My top 20 albums of 2011

It seems like in the last few weeks of 2011, I’ve been overwhelmed with lists that document everything that’s happened this year in nearly every field and niche imaginable. And even though I’ve wondered what the purpose of all this list making is, I would be lying if I said that I didn’t think about which albums I would put on my personal list of the year’s best. 

So I drafted one. Then I started tweaking the list, listening to stuff on other people’s lists, and generally got carried away in bouts of Spotify-fueled music discovery. The good news is that there is a lot of great music out there…the bad news is that it’s nearly impossible to give something so intangible a rank and a number that deems it better or worse than something else.

I’ve made a list of 20 exceptional albums—ones that, in my opinion, function as whole sets of songs that fit together and that never provide for a dull moment. A few bands I really love put out albums this year, and it was tempting to rank albums like The King of Limbs and Helplessness Blues in my top 20 simply because anything that Radiohead or the Fleet Foxes does is better than most stuff other bands do in their prime. But I abstained because while these albums may have a few incredible tracks, as a whole they didn’t completely wow me.

In the next few days I’m going to write little bits about each album of the top 10 and post them one by one, but for now, here is the full list. Read it or don’t read it, for all the list bashing I do, list making is quite a fun exercise in itself. And maybe, if you actually are interested, you’ll find something new that you really enjoy.

Sam’s Top 20 Albums of 2011

20. Wooden Shjips - West
19. Neon Indian - Era Extrana
18. Washed Out - Within and Without
17. Sepalcure - Sepalcure
16. Delicate Steve - Wondervisions
15. The Black Keys - El Camino
14. Real Estate - Days
13. M83 - Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming
12. Zola Jesus - Conatus
11. The War on Drugs - Slave Ambient
10. Braids - Native Speaker
9. TV on the Radio - Nine Types of Light
8. Austra - Feel It break
7. The Weeknd - House of Balloons
6. White Denim - D
5. tUnE-yArDs - w h o k i l l 
4. Gang Gang Dance - Eye Contact
3. SBTRKT - SBTRKT 
2. James Blake - James Blake
1. Bon Iver - Bon Iver

Concerts!

NYC people, it’s that time again…the spring concert season is upon us and I’m in the mood to open my wallet and invest in some awesome concert experiences. I am really planning on going to a few of these regardless, but it would be nice to have a concert buddy. So if anyone is interested in going to any of the following, let me know :)

• Tycho with Oneohtrix Point Never on Sat 2/4 @ Music Hall of Willamsburg
• Zola Jesus on Sat 2/18 @ Webster Hall
• SBTRKT on Tues 4/3 @ Webster Hall
• Andrew Bird on Fri 5/4 @ The Beacon
• Neon Indian on Sat 5/12 @ Terminal 5