Reaper's Favorite Albums of 2011

[Reaper16]

Here it is, y'all. The highly-anticipated annual list of my favorite albums of the year. 2011 was an interesting year in music. There wasn't a single album that I personally rated 9/10. No great albums. But there were a ton of albums that I rated 8.5/10 to 7.5/10. Lots and lots and lots of really good albums. I struggled with the ordering of these albums; it seemed arbitrary at times. So that's why in lieu of doing honorable mentions this year I'm just going to do an ordered top 50. That's right, these are my favorite 50 albums of the year.

As always, this isn't meaning to be an objective list of best albums of the year. While I listen to over 300 new albums each year, I still don't listen to enough to feel comfortable making objective claims about quality. Do you think I snubbed some really great dubstep album? Did I miss out on a perfect bluegrass album? It's very likely that I did, but this is a list of my personal favorites. That's why you're going to see lots of metal albums on the list. It's also why you're going to see as many, if not more, hip-hop albums on this list. 2011 was a stupendous year for rap music.

Anyway, I'm going to be rolling these out over the next couple of days or so as I write up little paragraphs for each album in-between working on other stuff.

50.) Tune-Yards - w h o k i l l
49.) White Willow - Terminal Twilight
48.) Blut Aus Nord - 777 Sects
47.) Blut Aus Nord - 777 The Desanctification
46.) La Dispute - Wildlife
45.) Childish Gambino - Camp
44.) Wolves in the Throne Room - Celestial Lineage
43.) Boris - New Album
42.) Antediluvian - Through the Cervix of Hawaah
41.) Fen - Epoch
40.) Kendrick Lamar - Section.80
39.) M83 - Hurry Up, We're Dreaming
38.) Florence + the Machine - Ceremonials
37.) Wild Flag - Wild Flag
36.) Opeth - Heritage
35.) The Roots - Undun
34.) Vektor - Outer Isolation
33.) Rudra - Brahmavidya: Immortal I
32.) Tech N9ne - All 6s & 7s
31.) Lady GaGa - Born This Way
30.) Death Grips - ExMilitary
29.) Leprous - Bilateral
28.) Mr. Mother****in eXquire - Lost in Translation
27.) ASAP Rocky - LiveLoveA$ap
26.) Hades Archer - For the Diabolical Ages
25.) Cities Aviv - Digital Lows
24.) Big KRIT - Return of 4Eva
23.) Absu - Abzu
22.) Disma - Towards the Megalith
21.) Cunninglynguists - Oneirology
20.) Bon Iver - Bon Iver
19.) Trap Them - Darker Handcraft
18.) Das Racist - Relax
17.) Steven Wilson - Grace for Drowning
16.) Necros Christos - Doom of the Occult
15.) Ulcerate - The Destroyers of All
14.) Cormorant - Dwellings
13.) Symphony X - Iconoclast
12.) Danny Brown - XXX
11.) St. Vincent - Strange Mercy
10.) Hell - Human Remains
09.) Wolverine - Communication Lost
08.) G-Side - Island
07.) Dessa - Castor, the Twin
06.) TV on the Radio - Nine Types of Light
05.) Unexpect - Fables of the Sleepless Empire
04.) Sims - Bad Time Zoo
03.) Doomtree - No Kings
02.) G-Side - The One... Cohesive
01.) Astronautalis - This Is Our Science

Thanks for reading and listening. Please put up your own lists in this thread if you'd like, or talk about other year-end lists, etc. Just like you guys have done for the past few years that I've done this.

Per QuikSsurfer's request, here are links to previous year's list threads: http://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/showthread.php?t=238651 (2010); http://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/showthread.php?t=219784 (2009) (I would change the order of the top 15 around if I were to re-do this one); http://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/showthread.php?t=202037 (2008).

[Reaper16]

Hey, NewChief -- just came across this interview/lecture by Clams Casino:

[NewChief]

Originally Posted by Reaper16

Hey, NewChief -- just came across this interview/lecture by Clams Casino:

Cool. I was watching another interview last night with him. He's pretty down to earth. It's funny, because he doesn't even really know or hang with any of those rappers (or at least he didn't at the time of the interview I watched). He just sends them beats and they use them. It's a little shorter as well, though the interviewer kind of hogs the airtime.

[NewChief]

This is kind of cool. A 2011 sampler. 10 "discs," 183 songs, 13 hours of music from 2011.

http://www.fluxblog.org/2011/12/flux...011-survey-mix

[MoreLemonPledge]

My List:

(Spoiler Alert: No Metal)

Honorable Mentions:

Cults - Cults
Real Estate - Days
PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
TV on the Radio - Nine Types of Light
Panda Bear - Tomboy
Atlas Sound - Parallax
Washed Out - Within and Without
The Vaccines - What Did You Expect From the Vaccines?
Death Cab for Cutie - Codes and Keys
The Joy Formidable - The Big Roar


20. St. Vincent - Strange Mercy
19. James Blake - James Blake
18. M83 - Hurry Up We're Dreaming
17. Drake - Take Care
16. The Black Keys - El Camino
15. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Belong
14. My Morning Jacket - Circuital
13. tUnEyArDs - WHOKILL
12. Jay-Z and Kanye West - Watch the Throne
11. Wilco - The Whole Love
10. Bright Eyes - The People's Key
9. Das Racist - Relax
8. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
7. Radiohead - The King of Limbs
6. The Decemberists - The King is Dead
5. The Antlers - Burst Apart
4. Yuck - Yuck
3. The Weeknd - House of Balloons/Thursday/Echoes of Silence (I cheated and put them together)
2. Girls - Father, Son, Holy Ghost
1. Bon Iver - Bon Iver

[Reaper16]

why do people like Watch the Throne someone please explain it to me like do they not listen to rap ever

[MoreLemonPledge]

Originally Posted by Reaper16

why do people like Watch the Throne someone please explain it to me like do they not listen to rap ever

I also like Kendrick Lamar, but I'm much more likely to listen to Watch the Throne. I don't know. I see it as a record that actually lived up to a massive amount of hype, which is increasingly rare of late.

[Reaper16]

Originally Posted by MoreLemonPledge

I also like Kendrick Lamar, but I'm much more likely to listen to Watch the Throne. I don't know. I see it as a record that actually lived up to a massive amount of hype, which is increasingly rare of late.

Weird. I get deeply bored whenever I try to listen to Watch the Throne. I find it rote and lacking in any sense of energy or urgency, especially when it comes to the beats. Hov's lyrics are often pretty damn good, but he delivers them with all the swagger of a mailman.

[MoreLemonPledge]

Originally Posted by Reaper16

Weird. I get deeply bored whenever I try to listen to Watch the Throne. I find it rote and lacking in any sense of energy or urgency, especially when it comes to the beats. Hov's lyrics are often pretty damn good, but he delivers them with all the swagger of a mailman.

The lows can be pretty damn boring (My "Deluxe" version is at least 5 songs too long), but Otis, N*ggas in Paris, and New Day make up for it.

[Reaper16]

I'm drunj off Bourbon Barrel Quad and I would like to hear arguments as to how any rap producers can be in the same realm as Block Beattaz. If you aren't Clams Casino, Kanye, or Lazerbeak then you are not at Block Beattaz' level. Listen to those two G-Side albums, you buttholes.

[Buck]

Do you like to get Crunj, per chance?

[Reaper16]

Originally Posted by Buck

Do you like to get Crunj, per chance?

No. I hate dancing.

[MoreLemonPledge]

Originally Posted by Reaper16

I'm drunj off Bourbon Barrel Quad and I would like to hear arguments as to how any rap producers can be in the same realm as Block Beattaz. If you aren't Clams Casino, Kanye, or Lazerbeak then you are not at Block Beattaz' level. Listen to those two G-Side albums, you buttholes.

HEY HAVE YOU SEEN THE YOUTUBE VIDEO WITH MAC LETHAL IT'S AWESOME BECAUSE HE RAPS ABOUT PANCAKES

[NewChief]

Originally Posted by MoreLemonPledge

HEY HAVE YOU SEEN THE YOUTUBE VIDEO WITH MAC LETHAL IT'S AWESOME BECAUSE HE RAPS ABOUT PANCAKES

I actually do think that rap is awesome because he rips the shit out of Chris Brown. What is not awesome is that he labels himself a "nerdy white kid" to market it. Or he'll maybe it's brilliant to do so, but it just feels like pandering.

[MoreLemonPledge]

Originally Posted by NewChief

I actually do think that rap is awesome because he rips the shit out of Chris Brown. What is not awesome is that he labels himself a "nerdy white kid" to market it. Or he'll maybe it's brilliant to do so, but it just feels like pandering.

Yeah, that's ****ing stupid, but I guess it's the gimmick he wants.

[Reaper16]

Originally Posted by NewChief

I actually do think that rap is awesome because he rips the shit out of Chris Brown. What is not awesome is that he labels himself a "nerdy white kid" to market it. Or he'll maybe it's brilliant to do so, but it just feels like pandering.

Originally Posted by MoreLemonPledge

Yeah, that's ****ing stupid, but I guess it's the gimmick he wants.

He knows how to get hits on YouTube, and that titling is part of it.

And hey, now he's represented by Ari Emmanuel's talent agency and he has a book deal for Texts From Bennett. So he's obviously playing the game correctly.