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[Ella Minnow Pea]

It's that time of the year again. It's your friendly internet message board album of the year compiler (and the former one is around here somewhere, too). I hope we get enough participation, as this is always a great source to find out about albums you may have missed during the year.

For discussions about your lists, use this thread.

This is the OFFICIAL thread for voting for the best releases of 2011. Any album released between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2011 are eligible to be voted on, with a few exceptions listed below.

The thread will be open between now and Sunday, January 1, 2012 for you to list your picks. Alternatively, you can submit your list to woxy.albumsoftheyear@gmail.com if you don't want to register for the Randomville boards.

Imports will count this year, as will imports from previous years that were not eligible for last year's poll. If an import you have voted on does not make the final top 40 year-end list, it will be eligible again the year it gets a U.S. release.

DJ mixes, mostly original soundtracks, and compilations WILL COUNT.

Albums exclusively released digitally (iTunes, artist websites, etc.) WILL count.

Re-releases and special editions of previously released albums WILL NOT count (so Actung Baby won't be our winner).

If you have questions about an album's release date, eligibility, etc., either ask here or check http://www.allmusic.com or http://www.metacritic.com before you post.

Each person may vote for up to 50 albums, and only lists with a minimum of 5 clearly marked will be be counted. You can write down more than 50 if you want, but only the top 50 will county. Please refrain from posting lists with less than 5; they will not be counted at the end of the year. If you don't rank the albums, we'll just start at the top, count that as #1, and work down from there.

Point systems will be 50 for 1st, 49 for 2nd, 48 for 3rd, etc. In the case of ties on a person's list, the point total will be spilt. (Ex. two tied for first will receive 49.5 points instead of 50). After the end of the poll, we'll tabulate the winner(s). The list of winners will be posted after tabulations occur in January.

If you've posted your list and noticed that you've forgotten an album or two, please go back and edit your original post instead of making a new list. This is to prevent lists being counted more than once for one person. Again the FINAL deadline is Sunday, January 1, 2012. Any lists posted later than January 1st WILL NOT count towards the final vote unless you volunteer to tabulate all the results.

Also, if you'd like to write a blurb for this year's list, PM or e-mail me at woxy.albumsoftheyear@gmail.com with the albums you'd be interested in. For those unaware, blurbs are typically a paragraph summary explaining why you liked the record/what it meant to you/why it's one of the best of the year, etc. They will be used to describe the top album picks.

2003 winner: Radiohead - Hail to the Thief
2004 winner: Franz Ferdinand - s/t
2005 winner: The Decemberists - Picareque
2006 winner: The Decemberists - The Crane Wife
2007 winner: Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
2008 winner: Vampire Weekend - s/t
2009 winner: Metric - Fantasies
2010 winner: The National - High Violet

[euro60]

As always, ranked in order of personal enjoyment (as opposed to real/perceived artistic merit):

1. Beady Eye - Different Gear, Still Speeding
2. Cut Copy - Zonoscope
3. James Blake - s/t
4. Peter Bjorn & John - Gimme Some
5. Surfer Blood - Tarat Classics
6. Washed Out - Within & Without
7. Eat Sugar - Levantense!
8. White Lies - Ritual
9. The Head and the Heart - s/t
10. Unknown Mortal Orchestra - s/t

11. Phantogram - Nightlife
12. Charlotte Gainsbourg - Stage Whisper
13. VHS or Beta - Diamonds & Death
14. The Duke Spirit - Bruiser
15. The Civil Wars - Barton Hollow
16. Eisley - The Valley
17. The Besnard Lakes - You Lived In the City
18. Brian Olive - Two of Everything
19. Over the Rhine - The Long Surrender
20. Wussy - Strawberry

21. Toro y Moi - Underneath the Pine
22. The Low Anthem - Smart Flesh
23. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
24. Triggerfinger - All This Dancin'
25. Buffalo Killers - 3
26. Alex Turner - "Submarine" Soundtrack
27. Neon Indian - Era Extrana
28. Black Box Revelation - Sliver of Joy
29. Ghostland Observatory - Codename: Rondo
30. Brian Eno - Drums Between the Bells

31. Eulogies - Tear the Fences Down
32. The Cars - Move Like This
33. Explosions In the Sky - Take Care Take Care Take Care
34. My Morning Jacket - Circuital
35. Kaiser Chiefs - The Future Is Medieval
36. The Strokes - Angles
37. LCD Soundsystem - London Sessions
38. Beirut - The Rip Tide
39. Roxette - Charm School
40. The Human League - Credo

[twentyshots]

    
1- thee oh sees- carrion crawler/the dream
2- pj harvey- let england shake
3- colourmusic- my_is pink
4- the joy formidable- the big roar
5- phantogram- nightlife (EP)
6- wye oak- civilian
7- ty segall- goodbye bread
8- beirut- the riptide
9- radiohead- king of limbs
10- handsome furs- sound kapital

11) beastie boys- hot sauce committee part two
12) kate bush- 50 words for snow
13) bon iver- bon iver
14) thee oh sees- castlemania
15) cults- cults
16) ringo deathstarr- colour trip
17) peter gabriel- new blood
18) youth lagoon- the year of hibernation
19) kurt vile- smoke ring for my halo
20) cut copy- zonoscope

21) milagres- glowing mouth
22) the dodos- no color
23) the vaccines- what did you expect from the vaccines?
24) war on drugs- slave ambient
25) unknown mortal orchestra- unknown mortal orchestra
26) wire- red barked tree
27) dum dum girls- only in dreams
28) strange boys- live music
29) M83- hurry up we're dreaming
30) washed out- within and without

31) the drums- portamento
32) pains of being pure at heart- belong
33) wooden shjips- west
34) hunx and his punx- too young be in love
35) keep shelly in athens- our own dream
36) neon indian- era extraña
37) i break horses- hearts
38) surfer blood- tarot classics (EP)
39) mogwai- hardcore will never die, but you will
40) battles- gloss drop

41) the horrors- skying
42) the ettes- do you want power
43) vhs or beta- diamonds and death
44) yuck- yuck
45) xray eyeballs- not nothing
46) bachelorette- bachelorette
47) zola jesus- conatus
48) the rosebuds- loud planes fly low
49) tapes 'n' tapes- outside
50) wilco- the whole love

[Listen_Thinker]

Finally!!!

1. Hooray For Earth - True Loves
2. Metronomy - The English Riviera
3. The Drums – Portamento
4. Surfer Blood - Tarot Classics
5. Lykke Li - Wounded Rhymes
6. Generationals - Actor Castor
7. Pains of Being Pure at Heart
8.  La Vida Boheme - Nuestra
9.  Cults - Cults
10. Phantogram – Nightlife
11. The Vaccines - What Did You Expect From the Vaccines
12. tUnE yArDs – WHO KILL
13. The Antlers – Burst Apart
14. Tv On The Radio – Nine Types of Light
15. Tennis – Cape Dory
16. Toro y Moi -  Underneath the Pine
17. We Were Promised Jetpacks - In The Pit Of The Stomach
18. Young Galaxy – Shapeshifting
19. Mount Moriah – Mount Moriah
20. Class Actress – Rapprocher

[cyclone]

1. Kurt Vile - Smoke Ring For My Halo
2. The Beach Boys - The SMiLE Sessions
3. Low - C'mon
4. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
5. Jane Jane Pollock - s/t
6. Sacred Spirits - Some Stay
7. Thee Oh Sees - Castlemania
8. Atlas Sound - Parallax
9. The War on Drugs - Slave Ambient
10. Cave - Neverendless
11. Shabazz Palaces - Black Up
12. Danielson - The Best of Gloucester Country
13. Oneohtrix Point Never - Replica
14. Panda Bear - Tomboy
15. Wooden Wand - Briarwood
16. Hedgehog - Honeyed and Killed
17. Wooden Shjips - West
18. The Sea and Cake - The Moonlight Butterfly
19. Akron/Family - s/t II: The Cosmic Birth and Journey of Shinju TNT
20. MED - Classic

[Wolverine]

 






1. Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears - Scandalous
2. Rival Sons - Pressure and Time
3. Red Hot Chili Peppers - I'm With You
4. Trombone Shorty - For True
5. R.E.M. - Collapse Into Now
6. The Joy Formidable - The Big Roar
7. Peter Murphy - Ninth
8. The Kills - Blood Pressures
9. The Cars - Move Like This 
10. The Twilight Singers - Dynamite Steps
11. Ana Popovic - Unconditional
12. The Bangles - Sweetheart Of The Sun
13. Bruce Cockburn - Small Source Of Comfort
14. Kate Bush - 50 Words For Snow
15. The Roots - undun
16. Rival Schools - Pedals
17. CAKE - Showroom Of Compassion
18. Feist - Metals
19. Beastie Boys - Hot Sauce Committee Part Two
20. Van Hunt - What Were You Hoping For?
21. Peter Bjorn & John - Gimme Some
22. Fujiya & Miyagi - Ventriloquizzing
23. Asobi Seksu - Fluorescence
24. Wild Flag - s/t
25. Widowspeak - s/t
26. Yuck - s/t
27. The Black Keys - El Camino                                         
28. Ladytron - Gravity The Seducer
29. Bass Drum Of Death - GB City
30. TV On The Radio - Nine Types Of Light
31. The Raveonettes - Raven In The Grave
32. Kasabian - Velociraptor!
33. Pajama Club - s/t
34. Thee Spivs - Black and White Memories
35. White Denim - D                           
36. Blouse - s/t
37. The Rapture - In The Grace Of Your Love
38. Sondre Lerche - s/t
39. Veronica Falls - s/t
40. VHS Or Beta - Diamonds And Death
41. King's Daughters & Sons - If Then Not When

[Jen]

As close as it is going to get. I left a few albums off but given the chance of further listening, they might bump a couple other albums off this list but oh well.

1.   Bombay Bicycle Club-A Different Kind of Fix
2.   Elbow-build a rocket boys
3.   Bell X1-Bloodless Coup
4.   Gus Gus-Arabian Horse
5.   Radiohead-The King of Limbsd

6.   Guillemots-Walk the River
7.   Twilight Singers-Dynamite Steps
8.   Cut Copy-Zonoscope
9.   Fleet Foxes-Helplessness Blues
10.   Washed Out-Within or Without

11.   We Are Augustines-Rise Ye Sunken Ships
12.   My Morning Jacket-Circuital
13.   The Joy Formidable-The Big Roar
14.   Ringo Deathstar-Colour Trip
15.   Crystal Stilts-In Love With Oblivion
   
16.   Parts & Labor-Constant Future
17.   White Lies-Rituals
18.   The Dears-Degeneration Street
19.   Explosions in the Sky-Take Care, Take Care, Take Care
20.   Still Corners-Creatures of an Hour

21.   Beirut-The Rip Tide
22.   The Dodos-No Color
23.   Hooray For Earth-True Loves
24.   I Break Horses-Hearts
25.   DeVotchKa-100 Lovers

26.   Lanterns on the Lake-Gracious Tide, Take Me Home
27.   White Denim-D
28.   Veronica Falls-s/t
29.   The Cave Singers-No Witch
30.   Young Galaxy-Shapeshifting

31.   Ganglians-Still Living
32.   Wye Oak-Civilian
33.   Blouse-s/t
34.   Vetiver-The Errant Charm
35.   Peter Murphy-Ninth

36.   Big Troubles-Romantic Comedy
37.   French Films-Imaginary Future
38.   Stateless-Matilda
39.   Handsome Furs-Sound Kapital
40.   Arctic Monkeys-Suck It And See
   
41.   Junior Boys-It's All True 2
42.   Dutch Uncles-Cadenza
43.   Lamb-5
44.   The War on Drugs-Slave Ambient
45.   Youth Lagoon-The Year of Hibernation
   
46.   Peter Bjorn & John-Gimme Some
47.   The Decemberists-The King is Dead
48.   Ladytron-Gravity the Seducer
49.   Ryan Adams-Ashes & Fire
50.   Zola Jesus-Conatus

[luisterpaul]

1. Thee Oh Sees - Carrion Crawler / The Dream
2. Cults - Cults
3. Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Unknown Mortal Orchestra
4. Thee Oh Sees - Castlemania
5. Radiohead - The King of Limbs
6. Yellow Ostrich - The Mistress
7. Parts & Labor - Constant Future
8. The Vaccines - What Did You Expect From The Vaccines?
9. Bass Drum Of Death - GB City
10. The War On Drugs - Slave Ambient

11. Cuckoo Chaos - Woman
12. Ringo Deathstarr - Colour Trip
13. Wooden Shjips - West
14. Hooray For Earth - True Loves
15. Bell X1 - Bloodless Coup
16. EMA - Past Life Martyred Saints
17. Mikal Cronin - Mikal Cronin
18. Soft Moon - Total Decay EP
19. Braids - Native Speaker
20. Blouse - Blouse

21. Superhumanoids - Parasite Paradise
22. Elbow - build a rocket boys!
23. Grooms - Prom
24. Alcoholic Faith Mission - And The Running With Insanity EP
25. Youth Lagoon - The Year of Hibernation
26. Pepper Rabbit - Red Velvet Snow Ball
27. Milk Maid - Yucca
28. The Babies - The Babies
29. Dark Captain - Dead Legs & Alibis
30. WU LYF - Go Tell Fire To The Mountain

31. Atlas Sound - Parallax
32. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. - It’s A Corporate World
33. Vandaveer - Dig Down Deep
34. Tapes 'n Tapes - Outside
35. Xray Eyeballs - Not Nothing
36. Iron & Wine - Kiss Each Other Clean
37. You, You're Awesome - Good Point, Whoever Said That
38. We Are Augustines - Rise Ye Sunken Ships
39. Still Corners - Creatures of an Hour
40. Dan Michaelson - Sudden Fiction

41. Summer Camp - Welcome To Condale
42. We Are Trees - Girlfriend EP
43. Handsome Furs - Sound Kapital
44. Future Islands - On The Water
45. Other Lives - Tamer Animals
46. Lia Ices - Grown Unknown
47. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
48. Esben And The Witch - Violet Cries
49. The Low Anthem - Smart Flesh
50. Moon Duo - Mazes

Honorable Mentions:
Kate Bush - If this had come out a bit sooner I would have known how to rank it. It really belongs in this list.
She & Him's xmas album - This really is a good album.

[Fourthisto]

1   the Joy Formidable - the Big Roar
2   Be Forest - Cold.
3   Veronica Falls - s/t
4   the Antlers - Burst Apart
5   Handsome Furs - Sound Kapital
6   Papercuts - Fading Parade
7   Radiohead - King of Limbs
8   the War on Drugs - Slave Ambient
9   I Break Horses - Hearts
10   the Horrors - Skying

11   Elbow - Build a Rocket Boys!
12   Tim Hecker - Ravedeath, 1972
13   the Features - Wilderness
14   Youth Lagoon - the Year of Hibernation
15   Kurt Vile - Smoke Ring for my Halo
16   the Crystal Stilts - In Love With Oblivion
17   the Fresh and Onlys - Secret Walls
18   the Asteroid #4 - Hail to the Clear Figurines
19   Wooden Shjips - West
20   Washed Out - Within and Without

21   Big Troubles - Romantic Comedy
22   Asobi Seksu - Fluorescence
23   French Films - Imaginary Future
24   Craft Spells - Idle Labor
25   Real Estate - Days
26   Widowspeak - s/t
27   Hooray for Earth - True Loves
28   Atlas Sound - Parallax
29   the Vaccines - What did You Expect from the Vaccines?
30   the Dry Season - s/t

31   the Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Belong
32   S.C.U.M - Again Into Eyes
33   Ladytron - Gravity the Seducer
34   A Winged Victory for the Sullen - s/t
35   Future Islands - On the Water
36   Oneohtrix Point Never - Replica
37   Bass Drum of Death - GB City
38   Cut Copy - Zonoscope
39   Ringo Deathstarr - Colour Trip
40   Barn Owl - Lost in the Glare

41   Wye Oak - Civilian
42   Little Dragon - Ritual Union
43   Dum Dum Girls - Only In Dreams
44   Russian Circles - Empros
45   Blouse - s/t
46   Male Bonding - Endless Now
47   Thee Oh Sees - Carrion Crawler / the Dream
48   Beirut - the Rip Tide
49   Girls Names - Dead to Me
50   Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues


It was a real chore trimming this to 50. Could easily do three times that.

[patas]

This could be final....

1. Eisley - The Valley
2. Thirteen Senses - Crystal Sounds
3. Explosions in the Sky - Take Care, Take Care, Take Care
4. The Fruit Tree Foundation - First Edition
5. Halloween, Alaska - All Night the Calls Came In
6. Mogwai - Hardcore Will Never Die But You Will
7. And So I Watched You From Afar - Gangs
8. Roddy Woomble - The Impossible Song and Other Songs
9. Low - C'mon
10. Manchester Orchestra - Simple Math

11. We Were Promised Jetpacks - In the Pit of the Stomach
12. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Belong
13. Yuck - Yuck
14. Say Hi - Um, Uh Oh
15. Dolorean - The Unfazed
16. The Dodos - No Color
17. The Joy Formidible - The Big Roar
18. Wye Oak - Civilian
19. Phantagram - Nightlife
20. Battles - Gloss Drop

21. King's Daughters & Sons - If Then Not When
22. Three Trapped Tigers - Route One or Die
23. Gruff Rhys - Hotel Shampoo
24. And the Relatives - Green Machinery
25. Iron & Wine - Kiss Each Other Clean
26. The Besnard Lakes - You Lived in the City
27. Dum Dum Girls - Only in Dreams
28. Elbow - Build a Rocket Boys
29. British Sea Power - Valhalla Dancehall
30. Glasvegas - Euphoric//Heartbreak

31. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
32. I Break Horses - Hearts
33. Wu Lyf - Go Tell Fire to the Mountain
34. Lykke Li - Wounded Rhymes
35. The Dears - Degeneration Street
36. Guillemots - Walk the River
37. Russian Circles - Empros
38. Milk White Teeth - The Holy Trinity
39. Radical Face   The Family Tree: The Roots
40. Keep Shelley in Athens - Our Own Dream

41. Tim Wheeler & Emmy the Great - This is Christmas
42. Milagres - Glowing Mouth
43. Fruit Bats - Tripper
44. Other Lives - Tamer Animals
45. The Vaccines - What Did You Expect From the V
46. The Elected - Bury Me in My Rings

[Buzzstein]

01.) Handsome Furs - Sound Kapital
02.) Peter Bjorn And John - Gimme Some
03.) Generationals - Actor-Caster
04.) Wild Flag - Wild Flag
05.) The Decemberists - The King Is Dead
06.) Cut Copy - Zonoscope
07.) The Joy Formidable - The Big Roar
08.) Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears - Scandalous
09.) Ringo Deathstarr - Colour Trip
10.) Dum Dum Girls - Only In Dreams
11.) White Denim - D
12.) Wooden Shjips - West
13.) Booker T. Jones - The Road from Memphis
14.) Yuck - Yuck
15.) Cults - Cults
16.) Parts & Labor - Constant Future
17.) French Films - Imaginary Future
18.) TV On The Radio - Nine Types of Light
19.) The War On Drugs - Slave Ambient
20.) Florence + The Machine - Ceremonials
21.) Mates of State - Mountaintops
22.) Washed Out - Within and Without
23.) Phantogram - Nightlife EP
24.) Low - C'mon

[WalterSobchak]

I signed up just for this!

Under review, but at the moment:

1) Kurt Vile - Smoke Ring for my Halo
2) M83 - Hurry Up, We're Dreaming
3) Charles Bradley - No Time For Dreaming
4) The Weeknd - House of Balloons
5) Cults - Cults
6) Yuck - Yuck
7) Youth Lagoon - The Year of Hibernation
8) PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
9) Cut Copy - Zonoscope
10) Bass Drum of Death - GB City

[Rafe]

Like I posted in the other thread, this is my top ten for the year:

1. Roots Manuva - 4everevolution
2. Yuck - Yuck
3. Wooden Shjips - West
4. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
5. The Horrors - Skying
6. Baxter Dury - Happy Soup
7. Wire - Red-Barked Tree
8. Peter, Bjorn and John - Gimme Some
9. Tinariwen - Tassili
10. Wild Flag - Wild Flag


Not Rodney's finest album by any stretch, but it made my skinny arse jiggle a bit. I fucking love the Wooden Shjips record. It sounds like Loop and Spacemen 3 on a seaside trip. Really good.

[jcarwash31]

This is pretty preliminary, but...

1. Astronautalis - This Is Our Science
2. Sims - Bad Time Zoo
3. Manchester Orchestra - Simple Math
4. Doomtree - No Kings
5. The Rural Alberta Advantage - Departing
6. Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr - It's a Corporate World
7. The Roots - Undun
8. Wye Oak - Civilian
9. EMA - Past Life Martyred Saints

[Nate]

It made me sad a little to see the links removed from past AoY winners.