We’ve already brought you our songs of the year and Texas albums of the year, so now it’s time for the much anticipated albums of the year list. I’m sure many of you will notice some big names off the list and you will be ready to plead your case about why we are wrong. We’ll hear ya out… Feel free to drop us a comment with your own list or just to debate with us. Follow the jump for list.
50) The New Tigers – s/t
49) Secret Cities – Strange Hearts
48) AM & Shawn Lee – Celestial Electric
47) Rural Alberta Advantage – Departing
46) Blue Skies for Black Hearts – Embracing the Modern Age
45) Geoffrey O’ Connor – Vanity is Forever
44) Dum Dum Girls – Only in Dreams
43) Destroyer – Kaputt
42) Obits – Moody, Standard and Poor
41) The Rosebuds – Loud Planes Fly Low
40) Tim Cohen – Magic Trick
39) Bad Sports – Kings of the Weekend
38) Chelsea Wolfe – Apokalypsis
37) Chad Van Gaalen – Diaper Island
36) Male Bonding – Nothing Hurts
35) Crystal Stilts – In Love With Oblivion
34) Cold Cave – Cherish the Light Years
33) Devon Williams – Euphoria
32) Okkervil River – I Am Very Far
31) Sonny and the Sunsets – Hit After Hit
30) Smith Westerns – Dye It Blonde
29) Wax Idols – No Future
28) Grooms – Prom
27) Cut Off Your Hands – Hollow
26) The War on Drugs – Slave Ambient
25) Ducktails – Ducktails III
24) Papercuts – Fading Parade
23) Atlas Sound – Parallax
22) Mind Spiders – s/t
21) Craft Spells – Idle Labor
20) Yuck – s/t
19) The Joy Formidable – The Big Roar
18) Comet Gain – Howl of the Lonely Crowd
17) The Drums – Portamento
16) Snowmine – Laminate Pet Animal
15) King Creosote and Jon Hopkins – Diamond Mine
14) The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – Belong
13) Girls Names – Dead to Me
12) Light for Fire – s/t
11) Other Lives – Tamer Animals
10) Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues
9) Iceage – New Brigade
8 The Antlers – Burst Apart
7) Seapony – Go With Me
6) Pure X – Pleasure
5) Cloud Nothings – s/t
4) Real Estate – Days
3) Gold Leaves – The Ornament
2) The Twerps – s/t
1) Wye Oak – Civilian
So that’s it ladies and gents, we are officially putting an end to 2011. What do you like and what do you not like? Let’s hear it.
Well, it’s a little later than last year but it’s time again to turn the music down and put on your art-critic monocles and top hats. Yes, in a year where some heavy hitters came along with some high quality production, I did my best to highlight of few of the lesser known ‘other’ artists involved in completing the full album package. Just like the last two years (2009, 2010), my discriminating eye is looking for quality in a holistic sense when it comes to album artwork. Essentially my main question is whether or not it could stand on its own bringing into the discussion composition, tone, balance, introduction of text and its use, color, etc. With that said, here are a few of the best album covers for 2011.
