Best Albums of 2011

This is going up really late, but with all the great music that was released in 2011, I feel like it woud've been a crime to not finish what I had started. It's been an awesome year for me personally and I've gotten some really great chances to write for some bigger publications. Currently I'm freelancing for Paste Magazine, Prefix, and Relevant Magazine -- with more on the way hopefully.

As for The Feedback Loop, I have some exciting things planned for 2012, so stay tuned. Below is my final list. Feel free to tell me what music you liked from 2011 in the comments below!

25 TV on the Radio - Nine Types of Light
24 Little Dragon - Ritual Union
23 Big K.R.I.T. - Return of 4Eva
22 Destroyer - Kaputt
21 John Mark McMillan - Economy
20 Grouper - A I A / Alien Observer
19 Bon Iver - Bon Iver
18 Florence + The Machine - Ceremonials
17 Jonny Greenwood - Norwegian Wood OST
16 Iron and Wine - Kiss Each Other Clean
15 James Blake - James Blake
14 Girls - Father, Son, Holy Ghost
13 CunninLynguists - Oneirology
12 Radiohead - King of Limbs
11 Colin Stetson - New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges
10 The Civil Wars - Barton Hollow
9 My Brightest Diamond - All Things Will Unwind
8 Lia Ices - Grown Unknown
7 Rustie - Glass Swords
6 St. Vincent - Strange Mercy
5 The Roots - undun
4 My Morning Jacket - Circuital
3 Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
2 PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
1 M83 - Hurry Up, We're Dreaming

Best Albums of 2011: #20

Grouper - A I A / Alien Observer
Grouper is the moniker for ambient-folk, Portland artist Liz Harris and A I A / Alien Observer is her fourth full-length album. If you are into ambient music in any way, shape, or form, this should be your album of the year. In this double album, Grouper still uses an assortment of acoustic and electric instruments to create her majestic soundscapes, but never in a way that feels synthetic. Her whispered vocals stretch out through the mixes like comets with long tails of reverb bouncing through the night sky, always giving the tracks a very "human" feel. Rather than creating ambient music that place the listener wandering the stars lost in space, Grouper's vocals and acoustic sounds instead plant the listener on the ground in the midst of a labyrinth of fog and light.

Even in the song "Alien Observer", one of the most accessible tracks off the album, Liz Harris finds herself looking inward and seeing herself as the outsider looking in -- an "alien observer in a world that isn't mine". Ultimately, a lot of these tracks seem more concerned with exploring the complex soundscapes and emotions within the interior of a person and that's where it has often struck me. Despite how muddled and inaccessible these "songs" can be, I often found myself finding strange moments of clarity in the album while the ambient the soundscapes cleared out the exterior world for me. While A I A / Alien Observer is not as accessible as her previous album, it is no less expansive as a piece of art.

Best tracks: "Alien Observer", "She Loves Me That Way"