2011 Review: Top 10 Albums

I still can't get over how incredible 2011 has been in terms of music. There were so many exciting new artists bursting onto the scene (WU LYF, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr., Yuck, ASAP Rocky) while many other well already established artists expanded on and experimented with their sound to create something completely different (The Antlers, Bon Iver, Toro Y Moi).

And while its already been noted in various other publications, one can't help but draw parallels between the current climate of the music world to the current climate of the world. With exciting, democratic uprisings occurring the world over (Arab Spring, Occupy Movement), the people are joining together in search of change. Similarly, the "underground" has seemingly taken over the established norm and the major, corporate labels no longer rule the music industry. With all of the social networking devices, artists can build a brand for themselves without any need for the big budget that comes with a major label contract. As long as their willing to work, artists can find some sort of audience and without the meddling of big businesses worried about sales figures, the art is more pure and the listeners are reaping all of the benefits.

And now, without further ado, out of all the hundreds of albums and all the thousands of songs, here are the top 10 albums of 2011!

2011 Review: Top 50 Songs (30-21)

We're 20 songs into the top 50 of the year and with some very slight adjustments after a listen to the entire list last night, here are the next 10 songs (30-21). Make sure you check back at numbers 50-41 and 40-31 if you missed them and keep checking back for the top 20!

2011 Review: Top 10 Hip Hop Releases (Albums, Mixtapes & EPs)

2011 has been a hell of a year in music and to kick off A Brief Intermission's review of 2011, I've put together a list of the top 10 hip hop releases of the year. A lot of up and comers had a big year with multiple acclaimed releases, while others fell short of the overblown expectations. Likewise, some of the biggest names in hip hop released albums amidst a maelstrom of hype to mixed results.

Despite some of the big time disappointments, there was a lot of great music released and many of the new boys have people excited about the future of hip hop. Without further ado, here is the list (top 10 after the jump):

Honorable Mention (in no particular order):

Action Bronson & Statik Selektah - Well Done
Atmosphere - The Family Sign
The Cool Kids - When Fish Ride Bicycles
Stalley - Lincoln Way Nights: (Intelligent Trunk Music)
Talib Kweli - Gutter Rainbows

Weekly Top 5: Sets at Pitchfork Music Festival 2011

We apologize for the lack of posts recently but the majority of the staff here at A Brief Intermission were in Chicago enjoying the 2011 Pitchfork Music Festival. As such, this weeks first top 5 (there will be another on Friday) will be highlighting the best sets of an incredible weekend of music.

Before I get to the list, I feel compelled to give a big time shout out to a few people. The first is the management and organizers of Pitchfork. The festival was very well run and minus a few time clogs and shortened sets on the Blue Stage, the overall experience was excellent. In addition to excellent organization, the security and safety were absolutely top class. In a year, where music festivals have brought about a slew of injuries and even deaths, its a testament to the staff that there were no serious injuries this past weekend. Finally, big ups to Shabazz Palaces, who played an absolutely incredible show at Lincoln Hall on Saturday night. Because it wasn't a part of the actual festival, it won't be on the top 5, but had it been it would probably be number 1. Their set at the actual festival was great as well but in the outdoor setting the beats didn't hit nearly as hard.

All photos are courtesy of Pitchfork. Click for all of the photos.

Honorable Mention:

Curren$y - Great set but one verse per song just isn't enough. I want more!
Animal Collective - Trippy visuals and stage set-up. Performance was better than the music.
No Age - Rocked it so incredibly hard; even without their sampler.
Twin Shadow - Set got cut short unfortunately. I wanted more of this!
Kurt Vile and the Violators - The drummer was so incredible. Extended jams were killer.
TV on the Radio - Never been a huge fan but the second half of their set made me a believer.

Weekly Artist Profile: Shabazz Palaces

Shabazz Palaces is the new project from former Digable Planets MC Ishmael “Butterfly” Butler and after releasing two EPs in 2010, he’s back with his debut full length, Black Up. While it’s a hip-hop album at its core, this album blows right through boundaries, experimenting with different genres, sounds and flows, often all within the same song. This is dangerous as the artists sacrifice the coherency of the song and run the risk of sounding like a mumbling drunk on pain pills. But despite all the experimentation, Black Up flows perfectly and retains a sense of mystery; you never know what’s going to happen next.

Joey D said to me the other day “this is the future hip-hop.” While I really can’t imagine hip-hop ever going in this direction, this is the first time in my life that I really hope I’m wrong.

I also have to give a big shout out to KEXP radio in Seattle. They are undeniably the best radio station in the United States and I've been completely obsessed with their live studio performances. After the jump check out Shabazz Palaces' in studio performance for KEXP as well as the allegorical short film for their Self Titled EP.