Best albums of 2011

[ggw]

Someone had to do it...

I found 2011 generally "meh.."  But I probably only bought about ~30 albums this year. 

In no particular order:

The Feelies - Here Before
Girls - Father, Son, Holy Ghost
Wild Flag -S/T
Kurt Vile - Smoke Rings...
Thee Oh Sees - Carrion Crawler/The Dream

[K8teebug]

Also in no order.  I disagree that this year was bad.  I thought it was a great year for music.  I bought more albums this year than I have in years.

Unknown Mortal Orchestra - self titled
Wild Flag - self titled
Tom Waits - Bad as Me
PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
Tori Amos - Night of Hunters
War On Drugs - Slave Ambient
Wilco - The Whole Love (I had given up on them, but it's good)
St. Vincent - Strange Mercy
Lykke Li - Wounded Rhymes
Black Lips - Arabia Mountain

Honorable Mention

Tune Yards
Black Keys
The Roots

[bellenseb]

I've been thinkin about this...my favorites of 2011 are

Albums
Kurt Vile - Smoke Rings for My Halo
EMA - Past Life Murdered Saints
Chad VanGaalen - Diaper Island
Standard Fare - Out of Sight, Out of Town
Say Hi - Um, Uh Oh

Songs not on those albums
This Many Boyfriends - Young Lovers Go Pop
Crooked Fingers - Bad Blood
East River Pipe - Tommy Made a Movie
Hunx and His Punx -Too Young To Be in Love
Little Scream - The Heron and the Fox  
Jeremy Jay - Caught in a Whirl
Standard Fare - Kudzu Girlfriend
Martin Solveig & Dragonette - Hello
Rhianna - We Found Love

[nkotb]

Any list without this song at number one (though I would also accept Yuck's "The Wall" or "Georgia" in the top spot) is wrong.

Rhianna - We Found Love

[thatguy]

i already mentioned a couple of these in another thread, but in no particular order:

william elliott whitmore: field songs
chuck ragan: covering ground
frank turner: england keep my bones
audra mae and the almighty sound: ep
dave hause: resolutions
larry and his flask: all that we know

[HoyaSaxa03]

http://spotirama.blogspot.com/

SPOTIFY END OF YEAR 2011 PLAYLISTS

Best 50 Albums:
Amazon.com
The Guardian
Intro
Mojo
NME
Paste
Pitchfork
Q
Rolling Stone
Spin
Stereogum
The Fly
Uncut

Best 50 Songs:
Intro
NME
Paste
Pitchfork
PopMatters
Rolling Stone
Treble

[imbecile]

I only bought three albums this year:

Girls - Father, Son, Holy Ghost
Wild Flag - S/T
Liturgy - Aesthetic

loved them all.

..and an EP:

Future of the Left - Polymers are Forever

I like it, but i think that may be primarily because these were the cast-offs of their full length due out in early 2012, and it makes me excited for that.

[Stillwater]

Didn't spend too much time on the rankings... but it would be something like this...

1. The Decemberists- The King Is Dead
2. Middle Brother- Middle Brother
3. Childish Gambino- Camp
4. Deer Tick- Divine Providence
5. tUnE-yArDs- W H O K I L L
6. Destroyer- Kaputt
7. Reptar- Oblangle Fizz Y?all (EP)
8. Wu Lyf- Go Tell Fire To The Mountain
9. Yuck- Yuck
10. Dawes- Nothing is Wrong
11. The Black Keys- El Camino
12. Real Estate- Days
13. Fleet Foxes- Helplessness Blues
14. The Roots- Undun
15. M83- Hurry Up, We?re Dreaming
16. The War On Drugs- Slave Ambient
17. Wilco- The Whole Love
18. Shabazz Palaces- Black Up
19. Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks- Mirror Traffic
20. TV On The Radio- Nine Types of Light
21. Bon Iver- Bon Iver
22. WILD FLAG- Wild Flag
23. The Middle East- I Want That You Are Always Happy
24. Washed Out- Within and Without
25. The Kills- Blood Pressures


EDIT: I must be out of touch.  I just went through CoS' list. 3 of my top 4 didn't even make their list.  I could see Deer Tick and Middle Brother not making a list because they don't have the notoriety, but The Kind is Dead isn't in the Top 50?  Seems crazy after reading some other publications' lists.

[James Ford]

indie publications generally don't laud Americana recordings.

EDIT: I must be out of touch.  I just went through CoS' list. 3 of my top 4 didn't even make their list.  I could see Deer Tick and Middle Brother not making a list because they don't have the notoriety, but The Kind is Dead isn't in the Top 50?  Seems crazy after reading some other publications' lists.

[Staralfur25]

Favorite Albums
1. M83
2. Cut Copy
3. Florence and the machine
4. Hercules and love affair   
5. Pj Harvey
6. Ladytron
7. Mates of State
8. Twin Sister
9. Ellie Goulding
10.  Justice

[i am gay and i like cats]

remember the days when it was all cool to show off your album collections, whether they were lps, tapes or cds.  rows and rows and walls and closets full of folded cardboard and plasitic with pretty pictures, lyrics and images of the band to stare at.  it was a collection to brag about.  a collection to impress or relate to others in a visual way, saying, hey, look at what i got.  now people have words on a screen.  like a robot.  with no emotion or feelings to the way it used to be.  and lists.  lots of lists.  it's all they know now.

[Yada]

remember the days when it was all cool to show off your album collections, whether they were lps, tapes or cds.  rows and rows and walls and closets full of folded cardboard and plasitic with pretty pictures, lyrics and images of the band to stare at.  it was a collection to brag about.  a collection to impress or relate to others in a visual way, saying, hey, look at what i got.  now people have words on a screen.  like a robot.  with no emotion or feelings to the way it used to be.  and lists.  lots of lists.  it's all they know now.

You mad, partner?

[dyecraig]

had my tonsils out this week, so plenty of listening & popsicles...
no particular order:
tom waits - bad as me
beach boys - smile
destroyer - kaputt
gillian welch - the harrow & the harvest
mekons - ancient & modern
simon & garfunkel - bridge over troubled water
pj harvey - let england shake
rolling stones - some girls bonus tracks
radiohead - king of limbs
wilco - the whole love
fleet foxes - helplessness blues
the horrors - skying
shin joong hyun - beautiful rivers and mountains
the duke and the king - long live
dave alvin - eleven eleven
mojo magazine sticky fingers tribute cd
oxford american magazine southern music comp
uncut magazine best of 2011 comp

[stevewizzle]

Any list without this song at number one (though I would also accept Yuck's "The Wall" or "Georgia" in the top spot) is wrong.

Rhianna - We Found Love

it's unbelievable how good this song makes people feel.

[James Ford]

My list, subject to revision:


1. Raphael Saadiq
2. Wilco
3. Lucinda Williams
4. Drive By Truckers
5. Gillian Welch
6. Destroyer
7. Jason Isbell
8. Fleet Foxes
9. Laura Marling
10. Tom Waits
11. Fountains of Wayne
12. Rebirth Brass Band
13. Mayer Hawthorne
14. My Morning Jacket
15. TV on the Radio
16. The Roots
17. Little Dragon
18. Nick Lowe
19. Trombone Shorty
20. Fatoumata Diawara