Best of 2011 • The albums we adored pt. I

2011 was a year of landmark albums from veteran artists and newcomers alike, making it rather a challenge to come up with a list of our favourite fifty at the expense of some other very deserving albums. In the end we’ve come up with a list that we’re proud of and primed to defend. Check out the first twenty-five below and let us know what you think. You’ll find the rest of ‘em here.

Note: Some albums that only got a proper UK release in 2011 despite being available in some form or another in 2010 (for example, Sea Of Bees, Dark Dark Dark, Buke & Gass) weren’t eligible for inclusion as we listed them this time last year.

Photo by Allan Hinton.

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One part vocal experiment, one part ritualistic offering to the gods of calm, Julianna Barwick‘s debut full-length is every bit as enchanting as its title suggests. Further developing the vocal techniques honed on her previous EPs, Barwick created a seraphic choir of voices using looping pedals to multiply her distant vocals into warm, echoic harmonies. Keeping the instrumental arrangements simple with spare use of twinkling piano, the end result is an otherworldly symphony resonating with unbridled joy and peaceful resolve, earmarking Barwick as a new master of the ambient sphere. [Terry Mulcahy]

FREE MP3: Julianna Barwick, ‘The Magic Place’
FREE MP3: Julianna Barwick, ‘Prizewinning’ [Prince Rama remix]

The jangle-pop canon has been plundered by many a band since its C86 heyday, and in this Veronica Falls are no exception. But where the London-based quartet make a difference is in turning down the sunshine and flowers to allow a gothic pall to wash over their songs, twisting their narratives into gloomy and supernatural angles. The guitars rattle along with quite a force, played in dizzying strums with just a glean of reverb softening the edges on most numbers as chilly girl/boy harmonies float atop the punchy percussion and crisp tambourines. Tight, frenetic and engaging, this is a record that demands attention, and gets it easily. [Charlotte Richardson Andrews]

FREE MP3: Veronica Falls, ‘Come On Over’

Katy B’s debut album bubbles with homegrown dance rhythms, bridging old-school garage, dubstep and UK funky with lovely, R&B styled vocal melodies. The real selling-point of the record, however, is the singer’s ability to give dance music’s traditionally clinical ethos a personable, friendly face. This is authentic dance music for good-time partygoers with Katy very much centre-stage, expressing an endearing girl-next-door ebullience that is increasingly common in the chart stars of today, but rarely backed by tunes this good. [Odhran O'Donoghue]

One of 2011′s most startlingly original releases, Botched Fairytale’s self-titled debut was also one of its most overlooked. Co. Longford pair Mariel McCormack and Marie O’Hara take the punk-infused Irish folk swagger of The Pogues and refract it out into an altogether stranger beast. Defiantly lo-fi in its recording, flashes of noise, screeching guitars and distortion contribute to the brooding, dark mire that pervades the bulk of the record. Lyrically, meanwhile, the duo’s style shifts from dense and heavily allegorical to reflective, almost stream-of-consciousness directness over the course of the record, painting an astonishingly profound portrait of the dark underbelly of an economically crippled Ireland. Every bit as frightening as it is compelling. [Odhran O'Donoghue]

Stream/download the whole album for free over on Soundcloud

Katy Goodman’s debut as La Sera delivered a rich, layered album of just-under-three-minute numbers cast with the lush glide of ’50s and ’60s pop and a touch of twee. They may sound like wholesome, angelic pop gems, but Goodman’s celestial lullabies cast shadows and the swooning, melancholic romance that sweeps through much of the album often frosts its edges with pleasing shimmers of ghostly, almost-noir amour. Goodman may be floating away from the clanging, slipshod punk of Vivian Girls but La Sera bears an edginess of its own: a daydream state of mind tethered by a precarious longing. [Charlotte Richardson Andrews]

FREE MP3: La Sera, ‘Never Come Around’

Having settled on a more permanent lineup for her backing band – including husband Tom Bevitori and father Tom Menig – Alela Diane’s purposefully-titled third album found her transitioning from traditional singer-songwriter into a frontwoman role. Leaning less heavily on her pastoral folk roots to embrace a bluesier, warmer aesthetic, a bold, Americana-led sound predominates as lonesome guitars drip like warm molasses from her howling, soaring tones. [Terry Mulcahy]

Leaving behind her Rockettothesky nom de plume, Noway’s Jenny Hval went by her own name for her third and best album to date. An appropriately titled collection, it’s a stripped, uncompromising work that’s explicit without being coarse, spectral without being cold. Hval lays herself bare, drifting through hazy folk-poetry and channelling Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon in her raw sensuality as shivering guitars and pitter-patter percussion provide the scant accompaniment. Unforgettably eerie. [Terry Mulcahy]

Titled after an Edgar Allen Poe poem that takes an unsparing look at the mysterious death of a beautiful woman, this debut full-length from Canadian twin sister duo Tasseomancy seems as though it’s centered around a similar concept, awash with common themes, glancing references and strands that run from song to song. The mood switches between grave and anguished, sombre and tense, and is heavy with the weight of unspoken sadnesses or fears: a work of dark, sometimes stark, but consistently artful beauty. [Jude Clarke]

FREE MP3: Tasseomancy, ‘Healthy Hands (Will Mourn You)’
FREE MP3: Tasseomancy, ‘Soft Feet’ [Heidi Mortenson Gentle Dane remüx]

Drawing together the existential meanderings of her previous efforts, Zola Jesus’ third album goes one step further by incorporating philosophy into its very name. The album as a whole can be interpreted in terms of endeavour, a natural human inclination towards not only living but to growing and thriving, and succeeds as a document of Danilova’s transition from a talented goth girl into an excellent electro-pop star – presided over faithfully by her staggering voice, infusing even her most commercial leanings with a sense of impulsiveness and truth. [Tomas Slaninka]

FREE MP3: Zola Jesus, ‘Vessel’

This third LP from Baltimore duo Wye Oak marks a point at which they can no longer be taken at face value or piggybacked into easy similes. With nearly every track boasting some kind of compositional twist, it’s no easy listen, but it’s assuredly the best and noisiest work yet from a band who aren’t afraid to shake the shoegazing masses awake. Shot through with moments of such subversion and distance that the listener has no time to be bored or overly familiar, Civilian is no everyman album. But if you’re willing to explore its more sinister nooks, there’s plenty here to ally with and take to your heart. [Terry Mulcahy]

FREE MP3: Wye Oak, ‘Holy Holy’

Li Lykke Zachrisson’s second album is a more even-handed affair than her 2008 debut, welcoming in her darker side with a more daring and mischievous sound to brilliantly offset the familiarly delicate moments. Produced once again by Björn Yttling, it’s an altogether stunning affair that makes the most of the singer’s distinctive vocals and Yttling’s inventive studio treatments, pushing them forward in unexpected, exhilarating ways. The contrasting light and shade of the album reflects a majestic leaps-and-bounds growth, particularly in Zachrisson’s more confident vocals. It’s not perfect but it’s never boring and excitingly, boldly suggests that this inventive lady is only just warming up. [Alan Pedder]

FREE MP3: Lykke Li, ‘Get Some’

It took an IKEA full of cats to help bring Mara Carlyle’s long-delayed second album to light. The title translates from Latin to mean ‘let it flourish’ or ‘let her bloom’, and bloom she does as the spare and sometimes brittle electronics of her laptop-produced debut are replaced by lush orchestration that swoops and soothes as the album cartwheels through musical styles. It’s a seductive, graceful and persuasive record that’s never tempted to excessively labour its many ideas. A swoon, a sigh, a secret whispered in a lover’s ear; this is music designed to totally envelop the listener. [Lucy Brouwer]

Brooding, atmospheric and sepulchral, Esben & The Witch’s debut album is a near-masterpiece of melodrama, exploiting layered guitars, scintillatingly minimalist electronics and bone-rattling percussion to construct a gothic netherworld of portentous doom. Steering the band’s dark tales are the commanding vocals of Rachel Davies, which transform from demure cooing to incendiary caterwauling in an instant, adding a sense of spontaneity and vigour to their ominous, carefully-crafted compositions. Starkly cohesive and wonderfully executed, it’s a stunning collection whose impact builds with repeated listens, much as the din slowly augments in their songs. [Mark Bullock]

FREE MP3: Esben & The Witch, ‘Warpath’
FREE MP3: Esben & The Witch, ‘Marching Song’ [Golau Glau remix]

On her ninth album, Meshell Ndegeocello and producer Joe Henry have compiled a collection of songs – mainly warm, intimate ballads – that showcase both her deep, expressive, endlessly soulful voice and her emotional directness and honesty. These are songs whose wisdoms sound hard-won, in which Ndegeocello casts herself more often as survivor than victim. The musicianship is predictably impeccable, but the star of the show remains Ndegeocello‘s voice, which graces the subtly off-centre, downbeat standouts with all the elegance and variety we have come to expect. [Jude Clarke]

FREE MP3: Meshell Ndegeocello, ‘Dirty World’

Returning from a five-year studio sabbatical, Leslie Feist‘s fourth album is her most cohesive meditation on her life and experience to date. Recorded and produced with staple cohorts Gonzales and Mocky, as well as Icelandic producer/engineer Valgeir Sigurðsson, a palpable synaesthesia occurs in the evocative scenery of an album very much grounded in her peculiar universe of interwoven creative media. Bleeding a song, a chorus, an idea, one into the other, Metals is a compound of elements much bigger than the sum of its parts. [Steph Kretowski]

Laurel Sprengelmeyer exhibits a musicality and songwriting skill on her debut album that most artists can only ever dream of reaching. Orchestral flourishes, snatches of reverb and feedback and thoughtful passages of synthesisers come and go over the course of a record which counts members of Stars, Arcade Fire, The National and Thee Silver Mount Zion as guest musicians. As impressive as this collaborative roll call is, Sprengelmeyer is always in command, intricately weaving lovely images with her brilliant lyrics. [Odhran O'Donoghue]

FREE MP3: Little Scream, ‘Cannons’
FREE MP3: Little Scream, ‘The Heron & The Fox’ 

Progressing beyond the nostalgic angst of their debut, Dum Dum Girls’ darker second album offers a glimpse into more personal territory, touching on distance, death and disenchantment. With the cloak of reverb that shrouded her earlier recordings shed, Dee Dee Penny’s compositions are given more room to breathe, confirming beyond doubt that she knows her way around a pop melody. A catchy and deceptively deep opus. [Mark Bullock]

FREE MP3: Dum Dum Girls, ‘Coming Down’
FREE MP3: Dum Dum Girls, ‘Bedroom Eyes’ 

This tenth studio album from the experimental art-rockers Deerhoof is a chaotic treat full of more tightly-wound insanity driven by Satomi Matsuzaki’s nuanced, knowingly cute vocals, John Dieterich’s broad canvas of guitar styles and Greg Saunier’s masterfully tight drumming. Uncompromising, surprising and joyous, and easily the band’s most cohesive and enjoyable album in a long while. [Terry Mulcahy]

FREE MP3: Deerhoof, ‘Super Duper Rescue Heads !’
FREE MP3: Deerhoof, ‘The Merry Barracks’ 

Although released on a song-by-song basis throughout the second half of 2010, it wasn’t until the beginning of 2011 that this third album from psychedelic rockers Celebration was made available in its entirety – and boy was it worth the wait. Inspired by the dense mythology and imagery of the tarot deck, the record pulsates with mystical synths and world music influences which swirl around Katrina Ford’s stunning, rapturous voice. Far-reaching and enchanting, and with arguably some of the finest instrumentation heard all year, Hello Paradise lives up to its idyllic title. [Odhran O'Donoghue]

FREE MP3: Celebration, ‘Great Pyramid’
FREE MP3: Celebration, ‘I Will Not Fall’

There’s a diversity of sounds put to work on Laura Marling‘s third album, the added chasms and shadows leavened by a few more playful touches and fortified within a more experimental approach to both style and substance. At the wordsmith level, the album reads elegantly – like a superior short story collection. Drawing from deep and ancient reservoirs of malignant darkness and despair, Marling travels centuries through song, emerging with tales of fantastical creatures, wounded women, regret and indelible sins. [Dalia Wolfson]

Wisconsin duo Peaking Lights make tranced post-reggae hypno-pop, which is a description you don’t get to use everyday. On this second album, Indra Kunis and Aaron Coynes effortlessly combine dub, psychedelia and dream-pop, resulting in a fascinating melting pot of primal, playful experiments. The thoughtful deployment of Kunis‘s vocals added a touch of colour to the record, but for the most part the thumping beats and acid-indebted grooves were left to do the talking. [Odhran O'Donoghue]

FREE MP3: Peaking Lights, ‘Tiger Eyes (Laid Back)’

A response to the break-up of her engagement three weeks before her wedding, due to her then-fiancé’s decision to become a Christian missionary, Emma-Lee Moss’s second album cuts right to her core as a songwriter. Virtue sees her coming to terms with her experiences through a mix of character pieces and personal confessions, united by a sense of honesty, loss and wonderfully self-aware wit. Musically, the album represents a significant step forward, expanding on the pared-back, simple sound of her debut with the help of longtime collaborator Euan Hinshelwood. Thoughtfully employed string arrangements and occasional flirtations with simple electronics complement Moss’s rich lyrical imagery throughout, resulting in a vividly cinematic opus of grief, beauty and, ultimately, hope. [Rhian Jones]

FREE MP3: Emmy The Great, ‘A Woman, A Woman, A Century Of Sleep’

While the summer traditionally favours jangling, sun-kissed guitar sounds and saccharine melodies, True Widow’s mouthful of a debut album offered a respite. Theirs is a shoegaze-cum-stoner rock sound – or ‘stonegaze’ as it has been coined – that speaks more of the searing desert or prairie than the sea. The effect is meditative and narcotic, all thick distortion, steady riffs and dreamy, solemn vocals. Despite the breadth of their tempos, the songs here offer a glorious direct hit. [Charlotte Richardson Andrews]

FREE MP3: True Widow, ‘Skull Eyes’

Eleanor Friedberger’s restless spirit is in full effect on her first solo voyage. Leaving behind the esoteric detours which characterise most of her work with her brother Matthew in The Fiery Furnaces, engaging and enjoyable songs are the order of the day on an album of sunlit nostalgia and memories by turns wistfully, regretfully or sentimentally called to mind. The tone is breezy and light, if laden with occasional melancholy, with Friedberger at her open and confident best. [Rhian Jones]

FREE MP3: Eleanor Friedberger, ‘My Mistakes’

Referential without being pastiche, retro but still inventive, Summer Camp’s debut album is an exemplar of how to wholeheartedly embrace the sounds and vibes of an earlier time and make them entirely one’s own. A giddy explosion of sepia-toned images, flamboyant ’80s synths and teen flick references, the duo explore love and life with intuition, emotion, and a heavy dollop of knowing humour told through the voices of a motley cast of characters who inhabit the fictional town that gives the record its name. [Odhran O'Donoghue]

FREE MP3: Summer Camp, ‘I Want You’

Tagged alela diane, botched fairytale, celebration, deerhoof, dum dum girls, eleanor friedberger, emmy the great, esben and the witch, feist, jenny hval, julianna barwick, katy b, la sera, laura marling, little scream, lykke li, mara carlyle, meshell ndegeocello, peaking lights, summer camp, tasseomancy, true widow, veronica falls, wye oak, zola jesus