Saturday, December 3, 2011

2011 The Albums - League of Their Own

This award started long before the site was even a thought, in one publication or radio show or another, since 2000 I have handed out the "League of Their Own" Award to an album that is made by an artist who is the most forward thinking, open minded, revolutionary musician out there today. Their accomplishments in the past 12 months have either resurrected a sound, broke down walls and created new frontiers or have totally reinvented a genre all together. In the past winners have included:

2000- Radiohead - Kid A
2001- The Strokes - Is This It?
2002- NERD - In Search of...
2003- The White Stripes - Elephant
2004- The Killers - Hot Fuss
2005- The Mars Volta - Francis the Mute
2006- TV On The Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain
2007- Kanye West - Graduation
2008- Santogold
2009 - Mastodon - Crack the Skye
2010 - Gorillaz - Plastic Beach

..and now to add to the list of this important albums by these important artists is someone who has single handedly influenced them all. An artist who is always light years ahead of her time and still breaks down every wall with nearly every record she releases, for her latest album, it is no exception. Releasing her latest album not just as a musical landscape but as a full on multimedia project and creating the worlds first "app album." Ladies and gentlemen the winner of the 2011 League of Their Own is:

Bjork - Biophilia

Bjork is someone who this award was made for, simply because she could care less about selling music but like the rest of the artists on this list, cares more about making it and how it is made to carry out. Biophilia is proof of all of this. As we said in our Quick Spins - Album Review of Biophilia this past October: "The cerebral album takes the listener on a journey of a new world and with the motif of the record being protect your surroundings, Bjork maybe protecting the music world with this brilliant achievement and idea. Would we expect anything less from Bjork at this point? Taking her alternative style to the next level by creating and patenting her own instruments totally unique for Biophilia, it is a record that needs to be experienced to truly appreciate."
Key Tracks: Crystalline, Mutual Core