I collected over 21 lists of “Best Music of 2011” and combined them into one list. Here are all the albums on 4 or more of the original lists. An asterisk indicates that I own the album.
On 21 Lists
Bon Iver – Bon Iver, Bon Iver*
Tom Waits – Bad as Me*
On 20 Lists
Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues*
tUnE-yArDs – w h o k i l l*
On 19 Lists
P.J. Harvey – Let England Shake*
Wilco – The Whole Love*
On 18 Lists
James Blake – James Blake*
St. Vincent – Strange Mercy*
On 17 Lists
Adele – 21
The Decemberists – The King Is Dead*
Radiohead – The King of Limbs*
On 15 Lists
Gillian Welch – The Harrow & the Harvest*
On 14 Lists
Real Estate – Days*
On 13 Lists
Shabazz Palaces – Black Up*
On 12 Lists
Ryan Adams – Ashes and Fire*
M83 – Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming
Jay-Z & Kanye West – Watch the Throne
Kurt Vile – Smoke Ring for My Halo*
Wild Flag – Wild Flag*
On 11 Lists
Destroyer – Kaputt
Fucked Up – David Comes to Life
On 10 Lists
Feist – Metals*
Lykke Li – Wounded Rhymes
SBTRKT – SBTRKT
Wye Oak – Civilian
Yuck – Yuck*
On 9 Lists
The Antlers – Burst Apart
Björk – Biophilia
Dawes – Nothing is Wrong
Drake – Take Care
Girls – Father, Son, Holy Ghost*
My Morning Jacket – Circuital
Washed Out – Within and Without*
On 8 Lists
Beastie Boys – Hot Sauce Committee Part Two
Beirut – Rip Tide*
Beyoncé – 4
Kate Bush – 50 Words for Snow
The Civil Wars – Barton Hollow*
King Creosote and John Hopkins – Diamond Mine
Gang Gang Dance – Eye Contact
Iceage – New Brigade
Laura Marling – A Creature I Don’t Know*
Paul Simon – So Beautiful Or So What*
TV on the Radio – Nine Types of Light
The Weeknd – House of Balloons XO
On 7 Lists
The Black Keys – El Camino*
Bill Callahan – Apocolypse*
The Horrors – Skying
Metronomy – The English Riviera
Josh T. Pearson – Last of the Country Gentlemen
The Roots– Undun*
Raphael Saadiq – Stone Rollin’*
The War on Drugs – Slave Ambient
Wild Beasts – Smother
On 6 Lists
Charles Bradley – No Time For Dreaming*
Bright Eyes – The People’s Key
Anna Calvi – Anna Calvi
Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi – Rome
Das Racist – Relax
Drive By Truckers – Go-Go Boots
EMA – Past Life Martyred Saints
Tim Hecker – Ravedeath
Little Dragon – Ritual Union
Mastodon – The Hunter
Pistol Annies – Hell on Heels
Frank Ocean – Nostalgia, Ultra.
Smith Westerns – Dye It Blonde
Colin Stetson – New History Warfare Vol 2: Judges
Tyler, the Creator – Goblin
White Denim – D
On 5 Lists
Ambrose Akinmusire – When the Heart Emerges Glistening*
A$AP – Rocky
Atlas Sound – Parallax
Black Lips – Arabia Mountain
Eric Church – Chief*
Cults – Cults
Diego Garcia – Laura
Gil Scott Heron & Jamie XX – We’re New Here
Lady Gaga – Born This Way
Kendrick Lamar – Section.80
La Vida Boheme – Nuestra
Gretchen Parlato – The Lost And Found*
Tinariwen – Tassili
Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Unknown Mortal Orchestra
On 4 Lists
AA Bondy – Believers
Arctic Monkeys – Suck It and See
Austra – Feel It Break
Julianna Barwick – The Magic Place
Bombino – Agadez*
Cut Copy – Zonoscope
Childish Gambino – Camp
Elbow – Build A Rocket Boys
The Field – Looping State of Mind
Mayer Hawthorne – How Do You Do?
The Head and the Heart – The Head and the Heart
Charles Ives – Violin Sonatas (Hilary Hahn, violinist; Valentina Lisitsa, pianist)*
Nicolas Jaar – Space Is Only Noise
Sarah Jarosz – Follow Me Down*
The Kills –Blood Pressures
Cass McCombs – Wit’s End
James Vincent McMorrow – Early in the Morning
Thurston Moore – Demolished Thoughts
Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds
Oneohtrix Point Never – Replica
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – Belong*
Panda Bear – Tomboy
Sonny Rollins Road Shows, Vol. 2*
Toro Y Moi – Underneath The Pine
Jonathan Wilson – Gentle Spirit
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