Year-End Lists

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 2024 • 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

Sonic Magazine: Best Albums of 2011 [staff lists]

[see also 2012]

1. Let England Shake
   PJ Harvey
2. The Harrow & The Harvest
   Gillian Welch
3. Circuital
   My Morning Jacket
4. So Beautiful or So What
   Paul Simon
5. Wounded Rhymes
   Lykke Li
6. James Blake
   James Blake
7. Helplessness Blues
   Fleet Foxes
8. Ashes & Fire
   Ryan Adams
9. Tassili
   Tinariwen
10. Metals
    Feist
11. Bon Iver
    Bon Iver
12. House of Balloons
    The Weeknd
13. Black Up
    Shabazz Palaces
14. The Whole Love
    Wilco
15. Nostalgia, Ultra
    Frank Ocean
16. Believers
    A.A. Bondy
17. Smoke Ring for My Halo
    Kurt Vile
18. 21
    Adele
19. Ravedeath, 1972
    Tim Hecker
20. Goblin
    Tyler, The Creator
21. Islands & Shores
    Deportees
22. Dedication
    Zomby
23. För evigt
    Ison & Fille
24. Holy Ghost!
    Holy Ghost!
25. Klagomuren
    Jonathan Johansson

Paste Magazine: 50 Best Albums of 2011

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2010s • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012]

1. Bon Iver
   Bon Iver
2. Helplessness Blues
   Fleet Foxes
3. Circuital
   My Morning Jacket
4. Whokill
   Tune-Yards
5. Middle Brother
   Middle Brother
6. It’s A Corporate World
   Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.
7. The Whole Love
   Wilco
8. Nothing is Wrong
   Dawes
9. Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming
   M83
10. The King is Dead
    The Decemberists
11. Strange Mercy
    St. Vincent
12. Kiss Each Other Clean
    Iron & Wine
13. The King of Limbs
    Radiohead
13. Father, Son, Holy Ghost
    Girls
14. 21
    Adele
15. Divine Providence
    Deer Tick
16. Yuck
    Yuck
17. Barton Hollow
    The Civil Wars
18. Civilian
    Wye Oak
19. Cults
    Cults
20. The Rip Tide
    Beirut
21. No Time for Dreaming
    Charles Bradley
22. El Camino
    The Black Keys
23. The Belle Brigade
    The Belle Brigade
24. Nine Types of Light
    TV on the Radio
25. Burst Apart
    The Antlers
26. Smart Flesh
    The Low Anthem
27. Arabia Mountain
    Black Lips
28. Wounded Rhymes
    Lykke Li
29. Metals
    Feist
30. Bad as Me
    Tom Waits
31. 12 Desperate Straight Lines
    Telekinesis
32. Ashes & Fire
    Ryan Adams
33. The Head and the Heart
    The Head and the Heart
34. This Is Where We Are
    Seryn
35. Camp
    Childish Gambino
36. Out of Love
    Mister Heavenly
37. Slave Ambient
    The War on Drugs
38. The Long Surrender
    Over the Rhine
39. Torches
    Foster the People
40. In the Mountain in the Cloud
    Portugal. The Man
41. James Blake
    James Blake
42. Wild Flag
    Wild Flag
43. The Big Roar
    Joy Formidable
44. Smoke Ring for My Halo
    Kurt Vile
45. Screws Get Loose
    Those Darlins
46. Holy Ghost!
    Holy Ghost!
47. Days
    Real Estate
48. Take Care
    Drake
49. Mountaintops
    Mates of State
50. England Keep My Bones
    Frank Turner

Q Magazine: Top 50 Albums of 2011

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

1. Ceremonials
   Florence + The Machine
2. Let England Shake
   PJ Harvey
3. 21
   Adele
4. Bon Iver
   Bon Iver
5. Mylo Xyloto
   Coldplay
6. Watch the Throne
   Jay-Z and Kanye West
7. Suck It and See
   Arctic Monkeys
8. Strange Mercy
   St. Vincent
9. Go Tell Fire to the Mountain
   WU LYF
10. Build a Rocket Boys!
    Elbow
11. Skying
    The Horrors
12. A Creature I Don’t Know
    Laura Marling
13. A Different Kind of Fix
    Bombay Bicycle Club
14. House of Balloons
    The Weeknd
15. Happy Soup
    Baxter Dury
16. Smoke Ring for My Halo
    Kurt Vile
17. The English Riviera
    Metronomy
18. Anna Calvi
    Anna Calvi
19. WIT’S END
    Cass McCombs
20. Thursday
    The Weeknd
21. Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds
    Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds
22. Ritual
    White Lies
23. Biophilia
    Björk
24. Days
    Real Estate
25. Smother
    Wild Beasts
26. Wounded Rhymes
    Lykke Li
27. +
    Ed Sheeran
28. The Harrow & The Harvest
    Gillian Welch
29. Velociraptor!
    Kasabian
30. Born This Way
    Lady Gaga
31. Hot Sauce Committee Part Two
    Beastie Boys
32. The King of Limbs
    Radiohead
33. Whokill
    Tune-Yards
34. Hotel Shampoo
    Gruff Rhys
35. Humor Risk
    Cass McCombs
36. On A Mission
    Katy B
37. Within and Without
    Washed Out
38. Metals
    Feist
39. James Blake
    James Blake
40. Rome
    Danger Mouse & Daniel Luppi
41. Father, Son, Holy Ghost
    Girls
42. Last of the Country Gentlemen
    Josh T Pearson
43. Diamond Mine
    King Creosote & Jon Hopkins
44. Trans-Love Energies
    Death In Vegas
45. Colour of the Trap
    Miles Kane
46. SBTRKT
    SBTRKT
47. The Hunter
    Mastodon
48. Last Night on Earth
    Noah & The Whale
49. Nostalgia, Ultra
    Frank Ocean
50. Audio,Video,Disco
    Justice

Rise: Records of the Year 2011 [main list]

1. Slave Ambient
   The War on Drugs
2. Whokill
   Tune-Yards
3. Coracle
   Walls
4. Gentle Spirit
   Jonathan Wilson
5. Last of the Country Gentlemen
   Josh T Pearson
6. Smoke Ring for My Halo
   Kurt Vile
7. Let England Shake
   PJ Harvey
8. Burst Apart
   The Antlers
9. Ritual Union
   Little Dragon
10. Black Up
    Shabazz Palaces
11. The English Riviera
    Metronomy
12. Wander / Wonder
    Balam Acab
13. West
    Wooden Shjips
14. Native Speaker
    Braids
15. Space is Only Noise
    Nicolas Jaar
16. Veronica Falls
    Veronica Falls
17. Wounded Rhymes
    Lykke Li
18. Days
    Real Estate
19. Strange Mercy
    St. Vincent
20. Civilian
    Wye Oak
21. D
    White Denim
22. Peanut Butter Blues & Melancholy Jam
    Ghostpoet
23. Everything Is Dancing
    Fair Ohs
24. Ashes & Fire
    Ryan Adams
25. Tamer Animals
    Other Lives
26. Looping State of Mind
    The Field
27. Bad as Me
    Tom Waits
28. The Whole Love
    Wilco
29. Father, Son, Holy Ghost
    Girls
30. Gracious Tide, Take Me Home
    Lanterns on the Lake
31. Anna Calvi
    Anna Calvi
32. Gloss Drop
    Battles
33. Past Life Martyred Saints
    EMA
34. Broadcast
    Hyetal
35. Cults
    Cults
36. Cat’s Eyes
    Cat’s Eyes
37. Cadenza
    Dutch Uncles
38. Coastal Grooves
    Blood Orange
39. Deerhoof vs. Evil
    Deerhoof
40. Battle For Seattle
    Little Roy
41. The Hunter
    Mastodon
42. W
    PLANNINGTOROCK
43. Katang
    Zun Zun Egui
44. Smother
    Wild Beasts
45. Apocalypse
    Bill Callahan
46. Eye Contact
    Gang Gang Dance
47. Diamond Mine
    King Creosote & Jon Hopkins
48. James Blake
    James Blake
49. The King is Dead
    The Decemberists
50. Welcome to Condale
    Summer Camp