albums i dug in 2k11 (in a particular order)

a couple of months ago, i had lofty dreams of making a 64-album tournament bracket and writing lengthy (and undoubtedly humorous) match-up breakdowns (like bon iver vs. liturgy!) that would eventually lead to the 'best album of 2011.' i realize now that this will not come to pass. 2k11 is mercifully on its deathbed and, following what has become the overarching theme of my year, i'm just going to have to 'readjust expectations.' thus, what follows is simply a list of the albums from this year that i found to be 'the most awesome' in some kind of ordered fashion. there aren't any explanations or any mathematical equations to back it up, but if you would like a detailed justification for why an album appears/does not appear on the list (or just want to argue), send me a handwritten request via the u.s. postal service by february 14, 2012. cheers and c u in 2k12. 


30. Male Bonding: Endless Now
29. Panda Bear: Tomboy
28. Big Troubles: Romantic Comedy
27. Antlers: Burst Apart
26. Julian Lynch: Terra
25. Battles: Gloss Drop
24. Neon Indian: Era Extraña
23. James Blake: s/t
22. Young Prisms: Friends for Now
21. Stephen Malkmus + the Jicks: Mirror Traffic
20. Iceage: New Brigade
19. Atlas Sound: Parallax
18. Unknown Mortal Orchestra: s/t
17. Beirut: The Rip Tide
16. Times New Viking: Dancer Equired
15. Toro y Moi: Underneath the Pine
14. Horrors: Skying
13. Youth Lagoon: The Year of Hibernation
12. Shabazz Palaces: Black Up
11. Hammer No More the Fingers: Black Shark
10. Gauntlet Hair: s/t
09. Cymbals Eat Guitars: Lenses Alien
08. Pure X: Pleasure
07. Cloud Nothings: s/t
06. Mikal Cronin: s/t 
05. Los Campesinos!: Hello Sadness
04. Yuck: s/t
03. Fair Ohs: Everything is Dancing
02. Fucked Up: David Comes to Life
01. Real Estate: Days

(favorite)/(best) albums of 2k10

Even though it’s barely dead, 2k10 will definitely end up being an underrated year I think.  There was nothing earth shattering (i.e. ‘summer of chillwave,' new Panda Bear album, etc.), but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t good.  So, I decided to make a list of my ‘top’ 25 albums, which doesn’t even include stuff I liked from Male Bonding, Best Coast, Woods, Tokyo Police Club, etc., but I gotta stop somewhere.  Because people hate reading things these days I decided to keep my reviews to 5 words or less. RIP 2k10 4evr. 

25. MGMT: Congratulations

You probably hate this album.

24. Sleigh Bells: Treats

Ideal car commercial music.

23. Perfume Genius: Learning

I like being creeped out.

22. Toro y Moi: Causers of This

Chillwave will never die.

21. Girls: Broken Hearts Club EP

Sad, shuffling, twangy American rock.

20. Weekend: Sports

Slumberland will never die.

19. Kanye West: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

Training manual for megalomaniacs.

18. Broken Social Scene: Forgiveness Rock Record

Dad rock for the masses.

17. Caribou: Swim

Pulsating jumble of swirling sands. 

16. morning benders: Big Echo

Like beaches and green grass.

15. LCD Soundsystem: This is Happening

Old people can still shake.

14. Tame Impala: Innerspeaker

Riding Australian psych rocks waves.

13. Avi Buffalo: s/t

Classic rock, but young/haunted.

12.  Sufjan Stevens: The Age of Adz

Sometimes you just got it.

11. No Age: Everything in Between

More melody, less fuzz.

10. Wavves: King of the Beach

Pairs nicely with 4LOKO (RIP).

9. Abe Vigoda: Crush

Sinister echoes with angular bounce.

8. Los Campesinos!: Romance is Boring

Perverse comedy of twentysomething-dom.

7. Arcade Fire: The Suburbs

I grew up here.

6. Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin: Let It Sway

Power pop is my heroin.

5. Big Boi: Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Tale of Chico Dusty

Ridiculous rhymes and bodacious beats.

4. Harlem: Hippies

Blurry/drunken/nearly poignant schlock.

3. Beach House: Teen Dream

Watery and reverent house music.

2. Deerhunter: Halcyon Digest

Everything finally falls into place.

1. Women: Public Strain

Buried ideas work best.  (RIP?)