The Black Keys – El Camino
In his review of The Black Keys’ sold-out Minneapolis show in support of Brothers, Star Tribune writer Chris Riemenschneider commented, “The set they did play was tight, masterfully executed and had zero filler. Is 85 minutes of perfection better than two hours of varying quality?” El Camino, The Black Keys’ seventh studio album, answers that question with slightly less than 40 minutes of blistering affirmation. With producer Brian Burton’s featherweight, yet telltale, touches, vocalist and guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney have polished each track to the high standards of “Tighten Up”. Recorded almost immediately after the aforementioned Brothers tour, El Camino distills its predecessor’s high-octane fumes and high-profile influences into very nearly the Platonic ideal of rock and roll. Like the wood-paneled minivan that adorns the album cover, each track is big, brash, and classic. El Camino reminds The Black Keys’ audience that they deserve that extra five minutes to themselves because not a bar, verse, or lyric is wasted: They are all, in fact, “masterfully executed.” Read the full review on consequence of Sound

Amy Winehouse – Lioness: Hidden Treasures
The album opens with Winehouse’s 2002 reggae-tinged version of Ruby & The Romantics‘ 1963 hit “Our Day Will Comes,” and with good reason. It’s the track where Winehouse sounds most coherent. It’s a lively, jaunty remake that showcases Winehouse’s love and connection to the singers from the ‘50s and ‘60s and her uncanny intuitiveness when it comes to capturing the sassiness and longing so prevalent in the female pioneers. Read the full review on Hitfix

The Roots – Undun
The Roots’ latest studio album is an artful melding of experimental jazz, ’70s R&B, guitar rock flourishes, wall-shattering beats and rhymes that take a scalpel to the existential angst of the hip-hop generation. It’s both bleak and unexpectedly beautiful. Read the full review on LA Times

5. "Black Keys - El Camino" Badass, rockin', catchy, bluesy-- the Black Keys are awesome. And so is "El Camino." I've had the (killer) lead single, "Lonely Boy," stuck in my head for the last few days. But I'm okay with that, because it's a damn good song.

4. "Tycho - Dive" I'm not normally the kind of person who walks around while listening to ambient electronic music on her iPod. But for Tycho, I make an exception. "Coastal Brake," track 5, is simply one of the best songs I've heard in a long time of any genre. Liquidy, mysterious synths give way to ocean waves give way to hazy images of the beach on a hot summer afternoon...damn, it's good. And so is the whole album. It's hard to believe that Tycho is actually one dude, Scott Hansen, creating all of this music on a computer while hidden away in a studio somewhere. What a guy!

3. "Bass Drum of Death - GB City" Fat Possum Records has had a banner year, and I'd certainly consider "GB City" to be one reason why. Everything on here is sloppy and lo-fi and catchy and manic as hell. This album makes me-- and will make you--want to be a rock star. Like, not a real rock star, but just one who rocks out in peoples' sweaty basements.

2. "Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Unknown Mortal Orchestra" Here is example #2 of why Fat Possum has been especially rad this year. Unknown Mortal Orchestra have taken their favorite components of soul, hip-hop, and lo-fi rock and the result is...this album. It's uptempo, fun, danceable, and highly sing-along-able. Prepare for your booty to be shaken.

1. "Washed Out - Within and Without" I only picked this as number one so there would be a huge image of naked people making out on the Pure Pop homepage. Sorry. Psych! Just kidding, guys. Just kidding. Here's what I actually have to say: One guy, one laptop, one sweet album. Washed Out (aka Ernest Greene) basically defined chillwave with the 2009 "Life of Leisure" EP, then proved he was still the boss with "Within and Without". Amazingly, these songs are almost completely constructed by a MacBook and Greene's voice. Dreamy melodies are drenched in synths and reverb, and each track ebbs and flows before seamlessy fading to the next. This is (well, was) the ultimate Summer 2011 Album. Pair it with "Dive" by Tycho for the definitive beach playlist.

There was a ton of sweet music released this year. Although I couldn’t fit them in the top five (or forgot about them until, like, right now), I’d send props out to Rubblebucket Orchestra’s “Omega La La”, Jeff the Brotherhood’s “We Are the Champions,” Black Lips’ “Arabia Mountain”, J Rocc’s “Some Cold Rock Stuf”, Milk Maid’s “Yucca”, and Son of Salami’s “A Study in Eraserheadless Tape Recording.”

Oh, and I guess I’m supposed to tell you about myself in this space. Hey, guys, I’m Sarah. I work at Pure Pop, so I’m pretty sure I’m not in the running for the gift certificate, but doing a YearEnder seemed like a really good vehicle for avoiding the more important things I have to do. I’m also a senior at UVM, the program director of WRUV-FM, and the music editor for The Water Tower, UVM’s alternative (and coolest newspaper).

Shameless plug: I’ll be playing my favorite 40 songs of 2011 on my radio show next Monday (12/12) @ 6 PM on WRUV-FM 90.1/wruv.org.

5. Foster the People/Torches I don't listen to triple j or whatever but this is a really, really great collection of songs. Best thing since the New Radicals. Indulge. If you can find room on your iPod for Coldplay, there's no reason not to be feeling this.

4. John Maus/We Must Become the Pitiless Censors of Ourselves Jackie Chan flashing all across the world Hulk Hogan flashing all across the world Baby lets go fly all across the world Baby lets go fly all across the world! They call me the believer… 'Hey Moon''s probably the best song of the year. He rises above the rest. It sounds like it might just be one of those guys but his words, his cadence, his melody's. He gets it. Excited to see what he's up to next cause he might be on the verge of something very important.

3. Kurt Vile/Smoke Ring For My Halo According to my iTunes I listened to this album 78 times this year, that doesn't include the LP. Probably get a few more in, yet.

2. Curren$y/Covert Coup EP Seriously, Watch the Throne was a fantastic weekend, but this guy put out like 3 albums this year and this one is the game-clincher. I love that this thing is free, 10 tracks, 26-minutes long and has a evil dictator on the front getting his ass overthrown. Glad someone's still punk rock around here.

1. PJ Harvey/Let England Shake You know a lot of albums came close...but this just has an unmatched energy. It made me really remember what an album can achieve. It has an obvious scope and the way it relates stories, both historical and relevant, that uncover disturbing relationships, while allowing us to remember, in udder ugliness and beauty, that there is a human condition. Plus she is such a sick rhythm guitar player. She understands rhythm like no other white person on the planet.

Ben Hedstrom
Nest Material

5. Those Darlins - Screws Get Loose Really awesome, catchy melodies. I find myself singing the chorus to the title track at all hours of the night. Plus, the album art is just silly.

4. The Beets - Let The Poison out THE BEETS! Though they don't hold a candle to the original Beets...aka one of the best fictional bands around (see the Nickleodeon cartoon, Doug), this is still an excellent album. Garagey goodness all over the place. Surprisingly lengthy thirteen track album, though a few clock in at under a minute. Still, beautiful display of rock n' roll right here.

3. St. Vincent - Strange Mercy I loved Annie since I saw her open for Broken Social Scene last year. She's quite the talented lady, and there is no shortage of that on Strange Mercy. It's creepy, sad, strange, haunting, daunting, eery, but oh so good. All tracks are winners. Especially 'Chloe in the Afternoon.' I was really annoyed by that track the first time I heard it, but then it instantly grew on me. Check this bad boy out.

2. Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - Mirror Traffic I loved this album SO MUCH. I played it every day at work...sorry guys. I also saw Stephen perform this whole album live in NYC and it was a life changing moment for me, but that's probably because I have a disease called malkmusmania - it's contagious, and so is this album. I know what the senator wants...do YOU?

1. Black Lips - Arabia Mountain This album was really surprising to me...doesn't really sound anything like their older albums (Good, Bad, Not Evil / Black Lips!) and I know many people probably didn't like that about Arabia Mountain. But I certainly didn't mind. This album is cohesive and all the tracks are put together so well. Over produced? Perhaps...but not in a pop radio kind of way, in a black-lips-is-stepping-up-their-game kind of way. They're really a bunch of jerks who just play garage rock but once you ignore their personal flaws and focus on the record itself, you will see that it is pure gold.

I am a Pure Pop shop girl! I have had the pleasure of listening to tons of new releases this year. These are just a few of the most delicious morsels of albums you probably heard over and over and over again if you happened to be in the store when I was working. This was a pretty darn good year for music, let’s hear it for all the bands and their labels, and I’d also like to thank Pure Pop for feeding my music addiction. Huzzah!

5. My Morning Jacket – Circuital MMJ returned from their wayward Evil Urges-period with their best album yet. Everything in the 45 rpm double-lp set screams quality, and at a street price of $20, it

4. Discography CD Box sets Right now the best bang for the buck in quality music collecting can often be had through the box set. Two great releases from 2011 that were cheap ($50-70) and offer pretty much the full catalog of two great artists on cd are Leonard Cohen – The Complete Studio Albums and The Smits – Complete (I haven’t checked it out, but the Pink Floyd Discovery box likely fits in here too). Both offer minimal packaging but great masterings of essential music.

3. Hip Indie-Folk This genre seems to have exploded and breathed a little new life into the WNCS playlists (although it hasn’t bumped 80’s new wave off, unfortunately). It’s been a mixed bag with some good (Iron and Wine – Kiss Each Other Clean, Dawes – Nothing is Wrong, Middle Brother – S/T, The Decemberists – The King is Dead), some less so (Mumford and Sons – Sigh No More, Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues, maybe Ryan Adams – Ashes and Fire?). My standout in this field has been The Head and the Heart, a great record with very good songs and nice ensemble playing without pandering to the ‘bearded guy with scarf’ thing including gratuitous atonal saxophone freakouts. On that last note, I like Fleet Foxes, and Pure Pop of course, whose giveaway last spring yielded me a limited edition white vinyl copy of Helplessness Blues that was sold on eBay for $300, which was quickly flipped over into more music purchases, of course.

2. Amplification. We appreciate the physical format here on this record store blog, so why not give it the respect it deserves? This year I treated myself to two system additions that bring music to life like I’ve never heard. By biamping my main speakers, I can now devote 175 watts of proper solid-state power to each integrated sub via very reasonably priced Dayton monoblocks. On the top end, I added a 1958 Scott 299 tube integrated amp that should be back any day from a full rebuild ready for another 50 years of life. I judge music’s sound quality mostly by the dynamics, and especially by how well a drum kit is reproduced. This setup certainly makes the most out of well-produced recordings. Save the iPod docks and earbuds for your downloads, real media deserves a real system.

1. Thirteenth Floor Elevators – Music of the Spheres Most everything you need recorded by the seminal psychedelic band including ‘director’s cut’ mixes of their three ‘real’ albums, the terrific Headstone/Contact sessions, some live stuff, and other outtakes, pressed beautifully onto nine heavy vinyl records with stunning box artwork, liner notes, and other goodies. Not only does this put Roky Erickson right in your living room, but the package highlights to other key bandmemebers and helps fill out the legend ot the Elevators. Not cheap, this limited edition is only available via import from Burning Shed records in the UK (sorry PP), but it’s worth every penny, and my best birthday present of the year.

I’m a music-moving Dad with little time for live music nowadays, but a two-hour commute that gives a decent amount of listening time. I’m all about low budget hi fi, and I support musicians and producers who care about the sound quality of their releases. In a 24-bit modern world, there’s no good reason for hyper compression, low bitrate downloads, bad streaming audio, and ipod docks as the standard music delivery systems that are so popular these days.

5. "Kaputt" | Destroyer Dan Bejar, commonly known for his association with The New Pornographers, has once again succeeded in creating a tremendously heartfelt and sagacious album. For fans of chamber pop, this is essential listening.

4. "II" | The Psychic Paramount A stunning cacophony of noise, post-rock, and psychedelia. The Psychic Paramount resemble an impassioned and enigmatic Explosions In The Sky.

3. "A Winged Victory For The Sullen" | A Winged Victory For The Sullen An incisive synthesis of ambient and classical music that is utterly and emotionally captivating.

2. "Smother" | Wild Beasts Dark, alluring, and seductive—Wild Beasts have perfected the art of salacious pop music on "Smother", their third studio release.

1. "Hurry Up, We're Dreaming" | M83 "Hurry Up, We're Dreaming" is a colossal album, both in spirit and in ambition. With it, Anthony Gonzalez—the man behind the nebulous moniker—elicits feelings of joy and exaltation; reminding us how precious dreams truly are.

Honorable Mentions:

— “You Are All I See” | Active Child
— “Rave Death, 1972″ | Tim Hecker
— “House of Balloons” | The Weeknd
— “50 Words For Snow” | Kate Bush
— “Bon Iver, Bon Iver” | Bon Iver

I am currently a Biology student at Clarkson University (which was built in the most unfortunately banal town in existence).

5. Clare Maguire - Light After Dark "Oh my god, she sounds so much like Annie Lennox!" is what everyone says when they hear Clare Maguire. And they're right. Highly piano driven and undeniably catchy, her debut album is a triumph, and hopefully will make people forget all about Florence Welch.

4. Canon Blue - Rumspringa Most underrated album of the year for sure. Heavily orchestrated, beautifully produced, the album would be great road trip music. In fact, Canon Blue frontman Daniel James wrote the music while on the road, and included the names of the locations where the songs were born in their titles.

3. M83 - Hurry Up, We're Dreaming I used to not "get" M83. But that's because he used to make music that wasn't fun to listen to (write your own damn list if you don't like what I say in mine). But this album got my attention right away with the piercing, disco hook in "Midnight City," and held my attention with its cataclysmic, wall-of-sound, emotionally gut-wrenching pop numbers. I really like that one song where the little kid talks about tripping balls on rainforest tree frogs.

2. Konkylie - When Saints Go Machine Isn't it great when people write poetry in English but English isn't their native language?Singer Nikolaj Manuel Vonsild sounds like a Muppet, but that somehow only adds to the beauty of this album. Konkylie, which means conch shell in Danish, is full of dark, synthy odes that are peppy enough to dance to but are also chill enough to make out to. I can't believe this music is Top 40 in Denmark!

1. James Blake - James Blake Dubstep shmubstep. I don't use that term when describing this music. As cumbersome as it might be, I call it sparse, soulful, experimental-electronic pop. James Blake's baby face, porcelaine voice, and poetry that is as bleak as it is earnest, make this album the champion of 2011.

A Vermonter and former Burlingtonian, I’ve spent the last 3 years DJing on independent radio stations in San Francisco, and finding new, cool, cutting edge indie music is my favorite thing to do, especially when I get to share it with strangers.

My favorite music trend of 2011 is the pervasive inclusion of saxophones. I love me some sax, and you can hear it on the 2011 albums from M83, Lady Gaga, Planningtorock, Plan B, tUnE-yArDs, Lykke Li, even Washed Out had a sax included in his new full-band live show. Viva le sax!

Some honorable mentions:

Cut Copy- Zonoscope
Wilco- The Whole Love
NewVillager- NewVillager
Active Child- You Are All I See
Plan B- The Defamation of Strickland Banks

5. Dirge -- Elysian Magnetic Fields This album is huge, loud, overwhelming, and extremely cathartic from start to finish. If you're a fan of post-metal like Isis or A Storm of Light, you should hear this album. It may sound cold and bleak, but there's something in all of the growling and densely layered guitars that makes this really enjoyable.

4. Symphony X -- Iconoclast These guys have been on fire in recent years. Both of their last two albums, The Odyssey and Paradise Lost, have been fantastic, and Iconoclast only builds even further on those successes. It's pretty impressive that, for a double album, it absolutely never lets up. It's just 83 minutes of non-stop symphonic power metal.

3. Seed from the Geisha -- Talk Peace to the Wolf This is the debut from French alternarock band Seed from the Geisha, and it's absolutely incredible. It's easy to listen to like mainstream rock music (think early Incubus), but with a subtle level of progressive influence that makes it engaging (sorta like Radiohead). Definitely worth checking out.

2. Random -- Todo.s los colores del This one surprised me, not because it's a debut album from an unknown Argentinean band, but because it's free to download. Seriously! It's complex technical death metal with a heavier emphasis on the progressive elements (think BtBaM), but done so much better than you'd expect. Download it at http://randomtuc.com.ar/discos.html

1. Vildhjarta -- måsstaden This is a flabbergasting debut from Swedish band Vildhjarta. It's a little weird--it'd have to be, coming from a band who takes their name from a D&D rulebook--but it's definitely one of the best djent albums I've ever heard. It has all of the complexity and virtuosity of Meshuggah with a few surprises thrown in. You absolutely must hear this.

My name’s Sarah Katelyn Matthews. I live in Burlington, study at UVM, and I am a reviewer/critic for the webzine Scene Point Blank. Pure Pop is my favourite record store in the area and it gets a disgusting amount of my income so that I can continue to do what I love: listen to and write about music. You can read my full reviews for all of these records, as well as some of my other favourites, at scenepointblank.com \m/

5. Cold Cave- Cherish the Light Years. This album brings back all the dancable vibes of 80's goth pop. Awesome synthy grooves with terrificly haunting vocals. Also if you can't see this band live look at pictures of them while to listen to the album, the sound is most fully appreciated when you can see how much the band wants to be lil Robby Smiths.

4. Destroyer- Kaputt. So smooth. So sexy.

3. Twin Sister- In Heaven. One of my favorite bands, their debut album shows their full range of sounds, from slow jams showing of Andrea's beautiful voice and Gabe's funky base lines to ultra danceable celestial grooves. This is by far the most hump inducing live performance I have ever seen.

2. COOLRUNNINGS- Dracula is Only the Beginning. Reverby lo-fi pop. Very pleasant on the ears.

1. Idiot Glee- Paddywhack. Doo Wop revival from Lexington, KY. Some of the best most inventive pop music being made in 2011. Perfectly layered vocal loops with simple synthy grooves and old school hip hop beats.

Honorable Mentions- Future Islands, Youth Lagoon, The Babies, M83, Blood Orange, Serengeti.
I am a DJ at WRUV, listen to my show Sunday/Monday 12-2 AM. Also look at this ladyandtravis.tumblr.com

5. Blood Orange - Coastal Grooves Before Devonte Hynes,of Blood Orange, released Costal Grooves I knew I would love his album because of the music video he created for his single "Dinner". Coastal Grooves mimics the upbeat energy and seductive lyrics introduced in the 7" he released 2 months before the album. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18ew9nwn1HY

4. Future Islands - On the Water On the Water is the 3rd album release by Future Islands of Baltimore. The deeply emotional voice of lead singer, Samuel T. Herring creates nostalgia for Joy Division and other projects inspired by new wave. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIMXeGV8WNc

3. Yuck - Yuck A noise rock band from London, Yuck looks great in denim. This album was very easy to listen to and attracted many fans. Yuck re-released their self titled album and gave their fans two new demos to enjoy. http://pitchfork.com/tv/pitchfork-music-festival/1742-2011/2888-yuck-the-wall/

2. tUnE-yArDs – W H O K I L L tUnE-yArDs is a music project created by Merrill Garbus. The unique use of vocal layering mixed with an eclectic variety of musical genre's allowed W H O K I L L to blow up on indie music blogs and win a spot at Pitchfork's summer music festival in Chicago, IL. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQ1LI-NTa2s&ob=av2e

1. Youth Lagoon - The Year of Hibernation This project of Trevor Powers, 22 of Boise Idaho, is a beautiful example of home recorded indie pop. Powers provokes deep emotion through his use of simple melodies and reverb. http://pitchfork.com/tv/tunnelvision/1823-youth-lagoon/2975-july/

Honorable Mentions:
Twin Sister – In Heaven
M83 – Hurry Up We’re Dreaming
Cold Cave – Cherish the Light Years
Hello Shark – Break Arms
tooth ache. – Flash & Yearn

Student studying community & international development at UVM. DJ (Lady Grey) at WRUV, Musical Bears Sunday nights 12-2 am www.ladyandtravis.tumblr.com