As one year ends and another begins, it’s a time for new resolutions, new beginnings and of course, “best of” lists. Creating a single list that encompasses an entire year of music is a difficult task, but also something that’s extremely fun and something I do every year. It’s fun to reflect on the many incredible albums that were released during the year and to flip through all my records to make sure I didn’t miss any (although I probably still did).
2011 was another amazing year in music. We saw releases from musicians that we haven’t heard anything from in a few years like Feist, PJ Harvey and M83. We saw debut albums from some extremely talented new bands like Austra, The Head and the Heart, Cults and Washed Out. And there were of course some excellent new releases from some of our favorite bands like Noah and the Whale, Cut Copy, St. Vincent and Mates of State.
So after a lot of thinking and a lot of rearranging here you have it, our top 30 favorite albums from 2011. Leave us a comment and tell us what some of your favorite albums were. Oh, and happy New Year!
1. Austra Feel It Break
2. The Head and the Heart The Head and the Heart
3. Cold Cave Cherish the Light Years
4. PJ Harvey Let England Shake
5. Feist Metals
6. M83 Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming
7. The Submarines Love Notes, Letter Bombs
8. Noah and the Whale Last Night on Earth
9. Washed Out Within and Without
10. Cults Cults
11. Mates of State Mountaintops
12. Fleet Foxes Helplessness Blues
13. The War on Drugs Slave Ambient
14. Asobi Seksu Florescence
15. Florence + The Machine Ceremonials
16. Wavves Life Sux EP
17. Zola Jesus Conatus
18. Cut Copy Zonoscope
19. St. Vincent Strange Mercy
20. Dum Dum Girls He Gets Me High EP
21. Yuck Yuck
22. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart Belong
23. Blitzen Trapper American Goldwing
24. Male Bonding Endless Now
25. Girls Father, Son, Holy Ghost
26. Nurses Dracula
27. Dum Dum Girls Only In Dreams
28. Surfer Blood Tarot Classics EP
29. Panda Bear Tomboy
30. Pterodactyl Spills Out
Honorable Mentions: Bon Iver Bon Iver, John Maus We Must Become the Pitiless Censors of Ourselves, Blind Pilot We Are the Tide, Desert Noises Mountainsea, Neon Indian Era Extrana, Active Child You Are All I See
Posted by: Spencer
