Here are 20 of the top 10 releases from 2011. This year has particularly reminded me of the potential hubris of trying to claim any kind of critical acumen. These are recordings that I've returned to again as a listener - either as the beginning of what I expect to be a long listening relationship, or the rediscovery of old friends or nearly forgotten acquaintances in the case of reissued recordings. Some of these recordings were my favorites on first listen, and others insinuated themselves in my heart over time and somewhat to my surprise. Although RTQE listeners will recognize several of these, a few may come as something of a surprise. With the exception of perhaps a single very late arrival, their appearance has been spaced out over the course of the year. In some places, I've included multiple releases by the same artist (or, as in the case of the Radiohead and TKOL remix release, a single release and its recontextualized relatives) - while it's unusual to release more than one piece per year, there were a few instances where the relationship between the two releases meant that I included them as a set.

The usual rubric still obtains - these are 20 of the top 10. Ten is too few, and the margin for error is lessened a little bit by expanding things, I hope. They're in alphabetical order so as to avoid any other kind of ranking.

happy holidays to you all. I wish you peace.
Gregory

Various Artists Kanshin Fluid Audio
Hibernate
Autechre EPS 1991 - 2002 Warp
The Beach Boys Smile Sessions Capitol
Olivia Block/Greg Kelley Resolution Erstwhile
Bon Iver Bon Iver Jagjaguwar
Bvdub/Ian Hawgood The Truth Hurts Nomadic Kids Republic
Dome 1-4+5 Editions Mego
Elbow Build a Rocket, Boys! Downtown
Brian Eno/Rick Holland Drums Between the Bells
The Panic of Looking 		Warp
Julia Holter Tragedy Leaving
Johan Johansson The Miners' Hymns Fat Cat
King Crimson Starless and Bible Black (40th Anniversary Series) DGM
Tony Levin/David Torn/Alan White Levin Torn White Papa Bear
Jim O'Rourke Old News #5
Old News #6 		Editions Mego
Radiohead/Various Artists The King of Limbs
TKOL RMIX 1234567 		TBD Records
Todd Reynolds Outerborough Innova
Franca Saachi En Die Schachtel
Saul Stokes Sleek Nucleus Stokesmusic
Ricardo Villalobos/Max Loderbauer Re: ECM ECM
Chris Watson El Tren Fantasma Touch