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It’s always a little weird seeing Best-of lists. Trying to objectively rank music, of which taste and appreciation is pretty subjective, is pretty much impossible. No matter how I see the “best” albums of the year, other people will have different opinions. As a result, this is not a best-of list, this is my favourite albums of 2011. Feel free to disagree and to give your own opinions.

I liked a lot of music that was released in 2011 and couldn’t fit everything in the top 10, so here’s the honourable mentions, in no particular order: Theft - The Hard Way, Girls - Father, Son, Holy Ghost, Explosions In The Sky - Take Care, Take Care, Take Care, Foo Fighters – Wasting Light, Sloan - The Double Cross, Cake - Showroom of Compassion, Radiohead - The King of Limbs, MuteMath - Odd Soul, R.E.M. – Collapse Into Now, The Decemberists – The King Is Dead

My favourite mixtape of the year was Wed, White and Wu by Playdough and Heath McNeese and my favourite EP was The Schomberg Fair with Mercy. Now onto the top 10:

10. Wye Oak – Civilian: Saw them open for The National and the biggest thing I can remember is their drummer one handing most of the songs while playing chords on the keyboard. This was cool to see but seemed unnecessary as they seemingly played with a number of backing tracks, so why not just have the keyboards as a backing track and let the drummer concentrate on keeping time?

9. TallHART - Sister of Mine: Released under the name Marksmen, the band had to change their name upon finding out that someone was already using the name Marksmen. Most lists seem to have one obscure pick and this one is mine. That’s not to say that it’s only list solely because it’s obscure. It’s fantastic. They’ve got a pretty heavy David Bazan/Pedro The Lion influence, so if you like that, check them out.

8. Danielson – Best of Gloucestor County: Danielson is a bit of an acquired taste. His shrill falsetto has softened quite a bit over the years, but it still takes a while to get used to. This isn’t the best album the group has put out but still makes it into the top 10.

7. Library Voices – Summer Of Lust: Some great power pop from Saskatchewan. It’s not quite The New Pronographers but these songs are catchy and will stay in your mind.

6. Cold War Kids – Mine Is Yours: Had this album been released in the latter part of the year, it might’ve been higher. I know a lot of the band’s long time fans felt this album was a bit too commercialized, but I liked the more accessible sound and would really recommend this as a starting point if you’re getting into the band’s discography.

5. Seryn – This Is Where We Are: It’s a little tough to classify this album. The band comes from Texas, so there’s a strong folky/kind-of alt-country vibe here but it’s so much more than that. We Will All Be Changed was a fantastic song and may be the song that I most remember from 2011.

4. Bruce Peninsula – Open Flames: This was probably the album that I most looked forward to in 2011. After they took a break while the lead singer battled cancer, they finally released the album and it did not disappoint. Not quite as folky as their debut album, it took me a little while to warm up to it but it is amazing.

3. Bon Iver – Bon Iver, Bon Iver: There’s not much I can say about this that you haven’t already read as this topped or at least made everyone’s best-of lists for 2011. If you don’t know who they are, check out this album and For Emma, Forever Ago.

2. Thrice – Major/Minor: Another great release from Thrice. I love the mature lyrics get sung over fantastic musicianship. They can be a little over-serious at times but it’s pretty amazing. I was a little sad to hear that they’re taking a break, but hopefully they’ll be back at it in a couple years.

1. Social Distortion – Hard Times & Nursery Rhymes: I love the punk-influenced, folk/country. Mike Ness’ voice just pairs well with his lyrics of drinking, struggling through life and the other topics that you expect to find in a country song. This was definitely the album that I listened to the most in 2011.

So there you have it. I know I took a little bit longer than most people, but I’ve finally finished my wrap up of 2011 and it only took until the middle of January. I just need to make a mention that this is the first episode of year #4 of Jared’s Podcast. Now onto the playlist:

Shad & Dallas – Live Forever

Wye Oak – Two Small Deaths from “Civilian”
TallHART – The Bottle or the Man from “Sister of Mine”
Danielson – People’s Partay from “Best of Gloucestor County”
Library Voices – If Raymond Carver Were Born In The 90′s from “Summer of Lust”

Cold War Kids – Mine Is Yours from “Mine Is Yours”
Seryn – We Will All Be Changed from “This is Where We Are”
Bruce Peninsula – As Long As I Live from “Open Flames”
Bon Iver – Holocene from “Bon Iver, Bon Iver”

Thrice – Anthology from “Major/Minor”
Social Distortion – Still Alive from “Hard Times & Nursery Rhymes”

The Prayer Chain – Mercury from “Humb”

Thanks for listening and I’ll see you next week.

Jared (@mtroads1)