Our 10 Favorite Albums of 2011 - Nr. 09

And so its the end of the year again (or the start) and we have listened to an awful lot of music, the people here. And two of us managed to churn out some words on what we consider as our favorite albums of 2011. So enjoy, hope it proves to function both as a tip sheet and as a salute to good music.

Stef:

09. Beni – House of Beni (Modular)

It’s a buwwwble. When I think of this album, I think of that tune. That tune is just amazing, one of my favorite songs of the year. It just screams dance, dance, dance baby!, and I don’t see any reason why anyone shouldn’t. But this is not a one song wonder, this album. It starts with the vocals of Nomi Ruiz to lure you into the club, and then it just gets down and dirty with Sam Sparro, Turbotito, and you’re even going to rock a bit with The Rapture’s Mattie Safer. 

The vocal contributions are fabulous, but the good thing is that it all meshes so well together as it all exhumes the same thing: having a sexy night out at the club. The one flaw of this album comes nearing the end, where some of the instrumental tracks (obviously not O.P.U.L.E.N.C.E. with that vintage house feel) feel like they kind of bog down the album a bit. By that time you’re probably so exhausted from dancing though your mind won’t register it anymore anyway. And honey, don’t forget, it’s a buwwble.

Beni - It's A Bubble by modularpeople

Linda:

9.    EMA – Past Life Martyred Saints (Souterrain Transmissions)

With a mere three albums from my half-year list making it into my end of year list, I think that must mean that the second half of the year was the better. For me at least. Judging by the comments on YouTube – which one never should do – you either love or hate this album. Unsurprisingly, I am writing about it after all, I’m in the ‘love it’ group. There is something about the angst and anxiety expressed in the nine tracks that make up this album that just make me fall in love with the thing. 

Opener ‘The Grey Ship’ remains my favourite. I can vaguely remember the exact same thing about six months ago, but I’m sticking with  it. I love tracks that make it past the five minute mark, seemingly without any effort, and this is one of those. Those tempo changes, the build up, it’s as close to perfection as you can get without decent recording equipment – I’m not a fan of needless lo-fi going on for too long. But it warrants all the more admiration for Erika Anderson, and the BBC/DiS reviewer Andrzej Lukowski for cooking up the term drone-folk to find a way to describe the album. 

EMA - The Grey Ship by souterraintransmissions