2011 was a big year for music. Chart-topping superstars such as Lady Gaga, Adele, and Coldplay all released records that will be enjoyed by many for years to come. But what about those artists you might have missed among the releases of well-known favorites? Below is an extended version of my Top 5 list published in the December Valor Dictus’ Hear Me Out column. Also, check out some of 2011 catchiest tracks- these songs are sure to stay in your head well into the new year.

Top 30 Albums of 2011

1. M83 – Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming
2. The Dodos – No Color
3. Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues
4. Bon Iver – Bon Iver
5. St. Vincent – Strange Mercy
6. Beirut – The Rip Tide
7. tUnE-yArDs – w h o k i l l
8. James Blake – James Blake
9. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – Belong
10. Bright Eyes – The People’s Key
11. The Antlers – Burst Apart
12. The Head and The Heart – The Head and The Heart
13. Washed Out – Within and Without
14. Neon Indian – Era Extrana
15. Atlas Sound – Parallax
16. Shabazz Palaces – Black Up
17. Other Lives – Tamer Animals
18. Ty Segall – Goodbye Bread
19. Radiohead – King of Limbs
20. SBTRKT – SBTRKT
21. Lykke Li – Wounded Rhymes
22. Dum Dum Girls – Only in Dreams
23. Bombay Bicycle Club – A Different Kind of Fix
24. Youth Lagoon – The Year of Hibernation
25. Nurses – Dracula
26. Toro y Moi – Underneath the Pine
27. Balam Acab – Wander/Wonder
28. Smith Westerns – Dye It Blonde
29. White Denim – D
30. Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Unknown Mortal Orchestra

Top 30 Songs of 2011

1. Bizness – tUnE-yArDs
2. Santa Fe – Beirut
3. Battery Kinzie – Fleet Foxes
4. Midnight City – M83
5. Don’t Move – Phantogram
6. Video Games – Lana Del Rey
7. You Make The Sun Fry – Ty Segall
8. Ffunny Ffriends – Unknown Mortal Orchestra
9. Wildfire – SBTRKT feat. Little Dragon
10. Money – The Drums
11. Fever Dreams – Nurses
12. Terra Incognita – Atlas Sound
13. Heart in Your Heartbreak – The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
14. Rivers and Roads – The Head and the Heart
15. Street Joy – White Denim
16. It’s Real – Real Estate
17. Surgeon – St. Vincent
18. Towers – Bon Iver
19. Fall Creek Boy’s Choir – James Blake & Bon Iver
20. Cover Your Tracks – Young Galaxy
21. Shell Games – Bright Eyes
22. Rolled Together – The Antlers
23. Gorilla – Clams Casino
24. When My Time Comes – Dawes
25. Brush the Heat – Little Dragon
26. Weekend – Smith Westerns
27. Amor Fati – Washed Out
28. In The Past I Was An Astronaut – Yellow Ostrich
29. I Follow Rivers – Lykke Li
30. Top Bunk – Gauntlet Hair

What were your favorite songs and albums of the year? What music are you most looking forward to in 2012? Comment below to tell us!