Top 10 Albums of 2011: Summary

2011 has been an incredibly strong year musically. It has also saw a major shift in the way I consume music having spent the majority of my adult life preferring to visit clubs and allow DJs to shape my night. I grew disillusioned to an extent with club nights and DJs in favour of catching live acts and this has reflected on the albums I have listened to. The majority of albums I have heard this year I have actually managed to catch the artist live.

There have been some good albums that could quite feasible made the list Rustie's Glass Swords and Sepalcure's self titled album both suffered from being released late in the year the same applies to Drake's Take Care which for what it's worth was probably the best hip hop album released this year especially after the disappointment of Watch The Throne by Jay-Z and Kanye West. There were other highlights Battles and Wu Lyf both released albums that were more destined for live performance than home listening and both delivered scintillating live performances at the Kazimier. The list of albums I enjoyed is vast Metronomy delivered a great indie pop record, Nicolas Jaar a lovely LP of electronica, Aloe Blacc's LP oozed soul and Balam Acab some haunting future bass music. However, none of the aforementioned albums moved me as much as the below list.

The Real Mikaél's Albums of 2011
10. VA - Fabriclive 57 (Mixed by Jackmaster)
9. Modeselektor - Monkeytown
8. LV & Joshua Idehen - Routes
7. Jamie XX & Gil Scott Heron - We're New Here
6. Ghostpoet - Peanut Butter Blues & Melancholy Jam
5. SBTRKT - SBTRKT
4. Frank Ocean - Nostalgia Ultra
3. James Blake - James Blake
2. The Weeknd - House of Balloons
1. Jamie Woon - Mirrorwriting

I hope you have enjoyed reading the feature as much as I have enjoyed putting it together, the year truly was a brilliant year for music.

Top 10 Albums of 2011: #9

Next up on the list is a German duo who were responsible for creating a phenomenal line up in such an idyllic setting with their beach stage at Melt! festival.

9. Modeselektor - Monkeytown



Monkeytown crafts together techno, dubstep, electronia, hip hop and more within its eleven tracks, a true example of how to construct a ‘dance music’ album in that it never leaves you bored and is not predictable. Well not unless you have listened to their first offering Happy Birthday which was equally as impressive, more so in fact; as upon its release it seemed ahead of its time. Monkeytown has definitely been one of my favourite albums hence its place in this here list, however I do somewhat feel the German duo may have rested upon their laurels a tad, this coupled with the fact it was released late in the year has ultimately led to it being one or two rungs further down the ladder than perhaps it should have been. On the whole though a really solid album with two tracks in particular standing out for me and neither Berlin or Pretentious Friends are the tracks that feature their good friend Thom Yorke.