Top 100 Albums of 2011

Sort of a strange yet cool year in music. There did not seem to be as many of the highly innovative, boundary pushing type artists releasing music this year (whoever they are). There did however, seem to be a lot of great bands who are not afraid to borrow from other great bands, past and present, and while proudly wearing their influences on their sleeves, they are still able to put a fresh, current and relevant spin on some very familiar sounds. My number one choice this year especially speaks to this.

The other part I liked about musical 2011, was it presented a really great collection of albums where bands weren't afraid to write 3-4 minute pop songs. Some of them lean more to the jingle jangle guitar fuzz skew, while the electro pop brigade bands continue to produce danceable pop that often incorporates organic and stringed bits when necessary. Some of the albums received fairly prominant profile, while as always there was some great music that perhaps slots more snuggly into traditional indie and internet based obscura.

Regardless, after painstaking compiling and curation efforts, I have done my best to sequence things with some sense of passion and bias recognition. The Top 50 is reasonably spot on, the next 50 are great, but sequencing of course would tend to be more loose. As with any list a self proclaimed music nerd puts together, it is within minutes of hitting "post" I will undoubtedly have regrets and contempt. For the moment though, here are 100 albums that worked pretty well for me in 2011.

	ARTIST	TITLE
100	Dawes	Nothing Is Wrong
99	Erasure	Tomorrow's World
98	Mister Heavenly	Out of Love
97	Still Corners	Creatures of An Hour
96	Crystal Stilts	In Love With oblivion
95	Raphael Saadiq	Stone Rollin'
94	Portugal. The Man	In The Mountain In The Cloud
93	Tapes N Tapes	Outside
92	Okkervil River	I Am Very Far
91	Human League	Credo
90	British Sea Power	Valhalla Dancehall
89	Wu Lyf	Go Tell Fire to The Mountain
88	Gang Gang Dance	Eye Contact
87	Peaking Lights	936
86	Matthew Good	Lights of Endangered Species
85	Big Talk	Big Talk
84	The Lonely Forest	Arrows
83	Sloan	The Double Cross
82	The Sound of Arrows	Voyage
81	Rich Aucoin	We're All Dying to Live
80	White Lies	Ritual
79	The Antlers	Burst Apart
78	The Rapture	Grace Of Your Love
77	Young Galaxy	Shapeshifting
76	The Field	Looping State of Mind
75	The Horror The Horror	Wilderness
74	Austra	Feel It Break
73	The Jayhawks	Mockingbird Time
72	The Strokes	Angles
71	Thievery Corporation	Culture of Fear
70	Cold Play	Mylo Xyloto
69	TV On the Radio	Nine Types of Light
68	Talib Kweli	Gutter Rainbows
67	Girls	Father, Son, Holy Ghost
66	The War on Drugs	Slave Ambient
65	BOAT	Dress Like Your Idols
64	The Dears	Degeneration Street
63	The Rosebuds	Loud Planes Fly Low
62	Glasvegas	Euphoric Heartbreak
61	Gotye	Making Mirrors
60	Hercules & Love Affair	Blue Songs
59	PNAU	Soft Universe
58	Peter Bjorn & John	Gimme Some
57	Cat's Eyes	Cat's Eyes
56	My Morning Jacket	Circuital
55	Deer Tick	Divine Providence
54	Jonny	Jonny
53	Roots	Undun
52	Noah And The Whale	Las Night On Earth
51	Mogwai	Hardcore Will Never Die
50	Bombay Bicycle Club	A Different Kind of Fix
49	Wilco	The Whole Love
48	Class Actress	Rapproacher
47	Maritime	Human Hearts
46	The Joy Formidable	The Big Roar
45	Grouplove	Never Trust A Happy Song
44	The Vaccines	What Did you Expect From The Vaccines?
43	Washed Out	Within and Without
42	Smith Westerns	Dye It Blonde
41	Fucked Up	David Comes to Life
40	J Mascis	Several Shades of Why
39	Mates of State	Mountaintops
38	Metronomy	The English Riviera
37	Gavin Friday	Catholic
36	Battles	Glass Drop
35	Dog Day	Deformer
34	Cults	Cults
33	Mother Mother	Eureka
32	Pharoahe Monch	W.A.R.
31	Friendly Fires	Pala
30	Toro Y Moi	Underneath The Pines
29	Handsome Furs	Sound Kapital
28	The Drums	Portamento
27	Death Cab For Cutie	Codes & Keys
26	Bon Iver	Bon Iver
25	Frankie & The Heartstrings	Hunger
24	Dum Dum Girls	Only in Dreams
23	Hey Rosetta!	Seeds
22	The Kooks	Junk Of The Heart
21	Miracle Fortress	Was I The Wave?
20	Wild Flag	Wild Flag
19	Telekinesis	12 Desperate Straight Lines
18	Holy Ghost!	Holy Ghost!
17	The Kills	Blood Pressure
16	Cold Cave	Cherish The Light Years
15	Army Navy	The Last Place
14	Radiohead	King of Limbs
13	Yuck	Yuck
12	Elbow	Build A Rocket Boys
11	The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart	Belong
10	Panda Bear	Tomboy
9	Lykke Li	Wounded Rhymes
8	Real Estate	Days
7	PJ Harvey	Let England Shake
6	M83	Hurry Up, We're Dreaming
5	Wild Beasts	Smother
4	Junior Boys	It's All True
3	Kasabian	Velociraptor!
2	Cut Copy	Zonoscope
1	The Horrors	Skying