Skandies: 20 Best Films of 2011 [a poll of about 40 cinephiles]

1. The Tree of Life — Terrence Malick
2. A Separation — Asghar Farhadi
3. Margaret — Kenneth Lonergan
4. Certified Copy — Abbas Kiarostami
5. House of Pleasures — Bertrand Bonello
6. Drive — Nicolas Winding Refn
7. Melancholia — Lars von Trier
8. Meek’s Cutoff — Kelly Reichardt
9. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives — Apichatpong Weerasethakul
10. Martha Marcy May Marlene — Sean Durkin
11. Tuesday, After Christmas — Radu Muntean
12. Of Gods and Men — Xavier Beauvois
13. The Arbor — Clio Barnard
14. Putty Hill — Matthew Porterfield
15. Beginners — Mike Mills
16. Moneyball — Bennett Miller
17. Take Shelter — Jeff Nichols
18. Shame — Steve McQueen
19. Hugo — Martin Scorsese
20. We Need to Talk About Kevin — Lynne Ramsay

Pazz & Jop: Top 100 Albums of 2011 (an annual poll of critics, published by The Village Voice)

[see also 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012]

1. Tune-Yards — Whokill
2. PJ Harvey — Let England Shake
3. Jay-Z and Kanye West — Watch the Throne
4. Wild Flag — Wild Flag
5. Tom Waits — Bad as Me
6. Adele — 21
7. Destroyer — Kaputt
8. Drake — Take Care
9. Bon Iver — Bon Iver
10. Shabazz Palaces — Black Up
11. Fucked Up — David Comes to Life
12. St. Vincent — Strange Mercy
13. The Weeknd — House of Balloons
14. Paul Simon — So Beautiful or So What
15. EMA — Past Life Martyred Saints
16. Frank Ocean — Nostalgia, Ultra
17. The Roots — Undun
18. Fleet Foxes — Helplessness Blues
19. M83 — Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming
20. Kurt Vile — Smoke Ring for My Halo
21. The Black Keys — El Camino
22. Wilco — The Whole Love
23. Pistol Annies — Hell on Heels
24. Yuck — Yuck
25. Girls — Father, Son, Holy Ghost
26. Beyoncé — 4
27. Gillian Welch — The Harrow & The Harvest
28. Danny Brown — XXX
29. The Decemberists — The King is Dead
30. Lady Gaga — Born This Way
31. Bill Callahan — Apocalypse
32. Real Estate — Days
33. Radiohead — The King of Limbs
34. James Blake — James Blake
35. Oneohtrix Point Never — Replica
36. Tim Hecker — Ravedeath, 1972
37. Kate Bush — 50 Words for Snow
38. Lykke Li — Wounded Rhymes
39. Raphael Saadiq — Stone Rollin’
40. Wye Oak — Civilian
41. Ryan Adams and the Cardinals — Ashes & Fire
42. Colin Stetson — New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges
43. TV on the Radio — Nine Types of Light
44. Kendrick Lamar — Section.80
45. The Beach Boys — The SMiLE Sessions
46. Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks — Mirror Traffic
47. Mastodon — The Hunter
48. Das Racist — Relax
49. The War on Drugs — Slave Ambient
50. Charles Bradley — No Time for Dreaming
51. Gang Gang Dance — Eye Contact
52. Katy B — On A Mission
53. Britney Spears — Femme Fatale
54. Foo Fighters — Wasting Light
55. Dum Dum Girls — Only in Dreams
56. Iceage — New Brigade
57. The Men — Leave Home
58. Joy Formidable — The Big Roar
59. Feist — Metals
60. Florence + The Machine — Ceremonials
61. Clams Casino — Instrumental Mixtape
61. Atlas Sound — Parallax
63. Fountains of Wayne — Sky Full of Holes
64. My Morning Jacket — Circuital
65. The Mountain Goats — All Eternals Deck
66. Nicolas Jaar — Space is Only Noise
67. Big KRIT — Return of 4Eva
68. The Antlers — Burst Apart
69. Panda Bear — Tomboy
70. Tinariwen — Tassili
71. Kills — Blood Pressures
72. Low — C’mon
73. R.E.M. — Collapse Into Now
74. Demdike Stare — Tryptych
74. Nick Lowe — The Old Magic
76. Hayes Carll — KMAG YOYO (& Other American Stories)
77. Beastie Boys — Hot Sauce Committee Part Two
78. Matana Roberts — COIN COIN Chapter One: Gens de Couleur Libres
79. Zola Jesus — Conatus
80. The Horrors — Skying
81. White Denim — D
82. Washed Out — Within and Without
83. Pains of Being Pure at Heart — Belong
84. The Caretaker — An Empty Bliss Beyond This World
85. Austra — Feel It Break
86. Julianna Barwick — The Magic Place
87. Miranda Lambert — Four the Record
88. Liturgy — Aesthethica
89. Elbow — Build a Rocket Boys!
89. Laura Marling — A Creature I Don’t Know
91. Cults — Cults
92. DJ Quik — The Book of David
93. A$AP Rocky — LIVE.LOVE.A$AP
94. Lou Reed & Metallica — Lulu
95. The Feelies — Here Before
96. Grouper — A I A
97. Eric Church — Chief
98. Tyler, The Creator — Goblin
99. Braids — Native Speaker
100. Ty Segall — Goodbye Bread

Cinema Scope: Top Ten Films of 2011

[see also 2020, 2010s, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012]

1. This is Not a Film — Jafar Panahi & Mojtaba Mirtahmasb
2. The Turin Horse — Béla Tarr & Agnes Hranitzky
3. House of Pleasures — Bertrand Bonello
4. Dreileben — Christian Petzold, Dominik Graf, Christoph Hochhäuser
5. Once Upon a Time in Anatolia — Nuri Bilge Ceylan
6. The Tree of Life — Terrence Malick
7. Kill List — Ben Wheatley
8. It’s the Earth Not the Moon — Gonçalo Tocha
9. Sleeping Sickness — Ulrich Köhler
10. The Kid with a Bike — Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne

Special Mentions

• 4:44 Last Day on Earth — Abel Ferrara
• The Color Wheel — Alex Ross Perry
• Drive — Nicolas Winding Refn
• Outside Satan — Bruno Dumont
• Take Shelter — Jeff Nichols
• Margaret — Kenneth Lonergan
• Policeman — Nadav Lapid
• Target — Alexander Zeldovich
• Two Years at Sea — Ben Rivers

Margaret Wappler: Top 10 Albums of 2011, as published by The Los Angeles Times

1. Tune-Yards — Whokill
2. Bill Callahan — Apocalypse
3. Destroyer — Kaputt
4. Feist — Metals
5. Fleet Foxes — Helplessness Blues
6. Shabazz Palaces — Black Up
7. Laura Marling — A Creature I Don’t Know
8. Paul Simon — So Beautiful or So What
9. Eleanor Friedberger — Last Summer
10. Real Estate — Days

Todd Martens: Top 15 Albums of 2011, as published by The Los Angeles Times

1. Le Butcherettes — Sin Sin Sin
2. Van Hunt — What Were You Hoping For?
3. Fucked Up — David Comes to Life
4. The Roots — Undun
5. Anna Calvi — Anna Calvi
6. Raphael Saadiq — Stone Rollin’
7. Wilco — The Whole Love
8. Wild Flag — Wild Flag
9. Bewitched Hands — Birds & Drums
10. Lydia Loveless — Indestructible Machine
11. Tune-Yards — Whokill
12. Feist — Metals
13. Drive-By Truckers — Go-Go Boots
14. Shabazz Palaces — Black Up
15. The Feelies — Here Before

Bleep: Top 10 Albums of 2011

1. Byetone — SyMeta
2. Rustie — Glass Swords
3. John Maus — We Must Become the Pitiless Censors of Ourselves
4. patten — GLAQJO XAACSSO
5. Martyn — Ghost People
6. Peaking Lights — 936
7. Surgeon — Breaking the Frame
8. Roll The Dice — In Dust
9. Nicolas Jaar — Space is Only Noise
10. Roly Porter — Aftertime

Hot Press: Top 30 Albums of 2011

1. PJ Harvey — Let England Shake
2. Tom Waits — Bad as Me
3. Lisa Hannigan — Passenger
4. Bon Iver — Bon Iver
5. The Horrors — Skying
6. Cashier No. 9 — To the Death of Fun
7. Elbow — Build a Rocket Boys!
8. Radiohead — The King of Limbs
9. Wild Beasts — Smother
10. Björk — Biophilia
11. Kate Bush — 50 Words for Snow
12. M83 — Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming
13. Pugwash — The Olympus Sound
14. Lady Gaga — Born This Way
15. Wilco — The Whole Love
16. James Blake — James Blake
17. The Coronas — Closer To You
18. Arctic Monkeys — Suck It and See
19. Florence + The Machine — Ceremonials
20. Feist — Metals
21. Jay-Z and Kanye West — Watch the Throne
22. The Minutes — Marcata
23. Lykke Li — Wounded Rhymes
24. Childish Gambino — Camp
25. Anna Calvi — Anna Calvi
26. We Cut Corners — Today I Realised I Could Walk Home Backwards
27. SBTRKT — SBTRKT
28. Snow Patrol — Fallen Empires
29. The Weeknd — House of Balloons
30. The Waterboys — An Appointment with Mr. Yeats

Rip It Up: 10 Best Albums of 2011

1. PJ Harvey — Let England Shake
2. SBTRKT — SBTRKT
3. Kasabian — Velociraptor!
4. Azari & III — Azari & III
5. The Horrors — Skying
6. Foo Fighters — Wasting Light
7. The Black Keys — El Camino
8. Arctic Monkeys — Suck It and See
9. The Jezabels — Prisoner
10. Cut Copy — Zonoscope

Guitar World: Top 50 Albums of 2011

1. Foo Fighters — Wasting Light
2. Opeth — Heritage
3. Asking Alexandria — Reckless & Relentless
4. Anthrax — Worship Music
5. Mastodon — The Hunter
6. Joe Bonamassa — Dust Bowl
7. Children of Bodom — Relentless Reckless Forever
8. Megadeth — TH1RT3EN
9. Cage the Elephant — Thank You, Happy Birthday
10. Dream Theater — A Dramatic Turn of Events
11. Black Veil Brides — Set the World on Fire
12. Black Country Communion — 2
13. Red Hot Chili Peppers — I’m With You
14. Animals As Leaders — Weightless
15. Machine Head — Unto the Locust
16. Gregg Allman — Low Country Blues
17. Explosions in the Sky — Take Care, Take Care, Take Care
18. Radiohead — The King of Limbs
19. Of Mice & Men — The Flood
20. Warren Haynes — Man in Motion
21. Falling In Reverse — The Drug in Me Is You
22. Wilco — The Whole Love
23. Protest the Hero — Scurrilous
24. Korn — The Path of Totality
25. Brad Paisley — This Is Country Music
26. Skeletonwitch — Forever Abomination
27. Tedeschi Trucks Band — Revelator
28. Iced Earth — Dystopia
29. Russian Circles — Empros
30. Kenny Wayne Shepherd — How I Go
31. Black Dahlia Murder — Ritual
32. Primus — Green Naugahyde
33. Steel Panther — Balls Out
34. Jane’s Addiction — The Great Escape Artist
35. Jimmie Vaughan — Plays More Blues, Ballads & Favorites
36. The Black Keys — El Camino
37. The Human Abstract — Digital Veil
38. Revocation — Chaos of Forms
39. The Cars — Move Like This
40. George Thorogood and the Destroyers — 2120 South Michigan Ave.
41. The Devil Wears Prada — Dead Throne
42. Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks — Mirror Traffic
43. Decapitated — Carnival is Forever
44. Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds — Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds
45. Textures — Dualism
46. Chickenfoot — Chickenfoot III
47. Gang of Four — Content
48. Five Finger Death Punch — American Capitalist
49. Brian Setzer — Setzer Goes Instru-MENTAL!
50. Trivium — In Waves

Margaret Moser: Top 10 Albums of 2011, as published by The Austin Chronicle

1. Lucinda Williams — Blessed
2. The Decemberists — The King is Dead
3. Adele — 21
4. Tom Waits — Bad as Me
5. The Civil Wars — Barton Hollow
6. The Black Keys — El Camino
7. Cornell Dupree — I’m Alright
8. Amy Winehouse — Lioness: Hidden Treasures
9. Gregg Allman — Low Country Blues
10. Gillian Welch — The Harrow & The Harvest