Collegiate Times

Summer 2011 witnessed an overwhelming amount of amazing music released.

Plenty of highly anticipated records came out, and many were met with glowing receptions. Maybe you’ve heard of some of these artists — maybe you haven’t. Go into this list with an open mind, and you just might find your new favorite band. Without further ado, here is the list of 10 albums and/or songs you may have missed this summer that most definitely deserve your attention, presented in chronological order for your enjoyment.

Album: “Cults” by Cults (June 7, 2011)

Listen to: “Walk At Night,” “Bumper”

Hopefully you were turned on to Cults in the spring when they were included on my list of 10 songs to get your summer started. But in case you weren’t quite convinced then, they now have a full LP for you to enjoy. Despite the saccharine melodies and girl-group vibes of lead singer Madeline Follins’ vocals, the band is careful not to overdose on sweetness by roughing up the edges of their songs with samples of deranged cult leaders and lyrics about running away and bleeding out. It’s true that sonically their music is perfectly suited for summertime consumption, but it will also serve as a great bookend to the season, welcoming the changing leaves and colder temperatures alongside you.

Album: “Unknown Mortal Orchestra” by Unknown Mortal Orchestra (June 21, 2011)

Listen to: “FFunny FFrends,” “Nerve Damage” 

For several months, no one knew who was in Unknown Mortal Orchestra. When the band (Was it even a band? Was it just one man?) released an EP online, the group was suddenly featured on tastemaking music blogs. Later it would be revealed that UMO was the new, Portland-based band consisting of Ruban Nielson, former guitarist for popular New Zealand group The Mint Chicks. Now he makes fuzzy, lo-fi funk music with UMO that grooves in a smooth, vaguely psychedelic sort of way.

Album: “Bon Iver, Bon Iver” by Bon Iver (June 21, 2011)

Listen to: “Holocene,” “Michicant”

It’s hard for me to say anything definitive about this album. I’ve struggled to figure out exactly how I feel about “Bon Iver, Bon Iver” since its release. I can, however, say I hate that he named it “Bon Iver, Bon Iver.” At its best, the album is absolutely beautiful. The instrumentation on this record has clearly been given more thought — Bon Iver is certainly no longer just a lone man locked in a cabin writing songs on his guitar. Horns and percussion are used effectively and artfully throughout to round out the band’s sound. At its worst, Bon Iver’s sophomore album sounds like the kind of cheesy, sappy music that plays in the background of an overly emotional scene in a bad Lifetime movie. Regardless, the record is not one to ignore — it just might take a while for it to sink in and really reveal itself.

Album: “We Must Become The Pitliless Censors of Ourselves” by John Maus (June 28, 2011)

Listen to: “Hey Moon,” “Believer”

Once you listen to John Maus’ music, it will make perfect sense that he and Ariel Pink have been friends since college and were bandmates at one time. Maus began making music after studying the subject in college and then going on to study philosophy in graduate school. “We Must Become The Pitiless Censors of Ourselves” is a strange, cloudy record that can sometimes be difficult to understand, but at other times infectiously catchy. Much like Pink, Maus shrouds his vocals in echo and reverb, bouncing them off the synthesizer tones and electronic beats that make up most of the instrumentation here. The album cover is a good visualization of what the record sounds like — stormy and dark, but with the occasional beam of light shining through.

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A version of this article appeared in the Aug 24 issue of the Collegiate Times.