CHIRP: The Chicago Independent Radio Project

Tony Tschetter-Breed writes

CHIRP Radio Best of 2011 (Tony Breed)

Throughout December CHIRP Radio presents its members’ top albums of 2011. The next list is from Tony Breed.

(Click here to get the complete list of CHIRP Radio members’ picks.)

1. tUnE-yArDs – W H O K I L L (4AD)
   BUY: Insound / iTunes
   It’s rare to find an album that really grabs you and smacks you around this way. There’s something about these afropop-inspired polyrhythms combined with Merrill Garbus’s balls-out singing style that just gets under my skin.
2. PJ Harvey – Let England Shake (Vagrant)
   BUY: Insound / iTunes
   PJ Harvey has been making music for years and is still totally on top of her game. This album is really top-notch.
3. Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues (Sub Pop)
   BUY: Insound / iTunes
   Yes, Fleet Foxes. Folky harmonies, sweet melodies, beards. I’m not made of wood, people.
4. Grace Jones – Hurricane (Play It Again Sam)
   BUY: Insound / iTunes
   Thanks to a long-delayed US release, I get to put this album on this year’s top ten despite having had a copy myself for two years. I can tell you it stands the test of time; I still listen to it often.
5. Dengue Fever – Cannibal Courtship (Fantasy)
   BUY: Insound / iTunes
   Dengue Fever has been doing more or less the same thing for a while (and doing it well). With Cannibal Courtship, they finally break the mold, with excellent results.
6. John Vanderslice – White Wilderness (Dead Oceans)
   BUY: Insound / iTunes
   I love John Vanderslice, but for me his albums have always hovered at about 11 on my end-of-year list. But on White Wilderness, he teams up with the Magic*Magic Orchestra and really kicks his game up a notch.
7. Daniel Knox – Evryman for Himself (Chicago Independent)
   BUY: Insound / iTunes
   Basically, sardonic piano cabaret music. I love this guy. (If the description “sardonic piano cabaret music” doesn’t pique your interest then I don’t know what to say to you.)
8. Jens Lekman – An Argument with Myself (Secretly Canadian)
   BUY: Insound / iTunes
   Oh Jens. Everything you do is so enjoyable.
9. The Mast – Wild Poppies (Channel A)
   BUY: Insound / iTunes
   Like Dead Can Dance with Guitars, and fantastic drumming that propels it along.
10. Radiohead – The King of Limbs (Tiker Tape Ltd.)
    BUY: Insound / iTunes
    I would think that by now Radiohead would have worn out their ability to make this kind of music so well—you know, said everything they can say? Anyway, they haven’t.

Honorable Mentions

• 
  Beastie Boys – Hot Sauce Committee Part Two
  
  Kate Bush – 50 Words for Snow
  
  Wild Flag – Wild Flag
  
  The Feelies – Here Before

Songs of the Year

• Dessa – Alibi
  
  Battles feat. Gary Numan – My Machines
  
  Malachai – My Ambulance
  
  Wild Flag – Romance