JUST WHAT WE NEEDED, ANOTHER BEST OF 2011 LIST: THE MUSIC (PART 2)

Continuing up our coverage of Team Def's favorite music of 2011. Part 1 is here.

And Part 2 is a round-up of all the miscellaneous awards that I basically make up to showcase other albums that didn't make my Top 20. 

THE 21ST BEST ALBUM OF 2011

Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears
Scandalous (Lost Highway) Second album from a band that gets compared to James Brown but sounds closer to the Blues Brothers house band than the JBs. It’s full-on retro R&B that does depend at least partly on novelty value, and Lewis’ lyrics are a hit and miss affair. Still, their hearts are in the right place, though an argument could be made that BJL&THB are a better proposition live than on record anyway.

MOST RELIABLE ALBUM

Motörhead
The World Is Yours (Roadrunner) The great thing about a new Motörhead release is that you always pretty much know exactly what yr going to get – loud, crude, bad-ass old-school hard rock that won’t be as good as their first few records but still shows you a good time. This one is no exception. Mission accomplished, as they say.

THE OTHER GOOD SHONEN KNIFE ALBUM

Free Time (Damnably Records) This album was released in in my neck of the woods earlier this year, but has actually been available elsewhere (including the US) since mid-2010. It’s good fun as Shonen Knife albums go, and it might have made my Top 20 anyway if their follow-up album (see Part 1 of this series) hadn’t made it to HK this year. I could have included both, but I couldn't see this album taking up a slot when technically it was too old to qualify.

BEST ALT.POP DIVA RECORD

Beth Ditto
EP (Deconstruction) I’m a Gossip fan, and it only seemed a matter of time before Beth Ditto did something solo. She did just that, and while musically it was hardly groundbreaking, Ditto’s voice proved she can hold her own with big-money plastic divas – and for my money she’s far more engaging. And frankly, for my money the dance-pop world needs far more outspoken plus-size lesbians confidently celebrating their sexuality than it does another hetero-fantasy Britney/Disney clone.

MOST PARTISAN ALBUM

Ry Cooder
Pull Up Some Dust And Sit Down (Nonesuch) Cooder doesn’t hold back with his thoughts on the American economic crisis and who’s to blame for it. So Wall Street fat cats and Republicans probably hate this album. I liked it fine, though Cooder’s John Lee Hooker imitation on “John Lee Hooker For President” – a great idea in theory – is arguably an affectation too far.

MOST INSTRUMENTAL ALBUM

Brian Setzer
Setzer Goes Instru-Mental! (Surfdog) In which Setzer relies solely on his guitar skills on a mix of covers and original tunes. It’s good if you like Setzer’s old-school rockabilly/jazz sound and admire his technique. The only trouble is he sounds like a lot of the guitar greats he’s emulating without sounding better or adding something to it.

BEST TEAM-UP

Lou Reed and Metallica
Lulu (Warner Bros) Also possibly the most controversial album of the year, at least for fans of Metallica who don’t want Reed as a James Hetfield replacement, or Reed fans who think he’s slumming by collaborating with Metallica. I think it’s a surprisingly good match, and some of the songs are actually pretty good – the only real problem is that it’s way too long. I liked sitting through it once, but it’s not something that warrants repeated listening.

BIGGEST LETDOWN OF 2011

Okkervil River
I Am Very Far (Jagjaguwar) After being introduced to Okkervil River via their inventive collaboration with Roky Erickson last year, I was more than keen to try their new album. I wish I hadn’t. I can’t say for sure what I was expecting – certainly not something sounding like a Roky Erickson collaboration – but to me it just sounds like fairly generic Americana-ish indie rock, albeit multilayered indie rock with above-average lyrics. But not a single song really connected with me. 

BEST COVER ART



Well, obviously. Actually, it’s not just the cheesy photo so much as they made it look like something that’s been sitting in a cut-out bin for a long time. As for the album itself, well … I will say Steel Panther is probably the best Mötley Crüe parody/tribute band on the planet, and they steal well. But the intentionally OTT sexist lyrics are somewhat overdone (even by my lowbrow standards).

Up next: The ten best albums I bought in 2011!

She’s got balls,

This is dF

YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO BE DETAINED INDEFINITELY

In case you missed it, here’s a slight update on the NDAA bill with those detention provisions that would essentially make it legal for the military to arrest terror suspects in the US and detain them without charge indefinitely:

It’s the law now. Congress passed it, and Obama signed it.

I’ve already said what I have to say about the detention provisions, and all of that still applies. The fact that Obama tacked on a signing statement promising his admin will never use the bill to indefinitely detain US citizens doesn’t really make me feel any better about it for a few reasons:

(1) Obama’s statement implies that while it’s not acceptable to detain US citizens without charge or trial indefinitely, it’s totally okay to do it to foreigners.

(2) Obama’s main objection to the detention provisions has chiefly been that it gives Congress powers that only the President should have, not that the powers exist or should never be used.

(3) Even if Obama is serious about his misgivings, he’s missing the point. It’s not just about how his admin might use such provisions – it’s every Presidential admin after him. It’s how the next Harding, Nixon or Bush Jr would use them. Or the next Dick Cheney, if you prefer.

Or is that too pessimistic?

Well, either way, Americans now get to live in a country where the govt has that kind of power. Congratulations. Hope that works out for you.

Watch yr ass,

This is dF