01 White Fence ‘Is Growing Faith’
‘Is Growing Faith’ was one of the first LPs I bought in January and it never quite got better than this.  I returned to it again and again for a multitude of reasons: it rushed like the British Invasion and swirled like early psychedelia; possessed the ability to shift from rural, cobweb-stricken folk to urgent garage-pop.  As warped and errant as the songs may seem, no one wrote a better collection this year than Tim Presely operating as White Fence.  Whenever I questioned this choice, I queued up the LP and lowered the stylus.  And the proof was always between the groves, just as it should be.

02 A Winged Victory for the Sullen ‘A Winged Victory for the Sullen’
The reigning hiatus of Stars of the Lid was once a thing of dread, fearing that never again would I hear the hallmarks of their vintage LPs.  Conversely, Adam Wiltzie partnered with pianist Dustin O’Halloran with an equally sublime result.  Not that this is SOTL 2.0, but Wiltzie’s approach of deep tones and hushed, symphonic wonderment is so markedly singular that it is impossible not to hear shades of his previous project.  O’Halloran proves to be a perfect complement as his piano notes give melody and buoyancy to the heavy drift of strings and room tone.

03 Kurt Vile ‘Smoke Ring for My Halo’
‘Smoke Ring’ was as invaluable as an old friend on those early mornings, lazy afternoons, and quiet nights.  And while Vile litters his songs with lyrics of ambivalence and laziness, this album strikes deep and true with taut songwriting and sublime, golden-hued atmospheres.  Here he takes the common tropes of folk and classic rock and spins them into something wholly his own.

04 Psychedelic Horseshit ‘Laced’
This album seemed invisible.  If it did garner the praise and notoriety it deserved I was certainly not privy to it.  And what a shame that is since Psychedelic Horseshit crafted one of the most beguiling and compelling records of 2011.  ‘Laced’ is the sound of shoegaze left out in the sun – hot, melted, and disfigured, while still retaining a true pop sensibility.  A gem.

05 Colin Stetson ‘New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges’
The boldest album of the year.  In many ways, my 2011 was bookended with this full-length LP and Stetson’s equally enticing 10”.  Each mapped the contours of a strange and twisted planet with an utterly new sound that was as violent and erratic as a madman, but also as controlled and precise as a chemist.  Solo saxophone music is not always something I seek out, but ‘Judges’ successfully creates an entirely different language replete with guest vocalists, a mixing process that involves 24 microphones for a single instrument, and a circular breathing technique that rivals the best marathon runners.

06 Sic Alps ‘Napa Asylum’
I’m not exactly sure how long Sic Alps took to write and record their glorious double LP ‘Napa Asylum,’ but anywhere between three days or three years would be believable.  On the first few listens, it may be easy to be distracted by their raw, off-the-cuff approach to songwriting.  But once it sinks in deeper it becomes clear the San Francisco trio are working on a different plane, and the album makes sense sonically when it has no right to theoretically.  Sic Alps know exactly how to hold back integral pieces to songs – the few perfectly placed piano notes in ‘Ranger’ or the tambourine in ‘Turtle Soup’ – and make you realize you didn’t know how bad you needed to hear them until they appear.  ‘Napa’ only further proves they are one of the most thoroughly exciting bands around.

07 The Cave Singers ‘No Witch’
It’s music for backwoods and barrooms, for campfires and whiskey.  But even if your surroundings didn’t always include those things, ‘No Witch’ elicited enough dust, humidity, and smoke to make it a reality.  The tradition of folk, blues, country, and rock and roll is as deep as anything in America and, from the remote corner of the Pacific Northwest, The Cave Singers mine all the right areas.  From the tender fiddle inflections of ‘Swim Club’ and the psychedelic undercurrents of ‘Outer Realms’ to the ragged electric guitars of ‘Black Leaf’ and the gospel evocations of ‘Haystacks,’ no album dug into Americana better than ‘No Witch.’

08 Jacaszek ‘Glimmer’
Part baroque classical, part electronic abstraction, ‘Glimmer’ assembles divergent styles with ease and fluidity.  Jacaszek plays pipe organ, harpsichord, Spanish guitar, harp, and many other instruments that are, in turn, blemished by digital manipulation, defaced by pitchshifting, and left as naked as their natural state.  Sonically, ‘Glimmer’ is utterly intoxicating: textural and abstract while retaining an immediacy and melodicism.  Little was as special as that combination in 2011.

09 Tim Hecker ‘Ravedeath, 1972′
Tim Hecker’s distortion-crusted drone was thought to be perfected with 2006’s ‘Harmony in Ultraviolet,’ but he has never recorded anything as imposing or blatantly powerful as ‘Ravedeath, 1972.’  A composite of many different elements end up creating the sound of ‘Ravedeath,’ but two things ultimately define it: guitar amplifiers and a cathedral.  These two components are at odds with each, one giving a raw, rough-hewn quality to the record while the other provides an immense, symphonic sound.  As always, the synthesis of the two is where the record triumphs.

10 Atlas Sound ‘Parallax’
Seemingly every year a Bradford Cox helmed album ends up in my top 10 list.  Though not quite as consistent and instantly catchy as ‘Logos,’ ‘Parallax’ is an extremely solid collection of songs that blends atmospheric debris and tremoloed guitar lines with clear-eyed acoustic ballads.  Of course, Cox is never one to rest on such a simple description, also utilizing loops, garage-rock stylings, and raw lyrics to color in his vibrant songs.  But no matter how he dresses them up, the pop melody is his ultimate muse and ‘Parallax’ is yet another endearing document of such an idea.

11 James Blake ‘James Blake’
I’m always curious to see what albums resonate with huge, broad media institutions like Time and Entertainment Weekly and appear on their year end lists.  James Blake landed on People magazine’s top ten list, which, given how unlikely his singer-songwriter/dubstep formula is, should not have surprised me in the least.

12 Frank Fairfield ‘Out on the Open West’
A true troubadour from yesteryear, Fairfield picked, plucked, and bowed a series of incredibly bare and stark folk songs on ‘West’ that would sound great in any era.

13 Ty Segall ‘Goodbye Bread’
This may be the most “conventional” rock record on the list, but Ty Segall has enough energy and verve that his classic sources – T Rex and Nirvana among them – seem to matter less than the instantly hummable songs he writes.

14 Pete Swanson ‘I Don’t Rock at All’
A busy year for the already prolific Pete Swanson.  ‘I Don’t Rock at All’ was the pinnacle with three extended electric guitar tracks that gristle with distortion and glitter with rich harmonics.

15 Tom Waits ‘Bad as Me’
At 62 years of age, Tom Waits has lost none of his trademark grit and intensity.  In fact, to these ears, ‘Bad as Me’ is one of his most striking, daring, and accessible statements yet.   No one writes a verse quite like him.

16 All Tiny Creatures ‘Harbors’
I’m slightly biased with this selection and I wasn’t really sure where to place it on the list.  But one thing is certain: it deserves to be here.  All Tiny Creatures disregard innumerable stereotypes and trends with their debut full-length and operate in a sound world wholly their own that is equal parts exacting electronic song-craft and abstract minimalism.

17 Six Organs of Admittance ‘Asleep on the Floodplain’
No matter how predictable a new Ben Chasny record may be – each contains familiar folk songs that are scuffed with feedback and imbued with drone – I’m pretty sure I would continue buying them for the next 50 years.

18 Earth ‘Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light’
It’s still slow, grinding, and unrelenting, but you don’t listen to Earth to hear sometime different than what’s come before.  You listen for the indelible patience, that perfectly sculpted guitar tone, and the progressions that seem to arc into infinity – all of which ‘Angels’ has in spades.

19 Collections of Colonies of Bees ‘Giving’
For the better part of 10 years, Collections of Colonies of Bees have been crafting some of the most imaginative and invigorating instrumental music this side of a laptop.  My only quibble?  ‘Giving’ clocks in at only 28 minutes.

20 The War on Drugs ‘Slave Ambient’
If you would have told me an album that splits its focus between Springsteen-esque rock anthems and analog sound experiments would have been anything but a failure I would not have believed you.  ‘Slave Ambient’ confirms just how wrong I was.