Top 10 Albums of 2011: #3

The album at number 3 was given a full review on this blog upon release in February and was given 9/10 so it was a given that it was always going to be in and around the contenders at the end of year awards.

3. James Blake - James Blake



James Blake’s self titled LP was much anticipated and did not fail to deliver. Rightly included in the BBC Sound of 2011 feature he has had a brilliant year touring the album with an incredibly charming live show which I was fortunate enough to witness in a 300 capacity dark room in Liverpool as well as on the main stage of The Big Chill festival with about 20,000 other revellers.

James’ voice is brilliant and in ‘Give Me My Month’ he showcases it with only a piano for company resulting in an effortlessly beautiful two minutes. The album contains what has to be credited as the most emotive track of the year the mesmerising Wilhelms Scream. It’s not just raw emotion and ballads on this body of work though Limit To Your Love has a quivering bass and I Never Learnt to Share a synth laden breakdown that would certainly wake you up if listened to on the morning commute to work. All in all what James Blake offered with this album was something I had never heard before and it will continue to be played for many years to come.

Top 10 Albums of 2011: #4

It’s an American artist who hasn’t strictly released an album up next in the countdown. This mixtape was released in February and blew up soon after, landing Frank Ocean some big time guest appearances including on two tracks of the Jay-Z/Kanye West collab Watch the Throne.

4. Frank Ocean - Nostalgia Ultra



I can remember hearing Novacane for the first time on a DJ Oneman Boiler Room set and straight away typed in the lyrics to Google to find out what it was. This album, sorry mixtape was released to vent frustrations that Frank’s record label Def Jam had neglected him proclaiming on Twitter that "i. did. this. not ISLAND DEF JAM”. The album uses the ultra soulful voice of Frank together with well used samples to create what is essentially a pretty poppy R&B record. But it’s a bloody good R&B record!

The tracks are linked together with nostalgic interludes named after 90’s video games with the sounds of a cassette player rewinding, fast-forwarding, and clicking. Giving the mixtape an old school vibe, the content matter of the lyrics are more meaningful and dare I say slightly higher brow than you would come to expect from a 21st century R&B record. Swim Good deals with suicide, We All Try is an uplifting look into faith in humanity and Songs for Women has humour to it as Frank tells of the toils and troubles of getting the girl.

The mixtape is available for FREE DOWNLOAD over on Frank's TUMBLR page.

Top 10 Albums of 2011: #5

The final five begins with two masked dance producers, but it’s not Daft Punk...

5. SBTRKT - SBTRKT



SBTRKT (and Sampha) put together quite possibly the best dance album I have heard for a good few years, with a stellar cast of guest vocalists the masked man glides effortlessly through a myriad of future garage, dubstep and house to produce not only a dance floor friendly LP but also one that is pleasantly listenable. Sampha provides vocals on a lot of the tracks with his trademark soulful tones and is joined by a harem of excellent female vocalists in Jessie Ware, Roses Gabor and Yukimi Nagano (Little Dragon). US rapper Drake was equally as impressed with SBTRKT as I was and used the Yukimi Nagano vocalled track Wildfire for a remix.

The live show is also well worth seeing, with a tour on the horizon next year. I was fortunate enough to see them on the banks of the lake at Melt! Festival with a couple of thousand incredibly nice German people, the Drake remix of Wildfire was met with great joy! My only critique of the live show was that it failed to include my favourite track from the album Pharaohs.

Top 10 Albums of 2011: #6

A Mercury Music Prize nominee and yet another Londoner comes in at number 6. Though while a Londoner Ghostpoet is actually a fan of Liverpool FC, something he demonstrated at the Liverpool Music Week closing party by entering the stage with an LFC scarf, the poor chap didn’t count on the partisan nature of the LFC/Everton divide and a chorus of boo’s comically rained down upon him. Yet, he did produce a standout album hence his inclusion here.

6. Ghostpoet - Peanut Butter Blues & Melancholy Jam



If ever there was an aptly named artist then it’s Ghostpoet. The quirkily named Peanut Butter Blue and Melancholy Jam brings together urban poetry and haunting electronic production not to dissimilar to that of Burial at times. Spoken rather than rapped the London voice of Ghostpoet narrates through a story of struggles in a 21st century city, much like Joshua Idehen does on the earlier mentioned Routes. Despite the chapters which deal with struggles with alcohol and heartbreak the album has a resistant element of embracing the struggles, as depicted in the uplifting Survive It. The live show is well worth a look, having caught Ghostpoet twice this year I was not left disappointed especially at The Big Chill where to quote the man himself “I must admit it got quite wild”.

Top 10 Albums of 2011: #7

Number 7 brought together a rising star (Jamie XX) and what sadly became a fading legend as Gil Scott Heron departed this life for the next in 2011. It was quite fitting that his music was remixed before his passing to create a new fan base to carry on his legacy.

7. Gil Scott Heron & Jamie XX – We’re New Here



Jamie XX had a massive 2011 (as was predicted by this here blog in January) with this remix album, a critically acclaimed single, probably the remix of the year with his Adele rework and now Drake and Rhianna are using his beats for their respective new albums. This album uses Jamie’s trademark production skills, there is “space between the beats” and it is also used to showcase some of his influences with the old school piano riff on I’ll Take Care of You and the Rui Da Silva ‘Touch Me’ sample in Ur Soul and Mine.

The album ranks in my top 10 for the amount of plays it got during the early part of the year, it has fallen by the way side somewhat which is why it ranks lower than a couple of albums which were released around the same time, however I will go back to it and I’ll Take Care of You has been a staple tune at my Lovely Job gigs.