After weeks of scrutiny, Record Exchange staffers have put the finishing touches on their 2011 Top 10 lists, and in the coming weeks we’ll be posting individual lists here on our website.
On Monday, Dec. 5, the day of our annual Bonus Club Sale, you can visit the store for the debut of the lists in realtime. The poster pictured above will be sprinkled throughout the store for your viewing pleasure, but today we’re giving you a preview with an aggregate list of our Top 20 Staff Picks.
This list was compiled by tallying the instances that certain albums appeared on individual lists. There were ties, of course, and in such cases we broke the ties for ranking purposes with actual sales figures here at the store.
Let the harsh judgment and impassioned arguments commence – see you at the Bonus Club Sale!
1. Youth Lagoon – The Year Of Hiberation
2. Bon Iver – Bon Iver
3. Jesse Sykes And The Sweet Hereafter – Marble Son
4. Wilco – The Whole Love
5. Kanye West And Jay-Z – Watch The Throne
6. My Morning Jacket – Circuital
7. Gillian Welch – The Harrow And The Harvest
8. James Blake – James Blake
9. Atlas Sound – Parallax
10. True Widow – As High As The Highest Heavens And From The Center To The Circumference Of The Earth
11. Iron And Wine – Kiss Each Other Clean
12. Paul Simon – So Beautiful Or So What
13. Tom Waits – Bad As Me
14. Trampled By Turtles – Palomino
15. Ryan Adams – Ashes And Fire
16. M83 – Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming
17. Mogwai – Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will
18. Hayes Carll – KMAG YOYO (And Other American Stories)
19. PJ Harvey – Let England Shake
20. Tyler, The Creator – Goblin
VIEW INDIVIDUAL 2011 STAFF PICKS LISTS HERE.
I’m REALLY surprised I don’t see Charles Bradley’s “No Time For Dreaming” on this list. IMHO one of the best records released by anybody in years. Glad to see I’m not the only one who digs the new Bon Iver album. Several reviews I read considered it a sophomore slump. Guess they just missed the boat.