The best albums of 2011

[Pemulis]

Some good stuff on the Pitchfork list but I just do not care for that Bon Iver album at all. Total regression from his previous work in my opinion. I hope he doesn't continue with this sound.

[xmd 5a]

Grouper's A I A warrants only an honorable mention? Haha Pitchfork, you so crazy.

I really wish I could get into the latest M83. Love the band, but didn't find anything overly amazing about the new album.

[think i'm a fire engine]

I have no fallen in love with any albums this year, despite a couple attempts to. That's just how it is.

[Jinsai]

I have no fallen in love with any albums this year, despite a couple attempts to. That's just how it is.

maybe you should make more than a couple attempts? A lot of really incredibly albums came out this year.

I really wish I could get into the latest M83. Love the band, but didn't find anything overly amazing about the new album.

Yeah, there's a couple tracks on it that I liked, but on a whole it just sounds like 80s nostalgia pandering. Not my thing. In fact, I'm getting seriously burned out on that sort of thing.

[ManBurning]

2011 was a great year for all my faviourte artists, asside from the lack NIN... Next year is going to be hard to top.

SONOIO - Red
Puscifer - Conditions Of My Parole
Skinny Puppy - HandDover
ohGr - Undeveloped
KMFDM - WTF!?
Foo Fighters - Wasting Light
Daft Punk - Tron Legacy (Reconfigured)
Project Pitchfork - Quantum Mechanics
Rammstein - Mein land (single)

As for 2012, i'm looking forward too:
Anything Maybe from The Smashing Pumpkins
SONOIO
and to a slight degree I'm interested in hearing the new Marilyn Manson album (so shoot me).
TOOL (but I doubt they'll have it done next year)
Nine Inch Nails - The Fragile (Ultimate Edition) - hopefully!

Can't think of anything else coming out next year, hence why 2011 is gonna be a hard one to beat!

[Pemulis]

Yeah, there's a couple tracks on it that I liked, but on a whole it just sounds like 80s nostalgia pandering. Not my thing. In fact, I'm getting seriously burned out on that sort of thing.

Very much agree with both of you guys. I gave it a few listens and just found the 80s vibe tiring by the end.

[emptydesk]

Elite Gymnastics - RUIN 1/RUIN 2
Ford & Lopatin - CHANNEL PRESSURE
The Beach Boys - SMILE SESSIONS
Oneohtrix Point Never - REPLICA
John Maus - WE MUST BECOME PITILESS CENSORS OF OURSELVES
Grouper - AIA: DREAM LOSS / OBSERVER
Cut Hands - AFRO NOISE I
Kurt Vile - SMOKE RING FOR MY HALO
Thee Oh Sees - CASTLEMANIA
Burial - STREET HALO 12"
Apache Dropout - APACHE DROPOUT
Atlas Sound - PARALLAX
Cliff Martinez - DRIVE OST
Van Dyke Parks - ARRANGEMENTS, VOL. 1
The War On Drugs - SLAVE AMBIENT
James Ferraro - FAR SIDE VIRTUAL / CONDO PETS
Tim Hecker - RAVEDEATH 1972 / DROPPED PIANOS
Tyco - DIVE
Sleep∞Over - FOREVER
Mark McGuire - GET LOST
Aphex Twin/Autechre - QUEX-RD / SKIN UP, YOU'RE ALREADY DEAD split 12"
Toro Y Moi - UNDERNEATH THE PINE / FREAKING OUT EP
Tennis - CAPE DORY
Ducktails - DUCKTAILS III: ARCADE DYNAMICS
Tonetta - 777, VOL. 2


im tired of typing these so thats all i liked other than the constant new sublime freqs and numero comps

[Jinsai]

adding to my list...

Plaid - Scintilli
Snowman - ABSENCE
Pharoahe Monch - WAR
Wild Beasts - Smother
Peaking Lights - 936
Talib Kweli - Gutter Rainbows

[Tums206_BFY]

Here are my favorites of 2011:

Radiohead- The King of Limbs
PJ Harvey- Let England Shake
Lykke Li- Unwounded Rhymes
Cut Copy- Zonoscope (Congrats for the Grammy Nomination)
Kasabian- Velociraptor! (Not better than West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum imo)
Little Dragon- Ritual Union
††† (Crosses)- Self Titled EP

Lights- Siberia
Raekwon- Shaolin Vs Wu-Tang

My favorite Album of 2011 is:




Dillon- This Silence Kills

Dominique Dillon de Byington aka Dillon is a Brasilian born Berlin based artist on Bpitch Control. I by no means know every artist on the Bpitch Control roster but her album is totally a complete 180 from everything I have heard coming out of the label though there are some hints in several songs that would make such great Bpitch Control artist as Modeselektor and Appart (Moderat) proud. Besides that there is little overtly "electronic" production on the album its just really mellow pop/ Chamber-pop/Muted Electronica. From the very few reviews I have found of this album I have seen they have made comparisons Regina Spektor, Joanna Newsom, Lykke Li, Bjork and I would even maybe throw out there Emiliana Torrini. Though I wouldn't particularly say she sounds like any one of them but I can see how her voice might remind people of certain singers.

There are a few albums released this year especially in the last couple months that I haven't gotten around to yet but this is what I have liked/loved so far. Looking Forward to what 2012 has to offer in music!

[Pemulis]

Snowman - ABSENCE

Been listening to this a lot lately. Good choice.

[Scope]

Overall I think this year has been quite crap for music, but my favourites are:

Fucked Up - David Comes To Life
Mastodon - The Hunter
Bon Iver - Bon Iver
WU LYF - Go Tell Fire To The Mountain

A lot of the Pink Floyd albums have been remastered this year, which is pretty cool. Radioheads album was a disappointment.

[simonn]

Actually quite like the new Whitesnake album Forevermore - first decent thing they've done since the much derided Slip of the Tongue.

[perceptionnexus]

i took a listen to that new Caretaker album based on pitchfork's review on the best of 2011 list. fucking brilliant! It's like listening directly to the soul of the Overlook Hotel. Checking
out Leland Kirby's other stuff now.

[BipolarMike]

A couple selections of songs from my two favorite albums of 2011:

Siriusmo - Mosaik,



Amon Tobin - ISAM

[dvp]

American Goldwing by Blitzen Trapper --------Life Fantastic by Man Man



Starting From Nowhere by Heidecker & Wood--- Gloss Drop by Battles

[Fredy_Brown]

*Shels - Plains Of The Purple Buffalo

65daysofstatic - Silent Running OST

3epkano - Hans The Reluctant Wolf Juggler

Aderlating - Spear of Gold and Seraphim Bone Pt.1

Aes Dana – Perimeters

Aidan Baker – Plague of Fantasies

Aidan Baker - Still Life

Alexander Turnquist - Hallway of Mirrors

Alva Noto and Ryuichi Sakamoto - Summvs

Anthony Paul Kerby and Tomas Weiss – Distant Shadows

Blueneck – Repetitionsa

BNJMN - Black Square

Blut Aus Nord - 777 The Desanctification

Boris - Attention Please

Britney Spears - Femme Fatale

Bvdub - I Remember (Translations Of Mřrketid)

Bvdub – Resistance Is Beautiful

Bvdub - Then

Bvdub - Tribes At The Temple Of Silence

Celer – Endes

Celer - Foolish Causes of Fail and Ruin

Celer – Menggayakan

Chubby Wolf – Los Que No Son Gentos

Cunninlynguists - Oneirology

Cut Hands – Afro Noise I

Cyclo. - id

Dakota Suite & Emanuele Errante - The North Green Down

Daniel Menche - Feral

Daniel Thomas Freeman - The Beauty Of Doubting Yourself

Deaf Center - Owl Splinters

Demdike Stare - Triptych

Dominik Eulberg - Diorama

Drake - Take Care

Dustin O'Halloran - Lumiere

Ellen Fullman – Through Glass Panes

Enduser - Even Weight

Ensemble Economique - Crossing The Pass, By Torchlight

Esoteric - Paragon of Dissonance

Evangelista – In Animal Tongue

Fabio Orsi - Stand Before Me, Oh My Soul

FareWell Poetry - Hoping for the Impossible to Ignite

Fennesz & Sakamoto – Flumina

Flint Glass & Polarlicht 4.1 - Zoran's Equation

Frank Bretschneider – Komet

Freestyle Fellowship – The Promise

Gang Gang Dance - Eye Contact

Gnaw Their Tongues - Per Flagellum Sanguemque, Tenebras Veneramus

Hammock – Longest Year

Hauschka & Hildur Guonadóttir - Pan Tone

Haxan Cloak, The - The Haxan Cloak

Iconaclass - For The Ones

Jay-Z & Kanye West - Watch the Throne

Federico Durand - El Extasis de Las Flores Pequenas

Guillaume Gargaud - Lost Chords

Higuma - Pacific Fog Dreams

Jasper TX - The Black Sun Transmissions

Jóhann Jóhannsson - The Miners' Hymns

Kendrick Lamar - Section.80

Laura - Twelve Hundred Times

Maps & Diagrams – Lights Will Call On You

Mark McGuire – Get Lost

Merzbow - Kamadhenu

Moomin – The Story About You

Neek The Exotic & Large Professor – Still On The Hustle

Nicolas Jaar - Space Is Only Noise

Nicholas Szczepanik - Please Stop Loving Me

Nils Frahm - Felt

The Mount Fuji Doomjazz Corporation - Anthropomorphic

Origin - Entity

Paul Kalkbrenner - Icke Wieder

Pete Swanson – I Don’t Rock At All

Pete Swanson – Man With Potential

Peter Broderick And Machinefabriek With: Kleefstra*, Bakker*, Kleefstra* With Nils Frahm – Mort Aux Vaches

Polinski - Labyrinths

Puscifer - Conditions Of My Parole

Richard Knox & Frédéric D. Oberland - The Rustle of the Stars

Rhian Sheehan - Seven Tales of The North Wind

Robag Wruhme - Thora Vukk

Roots, The - Undun

Semiomime - From Memory

Simon Scott – Bunny

Saul Williams - Volcanic Sunlight

sleepmakeswaves - ...and so we destroyed everything

Stendeck - Scintilla

Steve Roach & Brian Parnham - The Desert Inbetween

Svarte Greiner - Twin

Sunn O))) Meets Nurse With Wound - The Iron Soul Of Nothing

Surgeon - Breaking The Frame

Svarte Greiner - Twin

Talib Kweli - Gutter Rainbows

Taylor Deupree + Marcus Fischer – In A Place Of Such Graceful Shapes

Tim Hecker - Dropped Pianos

Tim Hecker - Ravedeath, 1972

Tin Man – Vienna Blue

Ulcerate - The Destroyers Of All

Wolves In The Throne Room – Celestial Lineage

A Winged Victory for the Sullen - A Winged Victory for the Sullen

Xela - Exorcism

Years Of Rice And Salt - Nothing Of Cities

Yu Miyashita - Noble Niche

[witte]

PJ Harvey + Feist

[Jon]

Merzbow - Kamadhenu

Sunn O))) Meets Nurse With Wound - The Iron Soul Of Nothing

My favorite Merzbow from this year was probably "Dead Zone", "Kamadhenu" was pretty solid though.

And I'm sure you know this but that sunn o))) / nww collab is just a vinyl reissue

[Pemulis]

just discovered this, but it's pretty great

Other Lives - Tamer Animals

Just discovered these guys myself while watching KEXP live vids on Youtube then came here to see if anyone had mentioned them. Yet again you have impeccable taste.

[Lutz]

Kylie - Aphrodite
Britney - Femme Fatale
Gaga - Born This Way

The perfect year in music.

[coolguy]

My favorite of the year is easily Esoteric's Paragon of Dissonance. Pretty well done mix of Doom Metal with Post Rock elements.
Here's the first track:

[poinoup]

Finally checked out Yuck's self-titled and I'm liking what I hear.

[Pemulis]

Alright, now that the year is over here are my Top 25:

Other Lives - Tamer Animals
The Antlers - Burst Apart
Giles Corey - Giles Corey
Wye Oak - Civilian
St. Vincent - Strange Mercy
Radiohead - The King of Limbs
Tim Hecker - Ravedeath, 1972
Atlas Sound - Parallax
The Dear Hunter - Color Spectrum
Russian Circles - Empros
The Horrors - Skying
Youth Lagoon - The Year of Hibernation
Snowman - Absence
Bright Eyes - The People's Key
Oneohtrix Point Never - Replica
Real Estate - Days
Girls - Father, Son, Holy Ghost
Nicholas Jaar - Space Is Only Noise
Destroyer - Kaputt
The Soft Moon - Total Decay
65daysofstatic - Silent Running
Okkervil River - I Am Very Far
Grouper - AIA/Alien Observer
Implodes - Black Earth
Cults - Cults

[littlemonkey613]

Other Lives - Tamer Animals

This album practically makes me weep. So amazing. Can't wait to see them.

[sa_nick]

My top albums of last year, along with a link to one of my top tracks on the album. The list includes a couple of aussie bands and The Killgirls, a local band who put on one hell of a live show.

Art Vs. Science - The Experiment
Foster The People - Torches
M83 - Hurry Up, We're Dreaming
Puscifer - Conditions of My Parole
Architecture In Helsinki - Moment Bends
Killgirls - Animal
Grouplove - Never Trust A Happy Song
Sparkadia - The Great Impression
Jane's Addiction - The Great Escape Artist
The Strokes - Angles
Youth Lagoon - The Year Of Hibernation














Wooooaahhh... Why the fuck are all those videos showing up instead of just being hyperlinks? I can't figure out how to stop that.

[littlemonkey613]

Haha I actually prefer just being able to play them on the spot. Especially when its great music.

[OSLIN]

The Earn by yU

[cashpiles (closed)]

Foo Fighters - Wasting Light
Foster The People - Torches
DJ Quik - The Book of David
Lou Reed & Metallica - Lulu (I'm serious. This album is so awesome. Modern day classic.)
The Roots - Undun

[onthewall2983]

Just posted an updated list (with reviews) here.

[chris]

These best of year threads have always been one of the great things about ETS. Most of these recommendations came from it, so thank you to everyone for posting. These were my favorite songs from 2011. (Youtube links)

13 & God – Own Your Ghost –
Alison Krauss – Paper Airplane –
Austra – Feel it Break –
Beirut – The Rip Tide –
Bon Iver – Self Titled –
Cold Cave – Cherish The Light Years –
Coldplay – Mylo Xyloto –
Com Truise – Galactic Melt –
Danger Mouse – Rome –
Drive Soundtrack –
Elbow – Build a Rocket Boys! –
EMA – Past Life Martyred Saints –
Florence – Ceremonials –
Foster the People –
Handsome Furs – Sound Kapital –
Iron & Wine – Kiss Each Other Clean –
Jesu – Ascension –
Ladytron – Gravity the Seducer –
Low – C’mon –
Lykke Li – Wounded Rhymes –
Manchester Orchestra – Simple Math –
Mastodon – The Hunter –
Mexicans with Guns – Ceremony –
Mogwai – Harcore Will Never Die, But You Will –
My Brightest Diamond – All Things Will Unwind –
Okkervil River – I Am Very Far –
Smashing Pumpkins – Siamese Dream Deluxe –
Stephen Malkmus – Mirror Traffic -
Thievery Corporation - Culture of Fear -
Tune Yards – W H O K I L L –
VNV Nation – Automatic –
Weeknd – House of Balloons –
Wiz Khalifa – Rolling Papers –
VAST – Live in NYC –
Washed Out – Within Without –
White Stripes – Live in Mississippi –

Other albums that were good: AA bondy, Antlers, Atmosphere, Big Black Delta, Bright Eyes, Gang Gang Dance, Grails, Janes Addiction, Kasabian, M83, Puscifer, Radiohead, Sonoio, St. Vincent, War on Drugs