Indie rock has always been concerned with furthering the art, but 2011 has thus far seen an evolution of even the most stripped-down and sacred of areas: the folk singer’s acoustic guitar.
In January, Iron & Wine released Kiss Each Other Clean, frontman Sam Beam’s most ambitious album to date. In place of his characteristic bedroom whispers, Beam swaggers in front of big band brass on “Big Burned Hand” and experiments with tinkling percussion on “Monkeys Uptown.” There are even spurts of psychedelia on “Me and Lazarus” and the paranoid “Rabbit Will Run.”
Although closer to the folk mark, May’s Helplessness Blues by indie heroes Fleet Foxes featured some surprising twists. Although “Montezuma” opens the album with sunny acoustic guitar, things quickly erode into controlled chaos: the breathy woodwinds of “Bedouin Dress,” the breathtaking arrangements of “Grown Ocean” or “The Plains/Bitter Dancer,” or especially the boiling cacophony of horns on “The Shrine/An Argument”, Fleet Foxes’ most challenging and long-winded song yet.
In June came Bon Iver’s self-titled album, a decidedly layered anti-folk album in direct rebellion to his 2008 debut, For Emma, Forever Ago. Bass sixteenths thunder on opener “Perth,” electronica sizzles on lead single “Calgary,” and most surprising, “Beth/Rest” ends the album afloat on cheesy 80’s synths, challenging 2011 audiences and their expectations to what may or may not be cool.
Although many folk mainstays have forsaken the folk world in 2011, their place was filled with some surprising characters—namely some singer/songwriters most known for rowdy 80’s punk.
J Mascis, known for his fiery solos in Dinosaur Jr, released a surprising acoustic album called Several Shades of Why in March, sticking with a guitar-centric approach and putting together ten songs that never manage to seem boring or monochromatic.
In May, Thurston Moore, the vocalist of the notoriously difficult and fiercely artistic band Sonic Youth released a solo acoustic album called Demolished Thoughts. In place of Sonic Youth’s paranoid squalls and complicated electric textures, Moore supplants sawing string arrangements to complement songs about struggling characters and lackluster yet passionate relationships.
2011 has seen some surprising twists on the folk genre, proving that indie rock is still yet exploring new directions.
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