Top 100 Albums of 2011

(short and sweet and to the point; culled from listening to 501 releases—at time of publishing—from 2011. ask me tomorrow and the list will probably be drastically different, but you have to lock ’em in sometime. click album cover for website)

Honorable Mention:


Dream Theater
Ladytron
Wilco
Thirteen Senses
We Were Promised Jetpacks
The Strokes
Okkervil River
The Sorry Kisses
Incubus
Release the Sunbird
Fountains of Wayne
The Dear Hunter
Drake
Lenny Kravitz
Toro Y Moi
J Mascis
The Sounds
Mayer Hawthorne
Kurt Vile
Eskimo Joe
The Dears
VHS or Beta
We Are Augustines
Tyler Ramsey
Hurricane Bells

Little Dragon

#100:

Ritual Union
by
Little Dragon
.

Electric Six

#99:

Heartbeats and Brainwaves
by
Electric Six
.

Explosions in the Sky

#98:

Take Care, Take Care,
Take Care

by
Explosions in the Sky

The Kills

#97:

Blood Pressures
by
The Kills

Hunx and His Punx

#96:

Too Young to Be In Love
by
Hunx and His Punx

Tennis

#95:

Cape Dory
by
Tennis

Bon Iver

#94:

Bon Iver
by
Bon Iver

Neon Indian

#93:

Era Extrana
by
Neon Indian

Noah and the Whale

#92:

Last Night On Earth
by
Noah and the Whale

Kaiser Chiefs

#91:

The Future is Medieval
by
Kaiser Chiefs
.

Mogwai

#90:

Hardcore Will Never Die,
But You Will

by
Mogwai

Ryan Adams

#89:

Ashes & Fire
by
Ryan Adams
.

Peter Bjorn and John

#88:

Gimme Some
by
Peter Bjorn and John

Moby

#87:

Destroyed
by
Moby

Fleet Foxes

#86:

Helplessness Blues
by
Fleet Foxes

The Kooks

#85:

Junk of the Heart
by
The Kooks

MuteMath

#84:

Odd Soul
by
MuteMath

Cansei de Ser Sexy

#83:

La Liberación
by
Cansei de Ser Sexy

Ben Howard

#82:

Every Kingdom
by
Ben Howard

The Pierces

#81:

You & I
by
The Pierces

Holy Ghost!

#80:

Holy Ghost!
by
Holy Ghost!

She Wants Revenge

#79:

Valleyheart
by
She Wants Revenge

The Antlers

#78:

Burst Apart
by
The Antlers

The War on Drugs

#77:

Slave Ambient
by
The War on Drugs

Cut Copy

#76:

Zonoscope
by
Cut Copy

Middle Brother

#75:

Middle Brother
by
Middle Brother

Bright Eyes

#74:

The People’s Key
by
Bright Eyes

The Belle Brigade

#73:

The Belle Brigade
by
The Belle Brigade
.

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

#72:

Hysterical
by
Clap Your Hands
Say Yeah

Patrick Wolf

#71:

Lupercalia
by
Patrick Wolf
.

The Vaccines

#70:

What Did You Expect
From The Vaccines?

by
The Vaccines

The Airborne Toxic Event

#69:

All at Once
by
The Airborne Toxic Event
.

Los Campesinos!

#68:

Hello Sadness
by
Los Campesinos!
.

Cold Cave

#67:

Cherish the Light Years
by
Cold Cave
.

Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears

#66:

Scandalous
by
Black Joe Lewis
and the Honeybears

Amos Lee

#65:

Mission Bell
by
Amos Lee
.

Coldplay

#64:

Mylo Xyloto
by
Coldplay
.
.

Dum Dum Girls

#63:

Only in Dreams
by
Dum Dum Girls
.
.

Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds

#62:

Noel Gallagher’s
High Flying Birds

by
Noel Gallagher’s
High Flying Birds

The Duke Spirit

#61:

Bruiser
by
The Duke Spirit

Architecture in Helsinki

#60:

Moment Bends
by
Architecture in Helsinki

Washed Out

#59:

Within and Without
by
Washed Out

Uh Huh Her

#58:

Nocturnes
by
Uh Huh Her
.

Friska Viljor

#57:

The Beginning of the
Beginning of the End

by
Friska Viljor

Beady Eye

#56:

Different Gear, Still Speeding
by
Beady Eye
.

SBTRKT

#55:

SBTRKT
by
SBTRKT

City and Colour

#54:

Little Hell
by
City and Colour

Beirut

#53:

The Rip Tide
by
Beirut

Lupe Fiasco

#52:

Lasers
by
Lupe Fiasco

Yuck

#51:

Yuck
by
Yuck

Arctic Monkeys

#50:

Suck It and See
by
Arctic Monkeys

The Drums

#49:

Portamento
by
The Drums

Feist

#48:

Metals
by
Feist

John Ralston

#47:

Shadows of the Summertime
by
John Ralston

Fruit Bats

#46:

Tripper
by
Fruit Bats

The Rifles

#45:

Freedom Run
by
The Rifles

Mother Mother

#44:

Eureka
by
Mother Mother

Bombay Bicycle Club

#43:

A Different Kind of Fix
by
Bombay Bicycle Club

Immanu El

#42:

In Passage
by
Immanu El

Glasvegas

#41:

Euphoric /// Heartbreak \\\
by
Glasvegas

Manchester Orchestra

#40:

Simple Math
by
Manchester Orchestra

Bison

#39:

Quill
by
Bison

The Horrors

#38:

Skying
by
The Horrors

My Morning Jacket

#37:

Circuital
by
My Morning Jacket

Charles Bradley

#36:

No Time for Dreaming
by
Charles Bradley

The Dodos

#35:

No Color
by
The Dodos

Givers

#34:

In Light
by
Givers

Katharina Nuttall

#33:

Turn Me On
by
Katharina Nuttall

The Head and the Heart

#32:

The Head and the Heart
by
The Head and the Heart

The Black Keys

#31:

El Camino
by
The Black Keys

Lykke Li

#30:

Wounded Rhythms
by
Lykke Li

Florence and the Machine

#29:

Ceremonials
by
Florence and the Machine

The Roots

#28:

Undun
by
The Roots

The Boxer Rebellion

#27:

The Cold Still
by
The Boxer Rebellion

Zola Jesus

#26:

Conatus
by
Zola Jesus

Smith Westerns

#25:

Dye It Blonde
by
Smith Westerns
.

Centro-matic

#24:

Candidate Waltz
by
Centro-matic
.

The Rural Alberta Advantage

#23:

Departing
by
The Rural
Alberta Advantage

The Civil Wars

#22:

Barton Hollow
by
The Civil Wars

Vanaprasta

#21:

Healthy Geometry
by
Vanaprasta

Justice

#20:

Audio, Video, Disco
by
Justice

Adele

#19:

21
by
Adele

Lights

#18:

Siberia
by
Lights

Frank Turner

#17:

England Keep My Bones
by
Frank Turner

Friendly Fires

#16:

Pala
by
Friendly Fires

Alexander

#15:

Alexander
by
Alexander

Mates of State

#14:

Mountaintops
by
Mates of State

M83

#13:

Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming
by
M83

DeVotchKa

#12:

100 Lovers
by
DeVotchKa

The Decemberists

#11:

The King is Dead
by
The Decemberists

Foster the People

#10:

Torches
by
Foster the People

The Rosebuds

#09:

Loud Planes Fly Low
by
The Rosebuds

Cults

#08:

Cults
by
Cults

Young the Giant

#07:

Young the Giant
by
Young the Giant

Cold War Kids

#06:

Mine is Yours
by
Cold War Kids

White Lies

#05:

Ritual
by
White Lies

Iron & Wine

#04:

Kiss Each Other Clean
by
Iron & Wine

Portugal. The Man

#03:

In the Mountain In the Cloud
by
Portugal. The Man

Nicole Atkins

#02:

Mondo Amore
by
Nicole Atkins

The Features

#01:

Wilderness
by
The Features

9 Thoughts to “Top 100 Albums of 2011”

  1. Dave

    This list is the biggest crock of $#!+ I have ever seen.

    1. thank you for your eloquent response …
      all top 10 lists are shit if you didn’t make them … yes, you can actually use the word

  2. Nice job Jared! While our tastes are dissimilar, I’m glad to see In The Mountain In The Cloud high up there. Kinda disappointed that Justice’s album was #20. I was not impressed with it at all.

    1. really? i liked it a lot. Civilization and Newlands both made my top 100 songs list.

      look forward to seeing what you put on your list, always great seeing picks i’d never even think to listen to due to our disparate tastes.

      1. I guess I was disappointed it wasn’t “Cross” again. 2012, I’m going to have to step up my game and get on more albums early.

  3. […] · In Album Reviews, General Music, Music Well my list won’t be as comprehensive as Jared Mobarak’s, but this is a list of the albums I thought were memorable in […]

  4. Some great albums on here and new discoveries. Oh look, Moby came out with a new album this year- apparently I was living under a rock! I love Florence and the Machine, Lights (what a talented Canadian!), and Adele.
    So fun!

    ….Haha, I wonder why people like Dave bother posting. I usually just delete posts from dumb people who have time to write stuff like that.

    1. i remember not being impressed with Lights’ first album, but i liked this one so much i’m definitely going to give it another look.

      as for posters like Dave, i enjoy having them on record to see if they respond again …

  5. […] my list won’t be as comprehensive as Jared Mobarak’s, but this is a list of the top albums I thought were memorable in […]

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