Lady Gaga: Born This Way
Like an uncontrollable rollar-coaster this album has you loving it one month and then hating it the next. Ultimately it is unescapable, there is something poignantly alluring about the album that always brings you back. There is this sense that Lady Gaga sat in the studio and crafted what she wanted, unlike any other popstar the album feels entirely driven by her. There is no sense that there is some PR manager watching her every move and that is what makes the album so brilliant. The beauty of the album resides in the industry, techno fuelled powerhouses, the pure energy on each on every track further highlighted by the stunning, fully blown vocal delivery. It's a rare moment when one has a true belief that a popstar wants to create something with substance, something that is hers' and that is what fundamentally makes the album so enchanting. **** sales, this is real pop, a real magnum opus and that's what makes it the only big pop release on my countdown. Marry The Night:
#19
Sepalcure: Sepalcure
A strange album yet an eclectic one at that. In similar style to SBTRKT this bass album is nothing new, nothing like the cloud of forward-thinking bass albums of 2011. It is instead a hugely familiar and thus thoroughly enjoyable album. Every song is relatable in one form or another and doubtless there is something on here someone won't like. Yet there is still that shiver on incoherence that echoes through the songs that contributes to the mystery and overall beauty of the album. Another reminder of the year that sticking to the simple can lead to something brilliant results. Pencil Pimp:
#18:
Wild Beasts: Smother
Surrealism is often a killer, bands often get caught up in trying to master it that the final product is a jumbled mess but every year a band manages it, this year it is the Wild Beasts with their amazing Smother. If I had to associate one word with the album it would not be the obvious 'weird' rather 'beautiful' is a better way to describe it. In that way I suppose it does its job, it builds off of its weirdness rather then resting everything on it (something that Kate Bush's album sometimes relies on). The result of it all is British baroque pop, a blend of quiet down rhythms blended with soft percussion and dreamy vocals. Encompassed in sensuality the album touches and feels its way to its conclusion. Pure artistry. Albatross:
#17:
Patrick Wolf: Lupercalia
A far more mellow album, an album for the lovestruck/lovelost of 2011, Patrick Wolf reflects on his love for a man. The Singer-Songwriter welds together synths, folk guitar and massive percussion like an artist painting scenes of love and lust; driven by admiration and desire. Synth ballads like Together meld into massive crowd-pleasers such as The City in a twister of angst and beauty. To craft such forlorn masterpieces at the age of 28 is absolutely astounding. It easily bests 21 as the 'love' album of 2011 and let's raise one to see him do it again. House:
#16:
Little Dragon: Ritual Union
A swedish, R'n'B-psychedelic album injected with everything from New Wave to Dubstep, Ritual Union is a hurtling success. With dry, metronomic synths and rhythms, Ritual Union draws a picture of a sci-fi night city scene accompanied by some alien band playing pieces of futuristic, controlled madness. Moodiness seeps through the synths, crunch embeds into every snare and the bass booms and crawls. Ritual Union:
Atlas Sound: Parallax
A listless, baroque pop ensemble that plays to the strengths of radio appeal and 'pop'. The beauty of it however is that whilst there is an over-arching pop vibe, Atlas maintains the loneliness and isolation with disorientating, lifeless vocals. Bare of much life, the album is a beautiful desert island amongst a grandeur sea of commercialism. Mona Lisa:
#14:
James Blake: James Blake
Trip-hop and R'n'B blended into swaying crystal-carved post-dubstep. The electronic album of the year by all means, like clockwork it ticks and whirs as it pops, sub-basses and engulfs the listener in a sea of deepness. Simplicity whether in the form of deep synths or distant pianos allows James Blake to fill the music with his voice that with its individual whir ticks itself onto one's mind. Like a distant idea and a close relation, the album seizes and whirls itself every day and every night into your brain like a forever ever afterthought. Wilhelm Scream:
#13:
Cut Copy: Zonoscope
At first glance the album cover doesn't make you expect much and that is the beauty of the album; it has surprises around every corner. A techno/new wave melody masterpiece, the album carves itself out moments of pristine glory amongst beautiful song structure, melodic bliss and patient build-ups. With distinct new wave feelings mixed up with poppy starlight the album shines like a beacon. Need You Now:
#12:
Metronomy: The English Riveria
An 80s throwback, an album eclipsed in sine wave synths, simple memorable bass lines and soaring guitar leads. An album that demands your attention and demands for you to reminisce, taking you back to the 80s summer. Featuring some of the best idyllic pieces of music this year, songs like The Bay & The Look are injected with new wave melody and relaxing leads. A perfect way to spend the summer. The Look:
#11:
Real Estate: Days
A suburban sprawl album that wistfully and up-beats its way through a guileless teenage mind. There is something pleasant in the build up and muster within each song that it is impossible to do anything but love this album. It's the most up-beat thing released this year and this shines in the lyrics that talk about buying a donut or talking **** in the backseat of a car; nothing too exciting and therefore nothing too much to concentrate on. It's Real:
