It is the best and truest mark of artistry in the music industry, and sales are no indication of significance.  Sequencing and thematic continuity, sonic experimentation within a basic set of familiar parameters, a healthy range of types and topics: these are the standards by which to judge an album.

The album.

It ascended into an art form in the mid-sixties under the careful work of artists like the Beatles, Bob Dylan, and the Beach Boys.  It was taken to new heights with the experimentation of later bands, from the concept albums of the Moody Blues to the spin-off success of artists like Bruce Springsteen.  The album – and rock in general – saw a rebirth in the nineties, with the work of those like Weezer, the Wallflowers, the Barenaked Ladies, and a slew of others who led a surge of excellent rock music.

These days, the album has faced a crossroads.  Specifically, with the advent and surge of digital sales, the physical formats of music are on the chopping block.  Still, with the rise of vinyl sales even as CD sales continue to decline, there is hope yet.  And, contrary to an army of naysayers, there are still excellent albums being made.  This year, as with the past several years that I have been tuned into a vast array of albums, I would say there are about five albums that will undoubtedly stand the test of time and compete for top spots when I eventually get around to my Best Albums of All Time list.  Which, at this point, might have to wait until I hit retirement.

But, for the moment, you have my Best Albums of 2011 list, and if you’re interested in reading more about any of these albums, you can access my Weekend Review report (including star rating, production info, and a full review) by simply searching the album title and band name in the search bar above.  And, of course, if you see reason for disagreement or any gaps in my list, it’s up to you to leave comments below.

1)  The Whole Love (Wilco)

2)  The King is Dead (The Decemberists)

3)  Last Night on Earth (Noah & the Whale)

4)  Wasting Light (Foo Fighters)

5)  Bad As Me (Tom Waits)

6)  Unfortunate Casino (Gerry Beckley)

7)  The King of Limbs (Radiohead)

8)  Yuck (Yuck)

9)  Lasers (Lupe Fiasco)

10) W H O K I L L (The Tune-Yards)

11) The Graduation Ceremony (Joseph Arthur)

12) Vol. 2: High and Inside (The Baseball Project)

13) Collapse Into Now (R.E.M.)

14) Move Like This (The Cars)

15) The Valley (Eisley)

16) Cloud Maintenance (Kevin Hearn)

17) I’m With You (Red Hot Chili Peppers)

18) Alpocalypse (Weird Al Yankovic)

19) No Color (The Dodos)

20) Nighty Night (8in8)

Honorable Mention:

The Way It Was (Parachute)

The Dreamer, The Believer (Common)

Related posts:

1. The TOP FIFTY SONGS of 2011 (The Year-End Awards)
2. The BEST VOCAL PERFORMANCES of 2011 (The Year-End Awards)
3. The BEST PACKAGING of 2011 (The Year-End Awards)

Even with digital releases, there are album covers.  This seems to be the final facet of the artistry of the album that will survive into the next generation of music consumers, especially considering just how much we like colorful displays on our technology.  Still, there’s something so much more gorgeous about a CD booklet or, even better, a vinyl LP.  The five selections below – with an honorable mention thrown in because I couldn’t ignore it – are examples of the artists who still give attention to the complete package of their albums.  It was a tight contest between the top three, and these are all albums worth checking out the next time you’re in a store that offers records, even if you’re only going to take a glance.

1) Sky Full of Holes – Fountains of Wayne

2) The King of Limbs – Radiohead

3) Cloud Maintenance – Kevin Hearn

4) The Valley – Eisley

5) The Whole Love – Wilco

Honorable Mention:

Helplessness Blues – Fleet Foxes

Related posts:

1. The BEST PACKAGING of 2011 (The Year-End Awards)
2. The TOP TWENTY ALBUMS of 2011 (The Year-End Awards)
3. The BEST COLLABORATIONS of 2011 (The Year-End Awards)

By Jeff Copperthite:

First off, thank you to Jim for filling in for me yesterday. I have returned today for my normal installment of the Laptop Sessions. All I can say is (as if i’m in the movie Airplane) don’t order the swordfish.

Today’s installment is from the band Radiohead, a band I have enjoyed since it was introduced to me in high school. I have done one from them in a past session.

This is called “Nice Dream” and while short, it is a cool sounding song. The album “The Bends” is one of my favorites, and there are at least 2 more songs i’d like to do off of this album for future laptop sessions.

Can’t wait for my first installment of “Original Wednesday” in a couple of months. Keep visiting http://www.laptopsessions.com for more from Chris, Jim, and myself!

Related posts:

1. “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” (Beach Boys Acoustic Rock Cover Song) – The Laptop Sessions
2. “Bulletproof…I wish I was” (Radiohead Acoustic Cover) – The Laptop Sessions
3. “Found Out About You” (Gin Blossoms Acoustic Rock Cover Song) – The Laptop Sessions

By Jeff Copperthite:

Good evening to you!  I hope this evening finds you well and happy.  I’m bringing another familiar band (for me) for today’s session, and matter of fact, a familiar album.

Even though I love the more recent albums from Radiohead, I just can’t seem to find a song that would make a good acoustic cover outside of the songs I know on “The Bends”.  I’ve covered three from that album, and this song marks the fourth i’ve covered.  This could possibly be the most covered album on the sessions!

The song I have chosen is not a single on the album, and the song itself is known for it’s “spacy” feel.  The song is “Bulletproof…I wish I was” which I love for the Bb6 chord that is played at the end of the chorus.

I’m not saying I’m tired of covering this album, but if you think there’s a Radiohead song from another album that would make a good acoustic cover, please request it.  I’m seriously lost on what else I could cover from this band.

I also make no claim to sound like Thom Yorke, and if you’re reading this chances are you are not a person who watches an acoustic cover of a video expecting it to sound exactly the same.  And if it doesn’t, then the video is subpar.  We do quality covers on this site, and as long as you expect a cover, you will be a happy viewer.

Sorry, had to rant a bit – I haven’t historically gotten very positive comments on Youtube about my Radiohead covers in the past.

Well anyway, I think this is my best of the four songs from this album.  I hope you agree!

Tomorrow I can’t wait to see what Jim has in store for his original song.  I’ll be back to watch, and I know you will be too!

Related posts:

1. “Nice Dream” (Radiohead Acoustic Rock Cover Song) – The Laptop Sessions
2. “No Rain” (Blind Melon Acoustic Cover) – The Laptop Sessions
3. “Fa Fa” (Guster Acoustic Cover Video) – The Laptop Sessions

Don’t be shy; step right up for this, the second Weekend Review of the new year.  It’s long in coming, so each weekend until we catch up, I’ll be bringing you these month-at-a-glance reports.  I’m very happy with the focus and concision of the new format, as you’ll see below.  However, it appears to be less than iPhone-ready, so I’m working on ways to fix that.  After all, there’s nothing worse than visiting a site on your iPhone and coming to the realization that you won’t be able to read it properly.  Well, I suppose there are probably a few things worse than that, but what I mean is that there’s just no excuse in the 21st century for websites NOT to work smoothly on mobile devices, so please know I’m working on that.

I hope you enjoy reading, and hurry back this week (and, of course, next weekend) for all-new music-related content on the Laptop Sessions cover song music video blog!

The People’s Key Bright Eyes  Producer: Bright Eyes & Mike Mogis Released: February 1, 2011 Rating: 2/5 stars Top Two Tracks: “Triple Spiral” & “Jejune Stars”

This being my first Bright Eyes album experience, I must say it’s a mixed bag: lyrically excellent, yet musically ranging from masterfully beautiful to far too weird to be listenable.  I didn’t expect the sort of alternative country sound I’d heard from Conor Oberst’s Mystic Valley Band when they opened for Wilco a couple summers ago.  However, I certainly didn’t expect the sort of spoken word nonsense that stretches for MINUTES across the beginning of the first track (which is a shame, as “Firewall” is actually quite a strong song otherwise) and resurface elsewhere.  On paper, it is understandable why Oberst added Denny Brewer’s “shamanic vocals,” as the liner notes refer to them.  After all, they add a certain inimitable spiritual, existential ambience to the record.  They also grow old quite quickly and distract from the excellent music being laid out and the even more profoundly impressive lyrics being voiced throughout, especially on standouts like the driving  rock track “Triple Spiral” and the early gem “Jejune Stars.”  The latter track lyrically raises issues (and the bar) that will stretch throughout the remainder of The People’s Key, as Oberst sings, “Come fire, come water, come karma, we’re all in transition / The Wheel of Becoming erases the physical mind / Till all that remains is a staircase of misinformation / And the code we inherit, the basis, the essence of life … / It’s just so bizarre, is it true what we’re made of? / Why do I hide from the rain?”  He is referring, of course, to the fact that our bodies are made up – by an overwhelming percentage – of water, yet we carry umbrellas and seek shelter from the rain. Elsewhere, though, the songs drag a bit, as on “Approximate Sunlight” and “Ladder Song.”  All in all, this could have been an outstanding album rather than one I pay a complisult (see: Community; combination compliment & insult) by writing something like: The People’s Key falters and falls short at various points, yet there are a series of truly first-rate tracks, like the closer “One for You, One for Me,” which make the album worth the purchase, if you’re willing to skip a few tracks and fast-forward through several others.

Yuck Yuck  Producer: Yuck Released: February 15, 2011 Rating: 3.5/5 stars Top Two Tracks: “Shook Down” & “Suicide Policeman”

Yuck is one of the pleasant musical surprises of 2011.  The band’s debut album is a distorted, grungy, feedback-ridden gem that sparkles as often as it crackles.  What is most impressive about Yuck is their sense of ebb and flow, clearly evident through the arrangement of tracks here.  The smoother sound and brighter vocals of “Shook Down” slip in after two tracks where the garage rock mentality ruled and where even the vocals were run through with distortion.  Then, by the end, that pedal-processed guitar sound sneaks back in just in time to make the transition to the dirty-sounding “Holing Out.” This is the sort of well-planned craftsmanship that helps to hide the fact that this is a first album.  If nothing else, Yuck is one of the noisiest, most energetic rock albums of the year.  It isn’t perfect – the noise overtakes the tracks here and there and the quality fades noticeably by the end – and, in fact, the final two tracks are wholly unnecessary and should have been cut entirely, shipped off to bonus track land.  (Which reminds me, if you buy this album – which you should, I highly recommend it – don’t waste your time with the bonus track editions.) In modern music criticism, I feel as though something has been lost, namely a sense of appreciation for the rock essentials: riffs, solos, catchy choruses, snappy lyricism.  Yuck has all these components.  Although I was initially put off by the level of grunge that absolutely pervades several tracks, I’ve come around to the careful sonic mastery displayed by the band more and more with each listen. The final verdict?  Not perfect by any means, but one of the most exciting releases of 2011.

The King of Limbs Radiohead  Producer: Nigel Godrich Released: February 18, 2011 Rating: 4/5 stars Top Two Tracks: “Codex” & “Little by Little”

Even longtime Radiohead devotees appeared thrown by this release.  The sessions for the record were announced… a whole week before its release, and the band decided to release the album a day early because… well, why not?  With all the moves that make them an interesting band for reasons outside the music, Radiohead ushered The King of Limbs into their long tradition of norm-breaking practices.  The music itself is strikingly sparse at times, but this does not – and is surely not meant to – conceal just how much attention has been paid to subtlety.  The percussion is particularly notable this time around as clicks and clacks and clangs and taps abound.  Additionally, there is a riff-driven feel at times, though not in any traditional sense.  In many ways, this is another of those albums from Radiohead that are clearly produced using fairly standard instruments, yet where just how to reproduce these sounds and songs would prove elusive. Truth be told, I am not a fan of Radiohead: I fall firmly into the category of liking OK Computer and thinking much of their other work is seriously overrated.  That being said, In Rainbows (2007) changed my mind a bit – and even made my top albums of the decade list.  The King of Limbs continues my reappraisal of the band, particularly when the breathtaking, heartbreaking beauty of a song like “Codex” and the oddly catchy nature of tracks like “Morning Mr. Magpie” and “Little by Little” are undeniable.  The acoustic loop on “Give Up the Ghost” and even the nearly-instrumental “Feral” add texture and unpredictability to the mix, as the lack of a clear single or rock sensibility threaten to flatten the record. All told, the eight tracks of The King of Limbs offer the perfect length for an album of subtleties and stripped-down, built-back-up beauty like this; any shorter, it couldn’t be called an album, and, any longer, it would lose its momentum and appeal. And so, for the first time in my life, I offer up to you a review of Radiohead that includes my seal of approval.  It’s not the most rocking record, but that’s not the point.  It is, however, a starkly beautiful album of subtle complexities and unique qualities, quirky enough to be interesting but not so much as to be alienating.

No related posts.

By Jeff Copperthite:

Welcome to your thumpin’ thursday edition of the Laptop Sessions (been waiting 3 weeks to use that again). Today I bring you another Radiohead song from their album “The Bends”, and another song i’ve known how to play for quite some time.

The song is “Fake Plastic Trees”, and is one of the singles from the album. I love the dynamic change in this song, and the vocal changes throughout the song.

Naturally, like most Radiohead songs, I don’t know what it’s about either. Apparently, however, one site says it’s about Canary Wharf, a large shopping area in London.

This video goes down as a “I recorded it despite being sick” video. We can’t skip a day here at laptopsessions.com! Can’t use sickness as an excuse. Gotta keep the streak alive! I missed a note near the last verse, and the last line of the last verse my voice didn’t quite hit the falsetto I had been hitting in the previous verse lines. This is by no means my top vocal performance for sure. I’d have been better off recording this while my voice was 100%.

I’m hoping to hit 5k views by next Wednesday’s edition! I’m really racking up the views as of late. Hopefully I can start racking up the ratings and comments as well!

Until then, enjoy “Fake Plastic Trees”, another Radiohead hit!

Related posts:

1. “Nice Dream” (Radiohead Acoustic Rock Cover Song) – The Laptop Sessions
2. “Bulletproof…I wish I was” (Radiohead Acoustic Cover) – The Laptop Sessions
3. “Round Here” (Counting Crows Acoustic Rock Cover Song) – The Laptop Sessions