2011 Reader Recommendations, Pt. I

A few weeks back I asked any interested readers to share with me a recommendation or two out of their personal favorite albums/songs of the year. Well, I got a lot of great responses out of that - some of which I liked a lot, others of which I could appreciate though it wasn’t my type of music, etc. Overall, It helped me catch a few great albums that I missed/overlooked this past year.

As promised, here’s a list of most (but not all - too many!) of the reader’s recs, with a little bit of my commentary on each one. Click through to read, they’re all great finds!

lewisandhisblog recommended Mountain Smashers, by By Surprise:

I had heard Realometer earlier this year, but never ended up checking out the rest of the album when it came out. Lewisandhisblog, who you may remember as the intern who interned with theneedledrop (see video evidence here) ended up putting this album at #4 on his year-end “best of” list. I think this may have been one of the best recommendations I heard simply because of the energy on this album. Give Realometer a listen below and judge for yourself:

By Surprise | Realometer

Next, twitter user @noknow (fellow Grand-Rapidian!) recommended an electronic artist from Detroit, Freddy Todd and his album Neon Spectacle:
 
Nick writes, “Glitch Hop done right. Great DJ with incredible live presence from Detroit. At first listen the disc surprised me with how many great builds and breaks it contains… His recent EP with Black Mic has some real hot hooks.” Take a listen over at his soundcloud page (or below) for a better idea of what to expect.

Freddy Todd | BeastModifier (unreleased)

Reader uncoolshoes (another Michigander!) suggested I check out Crystal Stilts’ In Love With Oblivion:

He writes, “My love for this album is for it’s subtly-muddy production style & its compatibility to The Velvets.” I’ll be honest, I had a harder time getting into this one at first, but a few songs in and I was diggin’ it. Also, I really like that album cover. Check out their website & a track below.

Crystal Stilts | Through The Floor

Redinkstory (twitter) recommended an album that I’ve been seeing on quite a few “best of” lists - Wild Beasts’ album Smother:

Okay, I’ll be honest here - I loved everything but the voice. Sometimes that’s what happens! One thing that really helped me out, though, was seeing their Takeaway show over at the infamous French-based site La Blogotheque. It’s clear these guys don’t need me to sign off on ‘em for their music to make an impact. Check out a track below.

Wild Beasts | Thankless Thing

And to finish off Part I of the reader recommendations, mattressparty simply said “*shels”, which made me curious. I found the answer in Plains Of The Purple Buffalo:

Far as I can tell (didn’t have time to listen to the album all the way through), *shels make some pretty moving post-rock instrumental music. The wikipedia page says they’ve been around since 2003 - not sure why this is the first time I’ve heard of ‘em, but my thanks to you, mattressparty! Here’s a track from their latest.

*shels | Vision Quest

Cool. Look for Part II of the Reader Recommendations to come in the next week or so, followed closely by my year-end list of personal favorite albums & songs! (As if you haven’t seen enough of those already)