The Music Of 2011: A Review of the Year

If we’re talking about independent/underground releases, then 2011 has been a great year for music. With artists like The Weeknd, Death Grips, The Ends, Milk & Biscuits, Poor Lily, BadBadNotGood and a ton of others creating some of the best material this year, while huge bands such as RHCP and Fleet Foxes helped bring back some integrity to the mainstream scene.

However, in today’s article we shall be talking about the aforementioned mainstream scene, and how (the majority of) its musical output of 2011 changed the mindset of every faceless clone who will like anything the radio or Simon Cowell throws at them.

Little Comments' Top 50 Albums/EPs of 2011

It's here! Little Comments' favourite albums of 2011. Below is be a list composed with the love of a thousand Gods, the detail of the greatest definition in the world, and time that could have been spent doing something else. (sleeping.)The majority of the albums listed will each have a link to the review I wrote for them, unless I didn't...review them...yeah.

You will see albums and EPs from well known mainstream artists, well known underground artists, and complete strangers. But hey, it's my list right? It's objective is to document my music taste in a way pleasing enough for you to check out the artists you've never heard of. So enough rambling, here's the list, Merry Christmas!

Little Comments' Top 20 Tracks of 2011: Top 10!

It's time for the most important half of Little Comments’ Top 20 Tracks of 2011 list to be announced. I’ve looked the list over and over again, checking that the final ten songs were worthy of these positions, and that I was satisfied with it overall as well. Fortunately I am satisfied, and it contains some artists who will feature on the Top 20 Albums of 2011 list too.

Hopefully these tracks give the reader an urge to have a listen to them, and will give you a final chance to enjoy some of the best music from this year. Right then, let’s get on with the top 10 songs composed by Little Comments!

LITTLE COMMENTS CONTEST! HOW TO ENTER AND STUFF

Little Comments is proud to announce that it is hosting a CONTEST for YOU to win a pretty awesome prize. Below will be how to apply, rules in order to apply, and when it’ll end and blah blah blah.

THE PRIZE

The prize if you are the lucky person to win is a WONDERFUL compilation CD from DOMINO RECORDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It features the best artists from the label and tracks from their respected albums.

The tracklisting IS:

1. Real Estate – It’s Real
2. Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks – Tigers
3. Eugene McGuinness – Lion
4. The Kills – DNA
5. Anna Calvi – Suzanne & I
6. Sons & Daughters – The Model
7. Trailer Trash Tracys – You Wish You Were Red
8. Wild Beasts – Research A Bit Further
9. Washed Out – Eyes Be Closed
10. Junior Boys – Banana Ripple
11. Francois & The Atlas Mountains – Piscine
12. Blood Orange – Sutphin Boulevard
13. Peaking Lights – All The Sun That Shines
14. Austra – Hate Crime
15. Twin Sister – Bad Street
16. Cass McCombs – Robin Egg Blue
17. Bill Ryder-Jones – Enlace
18. King Creosote & Jon Hopkins – Bats In The Attic
19. Bonnie Prince Billy – Quail & Dumplings

As you can see there are some pretty big names within there, including some who have broke out into a broader audience this year. This is a very good collector’s item and just a very good thing to have in general, especially if you’re a fan of one/some of the above.

GEE ADZY THAT LOOKS GREAT! BUT HOW DO I ENTER?

Well fear not my friend, all you need to do is click on the link to a random article of Little Comments below, and comment on it with anything you want BUT PLEASE REMEMBER TO POST YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS INSIDE TOO, or if you’re stuck for something to write “Little Comments is great and I want this prize!”. Haha.

So yes, click on THIS LINK HERE to enter.

WHAT ARE THE RULES?

Well really, there aren’t any rules, but for the sake of promoting world peace, I would like:

• No naughty words
• No spam
• You never talk about Fight Club.

Okay? Cool. But srsly though even if you do swear I’m not gonna disqualify you or something lolz.

WHAT EXACTLY DO I WIN?

I will personally send you the CD through the post using my own stamps and envelopes and stuff should you want to receive the physical copy and maybe with a note from me as well thrown in for good measure.

HOWEVER, if say you win but are not currently living in England or you choose not to want the physical copy, I can easily upload the tracks online and email them to you with a notepad file saying how great I think you are or some shit.

So, to whoever the winner may be, I will contact you via the email you post in your comment asking if you want me to email you the CD or post the CD etc it’s up to you. Personally, I think the CD is awesome so you will definitely be hearing some sweet sounds.

Okay, I now announce this contest OPEN! And it shall END on the 31^st of December 2011. You have two weeks, good luck and I cannot wait to see who wins!

xox

Little Comments' Top 20 Tracks of 2011

To somehow produce a list of songs that I’ve enjoyed most out of the shit ton of material released this year is definitely hard work. Today marks the start of the final week until Christmas, and the start of Little Comments’ favourite tracks and albums/EPs gathered from the last twelve months.

Below is the second half of my favourite tracks of 2011 list, detailing which songs have made it from 20th to 11^th place, with the top ten list posted tomorrow. It was very hard to place of limit of just twenty songs, but I am happy (right now at least) with the result.

Later on today there will be a post which delves deeper into the contest I am going to hold for Little Comments, for the chance to win a special prize! Exciting. Right, on with the list!

Updates, Lists & A CONTEST?!

With the end of 2011 looming, I have noticed that Little Comments has been a little outdated in quite some time. While the overall design has changed so many times, (often with god awful results, what was I thinking) the content inside the four tabs along the navigation bar have not seen any fuss in a few months, so first to announce is that they will be updated some time today.

LISTS

This is certainly the time of year where reviewers on Youtube/Blogspot face their hardest task: lists. I shall be posting two top twenty lists next week, spread out over the course of Monday – Thursday. The first list will be my favourite tracks of 2011, with positions 20 – 10 posted on Monday, and 10 – 1 on Tuesday, my next list will be favourite albums/EPs of 2011, which will be posted in the same fashion.

I have a rough idea so far of what will be #1, though that could easily change because it really has been a great year for music, whether that be from well known artists and local artists, there has been great music from all spectrums.

CONTEST

Now, I am excited to announce that Little Comments will be holding it’s first EVER contest starting from now. It’s the season to be giving so might as well get some interaction with you guys by granting you a PRETTY AWESOME prize, if I say so myself.

I will post a proper article tomorrow detailing what you need to do to enter, when it’ll finish etc so look out for it J I shall advertise on my Twitter account which is @AdzybabyII if you haven’t followed me yet.

Ok then, see you with the first half of the best tracks of the year list and more details on the contest tomorrow!

What A Wonderful Year.

Hello everybody, I know it’s a little early to be cracking out soppy end of year posts like this but its 1am and I’m very tired but a combination of The Velvet Underground, WU LYF and the sense of finally being appreciated has put me in a jolly mood. I am just writing with the sudden realisation that 2011 has been a wonderful year for me, apart from the failed attempts of stepping onto concrete and successfully stepping into quicksand in ‘The Big Wide World’ and the continued absence of employment as well.

REGARDLESS of that, it isn’t my fault that there are simply no jobs and too many companies thinking they can handle an apprenticeship with little to no knowledge as to what an apprenticeship entails. I can safely say that I (and loads of other people I presume) have been a little unlucky in becoming a responsible adult.

Get to the Point Adzy…

Oh right, the purpose of this post, that’s quite important. It’s mainly to give thanks to certain groups/bands/labels/individuals that have stood out to me the most during the short life of Little Comments, and as it’s the season to be jolly, I should probably give a few apologies to certain bands too…

This blog surfaced on the 15^th of February with a primary goal of being a dumping ground for the handful of “reviews” I had written in the prior months, and that goal remained intact until the 8^th of April saw me cautiously try my hand at reviewing a documentary about Foo Fighters, also known as the first piece of “original” Little Comments material.

8 Months have passed since then, and we’re here, at what will be post two hundred and twenty nine. (fuck) This is a timeframe that has seen collaborations, a (if I say so myself) steady improvement of writing reviews, love, hate, friend requests, followers, comments, and free shit. As we can see the shiny golden face of 30,000 hits in an easily reachable distance, I could not be happier.

Other Lives - Black Tables (Independent Music Video)

Proxy M.O.S. from Harrison Sanborn on Vimeo.

The above is an independently made short film (or “fan made” as it was sweetly and modestly suggested in the email that was sent to me) titled Proxy M.O.S, by up and coming director Harrison Sanborn.

Harrison uses the track Black Tables by band Other Lives to provide perfect instrumentation to properly depict the mysteriousness and sadness of the girl in the video. Who is she? Why is she upset? Why has she walked to the train station? Why can she only see that man?

These are questions that remain questioned, no definite answers are present, which only builds to the tension already within the video, especially during the first time she goes to the train station and walks along the very edge of the platform.

This video is the ideal companion for Black Tables. They both provide dark tones visually and sonically, and display a heavy sense of emotion too. The great use of cuts in the video (notable example being right at the start with girl turning back and being outside suddenly) enhances the mysterious element within both pieces of art, which makes me really like it.

Check out other videos directed by Harrison Sanborn here.

COMMUNITUESDAY: How To Write Like The Beatles #5: RINGO (Special Surprise Edition)

When I wrote the original four parts of this series, I specifically left poor Ringo out. Ever the sad figure of The Beatles, his downbeat kookiness was the missing piece of the puzzle as far as marketing The Beatles were concerned, and The Beatles certainly would not have made such an impact on the Liverpool scene if Starr (already a musician with a large Merseyside fanbase) hadn't joined the band. Although he was never strictly a "songwriter" in the Lennon-McCartney sense, only composing two and a half songs in a decade, his input was nevertheless important, and his technique shaped the face of modern drumming.

Internet Forever - Break Bones (Single Review + Video!)

Break Bones from Tape Alarm on Vimeo.

Released: 28^th November 2011

Genre: Low Fi Pop/Indie

Label: Tape Alarm Records

TL;DR: Really quite nice. 7/10

A few years ago, I was overwhelmed in a phase where I ONLY listened to Say Hi To Your Mom. The one man band’s debut album spoke out to me in so many reasons it was unbelievable, and it was on Spotify too. Result. Anyway, the reason why I tell you this is because one of the related artists suggested was a band called Internet Forever.

Spotify only had their 7” Cover The Walls single on it, with no description of the band to be seen. I really REALLY loved Cover The Walls, and set off on a journey to find more material by these guys, which quickly became unsuccessful. Until today! The year 2011 and Seb from Pindrop Publicity (Hey) emails me with a link to their new single, Break Bones, the first to be released before their debut self titled album in February 2012.

Foxes! - Oh Rosie (Single Review + Video!)

Released: 17^th November 2011

Genre: Spaced Out Pop

Label: Big Salad Records

TL;DR: Chaotic but heavily supervised, I like it. 7/10

In the short life of Little Comments, many artists/labels have been in contact offering their music to be criticised and also to give them a little bit of healthy promotion. Some have responded generously, while others have disappeared from the radar once a review has been published. This is not the case with Big Salad Records, who is easily becoming my favourite contact and record label infact, with releases such as the wonderful Balcony Times by Milk & Biscuits, and now Foxes! Is beginning to tingle my ears nicely too.

Foxes! Is a four piece band hailing originally from Oxford before migrating to the coast line of Brighton. The lineup consists of husband and wife Adam (guitar, vocals) and Kayla Bell (drums, vocals), Alan Grice (bass, keyboards) and Matt Twaites (guitar, keyboard, omnichord). Oh Rosie is the first single to be dropped before the release of their self titled debut album on the 16^th of January.

Sacrilegious Throne - Acts Of Apostasy EP

Released: 19^th September 2011

Label: Self Released

Genre: Blackened Death Metal

TL;DR: Heaviest thing I’ve ever reviewed, and I’m loving it. 8/10

It’s not often that I get the chance to listen to some metal/black metal/death metal and intend to write up a review of it for Little Comments. It’s even less of a chance that I listen to some of these genres with the intention of displaying how much I like it in a review.

Fortunately Sacrilegious Throne is the band to grant me that limited chance with new EP Acts of Apostasy. The mix of aggressive riffs played in blinding tempos, incredibly harsh vocals and percussion that makes me want to cry in fear easily dethrones Toxic Holocaust for accolade of ‘Heaviest Music I’ve Heard 2011’.

COMMUNIT..wednesday..: How To Write Like The Beatles #4: THE BEATLES

Don't be fooled by the confusing title, this final part of my four-part series is just as considered and relevant as the others. In the previous three parts I've talked about the band members as individuals, and what they were capable of on their own. Now I will tie all of these threads together to illustrate why despite being excellent songwriters on their lonesome, they were never better than when they combined.

Tanya T6 - Will You Be Home For Christmas?

Released: 1^st December 2011

Label: Self released

Genre: Festive

TL;DR: Doesn’t sound TOO festive. 4/10

There has certainly been a lack of quality Christmas tunes in the past few years, with the last (arguably) being The Darkness’ glam metal effort Christmas Time (Don’t Let The Bells End) way back in 2004. Instead we’ve seen the previously coveted Christmas Number 1 filled with manufactured X Factor songs that bare no relevancy to the best holiday season of the year, with 2009 finally freeing the award from the dead horse that is X Factor/Simon Cowell, into the warm and swearing hands of Rage Against The Machine.

This year appears to be reviving the true value of the Christmas Number 1. There was that song with Mariah Carey in limited clothing and Justin Bieber pretending to cream his pants, and Zooey Deschanel’s She & Him AND Michael Buble has released festive albums to give a kickstart a new life in the corpse of Wizzard, Slade, and Wham’s glory. There is also Tanya T6, a lady who has also released a holiday EP titled Holidays At Home, and Will You Be Home For Christmas is its new single.

Unfortunately not much can be said in how excited this gets me for Christmas. The lack of sleigh bells, a choir and cheesy lyrics only acceptable at this time of year leaves this track sounding a bit irrelevant. Infact, it sounds like a track left off a tracklisting for either of The Weeknd’s releases.

The instrumentation as a result sounds a lot like any random RnB song released in any season, with winter definitely being the last to associate it with. And while the lyrics do talk about Christmas, they sound out of context here.

One part I do like about the track however are the vocals. The way they sound as if they’ve been individually recorded and pasted together bares a nice effect which adds a bit of individualism to the song.

Otherwise, this single does not leave me feeling Christmassy and wanting to hear more from Tanya T6. If the other songs on the EP are more like Wizzard/Slade traditional and less of how Gary Jules is considered traditional (in some way) and it gets good reviews then I shall check it out.

Check out the song HERE

The Black Keys - El Camino (Album Review + Stream!)

Released: 6^th December 2011

Genre: Blues/Alt Rock

Label: Nonesuch Records

TL;DR: It’s very enjoyable, but tends to hold off the nitro button. 7/10

Stand Out Tracks: Lonely Boy, Hell Of A Season, Stop Stop

With the end of The White Stripes still too painful to truly take in, there’s a hole left behind where Jack and Meg White used to sit that needs to be filled. To see a band that revelled in staying outside the box while simultaneously becoming as universally loved depart in silent manner left many people with a question: What do we listen to now?

Well here we have The Black Keys, another blues rock duo in Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney who also hail from the U.S. These two have been under the radar throughout the majority of their ten year career and discography, before finally making it onto adverts and mainstream media with last year’s album Brothers, an album that confirmed their place as more-than-suitable replacements for The White Stripes.

A year later and the band’s latest output lie in seventh album El Camino. This is an album that encompasses the loud, harsh blues tones of The Black Keys and finely details it with the improvements of recording quality, musicianship and ideas that Auerbach and Carney have picked up over the last ten years. Everything is captured nicely, sounds fantastic, but there’s just a slight touch of underwhelm in these tracks that don’t quite get me excited for this new record.

100% Music Reviewing, 0% Income (Swings & Roundabouts)

Since the last blog post I published, a significant moment happened. Nearly 2 months ago, I began working as an apprentice for a web developing company and finally had enough responsibility and money to refer to myself as an "independent adult" without feeling too much like a little kid who wanted to prove his parents wrong. 

Things Were Going So Well...
Everything was going well, the job was interesting, my fellow colleagues were nice and very welcoming, and overall I just felt like I belonged there despite being the new kid. I was producing work to a good degree and my boss was regularly giving me positivity which only pushed me to achieve more in less time, so maybe this company would be the source of my maturity and responsibility for a long time. 

Everything than began to go downhill rapidly over the course of the last week. Monday saw me receive a written warning about the amount of time I spent online doing 'personal web use' as apposed to doing something more productive. I took this justified warning to mind and instantly directed my focus onto work, I also gave myself a fixed lunch time of 12:30 - 1pm to truly limit my time on 'personal web duty' and also to prove to my boss that I did care about my apprenticeship.

But this didn't seem to matter at all. Tuesday saw the end of the usual greeting from everybody upon arriving to work. Wednesday saw the start of my boss' snarky and completely demeaning comments towards me instead of providing me with answers to my questions. I was here to learn afterall, not be a fully fledged web developer who knew every.single.thing about HTML and CSS.

Thursday saw the end of ANY social interaction and the start of operation Ignore Adzy. The end of the warm reception and friendly atmosphere I garnered at the start of my apprenticeship was gone, and I often left home depressed and alone, despite being in an office with four other individuals.

Friday was more of the same of the above, only this time I was being told off for arriving literally a minute late. A fantastic start was soon overtaken by an even more fantastic departure, as 4:20pm (my boss left me to work for nearly the entire day before doing what he did next, how nice of him.) suddenly gave my boss a spring in his step as he struggled his way through the open door, stood behind me, told me to pack my things, and leave. 

And so I was fired. The reason apparently being that I continued to use the internet for personal web use, more specifically: using forums. If my boss had actually looked into detail, he would see that these forums were dedicated forums for HTML and CSS...basically, my job. He even told me (after 2 weeks of beginning my job) to stop asking him questions all the time when I have the internet by my fingertips. So I took his advice, and well...he's now very low on my expectations, directly underneath vomit and dog turd.

Free Time + Productivity = REVIEWS!

So what does this mean for Little Comments? WELL. I can now spend a lot more time on reviews instead of racing against it. This is good because it means I can listen to albums/songs frequently and develop a proper opinion on it before writing down what I like and dislike about it, and also return to posting three a day instead of two.

I also have the choice of posting a review either in the morning (GMT) or schedule a review to automatically publish late at night, so people who live overseas can see new content when they log on and view this website. I will most likely choose the former.

Overall, while the lack of job will leave me without money (Great time of year to get the sack too, heh...festive pun) and no real progression of being an adult, and a huge depression of responsibility. Little Comments will see a number of increases: More reviews, more content, a new design, new layout, and finally somebody who can return to a time where they were motivated and enjoying life again. Thank goodness.

(...I didn't mean for this to be so long, but nevermind. I needed to let off some steam and inform you guys of why LC has been a bit slack lately.)

A Blog Post From Adzy #7: Taking a Little Break

Hey everybody, Adzy here with a little post. I'm sure you've been aware of a lack of reviews in the last few days, and well, I just need a little break from it to be honest. Yes, I do love reviewing and enjoy listening to new music and possibly finding an album/EP/track/whatever that I can put in my iPod and enjoy forevererererer. But gahhh, this week has just been a bit knackering.

I'm pretty sure it's because of lack of sleep, working, working, working, it being too cold, it being too dark, and more working all forming a horrid combination that tires the hell out of me. Now I don't want to sound like a complete whining bitch, but I don't get home til about 6:30pm, and then I eat dinner and before I know it I have to start writing a review for 8pm.

So until Monday....or the Monday after that, Little Comments shall be on hold for now. No, I'm not going to decide to leave forever, but really, trying to write 2 reviews every night after a hard day's work is too much for me. Instead I shall be posting just ONE review every day, it'll be a bit easier and would allow for the posts to get a bit more exposure for a longer period of time.

I guess that's it really, so until then, have a wonderful rest of the week :)

Love,
Adzybaby
xoxo