2011 was the year music learned to float. Actually, that's not true at all; music has been reaching for feelings of tidal drift since the first Gregorian monks figured out how to chant, or maybe since the first caveman licked a frog and figured out that his grunts got extra-spacey. But surveying our 2011 top 50, ethereal haze is something that's reached across genre lines to touch all corners of the musical globe.
In indie rock, Bon Iver's slippery blend of smooth-rock sounds and abstract-jazz ideas shared a certain starry-eyed afghan-rug appeal with Gang Gang Dance's worldly stoner pulses, Kate Bush's daffy piano odysseys, M83's synth fantasias, and Oneohtrix Point Never's Casio-addled nostalgia-play. In rap, the so-called "cloud rap" aesthetic wafted through Clams Casino's astral instrumental thump, ASAP Rocky's stylized Southern-rap love letters, and Kendrick Lamar's wordy self-examinations, even manifesting in big blockbuster opuses like Drake's emo masterstroke and Kanye West and Jay-Z's superstar summit. In electronic music, Pictureplane, Nicolas Jaar, and James Blake zoned the fuck out in some extremely different ways. Even R&B saw the rise of pill-popping auteurs like the Weeknd and Frank Ocean.
Elsewhere in the top 50, there's a certain blood-and-fire darkness that encompasses Fucked Up's roaring punk opera, EMA's feral intensity, PJ Harvey's battlefield expressionism, Iceage's elusive jittercore, and Cold Cave's wounded-animal dance parties. And we didn't plan things out this way, but Austra and Zola Jesus ended up back-to-back at #14 and #15, presumably the most howlingly goth one-two punch in top-50 history.
But our #1 album of the year, though it has moments of both drift and wail, exists outside those trends. It's a thing entirely unto itself: A great work of classical po songwriting, of perfectly calibrated recording, and of transcendent lyrical neediness. And it could've just as easily dropped in 1981, 1991, or 2001.
Here is the Stereogum editorial staff's favorite LPs and EPs of 2011:
STEREOGUM'S TOP 50 ALBUMS OF 2011
50 Youth Lagoon - The Year Of Hibernation (Fat Possum)
49 Toro Y Moi - Underneath The Pine (Carpark)
48 Oddisee - Rock Creek Park (Mello Music Group)
47 Wilco - The Whole Love(dBpm)
46 tUnE-yArDs - w h o k i l l (4AD)
45 Adele - 21 (XL)
44 James Blake - James Blake (A&M/ATLAS)
43 Twin Sister - In Heaven (Domino)
42 Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Unknown Mortal Orchestra (Fat Possum)
41 Das Racist - Relax (Greedhead)
40 Kendrick Lamar - Section.80 (Top Dawg)
39 Nicolas Jaar - Space Is Only Noise (Circus Company)
38 The Antlers - Burst Apart (Frenchkiss)
37 Smith Westerns - Dye It Blonde (Fat Possum)
36 Cut Copy - Zonoscope (Modular)
35 Atlas Sound - Parallax (4AD)
34 Kurt Vile - Smoke Ring For My Halo (Matador)
33 SBTRKT - SBTRKT (Young Turks)
32 St. Vincent - Strange Mercy (4AD)
31 Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues (Sub Pop)
30 Radiohead - The King Of Limbs (XL/TBD)
29 Washed Out - Within And Without (Sub Pop)
28 Pictureplane - Thee Physical (Lovepump United)
27 Destroyer - Kaputt (Merge)
26 The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - Belong (Slumberland)
25 Cold Cave - Cherish The Light Years (Matador)
24 Frank Ocean - Nostalgia, Ultra (self-released)
23 Wild Flag - Wild Flag (Merge)
22 Ryan Adams - Ashes & Fire (Capitol / Pax-Am)
21 Clams Casino - Instrumental Mixtape (self-released)
20 Real Estate - Days (Domino)
19 Iceage - New Brigade (Dais)
18 Beyoncé - 4 (Columbia)
17 Oneohtrix Point Never - Replica (Mexican Summer/Software)
16 Neon Indian - Era Extraña (Mom & Pop/Static Tongues)
15 Zola Jesus - Conatus (Sacred Bones)
14 Austra - Feel It Break (Domino/Paper Bag)
13 Yuck - Yuck (Fat Possum)
12 M83 - Hurry Up, We're Dreaming (Mute)
11 Kate Bush - 50 Words For Snow (Anti-/Fish People)
10 Jay-Z And Kanye West - Watch The Throne (Def Jam/Roc-A-Fella/Roc Nation)
09 ASAP Rocky - LIVELOVEA$AP (self-released)
08 PJ Harvey - Let England Shake (Island)
07 EMA - Past Life Martyred Saints (Souterrain Transmissions)
06 Gang Gang Dance - Eye Contact (4AD)
05 The Weeknd - House Of Balloons (self-released)
04 Fucked Up - David Comes To Life (Matador)
03 Bon Iver - Bon Iver, Bon Iver (Jagjaguwar)
02 Drake - Take Care (Young Money)
01 Girls - Father, Son, Holy Ghost (Matador/True Panther Sounds)
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Here's that list in more copy/paste friendly format so you can post on your LiveJournal:
50 Youth Lagoon - The Year Of Hibernation
49 Toro Y Moi - Underneath The Pine
48 Oddisee - Rock Creek Park
47 Wilco - The Whole Love
46 tUnE-yArDs - w h o k i l l
45 Adele - 21
44 James Blake - James Blake
43 Twin Sister - In Heaven
42 Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Unknown Mortal Orchestra
41 Das Racist - Relax
40 Kendrick Lamar - Section.80
39 Nicolas Jaar - Space Is Only Noise
38 Burst Apart - Burst Apart
37 Smith Westerns - Dye It Blonde
36 Cut Copy - Zonoscope
35 Atlas Sound - Parallax
34 Kurt Vile - Smoke Ring For My Halo
33 SBTRKT - SBTRKT
32 St. Vincent - Strange Mercy
31 Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
30 Radiohead - The King Of Limbs
29 Washed Out - Within And Without
28 Pictureplane - Thee Physical
27 Destroyer - Kaputt
26 The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - Belong
25 Cold Cave - Cherish The Light Years
24 Frank Ocean - Nostalgia, Ultra
23 Wild Flag - Wild Flag
22 Ryan Adams - Ashes & Fire
21 Clams Casino - Instrumental Mixtape
20 Real Estate - Days
19 Iceage - New Brigade
18 Beyoncé - 4
17 Oneohtrix Point Never - Replica
16 Neon Indian - Era Extraña
15 Zola Jesus - Conatus
14 Austra - Feel It Break
13 Yuck - Yuck
12 M83 - Hurry Up, We're Dreaming
11 Kate Bush - 50 Words For Snow
10 Kanye West & Jay-Z - Watch The Throne
09 ASAP Rocky - LIVELOVEA$AP
08 PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
07 EMA - Past Life Martyred Saints
06 Gang Gang Dance - Eye Contact
05 The Weeknd - House Of Balloons
04 Fucked Up - David Comes To Life
03 Bon Iver - Bon Iver
02 Drake - Take Care
01 Girls - Father, Son, Holy Ghost
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Coming up with the Stereogum list meant leaving out some personal favorites of our four staff members:
HONORABLE MENTIONS
SCOTT
01 Jonathan Wilson - Gentle Spirit
02 Opeth - Heritage
03 Low - C'mon
04 King Creosote & Jon Hopkins - Diamond Mine
05 Quilt - Quilt
AMRIT
01 Future Islands - On The Water
02 araabmuzik - Electronic Dream
03 The Men - Leave Home
04 Julianna Barwick - The Magic Place
05 Pure X - Pleasure
TOM
01 Don Trip & Starlito - Step Brothers
02 Fiend - Tennis Shoes And Tuxedos
03 TKO Capone - Tropical Swaggin Duh
04 G-Side - Island
05 Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire - Lost In Translation
CORBAN
01 Lil B - I'm Gay (I'm Happy)
02 Katy B - On A Mission
03 Vivian Girls - Share The Joy
04 R. Kelly - Love Letter
05 Sleep ? Over - Forever
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And below, our favorite EPs:
STEREOGUM'S TOP 5 EPS OF 2011
01 The Soft Moon - Total Decay
02 Clams Casino - Rainforest
03 Elite Gymnastics - Ruin
04 Light Asylum - In Tension
05 Holy Other - With U
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Feel free to express your (dis)pleasure with the results on this post, or by voting in The Gummys, which you have one more day to enter! Here are some other publications' lists we've been highlighting:
- PASTE's Top 50 Albums Of 2011
- Q's 50 Best Albums Of 2011
- Uncut's Top 50 Albums Of 2011
- Decibel's 40 Best Albums Of 2011
- MOJO's Top 50 Albums Of 2011
- FACT's Top 50 Albums Of 2011
- New York Magazine's Top 10 Albums Of 2011
- Rolling Stone's 50 Best Albums Of 2011
- NME's 50 Best Albums Of 2011
- Spin's 50 Best Albums Of 2011
- Pitchfork's Top 50 Albums Of 2011
