Top 50 Albums of 2011

Another year, another Cut Copy album neglected.  Admittedly, 2011 was a year of extremes: either I was ridiculously engrossed in music or weeks would pass where a new album wouldn't be heard and I'd struggle to find the moments to catch even a song or two.  Relationships will do that to you... as will lame-ass retail jobs with ridiculously random hours.  At the beginning of the year I thought for certain one of the many strong releases would remain the best thing offered but just as Kanye West did in 2010, another artist came along and completely blew away my expectations of what a certain genre could produce.  At this point I suppose it is best to just let the list do the talking.  Most of the albums have Spotify links if you want to give anything a full listen.

 50. Zomby - Dedication

49. Childish Gambino - Camp

48. Friendly Fires - Pala

47. Bombay Bicycle Club - A Different Kind of Fix

46. Girls - Father, Son, Holy Ghost

45. Fruit Bats - Tripper

44. The Decemberists - The King is Dead

43. Youth Lagoon - The Year of Hibernation

42. Gem Club - Breakers

41. Toro Y Moi - Underneath the Pine

40. The Black Keys - El Camino

39. Zola Jesus - Conatus

38. Handsome Furs - Sound Kapital

37. City and Colour - Little Hell

36. Tycho - Dive

35. St. Vincent - Strange Mercy

34. Beirut - The Rip Tide

33. Cant - Dreams Come True

32. Cliff Martinez - Drive OST

31. The Weeknd - Thursday

30. Tim Hecker - Ravedeath, 1972

29. Jamie Woon - Mirrorwriting

28. The Antlers - Burst Apart

27. Other Lives - Tamer Animals

26. Florence + The Machine - Ceremonials

25. The Thoughts - I Won't Keep You Here

24. Kanye West & Jay-Z - Watch the Throne

23. Those Dancing Days - Daydreams & Nightmares

22. The Vaccines - What Did You Expect From the Vaccines

21. Balam Acab - Wander/Wonder

20. Iron & Wine - Kiss Each Other Clean

19. Moonface - Organ Music Not Vibraphone Like I'd Hoped

18. Swarms - Old Raves End

17. Lykke Li - Wounded Rhymes

16. Bibio - Mind Bokeh

15. Tennis - Cape Dory

14. Washed Out - Within and Without

13. Hooray For Earth - True Loves

12. Drake - Take Care

11. Seven Saturdays - Love in the Time of Anticipated Defeat

10. Adele - 21

9. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. - It's A Corporate World

8. SBTRKT - SBTRKT

7. A Winged Victory for the Sullen - A Winged Victory for the Sullen

(probably could have picked a better song but couldn't resist that this user put the song over the absolutely beautiful 'Pas de Deux pt deux' by Norman McLaren.  It is worth the watch just for that)

6. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues

5. Active Child - You Are All I See

4. M83 - Hurry Up, We're Dreaming

3. James Blake - James Blake

2. Bon Iver - Bon Iver, Bon Iver

1. The Weeknd - House of Balloons

Years ago, had Allen Iverson been able to hear House of Balloons, he would have ranted something like the following: "Mixtape.  We're talking about a mixtape man, we're not even talking about the album, when it actually matters, we're talking about mixtape."  This isn't your run of the mill late-night BET r&b, the Weeknd came out of nowhere and transcended a genre.  There isn't a weak song to be heard and almost every song sounds as great the tenth time you listen to it as it does when it first graces your ears.  It was the idea of such an artist samping Beach House that had me intrigued but the second "High For This" came on I knew this mixtape was something really special.

Hope you found something to love or hate going through the list.  The coming days might bring a few more lists (musical or otherwise) so keep a lookout for those and hopefully before long I'll start finding some new music to review as we head into 2012.