So, I decided the best way to do it is to list the albums alphabetically, showing no favoritism and not being forced to rank anything. A few comebacks, a few previous favorites, a couple of new UK bands, some metal, some country, some hair metal. Pretty typical for me.

AA Bondy – Believers (Fat Possum)
Not as barebones as early solo material, not as scuzzy as his ‘90s alt-rock band Verbena, AA Bondy split the difference on this moody, late night listen.
Listen: “The Heart is Willing”

Anthrax – Worship Music (Megaforce)
The legendary NYC thrashers pick up where they left off the last time Joey Belladonna sang lead vocals (1990’s Persistence of Time) on 2011’s best (and most surprising considering some internal issues Anthrax had with short-timer vocalist Dan Nelson) metal album.
Listen: “In the End”

AWOLNATION – Megalithic Symphony (Red Bull Records)
I would never have checked out this band had my old friend Christopher Thorn (Blind Melon) not been playing guitar. A complete 180 from Blind Melon’s sound, AWOLNATION’s slickly-produced techno-soul-pop shows a wide range of diversity from one track to the next.
Listen: “Soul Wars”

Beastie Boys – Hot Sauce Committee Part 2 (Capitol Records)
Seven years after the release of their last album and 25 years after the release of the groundbreaking License to Ill, the recent Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame inductees come back with a fresh and surprisingly relevant album. This may be the only CD that I bought at a record store on it’s release day in 2011.
Listen: “OK”

Broken Records – Let Me Come Home (4ad)
Scottish rockers whose epic, orchestral songs put them in a league with Snow Patrol, The Frames and Frightened Rabbit.
Listen: “A Darkness Rises Up”

The Damnwells – No One Listens to the Band Anymore (Pledge Music)
Not knocking The Damnwells 2009 release, One Last Century, (which felt more like an Alex Dezen solo album), but there’s something special about full-time contributions by Ted Hudson (bass) and Jay Barclay (guitars), even if it’s just for the purpose of recording new material and not touring. The Damnwells are one of my favorite bands and this is a welcome addition to their recorded catalog.
Listen: “Werewolves”

The Dreaming – Puppet (Epochal Artists Records)
If Axl Rose can tour using the name Guns N’ Roses, Christopher Hall should dump The Dreaming name and call this band Stabbing Westward.
Listen: “Every Trace”

Foo Fighters – Wasting Light (RCA)
After a few ho-hum releases in the last decade, I thought I had lost the Foo Fighters to a new generation of music listeners who weren’t bothered by how mainstream Grohl & company had become. This album – and the Foos performance at Lollapalooza 2011 – restored my confidence.
Listen: “White Limo”

The Horrible Crowes – Elsie (Side One Dummy)
Not a huge departure from his day gig fronting The Gaslight Anthem, but Brian Fallon’s side project allows the singer to dial back on his “Born to Run”-style Springsteen worship and explore the “I’m On Fire” side of the Boss’s catalog. Fallon also cites Greg Dulli and Tom Waits as influential songwriting muses (I’d throw Bono in there as well) for this project.
Listen: “Sugar”

The Joy Formidable – Big Roar (Canvasback/Atlantic)
So much noise for a trio, especially the last 3 fuzzy minutes of the 8-minute opening track, “The Everchanging Spectrum of a Lie”. I would love to hear them cover “Long Day in the Universe” by Darling Buds.
Listen: “The Everchanging Spectrum of a Lie”

Lydia Loveless – Indestructible Machine (Bloodshot Records)
It’s nice that the world can not only discover the artist that I’ve been championing for a few years, but can love her Americana-rock-with-punk-spirit sound as much as I do (Spin named this CD the #4 best Country/Americana release of 2011!).
Listen: “Can’t Change Me”

Matthew Mayfield – Now You’re Free (Sweet Exchange)
Mayfield’s voice sounds so warm and familiar (a cross between Pete Yorn and Eddie Vedder), you’ll swear you’ve heard his stuff in the background of your favorite ABC prime time drama or maybe in that one scene in that ensemble movie about Valentine’s Day or Christmas or the 4th of July or something.
Listen: “Missed Me”

Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds
I listened to the Beady Eye CD a handful of times. By virtue of it not showing up on this list, I guess I’m putting all of my eggs in the elder Gallagher brother’s basket. I liked Oasis well enough, but never thought I’d love Noel’s solo debut as much as I do.
Listen: “The Death of You and Me”

Pale – In the Time of Dangerous Men
Even after seeing this Houston-based band live and hanging out with them, I still can’t believe that not a single member was born or raised in the UK. Pale’s emotional material draws heavily from bands like Catherine Wheel and Muse.
Listen: “That Sinking Feeling”

Sebastian Bach – Kicking & Screaming (Frontiers)
At 17, I stood in front of the mirror, wearing a sleeveless t-shirt, holding a hairbrush pretending to front Skid Row opening for KISS at the Richfield Coliseum. At 40, I stand in front of the mirror, wearing a black concert t-shirt, holding a hairbrush pretending to be Sebastian Bach singing “Kicking and Screaming” while opening for Guns N’ Roses in Tokyo, Japan.
Listen: "Dance on Your Grave"

True Widow – As High As the Highest Heavens and From the Center to the Circumference
of the Earth (Kemado)
True Widow’s self-described stonegaze is the perfect soundtrack to the dark, grey, gloomy winter skies that hang over Ohio. If you thought Hope Sandoval’s last solo record sounded like Mazzy Star covering Black Sabbath (check it out, it did) after smoking lots of weed, this thing will blow your mind.
Listen: “Jackyl”

Viva Brother – Famous First Words (A&M)
The baby that Oasis and Blur secretly gave birth to 20 years ago has finally come out of hiding. iTunes tells me I listened to “Darling Buds of May” more than any other song in 2011 and I don’t dispute that fact.
Listen: "Darling Buds of May"

Warbringer – Worlds Torn Asunder (Century Media)
Finally had the chance to see Warbringer live in 2011 and confirmed that not only do they sound like Slayer circa 1990, their life shows are like stepping into a time machine and being transported back to the early days of thrash metal before it left the basement and made it’s way to 1,000 seat venues.
Listen: “Shattered Like Glass”

Wussy – Strawberry (Shake It Records)
Man, this is getting really incestuous. I wrote a preview for a Wussy show a few weeks ago. In his year-end wrap-up, Joel quoted from that preview in his Wussy description. I guess it was so good that I’m going to quote it again! One wouldn’t expect Chuck Cleaver, the heavily tattooed Cincinnati songwriter, to produce his best collection of songs this late in his already highly-prolific career, but that’s exactly what he’s done.
Listen: “Asteroid”

Yuck – Yuck (Fat Possum)
Take all my favorite indie rock bands (Superchunk, Dinosaur Jr, Sparklehorse, Pavement, The Flaming Lips) from the early-to-mid ‘90s, mix ‘em together and you get something YUCK-y. It may not be very original but it’s still one of the best things I heard all year.Listen: “Get Away”

I also never expected my favorite album to come from someone who held the spot previously, but the iTunes “most played” playlist doesn’t lie. It’s a divisive one, but people who like it really like it.

I picked 15 favorites and several honorable mentions, plus a Favorite Columbus Albums list below — separate but equal in enjoyment and quality. As usual, I limit my lists to albums, so some EPs and 7”s I liked (e.g. Envelope, Sundown, Malefactors of Great Wealth, Dolfish) aren’t listed.

That is all.

15. Wussy – Strawberry

MP3: Grand Champion Steer

As Chip said about Wussy’s Chuck Cleaver, “One wouldn’t expect the heavily tattooed Cincinnati songwriter to produce his best collection of songs this late in his already highly-prolific career, but that’s exactly what he’s done.”

14. TV on the Radio – Nine Types of Light

TV On The Radio – “Will Do” by Interscope Records

13. The War on Drugs – Slave Ambient

MP3: Come to the City

12. Tom Waits – Bad As Me

Tom Waits – Bad As Me by antirecords

I’ve never been a Tom Waits fanboy, but this record grabbed me and didn’t let go.

11. Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues

MP3: Helplessness Blues

10. Crooked Fingers – Breaks in the Armor

MP3: Typhoon

Best songs since Red Devil Dawn.

9. Southeast Engine – Canary

MP3: New Growth

8. Centro-matic – Candidate Waltz

MP3: Only in My Double Mind

7. David Bazan – Strange Negotiations

MP3: Wolves at the Door

6. A.A. Bondy – Believers

MP3: Surfer King

5. Youth Lagoon – The Year of Hibernation

MP3: Cannons

4. Kurt Vile – Smoke Ring for My Halo

MP3: Jesus Fever

3. Bill Callahan – Apocalypse

MP3: Baby’s Breath

2. Gillian Welch – The Harrow & the Harvest

MP3: The Way It Goes

1. Bon Iver – Bon Iver

MP3: Holocene

By now, I know every moment on this album, but I’m still continually surprised by its beauty. Seeing Bon Iver in Philly would also make my Favorite Life Occurrences of 2011 list.

Honorable mention:
The Roots – Undun
The Black Keys – El Camino
Dawes – Nothing is Wrong
Joe Henry – Reverie
Ryan Adams – Ashes & Fire
Mountain Goats – All Eternals Deck
Richard Buckner – Our Blood
Thurston Moore – Demolished Thoughts
J Mascis – Several Shades of Why
Tim Easton – Beat the Band/Since 1966 Vol. 1
Thao & Mirah – Thao & Mirah
Joseph Arthur – The Graduation Ceremony

Favorite 2011 Columbus albums:
1. The Black Swans – Don’t Blame the Stars
2. Lydia Loveless – Indestructible Machine
3. Times New Viking – Dancer Equired
4. Psandwich – Northren Psych
5. Saintseneca – Last
6. Blueprint – Adventures in Counter-Culture
7. Bicentennial Bear – Lost Summers
8. The Regionals – The Regionals
9. Psychedelic Horseshit – Laced
10. The Lindsay – Deep in the Queue

Honorable mention:
P. Blackk – Blackk Friday
Moon High – Six Suns
Shane Sweeney – The Finding Time
Tin Armor – Life of Abundance
Alyosha Het – The Purgatourist

Recorded for WNRN in Charlottesville, Virginia on November 3, 2009.

MP3: When the Devil’s Loose

We’re big fans of AA Bondy. His first album ended up in my year end list of favorite records, and he played the donewaiting.com SXSW day show in 2008. He’s just announced his second album, When The Devil’s Loose, being released September 1 on Fat Possum. And yes, there will be a vinyl version (so happy about this). Download an MP3 from the album above.

Fresh off his headlining show at The Basement, Bondy has announced another Columbus show on July 13 opening for Conor Oberst at the Wexner Center. Details here.

AA Bondy will be at SXSW 2008 and now I’m starting to get really excited. His latest album made my favorite albums of 2007 list, by the way.

MP3: There’s a Reason