Tuesdays with CJ: 2011 Year in Review

Greetings Everyone. Last year I endeavored to try something new. Using Napster, I would sample EVERY new album release of the year. The details are explained Here and Here . I was mostly successful. The only obstacles were various weeks that I couldn't get to a computer, and therefore, missed something; and in September when my Napster software started freezing up on me, and eventually, in November, Napster being bought out by Rhapsody. So not a whole lot from the end of the year, but certainly, I have enough to discuss last year's highlights.

To be honest, I started to doubt myself when Napster went down. I asked myself, "Is this just a self-indulgent project for my own enjoyment? Does it really matter to the world?" Then, I checked out Rhapsody's Top 50 of 2011. Yikes. Of the 50 tracks listed, I only remotely enjoyed 5 of them:
Rolling In The Deep - Adele
These Days - Foo Fighters
The Reason Why - Little Big Town
Hold On Hope - Glen Campbell
and 1,000 Faces - Randy Montana
If you think about it, that means that SEVERAL albums that I LOVE, and I consider to be the best of the previous year, were most likely never heard by the general public, and worse, other crapola was lauded and pushed by the Record industry. I find this to be wrong.

So, I'll start writing here about my picks for the best releases you never heard from 2011 this week, while I begin listening to the new releases for this year. And on Tuesdays, which everyone knows is the day all new albums "Drop," I'll report my findings. We should not let another year go by with so many great artists being ignored. Please, check in, and share with other good music fans. Post YOUR opinion, and suggest to me albums that I might have missed. Even Rhapsody, Billboard, and the new release newsletter I now receive can't get EVERYTHING.

So here we go: Starting with what I'll call "Obvious Choices." That means that these albums are the ones on everybody's list; and I actually agree, they ARE awesome.

Adele - 21 - Undisputed artist of the year, Adele, started out with a simple gimmick: She's a teenage, British white chick, who sounds like a classic Black Soul singer. Joss Stone had the same shtick. Like Stone, Adele had to overcome something with her new album: boredom. Without really great songs that show off her voice, her voice alone is nothing. Fortunately, the "21" album is one great song after another. Her vocal style took its toll this year, however, so I'd be interested, after the surgery, and the recovery, what happens with the next album.

Weird Al Yankovic - Alpocalypse - Recipient of Chris Hardwick's "Nerdist of the Year" award, Al brings another hysterical and well recorded piece. What's amazing about Yankovic is that after 30 years, he's still doing the same ol' thing, but doing it so well that it's still funny! This year brought some drama over the first single, "Perform This Way," but it was worth slightly offending Lady Gaga to finally get it out. Any true fan knows that it's not the parodies that reveal the true genius of Al, but the originals. "Alpocalypse" includes some of the best, all of which had a preview in 2010 on youtube.

The Decemberists - The King Is Dead - The sticker on the Starbuck's packaging for this CD said that this was unlike anything done by this band before. And in a left-handed compliment sort of way, they're right. I remember seeing them on "Austin City Limits" last year and not being impressed. Then I listened to "The King Is Dead," and I was genuinely blown away. The Decemberists are by definition a folk group, but their songs push folk traditions into the modern songwriting era.

The Muppets - Soundtrack - The most overhyped film of the year absolutely delivered on all of its promises. The newest Muppet film carries on the tradition of Jim Henson's Legacy, right down to the music. Although the film focuses on the TV show more than the movies, it was through The Muppet Show that Henson was at him most creative. The original songs by Flight of the Conchords member Bret McKenzie are hysterical. "Life's a Happy Song" is the happiest song on earth. I defy you to be depressed while listening to it! And the covers by the Muppets themselves are brilliant. All I'll say is... Beaker, Sam Eagle, the Pig from Pigs in Space, and Rolf doing a barbershop version of Smells Like Teen Spirit that I want to find the arrangement to and perform with my Middle School group. It's THAT good.

Foo Fighters - Wasting Light - For me, the year has been a battle between accessibility and musical brilliance. Most of the picks for the best of the year are certainly very creative and original, just not very good. Others are so pop-ish that they make me sick. Foo Fighters tread the line superbly. While being creative and hard rocking, their songs are so well written that the hardness of every track is "softened" enough to be a hit. This album is just plain brilliant.

Paul Simon - So Beautiful or So What - To be honest, a good Paul Simon album is one that isn't a bad Paul Simon album. This one was marketed as the "best record since Graceland." Now research that, and check out the Paul Simon albums that came since Graceland, and you'll see how that's not saying much. However, "So Beautiful" IS a good one. The songs are clever, but not too pretentious. Folksy without futilely attempting to recapture the magic of Graceland. And Dark, yet humorous and edgy. This is Simon on his game.

There's more, which I'll get to later this week. But this list will start you off in a good way, while I preview the first new week of new releases for 2012.