Forty of my favorite albums of the year.

1. Real Estate - Days
2. M83 - Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming
3. The War on Drugs - Slave Ambient
4. Bon Iver - Bon Iver
5. Atlas Sound - Parallax
6. Shabazz Palaces - Black Up
7. Toro Y Moi - Underneath the Pine
8. The Weeknd - House of Balloons
9. Washed Out - Within and Without
10. Destroyer - Kaputt
11. The Drums - Portamento
12. Youth Lagoon - The Year of Hibernation
13. Panda Bear - Tomboy
14. tUnE-yArDs - W H O K I L L
15. Tim Hecker - Ravedeath, 1972
16. Sandro Perri - Impossible Spaces
17. Gauntlet Hair - Gauntlet Hair
18. James Blake - James Blake
19. My Morning Jacket - Circuital
20. St. Vincent - Strange Mercy

The next twenty, in alphabetically order:

Battles - Glass Drop
Big K.R.I.T. - Return of 4Eva
Cults - Cults
Cut Copy - Zonoscope
Das Racist - Relax
Delay Trees - Delay Trees
Explosions in the Sky - Take Care, Take Care, Take Care
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie XX - We’re New Here
Girls - Father, Son, Holy Ghost
Holy Ghost! - Holy Ghost!
Jay-Z and Kanye West - Watch the Throne
Megafaun - Megafaun
Neon Indian - Era Extrana
Other Lives - Tamer Animals
Radiohead - The King of Limbs
Ryan Adams - Ashes and Fire
Smith Westerns - Dye It Blonde
Tennis - Cape Dory
YACHT - Shangri-La
Yuck - Yuck

Short reviews and Spotify links to the top 20 are at the following blog post: http://twoguns.tumblr.com/post/15204610 ... ms-of-2011

Favorite songs Spotify playlist: http://open.spotify.com/user/twogunshol ... tPhRhCvYYk

Favorite Music Video:


Youth Lagoon - "Montana"

That's a nice video. Thanks for posting. I like that song and album a lot and hadn't seen it before.

We've got a good bit of overlap this year. Maybe not the same favorites, but it seems like we listened to a lot of the same stuff. That Real Estate album really is great. So easy to enjoy. Same for Atlas Sound. Shabazz Palaces, Toro Y Moi, Youth Lagoon, Panda Bear, tUnE-yArDs, Tim Hecker, Sandro Perri (now that I've finally listened to it some), Battles, and Neon Indian are all really good, too.

Tommy, our tastes are always quite similar. Great listing, and thanks for the Spotify list.

Thanks you guys - you are two of the boarders whose taste I see similarities with mine, even if not always the same. Now off to check out your lists...

Not really much of a crossover with my list and some artists I really dislike (tune-yards, destroyer) but there's a bunch on here I need to give more listens to in the near future (bon iver, youth lagoon, gauntlet hair).

You and e-stone got some nice picks.

Chrissakes I have a general disdain for soloey sad music but this band can make me bawl. Great video.

I have to admit, this video does make the room a little dusty for me.

Despite my constant assurance to my wife that I do, in fact, listen to beach music she usually doesn't go to shows with me BUT she doesn't mind me still going to shows and making road trips to shows. I'm pretty lucky in that respect (we'll see how that goes once we have a kid, whenever that might be). Here's a few shots from my favorite shows of the year, in chronological order:

The Dismemberment Plan @ Webster Hall, NYC, 1/29/11



(got on stage for "Ice of Boston" - had been wanting to do for 10 years)

Futurebirds @ Evening Muse, Charlotte, NC, 4/7/11

Saw these guys a half-mile from where I live, which was fun. It had been announced that day that they were playing at Bonnaroo.

The Flaming Lips @ The Fillmore, Charlotte, NC, 5/17/11



Their light show was probably too much for a smaller venue, but it made it that more awesome.

My Morning Jacket @ Bonnaroo, 6/10/11



Favorite show of the year, hands down. Saw them in Charlotte a few months later, and it was also good in spite of a rain-shortened set. Also met up with Stu briefly at the !!! set. (Stu let me know if you'd prefer I not show)


Moog Fest, Asheville, NC, 10/28-10/31



Flying Lotus


TV on the Radio


M83

Megafaun @ The Evening Muse, 11/17/11



Sing-a-long in the crowd to end the set

All 346 photos from concerts this year are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/twoguns/se ... 405799181/

All concerts:
1/25/11 - Girl Talk - The Fillmore, Charlotte, NC
1/29/11 - The Dismemberment Plan - Webster Hall, NYC, NY
4/3/11 - Explosions in the Sky - Amos' Southend, Charlotte, NC
4/7/11 - Futurebirds - The Evening Muse, Charlotte, NC
4/9/11 - The Avett Brothers - Bojangles Coliseum, Charlotte, NC
4/14/11 - The Whigs - Neighborhood Theatre, Charlotte, NC
4/20/11 - Wavves - Dixie's Tavern, Charlotte, NC
5/17/11 - The Flaming Lips - The Fillmore, Charlotte, NC
6/9/11-6/12/11 - Bonnaroo Music Festival, Manchester, TN
8/21/11 - My Morning Jacket, Neko Case - Time Warner Cable Uptown Ampitheatre, Charlotte, NC
9/12/11 - TV on the Radio, Broken Social Scene - The Fillmore, Charlotte, NC
9/30/11 - Explosions in the Sky, Wye Oak - The Orange Peel, Asheville, NC
10/13/11 - Futurebirds - Visulite Theatre, Charlotte, NC
10/28/11-10/31/11 - Moogfest - Asheville, NC (The Antlers, Moby, The Field, Flying Lotus, TV on the Radio, Dan Deacon, CANT, Crystal Castles, The Flaming Lips, St. Vincent, Battles, M83, Neon Indian, James Murphy, Passion Pit)
11/17/11 - Megafaun - The Evening Muse, Charlotte, NC
11/23/11 - The Airborne Toxic Event - The Fillmore, Charlotte, NC