2011: A Year In Music

The slew of year end lists that tend to consume the internet never ceases to amuse me. Ranking art is in many ways a pointless exercise. My list of 2011’s best (insert art form here) will never be the same as yours. Still, as HitFix columnist Melinda Newman expressed in her Top Albums of 2011 piece, best of lists offer the opportunity to expose readers to music that they might not  have listened to otherwise.

Over the last two weeks, I’ve read upwards of twenty Best Albums of 2011 lists to familiarize myself with any albums that I might have missed during the calendar year. Some, like Wild Flag’s eponymous debut, P.J. Harvey’s Let England Shake, and Radiohead’s The King of Limbs garnered admiration from me more than adulation, which is why they don’t appear on my list. Others, like Common’s The Dreamer/The Believer, Robin Thicke’s Love and War and M83’s Hurry Up We’re Dreaming I simply didn’t get to sit with long enough to include.

The list below is reflective of my year in music. It features 40 terrific albums that I implore you to seek out, if you haven’t already. Remember, Spotify is your friend.