The Best Albums of 2011

A few notes: This list represents my favorite records of the year roughly in order of my preference for them. My top five are all really kind of tied for first. It would be hard for me to definitively say that I prefer any of these above the other. They are all very different records and I love them all a great deal.

As always, this list is by no means exhaustive. There are a lot of things that I didn't get to as thoroughly as I would have liked to, among them: Middle Brother, Deer Tick, Telekenisis, the new Black Keys, the M83 record (which I do like), Civilian by Wye Oak, etc.

And one last thought: Lady musicians absolutely owned 2011

Let England Shake by PJ Harvey

Is: More than the sum of its parts.

Is: a master-class in record-making; combining poetry, history, and straight songwriting-ballsiness into one hell of an album.

Is: the very definition of contemporary musical cohesiveness

W H O K I L L by tUnEyArDs

Is: Plain and simple, a badass record: a meditation on violence and contemporary womanhood, and a display of raw, extraordinary talent; Merrill Garbus does things with her voice, some floor toms and a ukulele, that astonish and amaze me.

Is: goddam refreshing, dammit; like nothing else you’ve ever heard this year, while still remaining not only palatable by pleasurable.

Strange Mercy by St. Vincent

Is: in a way, a sexier, more listenable W H O K I L L

Is: either the most fun challenging record of the year, or the most challenging fun record of the year

Is: The work of an extraordinary talent (and quite possibly the love of my life) coming into her own; the textures, density, crunch, and imagery are all there, and Annie Clark can straight slay a guitar

Helplessness Blues by Fleet Foxes

Is: A record that could not have been made in New York City

Is: (Ironically) The anti-Williamsburg record

Is: Hands-down, the best “traditional” guitar-based record of the year

Is: A great album made by a band that, at their best, can hit highs that maybe all but ten other bands on the planet right now could only dream to hit

4 by Beyoncé

Is: The most fun I had listening to music all year

Is: The top-to-bottom best pop record of the year

Is: A compelling collection of compulsively-listenable songs

The King of Limbs by Radiohead

Is: A difficult, alienating record that, in true Radiohead-fashion, is still absolutely worth-it

Is: to In Rainbows, what Kid A was to OK Computer

Undun by the Roots

Is: Hands-down the best Hip-Hop Record of the year, and quite possibly the best Roots record ever made.

Is: Probably a fucking masterpiece

Is: Proof that Black Thought is criminally underrated, and proof that the Roots deserve their status as legends.

Bon Iver by Bon Iver

Is: Despite being a great record, still a lot of fun to poke-fun at.

Is: Nevertheless, still a really good record

Is: In the words of Alex Garnett, almost perfectly: Bon Iver now sounds like Lionel Ritchie on Saddle Creek. Not bad, but also not nearly as earnest as you thought.

Is: Still, again, a great record.

Metals by Feist

Is: Less pop-forward than Feist’s own excellent “The Reminder” and yet somehow even better for it

Is: Very nearly a masterwork of breathy understatement within the world of pop-music

Cosmic Ocean Ship by Mia Doi Todd

Is: a great little neo-Joan Baez record, instantly spanning decades with ease and comfort, and while remaining confident, delicate, and soothing

Is: Kind of what I imagine it feels like to be wrapped in a warm, delicious blanket by a sexy lady after a long, exhausting day, with her kissing you, cutely, right on the forehead before you fall asleep

Is: Unfortunately, an almost universally-overlooked little record

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Take Care by Drake

Is: Post-Hip-Hop; a uniquely 21st century record, that sees it’s star grappling with a lot of what it’s like to be alive and young (and, nevertheless, struggling with the very thought of what it means to be alive) in the current day and age.

Is: Nevertheless, not as slickly or smartly done as Kanye West’s MBDTF which, for better or worse going to be the standard-bearer for post-hip-hop until something de-thrones it

Watch the Throne by Jay-Z & Kanye West

Is: Not as good as I wanted it to be based on Kanye’s last two outings, but is, nevertheless, a damn fine pop/hip-hop record with some deliciously silky-sex production and lotioned-ass-smooth (if occasionally absurd (and predictably navel-gazing)) rapping.

The Greatest Story Never Told by Saigon

Is: The Second-best hip-hop concept record of the year behind only The Roots’ Undun

Is: A great and compelling concept album with some awesome rapping, but an album whose bombast is also its biggest fault; it would almost certainly be more listenable if it was twenty minutes shorter.

Wounded Rhymes by Lykke Li

Is: A drum-bangingly good record; an ostensibly innocent battle-cry from a Scandinavian siren that will nevertheless steer you towards shipwreck

Tomboy by Panda Bear

Is: A delicious reverb-sandwich

Diamond Mine by King Creosote & Jon Hopkins

Is: Sweet and soothing; a rainy Sunday morning record; “transporting”

Is: Just compelling enough

Build a Rocket Boys by Elbow

Is: Another good record from one of the most consistently good (and underrated) bands of the decade

Is: A glorious meditation on small-town nostalgia; a love letter from your old best friend

HM:

Nostalgia, ULTRA by Frank Ocean

Is: Fun, if inconsistent; a preview of good things to come

The Return of 4 Eva by Big K.R.I.T.

Is: A solid mixtape from a tight, smooth M.C.

Stone Rollin’ by Raphael Saadiq

Is: An exhilarating tour through the greatest-hits of the last 60 years of African-Americana.

Burst Apart by the Antlers

Is: A solid sophomore follow-up to a promising debut; an often-challenging task performed here admirably

Wild Flag by Wild Flag

Is: A blistering power-pop debut from a female super-group; and it’s a hell of a lot of fun

21 by Adele

Is: The most recent work of 2011’s most (and well-deservedly) hailed artists; the work of a phenomenal talent, and home to several of the best songs of the year.

So Beautiful or So What by Paul Simon

Is: Extraordinary in countless ways, least of all being that Paul Simon is 70 years old and he made this record which is really rather good, nostalgia and past-accomplishments aside

Is: The home of several of my favorite guitar noises and textures of the year.

Megafaun by Megafaun

Is: The best album of 2011 by a band that Justin Vernon used to be in, but is not now in (though he does make a cameo)

The Head and the Heart by the Head and the Heart

Is: Such a good indie debut record that Pitchfork HATED the ever loving hell out of it.

The Dreamer/the Believer by Common

Is: A record that sees Common comfortably toeing the line between “radio-friendly MC” and “best MC of all time”

Black Up by Shabazz Palaces

Is: Supposed to be the most-important Hip-Hop Record of the year (Hooray, subpop!)

Is: Not the most important Hip-Hop Record of the year

The Whole Love by Wilco

Is: Probably a “return to form” (whatever that means)

Is: Absolutely better than “Wilco, the album”

Is: A really good album that I can’t get into as much as I would like to, but holy hell if “The Art of Almost” isn’t an absolute doozy and itself worth the price of admission.

Bonus Reissue:The SMiLE Sessions by the Beach Boys

Is: Kind of a miracle

Bonus: Records without words:

The Magic Place by Julianna Barwick

Is: Fascinating if occasionally boring

Looping State of Mind by the Field

Is: My favorite Phillip Glass record that came out this year (that wasn’t made by Phillip Glass)

Is: Could just as aptly be named either: “The Art of Understatement” or “The Art of Minimalism”