Albums Of 2011: 40-31
Cass McCombs
Welcome to the second part of our albums of the year countdown – for the rest of the week, we’ll be bringing you our favourite albums of 2011, as voted for by our writers. Yesterday, we revealed 50-41 – check in each day this week for 10 more albums, with 10-1 announced on Friday. We’ll bring you our favourite songs of the year in the following week. All in all, 24 lists were totted up by Mitchell Stirling, and votes were cast by Tom Bolton, Paul Brown, Sam Cleeve, Jane Corcoran, Lucy Dearlove, Rosie Duffield, Ben Dufton, Paul Faller, Stephen Ferdinando, Paul Gettings, Alex Kavanagh, Dannii Leivers, Steve McGillivray, Kenny McMurtrie, Jim Merrett, Greg Salter, Natalie Shaw, Andrew Schagen, Harley Sherman, Stef Siepel, Mitchell Stirling, Stephanie Stevens-Wade, Antonio Tzikas, and Russell Warfield. This list, and everything else that we do, would not have been possible without them and all our other writers – thank you!
40. Youth Lagoon – The Year of Hibernation
“One of the few newcomers to make my own personal year-end list, this bedroom recording project of Trevor Powers reconfigures our perceptions of what can be done on small budget – a monumental record whose rousing anthems are fully deserving of the accolades they’ve been awarded.” Sam Cleeve
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39. Bombay Bicycle Club – A Different Kind Of Fix
“Personally, one of my most anticipated albums of the year. After showing they had the ability to switch seamlessly between electric and acoustic with I Had The Blues But I Shook Them Loose and Flaws, this album cemented their place as one of the strongest and most promising bands this country has to offer.” Jane Corcoran
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38. Beyonce – 4
“Beyonce – a woman behind some of the greatest singles of the last fifteen years (‘Bills, Bills, Bills’, ‘Say My Name’, ‘Crazy In Love’, ‘Singles Ladies (Put A Ring On It’) but never someone who’s impressed over a whole album… until 2011. On 4, Beyonce brings her strongest set of songs of her career to date, taking in Prince-style balladry (‘1+1’), Diplo-sampling-himself feminist anthem (‘Run The World (Girls)’) and off-the-wall whirlwind romance (‘Countdown’). Add in Glastonbury, the VMA pregnancy reveal, video after video after video and, the greatest of honours, an ITV special presented by Steve Jones, and it’s been quite a year, even by her standards.” Greg Salter
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37. Shabazz Palaces – Black Up
“Stripped down to its underwear, hip hop still has a pulse, and it’s dark and heavy. As pitch-black in tone as the title suggests, what at first sounds like listening to Flying Lotus and Outkast at the same time slowly envelopes the listener, with scuzzy loops and lyrical tendrils lodging deeper into your brain.” Jim Merrett
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36. St. Vincent – Strange Mercy
Another heavily-praised, intricate and refreshingly unique LP from Annie Clark – Strange Mercy provided some killer singles and a further deepening in her songwriting. While Strange Mercy isn’t always easy to love, Clark feels like a necessary and welcome voice in 2011’s musical landscape.
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35. Cass McCombs – Humor Risk
Hardly the LOL-tastic change-up from Wit’s End’s almost unrelenting despair that the title may have suggested, Humor Risk is still an example of Cass McCombs trying something different – it’s looser and more spontaneous, with more variations in mood and characters, and suggests that you’ll do well not to pigeon hole or second guess this most promising songwriter. Fittingly, it sits one place behind McCombs’ other 2011 LP on our list.
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34. Cass McCombs – Wit’s End
“It takes some doing to make a song like ‘County Line’ sound like a feel-good pop number, but placed alongside the rest of the songs on Wit’s End, that’s exactly what happens. After easing us into his dark landscape with a bona fide chorus and soft ‘woah-uh-oh-uh-oh’ hooks during his opening track, Cass McCombs then submerges us into his gauntlet of tortured lullabies; tiny snatches of melody and delicately strummed acoustic guitars stretched to lengths of up to ten minutes, channeling loneliness, darkness and morbidity with excruciating accuracy. As an immersive mood piece, it’s one of the year’s best works, while also frequently managing to find moments of tender beauty in its gruelling exploration of solitude and deathly certainties.” Russell Warfield
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33. The Joy Formidable – The Big Roar
By the time The Big Roar arrived early in 2011, it felt like The Joy Formidable had been waiting, biding their time just under the radar for at least a couple of years. They’d clearly channeled all that potential into their music as The Big Roar is a huge, thunderous LP that has picked up more and more fans as the year has gone on.
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32. Jamie xx and Gil Scott Heron – We’re New Here
“A concept many would never had thought of, but Gil Scott Heron‘s beautiful poetry and Jamie XX’s genius ability to remix resulted in something very special.” Jane Corcoran
“A captivating and inspired record, its significance was only heightened by the sad death of Gil-Scott Heron earlier this year, while solidifying Jamie XX’s reputation as one of the most exciting producers around.” Alex Kavanagh
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31. M83 – Hurry Up! We’re Dreaming
“A journey through electronica – diverse, epic, magical, shamelessly indebted to ‘80s pop music and all the better for it. Anthony Gonzalez’ brilliant double album is his finest work by far.” Alex Kavanagh
