Best (or Favorite) Music of 2011: A Roundup of the Critics' Picks

What was the best music to come out in 2011? Such lists are all over the Internet and print media this time of year, so I thought I'd present a look at some of the opinions from some major music critics and journalists, as well as music fans who I follow. (Note: I've never really done a list of top 10 or so best or favorite songs/albums/artists of the year, because it's always been too hard to narrow them down to such a small number, and to quantify what makes one album or band with a certain sound "better" than another with a different sound or approach.)


PJ Harvey's "The Last Living Rose," from "Let England Shake."

Here are links to some opinions of the best (or favorite) music of 2011, many of which include streaming songs from the artists:

• Paste's 50 best albums of 2011 (#1: "Bon Iver" by Bon Iver) 
• The Sound Opinions top picks of 2011, with separate lists from hosts Greg Kot and Jim DeRogatis. (Kot's #1 album: Wild Flag's self-titled debut album; DeRogatis had "Sin Sin Sin" by Le Butcherettes in the top spot)
• NME's 50 best albums of the year (link is to top 10; #1: "Let England Shake: by PJ Harvey)
• Pitchfork's top 50 albums (link is to top 10; #1: "Bon Iver" by Bon Iver)
• NPR Music's top 50 albums (list presented in alphabetical order, for some reason. They also have an equally baffling version, two letters of the alphabet at a time, with audio clips)
• WFUV's best of 2011, staff picks and listener picks (listeners' #1 album: "The King is Dead" by The Decemberists)
• Ken Tucker (of Entertainment Weekly and NPR's "Fresh Air") top 9 albums (#1: "Hot Sauce Committee, Part Two" by the Beastie Boys)
• The No Depression community's 50 favorite albums (Americana/roots music) (#1: "The Harrow and the Harvest" by Gillian Welch) 
• Fellow music blogger Ben at I Have 19 Voices: his best songs, albums, and gigs of 2011 (#1 album: "Go Tell Fire to the Mountain" by WU LYF)
• List by music blogger Will of We All Want Someone to Shout For, with 31 best albums of the year (#1: "The Year of Hibernation" by Youth Lagoon)

Besides hearing songs from many of the artists at some of the links above, the hosts of Sound Opinion have put up their annual mixtape podcast, which features some of their favorite new songs from 2011. The podcast has excerpts of the songs, but you can stream full versions from the shownotes page.

As usual, I love poring over these year-end lists not because I care about the scorekeeping of who made it onto the most lists, but because they're valuable for discovering new albums and artists that I may have overlooked.

OK, those are the opinions of some music critics, fans, and bloggers. What are your favorites?

The Year's Best Tunes? Here's a Whole Bunch of "Best Music of 2009" Lists...

The end of the year is a time to reflect on the best (and sometimes worst) music of the past year. And in the case of 2009, it's also the end of a decade (or not, as some would argue), so there are a lot of lists tallying up the best of the '00s, or aughts, or whatever the hell this decade is to be called.

Here's a sampling of some best-of lists of the year and the decade, from music business sources and the general-interest press.

* L.A.'s KCRW considers the top 10 live performances that took place on its flagship program, Morning Becomes Eclectic.

* Also, KCRW's music librarian, Eric J. Lawrence, offers a preview of music forthcoming in 2010.

* At another one of my favorite radio stations, New York's WFUV, the DJs and staff weigh in on their favorite songs and albums of the year.

* MTV, which now seems more of a reality TV network than a music channel, surveys the best music (and artists, and films, etc.) from 2009 (which they have dubbed "The Year of Gaga")

* NPR Music, which produces a number of fine music podcasts, live concerts, and more, offers several lists detailing different staff members' favorite music of the year.

* The Dallas Observer reviews the year in Latin music.

* Time magazine's top 10 albums of 2009.

* Entertainment Weekly's 10 best albums of the decade

* Amazon.com lists 88 "Outstanding 2009 Albums You Might Have Missed." Looking through the first page of the listing, I can honestly say I've heard of only one or two of these albums/artists. Will have to check them out.

* Rolling Stone gives its picks for the best albums and songs of the Aughts... I mean, 2000s ... you know, the still-unnamed first decade of the 21st century.

* NME magazine offers its 50 top tracks of the year.

* And Idolator lists the top-selling songs and albums of the year at iTunes, along with its editors' picks.

Onward to 2010...

Led Zeppelin Reunion Concert: NME's Review and Photos

NME (New Musical Express) blogged the Led Zeppelin reunion concert live, song-by-song, and as promised they've posted a review of the show. (They claim it's the first review of the Led Zeppelin reunion show, but of course I have no way of knowing if that's true. But they did pop it out pretty damn fast.)

Here are the links to NME's Led Zeppelin reunion concert review and to their photos of the event.

Bottom line from the NME review: "If there were sceptics here tonight - there weren't but just for the sake of argument consider it - Led Zeppelin silenced them and banished any rotten memories of their shambolic Live Aid reunion."

I was a huge fan of the Led Zep in my formative years, when they were one of the biggest acts in rock. Here's hoping that this reunion concert is the start of something like a tour, if even a small one, rather than just a one-off.

Hey, when another of my childhood favorites, Cream, reunited at Royal Albert Hall they did a couple of shows at Madison Square Garden later on, and I was thrilled to attend. Maybe I'll have the same luck with the Led Zeppelin reunion.

Led Zeppelin Reunion Concert is Tonight

After a delay caused by a finger injury to Jimmy Page, Led Zeppelin is ready for its delayed and much-anticipated reunion concert tonight, December 10th, at the O2 Arena.

Guitarist Jimmy Page tells the NME not to compare it to Led Zeppelin shows of the past (but how can anyone not do that?).

NME will apparently be liveblogging the show, posting song-by-song updates throughout the concert. (Link has been fixed; sorry for the bad link before.)

[UPDATE: NME has indeed provided the songs in the setlist, with commentary on how each one sounded. And they've promised to provide a review of the Led Zeppelin concert as a whole soon.]

Led Zeppelin has returned to the public consciousness in a big way recently, with this concert being discussed for months before it happened, as well as the band making all of its music available in Apple's iTunes music store.