conradtao
Emeritus

Reviews 60
Approval 98%

Soundoffs 39
News Articles 6
Band Edits + Tags 5
Album Edits 77

Album Ratings 517
Objectivity 66%

Last Active 09-22-12 5:03 am
Joined 11-24-09

Review Comments 2,090

 Lists
07.10.13 2013.5 ♦11.22.12 Conrad's Top 50 Albums Of 2012 ♦
06.15.12 2012.5 ♦03.23.12 2012 Q1: The Unsung (and The Less So) ♦
03.19.12 Conrad Made An Album. ♦12.07.11 conrad presents 25 from 2011 ♦
06.12.11 The 2011 List You Probably Haven't Hear ♦05.01.11 Fuck Elitism. ♦
01.19.11 Albums That Changed The Way I Listen ♦12.08.10 Conrad's 2010: Top 25 (with Description ♦

conrad presents 25 from 2011

go forth and listen
25 azari & iii
azari & iii

two toronto revivalists and two queens team up to make sure disco house is still
funky.
24pepepiano
king

the year's most gorgeously gooey, fuzzed-up, and blissfully chilled-out tapestry of
sounds.
23dj diamond
flight muzik

without a four-on-the-floor pulse, dance music enters an exhilaratingly no-holds-
barred state, and flight muzik happily exists in that undefined space, sounding at
once both intensely claustrophobic and generously open-ended.
22 big k.r.i.t.
return of 4eva

a universe where "country shit" exists is a universe worth fighting for.
21pj harvey
let england shake

polly jean harvey's most overtly "political" and "english" album is a remarkably
subtle listen, its sonic nuance allowing its blunter content to hit devastatingly
hard.
20beyonce
4

she may not be able to pull off profundity, but that's why that voice exists -?to
brilliantly sell sentiment in its pure, unadulteratedly cloying form.
19ssion
bent

brazenly shallow pop from a distinctly cracked motley crew of art-punks.
18rustie
glass swords

the most euphorically cheesy, shamelessly awesome sounds imaginable.
17telebossa
telebossa

beguiling bossa nova from brazil, initially lovely - "merely" so -?and ultimately a
profoundly, inexplicably touching experience.
16sepalcure
sepalcure

thrilling, intoxicating evidence that american dubstep doesn't have to be fratty.
15james blake
james blake

the palpable negative space, the effortlessly elegant voice, the broken, glitchy
melancholy of the entire affair, the beautifully colored harmonies -?it's hard to
place just why this album clicks as stunningly as it does.
14bell
diamonite

you'd be forgiven for thinking that olga bell was just another indie ingenue, coy
lyrics and all, but then you'd miss out on an album that, despite moments of
sexual frustration and existential turmoil, is one of the most winning and
engaging pop records of the year.
13panda bear
tomboy

cow tits cow tits cow tits cow tits cow tits cow tits cow tits cow tits
12kate bush
50 words for snow

an arresting and unwaveringly calm work by one of contemporary pop's most
beguiling figures, not a masterpiece but something much more superbly intimate.
11faltydl
you stand uncertain

there may be nothing quite as good as "hip love" on it, but drew lustman's
second full-length deals in lush grooves that, in their intoxicating mix of garage,
tech house, and dubstep, sound like the echoing sighs of an emptying city.
10twin sister
in heaven

despite the occasional extroverted moment ("gene ciampi"), twin sister mostly
operate in ostensibly static compositions that reveal their subtle beauties and
charms over time, and produced one of the greatest distillations of pop's
strengths released this year.
9sebastian
total

downright filthy at times but mostly just totally fucking life-affirming, total was
validation for ed banger's existence, its compressed-to-shit beats and saws
creating the most exhilarating kind of auditory overload.
8beth ditto
ep

it's no surprise that beth ditto made a dance-pop record; what's surprising is just
how narcotically good it is.
7demdike stare
tryptych

a collection of ghostly soundscapes that call to mind haunted, empty spaces,
breathtakingly beautiful despite its irrepressibly dark heart.
6the weeknd
house of balloons

these tunes burrowed themselves into my head; as i listened to them night after
night, walking in rain-soaked city streets, i found myself captivated by just how
deceptively gorgeous this dark, unsettling stuff was.
5bjork
biophilia

bjork took the discovery channel's didacticism and gave it a heart, confounding
and winning us over, as is her way.
4los campesinos!
hello sadness

indie for my shameless fall out boy-loving heart, hello sadness was unabashedly
sentimental in the best possible way, nostalgia for a generation too young to be
properly nostalgic.
3deerhoof
deerhoof vs. evil

the third best example of pop deconstructionism released this year, deerhoof's
most consistently likable effort, and a flat-out charming affair even when it was
decidedly thorny.
2gang gang dance
eye contact

the second best example of pop deconstructionism released this year, and
certainly the most polychromatic one.
1tune-yards
w h o k i l l

the best example of pop deconstructionism released this year, and the best thing
i've heard all year, effortlessly melding predictable west coast social consciousness
that reads as typical street poetry on paper with a sound that covers the globe
without trying to, a truly unique record that posits that ebullience and awareness
don't have to be enemies, that perhaps addressing our problems clears the path
for - yep, i'm saying it - enlightenment.
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