50. True Widow

True Widow - As High As the Highest Heavens and from the Center to the Circumference of the Earth
>Post-Rock / Doom / Shoegaze / Slowcore

This Will Destroy You coined the term ‘doomgaze’ with their album ‘Tunnel Blanket’, but i feel that this album deserves that phrase more. Full of dark, heavy, brooding songs. Male & female vocals, some have both.

[youtube] [download] [last.fm]

49. The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart

The Pains of Being Pure At Heart - Belong
>Dreampop / Shoegaze / Twee

I wasn’t completely hooked by this album when it was first released, but the more of the bands discography I listened to, the more I found myself enjoying Belong. Maybe other things happening in my life helped me connect to it better, because I feel like I can relate pretty fucking well to a lot of the songs.

[youtube] [download] [last.fm]

48. Groundislava

48. Groundislava - Groundislava
>Electronic / IDM / Downtempo / Triphop / Chillwave / Chiptune

Quite varied and unique album. Uses chiptunes to compliment his beats very well, and doesn’t let them get too carried away (like some other artists). Really chill instrumentals at times, some songs with vocals, some with rapping. Diverse stuff, been on repeat for a while and I don’t suspect it gets any worse with more listens x)

[youtube] [mediafire] [last.fm]

47. Fleet Foxes

Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
>Indiepop / Folk

Yeah, fleet faxes new album, of course it has to be in my top 50. while their first album had better singles, i feel this one is much better throughout. Love toking to this album at night.

[youtube] [mediafire] [last.fm]

46. Vivian Girls

Vivian Girls - Share The Joy
>lofi / noisepop /garage

I never cared much for this band. The rest of the album I’ve heard by them were pretty noisy and annoying so I couldn’t get into them. But this album is a very sweet listen and super accessible. The majority of the songs could be heard as singles, and the ones that aren’t are still good, just better at fitting the tone of the album.

[youtube] [mediafire] [last.fm]

45. ASAP Rocky

ASAP Rocky - LiveLoveA$AP
>trillwave / hip hop

Amazing production, lots of clam casino beats (his instrumental album is on a lot of other year end lists). So it sounds like chillwave beats but with swag rap over it. Sick. Trill. Swag.

[youtube] [mediafire] [lastfm]

44. Yuck

Yuck - self titled
>alternative rock

My best friend turned me onto this album very early in the year and it's been on constant listening rotation since. I don't really have much to say about it tho, a really solid album with no weak tracks. I love this sort of 90's/pavementy sound, so yeah of course it's gonna end up on my list.

[youtube] [mediafire] [lastfm]

43. Alexander

Alexander - self titled
>Alternative / Folk / Psychedelic

Solo side project of the dude from Ima Robot and Edward Sharpe. Makes me really happy.

[youtube] [mediafire] [lastfm]

42. Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks

Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks - Mirror Traffic
>Alternative Rock

[youtube] [mediafire] [lastfm]

41. Thievery Corporation

The Thievery Corp - Culture of Fear
>ambient, trip.hop, chillout, downtempo, dub, lounge, ska, reggae, electronic, acid.jazz

[youtube] [mediafire] [lastfm]

40. Ducktails

Ducktails - Arcade Dynamic III
>psychedelic / lofi / tropical

Solo project from the guitarist of Real Estate, Matt Mondanile. Wonderful lofi tropical psychpop, what's not to love. Youtube video features lead singer of real estate & katy from vivigirls & lasera.

[youtube] [mediafire] [lastfm]

39. Smith Westerns

Smith Westerns - Dye It Blonde
>Alternative / Garage / Indie noise rock

Second album to be released by this band, much much better than the first. A lot less fuzz, more sexy guitars, great lyrics & hooks.

[youtube] [mediafire] [lastfm]

38. Destroyer

Destroyer - Kaputt
>Alternative / Smoothjazz / NewWave / Disco

The dudes voice & lyrics makes this album for me. I love the jazzy touch he's added to his tracks as well, really superb album with little weak tracks.

[youtube] [mediafire] [lastfm]

37. Defeater

Defeater - Empty Days & Sleepless Nights
>post hardcore / punk [with a couple acoustic bonus tracks]

Picks up in the story where Travels leaves off, but you don't really have to have heard it for this album to be good. Concept album, so pretty much all lyrical driven. Only album this year that brought tears to my eyes, and if you're paying attention to the story idk how you could not tear up, especially at the end. There are a few bonus/acoustic tracks at the end that don't really progress the story, but they still relate to it.

[youtube] [mediafire] [lastfm]

36. Mariachi El Bronx

Mariachi El Bronx 2
>Mariachi / Folk / Punk

Second folk album by hardcore punk band The Bronx, and it's much much better this time. A lot more polished& refined, sounds like an full on mariachi album. Too fucking good, seriously.

I never figured Jesus for the jealous kind. A stronger man you'll never know, until you see him singing from a church window.
She said, 'Everyone wants to be alone, until they are alone.. Everyone wants to be alone until they are alone.'

[youtube] [mediafire] [lastfm]

35. Disasterpeace

Disasterpeace - Rise Of The Obsidian Interstellar
>Chiptune / Progressive / Postrock

Not your typical, breakbeat/house chip, but actual 8bit that's worth listening to. Beautiful album from a god of the genre. Also, album art of the year.

[youtube] [mediafire] [lastfm]

34. Harald Grosskopf

Harald Grosskopf - Synthesist [2011 Re-Issue]
>"progressive electronic" / psychedelic / synth / ambient

Re-release of an amazing album from 1980. Check out da sample, if you like it you should love the rest. Includes Re-Synthesist, re-workings from Stella OM Source, Oneohtrix Point Never, James Ferraro, Arp, CFCF, Blondes, ARP, Optimo’s JD Twitch and James Ferraro under his Keyhole Voyeur guise.

[youtube] [mediafire (synthesist)] [mediafire(re-synthesist)] [lastfm]

33. Psychic Ills

Psychic Ills - Hazed Dream
>alt / experimental / psychedelic / spacerock / shoegaze / some electronics

Trill as fuck, sexy guitars, spacey, it sounds like Sun Araw & Real Estate mixed with Kurt Vile. ie the shit.

[youtube] [mediafire] [lastfm]

32. Rustie

Rustie - Glass Swords
>Electronic / Grime / sort of dubstep at times, but more Electro.

These beats go fuckin' HAM. I'll admit I wasn't too into the album when I first got it, but the more I listened to the songs, the more I got used to them and then they'd get stuck in my head for days. The navi samples during Hover Traps are adawwwable. But really, give it a try, maybe twice. I thought the songs sounded awkward at first but again, more i listened the better they got.

[youtube] [mediafire] [lastfm]

31. Kurt Vile

Kurt Vile - Smoke Ring For My Halo
>folk, rock, acoustic

When I heard Kurt Vile was releasing another album, I didn't really expect anything like Smoke Ring. I was pretty used to his psychedelic / ambient / non linear songs/albums.. So what I heard SRFMH and realized it was more of a typical folk album, i wasn't sure how I felt. It's quite accessible compared to his other albums, more straightforward folk songs with a lot less emphasis on the pysch part of it. And it's fucking amazing.

[youtube] [mediafire] [lastfm]

30. Jeff The Brotherhood

JEFF The Brotherhood - We Are The Champions
>garage / rock

2 brothers make up this band. This album is great because it has very diverse/unique sounding songs, & great flow from start to finish. Every track i could re-listen to, and I have. A lot. I think the lead singer sounds like weezer at times.. But with instrumentals like bass drum of death & japandroids?

[youtube] [mediafire] [lastfm]

29. Peaking Lights

Peaking Lights - 936
>Psychedelic / Folk / Ambient / Dub / Synthy

Not-Not Fun artist, so yeah. Gonna love it. Lofi, as you can hear hissing and other neat stuff. Stays mellow and chill but still trippy for the most of it. Amazing ending song.

[youtube] [mediafire] [lastfm]

28. Weedeater

Weedeater - Jason... The Dragon
>Sludger / Stoner / Doom

Heavy as fuck. Lovely lyrics and vocals, if you ask me.. but I know people can be picky when it comes to metal vocals. I just think they fit perfectly.

[youtube] [mediafire] [lastfm]

27. Ott

Ott - Mir
>Psychedelic / Electronic / Dub / Ambient [psydub/psybient]

Get some nice headphones, yr favourite smokes & listen to this by yrself without distractions.

[youtube] [mediafire] [lastfm]

26. Ringo Deathstarr

Ringo Deathstarr - Colour Trip
>Alt / Shoegaze / Noisepop

male & female vocals, full of delicious catchy fuzz for your brain. very jesus and mary chain esque?

[youtube] [mediafire] [lastfm]

25. Holy Ghost!

Holy Ghost! - self titled
>Dance / Electronic / Disco

What can I say, I love this kind of electro/discopop. Singer has a great voice too. Every track is bumpin. Yup

[youtube] [mediafire] [lastfm]

24. Oneohtrix Point Never

Oneohtrix Point Never - Replica
>Experimental ambient synth noise

Daniel Lopatin, from Ford & Lopatin and also Games. Returnal was sooo droney, i could only really listen to it when i was drunk. And now his music sounds beautiful, full of samples from all over the place, while still being pretty droney<3

[youtube] [mediafire] [lastfm]

23. Falls of Rauros

Falls Of Rauros - The Light That Dwells In Rotten Wood
>black metal / atmospheric

"The Light that Dwells in Rotten Wood is simply a beautiful album, there are no two ways about it. Its pacing is flawless and its length is just right at a tidy 44 minutes. The vocals are intense wails and shrieks that fit wonderfully, and remain that way throughout despite their one whispering variance." -some dude on whatcd. the album as a whole is amazing, 2 of the songs actually moved me, in a way no metal song has in a long time. Banished & Silence

[youtube] [mediafire] [lastfm]

22. Balam Acab

Balam Acab - Wander / Wonder
>Ambient / electronic / witchhouse

Wonderful, dark album. Really pretty water sounds/theme throughout give it a cool underwater feel. The pitch-shifted witchhaus vocals fit well.. I end up leaving this album on repeat>all and just losing myself for hours.

[youtube] [mediafire] [lastfm]

21. Kashiwa Daisuke

Kashiwa Daisuke - 88
>Modern Classical / Electronic / Piano

Simply beautiful.

[youtube] [mediafire] [lastfm]

20. Cults

Cults - self titled
>psych/twee pop

Why is this good? Because every song is single-worthy. The chicks voice is cute and the lyrics are aight, but what i really listen to this for is the amazing sounding instruments they use. It's not generic indie pop at all, it's really fun to listen to with really unique songs. dealwithit

[youtube] [mediafire] [lastfm]

19. Swarms

Swarms - Old Raves End
>Electronic / Ambient / UKGarage/Dubstep

3 dudes who make wonderful music. For sure a one of the best electronic albums out this year, no denying it.

[youtube] [mediafire] [lastfm]

18. Big Troubles

Big Troubles - Romantic Comedy
>Indiepop /a little fuzz

Earlier album I heard by this band was sooo full of shoegaze&fuzz, i didn't really care for it. This album?, wow. A lot less fuzz and ore pop, and it's great. 2 singers, and they alternate singing on each track which is cool. I don't think it'd be fair to compare this to Worry because they are prettty different, but this one is by far much better if you ask me.

[youtube] [mediafire] [lastfm]

17. Tycho

Tycho - Dive
>Electronic / IDM / Downtempo

I always knew this dude had potential, but dammn.. I find myself playing random songs off this album all the time. So relaxing.

[youtube] [mediafire?] [lastfm]

16. Alda

Alda - Tahoma
>Atmospheric Black Metal

US black metal band, influenced by drudkh, ulver, agalloch, etc. One of the few metal albums that managed to make it into my top 50 list, so it's worth it if you're into this kind of 'hipster' black metal. Amazing stuff. It's a cassette only release, if you're wondering about the picture ^.

[youtube] [mediafire] [lastfm]

15. Josh T. Pearson

Josh T. Pearson - The Last Of The Country Gentlemen
>Country / Folk

7 songs & almost 60 minutes. Long, sad, country music from a man with an amazing voice and style. The lyrics can be so depressive but it's soo good ;_; Don't pass this up.

[youtube] [mediafire] [lastfm]

14. Starfucker

Starfucker - Reptilians
>Electronic / Altrock

Dark yet upbeat sounding electronic indie pop, with really dark subject matter to the lyrics.

[youtube] [mediafire] [lastfm]

13. Spaceghost Purrp

Spaceghostpurrp - Blackland Radio 66.6 (1991)
>#swag #based #throwed

Florida rapper, self produced album. lofi and stylized as fuck so it's for sure not for everyone. lots of funky ass jurassic park & mortal kombat samples, as well as some of the nose annoying HEYYY's from those really old myspace ads. Long, longg album, but worth it to listen to completely. Just gets better and better as it goes.

[youtube] [mediafire] [lastfm]

12. Young Prisms

Young Prisms - Friends For Now
>Lofi / Psychedelic / Shoegaze

People on /mu/ compare this to my bloody valentine all the time, it bugs me because MBV sucks ass and this band is wonderful. fuzzy, psychedelic and great vocals make it one of the few 'shoegaze' bands i absolutely adore.

[youtube] [mediafire] [lastfm]

11. Altar Of Plagues

Altar Of Plagues - Mammal
>atmospheric black meal

Irish black metal band with their second and greatest album yet. 4 songs, all pretty lenghty over 11 minutes. The only track that isn't is the 3rd track, at 8 minutes. It's shorter & more of an ambient style track without any vocals, other than some wierd chants and shit, so not really black metal. But that's alright because the ending song more than makes up for it.

[youtube] [mediafire] [lastfm]

10. Cymbals Eat Guitars

Cymbals Eat Guitars - Lenses Alien
>progressive / alt rock

I enjoyed Why There Are Mountains very much, so I had high hopes for this one. The first listen through I was slightly dissapointed, but the more I listened, the better it got. There aren't really any hooks to the actual music, yet it still seems very catchy after repeated listens. Also, the lyrics are cryptic and awesome as fuck, one of the main reasons I love this band so much.

>bring me to the world of guilt and sorrow for the races tonight
>where the boats go cutting through undulating mirror images of incandescent spires
>the roads there are parabolas with nameless water towers near the exits
>you could turn it all on end still wouldn't be taller than the biotic arch at the crown of creation
stuff like this, yeah. <3

[youtube] [mediafire] [lsatfm]

9. Toro y Moi

Toro y Moi - Underneath The Pine
>Alternative / Electronic / Funk / some trippy chillwave parts

This album isn't really chillwave at all, and it bugs me when people label it as so. Amazing intro/closing tracks. There is one short track that is sort of a sequence track, and that's the only real chillwave song on the album if you ask me (Good Hold). The trippy effects on that song sound best when played on a good system and realllly loud. I don't understand when people call this album bland, because every song is sick and pretty different from one another. The one problem I have with this album is a couple of the songs I wish would last longer.. :( This album has been on heavy rotation ever since it's release in february.. too many good songs on it and it's just too fun to listnen to all the way through. I actually had to stop myself from listening to it for fear of it being overplayed/getting old. Luckily, it still hasn't.

[youtube] [mediafire] [lastfm]

8. James Blake

James Blake - self titled
>Electronic / Experimental / Soul

The first time I listened to this album, I thought it was laughably bad. A troll album, perhaps. Disregarded it as p4k hipster shit, until one of the songs realllly started to get stuck in my head (Measurements). Then ever so slowely i started to listen to more and more tracks from the album, until I found myself listening to it all thru completion, over and over and over. I guess it all really clicked when I actually invested money into a good pair of headphones... and because of that SICKEST DUBSTEP DROP OF 2011: JAMESBLAKE- LIMIT TO YOUR LOVE @ 0:55. Makes me want to crap myself it's so beautiful. If i could ever call any sort of music 'ear candy', it would be this album.

[youtube] [mediafire] [lastfm]

7. Cloud Nothings

Cloud Nothings - self titled
>lofi / garagepop

Best album this year @ under 30 minutes. Yet they still managed to pick 4 tracks to make music videos off of? Oh and all the music videos are amazing. Reminiscent of Superchunk & early smith westerns. My most listened to album from this year, according to lastfm.. but it's probably because of how short it is. Short and sweet as hell

[youtube] [mediafire] [lastfm]

6. Neon Indian

Neon Indian - Era Extraña
>Psychedelic / Chillwave

Another case of 'wow-the-debut-album-sucked-ass-but-their-sophomoric-album-is-god-tier'syndom. Chillwave artist at his best, doing what they're supposed to do. Making fun, beautiful sounding electronic trippy music, and that's all that this album is. I could just drone out with my headphones and fall into the wonderful sounds created by this dude. Lovely.

[youtube] [mediafire] [lastfm]

5. Krallice

Krallice - Diotima
>Black Metal

Typically I think that alll black metal bands should be atmospheric, and this is the best example of it. Pretty progressive sounding at times, lots of tremolo picking and whathaveyou. The tone of the shredding tho & especially how lenghty the songs can be, really do work at making it sound atmospheric and are reasoning why I love it. The lyrics & vocals aren't what leads the songs, it's the guitars. I get emotional & crazy goosebumps at multiple points through this album, just because of the mood & tone of the tremolo pickings.. especially around 4:50 of Telluric Rings, the final song on the album. Fuck. 7 Songs, over an hour long. With what I feel is amazing production & very fitting album art. Best metal release of the year.

[youtube] [mediafire] [lastfm]

4. Seapony

Seapony - Go With Me
>Surfy Tweepop

12 songs. 35 minutes. Every track is catchy as fuck. Wonderful guitarwork. Cute lyrics that aren't too cute (see best coast). I don't even know how else I can reason that this is my number 4. It's pretty much flawless tweepop :3. Listening to the track "Nobody Knows' (song I linked) on headphones and hearing the drums switch from the left to the right ear, so sick. It's little things like that alll throughout this album that make me love it tha tmuch more, and why i can't stop listening to it.

[youtube] [mediafire] [lastfm]

3. The Horrors

The Horrors - Skying
>NeoPsychedelic / Shoegaze / Postpunk

Another change in sound for the horrors, this time to a more psychedelic sound that's reminiscent of older bands like my bloody valentine. very large sounding songs with subtle brass instruments thrown in at times, really great stuff. The ending track is 7 minutes and probably the best song on the album.

[youtube] [mediafire] [lastfm]

2. Cut Copy

Cut Copy - Zonoscope
>Electronic / Alt Rock / Synthpop

Flawless album from the start to the final 15 minute epic closer. Great dancy tracks, some slower ones thrown in too. Cool lyrics which is a plus. They've released some pretty great music videos for songs off this album as well.

[youtube] [mediafire] [lastfm]

1. Real Estate

Real Estate - Days
>Psychpop / Indierock

An amazing follow up album to their self titled. Where their first was more sunny feeling and had songs about pools and sun, Days is a tad darker with songs about fall, leaves, and night. Someone related it to me as their self titled is the soundtrack of the drive to the beach, while Days is the drive home. A cleaner sounding album, with more emotion in the lyrics. Alex Bleeker sings on a track too, and like Cut Copy & The Horrors, it has an epic, lenghty closing track. They added a fifth member who plays the keyboard and it's subtly hidden in the back of tracks. I didn't even notice it the first few times I listened. Such a chill album, really. Best of the year, in my opinion. If you don't like, whatever. Hope you found at least something that you did. Cheers.

[youtube] [mediafire] [lastfm]