Michael Corvin

Album:

Cake: Showroom of Compassion

Mostly waiting on the second half of the year with Dream Theater, Chickenfoot, Pain of Salvation, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Nightwish and a few others.

sauce07

1. Cut Copy - Zonoscope

Best of the rest
Foster the People - Torches
Battles - Gloss Drop
Daniele Luppi & Danger Mouse - Rome
The Strokes - Angles

starman9000

As usual, I'm way behind on the year so don't have much to add:

Albums:

Alexander - Alexander
Thao & Mirah - Thao & Mirah


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Quake1028

1.Hail Mary Mallon - Are You Gonna Eat That?
2.Atmosphere - The Family Sign
3.Talib Kweli - Gutter Rainbows
4.G. Love - Fixin' to Die
5.Iron & Wine - Kiss Each Other Clean

FatTony

It's been a pretty great year for me so far...

Touche Amore - Parting The Sea Between Brightness And Me
Red City Radio - The Dangers Of Standing Still
Thursday - No Devolucion
Portugal. The Man - In The Mountain In The Cloud
Cobra Skulls - Bringing The War Home
SHARKS - The Joys Of Living: 2008-2010
Maritime - Human Hearts
Caparza - Grooming Standards
Riverboat Gamblers - Smash/Grab

Giles

it's gonna be hard to top this, since the whole album just surprised me to no end:



Gang Gang Dance - Eye Contact

for fans of Transglobal Underground, Dreadzone, Deep Forest - wow... just wow, this album is so lush, grandiose and builds to such a crescendo and amazing end - one wonders how this would sound if the band had mixed this in 7.1 surround sound - the music and mix just seems so confined to just two-channel stereo sound.

frogfan

The mixtapes from The Weeknd and Frank Ocean are both great . House of Balloons is tops for me ytd -- not usually an R&B guy but find myself listening to both of them a lot. Like the Bon Iver and The Antlers albums as well.

Gdrlv

Dawes - Nothing Is Wrong

maxfisher

Seems like my tastes diverge more from the forum's in 2011, as I've really enjoyed the year and loved a lot of albums. That includes Elbow's, which took some time to grow on me, but I really enjoy. Of the 70 I've picked up, my top 25 to date are:

1. The Naked and Famous - Passive Me Aggressive You
2. Elbow - Build a Rocket, Boys!
3. The Antlers - Burst Apart
4. TV on the Radio - Nine Types of Light
5. British Sea Power - Valhalla Dancehall
6. The Dodos - No Color
7. Foo Fighters - Wasting Light
8. The Vaccines - What did you expect from The Vaccines?
9. The Dears - Desperation Street
10. Bon Iver - Bon Iver, Bon Iver
11. The Rural Alberta Advantage - Departing
12. Death Cab for Cutie - Codes and Keys
13. REM - Collapse into Now
14. Danger Mouse and Daniele Luppi - Rome
15. The Veils - Troubles of the Brain EP
16. Peter Bjorn and John - Gimme Some
17. Okkervil River - I Am Very Far
18. Say Hi to Your Mom - Um, Uh Oh
19. Gang of Four - Contact
20. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
21. Radiohead - The King of Limbs
22. The Strokes - Angles
23. Destroyer - Kaputt
24. Explosions in the Sky - Take Care, Take Care, Take Care
25. The Twilight Singers - Dynamite Steps

Chrisedge

Foo & The Cars for me...I think Wasted Light is Foos best overall album...

bootsy

The Weeknd mixtape has not left my car's CD changer since may. I haven't gotten tired of listening to it yet. Bon Iver would definitely be in a top 10 list for me. Very good stuff.

CRM114

Dawes - Nothing is Wrong
Middle Brother - s/t
Decemberists - The King is Dead
The Head and the Heart - s/t
Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues

Elpresidentepez

I'll probably add more later, but...
1. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
2. Wild Beasts - Smother
3. Cults - Cults
4. Destroyer - Kaputt

Quake1028

Nice list. Wasn"t Naked and Famous last year though?

maxfisher

Thanks. The US release date was in March, but I see it was released elsewhere late last year. I'll put albums on my annual lists as long as they either had their true or US release that year.

Canis Firebrand

I clearly need to start listening to some more music outside of my comfort zone of familiar musicians. I have never heard of most of the groups in this thread, but checked out a few that people posted. Wow... some great stuff..

Really enjoyed The Joy Formidable, Cults, Danger Mouse - Rome, and Gang Gang Dance. Say Hi to Your Mom might also creep into a spot. I have to listen to a bunch more.

Thanks for a thread like this.

Giles

two new songs get bumped into my list:

Mates of State: Maracas
The Knife: Silent Shout

Aegean2007

My Top 15 right now:

1. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
2. Bon Iver - Bon Iver
3. Shabazz Palaces - Black Up
4. EMA - Past Life Martyred Saints
5. Destroyer - Kaputt
6. Tim Hecker - Ravedeath, 1972
7. Gang Gang Dance - Eye Contact
8. Tune-Yards - w h o k i l l
9. Lykke Li - Wounded Rhymes
10. Kurt Vile - Smoke Ring for My Halo
11. Washed Out - Within and Without
12. Cults - Cults
13. Big K.R.I.T. - Return of 4eva
14. Nicolas Jaar - Space Is Only Noise
15. Wild Beasts - Smother

Looking forward to:

Kanye West & Jay-Z, I Break Horses, Active Child, Balam Acab, Beirut, Cymbals Eat Guitars, Thundercat, St. Vincent, The-Dream, Björk, Dum Dum Girls, Colin Stetson (EP), Feist, Zola Jesus, Class Actress, M83, G-Side

nothingfails

That's what I've been doing for the past 3-4 months. I just cannot take the crap radio plays anymore (though there are exceptions like Adele and Mumford And Sons I like) and I've been purposely pushing myself out of the comfort zone I've been so cozy in because there's so much great music out there to be heard. I've enjoyed Bon Iver, James Blake, Nicole Atkins, Joy Formidable, Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, The Strokes, Washed Out, Arcade Fire, My Morning Jacket (I live in their hometown and only the AAA station touches them, not even the rock station plays them) and Toro Y Moi amongst others.

Giles

YouTube is really a godsend, because between the songs posted here and then some personal searches on songs I read about in various UK dance/rock music magazines there is just an amazing amount of music literally at the tip of one's finger - finding the time though to listen to everything that's out there is another issue altogether.

radio here in DC is a joke - either it's all talk, rap, or MOR rock that seems generic, tired and cliched. I know it's been ages, but WHFS 'Now Hear This' was a pinnacle in showcasing new, interesting and unique bands, nowadays you have to really search to hear anything remotely new - XM/Sirius does a pretty good job, but really ... does one have to pay for radio ?? (that's a rhetorical question by the way) - thanks by the way for all the comments - keep them coming!

oh and thanks Aegean2007 for reminding me about Nicolas Jaar - Space Is Only Noise

nothingfails

Agreed 100%. The YouTube age may be a pain in the butt to the record companies but its brilliant for the fans because it can help expose us to stuff... we can't just throw money away into blind-buys.

I live in Louisville KY and its a wasteland here too. The rock stations are still hung up on grunge.... The only listenable stations are the AAA station WFPK and a highschool run radio station called WNAS which is unique because it has a very schizophrenic selection of music (I've heard Judas Priest followed by Reba McEntire) and also has a habit of frequently playing album cuts and far lesser played singles than what the more mainstream stations do (like the other day I heard "For A Rocker" by Jackson Browne on there, how often do you hear something besides Doctor My Eyes, Running On Empty, Stay or Somebody's Baby on the other stations?

Canis Firebrand

Thanks for the additional suggestions. I checked out a song from Nicole Atkins, Pains of Being Pure At Heart, The Strokes, Washed Out, and Arcade Fire. Pretty good so far.

I don't really listen to regular radio, except for a morning show on the way to work. When I'm in my car, I listen to sat radio and its either on the comedy channel, dance station, hair metal station, or classic 80s alternative music (think REM, Smiths, etc).

JeffTheAlpaca

These are my 2 newest additions for best of 2011

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