I’m pretty late in posting this, as I’m sure many are posting their ‘What to look for in 2k12’ lists by now, but I figured it might be nice to post it anyway.

A lot of great music was released this past year. some of it I was fully expecting to like and some of it surprised me in the way it worked its way into my head and into my everyday listening. Some albums got a ton of press and hype but just couldn’t find a way to capture my interest — maybe with time…

The following ten albums are ones that I found myself listening to pretty often in 2011. I’ve also written some little notes about each one — nothing particularly profound, but just things I thought about the album. They’re listed here in no particular order.

tUnE-yArDs — w h o k i l l

One of the albums that really surprised me. I went in expecting to not like it in the least bit, but find myself listening to it all the time these days. I love how her voice is so versatile, switching from gentle lullabies to authoritative roars. I’ve heard she puts on a great live performance, so hopefully I’ll get to see one of her shows sometime.

Panda Bear — Tomboy

I followed the build-up to this release for quite a while, taking in many of the Youtube videos of his live performances and buying a couple of the 7” singles he released prior to the proper album’s release. I think a lot of people dismissed Tomboy upon its release because it wasn’t Person Pitch II which is a shame, really. I found that it stood on its own quite well, truly beautiful in its own contradictory way.

Kurt Vile — Smoke Ring For My Halo

Kurt Vile’s Smoke Ring For My Halo was one of those albums I downloaded sort of with no expectations, not really sure what to expect, but knowing I had heard good things about the artist and feeling like the album art conveyed some sort of feeling that I liked. Once I started listening, I was immediately enthralled by Vile’s vocals and his expert guitar work. It’s a deeply introspective album and I think that may have been what the artwork was saying to me.

Girls — Father, Son, Holy Ghost

I was really late to the Girls thing, I admit, but no one (except maybe P. Bear) has dominated my listening habits more in the past year than Chri55y Baby and his honest, unique approach to songwriting. I noticed a bunch of people knocking the classic/country rock influences on this album at its release, but I thought they suited Girls’ sound really well. Father, Son, Holy Ghost is made up of a lot of slow jams but then again, Girls has always been best at those long, wandering songs.

James Blake — James Blake

What a great album for the wintertime… James Blake is full of really cold synth lines and icy percussion parts, but it’s all perfectly balanced by James Blake’s warm, rich voice. The spaciousness of this album is what I think I like most about it — everything seems to be bouncing around a big empty room, with Blake sitting in the middle making this wonderful music.

Washed Out — Within and Without

Within and Without was exactly what I wanted it to be: a great album that was rooted in chillwave but incorporated some other influences and sounds. What was with everyone hating on chillwave this year and demanding that chillwave artists ‘move beyond’ it? Sometimes music that has these kinds of hypnotic qualities is exactly what you need. I can’t tell you how many times I put this on over the summer and just zoned out.

Beach Fossils — What A Pleasure EP

Technically not an album, but I’ll allow it. Like the Washed Out album, this was another record I found myself playing quite a bit over this past summer. Beach Fossils changed up their sound just a little bit for What A Pleasure — the songs sound much cleaner, as in there’s less of that lo-fi fuzz that buzzed throughout their debut LP.

The War On Drugs — Slave Ambient

Slave Ambient ended up being one of the best reviews I wrote for the Collegiate Times, I think. The timing of this album at the end of the summer was perfect. Everything about Slave Ambient fills my mind with images of driving down an empty road in the summertime, or sitting on the back porch at dusk with some friends.

Craft Spells — Idle Labor

I got into this kind of jangly, 80s-inspired music in a big way in 2011 and Craft Spells does it well. I listened to the record pretty casually after it was released, but it was after I saw them live over the summer that I really got into it. People give them a hard time for maybe sounding a little too much like New Order or something, but I don’t see why it matters. I just see it as some really fun music that goes well with a lot of other music that I like.

Grouper — AIA Alien Observer

Grouper’s music isn’t the kind of thing you find many opportunities to listen to, at least socially. It’d be kind of strange to throw on ‘Moon Is Sharp’ at a party. But that’s almost why I love it so much — everything about Alien Observer, to me, exudes solitude and tranquility. It’s a great album for when you just need to decompress or when you need something to carry you off to sleep.

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