Wednesday, December 21, 2011

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.


























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




21. Balam Acab - Wander/Wonder














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)






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.