I liked the song "Smile" from by the Smith Westerns but the whole album didn't do it for me.

I've been on a 2011 listening spree lately to catch up with some records I missed earlier in the year.

Among the good albums I'm just now hearing:

Mogwai - Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will
Tune-Yards - Whokill
Beirut - The Rip Tide
Shabazz Palaces - Black Up
The Weeknd - House of Balloons

I'm not sure if this is a great year, but there sure are a lot of good to very good albums out there.

2011 hasn't been as strong as 2010 for me, but it's not too bad! A few months ago I thought it was going to be a real dud for me personally, but I've dug a little deeper and had some established favorites spoil me with goodies. Still, I want to get a better feel for the year. Any recommendations? I've just seen the recommendations for Lykke Li, Blood Orange and certain songs from the Drive soundtrack, and I'll be sure to check those out (thank you, Grooveshark/YouTube!). Any others?

Here's my list so far:

1. Björk - Biophilia
2. St. Vincent - Strange Mercy
3. M83 - Hurry Up, We're Dreaming
4. Metronomy - The English Riviera
5. The Strokes - Angles
6. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
7. Kate Bush - 50 Words for Snow
8. Tennis - Cape Dory
9. Magazine - No Thyself
10. The Human League - Credo
11. Kimbra - Vows
12. Lady Gaga - Born This Way
13. Roxette - Charm School
14. Gotye - Making Mirrors

I found a lot of really good albums in 2011, but it's not like 2010 when there were like three top 100 AT candidates coming out in the same week.

I think it's just in 2011, most of the great albums weren't the kind of indie albums that get hyped. There were PJ Harvey and Tom Waits who were hyped, there were new albums by Bon Iver and Fleet Foxes which most people saw as good but not as good as their previous efforts, and then the rest of them were either nonvocal or eclectic electronic albums that aren't the tastemakers' cups of tea.

So all the magazines are like "Hey, our readers don't want to hear about strange textured beeping noises, they want their skinny guys in their 20s with sensitive expressions, guitars and distortion machines!" "But...there aren't any good ones this year!" "So find some! Read Pitchfork or something, they'll have a few lying around."

Hello

Here is the list of my 25 favourite albums of the year so far. It may change until december 31st because I have to listen again all my albums then I'll publish a "definitive" list :

1. Raphael Saadiq - "Stone Rollin'"
2. Treefight For Sunlight - "Treefight For Sunlight"
3. Cut Copy - "Zonoscope"
4. Girls - "Father, Son, Holy Ghost"
5. Pugwash - "The Olympus Sound"
6. The Nines - "Polarities"
7. Nick Lowe - "The Old Magic"
8. Sondre Lerche - "Sondre Lerche"
9. Tony Cox - "On The Way"
10. The Leisure Society - "Into The Murky Water"
11. Duran Duran - "All You Need Is Now"
12. M83 - "Hurry Up, We're Dreaming"
13. The High Llamas - "Talahomi Way"
14. Fitz And The Tantrums - "Pickin' Up The Pieces"
15. The Red Button - "As Far As Yesterday Goes"
16. Mayer Hawthorne - "How Do You Do"
17. Sharon Jones And The Dap-Kings - "Soul Time!"
18. Brent Cash - "How Strange It Seems"
19. Fountains Of Wayne - "Sky Full Of Holes"
20. Connan Mockasin - "Forever Dolphin Love"
21. Ryan Adams - "Ashes & Fire"
22. The Black Keys - "El Camino"
23. Guillemots - "Walk The River"
24. Rumer - "Seasons Of My Soul"
25. 4 Guys From The Future - "Under The New Morning Sun"

Following Romain, Moonbeam and Dumbangel, here's my current top 25 after listening (and re-listening) to a lot of albums. Current lists by other AMers would be helpful...

1. Ry Cooder - Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down
2. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
3. James Blake - James Blake
4. Tom Waits - Bad As Me
5. Lykke Li - Wounded Rhymes
6. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
7. Gillian Welch - The Harrow & the Harvest
8. The Roots - undun
9. Radiohead - The King of Limbs
10. Bon Iver - Bon Iver, Bon Iver
11. Raphael Saadiq - Stone Rollin'
12. Melingo - Corazón y Hueso
13. St. Vincent - Strange Mercy
14. The Horrors - Skying
15. Wild Beasts - Smother
16. The Decemberists - The King Is Dead
17. Shabazz Palaces - Black Up
18. AraabMuzik - Electronic Dream
19. TV on the Radio - Nine Types of Light
20. King Creosote & Jon Hopkins - Diamond Mine
21. Wilco - The Whole Love
22. The Field - Looping State of Mind
23. A Winged Victory for the Sullen - A Winged Victory for the Sullen
24. Aurelio - Laru Beya
25. Piers Faccini - My Wilderness

As always, just a top 10:

1. The Beach Boys - The Smile Sessions
2. Josh T. Pearson - Last Of The Country Gentlemen
3. The Antlers - Burst Apart
4. Alexi Murdoch - Towards The Sun
5. Wild Beasts - Smother
6. June Tabor & Oysterband - Ragged Kingdom
7. Bon Iver - Bon Iver, Bon Iver
8. Tom Waits - Bad As Me
9. Ry Cooder - Pull Up Some Dust And Sit Down
10. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues

Besides those 10, I have 2 more 4 star albums on RYM for this year, which I suppose could be considered 11 and 12:
Frederick Squire - Frederick Squire Sings Shenandoah and Other Popular Hits
tUnE-yArDs - w h o k i l l

Still in construction, but

1. Fleet Foxes
2. Ry Cooder
3. Tom Waits
4. Anthony Joseph - Rubber Orchestras
5. Melingo
6. Black Keys
7. Decemberists
8. Gillian Welch
9. Wilco
10. Treefight For Sunlight - st
11. Charles Bradley
12. raphael Saadiq
13. James Blake
14. Seun Kuti - Rise
15. hayes Carll - Kmag yoyo

SOme good discovering this week specially Bill Callahan. Strange and very interesting music, like a good Johnny Cash (and America! is one of the great songs of the year without doubt).

1. Portugal.The Man - In The Mountain In The Cloud
1. Blood Orange - Coastal Grooves
1. The Black Keys - El Camino
1. Pete and The Pirates - One Thousand Pictures
1. Danger Mouse and Daniele Luppi - Rome
2. The Kills - Blood Pressure
2. Cults - Cults
3. St. Vincent - Strange Mercy
3. Smith Westerns - Dye it Blonde
3. Metronomy - The English Riviera
3. Bill Callahan - Apocalypse
4. Cascadeur - The Human Octopus
4. Little Barrie - King of the waves
4. Mirrors - Lights and Offering
4. Emilie Simon - Frankie Knight
4. Alain Bashung/Serge Gainsbourg - L'homme à la tête de chou
4. tUnE-YaRdS - w h o k i l l
5. John Maus - We Must Become the Pitiless Censors of Ourselves
5. Herman Dune - Strange Moosic
5. Wise Blood - These wings
5. Beirut - Rip Tide
5. Hubert Felix Thiefaine - Suppléments de mensonge
6. Charlie Winston - Running Still (incredible, but it's a good album with a lot of great songs
6. Yuck - Yuck
6. Cage The Elephants - Thank You, Happy Birthday
6. Black Lips - Arabia Mountain
6. The Drums - Portamento
6. Memory Tapes - Player piano
6. Nicolas Jaar - Space is only noise
6. Kaiser Chiefs - The Future is Medieval
6. dEUS - Keep you close
6. TV on the Radio – Nine Types of Light
6. White Denim - D

My top list:

1. Tom Waits - Bad As Me
2. Ry Cooder - Pull Up Some Dust And Sit Down
3. Gang Gang Dance - Eye Contact
4. Nicolas Jaar - Space Is Only Noise
5. Amon Tobin - ISAM
6. Sbtrkt - Sbtrkt
7. Colin Stetson - New History Warfare Part Two
8. Laura Marling - A Creature I Don't Know
9. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
10. Dalriada - Igeret
11. Cascadeur - The Human Octopus
12. White Denim - D
13. St Vincent - Strange Mercy
14. Radiohead - The King Of Limbs
15. Gazelle Twin - The Entire City
16. The Black Keys - El Camino
17. EMA - Past Life Martyred Saints
18. Christina Rosenvinge - La joven Dolores
19. Bibio - Mind Bokeh
20. Tyler, The Creator - Goblin
21. Chelsea Wolfe - Apocalypsis
22. Anna Jarvinen - Anna sjalv tredje
23. Harriet Tubman - Ascension
24. Josh T Pearson - Last Of The Country Gentlemen
25. Neon Indian - Era Extrana
26. Wilco - The Art Of Almost
27. S.C.U.M. - Again Into Eyes
28. Ambrose Akinmusire - When The Heart Emerges Glistening
29. Siriusmo - Mosaik
30. Iceage - The New Brigade

^ Nice to see so many albums from Europe and South America on your list (Amon Tobin, Dalriada, Cascadeur, Christina Rosenvinge, Anna Järvinen, Siriusmo)

@Romain

Finally got around to listening to Blood Orange. Good rec!

I think what we should do is to give the year a rating.

2011: A year with not many massive hits (at least when compared with 2010) but one that sees a dearth of electronic music as well as albums (like Destroyer) which grow ever so much. I can see myself really liking this year given a couple of years but at the moment it's only a 6/10.

It's of course too late, but if you can, look this album : Connan Mockasin - Forever Dolphin Love.
Great.

I'd give 2011 an 8/10 for albums, a 6/10 for songs, and a 10/10 for depth. But I've listened to more 2011 albums than albums from any other year, so I might be a little biased about its depth.