Top Ten Albums of 2011

I haven't blogged in a REALLY LONG TIME, people. I've had a lot going on - I'm constantly composing blog posts in my head when I'm not at the computer but never seen to have time to actually draft something up or even log in to Blogger.

I've been thinking about getting all personal and writing a post or two about how my year has been - a lot has happened in 2011, so it seems appropriate to put it into words on my blog. That is, if I can find the time. Sigh!

But of course, my first priority is to post my top albums of 2011. When I sorted albums by year in iTunes, I was somewhat surprised at all the albums that came out in 2011 but didn't make a huge impact in my life. I feel mildly guilty not going crazy over albums that everyone seemed to love this year (most notably, Bon Iver). It's not to say I didn't like these albums, but they didn't really resonate that deeply with me... and therefore didn't result in many repeated listenings.

Anyway! These are the ten albums that I played the heck out of this year. If you check out my Last.fm profile, you'll see that I'm not joking. Dum Dum Girls and Tennis were my absolute favourites this year. Timber Timbre and Anna Calvi were definitely my favourite discoveries. In regards to Timber Timbre, I do believe I tweeted at some point that this band is filling that M. Ward-shaped hole in my heart (but please release something SOON, M. Ward - I do love She & Him, but I need some solo stuff).

1. Dum Dum Girls - Only in Dreams
2. Tennis - Cape Dory
3. Anna Calvi - s/t
4. The Elected - Bury Me In My Rings
5. Sarah Slean - Land & Sea
6. Nicole Atkins - Mondo Amore
7. Timber Timbre - Creep On Creepin' On
8. The Kills - Blood Pressures
9. Lykke Li - Wounded Rhymes
10. Wild Flag - s/t

Favourite album released in 2011 that wasn't technically "new" but still made my year:
Beach Boys - The Smile Sessions

Honourable mentions:
La Sera - s/t
Beirut - The Rip Tide

Favourite standalone song:
"So Long" by Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward from the Winnie the Pooh soundtrack (they weren't billed as She & Him on the tracklisting, most likely to capitalize on Zooey's name...)

All right, that's all from me for now. Hopefully I'll find some time to post again soon!