411 Music Presents…2011 Year In Review Part 2: Staff Roundtable

Posted by Adam Hill on 01.10.2012

Was Metallica working with Lou Reed the biggest surprise of the year? Was Amy Winehouse's death the biggest news story? Which album was more annoying, Kanye West and Jay-Z's Watch the Throne or Rihanna's Talk That Talk? The 411 staff takes a look back at the best and worst in music from 2011!



STAFF ROUNDTABLE

Welcome everyone, to Part Two of our look back over 2011. Part One saw us discussing our favorite albums, now we get to talk about what annoyed and disappointed us, what surprised us and who the breakout stars of the year were.

2011 was funny old year, where long standing bands split up and long over with bands got back together. We were encouraged to embrace new ways of finding, keeping and sharing music but the charts were largely dominated by the same old faces. Oh, and there was still no Detox, shocker.

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ADAM HILL

(Author On Sabbatical / Features Contributor)

Most Annoying Album of the Year: Jay-Z & Kanye West Watch The Throne
Arguably the two biggest stars in the world of hip-hop, together, for a whole album. They collaborated before and regularly produced great music but never like this. This was just them, laying beats, rapping, pooling the resource of their collective genius.

Except it wasn't.

Considering the billing of Kanye & Jay-Z, there was a heck of a lot of other artists featured. The beats and production often felt like they didn't meld with the flow and frankly the whole thing felt like more than a bit of a mess. Sure, it could never live up the hype but it felt like it never tried.

Now, I know there are many out there who feel completely the opposite and our hip-hop writers loved it. That's cool, I don't expect everyone to agree with me, but personally, I thought the album was a real let down and extremely frustrating to listen too. Not so much HAM, as turkey. And no, I did not decide to use this album here just so I could use that lame-ass pun. It was pretty cool though.

Biggest Music News of the Year: Amy Winehouse Dies
Looking back on 2011, there was an awful lot that went on across the wide spectrum of music genres, the industry and beyond. No story though was as big, or resonated so widely, as the news that broke at the end of July, that Amy Winehouse had died. Strangely, given her past, the news still came as a surprise and a shock.

Always outspoken and blessed with a lightening quick wit that was sometimes caustic and always sharp, her long standing battle with addiction overshadowed what was an immense musical talent and potential to become one of the world's greatest recording artists. Such a tragic irony then that it was side effects of trying to get clean that actually killed her.

Whatever you think of Amy as a person and her lifestyle, regardless of whether you are a fan of her music or not, whether you think the death of ‘just another junkie' shouldn't warrant this level of attention and coverage, or whether you are truly saddened by yet another wasted talent; we mustn't lose sight of one simple fact. She was just a girl with flaws, much like the rest of us, but hers were magnified beyond most people's comprehension. She was still human though and her death was a very human tragedy that will leave a hole in the lives of her family.

Biggest Disappointment of the Year: Decent Pop Music Ignored By The Mainstream, Again
As pretty much the biggest pop music champion/defender/apologist on the site, you'd think I wouldn't have a problem with the current state of the mainstream charts. Well, just because I like pop music, doesn't mean I like shit pop music and this year has seen quite a lot of decent young artists overlooked in favor of the same old sound from the same old artists. That is not to say that between them, Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, Beyoncé and even Katy Perry etc have done nothing worthwhile, but a lot of it has been pretty tiresome. How Born This Way and 4 have done so well in major publications end of year album lists is beyond me, especially when Femme Fatale (a superior album to both) has not been mentioned at all. But I am digressing now.
In my short run with the POPtacular before I took my sabbatical, I would feature up and coming, young popstars in the making; artists like Florrie, Ronika, Cocknbullkid (whose album is my third favorite of the year) and Shelly Fraley etc. Yet despite the music they make being significantly more intelligent, emotional and covering a wider range of influences, the industry just keeps on churning out more and more sound-a-like tracks written and produced by the same people, just for different artists.

Biggest Surprise of the Year: Radiohead Return And Kill Off Music Journalism
On Friday February 11, aka The Day The Music (Criticism) Died, Radiohead released The King of Limbs and music journalists the world over had to go and change their underwear, such was the fetid stench of the collective shitting of pants. With no prior exposure to what had become the most anticipated album of the year, and faced with the prospect of thousands upon thousands of bloggers all poised at their keyboards as the files downloaded, the music press was faced with their own Sophie's Choice. Write immediately and effectively give up any pretence that their words would have any credibility, or wait, treat the album with respect and publish only when they had spent a suitable amount of time with it, and become yesterday's news. Unfortunately, the majority chose the former, some even offering up live blogs of their first listen to the album, providing insta-reviews simply to get something online. Some made it clear that they were offering only first impressions with full reviews to follow; others simply offered a review based on one listen. Most of which said, ‘this album will need a few listens to get into'.

Radiohead's model was manna from heaven for fans, but absolute hell for music journalists and editors. The decision that was made by the majority was entirely understandable, in an age where anyone with an internet connection can write about anything they want; the days where you would seek out a specific journalist for their opinion have long gone. No longer do we wait excitedly to see what Reviewer A thinks about an album and no longer does his opinion have such sway over your purchasing habits. The role of the music critic is perhaps as under threat from bloggers as the industry is from piracy. There are thousands of other people out there with varying opinions, all of whom are happy to share them gratis and all of whom can be found in just a few short clicks. A search for ‘Radiohead The King Of Limbs Review' on Google, returns 2,360,000 results, how many of them were by paid music journalists?

It's a sad thing to say, but with their response to the release of The King Of Limbs, music critics effectively admitted that they can't beat the bloggers, so would have to join them instead.

Best Breakthrough Artist of the Year: Adele
Ok, I'm going to break my own rule and stray away from the classification of ‘best' and focus instead on ‘biggest' I'm not really a fan of Adele, sacrilegious to say I know, but I just don't feel it. There can be no denying the impact and success she has had on both sides of the Atlantic though, and she is arguably the biggest pop star in the world right now and it has all been done without the gimmicks or clever marketing employed by some of her mainstream contemporaries.

Comeback Artist of the Year: Britney Spears
After a tumultuous few years, in which she spent more time in the scandal sheets for her myriad of mad moments than she did in the charts, Britney came back. Not quite the force she once had been no, but much better, stronger than anyone expected and really, she had any right to. Femme Fatale was an album that played entirely to her strengths throughout which Britney is generally either horny or heartbroken. Hit-makers extraordinaire and long-time Britney collaborators Max Martin and Dr Luke took her back, not to the playful, cheese laden pop of her early releases, but to the insatiable dance fest of 2007's Blackout. The duo is equally adept at looking forwards and has embedded a multitude of vicious dub-house beats, pulsating like a heartbeat throughout the album. For my money, it was a better album than Born This Way and was the springboard for a slew of positive publicity and success. Can she keep it up? Time will tell.

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TONY ACERO

(Author of "The Low End Theory News")

Most Annoying Album of the Year: Drake Take Care
Maybe it's because I expected more from the guy or maybe it's because I can't stand the hypocritical "I fuck bitches" in one song and "Females are beautiful" in the next. For whatever reason, I despise this album ( I tried my best to explain in my review, here! ) and the numerous lovers of it (which about 98% of them are women, single, looking for the right man, but hating all men at the same time). If anything, it may very well be the fans that have created the disdain. It starts with quotes. Quotes all over Facebook telling me "I'm just sayin you can do better" or "Hell Yeah Fucking Right." Ta fuck outta here with that! Sure, there's some great moments on the album such as Kendrick Lamar showing up to glow immensely, or his addictive track, "Make Me Proud," but by and large this was a puddle of tears on an album created by a man that isn't crying over vagina, but laughing as he gets that very thing left and right, with money stacks on his sides. And to the ladies quoting the man....he'd do the same to you. Geez.

Biggest Music News of the Year: Eminem and Royce Make Up, Signs Slaughterhouse and Yelawolf
Eminem looked 2011 in the face and gave it the proverbial FUCK YOU. He signs Yelawolf to Shady Records and puts out an EP with Royce. The fans could feel the water churning. Then, this powerhouse known as Slaughterhouse is added to the roster and the water begins to simmer. Finally, in a BET cypher it boils over completely, making a mess all over the rap game! Listen to the near nine minute cypher and tell me you don't get chills. I'm not even pointing out Eminem, everyone was on point! Budden, Crooked I, Yelawolf, Juellz, Em, Royce! It was just disgusting! Serious shit, this was the fire under the ass that was needed for ALL of these guys. Budden has been talented - always. Crooked - always. Yela - always! Bringing these guys together officially was a thing of beauty! Shady tried this once before, with Busta and Eve, creating a powerhouse of rap artists and even getting a nice cover on XXL. Similar to that image, Slaughterhouse, Yela and Em did the same and I felt it spelt doom for the group. Well, they did everything they could to change my mind and I'm looking forward to the album come next year.

Favorite Concert of the Year: Los Einstein, The House of Blues, Los Angeles, CA.
It was a few years ago when I saw Jay-Z live at the House of Blues on Sunset and it changed the way I viewed concerts forever. $300 tickets allowed me to see Jay-Z so close that the sweat beading on his brow was visible. That's how close I was. What this did was destroy any possibility of me ever wanting to go to a large event again. After this, the only way I'd see a person or group was if I was as close to them as I was to Jay-Z. Lucky for me, the Los Angeles area is overflowing with talented artists, all of which play in quite the intimate setting. Ladies and gentlemen, I introduce to you...Los Einstein. Frontlined by Matt Einstein, this group is every bit as raw and gritty as the voice of the lead singer. I met the band through a mutual friend and immediately fell in love with their sound. What's most notable is the fact that I heard them in concert before purchasing their album. One issue I have with concerts from time to time is that there are moments where you cannot understand what the singer is saying as it is overtaken by the sound of the instruments backing the vocals. This issue isn't unilateral as it's happened more than once. Credit goes to Los Einstein, then for being able to perform to their greatest strengths while still allowing the listeners to enjoy the sound of the vocals. The venue was small but the sound was loud and effective. Take a listen to ‘em and see if maybe you wouldn't mind buying their album.



Biggest Disappointment of the Year: Tha Carter IV is subpar
I shouldn't be shocked here, and I kind of wasn't considering what was put out just before Tha Carter IV but I did want something better. (Full Review Here!)
Lil Wayne had mixtapes that were better than most albums No Ceilings is all kinds of bad ass. Everyone loved Tha Carter III and I would play it over and over the year it came out. It transcended the name Lil Wayne and kept me in tuned with Lil Tunechi. Tha Carter IV was supposed to be a refresher course in bad assery. We, the fans, allowed him to make his little rock album, we copped the mixtapes and applauded as he tried new things, but we all knew anything with the Carter name attached to it was going to be the shit. Ain't it a damned shame, then, that we instead got an album full of a guy who supposedly no longer drinks or smokes, flicking his bic and sipping his lean talking about being a blood? Wayne, I love ya, but I really wish you would have reconsidered some of the tracks on the album.

Biggest Surprise of the Year: Tyler, the Creator, Lil B and Kreayshawn gain popularity and fame
Make no mistake about it, this can easily be interchangeable with Biggest Disappointment of the Year and the only reason why it wasn't placed there is because I care more about Wayne's failures than this groups successes. If there's one thing that this little group of misfits showed me, it's that I have now officially become of an age to say "Back in my day" because that is seriously what these people make me wish for. A bunch of no name, no talent young kids who are using shock factor to make a name for themselves can really only be countered by the fact that they are actually becoming famous because of it. This isn't Eminem of the past where shock value was the opening door to a talented being who had a knack for storytelling and growth, oh no. I've confessed to Tyler having some semblance of talent behind the tables as far as production (and say as much in my review, here), and there is a certain ubiquity with his name, but it's for all the wrong reasons. The thing about the guy is I can see glimpses of talent on his album, but he's not using it. When every track on your album is made more to piss people off than to say anything worth noting, then you're not doing your job, kid. I have hopes that he'll be better next time around, but they are small.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for Lil B or Kreayshawn. Lil B has no talent, has no reason for being famous and for those that claimed he is just kidding in all of his videos and his album would be way different, I am here to tell you that no, it was not different. It was horrible. It was really bad. It was like .25 out of 10 bad. From the idiotic name of I'm Gay to the lack of any semblance of talent on the album, he would do better behind the counter of any one of his local fast food chains. For any people who disagree, please point out one string of verses that say anything creative, nice or even...something that rhymes AND makes sense...please!

And now, Kreayshawn...where the fuck did she come from and why? One song. One song, people!! That's really all she is known for, and of course she didn't write it! She is truly in the spotlight due to her look. The thing is, if you asked me...hell yeah, I'd hit that. But would I buy her album? Would I listen to her song more times than I would ever have to? Would I want to hear her freestyle or on a track? NO, to all of the above!! Unfortunately, this is what will be going down in the near future (well, most of it...I just don't see myself buying the album). If this little group of uprisings are the future of music, then I would love nothing more than to live in the past.

Best Breakthrough Artist of the Year: J. Cole
I can think of no one else who deserves this award more than J. Cole. As mentioned above, he blew me away with his debut album and made a solid listener out of me. Seriously, with one album, he made me go grab his entire catalog. Cole World is every bit as powerful and humble as the man himself. His Grammy nomination will hopefully turn into a win because I feel the kid deserves it. Even now, while listening to the album, the sound and the lyrics are on point! Learning that he handled a bulk of production is also very telling in terms of talent. True, it would be nice to hear him on beats of someone else, but being a first album, I have no complaints about the production and him being the bigger name in it. It only serves to make the album more HIS, which cannot be frowned upon. I see bigger things in J. Cole's future and I can't wait to see where he goes from here.

Comeback Artist of the Year: Royce Da 5'9"
Nickle Nina, I've missed you! Royce has been a beast sleeping for some time now and never made it past the thick cusp of greatness until recently. While some claim that he's riding the coattails of Eminem, I beg to differ. True, Eminem may have brought him up into the minds of listeners everywhere, but it was up to Royce to keep the attention of us and that's precisely what he did. His wordplay on Hell 2 was only intensified once coupled with Success is Certain and practically quadrupled after his grouping with Slaughterhouse. Let me ask you this, what was trending on Twitter shortly after the cypher on BET? #HIRIHANNA. Who do we credit that to? Royce! He was a part of the most talked about Cypher since last year when Eminem tore it up with Mos Def and Black Thought. Make no mistake about it, Royce is the real deal Holyfield and, being a vet in this game, he is only making the right decisions to help bolster his career. He's back, baby, and he's making moves!

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JEREMY THOMAS

(Author of "Buy or Sell" – Lord of the Music Zone)

Most Annoying Album of the Year: Rihanna Talk That Talk
Rihanna is the victim of trying to get too much music out there on too regular an interval. Her 2010 album Loud had seven out of eleven tracks released as legit singles off of it, sometimes one within two weeks or less of the one that came just before it. And almost a year to the day later, when she was out of singles to pimp out, she released Talk that Talk. Where Loud was an okay pop album that occasionally ventured into ill-advised attempts to be kinky ("S&M," I'm looking at you), Talk that Talk seems to talk those attempts as a mission statement. For my money, "Suck my cockiness/Lick my persuasion" is one of the worst song lyrics written in the last decade, and that's not it. The whole album reeks of "Crap, I need to get more music out there so I don't fall behind Katy Perry and Lady Gaga" without any attempt to put out anything actually good. Consider this: "We Found Love" is one of the better tracks and it takes the word "repetitive" to a new level.

Biggest Music News of the Year: Amy Winehouse's Death
Many people made jokes about Amy Winehouse's eventual drug-related demise before it happened. Hell, I think I approved a comment doing just that on some unrelated news post like two days before the news hit. But that Amy's death was expected doesn't make it any less sad. Amy Winehouse's story is yet another cautionary tale to musical stars. She was a brilliant singer and a fantastic lyricist, but her personal demons got the better of her and she ended up in a hole she could never quite climb her way out of. It's an incredibly tragic story and the one bright light is that some good has come out of it, with Amy's family starting a foundation to help support young people in need. Her final album, Lioness: Hidden Treasures just barely missed my top ten and is one well-worth listening to. It's just too bad we'll never hear her play them live.

Biggest Disappointment of the Year: Metallica & Lou Reed - Lulu
I wrote in a recent Fact or Fiction that I half-wonder whether Metallica was legit trolling their fans by making this album. Don't get me wrong, I was looking forward to it; I wanted to see how the band would mix with a guy like Reed and I was excited for the possibility. What we got was the worst musical decision since Lil Wayne decided to go rock for an album. The whole thing just plays out like an utter disaster; there is simply no other way for me to describe it accurately. There were worse albums this year (I point to Puddle of Mudd's Re(disc)overed as an example), but none of them were as much of a low blow as Lulu.

Biggest Surprise of the Year: Eddie Vedder - Ukulele Songs
I already wrote about this in last week's top ten staff picks, but really...who heard "Eddie Vedder plays the ukulele" and thought that it would be a great album? I didn't, but damn if it wasn't a fantastic piece of work.



Best Breakthrough Artist of the Year: Adele
Really, could there possibly be anyone else? Adele was a well-kept secret until 2011; she had some success with 19 but most people had no idea who she was. Now she's an international superstar who pretty much everyone knows. She had what is considered by many to be the album of the year, the song of the year in "Rolling in the Deep," she's poised to win a ton of Grammys, she's pretty much done it all this year. I really think that it's hard to argue anyone else as a bigger breakthrough than Adele.

Comeback Artist of the Year: Britney Spears
Everyone remember when Britney Spears was running down the street sans hair and wielding umbrellas while chasing paparazzi? That Britney, it seems, is a thing of the past and the new Britney is back on top. Britney seems to have left her meltdown of a few years ago behind and come out stronger for it; 2011 was the year that saw her make a big comeback. She released Femme Fatale which is one of the better-reviewed albums of her career after a three-year lay-off and a very successful world tour featuring a ton of big names guest appearing. Then she topped the year off by getting engaged to Jason Trawick, which felt like the final piece of the puzzle to make her return from the depths of madness complete. She may not be America's Pop Princess anymore, but she's still a force to be reckoned with in the pop music industry.

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CHRIS BELL

(Author of "Ten Deep")

Most Annoying Album of the Year: Random Pop Star Random Pop Album
I'm not talking about Adele. I'm talking about the race-to-the-bottom, celebrity, tangentially musical, lip synching, booty shaking, mouth breathers that should be embarrassed to present themselves as they do. Here, just watch this...



Biggest Music News of the Year: Birth of the Cloud
With Google and Apple both releasing official versions of the cloud this year, music and how we consume it, will never be the same. The ability to store your entire music collection on the internet virtually eliminates the need for a physical album. This has a lot of implications. The already struggling record industry will have to find a business model that can exist almost entirely on digital sales (a format that has, thus far, proven far less profitable for them). As those big industry labels continue to shrink, so will the prevalence and amount of huge megastars, widening the already apparent gap between musicians and celebrities. This changeover will also have an effect on how we listen to music. While the album format has already begun to erode in importance, with no limitations on storage space artists will be free to release their music one song at a time or as massive collections, effectively erasing the 'level playing field' enforced by physical formats. Of course, the cloud will have larger scale impacts as well. Without the need for hard drive capacity, devices like the iPod classic are basically obsolete. Devices across the spectrum will be able to shed bulky and unreliable components in favor of smaller, more portable designs. Inter-connectivity between devices will only be that much easier when they can share a common 'brain' in the cloud. As one might expect, these changes won't all come at once and there are some major drawbacks to the initial cloud programs (more on that later). Nonetheless, the cloud will prove to be a major game changer for every music fan.

Biggest Disappointment of the Year:The Cloud Roll-out
I spoke before about how huge the impact of the cloud will be. Unfortunately, the initial roll-out of cloud programs from both Google and Apple were underwhelming, to say the least. Google Music hit the public first. I jumped into MusicBeta as soon as I could, only to be desperately disappointed. The clunky interface of their software and the involuntary music subscriptions that constantly popped up during its use were mere annoyances in comparison to the uploading procedure. In order to load your music onto the cloud you must physically upload each song from your computer using their ridiculous Music Manager program, which involuntarily auto-starts with your computer, eating up valuable resources in the process. The slow pace of the uploading resulted in weeks of constant management to get an entire library into the Google cloud. Add into this the unpredictable way in which songs were uploaded (certain songs are simply refused without any real notification) and a storage capacity so small that I actually think I heard my iPod laugh, and Google Music was fairly unusable.

That, however, was a Godsend in comparison to the iCloud experience. On the first version of the iCloud, storage capabilities are so small for free users that anything short of paying for iTunes Match is silly. Though the pricetag for Match is extremely affordable, it has a litany of serious limitations. While Apple improved on the Google concept by avoiding the uploading process by matching your ID3 tags to the same songs already sold on iTunes, there are still severe limitations on what you can upload to iTunes that you didn't purchase through the store. Those of us who engage in sound quality snobbery were downright baffled by the iCloud's 256 kbps maximum. There is also the missing song issue, certain songs simply disappearing during the transfer process and absolutely no notification that a song didn't make it from your hard drive to the cloud. For some reason Apple just can't shake the phantom song problem (this was also an issue for the first three generations of iPods). But the most serious iCloud violation was the non-iTunes song cap. You would think that Apple would make attracting people with massive music collections that aren't currently using iTunes to obtain it a number one priority. But instead, if you have more than 25,000 songs that were purchased from another source or loaded from physical CDs, iTunes simply denies your Match application. I would have to keep a specific Match hard drive with less than half of my current music collection on it to even be able to begin using the iCloud. I understand that this is a just a growing pain, and as time passes storage capacity will most likely increase. But, one would think that Apple would find a way to offer the extra storage capacity at an increased membership price, in order to attract the most voracious music hoarders.

In the end, these are all the kinds of problems that get solved, but it didn't ease the sting any. As disappointed as I might have been in any single album this year, I was tenfold more upset that the cloud was available, but unusable.

Biggest Surprise of the Year: The End of the White Stripes
There were a lot of surprises this year; The breakup of R.E.M., the re-emergence of Jeff Mangum, the launch of Bjork's Biophilia project, the bankruptcy of EMI, and the deaths of Amy Winehouse, Don Kirschner, and Clarence Clemons. What struck me the most personally was the breakup of what I consider to be the greatest Rock group of the 2000s, The White Stripes. I suppose we should have seen it coming. They hadn't released a record since 2007. They hadn't played live together since 2009. The documentary Under Great White Northern Lights ended with an incredibly touching and sad moment of the two embracing. It didn't seem to make sense at the time, but I suppose it should have in retrospect. Towards the end of their 2007 tour, The White Stripes had to cancel several shows due to Meg having acute anxiety issues. It would appear that whatever happened on that tour spelled the end of The White Stripes. With Meg getting married and Jack pursuing other projects with The Dead Weather and his own record label, The White Stripes finally made the breakup official in February of this year. As much as I suppose I should have expected it, this was still the most shocking moment of the year.

Since breaking as international superstars in 2001 with their third full record, White Blood Cells, The White Stripes were the most important force in Rock music for ten years. Only The Strokes' Is This It? could argue to have been as influential on the decade and The Strokes didn't have the follow up that The White Stripes had. This band revitalized old school Detroit Rock in a post-Kid A world and, with the Strokes, put a fire back under the entire genre. I have no doubt that Jack White will continue to produce amazing things, but this breakup was terribly sad nonetheless.

Best Breakthrough Artist of the Year: Anna Calvi
Anna Calvi had perhaps the best debut of anyone this year. Her first self-titled LP came out early in the year and gained immediate critical headway, being cited as one of the best albums of the first half of the year by NPR and Sound Opinions. She only reached number 42 on the Billboard Heatseekers list, but I think the magic we are seeing here is the beginning of a long and important career, ala Tom Waits, Patti Smith, Captain Beefheart, or Nick Cave. Like those artists, Anna makes dark, raw music that doesn't fit easily into a 30 second radio byte. Unlike those artists, there is a certain bluesy swagger in her performance that shows possibilities for massive crossover success (something not too removed from Bruce Springsteen). Anna has a truly individual delivery and a knack for pulling head-nodding grooves out of the strangest places. At first I wasn't completely sold on Calvi, but after hearing repeated praise from the critical community I slowly became a sycophantic convert. Anna Calvi has the makings of a mega-star and the artistic vision to stay relevant for as long as she wants. I, for one, am looking forward to it.



Comeback Artist of the Year: Garland Jeffreys
Comeback has always been an iffy term. How long does someone have to be away for it to be considered a comeback? I thought about talking about Paul Simonor the Cowboy Junkies, but I'm not sure either of them really ever went away. Now Garland Jeffreys, he's been away. I love the story of Garland Jeffries. Debuting in 1973, Garland Jeffreys is a man whose history is completely wrapped into the annals of modern music, and you have probably never heard his name. Jeffreys grew up in New York City. He went to college with and befriended Lou Reed, before the Velvet Underground was even an idea. His first live performances were at the same Greenwich Village folk clubs Bob Dylan frequented in the mid-60's, like Gerde's and the Gaslight. Garland's 1973 debut record featured the young session player, Dr. John. But Jeffreys never kept the type of schedule that made a superstar, only releasing albums when the inspiration struck him and always putting his primary focus on raising his family. Rolling Stone named Jeffreys the Best New Artist of 1977 (a year that also saw the debuts of Cheap Trick, The Talking Heads, The Sex Pistols, The Clash, Big Star, The Modern Lovers, Elvis Costello, and Peter Gabriel as a solo artist), but he quickly disappeared again, only intermittently returning with new work.

His first album since 1997, Garland Jeffreys resurfaced this year with The King of In Between. With it came "Coney Island Winter", a song that we've all desperately needed. An ode to his beloved Brooklyn, "Coney Island Winter" is a stomping statement on community, politics, and gentrification. Alone, the track is a great Springsteen knock up (another of Jeffreys' studio buddies). To anyone that has lived in New York, this track is nothing short of transcendent. The driving, circular beat that perfectly mirrors that steady subway pace out to Brooklyn's furthest point at Coney & Stillwell, only a block away from the sandy beach. The imagery of empty boardwalks and shuddered buildings accompanied only by the freezing winter wind are exact renderings of the real thing. One of my favorite trips in New York is taking the train out to the deserted waterfront. It's a breathtaking place and time, the only empty space in the city. For Jeffreys, this is a statement of true love. Without the rides, shops, people, and warmth, this is STILL his home. I really hope we don't have to wait another 14 years for another Garland Jeffreys record.

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CHAD NEVETT

(Author of "The 8 Ball")

Most Annoying Album of the Year: Theory of a Deadman The Truth Is...
It's a toss-up between this and Nickelback's latest since I'm sick of hearing these songs on the radio station I listen to at work. Theory of a Deadman edges out Nickelback for the simple reason that Theory of a Deadman just sounds skeevier. And proud to be skeevier. I always feel like I need a shower after hearing one of their songs.

Biggest Music News of the Year: Lou Reed and Metallica Working Together
For me, the biggest news of the year is usually the announcement of new music that gets me the most excited. This year, it was the prospect of Lou Reed and Metallica working together on an album. I've been a fan of both for years and their styles seem so different that, before hearing anything, the imagined result was intriguing and had me ready to buy the resulting album.

Favorite Concert of the Year: Sam Roberts Band, St. Andrews Hall (Detroit, MI).
I only went to one concert this year, unfortunately. That's the downside of working weekends it seems. Still, I did get to see one of my favorite bands live for the fourth time in what had to be one of the hottest concerts I've ever been to. It was brutal in St. Andrews Hall, but a lot of fun. The Sam Roberts Band did a healthy mix of old and new material from Collider, including my favorite song of theirs, "Dead End." Any concert where they play your favorite song is automatically awesome, right?

Biggest Disappointment of the Year: No Barenaked Ladies Rarities Disc
When the Barenaked Ladies announced their second compilation Hits from Yesterday & the Day Before, a second disc of rarities was announced to come out with it in a deluxe package. Well, the compilation came out and no rarities disc was to be found. The band announced that it would be released later in 2011. Here we are at the end of the year and no rarities disc.

Biggest Surprise of the Year: Lou Reed and Metallica Working Together
Did anyone see that coming really? It was news that made me go "What the fuck? Really?" out loud. Nothing else did that this year.

Comeback Artist of the Year: Ryan Adams
Ryan Adams has released albums since quitting the Cardinals because of Ménière's disease, but they contained older material from the archives. Now, given Adams' well-known depth of archival material, he could have easily continued to have a 'career' for years by carefully portioning out that material without any need to go back to the studio. He did the odd show, but those seemed like one-offs. The sort of things that may pop up from time to time, not necessarily a sign that he was still 'active.' Honestly, given the nature of his medical problems, there could have easily not been any more new Ryan Adams music. Instead, he came back with Ashes & Fire, a quiet and subdued album that gets better every time I hear it.

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DAVID HAYTER

(Features Contributor)

Most Annoying Album of the Year: Tyler, The Creator - Goblin
Tyler is a talented rapper, there's no doubt about it, and Odd Future put on a hellacious live show, but part way through the year I decided that I'm too old to be listening to tracks laden with homophobia, violence towards women, and lame jokes about killing celebrities that will age awfully.

Biggest Music News of the Year: Adele Saves The Record Industry
Or should I say, Adele defers the death of the record industry. In a year where we acknowledged just how difficult it is to become a crossover sensation, where we decried the nichification of the record industry, and where we fretted over a of lack modernity, a record came along that combined two well established genres, was filled with safe but enjoyable tracks, and was sung by a feisty and engaging real women…and it conquered the world. Adele isn't the answer, but she is a vital reminder that the right product and the right artist can still bring the world together.

Favorite Concert of the Year: Gillian Welch & Dave Rawlings, Hammersmith Apollo, London
No other performance came close (and this was a year of fantastic gigs). Welch & Rawlings complement each other so perfectly. Standing alone onstage; Dave Rawlings unleashes some lightening fast guitar work operating in the tiniest corridors while Welch tells her dark tales of poverty and obstructed love. The performance was so perfect, that I cannot hope to list the highlights.

Biggest Disappointment of the Year: Indie Music
By indie, I mean the traditional guitar band style, not everything that Pitchfork would list as indie. I was really hoping that at some point in 2011 indie would get its libido back, gain some swagger, create a new sound and reinsert its fundamental importance. Instead it continued to scrape along the bottom with a series of middling but entirely uninspired highlights.

Biggest Surprise of the Year: The Death Of Amy Winehouse
I know you're probably looking at me like I'm utterly insane. The media has been predicting this tragedy for years now, and the Belgrade disaster should have been a clear warning sign, but her death still hit me hard, and that's why this is my biggest surprise.

Despite all the expectation, I was taken aback by how devastated London and Camden in particular were. As someone who essentially works in that music scene, I thought we'd all collectively hardened to the situation, but when the news broke I couldn't help but feel a great sense of loss, and I certainly never expected that.

Best Breakthrough Artist of the Year: The Weeknd
I don't want to repeat myself but I don't think any artist made such an immediate impact on the genre in which they inhabit, sure Azealia Banks and Lana Del Rey made bigger commercial leaps, but Weeknd changed the game all together.

Comeback Artist of the Year: Nicola Roberts
Those living outside the UK probably don't understand just how big a kicking Nicola used to get in the British media. She was a laughing stock from day one. A 16-year-old girl working an insane schedule, who woke up every morning to be told that she was the ugly one, the worthless one, and the pointless member of Girls Aloud. Well 2011 all changed all that, as her adept solo debut album gave her a new moniker: the talented one in Girls Aloud.

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BRIAN BERRY

(Features Contributor/Ex-Music Editor)

Most Annoying Album of the Year: Akron/Family Akron/Family II (The Cosmic Birth and Journey of Shinju TNT)
Akron/Family chose to follow 2009's melodic, relaxed freak-folk masterpiece Set 'Em Wild, Set 'Em Free with this painful, abrasive marathon of Japanese influenced experimental music. On par with Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music.

Biggest Music News of the Year:90's Indie Rock Reunions
Stone Roses, Guided By Voices, Pulp, Mazzy Star and Afghan Whigs are all reuniting in 2011-2012. This might not draw the ticket sales of popular contemporary acts but these bands were hugely influential on current music and will see bigger crowds now than at shows during their previous peak.

Favorite Concert of the Year: My Morning Jacket, Fox Theater (Oakland, CA).
I kinda gave up on these guys over the past couple albums until Circuital came out. Their show at the Fox lasted 3 full hours, captivated the crowd, and renewed my faith. One of the best live acts on Earth.

Biggest Disappointment of the Year: Radiohead's The King of Limbs
Dull album that sounded unfinished.

Best Breakthrough Artist of the Year:EMA
She released the best female confessional album since Hole's Live Through This. Why can't more artists show us this level of honesty?

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JOHN DOWNEY

(Author of "The Love/Hate News Report")

Most Annoying Album of the Year: Lupe Fiasco Lasers
Truth be told, this isn't the worst album of the year, but the whole album feels like a drag. Some have (belligerently) argued that this is a great album because Lupe spends most of his time talking about important things, which is like saying that FernGully is a great film because it talks about the environment. Everyone, from the legions of backing singers, to the producers, to Lupe himself, obviously phones it in for most of Lasers, and if there's anything more than I hate than bad music, it is phoned-in bad music.

Biggest Music News of the Year: SMiLE Getting A Proper Release
To the uninitiated, SMiLE should have been out in the 60's, but Brian Wilson went crazy. Earlier this year, the damn thing was finally released. This might not mean much to those who don't like the Beach Boys, but nobody doesn't like the Beach Boys, so this is, obviously, the biggest news of the year.

Favorite Concert of the Year: Dessa, Boston.
On paper, this might seem like a run-of-the-mill show;an artist gets on stage, sings her most noteworthy songs, and leaves after giving a taste of upcoming work. Not in that equation, though, is that Dessa is one of the most personable artists you could ask for, and some of the stories she told onstage were better than many albums I've heard in the past year. It was only ninety minutes, but it felt like five.

Biggest Disappointment of the Year: Relax by Das Racist
The duo follows up one of the best albums of 2010 with a pedestrian album that took no risks. At least the El-P track was pretty good.

Biggest Surprise of the Year: Mr. Mothafuckin eXquire's "The Last Huzzah" featuring Despot, Das Racist, Danny Brown, and El-P
Who would have thought that these guys would make the group jam of the year?

Best Breakthrough Artist of the Year: Adele
She's gone from being just another artist who makes damn good music to one of the biggest names in the business. Sounds like a winner to me.

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NICK KRENN

(Author of "Major Bands, Minor Labels" & "The Music 3R's")

Most Annoying Album of the Year: Incubus If Not Now, When?
This was the most annoying for me because I loved Incubus so much. But then they released this...SHIT. It was difficult choosing between this and the new Blink 182, but Incubus insulted me the most.

Biggest Music News of the Year: Guided By Voices Reunite
The indie legends got back together to crank out a new album of material, and it's available now!

Biggest Disappointment of the Year: Neon Indian's New Album
Neon Indian's new album, Era Extrana, was supposed to be the definitive chillwave release from a guy at the top of his game. Instead, it was just a dull synth heavy album that didn't retain any of the summer charm from its predecessor.

Best Breakthrough Artist of the Year: Lana Del Rey
She was for me anyway. This female singer came out of nowhere in the indie world with two instant megahits "Video Games" and "Blue Jeans" that turned the blogosphere upside down. Then stories came out that she was a plant by the major labels. Then a story came out that she signed to Interscope. She may not be indie, but she's made some great tunes. 2012 could be her year as she releases her debut album Born 2 Die.

Comeback Artist of the Year: Guided By Voices
I haven't heard the new album yet, so it might not be a good comeback. However, it was a big surprise that they came back with a new album.

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So there you go, those are the 411 Music staffers thoughts on 2011. Now it's your turn, let us know what you thought of the year in music right here in the comments section. Don't forget to go check out Part One of our round-up, the staffers' favorite albums of the year. If you've already taken a look, thanks, feel free to look again!

Have a great New Year everyone, see you in 2012.