Ö÷²¥´óÐã Music Writers' Top 25 Albums of 2011
Post categories: album reviews
| 17:15 UK time, Thursday, 1 December 2011
It's that time of year: a time for reflection, for celebration... for lists. And here's a rather important one: the top 25 albums of 2011, as voted for by Ö÷²¥´óÐã Music's team of album reviewers.
The science bit - i.e. how this top 25 was calculated - can be read at the bottom. A full list of writer top-fives will be published next week.
25 - Bright Eyes - The People's Key
(Polydor/Saddle Creek, released 14 February)
Recommended by: 6 Music Album of the Day
"On the finer cuts, such as the title-track, a weird, mescaline-soaked narrative is woven through hallucinatory images of Americana. On the piano ballad Ladder Song, Oberst laments, 'I know when this world's done / This world is an hallucination,' which captures the new paradigm."
Read the full Ö÷²¥´óÐã review
(external YouTube link)
24 - Laura Marling - A Creature I Don't Know
(Virgin, released 12 September)
Recommended by: Lauren Laverne, Jo Whiley, Jarvis Cocker, 6 Music Album of the Day
"Ending with a cathartic, skirt-swishing burst in All My Rage, A Creature... is another fine release from Marling, lyrically dark but skewing in the main towards an increasingly sunny, sophisticated sound. Her worldly-wise tone can still come over a little smug but give her time - she'll grow younger than this yet."
Read the full Ö÷²¥´óÐã review
(external YouTube link)
23 - Cold Cave - Cherish the Light Years
(Matador, released 5 April)
Recommended by: Rob da Bank
"Cherish the Light Years is, apparently, the record frontman Wesley Eisold always wanted to make. And, boy, does that shine through. From the crashing, urgently dramatic announcing bars of The Great Pan Is Dead, sheens of gothic 1980s veneer actually conceal something much deeper, more uncomfortable. This is what the much-maligned cold wave sound should have achieved."
Read the full Ö÷²¥´óÐã review
(external YouTube link)
22 - Trap Them - Darker Handcraft
(Prosthetic Records, released 28 March)
Recommended by: Rock Show with Daniel P Carter
"At no point do Trap Them offer respite. Darker Handcraft is a half-hour statement from a band not only on the top of their game but currently ruling over everyone else's. The Louisville/Seattle trio has delivered an album that every fan of extreme music should own. Bravo."
Read the full Ö÷²¥´óÐã review
(external link; contains language which may offend)
21 - The Decemberists - The King is Dead
(Rough Trade, released 17 January)
Recommended by: 6 Music Album of the Day, Another Country with Ricky Ross, The Late Show with Stuart Bailie
"They've chipped off the embellishments, reined in the pomp and walked towards the light. The bookish Portland five-piece started life as indie-mongers with a penchant for English folk, and their sixth album recaptures their youth, only now they've shifted their allegiance back over the pond. It is, simply, a thing of beauty."
Read the full Ö÷²¥´óÐã review
(external YouTube link)
20 - EMA - Past Life Martyred Saints
(Souterrain Transmissions, released 9 May)
Recommended by: Ö÷²¥´óÐã Introducing in Wales
"For all the gales of feedback, throaty growling and Anderson's propensity for outrageously insouciant lyrical soundbites, the music is far from the voguish noise rock racket one might expect. There is some of that, true, but the most memorable moments on debut album Past Live Martyred Saints tend to be the passages of thrilling unfamiliar drone-folk."
Read the full Ö÷²¥´óÐã review
(external YouTube link; contains language which may offend)
19 - Julianna Barwick - The Magic Place
(Asthmatic Kitty, released 14 March)
Recommended by: Tom Ravenscroft
"The Magic Place, splendidly, isolates the listener, cuts them off from the world around them. So if it's a little disconnect from hullabaloo that you're needing, slide into Barwick's sublime soundworld and immerse yourself for the duration. It's unlikely you'll want to come up for air the whole time."
Read the full Ö÷²¥´óÐã review
(external YouTube link)
18 - Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
(Bella Union, released 2 May)
Recommended by: Lauren Laverne, 6 Music Album of the Day, Fearne Cotton
"Helplessness Blues is born out of a fraught gestation period, touched by doubt, uncertainty and the travails of growing older and finding your place. But it is also a thing of beauty, and as the blissful outro of its title-track or the breathless, exuberant surge of closer Grown Ocean demonstrate, at its core lies a tangible sense of wonder and hope."
Read the full Ö÷²¥´óÐã review
(external YouTube link)
17 - Kate Bush - 50 Words for Snow
(Fish People, released 21 November)
Recommended by: Bethan Elfyn, Jarvis Cocker, 6 Music Album of the Day
"Six years after Aerial's bursts of summer sound, Kate Bush's winter album arrives, each track exploring the long Christmas months. They reflect a season which brings out the profound and absurd in equal measure - the feelings of longing and loneliness that emerge as the dark nights bed in, the party-hat silliness that pops up when the same nights stretch out. It's classic Kate - she can still move us with her fire and ice."
Read the full Ö÷²¥´óÐã review
(external link)
16 - Anna Calvi - Anna Calvi
(Domino, released 17 January)
Recommended by: Victoria Derbyshire, Radcliffe & Maconie, The Late Show with Stuart Bailie, 6 Music Album of the Day
"In a world overflowing with female singer-songwriters, Anna Calvi's exceptional guitar playing and raw, elemental style certainly mark her out as different from the herd. Whether the mass market has the stomach for her challenging, often freeform compositions remains to be seen, but you're likely to hear a lot more of Ms Calvi in 2011 and beyond."
Read the full Ö÷²¥´óÐã review
(external YouTube link)
15 - Gil Scott-Heron & Jamie xx - We're New Here
(XL, released 21 February)
Recommended by: Benji B, Nick Grimshaw, 6 Music Album of the Day
"Those approaching this release as fans, exclusively, of either Scott-Heron or The xx might be at a loss, but this collection works on separate level. Whilst I'm New Here marked an introspective turn from Scott-Heron, this set offers a multi-layered retrospective of the music which bore and surrounds Jamie xx. It's not merely a rehash of the original, but a cohesive, considered masterpiece in its own right."
Read the full Ö÷²¥´óÐã review
(external YouTube link)
14 - Drive-By Truckers - Go-Go Boots
(PIAS, released 14 February)
Recommended by: Loose Ends, The Late Show with Stuart Bailie, Another Country with Ricky Ross
"It's the Hood/Cooley/Tucker trifecta that makes Drive-By Truckers such a consistently fresh proposition. Go-Go Boots is one of the best examples yet of the separate yet complementary skills of the Truckers' three leaders, melding styles and switching moods but retaining an overall feel that's distinctly theirs."
Read the full Ö÷²¥´óÐã review
(external YouTube link)
13 - Katy B - On a Mission
(Rinse, released 4 April)
Recommended by: MistaJam, Annie Mac
"Katy B is a new breed of singer, adding a vibrant gloss to a new combination of sounds with a charm and personality all of her own. She's shining bright and crying out to be taken on as Britain's new favourite pop star - and if this album is anything to go by, it looks like the stage is set."
Read the full Ö÷²¥´óÐã review
(external YouTube link)
12 - SBTRKT - SBTRKT
(Young Turks, released 27 June)
Recommended by: MistaJam, Zane Lowe, 6 Music Album of the Day
"This album is paced like a perfect DJ set - it reads the listener with incredible insight, combining the immediate and familiar with intense passages of warm-up, breaking to allow for moments of blank space and reflection. The mix of shiny vocals with tight, accelerated textures is steeped deep in a glorious combination of two-step, UK funky, dubstep, US RnB and Chicago house."
Read the full Ö÷²¥´óÐã review
(external YouTube link)
11 - Björk - Biophilia
(One Little Indian, released 10 October)
Recommended by: 6 Music Album of the Day, Radcliffe & Maconie, Jo Whiley, Lauren Laverne
"A mesmerising album which confirms that Björk can weave dumfounding wonders from Silly String - whatever's placed before her, she can turn to her advantage, taking her audience on a trip the likes of which no other contemporary artist is capable of planning, let alone embarking on. In a word: amazing. Again."
Read the official Ö÷²¥´óÐã review
(external YouTube link)
10 - Iceage - New Brigade
(Abeano Music, released 5 September)
Recommended by: Nick Grimshaw, Huw Stephens, Marc Riley
"One easy comparison is the very earliest Idlewild material, although Iceage's pop instincts remain more deeply buried. At least, until You're Blessed - a climatic, romantic hardcore racer that finds frontman Rønnenfelt defiant, taking heart from the expression of his own vulnerabilities. It's a stirring end, and caps off a record that's easily as good as any punk release you'll hear in 2011."
Read the full Ö÷²¥´óÐã review
(external YouTube link)
9 - Bon Iver - Bon Iver
(4AD, released 20 June)
Recommended by: Victoria Derbyshire, Lauren Laverne, 6 Music Album of the Day
"There can be no doubt that certain critics will have come to this album expecting it to fall short of the precedent set by its predecessor. That it doesn't, and actually far surpasses the still-echoing resonance of that debut set, is indicative of its standing as one of 2011's most absorbing, affecting and downright brilliant LPs. It just goes to show that there's really only one act capable of 'doing a Bon Iver'."
Read the full Ö÷²¥´óÐã review
(external YouTube link)
8 - Josh T Pearson - Last of the Country Gentlemen
(Mute, released 14 March)
Recommended by: Another Country with Ricky Ross, Jarvis Cocker
"Women come, women go; spirits are lifted and downed; the heavens may smile or pour scorn. At the end of the day, a stool, a stage, and a spotlight comprise the environment that Pearson ultimately found comfort in. And Last of the Country Gentlemen is a brilliant framing of this home, bittersweet home."
Read the full Ö÷²¥´óÐã review
(external YouTube link)
7 - Beyoncé - 4
(Sony, released 27 June)
Recommended by: Victoria Derbyshire, Trevor Nelson, Westwood
"Following schizo double I Am... Sasha Fierce, Beyoncé took a year off but has come back brighter. Dozens of songs emerged from the original 4 sessions and the promo circuit's been leapt on with a vengeance, culminating - at least over here - in the intriguing Glastonbury headline slot (yet to wow us as we go to press). With 4's best bold tunes, Beyoncé has spruced up an already handsome catalogue. She's got the armoury to trump husband Jay-Z's perception-altering Pilton turn."
Read the full Ö÷²¥´óÐã review
(external YouTube link)
6 - Metronomy - The English Riviera
(Because, released 11 April)
Recommended by: Lauren Laverne, Marc Riley, 6 Music Album of the Day
"If Metronomy's last LP, Nights Out, was the soundtrack to an all-hours party that threatened to blow the speakers, The English Riviera is the music in the ears of a restless insomniac. The type of punch this band now packs is differently varied, and instead of relying on catchy melodies, its excitement and originality is more broadly sourced."
Read the full Ö÷²¥´óÐã review
(external YouTube link)
5 - Tom Waits - Bad as Me
(Anti, released 24 October)
Recommended by: The Late Show with Stuart Bailie, Another Country with Ricky Ross, Jarvis Cocker, Marc Riley, 6 Music Album of the Day
"It would be a twisted world where Bad as Me was judged a disappointment, as there isn't a dud on it. But it's also the Tom Waits album that most undeniably echoes previous works. It mostly finds Waits roaming his property, repainting the fence instead of jumping over it into the next uncharted field. But while this isn't a great album it's still a very good one, and even lesser Waits is worth a lot in any other currency."
Read the full Ö÷²¥´óÐã review
(external YouTube link)
4 - The Antlers - Burst Apart
(Transgressive, released 6 June)
Recommended by: Gideon Coe
"The Antlers' 2009 album Hospice was one of those niche successes. The sort that has the blogs purring, the odd clued-up broadsheet too, but doesn't quite stretch beyond the word-of-mouth glass ceiling. For Burst Apart, the New York trio have made their sound a little fuller - in the sense that an aircraft hangar's fuller if you throw in a sofa. No surprises then, just a collection of mesmeric, epic stillness."
Read the full Ö÷²¥´óÐã review
(external Vimeo link)
3 - The Horrors - Skying
(XL, released 11 July)
Recommended by: Zane Lowe, 6 Music Album of the Day, Fearne Cotton
"There's no fault to be found with Skying - truly, every song here hits its mark, and while The Horrors are evidently a band happy to change its spots from record to record (and steal a few licks, too), only the most ungracious of observers could deny that they've now crafted two of the finest British albums of recent years. From the most incongruous of beginnings they've become national treasures in waiting, and now possess the ability to realise any ambitions."
Read the full Ö÷²¥´óÐã review
(external YouTube link)
2 - Wild Beasts - Smother
(Domino, released 9 May)
Recommended by: 6 Music Album of the Day, Marc Riley, Bethan Elfyn, Janice Long
"Anyone who has seen the video to lead single Albatross will have an idea of what to expect here: an uncommon beauty, distilled through disquiet, presented at what appears to be high-definition half-speed. This is a world away from the boisterousness of the band's debut, Limbo, Panto - a world of self-discovery, unexpected achievements and focused development. If this doesn't secure Wild Beasts another Mercury Prize nomination, it'd be a travesty for British pop." (It didn't! Boo!)
Read the full Ö÷²¥´óÐã review
(external YouTube link)
1 - PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
(Island, released 14 February)
Recommended by: Radcliffe & Maconie, Rob da Bank, Victoria Derbyshire, 6 Music Album of the Day
"The title of Polly Harvey's seventh album, 2007's White Chalk, seemed to address England's psycho-geography by way of Dover's iconic coastline. Perhaps that's projection. But her eighth most definitely does. It's a concept album, folks. Song titles include The Last Living Rose, England and The Glorious Land, with a distinct whiff of landscape and legend. A fragile Hanging in the Wire even namechecks 'the white hills of Dover'. Pete Doherty doesn't have a copyright on singing about Albion, you know. God bless unique, unfathomable, great Queen Polly."
Read the full Ö÷²¥´óÐã review
(external YouTube link)
This top 25 was calculated based on individual top five lists (ranked) provided by each contributing writer. First place was awarded 10 points, second five, third three, fourth two and fifth one. Points were added together to provide final scores for each album. When albums finished with the same number of points, the Metacritic score* assigned to the corresponding review (the Ö÷²¥´óÐã does not score its own reviews) was used to determine which album placed higher. And when that score was the same, the Metacritic average score was used to determine the higher-ranking release.
The top five lists from every contributing writer will be published on the Ö÷²¥´óÐã Music Blog next week.
(* Metacritic collates reviews of albums, taking individual scores and providing each release with an average. It assigns the Ö÷²¥´óÐã reviews a score based on the tone of each piece. The website can be found . Scores used in the ranking process accurate as of 30 November 2011.)
Comment number 1.
At 3rd Dec 2011, Sam Bryars wrote:Disappointed to see that Noel Gallagher doesn't feature.
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Comment number 2.
At 3rd Dec 2011, MikeySkiBoy wrote:Isn't it FAB that neither of the Gallaghers are in the list?
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Comment number 3.
At 3rd Dec 2011, Lloyd wrote:No King Creosote & Jon Hopkins? Thought that was a stand out this year.
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Comment number 4.
At 4th Dec 2011, ThomHodkinson wrote:How can you have a Best of British album list without including "The Wombats Proudly Present.... This Modern Glitch". It's my favourite album of the year
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Comment number 5.
At 4th Dec 2011, MistaPutz wrote:Agree with lloyd. Definitely thought Diamond Mine by KC and Jon Hopkins was going to be in this list.
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Comment number 6.
At 4th Dec 2011, thelodger wrote:No 21 by Adele? This is a crazy list.
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Comment number 7.
At 4th Dec 2011, maldoror84 wrote:Some big LPs missing form this list. Shabazz Palaces - 'Black up'; Ghostpoet - 'Peanut Butter Blues and Melancholy Jam'; Dimlite - 'Grimm Reality'; Raphael Saadiq - 'Stone Rollin'' should have all been on this list, which is very folk-heavy. zzzz
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Comment number 8.
At 4th Dec 2011, tinkagain wrote:Wot, no 'LadyKiller - CeeLoGreen?' Better than Beyonce's album dontchaknow, and a vocal quality way above anyone except her... the songs are not bad either. Still, this IS the Ö÷²¥´óÐã.
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Comment number 9.
At 4th Dec 2011, ScholesLatic wrote:No "Build a Rocket Boys!" by Elbow? Outrageous!
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Comment number 10.
At 4th Dec 2011, Maimonides wrote:A truly dismal collection. Where's Tuesday Weld? Brian Wilson? Is this all politically correct? Worst year ever if this lot of mostly second-raters is anything to go by.
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Comment number 11.
At 4th Dec 2011, harman1479 wrote:Pala?
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Comment number 12.
At 5th Dec 2011, kingowrexham wrote:Terrible list, this is supposed to be from respected music critics from the Ö÷²¥´óÐã and Beyonce is on the list. Seriously? Not only is she on the list, shes above Bon Iver, Decemberists and Fleet Foxes. Suprised Justin Bieber dosnt feature also.
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Comment number 13.
At 5th Dec 2011, Graham wrote:Good list I think. Great to see some love for the Julianna Barwick album - it's gorgeous.
Having a good laugh at the comments - 'why is MY favourite album not on the list?'. It's because you're not the fountain of great musical taste you think you are, probably. (Although I did like that King Creosote album, doh)
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Comment number 14.
At 5th Dec 2011, Raziq Rauf wrote:What the hell is "Trap Them". Is it even a BAND???
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Comment number 15.
At 5th Dec 2011, Keira_B wrote:Wow... Lazy AND predictable. But it's always nice to keep to tradition, I suppose.
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Comment number 16.
At 5th Dec 2011, Nina Springer wrote:What about Sinners Never Sleep from You Me at Six, This Modern Glitch from The Wombats and "+" from Ed Sheeran ?
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Comment number 17.
At 6th Dec 2011, Lambchops wrote:I did write a longer comment here but it got lost because of a profanity. Can you guess what my own ersonal album of the year was?
It's one of the glaring omissions along with Tuneyards and King Creosote/John Hopkins.
There's a lot of other albums I'd personally put in there (Lia Ices, Emmy the Great, Half Man Half Biscuit, The Amazing, The Moth and the Mirror, The Black Keys, Moffat/Wells, Gang Gang Dance) and I'll be interested to see if any of them crop up in the writers too 5's, which for me are usually more interesting than the consensus view.
All in all the list isn't too shabby, inexplicably high position for Beyonce aside, with lots of great albums in there.
Yes the consensus view of PJ Harvey being album of the year is unsuprising but there will be very few ublications who do these lists by consensus where she doesn't come up top. personally I merely liked the album, rather than loved it, but I can see why it's a critics' darling.
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Comment number 18.
At 7th Dec 2011, rogerbechom wrote:This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.
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Comment number 19.
At 7th Dec 2011, blushingpanda wrote:Nice Mix Mike, We reckon you are spot on including Anna Calvi, Bright Eyes, Bon Iver & Björk, our list contains Charlie Simpson - An astounding album considering where he has come from, Feist - a great comback album, Hellogoodbye - Best Pop Album this year (We reckon anyway)
Blushing Pandas
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Comment number 20.
At 8th Dec 2011, Mightymojo wrote:I Understand why people can get so worked up because their personal favourite isn't on the list; if you enjoy an album that much you want to share it with everyone. However those complaining that Beyonce is too mainstream, really need to a) get a life and b) look where this poll is taken from. It emcompasses Radio 1 DJs and therefore popular music. Last time I checked she was quite popular over there.
Anyways, the reason I read these lists is because I want to see of there's anything worth listening to that slipped under my radar. I'm now gonna check out Iceage & Julianna Barwick for myself. In terms of the list itself, PJ Harvey & The Horrors will sweep the board this year, but I think The Black Keys would be right up there if their album wasn't released in December.
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Comment number 21.
At 8th Dec 2011, Mightymojo wrote:PS If you want to know what I think, check out my blog The View from the Booth from December 19th.......
[Unsuitable/Broken URL removed by Moderator]
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Comment number 22.
At 8th Dec 2011, Mightymojo wrote:Excuse me Mr Moderator, could you please tell me what rules my blog link broke, that Blushing Panda above me didn't? Have you even looked at my blog?
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