10 Tyler, the Creator - Goblin
Tyler, the Creator manifests contention whether it is through his multiple arrests, his controversial interviews or his abusive and arguably ignorant language. There is no courting of the media, nor consideration for the audience. But, there is good music. Although, not nearly as good as some of the tracks Odd Future members have given away for free. Undoubtedly, 'Yonkers' became a Youtube sensation and it's a track that still hits hard despite the risk of being overplayed. Altogether the album is a little too abrasive and abusive. There is a sense all this is a paradox - the profanities purely there to enlist the shock factor but then there are shimmers of greatness, such as 'She' which enlists the help of Frank Ocean becomes a creepy, under the skin favourite. There is a beauty to Tyler's wordplay, rhymes and beats that permeates the undercurrent of the album, even against the most horrifying of lyrics.
9 The Kills - Blood Pressure
In the media fervour that radiated around The Kills following Jamie Hince's relationship with Kate Moss, Jamie and Alison took to the studio to create their strongest album yet. The combination of Alison Mosshart's sexy and rather intimidating gruffs and growls against Hince's relentless guitar strums are better than ever and the album is full of bluesy guitar records made for underground clubs and unwashed festival goers. The Kills effectively capture their love for guitar hooks, black leather, The Velvet Underground and drug addled nights with poignant tracks such as 'Baby Says.' It says everything that the leading Youtube comment under 'Satellite' reads "This song belongs in a Tarantino movie." The pair have found themselves and their musical strongpoint at a time when they were most under threat, with the dissipation of other quirky guitar rock bands such as The White Stripes and the gossip column courting.
8 Rustie - Glass Swords
Rustie's debut album 'Glass Swords' is a stunning unexpected saviour for dancefloors; brimming with rising beats, glittering synths and gorgeous hooks. The rising star's garage-electro album sparkled and shone condensing genres and eras into a high impact thirteen track result. This condensing and piling of musical influences and indulgences should be wrong, but in fact on tracks such as 'Ultra Thizz' and 'After Light' the messy fusions thread together to create the perfect crazy and playful playlist.
7 Metronomy - The English Riviera
Metronomy's 'The English Riviera' captured the youth of England's lust for sunny days at the beach, picnics at the park and hedonistic weekends at festivals perfectly. Quaint and quivering at times in bass driven tracks such as 'She Wants' whilst confident and catchy in its bold melodies captured in 'The Look,' 'The English Riviera' was made for live appearances. This infectious sun-soaked indie-disco inspired trips to the seaside, drives with the roof-down or late night parties as the deep rising and hypnotic beats of compelling 'Love Underlined' suggested. The album was an astonishing feat, a strong contender for the Mercury Prize and charting repeatedly high in critics top albums of the year.
6 Bon Iver - Bon Iver
There was an undoubtable aura of tension and nerves surrounding the release of Bon Iver's notoriously difficult second album. The uniqueness and unparalleled creative process behind 'For Emma, Forever Ago' considered a fluke for many. However, in this self-titled album, Bon Iver demonstrated his staying power ironically in a nomadic travellers musical homage that in its introspection, self-discovery and emotional sincerity is akin to a baby opening its eyes and seeing the world for the very first time. The tracks ripple like stones skipping along a pond, each a delicate exploration of intricacy and insight with Vernon's mystifying vocals adding an additional dreamlike essence alongside wavering strings, bells and beats. Thus, what was the most feared album of 2011 is the most honest, absorbing and and affecting .
5 Frank Ocean - Nostalgia, Ultra
Frank Ocean, mixtape phenomenon and sometime member of Odd Future is predominantly credited as being the creative genius of the group. 'Swim Good' and 'Novacane' are popularly played favourites from the album, both hinting at a revival of R&B, with modern synths, sporadic beats and Ocean's smooth vocals creating a chilled vibe. The album is a hazy, drug addled dreamlike scandalous story, that is as much about a history of music as it is about Frank Ocean himself. For instance, several covers (Coldplay) and homages (Radiohead / Eagles) appear on the self-attributed nostalgic record. The result is an altogether more sensitive and sensuous approach than his Odd Future counterparts, with Ocean's opinions on gay marriage ("I believe that a marriage isn't between a man and a woman but love and love") and pro-choice touched upon in a much more subtle way than Tyler, the Creator managed. Ocean straddles genres, histories and sets himself apart from Odd Future in an album that sounds as if it is one that has been brewing in him for a long time.
4 The Weeknd - House Of Balloons
2011 has been the year of the mixtape, as soulful and experimental Canadian musician Abel Tesfaye realised, throughout 2011 he released three free mixtapes - House of Balloons, Thursday, Echoes of Silence - that rivalled any album released through a label this year. Through these mixtapes The Weeknd demonstrated himself as a natural purveyor of music; and he can now cite collaborations with Florence and the Machine, Drake and Frank Ocean. The murky backstory frames the dark overtones of the tracks, of which drugs, strippers, addiction and depression play out over a self-created new genre of R&B. The mixtape presents a plethora of dirty beat ridden tracks that feels like contraband in the daytime. The anonymity mists over the record, whilst this should create distance between the artist and the listener the lyrical intimacy and sparse beats actually draws the two together. The result is a dark and disturbing mixtape but an atmospheric otherworldly aura of genius reels you in. The Weeknd must be one of the most anticipated artists to play Coachella, for curiosity alone.
3 Girls - Father, Son, Holy Ghost
This rich and personable album straddles the past and future fiercely; it is brimming with secrets and surprises. 'Vomit' a gorgeously rich rock love song of old whilst 'Love Like A River' is a Beatles-esque jaunt. This is retro rock exactly how it should sound in the twenty-first century, that fans of Alex Turner's 'Submarine' EP or the Maccabees progressive albums would appreciate. The album should be littered with cliches, given its subject is predominantly love, but instead its lyrical handling is beautified and made all the more sincere by chord changes, guitar riffs and orchestral soundtracks. It is an album for falling in love to, for making love to as the rain falls outside, and that's a rarity in 2011.
2 Jamie xx & Gil Scott Heron - We're New Here
2011 was the year Gil Scott Heron connected with a whole new generation thanks to Jamie xx's masterful reworking of the 2010 album 'I'm New Here' yet sadly it was also the year Gil Scott Heron passed away, alas just as a vinyl and lomography worshipping generation were born again. The album is a creative testament to the inspiration and influence Heron's work possessed and, ultimately its relevance. Furthermore, it established Jamie xx as something else entirely from just that guy who won the Mercury Prize in 2010 alongside his bandmates for The xx's debut album and granted him the Midas Touch. Since 'We're New Here', Jamie xx has become one of the hottest DJ's around, with his capabilities making even the Newsnight theme tune sound gorgeous. Everybody had a different favourite track from the album, emphasising its whole strength, for some it was 'Running' whose big beats could make it onto dubstep dancefloors or 'NY is Killing Me' that utilises deep bouncing beats and chilling bursts of Heron's unique voice to completely differentiate itself from the original. For me, it is 'I'll Take Care Of U' that is a sweeping caress of a collaboration, sampling Heron's vocals alongside Jamie xx's famous XX sound. The album is historic for dance music, personifying our sampling and dabbling era audaciously through its sheer beauty and creativity.
1 King Creosote & Jon Hopkins - Diamond Mine
For me, King Creosote and Jon Hopkins collaborative album was the most beautiful and brave of the year. Seven years in the making, the album is akin to a fairy tale with each track as enchanting, magical and fantastical as any Hans Christian Anderson story. My relationship with this album began on an insomniac ridden night when Rob da Bank played 'Bats In The Attic' and in a whirlwind fervour I instantaneously panic bought the album, the poignant lyrics hitting my heart exactly like good lyrics should. It turns out, that this sparse, sporadic, sliver of an album (it's only 32 minutes long) fits into those "barely there" hours perfectly. When all the world appears to be slumbering and it feels like it is only you and the rising sun left. Reminiscent of the Scottish Highlands, with familial sounds such as the clatter of cutlery, the muted muffles of speech or the whistling winds providing the backing tracks the album sparked a precedent, with a number of tracks released this year utilising surroundings as a soundtrack. The byproduct of the lilted twang of Fife born King Creosote with Jon Hopkins' production is the stuff dreams are made of. Tough human subject matters - age, death, rivalry - are beautified by the pastoral whimsy of the album. It is the most subtle yet hard-hitting album I've ever encountered. It's understated background noise but it is entirely unforgettable.
