Pitchfork's Top 50 Albums of 2011

Pitchfork's Top 50 Albums of 2011

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50.

September 27, 2011
Critic Score
77
22 reviews

Hibernation is a record for pulling up the covers and dreaming and then venturing out to the town to see the strange and magical world of encroaching adulthood.

49.

September 13, 2011
Critic Score
81
29 reviews

The band rarely sacrifices the rock'n'roll fun-- they no doubt deliver that elusive black-and-blue, but it's a hit that feels like a kiss.

48.

February 22, 2011
Critic Score
75
29 reviews

If he was feeling any pressure to validate himself and his peers, Underneath the Pine doesn't show it.

47.

Sepalcure - Sepalcure
November 21, 2011
Critic Score
80
15 reviews

Sepalcure nimbly incorporate current trends but arrive at a sound-- politely mysterious rhythms put to life by haunted vocal samples-- that's familiar and rich.

46.

June 7, 2011
Critic Score
72
32 reviews

It executes what it sets out to do masterfully while allowing the group room to grow and mature.

45.

July 2, 2011
Critic Score
80
8 reviews

Section.80 still stands as a powerful document of a tremendously promising young guy figuring out his voice.

44.

February 22, 2011
Critic Score
74
7 reviews

Though New Warfare Vol. 2 is easy to enjoy on a purely musical level, as sound, without bothering about the underlying ideas or any notions of how it's made, it's also a gratifying reminder that horizons of musical expression are so much more vast than prevailing trends would indicate.

43.

February 25, 2011
Critic Score
80
34 reviews

Li proves a rich and compelling character in her songs, which are dark but also complex, contradictory, and, thank goodness, still rough around the edges.

42.

June 28, 2011
Critic Score
77
26 reviews

SBTRKT is ultimately a colorful and highly enjoyable future-pop record, an extension of bass culture but not indebted to it.

41.

May 10, 2011
Critic Score
81
11 reviews
The world's best hipster black metal band unsurprisingly crafts a great crossover-friendly black metal album.

40.

June 14, 2011
Critic Score
77
7 reviews

Electronic Dream is pretty, but it's pretty like the morning sun twinkling off of a dangling machete blade.

39.

August 16, 2011
Critic Score
78
31 reviews

The really amazing thing about the album is how anthemic and affirming it feels despite the near total absence of proper sing-along choruses.

38.

Sandro Perri - Impossible Spaces
October 18, 2011
Critic Score
78
7 reviews

Perri's invariably calm tenor assumes the reassuring presence of a tour guide who won't tell you where you're going but ensures you pass through safely

37.

January 7, 2011
Critic Score
80
19 reviews

While they still have room to grow as songwriters, the energy in every atom of New Brigade's charred, sub-25-minute rush is seductive.

36.

November 21, 2011
Critic Score
86
38 reviews

Her best music, this album included, has the effect of putting one in the kind of treasured, child-like space-- not so much innocent as open to imagination-- that never gets old.

35.

February 16, 2011
Critic Score
74
6 reviews

His maturity is apparent not only in his vastly more laid-back style but also in how he deals with the underlying sense of abandonment and rejection that ignites much of Odd Future's bloody, cuss-laden vengeance.

34.

April 5, 2011
Critic Score
77
28 reviews

What puts On a Mission over the top is Katy's way of expressing herself with emotions that extend past "wooo, druuunk".

33.

June 7, 2011
Critic Score
82
31 reviews

David Comes to Life is absolutely worth the commitment, a convincing demonstration of what can happen when a band works without limitations.

32.

April 12, 2011
Critic Score
76
32 reviews

He's condensed the sprawl and stylistic shifts of Person Pitch into seemingly tidy songs.

31.

June 21, 2011
Critic Score
75
13 reviews

Goodbye Bread is filled with such rich, breathtaking moments, and Segall, who plays every instrument here, sounds as though he's savoring every part of process.

30.

February 14, 2011
Critic Score
84
19 reviews

The notion of music as a cheapened, battered object, touches nearly every aspect of Ravedeath, 1972, a dark and often claustrophobic record that is arguably Hecker's finest work to date.

29.

April 19, 2011
Critic Score
76
6 reviews

A rich stew of warm disco, grown-and-sexy R&B, and classic g-funk, it sounds engineered to waft out over barbecues.

28.

February 4, 2011
Critic Score
72
35 reviews

Cut Copy have the architecture of dance music down perfectly and the confidence to execute the genre's moves with absolute precision.

27.

June 24, 2011
Critic Score
70
34 reviews

It's a more mature album with songs about the intricacies of relationships, but 4 has its share of stunning tracks, many co-written by The-Dream.

26.

October 11, 2011
Critic Score
78
27 reviews

He's brought all his skill to bear on Looping, as composer and arranger and texturologist, in order to build something this simultaneously sweeping and subtle, deep and immediate.

25.

May 10, 2011
Critic Score
81
28 reviews

It's a tighter and more focused record that pares back the band's habit for noisy embellishment and psychic jewelry to reveal taught rhythms and catchy hooks.

24.

February 22, 2011
Critic Score
81
16 reviews

So while there are few identifiable words here and the titles don't really register, there's a hell of a lot being expressed.

23.

April 5, 2011
Critic Score
78
23 reviews

Callahan has nothing to add to the general conversation about music in 2011 but is making the best albums of his career.

22.

June 1, 2011
Critic Score
81
9 reviews
James Leyland Kirby, the British producer also known for his work as V/Vm, returns as Caretaker with a haunting and gorgeous series of edits from old 78s.

21.

August 8, 2011
Critic Score
75
35 reviews

They push each other and have fun doing it, and the result is a stadium-sized event-rap spectacle that still sounds like two insanely talented guys' idiosyncratic vision.

20.

January 31, 2011
Critic Score
82
19 reviews

Space never feels like a showcase for Nicolas Jaar; it's just a modest and well-decorated gathering place for some things he loves, a place for them to interact.

19.

August 15, 2011
Critic Score
84
8 reviews
The audacious Detroit rapper with a strangled voice and a penchant for depravity transforms his jagged edges into a compelling and immersive universe. Brown's voice is uniquely suited to conveying wild-eyed, loose-cannon insanity, and the rising note of panic in it makes every mention of snorting crushed Adderall hurt.

18.

November 8, 2011
Critic Score
80
33 reviews

Parallax feels like a more complete work than any other Atlas Sound record, with the differences between the songs less distinct and everything flowing together more naturally.

17.

March 7, 2011
Critic Score
81
4 reviews
The up-and-coming beatmaker's work for Lil B helped define the woozy "based" aesthetic, but heard on their own, his productions are even more powerful.

16.

March 8, 2011
Critic Score
78
27 reviews

This feels like a family of songs, one whose complexion and course changes as a whole with every spin.

15.

May 3, 2011
Critic Score
83
40 reviews

The record showcases the band's expanded range and successful risk-taking, while retaining what so many people fell in love with about the group in the first place.

14.

June 28, 2011
Critic Score
84
30 reviews

Black Up lets some sunlight in, breathes fresh air, and finds Butler returning to an occasionally lighter flow, the most unburdened he's sounded since the world first heard him.

13.

May 10, 2011
Critic Score
80
29 reviews

Anderson's music has the power to plummet to the depths and drag you right down there with her.

12.

February 4, 2011
Critic Score
82
37 reviews

Gorgeous, indelible tunes that are as generous in content as they are restrained in delivery.

11.

September 12, 2011
Critic Score
86
37 reviews

On Strange Mercy, she ditches Marry Me's naivety and Actor's ostentatious arrangements, boosts the inventive guitar playing, and ends up with her most potent and cathartic release yet.

10.

March 21, 2011
Critic Score
79
18 reviews

The group's penchant for druggy atmospherics is mirrored in their lyrical content, which is overtly sexual, narcotics-focused, and occasionally downright frightening.

9.

October 18, 2011
Critic Score
75
32 reviews

Cleaner, sharper, and just plain stronger, Days is like a single idea divided into simple statements

8.

November 15, 2011
Critic Score
76
32 reviews

Drake's worked on his own technical abilities, too, and both his rapping and singing are better than ever here

7.

April 19, 2011
Critic Score
85
33 reviews

The music benefits from the increased professionalism, but Garbus has not abandoned her lo-fi aesthetic.

6.

November 8, 2011
Critic Score
79
29 reviews

There's a real sense of discovery here, or possibilities being probed, and that feeling is infectious.

5.

September 13, 2011
Critic Score
79
31 reviews

Their music pilfers from the past without shame but also manages to sound like no one else.

4.

February 14, 2011
Critic Score
89
44 reviews

Even considering all of the horror on display, this is her most straightforward and easy to embrace album in a decade.

3.

October 18, 2011
Critic Score
75
40 reviews

Above all else, it's the best M83 record yet.

2.

January 25, 2011
Critic Score
85
30 reviews

More than any other Destroyer record, you can just throw this on and it sounds good, and plenty will do well stopping there. But for those so inclined, there's more to explore.

1.

June 21, 2011
Critic Score
85
41 reviews

After the closeness and austerity of For Emma, Vernon has given us a knotty record that resists easy interpretation but is no less warm or welcoming.

Original Source: http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/8727-the-top-50-albums-of-2011/
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