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Autumn has come. Like you did in june, could you share your 2011 album list ? a top 10 or 20 (or less) would be great !
I'll go first
1. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness blues
2. The Decemberists - The King Is Dead
3. Gillian Welch - The Harrow and the Harvest
4. Hayes Carll - Kmag Yoyo
5. Treefight for Sunlight
6. Charles Bradley - No Time for dreaming
7. Raphael Saadiq - Stone Rollin'
8. Seun Kuti - Rise
9. Cascadeur - The Human Octopus
10. Bill Callahan - Apocalypse
2011 is so far quite disappointing. Most albums above are good genre albums, most of them belong to old genres (not a good sign), but few of them reach the universal. Nothing among the acclaimed stuff (except fleet Foxes) really did it for me, but maybe I haven't heard the right ones
I've heard PJ Harvey (but I'm not a big fan of her music) and James blake but they were just OK
1. Josh T. Pearson - Last Of The Country Gentlemen (8.5)
2. Alexi Murdoch - Towards The Sun (8.5)
3. Wild Beasts - Smother (8.5)
4. The Antlers - Burst Apart (8.0)
5. Bon Iver - Bon Iver, Bon Iver (8.0)
6. tUnE-yArDs - w h o k i l l (8.0)
7. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake (8.0)
8. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues (8.0)
9. TV On The Radio - Nine Types Of Light (8.0)
10. Ry Cooder - Pull Up Some Dust And Sit Down (8.0)
I wouldn't say it's a great year, but it's been pretty solid. Very different from 2010, which was very top-heavy in my opinion. For instance, my #1 for this year would be #4 in 2010, whereas my #10 this year would be #8 last year.
Current 'elite level' albums:
Gang Gang Dance - Eye Contact
Nicolas Jaar - Space Is Only Noise
PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
White Denim - D
Other very good albums:
Colin Stetson - New History Warfare Vol 2
Josh T Pearson - Last Of The Country Gentlemen
Cascadeur - The Human Octopus
Albums that probably belong on this list but I've only heard once:
St Vincent -
Ry Cooder -
Laura Marling -
I'm sorry, I'm not at home, I don't have my lists in front of me and am having trouble remembering album names at the moment.
I wouldn't worry too much that the best albums aren't the 'big releases'. That's only a sign that the critically popular genres of the last few years are running out of steam. All the 'Pop song melodies except buzzy and slightly off key' stuff Pitchfork likes in particular is on its last legs.
1. James Blake- James Blake
2. Let England Shake- PJ Harvey
3. Kaputt- Destroyer
4. Bon Iver- Bon Iver
5. Helplessness Blues- Fleet Foxes
6. Father, Son, Holy Ghost- Girls
7. The King of Limbs- Radiohead
8. Zonoscope- Cut Copy
9. House of Balloons- The Weeknd
10. Strange Mercy- St. Vincent
Some excellent releases so far, but I’m still waiting for that one album that really does it for me. And it looks like I’m getting bored with indie rock.
1. PJ Harvey – Let England Shake (Queen Polly shows us what a creative, bold songwriter can be capable of if they invest time and effort in their subject matter and take their art form seriously.)
2. James Blake – James Blake (Restrained but inventive dubstep that sounds like it could only have been released in 2011, no sooner, no later; and a rare album where moments of silence says as much as the music itself.)
3. Ry Cooder – Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down (This excerpt I read from a review on musicOMH nailed it for me: “Cooder’s genius here is to reach toward historical sources and depression-era musical language that now seem painfully resonant today”. But fortunately there’s enough humour too, and I like the variety of genres on display.)
4. Bon Iver – Bon Iver, Bon Iver (As warm in sound as his debut but lusher and more daring.)
5. Lykke Li – Wounded Rhymes (Great melodic pop that’s also kinda primal and eccentric. A clever shift in sound from her previous album.)
6. Gillian Welch – The Harrow and the Harvest (Sublime old-fashioned Bluegrass. No modern sound effects and no bullshit, just timeless, elegant music.)
7. St. Vincent – Strange Mercy (Strange but wonderful, challenging but accessible.)
8. Radiohead – The King of Limbs (I was massively disappointed the first time I heard it, but it’s growing on me with each listen.)
9. Shabazz Palaces – Black Up (Unconventional rap music that will hopefully help to take the genre in a needed new direction.)
10. Raphael Saadiq – Stone Rollin’ (A jubilant trip through vintage R&B, blues, soul and rockabilly. And it manages to avoid sounding like all the other singers and musicians going for a retro sound.)
11. The Field – Looping State of Mind (A pleasant surprise for me. I never thought I’d find contemporary techno music this engaging and sweeping.)
12. The Horrors – Skying (It sounds like it could be the lost work of an 80s collaboration between Simple Minds, The Cure and New Order. Perhaps more style than substance, but bonus points for atmosphere.)
13. Wild Beasts – Smother (Classy, introspective art pop that’s rewarding if you’re willing to listen to it patiently.)
14. Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues (I don’t find it as captivating as their debut but I like that they’re venturing into new territory without losing their initial appeal.)
15. Jay-Z & Kanye West – Watch the Throne (A very good hip-hop album, but for now I feel that it should’ve been better.)
16. A Hawk and a Hacksaw – Cervantine (Balkan folk music with a bit of Spanish and Mexican thrown in the mix. It makes me want to visit Eastern Europe.)
17. Araab Muzik – Electronic Dream (Exhilirating trance, house and instrumental hip hop that never slows down but has enough sweet melodies to show that it has a heart as well as balls.)
18. TV on the Radio – Nine Types of Light (Perhaps a little lacklustre to be among their best work, but still more brainy and interesting than most music out there.)
19. King Creosote & Jon Hopkins – Diamond Mine (Scottish indie folk meets subtle electronica and the result is a thing of quiet beauty.)
20. A Winged Victory for the Sullen – A Winged Victory for the Sullen (Intimate, alluring modern classical / ambient music that feels like it has layers and layers of emotion.)
Here's everything from 2011 I've listened to this year good and bad:
1 TV on the Radio - Nine Types of Light 91
2 Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Belong 87
3 Iron and Wine - Kiss Each Other Clean 82
4 Bon Iver - Bon Iver, Bon Iver 82
5 Asteroid No. 4 - Hail to the Clear Figurines 82
6 Cults - Cults 80
7 Girls - Father Son Holy Ghost 80
8 Kurt Vile - Smoke Ring for My Halo 78
9 Fruit Bats - Tripper 77
10 Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues 77
11 Antlers - Burst Apart 76
12 Akron/Family - S/T II: The Cosmic Birth and Journey of Shinju TNT 76
13 Givers - In Light 75
14 David Lowery - The Palace Guards 72
15 Yacht - Shangri La 71
16 tUnE.yArDs - w h o k i l l 68
17 Acid House Kings - Music Sounds Better With You 68
18 Tennis - Cape Dory 68
19 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. - It's a Corporate World 66
20 Fountains of Wayne - Sky Full of Holes 64
21 R.E.M. - Collapse Into Now
64
22 Stephen Malkmus - Mirror Traffic
63
23 Radiohead - The King of Limbs 62
24 Paul Simon - So Beautiful or So What 60
25 Ty Segall - Goodbye Bread 60
26 Destroyer - Kaputt 59
27 Blitzen Trapper - American Goldwing 59
28 Beirut - The Riptide 58
29 Adele - 21 58
30 Elbow - Build a Rocket Boys! 57
31 Decemberists - The King Is Dead 56
32 Smith Westerns - Dye It Blonde 55
33 British Sea Power - Valhalla Dancehall 54
34 Death Cab for Cutie - Codes and Keys 54
35 Cymbals Eat Guitars - Lenses Alien 53
36 Cake - Showroom of Compassion 51
37 Blood Orange - Coastal Grooves 51
38 Portugal the Man - In the Mountain in the Cloud 49
39 Bright Eyes - The People's Key 47
40 Joseph Arthur - Graduation Ceremony 47
41 Jeffrey Foucault - Horse Latitudes 47
42 Cloud Nothings - Cloud Nothings 45
43 Yuck - Yuck 43
44 Acrylics - Lives and Treasure 41
45 Telekinesis - 12 Desperate Straight Lines 40
46 Veils - Troubles of the Brain EP 39
47 Toro Y Moi - Underneath the Pine 39
48 DeVotchKa - 100 Lovers 39
49 James Blake - James Blake 38
50 Friendly Fires - Pala 38
51 PJ Harvey - Let England Shake 38
52 ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead - Tao of the Dead 38
53 Anna Calvi - Anna Calvi 36
54 EMA - Past Life Martyred Saints 31
55 Danielson - Best of Gloucester County 22
56 Eleanor Friedberger - Last Summer 9
To add a few more to the 'very good' level:
Dalriada - Igeret
Amon Tobin - Isam
TV On The Radio - Nine Types Of Light
Radiohead - King of Limbs
Bibio - Mind Bokeh
And to the rising list:
Anna Jarvinen - Anna sjalv tredge
Iceage - The New Brigade
Tyler, The Creator - Goblin
I can list a Top 5:
1. The Pains of Being Pure At Heart - Belong
2. Cults - Cults
3. Bon Iver - Bon Iver, Bon Iver
4. James Blake - James Blake
5. The Antlers - Burst Apart
Still need to listen to a lot more.
1. Strange Mercy, St. Vincent
2. Bon Iver, Bon Iver
3. Let England Shake, PJ Harvey
4. Father, Son, Holy Ghost, Girls
5. The King of Limbs, Radiohead
6. James Blake, James Blake
7. Helplessness Blues, Fleet Foxes
8. Tomboy, Panda Bear
9. w h o k i l l, tUnE-yArDs
10. Zonoscope, Cut Copy
11. The Rip Tide, Beirut
12. Burst Apart, The Antlers
13. Looping State of Mind, The Field
14. Kaputt, Destroyer
15. Past Life Martyred Saints, EMA
16. Black Up, Shabazz Palaces
17. House of Balloons, The Weeknd
18. Smoke Ring For My Halo, Kurt Vile
19. Smother, Wild Beasts
20. WIT's END, Cass McCombs
I think some of the reason people are dissatisfied with 2011 as a whole is that a lot of AMers are basing their exploration on the very top of the Megacritic chart, instead of exploration more geared to their own specific tastes.
The average of everyone's opinion isn't going to match any individual's true opinion.
I think the most disappointing trend of 2011 is that it's ruled by artists we've heard before making albums similar to their previous work. I have not heard anything this year that actually sounds new.
1. Radiohead - The King of Limbs
2. Roxy Music...everything...yeah I've been too busy listening to these guys to get to new stuff this year.
PJ Harvey's album is definitely nothing like anything she's put out before and I hear the new Dum Dum's is really different too. I've read good reviews from the BRITISH press on the new Kasabian. Is it any good? They've yet to make anything that actually charted on here other than two bubblers.
01. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
02. Radiohead - The King of Limbs
03. The Antlers - Burst Apart
04. Bon Iver - Bon Iver, Bon Iver
05. Low - C'mon
06. Nicolas Jaar - Space Is Only Noise
07. Plaid - Scintilli
08. Beirut - The Rip Tide
09. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
10. The War on Drugs - Slave Ambient
11. Wild Beasts - Smother
12. TV on the Radio - Nine Types of Light
13. Explosions in the Sky - Take Care, Take Care, Take Care
14. Iron & Wine - Kiss Each Other Clean
15. Wilco - The Whole Love
16. Raekwon - Shaolin vs. Wu-Tang
17. Washed Out - Within and Without
18. John T Pearson - Last of the Country Gentlemen
19. Kurt Vile - Smoke Ring for My Halo
20. Toro y Moi - Underneath the Pine
I think we should post our revised lists here whenever we want, so to have a sort of recommendation thread
Best album of the year. The first one is, by far, better than the others. It's like the MGMT's first album. All the songs are incredibles.
1. Pete and The Pirates - One Thousand Pictures
2. The Kills - Blood Pressure
3. Cults - Cults
4. Metronomy - The English Riviera
5. Danger Mouse and Daniele Luppi - Rome
6. Cascadeur - The Human Octopus
7. Black Lips - Arabia Mountain
8. Keren Ann - 101
9. The Go! Team - Rolling Blackouts
10. Hubert Felix Thiefaine - Suppléments de mensonge
11. Cage The Elephants - Thank You, Happy Birthday
12. Grails - Deep Politics
13. TV on the Radio – Nine Types of Light
14. White Denim - D
15. Kasabian - Velociraptor!
16. Kaiser Chiefs - The Future is Medieval
17. Panda Bear - TomBoy
I listened to a bunch of new stuff over the weekend and almost everything was average but I really liked The Leisure Society- Into the Murky Water.
A top 20
1. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness blues
2. The Decemberists - The King Is Dead
3. Gillian Welch - The Harrow and the Harvest
4. Wilco - The Whole Love [new entry]
5. Hayes Carll - Kmag Yoyo
6. Treefight for Sunlight
7. Charles Bradley - No Time for dreaming
8. Raphael Saadiq - Stone Rollin'
9. Seun Kuti - Rise
10. Cascadeur - The Human Octopus
11. Bill Callahan - Apocalypse
12. Iron & Wine - Kiss Each Other Clean
13. Tante Hortense & Revista do Samba - Hortênsia du Samba
14. James Blake
15. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
16. Dick Annegarn - Folk Talk
17. Blood Ceremony - Living With The Ancients
18. Low - C'mon
19. Drive-by Truckers - Go Go Boots
20. Ry Cooder - Pull Up Some Dust And Sit Down
Last 2 need more listening and will probably rise
Only one album I didn't really like : Destroyer (As revival music goes, gimme Charles Bradley instead of born again-Prefab Sprout )
1. Cults - Cults
2. The Stereo Bomb - Now Hear This
3. Milkman - Algorithms
4. Kurt Vile - Smoke Ring for My Halo
5. J. Cole - Cole World: The Sideline Story
6. Lupe Fiasco - Lasers
7. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
8. Vanessa Carlton - Rabbits on the Run
9. The Wombats - This Modern Glitch
10. Wilco - The Whole Love
11. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
12. Radiohead - The King of Limbs
13. Smith Westerns - Dye It Blonde
14. The White Panda - Pandamonium
15. TV on the Radio - Nine Types of Light
16. WU LYF - Go Tell Fire to the Mountain
17. Kanye West & Jay-Z - Watch the Throne
1) Colin Stetson - History of Modern Warfare Vol-2
2) Julianna Barwick - The Magic Place
3) Wild Beasts - Smother
4) Ambrose Akinmusire - when The Heart Emerges Glistening
5) Jenny Hval – Viscera
6) Bill Callahan - Apocalypse
7) Matana Roberts - Coin Coin Chapter One:Gens De Couleur Libres
8) Destroyer - Kaputt
9) Shabazz palaces - Black Up
10) Matthew Shipp - Art Of The Improviser
11) St. Vincent - Strange Mercy
12) Tim hecker - Ravedeath 1972
13) Forest Swords - Dagger Paths
14) PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
15) Orrin Evans - Captain Black Big Band
16) Colin Stetson - Those Who Didn't Run EP
17) Radiohead - The King of Limbs
18) Gretchen Parlato - The Lost & Found
19) Gillian Welch - The Harrow & The Harvest
20) Panda Bear - Tomboy
21) Burial - Halo EP
22) Chad VanGaalen - Diaper Island
23) Vijay Iyer - Tirtha
24) The Field - Looping State Of Mind
25) The Flaming Lips W/ Neon Indian EP
26) Joe Lovano Us Five - Bird Songs
27) Iceage - New Brigade
28) Handsome Furs - Sound Kapital
29) Kurt Elling - The Gate
30) Laura Marling - A Creature I Don't Know
31) Battles - Gloss Drop
32) Ry Cooder - Pull Up Some Dust & Sit Down
33) Erik Friedlander - Bonebridge
34) Tune-Yards - Whokill
35) Flying Lotus - Patterns + Grid World
Björk just crashed the party, snatched everyone's weave and skittered to the corner giggling to herself.
Unbelievable:
1. Björk - Biophilia
Pretty great:
2. St. Vincent - Strange Mercy
Very good:
3. The Strokes - Angles
4. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
Good:
5. Tennis - Cape Dory
Decent:
6. The Human League - Credo
7. Roxette - Charm School
8. Lady Gaga - Born This Way
9. Gotye - Making Mirrors
What a great year !
I just discover the incredible Bowiesque and MGMTesque album of Pourtugal.The Man and I take a big slap in my face. Just with the two first albums of my list, I'm happy and my musical year is successfull.
1. Portugal.The Man - In The Mountain In The Cloud
1. Pete and The Pirates - One Thousand Pictures
2. The Kills - Blood Pressure
3. Cults - Cults
4. Metronomy - The English Riviera
5. Danger Mouse and Daniele Luppi - Rome
6. Cascadeur - The Human Octopus
7. Black Lips - Arabia Mountain
8. Keren Ann - 101
9. The Go! Team - Rolling Blackouts
10. Hubert Felix Thiefaine - Suppléments de mensonge
11. Cage The Elephants - Thank You, Happy Birthday
12. Grails - Deep Politics
13. TV on the Radio – Nine Types of Light
14. White Denim - D
15. Kasabian - Velociraptor!
16. Kaiser Chiefs - The Future is Medieval
17. Panda Bear - TomBoy
Battle Royal:
Bon Iver - Bon Iver
Ada - Meine zarten Pfoten
Ja, Panik - DMD KIU LIDT
Matana Roberts - Coin Coin Chapter One: Gens de Coleur Libres
Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
Girls - Father, Son, Holy Ghost
Second-in-command:
Iron and Wine - Kiss each other clean
Blitz the Ambassador - Native Sun
Wilco - The whole Love
Joan as Police Woman - The Deep Field
TV on the Radio - Nine Types of Light
Lykke Li - Wounded Rhymes
Toro Y Moi - Underneath the Pine
tUnE-YaRdS - whokill
PJ Harvey - Let England shake
St. Vincent - Strange Mercy
M83 - Hurry Up, We're dreaming
Worth a look:
Africa Hitech - 93 Million Miles
DJ Quik - The Book of David
Eddie Roberts & the Fire Eaters - Burn!
Julia Stone - The Memory Machine
Shabazz Palaces - Black Up
Forsch' und Facette - Forsch' und Facette
Old love does not rust:
Beastie Boys - Hot Sauce Committee Part II
Guilty Pleasure:
Adele - 21
I talked about the Leisure Society earlier, but I have to post a song. These guys should be bigger than they are.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejPv-g2YDOU
Nice list schaefer.tk.
I need to listen to Hurry Up, It's Dreaming; M83 has been one of my best discoveries of the 2000s poll. Currently enjoying 2008's Saturdays=Youth this month.
Not the best year for albums but the Adele one is pretty amazing. Probably only my top 3 would make last years top 20.
adele
wye oak
okkervil river
foster the people
smith westerns
tennis
gillian welch
Fleet Foxes
My Morning Jacket
decemberists
m83
washed out
cults
Possible top 50 all time:
1. Gang Gang Dance - Eye Contact
Classic:
2. Ry Cooder - Pull Up Some Dust And Dit Down
3. St Vincent - Strange Mercy
4. Nicolas Jaar - Space Is Only Noise
5. Colin Stetson - New History Warfare Vol 2
6. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
Repeat listen for years and years worthy:
7. Radiohead - King of Limbs
8. White Denim - D
9. Amon Tobin - Isam
10. Dalriada - Igeret
Good:
11. Gazelle Twin - The Entire City
12. Cascadeur - The Human Octopus
13. TV On The Radio - Nine Types Of Light
14. Bibio - Mind Bokeh
15. Tyler, The Creator - Goblin
16. Anna Jarvinen - Anna sjalv tredje
17. Iceage - The New Brigade
18. Stupeflip - The Hypoflip Invasion
19. Laura Marling - A Creature I Don't Know
20. Josh T Pearson - Last Of The Country Gentlemen (Sorry Stephan)
21. J Mascis - Several Shades Of Why
22. Vieux Farka Toure - The Secret
23. Vanessa Carlton - Rabbits On The Run
24. Antonia Font - Lamparates
25. Ambrose Akinmusire - When The Heart Emerges Glistening
26. Nemo - Revolution
27. Harriet Tubman - Ascension
28. Those Darlins - Screws Get Loose
29. Snowman - Absence
30. Grouper - A I A
Possible top 20 but undigested:
Neon Indian - Era Extrana
M83 - Hurry Up, We're Dreaming
Anybody heard the new Tom Waits already? I think it's quite magnificent, although I really need to hear it more often. But the man's terribly good, still.
1 Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
2 PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
3 The Antlers - Burst Apart
4 The Decemberists - The King Is Dead
5 Wilco - The Whole Love
6 Lykke Li - Wounded Rhymes
7 Elbow - Build A Rocket Boys!
8 The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - Belong
9 Wild Beasts - Smother
10 Bon Iver - Bon Iver, Bon Iver
Have to admit, that besides Wilco, I didn't "spin" much new stuff lately.
Two weeks of holiday are coming up in november, the best time to sit back and enjoy listening to some new albums.
Thanks !!
These are the general results
There are 2 lists
1) the "october only list" (18 voters)that compiles the ballots in this thread
1. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
2. Bon Iver - Bon Iver, Bon Iver
3. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
4. Radiohead - King of Limbs
5. St. Vincent - Strange Mercy
6. The Antlers - Burst Apart
7. Cults - Cults
8. James Blake - James Blake
9. TV On The Radio - Nine Types Of Light
10. Wild Beasts - Smother
11. Girls -Father, Son, Holy Ghost
12. Wilco - The Whole Love
13. The Pains of Being Pure At Heart - Belong
14. Gillian Welch – The Harrow and the Harvest
15. Ry Cooder - Pull Up Some Dust And Sit Down
16. Iron and Wine - Kiss Each Other Clean 82
17. The Decemberists - The King Is Dead
18. Destroyer - Kaputt
19. Cut Copy - Zonoscope
20. Lykke Li - Wounded Rhyme
2)the second compiles all the lists, including those given in july (adding people who voted in july and not in october). So it's a little biased because 8/26 people have included albums released before july, but there's ahigher number of ballots (26). Only a top 10 this time
1. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
2. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
3. Bon Iver - Bon Iver, Bon Iver
4. Radiohead - King of Limbs
5. TV On The Radio - Nine Types Of Light
6. James Blake - James Blake
7. The Antlers - Burst Apart
8. Cults - Cults
9. St. Vincent - Strange Mercy
10. Lykke Li – Wounded Rhymes
The new Waits has a 90 on Metacritic.
If this is not AOTY, I will consider it a disappointment.