It’s that time of the year again, and as we say farewell to 2011 and greet 2012 many of us here at WKNC reflected on what the best albums of the year were. Much like the previous two years I sent out a request to the Daytime staff to see what their favorite albums of 2011 were, and below are their top five individual favorites.

 

Sarahnade

 

 

 

 

1. The Dodos- No Color
2. The Decemberists- King is Dead
3. Fleet Foxes- Helplessness Blues
4. Givers- In Light
5. Future Islands- On the Water

 

Hurricane Julia

 

 

 

 

1. tUnE-yArDs- w h o k i l l
2. Darwin Deez- Wonky Beats
3. Sallie Ford and the Sound Outside- Dirty Radio
4. Tom Waits- Bad as Me
5. Bonnie “Prince” Billy- Wolfroy Goes to Town

 

John

 

 

 

 

1. James Blake- James Blake
2. Rangers- Pan-Am Stories
3. Amen Dunes- Through Donkey Jaw
4. Thee Oh Sees- Carrion Crawler/The Dream
5. Grouper- A I A: Alien Observer/Dream Loss

 

Psychonaut

 

 

 

1. TV on the Radio- Nine Types of Light
2. M83- Hurry Up We’re Dreaming
3. Zola Jesus- Conatus
4. Bon Iver- Bon Iver, Bon Iver
5. Coma Cinema- Blue Suicide

 

DJ Walter-Ego

 

 

 

 

1. Andrew Jackson Jihad- Knife Man
2. Metronomy- The English Riviera
3. Crystal Stilts- In Love With Oblivion
4. Black Lips- Arabia Mountain
5. Starfucker- Reptilians

 

Mollypop

 

 

 

 

1. Sarah Jarosz- Follow Me Down
2. Chris Thile & Michael Daves- Sleep With One Eye Open
3. Bombadil- All the Rain Promises
4. The Decemberists- The King Is Dead
5. Mandolin Orange- Haste Make, Hard Hearted Stranger

 

DJ Radio Dead

 

 

 

 

1. Shabazz Palaces- Black Up
2. St. Vincent- Strange Mercy
3. tUnE-yArDs- w h o k i l l
4. Jay Z and Kanye West- Watch The Throne
5. Radiohead- The King of Limbs

 

DJ Ones

 

 

 

 

1. Wye Oak- Civilian
2. The Dodos- No Color
3. St. Vincent- Strange Mercy
4. Fleet Foxes- Helplessness Blues
5. James Blake- James Blake

 

May Day

 

 

 

 

1. The Drums- Portamento
2. Future Islands- On the Waterfront
3. Fleet Foxes- Helplessness Blues
4. The Dodos- No Color
5. The Joy Formidable- The Big Roar

 

DJ Flipside

 

 

 

1. St. Vincent- Strange Mercy
2. Yuck- Yuck
3. Real Estate- Days
4. Delicate Steve- Wondervisions
5. Ponytail- Do Whatever You Want All the Time

 

DJ Mason

 

 

 

 

1. tUnE-yArDs- w h o k i l l
2. Braids- Native Speaker
3. Youth Lagoon- The Year of Hibernation
4. Panda Bear- Tomboy
5. Deerhoof- Deerhoof vs. Evil

 

Anastassia

 

 

 

 

1. Yuck- Yuck
2. Braids- Native Speaker
3. Girls- Father, Son, Holy Ghost
4. Balam Acab- In Motion
5. Real Estate- Days

 

Chuck

 

 

 

 

1. Balam Acab- Wander/Wonder
2. Bon Iver- Bon Iver, Bon Iver
3. Holy Other- With U
4. The Weeknd- House of Balloons
5. Liturgy- Aethethica

 

What are your favorite albums of the year? Comment below.

On Oct. 5 I had the pleasure—nay, the honor—of seeing the amazingly eccentric and talented experimental freak folk band tUnE-yArDs with opening act Pat Jordache at Cat’s Cradle. I was so excited about this show that I got there an hour and a half early with fellow DJ Salt Water Jaffee and ran to the stage to post up front and center so I could be as close as possible to my queen, my goddess, Merrill Garbus.

I was a little apprehensive when the first person to come on stage for Pat Jordache was a man who was all ribs and muscle in nothing but a pair of overalls and gold chains: no shirt or shoes. He sat down behind the 10+ drum set and began playing. His talent and obvious passion for banging stuff blew my mind. A few seconds later the second drummer came out and began beating the crap out of a tom tom and a snare. Then out came the guitarist, crutching along with a hurt foot. Jordache, front man/bassist/keyboard extraordinaire with a haircut not grown in the U.S., was the last to appear and began to serenade us with his deep, throaty cooing against heavily present bass, brain rattling drums, and airy guitar. The band is kind of New Wave, somewhere between Joy Division and Fleet Foxes.

Jordache was the perfect warm-up act for the insanity that arose when Garbus stepped on stage with her painted cronies in color blocked clothing.

If you’ve never heard of tUnE-yArDs, you’re missing out. It is everything I’ve ever asked for from the music gods: powerful, loud, tribal, catchy, sexual, dance-y, eccentric, and a downright good time. The band is most famous for live vocal and percussion looping, strong melodies, and Garbus’ insanely African-influenced singing style and inhumanly wide vocal range. I melted into the monitor I was leaning against out of sheer amazement when she hit her high notes in the song “Powa.” Such a loud and powerful sound is strange coming from Garbus, the close-to-five-feet-tall howling singer with half of her head shaved and colorful paint on her face. She was constant smiles and giggles with a few funny faces thrown in.

One of the most enjoyable parts of the show was not how much fun I and the rest of the audience were having as we “worked it out on the dance floor” (Garbus herself commented on how insane the crowd was), but how much fun the band was having. While Garbus was cheerily strumming on her be-stickered ukulele, the two saxophone players jumped around banging pots and pans and danced like hunchbacks at a disco. The bassist was the epitome of cool on the opposite side of the stage, bopping along and slapping his bass. But when he stepped up to the microphone for a bit of a vocal solo, the crowd went nuts, which shows the love the fans hold for tUnE-yArDs is not just rooted in the front woman, as is commonly the case, but in every single member that contributes to the masterpieces that are every song they release.

Throughout the show I noticed that almost all of my fellow audience members new the words to every song she played. It wasn’t a case of everyone knowing the words to “Gangsta” or “Bizness” but not “You Ves You” or “My Country.” I can honestly say that this is the first show I’ve been to where the people that were there truly wanted to be there more than anything else in the world. I’m sure they will agree with me when I say that this concert was not just another show; it was a spiritual experience.

~Hurricane Julia

Enjoy these albums, compiled by The DJ Ones.  [editors note: Those Darlins' album art is quite interesting!]

 

	Artist	Album	Label
#1	Those Darlings	Screws Get Loose	Oh Wow Dang
#2	Seapony	Go With Me	Hardly Art
#3	Amor De Dias	Street Of The Love Of Days	Merge
#4	Donkeys	Born With Stripes	Dead Oceans
#5	Kids on a Crime Spree	We Love You So Bad	Slumberland
#6	Vaccines	What Did You Expect From The Vaccines?	Columbia
#7	Cults	In The Name Of	Columbia
#8	Sallie Ford and the Sound Outside	Dirty Radio	Partisan
#9	Thao and Mirah	Thao And Mirah	Kill Rock Stars
#10	Tiger Darrow	Tiger Darrow	You Know Who You Are
#11	Arctic Monkeys	Suck It And See	Domino
#12	Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.	It’s A Corporate World	Quite Scientific
#13	Gardens and Villa	Secretly Canadian	Secretly Canadian
#14	Girls Names	Dead To Me	Slumberland
#15	tUnE-YarDs	WhoKill	4D
#16	Rosebuds	Loud Planes Fly Low	Merge
#17	Liam Finn	FOMO	Yep Rock
#18	My Morning Jacket	Circuital	ATO
#19	Friendly Fires	Pala	XL
#20	Hooray For Earth	True Loves	Dovecote
#21	Death Cab For Cutie	Codes And Keys	Columbia
#22	Foster the People	Torches	Columbia
#23	Balkans	Balkans	Double Phantom
#24	Vetiver	The Errant Charm	SubPop
#25	Black Lips	Arabia Mountain	Vice
#26	Thurston Moore	Demolished Thoughts	Matador
#27	David Bazan	Strange Negotiations	Barsuk
#28	Danger Mouse and Danielle Luppi	Rome	EMI
#29	David Fonseca	Between Waves	Castle Of The Amazing Cats
#30	Matt Pond PA	Spring Fools	Altitude

 

Another week, another Top 30 hits from your friendly daytime music director, Michael Jones.

	Artist	Album	Label
#1	Austra	Feel It Break	Domino
#2	Donkeys	Born With Stripes	Dead Oceans
#3	Thao and Mirah	Thao and Mirah	Kill Rock Stars
#4	Love Inks	E.S.P.	City Slang
#5	tUnE-YArDs	Whokill	4AD
#6	Kids on a Crime Spree	We Love You So Bad	Slumberland
#7	Girl Names	Dead To Me	Slumberland
#8	Amor De Dias	Street Of The Love Of Days	Merge
#9	Vaccines	What Did You Expect From The Vaccines?	Columbia
#10	Rosebuds	Loud Planes Fly Low	Merge
#11	Those Darlings	Screws Get Loose	Oh Wow Dang
#12	Generationals	Actor-Caster	Park The Van
#13	Dodos	No Color	Frenchkiss
#14	My Morning Jacket	Circuital	ATO
#15	Foster the People	Torches	Columbia
#16	Wild Palms	Until Spring	One Little Indian
#17	Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.	It’s A Corporate World	Quite Scientific
#18	Seapony	Go With Me	Hardly Art
#19	Matt Pond PA	Spring Fools	Altitude
#20	Black Lips	Arabia Mountain	Vice
#21	Friendly Fires	Pala	XL
#22	Antlers	Burst Apart	Frenchkiss
#23	Okkervil River	I Am Very Far	Jagjaguwar
#24	Thurston Moore	Demolished Thoughts	Domino
#25	Sam Roberts Band	Collider	Rounder
#26	I’m From Barcelona	Forever Today	Mute
#27	Fleet Foxes	Helplessness Blues	Sub Pop
#28	Wombats	This Modern Glitch	Bright Antenna
#29	Dan Sartain	Legacy Of Hospitality	One Little Indian
#30	Vetiver	The Errant Charm	Sub Pop

 

The Top 30 artists and albums of this week, as compiled by Daytime Music Director Michael Jones.

	Artist	Album	Label
#1	Austra	Feel It Break	Domino
#2	Thao And Mirah	Thao And Mirah	Kill Rock Stars
#3	Girls Names	Dead To Me	Slumberland
#4	Kids on a Crime Spree	We Love You So Bad	Slumberland
#5	tUnE-YArDs	Whokill	4AD
#6	Wild Palms	Until Spring	One Little Indian
#7	Love Inks	E.S.P.	City Slang
#8	Rosebuds	Loud Planes Fly Low	Merge
#9	Shannon and the Clams	Sleep Talk	1-2-3-4 Go!
#10	Chad Van Gaalen	Diaper Island	Sub Pop
#11	Those Darlings	Screws Get Loose	Oh Wow Dang
#12	Fleet Foxes	Helplessness Blues	Sub Pop
#13	Man Man	Life Fantastic	ANTI-
#14	Amor De Dias	Street Of The Love Of Days	Merge
#15	Friendly Fires	Pala	XL
#16	My Morning Jacket	Circuital	ATO
#17	Generationals	Actor-Caster	Park The Van
#18	Dodos	No Color	Frenchkiss
#19	Antlers	Burst Apart	Frenchkiss
#20	Matt Pond PA	Spring Fools	Altitude
#21	Vaccines	What Did You Expect From The Vaccines?	Columbia
#22	Wombats	This Modern Glitch	Bright Antenna
#23	Donkeys	Born With Stripes	Dead Oceans
#24	Wild Beasts	Smother	Domino
#25	Thurston Moore	Demolished Thoughts	Matador
#26	Times New Viking	Dancer Equired	Merge
#27	Obits	Moody, Standard And Poor	Sub Pop
#28	Maritime	Human Hearts	Danger Bird
#29	Foster the People	Torches	Columbia
#30	Explosions in the Sky	Take Care, Take Care, Take Care	Temporary Residence

Each week, WKNC’s music directors tally up spins for new releases and submit their top lists to College Music Journal. Here are the top 30 indie rock albums on WKNC reported to CMJ’s Top 200 chart by Music Director Michael Jones.

	Artist	Album	Label
#1	Thao And Mirah	Thao And Mirah	Kill Rock Stars
#2	tUnE-YArDs	Whokill	4AD
#3	Girls Names	Dead To Me	Slumberland
#4	Austra	Feel It Break	Domino
#5	Wild Palms	Until Spring	One Little Indian
#6	Those Darlins	Screws Get Loose	Oh Wow Dang
#7	Shannon and the Clams	Sleep Talk	1-2-3-4 Go!
#8	Anna Calvi	Anna Calvi	Domino
#9	Kids on a Crime Spree	We Love You So Bad	Slumberland
#10	Love Inks	E.S.P.	City Slang
#11	Generationals	Actor-Caster	Park The Van
#12	Blue Sky Black Death	Noir	Fake Four
#13	Hooray for Earth	True Loves	Dovecote
#14	Explosions in the Sky	Take Care, Take Care, Take Care	Temporary Residence
#15	Times New Viking	Dancer Equired	Merge
#16	Yelle	Safari Disco Club	Co-Op
#17	Mikey Jukebox	Mikey Jukebox	Young Lion Of The West
#18	Raveonettes	Raven In The Grave	Vice
#19	Kills	Blood Pressures	Domino
#20	Fleet Foxes	Helplessness Blues	Sub Pop
#21	Antlers	Burst Apart	Frenchkiss
#22	Panda Bear	Tomboy	Paw Tracks
#23	Crystal Stilts	In Love With Oblivion	Slumberland
#24	Timber Timbre	Creep On Creepin’ On	Arts And Crafts
#25	Cave Singers	No Witch	Jagjaguwar
#26	Bill Callahan	Apocalypse	Drag City
#27	Feelies	Here Before	Bar None
#28	J Mascis	Several Shades Of Why	Sub Pop
#29	Art Brut	Brilliant! Tragic!	The End/Cooking Vinyl
#30	Tiger Darrow	You Know Who You Are	Self-Released