Post Tagged with: "Top 10 of 2011"
Top 10 of 2011: No.1 – M83
Quite simply, this is an album that stands head and shoulders above the rest both in terms of ambition and execution. An absolute must in any record collection.
Top 10 of 2011: No.2 – Bon Iver
Bon Iver is a record that opens up almost every possibility to its makers. Lush and devastatingly beautiful, it did what many thought was impossible – it surpassed that colossal debut.
Top 10 of 2011: No.3 – PJ Harvey
Despite it’s historic storyline it was a record that felt completely necessary in 2011, a year that saw more British troops die in Afghanistan, mounting protests in our capital and riots on the streets of some of the country’s largest cities.
Top 10 of 2011: No.4 – The Horrors
The warm, distorted, analogue imagery of its cover tells some of the story: psychedelic touches and flirtations spread out over most of the record giving it a hazy, fuzzy-headed nostalgia that will make you return to it again and again.
Top 10 of 2011: No.5 – The Weeknd
Its woozy synths, clipped beats and Tesfaye’s gorgeous vocals whisper into the ear of the listener, his passion for the seedy never stepping over the line into the too often seen ‘pimps and hoes’ bragging.
Top 10 of 2011: No.6 – Bombay Bicycle Club
A Different Kind of Fix is a beautifully layered piece of work that hand-picks aspects of their previous two works while remembering to push things forwards. An album to calm the nerves of a band who had spoken about an “identity crises”.
Top 10 of 2011: No.7 – The Vaccines
Chords are strummed at a galloping pace and melodies are hook-laden. Their chirpy, three chord rock n roll harks back to a time when a decent guitar line and a strapping melody were enough.
Top 10 of 2011: No.8 – Foster The People
As much as these songs try to hide behind the strange synth blips and distorted vocals you can’t help but be carried along on the seemingly forgotten-about joy of optimistic pop songwriting at its best.
Top 10 of 2011: No.9 – Washed Out
Woozy synths and blips stretch out over programmed beats and reverbed, airy vocals to create blissed-out dance grooves that are every bit as pop as they are chillwave.
Top 10 of 2011: No.10 – WU LYF
Go Tell Fire To The Mountain is a rare beast: a much-hyped record that more than lives up to the expectation. In terms of debuts it’s an extraordinary introduction. It’s also one of the year’s best records.
