The 50 Best Records of 2011

2011 was a much better year in music than I was expecting. At the beginning of the year there wasn;t a whole lot that I was really looking forward to, but as the year progressed, a lot of good records cam out. Listed below are my top 50 from the past year, with #1 being my absolute favorite. Who could have guessed that Kate Bush would have new music, let alone the best of her career. As usual, most are available on vinyl and should be purchased at Music Saves for maximum listening pleasure. And now, the list:

1. Kate Bush - 50 Words for Snow
   
2. Matthew Shipp, William Parker, Beans, and Hprizm - Knives from Heaven
3. Zola Jesus - Conatus
4. EMA - Past Life Martyred Saints
5. Tune-Yards - Whokill
6. Tom Waits - Bad As Me
7. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
8. St. Vincent - Strange Mercy
9. James Blake - S/T
10. R.E.M. - Collapse Into Now
11. People Like Us - Welcome Abroad
12. Battles - Gloss Drop
13. TV On the Radio - Nine Types of Light
14. Février - The Lover
15. Brian Eno & Rick Holland - Drums Beween the Bells
16. Lykke Li - Wounded Rhymes
17. Dum Dum Girls - Only in Dreams and He Gets Me High EP
18. Beastie Boys - Hot Sauce Committee Part Two
19. Girls - Father, Son, Holy Ghost
20. Esmerine - La Lechuza
21. M83 - Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming
22. Wild Nothing - Gemeni
23. Active Child - You Are All I See
24. The Black Keys - El Camino
25. Radiohead - The King of Limbs
26. Austra - Feel It Break
27. Can’t - Dreams Come True
28. Les Cousins Dangereux - Play “All Sprinkles”
29. Washed Out - Within and Without
30. Cults - S/T
31. Smith Westerns - Dye It Blonde
32. Zomby - Dedication
33. Thurston Moore - Demolished Thoughts
34. Kurt Vile - Smoke Ring for my Halo
35. Feist - Metals
36. John Maus - We Must Become the Pitiless Censors of Ourselves
37. Cœur de Pirate - Blonde
38. Class Actress - Rapprocher
39. Twin Sister - In Heaven
40. Tennis - Cape Dory
41. Gill Scott-Heron and Jamie XX - We’re New Here
42. Frankie Rose and the Outs - S/T
43. Danger Mouse & Danielle Luppi - Rome
44. Okkervil River - I Am Very Far
45. Efrim Manuel Menuck - Plays “High Gospel”
46. Das Racist - Relax
47. Cloud Nothings - S/T
48. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.- It’s A Corporate World
49. Wye Oak - Civilian
50. Daryl Hall - Laughing Down Crying

Here is the part where I usually list the best reissues and archival recordings. Well, there were some good ones in 2011, but only one really matters - The Beach Boys' Smile Sessions. This has been 40+ years in the making and is worth every penny. Yes, you really do need an entire CD of Good Vibrations outtakes.