The Official VOTING thread for the Best Albums of 2011

[kcneon]

 1  - Chapel Club - Palace
 2  - Little Barrie - King of the Waves
 3  - Ha Ha Tonka - Death of a Decade
 4  - The Wombats - This Modern Glitch
 5  - US Royalty - Mirrors
 6  - Wooden Shjips - West
 7  - Antlers - Burst Apart
 8  - Cashier No. 9 - To The Death of Fun
 9  - Parts and Labor - Constant Future
10  - The Horrors - Skying
11  - EMA - Past Life Martyred Saints
12  - Craft Spells - Idle Labor
13  - Cats Eyes - Cats Eyes
14  - Yuck - Yuck
15  - The Joy Formidable - The Big Roar

[MissKitty]

Nice to see you around KC! I was wondering where you've been.

[Ajax]

1 Future Islands - On The Water
2 Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr - It's a Corporate World
3 TuneYards - W H O K I L L
4 Girls – Father, Son, Holy Ghost
5 Wilco - The Whole Love
6 Cass McCombs - Humor Risk
7 Destroyer - Kaputt
8 The Head and The Heart - The Head and The Heart
9 The Black Keys - El Camino
10 Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues
11 Feist – Metals
12 Bon Iver – Bon Iver
13 My Morning Jacket – Circuital
14 Mogwai – Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will
15 Ryan Adams – Ashes & Fire
16 Radiohead – The King of Limbs
17 Eleanor Friedberger – Last Summer
18 Thurston Moore – Demolished Thoughts
19 St. Vincent – Strange Mercy
20 Wild Flag – Wild Flag
21 M83 – Hurry Up We're Dreaming
22 Cass McCombs – Wit's End
23 Keren Ann – 101
24 Fruit Bats - Tripper

[The Hegemo]

1.   Wussy – Strawberry
2.   The Baseball Project – Vol. 2:  High and Inside
3.   The Decemberists – The King is Dead
4.   Chad VanGaalen – Diaper Island
5.   Yuck – s/t
6.   Wugazi – 13 Chambers
7.   Das Racist – Relax
8.   Wilco – The Whole Love
9.   Bonnie “Prince” Billy – Wolfroy Goes to Town
10.   M83 – Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming
11.   Jay-Z and Kanye West – Watch the Throne
12.   Wye Oak – Civilian
13.   EMA – Past Life Martyred Saints
14.   My Morning Jacket – Circuital
15.   The Joy Formidable – The Big Roar
16.   Dan Mangan – Oh Fortune
17.   Danny Brown – XXX
18.   tUnE-yArDs – W H O K I L L
19.   Bon Iver – Bon Iver
20.   John Vanderslice – White Wilderness

Other notables (not in any particular order):
Ryan Adams – Ashes & Fire
Zola Jesus – Conatus
Robert Pollard – Space City Kicks
Sloan – The Double Cross
Daniel Martin Moore – In the Cool of the Day
Bright Eyes – The People’s Key
Lydia Loveless -- Indestructible Machine
Childish Gambino – Camp
Atlas Sound – Parallax
Mr. Muthafuckin’ eXquire – Lost in Translation
Wild Flag - s/t

[Legalize]

This is all I could really come up with for 2011.  I would say that the year was terribly weak overall.  I didn't get excited about much.  2010 was just such a delicious treat compared to 2011.  For whatever reason, rock music was not in vogue this year.  Pains and Cold Cave made nice follow-ups.  Constant Future was every bit as good as Mapmaker for Parts and Labor -  too bad they seem to have called it quits.  Mind Spiders was a wonderful collection of riffs that I listened to a TON.  Same with Deathstarr, Male Bonding, and the Two Koreas.  Yuck did Yo La Tango as well as Yo La themselves.  Smith Westerns were nice George-Harrison-esque pop.  Joy Formidable should be commended for always bringing the thunder.  Seems like the Horrors won't be content to ever stay the same.  Kurt Vile and Girls were were great, but waned quite a bit compared to others.  I should have listened to EMA and Dum Dum Girls more.  Disappears made an ok EP, with a true 16 minute barn-burner at the end that saved it.  After the perfection that was Dear Science, TV on the Radio is my biggest disappointment.  After so much space between Source Tags and Codes, Trail of Dead FINALLY pulled off another truly great rock album that they should be proud of; they and Moon Duo are my biggest surprises of the year.  Moon Duo and The Men give me hope for the coming years.

A work in progress:

Trail of Dead - Tao of the Dead
Moon Duo - Mazes
The Men - Leave Home
Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Belong
Parts and Labor - Constant Future

Mind Spiders - s/t
Ringo Deathstarr - Colour Trip
Yuck - s/t
Smith Westerns - Dye it Blonde
Kurt Vile - Smoke Ring for my Halo

Joy Formidable - Big Roar
Male Bonding - Endless Now
The Horrors - Skying
EMA - Past Life Martyred Saints
The Two Koreas - Science Island

Girls - Father, Son, Holy Ghost
Dum Dum Girls - Only in Dreams
Disappears - Guider EP
Cold Cave - Cherish the Light Years
TV on the Radio - Nine Types of Light

[yoshomon]

PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
PJ Harvey - Let England Shake

[bluebastard]

I know these will have NO bearings on the final list but so it goes....

1. Amen Dunes - Through Donkey Jaw (Sacred Bones)
2. Fabio Orsi - Stand Before Me, Oh My Soul (Preservation)
3. Chris Forsyth - Paranoid Cat (Family Vineyard)
4. Black Eagle Child/Eureka - split (Stunned)
5. Circuit des Yeux - Portrait (De Stijl)
6. Tim Hecker - Ravedeath, 1972 (Kranky)
7. Group Inerane - Guitars from Agadez Volume 3 (Sublime Frequencies)
8. A Winged Victory for the Sullen - s/t (Kranky)
9. Wume - Distance (Catholic Tapes/Rotted Tooth)
10. Roped Off - Rides the Lightning/Kills 'em All (Weird Forest)
11. Steven Drozd - The Heart is a Drum Machine OST (Twinkle Cash Company)
12. mr. Gnome - Madness in Miniature (El Marko)
13. 1958-2009 - 1958-2009 (Amethyst Sunset)
14. Bird Names - Metabolism (Northern Spy)
15. Grouper - A I A (Self Released)
16. Noveller - Glacial Glow (Saffron/Weird Forest)
17. Horse Marriage - Eisenhower Interstate (Roll Over Rover)
18. Barn Owl - Lost in the Glare (Thrill Jockey)
19. M. Geddes Gengras - Tetragrammaton (Sacred Phrases)
20. Danny Paul Grody - In Search of Light (Students of Decay)
21. Robert Pollard - Space City Kicks (GBV Records)
22. Steve Hauschildt - Tragedy & Geometry (Kranky)
23. Thurston Moore - Demolished Thoughts (Matador)
24. Bryter Layter - Two Lenses (Students of Decay)
25. Hobo Cubes/J. Hanson - The Self Beyond/Vac Siddha (Digitalis)

[Fourthisto]

I know these will have NO bearings on the final list but so it goes....

Finally, someone with tastes! 

[Butter]

1   -   PJ Harvey   -   Let England Shake
2   -   Fleet Foxes   -   Helplessness Blues
3   -   Atlas Sound   -   Parallax
4   -   Tennis   -   Cape Dory
5   -   Unknown Mortal Orchestra   -   Unknown Mortal Orchestra
6   -   Tune-Yards   -   Whokill
7   -   The Strokes   -   Angles
8   -   Girls   -   Father, Son, Holy Ghost
9   -   Cults   -   Cults
10   -   Radiohead   -   The King of Limbs
11   -   John Vanderslice   -   White Wilderness
12   -   Real Estate   -   Days
13   -   Smith Westerns   -   Dye it Blonde
14   -   Panda Bear   -   Tomboy
15   -   Tapes 'n Tapes   -   Outside
16   -   Black Lips   -   Arabia Mountain
17   -   Washed Out   -   Within and Without
18   -   The Drums   -   Portamento
19   -   Vivian Girls   -   Share the Joy
20   -   Lykke Li   -   Wounded Rhymes
21   -   The Kills   -   Blood Pressures
22   -   Fool's Gold   -   Leave No Trace
23   -   La Sera   -   La Sera
24   -   Ladytron   -   Gravity the Seducer
25   -   Neon Indian   -   Era Extrana
26   -   Little Dragon   -   Ritual Union
27   -   St. Vincent   -   Strange Mercy
28   -   Mates of State   -   Mountaintops
29   -   Gang Gang Dance   -   Eye Contact
30   -   Twin Sister   -   In Heaven
31   -   TV on the Radio   -   Nine Types of Light
32   -   M83   -   Hurry Up, We're Dreaming
33   -   Beirut   -   The Rip Tide
34   -   Antlers   -   Burst Apart
35   -   Battles   -   Gloss Drop
36   -   Chad VanGaalen   -   Diaper Island
37   -   Beastie Boys   -   Hot Sauce Committee Part Two
38   -   Das Racist   -   Relax
39   -   REM   -   Collapse Into Now
40   -   Toro Y Moi   -   Underneath the Pine

[bluebastard]

I know these will have NO bearings on the final list but so it goes....

Finally, someone with tastes! 

Are you making fun of me?

Honestly, I spent just as much time this year discovering 90s acts like Jawbreaker and Tsunami who I didn't know of in my youth. And strangely, there's a healthy amount of Midwest love on my list (labels based in Chicago such as Kranky and Catholic Tapes, artists like Steve Hauschildt and mr. Gnome are from Cleveland, Students of Decay is based in Cincy). Can't help but feel it reflects my recent move back to the Midwest after living in Seattle for almost 8 years.

[Dan]

1   -   Lykke Li   -   Wounded Rhymes
2   -   PJ Harvey   -   Let England Shake
3   -   The Go! Team   -   Rolling Blackouts
4   -   Decemberists    -   The King Is Dead      
5   -   Pains of Being Pure At Heart   -   Pains of Being Pure At Heart
6   -   Tapes 'n Tapes   -   Outside
7   -   Cults   -   Cults
8   -   Yuck   -   Yuck
9   -   Ladytron   -   Gravity the Seducer
10   -   Beirut    -   The Rip Tide
11   -   Hooray For Earth   -   True Loves


I can only vote for those, since those are the only ones that I've even heard. I'm so ashamed of myself for my performance this year. Completely unacceptable.

[Fourthisto]

Are you making fun of me?

Quite the contrary, my dear friend! It was just refreshing to see selections from my list in nobody else's but yours! 

[MissKitty]

Tired of trying to rank these. This'll just have to do.

1. Mocean Worker – Candygram for Mowo!
2. Wooden Shjips – West
3. Raphael Saadiq – Stone Rollin’
4. Veronica Falls – S/T
5. French Films – Imaginary Future
6. Rival Sons – Pressure & Time
7. John Paul Keith – The Man That Time Forgot
8. Sims – Bad Time Zoo
9. Curtains For You – After Nights Without Sleep
10. Girls – Father, Son, Holy Ghost

11. The Strange Boys – Live Music
12. Richard Buckner – Our Blood
13. Black Lips – Arabia Mountain
14. Portugal. The Man – In the Mountain In the Cloud
15. Not In the Face – Bikini
16. Feist – Metals
17. We All Have Hooks For Hands – Girls EP
18. The Head and the Heart – The Head and the Heart
19. Gary Clark, Jr. – The Bright Lights EP
20. Hurricane Bells – Tides and Tales

21. Atmosphere – The Family Sign
22. The City and Horses – We Will Never Be Discovered
23. My Goodness – My Goodness
24. Old 97’s – The Grand Theatre Vol. 2
25. JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound – Want More
26. Yuck – Yuck
27. David Lowery – The Palace Guards
28. The Jayhawks – Mockingbird Time
29. Handsome Furs – Sound Kapital
30. Ume – Rubicon

31. I’m From Barcelona – Forever Today
32. Viva Brother – Famous First Words
33. Fountains of Wayne – Sky Full of Holes
34. The Kills – Blood Pressures
35. Beirut – The Rip Tide
36. Radio Moscow – The Great Escape of Leslie Magnafuzz
37. John Wesley Harding – The Sound of His Own Voice
38. Robyn Hitchcock – Tromso, Kaptein
39. Caveman – Coco Beware
40. Gotye – Making Mirrors

41. Reptar – Oblangle Fizz Y’all
42. Bombay Bicycle Club – A Different Kind of Fix
43. Deer Tick – Divine Providence
44. Gomez – Whatever’s On Your Mind
45. Peter Kernel – White Death & Black Heart
46. Phantogram – Nightlife
47. The Drums – Portamento
48. Mayer Hawthorne – How Do You Do
49. Those Darlins – Screws Get Loose
50. Real Estate - Days

[Modnar]

I'm really glad to see that this is still going on. It's been a huge help catching up on sly music that I missed out on during the past year. Now to work on compiling my list...

[cyclone]

I know these will have NO bearings on the final list but so it goes....

Nice to see you here.  Enjoyed briefly talking to you about Jim O'Rourke solo albums and Driphouse on WOXY.

Anyway, I saw a Bird Names house show and Noveller at an art space last year.  I also explored a lot of Sublime Frequencies releases the past few months and liked the Tim Hecker a lot.  

Did you get to check out any of the experimental releases Jim O put out this year, or his collab with the Fire, the free jazz thing?