The Best Albums of 2011: no# 10-2

10. NODZZZ | "Innings"

Having got hip to Nodzzz's wonderfully fun and concise 15-minute eponymous debut earlier this year, I prowled the web for several minutes on a number of distant instances looking to find a leak of their expansive (it's almost 24 minutes long!!) sophomore release. Was it better than the first "album"? Shit no, boh! However, that's not a disparagement of this release's virtues; "NODZZZ" managed to succesfully consolidate all their wonderful ideas into a barrage of hooks with a perfect length. "Innings", in Nodzzz terms, perhaps does not sustain the mood quite as effectively. While Fear & Advice and Time (What's It Going To Do) are both incredible songs, they are garage-pop tracks with exactly the same rhythm and similar melodies, and without wanting to compromise the group's short-songs-are-best ethic, they could have created a magnificent three minute song by simply adjoining the two and retaining both the breezy harmonica of the former and the infectious guitar simplicity of the latter.

This is the only flaw of "Innings". The brevity of the tracks is refreshing, leaving no chance for any of the ideas to go stale. The lead guitar playing is reminiscent of David Berman's subtle, undistorted country-influenced licks on Silver Jews records. The rhythm guitar is uncomplicated thrashing. The drums are drums. I don't even think they have a bassist. Vocals bratty and appealing. The songs are great. It makes my 2011 list because very few other bands today have such a regard for, er, just playing some songs.

9. Ryan Adams | "Ashes & Fire"

I find it odd and lamentable that I have begun the first two entries of a list of albums I'm supposed to love by making derisive points about them, but here we go; some of "Ashes & Fire" is dull bullshit designed to appeal to Ryan Adams' irritating tumblr following for its romanticism, or that particular type of critic who doesn't seem to actually really like music, for its Americana leanings, which bring back memories of his solo debut "Heartbreaker". The tracks cursed by saccarine lyricism, weary tempos and unappealing melodies are Come Home, Rocks, Kindness and, though it has a rad gospel-esque arrangement, Save Me. The songcraft is very professional, and I would not describe any of these songs as bad. However, I will not defend their blandness and consistency for the same reason I find arguments that Coldplay are "at least better than most of the shit in the charts" to be absolutely worthless; I would rather an artist, in this case Ryan Adams (one of my favourites, for the record) made outright terrible music with utter conviction than sleepwalked their way through their music, as Adams seems to have done on the aforementioned tracks, or Coldplay have done throughout their entire, reprehensible career.

To give this blurb the structure of a slow ascension from the worst tracks on "Ashes & Fire" to the greatest, I could give or take Chains Of Love (with its engaging, stately string arrangement) and, with its magnificent vocal and motherfucking rockin' climax, Do I Wait. However, if anyone tried to take the following songs from me, I would beat their asses up and down the street; Dirty Rain is a consumate opening track, its oblique imagery supported by a piano-heavy instrumental track that elevates Adams' amazing singing, Ashes & Fire is one of his best songs, a truly momentous achievement with a roots-rock feel that harks back to his best album, 2005's melodically supple and heavily Grateful Dead-indebted "Cold Roses", Invisible Riverside, with its laconic electric piano and wah-wah, is a far greater approximation of that sun-baked Laurel Canyon vibe than anything Fleet Foxes could dream of mustering and the fairly popular single Lucky Now is unremittingly gorgeous [GOT THE HARVEY SLADE SEAL OF APPROVAL YO]. When the album concludes with I Love You But I Don't Know What To Say, the track has shown both Adams' penchant for schmaltz and his continued awesomeness. That's not even touching upon those incredible bonus tracks!

"Ashes On Fire" is not a return to form; while Adams has never actually lost his form, the LP verges on Middle of the Road as often as "Easy Tiger", though not quite so much as the awful "Cardinology". Check it out for good songs, though!

guys I'm snowed the fuck under with writing right now, seriously have no time for this.

However, I'll do miniblurbs

8. The Feelies - "Here Before"
good reunion shit

7. Raekwon - "Shaolin vs. Wu-Tang"
this is an awesome album to the extreme, only blighted by the fact that Rock N Roll is the worst fucking fucking fucking piece of shit song I have ever had the displeasure of hearing. my god with that shitass chorus it is so awful, makes me cringe in so many places. Raekwon's bars are sick when he's not havijng some autotuned cuntprick whine about Bon Jovi though.

6. Tom Waits - "Bad As Me"
Waits remains an incredible personality and musician. I say "personality" because really, to enjoy Tom Waits you have to dig his whole ethos and atmosphere, the very idea of Tom Waits. Mark Ribot and Keith Richards slash up their guitars all through these blistering jams, Flea and I think that dude from Primus play bass notes of some sort, and in an awesome work of nepotism, the main man's son Casey Waits beats the drum contraptions along with these A-listers. Waits sounds FANTASTIC. His bark really characterises these cool-ass songs, the best of which is undoubtedly some anti-war punk-metal-rap bullshit called Hell Broke Luce, undoubtedly the best song ever, which has a name originating from some, and I will capitalise this just to  announciate where this fucking genius gets his inspiration, SOME GRAFFITI ON A WALL IN ALCATRAZ, CARVED DURING A PRISONERS' RIOT. Fantastic music from a true hero!

5. David Kilgour & the Heavy Eights - "Left By Soft"
Wonderful power-pop, complemented by Neil Young-style guitars. Which means LOUD and FREELY MELODIC, incase any of you fucking pricks think that sounds acoustic-based.

4. "Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds"
Oasis were awesome, and though Beady Eye suck chud Noel Gallagher continues to bring the choonz. Everybody's On The Run, the opening track of this solid-as-all-hell record, is one of the most uplifting pieces of music I've ever heard. Good stuff Noely G! But please don't ever try blues-rock again, because Stranded On The Wrong Beach is fuckin' unlistenable.

3. Teenage Cool Kids - "Denton After Sunset"
Gorgeously melodic power-pop yet again, this time from a band that wikipedia calls Emo. Thankfully they do not suck, sound quite a bit like the Silver Jews, and aside from one kinda-catchy punk rock misfire, bring the choonz as well, including Landlocked State, something that greatly resembles It's All Over Now Baby Blue and cool ones with loud guitars that bookend it.

2. DJ Quik - "The Book of David"
not even gonna explain this choice. Best new hip-hop record I've heard since, uh, DJ Quik & Kurupt's last album. Odd Future are good but have made some overrated tripe - this is where the genre's at, in the hands of an old pro.

This was completely tying me down. I hate to shortchange these great albums but hopefully my enthusiasm for them will shine through. #1 will get a proper writeup!