2011 Albums We Missed

• Sex Church
• Growing Over

• This was probably my fault. I’ll review it!

• Paul Lawton

More 2011 Albums We Missed:

• Indian Wars – s/t (Mike Deane)
• Pip Skid – People are the Worst (Taylor Burgess)
• Grown Ups – Stopped Caring (Jesse Locke)
• AIDS Wolf – Ma vie banale avant-garde (Benoit Poirier)
• Steve Basham and The Girth – Thick Cuts (Taylor Burgess)
• Dirty Beaches // Conor Prendergast – Split 7" (Gabriel Jasmin)
• Laurice – The Best of Laurice Volume 1 (Pam Haasen)
• Tonetta – 777 Vol II, III and Tonetta Nude Photo Album (Gabriel Jasmin)

Music From 2011 We Wished Was Released Physically

• Black Feelings
• No Dancing
• Gabriel Jasmin

Other non-physical digitalia:

• Bobo Boutin (Benoit Poirier)
  

  This is a solo thing from Les Georges Leningrad’s ex-drummer with a tape coming this spring, hopefully!

• Brazilian Money – Jive With The Killer Instinct (Mike Deane)
• The Soft Options – Demos (Paul Lawton)
• OG Melody – Chupped & Scrupped (Jesse Locke)
• Kram Ram – The Idiot Prince (Taylor Burgess)
  

  About 50 copies were lost in the mail, to the dismay of myself, Krammy, WC readers, Steak Au Zoo Records, and errrrryone else.

• Makeout Videotape – Bossa Yeye (Pam Haasen)
  

  Still waiting…

• Eola – “Panic” (Simon Frank)
  

  Nominally Canadian.

• Great Marble (Jean Sebastien Audet)

New Births Of 2011

• Teledrome
• Demos

• Got the demos last summer and they knocked me on my ass!

• Paul Lawton

Other newborns from the two-oh-one-one:

• Outtacontroller (Alison Lang)
• Paula (Benoit Poirier)
• Saünlust (Taylor Burgess)
  

  Winnipeg stonerjams etc. etc.

• Sorry (Jesse Locke)
  

  Best new band from Calgary that isn’t Teledrome.

• Bataille Solaire (Gabriel Jasmin)
• Teledrome (Jean Sebastien Audet)
• New Zebra Kid (Pam Haasen)
• Dirty Beaches + full band line-up! (Simon Frank)

2011’s Most Memorable Album Cover

• Young Guv + The Scuzz
• Bedroom Eyes b/w Rumors

• This thing gives me nightmares. Unanimously hideous.

• Aaron Levin

Other (hopefully not-so-garish) album covers:

• Brazilian Money – Jive With The Killer Instinct (Mike Deane)
  

  Features Garrett holding up a dead rabbit that he’d just shot from a moving truck (don’t worry, kids, he then skinned it, cooked it on a fire and ate it.)

• Apollo Ghosts – Money Has No Heart 7" (Paul Lawton)
  

  Garish.

• The Shrapnelles – Asscalibur (Alison Lang)
• The Famines – The Complete Collected Singles (Alison Lang)
• This Hisses – Surf Noir (Taylor Burgess)
• JAZZ – Burnt (Jean Sebastien Audet)
• Jennifer Castle – Castlemusic (Simon Frank)
• Sean Nicholas Savage – Trippple Midnite Karma (Pam Haasen)

2011’s Most Elaborate Packaging

• Hobo Cult Box-Sets!
• Simon Frank

More curiously packaged goodness:

• Aunty Panty – AP EP (Taylor Burgess)
• Book of Caverns – Book of Caverns (Jean Sebastien Audet)
• Sundrips – One Hundred Hints (Gabriel Jasmin)

  Incredible visual artwork.

• Six Heads – Cardboard Oracle (Jesse Locke)
  

  Recycled sleeve + actual cardboard!

• Auntie Dada // Preanderthals – Split Cassette (Taylor Burgess)
  

  Seripop art and two 15 minute tapes FTW.

2011’s Most Surprising Releases, Events And Ephemera

• Wyrd MTL

• Turning Wyrd MTL from a drunken idea into a reality!

• Gabriel Jasmin

Other great minutiae of 2011:

• Meeting Carlyle Williams (Jesse Locke)
• Ketamines – Line by Line (Jean Sebastien Audet)
• Dirty Beaches featuring Tonstartssbandht at Wyrd III – Calgary (Paul Lawton)
• Yamantaka // Sonic Titan (Alison Lang)
• PONCTUATION (Benoit Poirier)
• Transfixed’s Physical Mirage mega-jam… LIVE! (Alison Lang)
• Odonis Odonis (Benoir Poirier)
• Lonely Wholesome – Vanity 7" lathe, Role Mach, Uncle Bad Touch, Service:Fair, Babysitter! (Mike Deane)
• Secret Girls – In Hiding (Taylor Burgess)
• Christopher Doyle’s video for Dirty Beaches (Simon Frank)
• DUZHEKNEW live at the Weird Canada + Flemish Eye NXNE showcase. (Pam Haasen)

2011 Release From The Most Obscure Location

• Matthew A. Wilkinson
• Namers

• Grand Prairie, AB!

• Mike Deane

• Sutton, QC: Les Nitrates de Madame Mimieux – Rien n’est moins grave (Benoit Poirier)
• Churchill, MB: A message from Taylor Burgess: “Hey, polar bear occultists from Churchill, get in touch with me already!” (Taylor Burgess)
• Winnipeg, MB: Microdot – Lamps Not Amps (Paul Lawton)
  

  It used to be that Winnipeg was THE Canadian music scene, but it’s been pretty quiet over the last decade or so, and thus fairly obscure. Thankfully, The core group of musicians making up Microdot/Atomic Don and the Black Sunrise/Angry Dragons/This Hisses etc. will change that soon if releases like Lamps Not Amps have anything to say about it.

2011’s Favourite New Genre

• “Witchdub”
• Fletcher Pratt – Dub Sessions Vol. 1
• Taylor Burgess

• “Swamp-Sheened Pop Rock”: Service:Fair – It Ended Badly (Mike Deane)
• “Noh-Wave”: Yamantaka // Sonic Titan – YT//ST (Alison Lang)
• “Gaffer Pop”: Géraldine – Baiser avec un Miroir (Benoit Poirier)
• “Gripe Core” (Alison Lang)
• “Angelo Badalamelty”: Taiwan – Belladonna (Jesse Locke)
• “Dystopian Rock” (Jean Sebastien Audet)
• “Subjectivity Punk”: Apollo Ghosts – Money Has No Heart (Paul Lawton)
• “Music To Wash Dishes To”: Sean Nicholas Savage, Makeout Videotape, Kuhrye-oo, Destroyer’s Kaputt (and also Fleetwood Mac or Maximum Joy) (Gabriel Jasmin)

2011’s Most Stoned Dudes

• Krang

• They don’t call it “Krang Baked” for nothing! (Editor’s Note: I’ve never heard anyone call anything “Krang Baked”)

• Paul Lawton

Other stoners of note:

• Krang (Mike Deane)
  

  Obviously.

• Krang (Jesse Locke)
  

  FTW

• Krang (Aaron Levin)
  

  Weed rider.

• Bad Vibrations (Alison Lang)
  

  Oh geez…

• Man Made Hill (Benoit Poirier)
• Shooting Guns (Taylor Burgess)
• Omma Cobba (Simon Frank)
• Makeout Videotape at NXNE (3 a.m. show at the Garrison) (Pam Haasen)
• Ten year’s later it’s still Mental Note. But also, Babysitter. (Gabriel Jasmin)
• Mad blunted Ms. Castle (Pam Haasen)

2011’s Geographical Hotbed

• Saskatoon, SK

• This place is gonna blow up in 2012.

• Paul Lawton

Other geographs of note:

• Lethbridge, AB (Mike Deane)
  

  Still!

• Toronto, ON (Jesse Locke)
  

  Ha ha ha ha, no, seriously.

• Saskatchewan (Taylor Burgess)
• Halifax, NS (Benoit Poirier)
• Halifax, NS / Truro, NS (Alison Lang)
• London, ON (Pam Haasen)
• The Internet (Gabriel Jasmin)

2011’s Most Face-Melting Video

Other animated delicatessen:

• Makeout Videotape – “Only You” (Mike Deane)
• Makeout Videotape – “Exercising With My Demons” (Mike Deane)
• The video plugging Weird Canada for the Radio 3 award-thingy (Paul Lawton)
• Bad Vibrations – “What Now?” (Alison Lang)
• Tonetta – “Slutty Me” (Alison Lang)
  

  This is definitely the sexiest.

• Babysitter – “Sex Pet” (Jesse Locke)
• Alpha Couple – “Lucky” (Taylor Burgess)
  

  Britney Spears cover.

• Dozens – “High Score” (Gabriel Jasmin)
• Tonstartssbandht – “Hymn Eola (Acapella)” (Gabriel Jasmin)

2011’s Softest Bands Not Related To THOMAS

• Bruce Cockburn
• Bruce Cockburn

• Editor’s note: although not from 2011, Jesse Locke was gifted this album of soft-psych explorations (from me) for all his hard work as Managing Editor of 2011. For all the doubters and haters out there, this mystic-dog funkyness will be coming to a Departures near you, soon!

• Jesse Locke & Aaron Levin

Other softness:

• Doc Dunn, Sundrips, and Bruce Cockburn’s first album. (Jesse Locke)
• “The only soft I listened to is THOMAS. All others need not apply.” (Mike Deane)
• Softcore, obvs. (Taylor Burgess)
• Lab Coast (Jean Sebastien Audet)
• “Gross.” (Paul Lawton)
• Headaches (Pam Haasen)
  

  Well, I guess that’s arguable, but we like the softest moments of Land-o!

• “All soft leads to THOMAS.” (Aaron Levin)
• Jennifer Castle (Gabriel Jasmin)

2011’s Youngest Bieber-Not-Bieber

• Matt Samways

• Eternal cutie.

• Alison Lang

Other non-Biebs:

• Rene Wilson and Travis Bretzer (Mike Deane)
  

  Though at 21, they’re getting old…

• The Tonstartssbandht brothers. (Paul Lawton)
• Grimes (Gabriel Jasmin)
• Michael Halls (Don Jumble, Faux Fur) (Jean Sebastien Audet)
• Auntie Dada (Taylor Burgess)
  

  This can be ironic, right?

• Jean Sebastien Audet (Aaron Levin)
  

  Pretty sure he attended Wyrd III… illegally.