Of Course I Like A Band Named "Real Estate"

The tones that Real Estate produces from its guitars are too wonderful -- wobbly, sun-dappled, wistful, languid, distant and comforting. They expand and swirl and dive and intertwine, all while the band remains calm and controlled, creating something magnificent with what seems like such little effort. They're easily what carry the band's second record, "Days," across 2011's finish line as my favorite of the year.

My friend made one of his typically expert observations that "Days," Real Estate's second album, is very much like Belle and Sebastian's third, "The Boy with the Arab Strap": Each is very similar to its predecessor, a refinement of what made the previous one so good, but made more professionally and carefully. Both even have pretty subpar tracks contributed by their second guitarist and bassist (though I like "Seymour Stein"). For my friend, this is a disappointment because it's clear that Real Estate has outgrown their sound quickly and are almost too good for their own sake; the next record could be as bad as "Fold Your Hands, Child, You Walk Like a Peasant." But I think Real Estate still deserves mountains of credit. Even if this one has no song as infectious as "Beachcomber," they've realized what their sound, aesthetic and artistic statement are, and perfected them. It extends all the way to the album's art, with the knowing choices of Dan Graham photos of suburban New Jersey subdivisions. Real Estate understood that they were facing a big moment with this record and they delivered.

Nearly all of my other favorite records from 2011 were made by women:

* Lia Ices - "Grown Unknown": She reminds me of Feist -- her music is very soulful and feminine but also mysterious, slowly revealing itself. This record was painfully overlooked.

* Widowspeak - "s/t": All but one of their songs essentially only has one idea, but they understand each idea so well . The one song with two ideas, "Gunshy," is the album's best.

* Eleanor Friedberger - "Last Summer": I've already written at length about this one, but it's worth noting again how fun it is.

* La Sera - "s/t": A much better version of that Best Coast record, with slightly darker sounds and more interesting structures, without the lazy lyrics about pot and 1950s-style relationships.

And a few other things that deserve recognition:

* The final song on the Washed Out record: It serves a very similar purpose as the final song on Panda Bear's first record. After an album's worth of songs of keyboards and beats, there's a very poetic ballad, which opens lots of possibilities for where he could head next.

* St. Vincent's show at Royale, Nov. 4: It rocked much harder than I was expecting. She dove from the stage twice, while continuing to play solos!

* The album art for Mogwai's "Hardcore Will Never Die But You Will": Those photos of city skylines are luscious.

Above is a full live performance by Real Estate at KEXP in Seattle.