albums of 2011

hey gang. i also wanted to throw up my "favorite" albums of the year. the albums that stand the best chance of making my list are the ones that manage to maintain the most consistent mood from song to song. the most uniform "vibe" if you will. take a look at the list below. all are available on spotify or grooveshark, and all are worth a listen. anything you can believe i left off?

my morning jacket :: circuital
their most cohesive album to date.

fleet foxes :: helplessness blues
this was 3/4s of a perfect album. take out the lyricless "the cascades", the whiny "lorelai", the forgettable "someone you'd admire" and that last movement of the otherwise phenomenal "the shrine / an argument" and this would have been my favorite album of the year.

james blake :: james blake
a breath of fresh air.

smith westerns :: dye it blonde
a breath of fresh retro air.

bon iver :: bon iver, bon iver
a lot of people were displeased with this record. i'm not sure why. aside from "beth / rest" (and let's be honest, here, that song just doesn't work), there's not a weak track on the whole album.

beirut :: the rip tide
after the flimsy march of the zapotac / holland split, i was starting to worry about our boy. but not worried now. outside of "sante fe", every one of these songs was a keeper, and the live show behind this album was one of my all-time favorites.

st. vincent :: strange mercy
an incredible album full of deeply buried hooks. better after each listen.

washed out :: within and without
when chillwave broke, i was sure that toro y moi was going to have all the staying power and washed out was going to be all washed up (see what i did there?). but while toro y moi's underneath the pine underwhelmed me, this album really impressed me. and while it was most definitely still "chill", the songs were solidly crafted efforts, not just woozy samples buried under tape hiss.

caveman :: coco beware
favorite album by a newcomer. french kicks meets the walkmen.

clams casino :: instrumental mixtape
hyper-slo-mo-ambient-space-dub.

zola jesus :: conatus
favorite album by an artist new to me. super melodramatic.

destroyer :: kaputt
favorite album by an artist that doesn't usually do it for me. also, best album that could pass for adult contempo of the year.

julianna barwick :: the magic place
haunting and calming and ethereal earthy and heavenly and earthly all at the same time . still don't quite know what to make of this artist, but there's no denying this album.



honorable mentions
kurt vile :: smoke ring for my halo
real estate :: days
the rapture :: in the grace of your love
grouper :: a / a
the antlers :: burst apart