Favorite Albums of 2011

While I haven't had as much time to listen to music this year as I'd have liked, the holiday effort to choose my favorite albums uncovered lots of gems (and I still haven't heard the new Tom Waits or Black Keys, so this list could be amended...). Here are my favorites, in order, roughly. You can have a free listen to most of them on MOG or Spotify, or watch the videos on YouTube.

1. The Antlers, Burst Apart - a critics consensus favorite this year, and one of mine, too
2. James Blake, James Blake - like Antony and the Johnsons meets the XX
3. Allen Toussaint, The Bright Mississippi - actually released in 2009, a great recommendation from a friend who saw him live this year.
4. Regina Spektor, Live in London - I've been a fan for a couple albums now, but this live set distills what I've liked into something even better.
5. Radiohead, The King of Limbs Live from the Basement - this video release (available at iTunes for download now, or DVD/Blu-ray in January) is a reminder of what a great live band Radiohead is. I like this live rendition much better than the studio version of the album.
6. Iron and Wine, Kiss Each Other Clean
7. Bon Iver, Bon Iver - not the measure of his For Emma, Forever Ago, but still lovely (and turns into something surprisingly muscular when he performs it live).
8. Vetiver, The Errant Charm - a warm, easy, summer kind of thing.
   
9. Kate Bush, 50 Words for Snow - tales of women falling for lovers made of snow, of wise men protecting the Abominable Snowman, angels that walk among us, and a ghost in Lake Tahoe.
10. Feist, Metals - the first track is one of my favorite songs of the year
    
11. Tinariwen, Tassili
    
12. Wilco, The Whole Love - probably the weakest Wilco album in some time, and yet still...