Best Of 2011

Is it too early? Well some of my neighbours have put their Christmas tree up and the BBC has announced the nominations for Sports Personality of the Year, so probably not.

Here are my favourite Albums and Gigs of 2011.....

Best Album
1. Elbow - Build A Rocket Boys
2. The Low Anthem - Smart Flesh
3. Jesca Hoop - Snowglobe EP
4. Bon Iver - Bon Iver
5. Wild Beasts - Smother
6. Beirut - The Rip Tide
7. Death Cab For Cutie - Codes And Keys
8. Laura Marling - A Creature I Don't Know
9. P J Harvey - Let England Shake
10. Birdy - Birdy


Best Gig ( And “Hello” to all the wonderful people from this forum that I’ve seen at gigs this year )

1. Elbow - Cambridge
2. The Low Anthem - Leeds Irish Centre
3. Elbow - Manchester MEN Arena
4. Jesca Hoop - Manchester Deaf Institute
5. Elbow - Liverpool Echo Arena
6. Villagers - Preston 53 Degrees
7. I Am Kloot - Manchester Lowry
8. Death Cab For Cutie - Manchester Academy
9. British Sea Power - Manchester Ritz

And finally, I'm leaving a place for the Cherry Ghost gig in Manchester later this month even though I’ve not been yet! I have high expectations for this one!

So what great albums and gigs have I missed this year and what are your Best Of 2011's?

Wow - It doesn't seem that long ago it was the best of 2010 .

Best (and Only) gig Elbow Glasgow

I honestly have hardly bought any music this year, would agree with BARB and Laura Marling.
and have to add in Noel Gallagher, for me a very good album.

Wild Beasts - Smother
Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
Elbow - build a rocket boys!
Big K.R.I.T. - Return of 4eva
Kendrick Lamar - Section.80
Miles Kane - Miles Kane
Radiohead - King of Limbs (although more due to seeing it at Glasto a few months after)
Yuck - Yuck

There are many more I would list but I don't feel I can justify posting them when I haven't listened to them enough.

Albums:-
(in no particular order)

Elbow: - BARBS
MIles Kane - Miles Kane
Noel Gallagher - NGsHFBs
The Wombats - This Modern Glitch
Noah & The Whale - Last Night On Earth
Kasabian - Velociraptor

Best 5 Albums of the year for me, would be.....in no particular order.

1. Anna Calvi - Anna Calvi
2. BARB! - Elbow
3. Suck it And See - Arctic Monkeys
4. Helplessness Blues - Fleet Foxes
5. Let England Shake - PJ Harvey

Gigwise....again, in no particular order.

1. Elbow - MEN Manchester
2 Bluetones - Manchester Acad 2
3. Chameleons Vox - Ruby Lounge, M'cr
4. Anna Calvi - Manchester Cathedral
5. James - Bridgewater Hall, M'cr

Can't give a top 5 gigs, only went to four

Additional nominations (to add to the obvious but still worthy Elboys and Polly Harvey):

Metronomy: The English Riviera
Battles: Gloss Drop
Friendly Fires: Pala (I'm not certain this is great, but I like it)
Cut Copy: Zonoscope
Gang Gang Dance: Eye Contact (My favourite I think)
The Horrors: Skying

and 2 late entries...
The Moth & The Mirror: Honestly, This World (this is seriously good, people).
Kate Bush: 50 Words for Snow (Completely, effortlessly original, both fresh and yet timeless.)

Have to add the new Roots album Undun, clicked almost straight away, I love it.

Oooooh....this is tough. Let me see if I can remember everything I loved this year:

Elbow - BARB!
Tom Waits - Bad As Me
TV On The Radio - Nine Types of Light
Iron & Wine - Kiss Each Other Clean
Atlas Sound - Parallax (only been out a short while, but it's really solid)
Beastie Boys - Hot Sauce Committee, Part 2
Explosions In The Sky - Take Care, Take Care, Take Care
Wilco - The Whole Love
Bjork - Biophilia

There were several others that I really enjoyed, but they didn't quite make my list of "the best".

As for best gigs - are you friggin' serious?? I saw ELBOW, in MANCHESTER, with A HUGE ARENA FULL OF FANS and A BUNCH OF AWESOME FORUMSTERS! Toppermost of the poppermost, my friends! I expect that experience will remain on the top of my "best gigs" list for, like, ever.

This took me a long time to figure out, and it will probably keep changing

Album's
1 - Seasick Steve - You Can't Teach an Old Dog New Tricks
2 - Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
3 - Bon Iver - Bon Iver
4 - Elbow - Build A Rocket Boys!
5 - Laura Marling - A Creature I Don't Know
6 - Foo Fighters - Wasting Light
7 - Ben Howard - Every Kingdom
8 - Frank Turner - England Keep My Bones
9 - Ghostpoet - Peanut Butter Blues & Melancholy Jam
10 - The Black Keys - El Camino

EP's
1 - Dry The River - Weights & Measures
2 - Alex Turner - Submarine
3 - Ben Howard - Old Pine
4 - Willy Mason - Live At The Grange Hall
5 - The Decemberists - Long Live The King

Song's
1 - Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
2 - Elbow - Lippy Kids
3 - Bon Iver - Towers
4 - White Lies - Bigger Than Us
5 - Givers - Up Up Up
6 - Bombay Bicycle Club - Shuffle
7 - Seasick Steve - You Can't Teach an Old Dog New Tricks
8 - The Black Keys - Lonely Boy
9 - Dry The River - New Ceremony
10 - Elbow - Jesus Is A Rochdale Girl

1. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
2. Ane Brun - It All Starts with One
3. The Antlers - Burst Apart
4. Timber Timbre - Creep on Creepin' On
5. Wilco - The Whole Love
6. awkward i - Everything on Wheels
7. I am Oak - Oasem
8. Nils Frahm - Felt
9. Radiohead - The King of Limbs
10. Elbow - Build a Rocket Boys!

ALBUMS:
1. Elbow: Build A Rocket Boys
2. The War On Drugs: Slave Ambient
3. Coldplay : Mylo Xyloto
4. The Antlers: Burst Apart
5. Joseph Arthur: The Graduation Ceremony
6. Bon Iver: Bon Iver
7. PJ Harvey : Let England Shake
8 Laura Marling: A Creature I Don’t Know
9. The Vaccines: What Did You Expect From The Vaccines?
10. TV On The Radio – Nine Types Of Light
11. Fleet Foxes: Helplessness Blues
12. Snow Patrol: Fallen Empires
13. dEUS: Keep You Close
14. Selah Sue: Selah Sue
15. James Blake; James Blake
16. Gillian Welch: The Harrow and The Harvest
17. Joan As Police Woman: The Deep Field

Also:
Shabazz Palaces: Black Up
Katy B.: On A Mission
Jonathan Jeremiah: A Solitary Man
A.A. Bondy: Believers
Feist: Metals
My Morning Jacket: Circuital
Radiohead: The King Of Limbs
Danger mouse & Daniele Luppi Present: Rome
Arctic Monkeys: Suck It And See
Kurt Vile: Smoke Ring For My Halo
Lykki Li: Wounded Rhymes
Anna Calvi: Anna Calvi
Waterboys: an Appointment With Mr. Yeats

CONCERTS
1. Elbow (Brussels!, Antwerp & Rock Werchte)r
2. Coldplay (Antwerp! & Rock Werchter)
3. Interpol (Lokerse Feesten! & Antwerp)
4. Grant Lee Buffalo (Brussels)
5. The National (Brussels & Rock Werchter)
6. Fleet Foxes ( Rock Werchter)
7. Morrissey (Lokerse Feesten)
8. Everything Everything ( Brussels)
9. Arctic Monkeys (Rock Werchter)
10. Black Dub (Gent)