Scott B. Bomar's 40 Favorite Albums of 2011

Following is my list of 40 favorite albums of 2011, each accompanied by a (usually) one-sentence review / comment. Most of the albums can be heard in this handy-dandy Spotify playlist. Since Spotify launched in the U.S. in 2011, it seemed to be a good addition to the lists from 2011 and later. Most of the albums from the pre-2011 lists are on Spotify, too, but if you want an authentic historically accurate experience, you'll have to buy the CDs or download the albums from iTunes to hear the earlier lists.





And the winners are...



1. The Belle Brigade – The Belle Brigade (Warner Bros./Reprise) 

A refreshing blast of rootsy retro power pop (the official music of bearded hipsters) from an amazingly harmonious brother and sister duo who put a unique spin on Fleetwood Mac-inspired 70s folk rock.



2. Dawes – Nothing is Wrong (ATO Records)

The earthiness of The Band (more beards) meets the sparkly appeal of The Jayhawks in this second album from one of my favorite groups of the last five years.



3. Amy LaVere – Stranger Me (Archer Records)
I’m a huge fan of this fragile-voiced Memphis-based singer, songwriter and upright bassist who blends the best of blues, jazz and gentle country twang.



4. The Head and the Heart – The Head and the Heart (Sub Pop) 

Despite a strangely unsettling album cover, the debut release from this Seattle-based group blends a little Beatles and a lot of contemporary folk to create some highly appealing roots-pop.



5. The Black Keys – El Camino (Nonesuch Records)
This Danger Mouse produced follow up to their fantastic Brothers album finds the Black Keys tapping into their gritty classic-soul-infused guitar grooves to produce an infectious punch of lean and mean arena rock that’s really enjoyable as long as you can get past the fact that the broken-down Chrysler van on the cover is definitely not an El Camino.



6. Wilco – The Whole Love (dBpm/Anti)
After ten albums, Wilco just keeps being a great band that makes great records.



7. Buddy Miller - Majestic Silver Strings (New West)
Buddy Miller is one of my all-time favorite guitarists and singers, and this understated but stunning collaboration with fellow string wizards Bill Frisell, Marc Ribot, and Greg Leisz does not disappoint.



8. The Decemberists – The King is Dead (Capitol)
I’ve generally been semi-lukewarm on this group (maybe because I’m irrationally annoyed by their name even though I have no idea why), but this album’s surprisingly restrained blend of country-folk-meets-R.E.M. is pretty wonderful.



9. The Civil Wars – Barton Hollow (Sensibility Records)
The tastefully-produced acoustic setting of the Civil Wars’ debut studio album showcases the tightly intertwined close harmony of this excellent male/female duo with deep traditional Americana sensibilities.



10. Raphael Saadiq – Stone Rollin’ (Columbia)
This release finds the infinitely talented producer, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist graduating from the pitch-perfect replication of 1960s Motown soul that he perfected on his previous effort, 2008’s The Way I See It, in favor of an exploration of the 1970s sounds of Sly and The Family Stone, Earth Wind & Fire, and Philly Soul.



11. Gillian Welch – The Harrow & The Harvest (Acony Records)
After eight years, Welch has finally released a new album, and it’s another top-notch slice of moody, sparsely accompanied (code word for “boring” for some people, but I love this stuff) Americana that is as consistently timeless and naturally organic as her previous work.



12. Bon Iver – Bon Iver (Jagjaguwar Records)
Though far more grandiose than Bon Iver’s debut, this lushly produced follow up is a much different - but equally enjoyable - showcase for Justin Vernon’s aching voice (another tortured beard-wearer) and penetrating songs.



13. Abigail Washburn - City of Refuge (Rounder)

An expansive and instantly engaging exploration of eclectic musical influences that finds unique expression in the hands of this Appalachia-meets-indie-rock banjoist and singer-songwriter.



14. The Cave Singers – No Witch (Jagjaguwar Records)
On their third album, the rustically acoustic Cave Singers plug in, adding a little Rolling Stones grit to their folky appeal.



15. The Vaccines – What Did You Expect From the Vaccines? (Columbia)
Though they’ve been criticized for their lack of originality, I really like the Vaccines’ take on straight-ahead indie rock (but, then again, I’m nothing if not unoriginal).



16. Charles Bradley – No Time For Dreaming (Daptone Records)
The 62-year-old’s debut album showcases his well-worn but engaging R&B vocal attack with a backup band that sounds like it was transported straight from the Stax or Muscle Shoals school of 1960s Southern soul and reminds me of what James Brown might sound like today if he were not dead (or crazy).



17. Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues (Sub Pop)
On their second album, Fleet Foxes (it’s a very beard-heavy list this year, folks) continue to weave Simon & Garfunkel and Beach Boys-inspired harmonies with their own eccentric blend of unusual instrumentation and hyper-literate folk rock.



19. Bright Eyes – The People’s Key (Saddle Creek Records)

Though it’s a little strange for my rootsy tastes, I found myself surprisingly engaged by the moody but melodic 80s synth vibe on The People’s Key.



20. Steve Earle – I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive (New West)

Steve Earle long ago morphed from a country rocker into a blues-inflected troubadour, and this fourteenth entry in his list of studio albums is yet another consistent statement from one of America’s greatest singer-songwriters.



21. Solomon Burke & De Dijk – Hold On Tight (Verve)

The King of Rock & Soul and larger-than-life (in more ways than one) legend with an amazingly resonant voice teamed with the Dutch group De Dijk on this disarmingly good collaboration that turned out to be Burke’s final recording.



22. Plan B – The Defamation of Strickland Banks (Atlantic)

Had a friend not insisted that I listen to this album, I would have never known that nondescript British rapper Plan B had reinvented himself as a neo-soul retro-R&B pop powerhouse with a cool contemporary edge.



23. Caitlin Rose – Own Side Now (Thirty Tigers)

With a subtle Americana appeal reminiscent of 70s era Linda Ronstadt, Caitlin Rose’s debut is a simple and highly likable record with a cover that, for reasons I can’t explain, makes me feel kind of unsettled in my stomach - like I feel when I eat those orange circus peanut candies that taste like headaches.



24. Amos Lee – Mission Bell (Blue Note)

If you like Amos Lee’s warmly low key singer-songwriter appeal and incisive lyrics (as I do) you’ll enjoy this record, which also features guest appearances by Willie Nelson and Lucinda Williams.



25. Jill Scott – Light of the Sun (Warner Bros.)

Few contemporary artists keep old-school soul sounding as fresh as Jill Scott manages to do with her poetic and earthy appeal.



26. Kasey Chambers – Little Bird (Sugarhill)

The sixth album from the Australian star who is barely known in the U.S. is another excellent entry in her consistently high quality output of alternative country–soaked pop.



27. Preservation Hall Jazz Band & The Del McCoury Band – American Legacies (McCoury Music)

As a Western Swing fan, I love it when jazz and country collide, so pairing one of the greatest bluegrass groups on the planet with the legendary Dixieland jazz outfit makes for a thrilling and exuberant listening experience that senior citizens are sure to love, too.



28. Foo Fighters – Wasting Light (RCA)
Ranking up there with their finest work, Dave Grohl and company crank up the guitars for one of the most solid straight-up rock and roll records of the year that most senior citizens will not care for.



29. Zoe Muth & The Lost High Rollers - Starlight Hotel (Signature Records)
Pure unadorned country music that has much more in common with Townes Van Zandt than Lady Antebellum and that gets one bonus point for its cool “Ring of Fire” styled mariachi trumpet.



30. Gretchen Parlato – The Lost and Found (ObliqSound)
I’m a big fan of good jazz vocalists (think Ella, Billie, Dinah Washington, etc.) with an affinity for a few “newer” artists like Diana Krall (which makes the purist jazzier-than-thou crowd roll their eyes in disgust), so I’m really impressed with Gretchen Parlato’s ability to interpret a wide range of music in a fresh way while keeping it all in the jazz family.



31. Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer, Chris Thile - The Goat Rodeo Sessions (Sony Classical)
This supergroup explores what happens when classical and bluegrass collide, and the result is a jaw-dropping experience for listeners who appreciate either stellar musicianship or lots of instruments with strings on them.



32. Eilen Jewell - Queen of the Minor Key (Signature Records)
This will make no sense, but this awesome tremolo and twang-drenched album sounds like what you’d get if you blended up a 1960s James Bond film soundtrack, a Patsy Cline ballad, a smoky Billie Holiday-style lounge singer, the raw country of Hank Williams, a pair of go-go boots, Duane Eddy’s guitar, and a fiddle.



33. Eliza Doolittle – Eliza Doolittle (EMI/Capitol)
Yes, she’s yet another British pop singer with old school sensibilities ala Amy Winehouse, Duffy, Adele, Corinne Bailey Rae, Lily Allen, and blah, blah, blah, but there’s something about her hooky melodies and the bombastically layered production that I find very appealing.



34. Hayes Carll - KMAG YOYO (& Other American Stories) (Lost Highway)
Another solid album of original songs from the Texas troubadour who capably channels Dylan, Hank, Van Zandt and all the other requisite Americana sacred cows while still managing to make his own voice heard.



35. Sarah Jarosz - Follow Me Down (Sugar Hill)
The 20-year-old multi-talented bluegrass powerhouse takes a small step outside her traditional past to stretch into a more lushly textured background that sounds like a reinvented Gillian Welch, Mindy Smith, or Alison Krauss for a new generation.



36. Anthony Hamilton - Back to Love (RCA)

It’s no surprise that I’m a total sucker for contemporary records that are heavily influenced by the past, and Anthony Hamilton is one of the best retro-minded R&B / soul singers around.



37. Danger Mouse and Daniele Luppi - Rome (Capitol)
Danger Mouse and Italian composer Daniele Luppi recruit Jack White and Norah Jones to exult in the musical moods of classic Spaghetti Westerns, which - as a fan of both Norah and Italy - I gotta love.



38. Death Cab For Cutie - Codes and Keys (Atlantic)

I've never been much of a fan of the whole sad-boy emo thing, but Death Cab perks up on this record and I find myself coming back to it (although now that frontman Ben Gibbard and his wife Zooey Deschanel have split up, I foresee a return of the sad-boy).



39. Ryan Adams - Ashes and Fire (PAX AM/Capitol)
Adams is incredibly prolific and usually very good, so it’s no shock that this toned-down acoustically grounded release is another solid entry in his fantastic catalog.



40. Lenny Kravitz - Black & White America (Roadrunner)
Though his lyrics are still pretty terrible, I’ve always loved Lenny, and this is some of the best (and funkiest) music he’s made in years.