2011 is over. Forget about it. Okay, forget about it after you’ve read this list and shown some appreciation for some of the exceptional musical offerings that were served up over the course of the last 12 months. We ummed and ahhed over our list for days, trying to decide who was worthy of a place. And this list of 40 was our collective choice of what we believe were the definitive albums of 2011. We think they’re tops. That’s why we’ve called it our Top 40. Enjoy.
40. Mikal Cronin – ‘Mikal Cronin’
It is hard, in fact, to fault a album so likeable, so full of energy and so effortlessly able to drop moments of melancholy into the shadows that are cast by the record’s love for the Californian sun (and a passing love for jamming in the garage).
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39. Active Child – ‘You Are All I See’
This is an expansive record that takes its own sweet time to unwind, to deliver heartbreak or to bask in the open view – and Bowlegs plans on getting lost within for a while yet.
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38. Smith Westerns – ‘Dye it Blonde’
The 70s are made cool again by Smith Westerns’ sophomore record ‘Dye It Blonde’. They stir up the ghosts of ELO, T Rex and Big Star, and pour in a healthy dose of dreams and melancholy. The Chicago band may openly share guitars, effects and pianos with heroes gone-by, yet their hazy, indie aesthetic takes them on a more wistful journey.
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37. Lykke Li – ‘Wounded Rhymes’
There are stripped emotions, tribal rhythms and mixed themes caged within Lykke Li’s second album. The Swedish singer has grown considerably – if her likeable debut alluded to love and other such things, then Wounded Rhymes is told through experience, the allusions have all but died in a bloody, broken heart car crash.
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36. CANT – ‘Dreams Come True’
If you like progressive pop that isn’t afraid to whisper a few dirty secrets in your ear, Cant’s debut is definitely one of the year’s slow burning treats.
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35. Battles – ‘Gloss Drop’
It’s an impressive returning statement, expanding Battles’ sound in all directions at once, and sets the tone for the album’s dazzling technicolour journey.
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34. Speculator – ‘Nice’
Nice, according to the artist, remains completely un-edited, and retains a scratchy quality, as intended. Made in the spirit of the mixtape, random noises and neglected segments of other unheard songs infiltrate the tracks, revealing themselves unexpectedly.
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33. Stephen Makmus & The Jicks – ‘Mirror Traffic’
Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks have rarely disappointed, but on ‘Mirror Traffic’ they may well have surpassed all that has gone before, throwing out a collection of intricacies, perfected carelessness and glimpses of deeper thought. What more could we ask for?
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32. Fujiya & Miyagi – ‘Ventriloquizzing’
Unbuttoning their cuffs and rolling up their sleeves, Fujiya & Miyagi’s newly developed sound is a real force to be reckoned with.
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31. Dum Dum Girls – ‘Only in Dreams’
Where the Dum Dum Girls were once students, they’ve outgrown their masters, to become the current definitive benchmark for this brand of velvet rock. This is as good as this sort of thing gets. There’s no-one better at it right now; at least until the next record from the Dum Dums arrives.
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30. The Twerps – ‘Twerps’
Jumping past the band’s clear love for Flying Nun records (check The Clean for instance), the group have a knack for scuffing-up their jangled guitars with a downbeat attitude and unassuming delivery. Twerps have made a guitar album that has soul, in that you believe every word.
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29. Times New Viking – ‘Dancer Equired’
The garage sound is still there (now with added surf rock); the minimalist lyrics the band has become synonymous with are still there; the shouty dual vocals of Beth Murphy and Adam Elliot are still there. But everything’s more focussed. The melodies are sharper, the beats are snappier and the riffs throb through you. The band is now making music which contains two elements many others strive to achieve, but often fail to obtain: accessibility and credibility.
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28. M83 – ‘Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming’
Double albums, more often than not, are a self-indulgent waste of space – yet Gonzalez found inspiration on those that have worked (The Smashing Pumpkins’ Mellon Collie and Infinite Sadness and The Beatles’ White Album). And from such inspiration he has made one of the best double albums we’ve heard for a very long time, and his finest record to date.
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27. Chad Vangaalen – ‘Diaper Island’
And as ‘Replace Me’ clashes Sonic Youth distorted guitar play with a sense of urgency and rolling rhythm, it feels as though the musician has successfully resurrected the best of Nineties Alt-rock, while also stirring in his own production values, to make something he can call his own. Thankfully we get a piece of it too, and it’s called Diaper Island.
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26. St Vincent – ‘Strange Mercy’
A tantalising snapshot into the psyche of an artist growing ever braver, getting stronger, getting better, and ever closer to a likely place as a future behemoth in the industry; Annie Clark is currently sharpening her tools in preparation for the gentlest form of world domination.
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25. Kate Bush – ’50 Words for Snow’
50 Words might well be Kate’s first album since 1985’s Hounds of Love to stake a claim as the artist’s most perfectly weighted collection. This utterly enchanting winter wonderland of music will quickly become another hugely beloved record among fans.
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24. Neon Indian – ‘Era Extraña’
Neon Indian has only improved on what made for such a unique prospect initially, and by surrounded himself with machinery he clearly loves (he even made his own analogue-synth lately) this is arguably one of the albums of the year. Old school keyboards never sounded so modern.
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23. Björk – ‘Biophilia’
Of course it is Björk’s voice that remains the most unique instrument on offer here – her wails and whines thrown across a series of experimental passages – occasionally dropping subtle melody within the process. It has once more built a record of inimitable music that could only come from the Icelandic artist.
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22. Atlas Sound – ‘Parallax’
There is something in the musician’s writing, in his subtle melodies and the laid-back conveyance that you just can’t quite grasp or pin-point – it results in inimitable records that we just can’t get enough of.
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21.Love Inks – ‘E.S.P.’
This isn’t music that’s trying to be challenging by being minimal, instead each separate element is compartmentalised and balanced and does only as much as it has to do to make its contribution. As a piece of work E.S.P. shows how taking a strong, simple idea and sticking with it can result in sheer beauty.
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20.Sic Alps – ‘Napa Asylum’
Whether this is the album that defines a genre is yet to be seen. All we know is that it’s further fuelling our love for distortion drenched melodies of a San Franciscan persuasion.
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19. EMA – ‘Past Life Martyred Saints’
Past Life Martyred Saints delivers on its promise from an artist whose creative restlessness is only set to provide listeners with more moments of magic as displayed on this album. A fine debut.
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18. War on Drugs – ‘Slave Ambient’
Slave Ambient is as grandiose as it is teeming with minutely accomplished detailing. Surely a future favourite for anyone savvy enough to buy what is, and, for Bowlegs, an essential purchase. Turn Slave Ambient up loud and bathe in the glory of the great American rock pastoral as it should be presented in the modern era.
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17. Unknown Mortal Orchestra – ‘Unknown Mortal Orchestra’
The lopsided mixing (drums hard right, natch) and ragged raw edge is how all pop music should sound. Like a car that moves so fast, it leaves the paintwork standing. The sound is all skinned knees and elbows, yet reminds us of the joy of listening to Curtis Mayfield. And respect to the squelchy fuzz bass, it’s as though James Jamerson has been reborn.
No more talk. We need to throw some shapes.
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16. Girls – ‘Father, Son, Holy Ghost’
The record sways in the arms of heart-aching ballads and inventive guitar work. So even if we think we recognise the odd melody or occasional rhythm scattered throughout the set, the duo still manage to put their own spin on the songs. It’s another side to the band, and one that you will want to hear time and time again.
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15. Youth Lagoon – ‘The Year of Hibernation’
Youth Lagoon’s debut is a personal thought process given a soundtrack of submerged electronics and hazy vibes – and between them they have created something quite special.
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14. James Blake – ‘James Blake’
Electronic, experimental soul might be a good place to start when trying to describe the sounds of James Blake and his masterful debut. The songs he writes are stripped down; he uses the silence and gaping holes to his advantage, they are the cold, harsh realities, they are the loneliness. They are as vital as the minimal keys, the vocoded vocals, the clear vocals, the soulful vocals, the random analogs and dubbed vibes.
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13. Jonti – ‘Twirligig’
The overall effect is that Twirligig sounds like a Blue Peter replica of a Bonobo/Avalanches collaboration. We don’t mean that in a negative way – it’s amazing.
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12. The Luyas – ‘Too Beautiful to Work’
This is Pop music twisted and bent out of shape, yet their silhouettes offer glimmers of straight-up, melodic beauty – together they create the band’s graphic and vibrant noise. They harness a fine collection of instruments too, colouring their vision, ranging from saxophones, clarinets, violins and cellos to bassoons, flutes and something called a Moodswinger (which is a zither if that makes it any clearer).
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11. White Denim – ‘D’
D is a record so dense it really shouldn’t work beyond an almost academic example of a band trying to squeeze everything they love about guitars, bass and drums into one 10 track long-player. The fact that it does work, and so brilliantly, means this is an album you’ll want to revisit again and again, just to convince yourself you did hear what you thought you heard.
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10. Bon Iver – ‘Bon Iver’
Okay, so maybe we were harsh for wanting Vernon to suffer for our benefit. On the strength of this album it’s obvious he’s not just a one-trick-pony who needs to be punched in the life in order to get the creative tears flowing. ‘Bon Iver’ represents a mature evolution in sound and makes us keen to see the next step.
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9. Eleanor Friedberger – ‘Last Summer’
It’s not so much the melodies, rather the effortless cool that puts Last Summer up there with the best of Eleanor Friedberger’s work with the Furnaces – and Bowlegs hopes she can find time for another spontaneous road trip.
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8. Real Estate – ‘Days’
Days is a hugely enjoyable record from Real Estate that confirms the band’s patient progression from their accomplished eponymous debut – and cements them as frontrunners in the over-crowded surf-pop genre. In fact, Bowlegs has a feeling it might still be listening to Days when next summer rolls around…
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7. Zomby – ‘Dedication’
Through repetition, low-key antics and life-lessons Zomby has created a dance record that will affect as much as it will enthral – words are not needed when the music can speak for itself.
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6. Secret Cities – ‘Strange Hearts’
Secret Cities have succeeded in furthering Pink Graffiti, which is some task, pushing further out, and further inward than ever before.
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5. Akron/Family – ‘Akron/Family II: the Cosmic Birth and Journey of Shinju TNT’
Akron/Family’s latest album also happens to be their finest yet. And while the title may not make much sense, certain words do. For one it’s cosmic and two it is a journey – of sorts. Such attributes are what divide the three-piece from the crowd of tripping psychedelic rockers, meaning any influences you can hear have enough Akron/Family left-of-centre adventurisms mixed in to make it their own.
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4. Thao & Mirah – ‘Thao & Mirah’
The blend of the two voices and styles is stunning, Mirah’s sweet warmth contrasts with Thao’s lazy, earthier tones to create something with range and depth. This is a record with a soul – listening to each little story on the album, it is clear that these artists write from their hearts.
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3. tUnE-yArDs – ‘w h o k i l l’
Merill Garbus has only gone and taken all the originality, invention and energy from BiRd BrAInS, her 2009 debut, cleaned it up, multiplied it by several hundred and released it as one of the albums of 2011. What can Bowlegs say about a record that jumps with Afro-rhythmic passion, flips back and forth with screeching and pounding originality and boasts a ukulele which is as versatile as the girl that strums it?
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2. My Brightest Diamond – ‘All Things Will Unwind’
It’s this tension that will make this album flex sinuously around your heart – cold vocal delivery over a multi-textured fantasia of sound. yMusic, who provide the stunning orchestrations that underpin nearly all of these songs, invoke magical soundscapes, woodwind heavy fluttering of wings, rich and sonorous strings, exotic gamelans. Somewhere between Harry Partch and the music of Joanna Newsom, they paint a picture in sound that comes around once in a blue moon.
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1. PJ Harvey – ‘Let England Shake’
As the soft beat and yearning voice gently sway in the excellent In The Dark Places, or the guitars roll on a tide of saddened realities in The Glorious Land, it seems Harvey is easing on the harder edges of her music – for now at least – to convey her message. However you look at it, there is little doubt she has made one of the albums of her career. Simultaneously stunning and tragic.
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