Best of 2011!

I finally finished my Best of 2011 playlist. I cheated this year and have a list of runners-up because it was really tough to choose. This post is actually going to be a copy/paste from an email that went out minutes ago. If you want to be on that email list, I send weekly emails with playlists throughout the year - with the Best of 2011 mix at the end. My former radio show co-host Ida might add occasionally (she has a best of list up today, too). If you're interested, email me at sundaynightsleepover(at)gmail.com to be added to the list.

So here's the list with full on commentary:

Best of 2011 - albums that I loved as a whole have a * before the name:

*Jay-Z & Kanye West - Ni**as in Paris: Ok, this one was a tough tough choice. I had Otis in here for while, but eventually settled on this one for a few reasons. First, part of why I love Otis is because I already love Otis Redding. On the other hand Ni**as in Paris feels very 2011 to me. "That Shit Cray" seemed everywhere. Aziz Ansari and his friend texted the song to each other in emoticons, and the lyrics just make me giggle. Working out this morning, this song came on, and at the part where Kanye says "What she order?" everyone around me said in unison "Fish fillet." Plus they sang this song over and over and over and over (I think up to about 10 times at one show) as the encore or finale at their concerts. So I heard. I didn't go. So it won the "best" over Otis simply because it felt a little more relevant to the year. See how complicated this is? That's why it takes me so long to make these lists. I overthink everything. :)

*The Rapture - Children: I hadn't heard of The Rapture until this past year when a friend gave me an old album of theirs. Then very soon afterward, they announced that they were releasing a new album. I felt so-so about the old album that I was given, but I really like the new one.

*Future People - Naturally

Foster the People - Pumped Up Kicks: I got a little sick of this song over the year, honestly. So much that I wasn't going to put it on the list. But if I'm being honest, I did really love it this year. If it was playing on the radio as I was scanning stations, I always stopped.

*Portugal. The Man - You Carried Us (Share With Me The Sun): I only listened to this album because of Spotify. 2011 was definitely the year of Spotify, although now I'm getting the feeling that 2012 is going to be the year of Rdio. I hate changing trends. Why can't we pick something and stick with it? Man, that makes me sound old. In truth, I tried Rdio, and I didn't love it, but it may be because I was used to Spotify already. Who knows. Anyway, I found this album through Spotify and listened to it a ton. It was hard to pick a single track off the album, but I think this one is the best.

*The Black Keys - Lonely Boy: This album is great. I was never a big fan of The Black Keys until their last album, but they're keeping up with the good. This was the first single off the album, and I still think it's the best.

Tune-Yards - Gangsta: I can't decide what I think about this album as a whole. Sometimes I like it. I listened to Ida's Best of 2011 mix, and I like Bizness in her mix, but I don't always love it when it comes on my iTunes. So it confuses me. I do always like this song, though.

*Florence + The Machine - Shake It Out: I had a hard time picking the best song from this album. I like a bunch of them pretty equally. This song ended up making the cut because it's so versatile. I heard so many remixes of this song, and actually liked them. That never happens.

TV on the Radio - You

*M83 - Midnight City: I can't tell if it's just synth or weird vocal manipulations or what - but the sounds throughout this song intrigue me so much.

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Maniac

*Lykke Li - Jerome: This album was full of great songs, but this one always stood out to me.

Adele - Rolling In The Deep: I did not share the world's obsession with Adele. I think this album is "ok" but I don't love it. This song, however, is really great.

*I Break Horses - Pulse: This is another Spotify discovery. The album grew on my each time I listened to it, and it ended up being one of my favorites from the year.

*Cults - You Know What I Mean: If you go purely on iTunes number of plays, this album wins big time. I think I listened to the whole album on repeat through the month of June. I almost put Go Outside on the list, but this one grabs me a bit more for some reason. Seems a little more impassioned.

Gotye - Somebody That I Used to Know: So this video has been making the rounds over the last few months, but I didn't pay that much attention. Then in the last few weeks, it was being referenced all over the place. And then my friend's band played a show with him that sold out. And I was like, "ok, jeesh, I'll listen! I'll listen!" Turns out, I am not that crazy about the album as a whole, but this song is really great. If you watch the video with it, I think it's even better.

*Bon Iver - Calgary: It was incredibly tough to pick a song off of this album. I think I started with about 5 on the list. I could have ended up with any of them, really.

*Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues

*Washed Out - Amor Fati: I felt so-so about Washed Out before his first full-length album came out last summer, but this album sucked me in so fast. It was the album that finally got me out of my Cults rut.

*Blind Pilot - New York: Another really tough decision from this album, but seeing them perform these song live in November really changed the way I heard this song. It is beautiful and felt like a really great way to end the list and end the year. You can see a live version of it on Vimeo.

And...cause I'm a cheater...here are the contenders for best-of-2011:

James Blake & Bon Iver - Fall Creek Boys Choir: James Blake put out a pretty good, interesting album this year. But his collaboration with Bon Iver really stood out more to me. Even with the dog barks. Or maybe it's because of them...

*The Decemberists - This is Why We Fight: I really loved this album, but none of the songs stood out enough to me to make the final list.

Feist - How Come You Never Go There: I was honestly a little disappointed in the Feist album this year, but it may not be that fair since I had pretty high expectations. The problem with putting out a great album is that your next album has to measure up...

Waters - Take Me Out To The Coast: This is another case of "good, but not quite good enough to be the 'best.'"

Thao & Mirah - How Dare You: This song is the best blend of their sounds on the whole album.

*Florence + The Machine - Landscape (Demo): This song only appears as a bonus on Ceremonials, but I love it.

Beirut - Santa Fe: I wanted this to be a best, but it just didn't seem to fit quite right.

*Washed Out - Far Away: I went back and forth between this one and Amor Fati for the final list. It almost came down to a coin toss...

Lana Del Rey - Video Games: I wanted to put this song on the final list just because I felt like people wouldn't stop talking about her in 2011. Is she fake or not? Are her lips fake or not? Is her music good? When deciding what music to listen to, I don't really care what someone's lips look like. Although having seen her interviewed a couple of places, I'm not sure how crazy I am about her in general. And her lyrics in general are not so hot. But this song still sucked me in, so she gets credit for that. Fake lips or not.

The Antlers - No Widows

St. Vincent - Northern Lights

Death Cab for Cutie - Some Boys: I was done with Death Cab until this album came out this year, but decided to give them another shot. It wasn't my favorite album by any means, but it was much better than expected.

*Blind Pilot - We Are The Tide: I almost put this on the list, but since I have heard them play this at shows since 2008, it didn't quite feel as 2011 as New York did. It's still an awesome song and always makes me want to dance.

Starfucker - Bury Us Alive

*Jay-Z & Kanye West - Otis

Tom Waits - New Year's Eve: This song just felt appropriate to end with. :)

Links:

Best of 2011

Almost Best of 2011

Spotify:

Best of 2011

Almost Best of 2011

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! Wishing you best in the 2012.

[Old Best-of lists: 2008, 2009, 2010]

Dear Neighbors

To whomever called the police last night to file a noise complaint against me:

I completely respect your right to peace and quiet in your home. I would never want to disturb that, which is why I am very careful about various aspects of my daily living habits. When my dog barks at people walking near our front door, I shush her immediately or remove her into a back room where she cannot be disturbed by hallway noise. I do not vacuum too late at night, having experienced the frustrations of living below a frequent vacuumer in the past. I do not talk loudly on my balcony, as I know that the courtyard/pool area echo noise quite readily. I also try to keep any noise away from outside walls that I share with neighbors. On the whole, I'm pretty considerate when it comes to noise.

Likewise, I deal pretty well with noise coming from my neighbors' homes. I complain to my friends or family occasionally about it, but I've never called the cops on anyone and in only one instance left a note about the noise. That note was the nicest note that could be written, as it was regarding dogs barking in the absence of the owners, an issue of which I figured they may not even be aware. I was simply letting them know that their dogs bark for the entire time they are away, non-stop, so perhaps they could look into those citronella or high frequency noise bark collars since they are not home at the time. I followed this note up with a more blunt note a few weeks later when nothing was done and the dogs were still barking at 3am on a Thursday, but that feels a bit more justified. Repeated problem and a very late/early hour of the day. (Also, please note, that months later, their dogs still bark whenever they're gone. I haven't bothered writing another note, nor have I called the cops.)

In all other situations, I might groan a little, but then put in my ear plugs and go back to sleep. My next door neighbors work at a club in Hollywood, so their hours are screwy. I get it. I'm not going to blame them for it. I live in West Hollywood in an apartment building with thin walls and a courtyard that echos. If neighbors were partying daily or even weekly, I might be annoyed (don't they have respect for their apartment neighbors), but the occasional party that goes late (or in my club neighbors cases starts late) is fine. I guess I see it as this - part of living in an apartment building means respecting your neighbors. This means that you are considerate in the amount of noise you produce, but you also have some flexibility with the noise that you tolerate from others.

So the fact that one of you called the cops on my party shortly after midnight on a Friday night is pretty frustrating to me. This is the 2nd party I have ever had in the year and a half I have lived here. On the first party, I decided not to open the door to the balcony because of the risk of noise echo in the courtyard, but on this party, I thought, "you know, I have this awesome balcony that I put Christmas lights on - I want to be able to enjoy it this one time for my holiday party." So I did. And my guests loved it. People were inside and outside all night...well, until the cop came.

I guess what is most frustrating about this is that I have this great apartment with a fabulous balcony, and from the response of you neighbors who called the cops, apparently I cannot use it. It's just for looks.

No, that's not the most frustrating thing. The frustrating thing is that I put up with so much noise because I know that's what life in an apartment is like, yet I cannot have more that 3 people over past midnight, even on a weekend. The frustrating thing is that I have spent a year and a half putting everyone else first, and the one time I decide to just enjoy my apartment with my friends, it is interrupted by cops.

And for anyone thinking I was throwing some big rager - there were 16 guests plus me in my home. That's it. No one was coming and going to create noise in the hallway. We had music on, but were in no way cranking the bass, which is not the case of some of my neighbors' parties in the past.

So thank you, neighbors. You have now made me feel uncomfortable in my own home and nervous to invite more than a few people over to my house, especially if we want to go on the balcony. Not because I'm nervous about legal repercussions from noise complaints, but because it means my neighbors don't respect me and my right to have a group of people at my house for a fun night during the holiday season.

Also, you live in West Hollywood, home to a billion bars and clubs. If you want a sleepy lifestyle without noise, you picked the wrong city.

Update from T-day

My dad read my last blog post and suggested one alteration. He says the reason I have everything I wrote about being thankful for is:

The Cosby Show

(and my mother).