If you haven’t been to the revamped Tree Bar yet, tonight’s a pretty good night to check it out.

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

MP3: Gang Gang Dance – Mindkilla (Lee Scratch Perry Remix)

Gang Gang Dance is coming to Outland Live on Tuesday, July 12, and we’re giving away a pair of tickets. To win, send an email to contestdonewaiting@gmail.com with the subject DANCES WITH GANGS by the morning of July 11.

Also, Southeast Engine’s Adam Remnant and The Black Swans’ Jerry DeCicca are embarking on a Living Room Tour this month, kicking off next Thursday, July 14, in Sunbury. To win two tickets to this show, send an email to contestdonewaiting@gmail.com with the subject REMNANTS OF JERRY by July 12. Full tour details after the jump.

Sometimes you win things by reading Donewaiting.

Misra Records is very excited to announce the first in a series of living room tours. Jerry DeCicca (The Black Swans) & Adam Remnant (Southeast Engine) will be playing a string of intimate and all-acoustic house shows throughout July. It will be a unique tour of two critically acclaimed modern songwriters in an unparalleled environment.

These performances will bring back the intimacy large venues lack, holding only 40-50 guests, no sound systems or amps – simply two artists and their instruments. It is an ideal environment to showcase DeCicca & Remnant’s talent and power in a truly special way.

The living room tour follows the spring Misra release of The Black Swans’ Don’t Blame the Stars and Southeast Engine’s Canary. Both albums have seen wide critical acclaim from outlets such as Pitchfork, Paste, NPR, Magnet, KEXP, No Depression, and many more.

Misra Living Room Tour I:

Thursday, July 14 – Sunbury, OH
Friday, July 15 – Kalamazoo, MI*
Saturday, July 16 – Indianapolis, IN^
Sunday, July 17 – Dayton, OH
Wednesday, July 20 – Athens, OH
Thursday, July 21 – Pittsburgh, PA#
Friday, July 22 – Washington D.C.%
Saturday, July 23 – Chapel Hill, NC^^

* with Matthew Milia (Frontier Ruckus)
^ with Caleb McCoach
# with Emily Rodgers + Pairdown
% with Collection Agency
^^ with Phil Cook (Megafaun) + Brett Harris

Tickets are limited – on sale at misrarecords.com/tours
Living room location announced upon ticket purchase
Shows start at 8 pm

As the boss man mentioned, the Black Swans have a new album coming out on Misra and have delved into social media and streaming. Misra Records is releasing Don’t Blame the Stars digitally and such, but the band is raising funds for the vinyl on their own. Watch the video (Jerry DeCicca’s acting debut), read about the album and make a pledge. You can pledge at various levels to get a signed limited-edition 45, demos, have the band play at your house, have the band write a song about a topic of your choosing, etc.

Second, the Black Swans just released a new video for “Rooster,” off last year’s Words are Stupid. Watch below. It involves roosters. Sort of.

Click here to view the embedded video.

But in terms of new stuff, here’s what I liked this year, starting with national releases and ending with Cowtown LPs.

1. Strand of Oaks – Pope Killdragon
I didn’t immediately hit repeat when I heard this album, but once I came back to it, I never stopped. Who knew a record with songs about John Belushi (from the perspective of Dan Akroyd), a 12-foot man and JFK could be so engrossing. Devastating, too. If you think Tim Showalter is just another pretty-voiced folkie, the layers of synth and Sabbath-like riffs on “Giant’s Despair” prove otherwise. The best way to get Killdragon digitally or on vinyl is through Strand of Oaks’ Kickstarter page.

2. The Black Keys – Brothers
Ditto Duffy.


3. Anais Mitchell – Hadestown
A folk-rock opera about Orpheus sounds like a terrible idea. Thanks to Mitchell’s clever arrangements & talents like Greg Brown, Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon and Low Anthem’s Ben Knox Miller, it’s a tour de force.

4. Sam Amidon – I See the Sign
Sam Amidon takes old songs and makes them new. Oh, and R. Kelly songs, too. Fans of Nick Drake and Sufjan will dig this. Feb. 18 show at the Wex with Brian Harnetty is icing.

5. Local Natives – Gorilla Manor
No new ground broken, but I’ll take these songs any day over a lot of the big-name, anthemic indies who released albums this year.

6. Deerhunter – Halcyon Digest
People seem to either love or discard Bradford Cox. I love him. Album cover disturbs me.

7. Sufjan Stevens – Age of Adz
I went from disappointed to intrigued to enraptured with this album.

8. Spoon – Transference
I’m still waiting for Spoon to release a bad album.

9. Lost in the Trees – All Alone in an Empty House
Prediction: By this time next year many more people will know the name Ari Picker. He can strip a song down to its bones on one song, then compose a rich orchestral piece the next. Wex show Jan. 30 (more icing).

10. Patty Griffin – Downtown Church
I don’t imagine many Donewaiting readers are into country gospel. (I’ll echo Duffy’s preamble about what makes DW great.) When it’s done this well, I’m a fan. Guests include Buddy Miller and Emmylou Harris.

Mention-worthy:
Justin Townes Earle – Harlem River Blues (underrated b/c of daddy)
Surfer Blood – Astro Coast (kids are all right)
Shearwater – The Golden Archipelago (Meiburg the magnificent)
Mumford & Sons – Sigh No More (It’s in my most-played, so I must like it)
Sun Kil Moon – Admiral Fell Promises (underrated guitarist)
Love Language – Libraries (underrated b/c of …)
Vampire Weekend – Contra (Better than the first)
Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (“That’s why your Winslow”)
Mavis Staples – You are Not Alone (Legend made even better by Tweedy)
Lower Dens – Twin-Hand Movement (Jana Hunter > Devendra Banhart. Much greater.)
Mountain Man – Made the Harbor (Who needs instruments?)

Columbus albums
Like I said, Gibson Bros., but I’d remiss not to mention Columbus Discount Records‘ two other reissues I loved: Ron House’s Blind Boy in the Back Seat and Nudge Squidfish’s 20,000 Leagues Under Nashville. I liked some EPs, too (Way Yes, Spruce Campbells’ 1st) and a 7″ (TNV’s “No Room to Live”) or two, but I’m sticking with albums here. As usual, I’ll also clarify that I’m not separating these lists because these are somehow inferior or can’t compete with national releases. I just like doing it this way.

1. Super Desserts – Twee as Folk
Can’t say much more about this band and album that I haven’t already said. This is the Desserts at the top of their game.

2. The Black Swans – Words are Stupid
One way the Black Swans have honored the memory of violinist Noel Sayre is to still include him on this album, a meditation of sorts on how language fails us. It’s light, it’s dark, it’s great.

3. Time and Temperature – Cream of the Low Tide
I don’t know if this is an EP or an album, so I’ll say it’s an album. At long last. More from Val Glenn, please.

4. Ghost Shirt – Daniel
I don’t think you want to hear me talk about this band anymore, either. This record was a pleasant, late-fall surprise.

5. Micah Schnabel – When the Stage Lights Go Dim
It makes sense that the songs of the Two Cow Garage front man hold up with just an acoustic guitar.

6. Andrew Graham & Swarming Branch – Andrew Graham’s Good Word
I’m still surprised by how little press this Mexican Summer release got. “Take it Easy on Kathy, at Least she Can Dance” is one of my favorite Columbus songs released this year.

7. Nick Tolford & Company – Extraordinary Love
Soul! At least go download “End of the Night.”

8. The Kyle Sowashes – Nobody
“I threw up at Tee-Jaye’s on Wednesday night/ Pale-faced and clammy I was something of a sight/ We played a show at some basement bar/ And while they couldn’t pay us/ They gave us PBR/ So I took it as a challenge/ I tried to drink them all/ Each one went down better than the last as I recall/ And I’d forgotten to eat dinner/ I realized too late/ I got double dragon before the waitress brought my plate.” Long live Kyle Sowash.

9. Deathly Fighter – Completely Dusted
I remember seeing Deathly Fighter awhile back and being bored. It’s not usually my thing. But this album keeps me coming back. I think I like it for the same reasons I like the XX and Burial. Not that DF sounds anything like those two, but there’s something about a record that’s simultaneously chill and pulsing…

10. Earwig – Gibson Under Mountain
Didn’t get to this one for awhile, but now find myself humming these songs all the time.

Mention-worthy:
Phantods – Creature (need to spend more time with this)
Bookmobile – The New Patriot (bittersweet)
Two Cow Garage – Sweet Saint Me (consistency)

Words Are Stupid is out 4/27 on St. Ives/Secretly Canadian. Columbus release show 4/3 at Rumba with Mike Shiflet.

MP3: Vetiver – Everyday

We’ve mentioned the Ohio Winter Folk Festival a few times in the past couple weeks. With Sub Pop’s Vetiver and Columbus bands like the Black Swans, Super Desserts and Moon High, plus Athens’ Adam Torres (ex-Southeast Engine), it promises to be a pretty great show. Before Saturday’s show at the historic Stuart’s Opera House in Nelsonville, Ohio, there’s also a Music Swap Meet and DIY Art Fair (1 pm).

We’ve got a pair to tickets to give away, too. Send an e-mail to contestdonewaiting@gmail.com with the subject WINTER FOLK FESTIVAL. A winner will be chosen on Friday. You can also buy tickets here ($12 in advance, $15 at the door).

Deets:
Ohio Winter Folk Festival
Saturday, Jan. 16 @ 6pm
Stuart’s Opera House I Nelsonville, Ohio