Earlier this week, Rolling Stone Magazine published their year in review issue and named Adele's "Rolling in the Deep" as single of the year (they also named her CD "21" their album of the year). I could not agree more strongly about that song, it was not only omnipresent in an age when radio has lost its market share to other technologies, but it was one of those songs that invariably brought a smile to my lips.

I knew for sure that "Rolling in the Deep" had cut a wide swath across several of the cultural divides, when I saw Greg Dulli's Twilight Singers, performing in Minneapolis in May. They included a verse and chorus from the Adele song into a brief tangent from one of their own songs.

A fan of Dulli's going back to his Afghan Whigs days, the Singers only other references to music outside their own oeuvre were nods to the Beatles. While Dulli attracts a, shall we say, mature rock audience along with some from the hipster/college radio crowd, it was not the Lennon/McCartney songs but "Rolling in the Deep" that got the biggest crowd response across the entire age spectrum.

What other real choices did we have this year?

The other, nearly inescapable pop single this year was Foster The People's catchy little ditty "Pumped Up Kicks," with it's quirky verses and infectious hooks threatening those who might try to out draw their guns and outrun their bullets. Hmm, no thank you. So it was Adele, or perhaps the Foo Fighters, who had a number of great hooky rock songs from their wonderful CD, "Wasting Light," or maybe "Rewrite" from the wonderful Paul Simon album (see both these in my list below).

But in this era, I have to admit I only listen to traditional radio when my 14 year old son is in the car. As songs go, I love The Black Keys' latest "Little Black Submarines," but have yet to hear it on the radio machine.

The discussion of airplay singles is lost on me these days, as well as playlists. So, let's get to the full-length albums, or CD's, or downloads, or whatever we call them these days.

Okay, a few words about "best." Last year, someone questioned my list, wondering where was the mention of all the great classical or jazz releases? You know, the serious music, not this rock & roll stuff.

So, to be clear, while I have nearly 30 years of professional experience as a published rock music critic, this is just my opinion. I happen to believe it's an informed opinion, but you have every right to disagree. And, there's no accounting for personal tastes.

Admittedly, this list is subjective. While there are objective issues in play, of course (and some suggests that rock critic types make these lists just to impress other rock critic types), we like what we like, we respond to music not just with our heads, but also with our guts, and our hearts.

So, while I would be willing to argue that the following choices are objectively some of the best music recorded for release in the last 12 months, it's also the music that most grabbed my ears, the music I most often listened to when I wasn't supposed to be listening to the next thing on the review list.

These are the CDs I chose for car trips, for listening in the office when other things were going on, for driving around town when NPR was discussing recipes.

That said, here are my picks for the Best of 2011:


20.  Tom Morello: The Nightwatchman – "World Wide Rebel Songs"  (New West)

The Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave guitar hero picks up an acoustic guitar to sing protest anthems that recall both Woody Guthrie and The Clash, a perfect soundtrack for the Occupy Wall Street era.

Here's the link to my original review in November: http://www.ucc.org/news/music-reviews-fresh-releases.html


19. The Civil Wars – "Barton Hollow"  (Sensibility)

The singer and guitarist duo that is Joy Williams and John Paul White bring a unique, haunted quality to their folk inspired songs that lingers long after the music has ended. These two are on to something.

My review ran in February: http://www.ucc.org/news/music-reviews-new-releases-2.html


18. Kerosene Halo – "Kerosene Halo"  (Lo-Fidelity)

Michael Roe and Derri Daugherty work together in the Lost Dogs with others in the mix, but here they strip it back and perform a set of covers blending their fine voices in lovely harmony.

You'll find the July review here: http://www.ucc.org/news/music-reviews-new-folk-disks.html


17. Robbie Robertson – "How to Become Clairvoyant"  (429 Records)

This wonderful record was largely ignored, but Robertson is one of the great guitar giants in the history of rock & roll, and "Clairvoyant" was a rare attempt to step out of the shadows of other greats he's played with, like Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton.

Here's the link to my April reviews: http://www.ucc.org/news/music-reviews-patsy-moore.html


16. Gillian Welch – "The Harrow & The Harvest"  (Acony)

Folk chanteuse Welch, alongside her longtime guitar foil David Rawlings has carved out a special and wonderful place with their songs about life's darker, more challenging realities, often with an eye to an earlier, more difficult, rural way of life.

The link to the July review is the same as that for Kerosene Halo above.


15.  Tom Waits – "Bad As Me"  (Anti-)

Tom Waits may have a voice that sounds like he's gargled with gravel and gasoline, but he writes with an honesty, and an impudent spirit that bespeaks both the irony and longing of the era.

The link to the November review is the same as the one above for Tom Morello.


14. Sam Phillips – "Solid State; Songs From the Long Play"  (Littlebox Recordings, available only at www.samphillips.com)

A collection of tracks from her year-long experiment in maintaining a relationship with fans through digital music, finds singer/songwriter Sam Phillips delivering a fine collection of insightful, angular pop/rock. She was kind enough to cull these tracks into a more formal, hard copy, for those of us who still find the whole digital thing too spooky.

http://www.ucc.org/news/music-reviews-new-music-from-1.html


13.  Fleet Foxes – "Helplessness Blues"  (Sub Pop)

This sophomore effort from the Fleet Foxes, as with numerous other artists this year, represents a return to trends rooted in harmony singing and an era when folk/rock had greater cultural significance. Recalling the quiet but intense and artful efforts of Crosby & Nash, Jackson Browne and James Taylor in their heydays, Fleet Foxes delivered a quiet masterpiece.


12.  Burlap to Cashmere – "Burlap to Cashmere"  (Jive/Essential)

Similar to Fleet Foxes, Burlap recalls the gentle harmonies and energy of Simon & Garfunkel. This band's return as a folk/pop duo is a very good thing.

The review ran in July at the link with the Kerosene Halo release above.


11.  Bill Mallonee – "The Power & The Glory" (BillMalloneeMusic)

Singer/songwriter Bill Mallonee is so prolific both in writing and recording, that he risks losing his best efforts in the furious flurry of his non-stop activity (he has seven other releases available this year alone). Rarely does the dust settle enough to allow the substance and artful clarity in his voice and songs to surface. Thankfully, he focused his energy for this one, designed for an actual CD pressing, and the results are songs rich with the dust and soul of the heartland.

The November review link: http://www.ucc.org/news/music-reviews-new-projects-2.html


10.  Patsy Moore – "Expatriates"  (Papa Chuy)

As with Bill Mallonee and Sam Phillips above, Patsy Moore is an artist who creates world class art on the margins of obscurity without the support of a major label or financial backers. So, the beauty, complexity and depth of her expression, and the artful quality of her songs and recording bespeaks not only her vision, but her audacious commitment to bring the sounds to life, to collaborate with those who can help her bring to her recording all the depth and texture of a world class effort. Intelligent, yet soulful.

Follow the link from the Robbie Robertson review above.


9.  Steve Earle – "I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive"  (New West)

Produced by T Bone Burnett, Earle brings out another great collection of earthy folk & country inflected singer/songwriter pop/rock, dripping with observations of the political as well as the deeply personal and spiritual. "God Is God" is one of my favorite songs in a long line of classics from the artist who also had a winning turn as an actor on this year's season of "Treme."

http://www.ucc.org/news/music-reviews-new-projects.html


8.  Bruce Cockburn – "Small Source of Comfort"  (True North)

If there's a singer-songwriter whose music I have more history with than Canadian Bruce Cockburn, I'm not sure who it would be. After too many years of silence, his return to record this fine collection of songs reminded us again why his smart poetry and elegant acoustic guitar phrasing are a gift to the rest of us. Aptly titled, but that's no small thing.

The review ran back in March: http://www.ucc.org/news/music-review-bc31.html


7.  Lucinda Williams – "Blessed"  (Lost Highway)

The woman with the torchiest broken hearted country rock anthems anywhere, Lucinda Williams may have found true love in her personal life, but her art still touches the dark sad corners of life. To the marginalized and abandoned she offers a word of hope, "that you were born to be loved."

At a time, when folk have lost touch with life's goodness amid economic and cultural uncertainty, she dares to define the life force at the center of our human consciousness as "Blessed."  You gotta love this woman.

The March review: http://www.ucc.org/news/music-review-new-release.html


6.  Wilco – "The Whole Love"  (dBpm/Anti-)

And you gotta love this band. Jeff Tweedy & Co. insist on playing by their own rules, writing fun pop/rock ditties and hiding them in lush confections of experimental noise and choice rock chops.

More accessible than Radiohead, but no less artful and driven, "The Whole Love" is a timely reflection on the purpose and meaning of life, with all it's dark realities. They call us to live with an "Open Mind," which suggests that there are always fresh possibilities to be considered, something Wilco is willing to explore musically to everyone's benefit.

The link to the November review is the same as that for Bill Mallonee above.


5.  Over the Rhine – "The Long Surrender"  (Great Speckled Dog)

For my money, OtR's latest is the best collection of songs yet in the long and storied history of this wonderful duo, spouses Karin Bergquist and Linford Detweiler. Produced by Joe Henry, they bring their love of poetry and a strong songwriter's clarity to lyrics about old folks' homes, love, loss, and accepting the fact that, for all we've done and learned, we're all still beginners at this thing called life.

"Only God Can Save Us Now" has a funny depth, and a melodic purity that bounces into my head at the most unexpected times. And the duet with Lucinda Williams on "Undamned," well, it's a moment of brilliance. Utterly human, this is art that's unfathomably divine.

The review all the way back in January: http://www.ucc.org/news/music-reviews-new-cds-from.html


4.  Foo Fighters – "Wasting Light"  (RCA)

Right now, hard rock as an art form, as a genre appears to be faltering creatively. Oh, we're still hearing solid, engaging work from some quarters. The Red Hot Chili Peppers came back strong this year and Mastodon fearlessly demands they be taken seriously, but not much else excites these ears.

The exception this year has been Dave Grohl's Foo Fighters, here on the 20th anniversary of his work as drummer on Nirvana's greatest triumph, "Nevermind." Ex-Germs and Foo's guitarist Pat Smear is back in the fold, meaning there's often three guitarists trying to come to terms with the distance between their punk roots and their arena rock aspirations.

It comes together in some of Grohl's most honest lyrics, with producer Butch Vig ("Nevermind") back again balancing the boards. Now, let's hope some kids with a drum kit and a couple beat up guitar amps are in their basement listening, and thinking they might have something to say, well… that could be exciting.

The June review: http://www.ucc.org/news/music-reviews-new-projects-1.html


3.  R.E.M. – "Collapse Into Now"

More than one band broke up this year, but no doubt I'll think of 2011 as the year that R.E.M. called it quits. For 30 years, this band that formed around the creative alternative music mecca that was Athens, Ga., broadened the perspective of pop music fans with smart, fun singles, and inventive approaches that accentuated the unique quality that Michael Stipe, Peter Buck and Mike Mills brought to their work together.

Even the most committed fans, myself included, started to drift on late albums like "Reveal" and "Around the Sun," even if some of the songs still connected. But I'm so grateful that they dug down deep for '08's "Accelerate," and this final album, "Collapse Into Now," which we now know was a swan song. If you've got to quit, why not leave while your working at the top of your game, why not go out on top?

The review of this one ran in March: http://www.ucc.org/news/music-review-rem-collapse.html

And here is the link to my review to their best of/career retrospective release: "Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage, 1982 – 2011": http://www.ucc.org/news/music-memorium-rem-and.html


2.  Paul Simon – "So Beautiful or So What"  (Hear)

And if you think recording relevant, inspiring and commercially viable music for 30 years is a major accomplishment – no doubt, it is – Paul Simon turned 70 years old back in October, and he's been making artistically and commercially successful albums for five decades.

Of course, like Picasso, he's had his stages/periods. There was the Simon & Garfunkel era, those formative 60's albums that have created "Bookends" of sorts and defined a generation. Then there was the jazzy pop/rock eclecticism of the "Rhymin' Simon" era, followed by his world music "Graceland" era.

More recently, Simon has been in a reflective, almost spiritual mode on albums like "Surprise," and this newest one. Crafting songs that look at live & love, death and the possibilities of what may come after, the human and divine, Simon brings all his craft, his natural melodic sensibilities, sense of humor and longing for understanding to bear in an amazingly artful whole.

The review ran in May: http://www.ucc.org/news/music-review-new-project.html

1.  Tedeschi Trucks Band – "Revelator"  (Sony Masterworks)

My pick for the best album of the year, comes from this collaboration by Susan Tedeschi, her husband Derek Trucks and their cumulative bands. Tedeschi has a solid vocal instrument, her style and sound eerily similar to the work of Bonnie Raitt.

Trucks grew up in the shadow of the Allmans, and got his given name from the project where Duane Allman and Eric Clapton created the classic that is "Layla." Together, they are a force of nature. Soulful R & B, punctuated by Hammond organ, horn bursts and gospel choir backgrounds, allow each of this team to shine in their own right. This record is a triumph.

http://www.ucc.org/news/music-reviews-jeff-bridges.html


The Rev. Brian Q. Newcomb is Senior Minister at David's UCC in Kettering, Ohio, and a long-time music critic published in Billboard, CCM Magazine, Paste, The Riverfront Times and St. Louis Post-Dispatch, among others. Additional content from Brian is available in his Quincessentials  blog.