This was an
excellent year for music. Almost every single one of my favorite artists released new music this year (except for Taylor Swift). It was so tough to choose and rank my albums, but I'm fairly happy with how my list turned out. When it comes to albums, I do not take singles into account at all. I look at the whole picture, how the experience is listening from start to finish. I prefer shorter albums, with every single track being quality. For these reasons, I have for you the beginning of my top 20 albums of 2011 list.
I just recently discovered Lights, a hot and sexy 24 year old musician, and really liked what I heard. I'm not going to lie, I haven't had a chance to listen to the
entire album so I had to stick it at the bottom of my list. But it really was good what I heard and I recommend you check her out! She's pop but she's very gritty, and dubstep. A bit of an acquired taste for those growing up on traditional bubblegum pop. She's a bad ass. I look forward to hearing the whole album, but from the few songs I heard she definitely warranted being among the twenty best--let's face it, were there THAT many other albums that were worth listening to this year?
Unless you've been living under a rock, you've no doubt heard "Midnight City" by M83. I guess it's their breakthrough song, it's on Victoria Secret commercials, etc. Anyway, the song is fantastic and this is a great pop album. Again, not pop in the traditional sense. They're very electronic, new wave, etc. And the album is really long, which is why it's not ranked too high. A lot of it sounds the same and not
too many stand out tracks. But definitely worth listening to.
OH MY GOD ohmygod you guys! Literally three days ago I heard their song "Into The Clouds," which is the album's opener, and I was in pure ecstacy. I hadn't heard music this dreamlike, this POP, this pure pure POP, in forever! Sound of Arrows are a Swedish duo--the Swedish part automatically makes them amazing--and they remind me of ABBA, MIKA, and, like, MGMT in a weird way? You have got to listen to this record, it'll just make you HAPPY! It's
really a teenage dream.
These guys, Foster the People, were the biggest indie breakout stars of the year. And for good reason. "Pumped Up Kids" is an instant classic (though as I've said in the past, not nearly as good as MGMT's "Time To Pretend). That's kind of the theme with this album. It's all really good, but not as good as MGMT which is what it sounds like it's trying to be. With that said, it's a great album as a whole, great driving through L.A. music. The opener is my favorite on the disc. I look forward to hearing them grow and get even better!
Natalia!!!! She went from, in my eyes, being a major Gaga-wannabe, to finding her footing and becoming a star in her own right. She has some truly brilliant tracks on Perfectionist and is such an underrated album. Songs like "Free" and "Kill My Boyfriend"--and of course "Mirrors"--deserved to be such smashes! It's a shame that they weren't, but you can still enjoy the songs by listening to this album now. The only downside is that it has a quite a bit of filler in it. But the majority of the songs are great, and so good that it makes up for the filler.
excited 
I dodnt know..but all of those videosesp Oh Land are evry amazing!
