"After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music"
Aldous Huxley
You might ask yourself, why is an Athletic Director posting a music review on a sports blog? Well, I still consider myself an amateur musician having played the cello since age 8, know a little piano and minored in music in college. Also since Christmas of 2006 when I was trying to figure out an appropriate gift for my wife Kathy, who says she never wants a gift, I have made a Best Music of the Year CD for athletes I coach, friends and family. With this blog, I can now share my favorites with a larger audience for the holidays. So below is my list that I have culled from about 60-70 songs I regularly listened to this year. The list is only as long as I can burn songs onto one CD so it ranges every year from between 17 and 20 songs. Everything written in purple is a link to another song that I recommend you listen to. So click on those for even more listening pleasure. I hope you enjoy the music. Drop me an email if you are around school, and I will drop off a CD for you.
Sorry about the advertisements that come with the songs' videos. I hope the money these advertisements produce goes to the artists.
"Peggy Sang the Blues" by Frank Turner
Frank Turner seems to come out of the Billy Bragg school of singing. He is a mix of folk rock and punk with a little bit of left wing politics thrown in. And he is British. I discovered him this year and really liked his album England Keep My Bones. After much consideration, "Peggy Sang the Blues" became my favorite song from the album. "I Am Disappeared", though, was so close as a favorite that I almost put two Frank Turner songs on this CD. So find a way to listen to that song too. The story behind "Peggy Sang the Blues" is that it is about Frank's "super cool" Grandmother -- she taught him to drink whiskey as a youth -- who comes back to him as a ghost in the song with advice. Her advice is to live life without regret as the chorus goes "No one gets remembered for the things they didn't do." A nice philosophy and a memorable way to start this years CD.
"Flirted With You All My Life" by Cowboy Junkies
I love the piano chord progression at the beginning of this song. This Cowboy Junkies performance is a cover of a Vic Chestnutt song and a tribute to his work. Thus the first lyric "I am a man" makes a little more sense as it is sung by a women in the Cowboy Junkie version. Vic Chestnutt died in 2009 and was a singer / songwriter most well known for writing songs more mainstream artists made famous.
"The OtherSide" by The Roots
The Roots are the house band for the Jimmy Fallon show. Their album Undun came out in early December so is the last song in chronological order that is on this disk. The album has gotten all sorts of strong reviews. The song "The OtherSide"is the one I like the best so far. How can you not like a hip hop band that has a guy playing a Sousaphone? It is also my one hip/ hop song. I enjoyed a couple of other hip/ hop songs this year especially "Otis" by Jay-Z and Kanye West and Siagon's "Bring Me Down Part 2" but it is hard to find clean versions to post here so they were nixed from this CD. (I have been having problems embedding this video version of "OtherSide" which was performed on the Jimmy Fallon show last week. Sorry if it does not work in your browser.)
"Paradise" by Coldplay
Coldplay's 2011 album Mylo Xyloto was not their best and I did not initially like "Paradise". It took a while for it to grow on me but it is Coldplay. How could I not put a song on from a band that aspires to be the greatest rock band ever? Isn't mediocre Coldplay better than a lot of artists best work? Coldplay has used strings a lot in their songs so that always plays well with me. But the bass that comes in with a low F is quite an effect especially on your sub-woofer. So here is "Paradise" by Coldplay.
"Midnight City" by M83
M83 is a new band I discovered this year and is part of the rising genre of electronic music that is often composed and played on computers or synthesizers.
"Tree By the River" by Iron & Wine
Former North Shore teacher and coach, Jordan Kravitz, has often pushed me to try different music and give someone a second listen who I may have dismissed too early. Iron & Wine is one of these groups. I have now listened to "Tree By the River" so much that I have overplayed it and am tired of the song. Still it was one of my favorites from 2011 so I am sure you will like it unless you too have heard it too much too.
"Rider" by Okkervil River
I did a beginning of summer CD for friends because there was a lot of really good music in the first 5 months of the year. This song opened it up because it really catches your attention. I continue to enjoy listening to it. The band is based in Austin, Texas but its members are all high school friends from Kimball Union Academy which is also Andrew Wheating's -- the great American middle distance runner -- high school.
"Even If She Falls" by Blink-182
Blink-182 is an American Pop/Punk Band that caught a lot of peoples attention in 2000 especially with a song entitled "All the Small Things". Brendan Leonard, North Shore Class of 2003, and his father Mike Leonard of the Today Show used the song as part of a memorable football highlight video. But since 2005 they have been on a prolonged hiatus -- until this year when they returned with an album called Neighborhoods."Even If She Falls" is my favorite song from their new album.
"Helplessness Blues" by Fleet Foxes
Fleet Foxes made my 2008 Best of CD with their song "White Winter Hymnal". They are a band from Seattle known for their vocal harmonies. "Helplessnees Blues" is the title song from their 2nd Album. I was also a fan of the song "Montezuma" from this second album. This video locked "Helplessness Blues" to my Best of list. It was filmed over 4 months around Arizona.
"Safari Disco Club" by Yelle
Yelle is a French band whose music is classified as electronic. This is almost my favorite song of the year.The lyrics are all French. I do not know French so I am trusting the lyrics are relatively clean. Someone who does know French, let me know what they are saying. Anyway, the video below is two of their songs. Not sure why, but it is the only one I could embed. Safari Disco Club is the first song. The performance demonstrates to me that knowing the language is not important to enjoying the music. Apparently there has been a big rise is French rock over the last decade. Phoenix with their hit "Lisztomania" being the one of the best known French acts and also on 2009 Best of..
YELLE - Safari Disco Club / Que veux-tu (exclusive full length edit) from Yelle on Vimeo.
"Lost in Your Mind" by The Head and the Heart
One of my new favorite groups, The Head and the Heart produced a couple of songs on their album Down in the Valley which I really liked. Besides "Lost in Your Mind" I also really liked the albums title song "Down in the Valley". This is a really cool group I feel I will be listening to for a number of years.
"By Your Hand" by Los Campesinos!
Los Campesinos! is a 7 piece band from Cardiff, Wales. They previously appeared in the 2008 Best of CD. They are known for being high energy. This song is from their fourth album Hello Sadness which is also the title of their other most popular song on that album. They will be here in Chicago in January, but the concert is already sold out.
"Someone Like You" by Adele
This video has 69 million views on Youtube alone. Her album 21 has to be the best album of the year.I probably don't need to say more except that this is my favorite song on the album.
"Let's Go" by Hurricane Bells
Discovered this small band this year in a Spin Magazine promotion. I guess I am biased towards a song entitled "Let's Go" as my favorite Italian word is ANDIAMO which means let's go.
"Calamity Song" by The Decemberists
The Decemberists return to the Best Of CD after previously appearing in 2009. The Portland, Oregon based band's album The King is Dead was the first major album on this list to come out in 2011 released on January 14th and has since been referred to as the album REM was trying to make. REM and Peter Buck were big influences on Decemberists leader Colin Meloy. Given all the other songs I have listened to since January when the album first came out, this song has really stood the test of time.
"Nobody Knows" by The Feelies
On December 10th 1988, my wife Kathy and I went on our first date. We saw the Feelies -- a Jersey band -- just off South St. in Philadelphia. So anytime the Feelies come out with a new album it will be significant to me. In this case, they had not come out with a new album since disbanding in 1992. So I have been waiting a long time. The Feelies are one of those bands that influenced a lot of musicians -- including REM -- but they never really made it big. They are known for their multiple layers of guitars. They reunited in 2008 and released their first new album since 1991 this year with Here Before.
One Sunday Morning (Song for Jane Smiley's Boysfriend) by Wilco
I think I have saved the best for last. This 12 minute song is currently my favorite song of the year. It is the last song on Wilco's new album and you can only get it if you get my CD or you buy the whole album off iTunes. I think it is so good, I was willing to sacrifice three more songs on this year end CD. The song is supposed to be a meditation on growing old and dealing with regret. Not that I have a lot of regret, but I guess in the year before I turn 50, it is appropriate theme to end this CD on.
Credits for this years CD go to Jordan Kravitz and Tommy McHugh who were free with their opinions and advise. Also to Matt Gasparotto who listened to various iterations at our morning workouts.
I did leave some significant musicians out who got lots of critical acclaim. One is Bon Iver who is up for an Emmy. "Holocene" almost made it on this CD, but it has the F-word in the lyrics, and I have to draw a line somewhere. It is tough to find great songs with clean lyrics these days. I also left St. Vincent off. I just could not get into her songs, although lots of other people apparently did. I also really liked songs by Lisa Hannigan, Youth Lagoon, Deer Tick, Best Coast, and Radiohead. But just not enough to make this final year end CD compilation.
So enjoy the music and have a great holiday. Please list your favorite song of the year in the comment section below. I appreciate recommendations.
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