Reaper's Favorite Albums of 2011

[Reaper16]

30.) Death Grips - ExMilitary


In a year of all kinds of excellent rap albums, ExMilitary is the strangest and scariest of them all. Death Grips is a collaboration between Zach Hill, Sacramento math rock dummer; and MC Ride, an ultra-aggressive rapper who pretty much looks like a homeless man. MC Ride spits/barks/yells hard bars over glitch, scratchy electronic loops and noises. This shit is ****ing lo-fi and abrasive. In some ways it’s like a Black Metal approach to hip-hop, like if Ulver moved to Compton. This is the most challenging hip-hop album of the year, but you’re all the better for accepting the challenge. This is genre-defying, convention-destroying music.

[Demonpenz]

I am so excited now I can be extra snobby to my friends while they wallow in their new chevelle cd.

[Reaper16]

29.) Leprous – Bilateral


Leprous is a Norwegian band of very talented jazz and metal musicians. They’ve got all manner of synths, horns, saxophones, guitars, etc. They’re main gig over the last few years has been the live backing band to Ihsahn (see his excellent 2010 album, After, to hear Leprous’ work before 2011). But they also have a lead singer whose soaring, rich tenor is given room to shine without Ihsahn’s presence. These tracks are progressive metal, but not in the technical-power-metal way. They remind me of early Pain of Salvation in terms of the emotions created, only jazzier. Bilateral is a shifting, virtuosic album but also an emotional and accessible one. Any fan of progressive rock should check out this album. Even fans of Faith No More or Mr. Bungle will find plenty to like.

[Reaper16]

28.) Mr. Mother****in eXquire – Lost in Translation


Yes, that is his actual stage name. And as he says on album highlight “Huzzah!,” (a song as grimy as it is pop-smart) “Don’t forget the ‘Mother****in’, without that I’m nothin’.” This New York MC is a bright star amidst a whole collection of internet savvy NY rappers that are coming up right now (Das Racist, Action Bronson, etc.) under the influence of El-P. eXquire is ****ing grimy, man. Like a new-age ODB in some ways. His songs sound like dirt and broken glass. He raps about booze a lot. And strippers. And, on “The Maltese Falcon,” makes pro wrestling references (including namedropping Savio Vega, of all wrestlers). He is at home rapping about a local chicken spot (“Chicken Spot Rock”) as much as he is the intersection of comic books and hookers (“Galactus Redux”). This is classic NY street rap, and it is ****ing awesome and it is a free download at his bandcamp site so you have no excuse not to bump this album in your headphones.

[Reaper16]

27.) ASAP Rocky – LiveLoveA$AP


For better or worse, the internet has worked to decrease the individuality of regional sounds in hip-hop. The best example of this is the first album from blazing-hot rapper ASAP Rocky. Rocky has lived in Harlem all his life, but his musical style comes straight from Houston, Texas. This is true lean-sipping, UGK-influenced trill shit but its’ coming from a NY rapper. Rocky has a pleasant enough flow; he can ride just about any beat and he is more versatile than your average Texas rapper. Lyrically this album isn’t anything special, but the point of this album is to let Rocky ride these incredible beats. Clams Casino produces about half the album, and those tracks are some of the very best rap songs of the year. Clams (one of the freshest, best producers in hip-hop) should never work with the terrible Lil B ever again when he has someone talented like ASAP Rocky in his circle. Listen to “Demons” or “Bass” to see what I mean. I’ve linked to “Palaces,” the album opener and absolutely a top 5 rap song of the entire year for me. The beat is good enough to make me cry and Rocky rides that shit like a champ. So why is this album only #27? Because the tracks that Clams Casino didn’t produce are way less original, way less expressive, less dynamic. It’s a damn solid listen all the way through, but half the album is above-average and half the album is incredible.

[QuikSsurfer]

YES!! Found a new artist.. La Dispute.. Absolutely love his vocals and lyrics.

Totally agree about the Wolves in the Throne Room and Opeth releases this year --- good albums but a bit disappointing considering what we've heard from them.

[Reaper16]

26.) Hades Archer – For the Diabolical Ages


Hades Archer play a particular blend of black metal and thrash that sounds like Death Angel had an ass-sex baby with Bathory. I don’t even know what that last sentence means, but it is totally true. This is blistering, raw aggression propelled by the highest riff quotient in music this year. MY SOUTHERN LORD THE RIFFS. There are so many riffs on this album and they all kick ass and they come for you without mercy or restraint. Goddamn, this is a fun metal album. Who cares what generic occult imagery and shit the lyrics are about? The rifbundle of stickse and guitar tone and pummeling drums are good enough to bring a tear to a glass eye. This isn’t a complex album, but it is really good at what it does. Which is make you headbang until you need a neckbrace.

[Backwards Masking]

I thought Primus made a huge Comeback with Green Naughahyde.

[NewChief]

Quite a bit of overlap so far in our lists. I totally agree with your Clams Casino love. "Motivation" seriously makes me ecstatic for some reason.

[jlscorpio]

thx, reap. I look forward to this thread every year. there's a couple I'm anxious to see if/where thay placed on the rest of the list.

[Pitt Gorilla]

Awesome list, Reap. If Tech's album is that "low", I can't wait to see what is better.

[Reaper16]

Originally Posted by jlscorpio

thx, reap. I look forward to this thread every year. there's a couple I'm anxious to see if/where thay placed on the rest of the list.

Originally Posted by Pitt Gorilla

Awesome list, Reap. If Tech's album is that "low", I can't wait to see what is better.

Thanks guys. I appreciate it. I hope my top 25 doesn't disappoint y'all too much.

[Reaper16]

25.) Cities Aviv – Digital Lows


Another example of the internet allowing for interesting rap styles to appear in unlike regions, Cities Aviv is a Memphis rapper whose unique flow can perhaps best be described as “RZA but with a slight southern drawl.” It’s a free download at his Bandcamp site, so download this immediately. The sound on Digital Lows is at once very traditionalist and also supportive of the sort of forward-thinking samples that get you noticed on music blogs. It’s got the top-end keys and 808 drums of the Memphis sound, but instead of syrup-thick mid-South synths these beats use indie rock samples and video game music. Closing track “Float On” is a reappropriation of Modest Mouse’s “Float On” (and, really, it’s been like a decade since that song came out so its fair game) in a really surprising and effective way; it isn’t just a sample, it’s using the song as if it were a canvas made of found art. The whole album is very consistent, but the highlight is “****everybodyhere” (linked above), a song that samples every bit of soul EXCEPT soul vocals. In this track Aviv boasts, his voice full of swagger, “In this 8-bit world, I’m Bowser.” ‘Nuff said.

[Reaper16]

24.) Big KRIT – Return of 4Eva


Meridian, Mississippi’s Big KRIT is getting a lot of buzz these days. His major label debut comes out next year, but it’ll be a tall order for it to surpass this free album from this year. If someone says that don’t get Southern rap then you should give them Return of 4Eva. Krit raps about southern life and southern concerns in a socially conscious way that doesn’t forget the simple pleasures of working on your car. KRIT’s flow is very competent; he’s leagues ahead of most southern rappers in terms of technical skill but he’s also not going to blow you away. His songs don’t require technical skill to impress, though. He rides the soulful Texas-inspired beats that he himself produces. You’ve got to love a rapper who produces their own beats. I’m not sure that Return of 4Eva has the highlights that, say, LiveLoveA$AP (#27 on my list) does, but it also doesn’t have the lows. This is a very consistent album from start to finish. Bump this shit in your car, immediately.

[Reaper16]

23.) Absu - Abzu


Texas’ Absu are versatile masters of extreme metal. They can play pretty much anything, and on Abzu they play a blend of black metal and thrash metal that would sound a lot like Hades Archer (#26 on my list) except they replace the heavy dose of Bathory with technical death metal. This album is ****ing bananas. These drums seamlessly alternate between blastbeats and very complex, technical drum riffing. The guitars build up to an absolutely frantic pace and the whole thing gets so fast and so complex that it threatens to drive itself over a cliff. But Absu have been around for a while, and they know what to do from a songwriting standpoint to keep themselves in check. It’s a controlled chaos, and it pays dividends when you trust the band to keep everything on the rails, so to speak. Every time I listen to this album I just have an uncontrollable grin on my face.