Year-End Lists

Mojo Magazine: Best Albums of 2011 [writers]

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012]

1. Let England Shake
   PJ Harvey
2. Skying
   The Horrors
3. Helplessness Blues
   Fleet Foxes
4. Gentle Spirit
   Jonathan Wilson
5. 50 Words for Snow
   Kate Bush
6. D
   White Denim
7. Last of the Country Gentlemen
   Josh T Pearson
8. Anna Calvi
   Anna Calvi
9. Bad as Me
   Tom Waits
10. Smother
    Wild Beasts
11. A Creature I Don’t Know
    Laura Marling
12. Smoke Ring for My Halo
    Kurt Vile
13. Cat’s Eyes
    Cat’s Eyes
14. Diamond Mine
    King Creosote & Jon Hopkins
15. So Beautiful or So What
    Paul Simon
16. Bon Iver
    Bon Iver
17. Everything’s Getting Older
    Bill Wells & Aidan Moffat
18. Demolished Thoughts
    Thurston Moore
19. James Blake
    James Blake
20. Circuital
    My Morning Jacket
21. Slave Ambient
    The War on Drugs
22. The Rip Tide
    Beirut
23. Apocalypse
    Bill Callahan
24. Past Life Martyred Saints
    EMA
25. The Stepkids
    The Stepkids
26. Go-Go Boots
    Drive-By Truckers
27. The Gathering
    Arbouretum
28. Wounded Rhymes
    Lykke Li
29. The Whole Love
    Wilco
30. Father, Son, Holy Ghost
    Girls
31. The Old Magic
    Nick Lowe
32. Biophilia
    Björk
33. The Wanting
    Glenn Jones
34. The Harrow & The Harvest
    Gillian Welch
35. Tassili
    Tinariwen
36. Black Up
    Shabazz Palaces
37. Road Trip
    Duane Eddy
38. All Through The Night
    The Sand Bag
39. Suck It and See
    Arctic Monkeys
40. No Time for Dreaming
    Charles Bradley
41. Kaputt
    Destroyer
42. The Road From Memphis
    Booker T. Jones
43. Good Days At Scholss Elmau
    Gwilym Simcock
44. Ghost On The Canvas
    Glen Campbell
45. Whokill
    Tune-Yards
46. Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds
    Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds
47. The King of Limbs
    Radiohead
48. Red Barked Tree
    Wire
49. Nostalgia, Ultra
    Frank Ocean
50. Reverie
    Joe Henry

FasterLouder: Best Albums of 2011

[see also 2015 • 2012]

1. Let England Shake
   PJ Harvey
2. Unknown Mortal Orchestra
   Unknown Mortal Orchestra
3. Bad as Me
   Tom Waits
4. Adalita
   Adalita
5. David Comes to Life
   Fucked Up
6. Yuck
   Yuck
7. Harmony
   Harmony
8. Bon Iver
   Bon Iver
9. Royal Headache
   Royal Headache
10. Nine Types of Light
    TV on the Radio
11. James Blake
    James Blake
12. The Hunter
    Mastodon
13. Wild Flag
    Wild Flag
14. SBTRKT
    SBTRKT
15. To the Horses
    Lanie Lane
16. Father, Son, Holy Ghost
    Girls
17. FOMO
    Liam Finn
18. A Creature I Don’t Know
    Laura Marling
19. Watch the Throne
    Jay-Z and Kanye West
20. Zonoscope
    Cut Copy
21. Metals
    Feist
22. Mirror Traffic
    Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks
23. The Harrow & The Harvest
    Gillian Welch
24. Helplessness Blues
    Fleet Foxes
25. Smother
    Wild Beasts
26. Smoke Ring for My Halo
    Kurt Vile
27. Gloss Drop
    Battles
28. The English Riviera
    Metronomy
29. Only in Dreams
    Dum Dum Girls
30. Suck It and See
    Arctic Monkeys
31. Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds
    Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds
32. Rain on the Humming Wire
    The Panics
33. Vows
    Kimbra
34. Making Mirrors
    Gotye
35. El Camino
    The Black Keys
36. Kiss Each Other Clean
    Iron & Wine
37. Whokill
    Tune-Yards
38. Tambourine
    Teeth and Tongue
39. Secret Rituals
    The Grates
40. The Whole Love
    Wilco
41. Past Life Martyred Saints
    EMA
42. Torches
    Foster the People
43. Good Times
    Eagle and the Worm
44. The Vasco Era
    The Vasco Era
45. Circuital
    My Morning Jacket
46. Angles
    The Strokes
47. Blood Pressures
    Kills
48. No Time for Dreaming
    Charles Bradley
49. Rumble, Shake & Tumble
    Wagons
50. The King of Limbs
    Radiohead

The Guardian: Best Albums of 2011

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012]

1. Let England Shake
   PJ Harvey
2. On A Mission
   Katy B
3. Nostalgia, Ultra
   Frank Ocean
4. 4
   Beyoncé
5. Bon Iver
   Bon Iver
6. James Blake
   James Blake
7. The English Riviera
   Metronomy
8. House of Balloons
   The Weeknd
9. Glass Swords
   Rustie
10. Whokill
    Tune-Yards
11. D
    White Denim
12. Smother
    Wild Beasts
13. Diamond Mine
    King Creosote & Jon Hopkins
14. Bad as Me
    Tom Waits
15. SBTRKT
    SBTRKT
16. Skying
    The Horrors
17. Biophilia
    Björk
18. Strange Mercy
    St. Vincent
19. Take Care
    Drake
20. Helplessness Blues
    Fleet Foxes
21. The Harrow & The Harvest
    Gillian Welch
22. Last Night on Earth
    Noah & The Whale
23. A Creature I Don’t Know
    Laura Marling
24. The Bad in Each Other
    Feist
25. Smoke Ring for My Halo
    Kurt Vile
26. Eye Contact
    Gang Gang Dance
27. The King of Limbs
    Radiohead
28. Gentle Spirit
    Jonathan Wilson
29. 50 Words for Snow
    Kate Bush
30. We’re New Here
    Gil Scott-Heron & Jamie xx
31. Born This Way
    Lady Gaga
32. Wounded Rhymes
    Lykke Li
33. Kaputt
    Destroyer
34. Mirrorwriting
    Jamie Woon
35. Cat’s Eyes
    Cat’s Eyes
36. Hell on Heels
    Pistol Annies
37. Kanye West/Jay-Z
    Watch the Throne
38. Cinderella’s Eyes
    Nicola Roberts
39. Computers and Blues
    The Streets
40. Hotel Shampoo
    Gruff Rhys
41. Black Up
    Shabazz Palaces
42. Felt
    Nils Frahm
43. Unto the Locust
    Machine Head
44. Golden Xplosion
    Marius Neset
45. New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges
    Colin Stetson
46. The Rip Tide
    Beirut
47. As High as the Highest Heavens and from the Center to the Circumference of the Earth
    True Widow
48. Ashes & Fire
    Ryan Adams
49. Burst Apart
    The Antlers
50. New Brigade
    Iceage

Sight & Sound Poll: Best Films of 2011 (a poll of 100 critics and curators, published by Sight & Sound Magazine)

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012]

1. The Tree of Life
   Terrence Malick
2. A Separation
   Asghar Farhadi
3. The Kid with a Bike
   Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne
4. Melancholia
   Lars von Trier
5. The Artist
   Michel Hazanavicius
6. Once Upon a Time in Anatolia
   Nuri Bilge Ceylan
6. The Turin Horse
   Béla Tarr & Agnes Hranitzky
8. We Need to Talk About Kevin
   Lynne Ramsay
9. Le quattro volte
   Michelangelo Frammartino
10. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
    Tomas Alfredson
10. This is Not a Film
    Jafar Panahi & Mojtaba Mirtahmasb

John Waters: Best Films of 2011, as published by Artforum

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012]

1. The Skin I Live In
   Pedro Almodóvar
2. Mildred Pierce
   Todd Haynes
3. Justin Bieber: Never Say Never
   Jon M. Chu
4. Hadewijch
   Bruno Dumont
5. Kaboom
   Gregg Araki
6. If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front
   Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman
7. The Tree of Life
   Terrence Malick
8. I’m Glad My Mother Is Alive
   Claude and Nathan Miller
9. We Were Here
   David Weissman
10. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
    Apichatpong Weerasethakul

Piccadilly Records: Albums of 2011

[see also 2012]

1. 936
   Peaking Lights
2. Smoke Ring for My Halo
   Kurt Vile
3. Buffalo
   The Phoenix Foundation
4. Cabaret Cixous
   Maria Minerva
5. The English Riviera
   Metronomy
6. West
   Wooden Shjips
7. Tamer Animals
   Other Lives
8. Blood Pressures
   Kills
9. Arabia Mountain
   Black Lips
10. Widowspeak
    Widowspeak
11. Violent Hearts
    Shimmering Stars
12. Only in Dreams
    Dum Dum Girls
13. Pleasure
    Pure X
14. Gentle Spirit
    Jonathan Wilson
15. Let England Shake
    PJ Harvey
16. Locussolus
    Harvey Presents Locussolus
17. The Errant Charm
    Vetiver
18. Several Shades of Why
    J Mascis
19. Days
    Real Estate
20. Within and Without
    Washed Out
21. Ancient Romans
    Sun Araw
22. Soft Metals
    Soft Metals
23. Smoking In Heaven
    Kitty, Daisy & Lewis
24. In Love With Oblivion
    Crystal Stilts
25. The Rip Tide
    Beirut
26. Bon Iver
    Bon Iver
27. We’re New Here
    Gil Scott-Heron & Jamie xx
28. Badlands
    Dirty Beaches
29. Mazes
    Moon Duo
30. SBTRKT
    SBTRKT
31. Gracious Tide, Take Me Home
    Lanterns on the Lake
32. Happy Soup
    Baxter Dury
33. Diamond Mine
    King Creosote & Jon Hopkins
34. A Creature I Don’t Know
    Laura Marling
35. Castlemania
    Thee Oh Sees
36. With U
    Holy Other
37. James Blake
    James Blake
38. Creatures of an Hour
    Still Corners
39. Zeus and Apollo
    Hatchback
40. John Stammers
    John Stammers
41. A Winged Victory for the Sullen
    A Winged Victory For The Sullen
42. Arthur’s Landing
    Arthur’s Landing
43. To the Death of Fun
    Cashier No. 9
44. Demolished Thoughts
    Thurston Moore
45. Bad as Me
    Tom Waits
46. Live Music
    Strange Boys
47. Cadenza
    Dutch Uncles
48. One Night in the Borough
    6th Borough Project
49. Slave Ambient
    The War on Drugs
50. Coracle
    Walls
51. Biophilia
    Björk
52. New Moon
    Almunia
53. The Golden Age of Apocalypse
    Thundercat
54. The Harrow & The Harvest
    Gillian Welch
55. Kaputt
    Destroyer
56. Space is Only Noise
    Nicolas Jaar
57. Idle Labor
    Craft Spells
58. On Air
    James Ferraro
59. Beyond the 4th Door
    Eternal Tapestry
60. Hot Sauce Committee Part Two
    Beastie Boys
61. Looping State of Mind
    The Field
62. Get Well Soon
    Sarabeth Tucek
63. Parodia Flare
    Tropics
64. Mirror Traffic
    Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks
65. Blue Songs
    Hercules and Love Affair
66. The Dissolve
    Boxcutter
67. Hotel Shampoo
    Gruff Rhys
68. When We On
    Crazy P
69. Cults
    Cults
70. We Must Become the Pitiless Censors of Ourselves
    John Maus
71. H-p1
    White Hills
72. Vision Quest One: Spaceships Over Topanga Canyon
    Seahawks
73. Sun and Shade
    Woods
74. KWJAZ
    KWJAZ
75. Mind Bokeh
    Bibio
76. Hearts
    I Break Horses
77. Romantic Comedy
    Big Troubles
78. Country Ways
    Carlton Melton
79. Parabolas
    John Tejada
80. Azari & III
    Azari & III
81. Sepalcure
    Sepalcure
82. Harbored Mantras
    Water Borders
83. Still Living
    Ganglians
84. Tomboy
    Panda Bear
85. Ritual Union
    Little Dragon
86. Ashes & Fire
    Ryan Adams
87. Wander / Wonder
    Balam Acab
88. Streetwise
    LA Vampires Goes Ital
89. Helplessness Blues
    Fleet Foxes
90. Whokill
    Tune-Yards
91. Go Tell Fire to the Mountain
    WU LYF
92. The King of Limbs
    Radiohead
93. Smother
    Wild Beasts
94. The Stepkids
    The Stepkids
95. Goodbye Bread
    Ty Segall
96. Freaking Out
    Toro y Moi
97. Rome
    Danger Mouse & Daniel Luppi
98. Conatus
    Zola Jesus
99. Tassili
    Tinariwen
100. Last of the Country Gentlemen
     Josh T Pearson

The New York Times: Ten Best Books of 2011

[see also The 10 Best Books of 2023 • 100 Notable Books of 2023 • The 10 Best Books of 2022 • 100 Notable Books of 2022 • The 10 Best Books of 2021 • 100 Notable Books of 2021 • The 10 Best Books of 2020 • 100 Notable Books of 2020 • 100 Notable Books of 2019 • The 10 Best Books of 2019 • 10 Best Books of 2018 • 100 Notable Books of 2018 • 100 Notable Books of 2017 • 10 Best Books of 2017 • 10 Best Books of 2016 • 10 Best Books of 2015 • The 10 Best Books of 2014 • The 10 Best Books of 2013 • 100 Notable Books of 2012 • 10 Best Books of 2012 • 100 Notable Books of 2011]

Fiction

• The Art of Fielding
  Chad Harbach
• 11/22/63
  Stephen King
• Swamplandia!
  Karen Russell
• Ten Thousand Saints
  Eleanor Henderson
• The Tiger’s Wife
  Téa Obreht

Nonfiction

• Arguably

  Essays
  Christopher Hitchens
• The Boy in the Moon

  A Father’s Journey to Understand His Extraordinary Son
  Ian Brown
• Malcolm X

  A Life of Reinvention
  Manning Marable
• Thinking, Fast and Slow
  Daniel Kahneman
• A World on Fire

  Britain’s Crucial Role in the American Civil War
  Amanda Foreman

The Fly: Top 50 Albums of 2011

[see also 2012]

1. Burst Apart
   The Antlers
2. The English Riviera
   Metronomy
3. Skying
   The Horrors
4. Dye It Blonde
   Smith Westerns
5. A Different Kind of Fix
   Bombay Bicycle Club
6. Let England Shake
   PJ Harvey
7. Smother
   Wild Beasts
8. Father, Son, Holy Ghost
   Girls
9. What Did You Expect From The Vaccines?
   The Vaccines
10. Gloss Drop
    Battles
11. Smoke Ring for My Halo
    Kurt Vile
12. The King of Limbs
    Radiohead
13. Yuck
    Yuck
14. Pala
    Friendly Fires
15. Anna Calvi
    Anna Calvi
16. Within and Without
    Washed Out
17. Bon Iver
    Bon Iver
18. James Blake
    James Blake
19. Veronica Falls
    Veronica Falls
20. Ceremonials
    Florence + The Machine
21. Unknown Mortal Orchestra
    Unknown Mortal Orchestra
22. Days
    Real Estate
23. Arabia Mountain
    Black Lips
24. A Creature I Don’t Know
    Laura Marling
25. D
    White Denim
26. Happy Soup
    Baxter Dury
27. Helplessness Blues
    Fleet Foxes
28. Go Tell Fire to the Mountain
    WU LYF
29. Native Speaker
    Braids
30. Gardens & Villa
    Gardens & Villa
31. A Thousand Heys
    Mazes
32. Cadenza
    Dutch Uncles
33. Last Night on Earth
    Noah & The Whale
34. Hotel Shampoo
    Gruff Rhys
35. Strange Mercy
    St. Vincent
36. Suck It and See
    Arctic Monkeys
37. Past Life Martyred Saints
    EMA
38. Wounded Rhymes
    Lykke Li
39. Mirror Traffic
    Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks
40. SBTRKT
    SBTRKT
41. Slave Ambient
    The War on Drugs
42. Mylo Xyloto
    Coldplay
43. Black Up
    Shabazz Palaces
44. Cerebral Ballzy
    Cerebral Ballzy
45. Build a Rocket Boys!
    Elbow
46. Angles
    The Strokes
47. Paradise
    Slow Club
48. Valhalla Dancehall
    British Sea Power
49. Passive Me, Aggressive You
    The Naked and Famous
50. The Big Roar
    Joy Formidable

Publishers Weekly: Best Books of 2011 [fiction, nonfiction]

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012]

Fiction

1. The Marriage Plot
   Jeffrey Eugenides
2. The Devil All the Time
   Donald Ray Pollock
3. State of Wonder
   Ann Patchett
4. There but for the
   Ali Smith
5. The Wandering Falcon
   Jamil Ahmad
6. The Hottest Dishes of the Tartar
   Alina Bronsky (translated by Tim Mohr)
7. The Sisters Brothers
   Patrick deWitt
8. Say Her Name
   Francisco Goldman
9. Volt
   Alan Heathcock
10. The Stranger’s Child
    Alan Hollinghurst
11. Train Dreams
    Denis Johnson
12. Changó’s Beads and Two-Tone Shoes
    William Kennedy
13. The Night Circus
    Erin Morgenstern
14. The Call
    Yannick Murphy
15. The Tiger’s Wife
    Téa Obreht
16. Cain
    José Saramago
17. Luminarium
    Alex Shakar
18. Someday This Will Be Funny
    Lynne Tillman
19. I Married You for Happiness
    Lily Tuck
20. Leche
    R. Zamora Linmark

Nonfiction

1. Bossypants
   Tina Fey
2. Catherine the Great

   Portrait of a Woman
   Robert K. Massie
3. Hemingway’s Boat
   Paul Hendrikson
4. One Day I Will Write About This Place
   Binyavanga Wainaina
5. Arguably

   Essays
   Christopher Hitchens
6. The Convert

   A Parable of Islam and America
   Deborah Baker
7. The Anatomy of a Moment
   Javier Cercas
8. The Beautiful and the Damned

   A Portrait of the New India
   Siddhartha Deb
9. Blue Nights
   Joan Didion
10. Townie

    A Memoir
    Andre Dubus III
11. The Swerve

    How the World Became Modern
    Stephen Greenblatt
12. Life Itself

    A Memoir
    Roger Ebert
13. A World on Fire

    Britain’s Crucial Role in the American Civil War
    Amanda Foreman
14. Tiger, Tiger
    Margaux Fragoso
15. Love and Capital

    Karl Marx and Jenny Marx and the Birth of a Revolution
    Mary Gabriel
16. The Information

    A History, a Theory, a Flood
    James Gleick
17. Blood, Bones, and Butter
    Gabrielle Hamilton
18. A Book of Secrets

    Illegitimate Daughters, Absent Fathers
    Michael Holroyd
19. Rome

    A Cultural, Visual, and Personal History
    Robert Hughes
20. In the Garden of Beasts

    Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin
    Erik Larson
21. Boomerang

    Travels in the New Third World
    Michael Lewis
22. Malcolm X

    A Life of Reinvention
    Manning Marable
23. Believing is Seeing

    Observations on the Mysteries of Photography
    Errol Morris
24. Rin Tin Tin

    The Life and the Legend
    Susan Orlean
25. The Long Goodbye

    A Memoir
    Meghan O’Rourke
26. The Psychopath Test
    Jon Ronson
27. The Price of Civilization

    Reawakening American Virtue and Prosperity
    Jeffrey D. Sachs
28. Charles Dickens

    A Life
    Claire Tomalin
29. The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt
    Toby Wilkinson

American Songwriter: Top 50 Albums of 2011

[see also 2023 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012]

1. The Whole Love
   Wilco
2. The Harrow & The Harvest
   Gillian Welch
3. 21
   Adele
4. Go-Go Boots
   Drive-By Truckers
5. Nothing is Wrong
   Dawes
6. KMAG YOYO
   Hayes Carll
7. So Beautiful or So What
   Paul Simon
8. Hell on Heels
   Pistol Annies
9. El Camino
   The Black Keys
10. Metals
    Feist
11. Bad as Me
    Tom Waits
12. Here We Rest
    Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit
13. Blessed
    Lucinda Williams
14. Circuital
    My Morning Jacket
15. Bon Iver
    Bon Iver
16. Four the Record
    Miranda Lambert
17. Tell Me
    Jessica Lea Mayfield
18. Ashes & Fire
    Ryan Adams
19. The King of Limbs
    Radiohead
20. A Creature I Don’t Know
    Laura Marling
21. Helplessness Blues
    Fleet Foxes
22. The People’s Key
    Bright Eyes
23. Barton Hollow
    The Civil Wars
24. Slave Ambient
    The War on Drugs
25. Follow Me Down
    Sarah Jarosz
26. Mercury
    Pieta Brown
27. Divine Providence
    Deer Tick
28. Strange Mercy
    St. Vincent
29. Believers
    A.A. Bondy
30. Celebration, Florida
    The Felice Brothers
31. Photographs
    Robert Ellis
32. The King is Dead
    The Decemberists
33. Billy Jack
    Honeyhoney
34. Reverie
    Joe Henry
35. Invariable Heartache
    KORT
36. The Grand Theatre, Vol. 2
    Old 97′s
37. I’ll Never Get Out Of This World Alive
    Steve Earle
38. Days
    Real Estate
39. Screws Get Loose
    Those Darlins
40. Middle Brother
    Middle Brother
41. Smoke Ring for My Halo
    Kurt Vile
42. Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds
    Noel Gallagher
43. Down On The Bikini Line
    Jonny Corndawg
44. Charlatans At The Garden Gate
    Tristen
45. We Are the Champions
    JEFF The Brotherhood
46. Hall Music
    Loney Dear
47. Own Side Now
    Caitlin Rose
48. City of Refuge
    Abigail Washburn
49. The Rip Tide
    Beirut
50. Candidate Waltz
    Centro-matic