Year-End Lists

Obscure Sound: Best Albums of 2011

[see also 2025 • 2024]

1. Destroyer
   Kaputt
2. Girls
   Father, Son, Holy Ghost
3. Tom Waits
   Bad as Me
4. Atlas Sound
   Parallax
5. The Wind
   Harum Scarum
6. Real Estate
   Days
7. Shabazz Palaces
   Black Up
8. St. Vincent
   Strange Mercy
9. PJ Harvey
   Let England Shake
10. Smith Westerns
    Dye It Blonde
11. Toro y Moi
    Underneath the Pine
12. The Field
    Looping State of Mind
13. Junior Boys
    It’s All True
14. Julianna Barwick
    The Magic Place
15. Wolves in the Throne Room
    Celestial Lineage
16. Wild Beasts
    Smother
17. The Weeknd
    House of Balloons
18. Kate Bush
    50 Words for Snow
19. The Antlers
    Burst Apart
20. James Blake
    James Blake
21. Washed Out
    Within and Without
22. Cass McCombs
    WIT’S END
23. NewVillager
    New Villager
24. The Black Keys
    El Camino
25. Bonnie “Prince” Billy
    Wolfroy Goes to Town
26. Grimes & d’Eon
    Darkbloom
27. Timber Timbre
    Creep On Creepin’ On
28. Fleet Foxes
    Helplessness Blues
29. Tim Hecker
    Ravedeath, 1972
30. Russian Circles
    Empros
31. M83
    Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming
32. Colin Stetson
    New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges
33. Cass McCombs
    Humor Risk
34. Panda Bear
    Tomboy
35. Mr. Gnome
    Madness in Miniature
36. Marissa Nadler
    Marissa Nadler
37. Bon Iver
    Bon Iver
38. Cut Copy
    Zonoscope
39. Drake
    Take Care
40. The Mountain Goats
    All Eternals Deck
41. Beirut
    The Rip Tide
42. Neon Indian
    Era Extraña
43. Man Man
    Life Fantastic
44. Bill Callahan
    Apocalypse
45. John Maus
    We Must Become the Pitiless Censors of Ourselves
46. Gang Gang Dance
    Eye Contact
47. Matthew Herbert
    One Pig
48. Quichenight
    Quichenight I
49. Moonface
    Organ Music Not Vibraphone Like I’d Hoped
50. Dirty Beaches
    Badlands