YEAR IN REVIEW: Albums of 2011: 10-1

	10. SBTRKT - SBTRKT The talented London producer's debut record is a soulful, varied and fun record that evokes many different feelings throughout. This makes it perfect for every occasion, be it relaxing at home or partying it up. 2011 has been a year saturated in amazing electronic music, but SBTRKT stands heads and shoulders above the rest in my mind, as the most well-crafted collection of songs. Sampha provides much of the vocal work throughout, but the many collaborations help elevate this album towards greatness. Each song has a distinct feel and it never gets repetitive. SBTRKT's debut album is one of the most promising debuts of the year.  DOWNLOAD: Trials of the Past
	9. Bon Iver - Bon Iver Gone are the days of recording albums in secluded cabins for Bon Iver. With his second album, Justin Vernon upped his game in a major way. The album is treated to arrangements of full orchestras while still maintaining that heart-wrenching soul that For Emma, Forever Ago showed so brilliantly. Beautiful harmonies permeate every corner of the album and every element feels like it was thoroughly thought-out and planned so precisely. It's a rather unforgettably beautiful album. DOWNLOAD: Towers
	8. Girls - Father, Son, Holy Ghost With Father, Son, Holy Ghost, Girls created one of the most diverse and creative albums in the diminishing world of quality guitar rock. It draws influences from a vast pool of artists, and fuses them together to make on of the most solid rock albums in a fair while. Frontman Christopher Owens' vocals display an impressive range of emotions throughout the album, from the loved-up pop of Magic to the frantic rock opera of Die. The second album is usually a difficult thing to accomplish for bands, but Girls show that they have everything figured out terrifically. DOWNLOAD: Magic
	7. tUnE-yArDs - W H O K I L L The way in which tUnE-yArDs style their name might look peculiar to the casual onlooker, but once you come to terms with Merrill Garbus's second album, you'll see that the name is one of the least strange things about it. W H O K I L L diverse, fun and just altogether different experience. She uses her voice as much as an instrument in its own right as a forms of communicating. The vocal ranges on display here are phenomenal, and the almost tribal beat of the album is really something you need to here. She has many different bases covered throughout the album, from the up-beat, bombastic stylings of Gangsta, to the eerie, haunting Wooly Wolly Gong. W H O K I L L is one of the most innovative, ingenious albums of the year. No one else makes music like this. DOWNLOAD: Gangsta
	6. Destroyer - Kaputt Destroyer, AKA Dan Bejar, have had a long history of creating music, with Kaputt being the ninth studio album under the moniker. I was blissfully unaware of the musician's existence until this offering, I had been missing out on a treasure trove of music. Kaputt was one of the most relaxing, intriguing records of the year, and the instrumentals on display were beautiful. Bejar employed so many different instruments for so many perfect occasions and combined it with his soothing vocals and honest lyricism. This album is absolutely essential listening for 2011. DOWNLOAD: Savage Night at the Opera
	5. Los Campesinos! - Hello Sadness Los Campesinos! aren't as young as they were back when recording 30 second songs filled with frantic drumming and yelping. Hello Sadness showed a distinct evolution to the band, and a distinct feeling of sorrow, but countered with an underlying feeling of confidence. Los Campesinos! are a band that just get stronger and stronger, and Hello Sadness is the most concise, powerful and brilliant collection of songs they have produced to date. DOWNLOAD: Baby, I Got the Death Rattle
	4. Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks - Mirror Traffic With Mirror Traffic, Malkmus's fourth solo album since Pavement's end, he compiled the most rhythmic, accessible solo material to date, with hooks everywhere, this was the true return to form we'd always been waiting for from the godfather of indie music. His trademark wordplay and vocals came together, along with intricate guitar playing, to create an album that encapsulates everything that makes Malkmus such an influential figure. Tigers, the lead single displays the infectious hooks that Pavement were known for, while Senator has that signature tongue-in-cheek attitude. Mirror Traffic just has track after track of good old fashioned indie rock, with excellent production by Beck himself. DOWNLOAD: Stick Figures in Love
	3. Youth Lagoon - The Year of Hibernation Combining minimalist instrumentation, hypnotic rhythm and soothing synth beats, Trevor Powers' honest, heartfelt lyrics help propel this debut forward. The songs start off simple, and build up and up into more complex structures, forming some of the most mesmerizing sounds put onto record this year. For someone of 22 years old to have created a collection of songs with the power, precision and passion on display in his debut is staggering, especially bearing in mind it was self-produced in his bedroom. The future for Youth Lagoon is almost blinding. DOWNLOAD: July
	2. St Vincent - Strange Mercy Annie Clark's third solo album was never going to disappoint. The musicians brand of off-beat fuzz-filled pop is always unpredictable in nature, and Strange Mercy displayed the diversity that we have come to expect from St Vincent. Her soft spoken vocals harmonise with the music perfectly, while the intelligent, witty lyrics slide by seamlessly. Strange Mercy sure feels like musical bliss. DOWNLOAD: Cheerleader
	1. The Antlers - Burst Apart Following up from 2009's Hospice was always going to be a difficult task, but the resulting album feels like it was conceived by a completely revitalised band. Burst Apart feels like the perfect middle-ground between the desolate misery of Hospice and happy-go-lucky pop. The songs flow together so well, and Silberman's haunting falsetto voice falls so delicately upon the music, it just all feels so right. The lyrics shine as much as the music itself; Silberman has taken his experience making hospice and refined his skill to create songs that can be at times brutally honest and the next moment upbeat and insightful. The emotion conveyed in Silberman's voice is second-to-none. Burst Apart is a record that is so well conceived and has enough variation to keep it exciting. It packs in just the right elements of raw emotion on display in Hospice, to create what is, to my mind, the best album that 2011 has to offer.  DOWNLOAD: Putting the Dog to Sleep

IN APPRECIATION OF 2011: Youth Lagoon

Youth Lagoon really came out of the blue for me. I had no knowledge of his existence prior to the release of his album, The Year of Hibernation, but from the first time I gave it a spin, I realised what I had been missing out on. Youth Lagoon, the moniker of 22 year-old Trevor Powers recorded the record independently in his bedroom, in a style similar to 2010's Learning by Perfume Genius, and that's reflected on the album. The title of the album is quite apt given the cold, isolated feeling of the album, but after sufficient time has been spent with the album, it opens up on another level and shows the passion and emotion that he really puts into his work.

Although the music that Youth Lagoon produces shouldn't be that revolutionary on paper, there's just something about the music that grabs you straight away. You won't be able to just listen to one track, there's something addictive about the way he makes music. When I saw Los Campesinos! in Brighton earlier this month, Cannons, a track from Youth Lagoon's debut, played before the band came on and it instantly made my friends I was with love his music. The melodies he produces are some of the most hypnotic, moving melodies I've heard all year, and it's part of what makes me find myself listening to the album almost on a daily basis.

The vocals are shrouded in a thick haze but that doesn't stop Powers from having a haunting quality to his voice, the songs usually share a familiar pattern of starting with his vocals being timid whisperings that echo through the keyboard and synths, before growing stronger and stronger and finishing with such passion; it really is an amazing experience. You can hear in his voice that he really means what he's singing.

At first, the lyrics take a back seat because of the distorted way they're delivered, but after a while, once you really listen to what he's saying, the true genius of Youth Lagoon is put on display. He takes real life experiences and embeds them perfectly into the songs. There's a distinct feeling of nostalgia that emanates throughout the record and makes it such a captivating listen. In highlight of the album, 17, he repeats "when I was seventeen / my mother said to me / don't stop imagining / the day that you do is the day that you'll die" in a way that really moves you.

Most of the tracks on the album all employ the same clever technique of starting off with a minimalist composition before building up, piece-by-piece until they form a kind of hypnotising motion that really carries the work forward, akin to that of The xx. July is a perfect example of this, it starts with a gentle hum from a synthesiser, before Powers' vocals are introduced. He then adds keyboards to the mix, his voice then grows stronger and stronger until he lets his emotions show on the track. It has a finish that combines every element of the track in such a dynamic way; it feels almost triumphant. Not all of the songs are written in this way, with Daydream being the biggest anomaly on the album. Straight away, we're submerged in a pulsing synth beat which gives the track a decidedly more upbeat atmosphere than the rest of the album.

The fact that Powers is able to translate the recorded material into a live setting so successfully really says something about the artist. His Tunnelvision session for Pitchfork showcased what makes him great. This particular live recording of July arguably sounded better than the recorded version.

As you can probably tell, The Year of Hibernation is a pretty special record in my eyes, and that's why it's one of my favourites of 2011. The future's bright for Youth Lagoon, and I cannot wait to see what happens next.