Looking Back at 2011: The Top 20 Albums of the Year (Part 2)

10. Biophilia - BjorkThere's a lot of white noise that surrounds an album release by Icelandic songstress Bjork these days. Coming along with this one was a different iPad app for every song. There was chatter about the different instruments she utilized for the making of the album, including a gamelaste, a pipe organ that was played through pushing buttons on the aforementioned iPad, and, oh yeah, a mutha flippin' Tesla coil. There were the concerts, in which she rocks a wig that looks like a massive twist of cotton candy and, to my eyes at least, struggles with the unpredictability of using a Tesla coil as one of the main instruments for several of your songs. Here is the thing though: if you listen to the album, none of this stuff matters. It's there in the dancing chimes and wailing drum-and-bass that is "Crystalline." It's there in the chaotically playful sound experiment, "Hollow," and the more delicate Vespertine throwback "Virus." It's there in the organ-and-percussion blast of rousing beatfest "Mutual Core." And always there is that voice, the one that in album closer "Solstice" is proven to be perhaps the least innovative instrument on the album, but also the most valuable.

Time for a Random List: The Top Twenty Songs of 2011 (All Genres Included)

20. "Sister" - The Black Keys
19. "End of Time" - Beyonce
18. "Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall" - Coldplay
17. "Welcome to the Jungle" - Jay-Z and Kanye West
16. "Tomboy" - Panda Bear
15. "Into Your Alien Arms" - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
14. "No Future Shock" - TV on the Radio
13. "Long Burn the Fire" - Beastie Boys
12. "The Words That Maketh Murder" - PJ Harvey
11. "New Lands" - Justice
10. "Jack Sparrow" - The Lonely Island featuring Michael Bolton
9. "Nuclear Seasons" - Charli XCX
8. "Super Bass" - Nicki Minaj
7. "Born This Way" - Lady Gaga
6. "Moves Like Jagger" - Maroon 5 featuring Christina Aguilera
5. "Crystalline" - Bjork
4. "Helplessness Blues" - Fleet Foxes
3. "Claudia Lewis" - M83
2. "Last Friday Night" - Katy Perry
1. "Bloom" - Radiohead

Honorable Mention: "Cruel" - St. Vincent; "Taken for a Fool" - The Strokes; "Do I Wait" - Ryan Adams; "Forget That You're Young" - The Raveonettes; "Holdin' on to Black Metal" - My Morning Jacket
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Better Late Than Never Reviews: Biophilia - Bjork

Supposedly, there is a special iPad app for every song on Icelandic songstress Bjork's eighth (ninth, if you count Selmasongs, which I probably would) studio album, Biophilia. There is also word of an incredibly designed interactive touring spectacular. Well, two things: I don't have an iPad nor do I have plans on bolstering the bottom line of Steve Jobs' estate any time soon and I live in Philly, a city that usually doesn't make it on the itinerary when The Lady Who Rocked the Swan Dress decides to tour. But that is OK. For the music on Biophilia, Bjork's best, most complete, and most sonically innovative album since Vespertine, is more than enough.

I don't know if Bjork was taken aback by the negative reaction to her last album, 2007's uneven yet underrrated Volta - probably not because she does not strike me as someone who would really care - but with this disc she has chosen to move away from the impulses that had her collaborating with hitmaker Timbaland and gravitated toward a collage of sounds so odd she had to literally invent new instruments to make them possible. One example of this is the album's lead single and strongest overall offering, "Crystalline." Using an instrument dubbed the "gamaleste," because it is a combination of the celesta and the gamelan (two other instruments that I have never heard of, by the way), Bjork crafts a twinkling beat that is instantly addictive. Over this, she layers (and every song on the album benefits from extensive listening) whip-crack percussion and airy, ambient sonics. It is interesting also to note that the song, while avant garde as f*ck, is as effective as it is because it also applies basic pop structure, including a terrific chorus, multiple-part harmonies, and a extremely rocked-out drum-and-bass closer. That's right; I used to hear those all the time on Beach Boys records.

Ten Things I’m Hating…RIGHT NOW!!!

1) Poor Bathroom Manners – I have touched on this before, but humor me for a minute for a story that will make your skin crawl: Today, I entered the hopper for an intimate moment. Only I was not able to sit down immediately for the person before me had pissed all over the seat. This is not really cool, but I have dealt with it before! I could just rip off a piece of paper, give the seat a wipe down, and pray that I do not catch any communicable diseases. It’s all good. One problem: the piss had dried!!! It had morphed into a sort of yellowish crusty layer of filth. I had to step back out of the stall, wet down a piece of paper, scrub down the urine crust with an unusual amount of elbow grease, and grab a dry paper towel to wipe down the moisture still residing on the seat. That is a lot of effort to have to go through due to another man’s lack of aim. The thing is I don’t have a problem with standing up in a stall to take a pee. It is, in fact, my preferred method of urine evacuation. However, if you are going to do it, lift the seat first, and if you should manage to get some residual fluids on the bowl, have the courtesy to wipe that sh*t off. Who knows? The next man might have diarrhea.

Saucy Has a Confession!!!

Candid admissions from a secretive man.

1) I am seriously in love with that Katy Perry "Friday Night" song.When this song comes on, I literally cannot stop myself from dancing and singing like a 12-year-old girl. And I don't like it in an ironic way, like, "Wow, look at that 35-year-old dude with the beer gut freaking out to a silly pop song!" No, man! I actually think it is just really tremendous pop music. The guitar rhythm is completely infectious. The chorus is absolutely massive! The synth that emerges during the chorus feels sort of dangerous and dark. I mean, I like this song in both a very basic and highly intellectualized way. Even the video is awesome, what with its almost Web-redemptiony treatment of frequent punching bags Rebecca Black, Kenny G, Debbie Gibson, and Corey Feldman. It's very gallant of Ms. Perry in my opinion. She also looks very nice in the neon lycra.

2) I actually would seriously consider buying the whole album if it wasn't more than a year old.Because I actually like all of the singles. "Teenage Dream." "California Gurls." To a lesser extent, "Firework." Look man, this isn't easy for me to admit. I once broke up with a girl because she didn't like Kid A. The first CD I ever purchased was Philip Glass's soundtrack for the film Kundun. My Mount Rushmore of female musical artists would be Bjork, PJ Harvey, Billie Holiday, and Stevie Nicks. But what can I say? I'm feeling this shizz.

Ten Albums to Watch for the Rest of 2011, and One I Am Slightly Reluctant to Endorse

1) Watch the Throne - Jay-Z and Kanye West (August 8)
While Jay-Z releases can be a little hit-or-miss these days, Kanye West seems to be pretty much stuck in instant-classic mode, especially after the masterpiece that was 2010's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. If you need more of a sales job, bear in mind that the thing not only features the two pre-eminent MCs of current rap music, it features additional production by Rza and Q-Tip as well. Sort of an All-Star team of hip-hop right there.

2) Mirror Traffic - Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks (August 23)
The lead singer of Pavement teams up with producer Beck Hansen on a 15-song album of sprawling guitar-based sonics and hyperliterate, nonsensical lyrics.