!VAR HAGENDOORN

The Best Albums of 2011

My favourite albums of the year.

1. PJ Harvey: Let England Shake
2. Kurt Vile: Smoke Ring for my Halo
3. The Black Keys: El Camino
4. Nicolas Jaar: Space Is Only Noise
5. Bon Iver: Bon Iver
6. The Brandt Brauer Frick Ensemble: Mr. Machine
7. Fleet Foxes: Helplessness Blues
8. Colin Stetson: New History Warfare Vol 2 Judges

PJ Harvey, Kurt Vile and The Black Keys are really the stand-out albums of the year. There are some nice tracks on Mr Machine by The Brandt Brauer Frick Ensemble, which I expect to be playing for some time to come. There are some truly mesmerizing sounds on the album by Colin Stetson, although I find it a bit unfortunate that he asked Laurie Anderson to lend a voice on a couple of tracks. The new album by Tom Waits is OK, but does not offer any surprises and none of the new tracks stuck in my mind so I guess I'll keep harking back to some of his previous albums. I'd almost forgotten that earlier this year Radiohead released some b-sides as well. I tried listening to James Blake, which features high on many year end lists, but I just can't stand it. I find both the music and the voice very annoying.

Pitchfork's list of the top 50 albums of 2011. The best albums of 2011 according to Dutch music critics. The best albums of 2011 according to the music critics of Die Zeit (pop, jazz and classical).