EPL Picks – Best of 2011 - Best Pop Rock of 2011
Annotation:This album not only surpasses its predecessor but raises the bar for any band, indie or otherwise, mining the past for inspiration.—Paste Magazine
Place a Hold
Annotation:A tremendous leap forward from tUnE-yArDs’ previous efforts, w h o k i l l proves that Garbus isn't just a brainy artiste with a killer voice, but an event, someone to take notice of, a new center of gravity in the musical underground.—Slant Magazine
Annotation:Virtuosity and accessibility have never been easy bedfellows, but Strange Mercy is one of those rare albums that makes you think and makes you fall in love.—NME
Annotation:The set is an enveloping mix of melody, mood and texture that speaks to Robertson's triple-threat virtues as a performer, composer and producer … Now let's hope it doesn't take another 13 years for Robertson's next release.—Billboard.com
Annotation:Driven by Simon's uniquely percussive acoustic guitar, and with his world music leanings embedded naturally rather than overtly, this beguiling album shows him to have lost none of his ability for finding universal truths within the guise of introspection. It's a profound statement from a master of his craft.—BBC Music
Annotation:Tomboy finds him in sustained reflection, singing sublimely about the managing of expectations. It's a deeply interior album, but with an acute awareness of the space it inhabits, and the impression it hopes to leave.—The New York Times
Annotation:Really, they show a lot on Belong –that they can take their sound to the next level, that they haven't lost any of their good-natured band-next-door charm, and most of all, that they can make a great-sounding modern rock album without selling their souls.—All Music Guide
Annotation:This is music that digs deeper and burrows beneath the level of shared associations to discover the sparkling emotional potential of carefully arranged vibrations moving through the air.—Pitchfork
Annotation:Four the Record retains all the pain and personality that drove those dark songs [of her first two albums] and redirects her energies toward some of her best and most eloquent singing and songwriting yet.—American Songwriter
Annotation:It sounds like a soundtrack for the end of the world, or the birth of new worlds. Extraordinary.—The Independent on Sunday (UK)
Annotation:Wounded Rhymes has her belting her heart out over Yttling's maximalist arrangements to thrilling effect.—Pop Matters
Annotation:The juxtaposition of white-boy geekiness with swaggering hip-hop posturing forms the core of The Lonely Island's smart-ass take on pop music, but the trio is also distinguished by obsessive cultural specificity on its sophomore effort.—The A.V. Club
Annotation:The result is Vile's best record to date, an idiosyncratic amalgam of intimate performance and communal expression— and one that continues to reveal new layers upon repeated listens.—Boston Globe
Annotation:It's a linguistic lesson you never asked for, or even wanted, but also one you'll never forget.—Paste Magazine
Annotation:Perhaps the most extraordinary achievement of this funny, hard-hitting, thrilling album is that it actually sounds like a coherent and purposeful piece of work, a statement of what hip hop can mean, and where it can go.—The Telegraph (UK)
Annotation:Written, arranged, performed and recorded by Blake in his bedroom, the album isn't just a good collection of touching songs, it's a complete world of his own; a mood, a moment, a sound that's uniquely his. Just as a future classic should be.—Dot Music
Annotation:Since PJ Harvey is a veteran artist who, in her 20-year career, has yet to either make a bad record or repeat herself, to call her latest, Let England Shake, one of her strongest efforts to date is a bold statement, but it's true—this a brilliant record by an artist impervious to aging.—American Songwriter
Annotation:This album is destined to redraw the parameters, thanks to its sheer scale and detail, its recurring themes and imagery, and its creators' refusal to settle for less than they could achieve.—Mojo
Annotation:Destroyer’s new album Kaputt may be one of the most indefensible albums of all time. But it’s also a masterpiece … It doesn’t matter whether it reflects your tastes or not. It’s not about you. It’s not something to use, but, rather, something to think about, with your mind and your soul — and maybe you’ll even dance a little.—Tiny Mix Tapes
Annotation:In fact, it's very hard to determine what the actual standout from this album will be, because literally every track is full to the absolute brim with the genius of seasoned veterans.—Consequence of Sound
Annotation:For near-perfectly executed indie-pop, we the lucky listeners don't have to wait for a "next time." Cults have struck gold the first time out.—Absolute Punk
Annotation:It's gritty and honest. Beneath the surface-layer thrill of some of these songs are subtle character shifts and brave one-liners, all of which confirm VanGaalen's status as a gripping songwriter as well as a producer.—Pitchfork
Annotation:On Femme Fatale, her seventh studio album and plainly one of her best, the erstwhile teen-pop princess is less the center of sonic attention than the occasion and enabler for a dozen of the age's most accomplished record producers to show off their wildest moves from behind a plastic Britney mask.—Los Angeles Times
Annotation:It's at once majestic and gentle, a deep breath and a sigh that declares Vernon's transcendence of the turmoil and technique of his unique breakout record and establishes him as an artist who knows exactly what he's doing. Hallelujah.—The Boston Phoenix
Annotation:The world's shrewdest diva turns on her star power full blast, indulges her oddball side and flaunts her mastery of seemingly every modern pop mode—Rolling Stone
Annotation:SMiLE was never finished, and it still isn't, but we can safely say this is as close as it'll ever come. What's here is brilliant, beautiful, and, most importantly, finally able to stand tall on its own.—Pitchfork
Annotation:Without sacrificing the wisps of billowing noise or the trademark watery effects, Cox has composed his most accessible set of songs to date and offered further proof as to why he’s one of the most important songwriters working today.— Pop Matters
Annotation:Burst Apart deserves all the plaudits that can be thrown at it; albums are rarely as unashamedly, gut-wrenchingly, genuinely emotional as this.—Drowned in Sound
Annotation:21 was this year's most stunning pop success, transmuting the young Brit's personal sorrow … into a 13-million-selling smash that leapt across borders and oceans and united everyone from teeny-boppers to baby boomers to hip-hop-heads. The sound is state-of-the art retro soul, with touches of Motown, bossa nova and 1970s piano pop. But at its heart was that voice: giant, classic-sounding, promising emotional depth way beyond its years.—Rolling Stone
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