Hoon’s Muso Tunes Favorite Music for 2011

Here are 105 of my favorite recordings from 2011. I put in the time, so, maybe, you don’t have to. This tip of the iceberg, revealed here, stands atop a mountainous amount of satisfying music. Unlike last year, the recap is all in one place, and from my perspective I note lots of interesting juxtapositions. It was terrific year for archival digging and reconstitution. The Beach Boys Smile Sessions may stand on top, but the scorching sessions from Miles Davis (1967) and Jimmy Hendrix (1968) mark out other staggering musical moments from the sixties.

Matana Roberts struck me as a likely leading light of the improv year after hearing her two superb records the first time. She made it first across the finish line of my highest estimations with her sturdy and sophisticated updating of Great Black Music; i.e. the so-called Chicago avant-garde. The last ten years in Jazz have turned about the arrival of a brilliant wave of youngish players. This year Matana Roberts, Peter Evans, and Colin Stetson, scratched my radar screen. Meanwhile in 2012 Phil Woods turns 81 and Stan Tracey turns 86. Abdullah Ibrahim turns 78. Hopefully each has another brilliant record or two or more in ’em.

Hidden gems in my listing here include Dengue Fever’s Cannibal Courtship, a rollicking, syncretic world beat bounce-around; Ablaye Ndiaye Thiossane, who at 76 came back with a record of Senegalese rhumbas; and another comeback item from Plaid, Scintilli. Maria Minerva’s Sacred and Profane Love helped fill the gap for an Ariel Pink-less year. The Belle Brigade’s backward-looking west coast pop rock won me over, edging out Old Californo and The Dawes for pride of place in the department of guilty pleasures. Ndidi Onukwulu’s The Escape proves we in fact do need an ebony Cat Power.

Bjork’s Bibliophilia earns special mention because in its “app” form for mobile devices she pulled the cover off of one engrossing prototype for the future modalities for pop music. Finally, Glen Campbell’s Ghost On the Canvas is likely his last record, and may well be his best too. It was without a doubt the most courageous record of the year.