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NPR Music's 50 Favorite Albums Of 2011 Our list spans more than a dozen genres and includes artists well-known and brand-new, but every one opened our ears to something new. These are the albums that made us hand our headphones over a cubicle wall and say, "You have to listen to this."
NPR Music's 50 Favorite Albums Of 2011
Special Series

NPR Music's 50 Favorite Albums Of 2011

Every album on this list opened our ears to something new this year.

50 Favorites Of 2011: B-E

This year was about changing perspectives. American string quartet Brooklyn Rider revealed a warmer Philip Glass and France's Ebène Quartet found a common thread from Mozart to Bruce Springsteen. Demdike Stare proved that dark techno can be breathtakingly beautiful and Conor Oberst reinvented himself as a rock star. The list of our 50 favorite records of 2011 continues with Bright Eyes, Brooklyn Rider and more artists from B to E.

'Judges' by Colin Stetson

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50 Favorites Of 2011: F-J

In 2011, Frank Ocean sang hooks for Jay-Z and Kanye West, wrote for Beyoncé, toured with Odd Future and still managed to release the smoothest R&B album we've heard in a while. We enjoyed opera's return to form with vibrant young tenor Joseph Calleja and fell in love with a rock opera from a band whose name we're not even allowed to say on NPR. The list of our 50 favorite records of 2011 continued with Frank Ocean, F----- Up and more artists from F to J.

50 Favorites Of 2011: K-R

2011 was a fertile year for collaborations, both long-awaited (Jay-Z and Kanye West's Watch the Throne) and out-of-the-blue (King Creosote and Jon Hopkins' Diamond Mine). What else? Oh, just a definitive version of a century-old masterwork (Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 2) by a storied institution (the London Philharmonic Orchestra) and a couple of debut albums (Kendrick Lamar's Section.80 and La Vida Boheme's Nuestra) that made our heads spin. The list of our 50 favorite albums of 2011 continues here, with albums from Radiohead, PJ Harvey and more artists from K to R.

Opinion

50 Favorites Of 2011: S-W

Musicians new and familiar gave us exciting sounds in 2011. We witnessed the ascent of the mighty Merrill Garbus, a.k.a. tUnE-yArDs. We reveled at the return of Ishmael Butler, formerly known as Butterfly from jazz-rap greats Digable Planets, whose debut with Shabazz Palaces gave off a dark buzz. Wilco moved even farther away from its alt-country roots and managed to sound even more like Wilco. The list of our 50 favorite records of 2011 wraps up here, with album Shabazz Palaces, Sonny Rollins and more artists from S to W.

'Bad As Me' by Tom Waits

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