, Travis has put together a list of ten things from all different spheres, whether it be music, art politics, or even geographical, that he considers to be the biggest cultural touchstones of 2011. Enjoy!
~Whole Milk
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10. Rebecca Black’s “Friday”
We all remember where we were when we saw it first: the hilariously dumb lyrics, the awkward singing, the cheesy effects, the non sensical and pointless rap verse; This was THE video of the year. It was also the public’s introduction into the weird weird world of Arc Music Factory. the un-ironic or self aware tween music company that was a never ending rabbit whole of WTF’s.
But it was “Friday” that stole the show, and with good reason. It was such an abomination on all fronts that it was somehow really endearing, and will go down in history as a classic of internet meme culture. Here’s to Rebecca Black and the Arc Music Factory, for making the world laugh, and drop their collective jaws in 2011. <3
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9. Ryan Tracartin’s “Any Ever” at MoMA PS1
I have written about my love and appreciation for Ryan’s work here numerous times. A futurist, he is truly becoming the voice of a disembodied generation. A generation that occupies a multidimensional digital landscape that is truly scitzophrenic, psychedelic, and hyperreal. Ryan Trecartin‘s work is a reflection of our post-post modern age in a way that feels very important and highly relevant in a way that most artists work is not. “Any Ever” was his big museum show this year (rare for any artist his age) and i flew out to New York just to see it.
I was able to meet him, and even ended up in a strip club with him later that night (right after I was almost arrested with my friends Ryder Ripps, and Cody Critcheloe from SSION, but thats another story). So, back to the art, consisting of 7 different videos in different rooms that were fully immersive environments, the show was fantastic and hugely inspiring. it is hard to think of any other artist really speaking as poetically about my generation like Trecartin. a true genius. i look forward to following his work for years to come.
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8. AraabMuzik Live at Ghe20 Gh0th1k
AraabMuzik had quite the year, mainly by blowing a lot of peoples minds with the great Electronic Dream. But I was lucky enough to catch a live set by the producer in a small basement rave in Bushwick, Brooklyn. The party was one of the notorious and famed raves put on by the often imitated, but never duplicated Ghe20 G0th1k crew, and that night, AraabMuzik was a secret guest.
Teeing talent like AraabMuzik in a DIY punk style setting like that was nothing short of legendary, and his set melted the room. He just stands at his MPC, and beats at it like some sort of cyborg, seemingly un-human. It was a real game changing moment, for all of music. I feel like no one could believe what they were seeing, or hearing. That night AraabMuzik tore a hole in the fabric of reality, no joke.
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7. Teotihuacan
In April of this year, I was fortunate enough to travel down to Mexico City to do a performance with the dark lord Ritualz. The whole trip was incredible and I was also able to go to Monterrey and DJ tribal musica to local kids there alongside one of my favorite producers, 17 year old 3ball phenomenon, Erick Rincon. It was something I will never forget. But the most amazing and life altering experience came from visiting the ruins of the grand city of Teotihuacan.
Full disclosure, the experience of the ruins was enhanced through some high grade mexican LSD, but it wasnt the acid that made it special. Being in such a sacred ancient place that is architecturally sound with the earth, its environment, and the cosmos is nothing short of mind altering. no modern buildings have this effect. It was very powerful, and I couldnt help but wonder of course, just WHAT was the true purpose of these massive pyramids? Maybe one day humanity will remember our true past. Oh, and we also shot a music video while at the pyramids.
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6. Prurient’s Bermuda Drain LP
My album of the year. I feel I have already written in depth a few times about this record, but it is just flawless and epically beautiful.
A dark masterpiece of sound design and brutal emotion by the mighty noise god, Prurient. Noise purists were confused and angered by this release, what with the synths, and the drum machines! Heaven forbid. Respect.
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5. Snack the Planet
In July, an art event like no other I have been a part of occurred in downtown Manhattan. Inside the Museum of Art and Design was a room with a fully equipped flavored oxygen bar, energy drink shrimp cocktails and cyber snacks, the most fashionable of the contemporary New York underground, and a black-lit white carpeted chill out space with blue plastic blow up furniture.
This was Snack the Planet, an experimental party thrown by curators of the next age, Patrik Sandberg, and Lauren Devine, both affiliates of the always amazing DIS magazine. The idea was to somewhat re create the classic cyber-arcade hangout from the seminal 1995 movie, Hackers, but what ended up being created was a genuine Temporary Autonomous Zone. Lighting and “set design” was left up to genius design crew Thunderhorse Video who hand made the entire cyber bar from scratch.
Performances included the incredible queer-art rap poetry of Mykki Blanco with Physical Therapy as her DJ, supreme vibe controllers Teengirl Fantasy, and myself with full choreography by my two incredible dancers, Raw Acid. The event itself was just unbelievable. the energy was explosive because everyone was high on oxygen, life, and energy drinks.
During my performance, people were literally humping on the ground, blowing up condoms, molesting my dancers, and generally just freaking out. I honestly dont think a crowd has been that fanatical in uptight Manhattan since the early 80′s. it was a sight to behold, and that night, Snack the Planet was a cultural revolution. view incredible photos by Rez Avizzar of the whole night, here.
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4. James Ferraro’s Far Side Virtual
The conceptual art statement of the year, Far Side Virtual was a revelation. From the genius merry prankster that is James Ferraro, the album was a psychedelic journey through our consumerist culture. As a statement regarding what it is like to be a human being living in a manufactured reality, where everything is designed to be simplified and consumed by a mass audience, this album hits that on the head better than any essay of cultural theory could.
Sounding like hitting the “demo” key on an old keyboard while shopping in a supermarket while riding an elevator in Starbucks all captured on a thrift store VHS cassette, nothing sounded like this this year. Yes, it is that fucked up. I don’t know how he did this. It is simply brilliant.
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3. Matthew Stone’s Optimism As Cultural Rebellion at Hole Gallery
Matthew Stone is a british artist whom I have been a big fan of for some time. A few years ago in denver, I was hosting an art salon in a speakeasy bar once a month, where a small group of artists and thinkers would get together to discuss a topic. On one occasion, we chose to discuss the radical notion of optimism and its revolutionary power to change. I presented some of Matthew Stone’s essays on the idea of how optimism is extremely important and as a tactic in radicalism and the progression of culture and spirit.
So it was fantastic to be able to attend the opening for his American debut show dealing with that concept. There was a deep transcendent spirituality to the work in the show, which is one of Matthew’s gifts and strong points. Matthew’s photographic and sculptural work is extremely poetic and romantic and references classical painting, yet is overtly queer and contemporary. I feel a spiritual connection to Matthew as he fancies himself a bit of a shaman and shares a lot of the same conceptual outlooks on life and humanity that I do. His work shows the power in geometry and in the human form, the soul inside of the body. it was just sublime.
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2. American Indie Rap Getting its Groove Back
As an old school indie-rap head (um remember Anticon?) it was cool to see that 2011 was the year American underground rap broke out with a vengeance unseen since the days of Company Flow in the late 90′s. With the music industry in steady decline, mainstream artists were left scratching their heads, as their lyrics of money, cars, and clothes were becoming increasingly irrelevant. It seems like indie rap was everywhere this year, with the internet explosions of Odd Future (“Yonkers,”anyone?) and Kreayshawn, like it or not, teenagers on DIY budgets were making a loud splash.
This year we saw the breakout of some new stars climbing to the top from the underground. Artists like Danny Brown and A$AP Rocky both had incredible, and dare I say historical albums, and shit Das Racist were on the fucking cover of SPIN magazine. Rappers like Young L and SpaceGhostPurrp were putting out really dope mixtapes. And I saw the magician god himself, Lil B, give one of the weirdest and most avant guard performances I have ever seen with full on new age spoken word sermon during the Supermoon at the Fader Fort during SXSW to over 2000 people. that was some incredible fucking shit. ART RAP IS BACK!
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1. The #Occupy Movement and the Global Uprising
Watching 4am live stream on the internet from some dude’s cellphone of hundreds of riot police violently destroying and dismantling the #occupywallstreet protest center in Zucotti Park because of a media blackout was disgusting, enraging, and an event that shook the world.
Talk as much shit as you want on the occupiers, but this year they succeeded in snapping people out of their dark trance illusion that everything is fine and well in the world. It was the news story of the year, that was barely covered or taken seriously by the government owned mainstream media. As they say, you can’t arrest an idea, expect only more global conflict and revolution in 2012. Tear the shit down.
