Kite Flying Robot was a striking change in pace from Fiawna Forte, as their mellowed-out, electronic pop songs serenaded the audience. I've talked about how much I like Kite Flying Robot before, and their show is a direct continuation of their album.

Violin, trumpet, keyboards, electronic beats and more went into their songs on record and on stage, and it was a blast to hear. "Solid Gold," the title track from the band's album, was a special highlight. The set didn't include much motion (instrumental work took up the members' time and energy), except for "Color TV," where lead singer Nikolas Thompson descended to the floor and sang the majority of the tune from the audience.

Great songs performed well. That's a good show to me.

I’m no fan of cloning, but only because it doesn’t actually do what I want it to do. When I say, “I wish I could clone myself,” I really mean that I wish I could replicate/duplicate myself. Bill Watterson, genius creator of Calvin and Hobbes, understood this and created some of the best strips of the best comic series ever about it (scroll down to the sixth strip). 

The reason I need a replicator tonight is that there are five local concerts I want to attend tonight. I need duplicates.

The one I’m going to be hitting for sure is the one I’ve been looking forward to for weeks/months: Brine Webb and The Nghiems’ double-CD release show in Norman. I’ve been stuck on Webb’s gripping tunes for weeks now, and I’m thoroughly excited to see them played live. Also, he and The Nghiems are planning to accommodate Thunder fans by having The Nghiems play during halftime, and Webb play after the fourth quarter. As a pretty rabid Thunder fan, I’m stoked about this.

The one I’m most depressed about missing is Feathered Rabbit, Junebug Spade and The Gentle Art of Floating at Belle Isle Brewery. Both Feathered Rabbit and The Gentle Art of Floating are on my to-see list — the former because it’s a new Kyle Mayfield (O Fidelis, Junebug Spade, Larry Chin, everyone else in Oklahoma City) project, and the latter because they throw parties, not shows. Alas, I will have to wait yet again.

If the Webb show gets done early, I’ll traipse my way over to Opolis, where Kite Flying Robot, Chrome Pony and Guardant will be throwing an end-of-school dance party. I have been known to dance wildly at Opolis.

Before all this started getting crazy, I had planned on going seeing Ryan Lawson, Ali Harter and O Fidelis at Bad Granny’s Bazaar, as all three are OKS faves. If you like acoustic country/folk, this is your show; these are three of the best in the metro at it, and rare is the show where they all play together.

And I just heard that Anty Shanty, 318 Main Street in Norman, will be hosting Skating Polly, Luna Moth and Shitty/Awesome as part of Second Friday Art Walk. I still haven’t been to a show here yet, despite my desire. Must everyone play on the same night?!

As for non-local artists, Jamey Johnson will be stopping at Diamond Ballroom for those who are into straight-up country. It doesn’t get earthier than Johnson these days, so if that’s your bag, this is your gig. Red-dirt Austinite Brandon Jenkins will play Joy’s Palace, 300 E. Main Street in Norman, also as part of Art Walk. Finally, Avenged Sevenfold ,Three Days Grace and Bullet for My Valentine will be rocking faces off at Zoo Amphitheatre.

Saturday is less stacked, but still a difficult choice, as The City Lives’ final show is at The Conservatory; The Boom Bang, Copperheads and Purple Church make ears bleed at Opolis; and new band Bona Fide Villains (ex-Sweetwater) play Sauced.

Don’t ever let ‘em ever tell you this town had nothin’ for ya.

My OKSee predecessor, Stephen Carradini, and I received hundreds of physical copies submitted to our little cubicle in the back of the Gazette offices this year, in addition to the hundreds of digital solicitations from PR companies, in addition to the occasional, much-appreciated, personal hand-changing of musical media, be that CD, vinyl or yes, even cassette tape.

It’s a ton of music to listen to, but we were up to the task. The sonic wheat’s now sorted from the chaff, and not in any particular order. So peruse our list for those quality albums you may have missed, recall a few you’ve forgotten and hopefully even find a new artist to love in the process. Let’s get started.

1. Fucked Up — “David Comes to Life”

2. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart — “Belong”

3. Matt the Electrician — “Accidental Thief”

4. Horse Thief — “Grow Deep, Grow Wild”

5. Kurt Vile — “Smoke Ring for My Halo”

6. Beetyman — “The Underdog”

7. Youth Lagoon — “The Year of Hibernation”

8. Neon Indian — “Era Extraña”

9. The Drums — “Portamento”

10. Wilco — “The Whole Love”

11. Laura Marling — “A Creature I Don’t Know”

12. Yuck — “Yuck”

13. Icona Pop — “Nights Like This EP”

14. Ryan Lawson and the Hack & Saw Nation — “Hack and Saw Nation”

15. Riley Jantzen — “Feathers”

16. The Workweek — “Promises, Promises”

17. Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks — “Mirror Traffic”

18. Small Sur — “Tones”

19. Wye Oak — “Civilian”

20. The Roots — “undun”

21. Crown Imperial — “Crown Imperial”

22. The Damn Quails — “Down the Hatch”

23. Zach Winters — “They Were Longing for a Better Country”

24. Twin Sister — “In Heaven”

25. St. Vincent — “Strange Mercy”

26. The Weeknd — “House of Balloons”

27. Kanye West & Jay-Z — “Watch the Throne”

28. Washed Out — “Within and Without”

29. Givers — “In Light”

30. tUnE-yArDs — “w h o k i l l”

31. Manchester Orchestra — “Simple Math”

32. Josh Sallee — “Return to Sender”

33. Kite Flying Robot — “Solid Gold”

34. Death Cab for Cutie — “Codes and Keys”

35. Chris Bathgate — “Salt Year”

36. Smith Westerns — “Dye It Blonde”

37. Danny Brown — “XXX”

38. Destroyer — “Kaputt”

39. A$AP Rocky — “LIVELOVEA$AP”

40. Cut Copy — “Zonoscope”

OKS in 2011 — Monday:  Your Most-Viewed Music Videos
OKS in 2011 — Tuesday:  The Year in Photos
OKS in 2011 — Wednesday: By the numbers
OKS in 2011 — Thursday: OKSee's Honorable Mention Albums of the Year
OKS in 2011 — Friday: OKSee's 30 Favorite Albums of 2011