• BEST OF 2011: The Muppets

    A lot of films surprised me this year with their wit, charm and self-reflexivity—Kung Fu Panda 2, Gnomeo & Juliet, Drive Angry—but The Muppets’ enormously clever advertising campaign alone made sure it would be one of the year’s best. I was not disappointed. For someone who grew up watching the Muppets in their many filmic …

  • BEST OF 2011: Capillary Action – Capsized

    I think what makes this such a remarkable record and certainly one of the year’s best and brightest is the fact that its ensemble is so acrobatic; you can’t help but see the players physically (or arduously) shifting themselves between instruments or disciplines, multitasking to achieve what you so seamlessly hear… Their efforts obviously a …

  • BEST OF 2011: Beau Navire – Hours

    Not to say that it ever stopped being good, but it seems to me like the past few years have seen a considerable surge in the quality of screamo. A lot of the bands grouped with the “second wave” of screamo either broke up and moved on to other projects, or slowed down considerably, so …

  • BEST OF 2011: Giraffes? Giraffes! – Pink Magick

    We haven’t been shy about our love for Giraffes? Giraffes! in the past; the duo’s previous releases (2005′s SUPERBASS!!!! and 2007′s More Skin With Milk-Mouth) are both ambitious pieces of instrumental math rock that, while not polished, were raw in their display of competent composition and technical skill. More Skin‘s highlight was the epically climactic “When the Catholic …