2011 Albums Poll: Stats and Ballots Hoedown of Truth

http://karamcmanus.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/gorilla_shark_nice_high_five.jpg

Mixed ballot.

WEIGHTED
Destroyer - Kaputt
Toro y Moi - Underneath the Pine
Bon Iver - Bon Iver
Bibio - Mind Bokeh
Real Estate - Days
Holy Ghost! - Holy Ghost!
Britney Spears - Femme Fatale
tUnE-yArDs - w h o k i l l
Ford & Lopatin - Channel Pressure
DJ Quik - Book of David
Radiohead - King of Limbs
Kate Bush - 50 Words for Snow

UNWEIGHTED
Friendly Fires - Pala
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx - We're New Here
Jessica Lea Mayfield - Tell Me
Junior Boys - It's All True
M83 - Hurry Up We're Dreaming
Memory Tapes - Player Piano
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Belong
Yuck - Yuck

Bolded = did not place, bolded & underlined = I was the only voter.

John Maus - We Must Become the Pitiless Censors of Ourselves
Eleanoora Rosenholm - Hyväile Minua Pimeä Tähti
Julia Holter - Tragedy
Veronica Falls - Veronica Falls
Kogumaza - Kogumaza
Ga'an - Black Equus
Chain & the Gang - Music's Not for Everyone
Call Back the Giants - The Rising
Comet Gain - the Howl of the Lonely Crowd
Moon Duo - Mazes
Clams Casino - Instrumentals
Zun Zun Egui - Katang
ILX Presents - LULU
Heatsick - Intersex
English Heretic - Plan for the Kidnap of Princess Anne
Perfume - JPN
Kemper Norton - Libraries Act EP
Peepholes - Caligula
The Advisory Circle - As the Crow Flies
James Ferraro - Far Side Virtual
Hong Kong in the '60s - My Fantoms
Thee Oh Sees - Castlemania
Sun Araw - Ancient Romans
Maria Minerva - Cabaret Cixous
Various Artists - Colombia 45

I am 6th least hivemindy.
I am 8th least fuxxory, with the 9th best anti-fuxxor quotient.
I am 6th least popular on spotify.
I am 33rd most lonely.

I knew that last one would be a lot lower than the tracks one, as Craigo Boingo bothered to vote in this one. Unsurprisingly, he is my closest neighbour.

It goes to show what a good year for me and albums 2011 was, as although I am pretty un-hivemindy, and my highest placer was #33, I still felt like I did really well. There were probably another ten albums that made it that only just missed my ballot.

weighted

Kendrick Lamar - Section.80
Diddy-Dirty Money - Love Love vs. Hate Love
Araabmuzik - Electronic Dream
DJ Quik - Book of David
Beyonce - 4
Wolf + Lamb vs Soul Clap - DJ Kicks
Drake - Take Care
Gang Gang Dance - Eye Contact
Steffi - yours & mine
Maybach Music Group - self made vol. 1
Lloyd - King of Hearts
Katy B - On A Mission
Meek Mill - Dreamchasers
Max B - vigilante season
French Montana - Coke Boys 2
Maceo Plex - life index
Laura Marling - A Creature I Don't Know
Don Trip & Starlito - step brothers
Gunplay - inglorius bastards
Shabazz Palaces - Black Up
Denis Kurtel - music watching over me
Goapele - break of dawn
Tity Boi aka 2 Chainz - Codeine Cowboy
Schoolboy Q - setbacks
Lil B - I'm Gay

Weighted

01. The Beach Boys - The Smile Sessions
02. Rustie - Glass Swords
03. tUnE-yArDs - w h o k i l l
04. Modular - Sinfonías Para Terrícolas
05. Katy B - On A Mission
06. Nicolas Jaar - Space Is Only Noise
07. Kate Bush - 50 Words for Snow
08. The High Llamas - Talahomi Way
09. Azari & III - Azari & III
10. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
11. Jay-Z & Kanye West - Watch The Throne
12. Yes - Fly From Here
13. Laura Marling - A Creature I Don't Know
14. Cher Lloyd - Sticks + Stones
15. Bruno Mars - Doo Wops & Hooligans
16. The Advisory Circle - As The Crow Flies
17. Opeth - Heritage
18. Rush - Time Machine 2011: Live in Cleveland
19. Thundercat - The Golden Age of Apocalypse
20. Various Artists - Horse Meat Disco III
21. Wolf + Lamb vs Soul Clap - DJ Kicks
22. Beyoncé - 4
23. Nicola Roberts - Cinderella's Eyes
24. Hong Kong in the 60s - My Fantoms
25. Various Artists - ILX Presents: LULU

In the normal run of things, I wouldn't have put The Smile Sessions at the head of my ballot. But as my real album of 2011 (Last Train To Paris) was not eligible for this poll, but the Beach Boys were, I just swapped them in for DDM.

Hi, sorry may I have my ballot please. Many thanks for all your hard work guys.

I'm kinda surprised Smile didn't do better, but I guess it's sort of a reissue and not a lot of people have the full box.

weighted
1-Frank Ocean - Nostalgia/Ultra
2-Metronomy - The English Riviera
3-Tyler, The Creator - Goblin
4-French Montana - Coke Boys 2
5-Girls - Father, Son...
6-Los Campesinos! - Hello Sadness
7-Veronica Falls - S/T
8-White Denim - D
9-Joy Formidable - Big Roar
10-Killer Mike - Pl3dge

Unweighted
DJ Quik - Book Of David
Drake - Take Care
Elzhi - Elmatic
EMA - Past Life Martyred Saints
Gucci Mane - Writings On The Wall 2
Gucci Mane/Future - Free Bricks
Kool G Rap - Riches, Royalty & Respect
Meek Mill - Dreamchasers
Nicolas Jaar - Space Is Only Noise
Pusha T - Fear Of God II
Rapture - In The Grace Of Your Love
Tuneyards - Whokill
Wiz Khalifa - Rolling Papers
Young Bleed - Preserved
Young Dro - Equestrian Dro

Is 'Lair' on that Peepholes record emil.y? Not the easiest band to google search for. The only thing I've heard is the erock remix of lair and I liked that a lot.

i felt very smug about having saved a copy of my ballot and not having to ask "could you e-mail my ballot?" on the singles poll thread, but then the computer i saved my ballot on is acting weird or is possibly dead :(

will have to check the things on tpp's ballot i haven't heard judging by how much i like the stuff on it i have heard.

Weighted.

Julia Holter - Tragedy
John Maus - We Must Become The Pitiless Censors of Ourselves
Veronica Falls - Veronica Falls
Hype Williams - One Nation
The Andersen Tapes - As I Write 'Today' Ten Times
Heatsick - Intersex
James Ferraro - far side virtual
Call Back the Giants - The Rising
Pheromoans - It Still Rankles
Tim Hecker - Ravedeath, 1972
Colin Stetson – New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges
Kogumaza - Kogumaza
Clams Casino - Instrumentals
Frank Ocean - Nostalgia/Ultra
Humousexual - Grenzenlos
Borden, Ferraro, Godin, Halo & Lopatin - FRKWYS 7
Comet Gain - the Howl of the Lonely Crowd
Niggas With Guitars - Ethnic Frenzy
Andy Stott - Passed Me By/We Stay Together
Cut Hands - Afro Noise I
Lil B - Angel's Exodus
The Advisory Circle - As the Crow Flies
Chris Watson - El Tren Fantasma
Zomby - Dedication
Grouper - Alien Observer/Dream Loss

Nominations for the 2012 eoy poll start on Monday, btw. ;)

mixed ballot - Bold did not place in 77

Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - Blood Lust
Corrupted - Garten der Unbewusstheit
Eleanoora Rosenholm – Hyväile Minua Pimeä Tähti
Mastodon - The Hunter
Ghost - Opus Eponymous
Ulver - Wars of the Roses
Yob - Atma
Hammers Of Misfortune - 17th Street
The Cosmic Dead - The Cosmic Dead
Zombi - Escape Velocity
Peaking Lights - 936
Rene Hell - The Terminal Symphony

Boris - Heavy Rocks
Oneohtrix Point Never - Replica
Pedro Magina - 1985
Subrosa - No Help For The Mighty Ones
Sun Araw - Ancient Romans
40 Watt Sun - The Inside Room
Boris - Attention Please
Xander Harris - Urban Gothic
Woods - Sun And Shade
Wolves in the Throne Room - celestial lineage
Grayceon - All We Destroy
Grouper - Alien Observer/Dream Loss
Liturgy - Aesthetica

7/25

Deaf Center - Owl Splinters
Teams vs. Star Slinger - Teams vs. Star Slinger
Hatchback - Zeus and Apollo
Philip Marshall - Casse-tête
Ken Seeno - Invisible Surfer on an Invisible Wave
Dawn Richard - A Prelude To A Tell Tale Heart
Time Wharp - later.
Death Grips - Ex-Military
Chris Watson - El Tren Fantasma
Borden, Ferraro, Godin, Halo & Lopatin - FRKWYS 7
Julia Kent - Green + Grey
Tim Hecker - Ravedeath, 1972
Pedro Magina - 1985
Ben Fleury-Steiner - The Places That Find You
Spaceghostpurrp - blackland radio 66.6 (1991)
Peaking Lights - 936
Zodiac Free Arts Club - Floating World

I am 16th least hivemindy.
I am 7th most lonely.

Only voted for 15 albums, bold missed the top 77:

Lamb - 5
PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
The Mountain Goats - All Eternals Deck
Kendrick Lamar - Section.80
Florence + the Machine - Ceremonials
Austra - Feel It Break
Beyonce - 4
Emika - Emika
When Saints Go Machine - Konkylie
M83 - Hurry Up We're Dreaming
Planningtorock - W
Schoolboy Q - setbacks
Jay-Z & Kanye West - Watch The Throne
Gus Gus - arabian horse
ILX Presents - LULU

how do people vote for less than the max albums, does not compute

at the time I voted, there were only 15 albums on the nomination list that I actually cared about

I voted for my full 25, but really everything below 15 or so was just filler I half-liked.

(of course, i can't look at my ballot right now—it's at home—so that's probably not true.)

Mixed (the ones in bold were the ones that placed):

Julianna Barwick - The Magic Place
Pinch & Shackleton - pinch & shackleton
Roman Flügel - Fatty Folders

Bill Orcutt - How The Thing Sings
Charalambides - Exile
Container - LP
Deaf Center - Owl Splinters
Ellen Fullman - Through Glass Panes
Implodes - Black Earth
Laurel Halo - Hour Logic
Legowelt - the teac life
Martyn - Ghost People
Master Musicians of Bukkake - Totem Three***
Morphosis - What have we learned
Motion Sickness Of Time Travel - Luminaries & Synastry
Natural Snow Buildings - Waves of the Random Sea***
Nils Frahm - Felt***
Patten - GLAQJO XAACSSO***
Pete Swanson - Man With Potential***
Richard Youngs - Amplifying Host
Rustie - glass swords
Stephan Mathieu - A Static Place
Surgeon - Breaking The Frame
Tim Hecker - Ravedeath, 1972
Wild Beasts - Smother

*** = I was the only voter for these

Is 'Lair' on that Peepholes record emil.y? Not the easiest band to google search for. The only thing I've heard is the erock remix of lair and I liked that a lot.

― pandemic, Thursday, February 2, 2012 9:32 PM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

No, it's not on the album. Not heard that remix but I see it's on soundcloud. As are a bunch of other tracks, for anyone who's interested.

how do people vote for less than the max albums, does not compute

a lot of the albums that i really liked werent even nominated so i just voted for the things in my top 30 that i could

ordered:

Prurient - bermuda drain
Moon Duo - Mazes
Colin Stetson – New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges
Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - Blood Lust
John Maus - We Must Become The Pitiless Censors of Ourselves
Acid Mothers Temple & the Melting Paraiso U.F.O. - Pink Lady Lemonade ~ You're From Inner Space
Xeno & Oaklander - Sets & Lights
Hills - Master Sleeps
Wooden Shjips - West
Tity Boi aka 2 Chainz - Codeine Cowboy
The Cosmic Dead - The Cosmic Dead
DJ Quik - Book of David
Lil B - I'm Gay
Staccato Du Mal - Sin Destino
Martial Canterel - You Today
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx - We're New Here
Toro y Moi - Underneath the Pine
Rene Hell - The Terminal Symphony
Com Truise - Galactic Melt
Lou Reed and Metallica - Lulu

Natural Snow Buildings - Waves of the Random Sea***

although i should have voted for this, i missed it on the noms list

We could have got it in the top 600 u fule!

yeah i mean i didn't participate in the nomination thread then i might not have had 25 albums i wanted to vote for, it kind of helps to do both

lol I did participate in nominations, how do you think the Lamb album got on there in the first place

I also only voted for 15, because that was how many I heard last year that I felt strongly about. I didn't want to toss votes to stuff I half-liked to pad out my ballot. Pretty much everything I wanted to vote for was nominated (by me or others).

Weighted, bold missed top 77:

Argus - Boldly Strode The Doomed
Primordial - Redemption At The Puritan's Hand
Hammers Of Misfortune - 17th Street
40 Watt Sun - The Inside Room
The Feelies - Here Before
Witch Mountain - South Of Salem
Blood Ceremony - Living With The Ancients
Metal Mountains - Golden Trees
Opeth - Heritage
Turisas - Stand Up And Fight
In Solitude - The World, The Flesh, The Devil
Subrosa - No Help For The Mighty Ones
Lamb - 5
Real Estate - Days
Death Grips - Ex-Military
Shooting Guns - Born To Deal In Magic: 1952-1976
The Original 7ven - Condensate
The Psychic Paramount - II
Yob - Atma
Sungrazer - Mirador
Joe Henry - Reverie
Lykke Li - Wounded Rhymes
Ufesas - Ufesas
The Mountain Goats - All Eternals Deck
Veronica Falls - Veronica Falls

ultimately I spent most of the year listening to singles and focusing on a few artists rather than exploring a bunch of new albums by new people; also, a good 60% of the stuff I investigated this year ended up really, really sucking so it's not like I was going to put it on my ballot just because I heard it (looking at you, new Skinny Puppy album)

I nominated the majority of things I voted for. As I said upthread, I think this year was great for me and albums, I could have voted for more without invoking the filler. But usually at least my bottom five are just things I think are okay and I should throw a few points, not things I'm passionate about at all.

i'm an annoying non-saver too, emailed ballot would be much appreciated (singles too, actually. i requested on the singles thread but you'd prob had enough by then). thanks in advance!

yeah i mean i didn't participate in the nomination thread then i might not have had 25 albums i wanted to vote for, it kind of helps to do both

i did but i also nominated a bunch of tracks. some of the stuff that i didnt nominate like main attrakionz i was sure someone else would have but obv not. i mean in the end i figure if no one but me cares enough about the album not to nominate it then its never going to place so who cares. but im not going to vote for stuff i dont really like either

Everyone who asked for a ballot should have got ILXmails, shout if I missed you.

lamp would you agree with me that the "nominate 25 albums OR singles" thing is a totally stupid arbitrary policy that should be abandoned in future polls?

i do

my man

there's probably a rational explanation

How many albums/tracks do you think the maximum should be? This year we allowed 50 for metal poll and about 75% of ballots did all 50.

for voting not nominating (no limits on nominations for metal poll)

had no idea there was a metal poll this year.

if no one but me cares enough about the album not to nominate it then its never going to place so who cares.

I use the ilx albums ballot to sort through in my own mind what my favourite albums of the year were. So I like to be able to vote for anything I've liked. Also, people might notice the names in the nominations period or even afterwards, and a bit of exposure for some of the more esoteric stuff is always good.

For some reason I don't care so much about any of this with tracks. I might nominate a couple, but for the most part I just throw some points at stuff I kinda like that other people have nominated.

We had over a thousand tracks noms and just under a thousand album noms with people using the 25-for-both limit. In the past, it's been 15-for-both, and those polls produced satisfactory results as well. I know the metal poll favors unlimited nominations, but that's because a thousand albums are never going to be nominated. Placing a cap, like we do, on the general eoy poll is the only real restriction that exists. Reissues and comps generally count. We even let in tracks from albums one or two years old if the track itself had some significance in the year of polling.

Trust others to account for the things you missed or, if you don't trust them to, wait until the end of the nominations period nears and plug in obscurities or overlooked things as necessary.

I'm open to expanding the cap on nominations. I also thought it might save hassle to "preload" the noms list with e.g. the Pitchfork/FACT/Resident Advisor/Wire/whatever EOY lists.

What won't happen is (a) getting rid of nominations (b) unlimited nominations. The former just isn't feasible with the vote-counting setup we have. The latter is technically possible but I think it's important that the nominations list be compact enough to read through and shortlist from. I did at one point think we could in principle download a list of every album released in 2011 from RYM or Musicbrainz, but the resulting list would be a nightmare for voters to work with.

wait until the end of the nominations period nears and plug in obscurities or overlooked things as necessary.

what i did, then forgot to vote for some of them

Weighted, though next time will definitely do a mixed ballot. the order looks weird as hell to me just a month later:

PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
Julianna Barwick - The Magic Place
Peaking Lights - 936
The Advisory Circle - As the Crow Flies
Araabmuzik - Electronic Dream
Walls - Coracle
Kuedo - Severant
Pinch & Shackleton - pinch & shackleton
BNJMN - Black Square
NGUZUNGUZU - The Perfect Lullaby
Laurel Halo - Hour Logic
Nikkiya - Speakher
Andy Stott - Passed Me By/We Stay Together
Legowelt - the teac life
Morphosis - What have we learned
Grouper - Alien Observer/Dream Loss
Fatima Al Qadiri - Genre-Specific Xperience
Boy Better Know - Tropical 2
Jon Brooks - Music For Thomas Carnacki (Radiophonic Themes & Abstracts)
Sandwell District - Feed-Forward
Sidi Toure - Sahel Folk
Ballaké Sissoko & Vincent Segal - Chamber Music
Demdike Stare - Tryptych
Various Artists - Bangs & Works Vol.II
Tim Hecker - Ravedeath, 1972

Mixed ballot. Bold = outside 77

Patrick Wolf - Lupercalia - 129
Braids - Native Speaker - 92
Beyonce - 4 - 4
NGUZUNGUZU - The Perfect Lullaby
Katy B - On A Mission - 3
Jamie Woon - Mirrorwriting - 200
Los Campesinos! - Hello Sadness - 170
Young Galaxy - Shapeshifting - 78
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Belong - 133
Patrick Stump - Soul Punk - 82
Cher Lloyd - Sticks + Stones - 92
tUnE-yArDs - w h o k i l l
Pistol Annies - Hell on Heels
EMA - Past Life Martyred Saints
Nikkiya - Speakher - 121

Beth Ditto - EP - 348
Diddy-Dirty Money - Love Love vs. Hate Love - 79
Destroyer - Kaputt - 1
Lady Gaga - Born This Way
Grimes - Geidi Prime - 261
Dum Dum Girls - Only In Dreams - 299
Nicolas Jaar - Space Is Only Noise
Kami-Sakunobe House Explosion – Routes Not Roots - 334
Kendrick Lamar - Section.80
When Saints Go Machine - Konkylie - 77

hi-fiving you on your ballot rob

this is a rough recreation of my (weighted) ballot, might have one album wrong and another a couple spots off from where it was:

The Joy Formidable - The Big Roar
Patrick Stump - Soul Punk
Lloyd - King of Hearts
The Disciplines - Virgins Of Menace
Meek Mill – Dreamchasers
E-40 - Revenue Retrievin'
Lady Gaga - Born This Way
Lou Reed & Metallica – Lulu
Tity Boi (2 Chainz) - Codeine Cowboy
Raphael Saadiq - Stone Rollin'
DJ Quik - The Book of David
The Foo Fighters - Wasting Light
Robin Thicke - Love After War
Wye Oak - Civilian
Butch Walker And The Black Widows - The Spade
Fiend (International Jones) - Tennis Shoes & Tuxedos
They Might Be Giants - Join Us
Beyonce – 4
Mouse On Tha Track - Swagga Fresh Freddie
Sloan - The Double Cross
Sonic Youth - simon werner a disparu
Craig Wedren - Wand
Dawn Richard - A Prelude To A Tell Tale Heart
Marsha Ambrosuis - Late Nights & Early Mornings
Yellowbirds - The Color

man that foo fighters album?

There are two albums that I regret not nominating because I enjoyed them quite a bit and I think others would have enjoyed them too: (my apologies if this is not the place to do this, I just didn't know where else to put it except the postmortem thread since it's obvs too late for these babies)

(1) Book of Sand -- Bees and the Butterflies
MN black metal band gives a noisy drony black metal treatment to trad folk ballads, like Young Girl Cut Down in Her Prime, which is my favorite. Hard to choose a real favorite though, they're all really good if this is your kind of thing and it is totally my kind of thing. I just forgot it came out in 2011 ;_; http://bookofsand.bandcamp.com/album/the-bees-and-the-butterflies

(2) Steve Hauschildt - Tragedy & Geometry
I forgot about this because I have the LP and it's not on my computer, but this is the Emerald who is not Mark McGuire (who didn't get enough attn for A Young Person's Guide, which would appeal to anyone who voted for M83, I believe) If you like 80s new age synths (soundtracks in partic, think Vangelis or Tangerine Dream during the soundtrack era) without much cheez (and people seemed to like that kind of thing this year), this is your album. Some people may find it dull, but I find it warm and pleasant. http://open.spotify.com/album/7JVc3UgVZxgYXNbimO6k9v

Maybe those were nominated and I just accidentally didn't see them, but I don't think so? I guess I could have checked before I posted that, but well I didn't.

man that foo fighters album?

― Lamp, Monday, February 6, 2012 10:35 AM (12 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

haha what, is there any way that ISN'T 'votes very much in character'?

yeah fair enough

I'd do a rundown of where I heard stuf like Lex/dog latin but most of my votes are from people on outloud, whether it be Kerr, Rev, La Lechera, emil.y, or crut, or whoever...

I like the Hauschildt album too, though I guess my critical opinion of it is affected by the feeling that it doesn't really stand out (for me) in the midst of all the synth revivalism that preceded and succeeded it. It was on an early draft of my ballot fwiw.

And the answer to "where did you hear (of) X first?" is going to be something like 1/3 ILM, 1/3 Boomkat mailouts, 1/3 Spotify Related Artists. No interesting stories to tell.

I like it because it sounds exactly how I want it to sound, with no extra clutter like, gasp, SINGING ;)

First heard (of), in my case: about half via ILM, then a broad mixture of other sources. Stumbled across the Thundercat album in Sounds Of The Universe, heard tune-yards on Resonance FM. Modular emailed me direct.

About half of mine were albums by artists I already liked. The other half were discovered through either ILM or the Stylus Staff Message Board.

#humblebrag

xp Oh, and my brother specifically recommended Real Estate. Saw the name all over the place, but I probably wouldn't have given the band a listen (at least not until they showed up in the P4K tracks list) if he hadn't suggested I do so.

#humblebrag

Is this directed at me?

Haha it wasn't meant as any sort of dig, I just didn't even realize a Stylus staff message board would even still exist!

i got my msg board membership revoked for not contributing enough reviews like 4 months before the mag folded :(

xp It exists. I don't really hang out there much, but I do take notice when people enthuse about certain albums.

For completeness: I guess I probably read about a couple of things in The Wire or on Dusted, but I can't remember what/where/when (maybe Escort? And Matana Roberts?).

dog latin you first heard uncle acid and the deadbeats when i played them in outloud and you flipped

That's right mang - don't remember where I first heard of them though.

Something I wish I'd nominated/voted for was some of the Ekoplekz / Bass Clef releases, but those fuckers released so many albums and eps last year I couldn't really pick just one.

Weighted ballot:

Zomby - Dedication
Thurston Moore - Demolished Thoughts
Björk - Biophilia
Egyptrixx - Bible Eyes
Robag Wruhme - Thora Vukk
Fen - Epoch
John Maus - We Must Become The Pitiless Censors of Ourselves
Nicolas Jaar - Space Is Only Noise
Diddy-Dirty Money - Love Love vs. Hate Love
Panda Bear - Tomboy
Container - LP
Meshell Ndegeocello - Weather
Demdike Stare - Tryptych
The Mountain Goats - All Eternals Deck
Wolf + Lamb vs Soul Clap - DJ Kicks
E-40 - Revenue Retrievin: Overtime Shift/Graveyard Shift
DJ Quik - Book of David
Kuedo - Severant
Raphael Saadiq - Stone Rollin'
Kingdom - Dreama EP
Schoolboy Q - setbacks
Walls - Coracle
Gang Gang Dance - Eye Contact
Tinariwen - Tassili
Kate Bush - 50 Words for Snow

yeah I decided to do a rundown anyways so heres your warning

list breakdown:

stuff outloud cru got me into:

Algerian Goalie:
2. Obake - s/t (along with it making Rockarolla & Quietus lists)
3. Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats - Blood Lust (during his self-ban; he was trying to get me to post about it in the doom/stoner/space metal thread so that it could keep going)
4. Windhand - s/t
18. Subrosa - No Help for the Mighty Ones (actually this is more from the aforementioned doom/stoner/space metal thread)

La Lechera:
19. v/a - Colombia 45

The Reverend:
12. Thundercat - The Golden Age of Apocalypse (snuck in my ballot on the last minute; night before I voted he played it, describing it as awesome fusion record by Suicidal Tendencies/Erykah Badu bass player. It totally was what I wanted this year's Me'shell album to sound like)
13. Shabazz Palaces - Black Up

crut:
6. Acid Mothers Temple - Pink Lady Lemonade - You're From Inner Space (actually this was from crut's EoY album nominations in the sandbox; o.g. Pink Lady Lemonade is one of my favorite songs of the 90s)
8. The Cosmic Dead - s/t (or Cozmik Tape I) (crut was there for the Uncle Acid/space metal thread, recommended these guys' bandcamp page)

emil.y:

20. John Maus - We Must Become the Pitiless Censors of Ourselves (a confluence of emil.y playing it in outloud, it making the Quietus half-year list, and Le Bateau Ivre posting "Hey Moon" in Whiney's thread iirc)

the other albums
1. Belong - Common Era (ilxor recommendation from one of the several "what's good in 2011?" threads)
5. Peaking Lights - 936 (mostly from the rolling psych/drone/freak thread, though part of it was def realizing that Not Not Fun released a couple of my favorite albums from last year too. It took me a long time to realize that it wasn't supposed to be like the last Pocahaunted album, and when I did, its shoegazer dub awesomeness opened up to me)
7. The Psychic Paramount - II (also from the psych/drone/freak thread, along with the crazy psychedelia thread which I thought was implying that PP's first album sounded like somewhere between the first Comets on Fire album and Electric Heavyland...not quite...)
9. Katy B - On a Mission (first learned about her from "Katy on a Mission" placing in tracks last year; really liked everything I heard and just followed her thread)
10. Pistol Annies - Hell on Heels (one of my facebook friends was into this album, but it wasn't until hearing about it on ILX and realizing that none of their songs were being played on my local country station that I decided to check it out)
11. Gang Gang Dance - Eye Contact (from ILX)
14. Brute Heart - Lonely Hunter (from Ned's response when he saw me enthusing about the Kellies album)
15. Colin Stetson - New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges (recommendation from ilxor, same time that he recommended Belong)
16. La Big Vic - Actually (from Johnny Fever posting about it in the album covers thread; chalk that up to another Outloud cru find)
17. Blanck Mass - s/t (Last.fm recommendation when they noticed how much I was listening to Belong and Peaking Lights)
21. Hills - Master Sleeps (from fastnbulbous's year-end Psych Rock list)
22. Blood Ceremony - Living With the Ancients (from a Quietus review)
23. David Kilgour and the Heavy Eights - Left by Soft (from some thread about The Clean; Ned's high recommendation helped a lot)
24. Weedeater - Jason...the Dragon (another ilxor recommendation)
25. Kellies - Las Kellies (DJ Mencap recommendation about Argetinian all-girl post punk band sounding like ESG, Slits, B-52's, etc & produced by Dennis Bovell. TOTAL Drugs-bait)

Cosmic Dead blurb supposed to say: crut was there for the Uncle Acid/space metal thread conversation fwiw

Saw The Cosmic Dead play live in 2011 to about 6 ppl and a dog. Very strange experience.

Sounds like a pretty great experience to me!

That sounds like an A+ experience.

King - The Story EP - Erykah Badu's twitter ^__________________^
Beyonce - 4 - when everyone else did
DJ Quik - Book of David - when the original version of "Nobody" dropped a couple years back
Kendrick Lamar - Section.80 - Fader or Tumblin' Erb or something. Didn't check it out for a while after it dropped.
Boy Better Know - Tropical 2 - ILX, although I was familiar with BBK before
E-40 - Revenue Retrievin: Overtime Shift/Graveyard Shift - Tumblin Erb, I think? when "My Lil Grimey Nigga" dropped
Shabazz Palaces - Black Up - local buzz
Diddy-Dirty Money - Love Love vs. Hate Love - ILX? might have seen it on a blog. obv was checking out anything out of that camp after LTTP
Katy B - On a Mission - first heard about her from the funky house thread when "As I" and "Tell Me" came out a few years back. Was stoked for the album when "On a Mission" and "Lights On" came out.

Kingdom - Dreama EP - from the Fade to Mind website, I think? I'd already heard "Stalker Ha" and maybe other tracks in mixes tho
Na'Tee - Guess Who's Coming 2 Dinner - gun sounds thread
Nguzunguzu - Timesup EP - heard tracks in mixes
The Dirtbombs - Party Store - P4k?
New Look - New Look - ILX
Fatima Al Qadiri - Genre-Specific Xperience - DIS? Fader?
Young L - Praktica - his twitter
Danny Brown - XXX - found out about his last album from ILX, checked this one out on the strength of that
Nikkiya - Speakher - ILX r&b thread, new her from the Yelawolf album
MikeQ - Let It All Out EP - Fade to Mind website
Thundercat - Golden Age of Apocalypse - Fader, but I already knew him as E. Badu's bassist
DJ Diamond - Flight Muzik - Fader (kind of embarrassed how often that's the answer)
Toro y Moi - Underneath the Pine - from Tyler, the Creator u_u
Various Artists - Dave Nada Presents Blow Your Head Vol. 2 - looking for moombahton comps
Araabmuzik - Electronic Dream - FACT or something
Lady Gaga - Born This Way - when everyone else did

i got into destroyer cuz my gf put 'bay of pigs' on her first mix cd she made when we were courting cuz i 'liked synths'

one thing i wrestle with when i vote for these polls is whether or not i should vote for records in the context of their contribution to furthering of the art of music or w/e lofty goal vs. their emotional impact on my life that year. since im not a writer or music critic, ive decided to go the emotional voting route.

my #1 of the year was a toss-up between destroyer and kurt vile; both of them having a significant emotional impact on me in 2011. i ended up going with destroyer cuz kv's record mostly served as a gateway drug to his previous albums whereas kaputt ended up being more self-contained

their contribution to furthering of the art of music or w/e lofty goal

Even if you are a music writer, I think this is kind of a bullshit criterion. I voted based on what records I was drawn to most, listened to most, and/or felt most strongly about.

Huge props to Tim F for being the other vote for Sussan Deyhim's City of Leaves (Iranian expat vocalist extraordinaire). She has yet to release anything less than great in 23 years of recordings, and is highly recommended to fans of Diamanda Galas (her earlier work) and Lisa Gerrard or Azam Ali (more recent material).

I don't think it was me actually, I strongly suspect I forgot to include it (though it's fantastic). Doesn't Tuomas really like her?