The Quietus: Best of 2011

[eruditio]

It's difficult to put it into words but at the end of last year I was starting to feel a bit jaded with old music. I have spent several years collecting 60s, 70s and 80s music from record fairs and boot sales but it started to nag I wasn't listening to anything new.

I had started scanning Pitchfork and then found The Quietus. I really like the content of the latter which concentrates on more recent music. When they published their best of 2011 list (http://thequietus.com/articles/07520-quietus-albums-of-the-year-2011)i realised i didn't know any of it except the excellent PJ Harvey lp. Gradually wading through the list and checking out the soundclips has lead me to some great new music which isn't on vinyl.

I wonder how other people feel? It's hard to put into words. It's not a predicament as my love for the physical format wont change. I guess I'm just pissed that some of the great new stuff doesn't come laminated in clarifiol

[Ian Townsend]

I did exactly the same thing (went on a hunt for 'new' music) after listening to a Swap CD Jack from Wolf People made a few years ago. He set out to support new music by actively buying new vinyl releases every month for a year.

My own version was to sign up to Emusic and trawl for good new stuff. It was very much the year of Tame Impala / Caribou / Deerhoof (?) etc (two years ago?)

I was left feeling a little deflated that I hadn't found more good stuff.

Interesting that the Quietus list has very little crossover with the Pitchfork Best of 2011 list. Any chance of you posting up some stuff you think is good from The Quietus list? It'll be much appreciated.

[ceemillar]

I tried this so many times and i just find a lot of the new music seems electronic beat instrumental and dull and samey. maybe youger people have been raised on so much rhythm stuff that its shaped what they like?

[ceemillar]

i would like to hear some stuff you think is good though as well.

[auxillary_output]

The Quietus article on Rob Miller from Amebix becoming a master sword maker (http://thequietus.com/articles/07611-amebix-rob-miller-sword-making) on the isle of Skye was a good read.

[Runswick]

I have been collecting LPs for so many years I can't even begin to count up the ones I haven't played at all or the ones I have only listened to once. I find the very thought of attempting to keep up with the sheer volume of new music very daunting so I choose to pretend it doesn't exist.

I know it may sound narrow-minded, but you really do have to draw the line somewhere. There are only so many listening hours in a lifetime and if the majority of those are spent pursuing new songs when will you ever truly cathect with anything? I have hundreds of lps that only began to mean something to me after I had sat down and listened to them properly over a long period.

It's very worthy to sail out and cast your net wide to catch a huge shoal but picking through it could be daunting. It can be far more satisfying just carefully examining what the tide washes naturally to your feet on the beach.

[eruditio]

i would like to hear some stuff you think is good though as well.
I'll be more than happy to post up some selections from the list later on this week starting off with the ones I've played the most, Elzhi, Laurel Halo, The Haxan Cloak, Aidan Moffat and Bill Wells and Snowman.

1.PJ Harvey Let England Shake

2.Azari & III Azari & III

3.Tim Hecker Ravedeath 1972

4.The Haxan Cloak The Haxan Cloak

5.Perc Wicker & Steel

6.Cut Hands Afro Noise

7.Katy B On A Mission

8.Wild Beasts Smother

9.Death Grips Ex Military

10.Prurient Bermuda Drain

11.Årabrot Solar Anus

12.Laurel Halo Hour Logic

13.Sandwell District Feed Forward

14.John Maus We Must Become The Pitiless Censors Of Ourselves

15.Cold Cave Cherish The Light Years

16.Alexander Tucker Dorwytch

17.Pinch & Shackleton Pinch & Shackleton

18.Mastodon The Hunter

19.Oneohtrix Point Never Replica

20.Cornershop The Double O Groove

21.John Foxx & The Maths Interplay

22.My Disco Little Joy

23.Frank Ocean Nostalgia/Ultra

24.Uncle Acid And The Deadbeats Blood Lust

25.Hype Williams One Nation

26.Leyland Kirby Eager To Tear Apart The Stars

27.EMA Past Life Martyred Saints

28.Yob Atma

29.Destroyer Kaputt

30.Roly Porter Aftertime

31.Battles Gloss Drop

32.The Fall Ersatz GB

33.Zun Zun Egui Katang

34.Fucked Up David Comes To Life

35.Snowman Absence

36.Clams Casino Instrumentals

37.Obake Obake

38.Elzhi Elmatic

39.Aidan Moffat & Bill Wells Everything Is Getting Older

40.The Master Musicians Of Bukkake Totem Three

41.Thurston Moore Demolished Thoughts

42.Wolves In The Throne Room Celestial Lineage

43.British Sea Power Valhalla Dancehall

44.Bjork Biophilia

45.Skull Defekts ft. Daniel Higgs Peer Amid

46.Maria Minerva Cabaret Cixous

47.Mogwai Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will

48.Byetone Symeta

49.Amebix Sonic Mass

50.Liturgy Aesthetica