December 30, 2011
Top 10 of 2011

The following are my top 10 albums of 2011. While this year has featured some great reissues and live albums, I’m only including CD’s of new music. So, here goes…

  1. Riverside, Memories In My Head
    A mini-album clocking in at just over a half hour that is simply brilliant!
  2. Steven Wilson, Grace For Drowning
    While I really like this and find more that I like on repeated listens, I don’t think I like it as much as most. 
  3. Yes, Fly From Here
    Easily the band’s best album since 90125.
  4. Jakszyk, Fripp & Collins, A Scarcity of Miracles
    Essentially a mellow King Crimson ProjeKct.
  5. Opeth, Heritage
    Abandons the death metal vocals altogether for a 70s prog vibe.
  6. Pendragon, Passion
    The second excellent album in a row from a band I never really cared for in the past.
  7. Airbag, All Rights Removed
    A solid sophomore release that isn’t quite as good as the debut.
  8. Lunatic Soul, Impressions
    An instrumental affair from Riverside’s Marius Duda.
  9. Tommy Shaw, The Great Divide
    The Styx guitarist/singer pulls off the bizarre - releasing an album of original bluegrass songs. 
  10. Blackfield, Welcome To My DNA
    The weakest of Blackfield’s three albums, likely owing to Steven Wilson’s lack of input (he was saving his best work for his solo album).

I want to give a special mention to the Beach Boy’s Smile Sessions release. This album, originally recorded in the last 60s but never released in its entirity (individual songs have appeared on various Beach Boys albums and Brian Wilson released a solo version of the album in 2004), it’s great to finally hear the full Beach Boys version. So while not really a new CD per se, it does deserve a special mention.

And the usual disclaimer - I’m sure in a few months I’lll hear something from 2011 that I hadn’t heard yet that I’ll love, bumping something off of this list.

Happy New Year!

Jim

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December 15, 2010
Best CD’s of 2010

Here it is, my annual top 10 CD’s of the year. I do want to preface this with this is how my top 10 stands now, December 15, 2010. I’ve discovered that after doing these lists for a few years now, I’ll discover music next year that was released in 2010 that would easily make this list. Two examples are Airbag’s Identity, which was released in 2009 but I didn’t hear until this year. Had I heard it in 2009, it easily would have been in my top 10 (top 3, actually). Another is Gazpacho’s Night, which I only discovered in 2010 but would have easily made my 2007 list.

So, that being said, here’s my list as it stands now. The top two are really close, but…

1. Crack The Sky, Machine
2. Phil Selway, Familial
3. Anathema, We’re Here Because We’re Here
4. Pineapple Thief, Someone Here Is Missing
5. Spock’s Beard, X
6. Lunatic Soul, Lunatic Soul II
7. Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, The Social Network soundtrack
8. Gazpacho, Missa Atropus
9. Pure Reason Revolution, Hammer & Anvil
10. Bryan Ferry, Olympia

While not new music, a special mention to Porcupine Tree’s live release, Anesthetize, which probably ranks as my most-listened-to disc of the year.

6:53am  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZyxxQy2AWOBo
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