Originally written by Sean Adams · 11 December 2011
This week, we'll be counting down DiS' favourite 75 albums of 2011, with our top 5 revealed on Thursday. Before we do so, we thought you might find it interesting to see what each of our staff members named their number one record of the year.
As you can see from the photo above, Polly Harvey is grinning, partly because she's currently top of the Metacritic album of the year list-of-lists but also due to hearing that seven of our sixty-two staff have named Let England Shake their favourite album of the year.
Whilst we're on the subject of stats: seven of these number ones didn't feature at all on any other staff members' lists. The second most numbered one'd album was Kaputt by Destroyer, who had four votes, closely followed by Antlers and Wild Beasts, with three. However, this may not give you too many clues as to what is our album of the year because although this votes will be taken into account, we once again won't be totting up the staff votes, like some sort of staff popularity contest because we're well aware that what's most popular isn't necessarily the bestest of the best (see also: Rebecca Black, Jessie J and Coldplay).
DiS' year-end list form of democracy is approximated. It's a bit like a ouija board guided by our core team who've had the benefit of investigating a helluva lot of records these past twelve months, as well as by some of our genre specialists. Yes, I guess you could say it works a bit like the House of Lords. However, we also like to take into account what our readers have been loving throughout the year, and also what you've all been voting for as your DiS users' album of the year (you have until Jan 1st for vote for your top 5 over the boards). It's an imperfect science but this human 'curated' and approximated way of working seems to have made for our interesting albums of the year lists over the past three years and even in a time before that, we used to thrash out the top 5 over beer and biscuits until there could be only one...
Here are our staff number one favourite albums of 2011. Feel free to share your number 1 below.
Senior DiS Staff
Sean Adams, Founder/Editor: Antlers Burst Apart Andrzej Lukowski, Reviews Editor: PJ Harvey Let England Shake Cate Blanche, Features Editor: Nils Frahm Felt Luke Slater, News Editor: Destroyer Kaputt Wendy Roby, Singles Columnist: Colin Stetson New History Warfare Vol. II: Judges Dom Gourlay, Senior Contributor: The Horrors Skying
All Contributors
Marie Wood: Antlers Burst Apart Kevin Perry: Tom Waits Bad As Me Robert Leedham: Metronomy English Riviera David Edwards: Josh T Pearson Last of the Country Gentlemen Dan Lucas: Tom Waits Bad as Me Noel Gardner: Iceage New Brigade Krystina Nellis: Wild Beasts Smother Bruce (Oceanrain): Destroyer Kaputt Simon Jay Catling: The Field Looping State Of Mind Billy Hamilton: SBTRKT SBTRKT James Skinner: Bright Eyes The People’s Key Al Horner: St Vincent Strange Mercy Patrick Smith: Bon Iver Bon Iver Nick Neyland: EMA Past Life Martyred Saints Alexander Tudor: EMA Past Life Martyred Saints Jazz Monroe: Okkervil River I Am Very Far George Bass: Riz MC MICroscope Aaron Lavery: The Wave Pictures Beer In The Breakers Paul Brown: PJ Harvey Let England Shake John Calvert: Destroyer Kaputt Jonathon Falcone: Young Galaxy Shapeshifter Dan Cooper-Gavin: Panda Bear Tomboy David Pott-Negrine: The Weeknd House Of Balloons Thomas Perry: True Widow As High as The Highest Heavens and From the Centre to the Circumference of the Earth Andrew Schagen: PJ Harvey Let England Shake Michael Brown: Thrice Major/Minor Sean Thomas: PJ Harvey Let England Shake James Lawrenson: Tune-Yards W H O K I L L Neil Ashman: Wild Beasts Smother Christian Cottingham: Wild Beasts Smother Robert Cooke: Dutch Uncles Cadenza Brad Barrett: Thursday No Devolución Russell Warfield: Girls Father, Son, Holy Ghost Josh Suntharasivam: The Antlers Burst Apart Eliot McVeigh: Gang Gang Dance Eye Contact Andew Wallace Chamings: J Mascis Several Shades Of Why Philip Bloomfield: Demdike Stare Triptych Amanda Farah: MEN Talk About Body Bronya Francis: PJ Harvey Let England Shake Andrew Kennedy: Pete & The Pirates One Thousand Pictures Sam Lewis: Ducktails Arcade Dynamics Dannie Leivers: Friendly Fires Pala William Grant: Bon Iver Bon Iver Kyle Ellison: Frank Ocean Nostalgia / Ultra Sam Cleeve: A Winged Victory for the Sullen S/T J.R. Moores: Metallica and Lou Reed Lulu Adam Bychawski: Bon Iver Bon Iver Eli Lee: Destroyer Kaputt Finbarr Bermingham: King Creosote & Jon Hopkins Diamond Mine Sam Walby: Zomby Dedication Alex Hegazy: Peaking Lights 936 Si Truss: Frank Ocean Nostalgia/Ultra Keiran Goddard: Josh T Pearson Last of the Country Gentlemen Rob Webb: Smith Westerns Dye It Blonde Kevin Eddy: PJ Harvey Let England Shake Kate Hutchinson: PJ Harvey Let England Shake
Lists: Drowned in Sound's albums of the year 2001-2010.
DiScuss: Which of these number one album choices do you think didn't feature on any other staff members' lists?