Best Sellers of 2011
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Listening to Bon Iver's self-titled second album—three years in the coming and undoubtedly the most hotly anticipated album of 2011 so far—it's fair to wonder if it was him lending cred to Kanye We...read more
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This one's for the fans. And Leslie Feist can afford that—she can afford to make a gorgeous, sumptuous pop album that nevertheless makes no gesture at all in the direction of the marketplace. There...read more
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The long-awaited album No. 2 from Seattle new-folkies Fleet Foxes is aglow with everything the band's cult of fans love -- namely harmonies, harmonies and more gorgeous harmonies. But despite...read more
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Prince of dudes Kurt Vile is growing up fast. His second Matador album is—well, let's not say "mature," but it is a definitively refined version of the affectingly unkempt rock he's been turning ou...read more
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Nine Types of Light begins (typically) cryptically -- for one thing, the opening tune is called "Second Song" -- but unmistakably positive, signaling a more emotionally upbeat TV on the Radio on it...read more
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What do you want to know about the physical object that is the new Radiohead album? Eight songs, a little under 38 minutes; The King of Limbs is pure Radiohead-style slipperiness, and we mean that ...read more
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People are making a lot of fuss over young James Blake of the United Kingdom, and if you hear the fuss before you hear the record, you'll probably come to the record feeling sure it won't be all th...read more
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It wasn't hard to guess that for one of the most anticipated releases of the year, NYer in exile Panda Bear would play it somewhat safe: The first song on Tomboy, the follow-up to the Animal's brea...read more
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We adore this album for many reasons, but we give it Album of the Year honors
because it’s not only a collection of really wonderful songs, but
because it’s an ...read more
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With its flute and fiddle,
guest spots by Jonathan Meiburg (Shearwater, ex-Okkervil River) on piano and organ, and epic
droning grooves, Bill Callahan's new and strongly '70s-flavored album has a b...read more
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I wonder whether PJ Harvey’s been listening to freak-folk: On Let England Shake she
tries out a variety of vocal tones for characterization, a warped folk-song
feeling dominates, autoharp is freque...read more
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"My country 'tis of thee / Sweet land of liberty" sings Merrill Garbus, a.k.a. Tune-Yards, leaning into the last word to show just how different her idea is than that of our founders. On her second...read more
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The long-awaited (it really means something this time!) new album from Zach Condon and his co-conspirators is a joyously stately affair. That said, the sound of Beirut is so unique that no one woul...read more
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Quite possibly the album of the year. On their sophomore LP, the Bay Area
duo Girls have delivered a genuine rarity: a bold and ambitious indie-rock album that not only delivers all the goods but ...read more
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It's album number 17 for one of postmodern music's elder statesmen, as well as his first set of all-new material in seven years. And yet, as kaleidoscopic as Tom Waits's sound is, Bad as Me seems t...read more
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Annie Clark's first album not to star her delightful chin on the cover compensates wonderfully in other ways -- specifically, the vigorously talented artist's most diverse set of songs yet. Darting...read more
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Why so serious? Melbourne synth-pop act Cut Copy are back with their first album in more than two years, and Zonoscope is bound to be the first indie dance-floor hit of 2011 -- a good thing, since ...read more
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Such an unglamorous title for such a smooth, sparkling and deep record. On first listen I didn't notice all the musical nods to New Order on Destroyer's ninth (holy...!) album, which just proves th...read more
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The much-anticipated debut from the all-female supergroup Wild Flag
(with members of Sleater-Kinney, Helium and the Minders) is here,
and it delivers. Carrie Brownstein and Mary Timony blend thei...read more
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Just another typical Wilco album. By which, of course, I mean a two-record sprawl that encompasses so many forms of pop -- rootsy, alternative (whatever that means), orchestrated and borderline exp...read more
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One of the most remarkably thought-out and heartful rock records of the year will probably be skipped over by a lot of people for either the band's name or its frontman's perpetually shouted vocals...read more
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You may think that four years is a long gap between albums, but take a look at the Beasties' discography: They've always taken their time with new releases. (And this time they had to give MCA a ch...read more
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Bradford Cox is so ably advancing so many different narratives at the same time that he should be like, really well-known and widely admired. He is? Well, good. The Deerhunter capo's latest as Atla...read more
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I'm not going to get into the long, tortured saga of the Beach Boys' Smile,
recorded some 45 years ago but not officially released until last week;
I'm just going to tell you that it's the finest...read more
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Here's how you know Beck's a great producer: A few minutes into Thurston Moore's gorgeous new "solo" album, you've forgotten that he twiddled knobs on Demolished Thoughts. Despite the violence in i...read more
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This stuff is smooth as fitted sheets. Which is good enough reason to also commend the sexy cover art, in which bedsheets are, shall we say, quite actively rumpled. Chillwave vanguardist Washed Out...read more
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Perhaps a nice complement to James Blake's more inward, somber-seeming record, the full-length debut by SBTRKT -- pronounced "subtract" and there just ain't much more we can tell you, as the South ...read more
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Perpetual buzz band Real Estate's second album is so coolly understated that it's hard to make a ginormous fuss about their move to ginormous indie Domino for Days. From one song to the next, this ...read more
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Okkervil River's sixth album is the band's most musically ambitious to
date, produced by singer Will Sheff and bursting with grand, stirring
arrangements. "The Valley" and "Wake and Be Fine" are ...read more
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There are no small gestures in the world of Explosions in the Sky. Even the softest moments, such as the first seven minutes of "Human Qualities," the second track on Take Care, Take Care, Take Car...read more
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