20. Youth Lagoon – The Year of Hibernation
In his album The Year of Hibernation, Trevor Powers aka Youth Lagoon projects a voice the socially frustrated and anxiety-ridden can grab hold of and call their own. Powers’ ability to write open and honest lyrics, while struggling with anxieties himself, reflects a commitment to his music both powerful and refreshing. In the song “17,” he sings, “My brain kicking faster than I can, but not fast enough. Who is there to talk to that won’t lock me up?” and in “Posters,” “You make real friends quickly but not me.” Throughout the album, these heartfelt and personal sentiments are surrounded by a beautiful arrangement of synths, showing off Powers’ mastery of the simple elegance of dream pop. Although the instrumentation does occasionally overpower the vocals, it seems to actualize the introverted persona of Powers and this album, almost forcing you to listen more intently. –Tom Crawford
19. Real Estate – Days
They came, they saw, they charmed. With Days, Real Estate may have snagged feel-good album of the year. Listening to the clarity of the guitars, the windy vocals, the studied groove of the drums, it’s immediately likeable, but to love, it takes time. It sneaks up on you because it’s easy to float, belly-up, on the surface of the thing so that when you do dive into it, it doesn’t disappoint. Flashing a collection of many scenes and little words, some of it is irresistibly bizarre, as in “Younger Than Yesterday,” when you find yourself singing along to, “I will not have gone home this year/But I’m still not a bird.” Days was released in exactly the right season with its long drives, “Decomposing Leaves,” and pocket full of memories. Dolce far niente (The beauty of doing nothing) distilled. –Taylor Cowan
18. Shabazz Palaces – Black Up
2011 has been a very interesting year for hip-hop, a genre that has been declared dead more times than one can count. This was the year that the free mixtape download began to overshadow “real” releases (and in some cases, become actual releases—see: A$AP Rocky), it was the year that Jay-Z and Kanye West made a collaborative album, and, finally, it was the year that Sub Pop signed its first hip-hop artist (which isn’t altogether surprising, until one considers that hip-hop can be found on the same record label as Iron & Wine). But then, the group in question, Shabazz Palaces, is no ordinary hip-hop collective. With its Godspeed You! Black Emperor-inspired song titles (“An Echo From the Hosts That Profess Infinitum”), twitchy, jazzed-out atmosphere, and the “Mos Def with the flu” delivery, Shabazz Palaces may very well be the Christopher Nolan of hip-hop. Everyone else may be balling so hard, but this Seattle outfit is just plain cool. –John Taylor
17. Wilco – The Whole Love
In 2009, Wilco released Wilco (The Album), which was more upbeat than its predecessor but was packed with lackluster tunes that continued to stuff them a little more into the dad rock pigeonhole (e.g. “Sonny Feeling,” “You and I”). The Whole Love has pulled them out of that pigeonhole with diverse tunes and tempos, instrumental opuses (“One Sunday Morning [Song for Jane Smiley’s Boyfriend],” “Art of Almost”) that have reminded us just what this group is capable of, which could be sprawling acoustic tracks or seven-minute songs that go through at least two time signatures and even more hooks. In short, the effort in The Whole Love was just that—the Chicago sextet pouring their hearts into every crack and corner of this album, and the finished product is one if their best since Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. –Ciara Shook
16. The Black Keys – El Camino
To use an all-too-easy pun, it seems The Black Keys have been going through “Strange Times” since 2008. If they’re not releasing a new album, working on side projects (Keep It Hid, Blakroc, Drummer) or contributing work to a bevy of outside acts, they’re touring and getting a larger crowd at Lollapalooza 2010 than bargained for. El Camino has put a cork in this three-year odyssey that brought blues back to mainstream. With tracks such as lead single “Lonely Boy,” “Stop Stop” and “Little Black Submarines,” this album brings back the grit of previous releases that was missing in Brothers and mixes in the new tricks learned since Attack & Release. The duo who once recorded entire albums within hours in drummer Patrick Carney’s basement has returned to Akron, Ohio, with polished technique and unforgotten roots. –Ciara Shook
15. Adele – 21
We could dazzle you with countless numbers and facts relating to the widespread embrace of Adele’s sophomore album, but it seems that critical acclaim and consumer attraction always seemed secondary to the effort made by the singer in the first place. 21 was about a broken heart mending itself, and it took us along Adele’s journey as she endured, persevered and rose above. Every mix of sound was strategically placed and done so brilliantly. Plus, her voice melts us and gets at our core to dig at the deep and powerful stuff. 21 took the world by storm just as it did with each and every one of its listeners. This album was powerful in every way imaginable. –Jason Radford
14. The Weeknd – House of Balloons / Thursday / Echoes of Silence
With The Weeknd, Abel Tesfaye presents a view of his decadent lifestyle that stands in stark contrast with what modern R&B and hip-hop usually gives us. The music is dark and hazy, and the singer clearly isn’t happy, ever. The best we get is ambivalence. At first, it seems as though Tesfaye sings absolutely nothing like it’s “Black Swan.” But further listening reveals a unique dynamic: The words depict what he is doing, the music depicts what he’s feeling, and, most of the time, there’s no connection. There’s so little poetry to what he writes. While his lack of a way with words could be construed as a flaw, it makes his storytelling vivid and appropriately hollow. Really, at the end of all the parties, all of the drugs, all of the sex, that’s all he is. I’ll be damned if that’s nothing –Chris Favata
13. Yuck – Yuck
Every year, I hope for a live experience that replicates the bone marrow-melting result of seeing My Bloody Valentine performing the “never-ending chord” from “You Made Me Realise.” For me, the closest I came to that heavenly endurance-tester in 2011 was the set by Yuck at this year’s Pitchfork Music Festival. Perhaps it’s not the most original music ever produced—the multinational four-piece hearken back to the fuzzy “shoegazer” guitar sounds of the 1990s that the Valentines and their ilk pioneered—but their self-titled debut also has some winsome acoustic moments. Although some reviewers were dismayed that their closer on that sultry Sunday afternoon in July, “Operation,” was cut short because of technical issues with a new guitar, for me it was the highlight, as the sonic shards from their brutal attack splintered into a thousand shining pieces just as these things are always destined to fall apart eventually. Yuck the album still holds together well after repeated spins, and it offers something different to be heard and enjoyed with each listen. –Craig Bechtel
12. Wild Beasts – Smother
This English quartet might puzzle first-time listeners with Hayden Thorpe’s vocal histrionics. Somewhere between an opera singer and Antony Hegarty, Thorpe’s vocals both confound and fascinate. Fortunately this time around, his counterpoint, Tom Fleming, gets a few more songs, too. Equally theatrical, but in a more Peter Gabriel way, and with a deeper voice, Fleming provides the perfect balance. Smother takes a decidedly different approach than the bouncy Two Dancers, opting for a softer and subtler approach which gets under the listener’s skin in ways that few albums in recent memory have done. It’s perfectly textured and highly emotive, exactly the record I wanted from these guys. –Chris Favata
11. Wye Oak – Civilian
Wye Oak, a duo from Baltimore, use their music to stretch the indie-rock genre to its seams. Folk, synthesizers, dream pop, rock, a little bit of distortion—the band is fearless in its music compliation. Jenn Wasner’s impervious vocals (and guitar-playing) lead the songs, a complement to Andy Stack’s drumming and keyboards (he uses his right hand and feet for the drums and left hand for the bassline). Together, their soul and talent transcend to sound much larger than just two people. As their third and thus-far strongest album, Civilian is great mix of dynamic songs that never give the listener a chance to get bored. –Alex Peak
