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: #17

Jonny Greenwood - Norwegian Wood OST
Admittedly, I haven't watched as many films this year as I wish I could have, which of course, also means I haven't heard as many great soundtracks either. However, Radiohead guitarist and composer extraordinaire Jonny Greenwood has written possibly one of his best works yet in his scoring of the Japanese film, Norwegian Wood. Greenwood has this tragic underpinning behind his work that so effectively puts the audience inside the minds and hearts of the characters on screen.

The album opens with "Mou sukoshi jibun no koto, kichinto shitai no", which introduces the twisting theme of the score -- here it unfolds in a series of canons and loops just before unraveling into nothing as if it were never there to begin with. The plot follows the love triangle of three young Japanese college students and the deals with themes of identity, sexuality, and loss in their lives. In tracks like "Quarter Tone Broom", Greenwood shows off his beautiful language of dissonance that brilliantly describes the unwinding mental state of Norwegian Wood's characters. But what really made this soundtrack even more special for me was Greenwood's inclusion of two haunting acoustic guitar tracks that has me convinced that Greenwood is one of the most talented and unique composers working in the film industry right now.

Best tracks: "Mou sukoshi jibun no koto, kichinto shitai no", "Toki no senrei o ukete inai mono o yomuna"