Fly Cover Stars Pick Their Favourite Albums Of 2011

Hello.
We asked each 2011 Fly cover star to pick their favourite album of the year.
The answers are all below. In chronological order. With pictures too. What a treat.

Find out which act make Árni from The Vaccines say “they make Odd Future look like puppies!” and which band stop Ritzy from The Joy Formidable “from being dead inside.”

January:

Noble from British Sea Power picks…

‘Call It Blazing’ by A Classic Education
“We asked for A Classic Education to play with us in the USA and Europe this year after hearing a few songs from their debut EP. Their debut LP, ‘Call it Blazing’ is that school of simple effortless song writing. Not trying too hard. A bit lo-fi. Great songs. They are from Italy, but fortunately for most of us lazy monolingual types, singer Jonathan Clancy is half Canadian, so we can understand what he’s saying. They also look like a bunch of scallies from an early Pedro Amoldovar film. If you like Galaxie 500, The Shins, Camera Obscura, Jesus & Mary Chain, Pavement, that kind of thing, then I think you’ll get on with this lot very well. Try ‘Night Owl’ and ‘Spin Me Round’ for entry points.”

February:

Ritzy Bryan from The Joy Formidable picks…

‘Tao Of The Dead’ by …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead
“Full of intent, passion and potency, ‘Tao Of The Dead’ is a beautifully crafted album that weaves and overlaps like a modern day classic. It’s never indulgent though, the tracks are dynamic, the melodies are memorable and the undeniable soul of this record will give you goosebumps. And then go and see them live, they’ll wake you and shake you and stop you from being dead inside.” 

March:

Árni Hjörvar from The Vaccines picks….

‘Ex-Military’ by Death Grips
“It’s fucking fascinating. It’s the most innovative and groundbreaking hip hop record I’ve heard in years. They make Odd Future sound like puppies. They’re literally the scariest thing in the word. It’s a new project by Zach Hill who used to play in Hella, and he’s played with Wavves and Marnie Stern. I came across it on a Friday morning in London and saw online were playing in Glasgow that night so I jumped on a train. Fucking groundbreaking. You have to listen to it really loud.” 

April:

Joe Mount from Metronomy picks…

‘Veronica Falls’ by Veronica Falls
“My album of the year is a late entrant. Veronica Falls by Veronica Falls. Bad feeling and Found Love in A Graveyard are probably the best pop songs this country has seen in some time and they are nestled on one of the best guitar pop albums this country has seen in some time”

May:

Jack Savidge from Friendly Fires picks…

‘Tropical 2’ by Boy Better Know
A bonafide top-down sub-stretching, pedestrian–bothering London summer mixtape. Like Todd Edwards or Murk ramped to 111%, there’s a toughness and emotion that bewilders me every time. DJ Q stars, but there’s not one track that doesn’t make me happy to be alive in 2011.  As a London-dwelling man who spends 95% of his time on tour, it represents what I’m missing and what I have to come back to.

June:

Cole Alexander from Black Lips picks…

‘Tan Bajo’ by Davila 666
“Davila 666 are a garage rock band from Puerto Rico and they sing in all Spanish. Most of the pop music in the world is all in English, so it’s really refreshing to hear music with a totally different language behind it, not trying to adapt to the rest of the world.”

July:

Tom Furse from The Horrors picks…

‘Forever Dolphin Love’ by Connan Mockasin
“Probably one of the best albums anyone has released for the last ten years. Dreamy, psychedelic greatness.”

August:

Daniel Blumberg from Yuck picks…

‘Pleasure’ by Pure X

“I don’t know anything about Pure X other then they’re a band from Texas and they made an incredible album. When I first heard it I thought of Galaxie 500 and how, before this record, they were the one band I actually listen to the bass lines. Pure X have such beautiful bass lines. I love his voice, the gorgeous phased out guitar solos and also the lyrics. Everything flows perfectly and it’s an album you have to listen to from start to finish.”

September:

Ed Nash from Bombay Bicycle Club picks…

‘Bon Iver’ by Bon Iver
“‘For Emma, Forever Ago’ was one of my favourite albums ever. I was looking forward to this for 2 years and it didn’t disappoint at all. I thought it was a great progression from the first album; he’s got about 12 people playing on it compared to just one guy on the woods and it’s one of the nicest sounding albums. The guitar just sounds really nice, it’s really warm, and has a natural feel to it which you don’t get much nowadays.”

October:

James Hoare from Veronica Falls picks…

Pete And The Pirates by ’One Thousand Pictures’

“As you listen to each track on the record for the first time you’ll feel a sense of recognition and familiarity. They’re laden with hooks. There’s a melancholic undercurrent to much of the record, beautifully constructed melodies weave their way through intermittent synthesizers and guitars with a satisfactory sense of space being achieved throughout. Reminiscent of one of the great Blur or XTC records. a classic album from the modern age.”