Albums of the Year - Pop Edition - Final

And so there goes another year, billions of albums released, far too many ignored or at least neglected, and yet some really great albums have surfaced over the past twelve months.

The last three months in particular has seen me finally click with Dubstep and even House to some extent, a genre I never thought i'd get into.

Here we start with the most essential pop albums of the last year. i've narrowed it down to 18, if I was less tired I probably would've rounded it up to 20 and included Sleigh Bells Treats and the eighties-tastic That We Can Play by Games.

The majority of pop that i've fallen for this year has been deeply influenced by the sixties, girl groups especially, not a bad thing considering this was the golden decade for pop.

Hopefully you'll find something new and enjoyable. Enjoy 2011.

Click the reviews link for soundclips and the normal reviews, generally my own comments along with Boomkats plus tracks to stream.

	Artist	Album
1	Best Coast	Crazy For You	Buy	Review + Soundclips
2	Rangers	Suburban Tours	Buy	Review + Soundclips
3	Allo, Darlin'	Allo, Darlin'	Buy	Review + Soundclips
4	Anika	Anika	Buy	Review + Soundclips
5	Big Blood	Dead Songs	Buy	Review + Soundclips
6	The Like	The Like	Buy	Review + Soundclips
7	Magic Kids	Memphis	Buy	Review + Soundclips
8	Tennis	Baltimore - EP / South Carolina	Buy	Review + Soundclips
9	Beach House	Teen Dream	Buy	Review + Soundclips
10	Gigi	Maintenant	Buy	Review + Soundclips
11	Belle & Sebastian	Belle & Sebastian Write About Love	Buy	Review + Soundclips
12	The School	Loveless Unbeliever	Buy	Review + Soundclips
13	Chain and the Gang	(I've Got) Privilege 7"	Buy	Review + Soundclips
14	Cults	Adult Swim Singles Program	Buy	Review + Soundclips
15	CocoRosie	Grey Oceans	Buy	Review + Soundclips
16	Amiina	Over & Again	Buy	Review + Soundclips
17	Gonjasufi	Kowboyz&Indians / My Only Friend	Buy	Review + Soundclips
18	Scout Niblett	Calcination of Scout Niblett	Buy	Review + Soundclips

4. Anika - Anika (Invada)

An extraordinarily succesful collaboration between Portishead and Beak>'s Geoff Barrow and German artist Anika. This is the sound of the sixties Girl Group given an almighty dub reworking. Her voice haunting and Nico like, the bass, deep and deeper still. Each song managing to stick in your mind and have you singing along despite the almost doomy feel. End of the World and No Ones There stand out amongst a very impressive collection.

Spoiler : What Boomkat Said:

This album came about when German artist Anika crossed paths with British band Beak while she was working as a political journalist between Berlin and Bristol. Spending just twelve days in the studio, Anika and Beak came out with a wholly unique album that clashes together punk ethics, dub-inspired production and the sort of songwriting approach you'd associate with the golden era of girl groups, during the sixties. Former single 'Yang Yang' seems to get better every time you hear it, and there's a massively weird DIY reggae cover of Bob Dylan's 'Masters Of War' that's far better than you could possibly expect.