My two cents : Favourite albums of 2011

I've been reading a bunch of "Best Of" lists , some with which I agree, and some that I can't comprehend. Anyway, I thought I'd share with you some of the albums released in 2011, that I believe are really worth checking out.


Centro-matic - Candidate Waltz - centro-matic.com Follow @centromatic


A great Rock and Roll record from one of my favourite bands of the past few years. You don't hear much about these guys up in Canada, but if they ever make it up here on tour, I'm going.






My Morning Jacket - Circuital - mymorningjacket.com Follow @mymorningjacket


Took a while for this one to grow on me. Give it a chance and you will be glad that you did.







Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues - fleetfoxes.com Follow @fleetfoxes


They've stepped up their game from their previous release.I was hesitant to believe that they could. Lyrics have improved greatly.






David Bazan - Strange Negotiations - davidbazan.com Follow @davidbazan


This guy is a songwriters' songwriter. Crazy the way he weaves his ideas together in a 3 minute pop song.





Wilco - The Whole Love - wilcoworld.net
Follow @wilco


Hey, it's Wilco. They aren't re-inventing the wheel here, but this one is better than their last release (which was still pretty good).

Live @ The Acoustic Grill ?? Are you sure ?

I came across something amusing the other day as I was doing my weekly "googlings". Yes I google myself. I know it sounds narcissistic, but it is a necessary evil of being an indie musician, in order to understand what my marketing/promotion efforts are producing ( I'm sure if I were signed to a major label, they would gladly do this research for me for a fee, so I could act all uncaring, aloof, and artistically free, while they emptied my pockets...but that is a different blog post).

At any rate, I stumbled across a blurb on the CJAM blog. They write a sentence or two about the discs that come into the station (which is a cool idea) to let folks know of what they are like.

Here is what they wrote about Live @ The Acoustic Grill :

"If this is truly a live recording, it sounds pretty darn good. Pretty traditional acoustic folk music with some nice violin supplements."

(Nice shout-out to Kevin Davidson on the violin) The part that made me chuckle was " If this is truly a live recording " . Well, I'm here to tell you, it is a live recording. I was there man. And I've got witnesses.

I'll have to take this as a compliment though. I guess it means that Geoff Chown, Kevin Davidson, and myself, were on our game that night.

If you haven't heard the album yet, take a listen to some tracks here .

Bob Dylan Concert

I have to say, Bob Dylan was certainly an inspiration last night ( played last night in Kingston). I hope to be rockin' out like that when I'm a senior citizen. The show ran for just under 2 hours, and featured Bob, mostly on keyboard, and a super-tight backing band.

I could see how some people might be disappointed with the show. His voice was unintelligible for the most part, and a good chunk of the show was material from his most recent releases.

But I think going in, you have to know he is going to be hard to understand. And as for the new material, it is some of his best in years. I was glad that Joey (TST drummer) played the new album ( Modern Times ) for us when were on tour down east. I recognized a lot of the songs. His live show is true to the album sound ( or vice versa) in it's chugging, bluesy fashion. Elements of Jazz in there too.

I think with Bob, and Neil, and others of their vintage, we are going to see rock musicians follow the example of the old blues players, like John Lee Hooker and Muddy Waters. Keep on touring until they drop dead.

I say keep it coming.

Cheers,
Tom