Chapped Lipz

Best of 2011 (no order yet subject to change)

Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues

Favorite Songs: Helplessness Blues, Montezuma, Grown Ocean (well all actually)

• I feel like this is a more powerful album (lyrically and instrumentally)
• There’s nothing really for me to say because Fleet Foxes is one of my favorite bands and I love everything about this album
• I wish it received better reviews 

Best of 2011 (no order yet subject to change)

Girls - Father, Son, Holy Ghost

Favorite Songs: Honey Bunny, Love Like A River, Jamie Marie

• I think this album is really real and pure and a lot deeper than the previous albums. It is almost like you can hear Chris Owens like drunkenly crying and singing in a room!
• “Almost eerie sense of familiarity, like these are songs you’ve been hearing your whole life even when you can’t place them, and it’s sometimes startling just how specific the references can be.” -Pitchfork.com

-I liked this quote from Pitchfork because it took the words right out of my mouth.  I feel like there is some sort of emotional connection that everyone has with the lyrics.

• There is a perfect balance of “doo-woppy”/ electric guitar solos / melodic rhythms and lyrics 

Best of 2011 (no order yet subject to change)

Dom - Family Of Love (EP)

Favorite Songs: Telephone, Damn, Happy Birthday Party

• Catchiest EP of the year!
• Dom’s best EP
• I would definitely call this a guilty pleasure. I listen to it and laugh but yet I love it and can’t stop listening to it!
• What I love about Dom (and this EP) it sounds like Ariel Pink, Wavves, Girls, and even Yuck all got together and had a sunny drunken beach party

Best of 2011 (no order yet subject to change)

Cults - Cults

Favorite Songs: Go Outside, Oh My God, Know What I Mean

• Perfect summer indie pop album
• Each song is catchy
• The album has a different sound than other albums this year
• One of the best breakthrough albums/artists of the year
• (dislike that is blew up too fast, kind of got over the album for a bit)

Best of 2011 (no order yet subject to change)

Bon Iver - Bon Iver

Favorite Songs: Michicant, Holocene

At first I did not like this album I thought it was a disappointment then I changed my mind about it because:

• When I saw Bon Iver live I appreciated the songs from this album more
• It’s no For Emma for sure but I can admire an artist that strays from their first album and experiments with new sounds/instruments without losing the “Bon Iver sound”
• I like that it sounds like almost 1 continuous song (I hate that it sounds like 1 continuous song)
• I’m proud of the recognition and credit it received because it was definitely well deserved
• It is one of the best albums of the year hands down no matter who you talk to/what you read

Best of 2011 (no order yet subject to change)

Beirut - The Rip Tide

Favorite Song(s): East Harlem, Goshen, Santa Fe (among many others)

• I’m going to put this album in top 5 hell top 3 even!
• I believe this is Beirut’s most mature album
• Has a darker feel than the upbeaty-ness of Postcards From Italy
• Each song is different/interesting/catchy yet keeps that “Beirut” sound 
• Overall perfect album in my opinion

Best of 2011 (no order yet subject to change)

Atlas Sound- Parallax 

Favorite Song: Mona Lisa

• I think this is Atlas Sound’s first memorable album
• Most mature and full/complete album
• This album has more standout songs than any other album

Best of 2011 (no order yet subject to change)

Bright Eyes - The People’s Key 

Favorite Song(s): One For You, One For Me/ Jejune Stars

• 8th Bright Eyes album
• I enjoyed the “harder” feel to it
• Thought the intros/endings with the “philosophical ramblings” were an interesting touch
• (Also, we saw Bright Eyes in the famous Hollywood Forever Cemetery this year, it was beyond breathtaking)